Ibrahim ibn Adham was once asked, “Why is it that we make dua, yet they are not responded to?” He replied:
Because you know Allah, yet you do not obey Him.
And you know the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, but do not follow his Sunnah.
And you know the Qur’an, but you do not act upon it.
And you eat from the blessings of Allah, but you do not express gratitude for it.
And you know Paradise, but you do not strive for it.
And you know the Fire of Hell, yet you do not run away from it.
And you know Shaytan, but you do not fight him, and instead obey him.
And you know death, but you do not prepare yourselves for it.
And you bury the dead, but do not learn a lesson from it.
And you have left your own faults, and instead busy yourself with the faults of others.
Al-Radi, p.31.
Ify Okoye 