"Stay cautious of your nafs [ego]. No trial has afflicted you except through it. Do not make peace with it, for by God, no one can bring honor to it except one who has humiliated it, and no one can bring greatness to it except one who has made it insignificant and submissive, and no one can make it whole except one who has broken it, and no one can bring rest to it except one who has exhausted it, and no one can bring security to it except one who has frightened it, and no one can bring happiness to it except one who has brought sadness to it."This book provides a wide selection of quotations taken from ten of the best books of Ibn al-Qayyim (full name Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah), famous Medieval theologian and spiritual writer and companion of Ibn Taymiyyah, translated into easy, accessible English for the modern reader.