MERCY OCEANS, Book 07 (Hidden Treasures, Shaykh Nazim, 220 pages, 2/12)
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ankind in the eyes of Allah Almighty. To whatever extent we can be humble, just so much is our Lord raising us higher, as much as a person is proud in front of his Lord, that much his Lord will debase him.
Allah Almighty raised His Beloved Muhammad to the highest ranks in the Divine Presence and entrusted him with the distribution of ranks to all mankind according to their need. The ranks of the various Prophets and Saints have been divided up and bestowed by Muhammad, and also, for believers in general, their ranks of faith (Iman) have been given by him. Allah Almighty has deputized the Prophet Muhammad to judge every creature, but he is never judging beyond that authority — that authority may extend to every creature, but Allah Almighty is the Judge of Judges, and He holds in His Hand judgement for all creatures including Muhammad.
Grandshaykh was saying that Allah Almighty may open up to His Prophet the reality of being judge for all creatures on the Last Day. He will give to him authority to be judge for all people gathering on the Last Day in the Divine Presence. On that day, the Prophet’s authority for judgement will appear. To know this is enough to know the honour belonging to our Prophet, who said in a Hadith: “On that day Adam and all the Prophets will
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be under my flag. I am not saying this from pride, but only to inform you so you may believe in what my Lord is giving me on the Last Day; on that day all Prophets will be under my flag by the order of Allah Almighty, and by His command I am informing you so that you may know everyone’s rank in the Divine Presence.”
When Adam’s soul was first blown into him, he looked up to the throne of Allah; later, when he sinned in Paradise and Allah Almighty sent him to Earth, he asked his Lord, “Oh my Lord, for the sake of Muhammad, forgive me.” Allah Almighty asked him, “Oh Adam, how did you know Muhammad when yet he is not created?” “Oh my Lord, when my soul entered my body and I first opened my eyes, I looked to Your throne, where I saw written, “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger” (La ilaha illallah. Muhammadun Rasulallah), and so 1 know that he must be the most beloved person to You Almighty and the most honourable of creatures that his name may be thus written alongside Yours.” Allah Almighty answered Adam, “Yes, you are right, he is My beloved, and is so respectable in My sight that I created the whole Universe for his sake; if you ask Me for forgiveness for his sake, I shall forgive you and shall be merciful with your sons as well.”
Allah Almighty will give authority to Muhammad on the Last Day. On that day Allah will judge everyone, and when He is finished with His judgement He will call Muhammad to the most praised station (Maqam- ul-Mahmud), which no one else can reach. Allah Almighty shall say, “Ask, and whatever you want shall be granted to you, for these people are now subject to your judgement.” This is the meaning of the Quranic saying that Muhammad was not sent but as a mercy to the worlds.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF ALIGNING OUR WILL WITH THE WILL OF THE LORD
My Grandshaykh was speaking on a very important point concerning Satan: For what reason was he thrown out of the Divine Presence? Grandshaykh said that Satan was a complete servant of his Lord, worshipping and respecting Him without any disobedience for over two thousand years; but one time, only one time, he used his will against the Will of his Lord. Putting his will above his Lord’s was not and could never be a correct action and was the sole reason for his banishment. When Allah created Adam, His Will was that everyone prostrate themselves in front of him as a sign of respect, and thus, He commanded all to do so. Everyone obeyed except Satan, who said, “No.” The meaning of this was, “My will is above your will, I am not obeying your order.” That refusal to submit made him fall into the darkness of banishment, and that is the beginning and the fountain of sins.
Anyone of the Sons of Adam, says our Grandshaykh, who puts his will above the Will of Allah or that of the Prophet is secretly ascribing partners unto Allah (Shirk Khafi); it is not open, but hidden and thus very dangerous and a cause of deep trouble. Particularly in our time, everyone is catching and holding firmly to his own will, demanding that it prevail over all else. You may find only a very few people who will be in agreement with your will — the majority are holding firmly to their own. So how shall they agree with the Lord’s Will or the Prophet’s will if they cannot even bend to accept each other’s? This is the fountain of sins; this is why all Tariqats are teaching people how they may abandon their wills in front of a person: you may say, “This is my Shaykh — I left my will for his will so that it may be a first step towards my learning to be an obedient
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servant of Allah and of His Prophet, otherwise I can’t even begin.”
