Attaining Wisdom: A Key to Guarding Against Satan’s Threat of Poverty

One of the fundamental aspects of the disease of heedlessness is falling into the trap of the Devil’s false promise — for the Devil is indeed a manifest enemy to human beings and one who abandons them in their hour of need. This threat consists in instilling fear of poverty, and thereby driving people to pursue immorality. Allah, the Exalted, says: “Satan threatens you with poverty and commands you to immorality, while Allah promises you forgiveness from Him and bounty. And Allah is All-Encompassing, All-Knowing” (2:268).

So, what is the true reality of this promise? What are its deceptive dimensions, and upon what illusions are they founded? What is the divine guidance by which one can resist it, protect oneself from falling into abandonment, and hold firmly to Allah’s true promise — the promise that leads to actual success?

First: Satan has absolutely no authority over the human being, as he himself acknowledged in the words of Allah, Exalted is He: “And Satan will say when the matter has been decided, ‘Indeed, Allah promised you the promise of truth, and I promised you, but I betrayed you. I had no authority over you except that I called you and you responded to me’” (14:22). And Allah, Exalted is He, relates the words of Iblis: “I will surely mislead them all, except Your chosen servants among them” (15:39–40).

Thus, misguidance affects those who are susceptible to being led astray. Those susceptible to such influence are people who have become prisoners of their own weaknesses; Satan gains access to human beings through these weaknesses.

What, then, is this weakness?

This weakness consists in pursuing immediate pleasure and attainable, near-term benefit in order to satisfy the self’s pressing need for comfort and reassurance. It is the condition of every person whose heart is not awakened, whose insight is not penetrating, and whose inner ear is not receptive. Human beings are inherently susceptible to misguidance, as Allah (swt) states in the sacred Hadith:“O My servants, all of you are astray, except those whom I guide.”

This susceptibility arises from the stirring of instinctive desires, which cannot be properly regulated, except through divine guidance. Satan inflames these desires, prompting people to pursue them. Once they attain the desired pleasure and experience its sweetness, their primary concern becomes preserving and prolonging it. Yet such pleasure is, by its nature, fleeting. Satan then frightens them with the prospect of losing it. This fear of loss is the poverty and deprivation that Satan promises them. Consequently, they may resort to every possible means of preserving that pleasure, ultimately falling into immorality. 

The reality, however, is otherwise. Transient pleasure contains no lasting happiness; once it fades, it is often followed by distress and inner constriction. The problem is that what caused the person to give precedence to fulfilling this “promise” was the immediate desire and pleasure. This is a form of ignorance: ignorance of the reality of existence. It causes the servant to remain confined to an image of happiness that contains no true happiness, much like those who are deeply attached to worldly life while remaining heedless of the punishment of the Hereafter. Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“You will surely find them the most eager of people for life — even more so than those who associate others with Allah. Each of them wishes to be granted a life of a thousand years, but even a long life would not keep them away from the punishment. And Allah is All-Seeing of what they do” (2:96).

The root of this weakness lies in finding security and delight in worldly gain, relying upon oneself, and remaining detached from divine guidance. Among the worldly attractions that form the basis of this attachment are close relatives — even when they prefer disbelief over faith — wealth acquired through effort and toil, a business whose decline one fears, and homes in which one finds satisfaction.

Allah, Exalted is He, gathers these worldly attractions in Surah al-Tawbah:

“Say, ‘If your fathers, your children, your siblings, your spouses, your extended families, the wealth you have acquired, the commerce you fear may decline, and the homes in which you delight are dearer to you than Allah and His Messenger, then wait until Allah brings about His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people’” (9:24)

Fear then arises merely from contemplating the possibility that the circumstances surrounding the things upon which they rely for inner satisfaction may become unstable or disrupted. They therefore seek to prevent this by resorting to injustice and immorality, because Satan has gained mastery over them and taken control of them. Ultimately, such people suffer punishment through the very things upon which they relied to provide them with comfort and reassurance. Allah, the Exalted, says: “So do not let their wealth or their children impress you. Allah only intends to punish them through these things in this worldly life and that their souls depart while they are disbelievers” (9:55).

One of the reasons people give preference to Satan’s promise over Allah’s promise is that Satan’s promise is based on what is perceptible and tangible, whereas Allah’s promise concerns the unseen. Yet, it is the unseen that governs and determines what is perceptible. What the servant, therefore, needs is to summon wisdom, through which they can discern the truth and recognize the wisdom of giving preference to Allah’s promise.

