 Return |
||
| gencnurCom | IN THE NAME OF GOD, And from Him do we seek help. [Brother! You wanted a few words of
advice from me, so listen to a few truths included in
eight short stories, which since you are a soldier, are
in the form of comparisons of a military nature. I
consider my own soul to need advice more than anyone, and
at one time I addressed my soul at some length with Eight
Words inspired by eight verses of the Qur’an from which
I had benefited. Now I shall address my soul with these
same Words, but briefly and in the language of ordinary
people. Whoever wishes may listen together with me.] The First Word Bismillah, “In the Name of
God,” is the start of all things good. We too shall
start with it. Know, O my soul! Just as this blessed
phrase is a mark of Islam, so too it is constantly
recited by all beings through their tongues of
disposition. If you want to know what an inexhaustible
strength, what an unending source of bounty is Bismillah,
listen to the following story which is in the form of a
comparison. It goes like this: Someone who makes a journey through
the deserts of My proud soul! You are the traveller,
and this world is a desert. Your impotence and poverty
have no lim it, and your enemies and needs are endless.
Since it is thus, take the name of the Pre-Eternal Ruler
and Post-Eternal Lord of the desert and be saved from
begging before the whole universe and trembling before
every event. Yes, this phrase is a treasury so
blessed that your infinite impotence and poverty bind you
to an infinite power and mercy; it makes your impotence
and poverty a most acceptable intercessor at the Court of
One All-Powerful and Compassionate. The person who acts
saying, “In the Name of God,” resembles someone who
enrolls in the army. He acts in the name of the
government; he has fear of no one; he speaks, performs
every matter, and withstands everything in the name of
the law and the name of the government. At the beginning we said that all
beings say “In the Name of God” through the tongue of
disposition. Is that so? Indeed, it is so. If you were to see
that a single person had come and had driven all the
inhabitants of a town to a place by force and compelled
them to work, you would be certain that he had not acted
in his own name and through his own power, but was a
soldier, acting in the name of the government and relying
on the power of the king. In the same way, all things act in
the name of Almighty God, for minute things like seeds
and grains bear huge trees on their heads; they raise
loads like mountains. That means all trees say: “In the
Name of God,” fill their hands from the treasury of
mercy, and offer them to us. All gardens say: “In the
Name of God,” and become cauldrons from the kitchens of
Divine power in which are cooked numerous varieties of
different foods. All blessed animals like cows, camels,
sheep, and goats, say: “In the Name of God,” and
produce springs of milk from the abundance of mercy,
offering us a most delicate and pure food like the water
of life in the name of the Provider. The roots and
rootlets, soft as silk, of plants, trees, and grasses
say: “In the Name of God,” and pierce and pass
through hard rock and earth. Mentioning the name of God, the name
of the Most Merciful, everything becomes subjected to
them. The roots spreading through hard rock and earth and
producing fruits as easily as the branches spread through
the air and produce fruits, and the delicate green leaves
retaining their moisture for months in the face of
extreme heat, deal a slap in the mouths of Naturalists
and jab a finger in their blind eyes, saying: “Even
heat and hardness, in which you most trust, are under a
command. For like the Staff of Moses, each of those
silken rootlets conform to the command of, And We
said, O Moses, strike the rock with your staff,1
and split the rock. And the delicate leaves fine as
cigarette paper recite the verse, O fire be coolness
and peace2 against the heat of the fire,
each like the members of Abraham (UWP). Since all things say: “In the Name
of God,” and bearing God’s bounties in God’s name,
give them to us, we too should say: “In the Name of
God.” We should give in the name of God, and take in
the name of God. And we should not take from heedless
people who neglect to give in God’s name. Question: We give a
price to people, who are like tray-bearers. So what price
does God want, Who is the true owner? The Answer: Yes, the
price the True Bestower of Bounties wants in return for
those valuable bounties and goods is three things: one is
remembrance, another is thanks,
and the other is reflection. Saying, “In
the Name of God” at the start is remembrance, and, “All
praise be to God” at the end is thanks. And
perceiving and thinking of those bounties, which are
priceless wonders of art, being miracles of power of the
Unique and Eternally Besought One and gifts of His mercy,
is reflection. However foolish it is to kiss the foot of
a lowly man who conveys to you the precious gift of a
king and not to recognize the gift’s owner, it is a
thousand times more foolish to praise and love the
apparent source of bounties and forget the True Bestower
of Bounties. O my soul! If you do not wish to be
foolish in that way, give in God’s name, take in
God’s name, begin in God’s name, and act in God’s
name. And that’s the matter in a nutshell! ____________________ 1. Qur’an, 2:60. The Second Word In the Name of God, the Merciful,
the Compassionate. If you want to understand what great
happiness and bounty, what great pleasure and ease are to
be found in belief in God, listen to this story which is
in the form of a comparison: One time, two men went on a journey
for both pleasure and business. One set off in a selfish,
inauspicious direction, and the other on a godly,
propitious way. Since the selfish man was both
conceited, self-centred, and pessimistic, he ended up in
what seemed to him to be a most wicked country due to his
pessimism. He looked around and everywhere saw the
powerless and the unfortunate lamenting in the grasp of
fearsome bullying tyrants, weeping at their destruction.
He saw the same grievous, painful situation in all the
places he travelled. The whole country took on the form
of a house of mourning. Apart from becoming drunk, he
could find no way of not noticing this grievous and
sombre situation. For everyone seemed to him to be an
enemy and foreign. And all around he saw horrible corpses
and despairing, weeping orphans. His conscience was in a
state of torment. The other man was godly, devout,
fair-minded, and with fine morals so that the country he
came to was most excellent in his view. This good man saw
universal rejoicing in the land he had entered.