Now Satan and his armies are fighting against Shaykhs and Tariqats because Tariqats are teaching people how to leave their wills in front of Allah and His Prophet. Tariqats are educators — when I am saying that he is my Shaykh in love of Allah Almighty and His Prophet, then I love him not for this world, but truly for Allah and His Prophet.
* * * We are speaking on the will of servants — an extremely important matter affecting our lives and our improvement in the Divine Presence. To use our willpower as we should means to make it accord with our Lord’s desires — if we can bring ourselves to do that, we will be acceptable in the Divine Presence; if not, it means unhappiness for us, defeat and darkness — all of which descended upon Satan because he could not bring himself to do what his Lord desired of him — to bow down to Adam. Because of this, all the devotions and acts of worship he performed for two thousand years were rendered useless, and he was banished.
Grandshaykh was stressing the importance of this point, as everything in every religion and faith is based upon it. If you can do your Lord’s Will you may improve to the ranks of Prophets and Saints; you may approach the Divine Presence and find acceptance there; otherwise, you are secretly ascribing partners unto Allah, and you become stuck on this Earth like a plane that is tied down and can’t take off. Whoever pays no attention to these subtle points is in danger of going the way of Satan. This is the common base of all religions, because Allah Almighty has said through all of His Holy Prophets: “Oh My people, if you claim that you are servants, then
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put your desires in line with Mine, otherwise you are not servants.” Allah Almighty said to the Children of Israel through the Prophet Jesus: “Testify that Jesus Christ is My Prophet unto you.” They didn’t like that, and so they fell. Allah said to them: “I am not in need of your worshipping, all I want from you is that you accord with My desires.” Similarly, Allah said through His Prophet Muhammad: “Oh Christians, come and agree with Muhammad.” They answered “No, we only like Jesus Christ, that is enough for us.” He Almighty replied: “Your worshipping is unacceptable until your desires are alike unto Mine.” Everyone wishes that his own desires be fulfilled — true or not? We must either serve as we like or as He likes. We must accept our Lord’s Word about Jesus Christ, and the same is true for Moses and the other Prophets. Now Muslims are also running after so many desires and fleeing from the way of Muhammad, saying, “We like this and that.” As a result, their worship comes to naught. If you can understand this point, it will suffice you, as it is the first and most important lesson we can learn from the actions of Satan — are you not afraid that you will be like him?
The Prophet’s companions learned to obey the Lord through obeying His Prophet. They said: “Oh our Prophet, we have ransomed our mothers and fathers for you.” They said this to him sincerely and with love; in this way they came to obey Allah through obeying Muhammad. Therefore, Allah ordered people to follow the inheritors of the Prophet and to hold to them as the companions (Sahaba) held to the Prophet, so that through them we may learn to obey the Lord. If this discipline of following those who are truly on the Prophet’s way was not in Islam, there would be no more Islam. Islam is coming with discipline, strong discipline: no more are the people to go like this or like that, but to follow in the
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way of the Prophet. This is the meaning of the discipline of Islam. We must accept this or else we are cheating ourselves; we must keep discipline, as Allah Almighty orders in the Holy Qur’an: “And don’t follow your vain desires as they will cause you to deviate from the way of Allah.”
Our Grandshaykh was saying about Adam that when Allah Almighty put him in Paradise and said to him: “Everything has been granted, enjoy every abundance except this fruit tree which you must not approach,” Adam’s ego was saying: “Oh my Lord, You don’t want me to eat from it, but I want to eat.” Because of his ego’s desire being out of line with his Lord’s desire, he was vulnerable to the suggestion of Satan; therefore, he had to go to Earth to learn manners and discipline, the sum of which is to say inside of ourselves, “As You like my Lord.” If we can’t say this in our innermost selves, it means that we are making our desire lord over our Guardian Lord Almighty.
