i

Revelations
Of The Unseen
- . al-Ghaib]
[Futuh
A COLLECTION OF SEVENTY-EIGHT DISCOURSES

Revelations Section 1 1 11/19/07, 4:06 AM

 ii

ii

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 iii

Revelations
Of The Unseen
- . al-Ghaib]
[Futuh
A COLLECTION OF SEVENTY-EIGHT DISCOURSES

– – – –
‹
SHAIKH ABD AL-QADIR AL-JILANI
TRANSLATED FROM THE ARABIC BY MUHTAR HOLLAND

AL-BAZ PUBLISHING, INC. iii

FT. LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA

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 iv

“And with Him are the keys of the unseen.” Qur›ån (6:59)
Cover calligraphy: Rohana Filippi
Using watercolor and wax to combine the beauty of Arabic
script with the Qur’ånic message on paper, Italian artist Rohana
Filippi has developed her own artistic style through personal
research and inner inspiration. Her art is entirely devoted to
“expressing Allåh’s presence everywhere.”
Ms. Filippi, who currently resides in New York, has lived and
worked in England, Mexico, Colombia and the United States.
Cover Design: Dryden Design, Houston, Texas
Body text set in Ghazali and Jilani fonts by Al-Baz Publishing, Inc.
Printed on acid-free paper

©1992 by Al-Baz Publishing, Inc. Houston, Texas

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form of by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system without
permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress
Catalog Card Number: 92-73636
ISBN: 1-882216-01-6
First Edition September 1992
Second Edition January 1999
Third Edition December 2007
Published by Al-Baz Publishing, Inc.
8807 148th Ave. NE,
Redmond, WA 98052.
(425) 891-5444
E-mail: [email protected]
Printed and bound in the United States of America

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 v

Publisher’s Preface

T he words of Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº can undoubtedly be

considered among the most precious treasures of Islåm. Indeed,
Al-Baz Publishing was founded with the intention of providing fine
English translations of his works for the benefit of English-speaking
Muslims everywhere, in the spirit of wishing to share the benefit and
blessing we have received ourselves at his hand.
I first became interested in Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir (may Allåh be
well pleased with him) in learning from my own spiritual guide and
benefactor Bapak Muhammad Sumohadiwidjojo, founder of the Subud
brotherhood (may Allåh be well pleased with him), that Allåh had
bestowed on the Shaikh the same opening and contact that Bapak
himself received from Allåh, and which he has passed on to us.
Anyone familiar with the latihan kejiwaan of Subud will know
that to be so honored, as Bapak was by Almighty God, is a rare
occurrence in the history of mankind, for such grace is usually bestowed
on very few of His creatures. My interest thus being aroused, I sought
out the surviving manuscripts from their various repositories around
the world, and began the task of having them translated. From the very
first reading it was apparent to me that what Bapak had said about the
Shaikh was true.
O reader! This endeavor is for you! If you find benefit in the reading
of these discourses, pray that Allåh bless the Shaikh, and pray for us too,
that our offering may find acceptance in His sight!

Ruslan Moore
Al-Baz Publishing, Inc.
September, 1992

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vi

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 vii

Acknowledgments
All praise is due to Allåh, the Beneficent, the Merciful!

We bear witness that there is no god except Allåh, and that

Muhammad is the Messenger of Allåh!

Our Lord, thank You for giving us this wholesome task!

Grateful thanks to Muhtar Holland for devoting years of his life to

translating these works; may Allåh bless him! Thanks too, to the
many who have helped make this publication possible, among
them the following:

Husein Rofé
Salim al-din Quraishi of the British India Office Library, London
Dr. Hars Kurio of the Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin
Lateef Ismail
Rohana Alkaitis
Liliana Gardner for design fundamentals
Frances Gardner for the flowers
Rohana Filippi for the cover art

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Contents

Publisher’s Preface v
Acknowledgments vii
Concerning the Author, Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº:
A Brief Introduction by the Translator xiii

Author’s Genealogy 5
Author’s Prologue 7
The Seventy-eight Discourses:
1 On the essential tasks of every true believer 9
2 On sharing good advice 10
3 On being tried and tested 11
4 On spiritual death 13
5 On the nature of this world, detachment from which is
strongly advised 15
6 On passing beyond the creation 16
7 On removing the cares of the heart [qalb] 19
8 On drawing near to Allåh 22
9 On disclosure and contemplation 24
10 On the self and its states 26
11 On carnal appetite 31
12 On the prohibition of love of wealth 32
13 On submission to Allåh’s command 33
14 On following the practice of Allåh’s own 37
15 On fear and hope 39
16 On trust and its stages 40
17 On how the contact [wuƒ«l] with Allåh is attained 43
18 On not complaining 46
19 On promises 49
20 On the saying of the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give
him peace): “Leave anything that makes you doubtful and
stick to what arouses no misgivings in you.” 51
21 On addressing Iblºs the accursed 53
22 On the testing of the believer’s faith 54

ix

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 x Contents
23 On contentment with one’s lot from Allåh 56
24 On cleaving to Allåh’s door 58
25 On the tree of faith 60
26 On not unveiling one’s face 63
27 On good and evil as two fruits 67
28 On the classification of the seeker’s state 71
29 On the saying of the Prophet (Allåh Bless him and give him
peace): “Poverty is on the verge of slipping into unbelief.” 73
30 On not saying “What shall I do and how?” 75
31 On hatred for Allåh’s sake 77
32 On not sharing one’s love of Allåh 78
33 On the four types of men 80
34 On not resenting Allåh 83
35 On pious caution [al-wara‹] 87
36 On the explanation of this world and the hereafter, and what
one must do in them both 89
37 On censure of envy 94
38 On honesty [ƒidq] and sincerity [niƒå¥] 97
39 On dissension, concord and hypocrisy [nifåq] 98
40 On when the aspirant truly belongs in the company of spiritual
people 99
41 Illustrating the nature of annihilation [fanå›] 101
42 On the two conditions of the self [nafs] 104
43 On censure of asking from any but Allåh 107
44 On the reason for non-response to the supplication of one
who knows Allåh [al-‹arif bi›llåh] 108
45 On blessings and trials 110
46 On the Sacred Tradition: “When someone is too busy
remembering Me…” 115
47 On closeness to Allåh 117
48 On what the believer must attend to 118
49 On censure of sleep 120
50 On how to treat the servant’s remoteness from Allåh;
explanation of how to achieve closeness to Him 121
51 On abstinence 123
52 On the reason for the trials borne by certain believers 125
53 On the commandment to seek contentment with Allåh
and annihilation [fanå›] in Him 126
54 On those who wish to attain to the contact [wuƒ«l] with Allåh,
an explanation of the nature of that contact 129

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 Contents xi
55 On giving up life’s pleasures 131
56 On the servant’s becoming extinct [fanå›] to creatures, passions,
the self, the will and desires 134
57 On not contesting destiny, and the commandment to keep
oneself content therewith 136
58 On looking away from all other directions, and seeking the
direction of Allåh's favor 138
59 On cheerful acceptance of misfortune, and being grateful
for blessings 140
60 On the beginning and the end 144
61 On pausing before taking any action until its permissibility
is clear 147
62 On love, the beloved, and what is required in respect of both 149
63 On a kind of inner knowledge [ma›rifa] 151
64 On death without life, and life without death 152
65 On the prohibition of resenting Allåh for deferring response
to supplication 153
66 On the commandment to make supplication, and the
prohibition of omitting it 155
67 On struggle with the self, and description of its nature 157
68 On the words of Allåh (Exalted is He): “Every day He is about
some business.” 160
69 On the commandment to ask Allåh for forgiveness, protection
from sin, help toward success, contentment and patience 162
70 On gratitude and acknowledgment of shortcomings 164
71 On the seeker and the sought 166
72 On those who are attracted to what they see in the market
and those who view it with patient restraint 168
73 On a party of saints whom Allåh makes aware of the faults
of others 170
74 On how the intelligent person should prove to himself the
Uniqueness of Allåh 172
75 On spiritual culture [taƒawwuf] and what it is based on 174
76 On advice 176
77 On staying with Allåh and becoming extinct to creatures 178
78 On the people devoted to spiritual struggle and self-
examination and the masters of resolve; explanation of
their virtues 180
Addendum 185
About the Translator 189

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 xiii

Concerning the Author,

Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº
A brief introduction by the translator

M any words about Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº (may Allåh be

well pleased with him) have been written in English and other
Western European languages, and have been published in books,
encyclopedias and journals. Most of the Shaikh’s own words, however,
have remained accessible only to those who can read his writings, and
his recorded utterances, in the original Arabic or in translations into
other Oriental languages, such as Persian and Urdu. As one who has
been blessed with sufficient skill—and with the practical opportunity—
to make his humble contribution toward correcting this imbalance,
I feel obliged to assure the reader that I intend to concentrate on further
tasks of translation, rather than expatiating at great length on my
personal view of Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir, his life, his works, and his
spiritual influence through the ages. The following brief introduction
may nevertheless serve a useful purpose, especially for readers who lack
ready access to publications containing relevant background material.

The Author’s Names and Titles

A rich store of information about the author of Revelations of the
Unseen is conveniently available, to those familiar with the religious
and spiritual tradition of Islåm, in his names, his surnames, and the
many titles conferred upon him by his devoted followers. It is not
unusual for these to take up several lines in an Arabic manuscript, but
let us start with the short form of the author’s name as it appears on the
cover and title page of this book: Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº.
xiii

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 xiv Concerning the Author

Shaikh: A term applied throughout the Islåmic world to respected

persons of recognized seniority in learning, experience and wisdom. Its
basic meaning in Arabic is “an elder; a man over fifty years of age.” (The
spellings Sheikh and Shaykh may also be encountered in English-
language publications.)
‹Abd al-Qådir: This is the author’s personal name, meaning “Servant
[or Slave] of the All-Powerful.” (The form ‹Abdul Qådir, which the
reader may come across elsewhere, is simply an alternative translitera-
tion of the Arabic spelling.) It has always been a common practice, in
the Muslim community, to give a male child a name in which ‹Abd is
prefixed to one of the Names of Allåh.
al-Jºlånº: A surname ending in -º will often indicate the bearer’s place
of birth. Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir was born in the Iranian district of Gºlån,
south of the Caspian Sea, in A.H. 470/1077-8 C.E. (In some texts, the
Persian spelling Gºlånº is used instead of the arabicized form al-Jºlånº.
The abbreviated form al-Jºlº, which may also be encountered, should
not be confused with the surname of the venerable ‹Abd al-Kar‚m
al-Jºlº, author of the celebrated work al-Insån al-Kåmil, who came from
Jºl in the district of Baghdåd.)
Let us now consider a slightly longer version of the Shaikh’s name, as
it occurs near the beginning of Al-Fat¥ ar-Rabbånº [The Sublime Revelation]:
Sayyidunå ’sh-Shaikh Mu¥yi’d-Dºn Ab« Mu¥ammad ‹Abd al-Qådir
(Raæiya’llåhu ‹anh).
Sayyidunå ’sh-Shaikh: “Our Master, the Shaikh.” A writer who
regards himself as a Qådirº, a devoted follower of Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir,
will generally refer to the latter as Sayyidunå [our Master], or Sayyidº
[my Master].
Mu¥yi’d-Dºn: “Reviver of the Religion.” It is widely acknowledged by
historians, non-Muslim as well as Muslim, that Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir
displayed great courage in reaffirming the traditional teachings of
Islåm, in an era when sectarianism was rife, and when materialistic and
rationalistic tendencies were predominant in all sections of society.
In matters of Islåmic jurisprudence [fiqh] and theology [kalåm], he
adhered quite strictly to the highly “orthodox” school of Imåm A¥mad
ibn ªanbal.
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 Concerning the Author xv

Ab« Mu¥ammad: “Father of Mu¥ammad.” In the Arabic system of

nomenclature, a man’s surnames usually include the name of his first-
born son, with the prefix Ab« [Father of—].
Raæiya’llåhu ‹anh: “May Allåh be well pleased with him!” This
benediction is the one customarily pronounced—and spelled out in
writing—after mentioning the name of a Companion of the Prophet
(Allåh bless him and give him peace). The preference for this particular
invocation is yet another mark of the extraordinary status held by
Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir in the eyes of his devoted followers.
Finally, we must note some important elements contained within this
even longer version: al-Ghawth al-A‹œam Sul£ån al-Awliyå› Sayyidunå
’sh-Shaikh Mu¥yi’d-Dºn ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº al-ªasanº al-ªusainº
(Raæiya’llåhu ‹anh).
al-Ghawth al-A‹œam: “The Supreme Helper” (or, “The Mightiest
Succor”). Ghawth is an Arabic word meaning: (1) A cry for aid or
succor. (2) Aid, help, succor; deliverance from adversity. (3) The chief
of the Saints, who is empowered by Allåh to bring succor to suffering
humanity, in response to His creatures’ cry for help in times of extreme
adversity.
Sul£ån al-Awliyå›: “The Sultan of the Saints.” This reinforces the
preceding title, emphasizing the supremacy of the Ghawth above all
other orders of sanctity.
al-ªasanº al-ªusainº: “The descendant of both al-ªasan and al-ªusain,
the grandsons of the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace).” To
quote the Turkish author, Shaikh Muzaffer Ozak Efendi (may Allåh
bestow His mercy upon him): “The lineage of Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir is
known as the Chain of Gold, since both his parents were descendants
of the Messenger (Allåh bless him and give him peace). His noble
father, ‹Abdullåh, traced his descent by way of Imåm ªasan, while his
revered mother, Umm al-Khair, traced hers through Imåm ªusain.”
As for the many other surnames, titles and honorific appellations that
have been conferred upon Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº, it may suffice
at this point to mention al-Båz al-Ashhab [The Gray Falcon].

xv

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 xvi Concerning the Author

The Author’s Life in Baghdåd

Through the mists of legend surrounding the life of Shaikh ‹Abd
al-Qådir al-Jºlånº, it is possible to discern the outlines of the following
biographical sketch:
In A.H. 488, at the age of eighteen, he left his native province to
become a student in the great capital city of Baghdåd, the hub of
political, commercial and cultural activity, and the center of religious
learning in the world of Islåm. After studying traditional sciences under
such teachers as the prominent ªanbalº jurist [faqºh], Ab« Sa‹d ‹Alº
al-Mukharrimº, he encountered a more spiritually oriented instructor
in the saintly person of Abu’l-Khair ªammåd ad-Dabbås. Then, instead
of embarking on his own professorial career, he abandoned the city and
spent twenty-five years as a wanderer in the desert regions of ‹Iråq.
He was over fifty years old by the time he returned to Baghdåd, in
A.H. 521/1127 C.E., and began to preach in public. His hearers were
profoundly affected by the style and content of his lectures, and his
reputation grew and spread through all sections of society. He moved
into the school [madrasa] belonging to his old teacher al-Mukharrimº,
but the premises eventually proved inadequate. In A.H. 528, pious
donations were applied to the construction of a residence and guest-
house [ribå£], capable of housing the Shaikh and his large family, as well
as providing accommodation for his pupils and space for those who
came from far and wide to attend his regular sessions [majålis].
He lived to a ripe old age, and continued his work until his very last
breath, as we know from the accounts of his final moments recorded in
the Addendum to Revelations of the Unseen.1
In the words of Shaikh Muzaffer Ozak Efendi: “The venerable ‹Abd
al-Qådir al-Jºlånº passed on to the Realm of Divine Beauty in A.H. 561/
1166 C.E., and his blessed mausoleum in Baghdåd is still a place of pious
visitation. He is noted for his extraordinary spiritual experiences and
exploits, as well as his memorable sayings and wise teachings. It is
rightly said of him that ‘he was born in love, grew in perfection, and met
his Lord in the perfection of love.’ May the All-Glorious Lord bring us
in contact with his lofty spiritual influence!”
1 See p. 185.
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 Concerning the Author xvii

The Author’s Literary Works

Al-Fat¥ ar-Rabbånº [The Sublime Revelation]. A collection of sixty-
two discourses delivered by Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir in the years A.H. 545-
546/1150-1152 C.E. Arabic text published by Dår al-Albåb, Damascus,
n.d. Arabic text with Urdu translation: Madºna Publishing Co.,
Karachi, 1989. Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland.
Houston, Texas: Al-Baz Publishing, Inc., 1992.
Even a non-Muslim scholar like D.S. Margoliouth was so favorably
impressed by the content and style of Al-Fat¥ ar-Rabbånº that he wrote:2
“The sermons included in [this work] are some of the very best in
Muslim literature: the spirit which they breathe is one of charity and
philanthropy: the preacher would like to ‘close the gates of Hell and
open those of Paradise to all mankind.’ He employs »«fº technicalities
very rarely, and none that would occasion the ordinary reader much
difficulty….”
Malf«œåt [Utterances]. A loosely organized compilation of talks and
sayings by Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir, almost equal in total length to
Revelations of the Unseen. Frequently treated as a kind of appendix or
supplement to manuscript and printed versions of Al-Fat¥ ar-Rabbånº.
Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland. Houston, Texas:
Al-Baz Publishing, Inc., 1992.
Fut«¥ al-Ghaib [Revelations of the Unseen]. A collection of
seventy-eight discourses. The Arabic text, edited by Mu¥ammad
Sålim al-Bawwåb, has been published by Dår al-Albåb, Damascus,
1986. German translation: W. Braune. Die Fut«¥ al-Gaib des ‹Abd
al-Qådir. Berlin and Leipzig: Walter de Gruyter & Co., 1933. English
translations: (1) M. Aftab-ud-Din Ahmad. Futuh Al-Ghaib [The
Revelations of the Unseen]. Lahore, Pakistan: Sh. Muhammad Ashraf.
Repr. 1986. (2) Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº. Revelations of the
Unseen (Fut«¥ al-Ghaib). Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar
Holland. Houston, Texas: Al-Baz Publishing, Inc., 1992.
Sirr al-Asrår [The Secret of Secrets]. A short work, divided into
twenty-four chapters, in which “the realities within our faith and our
path are divulged.” English translation: The Secret of Secrets by ªaærat
‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº, interpreted by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi
al-Halveti. Cambridge, England: The Islamic Texts Society, 1992.
2In his article “‹Abd al-Kådir” in Encyclopaedia of Islam (also printed in Shorter
.
Encyclopaedia of Islam. Leiden, Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1961). xvii

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 xviii Concerning the Author

Jalå› al-Khawå£ir [The Removal of Cares]. A collection of forty-five

discourses by Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir. Arabic text with Urdu translation
published by Maktaba Nabawiyya, Lahore, n.d. Translated from the
Arabic by Muhtar Holland. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida: Al-Baz Publishing,
Inc., 1997.
Al-Ghunya li-¡ålibº ¡arºq al-ªaqq [Sufficient Provision for Seekers
of the Path of Truth]. Arabic text published in two parts by Dår
al-Albåb, Damascus, n.d., 192 pp. + 200 pp. Translated from the
Arabic (in 5 vols.) by Muhtar Holland. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida:
Al-Baz Publishing, Inc., 1997.
Khamsata ‹Ashara Makt«ban [Fifteen Letters]. Translated from
Persian into Arabic by ‹Alº ibn ªusåmu ’d-dºn al-Muttaqº, and from
Arabic into English by Muhtar Holland. Hollywood, Florida: Al-Baz
Publishing, Inc., 1997.
Other works attributed to Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir include short
treatises on some of the Divine Names; litanies [awråd/a¥zåb]; prayers
and supplications [da‹awåt/munåjåt]; mystical poems [qaƒå›id].

Previous translations of Fut«¥ al-Ghaib

With gratitude and respect, I wish to conclude this brief introduction
by acknowledging the work of my predecessors, whose earlier transla-
tions of Fut«¥ al-Ghaib [Revelations of the Unseen] have been most
helpful to me while preparing the version now offered to the reader.
W. Braune published his German translation, Die Fut«¥ al-Gaib des
‹Abd al-Qådir, in Berlin in the fateful year of 1933. My sense of awe
grows more intense, each time I reflect on the juxtaposition of that title
with that place and date. Almost eight hundred years had then elapsed,
since Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir uttered his enlightening and spiritually
liberating words in the Arabic tongue. Providence enabled him to
acquire a German voice at the very moment when falsehood and
tyranny were abusing the German language to proclaim their triumph,
as Hitler became Chancellor in Berlin.
To the best of my knowledge, there has been only one other complete
translation into any Western language, namely the English version by
M. Aftab-ud-Din Ahmad, entitled Futuh Al-Ghaib [The Revelations of

xviii

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 Concerning the Author xix

the Unseen] and published in Lahore, Pakistan, by Sh. Muhammad

Ashraf. The original date of publication is not mentioned in the copy
at my disposal, which is a reprint issued in 1986, but I believe that the
book first appeared several decades ago.
As for my own translation, printed within the covers of the book that
is now in the reader’s hands, it may well be regarded as a tribute to
Maulvi Aftab-ud-Din, whose work was avidly read—and re-read, and
re-read—by Ruslan Moore, the person who would become the founder
of Al-Båz Publishing, Inc. The fellowship between Ruslan and myself
is rooted in our experience of the latihan kejiwaan of Subud, an
experience shared over many long years, and that fellowship has been
further enriched since we became brothers in Islåm. I agreed with his
perception of the need for a new translation, to complement rather
than totally supercede the work of the venerable Aftab-ud-Din, for the
benefit of readers who are unfamiliar with sentence structures and turns
of phrase peculiar to the Anglo-Indian variety of the English language.

May Allåh forgive our mistakes and failings, and may He bestow His
blessings upon all connected with our project—especially our gracious
readers! Ámºn.

Muhtar Holland

xix

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 xx Concerning the Author

xx

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 1

Revelations
Of The Unseen
- . al-Ghaib]
[Futuh
A COLLECTION OF SEVENTY-EIGHT DISCOURSES

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 2

Revelations Section 3 2 11/19/07, 4:23 AM

 3

In the Name of Allåh,

All-Merciful and Compassionate!

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 4

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 5

Author’s Genealogy

A ccording to Shaikh ‹Abd al-Razzåq, noble son of the author:

“These are the words of my father (may Allåh—Exalted is He—
bestow His approval upon him!), Supporter of the Imåms, Master of
the Orders, Ab« Mu¥ammad Mu¥yi’d-dºn ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº
al-ªasanº al-ªusainº al-»iddºqº, son of Ab« »åli¥ M«så Jangº Dost, son
of Imåm ‹Abdu’llåh, son of Imåm Ya¥yå the Ascetic, son of Imåm
Mu¥ammad, son of Imåm Dåw«d, son of Imåm M«så, son of Imåm
‹Abdu’llåh, son of Imåm M«så al-Jawn, son of Imåm ‹Abdu’llåh
al-Ma¥æ, son of Imåm al-ªasan the Junior, son of the Imåm, the
Commander of the Believers, our Master al-ªasan the Grandson [of the
Prophet], son of the valiant Imåm, heroic Lion of Allåh, hero’s proud
son, Commander of the Believers, our Master ‹Alº ibn Abº ¡ålib (may
Allåh ennoble his countenance, and be well pleased with him and with
them all. Ámºn.)”

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Author’s Prologue

P raise be to Allåh, Lord of All the Worlds, first and last, outwardly
and inwardly, frequent as the tally of His creatures, far-reaching as
His words and weighty as His throne, fit for His own approval, frequent
as the count of all things paired and single, of all things “fresh and dry
in a lucid Book”*, and of all that our Lord has created, fashioned and
formed—creating without model or mold, always and forever in purity
and blessedness. Praise be to Him Who creates and then disposes, Who
measures and then guides, Who causes death and brings to life, Who
makes one laugh and makes one cry, Who draws one near and brings
one close, Who shows mercy and abases, Who gives to eat and gives to
drink, Who gives good fortune and misfortune, Who withholds and
bestows, by Whose command the seven strong heavens stand firm and
the mountains and hills stay fixed and the level earth lies still. Of His
mercy none need despair; from His cunning design and jealous super-
vision no one is exempt, and there is no escape from His decrees, His
action, His command; none can evade His service, and none is bereft
of His grace. Therefore to Him all praise is due for what He has given,
and to Him all thanks are due for what He has set aside.
Then blessings upon His Chosen Prophet (Allåh bless him and give
him peace!)—to follow whose message is to be guided aright, while to
turn aside therefrom is to go astray and perish—the truthful Prophet
known for the truth of his word, abstainer from the pleasures of this
world, seeker yearning for the Friend on high, chosen from all His
creation, selected from all His creatures, with whose advent came the
truth, at whose appearance falsehood vanished away, and by whose
light the earth became illumined.
* Allusion to Qur݌n (6:59)

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 8 Author’s Prologue

Then upon him be further blessings copious, and benedictions good

and pure and blessed; also upon the good members of his family, his
companions, and their successors in active goodness, those most
excellent for their Lord in deed, most upright for Him in speech, and
most correct in following His path and way.
Then let our entreaty, supplication and recourse be to our Lord, our
Author and Creator, our Provider Who gives us food and drink, our
Benefactor and Preserver, our Guardian and the One Who gives us life,
our Protector and Defender against everything that brings us grief and
pain—and all this through His mercy and His tender care, His gracious
favor of perpetual safekeeping in all we say and do, in private and in
public, in the open and in secret, in hardship and in ease, in comfort and
in misery and woe. Surely He is Absolute Doer of whatever He wishes,
Ordainer of whatever He wills, Knower of what is concealed, Aware of
all states and conditions, be they lapses or acts of obedience and
intimate worship, Hearer of all sounds and voices, Accepter of all
prayers from anyone He wills, without dispute or hesitation.
To this let me add: How many and bountiful are the favors Allåh
bestows on me, at all hours of night and day, at every moment and at
every instant, and under all conditions. As Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He!) has said: “And if you count the favor of Allåh, you will
never add it up” (16:18). The Exalted One also tells us: “And any
benefit you may enjoy, it is from Allåh” (16:53). No hands have I,
therefore, and neither heart nor tongue, for dealing with such figures
and their computation. Counting cannot reach their tally, nor mental
faculties their sum; the heart finds them incalculable, and they defy
expression by the tongue. So now, from among such statements as the
tongue is enabled to utter, the power of speech to express, the fingers to
record, and the eloquence of language to explain, here are some words
that arose and emerged for me as “Revelations of the Unseen.” They
alighted within my being and occupied its inner space, till the energy
of the experience brought them forth and made them outwardly
apparent. Then the kindness of the Benefactor and the mercy of the
Lord of mankind took care of their publication in the proper literary
format, for the benefit of students and seekers of the truth.
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 9

First Discourse
On the essential tasks of every true believer

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T hree things inevitably demand the attention of every believer

under all circumstances: A commandment to be obeyed, a
prohibition to be respected, and a divine decree to be accepted with
good grace. In even the most trivial situation, at least one of the three
is bound to apply. The believer must therefore keep his mind and
feelings focused upon them, talk to himself about them, and practice
the physical self-discipline they require of him at all times.

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 10

Second Discourse
On sharing good advice

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

F ollow [the example of the Prophet], without concocting inno-

vations; obey, do not turn renegade; affirm the Unity of God,
ascribing no partner to Him; assert the immaculate nature of His Truth,
entertaining no doubts; profess your belief, without complaining;
endure with patience, not getting upset; hold your ground, not turning
to run; make your needs known, without venting frustration; wait and
watch, never yielding to despair; behave like brothers, not like enemies;
unite in obedience, instead of going your separate ways; feel love for one
another, not mutual hate; make yourselves pure, free from the blemish
and stain of sin, adorning yourselves with obedient service to your Lord;
from your Master’s door do not walk away, nor refrain from devotion to
Him; in repentance do not delay, and never weary of apologies to your
Creator at any hour of night or time of day. Then perhaps mercy will
be yours, and happiness; far from the fire of Hell removed, you may be
allowed the joys of Paradise, brought into the presence of Allåh,
immersed in bliss, consorting with the virgins in the Abode of Peace,
and in that state eternally abiding; fine horses you may ride, and take
delight in nymphs with eyes like the gazelle, in every kind of perfume,
and in the melodies of songstresses, along with all those other blessings;
and be exalted in the company of the Prophets [al-anbiyå›], the
champions of truth [aƒ-ƒiddºq«n], the martyrs [ash-shuhadå› ] and the
righteous [aƒ-ƒåli¥«n].

10

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 Third Discourse 11

Third Discourse
On being tried and tested

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W hen the servant [of the Lord] is tested with a trial, his first
impulse is to cope with it in and by himself. If his own efforts
get him nowhere he looks for help from other human beings, such as
people in power, important officials, men of influence and means, or
medical experts where diseases and physical ailments are involved.
If he still obtains no relief, he then resorts to his Lord through prayers
of supplication, humble entreaty and offering of praise.
As long as he finds it possible to manage on his own, he will not turn
to other people, and while human help is available he will not turn to
the Creator.
[Having finally applied to Him], only to find no help forthcoming
from the Creator, he throws himself down in His presence, incessantly
begging, pleading, entreating, offering praise and submitting his needs
in fear and hope. But the Creator (Almighty and Glorious is He) now
renders him incapable of supplication, and ignores him until he has
reached the end of his tether. Only then does he experience the effect
of the Lord’s decree and the action of His work, and so this servant
passes beyond material needs and behavior, to survive as spirit alone.
Since he now sees nothing but the Truth [al-ªaqq] in action, he
becomes, of necessity, a totally convinced believer in the divine Unity
[muwa¥¥id], affirming that in reality there is no agent but Allåh, no
dynamic or static force apart from Allåh, and no good or evil, no loss or
gain, no giving or withholding, no opening or closing, no death or life,

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 12 Third Discourse

no honor or disgrace except in the hand of Allåh. His status comes to

resemble that of a suckling babe in its nurse’s arms, of a corpse in the
hands of a washer of the dead, or of a ball on the receiving end of a polo-
player’s mallet—rolled and spun and knocked around, though inert in
itself and imparting no motion to other bodies.
Gone forth from his own self, out into his Master’s work, he now sees
nothing but that Master and His work, and neither hears nor compre-
hends from any other source. If he perceives at all, if he does hear and
learn, His speech is what he listens to, and His knowledge is what he
comes to know. His favor he enjoys, through His nearness he prospers,
through His proximity he is graced and honored, by His promise he is
pleased and reassured. With Him he feels at peace, and in His discourse
he takes delight, while from all others he recoils and shrinks away.
In remembrance of Him he finds refuge and support. In Him, the
Almighty and Glorious, he puts his faith and in Him he places his trust.
By the light of His awareness he is guided, as he wraps and clothes
himself therein. Strange marvels of His science he discovers, and of the
secrets of His power he is apprised. To Him he listens and from Him he
learns, then for all this he offers praise, gives thanks, and turns to prayer.

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 13

Fourth Discourse
On spiritual death

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W hen you die to the created world, you will be told: “Allåh have
mercy on you! May He now let you die to passionate desire.”
When you die to your passionate desire, you will be told: “Allåh have
mercy on you! May He now let you die to your willing and wishing.”
When you die to your will, you will be told: “Allåh have mercy on you!
May He now restore you to a life beyond which there is no death.”
You will then be enriched with a wealth behind which comes no
poverty; you will be granted a gift behind which comes no deprivation;
you will be given a comfort behind which comes no distress; you will be
favored with a bliss behind which comes no misery; you will be schooled
in a knowledge behind which comes no ignorance; you will be assured
of a security behind which comes no fear. You will be made so
prosperous that you are never exposed to hardship, so honored that you
never suffer disgrace, so established that you cannot be dismissed, so
exalted that you will never be abased, so respected that you are never
treated with contempt, so purified that you will never be defiled. Thus
hopeful aspirations for you will be realized, and good reports of you will
be confirmed.
You will become a philosopher’s stone and therefore almost imper-
ceptible, so distinguished that you have no match, so special that you
have no peer, so unique that you are one of a kind, singular and
unpaired, a total mystery and an absolute secret.
You will then be the heir of every Prophet [nabº] and Champion of
Truth [ƒiddºq] and Messenger [ras«l]. Saintship [al-wilåya] will culminate
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 14 Fourth Discourse

in you, and toward you the Abdål* will all incline. Through you
anxieties will be dispelled. Through you the rains will bring water and
the crops will grow. Through you troubles and afflictions will be averted
from people of distinction and common folk, inhabitants of the danger-
ous frontiers, ruler and subject, leaders and society at large.
You will be the prefect of the country and its population, so people
will set out to reach you in haste, to pay their respects, present gifts and
do service, by leave of the Creator of all things, in all kinds of affairs. All
tongues will everywhere be speaking well of you and singing your
praises, for no two persons of faith will disagree about you, O best of
those who dwell in the land or travel about therein.
Such is the bounty of Allåh, which He bestows on whom He will. Allåh
is the Lord of infinite bounty. (62:4)

* See Sixth Discourse, second to last paragraph.

