MERCY OCEANS, Book 01 (Shaykh Nazim, 208 pages, 10/12)
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to be asked what he is bringing, but he is asked, “What do you want?” I am coming, O my Majesty Sultan, to You, and I am expecting You to ask me what I want! What can I bring to You? You have all things, endless treasures. I have nothing. I am asking from Your mercy, O my Lord! Give to me!’ – This is from the Sultan ul Arifin, the King of the Knowers!”
* * * * * * *
Allah Almighty accepts our prayers. Everything we ask of Him, He is going to accept; maybe He gives it quickly, or maybe He delays it until our life’s end, until the grave or until the Judgment. But, He will give to every person who asks from Him. He is ‘Al-Mujib,’ the Accepter, the Answerer.
My Grandshaykh said to me: “O my son! I will teach you a short, but powerful prayer – Say, ‘O my Lord! I am asking you to accept all the prayers I have made to You until the end of my life; also all the prayers at which I was present, or that I hear, before I go from this life. O my Lord! Show me the results of these prayers. May my prayers be acceptable from now up until my life’s end and give me from Your secret mercy treasures, from Your secret favours, more ‘hidaya’ (guidance), and make me more respectable here and hereafter.
“Thirdly, give me power, from Your power oceans. From Your endless power oceans give me power so that I can help all Your servants and guide them to Your mercy oceans and favours, so that I may be as Your Prophet (peace be upon him) says, ‘The leader of a nation is the servant of his nation.’”
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was saying, about all Awliya, “Some Awliya are too ashamed to ask anything from their Lord, because they see that they are in endless need of their Lord. They say, ‘O my Lord! You know best what I need from your mercy. My needs are endless. Fulfil my needs, O my Lord, as you know.’
“If any man reaches to absolute cleanliness in his heart, so that no more bad characters will be with him; if a man has a pure heart, and he has reached the Divine Presence, and he has authority to always be in the Divine Presence; if he has pleasure with being in the Divine Presence; if that person is veiled, for even one moment from the Divine Presence, his heart will explode! Literally! So great will his sorrow be! Those people are making dhikr silently, duas secretly. This is the highest degree for people. Pure heart.
“For people still approaching this level, it may be better to make dhikr loudly, duas loudly. Even dancing, for the sake of Allah, may be acceptable!”
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh teaches us about those situations in our lives that we can meet with joking and laughter. Many people like joking, but it is not true of everybody. Not every person carries joking with them. (You can’t make jokes with everybody, because some people can’t take it.) To whom may you make jokes? To one who, if you break his hand, is not angry with you. He is not changing his situation with regard to you, not changing his love for you. With such a person you may joke, not with everyone. Joking is a good way to keep peoples’ hearts good with you.
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was saying that Sayyidina Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was always praying witr at the end of the night, but Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was praying before sleeping. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I am praying witr before sleeping because if I am going to die before I awaken, I don’t want to be in my Lord’s Presence without witr. Therefore, I am hurrying to pray witr before sleeping.”
But Sayiddina Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) delayed witr until the end of the night, and he said, “As our Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘Actions are rewarded according to intentions.’ Therefore, I intend to pray witr at the end of the night. If I die before praying witr, but I intend to pray, it is all right.”
“An important point,” says our Grandshaykh, “is that, in the sight of our Prophet (peace be upon him), Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and all Grandshaykhs in Naqshbandiyya; their opinion is not to delay any worship out of its time.
“Everything must be in its time. You cannot put it out of its time, because every time is occupied, full-up. You cannot find empty time. Therefore, it is a foolishness to say, ‘I shall do this tomorrow.’ It is craziness and stupidness because tomorrow is not empty. It is occupied, full-up with actions that you have, responsibilities for fulfilling. If you cannot carry today’s load, how can you carry tomorrow’s load also – two loads!
“Therefore, in our tariqat there is no delaying actions. Actions must be done in their times. As Allah Almighty says, ‘For praying there is a special time and order.’ This is a sign for us that for each action, there is a special time, and we must do it in that time without delay. Thus, to delay an action is an unacceptable thing before our Prophet (peace be upon him), Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), and all Naqshbandi Grandshaykhs!
“Asking to delay our actions comes from our nafs. Our nafs is very lazy. It does not like to move. Therefore, it wishes to delay all things. To our nafs, it seems easy to say, ‘I shall do it tomorrow.’ It is always escaping from serious actions. The nafs only likes to play.
“There is an important hadith on this subject. It applies to all people, not just Muslims. ‘Halakal inu safafu’: ‘Procrastinators are self- destroyed!’ This hadith signifies that Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent for all nations. It is a high wisdom. He who delays his actions is destroyed, because today’s working is better than tomorrow’s working. It is golden! If you can do the whole work tomorrow, it is only silver! Today’s action is a virgin, tomorrow’s will be a widow!”
* * * * * * *
Now we are speaking on the beauties and endless pleasures and endless favours of Allah Almighty, the endless taste of Paradise such as I heard from my Grandshaykh and such as you have never yet heard!
In Paradise, there are so many favours of Allah Almighty that it is impossible to describe. Only some of them can you understand. My Grandshaykh said to me: “If a man eats from Paradise, one small morsel, how shall I describe how it will be! An olive, for example – in this life, it is very bitter. But, in Paradise. . . You will take more good taste from one olive there than you can find from all the good tastes from forty days’ meals in this life!
“How will it be? O my brother! We are in prison, and we don’t know! There is no taste in this life, yet we are running after it. In this life the first piece of food is the best, the second not as good, and the last one is tasteless. But in Paradise the more the eating the more the taste! With each, the taste increases successively.”
“And,” our Grandshaykh was saying, “if a man looks upon one of the ladies of Paradise (houris), he will be useless with the most beautiful girl in this world. So radiant are their beauties!
“But, if a woman is a believer in this world, her beauty in the next world will be greater than that of those girls in Paradise. Women believers will be queens in Paradise; the houris will be their servants! Theirs will be endless pleasures and beauties.
“Allah Almighty will ask each servant on the Judgment Day, ‘O My servant! What about My favours to you? How did you use them, for good or for bad?’ This is the most difficult situation for believers, indeed, for all people. We must be ready to reply quickly so that we may move on to Paradise. If you used His favours for His pleasure, it is a pleasure for you, also, that day – no difficulties.”
