A cure for pride

Translated by Ustadh Amin Buxton

Someone asked: How can we purify our lower selves from pride (`ujub)[1]?

Sayyid al-Habib `Umar bin Hafiz (may Allah preserve him) answered: “By remembering who you really are. Your reality is nothingness and your ending is being taken to account by Allah. So what is there to be proud of between nothingness and being taken to account?

Allah says: You have not received any blessing except that it is from Allah.[2] All bounty belongs to Allah; you possess nothing. So witness your Lord’s generosity, and beware: were He to take you to account for your best actions He would punish you. However, out of His bounty He rewards you, shows you His generosity and multiplies your good deeds. Reflecting on this will remove your pride.”

[1] `ujub can be defined as being content with your own actions and states and seeing them as great, while forgetting that Allah is the One who bestowed them upon you.

[2] Al-Nahl, 16.53

Resource Habib Umar Bin Hafiz advice from the Intepreter's path website