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 15

Fifth Discourse
On the nature of this world, detachment from which
is strongly advised

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

Y ou see this world in the hands of those who keep it going, with its
ornaments and vanities, its deceptions and snares, and its lethal
poisons. Its surface is so smooth to the touch, while the inside is
rapacious, quick to bring ruin and death to those who touch it and fall
under its delusion, forgetting its evil motives, its fickleness and breach
of promise. When you see all this, you must behave like someone who
sees a man in the act of defecating, with his private parts exposed and
causing an unpleasant odor.
Just as you would avert your gaze from his nakedness, and hold your
nose against the stinking smell, so must you behave towards the world:
When you see it, look away from its charms and hold your nose against
the stench emitted by its lechery and lust. Thus you may escape the
world’s corrupting influence, yet still receive your allotted share of
worldly goods—yours to enjoy! As Allåh (Exalted is He) said to His
chosen Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace):
Strain not your eyes toward that which We have given for some pairs
among them to enjoy—the flower of this world’s life, that We may
thereby put them to the test. Your Lord’s provision is better and more
lasting. (20:131)

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 16 Sixth Discourse

Sixth Discourse
On passing beyond the creation

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

B ecome extinct to all created beings by Allåh’s leave, to your

passionate desire [hawå] by His command: “In Allåh put your trust
if you are true believers” (5:23), and to your own will by His action
(Exalted is He.) Then you will be a vessel fit to receive the knowledge
of Allåh (Exalted is He.)
What signifies your ‘being extinct’ to Allåh’s creatures is your
isolation and detachment from them, and loss of interest in things at
their disposal.
Extinction to your passionate desire is marked by giving up the habit
of striving to acquire worldly means in order to procure benefit and
cause harm. You make no movement on your own behalf, do nothing
to or for yourself on purpose, take no action to defend or help yourself,
but entrust all that to Allåh (Exalted is He), because He was in charge
of it in the first place, and He will take care of it to the end, just as it was
entrusted to Him when you were hidden inside the womb, and when
you were a suckling babe in your cradle.
Your extinction to self-will [iråda] through the action of Allåh is
indicated by your never formulating any personal goal, your lack of
selfish interest, and the fact that you no longer feel any want or craving,
for besides the will of Allåh you wish for nothing else. Instead, the
action of Allåh is at work in you, so that while you are experiencing
Allåh’s will and action your limbs become relaxed, your mind becomes
calm and your feelings widen, your face begins to glow and your inner
being thrives. In contact with their Creator, you feel no need of things.
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 Sixth Discourse 17

The hand of Power will turn you every way about, and the tongue of
Eternity will summon you. The Lord of all religions will teach you, and
clothe you in beams of His own light and special raiment, and install you
among those possessed of ancient knowledge.
This will leave you permanently contrite, incapable of holding any
carnal appetite or will, like a cracked vessel that cannot retain either
liquid or dregs. You will be estranged from ordinary human standards
of behavior, for your inner being will not accept anything other than
the will of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He!)
At this stage you may be credited with working miracles and super-
natural phenomena, for such manifestations will bear the outward
appearance of emanating from you, though in reality they are the work
of Allåh and His will.
Now you will be admitted to the company of those whose hearts have
been shattered, their human will-power broken and their natural
appetites eliminated, and who have then been re-endowed—but with
a Will Sublime [Rabbåniyya: ‘pertaining to the Lord’]. As the Prophet
(Allåh bless him and give him peace) said: “Three things belonging to
this world of yours have been made dear to me: perfume, women, and
as cool refreshment for my eyes, the [Islåmic] prayer.” Of course, to
confirm the point we have already indicated, these things were added
unto him anew—after they had left him and become unreal to him.
Allåh (Exalted is He) has said: “I am with those who are broken-
hearted on My account.” So Allåh (Exalted is He) will not be with you
until you totally disown your desire and your will. When these are
broken, and you contain nothing stable or useful, Allåh will create you
afresh and install in you a new power of will for you to exercise. If any
element of self creeps into this newly created will, however, the Lord
(Exalted is He) will smash it again. You will always be left broken-
hearted, because He will repeat this process until the book of destiny
ends with reunion [liqå›]. This is the meaning of: “I am with those who
are broken-hearted on My account.” When we speak of an element of
self creeping in, we mean that you become sure and self-confident in
relation to the new will.

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 18 Sixth Discourse

In a Sacred Tradition [¥adºth qudsº] related by the blessed Prophet,

Allåh (Exalted is He) says: “My servant constantly approaches Me
through supererogatory acts of worship until I love him, and when I love
him, I become his ears with which he hears, his eyes with which he sees,
his hands with which he holds, and his legs with which he walks.” In
another version, the wording is: “So through Me he hears, through Me
he sees, and through Me he understands.”
This comes about in the state of annihilation [al-fanå›] and no other.
When you become extinct in relation to yourself and to all creatures,
the whole creation being good and evil, as you likewise are good and
evil, you neither hope for any good nor fear any evil therefrom. Only
Allåh remains, Alone as He ever was. Good and evil are part of Allåh’s
plan, so He will keep you safe from His evil, and will immerse you in the
oceans of His good. You will become the receptacle of all that is good,
a stronghold for every blessing, happiness and joy, a beacon of security
and peace.
Annihilation is therefore the aim and object, the final destination of
the journey of the saints. This was the direction sought by all previous
saints and Abdål: to become extinct to their own will, and let the will
of the Almighty and Glorious Truth take its place, as a permanent
transformation, lasting until death. That is why they came to be called
Abdål [lit.: ‘substitutes’] (may Allåh be well pleased with them all.)
For these masters, it is sinful to associate the will of the divine Truth
with their own will, through absentmindedness, forgetfulness, onset of
rapture, or moment of alarm, so Allåh (Exalted is He) mercifully jolts
them with a reminder to be vigilant. They then pull themselves
together, and ask forgiveness of their Lord, for none but the angels are
innocent of self-will. Such innocence has been granted to the angels,
while the Prophets are immune to passionate desire. As for the rest of
creation, whether human beings or jinn, they are all held morally
accountable and enjoy no immunity. Of course, some of the saints are
preserved from passionate desire, and the Abdål from self-will. But in
neither case is the immunity complete, since they may be prone to these
two weaknesses at times, until Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He)
overtakes them with His mercy and brings them to their senses.

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 19

Seventh Discourse
On removing the cares of the heart [qalb]

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

S tep out of your own self and keep your distance from it. Practice
detachment from your possessiveness, and surrender everything to
Allåh. Become His doorman at the door of your heart, obeying His
command by admitting those He instructs you to admit, and respecting
His prohibition by shutting out those He instructs you to turn away, so
that you do not let passion back into your heart once it has been evicted.
Passion is expelled from the heart by resistance to it and refusal to follow
its urges, whatever the circumstances, while compliance and acquies-
cence allow it to gain entry. So do not exert any will apart from His will,
for anything else is your own desire, and that is the Vale of Folly, where
death and destruction await you, and falling from His sight and
becoming secluded from Him. Always keep His commandments,
always respect His prohibitions, and always submit to what He has
decreed. Do not associate Him with any part of His creation. Your will,
your passions and your carnal appetites all belong to His creation, so
refrain from indulging any of them lest you become a polytheist. Allåh
(Exalted is He) has said:
Whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him do righteous work, and make
none sharer in the worship due unto his Lord. (18:110)

Polytheism [shirk] is not merely the worship of idols. It is also

polytheism to yield to your own passionate desire, and to equate with
your Lord anything whatsoever besides Him, be it of this world and its
contents or of the Hereafter and what is contained therein. What is
besides Him (Almighty and Glorious is He) is other than He, so when
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 20 Seventh Discourse

you rely on anything other than Him you are associating something else
with Him (Almighty and Glorious is He). Therefore be wary and do not
relax your guard, be fearful and do not develop a sense of security, and
keep your wits about you so that you do not become careless and
complacent.
Do not attribute any state or station to yourself, and have no
pretensions to such things. If you are granted a special state, or elevated
to some station, do not become identified with that in any way at all,
for Allåh is every day about some business, effecting change and
transformation. He may intervene between a man and his heart,
thereby separating you from what you had professed to be your own, and
making you different from what you had imagined to be your fixed and
permanent condition. You will then be embarrassed in the presence of
those to whom you made such claims, so you had better keep these
things to yourself and not convey them to others. If something does
prove stable and lasting, acknowledge it as a gift, pray for the grace to
be thankful, and keep it out of sight. But even if it turns out otherwise,
it will still bring progress in knowledge and understanding, enlighten-
ment, alertness and discipline. Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He)
has said:
Such of Our revelations as We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We
replace with one better or as good. Do you not know that Allåh has
power over all things? (2:106)

So do not underestimate the extent of Allåh’s power, have no

misgivings about His planning and His management, and never doubt
His promise. Take as your model the fine example set by Allåh’s
Messenger (Allåh bless him and give him peace). He experienced the
abrogation of verses and chapters revealed to him, adopted in practice,
recited in the niches [of the mosques], and written down in books; as
they were withdrawn and changed and replaced by others, the blessed
Prophet was moved to accept the new revelations. This applies to the
external dispensation of the law. As for the inner aspect, the knowledge
and spiritual state experienced in his own relationship with Allåh, he
used to say: “My heart gets coated with rust, so I beg Allåh’s forgiveness
seventy times each day” (“…a hundred times,” according to another
report).
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 Seventh Discourse 21

The Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) would be moved
from one state of being to another, and made to traverse the stations of
divine proximity and the spheres of the unseen. The robes of light
conferred upon him were changed as he progressed, so that each new
stage would make the previous one seem dark, marred by shortcomings
and inadequate observance of the guidelines. Thus he was trained to
practice praying for forgiveness, because that is the best state for a
servant, and constant repentance, because this involves acknowledg-
ment of sin and shortcoming—properties of human nature inherited
from Adam (peace be upon him), the father of mankind.
When the purity of Adam’s spiritual state was stained by forgetfulness
of the promise and covenant, he wished to dwell forever in the abode
of peace, in the vicinity of the All-Merciful and Beneficent Friend,
visited by the noble angels with greeting and salutation, but his self-will
had come to be associated with the will of the Truth. That will of his
was therefore broken, that state disappeared, that intimacy became
remote, that station was degraded, those lights were dimmed, and
that purity was spoiled. Then this chosen one of the All-Merciful
recovered his awareness and was reminded. After being instructed in
the acknowledgment of sin and forgetfulness, and trained in confession,
he said: “Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You do not forgive
us, and have mercy on us, we shall surely be among the lost!” (7:23).
Then came to him the light of guidance, the knowledge and inner
understanding of repentance and its hidden benefits, but for which
something formerly mysterious would not have become manifest. That
old will was replaced by a different one, and the original state by
another. He received the supreme consecration, and repose in this
world and then in the hereafter, for this world became a home for him
and his offspring, and the hereafter their refuge and eternal resting place.
In Allåh’s Messenger and favorite friend, therefore, as in his father
Adam, the Chosen of Allåh, ancestor of all dear and loving friends, you
have an example to follow in confessing faults and praying for forgive-
ness under all circumstances.

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 22

Eighth Discourse
On drawing near to Allåh

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W hen you are in a particular condition, do not seek to exchange

it for another, whether higher or lower. If you are at the gate of
the King’s palace, therefore, do not seek admittance to the palace itself
until you are obliged to enter, under compulsion and not of your own
accord. By compulsion I mean a stern, insistently repeated command.
Do not content yourself with mere permission to enter, since this may
be just a trick and deception on the King’s part. You should rather wait
patiently until you are compelled to go in, so that your entry into the
palace will be through sheer coercion and gracious favor from the King.
Then, since the action is the King’s own, He will not chastise you for
it. If any punishment is meted out to you, it will only be due to your
wrong motivation, greed, impatience, uncouthness and discontentment
with the situation in which you have been placed. When you do gain
an entrée to the palace, you must therefore bow your head in silence,
keep your eyes modestly downcast and mind your manners as you
perform the tasks and services assigned to you, without seeking promotion
to the highest summit. Consider the words of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He):
Strain not your eyes toward that which We have given for some pairs
among them to enjoy—the flower of this world’s life, that We may
thereby put them to the test. Your Lord’s provision is better and more
lasting. (20:131)

This is an admonition by which He instructs His chosen Prophet

(Allåh bless him and give him peace) regarding attention to one’s

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 Eighth Discourse 23

present state and contentment with gifts received. To paraphrase His

words, “Your Lord’s provision is better and more lasting,” He is saying:
“What I have given you in the way of good news, prophethood,
knowledge, satisfaction, patience, the guardianship of religion and a
firm support therein—all this is more fitting and appropriate than
anything I have given [to others].”
Thus all good lies in due attention to one’s existing condition, in
being content with it and ceasing to hanker after alternatives, for it can
only be that something is yours by lot or is destined for another, unless
it belongs to nobody and Allåh has created it only as a trial. If it is
destined for you, it will come to you, like it or not. Any display of
unseemly conduct and greed in its pursuit would therefore be improper
on your part, with nothing in knowledge or reason to commend it. If
it is destined for somebody else, spare yourself the futile effort of chasing
something which you cannot get and which will never come your way.
If it is only a trial, not destined to belong to anyone at all, how could an
intelligent person find it worth his while to pursue such a thing and seek
to acquire it for himself? Thus it is proven that all good and safety lie
in properly attending to one’s present state.
When you are promoted to the upstairs room, and then to the roof,
you must observe all the proprieties of quiet and polite behavior we have
already mentioned. In fact you should redouble your efforts in that
regard, because you are now closer to the King and nearer to danger. So
do not wish for a change of state whether by promotion or demotion,
and desire neither permanence and continuity nor alteration in your
existing condition. You should have no self-willed option whatsoever,
since that would amount to ingratitude for present blessings, and
ingratitude brings disgrace upon him who is guilty thereof, in this world
and the hereafter.
Let your conduct always be as we have told you, until you are
promoted to a position which will become a permanent station for you,
from which you will not be removed. You will then recognize it as a gift,
self-explanatory and self-evident, so cling to it and do not let go.
Ordinary saints [awliyå›] have changeable states, while permanent
stations belong to the Abdål.
Allåh is in charge of your guidance!
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 24

Ninth Discourse
On disclosure and contemplation

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T o saints and Abdål are disclosed such workings of Allåh as baffle

the mind and defy all customs and conventions. They are of two
kinds: Divine Majesty [Jalål] and Divine Beauty [Jamål].
Divine majesty and sublimity give rise to disconcerting fear and
disquieting dread, with such a mighty impact on the heart that the
effects become apparent in the physical body. Thus it is related of the
Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) that “from his breast
during prayer one could hear a humming sound like the simmering of
a cooking-pot, due to the intensity of his fear,” because of his vision of
the majesty of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) and the divine
sublimity that was revealed to him. Similar experiences are attributed
to Abraham, the special friend of the All-Merciful (on him be the
blessings of Allåh), and to ‹Umar al-Får«q (may Allåh be well pleased
with him).
As for direct contemplation of the Divine Beauty, that is an experi-
ence in which hearts are adorned with light and joy and gracious favors,
sweet words and friendly conversation, glad tidings of tremendous gifts
and lofty stations, and a foretaste from Him of how all their affairs must
in the end return to Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), for the Pen
ran dry from allotting their destinies in times primordial. This is a favor
from Him and a mercy, and a confirmation for them in this world until
the attainment of the final term that is the time appointed. It is granted
lest they exceed the bounds of love through sheer intensity of longing
for Allåh (Exalted is He), so that their resolution fails and they perish,
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 Ninth Discourse 25

or lose the strength to stand in servitude until there comes to them the
Certainty, which is death. He treats them like this out of kindness and
mercy, as a therapy and to train and gently coax their hearts. “He is All-
Wise, All-Knowing” (15:25). He is Gentle with them: “Most Kind,
Most Merciful” (9:117).
This explains why it is related of the Prophet (Allåh bless him and
give him peace) that he used to say to Bilål the Muezzin (may Allåh be
well pleased with him): “Comfort us, O Bilål, with the signal [iqåma],
so that we may enter the prayer”—to enjoy the state of contemplation
we have been discussing. This is why he said: “The cooling of my eyes
has been reposed in the prayer [ƒalåt].”

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 26

Tenth Discourse
On the self and its states

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T here is Allåh, and there is your own self [nafsuka], and you must
address the situation. The self is the opponent and enemy of Allåh.
All things are subordinate to Allåh, and the self really belongs to Him
as a creature and a possession, but the self entertains presumptions and
aspirations bound up with carnal appetite and sensual desire. So if you
ally yourself with the divine Truth in opposition and hostility toward
the self, you will be for Allåh’s sake an adversary to your own self. As
Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) said to David (peace be upon
him): “O David, I am your indispensable support, so hold fast to your
support. True servitude means being an adversary to your own self.”
It is then that your friendship and servitude to Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He) will be confirmed in reality. All that is allotted to you
will then come to you for your enjoyment and pleasure. You will be held
in honor and esteem, and all things will be ready to serve you with
dignity and respect, for they are all subordinate to their Lord and in
conformity with Him, since He is their Creator and Originator and they
acknowledge their servitude to Him. Allåh (Exalted is He) has said:
There is not a thing that does not celebrate His praise, and yet you do
not understand their celebration. (17:44)
[Then He turned to the heaven when it was smoke] and said to it and
to the earth: “Come both of you, willingly or unwillingly.” They said:
“We come, obedient.” (41:11)

Thus servitude—all servitude—consists in opposing your own self.

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 Tenth Discourse 27

Allåh (Exalted is He) says:

Follow not desire, lest it lead you astray from Allåh’s path. (38:26)

To David (on him be peace) He said:

Renounce your passionate desire, for it is vexatious.

There is also the well-known story of Ab« Yazºd al-Bis£åmº (may

Allåh have mercy upon him). When he saw the Almighty Lord in a
dream, he asked Him: “How can I find the way to You?” The Lord said:
“Abandon your self and come here!” In response, the Saint tells us:
“I shed my self as a snake sloughs off its skin.”
Thus all good lies in waging total war against the self under all
circumstances. If you are in a state of true devotion, therefore, you must
oppose the self by not getting involved with people, whether their
behavior be unlawful, merely dubious or even well-intentioned, not
depending or relying on them, neither fearing them nor pinning any
hopes on them, and not coveting any worldly advantages they may
enjoy. Do not solicit gifts from them in the form of presents, of alms or
charity, or of votive offerings. Get rid of all interest in them and in
material concerns to the point where, if you had a wealthy relative, you
would not want him to die so that you could inherit his wealth.
Separate yourself from creatures in all earnestness. Regard them as a
door that swings open and shut, or as a tree that sometimes bears fruit
and at other times is barren, all in accordance with the action of a Doer
and the management of a Planner, namely Allåh (Glorious and Exalted
is He), so that you may be one who affirms the Unity of the Lord.
At the same time, however, we must not forget the proper role of
human endeavor, to avoid subscribing to the fatalistic doctrine of the
Jabariyya. Believe that no human action is accomplished without
Allåh. Do not worship His creatures and forget Allåh, and do not
maintain that our actions are independent of Allåh, for that will make
you an unbeliever, a subscriber to the [extreme free-will doctrine of the]
Qadariyya.* You should rather assert that our actions belong to Allåh
in point of creation, and to His servants in point of ‘acquisition’ [kasb],
* Not to be confused with Qådiriyya, the Sufi movement tracing its origins to the
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 28 Tenth Discourse

this being the traditional Islamic statement on the subject of requital by

reward or punishment.
Obey Allåh’s command in dealing with your fellow creatures. Keep
from them what is your allotted share by His command, but do not go
beyond this limit. Allåh’s verdict in this matter will be imposed on you
and on them, so do not be the judge yourself. Your being with them is
a decree of destiny, and destiny is shrouded in darkness, so expose that
darkness to the Lamp, meaning the Book of Allåh and the exemplary
practice [Sunna] of His Messenger (Allåh bless him and give him
peace). Do not step outside these two. If some idea occurs to you, or
if you receive an inspiration, check it against the Book and Sunna.
By this criterion, you may find that your idea or inspired notion is
declared unlawful. Suppose, for instance, you have received an indica-
tion to commit fornication, to practice usury, to consort with dissolute
and immoral characters, or to behave in some other sinful manner. This
you must repudiate, renounce, refuse to accept and refrain from acting
out. Be convinced that it is from Satan the accursed.
Perhaps what you find there will be a license, such as that granted to
normal appetites for food, drink, clothing or matrimony. This you
should also refuse and decline to accept, recognizing that the suggestion
stems from the lower self and its animal cravings, which you are under
orders to oppose and combat.
It may also happen that you find nothing in Book and Sunna to show
that what has occurred to you is under either prohibition or license.
Maybe it is something you are at a loss to understand, like an urge
prompting you to go to such-and-such a place to meet a certain good
man, although you have nothing to gain there or from the good person
concerned, since your needs are already taken care of through the
knowledge and wisdom Allåh has graciously bestowed on you. In a case
like this, you should pause and not react immediately. Instead of saying,
“This is an inspiration from the Truth [al-ªaqq] (Glorious and Exalted
is He) so I shall act upon it,” prefer to wait for the full potential benefit.
The divine Truth works in such a way that the inspiration [ilhåm] will
be clarified through repetition, and you will be told what steps to take.
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 Tenth Discourse 29

To people with knowledge [‹ilm] of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He),

a sign will be revealed, intelligible only to saints of mature understand-
ing and confirmed Abdål.
The reason for not being in great haste to act is that you do not know
the consequences and the ultimate purpose of the affair, nor the snares
and pitfalls it contains, with cunning tests devised by Allåh. So be
patient until He is the one at work within you. When the action is
absolutely stripped of self, and you are borne toward that destination,
you will be carried safely through any trial that may still confront you,
because Allåh (Exalted is He) will not chastise you for His own doing;
no penalty can apply to you unless you get personally involved.
If you are in the state of reality [¥aqºqa], which is the state of sainthood
[wilåya], you must oppose your passions and obey the commandments
in their entirety. Obedience to the commandments is of two kinds:
One kind means taking just enough from this world to supply your
genuine personal needs, forsaking extravagant indulgence, performing
your religious duties, and making efforts to get rid of your sins, both
outwardly and inwardly.
The second kind is obedience to an inner command, one by which
the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He) orders or forbids His
servant to do something. Such commands apply only in the sphere of
‘neutral’ matters, which are not covered by any positive injunction in
Islåmic law, in the sense that they belong neither to the category of
prohibited things, nor to the category of things that are obligatory;
since they are legally indifferent, the servant being at liberty to handle
them according to his own discretion, they are called mubå¥ [neutral/
indifferent /permissible]. Rather than taking any initiative in this area,
the servant should wait to receive instructions, then obey the order
when it comes. He will thus be with Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is
He) in all his doings, whether in movement or at rest, through his
respect for the rules of sacred law where they apply, and that inner
commandment in other cases. At this stage he genuinely belongs
among the People of Reality [ahl al-¥aqºqa].
In the absence even of this inner commandment, there is nothing for
it but spontaneous action in a state of surrender. If you are in touch with
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 30 Tenth Discourse

the truth of truth, this is the state of obliteration [ma¥w] and annihila-
tion [fanå›], the state of the Abdål who are broken-hearted on account
of Him, the state of pure monotheists, men of enlightened wisdom,
endowed with knowledge and power of understanding, the commanders-
in-chief, the wardens and guardians of mankind, the vicegerents of the
All-Merciful, and His intimates and helpers and friends, peace be
upon them.
To obey the commandment in such matters means going against your
own self, emptied of any power or strength, utterly devoid of all will and
ambition for anything of this world or the hereafter. You come to be the
servant of the King, not of the Kingdom, of His commandment and not
of whim and passion. You come to resemble a babe at his nurse’s breast,
a corpse receiving its ritual wash, a patient lying sprawled for treatment
by the doctor, in all that is not subject to the injunctions and prohibi-
tions [specified by the sacred law].
Only Allåh is All-Knowing!

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 31

Eleventh Discourse
On carnal appetite

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

S uppose the arousal of your sexual appetite occurs at a point where

marriage would be far too expensive for one in your impoverished
condition, so you control yourself in patient expectation of relief from
the Maker (Almighty and Glorious is He). By His power He may
remove the urge engendered and aroused in you by that very power, and
thus relieve you of it. He may also enable you to lead a virtuous life
without having to bear the burden of marriage, or He may provide you
with the necessary means, as a gift with His blessings, to make it light
for you in this world and easy in the hereafter.
Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) will call you patient and
grateful because of your patience in the matter, content to accept His
Providence, and will therefore increase you in virtue and strength. For
if it is your destiny to have your needs sufficiently and pleasantly
supplied, your patience will turn into gratitude, and the Almighty and
Glorious One has promised those who are grateful still further abun-
dance of gifts, in His words:
If you are thankful, I will give you more; but if you are ungrateful, My
punishment is terrible indeed. (14:7)

Should this not be your destined lot, however, you must survive
without it by uprooting the craving from your heart, whether the self is
willing or reluctant. Practice patience and oppose your desire. Hold fast
to the commandment of the Law, and accept the decree of Providence,
hoping thereby to receive divine grace and favor. As Allåh (Exalted is
He) has said:
Those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without
measure. (39:10)
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 32

Twelfth Discourse
On the prohibition of love of wealth

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W hen Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) gives you wealth, and
you let your preoccupation with it distract you from obedient
service to Him, He makes it a barrier between you and Himself in both
this world and the hereafter. Perhaps He will dispossess you of that
wealth, alter you and reduce you to poverty, as punishment for letting
your preoccupation with the gift distract you from the Giver. But if you
pay more attention to obeying Him than to material wealth, He will
make you a present of it without deducting a single atom.
Wealth is your servant, and you are the servant of the Master
[al-Mawlå]. You should therefore lead a pampered life in this world, and
enjoy an honorable and agreeable existence in the hereafter, in the
garden of eternal abode, in the company of the champions of truth, the
martyrs and the righteous.

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 33

Thirteenth Discourse
On submission to Allåh’s command

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

D o not exert yourself to attract prosperity or to avert misfortune.

Prosperity will come to you if it is your lot, whether you seek to
acquire it or view it with distaste. Misfortune will likewise overtake you
if it is meant for you by destiny’s decree, whether you be averse to it, or
pray for it to go away, or confront it with patience and fortitude to please
the Lord.
Your only resort is total surrender, allowing the process to work
within you. If the experience proves to be a happy one, you must
endeavor to show gratitude. Should it be an ordeal, you must exercise
patience and perseverance, try to accept it with good grace, or lose
yourself in it and become detached by virtue of the spiritual states [¥ålåt]
you are given to traverse, and the stations [manåzil] to which you are
made to travel on the path of the Lord, whom you are commanded to
obey and befriend, that you may get to meet the Companion Most High.
You will then be installed in a position where your predecessors are
the champions of the truth, the martyrs and the righteous, so that you
may see with your own eyes all those who have gone before you to reach
the King, who have drawn close to Him and found in His presence every
exquisite delight, joy and security, honor and bliss.
Let tribulation visit you. Allow it to take its course, and do not fret
about its onset and approach, for its fire is not more terrible than the fire
of Hell and its blazing inferno. According to traditions reliably ascribed
to the best of humankind, the best of those ever carried by the earth and
sheltered by the sky, Mu¥ammad the Chosen (Allåh bless him and give

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 34 Thirteenth Discourse

him peace), he said: “The fire of Hell will say to the believer, ‘Move on,
believer! Your light has extinguished my flame!’ ”
Is the believer’s light that puts out the flame of Hell any other than
the one that escorts him in this world, while disobedient sinners go
unguided by it? Let this same light extinguish misfortune’s flame, and
let the coolness of your patience and your harmony with the Lord take
the heat out of the suffering you have to undergo. The affliction will
then have come not to destroy you, but to try you and to confirm the
soundness of your faith, to consolidate the strength of your conviction,
and to give you inwardly the good news from your Lord that He is proud
of you. Allåh (Exalted is He) says:
Indeed We shall try you till We know those among you who strive
hard and persevere in patience, and till We test your record. (47:31)

When your faith has been established with the Lord of Truth, and you
have conformed to His work with full conviction, all through His help
and grace, you must then be ever patient, compliant and submissive.
Let nothing happen in yourself or in others that would go against the
commandments or the prohibitions of the Lord. Then, when an order
is received from Him (Almighty and Glorious is He), give it your full
attention and be quick to respond. Get moving and do not sit around.
Far from being passively resigned to the divine decree and its action, you
must exert your faculties and make every effort to carry out the order.
If you find yourself incapable of this, you must at once take refuge with
your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He). Resort to Him and humbly
beg for pardon. Look for the cause of your inability to carry out His
order, and for what impedes your inclination to obey Him. The
problem may be due to your asking for trouble and behaving with bad
grace in His service, to your frivolous attitude and confidence in your
own ability and strength, to your conceited pride in your own knowl-
edge, or to your associating your own self and His creatures with Him.
As a result, He has barred you from His door, dismissed you from His
obedient service, deprived you of the support of His helpful guidance,
turned His gracious countenance away from you, treated you with

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 Thirteenth Discourse 35

disgust and loathing, and left you engrossed in your worldly worries,
passions, self-will and desires.
Do you not recognize that all of this distracts you from your aim, and
keeps you from the sight of Him who has created you, nourished you,
blessed you with many gifts, and kept you alive?
Beware of being diverted from your Lord by anything other than your
Lord. Everything besides your Lord is other than He, so accept nothing
else in preference to Him, since He has created you for His own sake.
Do not wrong your own soul by being preoccupied with other things to
the neglect of His commandments, for that will cause you to enter the
“Fire, whose fuel is men and stones” (2:24). You will be sorry, but your
sorrow will not avail you. You will make excuses, but no excuse will be
accepted. You will plead for another chance, but your plea will not be
granted. You will seek to return to this world to make amends and put
things right, but you will not be allowed to return.
Take pity on your soul and be kind to it. Make good use of the tools
and instruments you have been given, by dedicating your intelligence,
faith, inner awareness and knowledge to the service of your Lord. Let
their light provide illumination amid the darkness of destiny. Hold fast
to the divine commands and prohibitions, use them as guidelines on the
path of your Lord, and leave the rest to the safekeeping of the One who
created you and brought you into being. Be not ungrateful to Him who
created you from dust and made you grow, who developed you from a
sperm into a man. Do not wish for anything but that which He
commands, and have no aversion except for that which He forbids. Let
this wish be enough for all purposes of this world and the hereafter, and
this aversion likewise. When you are in conformity with His command-
ment, all beings are at your command, and when you detest what He
forbids, all loathsome things will flee from you wherever you happen to
be or make your stay. Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) has said in
one of His Books:
O son of Adam, I am Allåh; there is none worthy of worship besides
Me. I say to a thing, “Be,” and it comes into being. Obey Me; I will
make you such that you say to a thing, “Be,” and there it will be.

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 36 Thirteenth Discourse

He has also said (Almighty and Glorious is He):

O lower world, if anyone serves Me, serve him, and if anyone serves
you, give him trouble.

When His prohibition comes, you should be as if you had gone flabby
in the joints, with your senses out of action, drained of energy,
physically incapacitated, all passion spent, all outer perceptions erased
and impressions effaced, oblivious of any influence, like a toppled
throne in an empty room in a ruined building on a darkened lot, devoid
of sensation and out of touch. Let your ears be deaf as if from birth, your
eyes as if blindfold or inflamed or totally deprived of sight, your lips as
if covered with swellings and sores, your tongue as if it were mute and
dumb, your teeth as if they were abscessed and aching and loose, your
hands as if they were paralyzed and without any grip, your legs and feet
as if they were shaky and trembling and bleeding, your genital organ as
if it were impotent and without any interest in sex, your stomach as if
it were bloated and quite indifferent to food, your mind as if it were
crazy and deranged, your body as if you were dead and being carried to
your grave.
An order calls for strict attention and a quick response. A prohibition
calls for holding back, recoil and disengagement. A decree of destiny
calls for acting dead, for disappearing into non-existence. Drink this
draught, swallow this medicine and be nourished by this diet, so that
you may flourish in good health, and be cured of the sicknesses of sin and
the diseases of desire, by Allåh’s leave (Exalted is He) and if He will.

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 37

Fourteenth Discourse
On following the practice of Allåh’s own

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

O slave of passionate desire, do not pretend to be in the same

condition as Allåh’s own people! You serve your passions, while
they are servants of the Lord. Your longing is for this world, while His
people yearn for the hereafter. You behold this world, while they
behold the Lord of earth and heaven. You enjoy creature comforts,
while His people feel at home with the Truth. Your heart is attached
to earthly beings, while the hearts of His people belong to the Lord of
the Throne. You are preyed upon by those you notice, whereas they do
not even see those whom you notice, but see only the Creator of all
things and whatever He may show. His people attain to Him and
achieve their salvation, while you remain in pawn to your worldly
cravings and perish. They are extinct to the creation, to passion and
will and desire, for they have attained to the contact with the King Most
High, and He helps them to accomplish what He wants from them in
the way of obedient worship, eulogy and praise.
Such is Allåh’s grace, which He gives unto whom He will. (5:54)

In this they have persisted and have persevered, with help from Him
and smooth facilitation, so that obedience has become for them a
breath of life and a form of nourishment. Accordingly, this world has
come to be a blessing and good fortune from their point of view; it seems
like Paradise to them, because they never see anything without first
seeing the action of Him who created it and brought it into being.

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 38 Fourteenth Discourse

They are there to ensure the steadiness of earth and sky and the
ongoing process of death and life-renewal, since their Owner has used
them as pegs to support the earth He has spread out, and so each one is
like a mountain standing firm. Step out of their path, therefore, and do
not jostle those whom neither parents nor children could ransom from
their purpose. These are the best of those my Lord has created and
scattered and dispersed upon the earth, so on them be the peace of Allåh
and His greetings as long as earth and heaven endure.