Everywhere was a joyful festival, a place for the
remembrance of God overflowing with rapture and
happiness; everyone seemed to him a friend and relation.
Throughout the country he saw the festive celebrations of
a general discharge from duties accompanied by cries of
good wishes and thanks. He also heard the sound of a drum
and band for the enlistment of soldiers with happy calls
of “God is Most Great!” and “There is no god but
God!” Rather than being grieved at the suffering of
both himself and all the people like the first miserable
man, this fortunate man was pleased and happy at both his
own joy and that of all the inhabitants. Furthermore, he
was able to do some profitable trade. He offered thanks
to God. ____________________ 1. Qur’an, 2:3. After some while he returned and came
across the other man. He understood his condition, and
said to him: “You were out of your mind. The ugliness
within you must have been reflected on the outer world so
that you imagined laughter to be weeping, and the
discharge from duties to be sack and pillage. Come to
your senses and purify your heart so that this calamitous
veil is raised from your eyes and you can see the truth.
For the country of an utterly just, compassionate,
beneficent, powerful, order-loving, and kind king could
not be as you imagined, nor could a country which
demonstrated this number of clear signs of progress and
achievement.” The unhappy man later came to his senses
and repented. He said, “Yes, I was crazy through drink.
May God be pleased with you, you have saved me from a
hellish state.” O my soul! Know that the first man
represents an unbeliever, or someone depraved and
heedless. In his view the world is a house of universal
mourning. All living creature are orphans weeping at the
blows of death and separation. Man and the animals are
alone and without ties being ripped apart by the talons
of the appointed hour. Mighty beings like the mountains
and oceans are like horrendous, lifeless corpses. Many
grievous, crushing, terrifying delusions like these arise
from his unbelief and misguidance, and torment him. As for the other man, he is a
believer. He recognizes and affirms Almighty God. In his
view this world is an abode where the Names of the
All-Merciful One are constantly recited, a place of
instruction for man and the animals, and a field of
examination for man and jinn. All animal and human deaths
are a demobilization. Those who have completed their
duties of life depart from this transient world for
another, happy and trouble-free, world so that place may
be made for new officials to come and work. The birth of
animals and humans marks their enlistment into the army,
their being taken under arms, and the start of their
duties. Each living being is a joyful regular soldier, an
honest, contented official. And all voices are either
glorification of God and the recitation of His Names at
the outset of their duties, and the thanks and rejoicing
at their ceasing work, or the songs arising from their
joy at working. In the view of the believer, all beings
are the friendly servants, amicable officials, and
agreeable books of his Most Generous Lord and
All-Compassionate Owner. Very many more subtle, exalted,
pleasurable, and sweet truths like these become manifest
and appear from his belief. That is to say, belief in God bears
the seed of what is in effect a Tuba-Tree of That means that salvation and
security are only to be found in Islam and belief. In
which case, we should continually say, “Praise be to
God for the religion of Islam and perfect belief.” The Third Word In the Name of God, the Merciful,
the Compassionate. If you want to understand what great
profit and happiness lie in worship, and what great loss
and ruin lie in vice and dissipation listen to and take
heed of the following story which is in the form of a
comparison: One time, two soldiers received
orders to proceed to a distant city. They set off and
travelled together until the road forked. At the fork was
a man who said to them, “The road on the right causes
no loss at all, and nine out of ten of those who take it
receive a high profit and experience great ease. While
the road on the left provides no advantages, and nine out
of ten of its travellers make a loss. But they are the
same as regards distance. Only there is one difference:
those who take the left-hand road, which has no rules and
no one in authority, travel without baggage and arms.
They feel an apparent lightness and deceptive ease.
Whereas those travelling on the right-hand road, which is
under military order, are compelled to carry a kit-bag
full of nutritious rations four okkas or so in
weight and a superb army rifle of about two kiyyes2
which will overpower and rout every enemy...” After the two soldiers had listened
to what this instructive man had to say, the fortunate
one took the road to the right. He loaded the weight of
one batman onto his back, but his heart and spirit
were saved from thousands of batmans of fear and
feeling obliged to others. As for the other, luckless,
soldier, he left the army. He did not want to conform to
the order, and he went off to the left. He was released
from bearing a load of one batman, but his heart
was constricted by thousands of batmans of
indebtedness, and his spirit crushed by innumerable
fears. He proceeded on his way both begging from everyone
and trembling before every object and every event until
he reached his destination. And there he was punished as
a mutineer and a deserter. ____________________ 1. Qur’an,
O rebellious soul, know that one of
those two travellers represents those who submit to the
Divine Law, while the other represents the rebellious and
those who follow their own desires. The road is the road
of life, which comes from the Spirit World, passes
through the grave, and carries on to the hereafter. As
for the kit-bag and rifle, they are worship and fear of
God. There is an apparent burden in worship, but there is
an ease and lightness in its meaning that defies
description. For in the prescribed prayers the worshipper
declares, “I bear witness that there is no god but
God.” That is to say, he finds the door of a treasury
of mercy in everything because he is believing and
saying, “There is no Creator and Provider other than
Him. Harm and benefit are in His hand. He is both
All-Wise; He does nothing in vain, and He is
All-Compassionate; His bounty and mercy are abundant.”
And he knocks on the door with his supplication.
Moreover, he sees that everything is subjugated to the
command of his own Sustainer, so he takes refuge in Him.
