Love and Hate

"By God, if I fast all days and pray all nights, spend all my wealth in the way of God without account and if I die on the day with no love for those who obey God and with no hatred for those who do not obey God, it will be of no use to me."

(Attributed to Abdullah ibn Omar (may God be pleased with him) in Ihya-Ulum-id-Din, the chapter of Love and Brotherhood)

Dodging the Haram

Turn away from the unlawful.
Face piety.

Step forward from the doubtful.
Approach piety.

God-fear within reach,
duck under the doubtlessly lawful,
that which clotheslines into the doubtful.

Spring up a final leap,
leaving all that is not for God,
landing in the company of the truthful.

Recommended Reading: Ihya Ulum-id-Din, Chapter of Halal and Haram

Self-admiration

allahummaj3alnee sagheeran fee 3aynee
waj3alnee kabeeran fee a3yuninnaasi

"O Allah, make me small in my own eyes,
and make me big in the eyes of others."

Above Du'a mentioned and explained in the seventh minute of this talk:
Ghazali Beginning of Guidance audio series by Mufti Abdur-Rahman Ibn Yusuf - Dars 28 - Calamities of the Heart, Envy, Ostentation

Your stomach is your foundation...

... base it on good spiritual nutrients.

"Hazrat Omar drank the milk of a camel intended for Zakat by mistake. He thrust his fingers into his throat and vomited it."

"The limbs of a man who eats lawful food become obedient to him and help him in doing good deeds." (and vice-versa)

(Source: Ihya Ulum-id-Din, Chapter of Halal and Haram (Lawful and Unlawful Things))

What goes around...

... can/may/will come around and hack you down.

A simple example to demonstrate a simple point:

"A man had a cow. He milked his cow everyday and sold milk after mixing water therein (fraudulently). One day there was a flood which drowned the cow. One of his sons said to him, 'The waters which you mixed with milk gathered together and washed away the cow...'"

(Source: Ihya Ulum-id-Din)

Do no evil.

Learn to Interpret

"... I never observed him [Mufti Azeez ur Rahman (RA)] rebutting anyone in their face... 'you did this wrong'. Rather, even when somebody had erred, he would say, 'No doubt you meant this...' In this way he would interpret, redress and present the correct version in such a way the listener would be in doubt as to his error but never forced into a confrontation or show down.

... redress the error in a positive and mild manner and keep your heart clean...

... Rasulullah (SAWS) said, 'Do not dispute with your brother...'"

(Source: 'Ashraf's Blessings of Marriage' by Hafiz Aslam Patel)

Very difficult. I put the quote forward as a goal for myself. Something I am far from having accomplished.

Be not like sheep

"... If a man takes food for helping his learning and action and God-fear, his food and drink are considered as divine service.

For that, he should not spend his time uselessly remaining busy like a lower being which roams from field to field in eating and drinking..."

(Source: Imam Ghazzali's Ihya Ulum-id-Din, The Book of Worldly Usages, Rules of Eating and Drinking)

The days, meals and opportunities are many. Life and death (in this world) once. Use wisely.