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 39

Fifteenth Discourse
On fear and hope

The Shaikh (sanctified be the mighty secret of his being) said:

I had a dream in which I seemed to be in a mosque-like place, where

some people were living as hermits. “If only these people had so-and-
so to give them training and guidance,” said I, alluding to a certain man
of virtue. Thereupon they all gathered around me, and one of them said:
“Why don’t you talk to us yourself?”
“Very well, if you would like me to do so,” I agreed, then I went on to
say: “Once you have isolated yourselves from creatures to devote
yourselves to the Truth, do not ask people for anything with your
tongues, and when you have given that up, do not ask them for anything
in your hearts, for asking inwardly is just like asking in words. Then you
must know that Allåh is every day about some business, changing and
transforming, raising up and bringing down. Some people He raises to
the highest heights, and some He reduces to the lowest of the low. Then
in those He has raised to the highest heights He instills the fear that He
may reduce them to the lowest of the low, while their hope is that He
will keep and preserve them in the exalted state they now enjoy. And
in those He has reduced to the lowest of the low He instills the fear that
He may keep them forever in the degradation they now suffer, while
their hope is that He will raise them to the highest heights.”
Then I woke up.

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 40

Sixteenth Discourse
On trust and its stages

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

N othing blocks you from direct receiving of Allåh’s grace and

favor except your reliance upon people and connections, on good
turns and handouts. Thus creatures are your obstacle to gaining a
proper livelihood, in keeping with the exemplary practice of the
Prophet. As long as you continue to depend on fellow creatures, hoping
for their gifts and favors, going from door to door with your requests, you
are associating His creation with Allåh. He will therefore punish you
with deprivation of that proper livelihood, namely the lawful earnings
of this world.
Then, when you have renounced the habit of depending on people
and associating them with your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He),
and have resorted to earning your own livelihood, you get to rely on this
earning power and become complacent about it, forgetting the gracious
favor of your Lord. You are once again behaving like a polytheist
[mushrik], only now the polytheism [shirk] is concealed, of a subtler
nature than the previous kind. Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He)
will therefore punish you by depriving you of His favor and of direct
access to Him.
When you turn from this in repentance, ceasing to allow the encroach-
ment of polytheism, and forsaking reliance on your own earning power
and abilities, you will see that Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) is
the Provider. It is He who supplies the means, the facilities and the
energy one needs to make a living, and He is the One who enables all
good results to be achieved. All sustenance is in His hand. At times He
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 Sixteenth Discourse 41

may supply it to you by way of other people, through your appealing to

them while in distress or trying straits, or in response to your appeal to
Him (Almighty and Glorious is He), sometimes by way of earned
remuneration, and at still other times by His spontaneous favor, in such
a way that you do not see the intervening cause and means.
You have turned again to Him, casting yourself down before Him, and
He has lifted the veil between you and His favor. He has made Himself
accessible to you, and graciously ministers to all your needs in the
measure appropriate to your condition, acting like a kind and tactful
physician who is also a friend to the patient. As a precaution on His
part, and to purge you of any attachment to anyone but Him, He
satisfies you with His favor.
Once your heart has been detached from all self-will, all lust and
indulgence, craving and desire, there is nothing left in your heart except
His will (Almighty and Glorious is He). So when He wishes to send you
your allotted share (which you are bound to receive and which is not
earmarked for any of His creatures apart from you), He will cause a
desire for that share to arise within you, and will dispatch it to you so
that it reaches you when you need it. Then He will help you to
recognize that it comes from Him and to acknowledge Him with
conscious gratitude as the sender and supplier of what you have
received. As this moves you further away from attachment to creatures,
from involvement with people, your inner being is emptied of all
besides Him (Almighty and Glorious is He).
Then, when your knowledge and conviction have been fortified,
when your feelings have been expanded and your heart has been
enlightened, and your nearness to your Lord and your standing in His
sight have thereby increased, as well your competence for the guarding
of secrets, you will be allowed to know beforehand when you are to
receive your allotted share. This privilege will be granted in your honor,
to exalt your dignity, as a gracious favor and guidance from Him. Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He) has said:
And We appointed from among them leaders guiding by Our command,
when they endured patiently, and had sure faith in Our signs. (32:24)

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 42 Sixteenth Discourse

Allåh (Exalted is He) also says:

As for those who strive in Our cause, We surely guide them in Our ways.
(29:69)

And the Exalted One says:

Observe your duty to Allåh. Allåh will teach you. (2:282)

Then He will invest you with creative power, which you may exercise
with clear and unambiguous permission, with tokens brilliant as the
radiant sun, with His sweet words far sweeter than all sweetness, with
inspiration true and unequivocal, untainted by the promptings of the
self and the whisperings of Satan the accursed. Allåh (Exalted is He)
has said in one of His scriptures:
O son of Adam, I am Allåh. There is none worthy of worship but I
alone. I say to a thing, “Be,” and it comes into being. Obey Me and
I will make you such that you say to a thing, “Be,” and it will come
into being.

Thus He has dealt with many of His Prophets, His saints, and His
special favorites among the children of Adam.

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 43

Seventeenth Discourse
On how the contact [wuƒ«l] with Allåh is attained

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W hen you attain the contact with Allåh and get close to Him
through His attraction and His helpful guidance—what is
meant by attaining the contact with Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is
He) is that you make your exit from the sphere of creation, from passion
and will and desire, and become securely linked to His action, so that
no movement of yours affects either you or His creation unless by His
decree, at His command and through His action—this is the state of
annihilation [fanå›], which is another term for that contact. But
attaining to the contact with Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) is
not like what we ordinarily understand by making contact with one of
His creatures.
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-
Seeing. (42:11)

The Creator is far above comparison with His creatures or analogy

with His artifacts. When someone attains to the contact with Him
(Almighty and Glorious is He), that person becomes known, through
His introduction, to others who have already experienced the contact.
In each case the experience is unique and peculiar to the individual
concerned.
With each of His Messengers, Prophets and Saints, Allåh (Almighty
and Glorious is He) shares a secret to which no one else is privy. It may
even be that a pupil holds a secret with which his Shaikh is not
acquainted, just as the Shaikh may hold a secret unknown to a pupil

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 44 Seventeenth Discourse

whose progress has brought him to the very threshold of his Shaikh’s
spiritual state.
When the pupil does reach the spiritual state of his Shaikh, he is
separated from the Shaikh and his connection with him is severed. The
Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He) becomes his guardian, and
weans him from creatures altogether. The Shaikh is therefore like a wet
nurse. Just as the foster-mother’s suckling does not continue beyond
two years, dependence on creatures does not outlast the cessation of
passion and self-will. The Shaikh is needed as long as passion and self-
will are still there to be broken, but not after these have been eradicated,
leaving no stain or blemish.
When you have attained to the contact with the Lord of Truth
(Almighty and Glorious is He) in the way we have explained, you must
always feel safe from whatever is besides Him, for you will not see
anything other than Him as having any existence at all. Whether in
loss or in profit, in giving or withholding, in fear or in hope, you will see
only Him (Almighty and Glorious is He), who is worthy of pious
devotion and deserves to be begged for forgiveness. You must therefore
be ever alert to His action, ready for His command, employed in His
obedient service, aloof from all worldly or otherworldly beings of His
creation. Do not attach your heart to any kind of creature.
Regard the entire created universe as a man who has been clapped in
irons by a ruler of vast authority and stern command, of terrifying might
and power. He has had the man shackled by the neck and legs, then
crucified him on a cedar tree on the bank of a very turbulent river, of
great width and depth and with a rapid current. Now the ruler is seated
on his colossal throne, which towers high beyond reach. Stacked by his
side are piles of darts, spears, bows and arrows and all sorts of weapons,
in quantities that only he could estimate. He starts pelting the crucified
victim with anything he fancies from that arsenal…. Well, let me ask
you: Would it make good sense for a person witnessing all this to stop
paying attention to the ruler as the focus of his fears and hopes, and to
direct his attention, with all his fears and hopes, toward the crucified
victim instead? Surely the sensible verdict on someone who acted like

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 Seventeenth Discourse 45

that would be to call him mentally deficient, idiotic, crazy, more animal
than human?
We seek refuge with Allåh from blindness after sight, from separation
after contact, from alienation after closeness and proximity, from error
after guidance, and from unbelief after true faith.
This world is like the great swift-flowing river referred to above. Each
day it carries more water, symbolic of the carnal appetites of mankind,
their indulgence of those appetites, and the disasters that befall them
in consequence. As for the arrows and assorted weapons, these
represent the trials that destiny brings their way. For the most part,
what human beings experience in this world is a series of misfortunes
and woes, sufferings and adversities. Any comforts and pleasures they
happen to find there are subject to pernicious contaminants.
The lesson drawn from this by any intelligent observer must be that
he has no real life or relaxation except in the hereafter— provided he
is a believer [mu›min], for this applies exclusively to believers. As the
Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) said: “There is no life
except the life of the hereafter.” He also said: “There is no comfort for
the believer this side of meeting his Lord.” This has relevance for
believers, like another saying of his (Allåh bless him and give him
peace): “This world is the believer’s prison and the unbeliever’s para-
dise.” He also said: “The virtuous man is bridled.”
In the light of all these traditions and our own direct experience, how
can a case be made in favor of life in this world? The only true comfort
lies in exclusive contact with Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), in
being in harmony with Him, and in casting oneself down in absolute
surrender before Him. This is how the servant can find freedom from
this world, to bask thenceforth in compassion and mercy, kindness and
charity and gracious favor.
Only Allåh is All-Knowing!

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 46

Eighteenth Discourse
On not complaining

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

L et me give you a piece of advice: Never complain to anyone about

your luck, whether he be friend or foe, and do not accuse the Lord
(Almighty and Glorious is He) of treating you badly and making you
suffer misfortune. You should rather proclaim your blessings and your
gratitude. Better even to tell a lie by expressing gratitude for a benefit
you have not received, than to state the plain fact of your situation
truthfully but as a complaint. Who is totally without the grace of Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He)? Allåh (Exalted is He) has said:
And if you count the favor of Allåh, you will never add it up. (16:18)

How many blessings you enjoy without acknowledging them for what
they are! Do not settle for any mere creature as your confidant and
intimate companion, and tell no one about your problems. It is rather
with Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) that you should be on
intimate and confidential terms, and any complaining you do should be
about Him and addressed to Him. Recognize no other party, for none
has any power to bring you loss or gain, income or expenditure, honor
or disgrace, promotion or demotion, poverty or affluence, movement or
rest. All things are the creation of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is
He). They lie in the hand of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) and
the way they function is at His command and by His leave. Each runs
its course until a time appointed, and everything is regulated by Him.
There is no advancing what He has postponed, and no putting back
what He has brought to the fore. Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He)
has said:
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 Eighteenth Discourse 47

If Allåh afflicts you with some hurt, none can remove it but He; and
if He desires any good for you, none can repel His bounty. He causes
it to reach whomsoever He will of His servants. He is the All-Forgiving,
the All-Compassionate. (10:107)

If you complain about Him (Almighty and Glorious is He) while you
are in good health and already enjoy some blessing, just wanting to get
more and shutting your eyes contemptuously to the benefit and well-
being you have received from Him, He will be angry with you and
deprive you of both. He will give you something real to complain about,
doubling your trouble, intensifying the chastisement and detestation
and loathing you must suffer, and casting you down out of His sight.
You should be very wary of complaining, even if you were being
dissected and having your own flesh clipped away with scissors. Beware,
beware, and yet again beware! Allåh, Allåh, and yet again Allåh!
Escape, escape! Take care, take care!
Most of the various disasters that afflict a human being are due to his
complaints against his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He). How can
one have any grievance against Him, when He is the Most Merciful of
the merciful, the Best of all judges, Wise, Aware, Gracious, Compas-
sionate; when He is Kind to His servants and not a cruel slave-master;
when He is like a wise, sympathetic and kindly family doctor?
Would you find fault with a tender-hearted mother? The Prophet
(Allåh bless him and give him peace) said: “Allåh is more merciful
toward His servant than a mother toward her child.”
Be on your best behavior, you poor wretch! Persevere in the face of
misfortune, even if you are incapable of patience. Then be patient even
if you are incapable of conforming with good grace. Then conform with
good grace if you are there to be found. Then cease to exist if you are
nowhere to be found. O philosopher’s stone, where are you, where can
you be found and seen? Do you not heed His words (Almighty and
Glorious is He):
Fighting is prescribed for you, though it be hateful to you. But it may
happen that you hate a thing which is good for you, and may happen
that you love a thing which is bad for you. Allåh knows, and you know
not. (2:216)

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 48 Eighteenth Discourse

Knowledge of the reality of things has been kept from you under
wraps, and you have been kept from it behind a screen. So do not
misbehave yourself, whatever your likes or dislikes. Follow the sacred
law in whatever may befall you, if you are in the state of piety [taqwå]
which is the first step. Follow direct orders, without exceeding them,
if you are in the state of consecration [wilåya] and the extinction of
desire [khum«d wuj«d al-hawå], which is the second step. Harmonize
gladly with the divine action and become totally absorbed in the state
of Badaliyya, Ghawthiyya, Qu£biyya and »iddºqiyya*, which are the
ultimate stages.
Stand clear of destiny’s path; get out of its way. Give up self and desire.
Keep your tongue from complaining. Provided you do this, then if what
is meant for you is good, the Lord will grant you extra pleasure,
happiness and joy; and if it is bad, He will keep you safe in His obedient
service while it runs its course. He will absolve you of blame, and keep
you unaffected while it lasts, until it is all over for you and becomes a
thing of the past—as night ends with the dawning of the day, and as the
chill of winter takes its leave when summer comes around. Here is an
example for you, so note the moral well.
There are so many sins and errors and outrages, so many kinds of
offenses and faults that cause defilement.
To be worthy of the company of the Noble Lord, one must be purged
of the impurities of sins and failings. No one is granted an audience at
His court unless he is unstained by the filth of pretentiousness and self-
conceit, just as no one is fit for the company of kings without being
cleansed of all impurities and every kind of stench and dirt. Misfortunes
have an expiatory and purificatory effect. As the Prophet (Allåh bless
him and give him peace) so truthfully said: “One day’s fever is atone-
ment for a year [of sin].”

* The abstract qualities of Badal [singular of Abdål ], Ghawth [lit.: Help, Succor], Qu£b
[lit.: Pole or Axis] and »iddºq [Champion of Truth], respectively.

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 49

Nineteenth Discourse
On promises

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

I f a promise is made to you while you are still weak in faith and
conviction, that promise will surely be kept and not broken, lest you
should lose what little faith and certainty you have. When these
qualities become stronger and are firmly established in your heart, you
will hear these words of His addressed to you:
You are today in our presence established and worthy of trust. (12:54)

This address will be repeated to you in state after state, as you become
one of the elect; no, one of the elect of the elect. You will retain no will
or purpose of your own, no more self-gratifying conduct, no sycophantic
aspiration or ambitious quest for coveted position. Having come to
resemble a cracked vessel that can hold no liquid content, you will lose
all capacity for willful and habitual motivation toward achieving
anything at all, be it worldly or otherworldly. You will be cleansed of
everything apart from Allåh (Exalted is He). From Allåh (Almighty
and Glorious is He) you will receive your satisfaction, and the promise
of His good pleasure with you. You will be enabled to enjoy and take
delight in all the workings of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He).
Now you will be given a promise, but just when you feel complacent
about it and some trace of self-will is detected there, you will be moved
on from this promise to one that is higher. You will be turned toward
one that is nobler, compensating for the first by making it redundant.
The doors of inner and outer knowledge will be opened unto you, and
you will gain insight into things mysterious, realities of wisdom, and the

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 50 Nineteenth Discourse

secret benefits of moving on from the previous promise to that which

followed it.
In your new position you will experience increased retention of your
spiritual state, then also of articulate utterance. You will be entrusted
with the preservation of secrets, expansion of the feelings and enlight-
enment of the heart, eloquence of the tongue and profound wisdom.
You will attract such affection that you become the darling of the entire
creation; of humans, jinn and all other beings in this world and the
hereafter. For you have become the loved one of the Lord of Truth
(Almighty and Glorious is He), and creatures follow their Creator
(Glorious and Exalted is He). Their love is subsumed under His love,
just as their hatred is subsumed under His hatred.
After you have been brought to this station where you have no self-
willed desire for anything at all, you will be given the opportunity to
want something or other. If it turns out that you do in fact desire that
object, the thing will be removed and made to disappear. You will be
kept from having it, and it will not be given to you in this world, but in
the hereafter you will be compensated with something that increases
your closeness and intimate proximity to the Lord Most High, some-
thing to cool your eyes in the highest paradise and garden of permanent
abode. It may be, however, that you never sought that object, that you
neither hoped nor wished for it in the realm of this lower world, this
fleeting realm of trouble and toil. If what you longed for there was rather
the countenance of Him who creates and fashions, who withholds and
gives, who has laid out the earth and held up the sky, if such was your
wish and desire and yearning, then perhaps you will be compensated
even in this world with something very close or similar to it, after your
heart and vision have been broken. Then He will turn you away from
that wish and desire, and the true compensation will be received in the
hereafter, as we have mentioned and explained.
Only Allåh (Glory be to Him) is All-Knowing!

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 51

Twentieth Discourse
On the saying of the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him
peace): “Leave anything that makes you doubtful and stick to
what arouses no misgivings in you.”

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him) said:

D iscard anything that strikes you as dubious if it is mixed up with

something that inspires no such doubts. Choose the course that
bears no taint of doubt or suspicion and leave what causes you to have
misgivings. In a case where you can isolate the ambiguous element,
which tends to prick and chafe your conscience, you should bide your
time and watch for an inner instruction. Then if you receive the order
to proceed in the matter, go ahead and do so. But if you are stopped and
told to refrain, you must desist. Treat it as something that never was,
that never existed.
Go back to the door of your Lord and seek sustenance from Him, even
if you are incapable of patience or conformity or cheerful acceptance or
annihilation [fanå›]. Your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He) does not
need to be reminded, for He is never neglectful of you or anyone else.
He feeds the unbelievers, the hypocrites, and those who turn their backs
on Him (Almighty and Glorious is He), so how could He forget you, O
believer, who affirm His Oneness, obey Him diligently, and carry out
His orders by night and by day?
Another dimension of meaning: Let go of what people have at their
disposal. Give up trying to acquire it, and stop setting your heart on it.
You should neither expect anything of people nor be afraid of them, but
receive from the bounty of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), for
this is what will cause you no misgivings. Let there be only one of whom
you ask, one giver, one object of your hope and fear, one being and one

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 52 Twentieth Discourse

aspiration, namely your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He). The

forelocks of kings are in His hand, as are human hearts, the princes of
our physical bodies. People’s property belongs to Him (Almighty and
Glorious is He), for they are His agents and trustees. When they give
you something, the movement of their hands is by His permission, His
command, His motivation (Almighty and Glorious is He), and likewise
when they hold back from making you a gift.
He says (Almighty and Glorious is He): “Ask Allåh of His bounty”
(4:32). He also says (Exalted is He): “Those you serve instead of Allåh
have no power to provide for you. So seek your provision from Allåh,
and serve Him, and give thanks unto Him; to Him you shall be
returned” (29:17). He also says (Glory be to Him): “And when My
servants ask you about Me, surely I am near. I answer the call of the
caller when he calls to Me” (2:186). And He says (Exalted is He): “Call
upon Me and I will answer you” (40:60). And He says (Exalted is He):
“Surely Allåh is the All-Provider, the Lord of unbreakable might”
(51:58). And He says also (Exalted is He): “Allåh provides sustenance
to whom He will without reckoning” (3:37).

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 53

Twenty-first Discourse
On addressing Iblºs the accursed

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

I saw Iblºs in a dream, where I was in the midst of a big crowd. I was
on the point of killing him, when he said to me (may Allåh curse
him): “Why are you going to kill me? What is my offense? If evil is
entailed by destiny, I am powerless to change it and transform it into
good, and if good is so entailed I cannot change it and transform it into
evil. So what do I control?”
Hermaphroditic in appearance, he was soft-spoken, with distorted
features, wisps of hair on his chin, misshapen and deformed. When he
smiled at me, the smile was bashful and apprehensive.
This happened on the night of Sunday, 12th of Dhu’l-ªijja in the
year 516 [of the Hijra].
Allåh is the Guide to all that is good!

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 54

Twenty-second Discourse
On the testing of the believer’s faith

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

A llåh is always testing His believing servant in proportion to his

faith. Thus if a person’s faith is very great and steadily increasing,
his trial will be great as well. The trial of a Messenger is greater than that
of a Prophet, because his faith is greater. The trial of a Prophet is greater
than that of a Badal, and the trial of a Badal is greater than that of a Walº.
Each is tried according to his faith and certitude, on the basis of this
saying of the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace): “We, the
Community of Prophets, are the people most severely tried, then others
according to the perfection of their faith.”
Allåh (Exalted is He) subjects these honorable masters to incessant
testing, so they will always stay in His presence and never relax their
vigilance, for He loves them. They are the people of love, who love the
Lord of Truth, and the lover never likes to be far from his beloved.
Affliction serves as a clamp for their hearts and a noose for their selfish
natures, checking their tendency to drift away from their true goal and
to place their confidence and trust in others instead of their Creator.
As this becomes a permanent condition for them, their passions melt,
their selves are broken, and truth is distinguished from falsehood. Then
cravings, willful desires, and the appetite for pleasure and comfort in
this world and the hereafter, all retract toward the sphere of the self,
while toward the sphere of the heart come trust in the promise of the
Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), cheerful acceptance of
His decree, satisfaction with His gifts, patient endurance of His trials,
and the feeling of safety from the evil of His creatures. Thus the power
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 Twenty-second Discourse 55

of the heart is strengthened, and it acquires control over all the limbs
and organs of the body. Tribulation fortifies the heart and certitude,
verifies faith and patience, and weakens the self and the passions,
because whenever suffering comes, and what it meets with in the
believer is patience, cheerful acceptance, and surrender to the action of
the Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), the Exalted Lord is pleased
with him and thanks him. Then he also receives help, additional
blessings and success. Allåh (Exalted is He) has said:
If you are thankful, I will give you more. (14:7)

When the self is moved to apply to the heart [qalb] for satisfaction of
some carnal appetite or indulgence in some pleasure, and the heart
agrees to this request without authorization and permission from Allåh
(Exalted is He), the result is disregard for the Lord of Truth, polytheism
and sinful rebellion. Allåh (Exalted is He) will therefore condemn
them both to disappointment, trouble, subjection to other people,
sickness and disease, injury and disorder. Both the heart and the self
will get a share of this.
If the heart will not give the self what it wants, however, until it
receives permission from the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is
He) through inspiration [ilhåm] in the case of Saints, or explicit
revelation [wa¥y] in the case of Envoys and Prophets (blessing and
peace be upon them) and acts accordingly in giving or withholding,
then Allåh rewards them both with mercy and blessing, well-being and
contentment, light and wisdom, nearness to Himself, affluence, secu-
rity from disasters and help against enemies.
This you must know and remember it well! Be ready for trouble if you
rush to respond to the self and to passion! Far better to pause in such
cases, and await the Lord’s consent (Glorious is His Majesty), so that
you may remain safe in this world and the hereafter, if Allåh (Exalted
is He) so will.

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 56

Twenty-third Discourse
On contentment with one’s lot from Allåh

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

B e content with straitened circumstances and steadfastly persevere

therein, until the prescript of destiny expires and you are promoted
to a higher and finer level. There you will be comfortably installed and
made secure, with no worldly or otherworldly problems, no persecution
or harassment. Then you will progress beyond this stage to something
even more delightful and wholesome.
Know that your appointed share will not be lost to you because you
give up chasing after it, just as you will never get what is not your share,
for all your greedy seeking, effort and exertion. Be patient, therefore,
and resign yourself to accepting your present situation. Take nothing
and give nothing on your own unless and until you are ordered to do so.
Neither move nor keep still of your own accord, otherwise you will have
to bear not just your own suffering, but that of a creature worse than you.
This is because you do wrong to behave like that, and the wrong-doer
is not overlooked. Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) has said:
Thus We let some of the wrong-doers have power over others. (6:129)

You are in fact in the house of a King whose command is far-reaching,

whose power is immense, whose army is vast, whose will is effective,
whose authority is irresistible, whose kingdom is everlasting, whose
sovereignty is enduring, whose knowledge is precise, whose wisdom is
profound and whose judgment is just. Not an atom’s weight on earth
or in heaven eludes Him, nor does the wrong of the wrong-doer escape
His notice. You are the biggest wrong-doer and the worst offender,
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 Twenty-third Discourse 57

because you have set up a partner to Him (Almighty and Glorious is He)
by your self-willed behavior in dealing with yourself and His creation.
Allåh (Exalted is He) has said:
Ascribe no partners to Allåh; ascribing partners to Him is a tremendous
wrong. (31:13)

He also says (Exalted is He):

Allåh does not forgive that any partner be ascribed to Him; less than
that He forgives to whom He will. (4:116)

Be very wary of associating anything with Allåh; do not come

anywhere near it. Avoid it in all your behavior, both active and passive,
by night and day, in private and in public. Beware of disobedience
altogether, in your limbs and organs as well as in your heart. Abandon
all sin, both outwardly and inwardly. Do not run away from Him
(Almighty and Glorious is He), for He will overtake you. Do not
quarrel with Him over His decision; He will demolish you. Do not
question the wisdom of His judgment; He will put you to shame. Do not
treat Him negligently; He will bring you to your senses and put you to
the test. Do not start innovations in His house; He will destroy you. Do
not speak of His religion to suit your own whim; He will ruin you and
darken your heart, rob you of your faith and understanding, and make
you subject to your devil, your lower self, your passions and desires, your
family, your neighbors, your companions, your friends and all the rest
of His creatures, even your domestic scorpions, snakes, jinn and other
vermin. Thus He will upset your life in this world and prolong your
punishment in the hereafter.

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 58

Twenty-fourth Discourse
On cleaving to Allåh’s door

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

B e very wary of disobedience to Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is

He), and really cleave to His door. Devote your energies and your
efforts to His obedient service, apologetically and submissively, admit-
ting your shortcomings in all humility, stooping low and keeping your
eyes downcast, paying no attention to His creatures and not following
your own inclinations, seeking no worldly or otherworldly recompense,
nor promotion to high positions and honorable stations. Be fully aware
that you are His servant, and that the servant and all he possesses belong
to his Master, against whom he has no claim of any kind.
Observe good manners and do not be distrustful of your Master, for
“everything with Him is according to measure” (13:8). None can bring
forward what He has postponed, and none can put back what He has
brought to the fore. You will receive what He has assigned to you at the
proper moment and time, like it or not. Do not look forward greedily
to what will be yours, and do not hanker after that which belongs to
another. Whatever you do not have now, it is surely meant either for
you or for somebody else. If it is yours, it will be coming your way, while
you are led and directed toward it. The meeting will soon take place.
As for that which is not meant for you, you will be deflected from it as
it is turned aside from you, so how could the pair of you meet up?
Devote yourself, therefore, to well-mannered behavior in every
aspect of your obedient service to your Master (Almighty and Glorious
is He), here and now. Do not hold your head high and do not bow your
neck to anything apart from Him. Allåh (Exalted is He) has said:

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Strain not your eyes toward that which We have given for some pairs
among them to enjoy—the flower of this world’s life, that We may
thereby put them to the test. Your Lord’s provision is better and more
lasting. (20:131)

Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) has forbidden you to pay

attention to anything outside the situation in which He has placed you.
He has equipped you for His obedient service and given you some of His
portion, His sustenance and His bounty. He has made you aware that
anything beyond this constitutes a temptation, by which He tests
people. Cheerful acceptance of your lot is better for you, more lasting,
more blessed, more worthy and more appropriate. So let this be your
practice, your regular habit, your dwelling place, your underclothing
and your overcoat, your wish and your longing, your craving and your
desire. You will thereby achieve your every goal, attain to every station,
and progress toward all that is good, all that is pleasing and excellent
and delightful and precious. Allåh (Exalted is He) has said:
No soul knows what comfort is kept secretly in store for them, as a
reward for what they used to do. (32:17)

After the five basic religious duties and the forsaking of sins, there is
no deed more perfect or greater or more noble or dearer to Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He) and more pleasing in His sight, than
what we have been telling you about. May Allåh help us and you to
succeed in that which He loves and on which He bestows His gracious
favor.

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Twenty-fifth Discourse
On the tree of faith

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

O destitute pauper, spurned by the world and its sons, unworthy of

mention in royal and ruling circles! You hungry, fainting, naked,
gut-thirsty wretch! You vagrant in every corner of the earth, frequenting
mosques and vacant lots, driven from every door, shoved away from every
object of desire, heart-broken and crushed with total disappointment!
Do not say: “Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) has impoverished me
and alienated the world from me. He has misled me and forsaken me.
He hates me. He has disintegrated me and not made me whole. He
despises me and does not give me enough to live on in this world.
He has made me a nonentity and has not raised my prestige among the
public and my own brothers. On another person He has showered
abundant blessings, in which he basks by night and day, preferring him
over me and the people of my house, despite the fact that both of us are
Muslims and Believers, and we both stem from our father Adam and our
mother Eve (peace be upon them).”
In your case, Allåh has treated you like this because you have an open
nature, and the dew of Allåh’s mercy alights on you constantly in the
form of patience, contentment, certitude, harmony and knowledge,
while the light of faith and pure monotheism is heaped upon you. Thus
the tree of your faith, with its root and seed, becomes firmly established,
puts forth leaves and fruit, keeps growing and spreading fresh branches,
providing shade as it goes on ramifying. Every day it continues to grow
and thrive, without needing compost or fertilizer to further its growth

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and development. Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) has arranged

your affairs along these lines. He has granted you the Abode of
Permanence in the hereafter, and given you the title to it. He has
bestowed upon you in the hereafter such gifts as no eye has ever seen,
no ear has ever heard of, and which are inconceivable to the human
mind. Allåh (Exalted is He) has said:
No soul knows what comfort is kept secretly in store for them, as a
reward for what they used to do. (32:17)

That is to say, as a reward for the way they conducted themselves

in this world, carrying out commandments, practicing patience in
abstaining from forbidden things, accepting the decree of destiny with
full surrender and submission to Him, and concurring with Him in
all affairs.
As for that other person, to whom Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is
He) has granted this world, making it his to own and enjoy, and on
whom He has showered His favor, He has treated him like this because
the site of his faith is a salt and rocky waste, with hardly enough water
to support the growth of trees or to produce crops and fruit. That is why
He poured various types of manure upon it, and other things that act as
fertilizers for plants and trees, meaning this world and its vanities, to
preserve the tree of faith and the seedling of deeds which He had
planted there. For if they were deprived of this, the plants and trees
would wither, the fruit would go to waste, and the whole countryside
would be left desolate, whereas Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He)
wishes to see it prosper.
Thus the tree of the rich man’s faith is weak in growth potential, and
lacks the resources available to the tree of your faith, you poor fellow!
His tree depends for its nourishment and survival on this world and the
various benefits you see him enjoying. If he were deprived of all that,
his tree—being so weak—would wither, and the result would be unbelief,
denial, and adherence to the hypocrites, apostates and unbelievers.
O my God, only if Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) sends that rich

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man armies of patience, contentment, certitude, assistance, knowledge

and all kinds of insights, only then will his faith be reinforced. Then of
course he will not mind the termination of wealth and blessings.
Allåh is the Guide who helps us to succeed!