He places his trust in Him and relies on Him, and is
fortified against every disaster; his belief gives him
complete confidence. Indeed, like with every true virtue,
the source of courage is belief in God, and worship. And
as with every iniquity, the source of cowardice is
misguidance. In fact, for a worshipper with a
truly illuminated heart, it is possible that even if the
globe of the earth became a bomb and exploded, it would
not frighten him. He would watch it with pleasurable
wonder as a marvel of the Eternally Besought One’s
power. But when a famous degenerate philosopher with a
so-called enlightened mind but no heart saw a comet in
the sky, he trembled on the ground, and exclaimed
anxiously: “Isn’t that comet going to hit the
earth?” (On one occasion, Yes, although man is in need of
numberless things, his capital is as nothing, and
although he is subject to endless calamities, his power
too is as nothing. Simply, his capital and power extend
only as far as his hand can reach. However, his hopes,
desires, pains, and tribulations reach as far as the eye
and the imagination can stretch. Anyone who is not
totally blind can see and understand then what a great
profit, happiness, and bounty for the human spirit, which
is thus impotent and weak, and needy and wanting, are
worship, affirmation of God’s unity, and reliance on
God and submission to Him.
In Short: Like that of
the hereafter, happiness in this world too lies in
worship and being a soldier for Almighty God. In which
case, we should constantly say: “Praise be to God for
obedience to him and success,” and we should thank Him
that we are Muslims... The Fourth Word In the Name of God, the Merciful,
the Compassionate. If you want to understand with the
certainty that two plus two equals four just how valuable
and important are the prescribed prayers, and with what
little expense they are gained, and how crazy and harmful
is the person who neglects them, pay attention to the
following story which is in the form of a comparison: One time, a mighty ruler gave each of
two of his servants twenty-four gold pieces and sent them
to settle on one of his rich, royal farms two months’
distance away. “Use this money for your tickets,” he
commanded them, “and buy whatever is necessary for your
house there with it. There is a station one day’s
distance from the farm. And there is both road-transport,
and a railway, and boats, and aeroplanes. They can be
benefited from according to your capital.” The two servants set off after
receiving these instructions. One of them was fortunate
so that he spent a small amount of money on the way to
the station. And included in that expense was some
business so profitable and pleasing to his master that
his capital increased a thousandfold. As for the other
servant, since he was luckless and a layabout, he spent
twenty-three pieces of gold on the way to the station,
wasting it on gambling and amusements. A single gold
piece remained. His friend said to him: “Spend this
last gold piece on a ticket so that you will not have to
walk the long journey and starve. Moreover, our master is
generous; perhaps he will take pity on you and forgive
you your faults, and put you on an aeroplane as well.
Then we shall reach where we are going to live in one
day. Otherwise you will be compelled to walk alone and
hungry across a desert which takes two months to
cross.” The most unintelligent person can understand
how foolish, harmful, and senseless he would be if out of
obstinacy he did not spend that single remaining gold
piece on a ticket, which is like the key to a treasury,
and instead spent it on vice for passing pleasure. Is
that not so? ____________________ 1. TirmidhI, Iman, 8; Ibn
Maja, Fitan, 12; Musnad, v, 231;
al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, ii, 76 O you who do not perform the
prescribed prayers! And O my own soul, which does not
like to pray! The ruler in the comparison is our
Sustainer, our Creator. Of the two travelling servants,
one represents the devout who perform their prayers with
fervour, and the other, the heedless who neglect their
prayers. The twenty-four pieces of gold are life in every
twenty-four-hour day. And the royal domain is The ticket in the comparison
represents the prescribed prayers. A single hour a day is
sufficient for the five prayers together with taking the
ablutions. So what a loss a person makes who spends
twenty-three hours on this fleeting worldly life, and
fails to spend one hour on the long life of the
hereafter; how he wrongs his own self; how unreasonably
he behaves. For would not anyone who considers himself to
be reasonable understand how contrary to reason and
wisdom such a person’s conduct is, and how far from
reason he has become, if, thinking it reasonable, he
gives half of his property to a lottery in which one
thousand people are participating and the possibility of
winning is one in a thousand, and does not give one
twenty-fourth of it to an eternal treasury where the
possibility of winning has been verified at ninety-nine
out of a hundred? Moreover, the spirit, the heart, and
the mind find great ease in prayer. And it is not trying
for the body. Furthermore, with the right intention, all
the other acts of someone who performs the prescribed
prayers become like worship. He can make over the whole
capital of his life to the hereafter in this way. He can
make his transient life permanent in one respect... The Fifth Word In the Name of God, the Merciful,
the Compassionate. If you want to see what a truly human
duty and what a natural, appropriate result of man’s
creation it is to perform the prescribed prayers and not
to commit serious sins, listen to and take heed of the
following comparison: Once, at a time of general
mobilization, two soldiers found themselves together in a
regiment. One was well-trained and conscientious, the
other, a raw recruit and self-centred. The conscientious
soldier concentrated on training and the war, and did not
give a thought to rations and provisions, for he knew
that it was the state’s duty to feed and equip him,