When Adam ate from that tree in opposition to his Lord’s Will, Allah took from him his paradise clothes and left him naked and ashamed in order to make him feel shame at what he had done.
* * * We must be very careful of attributing partners to Allah Almighty through our actions. If we can be careful of these fine points, then it is easy for us to receive Divine Lights in our hearts.
The Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, was saying about Abu Bakr, May Allah be pleased with Him, that he was one who ‘died before he died.’ From among all the companions, why was it Abu Bakr who accomplished this? — Because he had absolutely left all his desires
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behind, so that there was nothing left of them in the face of his Lord and his Prophet. He was as a dead person with no desire for this life. When he had arrived at this state, he was like a shadow for the Prophet, and you can’t find a shadow that doesn’t entirely agree with its original; to this absolute extent Abu Bakr never left the Prophet’s way. Because of this attribute, Abu Bakr became trustworthy in all respects, and thus the Prophet was able to plant many knowledge’s in his heart. The Prophet knew that Abu Bakr would not do anything contrary to his wish or his liking. Therefore, in spiritual rank, Abu Bakr was at the top of all the companions of the Prophet.
Sayyidina ‘Ali was also one of the Prophet’s companions who never used his will or desires against the will of the Prophet or contrary to the Prophet’s desires. He was one of two among all the Sahaba who had put his desires totally in line with the Prophet’s desires. Therefore, ‘Ali has been described by the Prophet as follows: “I am the City of Knowledge and ‘Ali is the Gate to that City.” My Grandshaykh was saying that because the Prophet was so pleased with ‘Ali’s following him like a shadow, one day he ordered ‘Ali to look at him; when ‘Ali looked at the Prophet, the Prophet showed him his real Prophethood personality in the Divine Presence. No one may look at that personality until he reaches the station of Sayyidina ‘Ali; what is that station? — It is the station of being a shadow in every action.
Once the Son of ‘Umar was going to Hijaz, traveling by camel. When he arrived at a certain point in the road he made a detour to the right, rode around in a circle and then returned to the road, continuing on his way. People asked him, “Oh Son of ‘Umar, the road was going straight, so why did you go around in a circle?” He replied, “Oh people, I was once accompanying the Prophet on this road and when he came to that point he
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made a circle to the right, then he continued on straight; therefore, I wanted to do as the Prophet had done.”
Look at how the companions were desiring and doing what the Prophet desired and did. If anyone can attain to that station, then the Prophet may show him his real Prophethood personality in the Divine Presence, for even now the Prophet is alive, but not in the same way that we are alive — he has real life in the Divine Presence. Both Abu Bakr and ‘Ali reached their divine positions and took their holy trusts from the Prophet during this life. Others from among the Sahaba took their trusts only upon reaching the hereafter.
Grandshaykh told me that one day Sayyidina ‘Ali said to Sayyidina ‘Umar, regarding the secret knowledge that had been opened up to him: “Oh ‘Umar, if I would speak to you from the secret knowledges which have been opened up to us, you would instantly cut my head off with your sword; you wouldn’t be able to let me get up from my seat if I told you from the secrets of the Way, the creation, the religion, Prophethood and the secrets of Allah Almighty — you can’t even listen.”
When the Prophet was taken to the Heavens on the Night Journey or Ascension (Mi’raj), the news of this miraculous journey spread among the Muslims. ‘Umar, on hearing this — to him — incomprehensible news, ran to see the Prophet to find out for himself what this was all about. On the way to see the Prophet he ran into Abu Bakr and asked him: “What is your companion (Muhammad) saying, are you believing such a thing?” Abu Bakr, who had as of yet not met with the Prophet since the mi’raj, said: “Oh ‘Umar, what are you saying? If all of creation has been created for his sake, is it too much for him to ascend to the heavens or perform other miracles? Oh ‘Umar, I believe he is capable of even greater miracles than this; he is so great, so respected
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in the Divine Presence that no one can know his real personality but his Lord.”