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 63

Twenty-sixth Discourse
On not unveiling one’s face

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

D o not remove the veil and head-scarf from your face until you exit
from the realm of creatures, and turn the back of your heart on
them under all conditions. As your passion ceases, and then your self-
will and desire fade away, you pass beyond all forms of existence in this
world and the hereafter. You become like a cracked vessel, in that
nothing stays inside you except the will of your Lord (Almighty and
Glorious is He), and so you are filled with Him and His controlling
power. “Exit the lie [z«r], enter the light [n«r].” There is now no room
in your heart and no entrance to it except for your Lord. You become
the gatekeeper of your heart, and are given the sword of pure monothe-
ism, majesty and might. Whenever you see someone crossing the
courtyard of your breast to approach the door of your heart, you strike
his head from his shoulder. You will thus have no head to direct your
lower self, your passion, your will and your longing in this world and the
hereafter, no word that must be heeded, and no opinion to be followed.
There is only following the order of the Lord (Almighty and Glorious
is He), standing by Him and gladly accepting His decision and decree,
or rather becoming totally absorbed in His decision and decree. You
become the servant of the Lord and His command (Almighty and
Glorious is He), and not the servant of creatures and their opinions.
When this becomes the normal pattern for you, the tents of zeal will
be pitched around your heart. It will be encircled by the moats of
majesty and the authority of might, surrounded by the armies of reality
and pure monotheism. In addition to this, guards will be posted by the
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Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), so that creatures cannot

gain access to the heart through the devil, the lower self, the passions,
willful impulses and idle longings, false pretensions arising from natural
dispositions and evil instincts, and errors stemming from desire.
If it is then the decree of destiny that people should come to you,
arriving in succession, following you and adapting themselves to you,
to obtain shining light, illuminating signs and profound wisdom, to see
manifest gifts of grace and constant works of wonder, and so to increase
their capacity for acts of charity, obedience, striving and endurance in
the service of their Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He); if such be your
destiny, you will be protected from them all, and from the tendency of
the self to be influenced by its passions, its vanity and pride, its arrogant
presumptuousness boosted by such popular acceptance and devoted
attention.
Similarly, if you are destined to acquire a fine and beautiful wife, a
woman of independent means, you will be protected from her bad
influence and spared having to bear her expenses and those of her
attendants and relatives. You will experience her as a gift, sufficient,
wholesome, pure and free of deceit and malice and spite, of bad temper
and of disloyalty in your absence. She will be fully at your disposal,
while you are relieved of her upkeep and that of her family and she
causes you no painful problems. If she is destined to bear you a child,
it will be virtuous, a good offspring pleasing to your eye. Allåh (Exalted
is He) has said: “And We set his wife right for him” (21:90). He has
also said (Exalted is He):
Our Lord, give us refreshment of our wives and offspring, and make us
a model for the righteous. (25:74)

Furthermore He has said (Exalted is He):

And make him, my Lord, well pleasing. (19:6)

Thus all the prayers contained in these Qur݌nic verses will take
effect and be answered in your case, whether or not you actually utter
them, for they are relevant here and meant for one who is worthy of

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 Twenty-sixth Discourse 65

them at this stage, who has been confirmed in this rank, and to whom
this measure of favor and closeness has been allotted.
In like manner, if some worldly thing is destined to reach you, it will
cause you no harm. Whatever part of it is allotted to you, you are bound
to receive it, purified for your sake by the action of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He), when the order for its acquisition comes down. You
have only to obey the order and you will be rewarded for receiving what
is yours, just as you are rewarded for performing the obligatory prayers
and keeping the obligatory fast. As for that which is not your portion,
you will be ordered to spend it on those to whom it really belongs,
namely the deserving poor among friends, neighbors and brethren, and
those entitled to shares as the situation may demand. You must examine
the circumstances and be discriminating, for going by hearsay is not the
same as seeing for oneself. Then you will have this business tidied up
and in the clear, rid of dust and confusion, muddle, suspicion and doubt.
Patience, patience! Contentment, contentment! Keeping the state,
keeping the state! Restraint, restraint! Calm, calm! Quiet, quiet!
Silence, silence! Caution, caution! Escape, escape! Haste, haste!
Allåh, Allåh, and again Allåh! Head down, head down! Eyes closed,
eyes closed! Modesty, modesty, until the prescript of destiny expires.
Then you will be taken by the hand and brought to the fore. You will
be relieved of all that weighs upon you, then immersed in the oceans of
grace and favor and mercy, then brought out therefrom. Now you will
be robed with light and mysteries, knowledge and marvels divine, and
then brought near and notified by signs and inspiration [ilhåm], spoken
to and given gifts, enriched, encouraged and exalted, and addressed
with the words:
You are today in our presence established and worthy of trust. (12:54)

Now consider how it was for Joseph the Truthful (peace be upon him)
when he was addressed with these very words on the tongue of Pharaoh,
the great King of Egypt. The King’s tongue was giving utterance to the
words, but the real speaker was Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He),
using the tongue of inner knowledge. The King assigned to him the

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external kingdom, the kingdom of Egypt, but to Allåh (Almighty and

Glorious is He) belongs the kingdom of the soul, the kingdom of insight
and knowledge, of nearness and special status and high degree. Con-
cerning the kingdom of the king, He says (Exalted is He):
Thus We established Joseph in the land [meaning the land of Egypt], to
make his dwelling therein wherever he pleased. We visit with Our
mercy whom We will, and We leave not to waste the reward of those
who do good. (12:21 / 12:56)

Concerning the kingdom of the soul, He says (Exalted is He):

So it was, that We might ward off from him evil and lewdness; he was
one of Our devoted servants. (12:24)

Concerning the kingdom of insight and knowledge, He says (Exalted

is He):
This is part of that which my Lord has taught me. I have forsaken the
creed of a people who believe not in Allåh and are unbelievers in the
Hereafter. (12:37)

When you are thus addressed, O greatest champion of truth [yå

ayyuha’ƒ-ƒiddºqu’l-akbar], you are given the most ample share of the most
comprehensive knowledge. You are endowed and blessed with help to
succeed, with goodness and power, with general saintliness, with
effective command over the self and other things, and with the power
to bring things into being by God’s leave in this world before the
hereafter. Then in the hereafter, in the abode of peace and the highest
paradise, you will behold the face of the Noble Lord, as a further blessing
and favor. That is the goal that has no limit and no end. Only Allåh
can help us to achieve the realities of that experience.
Kind and Compassionate is He!

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 67

Twenty-seventh Discourse
On good and evil as two fruits

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

R egard good and evil as two fruits from two branches of a single
tree. One of the two branches bears sweet fruit and the other bitter.
You must therefore leave the cities and provinces and regions of the
earth which import the fruit gathered from this tree. Keep your distance
from them and their inhabitants, and approach the tree itself. Become
its steward and resident servant, and make yourself familiar with the
two branches, the two fruits and the two sides. Stick to the side of the
branch bearing sweet fruit, then you will always get your food and
nourishment from it. Avoid going over to the side of the other branch,
lest you eat some of its fruit and perish from its bitterness. If you make
this your regular habit, you will live in tranquillity, security, comfort
and safety from all injuries, because injuries and all kinds of calamities
are caused by this fruit.
If you move away from this tree, however, and go wandering far and
wide, and then some of these fruits turn up in front of you, mixed
together with nothing to distinguish the sweet from the bitter, and you
take your pick, your hand may settle on the bitter sort. Then you put
it to your mouth, take a bite out of it and chew it, and so the bitterness
gets deep into your throat and inside your gullet, into your brain and
your nasal passages, affecting you as it flows into your veins and the
organs of your body until you die of it. You may spit the remainder out
of your mouth and rinse away the traces, but to no avail. This cannot
get rid of what has already spread throughout your body, so it will do you
no good.
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 68 Twenty-seventh Discourse

Even if you start by eating some sweet fruit, and its sweetness spreads
through all parts of your body to your benefit and delight, you will not
be satisfied with this. You are bound to take another fruit, and you
cannot be sure that this second one will not be bitter, with the
consequences we have just been telling you about.
There is no good, therefore, in being far from the tree and ignorant
of its fruit. Safety lies in getting close to it and staying there. Good and
evil result from the working of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He).
It is Allåh who fashions them both and directs their course. As Allåh
(Great and Glorious is He) has said:
Allåh has created you and your handiwork. (37:96)

According to the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace):
Allåh has created the butcher and the beast he slaughters.

The actions of His servants are created by Allåh (Almighty and

Glorious is He), and also what they earn. He says (Exalted is He):
Enter Paradise because of what you used to do. (16:32)

Glory be to Him, how Generous and Merciful is He! He ascribes the

work to them, and says they are entitled to enter Paradise because of
their deeds, although their success is due to His help and His mercy
toward them in this world and the hereafter. The Prophet (Allåh bless
him and give him peace) said: “No one enters Paradise on the strength
of his own deeds.” Someone asked: “Not even you, O Messenger of
Allåh?” He replied: “Not even I, unless Allåh covers me with His
mercy,” placing his hand on his head as he spoke. This is related in a
tradition of ‹Á›isha (may Allåh be well pleased with her).
When you are obedient to Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He),
carrying out His orders, observing His prohibitions and submitting to
Him in what He has ordained, He protects you from His evil and
bestows His goodness upon you. He protects you from every kind of evil,
religious and worldly. As for the worldly side, there is His saying
(Exalted is He):
So it was, that We might ward off from him evil and lewdness; he was
one of Our devoted servants. (12:24)
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 Twenty-seventh Discourse 69

On the religious side, we have His saying (Almighty and Glorious is He):
What concern has Allåh for your punishment if you are thankful and
believe? Allåh is All-Thankful, All-Knowing. (4:147)

How should tribulation afflict a grateful believer, when he is closer to

well-being than to such affliction, because he is so thankful? Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He) has said:
If you are thankful, I will give you more. (14:7)

Your faith will extinguish the flames of hell-fire in the hereafter, the
fire that is the punishment of every sinner, so how can it fail to quench
the fire of misfortunes in this world, O my God, unless the servant be
one of the ecstatics [majdh«b«n] chosen for saintship, for special
selection and preference? In that case trials are absolutely necessary, as
the means by which he is purified of the filth of passion, unworthy
natural tendencies, addiction to the desires and pleasures of the lower
self, confidence in creatures, liking to be near them, relying on them,
feeling secure with them and enjoying their company. He must be
tested until all of this melts away, until the heart is cleansed by the
departure of it all, so that nothing remains but affirmation of the
Oneness of the Lord [taw¥ºdu ’r-Rabb] (Almighty and Glorious is He),
intimate knowledge of Him, and the channels of the Unseen, with all
kinds of secrets, lore and the light of nearness. For it is a house with no
room for two. He says (Exalted is He):
Allåh has not assigned to any man two hearts within his body. (33:4)

He also says (Exalted is He):

Kings, when they enter a township, ruin it and make the noblest of its
people the lowest. (27:34)

They evict the nobles from their good positions and their comfortable
way of life. Sovereignty over the heart belonged at first to Satan, to the
passions and the lower self. The limbs and organs moved at their
command, committing various sins and vanities and hoaxes. But now
that sovereignty has passed away, and the limbs and organs are at rest.
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The house of the King, which is the heart, has been vacated, while the
courtyard, which is the breast, has been swept clean. The heart has now
become a dwelling for the affirmation of Oneness, insight and knowl-
edge. As for the courtyard, it is the landing ground for receivings and
wonders from the Unseen. All this is the result and fruit of trial and
tribulation. The Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) has said:
“We, the company of Prophets, are the people most severely tried,
followed by others according to their levels of perfection.” He also said
(Allåh bless him and give him peace): “I am the one amongst you who
knows Allåh best, and who fears Him the most.” Whoever gets close
to the King is in grave peril and must be very wary, for he is in the King’s
view, where his conduct and movements are unconcealed.
Perhaps you will say: “The entire creation in the sight of Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He) is like a single person, with nothing
hidden from Him, so what is the point of this statement?”
Well, we respond to you by saying: “When a person holds a high
position and his rank is noble, his risk is all the greater, since he is
obliged to show gratitude for what He has bestowed upon him, in the
shape of enormous blessings and favors. The slightest negligence in
serving Him is a dereliction of gratitude to Him, and that is a shortcom-
ing in one’s obedience. Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) has said:
O wives of the Prophet! Whosoever among you commits a flagrant
indecency, the punishment for her will be doubled. (33:30)

He told them that because He (Almighty and Glorious is He) had

blessed them so completely through their union with the Prophet
(Allåh bless him and give him peace). So how must it be for one who
attains to contact with Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) and
nearness to Him? Allåh is Exalted far above and beyond all comparison
with His creation:
There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-
Seeing. (42:11)
Allåh is the Guide!

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Twenty-eighth Discourse
On the classification of the seeker’s states

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

D o you wish for comfort and joy, tranquillity and happiness,

security and trust, well-being and bliss, while you are still under
the bellows that melt and smelt, in the process of killing off the lower
self, disposing of passion, getting rid of desires and expectations of
recompense in this world and the hereafter, and while remnants of
these things are very obviously still present in you? Take it easy, O hasty
one! Slow and steady, O anticipator! The door to all that is closed
while you still have traces on you and a speck inside you. “A slave who
is buying his freedom remains a slave as long as he still owes a penny,”
and you are shut out so long as you still have on you as much of this world
as one could suck off a date-stone. This world is your passion, your will,
your paying attention to anything at all or seeking anything at all, and
your selfish longing for any kind of recompense in this world and the
hereafter.
As long as any of this continues to be present in you, you are only at
the door of annihilation [fanå›]. So keep calm until that annihilation
is fully and perfectly accomplished. You will then be removed from the
bellows, your goldsmithing will be completed, and you will be polished,
attired, anointed and perfumed with incense. Then you will be taken
up to the greatest King and addressed with the words:
You are today in our presence established and worthy of trust. (12:54)

Now you will be kindly and politely entertained, given to eat and
drink of gracious favor, made to approach and draw near, and informed
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 72 Twenty-eighth Discourse

of secrets, which will not be concealed from you. Being given all this,
you will no longer want for anything.
Have you not noticed the little gold pieces that are distributed,
exchanged and circulated, passing to and fro in the hands of perfume
vendors and grocers, butchers and tanners, naphtha merchants and
sweepers, and people whose crafts are refined or humble, lowly and
dirty? Then these pieces of gold are accumulated and exposed to the
goldsmith’s bellows, where they melt in the heat of the furnace. Next,
they are taken out to be hammered, pounded, shaped, and fashioned
into jewelry. Having been polished and perfumed, they are then
deposited in all the best places, behind locks, in treasuries, chests and
boxes. The bride will be adorned with them to enhance her beauty and
honor, and she may be the bride of the mightiest king. Thus the pieces
of gold find their way from those everyday situations into the presence
of the king and his court, after being melted down and pounded.
Likewise in your case, O believer! If you bear with patience the
experiences you are destined to undergo, if you gladly accept His decree
in all conditions, you will be brought near to your Lord (Almighty and
Glorious is He) in this world. You will be blessed with inner and outer
knowledge and with secrets, and in the hereafter you will reside in the
abode of peace with the Prophets, the champions of truth, the martyrs
and the righteous, in the proximity of Allåh and His house, near to Him
(Almighty and Glorious is He). Be patient, therefore, and not in a
hurry. Be content with the decree of Providence and have no misgiv-
ings. You will then receive the solace of Allåh’s pardon, His kindness
and His generosity, by His gracious favor (Exalted is He).

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Twenty-ninth Discourse
On the saying of the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him
peace): “Poverty is on the verge of slipping into unbelief.”

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T he servant believes in Allåh, submits all his affairs to Him

(Almighty and Glorious is He), is confident of being provided
with sustenance from Him, and is convinced that whatever comes to
him could not have missed him, while anything that misses him could
not have reached him. He believes in the words of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He):
Whoever is dutiful toward Allåh, He prepares a way out for him, and
provides for him from sources he could never imagine. And if
anyone puts his trust in Allåh, He will suffice him. (65:2,3)

All this he says and believes while he is in a state of well-being and

annihilation [fanå›]. Then Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) puts
him to the test through misfortune and poverty, so he takes to pleading
and humble entreaty, but He does not relieve him of these afflictions.
Now we see the truth of the Prophet’s saying (Allåh bless him and
give him peace): “Poverty is on the verge of slipping into unbelief.” If
Allåh chooses to treat someone gently, He relieves him of his suffering,
endows him with well-being and affluence, enables him to offer thanks
and praise and glorification, and makes all this last for him until the
meeting [with Him in the hereafter]. But when Allåh wishes to try
someone, He perpetuates his trial and tribulation and poverty, and
deprives him of the support of his faith. Then that person turns
unbelieving through insubordination and distrust toward Him

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 74 Twenty-ninth Discourse

(Almighty and Glorious is He) and doubt about His promise, and so dies
an unbeliever in Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), denying His signs
and feeling angry at his Lord. It is to such a man that Allåh’s Messenger
(Allåh bless him and give him peace) refers in his saying:
The person suffering the harshest torment on the Day of Resurrection
will be a man for whom Allåh has combined poverty in this world with
chastisement in the hereafter. We take refuge from that with Allåh.

It was from the poverty that makes one forgetful [of Allåh] that the
Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) was seeking refuge.
As for the other man, he is the one whom Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He) wishes to choose and select, whom He has included
among His favorites, His friends and His intimates, as heir to His
Prophets and chief of His saints, as one of the greatest of His servants
and their scholars, sages and intercessors, as their shaikh, master and
teacher, as their guide to their Lord, as their director to the path of right
guidance and the avoidance of evil ways. To him He sends mountains
of patience and oceans of willing acceptance, compliance and content-
ment with His decree and His working. Then He endows him with gifts
aplenty, and pampers him by night and day, in public and in private,
sometimes in the open and at other times in secret, with all sorts of
kindness and various signs of affection; and all this he continues to
enjoy until the moment of the final meeting.
Allåh is the Guide!

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 75

Thirtieth Discourse
On not saying “What shall I do and how?”

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

Y ou so often say: “What shall I do, and how shall I manage to do it?”
Well, here is your answer: Stay in your place, and do not step
beyond your own limit until the opportunity comes to you from the One
who has ordered you to stay as you are. Allåh (Almighty and Glorious
is He) has said:
O you who believe, be patient and excel in patience; be steadfast and
observe your duty to Allåh, so that you may succeed. (3:200)

He commands you to be patient, O believer, and to vie in patience,

to remain steadfast, to stay on guard and persevere. Then He warns you
not to give this up, for He says: “Observe your duty to Allåh [in this
respect],” meaning that you must not abandon patience, for that is
where goodness and safety lie. In the words of the Prophet (Allåh bless
him and give him peace): “Patience is to faith what the head is to the
body.” It is also said that the reward for everything is a measurable
quantity, except the reward for patience, which is an unquantifiable
amount. As Allåh (Exalted is He) has said:
Those who patiently persevere will receive a reward without measure.
(39:10)

When you observe your duty to Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He),
He maintains you in patience and respect for His limits, and grants you
fulfillment of what He has promised you in His Book, namely His words
(Almighty and Glorious is He):
He who is dutiful toward Allåh, He prepares a way out for him, and
provides for him from sources he could never imagine. (65:2,3)
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 76 Thirtieth Discourse

You now stay with your patience until you receive the opportunity of
those who put their trust in Him, for Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is
He) has promised you sufficiency, saying:
If anyone puts his trust in Allåh, He will suffice him. (65:3)

You stay with your patience and your trust, in the company of those
who do good, and for this He has also promised to reward you, saying
(Almighty and Glorious is He):

And thus We reward those who do good. (12:22)

Allåh loves you for this, for He says:

Allåh loves those who do good. (5:13)

Thus patience is the source of all goodness and safety in this world and
the hereafter. Through it the believer progresses to the state of cheerful
acceptance and compliance, then to annihilation [fanå›] in the workings
of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), the state of the Abdål
[badaliyya] and transcendence [ghaiba]. So beware of giving it up, lest it
disappoint you in this world and the hereafter and you miss the blessings
of both. From this we take refuge with Allåh!

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 77

Thirty-first Discourse
On hatred for Allåh’s sake

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W hen you find in your heart either hatred or love for a person,
review his behavior in the light of the Book and the Sunna [the
Qur݌n and the exemplary practice of the Prophet]. If his conduct is
hateful according to both these criteria, be happy to be in accord with
Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) and His Messenger. But if his
actions are pleasing in their sight, and yet you feel hatred for him, you
must realize that you are influenced by passion. You hate him because
of your passion, treating him unfairly on account of your loathing for
him, and obstinately contradicting Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is
He) and His Messenger. So turn to Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is
He) in repentance for your hatred, and ask Him to let you feel love for
that person, as well as for others dear to Him, His saints and special
friends, and the righteous among His servants, so that you may be in
harmony with Him (Almighty and Glorious is He).
You should act likewise in the case of someone you love. That is to
say, you must review his conduct in the light of the Book and the Sunna.
If his behavior is pleasing according to their standards, then love him,
but if it is hateful, then hate him, so that you do not love him because
of your passion, and do not hate him because of your passion. For you
are commanded to oppose your passion. As Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He) has said:
Follow not desire, lest it lead you astray from Allåh’s path. (38:26)

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Thirty-second Discourse
On not sharing one’s love of Allåh

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

Y ou so often say: “No matter whom or what I love, my love does not
last long. Something always comes between us, whether through
absence or death or hostility, or, in the case of material objects, through
destruction or loss.” Well, this may be said to you: Do you not know,
O beloved of the Lord of Truth, so cared for and looked after, so
jealously watched and guarded, do you not know that Allåh (Almighty
and Glorious is He) is jealous? He has created you for Himself, and you
are yearning to belong to someone other than Him! Have you not heard
His words (Almighty and Glorious is He):
He loves them and they love Him. (5:54)

and His words (Exalted is He):

I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me.
(51:56)

Have you not heard the saying of the Messenger (Allåh bless him and
give him peace): “When Allåh loves a servant, He puts him through a
trial, and if he is patient, He makes him His own.” When someone
asked: “O Messenger of Allåh, what is meant by ‘He makes him His
own’?” he replied: “He leaves him neither wealth nor children.” This
is because if he had wealth and children he would love them, and his
love for his Lord would be diminished and fragmented, since it would
be shared between Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) and others.
But Allåh (Exalted is He) will tolerate no partner, for He is jealous,

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 Thirty-second Discourse 79

prevailing over all things and predominant over all things. He there-
fore destroys and annihilates His ‘partner’, so that His servant’s heart
will be His and His alone, with no other to share it. The truth of His
words (Almighty and Glorious is He), “He loves them and they love
Him,” is now confirmed.
The heart is cleansed at last of all partners and rivals, such as wife,
wealth and children, sensual pleasures and cravings, and the ambitious
pursuit of positions of authority and leadership, of charismatic powers
and spiritual states, stages and stations, heavenly gardens and degrees,
proximity and advancement. Since no will or desire remains in the
heart, it becomes like a cracked vessel in which no liquid can be
contained, for it is broken through the working of Allåh. Whenever
any self-will arises there, it is shattered by Allåh’s action and His
jealousy. Then around it are pitched the tents of dignity and might and
awe, and in front of them are dug the moats of majesty and power, so that
no willful desire for anything at all can gain access to the heart.
Now the heart can no longer be harmed by any means, not by wealth,
not by children, family and friends, nor yet by charismatic gifts, wisdom,
knowledge and acts of piety. Since all of this will remain outside the
heart, it will not excite the jealousy of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious
is He). It will rather be a mark of honor and a kind favor from Allåh to
His servant, and a blessing, a provision and a useful benefit for those
who come to him, for they will be honored by it, and receive mercy, and
because of this gift of grace they will enjoy protection from Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He). He will therefore be a sentinel for
them, a protective wing, a refuge and an intercessor in this world and
the hereafter.

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Thirty-third Discourse
On the four types of men

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T here are four types of men:

1. A man who has neither tongue nor heart, namely the sinful,
gullible fool, to whom Allåh attaches no importance. He is good for
nothing, and he and his ilk are dregs that carry no weight, unless Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He) extends His mercy to them, and so
guides their hearts to faith in Him, moving their limbs and organs in
obedience to Him (Almighty and Glorious is He). Beware of being one
of them, do not concern yourself with them and do not get involved
with them, for they are fit for chastisement, anger and displeasure, the
denizens and people of the Fire. From them we take refuge with Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He).
You belong, of course, among the scholars learned in knowledge of
Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), among the teachers of goodness,
the guides, leaders and summoners of religion, so it is your job to go and
invite such people to the obedient service of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He), and to warn them not to sin against Him. You will then
be recorded as an adept [jahbadh] in Allåh’s sight, and will receive the
reward of the Messengers and Prophets. As Allåh’s Messenger (Allåh
bless him and give him peace) once said to the Commander of the
Believers, ‹Alº ibn Abº ¡ålib (may Allåh be well pleased with him): “If
Allåh guides one man aright through your guidance, that is better for
you than everything on which the sun rises.”

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 Thirty-third Discourse 81

2. The second man is one who does have a tongue, but no heart, so
that he utters words of wisdom but does not practice what he preaches.
He calls people to Allåh, but he himself flees from Him (Almighty and
Glorious is He). He deplores the faults of others, while persisting in
similar failings of his own. He makes a public show of piety, while
opposing Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) with heinous sins in
private, as if he were a wolf in clothes. It is of him the Prophet (Allåh
bless him and give him peace) has warned us in his saying:
What I dread the most for my community comes from every hypocrite
with a scholar’s tongue.

Or, according to another tradition:

What I dread the most for my community comes from evil scholars.

We take refuge with Allåh from this type! Keep your distance from
him, and hurry away lest he snare you with the sweetness of his tongue,
for then the fire of his sin will scorch you, and the putrid stench of his
inner being and heart will kill you.
3. The third man has a heart, but no tongue. He is a believer whom
Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) has veiled from His creation,
putting a screen around him, letting him see his own faults and
enlightening his heart. He has made him aware of the undesirable
consequences of mixing with people and the unfortunate results of talk
and speech. This man has become convinced that safety lies in silence,
retirement and seclusion, heeding the words of the Prophet (Allåh bless
him and give him peace): “He who is silent will be saved,” as well as the
saying of one of the scholars: “There are ten parts to worship, and nine
of them are in silence.”
This man is a saintly friend of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He),
protected within Allåh’s veil, possessing safety and plenty of intelli-
gence, a companion of the All-Merciful, blessed with His favor.
Goodness —all that is good—is with him. It therefore behooves you to
befriend him, to associate with him, to serve him, to endear yourself to
him by taking care of things he may happen to need, and by providing

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him with facilities he can use. Then Allåh will love you and choose you,
and include you in the company of His friends and righteous servants,
through His grace, if Allåh wills (Exalted is He).
4. The fourth man is one who will be called great in the Kingdom of
Heaven, as it is related in the tradition of the Prophet (Allåh bless him
and give him peace): “He who learns and teaches, and puts his learning
into practice, will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Such is
the man who knows Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) and His signs.
Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) has stored in his heart the rarities
of His knowledge, and has made him privy to secrets He has concealed
from others. He has selected him, chosen him, drawn him toward
Himself and raised him up, guided him to the door of His nearness, and
expanded his breast to receive those secrets and all that knowledge. He
has made him an adept, a summoner and a warner to His servants and
a living proof in their midst, a rightly guided guide, an intercessor
accorded intercession, an honest man and true, a deputy [badal] for His
Messengers and Prophets (on them be His benedictions, His peace, His
salutations and His blessings).
This is the utmost culmination for the sons of Adam. There is no
station above this man’s station except for Prophethood. Look out for
him, then, and beware of opposing him, recoiling from him, shunning
him, earning his enmity, failing to win his acceptance and access to his
good counsel and advice. For safety lies in what he has to say, and in
his presence, while perdition and error lie in the presence of others,
except those whom Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) enables to
succeed and helps with right guidance and mercy.
Well, I have classified mankind for you. Now you must look at your
own self, if you have eyes to see, and handle it carefully, if you regard it
with care and compassion. May Allåh guide us, and you, to that which
He loves and with which He is well pleased!

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Thirty-fourth Discourse
On not resenting Allåh

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

H ow great is your resentment against your Lord, your suspicion of

Him (Almighty and Glorious is He) and your resistance to Him.
How often you attribute injustice to Him (Almighty and Glorious is
He), and charge Him with delay in providing sustenance and suffi-
ciency and in removing troubles and tribulation. Do you not know that
every term has a prescribed duration, and that for every increase in
trouble and woe there is an end, a termination and a conclusion, which
can neither be brought forward nor deferred? [Until they have run their
prescribed course, therefore] times of trials do not change and turn into
conditions of well-being, the time of misfortune does not change into
prosperity, and the state of poverty is not converted into affluence.
Be well-behaved, practice patience, contentment and harmony with
your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), and repent for your resent-
ment against Him and your suspicion of Him where His action is
concerned. In the Lord’s presence there is no room for demanding
payment in full and exacting retaliation where there is no offence, nor
for recourse to natural instinct, as is usual in mutual relations between
His servants. He (Almighty and Glorious is He) is absolutely alone
from all eternity, existing before all things. He created them, and He
created their benefits and disadvantages. He knows their beginning,
their end and their fulfillment. He (Almighty and Glorious is He) is
wise in His working and sure in His craftsmanship. There is no
inconsistency in what He does. He does nothing uselessly and creates

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 84 Thirty-fourth Discourse

nothing as a futile game. There can be no question of criticizing or

reproaching Him for His deeds.
You should therefore wait for relief, if you are too weak to comply with
Him and to submit to His action gladly, until the prescript of destiny
expires. Then the situation will yield to its opposite with the passage
of time and the consummation of the course of events, as winter runs
its course and yields to summer, and as night comes to an end and yields
to day. If you ask for the light of day between the first two watches of
the night, it will not be given to you. Indeed, the night will get even
darker, until the darkness reaches its climax, then dawn breaks and the
day comes with its light, whether you ask for this and want it, or say
nothing about it and even dislike it. Should you now ask for the night
to be brought back, your request will go unanswered and you will not get
what you want, because you have asked for something at the wrong
moment and time. You will therefore be left sorry, deprived, resentful
and disappointed. So give all this up and practice compliance, thinking
well of your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), and graceful patience.
For what is yours will not be snatched from you, and what is not yours
will not be given to you. By my life, you pray and make supplication to
your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), offering humble entreaties as
an act of worship and obedience in keeping with His commandment
(Exalted is He): “Call upon Me and I will answer you” (40:60), and
His words (Exalted is He): “Ask Allåh of His bounty” (4:32), as well as
other verses and traditions. You pray, and He will answer you at the
appropriate moment and appointed time, when He wills, when it is to
your advantage in this world and the hereafter, and when it coincides
with His decree and the end of the term set by Him.
Do not become suspicious of Him when He delays the response, and
do not weary of making supplication to Him, for while you may not
be gaining, neither are you losing. If He does not respond to you
immediately, He will reward you later on. According to an authentic
tradition, the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) said:
“On the Day of Resurrection the servant will see in his records some
good deeds which he does not recognize. He will then be told that these

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 Thirty-fourth Discourse 85

are compensation for requests he made in this world, but which were
not destined to be fulfilled therein,” or something to that effect. Well
then, the least of your spiritual states is that you should be remembering
your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), affirming His Oneness,
inasmuch as you address your requests to Him and not to any other than
Him, and do not submit your need to anyone but Him (Exalted is He).
You are in one or the other of two conditions at all times, by night and
by day, in health and in sickness, in adversity and in prosperity, in
hardship and in ease:
1. You refrain from asking, gladly accept the decree of destiny,
reconcile yourself and go along with His action (Almighty and Glorious
is He) in a relaxed fashion, like a corpse in front of the ritual washer of
the dead, like a suckling babe in its nurse’s arms, or like a ball waiting
for the polo-player to knock it around with his mallet. Destiny will
then turn you about as it wishes. If it happens to be a blessing, thanks
and praise are forthcoming from you, and from Him (Almighty and
Glorious is He) comes increase in the gift. As He has said (Exalted is
He): “If you are thankful, I will give you more” (14:7). If it is an
adversity, however, you respond with patience and compliance, through
His help, while from His side (Almighty and Glorious is He) come
reassurance, support, blessing and mercy, through His favor and gener-
osity. As He says (Almighty and Glorious is He): “Allåh is with those
who patiently persevere” (2:153). That is to say, through His support
and reassurance, since He is supportive of His servant against his lower
self, his passion and his devil. He says (Exalted is He):
If you help Allåh, He will help you and make your foothold firm. (47:7)

When you help Allåh by opposing your own self and your passion by
giving up resistance to Him and resentment of His action within you,
when you become an enemy and an executioner to your lower self
for Allåh’s sake, so that whenever it moves with its unbelief and
polytheism you behead it with your patience, your compliance with
your Lord and your satisfaction with His working and His promise, and

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 86 Thirty-fourth Discourse

your contentment with them both, then Allåh (Almighty and Glorious
is He) will be a helper to you. As for blessing and mercy, consider His
words (Almighty and Glorious is He):
And give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere, who say, when
a misfortune strikes them: “To Allåh we belong, and to Him we are
returning.” Such are they on whom are blessings from their Lord, and
mercy. Such are the rightly guided. (2:155–57)

2. The other condition is that in which you make supplication to your

Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He) with prayer and humble entreaty,
honoring His majesty and obeying His commandment. Now things are
where they truly belong, for He has urged you to put your requests to
Him and to resort to Him, and has made that a comfort for you, a
messenger from you to Him, a contact and means of access to Him,
provided that you give up suspicion and resentment toward Him in the
event of postponement of the answer to your prayer until the time
appropriate.
Take note of the difference between the two conditions, and do not
be one of those who overstep the bounds of both, because there is no
other condition besides these two. Beware of being among the wrong-
doing transgressors, for He will then destroy you (Almighty and
Glorious is He) without caring, as He has destroyed former peoples in
times past, by intensifying His affliction in this world and by His painful
torment in the hereafter.

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 87

Thirty-fifth Discourse
On pious caution [al-wara‹]

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

B e sure to behave with pious caution, otherwise you are doomed to

destruction in the bloom of your youth! You will never escape it
unless Allåh (Exalted is He) covers you with His mercy. According to
an authentic tradition, the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him
peace) is reported as saying: “The foundation of religion is pious
caution, and its destruction is greed. Anyone who hovers around a
forbidden zone is liable to drop into it, just as an animal grazing next to
a corn field is liable to stretch its mouth toward it, so the crops are hardly
safe from the beast.”
Of Ab« Bakr aƒ-»iddºq (may Allåh be well pleased with him) it is
related that he once said: “We used to avoid seventy doors of the
permissible [mubå¥], for fear of falling into sin [junå¥],” while the
Commander of the Believers, ‹Umar ibn al-Kha££åb (may Allåh be well
pleased with him) is reported to have said: “We used to abstain from
nine tenths of the lawful [¥alål], for fear of falling into the unlawful
[¥aråm].”
They acted like that as a precaution against getting too close to what
is unlawful, heeding the words of the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give
him peace): “Every king has a forbidden zone and Allåh’s forbidden
zone is that of His unlawful things. Anyone who hovers around that
zone is liable to drop into it.”
Anyone who enters the king’s fortress, passing through the first gate,
then the second and the third until he approaches the threshold, is

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better than one who stops at the first gate, which is next to open
country. For if the lock of the third gate is shut against him, it will not
harm him, since he is already behind two of the palace gates and has the
king’s guards and troops close by him. If he stands at the first gate,
however, and they shut him out of it, he is left alone in open country,
where he may fall a prey to wolves and enemies and become one of those
who perish.
Likewise in the case of one who treads the path of strict observance
and sticks to it: If he is robbed and deprived of the support of helpful
influence and providential care, he can avail himself of dispensations
without going outside the sacred law. When death overtakes him, he
will be in a state of worship and obedience, and his good conduct will
be adduced as evidence in his favor.
As for one who stops at the dispensations and does not go forward to
strict observance, if he is robbed of helpful influence and deprived of its
support, and so falls under the control of passion and the desires of the
lower self, then indulges in forbidden things, he goes outside the sacred
law and joins the company of devils, enemies of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He) who stray from the path of right guidance. So if death
overtakes him before repentance, he will be one of those who perish,
unless Allåh (Exalted is He) covers him with His mercy and His favor.
There is danger, then, in relying on dispensations. All safety lies wholly
in strict observance.
Allåh is the Guide to the straight path!