treat him if he was ill, and even to put the food in his
mouth if the need arose. He knew that his essential duty
was to train and fight. But he would also attend to some
of the rations and equipment as part of his work. He
would boil up the saucepans, wash up the mess-tins, and
bring them. If it was then asked him: “What are you
doing?”, he would reply: “I am doing fatigue duty for
the state.” He would not say: “I am working for my
living.” The raw recruit, however, was fond of
his stomach and paid no attention to training and the
war. “That is the state’s business. What is it to
me?”, he would say. He thought constantly of his
livelihood, and pursuing it would leave the regiment and
go to the market to do shopping. One day his well-trained
friend said to him: “Your basic duty is training and
fighting, brother. You were brought here for that. Trust
in the king; he will not let you go hungry. That is his
duty. Anyway, you are powerless and wanting; you cannot
feed yourself everywhere. And this is a time of
mobilization and war; he will tell you that you are
mutinous and will punish you. Yes, there are two duties
which concern us. One is the king’s duty: sometimes we
do his fatigue duties and he feeds us for it. The other
is our duty: that is training and fighting, and sometimes
the king helps us with it.” ____________________ 1. Qur’an, 16:128. Of course you will understand in what
danger the layabout soldier would be if he did not pay
attention to the striving, well-trained one. O my lazy soul! That turbulent place
of war is this stormy worldly life, and the army divided
into regiments, human society. The regiment in the
comparison is the community of Islam in this century. One
of the two soldiers is a devout Muslim who knows the
obligations of his religion and performs them, and
struggles with Satan and his own soul in order to give up
serious misdoings and not to commit sins. While the other
is a degenerate wrongdoer who is so immersed in the
struggle for livelihood that he casts aspersions on the
True Provider, abandons his religious obligations, and
commits any sins that come his way as he makes his
living. As for the training and instruction, it is
foremost the prescribed prayers and worship. And the war
is the struggle against the soul and its desires, and
against the satans among jinn and men, to deliver them
from sin and bad morals, and save the heart and spirit
from eternal perdition. And the first of the two duties
is to give life and sustain it, while the other is to
worship and beseech the Giver and Sustainer of life. It
is to trust in Him and rely on Him. Indeed, whoever made and bestowed
life, which is a most brilliant miracle of the Eternally
Besought One’s art and a wonder of dominical wisdom, is
the one who maintains and perpetuates it through
sustenance. It cannot be another. Do you want proof? The
most impotent and stupid animals are the best nourished;
like fish, and worms in fruit. And it is the most
helpless and delicate creatures who have the choicest
food; like infants and the young of all species. For sure, it is enough to compare
fish with foxes, newly born animals with wild beasts, and
trees with animals in order to understand that licit food
is obtained not through power and will, but through
impotence and helplessness. That is to say, someone who
gives up performing the prescribed prayers because of the
struggle for livelihood resembles the soldier who
abandoned his training and trench and went and begged in
the market. But to seek ones rations from the kitchens of
the All-Generous Provider’s mercy after performing the
prayers, and to go oneself so as not to be a burden on
others is fine and manly. It too is a sort of worship. Furthermore, man’s nature and
spiritual faculties show that he is created for worship.
For in respect of the power and actions necessary for the
life of this world, he cannot compete with the most
inferior sparrow. While in respect of knowledge and need,
and worship and supplication, which are necessary for
spiritual life and the life of the hereafter, he is like
the monarch and commander of the animals. O my soul! If you make the life of
this world the aim of your life and work constantly for
that, you will become like the lowest sparrow. But if you
make the life of the hereafter your aim and end, and make
this life the means of it and its tillage, and strive in
accordance with it, then you will be like a lofty
commander of the animals, and a petted and suppliant
servant of Almighty God, and His honoured and respected
guest. Those are the two ways open to you!
You can choose whichever you wish... So ask for guidance
and success from the Most Compassionate of the
Compassionate... The Sixth Word In the Name of God, the Merciful,
the Compassionate. If you wish to understand how
profitable a trade it is, and how honour-able a rank, to
sell one’s person and property to God, to be His slave
and His soldier, then listen to the following comparison. Once a king entrusted each of two of
his subjects with an estate, including all necessary
workshops, machinery, horses, weapons and so forth. But
since it was a tempestuous and war-ridden age, nothing
enjoyed stability; it was destined either to disappear or
to change. The king in his infinite mercy sent a most
noble lieutenant to the two men and by means of a
compassionate decree conveyed the following to them: “Sell me the property you now hold
in trust, so that I may keep it for you. Let it not be
destroyed for no purpose. After the wars are over, I will
return it to you in a better condition than before. I
will regard the trust as your property and pay you a high
price for it. As for the machinery and the tools in the
workshop, they will be used in my name and at my
workbench. But the price and the fee for their use shall
be increased a thousandfold. You will receive all the
profit that accrues. You are indigent and resourceless,
and unable to provide the cost of these great tasks. So
let me assume the provision of all expenses and
equipment, and give you all the income and the profit.
