Watchfulness before God (muraqaba)

In the Sheikh's account, watchfulness means that the heart watches over its owner: whoever does not have a watchful heart gains nothing from being watched by others. ¹

The Sheikh says that whoever does not have a watchful heart gains nothing from others watching him. ¹

He tells of a righteous imam with three sons, to each of whom he gave a rooster to slaughter where no one could see. The first two slaughtered theirs in a closed room; the third brought his back unslaughtered and said he knew God was with him when the doors were shut (needs_source). ^{2 3 4}

He tells the story of Umar and a shepherd, in which a question is asked of the shepherd: where is God (needs_source). ^{4 5}

He compares the heart to a chief executive under whom the limbs work as staff: when the heart is full of faith and certainty, all actions are set right. ^{6 7}

The Sheikh invites a person to measure himself against the fault he sees in another before judging him, so that he finds his own faults larger than the other's ⁸.

He gives the example of someone who hears his daughter or sister complain about her husband and leans toward taking her side, and advises him to look at himself before judging: if the husband raises his voice a little, he thinks the world has fallen apart, though his own mother and grandmother were patient and he may himself be falling short at home ⁹.

He relays that wisdom can be learned even from the ignorant, by avoiding any act, word or position of theirs that one does not approve of ¹⁰.

He calls for the restraint to come from within the person, asks whether the endowments authority or the ministry will send a sheikh to every home to remind people of God, and says a person should make himself his own watcher ¹¹.