The Forty-Fifth Discourse
You must pass through and beyond the marketplace of your fellow creatures. Go in
through the gate of your physical body, but come out and away from them with
your heart and your intention [niyya]. Be like a solitary bird, neither offering
familiarity nor accepting it, neither noticing others nor being noticed by them.
Be like this until the script of destiny reaches its final period, and your
heart draws near to the doorway of your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He). Then
you will see the hearts of the people [of the Lord] stationed there, and they
will turn to greet you, offering you their congratulations and bidding you
welcome, as they kiss you on the forehead. Then the hand of gracious favor will
reach out to you from inside the door. It will greet you, pick you up, and
convey you in solemn procession. It will lavish attention upon you, feeding you,
quenching your thirst, and anointing you with perfume. It will seat you at the
door, to watch and wait for the questing seekers who will come. As soon as each
of these arrives, it will take him by the hand, and place his hand in your hand.
Once you have truly experienced all this, you must come forth and present
yourself to your fellow creatures. You must be in their midst like a medical
doctor in the midst of the sick, like an intelligent person in the midst of the
insane, and like a tenderly loving father in the midst of his children. Before
you have reached this stage, however, you are unworthy of respect. You are
merely a hypocrite [munafiq] as far as they are concerned, a servant at their
beck and call. You imagine that you are providing them with therapy, when you
are actually treating them as objects of worship [mushrik bihim]. The therapy
you offer them will turn out to be a punishment for you, because it is
administered in ignorance and it does more harm than good.
Speak only about things that really concern you, and stop talking about things
that are no concern of yours. If you were truly aware of ALLAH (Almighty and
Glorious is He), your fear of Him would be much greater, and you would do far
less talking in His presence. This is why the Prophet (ALLAH bless him and give
him peace) has told us:
When someone really knows ALLAH, his tongue becomes weary.
That is to say, he becomes incapable of speech. The tongue of his lower self [nafs]
is dumb, and he can only speak with the tongue of his heart [qalb], his
innermost being [sirr], his spiritual content [ma'ani], his true sincerity [sidq],
and his pure serenity [safa']. The tongue of his falsehood is dumb, while the
tongue of his truthfulness is capable of speech. Dumb is the tongue of his
talking about things that are no concern of his, while capable of speech is the
tongue of his talking about things that really do concern him. Dumb is the
tongue of his quest for his own self-interest, while the tongue of his quest for
the Truth [Haqq] is capable of speech.
In the initial stage of acquiring direct knowledge [ma'rifa], the faculty of
speech is brought to a halt, and the person's entire existence [wujud] simply
melts away. He becomes extinct [fani] to himself and to everything else. Then,
if it be so willed by the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), He will
resurrect him. If He wishes him to be capable of speech, He will create a tongue
for him to use, and He will cause him to speak with it. He will cause him to
utter whatever words of wisdom [hikam] and whatever secrets [asrar] He wishes
him to utter. That person's speech will then come to be a remedy within a
remedy, a light within a light, a truth within a truth, a rightness within a
rightness, a purity within a purity, because he will speak only at the behest of
ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He), through the medium of his heart. If he
should speak without such a command, he would perish, so he will not speak at
all unless he is obliged to do so, because he receives an order and is moved by
an irresistibly compelling action. If it comes about in this manner, well, the
Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He) is far too Generous [Akram] to find
fault with someone who follows an overwhelming motivation, in which there is no
element of lower self [nafs], of passionate desire [hawa], of natural
inclination [tab'], of satanic influence [shaitan], or of willfulness [irada].
No more would He chastise him for this, than He would take a corpse to task for
uttering an articulate sound, or a dreamer for witnessing and experiencing the
enactment of a sexual fantasy in his sleep. There have in fact been plenty of
cases where spoken words were heard to issue from corpses, well after the time
of death.
In case someone should take it upon himself to address his fellow creatures in
any fashion other than the one we have just described, it would be far better
for him to remain silent than to speak. None but the brave should dare to place
himself in the front rank. Anyone who joins the front rank, without having
either courage or skill, is doomed to perish.
Woe unto you! You claim to love ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He), when you
actually love anything but Him. Your false claim will be the cause of your
destruction. How can you lay claim to love, when there is no visible sign of it
about you? Love [mahabba] is like a fire in a house with neither door nor key;
its flames emerge from up on top of the lover [muhibb]. He locks the door of his
love and tries to keep it hidden from view, while it reveals itself to him in a
language peculiar to him, in a form of speech peculiar to him. He does not wish
to share the company of his beloved [mahbub] with anyone else, and this is one
of the major signs of his genuine sincerity.