You shall keep it until the time of demobilization. So
see the five ways in which you shall profit! Now if you
do not sell me the property, you can see that no one is
able to preserve what he possesses, and you too will lose
what you now hold. It will go for nothing, and you will
lose the high price I offer. The delicate and precious
tools and scales, the precious metals waiting to be used,
will also lose all value. You will have the trouble and
concern of administering and preserving, but at the same
time be punished for betraying your trust. So see the
five ways in which you may lose! Moreover, if you sell
the property to me, you become my soldier and act in my
name. Instead of a common prisoner or irregular soldier,
you will be the free lieutenant of an exalted monarch.” ____________________ 1. Qur’an, 9:111. After they had listened to this
gracious decree, the more intelligent of the two men
said: The Third Profit: The
value of each limb and each sense is increased a
thousandfold. The intelligence is, for example, like a
tool. If you do not sell it to God Almighty, but rather
employ it for the sake of the soul, it will become an
ill-omened, noxious and debilitating tool that will
burden your weak person with all the sad sorrows of the
past and the terrifying fears of the future; it will
descend to the rank of an inauspicious and destructive
tool. It is for this reason that a sinful man will
frequently resort to drunkenness or frivolous pleasure in
order to escape the vexations and injuries of his
intelligence. But if you sell your intelligence to its
True Owner and employ it on His behalf, then the
intelligence will become like the key to a talisman,
unlocking the infinite treasures of compassion and the
vaults of wisdom that creation contains. To take another example, the eye is
one of the senses, a window through which the spirit
looks out on this world. If you do not sell it to God
Almighty, but rather employ it on behalf of the soul, by
gazing upon a handful of transient, impermanent beauties
and scenes, it will sink to the level of being a pander
to lust and the concupiscent soul. But if you sell the
eye to your All-Seeing Maker, and employ it on His behalf
and within limits traced out by Him, then your eye will
rise to the rank of a reader of the great book of being,
a witness to the miracles of dominical art, a blessed bee
sucking on the blossoms of mercy in the garden of this
globe. Yet another example is that of the
tongue and the sense of taste. If you do not sell it to
your Wise Creator, but employ it instead on behalf of the
soul and for the sake of the stomach, it sinks and
declines to the level of a gatekeeper at the stable of
the stomach, a watchman at its factory. But if you sell
it to the Generous Provider, the the sense of taste
contained in the tongue will rise to the rank of a
skilled overseer of the treasuries of Divine compassion,
a grateful inspector in the kitchens of God’s eternal
power. So look well, O intelligence! See the
difference between a tool of destruction and the key to
all being! And look carefully, O eye! See the difference
between an abominable pander and the learned overseer of
the Divine library! And taste well, O tongue! See the
difference between a stable doorkeeper or a factory
watchman and the superintendent of the treasury of
God’s mercy! Compare all other tools and limbs to
these, and then you will understand that in truth the
believer acquires a nature worthy of The Fourth Profit: Man
is helpless and exposed to numerous misfortunes. He is
indigent, and his needs are numerous. He is weak, and the
burden of life is most heavy. If he does not rely on the
Omnipotent One of Glory, place his trust in Him and
confidently submit to Him, his conscience will always be
troubled. Fruitless torments, pains and regrets will
suffocate him and intoxicate him, or turn him into a
beast. The Fifth Profit: Those
who have experienced illumination and had unveiled to
them the true nature of things, the elect who have
witnessed the truth, are all agreed that the exalted
reward for all the worship and glorification of God
performed by your members and instruments will be given
to you at the time of greatest need, in the form of the
fruits of Paradise. If you spurn this trade with its
fivefold profit, in addition to being deprived of its
profit, you will suffer fivefold loss. The First Loss: The property
and offspring to which you are so attached, the soul and
its caprice that you worship, the youth and life with
which you are infatuated, all will vanish and be lost;
your hands will be empty. But they will leave behind them
sin and pain, fastened on your neck like a yoke. The Second Loss: You will
suffer the penalty for betrayal of trust. For you will
have wronged your own self by using the most precious
tools on the most worthless objects. The Third Loss: By casting
down all the precious faculties of man to a level much
inferior to the animals, you will have insulted and
transgressed against God’s wisdom. The Fourth Loss: In your
weakness and poverty, you will have placed the heavy
burden of life on your weak shoulders, and will
constantly groan and lament beneath the blows of
transience and separation. The Fifth Loss: You will have
clothed in an ugly form, fit to open the gates of Hell in
front of you, the fair gifts of the Compassionate One
such as the intelligence, the heart, the eye and the
tongue, given to you to make preparation for the
foundations of everlasting life and eternal happiness in
the hereafter. Now is it so difficult to sell the
trust? Is it so burdensome that many people shun the
transaction? By no means! It is not in the least
burdensome. For the limits of the permissible are broad,
and are quite adequate for man’s desire; there is no
need to trespass on the forbidden. The duties imposed by
God are light and few in number. To be the slave and
soldier of God is an indescribably pleasurable honour.
One’s duty is simply to act and embark on all things in
God’s name, like a soldier; to take and to give on
God’s behalf; to move and be still in accordance with
His permission and law. If one falls short, then one
should seek His forgiveness, say: “O Lord! Forgive our faults, and
accept us as Your slaves. Make us sure holders of Your
trust until the time comes when it is taken from us.
Amen!”, and make petition unto Him. The Seventh Word If you want to understand what
valuable, difficulty-resolving talismans are the two
parts of the phrase I believe in God and the Last Day,
which solve both the enigmatical riddle of creation and
open the door of happiness for the human spirit, and what
beneficial and curative medicines are reliance on your
Creator and taking refuge in Him through patience and
entreaty, and supplicating your Provider through thanks,
and what important, precious, shining tickets for the
journey to eternity -and provisions for the hereafter and
lights for the grave- are listening to the Qur’an,
obeying its commands, performing the prescribed prayers,
and giving up serious sins, then listen and pay attention
to this comparison: One time a soldier fell into a most
grave situation in the field of battle and examination,
and the round of profit and loss. It was as follows: The soldier was wounded with two deep
and terrible wounds on his right and left sides and
behind him stood a huge lion as though waiting to attack
him. Before him stood a gallows which was putting to
death and annihilating all those he loved. It was
awaiting him too. Besides this, he had a long journey
before him: he was being exiled. As the unfortunate
soldier pondered over his fearsome plight in despair, a
kindly person shining with light like Khidr appeared. He
said to him: “Do not despair. I shall give you two
talismans and teach you them. If you use them properly,
the lion will become a docile horse for you, and the
gallows will turn into a swing for your pleasure and
enjoyment. Also I shall give you two medicines. If you
follow the instructions, those two suppurating wounds
will be transformed into two sweet-scented flowers called
the Rose of Muhammad (PBUH). Also, I shall give you a
ticket; with it, you will be able to make a year’s
journey in a day as though flying. If you do not believe
me, experiment a bit, so that you can see it is true.”