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Thirty-sixth Discourse
On the explanation of this world and the hereafter,
and what one must do in them both

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T reat your life hereafter as your capital and your worldly life as the
profit therefrom. Spend your time first of all on acquiring your life
hereafter, then if you have any time to spare, spend it on your worldly
life and on seeking your livelihood. Do not treat your worldly life as
your capital and your life hereafter as its profit, and then spend only such
time as you have to spare on your life hereafter, performing your prayers
as if casting them all in a single mold, with the basic elements omitted,
with necessary ingredients in the wrong order, without the bowing and
prostration and without quiet pause between the essential stages, or
perhaps getting weary and fatigued so that you fall asleep without
completing the whole ritual, like a corpse by night and an idler by day,
following your lower self, your passions and your devil, trading your life
hereafter for worldly life as the slave of your lower self, as its mount and
riding beast.
You are commanded to ride your lower self, to discipline and train it,
and to use it to carry you along the path of safety, the way of the hereafter
and of obedience to our Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He). So you
have wronged it by submitting to it, giving it free rein and going along
with it in pursuit of its carnal desires and pleasures, adapting yourself to
it and its devil and its passions, with the result that you have missed the
good of this world and the hereafter and incurred loss in both domains.
You enter on the Day of Resurrection as the most bankrupt of men and
the biggest loser among them in both the religious and the worldly
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 90 Thirty-sixth Discourse

sense. You do not attain, by following it, to more than your allotted
share in your worldly life, whereas, if you went the route of the hereafter
and made it your capital, you would make a profit in both this world and
in the life hereafter. You would receive your share of worldly goods, and
be welcome to them, while enjoying security and respect. As the
Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) has said: “Allåh grants
this world on the strength of otherworldly intention, but he does not
grant the hereafter on the strength of worldly intention.” How could
it not be so, when otherworldly intention is obedience to Allåh?
Intention is the very spirit and essence of all forms of worship.
When you obey Allåh through your abstemiousness in this world or
your quest for the abode of the hereafter, you become one of the
favorites of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), one of the people
devoted to obedient service and love of Him. You gain the hereafter,
namely paradise and nearness to Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He),
as well as the subservient support of this world, of which you will receive
your allotted share, since everything is subject to its Creator and Lord;
to Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He).
When, on the other hand, you are preoccupied with this world and
turn away from the hereafter, the Lord becomes angry with you. You
lose the hereafter, and this world gives you problems, difficulty and
trouble in getting your share transmitted to you, because of Allåh’s
anger (Almighty and Glorious is He) toward you. Since it is owned by
Him, this world humiliates those who rebel against Him and honors
those who obey Him, thus confirming the truth of the Prophet’s words
(Allåh bless him and give him peace): “This world and the hereafter
are two co-wives; if you please either one of them the other gets annoyed
at you.”
Allåh (Exalted is He) has said: “Some of you desire this world, and
some desire the hereafter” (3:152), meaning the children of this world
and the children of the hereafter respectively. So look and see: In which
of these two sets of children are you included? To which of the two
tribes would you like to belong while you are in this world? Then, when
you pass on to the hereafter, there will be two groups of people, one

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 Thirty-sixth Discourse 91

group wanting this world, and one group wanting the hereafter. There
will be two groups also on the Day of Resurrection: “A party in Paradise,
and a party in the Blazing Fire” (42:7). One party will be standing
on the spot throughout the reckoning on a Day equivalent to fifty
thousand years as you count time, according to His word (Exalted is
He). Another party will be in the shadow of the Throne, as reported
by the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace): “You will be on
the Day of Resurrection in the shadow of the Throne, busy at tables
laden with delicious food and fruits and honey whiter than snow.”
According to the tradition also: “They will behold their dwellings in
Paradise until, when He has finished with the people’s reckoning, they
enter Paradise, finding the right way to their dwellings as a person in this
world finds his way home.”
Would they attain to this except by forsaking this world and engaging
in the quest for the hereafter and the Lord? And would those others
have to undergo the reckoning and all kinds of agonies and degradation,
but for their involvement in this world and their fondness for it, their
indifference toward the hereafter and their scant concern for its
demands, their forgetfulness of the Day of Resurrection and what they
must come to on the morrow, as mentioned in the Book and Sunna? So
look at your own self with a look of mercy and compassion, and choose
for its sake the better of those two tribes. Keep it away from bad
company, from devils among men and jinn. Hold the Book and the
Sunna before you, look into them and act upon them, and do not be
deceived by idle talk and fantasy. Allåh (Exalted is He) has said:
Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it. Whatever he forbids you,
abstain from it. And keep your duty to Allåh. (59:7)

Do not oppose him by ceasing to act on what he has brought,

inventing a practice and a form of worship to suit yourselves, as Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He) says concerning a people who have
strayed from the right path:
But monasticism they invented; We did not prescribe it for them.(57:27)

Moreover, Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) has purified His

Prophet and kept him away from falsehood and lies, for He says:

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 92 Thirty-sixth Discourse

Nor does he speak from his own desire. It is naught but an inspiration
that is inspired. (53:3,4)

In other words: “Whatever he has brought you, it comes from Me and

not from his desire and his own self, so follow it.”

Then He says (Exalted is He):

Say: “If you love Allåh, follow me; Allåh will love you.” (3:31)

He has thus made it clear that the way of love means following him
in word and deed, for the Prophet (blessing and peace be upon him) has
said: “Earning is my exemplary practice, and absolute trust is my state,”
or words to that effect. You are therefore between his practice and his
state. If your faith is weak you should go for earning, which is his
practice, and if your faith is strong you should opt for his state, which
is absolute trust. Allåh (Exalted is He) says:
So put all your trust in Allåh, if you are believers, (5:23)

and He says (Exalted is He):

If anyone puts his trust in Allåh, He will suffice him. (65:3)

He also says (Exalted is He):

Allåh loves those who put their trust in Him. (3:159)

Thus He has commanded you to trust Him completely and has

reminded you to do so, as He has commanded His Prophet (Allåh bless
him and give him peace) in His words: “And trust in Allåh” (8:61). So
follow the orders of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) by asking him
about your deeds, otherwise they will be rejected. As the Prophet
(Allåh bless him and give him peace) has said: “If anyone does a deed
without our authority for it, it will be rejected.” This covers the search
for livelihood, actions and words. We have no Prophet other than him,
so let us follow him, and no Book apart from the Qur݌n, so let us act
upon it. Your desires and the devil will only lead you astray. As Allåh
(Exalted is He) has said:
Follow not desire, lest it lead you astray from Allåh’s path. (38:26)
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 Thirty-sixth Discourse 93

Safety comes with the Book and the Sunna, and perdition with all but
these two. Through them the servant progresses to the state of Wilåya
[saintship], Badaliyya and Ghawthiyya.
Only Allåh is All-Knowing!

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 94

Thirty-seventh Discourse
On censure of envy

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W hy, O believer, do I see you envying your neighbor his food and
his drink, his clothes, his wife, his home, his enjoyment of his
wealth and the blessings of his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He) and
the portion allotted to him? Do you not realize that this is the kind of
thing that weakens your faith, causes you to fall from the sight of your
Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), and makes you hateful to Him?
Have you not heard the tradition handed down from the Prophet
(Allåh bless him and give him peace), according to which Allåh
(Exalted is He) told him among other things: “The envier is the enemy
of My blessing”? Have you not heard that the Prophet (Allåh bless him
and give him peace) also said: “Envy devours good deeds as fire
consumes wood”?
What really makes you envious of him, you poor wretch? Is it his lot
or your own? If you envy him his share, which Allåh has allotted to him
in accordance with His words: “We have apportioned among them
their livelihood in the life of this world” (43:32), then you are unfair to
the man, who is merely enjoying his Lord’s blessing, which He has
graciously bestowed upon him and assigned to him by decree, and in
which He has given no one else any part or portion. So who could be
more unjust, greedier, sillier and less reasonable than you?
If, on the other hand, you envy him your own share, then you betray
the utmost ignorance, because your share will not be given to anyone
but you, and will not be transferred from you to any other. Far be it from
Allåh [to do so]! As Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) has said:

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 Thirty-seventh Discourse 95

The Word is not changed with Me; I am no tyrant to the servants.

(50:29)

Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) is not so unjust to you that He

would take away what He has allotted you and give it to someone else!
The very idea betrays your ignorance and unfairness to your brother. It
would make better sense for you to be envious of the earth, which is a
storehouse of treasures and hoards of all kinds of gold and silver and
precious stones, amassed by the ancient kings of ‹Ád and Tham«d, by
Chosroes and Caesar, rather than to envy your neighbor, be he a
believer or an immoral type. For whatever he has in his house cannot
amount to even a millionth part of what the earth contains.
Your envy of your neighbor invites the following comparison: A man
sees a king with all his might, his armies and his entourage, his
possession and control of vast estates, from which he collects taxes and
exploits the revenue. He sees the king enjoying all kinds of luxuries,
pleasures and gratifications, but he does not envy him any of this. Then
he sees a dog acting as servant to one of the king’s dogs, standing,
squatting, barking, and being given leftovers and scraps of food from the
royal kitchen, on which he subsists. The man starts to envy this dog,
becomes hostile toward it, wishes death and destruction upon it and
wants to take its place, for mean and petty reasons, not in a spirit of
asceticism, religious piety and humble contentment. Was there ever a
man more foolish, stupid and ignorant?
Furthermore, you poor wretch, if you only knew what a lengthy
reckoning your neighbor will have to undergo on the coming Day of
Resurrection! If he has not been obedient to Allåh in respect of all the
benefits He has granted him, if he has not discharged his obligations
where these are concerned, by obeying His commandments and observ-
ing His prohibitions as they might apply, and using his advantages in
support of His service and obedience to Him, how he will wish that he
had never been given a single atom of it all, that he had not seen a single
blessing on any day ever! Have you not heard the words of the Prophet
(Allåh bless him and give him peace) as they have come down to us in
the tradition: “There will be groups of people who will surely be
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 96 Thirty-seventh Discourse

wishing, on the Day of Resurrection, that their flesh might be cut away
with scissors, in view of the reward they see given to those who have
borne misfortune.”
Your neighbor will therefore come to wish he had been in your place
in this world, in view of the lengthy reckoning and interrogation he
must undergo, and his having to stand in the heat of the sun for fifty
thousand years at the Resurrection, on account of the comfort he
enjoyed in this world, while you are at a distance from all this, in the
shade of the Throne, eating and drinking, enjoying yourself, cheerful,
happy and relaxed, on account of your patient endurance of worldly
hardships, constraints, troubles, suffering and poverty, your content-
ment and readiness to comply with your Lord (Almighty and Glorious
is He) when His plan and decision meant poverty for you and affluence
for others, sickness for you and good health for others, hardship for you
and ease for others, humiliation for you and honor for others. May
Allåh include us, and you, among those who bear misfortune with
patience, who give thanks for blessings, and who entrust their affairs to
the Lord of heaven!

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 97

Thirty-eighth Discourse
On honesty [ƒidq] and sincerity [niƒå¥]

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W hen someone relates to his Lord with honesty and sincerity, he

feels aversion for all besides Him by night and by day.
O people, do not lay claim to that which is not yours. Affirm the
Oneness of Allåh and associate nothing with Him. By Allåh, the
arrows of destiny will then scratch and not kill when they strike you.
But if anyone perishes for Allåh’s sake, Allåh owes him compensation.

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 98

Thirty-ninth Discourse
On dissension, concord and hypocrisy [nifåq]

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T o take when desire is present, without being ordered to do so, is

obstinacy and dissension. Taking when desire is absent is concord
and agreement, while refraining from it then amounts to innovation
and hypocrisy.

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 99

Fortieth Discourse
On when the aspirant truly belongs in the company
of spiritual people

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

D o not expect to enter the company of spiritual people until you

become hostile to your whole self, until you separate from all the
limbs and organs of your body, and become detached from your being,
your motions and stillnesses, your hearing and seeing, your speech, your
strength and effort, your work and your intellect, from everything that
was part of you before the existence of the spirit within you and what
was brought into being within you after the in-breathing of the spirit.
All of this is a veil between you and your Lord (Almighty and Glorious
is He), so only then will you become an independent spirit, the secret
of the secret, the unseen of the unseen, separate in your secret from all
things, regarding everything as an enemy, a barrier and darkness. So
said Abraham, the Lord’s dear friend (on him be peace):
They are enemies to me, except the Lord of the Worlds. (26:77)

He was referring to idols, but then you should treat your whole being
and all its parts as idols, together with the rest of creation, and must
neither obey any of them individually nor follow them as a whole. You
will then be entrusted with secrets, with esoteric knowledge and its
rarities. You will be endowed with creative force and ability to
transcend the natural order, powers of the type that will belong to the
believers in Paradise.
In this condition, you will be as if restored to life after death in the
hereafter. Your entire being will be Power [qudra], and you will hear
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 100 Fortieth Discourse

through Allåh, speak through Allåh, see through Allåh, hold through
Allåh, move through Allåh, understand through Allåh, and find rest
and repose in Allåh, for you will be blind and deaf to all besides Him.
You will then see nothing as having any existence apart from Him, as
long as you observe the limits, the commandments and prohibitions of
the sacred law. Should there be within you any infringement of these
limits, you must know that you are being tempted, that the devils are
having fun with you. You must return to the rule of the sacred law and
forsake fanciful ideas, because every “true fact” not confirmed by the
law of Islåm is atheistic heresy.
Only Allåh is All-Knowing!

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 101

Forty-first Discourse
Illustrating the nature of annihilation [fanå›]

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W e shall use a parable to explain annihilation to you, so please

imagine the following: A king takes an ordinary man and makes
him governor of a certain district, investing him with robes of office,
hoisting flags and banners in his honor, and furnishing him with
ceremonial goblets, with drums and with soldiers. Our man is main-
tained in this state for a period of time, long enough for him to get
accustomed to it and feel sure that it will continue on a permanent basis,
so he becomes complacent about it, forgets his former condition of
inferiority, insignificance, poverty and obscurity, and is seized with
arrogance and pride. At this point he receives an order from the king,
dismissing him because of his gross misconduct. Then the king calls
him to account for the crimes he has perpetrated in transgression of the
royal commands and prohibitions, and confines him to the tightest and
strictest of all the jails. His prison term is long, and the man undergoes
protracted suffering, humiliation and poverty, through which his
arrogance and pride melt away, his lower self is broken, and the fire of
his passion is extinguished. All of this has been happening in the sight
of the king, who now takes pity on the man and views him with
compassion and mercy. He commands that he be released from prison
and treated well, that he receive a robe of honor and have his
governorship restored to him, with another such position added. All
this he grants him by an act of pure liberality, and the man continues
to enjoy the situation as it remains serene, adequate and wholesome.

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 102 Forty-first Discourse

Likewise in the case of the believer, when Allåh draws him close and
selects him, He opens before the eye of his heart the gate of mercy, grace
and favor, so he sees with his heart what no eye ever saw, no ear ever
heard of, and no human heart ever conceived: Insight into the unseen
realms of the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, close companion-
ship, pleasant and gentle speech, a beautiful promise and its fulfillment,
acceptance of prayer, words of wisdom and the verification of promise.
All this is cast into his heart from a place far off, and then becomes
manifest on his tongue. He also confers abundant outward blessings
upon him, on his body and its limbs and organs, in the shape of food and
drink, clothing, marriage, things lawful and permissible, and obser-
vance of the limits and the outer forms of worship. Allåh (Almighty
and Glorious is He) makes this last for a period of time for His believing,
enraptured servant, until the servant becomes accustomed to it and
deceives himself into believing it will go on forever. Then He opens
upon him the gates of tribulation and all kinds of trials affecting his
person, his property, his wife and children, and his heart, so that he is
deprived of everything Allåh had previously blessed him with, and is
left bewildered, lost, broken and in despair.
If he looks at his outer life, it all seems bad for him, while if he looks
at his heart and his inner life, he is saddened by what he sees. If he asks
Allåh (Exalted is He) to remove his suffering, he does not see his
petition answered. If he wishes for a beautiful promise, he does not find
it promptly, and if he is promised something he does not encounter its
fulfillment. If he has a dream, he does not succeed in interpreting it and
confirming its truth. If he wants to renew his contact with people, he
finds no way of doing so. If this seems to offer him a dispensation, and
he acts accordingly, punishments come rushing toward him, while
people assault his body with their hands and his reputation with their
tongues. If he seeks cancellation of everything he got involved in since
his former condition prior to his selection, it will not be cancelled. If
he seeks contentment or cheerful acceptance in the midst of his
misfortune, not even this will be granted.

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 Forty-first Discourse 103

It is now that the self begins to melt, passion fades away, will and
desires depart, and all entities vanish into naught. This process not
only persists, but grows more intense, acute and emphatic, until, when
the servant passes beyond human characteristics and attributes, and
remains as spirit only, he hears an inner voice calling: “Stamp your foot!
Here is a cool washing place, and a drink” (38:42), as it was said to our
master Job (peace be upon him). Then Allåh (Almighty and Glorious
is He) pours into his heart the oceans of His mercy, compassion,
tenderness and grace, revives him with His spirit, delights him with His
understanding and the subtleties of His knowledge, opens for him the
gates of His mercy, favor and lavish care, releases people’s hands to offer
him presents, gifts and service in all conditions, their tongues to offer
praise and commendation and acclaim in all situations, and their feet
to move [in his service]. He makes kings and chieftains humbly
subservient to him. He showers him with blessings outwardly and
inwardly.
He completes his outer development through His creatures and His
bounties, while attending to his inner training directly through His
kindness and noble generosity, and He makes this continue for him till
the final meeting. Then He lets him enter into that which no eye has
ever seen, no ear has ever heard of, and which never occurred to the
human heart. As Allåh (Glorious and Exalted is He) has said:
No soul knows what comfort is kept secretly in store for them, as a
reward for what they used to do. (32:17)

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 104

Forty-second Discourse
On the two conditions of the self [nafs]

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T he self [nafs] has two conditions and no third: The state of well-
being and the state of tribulation. When it is undergoing tribulation,
the signs are anxiety, complaining, resentment, protest and suspicion
toward the Lord of Truth (Glorious and Exalted is He), and lack of
patience, contentment and compliance. Indeed, there is likely to be ill-
mannered behavior, the association of creatures and material objects
with the Creator, and unbelief. When, on the other hand, it is in the
state of well-being, the signs are greed, impetuosity, and the pursuit of
carnal lusts and pleasures. As soon as it gratifies one desire, it goes after
another, belittling the blessings it already possesses, such as food, drink,
clothing, spouse, dwelling and means of transport. It finds faults and
defects in each one of these blessings, wanting something superior and
finer that is not part of its destined lot, while shunning what has been
allotted to it. Thus the person gets into all kinds of trouble, and wades
into many perils in a long and weary process that has no end or
termination in either this world or the hereafter. As the saying goes:
“Truly the harshest of punishments is the desire to have what is not
one’s allotted share.”
When the self is undergoing tribulation, it wishes only to see it
removed, forgetting all about enjoyment, lust and pleasure, and want-
ing none of them. Once relieved of suffering, however, it reverts to its
frivolity, greed and impetuosity, to its recalcitrant disobedience of its
Lord and its dedication to sinful rebellion against Him. It forgets all the
trouble and pain, all the misfortune it went through previously. Now
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 Forty-second Discourse 105

it is afflicted with even harsher trials and tribulations, because of the

major sins it has perpetrated and committed, to wean it away from these
and to restrain it from sinful acts in future, since well-being and comfort
had failed to reform it, and its safekeeping lay rather in tribulation
and pain.
If the self had behaved itself well when the affliction was removed,
and had practiced obedience, gratitude and contentment with its lot,
things would have been better for it in this world and the hereafter. It
would have experienced increasing comfort, well-being, approval from
Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), pleasure, and help toward success.
Anyone who wishes for safety in this world and the hereafter must
therefore cultivate patience and contentment. He must give up
complaining to people, submit his needs to his Lord (Almighty and
Glorious is He), practice obedience to Him, wait for happiness to come
from Him, and be devoted exclusively to Him (Almighty and Glorious
is He), since He is better than any other and than His entire creation.
His deprivation is actually a gift, His punishment a blessing, His trial a
remedy, His promise ready cash, His word a deed, His will a state of
being. Surely His word “and His command when He intends a thing,
is to say to it ‘Be,’ and it is” (36:82). All His deeds are good and wise
and beneficial, although He keeps knowledge of the benefits concealed
from His servants and reserves it to Himself alone. For His servants,
therefore, it is most fitting and proper to be in a state of contentment
and submission, to be dedicated to servanthood by fulfilling command-
ments, observing prohibitions, and submitting to the decree of destiny,
to abandon preoccupation and combat with Lordship, which is the
source of destiny’s decrees, to be silent on questions of why and how and
when, and to give up suspicion of the Lord of Truth (Almighty and
Glorious is He) in all his phases of movement and repose.
All of this rests on the authority of the ¥adºth of Ibn ‹Abbås (may
Allåh be well pleased with him and his father), from whom it is
transmitted by ‹A£å›. Ibn ‹Abbås said: “I was riding behind the
Messenger (Allåh bless him and give him peace) when he said to me:
‘My boy, take care of Allåh and He will take care of you. Take care of

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 106 Forty-second Discourse

Allåh and you will find Him in front of you. So when you have
something to ask, ask Allåh, and when you seek help, seek help from
Allåh. The pen has already run dry from writing all that is to be, so if
His servants were to strive to bring you some benefit not decreed for you
by Allåh, they would not be capable of it, and if His servants were to
strive to cause you some injury not decreed for you by Allåh, they would
not be able to do it. So if you can relate to Allåh with honesty and
certitude [yaqºn], do so; and if you cannot, there is much good in being
patient with what you dislike. Know that help resides in patience, joy
with sorrow, and “with hardship comes ease” (94:5).’ ”
It behooves every believer to make this ¥adºth a mirror for his heart,
to wear it as his undergarment and his outer garb, to treat it as his own
¥adºth, on which he should act in all conditions, be he in motion or at
rest, so that he may be safe in this world and the hereafter, and receive
honor in both domains through the mercy of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He).

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 107

Forty-third Discourse
On censure of asking from any but Allåh

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

A nyone who asks of people, does so only because of his ignorance

of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), because of the weakness
of his faith, his understanding and his certitude, and through his lack
of patience. Whoever refrains therefrom, on the other hand, does so
only because of his abundant knowledge of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He), because of the strength of his faith and his certitude,
because his understanding of his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He) is
increasing every day and every moment, and because of his modesty
before Him (Almighty and Glorious is He).

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 108

Forty-fourth Discourse
On the reason for non-response to the supplication of one
who knows Allåh [al-‹årif bi’llåh]

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T he knower [of Allåh] does not receive an answer whenever he

makes a request of his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), nor is
every promise redeemed for him, lest he get carried away with hopeful
expectation and come to his ruin. For there is no state or station that
does not have its complement of fear and hope. These two are a pair,
like the wings of a bird, without which faith cannot be complete, and
the same goes for each spiritual state [¥åla] and station [maqåm],
allowing for the fact that the fear and the hope will be appropriate to
any given state.
Since the knower [‹årif ] is brought close to the presence of the Lord,
his state and station are such that he may not wish for anything but his
Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), may not have confidence or
assurance in any but Him (Almighty and Glorious is He), and may not
be on intimate terms with any other. It is not fitting for him, therefore,
nor in keeping with his state, to expect acceptance of his request and
fulfillment of his covenant.
There are two factors to be considered here: One is that he should not
get carried away by over-optimism and inattentiveness through the
cunning tricks of his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), so that he
comes to ruin by neglecting to maintain the proper standards of
behavior. The second is that he runs the risk of associating something
else with his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), because there is

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 Forty-fourth Discourse 109

obviously no sinless person in the world aside from the Prophets

(on them all, as on our own Prophet, be the most excellent blessing
and peace).
This explains why He does not always respond to the ‹Árif and grant
him fulfillment, so that he will not ask merely from habit or prompted
by natural instinct, rather than by obedience to received instructions.
For that smacks of sinful association, and to associate anything with the
Lord is a major sin in every state, at every step and all stations without
exception.
Where the request is made in compliance with an order, however, it
is something that brings him even closer to the Lord, like prayer, fasting
and other obligatory and supererogatory devotions, for in this case he
is obediently following the commandment.

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 110

Forty-fifth Discourse
On blessings and trials

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T here are two kinds of people: Those who are blessed with good
fortune, and those who are tried by what their Lord (Almighty and
Glorious is He) has decreed.
As for the fortunate ones, they are not exempt from all vexation and
annoyance in the enjoyment of their blessings. Such a person may be
very comfortable indeed, when along comes destiny to distress him with
various afflictions, like diseases, ailments and disasters affecting him-
self, his property, his family and his offspring, which ought to teach him
a lesson. It seems to him now as if he had never been favored, and he
forgets that good fortune and how sweet it was. Yet as long as the rich
man is secure in his wealth and position, with male and female servants
and safety from enemies, he is in a state of bliss as if trouble did not exist.
All this is due to his ignorance of his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is
He). If he knew that his Lord “is Doer of what He will” (11:107), and
that He changes and transforms, sweetens and embitters, enriches and
impoverishes, exalts and abases, honors and humbles, gives life and
causes death, brings forward and puts back, why would he be compla-
cent about his good fortune, why would he be deluded by it, and why
would he despair of happy relief while in the state of affliction? The
problem is also due to his ignorance of this world, where he felt secure,
and expected to find a serenity uncontaminated by grief, forgetting that
it is the abode of trouble and distress, of bother and worry, that trouble
is its norm and comfort only incidental to it. This world is like the aloe
tree, the first fruit of which is bitter, while the last is sweet as honey. No
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 Forty-fifth Discourse 111

man can get at its sweetness till he has swallowed the bitterness of it, so
he will never reach the honey without enduring the bitter taste with
patience. Anyone who bears its trials patiently will eventually savor
its blessings.
The laborer is given his hire only after the sweat of his brow, the
exhaustion of his body, the agony of his spirit, the constriction of his
breast, the loss of his strength, the humbling of his selfish nature, and
the breaking of his passions, all in the service of a creature like himself.
Only when he has swallowed all these bitter pills will he finally enjoy
good food, tidbits and fruit, fine clothes, comfort and happiness, if only
in very small measure.
What the world has to offer, then, is bitter at first, just as the top layer
of honey in a jar is marred by a bitter taste, and the eater cannot reach
the bottom of the pot to get at the pure part until after he has taken the
top layer. Thus if the servant perseveres in performing the Lord’s
commandments (Almighty and Glorious is He) and observing His
prohibitions, and in submitting with complete trust to the course of
destiny [qadar], and if he swallows all the bitterness and bears all the
burdens involved, opposing his passions and giving up his self-willed
desires, Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) will reward him with a
pleasant existence in later life, with lavish care, comfort and dignity.
The Lord will become his guardian and nourish him, just as He
nourishes the suckling babe, without his having to worry or bear any
trouble and strain in this world and the hereafter, so he will be like the
person who relishes the honey at the bottom of the jar, after eating the
bitter layer on top.
The servant who is blessed with good fortune must therefore never
feel secure from the cunning tests of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is
He), deluding himself into believing that his prosperity is bound to last
forever, forgetting to be thankful for it, and letting it slip loose by
omitting that gratitude. As the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him
peace) has said: “Good fortune is a wild beast, so tie it up with gratitude.”
Thanks for the blessing of wealth are offered by acknowledging the
gracious benefactor, namely Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), by

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telling oneself about it under all circumstances, by recognizing His favor

and grace. The servant must not put himself above his Lord, nor
transgress the limits He imposes, nor fail to observe His commandments
in the matter. Gratitude is then further shown by discharging one’s
duties in respect of the alms-due, expiation, votive offerings and
charitable donations, by helping the distressed, visiting the needy and
those who are in dire straits through the vicissitudes of circumstance
and reversal of fortune from good to bad, meaning that times of
prosperity and plenty have given way to wretchedness and misery.
Gratitude for good health in the limbs and organs of the body is shown
by enlisting their aid for works of obedience, and refraining from
unlawful actions, bad deeds, sins and offenses.
This is how to keep blessings from roaming and wandering off, how
to water their tree and encourage the growth of its branches and leaves,
ensuring that it bears good fruit, sweet to the taste and wholesome to
digest, delicious to chew and easy to swallow, contributing to the health
and development of the body. Then its beneficial effect on the limbs
and organs will become manifest through various acts of obedience,
good works and invocations of remembrance. As a result of all this, the
servant will then enter in the hereafter into the mercy of Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He), and abide forever in the gardens of
Paradise together with “the Prophets and the champions of truth, the
martyrs and the righteous; the best of company are they!” (4:69).
If the servant does not act like this, however, if he allows himself to
be deluded by the superficial glamor of this world and by the taste he gets
of its pleasures, if he is content with the brilliance of its phantom show
and lightning flashes, with its early morning breeze on a hot summer’s
day, with the smoothness of the skins of its snakes and scorpions, if he
is forgetful and blind to the deadly poisons lurking in its depths, to the
pitfalls and traps it has set to catch and ensnare and destroy him, then
he should be given a welcome to perdition and rejoice in rapidly
impending ruin and destitution, with humiliation and scorn in this
world and torment to come in the fire and flame of Hell.

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 Forty-fifth Discourse 113

As for one who suffers tribulation, he will sometimes be tried as a

punishment and retribution for an offense he has perpetrated or a sin he
has committed, at another time as an expiation and purification, and
finally, for the sake of elevation in spiritual degrees and advancement
to high stages, to join those versed in knowledge, people with experi-
ence of all states and stations. This they have received through the
providence of the Lord of creation and of mankind. Their Lord has sent
them to ride the fields of misfortune on the mounts of friendliness and
kindness, and refreshed them with the breeze of loving looks and
glances while in movement or at rest, because their trial was not
intended to destroy them and hurl them into the abyss. Rather did He
put them to these tests for the sake of choice and selection, so drawing
from them the reality of faith, which He purified and separated from
polytheistic association [shirk], pretensions and hypocrisy [nifåq], and
presenting them with all kinds of knowledge, secrets and enlighten-
ment. Then He made special favorites of them, entrusted them with
His secrets, and granted them the pleasure of His company.
The Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) said: “The patient
poor are the guests of the All-Merciful on the Day of Resurrection, in
this world and the hereafter,” meaning in their hearts in this world, and
physically in the hereafter. For those trials have the effect of making
their hearts pure and free from sinful association, and from attachment
to creatures, worldly means, wishes and self-willed desires. They are
instrumental in melting them and smelting out the pretensions and
passions, and the expectation of returns for obedient behavior, in the
form of high degrees and stations in the hereafter, in paradise and its
gardens.
The sign that trials are being inflicted as retribution and punishment
is lack of patience while they last, as well as anxiety and complaining
to creatures and people.
The sign that the tribulation is for expiation and purification of sins,
is the presence of beautiful patience, without complaint or expression
of anxiety to friends and neighbors, and without irritation with the
performance of commandments and acts of obedience.

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 114 Forty-fifth Discourse

The sign that the trials are for the sake of spiritual progress is the
presence of contentment, harmony, self-composure, quiet trust in the
working of the God of the earth and the heavens, and annihilation
within them until their eventual removal with the passage of time.

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 115

Forty-sixth Discourse
On the Sacred Tradition: “When someone is too busy
remembering Me….”

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

C oncerning the words transmitted by the Prophet (Allåh bless

him and give him peace) from my Lord (Almighty and Glorious
is He): “When someone is too busy remembering Me to ask Me for
anything, I give him the finest of what I give to those who ask.” This
means that when Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) wishes to
choose and select a believer, He makes him pass through a series of
spiritual states, and tests him with various trials and tribulations. Thus
He reduces him to poverty after wealth, and compels him to beg from
people to obtain a livelihood, since all other avenues are closed to him.
Then He saves him from having to beg from them, and compels him to
borrow from them instead. Then He saves him from having to borrow,
and compels him to manage by earning, which He facilitates and makes
easy for him, so he can survive by earning a living, in accordance with
the example set by the Prophet. But then He makes this difficult for
him, and inspires him to beg from people, ordering him to do so by an
inner commandment that makes him know and understand what is
required of him. He makes this an act of worship for him, and its
omission a sin, so that he may be rid of his vanity and have his lower self
put in its place. This is the condition of spiritual training, so his begging
is to be regarded as an involuntary compulsion, not as polytheistic
association with the All-Compelling One [al-Jabbår].
From this He proceeds to save him, and gives him such strict orders
to borrow from people that he can no more ignore them than in the
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 116 Forty-sixth Discourse

earlier case of begging. Then He moves him out of this, and cuts him
off from people and their dealings. He makes his livelihood dependent
on his asking it of Him (Almighty and Glorious is He). Now he asks
Him for everything he needs, and He gives it, though not if he keeps
silent and refrains from asking.
Next, He makes him change from asking with his tongue to asking
with his heart. Now he asks Him with his heart for everything he needs,
and He gives it, though He does not give if he asks with his tongue, nor
do people give him anything if he begs from them. He makes it
unnecessary for him to do this, or to beg in any way at all, outwardly or
inwardly, for He invites him to enjoy whatever is beneficial to him, and
supplies all his needs in the way of food, drink, clothing, and everything
useful to a human being, without his having to be involved or concern
himself about it. So he acquires the friendship of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He), in accordance with His words:
My protecting friend is Allåh, who revealed the Book. He befriends
the righteous. (7:196)

The truth of His saying (Almighty and Glorious is He): “When

someone is too busy remembering Me to ask Me for anything, I give him
the finest of what I give to those who ask,” is now confirmed. This is
the state of annihilation [fanå›], which is the ultimate state of the
Awliyå› [saints] and Abdål. At this stage he is endowed with creative
power, and whatever he needs comes about by Allåh’s leave. As He has
said (Glorious and Exalted is He) in one of His Books:
O son of Adam, I am Allåh, there is no god except Me; I say to a thing,
“Be,” and it comes to be. Obey Me, so I may let you say to a thing, “Be,”
and it will come to be.

