بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ وَ الصَّلاَةُ وَ السَّلاَمُ عَلَى سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَلَى آلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ اَجْمَعِينَ

 

This concerns one point of the âyah, اِنَّ النَّفْسَ لاَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّۤوء1 and the Hadith the noble meaning of which is,  اَعْدٰى عَدُوِّكَ نَفْسُكَ الَّتِى بَيْنَ جَنْبَيْكَ "Your worst enemy is your nafs." One who loves himself -if his nafs al-ammarah has not undergone tazkiyyah- will love no one else. Even if he apparently loves someone, he cannot love sincerely, but only for the benefit and pleasure in it. He always tries to make himself liked and loved. Also, he does not ascribe faults to himself; he defends and exonerates himself like a lawyer. In fact, he sanctifies his nafs through praising it and freeing it from its defects with exaggerations and even with lies, and receives a slap2 from the âyah مَنِاتَّخَذَ اِلٰهَهُ هَوٰيهُ3 according to his degree.

His self-praise and efforts to make himself liked have the reverse effect, for he attracts contempt and is treated coldly.4 He also loses ikhlas in his actions which pertain to the âkhirah and they become mixed with riyâ. He is defeated by the feelings and desires of the nafs, which are blind to the consequences, do not think of results and are obsessed with present pleasure; he serves a year's prison sentence because of one hour's pleasure through the fatwa of his feelings which have lost their way. He pays ten years' penalty on account of one minute's pride or revenge. Quite simply like a silly child who sells the portion of the Qur'an he is learning to buy a single sweet, in order to flatter his senses, gratify his desires and satisfy his appetite, he makes his good deeds the means to pleasures and ananiyah like insignificant fragments of glass, and he loses out in profitable works.

  The Twenty-Eighth Flash

 

[This short Addendum has great importance; it is beneficial for everyone.]

There are many tarîqah that will lead to Janâb-i Haqq. All haqq tarîqah are taken from the Qur'an. But some are shorter, safer and more general than others. Among these tarîqah, it is the tarîq of impotence, poverty, compassion and tafakkur, which I have benefited from the Qur'an with my defective understanding.

Indeed, impotence is a tarîq, like ‘ashq but it is safer, it leads to winning the rank of mahbubiyyah5 through the tarîq of ‘ubûdiyyah. Poverty too leads to the Name Ar-Rahmân. And like ‘ashq, compassion leads to the Name Ar-Rahîm but is a swifter and broader tarîq. Also like ‘ashq, tafakkur leads to the Name Al-Hakîm but it is a richer, broader, and more brilliant tarîq. This tarîq consists not of ten steps like the lataif al-‘ashar6 of al-tarîq al-khafâ7 , nor of seven steps taken into the degrees like the seven nufûs of al-tarîq al-jahr8 , but of four Steps. It is haqiqah, rather than tarîqah. It is Sharî’ah.

However, let it not be misunderstood. It means to see one's impotence, poverty and faults before Janâb-i Haqq, not to perform them or display them to people. The awrâd of this short tarîq is to follow the Sunnah, perform the fardh and abandon kabâir. And it is especially to perform the salâh, correctly and with attention (ta’dîl arkân), and to perform the tasbîhât following the salâh…

…A brief explanation of these Four Steps is as follows:

THE FIRST STEP: As the âyah, فَلاَتُزَكُّۤوااَنْفُسَكُمْ9 indicates: It is not to tazkiyyah the nafs. For on account of his fitrah and innate disposition, man loves his nafs. Indeed, he loves himself before anything else, and only himself. He sacrifices everything other than himself to his own nafs. He praises his nafs in a manner worthy of Ma’bûd. He absolves and exonerates his nafs from faults in a manner worthy of Ma’bûd. As far as he possibly can, he does not see faults as being appropriate for him and does not accept them. He defends his nafs passionately as though performing ‘ibâdah to his nafs. He even displays the mystery of the âyah, مَنِاتَّخَذَاِلٰهَهُهَوٰيهُ10 through using the members and capacities which are entrusted to his nafs for the hamd and tasbîh of the True Ma’bûd. He considers himself, he relies on himself, he fancies himself. Thus, his tazkiyyah and cleansing at this stage, in this step, is not tazkiyyah on himself; it is not absolving himself.

