Unknown on Earth, Known in Heaven
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Welcome. We live in an age that rewards being seen. Followers, likes, recognition. This book, written some eleven hundred years ago, praises the opposite.
Ibn Abi al-Dunya of Baghdad gathered what the Prophet ﷺ and the early Muslims said about the beauty of being humble, and the safety of being unknown.
The Prophet ﷺ said, perhaps a person with dishevelled hair, covered in dust, turned away from people's doors, if he swore by Allah, Allah would fulfil his oath.
And he said, Allah loves the servant who is mindful of Him, free of need, and hidden. Not hidden out of shame, but out of sincerity, so that what they do is for Allah alone. The world may not know their names. But Allah does.
Ibn Masud described such people. Be springs of knowledge, lamps of guidance, staying in your homes, lights in the night. With hearts that are always new, and clothes that are old. Known among the people of heaven, and hidden among the people of earth.
That is the ideal of this book. Not to be famous on earth, but to be known in heaven.
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