“Amongst the attributes of your human nature, draw away from everything that is incompatible with your servanthood, so that you may be responsive to the call of Allah and near His Presence.” [Hikam|34]

The honour of servanthood

Allah has ennobled the children of Adam with honour to be the best amongst His creation. And amongst the children of Adam, Allah has chosen the beloved of Allah, the mercy to the world and the final Messenger Muhammad (ﷺ) to be the finest. His rank is beyond that reached by any other man or Jinn – not even matched by the Arch Angel Jibreel.

Allah raised His beloved through the boundaries of space and time, through the Heavens, to the Lote tree (the uppermost boundary where Jibreel had to depart) and beyond. He (ﷺ) went beyond what is known into the unknown, beyond the reach of human knowledge and comprehension to be in the Presence of Allah Almighty. In the setting of intimacy between man and His Lord, between the Creator and the best of creation, between the Loving and the beloved, he (ﷺ) had an intimate discourse with Him. Allah says in the Qur’an:

 “Glory be to Allah Who did take His servant for a journey by night.” [Al-Israh:17:1]

On this most prestigious of nights of honouring and elevation, notice how Allah addressed His beloved. He did not call Muhammad (ﷺ) by his name or by his title as the Messenger nor by any other title. He elevated him in rank by inviting him up into the Heavens and honoured him by calling him as ‘His servant’. You see, his title of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) depicts his relation to us in respect to Allah, but his sole relationship with Allah is that of Lord and servant. This is not only unique to him but is everyone’s absolute reality, yet, he (ﷺ) actualised the greatest embodiment of this reality. Therefore, servanthood is the highest rank in Allah’s eyes.

Attributes of a servant

What are the attributes of a servant of Allah?

Obedience to Allah, humility to Him, submissiveness to Him, Loyalty to Him, sincerity in servanthood to Him, awe of Him, respect for His command, and contentment with His decree. You should detest from embodying attributes incompatible with your servanthood like prideful arrogance, self-conceit, showing off in good works, resentful envy, loving prestige, disloyalty and rebelliousness. Ata’illah said:

“Amongst the attributes of your human nature, draw away from everything that is incompatible with your servanthood, so that you may be responsive to the call of Allah and near His Presence.” [Hikam|34]

Realise your attributes and He will help you with His

Allah is the Lord of the Worlds, there is nothing that is greater than He or similar to Him; He is the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, the Eternal without a Beginning or an End. He is Self-Sufficient (without any needs) yet everything of creation is in need of Him. So make Allah your Lord, submit yourself to Him and become His servant voluntarily without objection. Then embody in yourself all the attributes of a servant and leave the attributes of Lordship to Allah. Ata’illah said:

“Realise your attributes and He will help you with His attributes; realise your lowliness and He will help you with His Sublimity; realise your impotence and He will help you with His Power; realise your weakness and He will help you with His Might and Power!” [Hikam|174]

When you realise your attributes, you will find that you are lowly (created from Nutfah), weak (become weary) and needy with no real power. When you humble yourself to Allah, Allah will help you with His Sublime Generosity and Power to aid you in your cause. If the life of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has taught us anything, it would perhaps be, he (ﷺ) was initially one man (with a handful of followers) and with the whole of Arabia against him, but Allah was his supporter and aid. And in the short space of 23 years, he changed the course of history until the Day of Judgement.

“A goal which you seek by your Lord is not held back and a goal which you seek by yourself is not easy.” [Hikam|25]

If you solely rely on yourself and in your means to seek a goal i.e. through your power, skills, influence and effort, it will be difficult to attain your goal. If you seek a goal for His sake, do your utmost best with the means provided and rely on Allah. Allah will facilitate for you and open doors to help you achieve your goal.

So realise your attributes and He will help you with His, serve Allah’s cause and He will give victory in yours, rely on Allah and you will find your every need taken care of, Allah says: “

Whoever entrust to Allah their every need, surely Allah is sufficient for him.” [At-Talaq:65:3]

May Allah make grant us the Taufiq to do our best in all our affairs, make our  affairs fruitful in this world and in the Hereafter. May Allah accept all our efforts to serve His cause. And ultimately, may Allah  grant us the honour of being amongst Ibadur Rahman (the servants of the All-Merciful).