Theosophy - Letters from a Sufi Teacher - Shaikh Sharfuddin Maneri -or- Makhdum-Ul-Mulk
- The Theosophy of Islam
LETTERS
FROM
A
SUFI TEACHER
SHAIKH
SHARFUDDÎN MANERÎ
or
MAKHDÛM-UL-MULK
Translated from the Persian by
Baijnath Singh
Theosophical Publishing
Society Benares
City and London
Theosophist Office, Adyar: Madras
Registered
under Act XXV of 1867
FOREWORD
[Page
i] Shaikh
Sharfud-dîn was the son of Shaikh Yahiâ. His birthplace is
Maner, a village near Patnâ in Behâr (India). A love of knowledge
and the religious life, and signs of spiritual greatness, were found
in him from his early childhood. A strange Being was once seen by the
cradle of the baby. The mother, frightened, reported the matter to her
father, Shahâb-ud-dîn, a great saint. The latter consoled
her, saying that the mysterious Presence was no less a Being than the
Prophet Khezar (A mysterious Personage, according to some, a Prophet;
according to others, a Walî 'Friend of God'. He is supposed
to be an Immortal Being, an invisible Teacher and Helper of Mankind.
Moses was sent by God to seek His instruction. ‘Khezar'
literally means 'green‘, a metaphorical expression for auspiciousness,
blessedness, wholesomeness, and fertility.) Himself, and that the baby
was expected to be a man of great spiritual advancement. He acquired
secular knowledge under Ashraf-ud-dîn, a famous professor of those
days. He first refused to marry, but had to yield when, being ill, he
was advised by the physician to take to marriage as the remedy for his
disease. He left home after the birth of a son, travelled in many places,
and was at last initiated (at or near Delhî ) by Najîb-ud-dîn
Firdausî. The latter made him his deputy on earth under a deed
drawn twelve years earlier under the direction of the Prophet of Islâm
Himself, asked him to leave the place, and quitted his body shortly after. [page
ii ] On his initiation, Sharf-ud-dîn lived for many
a long year in the woods of Bihiâ and the Râjgiri Hills.
In his later days he adopted Bihâr (now a subdivisional town) as
his residence, at the request of some of his friends and disciples. He
died on Thursday, the 6th of Shawwâl, 782 Hijra, in the opening
years of the I5th Century A. D. His titular name is Makh-dûm-uI-MuIk,
'Master of the Kingdom or the World'.
He was equally proficient in secular learning and esoteric Knowledge,
and possessed superhuman powers. His tomb at Bihâr is still resorted
to as a place of sanctity by a large number of devout Mahomedans. He
wrote many works, of which three only have yet been published.
These
are : -
(I.) Maktûbât-i-Sadî,
a Series of a Hundred Letters (or rather essays on definite subjects)
addressed to his disciple Qâzî Shams-ud-dîn in 747
Hijra.
(2.) Maktûbât-i-Bist-o-hasht,
a 'Series of 28 Letters', being replies to the correspondence of his senior
disciple, Mozaffar, the prince of Balkh.(3.) Fawâed-i-Ruknî,
a number of brief Notes prepared for the use of his disciple Rukn-ud-dîn.The
present booklet consists of the translation of copious extracts from Maktûbât-i-Sadî,
the most elaborate and comprehensive of the three published works, with Notes
occasionally added from the other two with a view to elucidate or complete
the subject [Page iii] in
hand. These extracts, it is hoped, will cover the greater part of, if not
all, the principles inculcated in these books, and are expected
to give the reader a fair knowledge of the Teaching of the Author in all
its phases.
Matters relating to mere exoteric rites, legends and traditions have been omitted.
The translation does not pretend to be always very literal, but an honest attempt
has been made to present a faithful rendering of the original to the English-knowing
public, that they may be able to better appreciate the Teachings of IsIâm,
and that the Brotherhood of Creeds may have one more advocate to plead its cause
before the tribunal of
the human intellect.GAYÂ , (BEHAR.) BAIJNÂTH SINGH.
1908. [Page
1]
ON
MONOTHEISM (TAUHÎD)
[Page
1] MASTERS
OF THE PATH have divided monotheism into four stages. The first stage
consists in repeating, vocally, without any inner conviction, “There
is no God save Allâh”. (Lâ elâha ill’ Allâh).
This is hypocrisy, and does not profit on the day of resurrection. The
second stage consists in repeating the said logion vocally with
an inner conviction based upon conventional imitation (as in the case
of ordinary people), or some form of reasoning (as in the case of an
intellectual theist). This is verily the visible body of monotheism,
frees one from gross polytheism and from hell, and leads to heaven. This
second stage, though safer than the first, and less unstable, is for
all that a low one, fit for old women. ( Weak souls. Trans. ). The third
stage consists in Light shining in the heart, which reveals the One Agent
alone [Page 2] as
the root of all phenomena, and the non-agency of all else. This is quite
unlike the conviction of ordinary people or that of an intellectual theist.
Such a conviction is a fetter to the soul, whereas the vision of the
Light breaks all fetters. There must be difference between one who believes
a certain gentleman to be in his house, on the testimony of others (
as in the case of ordinary people ), another who infers the residence
of that gentleman in the house, because he sees his horses and servants
at the gate (as in the case of the intellectual theist), and another
who actually sees the gentleman in the house (as in the case of the third
stage). In the third stage one sees the creatures and the Creator, and
distinguishes them from Him. This much of separation still persists — hence
it is not perfect union in the eyes of the Masters.
The
fourth stage consists in the pouring forth of the Divine Light so profusely,
that it absorbs all individual existences in the eyes of the pilgrim. As
in the case of the absorption of particles floating in the atmosphere in
the light of the sun, the particles become invisible — they do not
cease to exist, nor do they become the sun, but they are inevitably lost
to sight in the overpowering glare of the sun — so, here, a creature
does not become God, nor does it cease to exist. Ceasing to exist is one
thing, invisibility is another. ..When thou [page
3] lookest through a mirror, thou dost not see the mirror,
for thou mergest it into the reflexion of thy face, and yet thou canst not
say that the mirror has ceased to exist, or that it has become that reflexion,
or that the reflexion has become the mirror. Such is the vision of the Divine
Energy in all beings without distinction. This state is called by the Sûfîs,
absorption in monotheism. Many have lost their balance here: no one can pass
through this forest without
the help of the Divine Grace and the guidance of a Teacher, perfect, open-eyed,
experienced in the elevations and depressions of the Path and inured to its
blessings and sufferings.......Some pilgrims attain to this lofty state only
for an hour a week, some for an hour a day, some for two hours a day, some
remain absorbed for the greater portion of their time.
Beyond the four is the stage of complete absorption, i. e., losing the
very consciousness of being absorbed and of seeking after God — for such
a consciousness still implies separation. Here, the soul merges itself and the
universe into the Divine Light, and loses the consciousness of merging as well. “Merge
into Him, this is monotheism: lose the sense of merging, this is unity.” Here
there are neither formulae nor ceremonies, neither being nor non-being, neither
description nor allusion, neither heaven nor earth. It is this stage alone [Page
4] that unveils the mystery: “All are non-existent save Him”; “All
things are perishable save His Face”. “I am the True and the Holy
One.” Absolute unity without duality is realised here.“Do not be deluded, but
know: everyone who merges in God is not God.”
The
first stage of monotheism is like the outermost shell of the almond; the
second stage is like the second shell; the third stage is like the core;
the fourth stage is like the essence of the core — the oil of the almond.
All these are known by the name of the almond, but each differs immensely
from the others in status, result, and use.
This
note should be studied patiently and intelligently I since it deals with
the basis of all developments, activities, and supersensuous phenomena. It
will explain the phraseology and the allusions in the writings of the saints,
and throw light on the verses on monotheism and the stages
thereof.
O brother! though
an ant, thou
mayest turn out to be a Solomon. Do not think thou art an impure
sinner: though a gnat, thou mayest become a lion. ..God raises
the monotheist out of the dualist, the faithful cut of the
faithless, and the devotee cut of the sinner.
- Letter 1.
[The following extracts on monotheism from “The
Series of 28 Letters”, another work of the author, may be aptly added. Translator ] [Page
5]
According
to a tradition of the Prophet, all beings were created out of Darkness, but
each took in Light according to its capacity, and thus became luminous. Hence
all beings are sparks of the Divine Light, and their luminosity is derived
from It. Now one can fully understand the sacred verse: “God is the Light
of heaven and earth”. -Letter 17.
Thou-ness
and I-ness pertain to our world. They do not exist in the region of the Beloved.
He is the one Reality: futile is the assertion of any existence but His. -Letter
2.
TURNING
TO GOD OR CONVERSION (TAUBÂH)
Taubâh literally
means to turn back. But the nature of the turning must be different with
different individuals according to the difference in their conditions and
stages. Ordinary people would turn from sin with apology in order to escape
punishment; middling ones would turn from their deeds to secure the regard
of the Master; the Elect would turn from all worlds, here and hereafter,
and feel the insignificance and non-existence thereof in order to realise
the glory of the Maker. The turning of a beginner cannot be permanent. A
saint says of himself: “I turned back 70 times and failed [Page
6] each
time; but my seventy-first turning proved steady, and I failed no more,”
Khwâjâ (Master)
Zoonoon of Egypt observes that the Taubâh of ordinary people consists
in turning from sins, that of the Elect in turning from heedlessness.
Khwâjâ Sobaid and many others are of opinion that Taubâh
consists in remembering one's past transgressions and being ever ashamed of
them, so that one may not grow proud of one's many virtues. On the other hand,
Khwâjâ Junnaid and many others hold the view that Taubâh
consists in forgetting past transgressions, i.e.. in expunging their
impressions from the heart, so that it may become as pure as if it had never
committed them.
Taubâh
his obligatory for all pilgrims at all times, since for each pilgrim there
is always a stage higher than his present one. If he halts at any stage,
he stops his pilgrimage and commits sin.
Taubâh
consists in a firm and sincere resolution to abstain from sins, so as to
assure God of one's unwillingness to commit them in future; and in compensating,
to one's best ability, those one has harmed in any way.
Taubâh
is the basis of all developments, as the ground is for the foundation of
a building, The chief requisite is Îmân (peace, faith, or moral [Page
7] sense), Taubâh and Îmân appear together,
and the latter illumines the heart in proportion to the former.
The
real Taubâh lies in turning from one's nature. When the disciple turns
from his nature he becomes another; i.e., he does not become another
man, but his qualities change. Then he unfolds true Îmân, which
sweeps away many-ness and leads to unity. Ere the turning, Îmân
is but conventional and nominal. “How long will you worship
God with your tongue only? This is no better than worshipping desires. So
long as thou dost not become a Moslem from within, how canst thou
be a Moslem merely from without?” The lame ass of conventional faith
and the lip-behaviour that we
have cannot help us to tread the Path.
None
ought to despair under any circumstance whatsoever. Here work is without
a motive, and requires no payment. Many are instantly raised from
the
level
of image-worship to a stage higher than the angels and heaven.
The Lord does whatever He wishes. “How” and “why” find no room here. May
God make thee a seer of His, and remove thee from thyself! Do thou aspire
high, though thou art low at present. O brother, human aspiration should
stoop to nothing, either on earth or
in heaven! “Such men are so constituted as to [Page
8] care for neither hell nor
heaven. They seek God and God only and spurn what is not He.”
Theosophy
(Tasavvuf) is ceaseless motion, since standing water becomes stagnant. A
man may corporeally be in his closet, yet his spirit may run to the Malakût
(The astral and lower mental planes.) and the Jabrût. (The higher mental
plane)
Rapid
motion, like the morning breeze, can neither be seen not grasped. - Letters
2-4.
ON
SEEKING THE TEACHER
The
Saints on the Path – blessed be they – unanimously declare that
it is incumbent upon a neophyte) after the maturity of his conversion (Taubâh),
to seek a Teacher, perfect, experienced in the elevations and depressions
of the Path, its joys and sorrows, possessed of balance, and versed in the
internal ailments of a disciple and their remedies. Though in the beginning
one does not need a Teacher, and the seed can be sown merely with the help
of Divine Grace, the seed, when sown in the soil of the heart, does need
a Teacher for its further growth, for the following reasons given in the
books of the saints: [Page
9]I. Since one cannot go to the Kâbâ (The Sacred
Shrine at Mecca) without a guide, albeit the way is visible and sensuous,
and the pilgrim possesses eyes and feet, it is impossible without a guide
to tread the occult Path trodden by 120,000 prophets, which has no visible
track and is supersensuous.
2.
As there are many thieves and robbers on a sensuous way, and one cannot travel
without a guide, so on the occult Path there are many robbers in the guise
of the world, the desire-nature and the elementals, and one cannot travel
without the guidance of a Master.
3. There are many precipices and dangers on the Path, leading to one or other of
the many heretic schools formed by those who, having entered the Path without
a
Perfect Guide, on the strength of their own intellectual resources, fell and
perished in the forest and deserted the Law. Others, more fortunate, have safely
crossed
those dangers under the protection of Masters, and have seen the victims, and
known where and why they fell. All pilgrims are liable to these dangers. If one
secures the help of a mighty Teacher, one can be saved and progress with the
help of His secret hints and instructions, else one may fall into some heresy
and lose the
fruit of one's labour.[Page
10]
4.
The pilgrim may pass, on the way, through certain spiritual conditions, and
the soul may put off the physical garment, catch the reflection of the Divine
Light, display superhuman powers as a Divine agent during the continuance
of the experiences, taste the relish of “I am God, the Holy One”, and become
proud of having reached the goal. The pilgrim cannot understand this intellectually:
but if the soul, during the continuance of these experiences, is not helped
by a mighty Master, he may, it is feared, lose faith, and fall a victim to
a false notion of unity.5. The pilgrim on the way unfolds supersensuous powers,
and sees supersensuous phenomena— devilish, passional, and divine.
But he cannot understand them, as they are spoken in a supersensuous language
(i. e. revealed through an unfamiliar medium) ...If, at this stage, he is
not aided by a Teacher, helping him on behalf of God, and versed in the interpretation
of supersensuous words and symbols, he cannot progress further. When God
opens the eyes of a man, so that he distinguishes good from evil, and resolves
to follow the one and avoid the other, but does not know how to do it, he
must betake himself to a Divine Man and make a firm determination to change
his condition.[Page
11] Then the Divine Man will take him up, help him
to subdue the desire-nature, gently induce him to abstain from his defects
and blemishes, and keep him away from bad companions. A disciple can with
the help of a Teacher, do in an hour what he would do unaided in a year.
It is said: a disciple may reach the goal with the help of a single Teacher,
or of more than one Teacher. (In the latter case) each Teacher may be the
means of the revelation of one stage only; yet it is more consistent with
decency and politeness for the disciple to refrain from looking upon such
a stage as the limit of development attained by his Teacher, ... inasmuch
as the Perfect Ones are not at all concerned with the business of stages
and conditions. But one cannot leave one Teacher for another without the
permission of the former. Who does so deserts the Path.
It
is the practice of the Masters — blessed be They ! — to impose
a threefold discipline on a student. If he observes it, he receives the Robe
(the real one, not the conventional) — else he is rejected. The threefold
discipline consists of : 1. Service of the world for a year. 2. Service of
God for a year. 3. Watching the heart for a year. -Letter 5. [Page
12]
ON
THE QUALIFICATIONS OF A TEACHER
.
Broadly
speaking there are five qualifications :(1) Devotion to God. One cannot be
thus devoted, unless one is free from servility to all save Him.(2) Capacity
to receive truths direct from God without any intermediary. One cannot unfold
this capacity without completely getting rid of the lower human nature. (3)
Nearness to God. One cannot approach God unless one is equipped with the
Divine character, and one's Spirit reflects the light of the Divine attributes.(4)
Acquisition of knowledge from God without any intermediary. For this the
heart should be cleansed of all impressions, sensual and intellectual.(5)
Being an Elect of the Heart Doctrine, which relates to the knowledge or the
Divine Essence, the Divine Qualities, and the Divine Works. One cannot attain
to this stage without a second birth. “One born of the mother's womb
sees this world ; one born of the Self (i.e., quitting the lower human nature)
sees the supersensuous world.”Nevertheless it is said that the qualifications
of a Teacher are indescribable and innumerable. A Teacher is not the body,
the head, or [Page 13] the
beard, visible to man. He is in reality the inner being by the side of God,
in the region of Truth, clothed in Divine mercy and glory. Here is a query:
How can a beginner find out such a Teacher and Guide, know and follow Him
? It is not meet for a beginner to weigh Divine Men with the balance of his
little intellect and to look at Them with his limited vision. Nor is it meet
to follow another on his mere assertion. Then how to know if such a one is
a genuine Teacher or a mere pretender ?
Answer:
Each seeker is furnished with materials appropriate to his lot. He cannot
transcend them, ...nor can anything hinder him from using them.
Query:
Is there any sign whereby to distinguish a pretender from a true Teacher,
the worthy from the unworthy ?
Answer:
There are many signs, but it is impossible to describe and fix them. For
all that, there is no sign or mood, the presence or absence of which alone would
mark
a Teacher or a pretender. In short, one blessed with the Divine
Grace should set his feet on the Path, turn away from sensual pleasures and
passional gratifications, and
fix his attention on God. Then the glance of some Perfect Teacher
will shine in the mirror [Page
14] of the heart. When a true disciple catches such a glance,
he instantly contracts a love for the Beauty of His Godly Strength, becomes
restless and uneasy, and comes to the Path. This uneasiness forbodes
fortune and success.
Perfect discipleship consists in perfect love for the Beauty
of the Teacher's Godly Strength. A disciple should follow the wishes of his
Teacher, and not his own wishes.
In each locality there is a Teacher who protects men living
in that
area. The King of the time is only one, but there is an ordinary teacher
in each town. According to tradition there are always 365 Friends of God,
who are the props of the world and the channels of the transmission of blessing
and mercy from heaven to earth
..... O
brother, know for certain that this work has been before thee and me (i.e.,
in bygone ages), and that each man has already reached a certain stage. No
one has begun this work for the first time. Everything is according to Divine
dispensation. Do you suppose 100,024 prophets to have ushered any new work
into the world? By no means. They stirred up what lay already in the bosom,
and led man to what was ordained for him by God. -Letter
6. [Page 15]
ON
DISCIPLESHIP
Desire
is a craving in the heart for a certain object. The craving produces a stir
in the heart, the stir arouses a tendency to seek for the object. The nobler
the object, the purer the desire. ..Desire is threefold :-( I) Desire for
the world. It consists in the absorption of a man in the seeking of worldly
objects. Such a desire is a downright danger. When it clouds the heart of
a neophyte, it keeps him back from all virtues, and lures him to failure.