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 117

Forty-seventh Discourse
On closeness to Allåh

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

A n old man questioned me in my dream, saying: “What brings a

servant close to Allåh (Almighty and Exalted is He)?” I replied:
“That has a beginning and an end. The beginning is pious caution
[wara‹], and the end is contentment [riæå], submission [taslºm] and
absolute trust [tawakkul].”

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 118

Forty-eighth Discourse
On what the believer must attend to

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T he believer must first attend to the obligatory religious duties.

When he has finished performing these, he should attend to
recommended practices, then finally to supererogatory devotions and
additional works of merit. As long as he has not discharged the
obligatory duties, attention to the recommended practices is stupidity
and folly. If he does attend to the recommended practices and
supererogatory devotions before the obligatory duties, it will not be
accepted of him and he will be treated with contempt. He will invite
comparison with a man whom the king summons to his service, but
instead of going to him, he remains in the service of the prince, who is
the slave and servant of the king and subject to his power and authority.
It is reported from the Commander of the Believers, our Master ‹Alº
ibn Abº ¡ålib (may Allåh be well pleased with him) that the Messenger
(Allåh bless him and give him peace) said: “The likeness of one who
performs the supererogatory prayers before the obligatory ones is that of
a woman who gets pregnant, carries until the time for delivery is near,
and then has a miscarriage, losing both the foetus and the experience
of childbirth.” Thus the worshipper finds that his supererogatory
prayer is not acceptable to Allåh as long as he has not performed the
obligatory one.
To take another analogy, just as the merchant cannot clear a profit
until he has recovered his capital, the worshipper may perform super-
erogatory prayers, but these will not be accepted of him until he has
completed his obligatory worship.
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 Forty-eighth Discourse 119

The same applies to one who omits a recommended practice and

attends to a supererogatory observance which is not a regular comple-
ment to the obligatory duties, and which is not clearly stipulated and
emphatically commanded.
Obligatory duties include avoidance of the unlawful, not associating
any creature with Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), not taking
exception to His dispensation and decree, not heeding and obeying
people, and not turning away from the commandment of Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He) and obedience to Him. The Prophet
(Allåh bless him and give him peace) has said: “No obedience to a
creature in rebellion against the Creator.”

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 120

Forty-ninth Discourse
On censure of sleep

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

I f anyone chooses sleep over that which keeps him awake, he has
chosen the most inadequate and inferior option, attachment to
death and neglect of all things beneficial, for sleep is the brother of
death. This is why sleep cannot overtake Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He), since He is free of all deficiencies whatsoever. Sleep
is likewise impossible for the angels, because they are close to Him
(Almighty and Glorious is He). The same applies to the people of
Paradise, because they reside in the most exalted, purest, most precious
and honorable domains, and sleep is impossible for them since it would
represent a defect in their condition. Thus all good lies in wakefulness,
while all evil lies in sleep and heedlessness.
Whenever someone eats from passionate desire, he will eat too much,
drink too much, sleep too much, feel much regret for a very long time,
and miss very much that is good. Someone who eats even a little
unlawful food is like one who eats a lot of permissible food from his
passionate desire, because forbidden food obscures and darkens faith, as
wine darkens and obscures the mind. When faith is dimmed there is no
prayer, no worship, no sincerity. But when someone eats lots of lawful
food in compliance with a command [from Allåh], he is like one who
eats just a little of the same in a joyful spirit of worship and vital energy.
A lawful thing is light within light, while anything unlawful is
darkness within darkness, with nothing good in it. Eating lawful food
from passionate desire, without receiving a commandment, and eating
the unlawful, these are both soporifics, so there is no good therein.
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 121

Fiftieth Discourse
On how to treat the servant’s remoteness from Allåh;
explanation of how to achieve closeness to Him

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

Y our situation must necessarily fall into one of two categories:

Either you are far away from the presence of Allåh, or you are in
close contact with Him. If you are far away from Him, how is it that you
just sit back, lazily indifferent to the greatest good fortune and blessing,
to lasting glory and supreme satisfaction, to security, wealth and luxury
in this world and the hereafter? Get up now, and quickly fly to Him
(Almighty and Glorious is He) on your two wings, one of which is the
renunciation of sensual pleasures and desires, be they unlawful or
permissible, as well as all comforts, while the other is putting up with
pain and unpleasantness, bestriding determination and mature resolve,
and forsaking creatures, passions, wishes and longings in this world and
the hereafter. Fly till you succeed in reaching His presence and get close
to Him, for then you will obtain your every wish. You will receive the
highest honor and greatest glory.
If you are one of those who are brought close and who attain to Him
(Almighty and Glorious is He), one of those caught by providence and
embraced by tender care, attracted by love and touched by mercy and
compassion, be on your best behavior. Do not become so dazzled by
your situation that you fall short in your service, and tend toward your
innate frivolity, mischief, ignorance and hastiness. In His words
(Exalted is He):
And man assumed it. Surely he is sinful, very foolish. (33:72)
For man is ever hasty. (17:11)

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 122 Fiftieth Discourse

Keep your heart from lingering over what you have left behind, the
people, passions, self-will, picking and choosing, the lack of patience,
compliance and contentment in the face of misfortune. Throw yourself
down before Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) like a ball before the
polo-player, who knocks its around with his mallet, a corpse before the
ritual washer of the dead, or a suckling babe in the lap of its mother or
its nurse. Be blind to all besides Him (Almighty and Glorious is He),
and see nothing but Him as having any existence or power to harm or
benefit, to give or to withhold. In times of suffering and affliction, look
upon created things and worldly means as His whip (Almighty and
Glorious is He) with which He lashes you, and view them in times
of blessing and benefaction as His hand with which He feeds you
tasty morsels.

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 123

Fifty-first Discourse
On abstinence

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T he pious abstainer is rewarded twice on account of destiny’s

allotments. He is rewarded first of all for being detached about
them, so that he does not seize them out of passionate desire and selfish
motivation, but simply accepts them in accordance with the Lord’s
commandment. Once his hostility to his lower self and his opposition
to his passions have been established, he is counted among the vera-
cious and saintly people, and is admitted to the company of the Abdål
and ‹Árif«n. It is then that he is commanded to take those things and
deal with them, because they are his allotted shares, which he cannot
do without and which were created for no one but him. The pen of
destiny ran dry when knowledge of them was long ago recorded.
When he complies with the commandment, and so obtains or receives
this knowledge, he handles these things by virtue of the operation of
the Lord’s decree and action, without personal involvement in the
process, without passion, self-will or self-interest. He is therefore
rewarded a second time, for he is acting in obedience to the command-
ment or in harmony with the action of the Lord of Truth (Almighty and
Glorious is He).
Suppose someone objects: How can you use the term ‘reward’ in
connection with someone who is at the ultimate station, who, as you
yourself mentioned, has been admitted to the company of the Abdål and
‹Árif«n, those in whom the Lord’s action is at work, who have become
extinct to creatures, to selfhood, to passion and self-willed action, to
pleasures and longings and expectations of return for their deeds,
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 124 Fifty-first Discourse

who see all their obedience and worship as sheer grace from Allåh
(Almighty and Exalted is He), as blessing and mercy and helpful
support and facilitation from Him (Almighty and Glorious is He), and
who believe themselves to be the servants of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He)? The servant has no right to claim against his master,
since he is wholly and entirely, in movement or at rest and along with
all his acquisitions, a possession of his master. How then can it be said
of him that he is ‘rewarded,’ when he himself does not demand any
reward or recompense for his work, and does not regard any deed as his
own, but sees himself among those who are quite incompetent and
utterly unfit for doing deeds?
To this we respond as follows: What you say is quite true, but for all
that, Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) bestows His grace and
lavishes His blessings on him, and tends him with His kindness, His
compassion, His care, His mercy and His noble generosity. Since he
restrains his hand from his own self-interest, from seeking strokes of
luck to please the self, from procuring benefit for it, and from pushing
harm away from it, he is like the suckling babe who makes no movement
for his own self-interest, and yet is tenderly looked after by the grace of
Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), and is provided with a home
through the hands of his parents, who are his guardians and custodians.
Now that He has divested him of all self-interest, He makes people’s
hearts sympathetic toward him, imbuing their hearts with mercy and
affection for him until everyone is kind and considerate toward him and
disposed to treat him well. Thus he becomes entirely extinct to
everything besides Allåh, moved only by His commandment or His
action, touched by the grace of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He)
in this world and the hereafter, tenderly cared for in both realms,
protected from harm and treated as a friend. Allåh (Exalted is He)
has said:
My protecting friend is Allåh, who revealed the Book. He befriends
the righteous. (7:196)

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 125

Fifty-second Discourse
On the reason for the trials borne by certain believers

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

A llåh’s only reason for putting to the test a certain group of

believers, dearly loved friends of His, is to bring them back
through tribulation to begging, for He loves to receive their requests,
and He loves to respond to them when they ask. He then gives
generosity and openhandedness their due, for these two demand of
Him (Almighty and Glorious is He) that He respond when believers
come begging. The response will be forthcoming, though maybe not
the instant ready cash—on account of destiny’s deferment, not because
of unresponsiveness and deprivation.
The servant should therefore behave correctly when misfortune
befalls him. He should examine his sinfulness in omitting command-
ments, committing things forbidden, outwardly and inwardly, and
disputing with destiny. Since he deserves punishment for this, he may
be undergoing tribulation as a way of paying his dues. If the trial is
removed, well and good. If not, he should make a practice of supplica-
tion, humble entreaty and apology. He should persist in asking, since
it is always possible that he is being tried so that he will put his requests
to Him, and he should not be suspicious of Him for postponing His
response, as we have explained.
Only Allåh is All-Knowing!

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 126

Fifty-third Discourse
On the commandment to seek contentment with Allåh
and annihilation [fanå›] in Him.

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

A sk Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) for contentment or

annihilation, because this is the greatest comfort and the
unique high paradise in this world; it is the major gateway of Allåh, and
the reason for Allåh’s love for His believing servant. When Allåh loves
someone He does not chastise him in this world or the hereafter, so in
this lie contact [lu¥«q] with Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) and
union with Him. Do not devote your efforts to seeking strokes of luck
and shares of good fortune, whether they are not intended for you by
destiny or even if they are so intended. If they are not allotted to you,
the effort to obtain them is mere stupidity, silliness and ignorance, and
this is the harshest of punishments according to the saying: “One of the
harshest punishments is the pursuit of something one is destined never
to obtain.”
If they are allotted to you, on the other hand, preoccupation with
them must be due to greed, avarice and divided loyalty from the
standpoint of servitude and genuine love, because preoccupation with
anything other than Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) amounts to
sinful association. The luck-seeker is not honest in his love and
friendship, so anyone who needs another besides Allåh must be a liar,
while he who demands recompense for his labor is not sincere. He who
is sincere will serve Allåh just to give Lordship its due, paying Him the
devotion due to a master as of right, for the Lord of Truth (Almighty and

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 Fifty-third Discourse 127

Glorious is He) possesses him and is entitled to his labor, his obedience
whether he be in action or at rest, and all he may acquire. The servant
belongs to his master, along with everything at his disposal. Indeed, as
we have explained elsewhere, all acts of worshipful service are a blessing
from Allåh and a favor from Him to His servant, for it is He who helps
him to perform them and enables him to accomplish them. It is
therefore better and worthier to occupy oneself with giving thanks to
the Lord, rather than with asking him for recompense or rewards for
such acts.
Besides, how can you dedicate yourself to the quest for lucky chances,
when you surely see how it is with most people? Whenever they have
a lot of luck, and enjoy a long string of pleasures, benefits and bits of
good fortune, they become more resentful of their Lord, more dis-
gruntled and ungrateful for their blessings, while their worries and
anxieties increase, and they feel they need things that have not fallen
to their lot, as well as what they have already. Their own shares begin
to seem mean and paltry and nasty to them, while others’ shares appear
to their hearts and eyes as huge and great and beautiful, so they set off
after them. Then their lives slip away, their energies dwindle, they grow
long in the tooth, their wealth gets dispersed, their bodies become
weary, their brows start to sweat, and their records are stained by their
many offenses, the terrible sins they commit in their quest, and their
neglect of their Lord’s commandments. They never achieve their
objective, and leave this world as bankrupt failures, “[belonging]
neither to these nor to those” (4:143). They do not thank their Lord
for their own shares which He has allotted them, and so fail to use them
in His obedient service. Far from obtaining what they wanted from the
shares of others, they waste their own lives in this world and the
hereafter. They are the worst of creatures, most ignorant, most foolish,
and coarsest in intellect and understanding. Had they accepted
destiny’s decree, had they been satisfied with the gift of providence, and
had they been properly obedient to the Lord, their own shares in this
world would have come to them without weariness or worry. Then they

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 128 Fifty-third Discourse

would have been brought into the vicinity of the Highest of the high,
and in His presence they would have found whatever they wished for
and desired.
May Allåh include us, and you, among those who gladly accept His
decree, who pray for this and for annihilation, for preservation of
spiritual state, and for help in achieving what He loves and finds
pleasing!

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 129

Fifty-fourth Discourse
On those who wish to attain to the contact [wuƒ«l] with Allåh,
and explanation of the nature of that contact

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

I f someone desires the hereafter, he must renounce this world, and

anyone who desires Allåh must renounce the hereafter, forgoing his
worldly life for the sake of his life hereafter, and his life hereafter for the
sake of his Lord. As long as there remains in his heart any trace of
worldly appetite and lust, of desire for various worldly comforts such as
food or drink, clothing, marriage, home and means of transport, desire
for authority, leadership, and rank in some sphere of learning like legal
studies—beyond the five fundamentals of worship, transmission of the
¥adºth, recitation and transmission of the Qur›ån, grammar, linguistics,
literary style and rhetoric—desire for the passing away of poverty and
the coming-to-be of wealth, the departure of misfortune and the arrival
of well-being, and in general for the removal of harm and the advent of
benefit, as long as any of this remains he cannot really be a true ascetic
[zåhid]. For in every one of these things there is indulgence of the self,
compliance with passion, comfort and fondness for natural appetite, all
of which belong to this world, make it seem a nice place to stay in
forever, and suggest that it can be trusted and relied on.
He must therefore strive to remove all this from the heart, and prepare
himself to weed it out and get rid of it, to cultivate contentment with
privation, insolvency and poverty on a permanent basis. There will
then be less of it left than one could suck off a date-stone, and so his
renunciation of this world will be genuine. When this process is
completed, all grief and sorrow will vanish from the heart and all
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 130 Fifty-fourth Discourse

disturbance from the inner feeling, and he will receive comforts,

blessings and intimacy with Allåh. As the Prophet (Allåh bless him
and give him peace) has said: “Renunciation of this world refreshes the
heart and the body.”
As long as any trace of all that remains in his heart, however, worries
and fear and anxiety will continue to lodge there, disappointment will
cling to him, and he will be screened from Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He) and His nearness by a thick veil with many layers. All
this can be removed only through complete abandonment of love of
this world and severance of all its ties.
Next, he must renounce the hereafter, forsaking all desire for high
degrees and stations, heavenly maids and servants, houses and palaces,
gardens and riding mounts, horses and ornaments, food and drink and
other things prepared by Allåh (Exalted is He) for His believing servants.
For his conduct, therefore, he should seek no reward or recompense
whatsoever from Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), neither in this
world nor in the hereafter. Then he will find Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He) giving him his account in full, as a grace from Him and
a mercy. For He will draw him near to Himself and into His presence,
treating him kindly and acquainting him with all sorts of favors and
goodness, as He makes it His custom (Almighty and Glorious is He) to
treat His Messengers, His Prophets, His saints, His favorites [khaw僃],
and His loved ones [a¥båb], those endowed with knowledge [‹ilm] of
Him (Almighty and Glorious is He). Thus the servant experiences
daily improvement in his condition throughout his entire life. Then he
is transferred to the abode of the hereafter, to what no eye has ever seen,
no ear has ever heard of, and no human heart has ever conceived, for
it surpasses all understanding and defies description in words.
Only Allåh is All-Knowing!

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Fifty-fifth Discourse
On giving up life’s pleasures

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T he giving up of life’s pleasures occurs three times. To begin with,

the servant stumbles along haphazardly, motivated in all circum-
stances by his natural impulses, without dedication to the service of his
Lord, uncurbed by any restraint in the sacred law and uncontrolled by
any of its limits. While he is in this condition, Allåh looks upon him,
meaning that He has mercy on him. Allåh sends him one of His
creatures, one of His righteous servants, as a spiritual adviser in order to
awaken his consciousness. He also provides a duplicate adviser from
within the person’s own self. These two advisers team up against his
lower self and natural disposition. As the spiritual counsel begins to
take effect, it becomes apparent that his character has been flawed by
such habits as riding the steed of natural impulse and contrariety, so he
now inclines toward the sacred law in all his behavior.
Thus the servant becomes a Muslim, standing by the law and
transcending the state of nature. He forsakes worldly things that are
unlawful or dubious, as well as the favors of people, and adopts what is
allowed by the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He) and
religiously lawful in food, drink, dress, marriage, domicile, and all
matters essential to preserve his physical health and give him strength
for obedience to the Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), and so that
he may receive his allotted share in full. This share will not pass him
by, and there is no possibility of leaving this world before obtaining it,
dealing with it and making full use of it.

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 132 Fifty-fifth Discourse

Now he travels on the steed of what is religiously permissible and

lawful in all his circumstances, until this means of transport finally
brings him to the threshold of Wilåya and entry into the company of the
masters of reality [mu¥aqqiq«n] and the chosen ones [khaw僃], the
people of firm resolve, those who aspire to the Truth, and so he eats
according to the Lord’s commandment. At this point he hears a voice
from the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He) calling from his
inner being: “Abandon your own self and come! Forsake pleasures and
creatures if you wish for the Creator. Take off both your shoes,
representing your life in this world and your life hereafter. Detach
yourself from all entities and everything that exists or will come to exist,
and from all desires without exception. Strip yourself bare of everything
and become extinct to it all. Perfume yourself with the affirmation of
Oneness, abandon polytheistic association and be sincere of purpose.
Then tread upon the carpet with good manners, with eyes downcast,
looking neither right toward the hereafter nor left toward this world,
neither toward people nor toward pleasures.”
When he enters this station, and his arrival is confirmed, he will
receive the robe of honor from the Lord of Truth (Almighty and
Glorious is He), and be invested with all kinds of understanding and
knowledge and all kinds of gracious favor. He will be told: “Dress
yourself with blessings and favor. Do not be so ill-mannered as to reject
this and neglect to put it on, because rejection of the King’s blessings
amounts to a violation against the King and contempt for His High-
ness.” He now clothes himself with the favor and allotment received
by the grace of Allåh, without his personal involvement, whereas
previously he used his passion and self-will to dress himself.
Thus there are four conditions in which he may come by portions and
allotments. The first is the state of natural impulse, and this is unlawful.
The second is in accordance with the sacred law, and this is permissible
and lawful. The third is by direct command, and this is the state of
saintship and renunciation of passionate desire. The fourth is by the
Lord’s gracious favor, and this is the state where self-will disappears and
Badaliyya is attained, where one becomes a recipient, standing at the

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 Fifty-fifth Discourse 133

disposal of destiny, which is the working of the Lord of Truth; this is the
state of knowledge and conscientious rectitude. No one can be called
righteous in reality unless he has reached this station. Such is the word
of Allåh (Exalted is He):
My protecting friend is Allåh, who revealed the Book. He befriends
the righteous. (7:196)

This, then, is the servant who withdraws his hand from procuring
things of use and benefit to himself, as well as from warding off those
that are harmful and detrimental to him. He is just like a suckling babe
with his nurse, or a corpse with the ritual washer of the dead. So the
hand of destiny takes charge of his education, without his having to
choose or plan. He is beyond all this, where there is neither state nor
station nor will, but only standing at destiny’s disposal. Sometimes he
is expanded, sometimes contracted, sometimes enriched, sometimes
impoverished. He makes no choice and does not wish for this or that
to go away or change, but shows only constant contentment and eternal
concord. This is the final culmination of the states of the saints and
Abdål (sanctified be the secrets of their being).

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 134

Fifty-sixth Discourse
On the servant’s becoming extinct [fanå›] to creatures,
passions, the self, the will and desires

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W hen the servant becomes extinct to creatures, passion, self, will

and desires of this world and the hereafter, when he wishes only
for Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) and everything leaves his
heart, it is then that he attains to the contact with the Lord of Truth.
The Lord chooses him and selects him, loves him, causes him to be
loved by His creatures, and makes him love Him and His nearness,
enjoying His favor and disposing of His blessings. He opens for him the
gates of His mercy, and promises never to shut them against him. Then
the servant opts for Allåh, operates according to His plan, wills
according to His will, is content with His good pleasure, carries out His
orders and not those of any other, and sees nothing but Him (Almighty
and Glorious is He) as being in existence or in action.
At this point it may happen that Allåh makes him a promise, but then
does not show the servant any fulfillment thereof, and does not effect
the change he had come to expect. This is because the difference has
become irrelevant with the cessation of passion and will. He has
become a channel for the action and will of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He), so there can be no question of promise or breach of
promise where he is concerned, because such things only apply to one
who still has passion and self-will. To understand what this promise
now means to him in relation to Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He),
consider the example of a man who decides on a certain course of action

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 Fifty-sixth Discourse 135

and intends to carry it out, but then proceeds differently. We may

compare the abrogation of certain verses by others in the revelations
made by Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) to our Prophet Mu¥ammad
(Allåh bless him and give him peace):
Such of Our revelations as We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, We
replace with one better or as good. Do you not know that Allåh has
power over all things? (2:106)

For the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) was stripped of
passion and self-will except in those instances mentioned by Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He) in the Qur݌n, such as the case of the
prisoners on the day of the Battle of Badr:
You desire the chance goods of this world, but Allåh desires the
hereafter, and Allåh is Mighty, Wise. Were it not for an ordinance
from Allåh that had already gone forth, there would have befallen you
a mighty chastisement for taking what you did. (8:67, 68)

He was the desired of the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is

He), who did not leave him in one state, but moved him on toward his
destiny, giving him scope in relation to destiny and transforming his
condition. The Lord (Exalted is He) alerted him with His words:
Do you not know that Allåh has power over all things? (2:106)

In other words, you are in the midst of the ocean of destiny, tossed
about by its waves sometimes this way, sometimes that way.
The culmination of the saint’s business is the starting point of the
business of the Prophet. Beyond Wilåya and Badaliyya there is only
Prophethood [Nubuwwa].
Only Allåh is All-Knowing!

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 136

Fifty-seventh Discourse
On not contesting destiny, and the commandment to keep
oneself content therewith

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

A ll states are restriction, because the saint is commanded to

preserve them, and whatever one is under orders to preserve must
constitute restriction. Standing at the disposal of destiny, on the other
hand, is sheer relaxation, because there is nothing there that one is
commanded to preserve, apart from simply being in readiness for
destiny. What is required of him is not to dispute with destiny, but to
comply, to accept without contest whatever may befall him, whether it
be sweet or bitter. States have prescribed limits, so it is commanded that
their limits be maintained, but the grace that is destiny has no bounds
to be safeguarded. The indication that the servant has entered the
station of destiny, the action of the Lord, and relaxation, is that he is
commanded to ask for the good things of life, after having been ordered
to forgo them and abstain from them. For when his inner being has been
emptied of life’s pleasures, and there is nothing left in him except the
Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), he is allowed to relax and is now
commanded to ask, wish and apply for the things that are his allotted
share. He is bound to receive and obtain them in response to his
request, so that his dignity and rank in the sight of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He), and the Lord’s gracious favor toward him, may be
confirmed by His acceptance of this prayer. Freedom to ask for the good
things of life to be granted is one of the chief marks of relaxation in the
wake of restriction, and of having emerged from states, stations and the
burden of maintaining constraints.
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 Fifty-seventh Discourse 137

Should it be objected that this may lead to non-observance of

religious duties, to atheistic freethinking, departure from Islåm and
rejection of the word of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He): “And
serve your Lord until the Certainty comes to you” (15:99), one could say
in reply: By no means does it lead to or result in that. Allåh is far too
generous, and His friend too dear to Him, for Him to bring that friend
into a situation so unsatisfactory and repugnant to His law and His
religion. On the contrary, He keeps him safe from all that has been
mentioned, steers him away from it, protects him, alerts him and directs
him toward observing the guidelines. Thus freedom from sin is
achieved and the legal limits are maintained without hardship or
trouble on his part, he being absent from it all in nearness to the Lord,
who says (Exalted is He):
So it was, that We might ward off from him evil and lewdness; he was
one of Our devoted servants. (12:24)

He also says (Almighty and Glorious is He):

As for My servants, you have no authority over them. (15:42)

And He says (Exalted is He):

But for the sincere servants of Allåh. (37:40)

O you poor wretch! Such a servant is borne by the Lord and desired
of Him, and He nurtures him in the lap of His nearness and His
kindness. How could Satan get to him, and how could he even be
approached by things repugnant and abhorrent to the sacred law? You
have thrown away the fodder and over-inflated the empty bag! You
have said something quite disgusting. Perish these vile and mean
intentions, these faulty, far-fetched ideas, these depraved and unbal-
anced notions.
May Allåh give refuge to us and the brethren from assorted errors,
through His all-embracing power and His wide mercy. May He shield
us with His completely protective and safeguarding shelter. May He
nourish us with His abundant blessings and His enduring favors,
through His love and generosity.

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 138

Fifty-eighth Discourse
On looking away from all other directions, and seeking the
direction of Allåh’s favor

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

B e blind to all quarters and do not ogle anything out there, because
as long as you are looking in any one of those directions, the
direction of the favor and nearness of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is
He) will not become open to you. So block off all sides with the
affirmation of His Oneness and the effacement [im¥å›] of your own self,
then with your annihilation [fanå›], your extinction [ma¥w] and your
knowledge. Then the eye of your heart will open in the direction of
Allåh’s enormous favor, and you will see it also with the eyes in your
head, by the rays of light from your heart [qalb], your faith and your
certitude. For at this point the light from your inner will shine upon
your outer being, like the light of a candle inside a gloomy house on a
dark night, shining through the chinks and windows so that the outside
of the house is illuminated by the light within. The self and the organs
of the body will now feel at ease with the promise and gift of Allåh,
instead of looking for the gift and promise of others besides Him
(Almighty and Glorious is He).
Have mercy on your own self and do it no wrong. Do not cast it into
the darkness of your ignorance and folly, by looking in all directions
toward creatures, worldly might and strength, acquisition and means,
and so putting your trust in them. For then all these quarters will be
closed to you, and the direction of the grace of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He) will not be opened to you, either, as a punishment and

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 Fifty-eighth Discourse 139

retribution for the polytheistic association you have committed by

looking at something other than Him (Almighty and Glorious is He).
But when you find Him, behold His favor, pin your hopes on Him
instead of others, and blind yourself to all that is apart from Him, He will
bring you near and draw you close to Himself. He will have mercy on
you, nourish you and give you food and drink, make you fit and healthy,
grant you gifts and enrich you, and then after this you will no longer see
yourself in terms of poverty or affluence.
Exalted is His estate!

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 140

Fifty-ninth Discourse
On cheerful acceptance of misfortune, and being
grateful for blessings

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

Y our condition must always be either a tribulation or a blessing.

If it happens to be a trial, you are required to endure it with
perseverance (at the lower end of the scale) and patience (which is
a higher grade), then cheerful acceptance and compliance, then
annihilation [fanå›], which is proper to the Abdål. If it is a blessing, on
the other hand, it behooves you to be grateful for it. Thanks can be
offered with the tongue, the heart, and the limbs and organs of the body.
To give thanks with the tongue means acknowledging that the
blessing is from Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), and dissociating
it from creatures, from your own self and your power, strength and
earning capacity, and from any other persons who may have had a hand
in it. You and they are only means, tools and instruments for it, while
its real allotter, executor and creator, the one responsible for it as active
agent and prime mover, is Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He). The
allotter is Allåh, the executor is He, and the creator is He, so He is more
deserving of thanks than any other. Attention is paid not to the errand-
boy who delivers a present, but to the master, the sender of the gift.
Concerning those who lack this correct attitude, Allåh (Exalted is He)
has said:
They know an outward part of this world’s life, and of the hereafter
they are heedless. (30:7)

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 Fifty-ninth Discourse 141

If someone notices only the exterior and the apparent cause, and his
knowledge and understanding go no further, he is ignorant, defective
and lacking in intelligence. An intelligent person is so called on
account of his insight into ultimate principles.
As for giving thanks with the heart, this means holding the constant
belief, the firm, strong and secure conviction, that everything you have
in the way of blessings, benefits and enjoyments, outwardly and
inwardly, be you active or at rest, comes from Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He) and from no other. When you give thanks with your
tongue, you will be expressing what you feel in your heart. As He says
(Almighty and Glorious is He):
And whatever blessing you enjoy, it is from Allåh. (16:53)

He also says (Exalted is He):

And He has lavished on you His blessings, outward and inward. (31:20)

He says further (Exalted is He):

And if you count the favor of Allåh, you will never add it up. (16:18)

In the light of all this, the believer can have no benefactor apart from
Allåh (Exalted is He).
As for giving thanks with the limbs and organs of the body, you do this
by making them move and work in obedience to Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He) to the exclusion of all creatures. You must not respond
to the behest of any creature in anything involving opposition to Allåh
(Exalted is He). This extends to the self, the passions, self-will, desires,
and everything else in the realm of creation. Make obedience to Allåh
the basic principle, the guide and leader, and everything else the
offshoot, the follower and disciple. If you do otherwise you will be a
despotic tyrant, applying a rule that is not the rule laid down by Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He) for His believing servants, treading a
path that is not the way of the righteous. Allåh (Almighty and Glorious
is He) has said:
Whoever judges not by that which Allåh has revealed: such are
unbelievers. (5:44)

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 142 Fifty-ninth Discourse

In another verse of the Qur݌n:

Whoever judges not by that which Allåh has revealed: such are
wrongdoers. (5:45)

And in yet another:

Such are transgressors. (5:47)

In that case your destination will be the fire “of which the fuel is men
and stones” (66:6), and you, who cannot bear a spell of fever in this
world, nor even the slightest spark of flame, how will you endure
eternity in hell’s abyss together with its inmates? Rescue, rescue!
Quickly, quickly! Allåh, Allåh!
Attend to both states and their prerequisites, for you cannot go
through life without experiencing one or the other, either tribulation
or blessing. Give each state its due share of patience and gratitude, as
I have explained to you. While in the state of affliction you must not
complain to any of Allåh’s creatures, nor display your frustration to
anyone. Harbor no suspicion of your Lord, and do not doubt His
wisdom and His choice of what is best for you in this world and the
hereafter. In your distress you should not go looking to any of His
creatures for a remedy, because that would amount to your associating
something with Him (Almighty and Glorious is He). No one is joint
owner with Him (Almighty and Glorious is He) of anything in His
possession. There is no one capable of causing harm or benefit, of
repelling or attracting, of causing sickness and disaster, of healing and
restoring, apart from Him (Almighty and Glorious is He). So do not
occupy yourself with creatures, inwardly or outwardly, for they can
never serve you as a substitute for Allåh. You should rather practice
patience, cheerful acceptance and compliance, and annihilation in His
action (Almighty and Glorious is He).
If you are deprived of all this, however, you are obliged to appeal to
Him (Almighty and Glorious is He) for help, to make humble entreaty,
to complain to Him of your evil self and the remoteness of the Lord of
Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), to acknowledge His blessing by

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 Fifty-ninth Discourse 143

affirming His Oneness, to rid yourself of polytheistic association, and to

seek patience, contentment and harmony, until the prescript of destiny
expires. Then the affliction will cease, the trouble will be removed, and
the blessing will come, with ease and happiness and joy, as it was in the
case of Allåh’s Prophet Job (on him and on our own Prophet be the most
excellent blessing and most noble peace), just as the darkness of night
gives way to the brightness of day, and as the cold of winter yields to the
summer breeze and its sweet scent. For everything has an opposite and
counterpart, an extreme limit, a beginning and an end. Patience is the
key to it, the start and finish and the beauty of it. As we are told in the
tradition: “Patience is to faith as the head is to the body,” or in another
version: “Patience is the whole of faith.”
Gratitude can sometimes be inherent in simple enjoyment of the
blessings that are the shares He has allotted you. Your thanks are then
offered by enjoying those blessings in your state of annihilation [fanå›]
and extinction of passionate desire, in your state of zeal and awareness.
This is the condition of the Abdål, and the ultimate attainment. Take
careful note of what I have been telling you, then you will be guided
aright if Allåh (Exalted is He) so will.