SECOND STEP: As the âyah, وَلاَ تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ نَسُوا اللهَ فَاَنْسٰيهُمْ اَنْفُسَهُمْ11 teaches: He has forgotten himself, he is oblivious of himself. If he thinks of death, he attributes to others. If he sees transience and perishment, he does not attribute them to himself. To forget his nafs at the time of inconvenience and service but to think his nafs and having iltizâm to his nafs at the time of receiving recompense and benefiting from pleasure are the requirements of the nafs al-ammarah. The tazkiyyah, cleansing and tarbiyyah in this stage is the reverse of this state. That is, not to forget the nafs, in the oblivion of the nafs. That is, to forget the nafs in the pleasure and desire, and to think of the nafs in the death and service.

THIRD STEP: As the âyah, مَۤا اَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍ فَمِنَ اللهِ وَمَۤا اَصَابَكَ مِنْ سَيِّئَةٍ فَمِنْ نَفْسِكَ12 teaches: The requirement of the nafs is to always consider goodness to be from itself and becomes proud and conceited. In this step, it is to see only faults, defects, impotence and poverty in his nafs, and to understand that all his good qualities and perfections are ni’mahs bestowed on him by Al-Fâtir Zuljalâl, and to offer shukr instead of pride, and to offer hamd instead of conceit. Through the mystery of the âyah, قَدْ اَفْلَحَ مَنْ زَكّٰيهَا13 , its tazkiyyah at this degree is to know its perfection within imperfection, its qoudrah in impotence, and its wealth in poverty.

FOURTH STEP: As the âyah, كُلُّ شَىْءٍ هَاِلكٌ اِلاَّ وَجْهَهُ14 teaches: The nafs considers itself to be free and independent and to exist by itself. Because of this, it claims to possess a sort of rubûbiyyah. It harbours a hostile rebelliousness towards its Ma’bûd. Thus, through understanding the following haqiqah, it is saved from this. The haqiqah is this:

With respect to ma’nâ al-ismî, everything is, in its nafs, transitory, newly coming into existence and non-existent. But with the ma’nâ al-harfî and in respect of each thing being a mirror to As-Sani’ Zuljalâl’s Names and being charged with duties, each is a witness, are witnessed and are existent. The tazkiyyah and cleansing of it at this stage is as follows:

In its existence it has non-existence, and in its non-existence it has existence. That is to say, if it values itself and attributes existence to itself, it is in a darkness of non-existence as great as the universe. That is, if he falls into ghaflah from the True Giver of Existence15 by relying on his individual existence, his individual light of existence like that of a fire-fly will be in the endless darkness of non-existence and separation and will drown. But if he gives up ananiyyah, sees his nafs is nothing in essence and sees that he is a mirror of the manifestations of the True Giver of Existence, gains all beings and an infinite existence. For one who finds Al-Wâjib Al-Wujûd, in which all beings are the place of manifestation of His Names, finds everything.

The Twenty-Sixth Word – Addendum

 

“O my nafs; who performs ‘ibâdah to itself! O my friend who performs ‘ibâdah to the world! Love is the cause of the universe's existence, and what binds it; and it is both the nûr of the universe and its life. Since man is the most comprehensive fruit of the universe, a love that will conquer the universe has been included in his heart, the seed of that fruit. Thus, only one possessing infinite perfection may be worthy of such an infinite love.

O nafs and O friend! Two faculties, through which one may experience fear and love, have been included in your fitrah. In any case, that love and fear are turned toward either creation or Khâliq. However, fear of creations is a grievous affliction, while love for them is a calamitous tribulation. For you fear from such things that will neither pity you nor accept your pleas for mercy. So fear is a grievous calamity. As for love, the one you love will either not recognize you or will depart without bidding you farewell. Like your youth and property. Or else he will despise you because of your love. Have you not noticed that in ninety-nine out of a hundred cases of metaphorical ‘ashq, the lover complains about the beloved. For to worship worldly idol-like beloveds with the inner heart, which is the mirror of As-Samad, the beloved sees it as burdensome and finds it disagreeable and rejects it. Because fitrah rejects and casts away things that are contrary to it and unworthy of it. (Loves pertaining to lust are outside our discussion.)

