Jāmiʿ al-ʿUlūm wa'l-Ḥikam 19: Guard Allah, and He Will Guard You

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 27 September 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

عن عبد الله بن عباس رضي الله عنهما قال: كنتُ خلف النبي ﷺ يومًا فقال: «يا غلام، إني أعلّمك كلمات: احفظِ الله يحفظك، احفظِ الله تجده تجاهك، إذا سألتَ فاسأل الله، وإذا استعنتَ فاستعن بالله، واعلم أن الأمة لو اجتمعت على أن ينفعوك بشيء لم ينفعوك إلا بشيء قد كتبه الله لك، وإن اجتمعوا على أن يضروك بشيء لم يضروك إلا بشيء قد كتبه الله عليك، رُفعت الأقلام وجفّت الصحف». وفي رواية أخرى: «احفظ الله تجده أمامك، تعرّف إلى الله في الرخاء يعرفك في الشدة، واعلم أن ما أخطأك لم يكن ليصيبك، وما أصابك لم يكن ليخطئك، واعلم أن النصر مع الصبر، وأن الفرج مع الكرب، وأن مع العسر يسرًا»^[1].

(On the authority of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with them both, who said: One day I was behind the Prophet ﷺ, and he said: "Young man, I will teach you some words: Guard Allah and He will guard you; guard Allah and you will find Him before you. If you ask, ask Allah; and if you seek help, seek help from Allah. And know that if the nation were to gather together to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you except with something Allah has already written for you; and if they were to gather together to harm you with something, they would not harm you except with something Allah has already written against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried." And in another narration: "Guard Allah and you will find Him in front of you. Get to know Allah in times of ease and He will know you in times of hardship. And know that what missed you was never going to befall you, and what befell you was never going to miss you. And know that victory comes with patience, relief with distress, and that with hardship comes ease.")

This ḥadīth, taken as a whole, is one of the pillars of psychological steadfastness, and a settling of the believer's heart into greater certainty in what is with Allah, blessed and exalted. It is a reassurance for the heart of a young person who is getting to know life in the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and a set of expressions that surround a person's thought and heart so that they leave Satan no opening through which to enter this soul or this heart.

Refined Words to a Young Man

The Prophet ﷺ says: «يا غلام» (Young man). A ghulām is young in age, and one young in age is still getting to know the vicissitudes of days and time, and the heart that is still getting to know the vicissitudes of days does not properly grasp what events hold in store, and therefore sees only itself. So remember yourself when we were at the stage of boyhood: we looked at the whole world as something that would one day come into our grasp, and that you were setting out with yourself and your abilities, and that your desire was foremost with you, and that the place your eye fell upon ought to be the object of the whole world's concern, and that this father and this mother were nothing but a path by which you had reached what you had reached, and they ought to remain at your service. I alone can turn the world upside down; those are the ambitions of the young boy who is still getting to know life in its first form: a morsel already there, and service that continues all week, by day and by night, from a mother who gives and a father who devoted his life to all of this life. And here I am speaking in general, not about the Companion, may Allah be pleased with him.

Yet when the Prophet ﷺ speaks to a young man in this refined language, it becomes clear to us what language we ought to practice as we deal with our children: that refinement has no age, that understanding in our children runs ahead of their years and their bodies, and that we often look at them as though they are still small. But they see life, especially given the differences between generations; your son may know of life, through the screens he gains access to, much more than I do in some respects. He is ahead of me in that, but he will not be ahead of me in life nor in age. And the simpler sentence that I have come to use with my children and with those young in age is to say: this hair in this color did not become so suddenly; rather the days made it and the world changed its features; accordingly, earlier experience is more beneficial in effect and more lasting in influence.

Guard Allah: Redirecting the Compass

Our Messenger ﷺ addresses the young man with his words: «احفظ الله» (Guard Allah), as though it were a redirection of the mind's compass: where are you thinking? The young man who sees at such an age sees a beautiful girl, and sees a rich, well-off man in society whom he wants to be like one day, and sees wealth before him and wonders how it came about. These things catch the minds of young people, so the Prophet ﷺ redirects the mind: «احفظ الله».

This is a sentence whose dimensions and implications we may differ in conceiving, so how do we guard Allah? Take a very simple example: how does a woman guard her husband? The answer is that she guards him in his presence and in his absence. And how does she guard him in his absence? She guards his reputation, so she does not speak ill of him; she guards his honor, so she does not do what she should not; she guards his wealth, so she protects what remains in her home. If people do not grasp the sentence "guard Allah" because Allah, blessed and exalted, is too high to be tended by the hands of created beings when He is the Creator, then the understanding here is simple: we guard the Lord of the worlds in His law, in His religion and in His sacred limits; we guard Him in the trusts He has placed in our hands, and in the blessings that have been bestowed upon us; we guard Him in what He has given us to possess: Allah gave me possession of two hands that strike and two ears that hear, and a body that moves about the earth and travels in it, and He gave me possession of wealth and dependents and a family, and a society and companionship, and an ear that hears my voice and hearts that feel my pulse. Allah, mighty and majestic, gave me all of this, so how do I guard Him in these things? And the summary is that you fear Allah in a brief phrase: in what He gave you, in those around you, and in what you possess. And whoever fears Allah finds the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, always before him; no victory from Him escapes him, and no help from the Mighty, Capable, Most High is absent from him.