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was saying that egoism is the worst character in people. It is born with people, and grows with them. You may see it in
everyone. They attribute all things to their ego – their mind, their success, all things and, in so doing, they are losing their Creator and their Creator’s favours for them as well. Every person’s ego thinks himself to be his majesty, the king, and this is the reason for all the troubles in this world.
All Prophets have come to fight this false idea. Even a believer may fall prey to his egotism. Every time he thinks that his good deeds or his prayers are the result of his own doing, he fails to observe that those actions are his Lord’s favours to him. He is thus at fault, having left good manners.
It is good manners to observe all goodness as being from our Lord’s favour to us, and all badness as being from our ego. He who says, ‘I am such and such’ (a worshipper, a commander, a learned man, etc.), is claiming Divinity. It is only for Allah to say, ‘I am.’ When He says, ‘I am your Lord!’ it is true. It is not for His servants to say, ‘I am.’ This is what Iblis said, and it was the first egoism. ‘I am better,’ he said, and whoever says this about himself is on the same level with Iblis!
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh explains ‘tawbah’ (repentance):
“What is tawbah? It is not listening to your four enemies – nafs, hawa (desires), dunya, and Satan. To repent is not to listen to ego and its desires, or devils, or the temporary pleasures of this life. This is the reality, the real meaning of repentance. Man may agree with his Lord or with his four common enemies. If you are in agreement with your enemies, you haven’t faith nor mind. If you are in disagreement with your Lord, you must be an unbeliever!
Thus, real tawbah, real repentance, is to be in disagreement with your enemies. Don’t listen to their orders! If a man is asking to return to his Lord, he must leave; he must be in rebellion against those four enemies.
* * * * * * * Our Grandshaykh said, about women:
“Once, in a dream, I saw our Prophet (peace be upon him), who said to me, ‘A woman must keep respect for her husband so much that if she is sitting in a meeting with Khidr (peace be upon him), all Prophets, and all saints, she must keep her husband’s respect above all of them!’
“If she is not going to respect her husband as much as that, she cannot take any good results from her serving and worship. The most important thing for wives is to keep their husbands’ respect.”
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was saying that what Allah Almighty asks of His servants is that they worship with ‘Ikhlas’ (sincerity, purity). Allah Almighty asks only pure worshipping, and pure worshipping means to have a pure heart.
What is a pure heart? It is a heart that has nothing but his Lord in it – only Allah Almighty. This is a pure heart. If there is something except his Lord in one’s heart, he hasn’t a pure heart.
Allah Almighty isn’t asking just salat (prayer) or fasting (sawm). Those acts of worship are not targets in themselves. They are not original, they are only means for reaching pure hearts. They are the means to an end. This is important.
Therefore, our Grandshaykh says, “Don’t give yourself such a big load for learning or worshipping. The important thing is to have a pure heart. Each one of us knows which side of himself is not true, or which character from himself is not good. Each of us knows What is his deficiency. Everyone knows and he must complete that point, he must clean that character from his heart, so that he may strive to have a pure heart. This is ‘mujahida,’ struggle! Struggle must be for everyone to fight with his bad characters and change them into good ones. We must defeat our bad characters in order to have a pure heart.
Everything that occupies your heart and keeps you from your Lord is making your heart impure. You must try to keep everything away from your heart but Allah. There is no room in your heart for romantic
love! We say that the heart is for Allah alone. For children, we say our love for them is in the liver! For our wives…!
You are asking why men and women have such love for each other, why they may love the opposite sex to the point of idol worship? It is because they don’t know where to put their love! Man is created for the love of Allah Almighty. Allah Almighty loved Muhammad (peace be upon him), and created all the sons of Adam (peace be upon him) for His love. Therefore, love is original. Each one of us has love, but most people have forgotten what its object is. When they put their love in women, in children, or in anything except Allah, it means that love will be lost. If you put your love with your wife, she will die and your love will be wasted (souda). For children – the same. Any time you put your love in this dunya, it will be wasted! But, if you are putting your love with Allah Almighty it is never going to be wasted – not here, not hereafter. It is not going to be wasted. If you are putting your love with your Prophet (peace be upon him), or with your Shaykh, or with your fellow mu’mins, you may find that love here, and hereafter.
Love is the most precious thing for everyone. It is the most precious, most valuable, and most expensive thing that the sons of Adam (peace be upon him) have been given. How can you put the most precious thing in dogs and cats? For what? Are you putting a diamond on the neck of a pig? No, you are putting it on the neck of a beautiful lady! You must think about what western people are doing now. Their minds are not working – no taste with their doings!
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was saying that our egos have eighty- thousand bad characters. That means that there are eighty-thou sand veils between us and our Prophet (peace be upon him)! If you can’t break all those veils, if you can’t cut them, then you cannot see your Prophet (peace be upon him) unless you are dreaming.
Some people can see the Prophet (peace be upon him) in their dreams, but the Prophet (peace be upon him) may be seen when you are awake also. Who can see the Prophet (peace be upon him) without sleeping? Those people who cut out all those veils from their hearts may see our Prophet (peace be upon him).
And the worst one of those veils, the worst of those bad characters – what is it? “Egoism!” says our Grandshaykh. From egoism come thousands of bad characters! And, out of all those thousands of bad characters coming from egoism, what is the worst one? “It is anger!” says our Grandshaykh again.
‘Ghadab’ (anger) is the worst, because he who is angry is not listening or accepting anything from Allah or Prophets. This is because an angry person has lost his mind; he is acting without mind, like a car without a driver! Anger is the opposite of mind; you cannot do anything with your mind when you are angry. All things will be bad and become worse and worse, with anger. He who is angry may damage everything with that anger.
Therefore, it is the most important duty for all believers, perhaps for all people, to fight their anger; not to be angry. This is a very important point for every person. Our Grandshaykh says we must fight firmly against anger; not to let it be judge of us, or dominate us. “If anyone is angry,” he says, “and he is making dhikr, saying, ‘Allah! Allah! Allah!’ the angels are answering him, ‘O, liar! O, liar! O, liar!’ If you are angry, you cannot say, ‘Allah!’; you must say, instead, ‘Astaghfirullah! I am asking forgiveness, O my Lord! I am asking pardon, O my Lord!’ This means you are accepting your mistake, admitting your wrongness. Then Allah Almighty will save His servant from that mistake. He is not going to leave that servant with that bad character.”