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SURPASSING THE MIND’S LIMITATIONS
Grandshaykh was telling me about Ka’b-ul Ahbar, the most learned man among the Jews living in Hijaz in the time of the Prophet. Because of his great learning, Ka’b was expecting the coming of a Prophet, the Last Prophet, whose appearance he had found foretold in the Scriptures.
Ka’b’sknowledgewasso extensivethathehadreached to the ‘Station of Gabriel’, but not beyond. According to Grandshaykh, knowledge is divided into two parts: one part extends from the Earth to the Station of Gabriel. The Sons of Adam may learn these knowledges through their intellectual efforts. The other part extends upward from the Station of Gabriel. Gabriel is the Angel who represents intelligence — and intellectual knowledge reaches up to his station; however, after that station are oceans of strange and wonderful knowledges which are all out of the boundaries of the mind and intellect. The mind is not capable of balancing those knowledges, and when confronted with them can only say, “No further can I go, I have reached my limit.”
Technologically learned people are floundering and struggling unsuccessfully to arrive at a complete understanding of the creation through empirical knowledge — they want to be able to see everything in front of their two eyes and analyse it; they want to analyse everything by means of their five senses, and anything outside of the perception of their senses is
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rejected. Whoso says that knowledge is limited to what the five senses can observe and does not accept any other type of knowledge, he is a fool, for you can never limit knowledge at all.
In order to prove this point, it is enough to point out that every day in the scientific fields they work in there is progress, and all the time they are progressing from one horizon of knowledge to the next. If one were to say, “This is the last horizon,” he would be foolish, for when he arrives at that first horizon there will be yet another in front of him, and so on; in fact, endless horizons may be discovered — and so it is with knowledge; endless horizons, and the only limits are in our minds. If we can surpass those limits, we will find that whenever we are tired and cannot go on any further, there will appear another horizon — oceans, endless oceans. To reach the next ocean you must discard this mind, otherwise you will have been caught and trapped by it.
People can acquire many knowledges through study and practice, and they may attain high degrees, but as long as they are bound to mind’s limitations, they can advance no further. Ka’b was a person who advanced through his mind to the Station of Gabriel but couldn’t go on from there. He knew the Prophet well but delayed his acceptance of Islam until the time of ‘Umar; therefore, he delayed also in reaching that spiritual knowledge.
Grandshaykh was saying about the third Khalifa, ‘Uthman, that he was of a very high degree among the Sahaba and was the most modest of the Prophet’s companions. He performed so many services for the Prophet, and after the Prophet’s lifetime he gathered all the verses and Surahs of the Holy Qur’an into book form. In spite of this, ‘Uthman didn’t attain the spiritual ranks attained by Abu Bakr and ‘Ali because he sometimes held firmly to his own desires instead of putting them
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completely in line with the Prophet’s. This was also one reason for his martyrdom: misfortunes befell him as a result of his not being able to totally leave his own desires behind.
Man hasn’t the capacity to carry all knowledges in his mind and body, and yet he asks for more and more: this is a sign for mankind that within them there exists something which is always asking without ever becoming satiated. This ‘something’ is above our physical bodies and minds, a power which controls them and without which neither of them could function. Therefore, beyond any doubt, our bodies and minds are under the control of an unknown, indescribable, ‘supernatural’ power. That power impels man to seek more and more knowledge, endlessly; but the mind cannot keep all these knowledges, and so it says, “I can’t.” But still man asks for more, because there is something above our minds controlling it, and that ‘something’ is our soul and the indescribable power behind it. This is the meaning of the verse which says that Allah Almighty created man for the purpose of knowing Him, for His Divine Knowledges.