The soldier did experiment a bit, and affirmed that it
was true. Yes, I, that is, this unfortunate Said, affirm
it too. For I experimented and saw it was absolutely
true. Some time later he saw a sly,
debauched-looking man, cunning as the Devil, coming from
the left bringing with him much ornamented finery,
decorated pictures and fantasies, and many intoxicants.
He stopped before the soldier, and said: “Hey, come on,
my friend! Let’s go and drink and make merry. We can
look at these pictures of beautiful girls, listen to the
music, and eat this tasty food.” Then he asked him:
“What is it you are reciting under your breath?” As for the two medicines, one is
trusting in God and patience, and the other is relying on
the power of one’s Creator and having confidence in His
wisdom. Is that the case? Indeed it is. What fear can a
man have, who, through the certificate of his impotence,
relies on a Monarch of the World with the power to
command: “Be!” and it is.1 For in
the face of the worst calamity, he says: Verily, to
God do we belong, and verily to Him is our return,2
and places his trust in his Most Compassionate Sustainer.
A person with knowledge of God takes pleasure from
impotence, from fear of God. Yes, there is pleasure in
fear. If a twelve-month baby was sufficiently intelligent
and it was asked him: “What is most pleasurable and
sweetest for you?”, he might well say: “To realize my
powerlessness and helplessness, and fearing my mother’s
gentle smack to at the same time take refuge in her
tender breast.” But the compassion of all mothers is
but a flash of the manifestation of Divine mercy. It is
for this reason that the wise have found such pleasure in
impotence and fear of God, vehemently declaring
themselves to be free of any strength and power, and have
taken refuge in God through their powerlessness. They
have made powerlessness and fear an intercessor for
themselves. The second medicine is thanks and
contentment, and entreaty and supplication, and relying
on the mercy of the All-Compassionate Provider. Is that
so? Yes, for how can poverty, want and need be painful
and burdensome for a guest of an All-Generous and
Munificent One Who makes the whole face of the earth a
table of bounties and the spring a bunch of flowers, and
Who places the flowers on the table and scatters them
over it? Poverty and need take on the form of a pleasant
appetite. The guest tries to increase his poverty in the
same way he does his appetite. It is because of this that
the wise have taken pride in want and poverty. But
beware, do not misunderstand this! It means to be aware
of one’s poverty before God and to beseech Him, not to
parade poverty before the people and assume the air of a
beggar. As for the ticket and voucher, it is
to perform the religious duties, and foremost the
prescribed prayers, and to give up serious sins. Is that
so? Yes, it is, for according to the consensus of those
who observe and have knowledge of the Unseen and those
who uncover the mysteries of creation, the provisions,
light, and steed for the long, dark road to post-eternity
may only be obtained through complying with the commands
of the Qur’an and ____________________ 1. Qur’an, 2:117, etc. avoiding what it prohibits. Science,
philosophy, and art are worth nothing on that road. Their
light reaches only as far as the door of the grave. And so, O my lazy soul! How little
and light and easy it is to perform the five daily
prayers and give up the seven deadly sins! If you have
the faculty of reason and it is not corrupted, understand
how important and extensive are their results, fruits,
and benefits! Say to the Devil and that man who were
encouraging you to indulge in vice and dissipation: “If
you have the means to kill death, and cause decline and
transience to disappear from the world, and remove
poverty and impotence from man, and close the door of the
grave, then tell us and let us hear it! Otherwise, be
silent! The Qur’an reads the universe in the vast
mosque of creation. Let us listen to it. Let us be
illuminated with that light. Let us act according to its
guidance. And let us recite it constantly. Yes, the
Qur’an is the word. That is what they say of it. It is
the Qur’an which is the truth and comes from the Truth
and says the truth and shows the truth and spreads
luminous wisdom...” O God! Illuminate our hearts with
the light of belief and the Qur’an. O God! Enrich us with the need of
You and do not impoverish us with the lack of need of
You. Make us free of our own strength and power, and
cause us to take refuge in Your strength and power.