Wisdom consists of seeing matters through the light of truth and insight rather than through the light of mere physical perception. The light of truth grants the servant balance and moderation, preventing them from falling into immorality. It also enables them to perceive causes and ultimate purposes, thereby preventing them from going astray.

Wisdom is a gift that Allah bestows upon whomever He wills. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “He grants wisdom to whomever He wills, and whoever is granted wisdom has certainly been granted abundant good” (2:269). The attainment of wisdom takes place through three stages.

The First Stage: Moving from abstract faith to faith that actively directs the course of one’s life. Its foundation is to take the necessary means while relying upon Allah’s promise, in accordance with Allah’s established laws and patterns. For example, Taqwa is an essential means of attaining provision. Divine tranquility, which descends through the abundant remembrance of Allah, is among the means of attaining reassurance. Heedlessness of Allah’s remembrance is among the causes of distress and hardship. This spiritual orientation must be accompanied by taking the material means necessary to obtain provision and tranquility, and to avoid hardship.

The Second Stage: Self-Discipline. This stage consists of a practical process through which a person moves from abstract faith to purposeful and active faith. The servant’s actions thus become guided by insight, rather than by material circumstances alone. Accordingly, a person’s emotional responses must be cultivated and directed. This is illustrated by the saying of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him: “Do you know who the bankrupt person is?” He explained that the truly bankrupt person is one who comes on the Day of Resurrection with good deeds, only for those good deeds to be exhausted because of the rights of others that they violated. Thus, the servant’s emotional perspective is cultivated so that they grieve more over bankruptcy on the Day of Resurrection than over financial loss in this world.

Self-discipline is attained through correcting one’s perception. An example of this is the Hadith narrated by Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, concerning a sheep that had been slaughtered. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, asked, “What remains of it?” She replied, “Nothing remains except its shoulder.” He said, “Rather, all of it remains except its shoulder.” This Hadith corrects the servant’s understanding of what truly remains for them in the Hereafter and what ultimately perishes in this world.

The Third Stage: Turning wholly toward Allah, Exalted is He. This is attained when the servant establishes the heart upon certainty in what is with Allah. When the material means come to an end, what is with Allah remains. Allah, Exalted is He, says: “Whatever you have will come to an end, but whatever is with Allah will remain” (16:96). Another example is Allah’s statement concerning Mary, peace be upon her: “Whenever Zachariah entered her sanctuary, he found her supplied with provisions. He asked, ‘O Mary, where did this come to you?’ She answered, ‘It is from Allah. Surely Allah provides for whomever He wills without limit’” (3:37).Thereupon, Zachariah called upon his Lord, mindful of Allah’s power and His ability to provide without limit.

Another example is the story of Khubayb ibn Adi’, may Allah be pleased with him, when he was held captive by the polytheists. One of the women of Banu al-Ḥarith saw him eating a bunch of grapes while he was restrained in chains, even though there were no fruits in Makkah at that time. She said: “It was nothing other than provision that Allah had bestowed upon him.”

In this way, the servant takes the necessary means without becoming dependent upon them. Allah frees His servant from relying upon worldly means as the ultimate source of provision, saying: “And in heaven is your provision and whatever you are promised” (51:22).

Whoever traverses these stages becomes worthy of being granted wisdom, and whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted an abundance of good.

A person should recognize that two paths lie before them, and there is no third: the path of Allah and the path of Satan. If they do not follow the path of Allah and heed His promise, then they are necessarily following the path of Satan. Therefore, striving to attain wisdom is among the essential means of steadfastness and uprightness.

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, encouraged believers to aspire to such wisdom, saying: “There is no envy, except in two cases: a person to whom Allah has given wealth and who uses it in the right way, and a person to whom Allah has given wisdom, who acts according to it and teaches it.”

Ibn Hazm says: “I found that striving for the Hereafter is free from every defect, pure from every blemish, and truly effective in dispelling anxiety.”

This, then, is wisdom: to direct one’s striving toward the Hereafter, to act according to what one knows, and to remain steadfast upon the path of Allah. Through it, a person attains honor, for the greatest form of honor is to remain steadfast upon uprightness.