Every knowledge which has appeared points to the Creator and describes His attributes, but still we are asking to know who our Creator is and what His attributes are, as our souls are always thirsty to know their Lord and to approach Him. The more we know our Lord, the more we are going to love Him, and the more we love Him, the more we will approach Him and taste of boundless bliss.
If we put a spoon of sugar in this glass of water, it will dissolve; and in like manner up to four or five spoonfuls will dissolve, but more than that it will be unable to absorb, and the sugar will fall to the bottom of the glass. Likewise, our minds have a limited capacity for absorbing knowledge — they reach their maximum,
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beyond which they cannot go. Our limited minds are as incapable of absorbing boundless Divine Knowledge as that little glass of water would be of absorbing all the sugar in the world. Our souls, however, have unlimited capacity for knowledge and will ever be thirsting for more. As long as the soul is imprisoned by the senses of the physical body, our mind will hold it down. The mind is the guardian over the soul and keeps it passive, inactive. The situation will remain so until you transcend the boundaries of the mind and open yourself up for the soul’s activity — endless activity; but people are closed, and only the souls of Prophets and Saints are really opened up — all others are sleeping, passive, imprisoned.
How and why do our souls remain passive? You must pay close attention to this point. When we are putting the desires of our physical bodies over and above the desires of our Lord and His Prophet, there can be no activity for our souls. The reason for the passivity of the soul is that we follow the dictates of our minds, which are, in turn, striving only to please the physical body. If you are able to reject the base dictates of your mind and follow the desires of the Prophet, then soul-activity will appear little by little.
Among the Sahaba, the most active soul was the soul of Abu Bakr because he never put his desires in the first place; after him came Sayyidina ‘Ali who, in like manner, attained strong soul-activity. It is incumbent upon us (Fard) to do as much as we possibly can of our Lord’s desires, and it is a meritorious action (Sunna) to do as much as we can of the Prophet’s desires; those who have done their utmost to fulfil this Fard and Sunna have attained the light of Sainthood. Of all the souls, the brightest is that of Sayyidina Muhammad, after his the souls of the other Prophets, and after them, the soul of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq.
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Therefore, the Tariqat-an-Naqshbandiyya, (as it is passed down through Abu Bakr As-Siddiq), activates the souls of the murids to whatever extent the murid can bring his desires to accord with the desires of his Shaykh. So many murids have high spiritual aspiration (Himma) and they say: “Oh my Shaykh, I am asking for himma in order that my soul be activated.” The Shaykh replies: “Oh my son, I am asking service from you (Khidma). What is this service? You must be like me; when you are like me, my spiritual powers may come to you, but if we are not of the same kind of metal, the current can’t pass through you: I am copper, you must not remain stone.”
Once Grandshaykh told me that his Shaykh, Shaykh Sharafuddin, said to him: “Oh ‘Abdullah Efendi, look at me and tell me what you see.” Grandshaykh looked and said: “Oh my Shaykh, when I look at you, I see myself.” Then Shaykh Sharafuddin said: “Now look at yourself.” He looked at himself and saw Shaykh Sharafuddin — there was no opposition in him to prevent this from happening. Allah Almighty asked the Prophet to be with Him, and the Prophet asked the Sahaba to be with him; to be ‘with him’ meant for them to be as he wished for them to be. The Shaykh, also, is asking murids to be ‘with him’.
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SAYYIDINA ‘UMAR’S MERITS, SAYYIDINA ABU BAKR’S PERFECTION
Our Grandshaykh was praising the second Khalifa ‘Umar, and pointed to ‘Umar’s having said: “In the time of ignorance (Jahiliyya), before the Prophethood of Muhammad, I was always very careful to avoid three sins which later came to be strongly forbidden by Islam.
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First of all, I never lied because I knew that if a person was ever caught lying, his value in the sight of people would be reduced to the value of that lie: no value at all is given to a person who is known as a liar, so I never permitted myself to do that. In Islam, every sin may be forgiven, as repentance is the key that opens the door of forgiveness; but lies uproot faith itself, making repentance ever more difficult.”
