Lesson 5 of 6 · What feeds it, and what to stop adding
One. Taking on more than the day holds
This is the commonest one and it is usually invisible, because it happens at the moment of highest sincerity.
You come out of a talk, or a Ramadan, or a bad patch that frightened you, and you take on six things at once. Every one of them is good. The total was never going to fit.
Two weeks later the total collapses, and you read the collapse as a spiritual event rather than as a scheduling one. It was arithmetic.
There is a case of this in the reports rather than a maxim. A woman was described admiringly as not sleeping at night, and the admiration is what got corrected. Choose an act you are capable of doing, because Allah does not grow weary but you will. And when A'isha was asked whether he singled out particular days for particular acts, she said no, his action was continuous, and then asked which of us is capable of what he did.
Qur’an and Sunnah
A woman was described admiringly as not sleeping at night, and the admiration is what got corrected. Choose an act you are capable of, because Allah does not grow weary but you will.
Urwa b. Zubair reported that 'A'isha, the wife of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), told him that (once) Haula' dint Tuwait b. Habib b. Asad b. 'Abd al-'Uzzi passed by her (at the time) when the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) was with her. I ('A'Isha) said:It Is Haula' bint Tuwait and they say that she does not sleep at night. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: (Oh) she does not sleep at night! Choose an act which you are capable of doing (continuously). By Allah, Allah would not grow weary, but you will grow weary
Sahih Muslim 785graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading
And the second one. A'isha was asked whether he singled out particular days for particular acts, said no, and then asked which of them was capable of what he did.
Alqama reported:I asked 'A'isha, the mother of the believers, saying O mother of the believers, how did the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) act? Did he choose a particular act for a particular day? She said: No. He act was continuous, and who amongst you is capable of doing what the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did?
Sahih Muslim 783graded sound, sahihaynthe Arabic and its grading