Chapter VI: Secrets of Fasting
FASTING
Fast is one-fourth of faith, as the Prophet said: Fast is half of patience and patience is half of faith. Of all the regulations of religion, fast keeps special connection with God. The Prophet said: God says: Every good action except fast will be rewarded from ten to seven hundred folds, but fast is only for My sake and it is I who will reward him for it. God says: Those who are patient will be given rewards without measure - 39 : 13. Fast is half of patience. Its reward transcends account. The excellence of fast is known from the following Hadis: The Prophet said: By One in whose hand there is my life, the fragrance of the mouth of a fasting man is dearer to God than the fragrance of musk. God says: The fasting man gives up sexual intercourse, found says:
The fasting man gives up sexual intercourse, food and drink for My sake. So fast is kept only for My sake and it is I who will reward him for it. The Prophet said: Paradise has got a gate named Rayyan. None except a fasting man will enter Paradise by that gate. God has promised His vision as reward of fast.
The Prophet said: There are two joys for a fasting man - one joy at the time of breaking fast and another joy at the time of meeting with his Lord. The Prophet said: Everything has got a gateway. Fast is the gateway of worship. He said: The sleep of a fasting man is worship. He said: When the month of Ramzan comes, the gates of Paradise are opened and the gates of Hell are shut up, the devils are put in chains and a proclaimer proclaims:
O seeker of good, advance. O seeker of evil, come back. God says:
Eat and drink cheerfully for what you missed in past days. In other words, eat and drink cheerfully for what you were deprived in your tasting days. The Prophet said: God will make His angels view with an ascetic saying: O young man who has suppressed his passions for My sake and who has spent his youth for My sake, you are to Me like some of My angels.
The Prophet said about a fasting man: God says: O My angels, look to My servant, he has given up his sexual passion, his pleasures, his food and drink for My pleasure. God says: *No soul knows what has been kept concealed for him pleasing to his eyes. This is the reward for what they have done'. It has been said regarding the verse that this action was fast, as God says: The
Vol-I THE BOOK OF WORSHIP 181