O liar, O jester! You had better hold your tongue, for you are not one of these.
You are not a lover. The lover has faith [iman], but he also experiences
agitation and disturbance. The beloved has a feeling of calm tranquility,
dwelling in the chamber of grace and sleeping therein. The lover is in a state
of exhaustion, while the beloved is in a state of comfortable relaxation. The
lover is a learner [muta'allim], while the beloved is a learned scholar ['alim].
The lover is imprisoned, while the beloved is at liberty. The lover is crazy,
while the beloved is perfectly sane.
When a little boy catches sight of a snake, he emits a loud scream. When the
snake-charmer catches sight of a lion, he emits a loud scream and runs away in
terror. As for the lion itself, it plays with the other lions and sleeps
alongside them. ALLAH (Exalted is He) has said:
Observe your duty to ALLAH. ALLAH will teach you. (2:282)
The lover [muhibb] is dutifully devout and well-mannered as he stands in waiting
at the door. He must make sure that his heart, as well as the limbs and organs
of his physical body, is on its best behavior. Once he has achieved the proper
state of refinement, he may enter within through the door of nearness. The law [hukm]
refines behavior at the door, and knowledge ['ilm] provides refinement inside
the door. If a person behaves correctly at the door of the law, knowledge will
accord him a friendly reception, take him into its care, provide him with
instruction, supply all his needs, and keep him safe. The law is a communal
doorway, while knowledge is a special door. If a person achieves an excellent
standard of conduct and worshipful obedience at the communal doorway, he will
come to be someone who enjoys a friendly reception behind the special door. He
will come to be numbered among the company of the loved ones [mahbubin].
There is nothing really worth talking about, until you can speak at length while
sticking closely to the spiritual path [tariq], practicing real servitude ['ubudiyya],
and keeping a watch on your own lower self [nafs] with the eye of scorn and
disdain. If a person can see and acknowledge his own deficiency, he will come to
experience perfection, but if someone admires his own perfection, he will end up
with nothing but deficiency. You must therefore turn about and face in the
opposite direction, for only then you will hit the mark. You must seek good
advice, for only then you will find the right track. You must be patient, for
only then will you achieve success, find what you are seeking, and be carried
forward to your goal. You must practice patience, for only then you will be
treated with patience. You must accept with good grace, for only then will you
be accepted with good grace. You must behave correctly, for only then will you
be treated correctly. You must offer the greeting of peace, for only then will
you be greeted with peace. You must be ready to comply, for only then will you
be given helpful guidance. You must serve, for only then will you be served. You
must stick close to the door, for only then will it be opened for you. You must
not be too hasty, for only then will you obtain results. You must act with
generosity, for only then will you be treated generously. You must draw near,
for only then will you be drawn near. You must do well, for only then will you
be treated well.
When the heart travels on the feet of dedicated efforts and exertions, covers
the distance to its Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), and finally attains to
Him, it becomes firmly established in His presence, and for it there is no
longer any question of going back. It moves out of the realm of Divine Wisdom [Hikma]
and into the realm of Divine Power [Qudra], out of the realm of instruments [alat]
and material means [asbab], and into the realm of the Maker [Sani'] and
Originator [Musabbib]. It moves away from its own will [mashi 'a] and toward the
Will of its Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He); away from its own movement and
rest, and toward the movement and rest of its Lord (Almighty and Glorious is
He).
O seekers of this world! As long as you are constantly engaged in the search for
her, you are doomed to weary labor. This world goes looking for those who try to
run away from her. The harder a person runs in the effort to get away from her,
the harder she runs after him. Then, if he turns around and gives her his
attention, she draws the obvious conclusion from his insincerity. She therefore
brings him under her control and puts him to work in her service, then
eventually kills him off. If he does not turn around and give her his attention,
on the other hand, she draws the obvious conclusion from his genuine sincerity,
and so puts herself at his service. In order to derive benefit from this world,
you must first become detached from her and actually run away from her. Yes, you
must run away from her, for she is an extremely cunning, deceptively enchanting,
and utterly lethal witch. You must separate from her with your hearts, before
she separates from you. You must become detached from her, before she detaches
herself from you. You should not take her as your wife, but if you do marry her,
you must not let your religion [din] be stipulated in the contract as her dower
[mahr], for if you do so, the marriage will very quickly end in divorce. She
will then be entitled to keep your religion, since it was stipulated in the
marriage contract that your religion would be her nuptial gift [sadaq]. The
religion of the hypocrite [munafiq] is the dower of this world, while the blood
of the martyred believer [mu'min shahid] is the dower of the hereafter, and the
blood of the lover [muhibb] is the dower of the nearness of the Lord [Mawla].
