Aslam

Prophet David said: No time passes during the night and day in which a member of the family of David does not do divine service by means of prayer, fasting or Zikr. God then revealed to him: O David, how can they do it? It would not have occurred had I not given them opportunity? If I had not helped you, you could not have gathered strength. Just now I am entrusting you to yourself and then you will see what calamity happens. The David fel) in endless troubles.

Hazrat Ayub (David) said: O God, you are trying me by this calamity but I did not complain once against your wish. I am satisfied with your will. Then a thunderstorm of ten thousands in number from a cloud began to say: O Ayub, from whom did you get that attribute of patience? Then the Prophet became repentant, besmeared his head with dust and said: O Lord, I have got it from Thee. For this reason, God said: But for God's grace and mercy on you, none of you could have been even pure but God purifies one whom He wishes - 24 : 21Q. The companions of

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the Prophet were most pious and religious. He said to them:
None of you is such that his good deeds can give him salvation.
They asked: O Apostle of God, are you too? He said: I am also but God covered me with His grace. After this, the companions wished to be changed to earth, brick and birds although their works were pure and their hearts were clean. This is a great medicine of uprooting self- praise. When God-fear will remain in your mind, self-praise will vanish.

DIFFERENT KINDS OF SELF-PRAISE

There are different causes of self-praise which have been mentioned above. Sometimes there is self-praise for a matter for which there is no pride, for instance, a mistaken opinion which seems good to a man out of ignorance. From this angle of view, self-praise is divided into eight classes.

(1) First class is self-praise for physical beauty, health, strength, constitution of body, good voice. A man praises himself for the beauties of his physique and forgets that they are vanishing in every circumstance. The remedy to remove it is to think of his contemptible origin and how his face was made beautiful by clay and how it will be rotten and melted in grave.

(2) Second class is self-praise for strength and power. Take the instance of the tribes A'd and Samud. A'd said: Who is stronger than us? A strong man named Aziz lifted a mountain on his head and threw it down over the soldiers of Moses to crush them but the Merciful ;had it lifted by the peak of a Hudhud bird and thrown on his neck. A believer sometimes takes pride, for instance Hazrat Solaiman once said: I shall this night cohabit with my one hundred wives and beget children. But God deprived him of his wish and he did not beget any child.