A life spent in the gratification of such a desire deprives one of eternal
happiness after resurrection.(2) Desire for heaven. The soul transcends the
previous stage, longs for the heavenly state and permanent happiness, and
practises lifelong asceticism, so that he may attain his object on the day
of resurrection. The desire for heaven is nobler than the desire for the
world. (3) Desire for God. A man (at this stage) unfolds the inner sight,
aspires to transcend the created universe, and considers it disgraceful to
seize anything contained in that area — so that he develops a longing
for the Creator Himself and is respected in heaven as well as on earth. When
a disciple ceases to hanker after the word and heaven, and regards everything
save his Object as [Page 16] a
hindrance to his (onward) march, he should heartily endeavour to seek God,
come manfully to the Path, and resort to a compassionate Teacher, so that
the latter may help him in treading the Path, and tell him of its dangers,
thus securing him a safe journey without any break or failure.
The
Teacher cannot turn an unruly candidate into an earnest disciple. ..If the
spirit of the Path lies latent in a candidate, it will unfold by His company
and service. The Divine Law works in this way.
ON
DISCIPLESHIP (Continued)
When
a man calls himself a disciple, he ought to justify
the title to the fullest extent and firmly tread the straight Path. He should
constantly use the collyrium of turning
back (Taubâh), put on the robe of detachment from
connections and from self, drink the wine of Seeking
out of the cup of Purity, draw the sword of Magnanimity
from the sheath of Religion, dismiss the cravings of
the infidel Desire, practise absorption, and not care
for the higher or the lower worlds. When he has become
proficient in the truths of discipleship and the subtleties
of Seeking, has gathered the
fruits of purification and asceticism, begun to tread
the Path and passed through several stages of the journey — then,
if asked whether he is a disciple, he [Page
17] can
say: “I may be one, God helping”.Thus
is discipleship justified, and pretension avoided.
This
is the way of those endowed with insight and divine
Wisdom. Not to look to personality at any stage, nor to depend upon its possessions.
Many
saints with a
life-long devotion have slipped down from dizzy heights
......
A disciple who
concentrates
in himself the purity of all the angels and the piety
of all men is self-conceited and sure to fall, if he knows himself to be
better than
a
dog. The
beginner has a tongue,
the proficient scholar is silent — Letter 54.
A
disciple is a worshipper of his Teacher. If his rest
and movements are in accordance with His commands, he is a disciple; if he
follows his own desires,
he is
a follower of his desires, not of his Teacher. A disciple
is
he
who loses himself in the Teacher. He shakes off his desires, as a serpent
casts its slough. If he has even the
least remnant of desire left in him, and doubts and protests
find room in his
heart, he is a worshipper of himself, not of the Teacher.
A disciple should be
a worshipper
of the Teacher, so that he may become a worshipper of
God, One who
obeys
the Messenger verily obeys God — Fawdâed-i-Ruknî.
God has concealed
precious gifts under the difficulties He has imposed upon these men (i.e. the
disciples). A disciple should manfully discharge [Page
18] his duties
without fail, in spite of the hardships and trials of
the Path, God does not work in one way only, and it is difficult
to know
which
way will
lead the disciple
to
Him — joy or
sorrow, gifts or privation. There is a divine secret
underneath all sufferings and enjoyments in the world. — The
Series of 28 Letters, Letter I.“
A long journey
is needed to ripen the raw.” As a fruit requires both
sunshine and shadow for its maturity, so a pilgrim requires
the dual experience –- joy and sorrow,
union and separation, presence and absence,— for his perfection.— Ibid.
Letter 5.
There
is no bar to the reception of the Divine Light. If
there is any, it is due to lack of capacity. How can an unpolished mirror reflect
an image
?.... The
pilgrim needs
patience and endurance, not hurry and unrest. God knows
each man as he is,
and sheds the Light when he deserves it — Ibid
.. Letter 4.
Contentment
is a sine quâ non; one without it should abandon occultism and
go to the market.
The performance of duties to the best of one's abilities cannot be dispensed
with, as it is necessary for the safe passage of the pilgrim. While sane, he
should follow Truth, Truth in words and conduct is ever beneficial, never harmful — Ibid,
Letter 15. [Page 19]
THE
FRIEND OF GOD — (THE WALEE)
The
Walee ( or the Friend of God) is one who constantly receives the favours
of the Deity, which consist in his being guarded against all troubles, the
hardest of which is the commission of sins. As a Prophet must be sinless,
so must a Friend be
protected. The distinction between the two is this: The
one is beyond the commission of a sin; the other is liable to commit a sin
on rare occasions, but does not persist therein. The Friend is endowed with
all possible virtues. .....Again, it is said, the Friend is he who does not
fail in his duties to God and the universe. He does not serve through hope
and fear of agreeable and disagreeable consequences. He does not set any
value on his individuality.
A
Friend may be either known or unknown to the people. If unknown, he is not
affected by the evils of fame.
A Friend is he who does not long for the world
or for Heaven, who forsakes himself for the Divine Friendship and turns his
heart to the True One
...... The Friends are the special objects of the
Love of God. Owing to their devotion, they have been chosen as the Governors
of His Kingdom, the channels
of His Activities, receive special powers, and are
liberated from the bondage of the
desire-nature. [Page 20] They
do not desire anything save Him, nor feel attachment
to anything save Him. They have been before us, are in these days, and
will be till
the end of the world
........
They are today the appointed Agents of God to serve
as channels for the propagation of the messages of the ancient Prophets, and
to govern the world — so
that the rain may pour from heaven by Their blessings,
that plants may grow from the earth by Their purity, and that the faithful
may prevail over
the faithless
by Their strength.
Superhuman
powers are a kind of idols in this world. If a saint is content with their
possession, he stops his onward progress. If he turns away from them he advances
the cause of his union with God. Here is a subtle mystery, and it is this:
True Friendship consists in the rejection of all save the Beloved. But attention
to superhuman powers and reliance upon them means the rejection of the Beloved,
and satisfaction with something other than Himself. — Letter 8.
THE
BROTHERHOOD OF FRIENDS
[There
is a passage on the hierarchy of Divine Friends in
Fawâed-i-Ruknî ,
another work of the author, which is translated below as
a supplement to the present subject. — Translator] [Page
21]
There are 4,000 Walees who are
not known to the world. They do not know one another, nor are they conscious
of their exalted position. They ever remain veiled from the
world, as well as from themselves.
There
are 300 Akhyâr (the Charitable or the Benevolent)
who solve the difficulties of the world and keep the
gate of the Divine Sanctuary. There are forty Abdâl
(the Substitutes) 17 Abrâr (the Liberated)
15 Nujabâ (the Pure); 4 Autâd (the
Pegs); 3 Nuqabâ (the Watchers); 1 Qutub (the Pole),
also called Gaus, the
‘Redresser of Grievances'. All these know one another and are interdependent
for the discharge of their respective duties.( Total, 370— Translator)
According
to another authority (Majma-us-Sâerin)
there are 356 Walees ever working in the world.
When one of them retires, another takes his place,
so that there is never any diminution in the number
356. They are made
up of 300 + 40 + 7
+
5 + 3 + I. The One is the Qutub of the world, the preservation
of which is due to His holy existence. If He retired
without another to take
His place,
the world would
fall to pieces. When the Qutub retires, one of the T h
r e e takes His place; one of the Five fills up
the gap in the
Three,
one
of the Seven
fills up the gap in the Five,
one of the Forty fills up the gap in the [Page
22] Seven, one of the
Three Hundred fills up the gap in the Forty,
and a man is posted to the vacancy in the rank of the Three Hundred — so
that 356 ever continue working in the world, and every spot is blessed by Their
auspicious Feet. Their outer life is similar to that of ordinary people, so
the latter cannot
know Them.
Inwardly,
They are
united with God. Love, Friendship, and the Mysteries have
to do with the within, not with the without. They (the
Walees) are too
strong to
be
hindered by
earth, water, fire, air, plains and hills. Being
in the East, They can see and hear men in the West. They can instantly go from
the East to the West, come from the West to the East, go to and come back from
Arsh (the Divine Throne). Theirs are many superhuman powers of like nature.
POLYTHEISM,
AND THE FRIENDSHIP OF GOD
.
Polytheism is twofold :-
(1)
The outer, which consists in worshipping a god other than the One Highest
God.
(2) The inner, which
consists in thinking of a being, other than God, as a helper at the time of need.
Some say that to see anything save Him, is polytheism for an Occultist. [Page 23]
Some say that to refer to any separated self in any way, to be inclined to do anything
with one's own will, and to resort to one's own schemes and plans in any emergency,
are all forms of polytheism.
The
chosen Friend is he who is of God both without and within. He neither acts
nor thinks
against [the Divine Will]. He does not mix
with the desire-nature, forgets his services in the presence of the Master,
and cannot do without Him
...... He is so filled
with Him in all respects — both without and
within — that it is impossible for anything
else to enter into him
...... He loses his desire,
will, and all individual qualities. and exists
merely through God's Desire and Will. He gets what
he wills — not because he wills
anything other than what is God's will, but because
his will is one with God's. Nay God unfolds His
Will in him.— Letter 9.
LIGHTS
When
the mirror of the Heart is cleansed of impurities,
it becomes capable of reflecting the supersensuous lights. They appear
in the beginning
as
flashes, but
gain in power and volume as the heart becomes purer — manifesting
[gradually] as the [Page
24] lamp, the flame, the stars,
the moon, and the sun. The forms of flashes arise
from ablutions and prayers;....... those of the
lamp, the flame and the stars, from the partial purity
of the heart; that of the full moon, from its perfect purity;
that of the sun, from the Soul reflecting its glory
in the perfectly purified heart. A time comes when
(the inner light] is a thousand times more luminous
than the [ external] sun, If [ the visions of]
the sun and moon are simultaneous, the latter signifies
the heart reflecting the light of the Soul, the
former the Soul itself. The light of the Soul is formless,
but is seen behind a veil distorting the
idea into the form of the sun.
Sometimes
the Light of the Divine Attributes may cast its reflection in the mirror
of the heart according to the purity of the latter
....... This Light distinguishes
itself by a
feeling of bliss in the heart, which shows that
it comes from God and not from others, It is hard to describe this bliss.
It is said that the Light of the Constructive Attributes is illuminative,
but not scorching; that of the Disintegrating Attributes scorching, but not
illuminative. This is beyond the comprehension of intellect. Sometimes,
when the
purity of the heart is complete, the Seer sees
the True One within him, if he looks
within, the True One without him,
if he looks to the universe. When the Divine [Page
25] Light is reflected in
the light of the soul, the vision gives bliss.
When the Divine Light shines without the
media of the soul and the heart, the vision manifests
formlessness and infinity, uniqueness and harmony,
the basis and support of all
existence. Here
there is neither rising nor setting, neither
right nor left, neither up nor down, neither space nor time, neither far nor
near, neither
night nor day,
neither heaven nor
earth. Here the pen breaks, the tongue falters,
intellect sinks into nothingness, intelligence and knowledge miss the way in
the wilderness of amazement — Letter
12.
THE
UNVEILING OF THE SUPERSENSUOUS
The
essence of the Unveiling lies in coming out
of the veils. The seer perceives things not perceived by him before. The “veils” mean
hindrances keeping one back from the perfect vision of the Divine Beauty,
and consist of the various worlds —
according to some, 18,000 in number, according to others, 80,600 — all
present in the constitution of man. Man has an eye correlated to each world,
with which he
observes that world during the unveiling. These
worlds are included under a two-fold division: Light and Darkness, Heaven and
Earth, Invisible and Visible, Spiritual and
Physical, — each pair expressing the [Page
26] same sense in different words.
.....When a sincere pilgrim, impelled by his aspiration,
turns from the lower nature to follow the Law,
and begins to tread the Path under the protection
of a Teacher, he unfolds an eye for each of the
veils uplifted by him, to observe the conditions
of the world before him. First, he unfolds the
eye of intellect and comprehends the intellectual
mysteries to the extent of the uplifting of the
veil. This
is called the Intellectual unveiling, and
should not be depended on. Most of the philosophers
are at this stage and take it as the final goal.
This stage transcended, the
sincere pilgrim comes to unveil the heart, and perceives
various lights. This is called the Perceptual
unveiling. Next, he unveils the Secrets ; this
is the Inspirational
unveiling,
and the Mysteries of creation and existence are
revealed to him. Next, he unveils the Soul; this is the Spiritual
unveiling, and he can now view Heaven and
Hell, and communicate with the Angels. When the
soul is completely cleansed of earthly impurities, and
is thoroughly pure, he unveils Infinity and is privileged
to gaze at the circle of Eternity, to comprehend instantly
both Past and Future, getting rid of the limitations of
Space and Time, to see both fore and aft.........to read
hearts, know events, and tread on water, fire, and air.
Such miracles are not to be relied on .... Next
comes [Page
27] the Innermost unveiling,
enabling the pilgrim to enter the plane of the
Divine Attributes. ......The
Innermost is the bridge between the Divine Attributes
and the plane of the Soul, enabling the Soul to
experience the Divine vision, and reflect the Divine
character. This is called the Unveiling of the
Divine Attributes. During this stage, the disciple
unfolds esoteric knowledge, revelation from God,
His vision, His bliss, real absorption, real existence,
or Unity, — according as he unveils the Divine
Attributes of intelligence, audition, sight, construction,
disintegration, stability, or oneness. Similarly
one may think of other qualities.— Letter
13.
[The
last two extracts tacitly refer to the following
Sûfî classification of the human
constitution :—
1.
The Body ( Tan ), the brain-consciousness, or intellect,
correlated to the physical plane (Nâsût ).
2.
The Heart ( Dil ), the desires and the lower mind,
correlated to the astral and lower mental planes (Malakût ) .
3.
The Soul ( Rûh ), the higher mind, the Ego, correlated to the higher mental
plane (Jabarût ) .
4.
The Spirit ( Sirr , or the Mystery ) ,
correlated to the spiritual planes (Lâhût) — Translator] [Page
28]
ON
THE SAME
[The following supplementary notes from The Series of 28 Letters may
prove both instructive and interesting. — Translator ]
You
say you hear certain words, but not from the
organ of speech, or through the organ of sound. Speech and Sound belong to this
world: what
you hear belongs to
Malakût.— Loc. cit. Letter 10.
A
pilgrim may hear the 'sound' in his body,
nay, in the minerals, plants, and animals. But if he hears from them the
same Zikr (i e., the sacred formula) as
practised by him, it is but an echo of his practice — an
imaginary phenomenon, not a real one: whereas,
if he hears from them the Zikr peculiar to them,
the phenomenon is real. .......The
universe being endless, the phenomena are endless.— Ibid, Letter
15.
Powers
and phenomena are trials for a pilgrim. Regard
them as obstacles, and never care for them
...... It is a rare boon to pass
from the Name
to the
Named ...The
Vision of the Prophet Khezar foretells your success
on the
Path. ..The odours, sacred and unearthly, experienced by you, pertain
to the Malakût: how can you
find their likeness on earth ? — Ibid, Letter 16. [Page
29]
ILLUMINATION
There
is a difference between Divine Illumination and Soul Illumination. When
the mirror of the heart is cleansed of all impurities, and has become thoroughly
clear, it may serve to focus the rays of the Divine Sun and so reflect
the Divinity and all His Attributes. But this boon is not enjoyed by every
clean heart. Every runner does not catch the game (lit., the antelope),
but only he who runs can catch it
.....
A
clean heart reflects some of the qualities
of the Soul. If thoroughly clean, it may at times reflect all the qualities.
Sometimes the Essence of the Soul — the Divine
Viceroy — may display its nature, and assert “I
am the True One” by virtue of its
viceroyalty. Sometimes the whole universe may
be seen making obeisance at the vice
regal throne,
and the soul
may mistake
the Divine Viceroy
for God
.......
Such
mistakes are common, and cannot be avoided without
the Divine Grace and the help of the Teacher.
Now to come
to the difference
(1)
Soul-illumination conquers the lower nature temporarily, i. e.,
so long as the illumination continues; — Divine illumination conquers it
permanently.
(2) Soul-illumination is not inconsistent with [Page 30] the
foulness of the heart, does not solve all doubts,
nor does it impart the bliss of Divine
Knowledge; — Divine illumination is the reverse of this.
(3)
Soul-illumination may induce pride, self-conceit, and egoism
..... Divine
Illumination does away with all these, and increases the fervour of Seeking.
‘Illumination'
and 'obscuration' are two words generally used among the Sûfîs.
The former means the unfolding of God, the latter
means the infolding of God. These expressions do not apply to His Essence,
since It is changeless. As when one finds
the solution of a problem, and says, “the problem
is solved” — the problem is not
solved, but one's mind unfolds so as to grasp
the problem; knowledge being called the solution
of the problem, ignorance its obscuration — so,
when one sees all from God, and not from self,
when Self does away with the lower nature and
sees the Unknowable; — this is designated
Illumination. — Letter 14.
DREAMS
First,
a pilgrim passing through the earthly qualities sees in his dreams heights and
depths, [Page 31] streets and wells, gloomy and deserted sites, waters and
mountains. Secondly, passing through the watery qualities, he sees greens and
pastures, trees and sown fields, rivers and springs. Thirdly, passing through the airy
qualities, he sees himself walking or flying in the air, going up the heights. Fourthly,
passing through the fiery qualities, he sees lamps and flames. Fifthly, passing
through the etheric, he finds himself walking or flying over the heavens, going from
one heaven to another, sees the circling of the sky,
and the angels. Sixthly, passing
through the starry region, he sees the stars, the sun and the moon. Seventhly,
passing through the animal qualities, he sees the corresponding animals. If he finds
himself prevailing over an animal, it indicates his
conquest over the corresponding quality. If he finds
himself overcome by an animal, it denotes the predominance
of
the corresponding quality, and he should guard himself against it.