Woe unto you! As long as you go on behaving as the servant of this world, she
will injure you and do you no good at all. Once the tables are turned, however,
so that she is now the one behaving as your servant, she will prove to be quite
useful to you, and will cause you no harm. You must drive her out of your heart,
for only then will you get to see her good side, the service she can provide,
and how humble she can be. She displays herself to the heart of the believer [mu'min]
in her most charmingly beautiful form, wearing every kind of adornment, so he
asks her: "Who are you?" To this she replies: "I am this world, and you love
dirhams and dinars [gold and silver coins]!"
A certain righteous man (may ALLAH bestow His mercy upon him) is reported as
having said: "Once in a dream I saw a very good-looking woman, and when I asked
her who she might be, she said to me, "I am this world," so I said to her: "I
take refuge with ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He) from you and your wicked
ways." To this she responded by saying: "You must feel a repugnance for dirhams
and dinars, then you will be well protected against any wickedness of mine."
O liars! It is one of the essential prerequisites, for anyone who is truly
honest [sadiq] about wishing for his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), that he
must feel a strong repugnance for everything apart from Him, in both the outer [zahir]
and the inner [batin] spheres. The outer sphere is this world with its carnal
satisfactions, its sons and all that they possess, the praise and applause of
one's fellow creatures, and their approval and acceptance. The inner sphere is
the Garden of Paradise and all the blissful joys that it contains. Provided that
someone genuinely meets this standard, his wish will be fully realized. His
heart will then draw near to his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He) and, having
come to be a participant in His nearness, he will be completely devoted to Him.
Once this stage has been reached, along will come this world with its particular
nature, and along will come the hereafter with its peculiar character. The
former will come with its finery, and the latter with its substance. They will
both become maidservants ready to serve him. Their beauty will be for the
benefit of the lower self [nafs], not of the heart. The food of this world and
the food of the hereafter are for the benefit of the lower self, not of the
heart. It is the food of nearness [to the Lord] that is for the benefit of the
heart.
This to which I offer an invitation is the Will of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious
is He) for His creatures, not that to which you would invite us.
O hypocrites! The sensible person is one who examines the ultimate conclusions,
and who is not deceived by the way things appear at the outset. The sensible
person is one who merely asks to borrow this world and the hereafter, both of
which are handmaidens for the people [of the Lord], whom they serve and whose
words they hear and obey. The sensible person fetches the two of them and
listens to what they have to say for themselves. He hears how this world
describes itself, and he hears how the hereafter describes itself, then he
purchases from each of them whatever is useful to him. He takes sparingly from
this world, because it is so impermanent, and he turns his back on the
hereafter, because it is new-fashioned [muhdatha], a created entity [makhluqa],
which acts as a screen between its Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He) and anyone
who goes after it and makes it, rather than Him, the object of his longing. To
such a person this world will say: "Do not seek me, and do not take me as a
wife, for I keep moving from palace to palace, from king to king. As soon as I
get married to someone, I murder him and seize his property. Be on your guard
against me, for I am a glutton for short-lived marriages [dhawwaqa], a
treacherous killer. I do not fulfill the contract a person makes with me." As
for the hereafter, it will say to him: "I am branded with the mark of buying and
selling. To put it in the words of my Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He):
ALLAH has bought from the believers their persons and their goods, Paradise
being theirs for the price. (9:111)
--I see upon your face the mark of nearness, so do not purchase me, for ALLAH
(Almighty and Glorious is He) will not let you stay with me."
Once he has really experienced all this, when he has abandoned both this world
and the hereafter, and has turned his back on both of them, preferring to go in
search of his Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), this world will then be
restored to him, so that he may enjoy his allotted shares thereof, free from the
pressure of need. The hereafter will also be given back to him, so that it may
serve him as a lady housekeeper [qahramana].Listen to this, O seekers! Listen to
this, O you who are sick! What I have been explaining to you is a remedy for
your ailments, so put it to good use! Whenever someone becomes detached from
something, that thing comes looking for him. You must become detached from all
objects of creation [makhluqat], so that the Creator [Khaliq] will love you. One
who is beloved in the sight of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He) may well be
compared to an invalid in the clinic of a kind and gentle physician, who takes
him into his personal care.