It is enough for a person, a very great success, to be able to leave his anger. Our Prophet says, “Al hilmi sayyid ul akhlaq.” It means, “Not to be angry – it is the king of all good characters!” Clear? Not to be angry is the king of all good characters. To be ‘hilm’, to be restrained, soft, not coming quickly to anger; this is the best character in a man. To be white in his heart; to be able to carry all things without anger is the first order for every believer, and especially for every person who says, “I am on the way of the Sufis, I am on the way of Tariqat.” They must keep themselves far from anger.
Whoever can judge his anger, it means that he has power to judge his ego. When you can judge to keep yourself far away from anger, it means that you can control your nafs. Otherwise, it is impossible. You
must know that all actions, all events, are not going to happen as we like. Nothing happens, no one can be as we like; it is impossible. When you know this you may keep yourself far away from anger, because anger is the result of thinking that you can do everything as you like. No one can do this; so for what will you be angry?
Our Grandshaykh says, “You must be patient in your house. You must try not to be angry in your house; with your wife, with your children, with your business, with little boys, with big men; you must keep quiet with yourself, with everyone. You must keep soft, softness. You must deal with all people with softness and gentleness; Gentleness – it is the king of all good characters. So says Allah Almighty.”
Try this and see if it is correct or not: “Nothing like gentleness,” says our Prophet (peace be upon him), and therefore he has ordered Muslims to be gentle with all; not harming anyone. Now, however, we are very far from our Prophet’s advice, from his directions, guiding us to that point. If we were keeping that advice, being gentle with all, not being angry, the whole world would have come to Islam. But we are so far from that point – as far as the skies are from earth!
“You must not even be angry with animals,” says our Grandshaykh. “He who is angry with animals leaves his human nature, and descends to the level of animal nature.” So many people are angry with animals, and Islam does not accept anger, even for animals. You must have mercy for animals because they have no minds. Why are you angry with them?
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh told me that, on the Judgment Day, cats will come bringing fire with their tails to burn their owners. But dogs will rush upon them saying, “Are you not ashamed? Why are you bringing fire for your owners? You say that they didn’t give you enough food? They left you to go hungry? For shame! Didn’t they keep you indoors, inside their warm houses while we were left outside in the cold? Weren’t you around them when they were eating? In their houses, on their tables? How can you say that they didn’t feed you? We were kept outside, but they didn’t leave us to go hungry! How can you speak against them this way?”
What is the meaning of this story? Our Prophet (peace be upon him) says, “Ittaki sharri min qassante ilayh.” It means, “Here is the evil from the one to whom you have done good!” Therefore, he is saying that we must keep ourselves from those for whom we are doing goodness! Fear from one for whom you have done good! You must be careful; there are so many people that you may do goodness for, only to have them turn and do badness to you. You may try this; it happens so many times.
What does it mean? Prophet’s hadith shows us that we must not forget a goodness that has been done to us. Yes, it is from good characters not to forget those who have done goodness for you – to remember. We have a saying: “If someone gives you one cup of coffee, you must keep remembrance of that goodness for forty years!” We shall make this more clear. Our Grandshaykh says that if some person does a goodness for you, and afterwards you become displeased with that person over something he said or did, your displeasure, your forgetfulness of that person’s good deed toward you is from bad character.
When you forget a person’s goodness toward you, then you will be like cats. One hundred times you may give it meat; so many things you may give it. But, if you leave it just once, that cat will make objections and complaints to Allah, saying, “He left me hungry!” This is bad character, and if anyone is doing that, it means he has no good character. If a man does goodness for you one hundred times, and then he does one wrong thing to you, you must not become his enemy. You must not forget his goodness to you from before. If you do that, you will have no good characters; you will be like cats.
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh says, “There are twelve good characters in dogs that you may also find in Prophets and Awliya. They are:
Not forgetting goodness, they don’t forget those who have done goodness to them. They are not going to be angry with their owners even if they are beaten and sent away;
If their owner calls, they will return with tails wagging; They have humbleness;
They have obedience (kana-a);
They are satisfied with small things; They are truthful;
They are trustworthy, good friends;
They are loyal, they will remain with their owners and never turn traitor;
They are ‘zahid,’ not looking to anything from this dunya. It means that they have nothing from this world, no place for themselves. They may sleep anywhere, and if someone throws stones at them, they quickly get up and go somewhere else;
They are very light sleepers, they don’t sleep too much, and quickly awaken;
They are very patient;
They are always grateful for everything that they are given.
If a man has those attributes, he will be a Wali. Those twelve attributes belong to Prophets and Awliya!”
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was speaking about the hadiths of our Prophet (peace be upon him). He said that if a man tried to find all the meanings, or tried to come to the end of any hadith, he couldn’t do it! This is because every hadith is also a ‘wahyun,’ a revelation from Allah Almighty, and everything belonging to Allah Almighty is endless.
Our Prophet (peace be upon him) never said one hadith without knowing what its reality was in the Divine Presence. ‘Azali Haqiqat,’ or eternal truth, was known by our Prophet (peace be upon him), and said in his hadiths. Rasulullah (peace be upon him) said, “If all the trees were pens, and all the oceans were ink, they would not be sufficient to write all the meanings of hadiths!”
This is great respect for Muhammad (peace be upon him). He has so much knowledge, but that knowledge is only a tiny point, a dot in relation to Allah Almighty’s knowledge. The knowledge of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is not even a drop from an endless ocean! If you dip a needle into the ocean, how much will stay on the needle’s point? It is like that. The ocean is endless, and our Prophet’s knowledge is less than a drop!
And yet, that tiny drop is like an endless ocean itself when compared with all creatures’ knowledge! “This,” our Grandshaykh says, “is the minimum respect for Allah’s knowledge. If anyone does not speak like this, then they have responsibility for that point that they are not giving complete respect to their Lord.”
Once upon a time, there was a big ‘Alim – an ‘Alim that was too big. He was so proud of his knowledge. One day, a dervish came to him, a simple man who said to him, “Please, O my master! I am coming to ask one question.”
The ‘Alim said, “Ask as you like.”
So, the dervish said to that grand ‘Alim, “What about all knowledge in relation to our Prophet’s knowledge? Give me an example that I can understand.”
The scholar took a big sheet of paper and taking his pencil he put a tiny dot in the middle of the paper. Then he said, “O my brother, O my fellow, O, my guy! We are saying that if this sheet of paper is all of our Prophet’s knowledge, then this tiny dot is all other people’s knowledge!”