Appoint us among those who place their trust in You, and
do not entrust us to ourselves. Protect us with Your
protection. Have mercy on us and have mercy on all
believing men and women. And grant blessings and peace to
our Master Muhammad, Your Servant and Prophet, Your
Friend and Beloved, the Beauty of Your Dominion and the
Sovereign of Your Art, the Essence of Your Favour and the
Sun of Your Guidance, the Tongue of Your Proof and the
Exemplar of Your Mercy, the Light of Your Creation and
the Glory of Your Creatures, the Lamp of Your Unity in
the Multiplicity of Your Creatures and the Discloser of
the Talisman of Your Beings, the Herald of the
Sovereignty of Your Dominicality and the Announcer of
those things pleasing to You, the Proclaimer of the
Treasuries of Your Names and the Instructor of Your
Servants, the Interpreter of Your Signs and the Mirror of
the Beauty of Your Dominicality, the Means of witnessing
You and bearing witness to You, Your Beloved and Your
Messenger whom You sent as a Mercy to All the Worlds, and
to all his Family and Companions, and to his brothers
among the prophets and messengers, and to Your angels and
to the righteous among Your servants. AMEN. The Eighth Word In the Name of God, the Merciful,
the Compassionate. If you want to understand this world,
and man’s spirit within the world, and the nature and
value of religion for man, and how the world is a prison
if there is no True Religion, and that without religion
man becomes the most miserable of creatures, and that it
is O God! and, There is no god but God that
solve this world’s talisman and deliver the human
spirit from darkness, then listen to and consider this
comparison: Long ago, two brothers set off on a
long journey. They continued on their way until the road
forked. At the fork they saw a serious-looking man and
asked him: “Which road is good?” He told them: “On
the road to the right one is compelled to comply with the
law and order, but within that hardship is security and
happiness. However, on the left-hand road there is
freedom and no restraint, but within its freedom lie
danger and wretchedness. Now, the choice is yours!” After listening to this, saying, I
place my trust in God,3 the brother with a
good character took the right road and conformed to the
order and regulations. The other brother, who was immoral
and a layabout, chose the road to the left just for the
lack of restrictions. With our imaginations, we shall
follow this man in his situation, which was apparently
easy but in reality burdensome. Thus, this man went up hill and down
dale until he found himself in a desolate wilderness. He
suddenly heard a terrifying sound and saw that a great
lion had come out of the forest and was about to attack
him. He fled. He came across a waterless well sixty yards
deep, and in his fear jumped into it. He fell half-way
down it where his hands met a tree. He clung on to it.
The tree, which was growing out of the walls of the well,
had two roots. ____________________ 1. Qur’an, 3:2; 2:255. Two rats, one white and one black,
were attacking and gnawing through them. He looked up and
saw that the lion was waiting at the top of the well like
a sentry. He looked down and saw a ghastly dragon. It
raised its head and drew it close to his foot thirty
yards above. Its mouth was as big as the mouth of the
well. Then he looked at the well’s walls and saw that
stinging, poisonous vermin had gathered round him. He
looked up at the mouth of the well and saw a fig-tree.
But it was not an ordinary tree; it bore the fruit of
many different trees, from walnuts to pomegranates. Thus, due to his lack of thought and
foolishness, the man did not understand that this was not
just some ordinary matter, these things were not here by
chance, and that there were mysterious secrets concealed
in these strange beings. And he did not grasp that there
was someone very powerful directing them. Now, although
his heart, spirit, and mind were secretly weeping and
wailing at this grievous situation, his evil-commanding
soul pretended that it was nothing; it closed its ears to
the weeping of his heart and spirit, and deceiving
itself, started to eat the tree’s fruit as though it
was in a garden. But some of the fruit were poisonous and
harmful. Almighty God says in a Divine Hadith: “I am
according to how my servants think of Me.”4 Thus, through his foolishness and
lack of understanding, this unhappy man thought what he
saw to be ordinary and the actual truth. So that is the
way he was treated, and is treated, and will be treated.
He neither dies so that he is saved from it, nor does he
live - he is in such torment. Now we shall leave this
ill-omened man in his torment and return, so that we may
consider the situation of the other brother. This fortunate and intelligent person
went on his way, but he suffered no distress like his
brother. For, due to his fine morals, he thought of good
things and imagined good things. Everything was friendly
and familiar to him. And he did not suffer any difficulty
and hardship like his brother, for he knew the order and
followed it. He found it easy. He went on his way freely
and in peace and security. Then he came across a garden
in which were both lovely flowers and fruits, and, since
it was not looked after, rotting and filthy things. His
brother had also entered such a garden, but he had
noticed and occupied himself with the filthy things and
they had turned his stomach, so he had left it and moved
on without being able to rest himself. But this man acted
according to the rule, ‘look on the good side of
everything,’ and had paid no attention to the rotting
things. He had benefited a lot from the good things, and
taking a good rest, he had left and gone on his way. Later, also like the first brother,
he had entered a vast desert, and had suddenly heard the
roar of a lion which was attacking him. He was
frightened, ____________________ 4. Bukhari, Tawhid, 15, 35;
Muslim, Tawba, 1; Dhikr, 2, 19; Tirmidhi,
Zuhd, 51; Da’wat, 131; Ibn Maja,
Adab, 58; Darimi, Riqaq, 33; Musnad,
ii, 251, 315, 391, 412, 445, 482, 516. but not as much as his brother. For,
because of his good thoughts and positive attitude, he
thought to himself: “This desert has a ruler, and it is
possible that this lion is a servant under the ruler’s
command,” and found consolation. But he still fled
until he came across an empty well sixty yards deep. He
threw himself into it. Like his brother, his hand clasped
a tree half-way down and he remained suspended in the
air. He looked and saw two animals gnawing through the
tree’s two roots. He looked up and saw the lion, and
looked down and saw the dragon. Just like his brother he
was seeing a most strange situation. He was terrified
like him, but his terror was a thousand times less than
his brother’s. For his good morals had given him good
thoughts, and good thoughts show the good side of
everything. So, because of this, he thought as follows: “These strange happenings are
connected to someone. Also it seems that they are acting
in accordance with a command. In which case, these
matters contain a talisman. Yes, everything is happening
at the command of a hidden ruler. Therefore, I am not
alone; the hidden ruler is watching me, he is testing me,
he is impelling me somewhere for some purpose, and
inviting me there. A curiosity arising from this pleasant
fear and these agreeable thoughts prompt me to say: I
wonder who it is that is testing me, wants to make
himself known, and is impelling me for some purpose on
this strange road.” Then, love for the owner of the
talisman arose out of the desire to know him, and from
that love arose the desire to solve the talisman. And
from that desire arose the will to acquire good qualities
which would please and gratify the talisman’s owner.