That is to say, the things you love either will not recognize you, or they will scorn you, or they will not accompany you. They will part from you in spite of you. Since this is so, direct your fear and love to the One by Whom your fear will become pleasurable abasement, and your love, shadowless happiness. Yes, fearing from his Khâliq Zuljalâl means finding a way to His compassionate rahmah, and taking refuge in it. Fear is a whip; it drives you into the embrace of His rahmah. It is well-known that a mother gently scares her infant, for example, and draws it to her breast. The fear is most pleasurable for the child because it drives him to her tender breast. Whereas the compassion of all mothers is but a flash of Ilahî rahmah. That means there is a supreme pleasure in fear of Allah. If there is such pleasure in fear of Allah, it is clear what infinite pleasure there is to be found in the love of Allah. Moreover, one who fears Allah is saved from the calamitous and distressing fear of others. Also, because it is for Allah’s sake, the love he has for creatures is not tinged with sorrow and separation.

Indeed, man loves firstly his nafs, then his relations, then his nation, then living creatures, then the universe, and the world. He is connected with all these spheres. He may receive pleasure at their pleasure and pain at their pain. However, since nothing is stable in this ‘âlam of upheavals and revolutions swift as the wind, man's unfortunate heart is constantly wounded. The things his hands cling onto tear at them as they depart, even severing them. He remains in perpetual distress, or else gets drunk by ghaflah. Since it is thus, O nafs, if you have sense, gather together all those loves and give them to their true owner; be saved from those calamities. These infinite loves are particular to One possessing infinite perfection (Kamâl) and beauty (Jamâl). When you give it to its true owner, you will be able to love everything without distress in His name and as His mirrors. That means this love should not be spent directly on the universe. Otherwise, while being a delicious ni’mah, it becomes a grievous affliction.

There is another aspect besides, O nafs! and it is the most important. You spend all your love on your nafs. You make your own nafs your Ma’bûd and beloved. You sacrifice everything for your nafs. Simply, you ascribe to it a sort of rubûbiyyah. Whereas the cause of love is either perfection (kamâl), because perfection is loved for itself, or it is benefit, or it is pleasure, or it is goodness, or causes like these. Now, O nafs! In several of the Words we have proved decisively that your reality is kneaded out of fault, deficiency, poverty and impotence, and as the relative degree of darkness and obscurity shows the brightness of nûr, with regard to opposites, you act as a mirror through them to the perfection, beauty, qoudrah and rahmah of Al-Fâtir Zuljalâl. That means O nafs, that it is not love you should have for your nafs, but enmity or you should pity it or after it is at peace (nafs al-mutmainnah), have compassion on it. If you love your nafs because it is the source of pleasure and benefit and you are captivated by their delights, do not prefer the pleasure and benefit of the nafs, which is a mere jot, to infinite pleasure and benefits. Do not resemble a fire-fly. For it drowns all your friends and the things you love in the darkness of desolation and suffices with a tiny glimmer in its nafs. You should love a Pre-Eternal Mahbûb on Whose gracious favours are dependent all the pleasures and benefits of your nafs together with all the benefits and ni’mahs and creatures of the universe with which you are connected and from which you profit and through whose happiness you are happy, so then you may take pleasure at both your own and their happiness, and receive an infinite pleasure from the love of absolute Kamâl.

Anyway, your intense love for your nafs is love for His Essence which you misuse and spend on your own self. In which case, rend the ana in your nafs and show huwa16 . All your loves dispersed through the universe are love given to you to spend on His Names and attributes. You have used it wrongly and you are suffering the penalty. For the penalty for an illicit, misspent love is merciless torment.” The Words ( 367 - 368 )

 

 

لاَ تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْرَحُونَ بِمَۤا اَتَوْا وَيُحِبُّونَ اَنْ يُحْمَدُوا بِمَا لَمْ يَفْعَلُوا فَلاَ تَحْسَبَنَّهُمْ بِمَفَازَةٍ

مِنَ الْعَذَابِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ اَلِيمٌ17

A chastening slap for my nafs al-ammarah:

O my foolish nafs madly in love with the glory, deeply enamoured of fame, addicted to being praised and unequalled in self-centredness! If the tiny seed of the fig, which is the source of the fig giving thousands of fruits, and the black dry branch of grape, which hundred bunches are attached to it, all those fruits and bunches being the seed and branch’s own work of dexterity is a rightful claim, and if those who benefit from them should praise and respect the branch and the seed, then perhaps you have the right for glory and pride concerning the ni’mahs with which you are loaded. But, you deserve to be constantly disparaged. Because you are not like the seed and the branch. Since you have a juz’ al-ikhtiyârî, you diminish the value of those ni’mahs through your glory, devastate them through your pride, nullify them through your denial and you extort them by claiming ownership.18 Your duty is not to glory, it is to offer shukr. What is worthy for you is not fame, it is humility and shame. Your right is not to be praised, it is istighfâr and to regret. Your perfection is not in self-centredness, but in knowing Allah.