The pilgrim has to pass through thousands of worlds, and in each world he perceives
visions and experiences difficulties peculiar to it.
O
brother, the soul is for the Goal. It should
boldly cry out: “Let me either cease to
live, or reach the Goal”. — Letter. 16. [Page
32]
ON
MISCONCEPTIONS
Many
men fall from doubt and suspicion.
A class of people say, “God does not need
our worship and services, and has no concern
with our virtues and vices: why should we restrain ourselves?” Such a doubt
arises from sheer ignorance, and supposes that the Law enjoins duties for
the sake of God. No. Duties are for the sake of man alone.
.......An
ignorant man
of this
sort fitly
compares with a
patient who, being
prescribed a certain treatment by his physician,
does not follow it, and says that his
abstinence does no harm to the physician.
He speaks truly enough, but works his own destruction.
The
physician did not prescribe
to
please
himself,
but
to cure
him.
A
second class of men transgress the Law and depend on the Divine Mercy. God
is both merciful and a chastiser. We find
that there are many distressed and poor men in this world in spite of His
Mercy and His mountains of Treasure, that not a single grain of wheat grows
without laborious cultivation, and that no man can be healthy without food,
water and medicine. As
He has ordained means for health and wealth without which they cannot be
had, such is the case in the moral sphere also. Denial
and ignorance are poisons to the soul, and idleness its disease. The [Page
33] antidotes
for the poisons are knowledge and wisdom alone. The remedies for the
disease are prayers and worship alone. He who takes poison while depending
on the Divine Mercy, kills
himself. The
disease of the heart consists in desires.
He who does not restrain his desires risks his life if he knows them as
sinful. But
if
he does
not regard them as
harmful he has no life to risk, since he
is already dead. For such
disregard is denial,
and denial
poisons faith.
A third set would understand
by self-discipline, as imposed by the Law, complete freedom from lust, anger
and
other
evils. When they fail
after
practising
self-discipline for a length of time, they
regard the task as impossible. “Man,
as he is constituted, cannot be pure, just as
a black blanket cannot turn into a white one. Why should we undertake an
impossible feat ?' (So they think).— It is ignorance and
vanity to suppose that the Law enjoins
complete freedom from lust and other impulses inherent in human nature. The
Prophet has said, “I am a man, and may
be angry”, and signs of anger were at times visible in him. God
praises one who controls anger, not one who is devoid of anger. Again, the prophet
had nine wives, and a man destitute of the sexual desire should be medically
treated. The Prophet has countenanced the begetting of progeny and the
perpetuation of the race. But he has instructed [Page
34] that the two
(lust and anger) should be subdued so as
to be under the control of the Law, as
a horse under the control of the rider,
or a dog under the control of the hunter.
The animals should be trained, else they
will set upon and overthrow the man. Lust
and anger are like the dog and the horse,
and it is impossible to catch the heavenly
Game without
them. But they should be under control,
else they will destroy us. In short, the
object of self-discipline is to break and
subdue these impulses, and this is possible.
A fourth set
proudly declare that everything is
according to the Divine Will. What is the use of exertion ? — When
the Prophet spoke of the Divine Will, his companions said, “We shall
depend upon it and refrain from exertion”. The Prophet replied, “Ye
shall
exert,
and [then] what has been ordained will
be given”. Thus, man should not
refrain from exertion. If he has in the
beginning been ordained to a noble destiny,
he will attain to it [by exertion].
Good and evil
destinies
hinge
upon virtue
and vice, in
the same way as health and death upon food and starvation. — Letter
18.
THE
OUTER AND THE INNER AILMENTS
Man
has been formed of two different substances, the earthly and the heavenly.
As his [Page
35] earthly frame is liable to ailments, so is the heavenly;
and there are doctors for the treatment and cure of both.
The doctors of the bodily ailments are
the physicians,
and those
of the
moral ailments
are
the Prophets and
(later on) the
Saints who are their successors. As a sick
man would certainly die if not treated
by a skilled
physician,
so a soul suffering
from the
moral
diseases
would certainly
die,
if not helped by a Prophet or a perfect
Saint. As a physician examines the pulse to ascertain
the disease
of a patient,
and recommends
him to resort
to one thing
and
abstain from another, with a view to restore
physical equilibrium and health, — so
also the Divine Messenger ascertains the
moral ailments of the disciple, and prescribes different
duties
based on the
Law according
to his
receptivity and
capacity, recommending this, disallowing
that, so as to reduce his inner perplexities and
desires to
a state
of
harmony
required by
the Law, and
bring about moral
health in the shortest possible time. As
a sick man going against the instructions
of his physician gets worse and worse and has to die, so a moral patient
disobeying the
Law gets more and more
perverse
and has to perish through ignorance. — Letter 19. [Page
36]
THE
ORIGIN OF THEOSOPHY
The
institution of Theosophy (Tasavvuf)
is ancient. It has been practised by the Prophets and the Saints. As evil
impulses predominate in the world,
the Theosophist
(Sûfî) is looked down upon by men. The Theosophist is one who has lost the self,
exists in the True One, is beyond the reach
of the lower nature, and is at one with Truth.
A
Theosophical student
(mutasavvif)
is he who
seeks
to become
a
Theosophist through asceticism and purification,
and disciplines himself in the ways of the Theosophist.
The
Prophet had a place in his mosque
set apart to discourse privately with his elect companions, who trod the
Path. There
were senior
disciples such as
Abubakar, Omar, Osman, Ali and Salmân;
and mediocre ones, such as Belal and
others. The Arab chiefs and his ordinary
companions were not admitted there. The
elect companions were about 70 in number.
When the Prophet wished to show his special
regard to a particular companion ( Sûfî ),
he favoured him with a piece of his garment
(N. B. The word Sûfî may
be derived either from Safâ, purity,
or from Sûf , dress.— Translator)
The
first Theosophist was Adam, and the last
Mohammad; and Theosophy has continued amongst the followers of Mohammad. — Letter 22. [Page 37]
SEEKING
THE PATH
The
aspiration of the Seeker should be such that, if offered this world with its
pleasures, the next with its heaven, and the Universe with its sufferings, he
should
leave the world and its pleasures for the
profane, the next world and its heaven for the faithful, and choose the sufferings
for himself. He turns from the lawful in order
to avoid heaven, in the same way that common
people turn from the unlawful to avoid hell. He seeks the Master and His Vision
in the same way that worldly men
seek ease and wealth. The latter seek increase
in all their works; he seeks the ONE alone in all. If given anything, he gives
it away; if not given, he is content.
The
marks of the Seeker are as follows.
He is happy if he does not get the desired object, so that he may be liberated
from all,
bonds;
he opposes the desire-nature so much, that he would not
gratify its craving, even
if
it cried
therefore
for seventy years;
he is so harmonised with God that ease
and
uneasiness,
a
boon
and
a curse,
admission and rejection are the same
to him; he is too resigned to beg for anything
either from God or from the world;
his, asceticism keeps him as fully satisfied with his little all — a
garment or a blanket — as others might be with the whole world
.....
He vigilantly melts his desire-nature [Page
38] in
the furnace of asceticism and does not think of anything save the True
One.
He sees Him on the right and on the
left, sitting and standing.
Such
a Seeker is called the Divine Seer. He attaches no importance to the sovereignty
of earth or of heaven. His body becomes emaciated by devotional aspirations,
while his heart is cheered with Divine Blessedness. Thoughts of wife and
children, of this world and the next, do not occupy his heart. Though his
body be on earth, his soul is with God. Though here, he has already been
there, reached the Goal, and seen the Beloved with his inner eye.
This
stage can be reached only under the protection of a Perfect Teacher, the
Path safely trodden under His supervision only
..... It is indispensable for
a Disciple to put off his desires and protests, and place himself before
the Teacher as a dead body before the washer of the dead, so that He may
deal with him as He likes.
Virtue
and vice have their uses and evils.
Often a virtue throws one the farther from God, and a vice leads one the
nearer to Him.
The virtue
that
begins
in peace and
ends in pride throws one the farther
from God; the
vice that begins in fear and ends in repentance leads one the nearer to Him. — Letter
23. [Page
39]
THE
PILLARS OF THE PATH
Their
words enliven the heart; their deeds
liberate men; their compassion is universal; they do not care for feeding
and clothing
themselves, but
feed and
clothe
all; they do not look to the evil of
others, but stand
as
their saviours, return good for evil, and bless them that curse. Why ? — For they are protected: no gale save the zephyr
of Love can blow over the world from
the horizon of their heart. Their compassion shines as the sun over friend
and foe alike. They
are humble as
the earth, trodden by the feet of all. They
are not hostile to
any man, nor do they
grasp at anything of the world. All
creatures are their children, they are not the children of
any. They are absolute Compassion for
the whole
universe, for east
and west, — for
they are liberated and see all from the
One Root. One void of these qualities cannot tread
the Path.
In
the case or a Theosophist, the heart
goes first, then comes the tongue. In the case of a worldly-wise man, the
tongue goes first, and then the heart. — Letter 24.
RELIGION, THE PATH, AND TRUTH.
Religion
(Sharîat), the Path (Tariqat ), and Truth (Haqîqat). [Page
40]
Religion is a way laid down by a Prophet for
his followers, with the help of God. All Prophets equally call the attention
of men to Monotheism and Service. So there is but one Religion, one appeal,
and one God. Their teachings cannot be contradictory,
as they are based on Divine inspiration.
The difference is merely verbal and formal, but there is no difference
in the essentials. They are the [spiritual] physicians of
humanity, and have prescribed religions
for their respective followers according to their needs. Religion consists
of a series of injunctions and prohibitions, and deals with monotheism,
bodily purification, prayers, fasts, pilgrimages, the holy war, charity,
and so on.
The Path is based on religion, and consists in seeking
the essence of the forms [dealt with by religion], investigating them,
purifying the heart, and cleansing the moral nature of impurities such
as hypocrisy, avarice, polytheism, and so on. Religion deals with external
conduct and bodily purification; the Path deals with the inner purification.
Religion is the soundness of external purification. Truth is the soundness
of the inner condition. The one is liable to alterations, is the work
of man and can be acquired;
the other is immutable, the same
from the time of Adam to the end of the world, and is the Divine Grace.
The one is like [Page
41] matter, or the body. The other is like
spirit, or the soul. — Letters 25 and 26.
[A
higher stage is simply mentioned,
in Fawâed-i-Ruknî, as Marîat (the Divine
Knowledge), without any detailed explanation. Thus,
Sharîat corresponds to
the exoteric religion of any
given nation; Tarîqat
to the Lesser Mysteries of
the ancient Western mystic,
or the Probationary Path
of the Eastern mystic; — Haqîqat
to the Greater Mysteries of
the ancient Western mystic,
or the Path Proper of the Eastern
mystic; Mârfat to the
stage of the Perfect Man, or
the Master— Translator)
ACCESSORY
TO PRAYERS
After the morning prayer, the twilight should be spent in muttering the Divine Names,
sacred recitations, repentance and apology. One should not speak at this time,
except to obey an express injunction or prohibition of the Scriptures, to bless or
benefit the faithful, and to instruct a student in need of knowledge. The company of
a Saint, a knower of God, or one's own Teacher, if available, is preferable to
mutterings and recitations.
Before the sunset prayer, some time should be spent in attentively examining the
desire-nature i.e. [Page 42] reviewing the gains made and the losses incurred during
the day.
One
should go to sleep pure, and with
holy recitations, and should not sleep unless overpowered. One should get up
in
the latter
part of
the
night before twilight,
and immediately take to the sacred duties. — Letter 28.
PURIFICATION
It
is purity which makes man respectable.
It is the storehouse of all boons and virtues. Islâm is based on purity, and cannot tolerate the slightest stain. She does
not show her face to the impure.
First : – the
purity of the body, the garment, and food.
Second: – the
purity of the senses, i. e., abstinence from sins and transgressions.
Third: – the purity of the heart, i.
e., renunciation of all evil qualities, such as uncharitableness, envy and malice.
With
the first purity, the disciple
takes the first step on the Path; with the second, he takes the second
step; with
the third, the
third. This is the
essence
of
Taubâh — turning from impurity to [Page
43] purity. At first he was a temple of idols; now he becomes
a mosque. At first he was
a demon; now he becomes a man. At first he was dark as the night; now he becomes
bright as day.
It is now
that the
sun of Îmân
(peace or faith) shines in his
heart, and Islâm shows her face and
leads him to the Divine Knowledge. Any
work whatsoever, without this purity, is
but a ceremony or tradition
on the lines
of the forefathers,
but
is not Islâm.
Know
God as your constant guardian.
Living under His ever-watchful Eye, one ought to be modest and feel ashamed
to
bring one's transgressions to
His notice.
As prayers cannot be duly
performed without the
outer
purity, so the
Divine
Knowledge is impossible without
the inner purity.
As fresh water– not water already
used– is necessary for
the one, so pure Monotheism – not
mixed – is necessary for
the other.( See “Monotheism” – Translator)
The
inner purification is hinted
at in the Prophet’s prayer: “O God, purge out
hypocrisy from my heart.” — Letters 29 & 30. [Page
44]
THE
MOTIVE
The
value of a disciple's act lies in his motive. The motive is to the act
as life is to the body and light to the eye. As the body without life or
the eye without light is useless,
so the acts of a disciple without
a pure motive are mere forms. With the Seers, forms are denial and destruction,
not faith and salvation. A valid motive arises from purity, as rays from
the sun and sparks from the flame. When the motive is not biased by worldly
attractions, it is called ascetic purity by the Sûfîs.
When the motive is not biased by heavenly
attractions, it is called spiritual purity.
It is said that the motive
of a man is according to his
knowledge and wisdom. If desire
and love of the world
predominate in the heart
of a man,
all his acts
will be
worldly — even his
prayers and fasts. If desire
and love of heaven predominate
in his heart, all his acts
will he heavenly — even
his eating and sleeping. Again
there are others, of loftier
aspiration, caring neither
for earth nor for heaven, but
for God only.
All acts
done by such men will be purely divine. ...
A
disciple should always be careful to purify his motive and to get out of
mere forms. For this, he should obey the instructions
of a Teacher, [Page
45] His motive, though
in the beginning mixed with
hypocrisy and insincerity, will ultimately
be purified by obeying His
instructions
..... The disciple
should
act as the earth,
so that
the Teacher
may act as the sky — wet
him with His rains, warm him
with His sun, shade him under
His clouds, perfume him with
the fragrant breeze of His
compassion — and
thus help his growth. — Letter 31.
PRAYER
The
daily routine of a disciple,
in the absence of his Teacher, should be such as to secure purity of heart,
whether by
prayer, sacred
study, mutterings, or meditation.
The secret of prayer is inexpressible.
When the disciple,
renouncing separateness, stands for prayer in a mood
of
self-surrender,
his body
ranks with Kâbâ's shrine,
his heart with Arsh (the Divine
Throne); and his spirit sees the Vision Divine.
The devotee
mostly prays
with
the fire
of Love
without observing external forms
(e.g.
kneeling and prostration), takes
all devotees as one, and does not stigmatise
any man with
the brand
of infidelity and damnation.[Page
46]
In the state of prayer, one
merged in the Divine cannot
be conscious of anything else; as AIî, while praying,
was operated upon, and an arrow drawn out of his thigh, but he did not feel it. — Letter
32.
INVOKING
THE DIVINE HELP
Opinions
vary as to which is the better course, invocation of the Divine Help, or self-surrender
to the Divine Will.
In some cases the one is preferable, in others the other, according to the
tendency and condition of each individual. If invocation
induces unfolding, (See page 30) it is good. If it induces infolding, it should be
stopped. If it induces neither
the one nor the other, its performance
and omission are of equal value.
If knowledge preponderates at the time of invocation, it is to be
continued, for such an invocation
is a worship in itself. If Divine Wisdom preponderates at the time, silence is preferable.
What is the use of invoking the
Divine Help, if the Divine
Will is irrevocable ? — Answer: The revocation by
invocation is also in accordance with the Divine Will, the invocation being simply an ordained means, as a shield is a means
to repel an arrow, and watering
is a means to grow seeds. [Page 47]
If one resorts
to an invocation, it is to be repeated three, five or seven times. — Letter 36.
THE
DIVINE ALLEGIANCE
The
Divine Allegiance gives
freedom and the sovereignty of the whole world.
God never made anything so
precious as the heart of His Servant, because
it is there
that He treasured up
the wealth of
His
Wisdom: “I cannot be contained in heaven or
earth, but I am contained in the heart of My faithful Servant”.
What
is Service ? — To be resigned to the Divine Will without a murmur. A Servant
is he who does not think
of wages, and has been
liberated
from
the bonds
of desire.
He who
serves God for
wages is the
servant of
the wages,
not of
God.
Khwâjâ Hasân
Basri says: “Seek the Knowledge that is revealed by
Service, and seek the
Service that is revealed by Knowledge”. Knowledge and
Service are equally necessary, but Knowledge is superior, being the root and
guide. Hence
it is that the Prophet
says: “Knowledge rules conduct, and conduct follows it”. Again, He says
that the sleep of the wise is better than the prayers [Page
48] of the
ignorant, and that the ignorant do more evil than good by their acts.– Letters
37-39.
THE
SACRED FORMULA
The
disciple should ever practise the formula: “There
is no God except Allâh” – vocally or inaudibly, whether he
be alone or in company. Let him not for
a moment step out of this fort. The fort is made of the negative “no
God I” and the affirmative “except Allâh” phrases; and it
protects the pilgrim entering therein
against the two highway robbers: the desire-nature and Satan. When the
disciple unfolds the inner eye in the plane of Unity , he transcends
affirmation and denial,
as they are inconsistent with Unity. Affirmation and denial inhere in the
nature of man, and a disciple does not attain to Unity unless he goes
beyond human nature.
Affirmation and denial are in themselves a form of polytheism, since a
valid affirmation and a valid denial each need three elements– the
affirmer, the affirmation and the affirmed; the denier, the denial and
the denied. When a believer in two is a polytheist, how can a believer
in six be a monotheist ? When
the non-God has no existence, what is to be denied ? When thou thyself
art not, how canst [Page
49] thou
affirm ?. This is the zenith of Unity and the stage of the Perfect Ones
.....
He who sees with the eye of Unity finds the non-God non-existent.
