Tadbīr — “self-governance” — can be two very different things: caring for what depends on me, or exhausting myself in trying to hold what does not depend on me. The first is responsibility; the second is agitation. Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh never calls for withdrawal from the world — he calls us to stop believing that my anxiety fabricates reality.
Do what depends on me — then surrender the outcome. Not before. Not after. But precisely: act, then surrender.
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- Before the decree — to act, to take the right means, without agitation.
- During the decree — to consent, to pass through, without forcing.
- After the decree — to acknowledge what has come to be, without claiming to be its cause.
Question for today
Which situation today asked me to act without owning the outcome?
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The Arabic text of al-Tanwīr exists in a critical edition. The integration of translated passages will be carried out progressively, once the rights have been verified.