Yes, you in my body resemble nature in the ‘âlam. Both of you were created to receive khayr and to be the source to which sharr is referred. That is to say, you are not the agent and source, but rather a passive recipient of the external effects and a place to the effect of the agent. You have only a single effect: You become the cause of sharr due to not receiving well the khayr coming from the absolute Khayr. Also, you were created as veils, so that, apparently ugly things, whose beauty is not seen, would be attributed to you, and you would be the means of declaring and believing the Most Pure and Holy Ilahî Essence (Zhât Al-Muqaddas) to be free from all defects. But you have worn a form completely contrary to the duty of your fitrah. Although you have transformed khayr into sharr due to your incapability, you as though attribute yourself a partner to your Khâliq. That means one who performs ‘ibâdah to the nafs and nature is extremely foolish and dhâlim.

Also, do not say: "I am a place of manifestation. As for the place which beauty manifests on, it becomes beautiful." For since you do not take the form and appearance of what manifested on you, you may not possess it but may be a point that it passed through.

Also, do not say: "Among people I was chosen. These fruits are shown through me. That means I have excellence." No! Hâsha! Rather they were given to your hand before anyone else because you are more bankrupt, needy and suffering than everyone else! {Truly, I too extremely admired the New Said silencing his nafs to this extent in this debate, and said, A thousand Bârakallah!} 

The Eighteenth Word  

 

“Question: It is said in the Sharî’ah that Jahannam is punishment for actions, but Jannah is an Ilahî fadl. What is the mystery of hikmah for this?

The Answer: It is clearly shown in the above Indications that with his non-creative juz’ al-ikhtiyârî and particular kasb, through giving form and stability to something with an action pertains to non-existence19 or an i’tibârî action20 , man causes awesome destruction and sharrs. And so too, since his nafs and desires always incline towards sharr and harm, he is responsible for the evils that occur as a result of his slight kasb. For his nafs wanted them and his kasb gave rise to them. And since sharr pertains to non-existence, the ‘abd is the agent and Janâb-i Haqq creates it. Being responsible for the infinite crime, he certainly deserves infinite punishment.

However, khayr and good works, since they pertain to the existence, juz’ al-ikhtiyârî and man's kasb cannot be the creative cause for them. Man cannot be the true agent in such an act. Also, his nafs al-ammarah is not biased towards good deeds, rather, Ilahî rahmah requires them and Rabbânî Qoudrah creates them. Man can only lay a claim to them through îmân, wish and intention. And having claimed them, those good works consist of shukr for the infinite Ilahî ni’mahs he has received, like the ni’mah of îmân and existence. This shukr looks to past ni’mahs. While Jannah, which will be given as an Ilahî promise is a fadl of Rahmân. Apparently, it will be a reward, but in haqiqah, it is a fadl.

That is to say, in evils, the nafs is the cause and deserves the punishment, while in good deeds, both the reason and the real and effective cause (‘illah) are from Haqq. Man can only lay claim to them through îmân. He may not say: "I want the reward," but he may say: "I hope for the fadl." The Flashes ( 120 )

 

“At one time when I was struggling with my nafs, through supposing the Ilahî ni’mah, which it saw in itself, to be its own property, my nafs became conceited, proud and boastful. I said to it: "This property is not yours; it is in trust." So then the nafs gave up its conceit and pride but became lazy, it said: "Why should I bother about something, which is not my property? Let it perish, what is it to me?" Suddenly I saw that a fly had alighted on my hand and had started to thoroughly clean its eyes, face, and wings, which were its trust from Allah. The fly was washing itself just like a soldier cleans his rifle and uniform thoroughly, which belong to the state. I said to my nafs: "You look at that!" It looked and learned a good lesson. As for the fly, it became my conceited and lazy nafs' teacher and instructor.” The Flashes ( 342 )