O my people, accept the advice I am offering you! You must detach yourselves
from this world, for your fondness and love for it will set up a barrier to keep
you from the hereafter, from the nearness of your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is
He), and from the delight of the eyes of your hearts. Getting stuck with this
world will block you off from the hereafter, while getting stuck with the lower
self [nafs] will block you off from the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is
He).
O ignorant ones! Do not consume the fruits of this world at the expense of
losing the fruits of the hereafter. The hereafter is a princess [sayyida], for
whom this world is a female slave [mamluka], and the slave must follow and obey
the owner. The one is lowly, while the other is lofty, and the lowly must follow
and obey the lofty. You must not consume the food of this world without first
taking the antidote [tiryaq], for it is food that has been poisoned. What is
this antidote? It is the practice of abstinence, of detaching yourself from this
world and moving on, as far as your heart is concerned, from the ocean of wisdom
[hikma] to the ocean of power [qudra], from the medicine [tibb] to the physician
[tabib], who will show you how to tell the difference between the part that is
poison and the part that is edible meat. Surely you must have heard, or maybe
even seen for yourself, how the snake-charmer [hawwa'] grabs hold of the snake [hayya],
slaughters it, cooks it, draws the poison out of it, and then finally eats the
meaty part of it.
The Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He) makes the poison of this world
available to the unbelievers [kuffar] who commit sinful offences against Him,
and who settle for others apart from Him. As for the believers, how could He
fail to treat them favorably, when they are His guests? He behaves with them as
the lover would behave in dealing with the beloved. For them He singles out the
sweet from the midst of the bitter, the pure from the midst of the contaminated.
For those who are sought after [muradun], He provides choice food and drink,
clothing, and everything else they may need.
The would-be ascetic [mutazahhid] is still working at his abstinence, and there
will be times when he fails to keep it up. There will be times when he makes the
effort, and times when he gives up trying. As for the truly practicing abstainer
[zahid], for him the business of abstinence has already revealed all its
secrets, so he can readily distinguish the pure from the contaminated. That
which is pure calls out to identify itself to him, and that which is
contaminated calls out to him likewise.
The people [of the Lord] have had all their avenues united, so there is only one
direction left for them to take. The avenues still open to their fellow
creatures have become too narrow for them to consider, while the direction of
the Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He) has opened wide for them. They have
blocked the avenues of creation [khalq] with the hands of their own truthfulness
[sidq], and they have opened up the avenues of the Creator [Khaliq] with the
hands of their hearts. The result, of course, is that their hearts have grown
wider and greater and more splendid, and that now the force of dignity is
stationed at the doorways of their hearts, preventing anyone from entering into
them except their Owner [Malik] and Creator. Every single one of these people
[of the Lord] is like the sun and the moon in this world. These two are the
sources of this world's light, and contact with their surfaces would cause
everything on earth to catch fire. You are dead bodies. Why are you walking
about on the face of the earth? You must be sensible, for as long as you have no
sense you cannot be one of the men of valor. You cannot recognize the men of
valor, the chieftains of the Truth [Haqq] and the great ones among them. The way
you talk is a sure sign of what is in your heart. The tongue is the heart's
interpreter [al-lisanu tarjumanu 'l-qalb].
When you happen to feel love for one person and hatred for another, you must
neither love the former nor hate the latter because of your lower self [nafs]
and your natural inclination [tab']. You must rather judge between the two of
them on the basis of the Book and the Sunna. Then, if these criteria are
favorable to the one whom you have regarded with affection, you must continue to
feel that affection, but if they are unfavorable, you must abandon the
affectionate feeling. If they prove favorable to the one you disliked, however,
you must give up the feeling of hate, while if they are unfavorable you must
continue to hate the person.
Woe unto you! You feel hatred for me because I speak the truth, and because I
make you face the truth. No one hates me and ignores me unless he is ignorant of
ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He), someone who is given to an awful lot of
talk, but very little in the way of action! And no one loves me unless he is
well aware of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He), someone who is given to
plenty of action and very little talk! The nearness of the Truth [Haqq] has
nourished me so well that I need nothing else. There is so much water all around
me, while I am like a frog in a kettle. I say whatever I have to express. I wait
for the water to flow through, and I talk. When that happens, you hear the news
about you and the news about other people.