Whenever
Mohammad, transcending
the realm of His mission, looked with the inner eye into the realm of Unity,
He
eagerly and
yearningly wished
His
personality blotted out, the dividing
line erased, and the human limitation cast away.
But
the
Compassion of the Beloved
would ever
intervene, and bring Him back to the realm of His mission for the
delivery of the message. — Letter 40.
THE
NAKED FAITH
Intellect
is a bondage; Faith, the liberator. The disciple should be stripped naked of
everything in the Universe in order to gaze at the beauty of Faith. But thou
lovest thy
personality, and canst
not afford to put off the hat of self-esteem and exchange reputation for disgrace.
All attachments have dropped from the Masters. Their
garment is pure of all
material stain. Their hands are too short to seize anything tainted with impermanence.
Light has shone in Their hearts enabling Them to see
God. Absorbed in His Vision
are They, so that They look not to Their [Page 50] individualities, exist not for Their individualities, have forgotten Their individualities
in the ecstasy of His
Existence, and have become completely
His. They speak,
yet
do not speak;
hear, yet do not
hear; move, yet
do not move;
sit, yet
do not sit.
There is no (individual)
being in Their being,
no speech in
Their speech,
no
hearing in
Their hearing. Speakers,
They are dumb; hearers,
They are
deaf. They
care little
for material
conditions,
and
think of
the True
One [alone].
Worldly men
are not aware
of Their whereabouts.
Physically with men, They are internally
with God.
They are
a boon
to the
Universe — not to themselves, for They are not themselves.
The
knowledge that accentuates personality is verily a hindrance. The knowledge
that leads to God
is alone true Knowledge. The learned are confined in the prison of the
senses, since they but gather their knowledge through sensuous objects.
He that is bound by sense Iimitations is barred from supersensuous Knowledge.
Real Knowledge
wells up from the Fountain of Life, and the student thereof need not resort
to senses and gropings. The iron of human nature must be put into the melting-pot
of discipline, hammered on the anvil of asceticism, and then handed over to
the polishing agency of the Divine Love, so that the latter may cleanse
it of all material [Page
51] impurities. It then becomes a mirror capable
of reflecting the spiritual world, and
may fitly be used by the KING
for the
beholding of His
own Image. — Letter 41.
THE INNER POLYTHEISM
The
Prophet says,“Polytheism
in my followers
is more imperceptible
than the motion
of an ant on a black
stone on a dark
night”. Such
a polytheism,
though not affecting
the [exoteric] faith,
injures the essence
and fruit of
Faith. Pure gold
and an alloy
of gold are both
gold, but the latter
cannot
be as precious
as the
former.
True Faith
consists in Monotheism,
which is the antithesis
of polytheism.
Real Monotheism appears
only when
the root of polytheism
(Separateness)
has been destroyed.
In order to secure
true Faith or Monotheism,
every
impurity that stains
it should be cast
away. Such impurities
constitute the inner
polytheism.
Looking to
any save God for
help or hindrance;
hoping or fearing
from any
save Him; hypocrisy,
anger and
pride, even in their
most subtle
forms; pleasure and
pain at being praised
and blamed
by others; regarding
virtue and vice as
means of union
with and separation (Page
52] from
God — all
these come under
the inner polytheism.
In short, no
one can be established
in Faith unless
his character
comes
up
to the standard:
“He is wholly
from God, by
God, and for
God”.
Again
the Prophet says: “There is no peace for the faithful except in the presence
of God, and death is anything save His Presence”. — Letter 44.
THE
DIVINE KNOWLEDGE
Divine
Knowledge is the
essence of the faithful soul. One destitute of it does not really exist. The
Knowledge
of
the Creator follows
from the knowledge of
created
objects, and leads
to the safety and permanence of the
knower.
One way
to the Divine Knowledge is
to see the whole
universe as subject to the Divine
Will,
to sever connection
from all, and to realize the Unity of God and the Eternity of His Nature
and Attributes.
Another
is through one's
own nature. “He that knows his own nature,
verily knows his
God”. God first showed
His Powers in the universe to enable monotheists to
gain Knowledge of Him by
observing it.
This way being
too
long for
the Sages,
He placed in
Man the
essences of
the entire
creation, [Page
53] thus
making Human Nature
the facsimile of
the whole universe
and the ladder
to His Knowledge.
Pilgrims tread
the Path of Divine
Knowledge in themselves,
look for the pure
and the foul in themselves,
and find the indication
and proof of that
Knowledge in themselves.
God engages some men in observation, and they know Him by pondering over His
creation. He leads others to His knowledge through asceticism. There is another
class of men whose hearts He illumines at once. Again, some are debarred from the
essence of the Divine Knowledge, others from the Path itself. “The Divine Beauty
has thousands of aspects, each atom presenting some peculiar one.”
Noori
was asked: “What is the proof of God?” He replied: “The proof of
God is God Himself.” They asked him again: “Then what is the use of intellect
?” He said:
“Intellect is a failure, it cannot lead save to what is a failure like itself:” Intellect
can only look upon an entity
either as body, essence or accident; or in Space and Time.
It cannot go beyond
those limitations. If it fixes any of those limitations
on God,
it sinks
to infidelity.
If, bewildered,
it exclaims: “I
do not find any
existence save
with these properties.
So, God being without
any of these properties,
is perhaps naught”, — it
is still dragged
down to infidelity
.....
In short, [Page
54] Divine
Knowledge depends
upon Divine illumination
alone. Divine Knowledge
is the knowledge
of God as , He
is in His Essence,
Attributes, and
Works. The Sage
should know
God in the
same way as God
knows Himself,
and as He has described
Himself in the
Qurân.
There are two theories as to the perfection of this Knowledge. Some
Intellectuals, hold that the Sage knows
God in the same way as God knows Himself. If he does not know Him perfectly,
he
knows a part
of
Him. But
God
is partless.
So
Sages
are
equal in Divine
Knowledge. Intellectuals
hold
to the possibility of perfect Divine
Knowledge. The
other theory is held
by the Sûfîs and a few intellectuals as well, viz., that
no one knows God perfectly. They know Him to exist, and know
it to the extent necessary for their salvation. They do not
hold to the possibility of perfect Divine Knowledge.
With the Masters of the Path, Divine Knowledge is the actual and direct perception
of God: with the Intellectuals,
it is the sound intellectual knowledge of God.
It is incumbent on a pilgrim not
to be satisfied and stand still until he reaches the Goal.
The more he knows, the
more he should seek. The whole world is satisfied with a smell or a word (i. e. very little), and no one has received even [Page 55] a drop
from the holy cup. “I asked Him, ' Whose art Thou with all this Beauty ? ' He said,
'I am My own, for I
am verily ONE. I am the
Lover, the Beloved, and
Love; I am the mirror,
the image and the beholder'.” — Letter 45.
LOVE AND DEVOTION
This
world and the next
are intended to be used in seeking God. An objection raised against such
a use of the
next world is untenable: for prayer and fast, pilgrimage
and the holy war,
and all the exoteric obligations cease as such in the next world; but
devotion — seeking after God — ever endures. If you go to heaven, each day of the heavenly life will open up new vistas of Divine Knowledge. An endless work is this,
may it never end !
When God loves a man, He inflicts troubles on him and takes away his wealth, wife
and children. so that
he may be bound to naught, and estranged from all save Him. If he suffers patiently,
he receives boons without toil. If he endures cheerfully, he is
purified of all evils.
Again, God's love for a man makes him aware of the defects of his desire-nature,
so that he becomes its instructor and censor. [Page 56]
The following are the signs of a man's love for God :—
1. Being given to prayer and seclusion.
2.
According to others, preferring the Divine Word to human words, the Divine Presence
to the sight of man, the Service of God to the service of the world;
and not grieving for any loss save separation from Him.
3. According to Junnaid:
Not being tired in His Service.
4. According to a certain Sage: Avoiding sins.
It is dangerous to assert one's love for God.
The
word “Mahabbat” (love) is derived from “Hibba” (a seed.) The seed is the
germ of life, as
it is there that
lies
the
real plant.
The seed
is put
into the
soil, lies
concealed
therein, and
receives
sun and
rain.
heat and
cold, without
any ( apparent]
change. When the
time comes, it
sprouts,
flowers,
and fructifies.
So,
when Love takes
root in the heart,
it bears presence
and absence,
joy and
sorrow, union
and separation, with equanimity.
Devotion is the perfection of Love. Worship makes a servant, knowledge makes a
knower, abstinence
makes an ascetic, sincere seeking makes an earnest aspirant, sacrifice of all
the world [Page 57] makes a Friend, self-sacrifice makes a Lover,
losing the perishable
and imperishable elements of self in the Beloved makes a
Devotee.
It
has been said:
Devotion is born of the Light of the Presence of the Eternal Beloved. It is
like a flash of
lightning, illuminating the eye of
the
Devotee,
speaking to his
ear,
enlivening his
movements,
and
alienating
him from all the world — so that
his acts are not
for self nor for others, but
are works
of impersonal
Devotion to the Beloved.
Devotion
is beyond
words, intellect, and astral perception.“I am Devotion, beyond
this world and
the next; I conquer all without arrow or bow; I shine as the sun in every
atom, yet my presence for its very brightness is unperceived; I speak in
every tongue, I hear in every
ear; yet, strange to say, I am tongueless and earless ; as every thing
in the Universe is verily Myself, My like cannot be found therein ”. —
Letters
46 to 48.
[The
following extract from - Fawâed-i-Rukni may appropriately
find place here. – Translator ]
As
prayers and fasts
are the outer duties, so Love and Devotion are the inner duties. Their ingredients
are pain and
sorrow. Devotion
leads the devotee to God. Hence
Devotion is necessary
to
tread
the Path. Know Devotion as
Life, its absence, as –
[Page
58] death. The privilege of Devotion is not granted to every man, nor does
every man deserve it.
He who deserves it is worthy of his God; he who does not deserve it is unworthy
of Him. A Devotee alone can appreciate the value of Devotion.
A vast multitude seek
after heaven, while very few seek after Devotion; for heaven is the lot of
the desire nature, while Devotion is the lot of the Soul.
Get rid of the notion of selfhood, and give up thy self to Devotion. When thou hast
done so, thou hast reached the Goal.
Dost thou know why so many obstacles have been
set up on the
Path ? — In order that the devotee may gradually develop
strength, and be
able to see the Beloved without
a veil.
The
boat on the
sea [ of life]
is Devotion;
the Boatman is
the Divine
Grace.
SEEKING
GOD
Nothing
is more
binding upon you than to seek God. If you go to market, seek Him. If you
come home, seek Him. If
you enter a
tavern, seek Him.
If the Angel of
Death
come to you,
take care not to neglect the
Seeking. Tell him, “Do thou thy work, I do
mine”.......
If you be taken
down to hell,
you shall not
neglect the
Seeking. Say
to the Angel [Page
59] of
Hell, “ Strike
my useless
personality
with the whip
of chastisement:
I, on my part,
tread the Path
of Seeking” — so
that the Work
may go on.
If you are
taken up to
Heaven, do
not look
to the hooris and
palaces, but
speed on the
Way of Seeking. “Tho'
they offer
me both the
worlds, I will
not have them
without Thy Presence.”
The
first stage on the Path of Seeking is Humility. The Great Ones
say: 'Humility is the messenger from God to man.' Sown in the heart, it
impels to God. Practised for
some time,
it turns into Courage. Masters unanimously hold that Love cannot
put up save with the Courage
of the Disciple. Practised for some time, Courage turns into
Seeking.
This Seeking
is led by the
Divine Will
to the secrets
of (the holy
formula),“There
is no God except
Allah”. The
drum of Seeking
proclaims at
the gate of
the Divine
Sanctuary,“He
who seeks God
obtains Him”.
A cry resounds: “Let
neither sky
nor earth,
heaven nor
hell, hinder
the Path of
My Seekers,
for they seek
Me, and I am
their Goal”. These
are the steps
on the ladder
of human progress.
Each pilgrim
has his own
stage, according
to his aspiration.
The
vigilant
Seeker
should kill out
self-conceit and
self-respect with
asceticism
and purification,
transcend both
the worlds, and
be ready
to lose
his life.
It
is unlawful
for
him to
aspire
after
anything [Page 60] in the universe. “One does not unite with the All,
unless one parts with all.”
It
is said: When Adam was lodged
in Paradise, the Law commanded him not to approach the Tree, while the
Path dictated to him to turn
away from all. Adam said unto himself. “This
Paradise is full of wonders, and I am its lord.
But my heart longs to visit the abode of sorrow:
lordship will not serve my purpose.” A voice
spoke to his spirit,
“Adam, wilt thou remove to a foreign country ?” “Yes”, answered Adam, “for
I have something to do”. The voice said, “Do this work here”. Adam: The other
is more important”. The voice; “Heretofore, Paradise and the angels have
been thy servants. Now thou shalt have to exchange the home of peace for the
abode of condemnation, the crown for poverty, reputation for disgrace”. Adam: “I
accept all these, and will proclaim my freedom throughout the universe”.
So it cannot be
said that Adam was deprived of Paradise, but rather that Paradise was deprived
of
Adam. — Letter 50.
THE
WAY TO GOD
Khwâjâ Bâyazîd
was asked, “What is the way to God ?” He replied: “When thou hast
vanished on the Way, then hast thou come to God”. [Page
61] Mark this:
If one attached to the Way cannot see God, how can one attached to self see God?
When
the Sun
of Divine Knowledge rises, all modes of knowledge become ignorance; when
Divine aspiration
appears, all desires
melt away
.......
Whoever is bound to his exterior — his turban, his robe, the size and
colour of his garment — is still
attached
to the personality and a worshipper thereof. Thou canst serve either personality
or
the
Law: two contraries cannot unite. So long as you
hanker after
approbation
and dignity so long as
you
become angry at an insult,
you are with your old
genius and self-conceit, and have not been accepted by the
Law.
You should
sacrifice
yourself in the SELF. To no purpose
do you
change your dress and food. If you
eat a single blade of grass in a lifetime, remain
clad in
a single
garment
for a
thousand years, are shut up in a monastery away from the
sight of
men, — beware,
lest you
should be
deluded.
All these
are but the
subtleties
of the desire-nature,
its cunning
and
craft.
Many
pious men are as motionless as a serpent or a scorpion frozen with cold.
Their piety is not
due to rectitude and purity, but to lack of opportunity. When summer comes
in and
the surroundings change, one may behold what they do. .....No one can
safely tread
the Path [Page 62] without
a Guide ....... In the beginning, a disciple is not a fit recipient
of the Divine
Light. He is like
a bat,
unable to
bear the light
of the
Sun. As it is
dangerous
folly to
travel in
utter darkness,
he needs
a light less
dazzling
than the Sun, in
order to
illumine the Path for
his safety.
Such a light
is that
coming from
the
Masters,
who, like the moon
[ reflecting
the light
of the
sun ], have
become fit
reflectors of the Spiritual Light. — Letter 5 1.
SPEECH
AND CONDUCT
All
learned men base conduct on speech. They have gathered their learning through
the avenues
of hearing and speaking. The Masters of Truth have received Their Knowledge
through
divine inspiration, which depends on following the Law. With
Them, knowledge
does not depend upon words or speech. It has no connection with the tongue.
Knowledge is that which makes a man follow the Law. Secular learning
deals with
words. Knowledge deals with Truth, and is not to be found save in the region
of the
Real. The province of the tongue is letters, and they are limited.
Knowledge comes from the Heart, and the Heart does not perish. God has not given [Page
63] Knowledge to all, whereas He has not withheld speech from any.
Knowledge is that which controls desire and leads to God. That which contributes to the gratification of desire and leads to the courts of chiefs and oppressors is
not Knowledge, but a snare. Knowledge makes one humble and frees from ostentation
and disputes. The end of all learning is the beginning of Discipleship.
The first robe worn by a Disciple consists in coming out of the self. The second robe
consists in
setting no value on what he heretofore took as divine, so that the flame of
Discipleship
burns all things in him. Then, he begins to see lights and utter
charming words,
leading to self-conceit and the admiration of others. This is a snare of the
desire-nature, and stops his progress. Here comes in the necessity of a
Teacher to help him cross this stage and bring him from stagnation to motion. Thus light is a thicker veil than darkness. Hence is it that the Wise are dumb and blind,
unaffected
by the opinion of the people. Hence is it, again, that the difficulties of a Disciple
cannot be solved by a learned man, as the latter is but versed in religion,
while the difficulties
of the former are connected with the Path. It is useless for a Disciple to follow
the learned, as the dicta of the latter are concerned with outer conduct, while
he has to deal with the [Page 64] inner life. The one is preparing for
the destruction
of self; the other seeks salvation for the self through knowledge. The business
of the learned is to gather up what has been left by others, and store in his
bosom the knowledge of the past. The business of the Disciple is to throwaway and renounce
what he
has, and to unlearn what he has learned. So they are opposites and cannot be reconciled
in
any way. — Letter 52.
MAGNANIMITY
A disciple lacking in magnanimity makes no progress at all. One whose aspiration
does not go beyond heaven, is not fit for this battle. The Wise hold that the desire
to have everything in the world according to one's own wishes, befits a woman, not
a man. In short, a magnanimous disciple should first of all tread upon his own life
and try his sword on his own desire-nature, not on an infidel. For the infidel can only
hurt the body, and plunder earthly possessions; whereas the desire-nature injures
the very root of religion and destroys faith.
Be
on the
alert, and take no step without due caution, for Time is a penalty to the heedless.
It
is said: — When a man wishes to enter the Path, the Chief of the Evil
Ones,
Satan, seizes [Page
65] his skirt and says: “I bear the Cross of
Curse for this work, that
no unclean fellow may enter
the Path.
If any dare come
in without
the Robe
of Monotheism
and
sincere
Earnestness,
I lop
off his
feet .......
“Should
thy inner
eyes unfold, every atom would tell thee a hundred secrets. Then wouldst thou
see
each atom ever
advancing.
All
are absorbed in the
march — thou art blind — and the march goes on in thee as well. There is no limit to the progress
of LOVE. Such has been there is no help.” From highest heaven to lowest abyss, all
things are
seeking and
striving.
It is the
wicked man
alone
who has made
peace
with
the enemy,
and cut himself
off
from the Beloved. — Letter 53.
KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge is to purification and asceticism what ablution is to prayer. No practice
is possible
without knowledge, as no prayer is possible without ablution.
Knowledge is of
two kinds: that received from teachers and books, and that unfolded in the soul.
Again the latter kind is twofold:
(1) The Knowledge transmitted from the transmitted from the Divine Sanctuary into:
[Page 66]
(a)
The
Soul of a Prophet. Such Knowledge is called Wahî. (A revelation
received from God through an Angel ( mostly Gabriel) — Translator)
(b)
The Soul of a Master. Such Knowledge is Ilbâm (inspiration).
(2)
The knowledge transmitted into :—
(a) The Soul of a Master from a Prophet.
(b) The Soul of a Disciple from a Master.
As a Master sees God in the Soul of a Prophet, so a Disciple sees God in the Soul
of a Master.
“So
long
as the tablet of thy heart bears the impression of letters, thou dost not know
any
of the secret meanings. When the letters completely vanish from the tablet
of thy heart, then comes the knowledge of the secret meanings.”
Knowledge
is the key to all virtues, as ignorance is the key to all vices. Knowledge
ushers in liberation,
ignorance brings
ill destruction. The
celestial
ranks and
abnormal
sacred powers
spring from knowledge; chastisements in the various grades
of hell
result from ignorance.
So
the faithful should
shun ignorance
and the
ignorant in the
same
way as
vice and infidelity.“A wise man is my friend, and
a fool is my foe.” As ignorance and the ignorant
are to be avoided, so is it obligatory to seek
knowledge and the company
of
the wise — not worldly knowledge, but the
moral;
not
the worldly [Page
67] wise but the morally
wise. “If you acquire
knowledge
thoughtlessly,
you
will use it
as
a means of gaining
worldly
position.
True
Knowledge is
that
which leads to
the
Divine Sanctuary,
not
that which
leads
to wealth, rank and passional gratifications.” The
company of a Sage for a day is more conducive
to progress than purification and asceticism. — Letter
55.
[
The following note may be added from “The Series of 28 Letters.” — Translator]
Real
knowledge
comes from the Soul, and a true knower is he in whom lies the original
and final Knowledge. The
purer the
Soul,
the deeper
and
more subtle
its
comprehensions.— Loc. Cit., Letter 6.
THE
STEPS OF A DISCIPLE
The
first step is Religion (Sharîat) When the disciple has fully paid
the demand of Religion,
and aspires to go beyond, the Path ( Tarîqat) appears before
him. It is the
way to the Heart. When he has fully observed the conditions of the
Path, and aspires to soar higher, the veils of the Heart are rent,
and Truth (Haqîqat) shines
therein.
It is the way to the Soul, and the Goal of the Seeker.
Broadly speaking,
there are four stages: Nasût, Malakût, Jabarût
and Lâhût, each [Page
68] leading to the next. Nasût is
the animal nature, and functions through the five senses — e.g.,
eating, contacting, seeing, hearing and the like. When the disciple
controls
the
senses to the limit
of
bare necessity, and transcends
the
animal nature by
purification
and
asceticism, he reaches
Malakût — the
region
of
the
angels.
The
duties
of
this
stage
are
prayers
to
God.
When
he
is
not
proud
of
these,
he
transcends
this
stage
and
reaches
Jabarût — the
region
of
the
Soul.
No
one
knows
the
Soul
but.
with
the
divine
help;
and
Truth,
which
is
its
mansion,
baffles
description
and
allusion.
The
duties.
of
this
stage
are
love,
earnestness,
joy,
seeking,
extasy
and
insensibility.
When
the
pilgrim
transcends
these
by
forgetting
self altogether, he reaches Lâhût, the unconditioned state. Here
words
fail.
Religion is for the desire-nature ; the Path, for the heart;
Truth for the
Soul. Religion leads
the desire-nature from
Nasût, to Malakût,
and transmutes
it into Heart. The Path
leads the Heart from Malakût
to Jabarût,
and
transmutes it into Soul.
Truth leads the Soul from
Jabarût to the Divine
Sanctuary.
The real work is to transmute
the desire-nature into
Heart, the Heart into Soul,
and to unify the three
into one. “The Lover,
the Beloved and Love are
essentially ONE.” This is absolute monotheism. [Page
69]
“The motive of the faithful is superior to their acts.” Acts
by
themselves are of no value: the importance lies in the heart.
It is said that
the
traveller on
the
divine Path has three states: (1) Action. (Lit., walking or moving.) (2) Knowledge. (3) Love.
These three states are not experienced unless God wills it so. But one should work and wait. He will do verily what He has willed. He looks neither to the destruction
nor to the salvation of anyone.
One who wishes to arrive at the Truth must serve a
Teacher.
No one can transcend the bondage and darkness of desires unless he, with the
help of the Divine Grace, comes under the protection of a perfect and
experienced
Teacher. As the Teacher knows, He will teach the disciple according
to
his capacity, and will
prescribe
remedies
suited
to
his ailments, so that “There is
no
God except AIIah” be firmly established in his nature, and the ingress of the
evil
spirits be cut off
from
his heart.
All
the world
seeks
to tread the
Divine
Path.
But
each knows according
to
his inner purity,
each
seeks and
aspires
according
to his knowledge, and
each
treads the Path according
to
his
seeking and aspiration. —
Letters
56 &.57.
(The following extracts from “A
Series
of 28 Letters” may throw further light on the
subject.) [Page 70] The
Sûfî MuIk (or Nâsût,) Malakût, Jabarût and Lâhût
severally correspond
to, if
they are
not identical
with, the
physical, astro-mental,
causal and
spiritual planes
of modern
Theosophical literature.— Translator ]
It is not permitted to give
out
the knowledge
gained through
(supersensuous) vision.
This much
only can
be recorded
:—
The
objects
of the senses constitute this world ( MuIk ); those cognised by intellect
constitute
the plane of Malakût; the potentialities of all beings
constitute the plane of
Jabarût; ...... In other words, this
world is visible, the Malakût is
supersensuous, the Jabarût is super-supersensuous ...The subtlety of this
world cannot bear
comparison with that of Malakût, the subtlety of Malakût with
that of Jabarût, nor the subtlety of Jabarût with that of the
Holy Essence Divine. There is
not an atom of this world but is permeated by Malakût; not an atom
of Malakût but is permeated by Jabarût; not an atom of this world,
Malakût
and Jabarût
but is
permeated
by God,
and conscious
of Him.
Being
the most
subtle,
He must
permeate
all — for
the greater
the subtlety,
the greater
the quality
of permeation.
Now you
may understand
the meaning
of the
verse:
“God
is with
thee
wherever
thou
art,
and in
thy very
being; [Page
71] though
thou
mayest
not see
Him;
nearer
is He
to thee
than
the nerve
of
thy neck”. Hence
is it
said
that
this
world,
Malakût,
Jabarût
and God
Himself
are all
with
thee,
and that
the True
Man
is
the
focus and mirror of all the Mysteries of the Divine Essence. It is not permitted
to go
further
lest
exotericism may censure, “Utter not secrets before the
mob if thou art a true
devotee Hast thou not seen that Mansûr, intoxicated
with devotion, uttered a secret and was put to death
?” — Loc. Cit., Letter 2.
ISLAM
IsIâm
is other than the lower nature. So long as the lower impulses do not yield
to
purity, the heart has no affinity with IsIâm. The investigators
of Truth give to the bundle
of the impulses
the
name
of ' the desire-nature'.
The
outer body
with
its
limbs
and joints
is not dangerous,
but
is simply a horse to
carry
the directions of the Law. God
says: ' He sent us a horse from His mighty palace. Let us ride on it and come
to
the Path '. So long as it carries His directions we should not vex it. If it
attempts to transgress
the Law, let us punish it with the whip of asceticism, so that it may come
back to the path. This is the discipline of the body. But if a man pricks his
limb [Page
72] with a pin, saying that he thereby subdues the desire-nature,
he is a sinner.
Many ignorant fellows labour under a delusion and foolishly take self-torture
as
an important discipline. By no means transgress the limit of the Law and
common-sense. The
body is a valuable horse, and fit to carry the divine charges. It is the
desire-nature,
and not the body, which deserves rooting out and chastisement.
The world
is arrayed into two parties, the party of God and the party of Satan. Look
well and see
to which you belong
........
A Knower has said, “No one comes to worship
God, unless promised the bribe of heaven and threatened with the torture
of hell”. This
indicates an indifference to Monotheism.
It
is said: On an Îd day (The Muhammadan festival day at the end of
the Bamzân fast. —
Translator)
ShibIî the Saint was seen mourning and clad in black. He was told: “This
is the Îd day. Why are you so clad ?” He replied: “I see all men
rejoicing and clad in new
suits, but
not
one of
them
is
aware
of
God.
I mourn
this
day
over
their
heedlessness”. O brother, thou hast become inured to heedlessness, hast barred
the
gate of Divine
Knowledge
and
art
content with
the
gratification of desires.
Rest
assured, [Page
73] so
long
as
thou
dost
not
put
off
thy
desires,
thou
canst
not
put
on
the
robe
of
Faith;
so
long
as
thou
dost
not
look
upon
the
desire-nature
as
thy
foe.
Faith
cannot
come
to
thee
as
thy
friend;
so
long
as
thou
dost
not
cease
thy
connection
with
Satan,
thou
canst
not
see
the
beauty
of “There
is
no
God
save
Allâh” ;
so
long
as
thou
dost
not
turn
from
the
world,
thou
canst
not
approach
the
Path of Purity.
Since
the
Lord is thy Origin, thou hast not come; since the Lord is thy Goal, thou wilt
not go. “There is no God save Allâh.” Nothing can be separated from the Infinite,
and attached
to non-God. Since the Origin is from Him, the End is verily in Him. Separation
and union, coming and going,
are thus
unreal. This is a long
story.
Discreet silence is here absolutely necessary.— Letter 58.
THE
NOBLE QUALITIES
Noble
qualities were in the beginning of creation given to Adam, who left them as
a legacy
to other Prophets.
Mohammad, the
head of the Prophets,
received
them
in His turn.
Similarly, evil
qualities
were
allotted to Satan
who handed
them down to
his followers — the proud and the disobedient .Since the Noble Qualities are the
precious [Page 74] legacy of Adam to Mohammad, no garment or decoration is
better for the faithful than that of the Noble Qualities. They are based upon harmony with the Divine Will and the Prophet's Life.
One
should curb one's temper, lest it should embitter the life of others. One should
ever
be cheerful, and of controlled tongue. One should always salute others. One
should be charitable, and abstain from slander, abusive words and untruthfulness.
One should adapt one's words and deeds (e. g. eating and sleeping) to the scriptural injunctions. One should ever be magnanimous and free from the taints of
miserliness,
hatred, greed and suspicion. One should do one's best to practise at all times
the virtues possessed by the Prophet, and flee from vices.
The
Prophet has said: “Seek him who flees from thee; forgive him who injures
thee; give
to him who does not give to thee”.
The Prophet always concealed the defects
of
the faithful,
and
bore injuries
and
reproaches to propagate
Religion.
He
was
never angry
for
himself. He did
not
tolerate flattery,
neglect,
or
silence in the
service
of
Truth.
He
helped
the
friends when
they
were
disabled.
He
worked
for
a servant
in the family, when the latter was ill. He accepted the invitations and presents
of others.
He never found fault with any unprohibited food. He
used [Page
75] any
garment allowed by the Law — sometimes a blanket,
sometimes a silk wrapper, sometimes a worn out cotton garment. He rode sometimes
on a horse, sometimes on a camel, sometimes on an ass. Sometimes
he walked on foot, without shoes, wrapper, turban or cap. He slept on a mat
without bedding.
He had no miraculous power: His virtues were sufficient guarantee
of His godliness.
Many an unbeliever, just as he saw Him, would exclaim, “This is not
the face
of a hypocrite”, and swear allegiance to IsIâm without asking
for miracle or argument.
The Noble Qualities
are based on knowledge
and insight. He
who is fettered
by self-conceit
cannot be
expected to purify
his nature. Hence the
pilgrim should
use insight to acquire
the virtues of the
Prophet. He
should guard
the virtues he has been endowed
with, and
acquire those
he is lacking
in by self-exertion
(i. e
. asceticism, service, and the company of the saints). Most
of the virtues can be acquired, and we have been ordered [ by the Scriptures]
to strive
therefore to
the
limit of
our
powers.
Man is a mirror
who, when
trained,
perfected, and cleansed
of impurities shows within him all the
Divine Attributes
of
construction and disintegration. Then he realises
his divinity and the
purpose of his
life. A Sage refers to this very fact in these lines: “It is thou [Page
76] who art the
Divine Scripture; it is thou who art the mirror of the Royal Beauty. Beyond
thee there is naught in
the universe: seek
thy object within thyself, for
thou art that.”– Letter 59.
CONTEMPLATION
The
Prophet has restricted the use of contemplation to the Works of God,
not to His
Nature and Attributes. Thinking on
God may soon end
in
unbelief. In
order that thought
may work,
its object must be limited, and the Divine Nature and
Attributes
are unlimited. Hence a student
should
contemplate on the objects of Creation,
noticing their (relative]
permanence and impermanence, and realising the position
and changes of each in its phenomenal aspect. He will thus be led to
the knowledge
of the Creator. Hence the Seeker
should [while not neglecting outward
activities,
holy recitations and other duties] contemplate from
time to time on
Creation — seeing
the
Wisdom
of
the
Creator
therein, — on
his
desires,
on
the
heart
and
the
body;
he
should
enquire
into
his
stages
from
the
beginning
of
Creation
to
its
end,
and
study
his
own
character.
His
contemplation
should
be
in
conformity
with
Religion,
based
upon
knowledge and experience, and irrespective of considerations of gain and loss,
so
that he may develop insight. [Page
77] Right
contemplation achieves in a short time the results of long practice and worship.
The Prophet has said, “Contemplation for an hour is better than
[formal] worship for sixty years”.
As the range of the outer vision
differs with different men,
so is
it the
case with insight, or the inner vision. Some see as
far as Heaven, some
as far
as the
Divine Throne.
A few have
the perfect insight which
pierces through
all Creation
to the
Creator.
The
end of
contemplation is
the advancement
of knowledge
and the acquisition of wisdom. When the heart develops knowledge
and wisdom, there
is a
change in its condition. With
that
change,
there comes a
change
in conduct as well, and the man turns. With the turning, he begins to tread
the Path, Treading
attracts him to God, Then a current of Divine attraction
may
carry him to a stage inaccessible
to men
and
genii by exertion and asceticism.
If thou longest
and dost not succeed, be not dejected; for, as the Great Lord has said, “Asking
is for men, acceptance for God“.— Letter 60. [Page
78]
RENUNCIATION
The first duty
incumbent upon a Seeker is the practice of Tajrîd and Tafrîd.
The one is to quit present possessions; the other, to cease to care
for the morrow.
The second duty is seclusion, outer and inner.
Outer
seclusion consists
in flying from the world and turning
thy face to
the wall, in order that thou
mayest
give up thy life on the Divine threshold;
inner seclusion consists in cleansing the heart
of all thoughts connected with the non-God, whether the
non-God be earth or
heaven.
The third duty is at-one-ment in speech and thought,
which consists in ceasing to speak and think of the non-God. The fourth
duty is the practice of moderation in speech, food and sleep, since
this triad supports the desire-nature. Too much speaking is a bar to
holy recitations, too much sleep interferes with meditation; too much
food brings on inertia and checks the performance of duties.
Purity
of body as well as of mind is necessary at all times— purity of
body alone is
not sufficient— in order that the Divine Attraction may uplift
thee to a stage
unattainable by
all the
efforts and
ascetic practices
of all
genii and
men put
together. Very
easy to
speak of
this, but
very hard
the practice — [Page
79] since this
practice does
not lie
with the
bodily organs
or elements,
but with
the Heart
and the
Soul which
are beyond
our control.
The
gate
to the
Path is
Knowledge and
Wisdom. He
who avoids
this gate
has to
plod on
his way
through an
endless forest
infested
by demons, and ends by losing his life and faith
.....
Eternal
Life is the life in Spirit without a body. It is attained by Love, not
by obedience.
Servants wait for an order and seek remedies for their ailments; Lovers
are impelled by Love and invite ailments without asking for a remedy. The
Beloved ever
cries, “Stay at a distance lest thou shouldst perish”. The Lover answers, “ I
am
prepared from the very beginning to give up my life. Death is better
than a life without
Thee”. The
life of the body has no value on the Path. Whoso cares for the one has
no business with the other. Love says to thee: “Give up a life which must
turn into dust, and I shall install thee on the throne of Glorious At-one-ment.
Now
the choice
is thine”.
Although there is no heart without love, yet the priceless treasure of Divine Love
does
not fall to the lot of greedy and mean fellows, who are content with prayers
and fasts, and have but given up their earthly claims for higher honours.
Be
cheerful and
hopeful,
for the Door of Compassion is open. [Page 80]
God has created doubt
interfering
with conviction, the lower nature veiling the face of Truth, duality warring
with monotheism, the alloy claiming the place of the genuine coin, a thousand
foes arrayed
against each friend, a temple of idols facing every mosque, a suffering balancing
each blessing. “He does all this; but man, awe-stricken, cannot breathe
a
sigh: for His Face is like a mirror, and a mirror is clouded by breathing.” — Letter
61.
ON
THE SAME
Tajrîd
and Tafrîd are indispensable for a Disciple. The one is the renunciation
of the world and of outer concerns; the other is the renunciation of
self. No impurity
in his heart, no burden on his back, no market in his bosom; — not
reckoned with
any class of people, not concerned with any particular object, his aspirations
soaring
above earth, heaven and the Divine Throne; — such a Disciple
rests in his Beloved.
The Beloved away, all the worlds cannot please; their absence leaves no
void when
He is there. As said by a noble soul, “No grief in the company of God;
no joy in the company
of the non-God”. One away from God is at the very centre of sorrow and
suffering, albeit he may hold
the key of all
the treasures of
the earth. One
attached to
God, however poor,
is king of [Page
81] heaven and earth. Khwâjâ Sirrî
Saqtî , was wont to pray: “O God punish me, if such be Thy Will,
any way save
by veiling Thyself.” This is the only real hell
..... As observed by some one, “With
Thee,
the heart
is a
mosque;
without Thee,
'tis but
a shrine
of idols.