 

“O nafs! ‘ubûdiyyah is not the introduction to additional rewards, but the result of previous ni’mahs. Yes, we have received our wage, and are accordingly charged with service and ‘ubûdiyyah. Because, O nafs!, since Al-Khâliq Zuljalâl, Who clothed you in existence which is pure khayr, has given you a stomach and appetite, through His Name of Razzâq, He has placed before you all foods on a table of ni’mahs. Then, since He has given you a life decked out with senses, life too requires rizq like a stomach; all your senses like eyes and ears are like hands before which He has placed a table of ni’mahs as broad as the face of the earth. Then, because He has given you humanity, which requires many ma’nawî rizqs and ni’mahs, He has laid out before that stomach of humanity, in so far as the hand of the mind can reach, an extensive table of ni’mahs as broad as al-‘âlam al-mulk and al-‘âlam al-malakût. Then, since He has given you Islam and îmân, which require infinite ni’mahs and are nourished through countless fruits of rahmah and are supreme humanity, He has opened up before you a table of ni’mahs, pleasure and happiness which includes the sphere of contingency together with the sphere of His Asmâ al-Husnâ and sacred attributes. Then, through giving you love, which is a nûr of îmân, He has bestowed on you an endless table of ni’mahs, happiness, and pleasure. That is to say, with regard to your corporeality you are an insignificant, weak, impotent, lowly, restricted, limited particular, but through His favour, you have as though risen from being an insignificant particular to being a universal, luminous whole. For by giving you life, He has raised you from particularity to a sort of universality; and by giving you humanity, to true universality; and by bestowing Islam on you, to an exalted, luminous universality; and by giving you ma’rifat and love of Him, He has elevated you to an all-encompassing nûr.

O nafs! You have received this wage, and you are charged with the pleasurable, bountiful, easy, and light service of ‘ubûdiyyah. But you are lazy in this too. If you perform it half-heartedly, it is as though the former wages are insufficient for you, you are wanting greater things in a domineering manner. Also, you are complaining: "Why was my du’â not accepted?" But your right is not complaining, it is supplication. Through His pure fadl and munificence, Janâb-i Haqq bestows Jannah and eternal happiness. So seek refuge in His rahmah and munificence constantly. Trust in Him and heed this decree:

            21 قُلْ بِفَضْلِ اللهِ وَبِرَحْمَتِهِ فَبِذٰ لِكَ فَلْيَفْرَحُوا هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ

If you say: "How can I respond to these countless, universal ni’mahs with my limited and partial shukr?"

The Answer: With a universal intention and boundless belief... For example, a man enters a sultân's presence with a gift worth five kurush, and he sees that other gifts worth millions have arrived from acceptable people, and have been lined up there. It occurs to his heart: "My present is nothing. What shall I do?" Then he says suddenly: "O my Sayyid! I offer you all these valuable gifts in my name. For you are worthy of them. If I had the power, I would have given you gifts equal to them." Thus, the sultân, who has need of nothing and accepts his subjects' gifts as a sign of their loyalty and respect, accepts that unfortunate man's universal intention and wish, and the worthiness of his elevated belief as though it was the greatest gift. In exactly the same way, while performing the salâh an impotent ‘abd declares: "Attahîyyatu Lillâhi” That is, "I offer You on my own account all the gifts of ‘ubûdiyyah all creatures offer you through their lives. If I had been able, I would have offered You as many tahiyyas as them, for You are worthy of them and worthy of more besides." Such an intention and belief comprise extensive universal shukr.” The Words (369)

 

وَمَا الْحَيٰوةُ الدُّنْيَۤا اِلاَّ مَتَاعُ الْغُرُور

[A mallet to the ghâfil head and a warning lesson]

O my wretched nafs that sinks into ghaflah, sees this life as sweet, forgets the âkhirah and seeks the world! Do you know what you resemble? An ostrich! It sees the hunter but cannot fly; it sticks its head in the sand, lest the hunter not see it. Its huge body remains out. The hunter sees, but it closes its eyes in the sand and does not see.

O nafs, look at the following comparison and see how restricting one’s view only to the world transforms a precious pleasure into excruciating pain.