He Will Guard You: In Religion and in This World

The Prophet ﷺ says to the young man: «احفظ الله يحفظك» (Guard Allah and He will guard you). So how does your Lord guard you? He guards you in two things, in summary: in religion and in this world. And whoever looks at the matter in this way is not surprised by a trial that comes to him. Some people say: I pray and fast and fear Allah and respect His sacred limits, so why all these trials? And you say to him: the part of understanding has escaped you, which is that Allah, exalted is He, guards you in your religion and in your worldly life. Have you disbelieved yet? He says: I seek Allah's forgiveness. Then Allah's guarding of you in your religion still stands, even if He tests you in your worldly life.

And some have the world in their hands and think they are fearing Allah, and the Lord of the worlds protects their wealth, and they do not realize that this wealth is the least of what Allah looks at. The world is the least of what Allah, mighty and majestic, looks at, and it has come in the text that if the world were worth in Allah's sight the wing of a gnat, He would not have given a disbeliever a drink of water from it.^[2] Our Lord, glory be to Him, may test us in health, in dependents, in wealth, in position; He may test us in companionship, but the most important thing for you is that you remain protected in your religion. And when Allah, exalted is He, protects a servant's religion for him, He has protected his honor and his life and everything for him.

Who Am I in My Family's Eyes?

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ speaks to us in the form of addressing a «غلام» (young man), and he is one of our youth whom we need to speak to. It was a golden opportunity for this Companion, young in age and mature in his abilities, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ should speak to him and give him this admonition: «إني أعلّمك كلمات» (I will teach you some words).

And a simple question remains, somewhat outside the text: who am I in the eyes of those I speak to? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was in the eyes of ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās what he was. So who am I in the eyes of my family? If I speak to them, do they listen to me? If I talk with them, do they seek experience from me? If I guide them and advise them, do they consider this to be complete advice? Have we managed to create that example? Have we managed to strike that model into their minds and hearts and intellects? Have we managed to establish our presence in their lives, or are we merely words passing over the ears, heavy words whose speaker is about to hear someone say to him: leave me, have mercy on me, let me go on, will you stay on giving me sermons? Who am I in the eyes of those around me?

You Will Find Him Before You: Strength Is in the Heart

The Prophet ﷺ says: «احفظ الله تجده تجاهك» (Guard Allah and you will find Him before you). What does this sentence signify? It is the servant's sensing that Allah, blessed and exalted, is with him at every time and moment, and it is a feeling that protects the servant from any slip. They say that strength is not in the blow of the hand but in the heart possessed by the owner of that hand. You may find two men: one very strong who strikes, but he is afraid inside, so his arm is strong and he can do nothing; and another much weaker whose heart is iron, so he strikes the blow and fells his opponent. So what is the difference? The difference is in a heart that senses strength within itself, so it uses all its faculties and strikes a powerful blow. If we carry over this example, then the difference is between one who senses the companionship of the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, ﴿وَهُوَ مَعَكُمْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ﴾ (And He is with you wherever you are),^[3] thus says Allah, glory be to Him, and one who senses that he is alone, and that he is still seeking to draw from Allah, blessed and exalted, His good pleasure or His pardon or His kindness or His companionship: there is a heart in which remembrance is present, a heart present with this sensing, so it moves with this strength.

So the Prophet ﷺ says to us in his speech to ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās: «احفظ الله تجده تجاهك». And the simplest understanding is to say: do you imagine that you will always meet our Lord in front of your face? So how does that happen? The problem is that our minds always turn to the sensory meaning. If you say these two words to someone, he says to you: and how do you interpret the names and attributes? Well, let us pass by this issue a little, and sense a strength from the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, exalted is He, that is supporting, backing, helping and steadying, and arranging the causes of this world and the religion in His hands. How was the strength of Moses, peace be upon him, as he crossed the sea with Pharaoh behind him? And how was the strength of Abraham as he was thrown into the fire? And how was the strength of Jesus and Muhammad ﷺ and Noah and Zechariah and Elijah and John and Idrīs, peace be upon them? These prophets, these great names, how were their inner strengths with which they moved? «احفظ الله تجده تجاهك». Do not imagine that the Lord of Might, glory be to Him, turns away from you, with what befits the majesty of His Face and the greatness of His authority; rather my Lord, glory be to Him, exalted is He, is with me, He is my helper and my supporter and the one who makes me firm, and He is the one who acts through the causes in my hands, and I am nothing before Him but a cause, glory be to Him, majestic is He in His height.