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 144

Sixtieth Discourse
On the beginning and the end

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T he beginning is making the move from ordinary behavior to that

prescribed by the sacred law, then to that decreed by destiny, and
then coming back to the ordinary, with observance of the rules as a
precondition. You must therefore leave your ordinary habits in matters
of food, drink, dress, marital relations, domicile, natural inclination and
custom, in favor of the commandments and prohibitions of the sacred
law. You must follow the Book of Allåh and the exemplary pattern of
His Messenger (Allåh bless him and give him peace), as Allåh (Exalted
is He) has said:
Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it. Whatever he forbids you,
abstain from it. (59:7)

He also says (Exalted is He):

Say, “If you love Allåh, follow me; Allåh will love you.” (3:31)

Thus you will become extinct to your passion, to your own self and its
folly, both outwardly and inwardly. Your inner being will contain
nothing but your affirmation of Allåh’s Oneness, and in your outer life
there will be nothing but obedience to Allåh and worshipful obser-
vance of what He commands and forbids. This will come to be your
normal practice, your undergarment and outer clothing, when you are
in action and when you are at rest, by night and by day, on your travels
and at home, in hard and easy times, in health, in sickness, and in all
conditions.

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 Sixtieth Discourse 145

Then you will be transported to the Valley of Destiny, and destiny

will go to work in you without restraint. You will pass beyond your
striving and exertion, beyond your power and strength, and allotments
will be delivered to you, “on which the pen ran dry, and the knowledge
of which has gone before.” With these you will occupy yourself, and you
will be granted protection and safety from them, so that the rules are
properly observed in dealing with them, so that they are brought into
conformity with the action of the Lord, and so that no statute of the
sacred law is infringed through atheistic heresy or undue license in
respect of things that are forbidden. Allåh (Exalted is He) has said:
Surely We have revealed the Reminder, and We assuredly watch over
it. (15:9)

He also says (Exalted is He):

You are today in our presence established and worthy of trust. (12:54)

You will therefore be accompanied by safekeeping and protection

until the time of the meeting with Allåh’s mercy. These are nothing but
your shares, prepared for you by destiny. They were withheld from you
during your journey, while you were traveling and making your way
through the deserts of your natural state and the barren wastes of
habitual passion, because they are a heavy burden. You were relieved
of this burden so that it would not weigh you down and make you weak,
until the time of arrival at the threshold of annihilation [fanå›], which
is arrival in the proximity of the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious
is He) and intimate knowledge of Him, privileged access to secrets and
the religious sciences, and entry into the ocean of lights, where the
darkness of nature no longer impairs the lights.
The natural state persists until the spirit parts company with the body,
so that the allotted shares may be received in full, because if man were
to lose his human nature altogether, he would join the angels, and the
divine wisdom would be null and void. That nature therefore stays on
to receive the allotted shares and portions, but as daily rations, not as
real estate. As the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) has

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 146 Sixtieth Discourse

said: “Three things belonging to this world of yours have been made
dear to me: perfume, women, and, as cool refreshment for my eyes, the
ritual prayer.” For when the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him
peace) became extinct to this world and all it contains, his allotted
shares were restored to him, after having been withheld from him while
he was on his journey toward his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He).
He then received them all, complying with the will of his Lord (Exalted
is He), gladly submitting to His action, and obedient to His command.
Holy are His names, and all-embracing is His mercy. His grace
encompasses His saints and His Prophets (on them be blessing and
peace). In this respect, therefore, the saint has the same experience: his
allotted shares and portions are given back to him, with due observance
of the rules of law. This is returning from the end to the beginning.
Only Allåh is All-Knowing!

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 147

Sixty-first Discourse
On pausing before taking any action until
its permissibility is clear

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

E very believer is under obligation to pause and take stock before

receiving and taking delivery of destiny’s allotments, until the legal
ruling certifies their acceptability and religious knowledge attests their
allocation. The believer is a thorough investigator, while the hypocrite
is a snatcher. As the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) has
said: “The believer always takes pause.” He also said (Allåh bless him
and give him peace): “Leave anything that makes you doubtful and
stick to what arouses no misgivings in you.”
The believer will therefore pause when presented with any opportu-
nity to partake of food, drink, clothing, marital relations or whatever
may open up for him. He takes nothing until he has a legal ruling to the
effect that it is permissible for him to take and accept it, assuming that
he is in the state of pious devotion [taqwå], or until he is so instructed
by direct command, if he is in the state of saintship, or by virtue of
knowledge in the state of Badaliyya and Ghawthiyya, or by the action
that is destiny pure and simple, as experienced in the state of annihila-
tion [fanå›].
Then comes another state, in which he receives whatever comes to
him and opens up for him, provided it is unobjectionable from the
standpoint of prescription, commandment or knowledge. If an objec-
tion is raised by any these, however, he refrains from accepting the thing
in question. This state is the direct opposite of the first, for in the first

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state hesitation and substantiation have priority, while in the second

the presumption is in favor of receiving, accepting and using the
opportunity offered.
Next comes the third state, where it is simply a matter of receiving
and using the blessings that are made available, without reference to
any of those three things. This is the reality of annihilation, in which
the believer becomes immune from all disasters and infringement of the
rules of sacred law, kept safe and far removed from all evils. As Allåh
(Exalted is He) has said:
So it was, that We might ward off from him evil and lewdness; he was
one of Our devoted servants. (12:37)

With such protection against any infringement of the rules, the

servant comes to be like a deputy and authorized agent, with complete
freedom of action in all permissible matters, to whom the good that is
his allotted share has been made easily accessible, cleared of troubles
and woes in this world and the hereafter, and who is in harmony with
the will of the Lord of Truth, His good pleasure and His action. There
is no state above this, and this is the ultimate goal. It belongs to the
masters [såda], the great and pure saints, the possessors of secrets, who
have approached the threshold of the states of the Prophets (Allåh’s
blessings be upon them all).

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 149

Sixty-second Discourse
On love, the beloved, and what is required in respect of both

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

H ow often the believer will say: “So-and-so is brought near to the

Lord, while I am kept at a distance; so-and-so receives gifts, while
I am deprived; so-and-so is enriched, while I am impoverished; so-and-
so is granted good health, while I am plagued with illness; so-and-so is
honored, while I am despised; so-and-so is praised, while I am blamed;
so-and-so is believed, while I am called a liar.” Does he not know that
He is One, and that the One loves oneness in love, and loves one who
is single in his love for Him? If He drew you near to Him by means of
any other, your love for Him (Almighty and Glorious is He) might be
diminished and dispersed. Perhaps you would develop an affection for
the one at whose hands you experienced the connection and the
blessing, so that the love for Allåh in your heart would decrease.
Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) is jealous and loves no partner,
so He keeps the hands of others from connecting with you, their tongues
from praising and complimenting you, and their feet from running
toward you, so that you will not devote your attention to them instead
of to Him. Have you not heard the saying of the Prophet (Allåh bless
him and give him peace): “Hearts are disposed by nature to love those
who treat them well”? Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) therefore
uses all ways and means to keep people from treating you well, until you
profess His Oneness, love Him, and become His in every respect,
outwardly and inwardly, in action and at rest, so that you see no good
coming from any but Him and no evil coming from any but Him

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(Almighty and Glorious is He). You become extinct to creatures and

to the self, to passion, will and desire, and to everything apart from the
Lord. Then He causes hands to open up to you with delights and gifts
and presents, and tongues to praise and compliment you, and so He
always pampers you in this world and then in the hereafter.
So do not misbehave. Notice Him who notices you, attend to Him
who attends to you, love Him who loves you, answer Him who
summons you, give your hand to Him who holds you tight from falling,
who brings you out of the darkness of your ignorance, saves you from
destruction, washes away all your dirt, cleans up all your filth, and
releases you from your stinking carcass, from your wicked fantasies, from
your evil-prompting self, from your misguided and misguiding fellows,
from your devils and your ignorant friends, those highway robbers on
the road to the Lord of Truth, who stand between you and all that is
precious and valuable and dear.
How much longer habits, how much longer creatures, how much
longer passions, how much longer folly, how much longer this world,
how much longer the hereafter, how much longer that which is other
than the Lord? Where are you in relation to the Creator of things, the
Maker and Shaper, the First and the Last, the Outer and the Inner, the
point of return and point of origin, to whom all hearts belong, the solace
of spirits, the resting place of burdens, the source of gifts and blessings?
Mighty is His estate!

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 151

Sixty-third Discourse
On a kind of inner knowledge [ma‹rifa]

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

I n a dream, I seemed to be saying: “O polytheist, guilty of associating

partners with his Lord: inwardly, his own self, outwardly, His
creation, and in his behavior, his own will!” A man by my side then
asked: “What kind of talk is this?” I replied: “This is a kind of inner
knowledge.”

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 152

Sixty-fourth Discourse
On death without life, and life without death

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

I was feeling very depressed one day, and my soul was in turmoil. Then
someone said to me: “What do you want?” I replied: “I want a death
without life and a life without death.” I was then asked: “What is death
without life and life without death?” I said: “Death without life is my
dying to my own species of creatures, so that I do not see them as the
source of injury or benefit. It is my dying to my own self, my passion,
my will and my desire, in this world and the hereafter, so that I do not
live or exist in any of these. As for life without death, that is my living
by the action of my Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He) without my
having any existence in it, while the dying therein is my existence with
Him (Almighty and Glorious is He). This has been the most precious
purpose I have held before me, ever since I became conscious.”

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 153

Sixty-fifth Discourse
On the prohibition of resenting Allåh for deferring
response to supplication

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W hat is this indignation with your Lord (Almighty and Glorious

is He) for delay in responding to your supplication? You say:
“I am forbidden to ask of creatures and am required to ask of Him, but
I appeal to Him and He does not answer me.” Well, it may be said to
you: “Are you a free man or a slave?” If you say: “I am a free man,” you
must be an unbeliever. If you say: “I am a slave to Allåh,” we must ask
you: “Are you then distrustful of your Master for deferring a response to
your supplication? Are you doubting His wisdom and His mercy toward
you and all His creatures, and His knowledge of all their conditions, or
are you not distrustful of Him (Almighty and Glorious is He)?”
If you are not distrustful of Him, but acknowledge His wisdom, His
will and His beneficence toward you, and the postponement of this,
then you owe Him (Almighty and Glorious is He) your gratitude,
because He has chosen what is most beneficial for you, as a blessing and
to prevent corruption. If you are distrustful of Him because of this, you
are an unbeliever by virtue of that distrust, since you thereby ascribe
injustice to Him, and He is no tyrant to His servants. He does not
approve of injustice, and it is impossible for Him to be unjust, for He is
your owner and the owner of everything. The term injustice does not
apply to Him, because an unjust person is one who disposes of another’s
property without his permission. You therefore have no pretext for
resentment against Him for the way He operates in dealing with you,

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 154 Sixty-fifth Discourse

contrary to your natural disposition and selfish desire, even though it

may be outwardly detrimental to you.
It is your duty to be thankful, to practice patience and compliance,
and to give up resentment, distrust, and indulgence of the folly and
passion of the self, which makes you stray from the path of Allåh. It is
your duty to persist in supplication, to be sincere in seeking refuge, to
think well of your Lord, to await relief from Him, to believe His promise,
to be modest toward Him, to comply with His commandment, to keep
up the affirmation of His Oneness, to be quick to carry out His orders,
and to be as if you were dead when His decree alights upon you and takes
effect within you.
If you simply cannot avoid being distrustful and entertaining bad
thoughts, well, your evil-prompting self, so rebellious against its Lord
(Almighty and Glorious is He), is best suited to such attitudes, so you
should ascribe injustice to it rather than to your Lord. Beware of
teaming up and making friends with it, of accepting its deeds and words
under any circumstances, for it is Allåh’s enemy and your enemy, and
its ally is Allåh’s enemy and your enemy, Satan the accursed. It is the
devil’s friend, his spy and his confidant. Allåh, Allåh, and again Allåh!
Beware, beware! Escape, escape! Distrust it, ascribe injustice to it, and
recite to it the words of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He):
What concern has Allåh for your punishment if you are thankful and
believe? (4:147)

And His words (Exalted is He):

Surely Allåh does not wrong mankind in anything, but mankind wrong
themselves. (10:44)

Recite these and other Qur›ånic verses and traditions. Fight for Allåh
against your own self, do battle with it for His sake (Almighty and
Glorious is He), be a warrior, sword-bearer and commander of His
troops and His army, for it is the greatest enemy of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He). Allåh (Exalted is He) has said:
O David, relinquish your passion, for there is no contender who
contends with Me for My kingdom except the passion of man.

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 155

Sixty-sixth Discourse
On the commandment to make supplication, and the
prohibition of omitting it

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

D o not say: “I shall not offer prayers of supplication to Allåh,

because if what I ask for has been allotted to me, it will come to
me whether I ask for it or not, while if it has not been so allotted it will
not be given to me on request.” No, you should ask Him (Almighty
and Glorious is He) for all you want and need of the good things of this
world and the hereafter, provided there is nothing unlawful or harmful
included, because Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) has commanded
us to ask and urges us to do so. He says (Exalted is He):
Call upon Me and I will answer you. (40:60)

He also says (Almighty and Glorious is He):

Ask Allåh of His bounty—and do not covet that whereby Allåh has
made some of you excel others. (4:32)

The Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) has said: “Ask of
Allåh, fully confident of His response.” He has also said (Allåh bless
him and give him peace): “Ask of Allåh with the palms of your hands
[upturned].” There are other traditions of similar import.
Do not say: “I asked something of Him, but He did not give it to me,
so I shall not ask Him again.” No, go on appealing to Him, then if what
you ask for is allotted to you, He will deliver it to you after you have
requested it, thereby increasing your faith, certitude and profession of
Oneness, and encouraging you to give up asking things of people in

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 156 Sixty-sixth Discourse

favor of turning to Him in every situation and presenting all your needs
to Him (Almighty and Glorious is He). If it is not allotted to you, on
the other hand, He will grant you freedom from needing it, and make
you content with Him (Almighty and Glorious is He) in spite of your
poverty. Be it poverty or sickness, He will help you to accept your
condition. If it is a question of debt, He will change the creditor’s
attitude from one of harsh demand to one of sympathy and willingness
to wait and make it easy for you until you are better off, or even to waive
or reduce the debt. If it is not written off or reduced in this world, Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He) will give you abundant compensation
in the hereafter for what He did not give you in response to your prayer
in this world. For He is Generous, Self-Sufficing and Compassionate,
and will not disappoint one who prays to Him in this world or the
hereafter. Some benefit and gain is therefore bound to come of it,
sooner or later.
As it is reported in the tradition: “The believer will see in his record,
on the Day of Resurrection, some good deeds he had not done and knew
nothing about. He will be asked: ‘Do you recognize them?’ So he will
say: ‘I don’t know how I came by these.’ Then he will be told: ‘These
are compensation for the requests you made in the abode of the lower
world.’” This is because, in addressing his requests to Allåh (Almighty
and Glorious is He), he is remembering Allåh, professing His Oneness,
putting things in their proper place, giving credit where it is due,
attributing nothing to his own power and strength, and forsaking pride,
arrogance and haughtiness—all righteous deeds, for which there is
reward with Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He).

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 157

Sixty-seventh Discourse
On struggle with the self, and description of its nature

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W henever you struggle with your own self, overcome it, and slay
it with the sword of opposition, Allåh brings it back to life.
It pits itself against you, and tries to get you to satisfy its appetites and
desires, sinful as well as permissible, so you must keep returning to the
struggle and competition, so that merit is always being recorded in your
favor. This is the meaning of the saying of the Prophet (Allåh bless
him and give him peace): “We have returned from the minor struggle
[al-jihåd al-aƒghar] to the major struggle [al-jihåd al-akbar].” He was
referring to the battle with the self, because it is constantly addicted to
cravings and pleasures, and engrossed in sinful disobedience. This is the
meaning of Allåh’s words (Almighty and Glorious is He):
And serve your Lord until the Certainty comes to you. (15:99)

Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) commanded His Prophet

(Allåh bless him and give him peace) to serve Him, and that service is
performed by opposing the self, because all service is rejected by the self,
which desires its very opposite until the coming of the Certainty,
meaning death.
If someone should ask: “How could the self of the Messenger (Allåh
bless him and give him peace) refuse to serve, when he (blessing and
peace be upon him) has no passion, and “he does not speak from his own
desire; it is naught but an inspiration that is inspired” (53:3,4), the
answer will be that Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) addressed His

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 158 Sixty-seventh Discourse

Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace) in order that the sacred
law might be established, and become generally applicable to his
community until the advent of the Hour. Moreover, Allåh (Almighty
and Glorious is He) gave His Prophet (on him be blessing and peace)
power over the self and the passions, so that they would not harm him
or oblige him to struggle, in contradistinction to his community.
When the believer persists in this struggle, therefore, until death
comes to him and he meets his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He) with
sword unsheathed, spattered with the blood of self and passion, He gives
him the share of Paradise He has guaranteed him, in accordance with
His word (Almighty and Glorious is He):
But as for him who feared to stand before his Lord and restrained the
self from passion, the Garden will be his home. (79:40,41)

Then when He has made him enter Paradise, and has made it his
home, his dwelling and his destination, he will be secure from having
to move or be transferred to any other place, or return to the abode of
this world. Every day and every hour, He will supply him afresh with
all kinds of blessings, and provide him with an endless variety of fine
attire and decorations, limitless and inexhaustible, just as he kept
renewing in this world, every day, every hour and every moment, the
struggle with self and passion.
As for the unbeliever [kåfir], the hypocrite [munåfiq] and the sinner
[܌ļ], since they have neglected to struggle with self and passion in this
world and preferred to follow them, since have they allied themselves
with Satan and indulged in all kinds of sinfulness, such as unbelief and
polytheism as well as lesser offenses, until death overtakes them without
submission [Islåm] and repentance, Allåh will make them enter the
fire prepared for unbelievers, according to His words (Almighty and
Glorious is He):

And be on your guard against the fire prepared for unbelievers. (3:131)

When He has made them enter it, and made it their dwelling and
destination and resort, so that it burns their skins and their flesh, Allåh
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 Sixty-seventh Discourse 159

(Almighty and Glorious is He) will renew their skin and flesh, as He has
said (Almighty and Glorious is He):
As often as their skins are thoroughly burned, We shall exchange them
for fresh skins. (4:56)

Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) will do this to them, just as they
made alliance with their own selves and their passions in this world, in
disobedience to Him (Almighty and Glorious is He). So the inmates
of the fire will have their skin and flesh renewed all the time, to inflict
torment and agony upon them, whereas the people of Paradise will have
their bliss renewed at every moment, to multiply the comforts and
pleasures they enjoy. The reason for this lies in their struggle with the
self and their non-compliance with it in the abode of this world. This
is what is meant by the saying of the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give
him peace): “This world is the seed-bed of the hereafter.”

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 160

Sixty-eighth Discourse
On the words of Allåh (Exalted is He):
“Every day He is about some business.”

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

W hen Allåh grants a servant what he asks for and gives him what
he requests, there is no disruption of His will, nor of the decree
on which the pen of destiny ran dry, and knowledge of which was long
ago established. In fact, the servant’s petition neatly coincides with the
purpose of his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), so the response and
the satisfaction of the need occur at the precise moment appointed by
Him, of old, as the time for the fulfillment of destiny. This is how the
scholars have taken His words (Almighty and Glorious is He): “Every
day He is about some business” (55:29), meaning that He is steering the
preordainments toward their moments in time.
Thus Allåh gives nothing to anyone in this world just because of his
supplication, and by the same token He averts nothing from him merely
because of his prayer. The tradition: “Only by supplication is the decree
reversed,” has been said to mean that the decree is reversed only by a
prayer that has itself been destined to reverse the decree.
Likewise, no one will enter Paradise in the hereafter on the strength
of his deeds, but only through the mercy of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He), although His servants will be given their degrees in
Paradise according to their works. Tradition tells us that ‹Á›isha (may
Allåh be well pleased with her) once asked the Prophet (Allåh bless
him and give him peace): “Will anyone enter Paradise because of his
deeds?” He said: “No, only through Allåh’s mercy.” She then said: “Not

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 Sixty-eighth Discourse 161

even you?” So he said: “Not even I, unless Allåh covers me with His
mercy,” placing his hand on the top of his head as he spoke.
By this he indicated that Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) is
under no obligation to anyone, and is not bound to fulfill any contract.
He rather does whatever He wishes, chastises whom He will, forgives
whom He will, and has mercy on whom He will. He has power to do
whatever He wishes, and cannot be questioned about what He does,
though His servants will be questioned. He provides sustenance to
whom He will without reckoning, by His favor, His mercy and His
grace, and He withholds from whom He will in His justice. How could
it not be so, since all creation, from the presence of the Throne down
to the soil that is the seventh and lowest earth, is His domain and His
handiwork. They have no owner other than Him, no maker other than
Him. He says (Almighty and Glorious is He): “Is there any Creator
other than Allåh?” (35:3). And He says (Exalted is He): “Is there any
God beside Allåh?” (27:63). And He says (Exalted is He): “Do you
know of any that can be named with His Name?” (19:65). And He says
(Exalted is He):
Say: “O Allåh! Owner of Sovereignty! You give sovereignty to whom
You will, and You withdraw sovereignty from whom You will. You exalt
whom You will, and You abase whom You will. In Your hand is all good.
You are Able to do all things. You cause the night to pass into the day,
and You cause the day to pass into the night. You bring forth the living
from the dead, and You bring forth the dead from the living. And You
give sustenance to whom You choose, without reckoning.” (3:26, 27)

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 162

Sixty-ninth Discourse
On the commandment to ask Allåh for forgiveness, protection
from sin, help toward success, contentment and patience

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

D o not ask Allåh for anything except forgiveness of previous sins,

protection from sins in the coming days ahead, help to succeed in
goodly obedience and following orders, readiness to accept the bitter-
ness of destiny’s decree, patience in bearing the hardships of misfortune,
gratitude for the abundance of blessings and gifts, and finally, to die
with a good ending and then be united with al-Anbiyå›, aƒ-»iddºq«n,
ash-Shuhadå› and aƒ-»åli¥«n, the best of company!
Ask Him not for worldly things like the removal of poverty and
misfortune and the granting of affluence and health, but rather for
contentment with what He has allotted and arranged. Ask Him for
constant safekeeping in the situation in which He has placed and
installed you as a trial, until He transfers you from it to another that is
its very opposite. For you do not know in which lies the good, whether
in poverty or in affluence, in misfortune or in well-being. He has kept
the knowledge of things hidden from you, and He deals singlehandedly
(Almighty and Glorious is He) with the good and the bad.
It is related of ‹Umar ibn al-Kha££åb (may Allåh be well pleased with
him) that he said: “I do not care in what condition I find myself when
morning comes, whether it be disagreeable to me or to my liking,
because I do not know in which of them lies the good.” He could say
this because he was well contented with Allåh’s management (Almighty
and Glorious is He), and satisfied with His choice and His judgment.
Allåh (Exalted is He) has said:
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 Sixty-ninth Discourse 163

Fighting is prescribed for you, though it be hateful to you. But it may

happen that you hate a thing which is good for you, and may happen
that you love a thing which is bad for you. Allåh knows, and you
know not. (2:216)

Remain in this state until your passion fades away and your self is
broken, humbled, overpowered and subdued, and then your will and
desires vanish too, and all entities exit from your heart, leaving nothing
in it other than Allåh (Exalted is He). Then your heart will be filled
with the love of Allåh (Exalted is He), and your motive for seeking Him
(Almighty and Glorious is He) will be sincere. At His command, your
will is now restored to you, to seek some taste of worldly and otherworldly
joys, so you ask Him (Almighty and Glorious is He) for such things and
put your request to Him in compliance with His command. If He grants
your wish, you will thank Him and put it to good use, and if He
withholds it you will not feel resentful or change your inner attitude
toward Him, and will not accuse Him of being miserly about it. For your
asking will not have been motivated by your passion and self-will, since
your heart is free from such things and you have no desire for them. You
are simply following His orders by making your request.
So, peace!

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 164

Seventieth Discourse
On gratitude and acknowledgment of shortcomings

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

H ow can it be proper for you to be conceited about your deeds, to

take a self-centered view of them, and to demand remuneration
for them, when all your success is due to Allåh (Exalted is He), to His
help, His strength, His will and His favor? Even when it is a matter of
renouncing sinful rebellion against Him, this too is made possible
through the immunity, protection and shelter He provides. Where is
your gratitude for this, your acknowledgment of these blessings He has
conferred on you?
What is this folly and ignorance, that you take pride in what is really
someone else’s courage, generosity and charitable outlay? When you
killed your enemy, it was only after someone brave had struck him first,
then you just finished off the killing. But for his intervention, you
would have been felled instead of your enemy. Nor would you have laid
out any of your money, had you not been insured for the whole amount
by an honest, honorable and trustworthy guarantor. But for his word,
and your greed for what he had promised and guaranteed you, you would
not have donated a single grain of your wealth. How can you then take
personal pride in your deed?
Your proper course is to offer thanks and appreciation to the Helper,
and constant praise to Allåh, attributing it all to Him in all conditions,
except for things that are evil, sinful and blameworthy. The latter you
must attribute to your own self, which you should accuse and consider
guilty of iniquity and misconduct. This is what it deserves, because it
is the seat of every evil and instigates every wrong and disaster.
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 Seventieth Discourse 165

He (Almighty and Glorious is He) is your Creator and the Creator of

your deeds, as well as your acquisition, so you are the earner and He is
the Creator. As someone learned in the ways of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He) has said: “They come, and they cannot miss you.” In
the words of the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace): “Do
good works, draw near, and direct yourselves aright, for everything is
within easy reach of that for which it was created.”

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 166

Seventy-first Discourse
On the seeker and the sought

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

Y ou must be one or the other, either a seeker or one who is sought.

If you are a seeker, you must be heavy-laden, a bearer who carries
all that is awkward and weighty. For you have a quest, and anyone with
a quest must suffer hardship till he reaches his goal, wins his beloved,
and achieves his aspiration. You must not shy away from trials that
befall you, affecting your person, property, family and children, until
your burden is lifted off you, your load is taken away, your agonies are
removed, and you are relieved of trouble and humiliation. Then you
will be kept safe from every kind of vice, dirt, filth and degradation,
and from being in need of creatures and fellow beings, and so you
will be admitted into the company of those who are loved and pampered
and sought.
If you are one who is sought, you must not distrust the Lord of Truth
(Almighty and Glorious is He) for inflicting misfortune on you too, nor
should you have misgivings about your rank and standing with Him
(Almighty and Glorious is He). For He may be trying you in order to
complete your human development, and to elevate your station toward
the stations of the saints and Abdål. Would you like to have your station
and degree sit lower on the scale than theirs, or your robe of honor, your
light and blessings be inferior to theirs? Even if you are ready to be
satisfied with less, the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He) is
not content to let you settle for it. Allåh (Exalted is He) has said: “Allåh
knows, and you know not” (2:216). He chooses for you the highest, the
most splendid, the loftiest and the best, while you decline to accept.
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 Seventy-first Discourse 167

Suppose you say: “How can it be right for one sought by the Lord to
suffer tribulation, when, according to your classification and descrip-
tion, trials are meant for the lover, while the loved one is treated with
tender care?” Well, our response will be that we have mentioned the
general rule first, then spoken secondly of the possible exception.
There is no disputing the fact that the Prophet (Allåh bless him and
give him peace) was chief among the beloved, yet he was the most sorely
tried of all men. He said (Allåh bless him and give him peace): “I have
felt such fear on Allåh’s account as no one else feels; I have been made
to suffer such pain on Allåh’s account as no one else suffers; I have gone
through thirty days and nights when we had no more food than might
be hidden under the armpit of Bilål.” He also said (Allåh bless him and
give him peace): “We, the company of Prophets, are the people most
severely tried, followed by others according to their levels of perfec-
tion.” He said further (Allåh bless him and give him peace): “I am the
one amongst you who knows Allåh best, and who fears Him the most.”
How then can the beloved be afflicted and the sought-after favorite
be filled with fear? This only happens, as we have pointed out, to ensure
the attainment of high stations in Paradise, because it is only through
good deeds in this world that stations in Paradise are built and erected.
“This world is the seed-bed of the hereafter.” The good deeds of the
Prophets and saints consist, after the performance of commandments
and observance of prohibitions, in patience, contentment and compli-
ance in the midst of tribulation. Then the trial is removed from them,
and they experience blessings, favor, lavish affection and reunion for all
eternity.
Only Allåh is All-Knowing!

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 168

Seventy-second Discourse
On those who are attracted to what they see in the market,
and those who view it with patient restraint

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

A mong those religious and pious people who visit the markets,
when they go out to perform duties commanded by Allåh (Exalted
is He), such as the Friday prayer or other congregational worship, or to
attend to occasional needs, there are several different types:

When one of these types goes into the market, and sees all kinds of
pleasures and luxuries there, he is captivated by them, and temptations
attach themselves to his heart. This becomes the cause of his downfall,
leading him to abandon his religion and his pious conduct and lapse
into yielding to his natural impulses and following his passions, unless
Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) overtakes him with His mercy and
protection and imbues him with the patience to resist, in which case he
will be saved.
Another is almost ruined when he sees those things, but he returns to
his senses and his religion, controls himself and swallows the bitter pill
of having to forgo them. He therefore resembles the warrior who is
helped by Allåh (Exalted is He) to overcome his own self, his raw nature
and his passions, and for whom He records abundant reward in the
hereafter. According to one of the traditions that have come down to
us from the Prophet (Allåh bless him and give him peace), he said:
“When a believer renounces a passionate urge, whether or not he is
capable of acting it out, seventy good deeds are recorded to his credit,”
or words to that effect.

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 Seventy-second Discourse 169

There is another type who obtains those things, uses them and
appropriates them, by the gracious favor of Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He), as his worldly wealth and goods, and gives thanks for
them to Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He).
The next type does not see or notice them at all. He is blind to
everything apart from Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), so he sees
no other, and he is deaf to all but Him, so he hears no other. He is too
preoccupied to be aware of anything but his beloved and his longing for
Him, so he is quite detached from what the world is all about. If you
happen to see such a person entering the market, and ask him what he
sees in it, he will tell you: “I don’t see anything.” Yes, of course he does
see things, but only with his ordinary eyes, not with the eyes of his heart,
and then just with a casual glance, not with a lustful gaze, with a formal,
not a meaningful look, a look that is superficial, not profound. So
outwardly he does survey the contents of the market, but in his heart he
beholds his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), sometimes His Majesty
and sometimes His Beauty.
When yet another type enters the market, his heart is filled by Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He) with a feeling of compassion for the
people there. This compassion for them keeps him too occupied to
notice their wares and merchandise. From the moment he enters till
the time he leaves, he devotes himself to making supplication, praying
for forgiveness and interceding for the people there, with feelings of
sympathy and mercy for them. He has tears in his eyes, and his tongue
is engaged in praising and extolling Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is
He) for the blessings and favors He has bestowed on them all.
One of this caliber may be called the steward of the cities and the
servants of the Lord. If you wish, you may call him an initiate, one of
the Abdål, pious and wise, absent from the world and present with the
Lord, beloved and sought, a deputy on earth in charge of His servants,
an ambassador, an expert and executive, a rightly guided guide, a
conductor and director. This is none other than the philosopher’s stone
and the magpie’s egg. Allåh’s good pleasure be upon him, and upon
every believer who seeks Allåh and attains the ultimate station.
Allåh is the Guide!