“Secondly, I never drank wine. Everyone else in Jahiliyya was drinking, and when I looked at them in that drunken state I could understand, even then, that they were throwing away the honour given to them as the Sons of Adam. It is the particular honour of the Sons of Adam to be endowed with minds, so why throw it away? How could I throw away this honour and become like an animal, the way I saw the others doing it — some were becoming like wolves, some like donkeys, and some like hyenas — dancing, laughing, shouting, fighting.”
“Thirdly, I never looked lustfully at women belonging to other men. I never desired unlawful intercourse with another’s lady because I would not suffer anyone to look at my lady, and so I did not want to do unto others what I would never have them do unto me; this is a basic attribute of knighthood. These three evil actions I avoided even before Islam, and now I avoid them with even greater care. If everyone kept away from these three prohibited actions, there would be no more trouble on the Earth.”
Yet, despite these most admirable characteristics of Sayyidina ‘Umar, he did at times set his will against the will of the Prophet. Often ‘Umar would be quick to unsheathe his sword and ask permission to decapitate hypocrites, but the Prophet would say: “No, ‘Umar, put away your sword.” This sort of thing may happen but a few times, but the effect is that the soul is kept from
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awakening, it remains passive.
Abu Bakr never spoke up against the Prophet’s will at all, and the same is true for ‘Ali. Abu Bakr’s soul was the most active of the whole Ummah, and so the Prophet laid upon him a burden which no one else in the Ummah could have borne: the Khalifate, or guardianship over the whole Nation. When the Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, died, ‘Umar was thrown into total confusion and said: “I will behead anyone who says that Muhammad has died.” Abu Bakr arrived, and seeing that the Prophet was dead, kissed him and said: “No one tastes death twice,” then he mounted the pulpit and quoted the Quranic verse:
“And Muhammad is but a Messenger; Messengers have passed away before him, so if he were to die or be killed would you turn on your heels and flee (from Islam) and whoso turns on his heels won’t hurt Allah in the least and Allah will reward the thankful.”
(Surat Al-Imran, Ayat 42)
When ‘Umar heard this, he was amazed and said: “Is this really from the Qur’an?” Abu Bakr replied: “Yes ‘Umar, you must know that the Prophet has died, Allah Almighty has called him to His Divine Presence.” Then ‘Umar put away his sword and wept.
Regarding ‘Umar, our Grandshaykh furthermore said, that because he was sometimes openly stating his desires despite their being contrary to the Prophet’s, that he never attained the secret knowledge which Abu Bakr and ‘Ali attained. For example, sometimes there came to the Prophet some people who were not yet real believers and would therefore raise some objections to what the Prophet told them. The Prophet tolerated
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such people and their behaviour without becoming angry, and always demonstrated exemplary patience — but ‘Umar would become very angry, saying: “Oh my Prophet, let me chop off the heads of these hypocrites!” The worst characteristic of the ego is hypocrisy; every nation and every religion condemns these people. They are dangerous and harmful because they are hiding their hearts’ real intentions and making a show of false feelings. So, ‘Umar quickly wanted to cut off their heads, but the Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, said: “Oh ‘Umar, don’t judge people’s intentions in this manner, for unless Allah Almighty informs me of their hypocrisy directly through Gabriel, even I cannot know for sure; so how shall you know?”