For example, there are two men in this village, that is, in Barla. Ninety-nine out of a hundred friends of one of them have gone to Istanbul. They live nicely. Only one has remained here; he too will go there; therefore, this man is longing for Istanbul; he thinks of it. He wants to meet with his friends. When he is told, “Go there,” he happily and joyfully goes. As for the second man, ninety-nine out of a hundred of his friends have gone from here. Some of them have disappeared. Some have been dug into places where they neither see nor are seen. He supposes them to be scattered and ruined, but this unfortunate man wants to find solace in a friendship with a single guest in place of all of them; he wants to cover those excruciating pains of separation with him.

O, nafs! All your friends, foremost Habibullah22 are on the other side of the grave. As for the one or two who remain here, they are also going. By being frightened of death and fearing the grave, do not turn your head. Look bravely at the grave, and listen to what it desires. Smile manfully at death's face, see what it wants. Beware; do not resemble the second man by falling into ghaflah.

O, my nafs! Do not say, "The time has changed, the age has altered, everyone has plunged into the world, worships life and is drunk with the struggle for livelihood," because death does not change. Separation does not transform into eternal union and does not alter. The impotence of mankind and the poverty of man do not change but increase. The journey of mankind does not cease but acquires speed.

Also, do not say, "I too am like everyone else," because everyone accompanies you only until the door of the grave. As for the consolation of being together with everyone in the calamity, it is a fallacy on the other side of the grave. Also, do not suppose yourself to be free and independent, because if you look at this guesthouse world with the eye of hikmah, you cannot see anything without order and purpose. How can you remain without order and purpose?

The Fourteenth Word- Conclusion

 

Know, O friend, who is satisfied with the world and is comforted by it. You are like one who rolls down from the top of a high palace. While he is falling, the palace, too, rolls down in a flood coursing down a high mountain, and the mountain, too, rolls down into the depths of the earth via earthquakes.

The palace of life has started to demolish, and the bird (plane) of your lifespan flies with lightning speed. Soon it will lay you in the nest of your grave. The stream of time turns its wheels with a speed horrifying all minds, and the ship of earth floats like clouds, by reciting the âyah تَمُرُّ مَرَّ ٱلسَّحَابِ. If, while being in a fast-moving train, a man stretches his hand out — in the middle of the way and despite the speed — to grasp thorny flowers alongside the railways and the thorns tear his hands, can he blame anybody other than his nafs?

Thus, O friend! Do not stretch your hands or eyes to the world’s flowers, for if the pain of separation tears your heart when you grasp them, how painful is the time of final separation?

O my nafs commanding evil, be an ‘abd to whomever you wish and claim whatever you wish, or call whomever you wish. As for me, I am the ‘abd of only Him, He Who has created me and subjected to me the sun, the moon, the earth and the trees. I ask for help only from He, Who carries me on the plane of life that moves in the space of encompassing qadar and has subjected to me the earth that flies among the stars and planets. Sitting in the compartment of this day connected to both yesterday and tomorrow with His permission, I ask for help only from He, Who makes me mount the train of time travelling with the speed of lightning through the tunnel of earth, under the mountain of life towards the gate of the grave along the way to all eternity. I call and ask for help only from He, Who can stop the wheel of destiny, which apparently moves the ship of earth, and stop the movement of time by reuniting the sun and the moon. I ask for help only from He, Who can steady this changing earth rolling down from the peaks of existence into the depths of the valleys of perishment and decay by transforming it into another world through the mystery of يَوْمَ تُبَدَّلُ ٱلْأَرْضُ غَيْرَ ٱلْأَرْضِ . For I have hopes and aims that are connected with all things. My hopes stick to things, on which time passes and the earth goes, and which the world leaves; they continue to eternity. I also have a deep connection with the joys and sorrows of all sâlih ‘abds of Allah in the samâwât and on the earth.

So I perform ‘ibâdah only to He, Who can be aware of my heart’s most secret thoughts and satisfy and reform its least hopes and inclinations, and can also create qiyâmah and change the world into the âkhirah in order to establish eternal happiness for mankind, which is the hope of my mind and imagination. His Hands reach the tiniest particle and the largest sun at the same instant. The smallest particle cannot hide itself from His control and administration, and the greatest sun cannot be arrogant before His Qoudrah. He is such that all your pains transform into pleasures if you know Him, and that without Him all ‘ilm change into wahm and hikmah into calamity and illness...