Then that simple dervish said, “Can you find, in that tiny dot, how much knowledge is coming to you? What is your share from that point that you have drawn? What is your knowledge in relation to all creatures?”
When he heard those words that big ‘Alim began to shake.
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh is asking, “Who is the happiest person in this life? Who is most satisfied? He is that person who is satisfied with that station in life in which his Lord put him. It is the station of contentment
– to look at everything and see that it is most suitable for him, and also for all.”
Shaykh Nazim told us, “This situation is the most suitable thing for me because my Lord put me in this situation. If it were no good for me, He wouldn’t have put me in it. He says who is the most satisfied
person, and the happiest person in this life. We must believe that Allah Almighty desires for us goodness – always.”
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was describing how real faith should be:
“We must believe that all actions, whether from goodness, or from badness, are from Him Almighty. If we truly believe this, we shall reach the real faith.
“It is not enough to merely say this. You must practice, exercise for this purpose, until you reach the point where you cannot see anything from goodness or from badness coming to you without His will! This leads us to real faith.
“If a man harms you, and you become his enemy, it means that you are not a believer. It means you do not believe that his action was from your Lord’s will, that all things are from Allah. If we believe, we must be patient with each other’s actions. Allah is trying our faith, each of us with others. We must see, therefore, that all actions are from our Lord’s will.”
Our Prophet (peace be upon him) says, “People will deal with you according to your actions.” If you are good and someone intends you harm, Allah will defend you. You must not be afraid of people’s harm. You must be honourable to all, good to all, respectful, merciful to all, generous, and good-thinking to all. We must be patient with all people because we believe that no one comes to us without our Lord’s will.
Therefore, no enmity in Islam. It is an important point. There is a saying in Islam: “Goodness for goodness, anyone can do. But, goodness for badness, only a few people can do.” We have been ordered to do goodness. We have not been ordered to do badness.
And we must know that nothing happens in this universe without Allah Almighty’s will. If a man objects to Allah’s will, then he is fighting Allah Almighty. When he says, “Allah! Allah!” the angels say, “Liar! Liar!” and Quran gives him a curse!
“Don’t be teacher to Allah!” says our Grandshaykh. “Allah knows best, and you don’t know anything! Don’t make any objection for anything; you are servants, you are slaves to Him and He is Governor, Absolute King of the Universe!”
* * * * * * * An important point for everyone:
Our Grandshaykh was saying, “If a man is going to do anything, worshipping, or any other actions, it must be voluntarily and gladly. If he is not pleased with that action, he must not do it, for there will be no good result for him from it.”
Worshipping, eating, drinking, sleeping, working – all must be done with pleasure. If there is no pleasure in it for you, there will be no pleasure in it for Allah Almighty.
For worshipping, it is important to realize that we are speaking of our souls’ pleasure. When we are worshipping, our nafs is not pleased, but our souls are. We must look to our souls’ pleasure.
For ordinary working and business, if you have pleasure with a given situation, it will have good results. You may observe this readily among people. Two students, one studying with pleasure, the other forced. What will be the result? It is like this in all occupations; there is so much difference between people. You must do everything you do with pleasure. Actions may be easy or difficult; what is easy for one may be difficult for another. What is the secret? For the one who finds it easy, it is because it gives him pleasure; while the one who finds it difficult, it is because he is forced to do it.
To be a servant to Allah Almighty is easy or difficult according to different persons. Therefore, Allah says, “You must do your worshipping with pleasure. If you are not pleased, I am not in need of your worship. I am asking only your pleasure with worshipping. When it is easy for you, do it.” Easy actions make people happier; difficult make people unhappy.
* * * * * * *
What does Holy Knowledge (Ma’rifat) mean? “Knowledge,” says our Grandshaykh, “is a Divine power, given to servants so that with that power they can look at the greatness of Allah Almighty.”
In every knowledge, if you look deeply enough, you will see the greatness of the Creator. In Botany, in Chemistry, in Physics, in Astronomy, in every branch of knowledge you will find this to be true. He who looks deeply enough must acknowledge the greatness of the Creator.
Therefore, Grandshaykh says that in knowledge there is a power leading people to the greatness of Allah Almighty. What is the benefit of that knowledge? It is that when a person knows more and more of Allah’s greatness, he will see himself as smaller and smaller until he will accept that he is nothing in the sight of the greatness of Allah Almighty.
This is because the worst characteristic of the nafs is to look at himself as the greatest. All egos say, “I am the greatest!” But, when the greatness of Allah Almighty appears to him, he will say, “I am nothing.” This is the benefit of real knowledge.
Nowadays, so many persons miss this point. They are learning so many things, but instead of looking through their knowledge to the greatness of Allah Almighty, they are looking to their egos and giving themselves such gigantic personalities! They are mistaken.
* * * * * * *
Our knowledge about Allah is going to increase always and it is endless. If it is going to finish, it is not Allah. All things belonging to Allah are endless. As our knowledge of Allah increases, we are going to approach His Divine Presence, and as we are approaching His Divine Presence there will be more pleasure for us. From everything, from every atom in the universe, you may take knowledge about your Lord.
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh asks, “What is the first fard (order) from Allah to His servants? The first order, ordered to Adam (peace be upon him), is marriage.”
On the marriage night, when two people come together, Allah forgives all their previous sins, so much does He like marriage. (And, as a counterpoint, devils hate marriage.) In our times, marriage is second only to lman in importance, because marriage keeps a man far away from all prohibited actions.
It is terrible to intend not to marry. For those who intend marriage, and wait for Allah to make it easy for them, it is all right. But, not to intend marriage is bad. All bad character comes as a result of refusing marriage.
Therefore, when Mahdi (peace be upon him) comes, the first order will be for all to marry. He is not leaving anyone to be without marriage.
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh said, “What is the description of the period we are now living in? We are living in a time where if a man intends to take one step on the right way, he will find one hundred obstacles in front of him. A very difficult time, one hundred hindrances for every step on the right way! And you must pass all of them to continue on your way.”