With Thee,
the heart
is a
heaven; the
heart without
Thee is a hell”.
In
short, when the Disciple realises the Greatness of God, feels the pangs
of His
seeking, knows that “Who gains Him gains all, who loses Him loses
all”, and finds
that he can dispense with all save Him, — he then overcomes
his old habits and
unfolds the vision, “I am from God and for God”. Life and death,
acceptance and
rejection, praise and blame, are
thenceforth equal in
his eyes. Heaven and earth
find no place in his heart.
He bows to none
for food, clothes or money.
His Goal
being the Divine Sanctuary, he
longs for naught save God.— Letter 62.
THE CLEARING OF THE PATH
The
Path should be cleared of all impurities inherent in the lower self. The
Great Ones have
declared: “He that takes a step in obedience to his desire-nature
loves it better than God. He cannot be a believer: how
can he be a Saint ?' [Page
82]
Nothing
but constant turning (Taubâh) can guard the Path against
the onslaughts of the desire-nature. As the ordinary soul should turn from
sensuality, cruelty and avarice, so should the developed soul turn from purity,
worship and meditation. The Sages have said: “Thou must acquire all virtues,
such as truth, purity and worship. When acquired, thou must scatter them
in the air of supreme Indifference. Were all Prophets, Saints and Angels
to sing the hymn of His Unity, their final chorus would end thus: 'We turn
to God from all we have said'. (Or “We retract with
repentance what we have said”. — Translator )
Art
thou endowed with the purity of all the Saints, plume thyself not over
it; art
thou distressed with
a thousand shocks, seek not
refuge in flight.
He that
does not
burn himself here in
the fire of
Taubâh certainly deserves the
doom of hell-fire. So burn thou today in
the fire of Taubâh whatever thou
knowest of thyself, be it merit or
defect. If
today thou
dost not
cast aside
the thorns
from thy
Path, they
will hereafter
turn into
arrows and
pierce thy heart. — Letter 63. [Page
83]
SELF-CONTROL
The
Self-controlled
is one who has freed
himself from the
bondage of self.
The seven hells and the eight heavens
are
too narrow to
hold
him— only
the vast expanse
of God is wide
enough to receive
him.
If the joy
of heaven and
the torture of
hell ceased to
be, there would
be no loss to
the spiritual
aspect of God. “What
a
Vastness!
If the
worlds were
not, It
would not
be less
by a
hair's breadth.
The kingdom
of Its
Glory is
truly
without
beginning
or end.”
Freedom
from self leads to freedom from all. So long as thou art bound to any of
the lower qualities, thou art its slave. The Path is a jealous master and
will not put up with any partner. So long as thou art a friend to self, thou
art a stranger to God. Be then estranged from self that thou mayest unite
with Him. The dead wall of self cannot be pulled down save with the help
of a perfect Teacher .
Self-control
will not allow thee to look down upon any creature, e. g. to tread
upon even the lowliest ant in thy way. Wert thou able to raise the veil
of ignorance from thine eyes, then wouldst thou see each and every being
seeking and adoring God. [Page 84]
The
Prophet prayed, “Show me things as they are”. His senior disciple
ever prayed: “O God, show me truth and untruth, and help me to follow
the one and avoid the other”. So it is said: “When God seeks the
welfare of a man, He shows his defects
to him “ that he may change from a temple of idols into a mosque.
Rest
assured that thou hast nothing but
good to expect, once self has been
stripped off from thee. So long as
thy self lies before thee, thou canst
but swell in
self-respect.
A Satan in
very truth is he that respects
self,
whether
in the guise of angel or of man,
whether on earth, in heaven or in
hell. Self-respect
consists in
not transcending self. “Endless as the veils are, none is thicker
than self-conceit. Know its destruction as thy foremost duty,” — Letter
64.
TRUTH
Khwâjâ Zun-noon
of Egypt says: “Truth is the Sword
of God on earth. It may not be laid on anything without cutting it”. Truth
consists in looking to the Actor, and
not to
His instruments.
True Faith
consists in
ceasing to
desire anything save Truth.[Page
85]
Once
upon a time Zun-noon, while returning from Jerusalem, saw a figure
loom in
the distance,
and
desired
to question
it. On drawing
near, it
was found to be an old
woman
clad
in
wool,
with a stick in her hand. Zun-noon
said, “Whence comest thou?” The dame replied, “From God”. Zun-noon again
enquired, “Whither dost thou go?” The old woman rejoined, “To
God”. Zun-noon
then offered her a gold coin. She refused the gift, saying, “What an illusion
has overcome thee ? I work for God and do not receive anything save what
comes from Him. As I worship Him and Him alone, I cannot receive what
is not Himself and comes from other than Himself.” Having spoken thus,
she vanished. Such is to be the ideal of the aspirant.
Working
for God alone is the test of true devotion. Some think they work for
Him, but they
work for Themselves. They have conquered
the desires of this world, but they
seek for fruits
in a higher
world. A few work
irrespective
of
all
consideration of internal suffering
or celestial joy, in pure love to
carry out the Divine Will. “The earth
is a place of suffering, heaven is a place of joy. We shall not receive
the fruits of either, even to the measure of a barleycorn.” It
has been said. The virtuous often prove more selfish in their
virtue than the sinners in their sin. [Page
86] The
gratification of the latter is but transitory, the joy of the former
is permanent. God does not gain by the self-denial of men, nor does
He lose by their sensual
gratifications.
It is an old adage, that the mere description of a savoury
dish only intensifies the misery of hunger. Take an onward step if you
can: lose your head and give up your life.
As
God is essentially ONE, a true believer
must be a monotheist. Look for the proof
of this in the holy
Logion,
one
half of which, “There
is no God”, separates
[the
believer from the non-God,
while the other half, “Save
Allâh:'
unites [him with
God]. One
unites with
God in
proportion to
one's renunciation
of the
non-God. He
who claims
to have
Faith should
look at
his
own
heart. If
his heart
flies from the non-God, his
claim is
genuine. If
it longs for anything
save God, and shrinks
from the
means of
Divine Union, let
him weep over
his faith. Either he
has already lost it,
or is about to do so.
A
certain Great One has said: “All men claim to love, but if the claim
is carefully scrutinized, ‘loving' turns out to mean 'being
loved’. True
love consists in the
complete renunciation
of all
desires. If
one looks
for the
gratification of
a desire,
one plays
the part
of the
beloved, not of the lover. — Letter 65. [Page
87]
THE
DESCENT FROM ADAM
The
pilgrim justifies his descent from Adam when he enters the Heart. Now
he has finished the Turning, and begins his Pilgrimage. By the virtue of
his complete Turning, anything coming in contact with him undergoes a change.
This is the power of Transmutation. This explains the phenomena of
transmutation wrought by many Darveshes
(e. g. the change of wine into an
innocuous beverage). Such a pilgrim may
lawfully lay his hand on the
imperial
treasury,
and use the wealth
of kings. (Religious
injunctions
vary with circumstances. It
is reported in
the
traditions
that
a young man came
to the Prophet and asked if he could lawfully
take a certain oil in the fast month
of
Ramzân. He said, “No”. Next followed an
old man who put the same question. He said, “Yes”. The
companions of the Prophet were confused, and asked,
“How is it, O Messenger of God, that you allowed
in the one case what you
prohibited in the other”. He
replied: “The one was a young man, and
I was afraid of the fire of his youth; the other was an old man, and
I did not apprehend any danger for him”.) But those who take to the outer,
conduct without having reached the inner stage,
court their own ruin. Such a stage must have the sanction of Divine
Authority. [Page
88]
A
time comes to the Master of the Heart,
when all His limbs become [as sacred
as]
the Heart. No
part of his
body,
e. g., a nail
or
a
hair, should
be cast aside, as it partakes of the
sanctity
of the Heart. The broken
hairs of the Prophet
were divided by His
companions as a precious gift amongst themselves. Hence
arose the practice of
sharing among disciples the pieces of the teacher's worn-out
mantle. The
practice is a mere sham if
the teacher is not a Master.
He who has
completed the Turning and
reached the Heart, is a Master. Only
such a one is entitled to the honour of a leader, — not one who is
below this stage.
Question
:-How to distinguish the real Master from a mere pretender ?
Answer
:- The true Seeker has an inner eye enabling him to recognise
a real Master. He would not be attracted to a pretender. Dost thou
not behold that if different kinds of animals flock together and different
kinds of food be placed before them, each will fall to on his own appropriate
food and turn away from what is meant for others ?
The true Seeker
also is known as such, as his inner eye opens to the vision of the
Master, and he receives the nourishment suited to his aspiration. The
Master begins to work on him. He is [as one] [Page
89] dead,
and the Master gives him a wash,
[ This refers to the practice of washing the dead body
before burial or cremation.
— Translator] purifying him of all undesirable elements. This purification completes
the Turning. Then he begins his journey on the Divine Path — which
is called the Pilgrimage.
This
is not devotion as ordinarily understood
(i.e. prayer, fast, almsgiving, etc.).
Allegiance to a Master is in
itself Devotion; progress on
the
Path is its
fruit.
A brief prayer,
a
day's fast, or a simple charity,
performed
or
given in obedience to a Master's direction,
are more beneficial than long protracted
prayers,
or splendid gifts, performed or given in response to the call of the
desire-nature.
As a qualification for the Path, seek
to get rid of old habits. But it is
not possible to get rid of old habits
and purify the dross without the service
of a
Master,
since He
alone
can,
by
His Knowledge, gradually
drive out the host of the evil elements, and
help one towards the
realisation of “There is no God save Allâh”.
Continue
thy seeking till the Seeking unveils Itself, and destroys
thy self in Thee.
Henceforth the Disciple has nothing to do: the Seeking will Itself
lead him on.
So long as thou seekest any but the Beloved, no Seeker art
thou. How then canst thou be wholly [Page
90] His
? By wholly turning to Him. He can afford to have thousands of friends,
for He can reach all alike. The Sun is with all — east and west, Hindu
and Turk — for
His range is unlimited. But thou art limited
in capacity, and canst not feel
the warmth of His
rays unless
thou wholly
expose thyself
to Him. All the
worlds are benefited by Him,
yet He does
not lose in the least.
Here
one should guard against a possible
misunderstanding. To love a thing
as a means does not interfere with the
love for
the end or the final object.
Our
foes
even ought to be
loved as connected
with the Lord. This is not a
division
of love, but its perfection. Love is a peculiar
state: friendship with foes
is
possible only here. Abu Abbas — peace be on him — said
to a party marching to war against the unbelievers, ”Would I might
lick the dust of the feet of the unbelievers whom ye would kill for
His sake. “The
care of a scholar for pen and, paper cannot be said to
divert his
attention from
learning. The real object of love ought to be only one (i.e.
God ),
but loving
others as
subservient to
the final
object (i. e.
Divine Love)
is by
no means
harmful. If
a
man
loves God,
he must
love the
Prophets and
the Masters — nay,
if he ponders well, he must love all as
connected with Him. All the universe is
His work
and is
certainly Himself. “ Duality
does not approach Thy Sanctuary: the [Page
91] whole
world is Thyself and Thy Energy.
The universe is the shadow of Thy
Presence; all is the- result of Thy mighty Workmanship.”
But
if it be the Divine Will to put an end
to a certain work of His, using thee
as instrument, thou as a devotee must
destroy it,
and none should
accuse thee of lack
of respect for His work. This is
a very high
stage.
If Mohammad
and His blessed companions killed the unbelievers, they did so in obedience
to the Divine Will. The
lover has. not to seek his own pleasure. — Letter 66.
CONFIDENCE
The Sûfî trusts
in God. Khwâjâ Yahiâ observes: “He
who does not trust God
cannot
receive Divine
Illumination.” Explanation: God deals with a man according
to
his expectations. One who suspects Him cannot receive any light.
Again, it is a friend who is trusted, and it is a foe who is suspected.
Suspicion invites hostility; confidence, love. There is a distinction,
however, between mere groundless hope and reasonable expectation.
One who endeavours to obey the Divine Commands may reasonably expect
the Divine Grace; but it is a vain hope for one guilty of commissions [Page
92] and omissions to expect exemption from hell and
enjoyment of
heaven
... ...So
it is
wise to
check the
accounts of
the desire-nature,
and prepare
for death;
and it
is foolish
to
follow
the desire-nature
and hope
for the
remission of sins. — Letter
67.
PURSUIT
AND RENUNCIATION
Sûfîs
differ as to whether they should follow
or renounce worldly pursuits. Complete
renunciation is only permitted
at
a very high
stage, i.
e. that
of absolute unity and perfect
trust in God.
Working for
a livelihood
began with Adam. He
cultivated
lands
and
taught cultivation to his children. The
Prophet
Shoaib
was a merchant
and possessed cattle. Moses served as His shepherd.
If work interfered with the principle of trust in God,
the
Prophets would
not have
worked for a livelihood. Mohammad warned his friends
against
the
abuse of
the principle of trust,
and ever kept in store a year's provision
for his
children.
Work is a duty for him who has to support
another; but he should work so as
not to be cut off from God.
Each
should look to his circumstances and inner attitude, in order
to decide whether
he should [Page
93] resort
to work or cease from work. If ceasing separates him from God,
work should be resorted to; if ceasing leads him to God, work
should be left
aside.
Work
is as lawful as prayer and fast.
The more you pray, the more you fast,
the better; but
to look
for your salvation
therefrom
is
dualism.
You should adore for
the glorification
of God and the strengthening of your
love, but
you should
rely on His Grace for your salvation. Similarly, work is better than
renunciation; but it
is
not the work, but rather
the Divine Grace,
which is to be looked up
to
as Providence.
A
Dervesh should
avoid
begging as far as possible, as it is
dangerous
in many
respects. He, however, may
beg (a) to gratify his hunger (b) to pull
down his personality, (
c) knowing the world as the Divine steward.
It is more in keeping
with the ceremonious
glorification of the Lord to
ask of His steward than of Himself.—
Letter 69.
THE
COMPANY OF THE SAINTS
Holy
company is an important discipline for the pupil. It is very
effective in
conquering nature and habit. Hence is it laid down by the holy
Saints as binding upon a disciple. The rationale [Page
94] of
it is this. The desire nature consists of
certain ingrained
tendencies, and
is affected
by the
tendencies of
one's associates.
The Prophet
says: “Men follow the religion of their friends, so they
should always be careful of their company
....
It is said that
a man, while going round Kâbâ,
prayed: “Lord, make my brothers virtuous”. Others
asked him, “Why
dost thou pray for thy brothers at this sacred spot, and not
for thyself? ” He replied: “I have brothers
who, when
I return
to them,
will elevate
me by
their virtues
if they
are virtuous,
and degrade
me by
their vices
if
they
are vicious.
As my
righteousness rests on theirs, I
pray for them, that they may help me in reaching the Goal.”
Malik
(Peace on Him !) says: “Do not associate with a brother
or a friend, unless you would thereby advance the cause of Religion.
To associate with any other object is absolutely forbidden.” Explanation:
If you associate with a superior, he will benefit you by his presence;
if you associate with an inferior,
you should benefit him by
teaching him religion and morality, and
yourself too by learning
something useful he may know.
Company
is
to be sought
for
the sake of the Lord,
not for
selfish
gratification.
Nothing is
more dangerous
for a beginner than
loneliness. A
story runs
thus. There
was a
disciple [Page
95] of
Master Junnaid
who fancied
he had made great
progress and could not be harmed by
isolation. So he took to seclusion.
Nightly, a procession appeared before
him
with a horse for
him
to
ride,
and he was
requested to ride
up
to heaven, — a delightful place
with sweet dishes, running brooks and
fair company — where
he enjoyed himself till morn, and slept.
On awakening, he
would find
himself at
the door
of his
hermitage. He
turned proud and boastful. On
hearing the report, the Master came
to him, asked him and was told what
had happened,
and
advised
him
to repeat three times
when he went
to the pleasure-haunt: “There is nothing to be relied upon save
God, and there is no power except His.” He refused to act up to
the advice for a few nights more. At last he
wished to
test the
efficiency of
the Master's
lesson and
repeated the
sentence as
advised. The
whole procession
fell into
confusion and
scattered,
and
he found
himself
in a
cemetery with
the bones
of the
dead around
him. Then
he came
to realise his
guilt,
repented, and
returned to
the company
of his fellow-disciples.
The
rule of society is to behave,
with each according to his position
in life. With
reference to elders, to serve them; not to speak before
them save when necessary, and then only with their permission,
and after they have finished if they are [Page
96] speaking;
not to sit on an elevated seat in their presence. With reference
to equals,
to live in harmony, and to share one's wealth with them (not
as a loan, but as a free gift). With reference to the young,
to treat them with love and kindness,
General: Elders
to be treated as one's own parents,
equals as one's own brothers, the
younger ones as one's own children, None
to be asked for
anything,
but each to be
helped.
Life to be
rendered agreeable to
all. Not
to oppose
others,
except at
the call
of religious duty. To associate with those strong
in
religion, integrity and moderation,
Not to mix with those
opposed in religion and temperament.
To avoid the company of
a youth. (The desire in the young for the company
of
their elders aids the development
of their intelligence and knowledge. The
desire in elders for the company
of youths
leads
to
sin
and
folly). ......
Sûfîs,
when conversing
with one
another, never
say “This
is mine”,
“That is thine”, “I
wish it were
so”, “I
wish it were
not so”,
It is the
verdict of
the Masters
of Knowledge
that God does
not approve
of the use
of words denoting
I-ness.
If
thou wouldst know the Unknown, taste
the nectar of Grace and transcend the
seven heavens, then close
the five senses, and
pass from the
perishable to the
Imperishable. They asked Master
Shiblî, [Page
97] “Who
is a Knower, and how
is he to be distinguished”. He
said, “He is deaf, dumb
and blind”. They
replied, “These are the
marks of an unbeliever”.
He rejoined: “The unbeliever
is deaf to the voice
of truth, dumb for the
utterance of truth, and
blind to the vision of
truth; whereas the Knower
is deaf, dumb and blind
to all save Truth”. — Letter
70.
SERVICE
Service
is an essential duty for the disciple.
Its gains are superior to those of worship.
It kills the desire-nature; it breeds humility
and
good manners;
it
destroys
pride, impurity and inertia,
quickens
the soul and illumines
the inner and the outer
man.