When will you ever repent, O you backsliders, O you rebellious sinners? You must
become reconciled with your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He) through the
medium of repentance. Were it not for the sense of shame that I feel in the
presence of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He) and of His knowledge ['ilm], I
would get up and grab one of you by the hand, and I would say to him: "You have
acted like this and you have behaved like that, so now you must turn in
repentance toward ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He)."
There is no point in talking to you or conversing with you, until your faith [iman]
has grown strong, and likewise your certitude [iqan] and your intimate knowledge
[ma'rifa] of your Master [Mawla] (Almighty and Glorious is He). Only when you
have reached that stage will you have a firm grip on the most secure handle [bi'l-'urwati
'l-wuthqa], which signifies the attainment of your heart to contact with Him.
The Prophet (ALLAH bless him and give him peace) will then point to you with
pride [as a member of his community] in the presence of all the religious
communities.
O you who believe according to your tongue, how long will it be before you
believe with your heart? O you who are a believer [mu'min] according to your
public appearance, how long will it be before you are a believer where your
private life is concerned? Salvation comes with the faith of the heart. This is
the really useful thing. There is no benefit at all in faith of the tongue
combined with the unbelief [kufr] of your heart. The faith of the hypocrite [munafiq]
is the faith of those who are afraid of the sword.
O servants of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He):
Do not despair of the mercy of ALLAH. (39:53)
And do not despair of the Spirit of ALLAH. (12:87)
O you who are dead at heart, you must practice constantly the remembrance of
your Lord (Almighty and Glorious is He), the recitation of His Book, the study
of the Sunna of the Prophet (ALLAH bless him and give him peace), and attendance
at sessions devoted to divine remembrance [majalis adh-dhikr]. Your hearts will
then come back to life, just as the dead earth is brought back to life by the
downpour of abundant rain upon it. When the heart is constantly engaged in the
remembrance of ALLAH (Almighty and Glorious is He), it comes to be endowed with
intimate experience [ma'rifa], knowledge ['ilm], the affirmation of Divine Unity
[tawhid], absolute trust [tawakkul], and a lack of interest in everything
whatsoever apart from Him. The constant practice of remembrance produces good
results that are constantly enduring in both this world and the hereafter.
As long as you are still attached to this world and to your fellow creatures,
you will continue to be influenced by praise and blame, because your whole
existence is bound up with your lower self [nafs], your passions [hawa] and your
natural inclinations [tab']. When your heart attains to contact with your Lord
(Almighty and Glorious is He), and when your whole concern winds up with Him,
only then will you cease to be subject to those influences, and you will be
relieved of an enormous burden. As long as all your interest is focused on this
world, and while your reliance is solely on your own strength and power, you
will always feel disjointed and fragmented, exhausted and discontented.
In similar fashion, if you concentrate on the hereafter with all your personal
energy, you will never make the connection. But if you devote all your attention
to the Lord of Truth (Almighty and Glorious is He), the door to all that is
needed for worldly life will be opened by the hand of His strength and by total
trust in Him, and the door to acts of worshipful obedience will be opened by the
hand of His helpful guidance [tawfiq].
Once you have reached the stage of applying to Him, therefore, you must apply to
Him for strength and honesty in the quest for His forgiving grace and His
assistance. You must plant the feet of your heart and your innermost being [sirr]
most firmly in His presence, while in a state of complete detachment from the
business of this world and the hereafter.
Woe unto you! Your lower self [nafs] is sick, so you must make it stick to a
wholesome diet, until it is restored to good health by its Lord (Almighty and
Glorious is He).
Woe unto you! How can you seriously aspire to the nearness of ALLAH (Almighty
and Glorious is He), as long as your lower self [nafs] is in charge of you and
your passions [hawa] are leading you along, while you are inclined to go chasing
after carnal pleasures and attractions, and while the fire of your natural
impulse [tab'] is burning up your devotion to duty[taqwa] and your religion
[din]? Be sensible! This is not the behavior of someone who believes in death
and is aware of it with certitude. This is not the behavior of someone who is
consciously looking forward to the encounter with the Lord of Truth (Almighty
and Glorious is He), and who dreads the reckoning and interrogation to which He
will subject him. You have no clarity of thought. You have no devotion to duty.
You never enjoy a moment of calm repose, by night or by day, in the ceaseless
process of trying to accumulate the benefits of this world and the hereafter,
thinking about them, spending time in the company of people who have expert
knowledge of them, and seeking to ingratiate yourself with such people