It was not like this before. But, inasmuch as it is now so difficult, so in these times it is also more valuable, in the sight of Allah, to step on the right way. Therefore, our Prophet (peace be upon him) says, “As much as you encounter difficulties, yo
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to be asked what he is bringing, but he is asked, “What do you want?” I am coming, O my Majesty Sultan, to You, and I am expecting You to ask me what I want! What can I bring to You? You have all things, endless treasures. I have nothing. I am asking from Your mercy, O my Lord! Give to me!’ – This is from the Sultan ul Arifin, the King of the Knowers!”
* * * * * * *
Allah Almighty accepts our prayers. Everything we ask of Him, He is going to accept; maybe He gives it quickly, or maybe He delays it until our life’s end, until the grave or until the Judgment. But, He will give to every person who asks from Him. He is ‘Al-Mujib,’ the Accepter, the Answerer.
My Grandshaykh said to me: “O my son! I will teach you a short, but powerful prayer – Say, ‘O my Lord! I am asking you to accept all the prayers I have made to You until the end of my life; also all the prayers at which I was present, or that I hear, before I go from this life. O my Lord! Show me the results of these prayers. May my prayers be acceptable from now up until my life’s end and give me from Your secret mercy treasures, from Your secret favours, more ‘hidaya’ (guidance), and make me more respectable here and hereafter.
“Thirdly, give me power, from Your power oceans. From Your endless power oceans give me power so that I can help all Your servants and guide them to Your mercy oceans and favours, so that I may be as Your Prophet (peace be upon him) says, ‘The leader of a nation is the servant of his nation.’”
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was saying, about all Awliya, “Some Awliya are too ashamed to ask anything from their Lord, because they see that they are in endless need of their Lord. They say, ‘O my Lord! You know best what I need from your mercy. My needs are endless. Fulfil my needs, O my Lord, as you know.’
“If any man reaches to absolute cleanliness in his heart, so that no more bad characters will be with him; if a man has a pure heart, and he has reached the Divine Presence, and he has authority to always be in the Divine Presence; if he has pleasure with being in the Divine Presence; if that person is veiled, for even one moment from the Divine Presence, his heart will explode! Literally! So great will his sorrow be! Those people are making dhikr silently, duas secretly. This is the highest degree for people. Pure heart.
“For people still approaching this level, it may be better to make dhikr loudly, duas loudly. Even dancing, for the sake of Allah, may be acceptable!”
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh teaches us about those situations in our lives that we can meet with joking and laughter. Many people like joking, but it is not true of everybody. Not every person carries joking with them. (You can’t make jokes with everybody, because some people can’t take it.) To whom may you make jokes? To one who, if you break his hand, is not angry with you. He is not changing his situation with regard to you, not changing his love for you. With such a person you may joke, not with everyone. Joking is a good way to keep peoples’ hearts good with you.
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was saying that Sayyidina Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was always praying witr at the end of the night, but Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) was praying before sleeping. Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “I am praying witr before sleeping because if I am going to die before I awaken, I don’t want to be in my Lord’s Presence without witr. Therefore, I am hurrying to pray witr before sleeping.”
But Sayiddina Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) delayed witr until the end of the night, and he said, “As our Prophet (peace be upon him) said, ‘Actions are rewarded according to intentions.’ Therefore, I intend to pray witr at the end of the night. If I die before praying witr, but I intend to pray, it is all right.”
“An important point,” says our Grandshaykh, “is that, in the sight of our Prophet (peace be upon him), Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him), and all Grandshaykhs in Naqshbandiyya; their opinion is not to delay any worship out of its time.
“Everything must be in its time. You cannot put it out of its time, because every time is occupied, full-up. You cannot find empty time. Therefore, it is a foolishness to say, ‘I shall do this tomorrow.’ It is craziness and stupidness because tomorrow is not empty. It is occupied, full-up with actions that you have, responsibilities for fulfilling. If you cannot carry today’s load, how can you carry tomorrow’s load also – two loads!
“Therefore, in our tariqat there is no delaying actions. Actions must be done in their times. As Allah Almighty says, ‘For praying there is a special time and order.’ This is a sign for us that for each action, there is a special time, and we must do it in that time without delay. Thus, to delay an action is an unacceptable thing before our Prophet (peace be upon him), Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), and all Naqshbandi Grandshaykhs!
“Asking to delay our actions comes from our nafs. Our nafs is very lazy. It does not like to move. Therefore, it wishes to delay all things. To our nafs, it seems easy to say, ‘I shall do it tomorrow.’ It is always escaping from serious actions. The nafs only likes to play.
“There is an important hadith on this subject. It applies to all people, not just Muslims. ‘Halakal inu safafu’: ‘Procrastinators are self- destroyed!’ This hadith signifies that Muhammad (peace be upon him) was sent for all nations. It is a high wisdom. He who delays his actions is destroyed, because today’s working is better than tomorrow’s working. It is golden! If you can do the whole work tomorrow, it is only silver! Today’s action is a virgin, tomorrow’s will be a widow!”
* * * * * * *
Now we are speaking on the beauties and endless pleasures and endless favours of Allah Almighty, the endless taste of Paradise such as I heard from my Grandshaykh and such as you have never yet heard!
In Paradise, there are so many favours of Allah Almighty that it is impossible to describe. Only some of them can you understand. My Grandshaykh said to me: “If a man eats from Paradise, one small morsel, how shall I describe how it will be! An olive, for example – in this life, it is very bitter. But, in Paradise. . . You will take more good taste from one olive there than you can find from all the good tastes from forty days’ meals in this life!
“How will it be? O my brother! We are in prison, and we don’t know! There is no taste in this life, yet we are running after it. In this life the first piece of food is the best, the second not as good, and the last one is tasteless. But in Paradise the more the eating the more the taste! With each, the taste increases successively.”
“And,” our Grandshaykh was saying, “if a man looks upon one of the ladies of Paradise (houris), he will be useless with the most beautiful girl in this world. So radiant are their beauties!
“But, if a woman is a believer in this world, her beauty in the next world will be greater than that of those girls in Paradise. Women believers will be queens in Paradise; the houris will be their servants! Theirs will be endless pleasures and beauties.
“Allah Almighty will ask each servant on the Judgment Day, ‘O My servant! What about My favours to you? How did you use them, for good or for bad?’ This is the most difficult situation for believers, indeed, for all people. We must be ready to reply quickly so that we may move on to Paradise. If you used His favours for His pleasure, it is a pleasure for you, also, that day – no difficulties.”
