Jihad of the Pen. Rudolph Ware

      These are just some of the incursions of the Satan Iblis, into the hearts. In them are admonitions against the remainder. In summation, there does not exist in the Adamic creature any blameworthy attribute except that it is one of the weapons of Satan. By means of these weapons, he is assisted in leading mankind astray. Therefore, return to God so that, by means of His mercy, He can redeem you from Satan’s plot and schemes. Take hold of His remembrance as a companion (samiran) or remembrance of the Hereafter as an assistant (ma‘inan); for whoever is persistent in that God will protect him, God willing, from the remainder of the destructive attributes (muhlikat).

      Realize, then that of all of these destructive traits, their actions stem from evil character (su’ al-khalq), while abandoning them springs from excellent character (husn al-khuluq). Excellent character, itself, derives from moderation of the strength of reason (i‘tidal quwwat al-‘aql), restraint of anger (i‘tidal al-ghadab) and self-control of desires (i‘tidal al-shahwa).

      The gathering of all of these traits of temperance is the sign of the attributes of excellent character in a person. For this, such a person is described with much modesty (kathir al-haya’)