Asking and Seeking Help

The Prophet ﷺ said: «إذا سألتَ فاسأل الله» (If you ask, ask Allah). So where are the rest of the causes and the people? It is as though the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is still addressing the heart and the mind: turn your heart and your mind to your Lord first. And no doubt the sick person will stand before the physician, and that is a kind of asking; and no doubt the owner of a house will bring in the worker to build this structure for him; and no doubt the one who deals with causes asks help and assistance from people. So if we combine the two texts we see that the heart is attached to one end and the hand is attached to another end, and each is connected to the other; for people serve no one of creation except by permission of the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, and needs are not met except by His companionship, glory be to Him, the One who carries out His command in His creation and His universe.

And the Prophet ﷺ says: «إذا سألتَ فاسأل الله، وإذا استعنتَ فاستعن بالله» (If you ask, ask Allah; and if you seek help, seek help from Allah). So what is the difference between asking and seeking help? Asking may be about something passing and simple and slight, while seeking help from someone does not come about except in times of hardship, or in what is harder and more delicate. Therefore seeking help is a deeper matter. Why? Because you may say to so-and-so: hand me, please, the one next to you, regardless of his name and entity and identity, hand me these things, right away, thank you, we are done. But when you seek help from someone, from the best physician or the clever lawyer or the good accountant, it is a mental process that goes round in your mind for a long time until the intended, desired name ripens in your mind in itself, and then the stage of contact begins. «وإذا استعنتَ فاستعن بالله».

If the Nation Were to Gather

Then he says: «واعلم أن الأمة...» (And know that the nation...). These are the states of hardship that come upon the servant while he senses that he is alone. Times come upon us in which you feel that you are alone, you feel that you are a stranger, you feel that your honor is not protected in people's eyes and hearts and ears. And when this feeling takes hold of someone, he is only fearing people's scheming and plotting, especially if he is defending a cause or a nation. So the Prophet ﷺ says: «واعلم أن الأمة لو اجتمعت على أن ينفعوك بشيء لن ينفعوك إلا بشيء قد كتبه الله لك» (And know that if the nation were to gather together to benefit you with something, they would not benefit you except with something Allah has written for you). The one who places his hope in people is a loser, and the one who gambles on their presence has lost all kinds of benefits. And the one who thinks that people have something in their hands has been disappointed in himself and in people, indeed disappointed in Allah, blessed and exalted.

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ tells us this comprehensive ḥadīth, and we now fear, in the societies where we live, for the future of the days: the economy, where is the world heading? Politics, and Islamophobia, and others. Brother, these are words, and this is the decisive statement: «واعلم أن الأمة لو اجتمعت على أن يضروك بشيء لن يضروك إلا بشيء قد كتبه الله عليك» (And know that if the nation were to gather together to harm you with something, they would not harm you except with something Allah has written against you). And if there is something Allah has written, could there be harm in it? By Allah, could there be harm in something Allah has written, when we have come to know that He is the All-Wise, the All-Knowing, the Subtle, the Most Kind, the Able, the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing, the Most Merciful, the Most Loving? Brother, the Most Loving, glory be to Him, exalted is He, issues nothing but good, and ordains for His servants only what is for their good in this world and the Hereafter. «رُفعت الأقلام» (The pens have been lifted), by what He has ordained in the appointed terms and decrees of Allah.

And sometimes we strive to change our image among people, or to be better in their eyes, or to improve our financial situation, thinking we will be able to get what we want. Extend your hand with the causes, but hold your heart to the fact that what was and what will be has already been recorded, for the pages have dried and the matter is finished. Strive, with the causes you have, to be in Allah's eyes as you ought to be, and strive in your causes to have Paradise as the object of your sight, and strive in your worldly life to establish your presence before the angels who write around you your good deeds and your bad deeds. Place yourself in a higher station: people are weak human beings from whom nothing comes except what their souls prompt them to or what Satan offers them as a choice, even if they think themselves people of causes and people of knowledge and people of understanding; this is the last thing their minds find their way to. But your standing before Allah, who knows the hidden depths of souls, glory be to Him, majestic is He in His height, that is the object of regard.

I ask Allah, the Most High, the Almighty, to continue upon us and upon you His favor and good pleasure, to make us see our faults, to set right for us what our hands have spoiled, to decree good for us, to guide us to right judgment, and to make us firm.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The ḥadīth of Ibn ʿAbbās was recorded by al-Tirmidhī and Aḥmad, and the second narration with its addition ("Get to know Allah in times of ease…") is in Aḥmad. We have reproduced it here as the speaker said it. The transcription has «ليغضبك», which is most likely a mishearing, so the well-known wording «ليخطئك» was set down. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The ḥadīth "If the world were worth in Allah's sight the wing of a gnat, He would not have given a disbeliever a drink of water from it" was narrated by al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Mājah from the ḥadīth of Sahl ibn Saʿd, may Allah be pleased with him, and the speaker cited it by meaning. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: Sūrat al-Ḥadīd, verse 4. The speaker uttered this segment of the verse, and that is what is set down here.