In The Name of Allaah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Imaam Ibnul Qayyim [rahimahullaah] said:

There are ten things that bring about loss and they do not bring benefit:

knowledge that is not acted upon; a deed that is neither accompanied by sincerity nor adherence [to the Qur’aan and authentic Sunnah]; wealth that is not spent- neither enjoyed in this Dunyah by the one who gathers it nor brings about reward in the afterlife; a heart that is emptied of love of Allaah-neither has a desire nor wants to get close to Allaah; a body that is devoid of strength in  worshipping Allaah and the performance of deeds [in Allaah’s Cause]; a love that is not based on what Allaah loves and fulfilment of His commandments; time that is not spent in regaining that which has been lost [due to negligence, sinning etc] nor utilised to do good and as a means of drawing close to Allaah; a mind that is engaged in thinking about that which is of no benefit; serving a person with a service to him that will neither draw you close to Allaah nor rectify your worldly affairs; your fear and hope regarding that one who is under Allaah’s Power and Authority, one confined under Allaah’s complete control, one who neither owns the power to hurt nor benefit, neither owns the power to cause death nor give life, nor of raising the dead.

The greatest of these loses are two and they are the basis of every loss: Loss related to the heart and loss related to time. Loss related to the heart occurs when one prefers this worldly life over the afterlife, and loss related to time occurs when one has prolonged hope [without taking the necessary steps to obey Allaah and His Messenger]. All corruption is gathered in following desires and having a prolonged hope [without performing good deeds], and all the means to rectification are found in following [upright] guidance and  preparing to meet Allaah. And Allaah’s aid is sought.

How strange is the affair of that one, who when he is in need, turns to Allaah to seek what he desires, so that it is fulfilled for him; however, he does not ask Allaah to give life to his heart [i.e. Eemaan and performance of righteous deed],  protect it from ignorance and the act of turning away from Allaah that will kill the heart [i.e. destroy the heart through misguidance], cure it from the disease of Shahawaat [i.e. vain desires] and Shubuhaat [i.e. affairs that resemble the truth but ae falsehood in reality]; but when the heart is killed by [sin, heedlessness etc], it cannot perceive its sinfulness.  [An Excerpt from Al-Fawaa-id. Pages 171-172. Abridged and Paraphrased]

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