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was saying that egoism is the worst character in people. It is born with people, and grows with them. You may see it in
everyone. They attribute all things to their ego – their mind, their success, all things and, in so doing, they are losing their Creator and their Creator’s favours for them as well. Every person’s ego thinks himself to be his majesty, the king, and this is the reason for all the troubles in this world.
All Prophets have come to fight this false idea. Even a believer may fall prey to his egotism. Every time he thinks that his good deeds or his prayers are the result of his own doing, he fails to observe that those actions are his Lord’s favours to him. He is thus at fault, having left good manners.
It is good manners to observe all goodness as being from our Lord’s favour to us, and all badness as being from our ego. He who says, ‘I am such and such’ (a worshipper, a commander, a learned man, etc.), is claiming Divinity. It is only for Allah to say, ‘I am.’ When He says, ‘I am your Lord!’ it is true. It is not for His servants to say, ‘I am.’ This is what Iblis said, and it was the first egoism. ‘I am better,’ he said, and whoever says this about himself is on the same level with Iblis!
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh explains ‘tawbah’ (repentance):
“What is tawbah? It is not listening to your four enemies – nafs, hawa (desires), dunya, and Satan. To repent is not to listen to ego and its desires, or devils, or the temporary pleasures of this life. This is the reality, the real meaning of repentance. Man may agree with his Lord or with his four common enemies. If you are in agreement with your enemies, you haven’t faith nor mind. If you are in disagreement with your Lord, you must be an unbeliever!
Thus, real tawbah, real repentance, is to be in disagreement with your enemies. Don’t listen to their orders! If a man is asking to return to his Lord, he must leave; he must be in rebellion against those four enemies.
* * * * * * * Our Grandshaykh said, about women:
“Once, in a dream, I saw our Prophet (peace be upon him), who said to me, ‘A woman must keep respect for her husband so much that if she is sitting in a meeting with Khidr (peace be upon him), all Prophets, and all saints, she must keep her husband’s respect above all of them!’
“If she is not going to respect her husband as much as that, she cannot take any good results from her serving and worship. The most important thing for wives is to keep their husbands’ respect.”
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was saying that what Allah Almighty asks of His servants is that they worship with ‘Ikhlas’ (sincerity, purity). Allah Almighty asks only pure worshipping, and pure worshipping means to have a pure heart.
What is a pure heart? It is a heart that has nothing but his Lord in it – only Allah Almighty. This is a pure heart. If there is something except his Lord in one’s heart, he hasn’t a pure heart.
Allah Almighty isn’t asking just salat (prayer) or fasting (sawm). Those acts of worship are not targets in themselves. They are not original, they are only means for reaching pure hearts. They are the means to an end. This is important.
Therefore, our Grandshaykh says, “Don’t give yourself such a big load for learning or worshipping. The important thing is to have a pure heart. Each one of us knows which side of himself is not true, or which character from himself is not good. Each of us knows What is his deficiency. Everyone knows and he must complete that point, he must clean that character from his heart, so that he may strive to have a pure heart. This is ‘mujahida,’ struggle! Struggle must be for everyone to fight with his bad characters and change them into good ones. We must defeat our bad characters in order to have a pure heart.
Everything that occupies your heart and keeps you from your Lord is making your heart impure. You must try to keep everything away from your heart but Allah. There is no room in your heart for romantic
love! We say that the heart is for Allah alone. For children, we say our love for them is in the liver! For our wives…!
You are asking why men and women have such love for each other, why they may love the opposite sex to the point of idol worship? It is because they don’t know where to put their love! Man is created for the love of Allah Almighty. Allah Almighty loved Muhammad (peace be upon him), and created all the sons of Adam (peace be upon him) for His love. Therefore, love is original. Each one of us has love, but most people have forgotten what its object is. When they put their love in women, in children, or in anything except Allah, it means that love will be lost. If you put your love with your wife, she will die and your love will be wasted (souda). For children – the same. Any time you put your love in this dunya, it will be wasted! But, if you are putting your love with Allah Almighty it is never going to be wasted – not here, not hereafter. It is not going to be wasted. If you are putting your love with your Prophet (peace be upon him), or with your Shaykh, or with your fellow mu’mins, you may find that love here, and hereafter.
Love is the most precious thing for everyone. It is the most precious, most valuable, and most expensive thing that the sons of Adam (peace be upon him) have been given. How can you put the most precious thing in dogs and cats? For what? Are you putting a diamond on the neck of a pig? No, you are putting it on the neck of a beautiful lady! You must think about what western people are doing now. Their minds are not working – no taste with their doings!
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was saying that our egos have eighty- thousand bad characters. That means that there are eighty-thou sand veils between us and our Prophet (peace be upon him)! If you can’t break all those veils, if you can’t cut them, then you cannot see your Prophet (peace be upon him) unless you are dreaming.
Some people can see the Prophet (peace be upon him) in their dreams, but the Prophet (peace be upon him) may be seen when you are awake also. Who can see the Prophet (peace be upon him) without sleeping? Those people who cut out all those veils from their hearts may see our Prophet (peace be upon him).
And the worst one of those veils, the worst of those bad characters – what is it? “Egoism!” says our Grandshaykh. From egoism come thousands of bad characters! And, out of all those thousands of bad characters coming from egoism, what is the worst one? “It is anger!” says our Grandshaykh again.
‘Ghadab’ (anger) is the worst, because he who is angry is not listening or accepting anything from Allah or Prophets. This is because an angry person has lost his mind; he is acting without mind, like a car without a driver! Anger is the opposite of mind; you cannot do anything with your mind when you are angry. All things will be bad and become worse and worse, with anger. He who is angry may damage everything with that anger.
Therefore, it is the most important duty for all believers, perhaps for all people, to fight their anger; not to be angry. This is a very important point for every person. Our Grandshaykh says we must fight firmly against anger; not to let it be judge of us, or dominate us. “If anyone is angry,” he says, “and he is making dhikr, saying, ‘Allah! Allah! Allah!’ the angels are answering him, ‘O, liar! O, liar! O, liar!’ If you are angry, you cannot say, ‘Allah!’; you must say, instead, ‘Astaghfirullah! I am asking forgiveness, O my Lord! I am asking pardon, O my Lord!’ This means you are accepting your mistake, admitting your wrongness. Then Allah Almighty will save His servant from that mistake. He is not going to leave that servant with that bad character.”