Yes, without the nûr of His ma’rifat, existence weeps the drops of non-existence, nûr rains darkness, living creatures pile dead things on you, pleasures pile pains and sins. Without the nûr of His ma’rifat, beloved ones — rather, everything — transform into enemies. Without it, permanence becomes a disaster, perfection goes for nothing, life goes like the wind and becomes a torment, the mind becomes a means of suffering and misery, and hopes and wishes weep the drops of pain.

Everything is for those who are for Allah; everything is against those who are not for Allah. Being for Him means to give everything to Him and have idh'ân that everything belongs to Him and is His property. He is the One Who has created you in a form surrounded by circles of need and equipped you within the smallest circle of needs amongst them, which your will and power can only reach as long as your hands can stretch. Rest of your needs, some of them are related to an enormous circle stretching from the azal to eternity, and between the earth and the ‘arsh. To make you reach these needs, He has equipped you with du'â and said, قُلْ مَا يَعْبَؤُا بِكُمْ رَبِّى لَوْلاَ دُعَاؤُكُمْ23.

Yes, just as an infant calls its parents to provide what it cannot reach, so does an ‘abd call his Rabb through his impotence.

Al-Mathnawi al-Nuri 242-244

 

If you want eternity in this transitory world, eternity emanates from transitoriness. Die with regard to your nafs al-ammarah so that you may be eternal.

فَنَا شُدْ هَمْ فَدَا كُنْ هَمْ عَدَمْ بِينْ كِه اَزْ دُنْيَا بَقَايَه رَاهْ فَنَادَنْ

Divest yourself of bad morals, which are the basis of the ‘ibâdah of the world. Be transitory! Sacrifice things in the sphere of your possession and property on the way of the True Mahbûb. See the ends of beings which appear like non-existence. For the way which goes to eternity from this world passes from annihilation.

The Second Station of the Seventeenth Word

 

* My proud nafs!

* O rebellious nafs!

* O my own nafs, which does not like the salâh!

* O my nafs, which laughed in its youth and now weeps at its laughter!

* O my senseless nafs!

* O my nafs in ghaflah!

* O my wretched nafs sunk in ghaflah, which sees this life as sweet, has forgotten the âkhirah, and seeks only this world!

* O my ignorant nafs!

* O my nafs full of waswasas and transgressed its bounds!

* O my foolish nafs, charmed at glory, enamoured of fame, addicted to praise, and without equal in egotism!

* Since my nafs commands to evil, one who does not reform his own nafs cannot reform others. In which case, I shall begin with my own nafs.

* O my stomach-worshipping nafs!

* O my impatient nafs!

* O my nafs; who performs ‘ibâdah to the world!

* O my nafs; who performs ‘ibâdah to itself!

* And so, my friend, who has not forgotten the world, is preoccupied with materiality, and whose nafs is dense!

* O my nafs and my friend who feel severe pain out of intense compassion!

* O my nafs which despairs at the evil of waswasa!

* For sure, my nafs deserves all insults and contempt, but as a wonder resulting from service of the Qur'an, I receive plenty of blessings which are an Ilahî bestowal in the matter of rizq.

* I do not exonerate my nafs, for it wants everything bad.

 

Thus, o wretched man subjected to the wiles of shaytan! If you want the salâmat of the life of religion, personal and social life, and if you want sound thought, istiqâmah in view and the salâmat of heart, weigh up your actions and thoughts on the scales of the muhkamât of the Qur'an and the balance of the Sunnah as-Saniyyah. Always take the Qur'an and the Sunnah as-Saniyyah as your guide. Say: اَعُوذُ بِاللّٰهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ24 and take refuge with Janâb-i Haqq!

The 13th Flash/13th Indication/3rd Point

 

سُبْحَانَكَ لاَعِلْمَ لَنَۤا اِلاَّ مَاعَلَّمْتَنَا اِنَّكَ اَنْتَ الْعَلِيمُ الْحَكِيم

وَاٰخِرُ دَعْوٰيهُمْ أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

اَللّٰهُمَّ احْفَظْنَا مِنْ شَرِّ النَّفْسِ وَالشَّيْطَانِ وَمِنْ شَرِّ الْجِنِّ وَاْلاِنْسَانِ