Chapter X: Evils of Self-Deception
house, the thief takes it away. If there is nothing in the house, the thief leaves it. In other words, the devil does not enter a soul which is free from sexual passion and evil desires. God says to the devil : You have got no control over My servants' 16 : 32. He who follows the dictates of passion is a slave of passion and not of God. For this reason, He gave control of the devil over him.
God says: Have you seen one who has taken up his passion as hid deity-25 : 44 ? One day Hazrat Amr-b-A's asked the Prophet : O Messenger of God, the devil enters in o my Quran- reading in prayer. He said : He is a devil called Khanzab. When you feel it, seek refuge to God and spit thrice to your left side. He said that God relieved him from it after he did it. There is in another Hadis that there is a devil in ablution called Walhan. He said : Seek refuge from him to God. God says : Seek refuge from the machinations of the devil — 16:98. Hazrat Mujahid said by explanation of this verse that it is a broad sign in soul. When one remembers God, the devil flees away disappointed. When he is heedless, the devil takes seat in his soul. God's Zikr and devil's contrivance are like light and darkness which can not live together. The Prophet said : The devil places his trunk in the soul of man. When he remembers God, he goes away, and when he is heedless, he catches hold of his soul.
The Prophet said : When a man does not turn after he reaches his fortieth year, the devil rubs his face with his hands and says. I have wiped the face of one who has got no salvation. The Prophet said : The devil moves in man like the circulation of blood. Make his circulation narrow by hunger. The reason is that hunger cures sexual passion which is the weapon of the devil. So sexual passion surrounds soul. God mentioned the case of the devil saying: The devil said : I will keep sitting in Thy straight path for them. Then I shall run to them by their front, by their back, by their right side and by their left side — 7 : 17.
The Prophet said : The devil keeps sitting in different paths for man. He sits in the path of Islam and says: Will you accept Islam after giving up your religion and the religion of your ancestors ?
When he disobeys him and accepts Islam, he sits for him-in the path of emigration and says : Will you leave your country after leaving your native land and your properties . When he disobeys him and makes arguments, he sits in the path of Jihad and says : Will you fight ruining yourself and your properties ? He disobeys him and
34 Soul and its Attributes Vol-III
fights. The Prophet said : If a man dies after performing the above actions, it becomes the duty of God to admit him in Paradise.