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 170

Seventy-third Discourse
On a party of the saints whom Allåh makes aware
of the faults of others

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

A llåh (Exalted is He) may sometimes inform His saint about the
faults of another, about his lying, his false claims, and his
polytheistic association in his deeds, words, thoughts and intentions.
Allåh’s saint then jealously defends His Lord, His Prophet and His
religion, as his anger intensifies inwardly and then outwardly, whether
the offender is present or absent. How can he lay claim to fitness, with
so many sicknesses and ailments, internal and external? How can he
claim to profess Oneness while associating others with the Lord? Such
association amounts to unbelief and remoteness from the presence of
Allåh, for it is an attribute of the enemy, of Satan the accursed, and of
the hypocrites who are doomed to the lowest pit of hell-fire, where they
must abide forever.
Thus the tongue of the saint is moved to speak out about that person’s
faults, his wicked deeds, the insolence of his extravagant pretensions to
the states of the champions of truth, and his emulating those who
experience annihilation in the decree and action of Allåh and who are
sought by Him. This may come as an expression of zeal for Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He), sometimes as a form of rebuke and
reprimand for the offender, or then again as an outburst inspired by the
action and will of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) and the force
of His wrath at the falsehood.
The sin of backbiting may now be imputed to the saint of Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He). It may be asked whether a saint is
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 Seventy-third Discourse 171

allowed to backbite, when he forbids others to do so, or if he may tell

all and sundry about things that are not public knowledge among all
classes of society. Well, the criticism is deserved by those who make it,
as Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) has said: “The sin in them is
greater than their usefulness” (2:219). On the surface, it is censure of
something reprehensible, but inwardly it is a provocation of the Lord’s
displeasure and a protest against Him.
One who raises such objections must be in a state of confusion, so duty
requires that he keep silent, submit, and try to find the justification for
it in the sacred law—permission, not opposition. The Lord and His
saint are both attacking his fabrications and lies, and this may give him
cause to eradicate his faults, repent, and find his way back from his
ignorance and confusion. While the process is repugnant to the saint,
it is beneficial to the deluded creature whose vanity and folly have
brought him to the brink of ruin.
Allåh guides whom He will to a Way that is straight. (24:46)

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 172

Seventy-fourth Discourse
On how the intelligent person should prove to himself
the Uniqueness of Allåh

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T he first thing an intelligent person should contemplate is the

nature and structure of his own being, and then all the phenomena
of the created universe. From this he should infer the existence of their
Creator and Inventor, because in the work there is evidence of the
Maker, and in the masterful power there is an indication of the wise
Master, for all things owe their existence to Him.
Such is the import of the comments made by Ibn ‹Abbås (may Allåh
be well pleased with him and his father) in explanation of His words
(Exalted is He): “And He has made subservient to you what is in the
heavens and what is in the earth, all together, from Him” (45:13).
What he said was this: “In everything there is one of His names, and the
name of each thing comes from that name of His, so you are right in the
midst of His names, His attributes and His actions, inwardly through
His power and outwardly through His wisdom. He is manifest in His
attributes and concealed in His essence. He veils the essence with the
attributes, and veils the attributes with the actions. He reveals
knowledge through the will, and manifests the will through move-
ments. He conceals the design and the process, and manifests the work
through the will, so He is hidden in His invisibility and manifest in His
wisdom and power. ‘There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the
All-Hearing, the All-Seeing (42:11).’”

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 Seventy-fourth Discourse 173

In this statement he has revealed such secrets of inner understanding

as are only displayed from a “niche wherein there is a lamp.” This was
the man for whom sinless hands were raised with the prayer: “O Allåh,
instruct him in religion and teach him the art of interpretation!”
May Allåh (Exalted is He) bestow on us the blessings granted to such
people, and gather us to share their company and their holiness. Ámºn.

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 174

Seventy-fifth Discourse
On spiritual culture [taƒawwuf] and what it is based on

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

I advise you to be dutiful and obedient to Allåh, to maintain the outer

observance of the sacred law and the integrity of your inner feeling,
to be generous of soul and cheerful of countenance, to spend freely on
charity, to prevent suffering, and to endure pain and poverty. Respect
the dignity of the elders, and maintain friendly relations with the
brethren. Offer good counsel to young and old, give up controversy, and
be sympathetic. Always put others before yourself, and never be a miser.
Stop keeping company with those who do not share our interest in the
spiritual life. Be ready to help in matters religious and worldly.
The real meaning of poverty is not depending for your needs on
people like yourself, while the real meaning of affluence is being able to
do without people like yourself.
Spiritual culture [taƒawwuf] is not acquired through long palaver, but
through going hungry and giving up things that are familiar and
pleasant. The initiation of the spiritual pauper [fuqarå›] is not through
knowledge, but through friendliness, for knowledge disturbs him, while
friendliness puts him at his ease. Taƒawwuf is based on eight qualities:

1. Generosity like that of our master Abraham (on him be peace);

2. Cheerful resignation like that of Isaac (on him be peace);
3. Patience like that of Job (on him be peace);
4. Symbolic expression like that of Zachariah (on him be peace);
5. Exile like that of John (on him be peace);
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 Seventy-fifth Discourse 175

6. Wearing simple wool clothing like Moses (on him be peace);

7. Wandering like Jesus (on him be peace); and
8. Poverty like that of our Prophet Mu¥ammad (Allåh bless him, his
brother Prophets and Messengers, and the family and companions of
each one, and grant peace to them all).

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 176

Seventy-sixth Discourse
On advice

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

I advise you to relate to the rich with dignity and to the poor with
humility. You must practice humility and sincerity, which means
constant contemplation of the Creator. Do not distrust Allåh in
worldly matters, but humbly submit to Him on all occasions. Do not
violate your brother’s right on the strength of the friendship that exists
between you. In the company of spiritual paupers you should behave
with modesty, good manners and generosity. Mortify yourself, so that
you may come to life. The people nearest to Allåh (Exalted is He) are
those with the best moral character. The best of deeds is keeping one’s
innermost being from any inclination toward that which is apart from
Allåh (Exalted is He). You must be truthful and patient.
Two things should suffice you in this world: the companionship of a
spiritual pauper, and service to a saint. Such a pauper is one who feels
no need of anything except Allåh (Exalted is He).
Aggressiveness toward someone beneath you is weakness, toward
someone above you is arrogant pride, and toward someone like yourself
is bad manners.
Spiritual poverty and taƒawwuf are serious business, so do not mix
them with anything frivolous. May Allåh help us, and you and all the
Muslims to achieve success. Ámºn.
O Walº, it is your duty to remember Allåh in every circumstance,
because this brings all that is good together. You must cling to the
lifeline of Allåh, because it wards off harm and injury. You must be
prepared to meet the events decreed by destiny, because they are bound
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 Seventy-sixth Discourse 177

to happen. Know that you will be held responsible for how you behave
in action and at rest, so attend to what is most appropriate at the
moment, and beware of redundant physical activities.
It is your duty to obey Allåh and His Messenger and those who
continue his work. Give them their due, and do not importune them
for what is due from them. Offer prayers of supplication on every occasion.
It is your duty to think well of the Muslims and to relate to them with
good intentions. Work hard to secure their general welfare. Do not end
your day with bad feeling, rancor or hatred for anyone still in your heart.
Pray for those who have wronged you, and fear Allåh (Almighty and
Glorious is He). You must eat only lawful food, and ask people versed
in knowledge of Allåh about things you do not know.
It is also your duty to feel shame before Allåh (Glorified and Exalted
is He). Let your companionship be with Allåh, and befriend others
besides Allåh only within the scope of His companionship.
Give in charity every morning from your bread, and in the evening
perform the funeral prayer for the Muslims who have died that day.
Follow your post-sunset prayer with the prayer for special guidance and
blessing [ƒalåt al-istikhåra]. In the early morning and late evening you
should repeat seven times: “O Allåh, protect us from the Fire.” Make
a practice of saying: “I take refuge with Allåh, the All-Hearing, the
All-Knowing, from Satan the accursed,” then reciting:
He is Allåh, than Whom there is no other god, the Knower of the
Unseen and the Visible. He is the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate…
(59:22)

to the end of that chapter of the Qur›ån (S«ratu’l-ªashr).

Allåh is the only guide to success, the only helper, for there is no
might and no strength except with Allåh, the High, the Great!

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 178

Seventy-seventh Discourse
On staying with Allåh and becoming extinct to creatures

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

B e with Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) as if there were no

creatures, and with creatures as if there were no self. For when you
are with Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He) in the absence of
creatures, you will find Him and become extinct to all else, and when
you are with creatures in the absence of self, you will always act justly
and be safe from bad consequences. Leave everything at the door of
your retreat and enter it alone, then you will see your intimate friend in
your solitude with the eye of your innermost being, and will witness
what lies behind the visible realm. The self will disappear, to be
replaced by the command of Allåh and His nearness. Now your
ignorance is knowledge, your distance is nearness, your silence is
remembrance, and your loneliness is intimate friendship.
O you here! There is nothing except creation and Creator, so if you
opt for the Creator, say to the rest:
They are enemies to me, except the Lord of the Worlds. (26:77)

Then the Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and grant him
contentment) went on to say:
He who has tasted, knows.
He was asked: “When someone is mainly accustomed to the bitter-
ness of his gall, how can he discover the taste of sweetness?” He replied:
“He must set himself to work on his desires with conscious effort. O you
here! When the believer does a good deed, his self [nafs] is transformed

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 Seventy-seventh Discourse 179

into a heart [qalb], and attains the consciousness of a heart. Then his
heart is transformed into a secret soul [sirr], which is then transformed
through annihilation to achieve real being [wuj«d] and perpetuity.”

Then the Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and grant him
contentment) said:
To loved ones every door is open wide. O you here! Annihilation
[fanå›] is the obliteration of all natural characteristics, and the transfor-
mation of your nature into the nature of the angels, then becoming
extinct to the nature of the angels, then getting back onto the first
track. Then your Lord will water you as He sees fit, and sow in you what
He sees fit. If you wish for this, you must practice Islåm and then
obedient submission [istislåm], then acquire knowledge of Allåh, then
inner understanding, then real being. When your being belongs to
Him, you will be His entirely. Renunciation is an hour’s work, piety is
two hours’ work, and inner understanding is work for all eternity.

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 180

Seventy-eighth Discourse
On the people devoted to spiritual struggle and self-examination
and the masters of resolve; explanation of their virtues

The Shaikh (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and may He grant him
contentment) said:

T here are ten virtues to be practiced by those engaged in spiritual

struggle and self-examination. If they keep them up and master
them by Allåh’s leave (Exalted is He), they will attain to noble stations.

1. The servant should not swear by Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is

He), whether truthfully or falsely, deliberately or absentmindedly. If he
exercises this kind of self-control and trains his tongue accordingly, it
will bring him to the point where he can give up swearing altogether,
with or without premeditation. Once he has become accustomed to
this, Allåh will open a door to His lights, letting him experience the
benefit thereof in his heart, and raising him in rank and strength, in his
resolve and his patience, in the approbation of his brethren and the
esteem of his neighbors, so that all who know him will regard him as a
good example, and everyone who sees him will hold him in awe.
2. He should avoid lying, whether in jest or in earnest. If he practices
this self-control and his tongue gets used to being restrained, Allåh
(Exalted is He) will thereupon expand his feelings and purify his mind.
It will be as if he had no knowledge of lying, and when he hears it from
another he will reproach and rebuke him for it within himself. If he
prays for the person to be rid of it, there will be a reward for him.
3. He should beware of promising something to someone and then
failing to keep his promise. He would do better to stop making promises
altogether, so as to gain strength for his task and to keep his sense of
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 Seventy-eighth Discourse 181

purpose, since breach of promise is tantamount to lying. If he acts on

this advice, the Lord will open to him the door of liberality and the
degree of modesty, and he will be granted love among the truthful and
higher esteem in the sight of Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He).
4. He should avoid cursing anything in the realm of creation, or
hurting anything from a mere atom upward. This is one of the moral
standards of the pious and the champions of truth. It yields a good result
for one who observes it, in that he enjoys Allåh’s protection in this
world, along with the spiritual degrees He has in store for him, and He
delivers him from the pitfalls of perdition, keeps him safe from people,
blesses him with human compassion, and brings him near to Himself
(Almighty and Glorious is He).
5. He should avoid invoking evil on any fellow creature, even one
who has wronged him. He should not cut him with his tongue, nor
retaliate against him by word or deed. This virtue raises one who
practices it to the highest ranks. If he cultivates it, he will achieve noble
status in this world and the hereafter, love and affection in the hearts
of all creatures near and far, answers to his prayers, popular acclaim, and
respect in this world in the hearts of all believers.
6. He should not assert that he has evidence of polytheism, unbelief
or hypocrisy on the part of any member of the Muslim community
[“people of the Qibla”]. This is closer to mercy and higher in degree,
since it is perfectly in keeping with the Sunna, very far from intruding
on Allåh’s knowledge and from incurring Allåh’s wrath, and nearer to
the good pleasure and mercy of Allåh (Exalted is He). This is an
honorable and noble doorway to Allåh (Exalted is He), through which
the servant is endowed with mercy for all creatures.
7. He should refrain from contemplating sinful offences, and restrain
all his limbs and organs from participating in them. Such efforts bring
the quickest reward to heart and body in the present life of this world,
as well as the good things Allåh holds in store in the hereafter. We beg
Allåh to bless us all, to educate us in these virtues, and to remove our
base desires from our hearts.
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 182 Seventy-eighth Discourse

8. He should avoid laying a burden of his, big or small, on any fellow

creature. Rather should he relieve all creatures of his burden, regardless
of what he needs or does not need, for this is the height of honor for
servants and of nobility for the righteous. From this he gains strength
to fulfill his duty to enjoin what is good and fair and forbid what is evil
and unfair. All creatures should be of equal status as far as he is
concerned. When this stage is reached, Allåh moves him on toward
annihilation [fanå›], certitude, and confidence in Him (Almighty and
Glorious is He). No other is raised to the same height, yet he sees all
creatures as having equal rights. This is quite certainly the cause of
honor for the believers and of nobility for the righteous, and it is very
close to the gate of sincerity.
9. He must stop expecting human beings to satisfy his greed, and not
let himself covet what they have at their disposal. Thus he will achieve
the greatest honor, peculiar enrichment, vast dominion, splendid glory,
pure certitude, and frank, unequivocal trust in the Lord. This is one of
the doors to confidence in Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), one
of the doors to renunciation, leading to the attainment of piety and the
perfect practice of religion. It is one of the marks of those who are
wholly dedicated to Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He).
10. The tenth is humility, for it is with this virtue that the servant’s
residence is erected, that his station is raised high, that his honor and
eminence are made perfect in the sight of Allåh (Glory be to Him) and
in the sight of His creatures, and that he is empowered to achieve all his
worldly and otherworldly goals. This virtue is the root, branch and
consummation of all virtues, whereby the servant attains to the stations
of the righteous, those who are content with Allåh (Exalted is He) in
joy and in sorrow alike. This is the perfection of piety.
Humility means that the servant never meets anyone without assum-
ing him to be more worthy than himself. He will always say: “Perhaps
he is better than I in Allåh’s sight, and higher in degree.” If it is someone
young, he will say: “This person has not offended Allåh (Exalted is He)
as I have done, so he is undoubtedly better than I.” If it is someone older,
he will say: “This person served Allåh long before I did.” If it is someone
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 Seventy-eighth Discourse 183

learned, he will say: “This person has received something I have not
experienced, and has acquired something I have not acquired. He
knows things of which I am ignorant, and he puts his knowledge into
practice.” If it is someone who is ignorant, he will say: “This person has
offended Allåh in ignorance, while I have offended him knowingly. I
do not know what end He has in store for me, nor what end He has in
store for him.” If it should be an unbeliever, he will say: “I don’t know;
perhaps he will embrace Islåm and come to a good end, and maybe I
shall become an unbeliever and come to a bad end.”
This is the topic of sympathy [for others] and apprehension [about
oneself], the first to become familiar and the last to remain with servants
of the Lord. When the servant is like this, Allåh (Exalted is He) keeps
him safe from disasters, and brings him as a reward to the stations of
loyalty to Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He). He then belongs
among the chosen ones and friends of the All-Merciful, and among the
enemies of Iblºs, Allåh’s accursed foe.
This is the gate of mercy, with the attainment of which the gate of
pride is demolished and the cords of vanity are severed, and the stage
of self-aggrandizement in religious and worldly matters is left behind.
This is the very marrow of worshipful service, the ultimate distinction
of the self-denying, and the mark of the devout. There is nothing more
admirable than this.
The servant should now prevent his tongue from discussing human
beings and matters of no importance, otherwise he will accomplish
nothing. Malice, pride and spite must leave his heart wherever he finds
himself, his tongue should be the same in private as in public, his private
and public wishes should be identical, and so should his words. All
people should be as one to him in respect of sincere advice. He should
not be one of those counselors who speak ill of one of Allåh’s creatures,
or condemn him for some action, nor should it please him to be told of
someone’s faults. This vice is the bane of Allåh’s servants, the ruin of
the devout and the destruction of the pious, except for those whom
Allåh (Exalted is He) helps by keeping them safe in tongue and heart
through His mercy, His grace and His beneficence.

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Addendum
The Shaikh’s final advice to his sons (sanctified be their innermost
secrets); some valuable remarks he made; his last illness and death
(may Allåh be well pleased with him, and grant him contentment.)

W hen the Shaikh (may Allåh be content with him and grant him
contentment) was in the throes of the illness of which he
died, his son ‹Abd al-Wahhåb (sanctified be his innermost secret) said
to him: “O my master, leave me with some advice to put into practice
after you are gone.” To this he replied (may Allåh be well pleased with
him, and grant him contentment): “You must observe your duty to
Allåh (Almighty and Glorious is He), fear no one but Allåh, pin your
hopes on no one but Allåh, and entrust all your needs to Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He). Do not rely on anyone but Him, address
all your requests to Him (Exalted is He), and put your trust in no one
other than Allåh (Glory be to Him). Affirm His Oneness. All is
contained within the affirmation of His Oneness.”
He also said (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and grant him
contentment): “When the heart is as it should be with Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He), it wants for nothing and contains
nothing superfluous.”
He said further (may Allåh be well pleased with him, and grant him
contentment): “I am a kernel with no shell.”
To his sons he said (may Allåh be well pleased with him): “Keep your
distance from me, for I am with you outwardly, but inwardly I am with
others.”
He also said (may Allåh be well pleased with him): “Others have
come into my presence, so make room for them and treat them
courteously. A very great kindness here. Do not crowd their space.”
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 186 Addendum

He kept saying (may Allåh be well pleased with him): “On you be
peace, and Allåh’s mercy and His blessings. May Allåh forgive me and
you. May Allåh relent toward me and toward you. In the Name of
Allåh, farewell!” He said this for a day and a night.
He said (may Allåh be well pleased with him): “Woe unto you!
Nothing worries me, not the angel, not even you, O angel of death! He
who cares for us has blessed us with something beyond you.” Then he
uttered a loud cry. This was on the day in the late evening of which he
died (may Allåh be well pleased with him). It is reported by two of his
sons, Shaikh ‹Abd al-Razzåq and Shaikh M«så (sanctified be their
innermost secrets) that the venerable Ghawth (may Allåh be well
pleased with him) would raise his hands and stretch them out, while
saying: “On you be peace, and Allåh’s mercy and His blessings! Repent
and get into line when it comes to your turn.”
He was sayng (may Allåh be well pleased with him): “Wait!” Then
came to him the moment of truth and the pang of death.

H e said (may Allåh be well pleased with him): “Between me and

you and all other creatures there is a distance like that
between heaven and earth, so do not compare me to anyone, and do not
compare us with anyone.” Then his son Shaikh ‹Abd al-‹Azºz (sanc-
tified be his innermost secret) asked him again about his suffering and
how he felt, but he said (may Allåh be well pleased with him): “Let no
one ask me anything. I am basking in the knowledge of Allåh
(Almighty and Glorious is He).”
Shaikh ‹Abd al-‹Azºz (sanctified be his innermost secret) asked him
again about his illness, and he replied (may Allåh be well pleased with
him): “No one knows the nature of my sickness, and nobody under-
stands it, be he human, jinn, or angel. Allåh’s knowledge is not
diminished by Allåh’s decree. The decree may change, but the
knowledge is unchanging. ‘Allåh effaces or confirms whatever He will,
and with Him is the Essence of the Book,’ (13:39). ‘He will not be
questioned as to what He does, but they will be questioned.’ (21:23).”

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 Addendum 187

The following descriptions have also been reported:

H is son Shaikh ‹Abd al-Jabbår (sanctified be his innermost secret)

asked him: “Which part of your body gives you pain?” He replied
(may Allåh be well pleased with him): “All my organs are hurting me
except my heart. There is no pain there, for it is with Allåh (Almighty
and Glorious is He).” Then death came to him, as he was saying (may
Allåh be well pleased with him): “I seek help in the words: ‘There is
none worthy of worship but Allåh, Glorified and Exalted is He, the
Ever-Living, Who has no fear of passing away. Glory be to Him Who
exults in His omnipotence, and subdues His servants with death. There
is none worthy of worship but Allåh. Mu¥ammad is Allåh’s Messenger.’”

H is son Shaikh M«så (sanctified be his innermost secret) told us

that when death approached the presence of the Shaikh (may
Allåh be well pleased with him, and grant him contentment), he was
trying to say the word “ta‹azzaza” [“exults”], but could not get the
pronunciation right, so he kept on repeating “ta-‹az-za-za,” slowly and
emphatically, until his tongue shot it out. Then he said: “Allåh, Allåh,
Allåh,” till his voice grew faint and his tongue was cleaving to the roof
of his mouth. Then his noble spirit went forth.
The good pleasure of Allåh (Exalted is He) be upon him!

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 188 Addendum

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 About the Translator 189

About the Translator

M uhtar Holland was born in 1935, in the ancient city of

Durham in the North East of England. This statement may be
considered anachronistic, however, since he did not bear the name
Muhtar until 1969, when he was moved—by powerful experiences
in the latihan kejiwaan of Subud—to embrace the religion of Islåm.*
At the age of four, according to an entry in his father’s diary, he said
to a man who asked his name: “I’m a stranger to myself.” During
his years at school, he was drawn most strongly to the study of
languages, which seemed to offer signposts to guide the stranger on
his “Journey Home,” apart from their practical usefulness to one who
loved to spend his vacations traveling—at first on a bicycle—
through foreign lands. Serious courses in Latin, Greek, French,
Spanish and Danish, with additional smatterings of Anglo-Saxon,
Italian, German and Dutch. Travels in France, Germany, Belgium,
Holland and Denmark. Then a State Scholarship and up to Balliol
College, Oxford, for a degree course centered on the study of Arabic
and Turkish. Travels in Turkey and Syria. Then National Service
in the Royal Navy, with most of the two years spent on an intensive
course in the Russian language.
In the years since graduation from Oxford and Her Majesty’s
Senior Service, Mr. Holland has held academic posts at the Univer-
sity of Toronto, Canada; at the School of Oriental and African
Studies in the University of London, England (with a five-month
leave to study Islamic Law in Cairo, Egypt); and at the Universiti
Kebangsaan in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (followed by a six-month
sojourn in Indonesia). He also worked as Senior Research Fellow at
the Islamic Foundation in Leicester, England, and as Director of the
N«r al-Islåm Translation Center in Valley Cottage, New York.
* The name Muhtar was received at that time from Bapak Muhammad Subuh
Sumohadiwidjojo, of Wisma Subud, Jakarta, in response to a request for a suitable
Muslim name. In strict academic transliteration from the Arabic, the spelling would
be Mukhtår. The form Muchtar is probably more common in Indonesia than Muhtar, 189
which happens to coincide with the modern Turkish spelling of the name.

Revelations Section 4 189 11/19/07, 4:28 AM

 190 Necklaces ofThe Proper
About Conduct
Gems of Marriage
the Translator

His freelance activities have mostly been devoted to writing and

translating in various parts of the world, including Scotland and
California. He made his Pilgrimage [ªajj] to Mecca in 1980.
Published works include the following:
Al-Ghazålº. On the Duties of Brotherhood. Translated from the Classical Arabic
by Muhtar Holland. London: Latimer New Dimensions, 1975. New York:
Overlook Press, 1977. Repr. 1980 and 1993.
Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi. The Unveiling of Love. Translated from the
Turkish by Muhtar Holland. New York: Inner Traditions, 1981. Westport,
Ct.: Pir Publications, 1990.
Ibn Taymºya. Public Duties in Islåm. Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar
Holland. Leicester, England: Islamic Foundation, 1982.
Hasan Shushud. Masters of Wisdom of Central Asia. Translated from the
Turkish by Muhtar Holland. Ellingstring, England: Coombe Springs Press, 1983.
Al-Ghazålº. Inner Dimensions of Islamic Worship. Translated from the Arabic
by Muhtar Holland. Leicester, England: Islamic Foundation, 1983.
Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi. Irshåd. Translated [from the Turkish] with an
Introduction by Muhtar Holland. Warwick, New York: Amity House, 1988.
Westport, Ct.: Pir Publications, 1990.
Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi. Blessed Virgin Mary. Translation from the
original Turkish by Muhtar Holland. Westport, Ct.: Pir Publications, 1991.
Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi. The Garden of Dervishes. Translation from
the original Turkish by Muhtar Holland. Westport, Ct.: Pir Publications, 1991.
Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi. Adornment of Hearts. Translation from the
original Turkish by Muhtar Holland and Sixtina Friedrich. Westport, Ct.: Pir
Publications, 1991.
Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak al-Jerrahi. Ashki’s Divan. Translation from the Original
Turkish by Muhtar Holland and Sixtina Friedrich. Westport, Ct.: Pir
Publications, 1991.
Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº. Revelations of the Unseen (Fut«¥ al-Ghaib).
Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland. Houston, Texas: Al-Baz
Publishing, Inc., 1992. Second edition, Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Al-Baz
Publishing, Inc., 1998.
Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº. The Sublime Revelation (al-Fat¥ ar-Rabbånº).
Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland. Houston, Texas: Al-Baz
Publishing, Inc., 1992. Second edition, Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Al-Baz
Publishing, Inc., 1998.

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 Aboutthe
About the Translator
Translator
Necklaces of Gems 191

Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº. Utterances (Malf«œåt). Translated from the

Arabic by Muhtar Holland. Houston, Texas: Al-Baz Publishing, Inc., 1992.
Second edition, Fort Lauderdale, Florida: Al-Baz Publishing, Inc., 1998.
Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº. The Removal of Cares (Jalå› al-Khawå£ir).
Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida:
Al-Baz Publishing, Inc., 1997.
Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº. Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of
Truth (Al-Ghunya li-¡ålibº ¡arºq al-ªaqq). Translated from the Arabic (in 5 vols.)
by Muhtar Holland. Hollywood, Florida: Al-Baz Publishing, Inc., 1997.
Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº. Fifteen Letters (Khamsata ‹Ashara Makt«ban).
Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland. Hollywood, Florida: Al-Baz
Publishing, Inc., 1997.
Shaikh Walº Raslån ad-Dimashqº. Concerning the Affirmation of Divine Oneness
(Risåla fi’t-Taw¥ºd). Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland.
Hollywood, Florida: Al-Baz Publishing, Inc., 1997.
Al-Ghazålº. The Proper Conduct of Marriage in Islåm (Ádåb an-Nikå¥). (Book
twelve of I¥yå› ‹Ul«m ad-Dºn). Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland.
Hollywood, Florida: Al-Baz Publishing, Inc., 1998.
Shaikh Mu¥ammad ibn Ya¥yå at-Tådifº. Necklaces of Gems (Qalå›id al-Jawåhir).
Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland. Fort Lauderdale, Florida:
Al-Baz Publishing, Inc., 1998.

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 192 The Proper Conduct of Marriage

192

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 About the Translator 193

BOOKS PUBLISHED BY AL-BAZ PUBLISHING

INCLUDE:

1. Revelations of the Unseen (Fut«¥ al-Ghaib) $18.00

78 Discourses by Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº
2. The Sublime Revelation (Al-Fat¥ ar-Rabbånº) $29.00
62 Discourses by Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº
3. Utterances of Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir (Malf«œåt) $16.00
4. The Removal of Cares (Jalå› al-Khawå£ir) $24.95
45 Discourses by Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº
5. Sufficient Provision for Seekers of the Path of Truth
(Al-Ghunya li-¡ålibº ¡arºq al-ªaqq) $110.00 Set
by Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº (may Allåh be well pleased with him)
This encyclopedic work is a complete resource on the inner and outer aspects
of Islåm. The translation has been published in 5 volumes. Translated by
Muhtar Holland and over five and a half years in the translating, this work is
undoubtedly the publishing event of this century and a treasure of unimaginable
value to the believers. 1738 pages.
6. Fifteen Letters $10.00
(Khamsata ‹Ashara Makt«ban otherwise known as Makt«båt)
Fifteen letters by Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº to one of his disciples.
Originally written in Persian, they were translated into Arabic by ‹Alº
ªusåmu’d-dºn al-Muttaqº (the Devout), who said of them, “… these letters
comprise nuggets of wisdom and spiritual counsel, couched in various forms of
allegory, metaphor, paraphrase and quotation, including approximately two
hundred and seventy-five Qur݌nic verses. They also contain allusions to the
experiences [adhwåq] and spiritual states [¥ålåt] of the »«fis (may Allåh’s good
pleasure be conferred upon them all). Translated by Muhtar Holland.
7. Concerning the Affirmation of Divine Oneness $15.00
(Risåla fi’t-Taw¥ºd)
by Shaikh Walº Raslån ad-Dimashqº (d. A.H. 540)
This is a Risåla on shirk khafº (hidden shirk). Shirk is associating partners with
Allåh. Also in the book is a commentary by Shaikh Zakariyyå› al-Anƒårº
(d. A.H. 926) called Kitåb Fat¥ ar-Ra¥mån. Also in the book is a commentary
by Shaikh ‹Alº ibn ‹A£iyya ‹Alawån al-ªamawº (d. A.H. 936) called Shar¥ Fat¥
ar-Ra¥mån. This is a very important book. Translated by Muhtar Holland. 193

Revelations Section 4 193 11/19/07, 4:28 AM

 194 The Proper Conduct of Marriage

8. The Proper Conduct of Marriage in Islåm $16.00

(Ádåb an-Nikå¥)
by Imåm al-Ghazålº
This is Book 12 of I¥yå› ‹Ul«m ad-Dºn. Translated by Muhtar Holland.
9. The Most Beautiful Names of God $11.00/12.50
(Al-Asmå› al-ªusnå)
by Jamå‹a Majh«la
A chanted recital of the 99 Names of Allåh. Vocals only; men and boys
Track 2: The Boundless Grace of al-Qur݌n
Audio tape and CD.
10. Necklaces of Gems (Qalå›id al-Jawåhir) $29.95
by Shaikh Mu¥ammad ibn Ya¥yå at-Tådifº (d. A.H. 963)
A Biography of Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº (may Allåh be well pleased with
him), on the Marvelous Exploits of the Crown of the Saints, the Treasure-trove
of the Pure, the Sul£ån of the Awliyå›, the Sublime Qu£b, Shaikh Mu¥yi’d-dºn
‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº. Translated by Muhtar Holland.

Books scheduled for publication

in 1998 and 1999 include:

1. Emanations of Lordly Grace (al-Fuy«æåt ar-Rabbåniyya)

by Ism勺l Mu¥ammad Sa‹ºd al-Qådirº
A collection of the work and explanations of Shaikh ‹Abd al-Qådir al-Jºlånº
(may Allåh be well pleased with him), that includes definition and attributes
of the seven selves [nafs], an explanation of the names of the seven stations
[maqåmåt], the creed [‹aqºda] of the Supreme Helper (may Allåh be well pleased
with him), the meaning of the names of the Qådiriyya order, the remarkable
virtues of al-Jºlånº the Qu£b, the names of our master, ‹Abd al-Qådir, litanies
[awråd] for the taming of hearts and for emergency situations; how to offer the
greeting of peace [salåm]to the men of the unseen [Ghaib] and much much more.
Translated by Muhtar Holland.
2. The Call to the Believers in the Clear Qur݌n
(Nidå› al-Mu›minºn fi ’l-Qur›ån al-Mubºn)
by Shaikh A¥mad Fat¥u’llåh Jåmº, the Shaikh of the Shådhilº
Order, the native of Mush [in Eastern Turkey], the Khålidº by
descent, the Shåfi‹º by school of Islåmic Law, the resident of
Marash. This is the first book in our “Living Shaikh Series.”
In the clear and Glorious Qur›ån, eighty-nine verses [åyåt] bear the explicit
address: “O you who believe [ya ayyuha ’lladhºna åman«].” The author provides
a thorough and enlightening commentary for each and every one of these.

194

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 About the Translator 195

As a lifelong seeker of religious knowledge and spritual development, he is

exceptionally well qualified for this task. His monumental work, nearly 700
pages in the Arabic edition, is adorned with countless traditional explanations
as well as with his own insightful observations. May Allåh keep him safe
and well!
3. The Path of the Worshipful Servants to the Garden of the
Lord of All the Worlds
(Minhåj al-‹Ábidºn ilå Jannati Rabbi ’l-‹Álamºn)
by Imåm ªujjat al-Islåm Ab« ªåmid Mu¥ammad al-Ghazålº.
The author tells us how he implored Allåh “to make it possible for me to
compose a book—one that would meet with unanimous approval, and the
reading of which would result in positive benefit—and He inspired me with a
marvelous arrangement, the like of which I did not recall in any of the previous
compositions dealing with the secrets of religious practices.”
He also said, “Worshipful service is the fruit of knowledge, the benefit of life,
the income of strong servants, the stock-in-trade of the saints [awliya›], the path
of the truly devout, the allotted portion of the mighty, the goal of those endowed
with aspiration, the emblem of the noble, the vocation of real men, and the
choice of those with faculties of vision. It is the way of good fortune and the path
[minhåj] of the Garden of Paradise.”
He went on to say, “We therefore looked into the subject of worshipful service,
and made a study of its path, from its beginnings to its destinations, which are
the goals of its travelers. It is indeed a rugged path and a hard road, fraught with
many obstacles, serious hardships, remote distances, enormous difficulties,
frequent hindrances and impediments. It is beset with deadly perils and
interruptions, abounding in enemies and highway robbers, and offering very few
companions and followers. That is exactly how it needs to be, since it is the path
of the Garden of Paradise.”
As the very last book composed by Imåm Ghazålº, it undoubtedly contains the
essence of his profound and remarkable experience, and conveys that essence
in a remarkably edifying manner. Near the beginning of the book he tells us,
“When the servant of the Lord is first awakened to worshipful service, and
devotes himself exclusively to traveling its path, he is motivated by a heavenly
vibration from Allåh, and a special enabling grace of Divine origin.”

Orders or enquiries, or to be placed on our mailing list, contact:

Al-Baz Publishing, Inc.
8807 148th Ave NE
Redmond, WA 98052
Phone: (425) 891-5444
E-mail: [email protected]

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 196 The Proper Conduct of Marriage

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