They asked a Great One, “How many ways are there
to God?” He
said: “There are as many ways as there are atoms in the
universe. But the best and the shortest is Service. I have
reached the Goal by treading this Path, and recommend it
to my disciples.”
Rules
of Service: To put aside one's own desires, to render
oneself agreeable to others,..... and to regard one's powers
and possessions as intended for the use of others
...... [Page
98] As
the wealthy are to serve with their wealth and the learned
with their
knowledge — so the disciple is to use all his
activities for the service of
others.
All
Great Ones
began with
Service, which
gradually lifted
them to
the rank
of Masters.— Letter 71.
[The following Notes
gleaned from other works of the Author are added as bearing
on the subject. — Translator]
The
outer conduct of an occultist should
be in accordance with the mental
capacity of the people surrounding
him. He should speak what concerns
them
only, and
not of
his own
relations with
God. Master
Yehiâ observes:
“When with others,
I say 'My
Lord' ; when
alone, I say
'My Beloved';
when united,
I say 'I' ”.
Obey the Law,
whatever your
stage or
position.
Such
is the
approved mode
of conduct,
as recommended
by the Masters
of Wisdom.— The
Series of
28 Letters, — Letter
21.
A
certain Great One was told that the chief of a certain town
spent the whole night in prayers. He replied that the poor fellow had missed
the way and undertaken the work of others. On being questioned again,
be added that, that man's path of [Page
99] duty
lay in feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the distressed,
and fulfilling
the wants
of the
needy; and
that keeping
up all
night in
prayer was
the duty
of a
recluse. Each
man
ought
to work
according to his
position in
life. —
Fawâed-i-Ruknî.
THE
TRANSMUTATION OF EVIL QUALITIES
The
purification of character by the
transmutation
of evil
qualities
into
virtues is to be ever striven for
as an
essential
duty. If
neglected,
it
must breed
dangers
and difficulties.
Man has all the qualities
found in the animals.
His resurrection
will be
determined
by his
predominant
quality,
not by
his outer
body on earth — i. e., he will
turn into
the form of the
corresponding animal.
For instance, the predominance
of anger, lust, pride
or flattery in earthly
life, produces
severally the
forms of the
dog, the hog,
the lion and the
fox, on the
day of
resurrection. Similarly
of other qualities
.....
Many
men will
be seen
in bestial
form on
the day
of resurrection,
and many
beasts
in
human form.
The dog
of the
Cave-Recluses (The reference
ii to
the seven
sages
who, with
a dog, retired
to a
cave to
avoid the persecution of a tyrant,
awoke after
a sleep of
800 years,
and slept again to awake on the day
of resurrection .—
Translator) will rise
in the
form [Page
100] of
man,
owing
to his
human
qualities.
Mount Ahud
will have a rock drawn out of it, and will stand in the rank of the Pure
Ones in human form ..... Those endowed with the inner eye know that all beings,
even the mineral, pray. “Every
particle of dust in the air is full of the Light of Divine
Love. All atoms in the universe are centres — active or potential — of
Divine Love.”
Such
a difficult task lies in front, and none take to it save
the Wise. So thou shouldst not be heedless, but slowly and steadily
discipline thyself so as to overcome a part of thy animal nature — it
is indeed a mighty achievement to overcome it in its entirety.
He who wishes
to know
the nature
of his
resurrection should
see what
is the
predominating quality
in his
life: his
resurrection will
be determined
by
this
quality. It
is not
difficult to know thus
much.
Similarly,
if a
man wishes to know
whether God is pleased
or displeased
with
him, he should
look
at his
life. A
life wholly devoted to righteousness
must
please
God: righteousness
is the
indication of His pleasure.
A life
wholly given to vice
must displease God: vice
is the indication of His displeasure.
A life
partly righteous and
partly vicious is
to be valued according
to the
predominating element in it. [Page
101]
If
the earthly life is not turned to
account,
there
shall be no progress
on the
other
side. If a man
who
has not transmuted
(on
earth]
the
evil
qualities in
his nature,
is taken to heaven at
his death, and all celestial
boons
are
bestowed
upon
him, those qualities
will
not change.
He will
have
only the houries, the palaces,
the roast cocks
and the stream of running
water, but will be
too weak
to realise
the real
object — the
Goal
of the
inner man,
and the
ideal
of all
the disciples
and of
the Master.
How insignificant
are all
other gains
where
That
is
lost!
How immaterial
is any
loss,
where
That
is gained!
Frequent
ablutions
and baths remove sloth and drowsiness.
The
Divine
Vision
on resurrection
day depends
on the
Divine
Grace,
not on
merit.
No eye
deserves
His Vision,
no
ear His Voice, no intellect
His Knowledge, no feet
His Path.
Self-reproach
is necessary for a
seeker. — Letter 72.
AVARICE
To
work for show, and desire the rank of a saint, is not the
mark of piety. Thy deeds are all tainted with desire. Purity consists in
the spirit of Service, not in avarice. The one is not compatible [Page
102] with
the other. But we want bribes to serve the
Lord.
O
brother, cast
off avarice.
God does
not owe
anything to
anyone, and
His gifts
on earth
or after
death are
gratuitous.
Do
all your
works for
His Service,
not in
the hope
of gaining
heaven or
shunning hell.
He who
aspires to work
in
His Service
should, be
careful of
the purity
of his
motives, which is a function
of the heart. An act without pure motive cannot
soar from the region
of sham to the sphere
of Service
....
A prayer worth the name is one
performed
with the fervour
of the heart, and
not with the lips only.
The motto of monotheism, “There
is no God save Allâh”, if
repeated as a talk
at moments of sale and purchase, can not be
regarded as a declaration of Divine Unity .....
God
says: “My
shrine is not a place
of sale and purchase.
Thou goest to market
with the object of gaining
something thou hast not. But if thou comest
to My Shrine, come with the distinct understanding
that thou losest all
and
returnest a pauper.” Khwâjâ Ahmad
had a vision of God, Who told
him: “ Ahmad, all men
ask Me for something, save Bâyazîd
( A
great Muhammadan
saint. ) who asks for Myself alone.” — Letter
73.[Page
103]
THE
EVIL OF THE WORLD
The
world and all things therein are to be
avoided,
save
as needed
for
the Lord's
sake. The world
may be
classed under three groups: —
(1)
The first group is purely worldly, and cannot serve His
Cause.
It consists of:
(a)
Vices. Their commission in the mind or with the body does not serve His Cause.
(b)
Too much of lawful enjoyments. This is the root of all failures and sins.
(2)
The second group is purely divine, but may be turned
to selfish use by an
impure motive. e. g., meditation, prayer and asceticism,
if practised with the object of gaining the respect of the people.
(3)
The third group is apparently worldly
but really
divine,
e.
g., eating
for
the sake of the Divine Service;
marriage
with
the object
of
begetting
a child who
shall
repeat “There is no God save Allâh” ;
making a small fortune with the object of peacefully
serving God.
In
short, the world is that which gratifies the cravings
of desire in the present, and is of no use after death; that which may
help on the other side of death is not worldly
..... He who appropriates
the world to the limit of bare necessity
(food, garment
and a dwelling-house) breaks [Page
104] his bonds; whereas he who seeks
luxurious living exposes himself to endless troubles.
The
Great Ones have remarked that the
lowest
stage
of purity
shows
itself
as
an inner
craving for well-being
after
death and a diminution
of
worldly desires, ending in a
gradual estrangement from this world, and the
realisation
of other
worlds.
The
work is harder
than
you imagine.
All
worldly pleasures are sorrows and sufferings.— Letter
74.
RENUNCIATION
OF THE WORLD
Service
of the Lord is impossible without renunciation of the
world. When thy body
works for the world and thy heart longs for it, how canst
thou serve Him ? The heart is one; it cannot attend to two things at the
same time. The world and the Lord are wide apart as east and west. The
more you approach the one, the farther you recede from the other.
Renunciation
is twofold :—
(1)
Human renunciation, i. e. the renunciation which can
be achieved by a man. It consists of three stages
(a)
Ceasing to seek for the worldly objects one has not. [Page
105]
(b)
Casting off the worldly objects one has.
(c)
Ceasing to entertain worldly desires in the mind.
(2)
Superhuman renunciation, which consists in complete indifference
to the world. It can be accomplished, with the help of the Divine
Grace, by one who has
achieved success in all the three stages of Human renunciation.
The second is the true renunciation with many Sages.
The
expulsion of worldly desires from the mind a most difficult
task. You will find many cases of apparent renunciation, with
an inner longing
for the world. But when
you cease
to seek
for what
you have
not, and cast off what you have, the Divine
Grace will
enable you
to drive
out worldly
desires from
your mind.
Relinquishment of
the world
will not
give real renunciation, so
long
as
the heart
still craves
for the world.
The Prophets
were master-ascetics.
One of
Them was
Solomon, who
possessed the
sovereignty of all
the
worlds, and
was certainly an ascetic.
Conclusion: The
separation of the heart from worldly cravings, in spite
of the possession of worldly objects, is superior to the separation of
the body from worldly objects, in spite of the worldly cravings that remain
in the heart.
Renunciation
is the basis of all virtue and progress, [Page
106] and,
as such, is the first condition of discipleship.
Ahmad HambaI ( Peace on Him! )
says
that
renunciation is threefold:—
(a)
Abstinence from what is forbidden by the Scriptures. This is the lower renunciation.
(b)
Abstinence from over-indulgence in lawful pleasures. This is the higher renunciation.
(c)
Renunciation of that which separates man from God. This
is the highest renunciation.
— Letter
75.
THE
FINAL DOOM
There
are two classes of travellers, the noble and the wicked.
Each class has its
peculiar speed, path, and doom.
Noble souls are divided
into ordinary noble ones, and the more advanced. The former attain heaven
and the heavenly ranks by following the ascetic practices prescribed
by Religion. The more advanced approach Purity by following the path of Devotion.
The wicked, too, are divided into ordinary
wicked
ones, and the more degraded. The former [Page
107] include
some of the
believers, leading a sinful life disobeying the
divine injunctions, and addicted to sensual pleasures.
They tread the path of transgression and go to hell.
The latter are the unbelievers, solely attending
to sensual pleasures and earthly gains, and wholly
disbelieving in Religion and the disembodied life.
They risk the permanent for the sake of the transient,
and finally lose this world as well as the next.
The former suffer in
hell temporarily, but finally escape
it by virtue of their faith, albeit imperfect. The latter eternally suffer
in hell owing to total absence of faith.
There are different
gradations in hell, as there are grades of unbelief
or hypocrisy. There are thinkers and blind
followers amongst unbelievers as
well as amongst believers. As the faith of a thoughtful
believer is superior to that of an
ordinary believer, so the sufferings of a thoughtful unbeliever are intenser
than those of an ordinary unbeliever. Ordinary unbelief is
inherited
from ancestors and surroundings,
and is punished in the first infernal region. Intellectual
unbelief does not rest upon tradition, but upon researches carried
on for long years, self-denial and
discipline
of the lower
nature, all intended
for and ending in scepticism and
atheism.— Letter 68. [Page
108]
THE
SOUL (RÛH)
People
differ in their opinions on the
Soul — some
call it a body,
some an essence,
some an accident;
some regard it as
eternal, others as created. Orthodox IsIâm
declares its existence, but is silent on its nature and quality.
God says: “ If
questioned on the Soul, say, ‘It is from the Will
of God.',” Abu
Bakr Qahati, however, holds
that the Soul is beyond
the category of
created objects. [The Author does
not subscribe to this
view, and enters on a controversy
to show its heresy.—
Translator) — Letter
79.
[The
following
notes
from
The
Series
of
28 Letters,
may
be
added
as bearing
on the
subject — Translator)
In search
of
peace,
and
fervently
longing
for
spiritual
fragrance,
a pilgrim
came
to the
Soul and
said:
“Thou
art
a reflection
of
the Glorious
Sun,
unfading;
all
the attributes
of
the Absolute
One
lie
verily
in Thee.
Transcending
Reason
and
understanding,
Thou
eludest
description
and
predication.
There is no creature above Thee, there is no Beloved beyond Thee.” These
lines from Master Farid Attâr, and the hints underlying them, ought to
be carefully pondered over — so that one may realise that there is no existence
outside the Self, and that whatever one seeks is to be sought [Page
109] within
the Self. If an authority be needed, one may read from the Qorân: “He is
within thee, though thou mayest not see”. Again, this couplet is worth
perusal: “Adam first ran towards all the atoms of the universe, but he
did not find God so long as he found not the Way within himself.”— Loc.
cit., Letter 24.
The
connection of the Soul with the body
compares
well with that of
God with His universe:
for the
Soul
is
neither within
the body nor without it,
neither united
with it nor separated
from it.
Soul
and
body belong
to
two
different planes of existence; yet for all that there
is not an atom in the body
but is pervaded by the
Soul
.... The Soul retains its Innate purity,
linked
though it
be to the body
for myriads of years. – lbid.,
Letter
3.
THE
HEART
There
is a treasure buried in the heart of
the knower.
It is LOVE. A single
jewel out of it
is worth a thousand heavens.
The
guardian of
heaven is an
angel
named Rizwân,
whereas
the guardian of the
treasure of Love
is GOD Himself.
Know that
thy merit is measured
by what thou seekest
......
If thou worshipest to obtain heaven [Page
110] or
avoid hell,
thou worshipest
thy own
desires. If
thou seekest
or fearest
an
object, thou
art the
worshipper of
that object.
Thy real
value depends
on what
is in
thy heart.
If thy
heart is
attached to
GOD, thou
art a
divine man.
Junnaid, when
ill, prayed
for his
recovery. A
voice answered
him, “Dost
thou come
in between
Myself and
Thee ?
Thou walkest
every morning
to office
and comest
back at
dusk. Where
is the
difference between
thee
and the
fire-worshipper
and the
Jew ?
Thy prayers
are for
increase of
wealth, and thy pilgrimages
for
popular approbation.
All thy
acts are
similarly tainted with name
and form. The real end
of life is
yet veiled
from thee. — Letter
80.
NAFS,
THE DESIRE-NATURE
Some
say the desire-nature is a substance, placed
in the body, similar to the Soul. Others say it is a quality of the body,
similar to life. But all take it as the source of evil qualities and acts.
These evils are grouped into: (a) sins, (b) qualities, e. g. pride,
envy, anger.
The former
pertain more
to the
outer man,
the latter
more to
the inner man. The
former are
purified by
ascetic
practices,
the latter
by Taubâh
(or
Turning)....... [Page
111]
It
is said that the desire-nature and
the Soul are both
mysterious entities
in the
body, corresponding
to demons
and angels,
hell and
heaven in
the macrocosm;— the
one being the centre of evil, the other
the centre
of Good.
There is
no help
against the
desire-nature save
in ascetic
practices.
Man
is the
epitome of
the whole
Universe, and
is
composed
of the
Soul, the
desire-nature and the
body. He
bears the
characteristics of
all the
worlds, The
earth, water, fire
and air
of
this
world
appear
in
his
body
as
the
four
humours:
blood,
phlegm,
melancholy
and
bile.
Other
worlds
are
not
less
vividly
marked
in
him.
The
Soul
leads
him
to
heaven,
being
its
image;
the
desire-nature
leads
him
to
hell,
being its image.
Abû AIî saw
his desire-nature in the form of a hog. He wished to kill it, but it
said to him, “Do
not trouble thyself: I, belong to the Army of
God, thou canst not annihilate me”.
Mohammad
Nûrî speaks of his
desire-nature coming out of his throat in the
form of a miniature fox. “I
knew it was the desire-nature, so I put it under
my feet and began to trample
upon it. It grew the larger
and the stronger. I said,
'Pain and torture
destroy all things,
but they simply aid your
growth! It said,
This is
due to the fact
of my constitution
being the
other way: what is pain for others
is pleasure
for me.” [Page
112]
Abul
Abbâs saw it in the form of a
yellowish dog. When he
attempted to turn it out, it. came underneath
the skirts of his garment, and disappeared.
Abul
Qâsim saw it in the form of a serpent.
Another Dervesh saw it in the form of a mouse,
and asked who it was. It said, “I
am the death of the
heedless and
the salvation
of the
Divine Friends.
If I
were not,
they would
turn proud
of their
purity and
noble deeds”.
These
stories go to show that the desire-nature
is a corporeal
being — not
a quality — albeit it is endowed with
qualities. It should be subdued by ascetic
practices, but
it cannot be completely destroyed
in its essential nature.
There need not be
any fear from its
existence, when it has been subdued
by the disciple
.... This
dreary forest
cannot be
crossed save
with the
help
of
the Divine
Grace and
under the
protection of a Master of Compassion. — Letter
81.
DESIRE
‘Desire'
is a term covering all the qualities
of Nafs. It prevents
union, tortures
the disciple,
and stands against
the seeker. It
is to be opposed
and [Page
113] not
to be
gratified. “He
who follows
it is
ruined;
he who
opposes it
attains his object.”
Desires
are twofold: (a) those connected with the senses
and sex; (b) ambition of
power and fame. The victims of the former resort
to brothels without seriously affecting the well-being of others. The victims
of the latter resort to holy places, and, become
the pests of the world. They isolate themselves
from society and mislead others. He who seeks the allegiance of his desires
is far away from God, be he above the sky; he who renounces his desires
is in close touch with God, be he in a heathen
temple.
Master
Ibrâhîm says: “I went to see
a Jewish monk in Turkey, who had confined himself
in a temple for seventy years. He opened a window
and said he had not shut himself up there to secure
the position of an ascetic, but to break the dog
within him and restrain it from harming the world
at large. I praised God for showing the right
path to his misguided devotee. He went on, Ibrâhîm,
how long will you seek
men? — Seek the self, and watch it when
found. The desire-nature constantly puts on
many a semblance of divinity, and invites man
to his ruin.”.......
It is
said of Master Abû
AIî that he wished to cut off his genital organ, as the
root of lust, when his eyes fell on it while bathing. A Voice whispered [Page
114] to
his soul, “By My honour, no
organ is better or worse than another in My
eyes. If you lop it off, I can put in each hair
of your body the whole lust of your genital organ”. It
is no use destroying the
organ, it
is a
vehicle for
carrying the
divine command.