It is enough for a person, a very great success, to be able to leave his anger. Our Prophet says, “Al hilmi sayyid ul akhlaq.” It means, “Not to be angry – it is the king of all good characters!” Clear? Not to be angry is the king of all good characters. To be ‘hilm’, to be restrained, soft, not coming quickly to anger; this is the best character in a man. To be white in his heart; to be able to carry all things without anger is the first order for every believer, and especially for every person who says, “I am on the way of the Sufis, I am on the way of Tariqat.” They must keep themselves far from anger.
Whoever can judge his anger, it means that he has power to judge his ego. When you can judge to keep yourself far away from anger, it means that you can control your nafs. Otherwise, it is impossible. You
must know that all actions, all events, are not going to happen as we like. Nothing happens, no one can be as we like; it is impossible. When you know this you may keep yourself far away from anger, because anger is the result of thinking that you can do everything as you like. No one can do this; so for what will you be angry?
Our Grandshaykh says, “You must be patient in your house. You must try not to be angry in your house; with your wife, with your children, with your business, with little boys, with big men; you must keep quiet with yourself, with everyone. You must keep soft, softness. You must deal with all people with softness and gentleness; Gentleness – it is the king of all good characters. So says Allah Almighty.”
Try this and see if it is correct or not: “Nothing like gentleness,” says our Prophet (peace be upon him), and therefore he has ordered Muslims to be gentle with all; not harming anyone. Now, however, we are very far from our Prophet’s advice, from his directions, guiding us to that point. If we were keeping that advice, being gentle with all, not being angry, the whole world would have come to Islam. But we are so far from that point – as far as the skies are from earth!
“You must not even be angry with animals,” says our Grandshaykh. “He who is angry with animals leaves his human nature, and descends to the level of animal nature.” So many people are angry with animals, and Islam does not accept anger, even for animals. You must have mercy for animals because they have no minds. Why are you angry with them?
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh told me that, on the Judgment Day, cats will come bringing fire with their tails to burn their owners. But dogs will rush upon them saying, “Are you not ashamed? Why are you bringing fire for your owners? You say that they didn’t give you enough food? They left you to go hungry? For shame! Didn’t they keep you indoors, inside their warm houses while we were left outside in the cold? Weren’t you around them when they were eating? In their houses, on their tables? How can you say that they didn’t feed you? We were kept outside, but they didn’t leave us to go hungry! How can you speak against them this way?”
What is the meaning of this story? Our Prophet (peace be upon him) says, “Ittaki sharri min qassante ilayh.” It means, “Here is the evil from the one to whom you have done good!” Therefore, he is saying that we must keep ourselves from those for whom we are doing goodness! Fear from one for whom you have done good! You must be careful; there are so many people that you may do goodness for, only to have them turn and do badness to you. You may try this; it happens so many times.
What does it mean? Prophet’s hadith shows us that we must not forget a goodness that has been done to us. Yes, it is from good characters not to forget those who have done goodness for you – to remember. We have a saying: “If someone gives you one cup of coffee, you must keep remembrance of that goodness for forty years!” We shall make this more clear. Our Grandshaykh says that if some person does a goodness for you, and afterwards you become displeased with that person over something he said or did, your displeasure, your forgetfulness of that person’s good deed toward you is from bad character.
When you forget a person’s goodness toward you, then you will be like cats. One hundred times you may give it meat; so many things you may give it. But, if you leave it just once, that cat will make objections and complaints to Allah, saying, “He left me hungry!” This is bad character, and if anyone is doing that, it means he has no good character. If a man does goodness for you one hundred times, and then he does one wrong thing to you, you must not become his enemy. You must not forget his goodness to you from before. If you do that, you will have no good characters; you will be like cats.
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh says, “There are twelve good characters in dogs that you may also find in Prophets and Awliya. They are:
Not forgetting goodness, they don’t forget those who have done goodness to them. They are not going to be angry with their owners even if they are beaten and sent away;
If their owner calls, they will return with tails wagging; They have humbleness;
They have obedience (kana-a);
They are satisfied with small things; They are truthful;
They are trustworthy, good friends;
They are loyal, they will remain with their owners and never turn traitor;
They are ‘zahid,’ not looking to anything from this dunya. It means that they have nothing from this world, no place for themselves. They may sleep anywhere, and if someone throws stones at them, they quickly get up and go somewhere else;
They are very light sleepers, they don’t sleep too much, and quickly awaken;
They are very patient;
They are always grateful for everything that they are given.
If a man has those attributes, he will be a Wali. Those twelve attributes belong to Prophets and Awliya!”
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was speaking about the hadiths of our Prophet (peace be upon him). He said that if a man tried to find all the meanings, or tried to come to the end of any hadith, he couldn’t do it! This is because every hadith is also a ‘wahyun,’ a revelation from Allah Almighty, and everything belonging to Allah Almighty is endless.
Our Prophet (peace be upon him) never said one hadith without knowing what its reality was in the Divine Presence. ‘Azali Haqiqat,’ or eternal truth, was known by our Prophet (peace be upon him), and said in his hadiths. Rasulullah (peace be upon him) said, “If all the trees were pens, and all the oceans were ink, they would not be sufficient to write all the meanings of hadiths!”
This is great respect for Muhammad (peace be upon him). He has so much knowledge, but that knowledge is only a tiny point, a dot in relation to Allah Almighty’s knowledge. The knowledge of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is not even a drop from an endless ocean! If you dip a needle into the ocean, how much will stay on the needle’s point? It is like that. The ocean is endless, and our Prophet’s knowledge is less than a drop!
And yet, that tiny drop is like an endless ocean itself when compared with all creatures’ knowledge! “This,” our Grandshaykh says, “is the minimum respect for Allah’s knowledge. If anyone does not speak like this, then they have responsibility for that point that they are not giving complete respect to their Lord.”
Once upon a time, there was a big ‘Alim – an ‘Alim that was too big. He was so proud of his knowledge. One day, a dervish came to him, a simple man who said to him, “Please, O my master! I am coming to ask one question.”
The ‘Alim said, “Ask as you like.”
So, the dervish said to that grand ‘Alim, “What about all knowledge in relation to our Prophet’s knowledge? Give me an example that I can understand.”
The scholar took a big sheet of paper and taking his pencil he put a tiny dot in the middle of the paper. Then he said, “O my brother, O my fellow, O, my guy! We are saying that if this sheet of paper is all of our Prophet’s knowledge, then this tiny dot is all other people’s knowledge!”