Then he looked at the tree and saw it was a fig-tree, but
it was bearing the fruits of thousands of trees. So then
all his fear left him, for he understood that for certain
the fig-tree was a list, an index, an exhibition. The
hidden ruler must have attached samples of the fruits in
the garden to the tree through a miracle and with a
talisman, and must have adorned the tree in a way that
would point to each of the foods he had prepared for his
guests. For there is no other way a single tree could
produce the fruits of thousands of different trees. Then
he began to entreat that he would be inspired with the
key to the talisman. He called out: “O ruler of this place! I have
happened upon you and I take refuge with you. I am your
servant and I want to please you. I am searching for
you.” After he had made this supplication, the walls of
the well suddenly parted, and a door opened onto a
wonderful, pleasant, quiet garden. Indeed, the dragon’s
mouth was transformed into the door, and both it and the
lion took on the forms of two servants; they invited him
to enter. The lion even became a docile horse for him. O my lazy soul! And O my imaginary
friend! Come! Let us compare the position of these two
brothers so that we can see how good comes of good and
evil comes of evil. Let us find out. Look, the unhappy
traveller on the left road is all the time trembling with
fear waiting to enter the dragon’s mouth, while the
fortunate one is invited into a blooming, splendid garden
full of fruit. And the unfortunate one’s heart is being
pounded by an awful terror and grievous fear, while the
fortunate one is gazing at and observing strange things
as a delightful lesson, with a pleasant fear and loving
knowledge. Also the miserable one is suffering torments
in desolation, despair, and loneliness, while the
fortunate one is enjoying himself, full of hope, longing,
and a sense of belonging. Furthermore, the unfortunate
one sees himself as a prisoner subject to the attacks of
wild beasts, while the fortunate one is an honoured guest
who is on friendly terms and enjoying himself with the
strange servants of his generous host. Also the unhappy
one is hastening his torments by indulging in fruits
which are apparently delicious but in fact poisonous. For
the fruits are samples; there is permission to taste them
so as to seek the originals and become customers for
them, but there is no permission to devour them like an
animal. But the fortunate one tastes them and understands
the matter; he postpones eating them and takes pleasure
in waiting. Moreover, the unfortunate one is wronging
himself. Through his lack of discernment, he is making a
truth and a situation which are as clear and bright as
daylight into a dark and oppressive fear, into a hellish
delusion. He does not deserve pity, nor does he have the
right to complain to anyone. For example, if a person at a
pleasant banquet in a beautiful garden in summer among
his friends makes himself drunk through filthy
intoxicants, then imagines himself hungry and naked in
the middle of winter among wild animals and starts
shouting out and crying, he does not deserve to be
pitied; he is wronging himself, and he is insulting his
friends by imagining them to be wild beasts. Thus, the
unfortunate brother is like this. But the fortunate one
sees the truth. And the truth is good. Through perceiving
the beauty of the truth, the fortunate brother is being
respectful towards the truth’s owner. So he deserves
his mercy. Thus, the meaning of the Qur’anic decree:
“Know that evil is from yourself, and good is from God”5
becomes clear. If you make a comparison of other
differences in the same way, you will understand that the
evil-commanding soul of the first brother has prepared a
sort of hell for him, while the good intention, good
will, good character, and good thoughts of the other have
allowed him to receive abundant bounty, experience true
happiness and prosperity, and display shining virtue. O my soul! And O you who is listening
to this story together with my soul! If you do not want
to be the unfortunate brother and want to be the
fortunate one, listen to the Qur’an, obey its decrees,
adhere to them, and act according to them. ____________________ 5. See, Qur’an, 4:79. If you have understood the truths in
this comparison, you will be able to make them correspond
to the truths of religion, the world, man, and belief in
God. I shall say the important ones, then you deduce the
finer points yourself. So, look! Of the two brothers, one is
a believing spirit and a righteous heart. The other is an
unbelieving spirit and a depraved heart. Of the two
roads, the one to the right is the way of the Qur’an
and belief in God, while the left one is the road of
rebellion and denial. The garden on the road is man’s
fleeting life in human society and civilization, where
good and evil, and things good and bad and clean and
dirty are found side by side. The sensible person is he
who acts according to the rule: ‘Take what is pleasant
and clear, and leave what is distressing and turbid,’
and goes on his way with tranquillity of heart. As for
the desert, it is the earth and this world. And the lion
is death and the appointed hour. The well is man’s body
and the time of his life, while its sixty-yard depth
points to the normal life-span of sixty years. And the
tree is the period of life and the substance of life. The
two animals, one white and one black, are night and day.
The dragon is the road to the Intermediate Realm and
pavilion of the hereafter, whose mouth is the grave. But
for the believer, that mouth is a door opening from a
prison onto a garden. As for the poisonous vermin, they
are the calamities of this world. But for the believer
they are like gentle Divine warnings and favours of the
Most Merciful One to prevent him slipping off into the
sleep of heedlessness. The fruits on the tree are the
bounties of this world which the Absolutely Generous One
has made in the form of a list of the bounties of the
hereafter, and both as examples of them, and warnings,
and samples inviting customers to the fruits of As for the talisman, it is the mystery of the purpose of creation which is solved through the mystery of belief. And the key is There is no god but God, and, God, there is no god but He, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent. The dragon’s mouth being transformed into the door into the garden is a sign that, although for the people of misguidance and rebellion the grave is a door opening, in desolation |