But a
man can
transmute its
quality, God helping. — Letter 82.
THE
DISCIPLINE OF THE DESIRE-NATURE
The
desire-nature is the worst foe. It is very
difficult to be armed against it, since, firstly, it is an internal foe,
and it is almost impossible to guard the house against a thief
co-tenant; and, secondly, it is a lovely foe, and a man is blind to the defects
of his beloved, whose shortcomings take on the appearance of
merits. Such being the case, the desire-nature may ere long hurl a man unawares
to the lowest depth of degradation. If you ponder well, you will
find it at the root of all the troubles that beset man in the past
or may beset him in the future. This being the foe, one should
intelligently strive to overcome it. It is improper
to overcome it all
at once, as it is a
vehicle and instrument of the Soul; nor
is it proper to let it go wholly unbridled,
in view of the probable dangers. So
the disciple needs a middle course, and it
is this: [Page
115] You
should strengthen it to the extent of enabling
it to perform its duties; you should
weaken
it to the measure of preventing
the chance
of its leading you astray. Anything besides
this rule is objectionable. It
is
reported in sacred tradition
that on
seeing Abdullâh Masûd,
who had by ascetic practices weakened his body,
his feet having become incapable
of motion,
his eyes having
sunk in their sockets,
Mohammad
said, ”O
AbduIIâh,
be warned! Thy desire-nature
has claims
on thee”. So
the conclusion is
that
the
desire-nature should be disciplined
by knowledge, so
that it may neither
overcome (nor disobey) thee,
nor be itself destroyed.
The
middle course consists in restraining the
desire-nature
by temperance. There are three ways of
thus subduing it:
(a) withholding
gratification
.....; (b) imposing religious
observances; (c) invoking the
Divine help for mastery
over
it. If you follow this threefold method,
the desire-nature
will be amenable to discipline. — Letter 83.
DISCIPLINE
OF THE DESIRE-NATURE (Continued)
The
discipline of the desire-nature is recommended
by all creeds and nations, and is known by Sages as a means of developing
the [Page
116] supersensuous
faculties
..... But
thy business
lies with
the discipline
only, it
is God's
to grant
supersensuous faculties.
Thy labours
cannot bear
fruit without
His
Grace. Avoid as much as possible the thought
of
personality and its activities,
and never follow
the promptings of
the desire-nature. It
is thy existence that
veils Thee. Had there
been the veil of a
single activity, it could
be uplifted by another
opposite
activity.
But the whole of thyself
being a veil, thou canst
not be fit for the Divine Vision,
unless and until
thou vanish
completely. It should
not be forgotten in this
connection that the
discipline of the desire-nature means
the transmutation
of its qualities, not the destruction
of its essential
nature — for
that is
impossible. But
its existence
need not
be regarded
as dangerous
after it
has been
subdued by
the inner Ruler.
Fasting
is recommended by all nations and
creeds.
It helps the receptivity
of the
heart, the purity of the
intellect,
and
the
health of the
body. Regulation of food
is
an important
work. It is food that imparts
strength and
weakness, purity and foulness
to all the organs of the body. It must
be
pure in quality and moderate in quantity. —
Letter 84. [Page
117]
ALIENATION
FROM THE DESIRE-NATURE.
Alienation
from the personality is the first step
to acquaintance
with God. The one is a
necessary condition for
the
other.
All
aspirants find fault
with, and impose tasks on, the
desire-nature, so that this wall
of
separation be pulled down,
and a way be
found to the Divine Sanctuary. So long
as
thou lookest
down upon a single
soul as
inferior to thee, thou art self-conceited,
and blind
to the Divine
Presence. “If
thou
hast knowledge, put that knowledge into
practice;
solve thy
difficulties by
knowledge and
practice ( combined).”
The
knowledge of all the Sages culminates in
the realisation that they do not know.
There
has been a single Master of Woe in each cycle,
protecting others under his
charge. On the path of asceticism, a considerable
amount of prolonged exercises
is a necessary preliminary to initial success,
which, too, is doubtful. On the other hand, he who is trained on the
Path of Woe has for his first stage the Purity of Devotion ...
Be
of good cheer, in spite of thy
lack of
devotion and the heavy
weight
of thy sins. “Never
despair of
the Divine
Grace” — it
affords protection to all sinners. Poor
as thou art at
present, do not be dejected: “The
Lord has created a beautiful form [Page
118] for
thee”, and “made Man after His image”. — Letter 85.
SELF-
TOLERATION
He
who is on good terms with the self
is dead,
though apparently
living; he whose
life is in God
is really living, though
apparently dead. Death is not of
the
body
alone: the inner man may
die
in
the same way as the outer.
Men are perishing
in the sea of
desires. Their Saviours are the Prophets
who help them
to cross the sea of desires and merge in the Divine
Unity ...... The
ungodly live in the
form
only and are dead in the spirit,
since
true life
consists in human nature
responding to
the Divine Life. On the other hand, “Those
who have sacrificed themselves On the Path
of God are
not to be considered as dead, but as living with their Lord”.
“The
Divine treasury is too full of prayers
already. Put in a grain of humble devotion if you can.” — Letter
86.
HIDDEN
DIFFERENCES OF STAGES
Men
differ, in the gradations of their
progress as heaven from hell, though they are so
similar in [Page
119] their
outer forms. All men — whether
in the past, the present
or the future — are the centres
of mysteries. Each body treasures a
Divine Secret;
each Heart
feels impelled
to the
Path; each
Soul radiates
a glory
unfathomable by
human and
angelic intelligences
....
The best
and holiest men had an obscure
life.
Once
upon a time Zun-noon
sent a
disciple
of his, to enquire
about Bâyazîd.
When the disciple reached the latter's
house at Bustâm
he found him seated on the floor
of his cottage. But he did not know
that he was Bâyazîd.
Bâyazîd
asked
the disciple what he wanted. He
said he wanted to see Bâyazîd.
Bâyazîd
replied: “Which Bâyazîd
do you want, and whence ? Now
I am Bâyazîd,
yet
I have been in search of Bâyazîd
for several years, and to no
effect”. The
disciple took
him for
a madcap,
and, returning,
reported the
matter to
Zun-noon. Zun-noon
with tears in his eyes exclaimed: “Our
brother Bâyazîd has gone
forth into God with the true Devotees”.
There
was one Helâl, a slave to Mogîra. On his death the
Prophet with his companions went to the house of Mogîra.
The latter was not even aware of the death of Helâl,
for none took care of him, alive or
dead, as he was the lowliest in the household.
Mogîra came to receive the party
and [Page
120] kissed
the blessed feet of the Prophet.
The Prophet asked Mogîra what
had happened in the household.
He said that all was well. The Prophet
went on: “ Mogîra, the worthiest of your household
has departed, and you
do not know
of it.“Mogîra, astonished,
remarked “I
never
supposed
Helâl
to
have
been
so
advanced”..... The
Prophet was
then (at
His request)
taken to
the place
where the
dead body
was. He
found it
in a stable
at the feet of the beasts, clasped
the head
and said with tears in His
eyes: “Helâl, thy body lies on this earth, but thy Soul
is with the Lord.') All
the saints and chiefs then wished
in earnest
devotion to have been
the dust
of Helâl’s feet.
The Prophet continued: “There
are seven men in each
cycle who support the
world by their blessings
and lead the faithful
to victory by their magnanimity.
Helâl
was the Head of these.” — Letter 87.
HEEDLESSNESS
Heedlessness
is blamed by all creeds and sects.
It is
heedlessness that lies at the
root of all failures.
It has been said.
When
a man heedlessly approaches
the Path,
the Devil warns him, saying: “I
was the Teacher or the celestial
Hosts, but I lost that post. Now
I guard the Gate of the Path. [Page
121] You
may enter with the pass of Devotion
only — else
will you have to share my fate,
being unfit for the Path.”
Everlasting
purity is the character of the angel; lifelong
transgression
is the character
of the devil ; turning with sorrow from
sin to purity
is the character
of man. Lifelong purity is impossible for
man. He is born
imperfect, void of reason,
with desires ( the agents
of the
Devil)
in
full
sway. Reason (the curb
of
desires and the
light of the angelic
essence) develops later — i.e.,
after the capture of
the heart by desires. Hence the necessity of Turning and
self-discipline, pari-passu with
the
development of
reason, for
the recovery
of the
heart from
desires and
the Devil.
—
Letter
88.
SORROW
No
reading is so useful as that of
the diary
of sorrows. The Goal
is unattainable save through the destruction
of the desire-nature. Either
be ready to kill
it out and
tread the Path,
or
withdraw
yourself
from the rank of
the
seekers — so
that others
may pass on (unimpeded by your presence).
A
Story. — David,
when about to pray, saw an ant,
and wished to remove it from the
place. The ant appealed to
David
against
his
cruelty.
David [Page
122] said: “God,
how
am I to
deal with
Thy creatures
?” God
replied, “Behave
with self-restraint,
lest thou
shouldst harm
any; do
not look
to the
outer body
of a
creature, but
to the
Spirit underlying.
An ant,
if permitted,
may rend
asunder the
dark Veil,
radiate the
Light of
Divine Unity
from its
bosom, and
put to
shame many a monotheist.”
Another
Story.— Once upon a
time, Moses prayed so warmly
that the stimulating effect was
felt by him till the succeeding
day. He wondered whether anyone
could be so blessed as he was
the night before. The angel Gabriel
presently came with this message
from God: “ There
is One, in this forest, who can
cure the ills of My devotees”. Moses
hastened to the spot, and found
a frog croaking in a pool. The
frog said: “ Moses,
I have long been waiting to uproot
pride from your heart. The Divine
influence you felt last night
passed through me. I received
it first and then passed it on
to you. Be warned against the
repetition of the boast! ”— Letter
89.
CONDUCT
An
act not permitted by the Qurân
is fruitless; a desire not sanctioned
by the
Prophet is vain. To wish for any
help on the Path save that [Page
123] from
the
Path is forbidden, The Qurân
permits nothing save sincere conduct,
and sincerity springs from the
heart that has tasted pain.
The
Masters of the Path are spiritual
beings. Their
word is life ; the purity
of Their sorrow
vitalizes the
world; Their
character is spotless
.....
So long as thou dost not unlearn
all thy previous
notions,
habits and defects, thou canst
not unfold the Eye of Wisdom in
the Heart, and feel the
relish of the Science of Truth ...
He who is destitute of Divine Wisdom today (i.e.,
on earth) will not have the Divine Wisdom tomorrow (i.e., after death).
Acts
not based on Knowledge are futile; ascetic
practices
not countenanced by religion
are misleading and devilish. It is
Knowledge
that unfastens the gate of good
luck. It is Knowledge that can comprehend
the greatness of IsIâm,
the mysteries thereof,
the glorious character of the Prophets,
the sublimity of Their mission, the
different stages of the advanced souls,
the secret of the human constitution, the evil in the wicked, the respect
due to Faith and the faithful, the injunctions and prohibitions of
religions. Tread zealously the Path of Knowledge till you get rid of ignorance.
Knowledge is the shortest way to God; and ignorance is the densest
veil between thee and Him. As Knowledge is [Page
124] productive of Good, so
is
ignorance productive of evil. It
is ignorance which brings in faithlessness,
neglect of religious duties, affinity
to the devil, alienation from the
Prophets and the Pure Souls, and
other innumerable evils.
Seek
no connection with the self, lest thou
shouldst
be affected with pride
.... Thou
canst not reach Me, so
long
as 'thyness' inheres in
thee: thou shalt
reach Me only when
thou quittest
thy self.“O brother, subdue thy desires
with asceticism tempered by knowledge;
cut off the head of the desire-nature with the sword of self-discipline,
as advised by the Scriptures,.... and (then)
put on the robe of IsIâm.
If thou art really
in earnest, tread upon thy life — so
dear to thee — and
do not fear death; what follows
is Life, through and through.“If
thou dependest upon (bodily)
life, thou wilt lag behind. Thou art Life
in the world of Life alone. Grasp well
the subtle fact — thou art That
which thou seekest.” The foremost
duty of the seeker lies in seeing
the Beloved as
the only
Life, and
in eliminating
the evil
of his
own separated existence. — Letter 90.
SECLUSION
A
man not wanted by the world for its
intellectual [Page
125] or
theological education, may isolate
himself from others, and avoid company
save on necessary occasions, such
as those of the
Friday and the Îd
prayers, a
pilgrimage to Meccâ,
and other useful meetings.
The man who
wishes to avoid company altogether,
had better
live far away
from
human habitation
(in a
mountain or
on a desert island).
Else (let him
not isolate himself altogether]
unless he knows for certain
that his
gains from attendance at the
Friday prayer
or other social gatherings are
really outweighed by the
losses he incurs from coming into contact with human Society.
But
there may be a different sort of
man; a
Master of Knowledge, needed
by others for their religious enlightenment,
the exposition
of truths,
the setting aside
of heretical arguments,
and
for stirring them to live
out the teachings
of religion. It is
hardly lawful for such a man to absolutely
avoid
human society. It is narrated
of a Sage named Abû Bakar that, as
he wandered about the hills with
the object of leading a life of prayer and worship
in seclusion, he beard a voice
saying, “Abû
Bakar, why dost thou desert the creatures of the Lord when thou hast attained
the position of a Divine Light ? ” So
he returned to the society of men.
Such
a man, though living corporeally
in the [Page
126] world
and doing his duties to it, has
to work for his own salvation as
well. Omar (peace on him!) said of
himself, “should
I sleep at night I would ruin myself,
should I sleep during the day, I would ruin
my subjects”. It is exceedingly hard to be corporeally
in the world and to be at the same
time mentally away from it.
Imâm
GazâIî opines
that a learned man may
be excused for isolating himself
and burying
his knowledge in days
of trouble
and degeneration, when a man may
send for a religious
teacher, but declines to learn anything
of
him — when
no man
appreciates the importance of religious
duties.
An
extremely weak man should not resort
to seclusion.
The real object
of seclusion is mental isolation, not bodily
separation.— Letter
95.
DEATH
There
are three classes of men: (1) The
man of desires. (2)
The beginner who is just turning back. (3) The advanced
Knower of God.
The first does
not recollect death; or if he ever
does so, he does it in a spirit of sorrow for the loss of worldly objects,
and begins to murmur at [Page
127] it.
Recollection of death throws him
the further from
God.
The second is given to
the practice of recollecting death,
so that he may live fear-stricken,
and accomplish his Turning the more
successfully.
The third never
forgets death, as it is the guarantee
of his union with the Beloved.
But
the highest stage of development
is shown in the soul that completely
surrenders itself to the Lord, and
foregoes all choice of life or death.
The
frequent recollection of death is recommended,
as it
is calculated to disturb
physical enjoyment,
and thereby lead to salvation
....
Death is welcome
to the faithful, as it sets him free from
the prison
of earth-life and its tortures.
As remarked
by
an esteemed friend, earth-life
is a
state of slumber,
the after-death life is a state
of waking, and death is an intermediate state
....
Death ( to an ordinary
mortal) is more painful
than a cut with the sword or
the axe, or the extraction
of flesh from his body.
A calm look,
and
the
repetition
of the Holy Formula,
these are becoming on the part of the
dying
man.— Letter
97. [Page
128]
HELL
Every
man is liable to suffer in hell,
and it is difficult to be certain of exemption
therefrom. According to the Prophet,
there are 70,000 apartments in hell, each apartment containing 70, 000
doors, each door having 70,000 serpents and 70,000 scorpions;
and the unbelievers and the evil-minded
cannot
help passing through
each of
them ........
Such is the description
of hell, and of
its subdivisions which
correspond to the number
of earthly desires.
The factor seven
in the subdivisions corresponds to the
seven organs used in
the commission of sins.
If you wish to know your destiny, you
should look at
your character, since your natural inclinations presage
your destiny. If they tend to good, you
are not intended
for hell; if they tend
to evil. you are destined therefore.
As the
Qurân
says, “The
virtuous are
to be
blessed in
heaven, the
vicious are
to suffer
in hell”.
Here
is a
secret. When
death takes
away the
earthly
veil (
the body
), the
desire-nature is
yet more
or less
tainted with
earthly impurities.
In some
cases
the
mirror of
the soul
may be
too darkened
to admit
of any
cleansing. Such
a soul
is eternally
barred from
the Divine Presence.
In other
cases, (i.e. unrighteous
believers ), the rust is [Page
129] capable
of being cleansed, and so the
desire-nature is exposed to hell-fire
to the extent of the purification
needed. The time
varies from a brief moment to 7,000
years. No man quits
this earth without
some impurity, however
slight, in him.— Letter 99.
HEAVEN
Heaven
contains apartments made of various
gems, the outside of which is visible
from the inside, and the inside from
the outside. They abound with pleasures and comforts not tasted or conceived
by men (on earth)..... Heaven is a vast palace made of
a single pearl. It contains seven
apartments of red ruby. Each apartment contains seven rooms of green
emerald. Each room is provided with a gorgeous seat, 70 trays and 70 maid-servants.
Each seat has 70 beddings of different colours, and a Houri as
the bed-maker. Each tray Is furnished with 70 dishes.
Heaven is intended
for those who salute and feed others, fast and pray
.....
When the dwellers of
heaven wish to communicate with their brothers, their seats move the one
towards the other. Thus they meet and talk of their past relationship on
earth. There
is procreation in heaven if so
desired: conception, birth, [Page
130] and
maturity all taking place instantaneously.
The dwellers of heaven are beautiful
as Joseph, and well-behaved
as Mohammad. The
duration
of the lowest
heavenly life
is 500 years.
Such
is
the heaven of the ordinary soul.
Now as to the destiny of the
Prophets, the purest Devotees,
and the Saints. Theirs is
the vision of the Divine Face,
in the supreme relish
of which the grosser enjoyments
of heaven are forgotten. Orthodox
Islâm
does not regard the Divine Vision
as the fruit of human works, but as
the result of Divine Grace. It holds
a similar
doctrine as to the Faith
in the Lord of human beings upon earth. — Letter 100.
[The
following brief Note is added from the Series
of 28 Letters.— Translator]
Imâm
Qasherî, explaining the
Secrets of the Qurân,
says:
“What the faithful
will manifestly enjoy after
death in heaven, is inwardly
experienced by the Saints on
earth.” — Loc.
Cit., 28.
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