Then that simple dervish said, “Can you find, in that tiny dot, how much knowledge is coming to you? What is your share from that point that you have drawn? What is your knowledge in relation to all creatures?”
When he heard those words that big ‘Alim began to shake.
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh is asking, “Who is the happiest person in this life? Who is most satisfied? He is that person who is satisfied with that station in life in which his Lord put him. It is the station of contentment
– to look at everything and see that it is most suitable for him, and also for all.”
Shaykh Nazim told us, “This situation is the most suitable thing for me because my Lord put me in this situation. If it were no good for me, He wouldn’t have put me in it. He says who is the most satisfied
person, and the happiest person in this life. We must believe that Allah Almighty desires for us goodness – always.”
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh was describing how real faith should be:
“We must believe that all actions, whether from goodness, or from badness, are from Him Almighty. If we truly believe this, we shall reach the real faith.
“It is not enough to merely say this. You must practice, exercise for this purpose, until you reach the point where you cannot see anything from goodness or from badness coming to you without His will! This leads us to real faith.
“If a man harms you, and you become his enemy, it means that you are not a believer. It means you do not believe that his action was from your Lord’s will, that all things are from Allah. If we believe, we must be patient with each other’s actions. Allah is trying our faith, each of us with others. We must see, therefore, that all actions are from our Lord’s will.”
Our Prophet (peace be upon him) says, “People will deal with you according to your actions.” If you are good and someone intends you harm, Allah will defend you. You must not be afraid of people’s harm. You must be honourable to all, good to all, respectful, merciful to all, generous, and good-thinking to all. We must be patient with all people because we believe that no one comes to us without our Lord’s will.
Therefore, no enmity in Islam. It is an important point. There is a saying in Islam: “Goodness for goodness, anyone can do. But, goodness for badness, only a few people can do.” We have been ordered to do goodness. We have not been ordered to do badness.
And we must know that nothing happens in this universe without Allah Almighty’s will. If a man objects to Allah’s will, then he is fighting Allah Almighty. When he says, “Allah! Allah!” the angels say, “Liar! Liar!” and Quran gives him a curse!
“Don’t be teacher to Allah!” says our Grandshaykh. “Allah knows best, and you don’t know anything! Don’t make any objection for anything; you are servants, you are slaves to Him and He is Governor, Absolute King of the Universe!”
* * * * * * * An important point for everyone:
Our Grandshaykh was saying, “If a man is going to do anything, worshipping, or any other actions, it must be voluntarily and gladly. If he is not pleased with that action, he must not do it, for there will be no good result for him from it.”
Worshipping, eating, drinking, sleeping, working – all must be done with pleasure. If there is no pleasure in it for you, there will be no pleasure in it for Allah Almighty.
For worshipping, it is important to realize that we are speaking of our souls’ pleasure. When we are worshipping, our nafs is not pleased, but our souls are. We must look to our souls’ pleasure.
For ordinary working and business, if you have pleasure with a given situation, it will have good results. You may observe this readily among people. Two students, one studying with pleasure, the other forced. What will be the result? It is like this in all occupations; there is so much difference between people. You must do everything you do with pleasure. Actions may be easy or difficult; what is easy for one may be difficult for another. What is the secret? For the one who finds it easy, it is because it gives him pleasure; while the one who finds it difficult, it is because he is forced to do it.
To be a servant to Allah Almighty is easy or difficult according to different persons. Therefore, Allah says, “You must do your worshipping with pleasure. If you are not pleased, I am not in need of your worship. I am asking only your pleasure with worshipping. When it is easy for you, do it.” Easy actions make people happier; difficult make people unhappy.
* * * * * * *
What does Holy Knowledge (Ma’rifat) mean? “Knowledge,” says our Grandshaykh, “is a Divine power, given to servants so that with that power they can look at the greatness of Allah Almighty.”
In every knowledge, if you look deeply enough, you will see the greatness of the Creator. In Botany, in Chemistry, in Physics, in Astronomy, in every branch of knowledge you will find this to be true. He who looks deeply enough must acknowledge the greatness of the Creator.
Therefore, Grandshaykh says that in knowledge there is a power leading people to the greatness of Allah Almighty. What is the benefit of that knowledge? It is that when a person knows more and more of Allah’s greatness, he will see himself as smaller and smaller until he will accept that he is nothing in the sight of the greatness of Allah Almighty.
This is because the worst characteristic of the nafs is to look at himself as the greatest. All egos say, “I am the greatest!” But, when the greatness of Allah Almighty appears to him, he will say, “I am nothing.” This is the benefit of real knowledge.
Nowadays, so many persons miss this point. They are learning so many things, but instead of looking through their knowledge to the greatness of Allah Almighty, they are looking to their egos and giving themselves such gigantic personalities! They are mistaken.
* * * * * * *
Our knowledge about Allah is going to increase always and it is endless. If it is going to finish, it is not Allah. All things belonging to Allah are endless. As our knowledge of Allah increases, we are going to approach His Divine Presence, and as we are approaching His Divine Presence there will be more pleasure for us. From everything, from every atom in the universe, you may take knowledge about your Lord.
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh asks, “What is the first fard (order) from Allah to His servants? The first order, ordered to Adam (peace be upon him), is marriage.”
On the marriage night, when two people come together, Allah forgives all their previous sins, so much does He like marriage. (And, as a counterpoint, devils hate marriage.) In our times, marriage is second only to lman in importance, because marriage keeps a man far away from all prohibited actions.
It is terrible to intend not to marry. For those who intend marriage, and wait for Allah to make it easy for them, it is all right. But, not to intend marriage is bad. All bad character comes as a result of refusing marriage.
Therefore, when Mahdi (peace be upon him) comes, the first order will be for all to marry. He is not leaving anyone to be without marriage.
* * * * * * *
Our Grandshaykh said, “What is the description of the period we are now living in? We are living in a time where if a man intends to take one step on the right way, he will find one hundred obstacles in front of him. A very difficult time, one hundred hindrances for every step on the right way! And you must pass all of them to continue on your way.”
It was not like this before. But, inasmuch as it is now so difficult, so in these times it is also more valuable, in the sight of Allah, to step on the right way. Therefore, our Prophet (peace be upon him) says, “As much as you encounter difficulties, yo
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