In light of this, Grandshaykh is stressing the following point: that we should always show our best manners to our Shaykh by not raising any objections to the way in which the Shaykh handles people and situations, or to the orders he gives. In order for this to be possible, you must first of all believe in him as the Sahaba were believing in the Prophet. For as much as you believe in a person, that much you may give your reins over to his hands, and so find rest and satisfaction in your heart. As long as you are trying to catch the reins in your own hands, you are carrying a great burden on your shoulders. Shaykhs are the inheritors of the Prophets and are offering to carry your burdens — and you must give your burdens to them, or else you are like Nasruddin Hodja in the following story:
One day Nasruddin Hodja was coming home from market on his donkey, carrying his bags over his own shoulders. The people asked, “Oh Hodja, why are you burdening your shoulders when you could sling the bags over the donkey and ride as well?” Hodja replied, “It is too much for the donkey, so I am carrying it.” If you don’t give over your burden you are like this. Give your
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load to your Shaykh — do you see a person sitting on the deck of a ship with his bags on his shoulders instead of laying them down on the deck? Shaykhs are offering to carry our burden, so don’t be so foolish as to keep it with you; just put your desires in line with the Shaykh’s — that is the way to open your heart to heavenly power. Then you may see or hear or know something which you cannot now know.
The Prophet used to say that he was but a powerless servant and completely dependent upon his Lord; and when he said this, Allah Almighty gave him from His Absolute Powers, saying: “For as much as you are admitting your own powerlessness, that much power We will give to you.’’ Our Prophet is going to act as judge for the whole Nation. You must leave your will in favour of his, then your perception will open — this is the Way.
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REAL SERVANTHOOD, FIGHTING THE EGO, AND QUESTIONS
Now our Grandshaykh is explaining to us a very important sign of attainment to real servanthood of our Lord. Unless this sign has appeared, it is impossible that one has in reality become a servant. This sign is: That one’s will is subdued to the Will of the Lord.
Trains run on rails, and if they derail, they are immediately destroyed. Their wheels must stay on the rails, and in the same manner your willpower must be aligned with the Will of your Lord, otherwise you are not a real servant and you will encounter the direst difficulties as a result — for when a train derails, it is a very terrible thing. You may confirm this by examining your own lives, for such an examination will reveal that
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as soon as you stray from the track of your Lord, terrible things happen to you.
It is really very difficult for our will to agree with our Lord’s Will, difficult for our egos. The ego always says, “I must be your Lord, you must move according to my commands.” This is the main reason for the suffering of mankind.
Yes, it is difficult to fight your ego and make it go according to the Lord’s Will, but if you are patient and perseverant in this struggle, Allah will reward you with success. Allah sets a limit for every trial and difficulty, so that it may continue from this point to that, but no more: “When My servant shows Me that he can be patient, 1 will be satisfied that it is enough, and I shall save him from that difficulty.” Maybe you have seen a plane gliding down a runway trying to take off; for the distance of that runway it must give all the power it’s got, and it is a very dangerous time, but when it comes to that essential speed required for take-off, it will fly with ease. Therefore, Grandshaykh is saying that we must be patient as we are in need of going that distance on our ‘runway’. It is a limited distance for everyone — for some, forty days, some seventy, for another one year. When you have borne that heavy burden for that specified distance and have been patient with the Will of your Lord, you will arrive at the time when you shall smell the fragrance of dawn. That fragrant breeze will lift you up in just the same manner that the plane finally leaves the runway. Allah Almighty will send to you a kind of invigorating breeze that will lift you from the attachment and hankering aft
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ankind in the eyes of Allah Almighty. To whatever extent we can be humble, just so much is our Lord raising us higher, as much as a person is proud in front of his Lord, that much his Lord will debase him.
Allah Almighty raised His Beloved Muhammad to the highest ranks in the Divine Presence and entrusted him with the distribution of ranks to all mankind according to their need. The ranks of the various Prophets and Saints have been divided up and bestowed by Muhammad, and also, for believers in general, their ranks of faith (Iman) have been given by him. Allah Almighty has deputized the Prophet Muhammad to judge every creature, but he is never judging beyond that authority — that authority may extend to every creature, but Allah Almighty is the Judge of Judges, and He holds in His Hand judgement for all creatures including Muhammad.
Grandshaykh was saying that Allah Almighty may open up to His Prophet the reality of being judge for all creatures on the Last Day. He will give to him authority to be judge for all people gathering on the Last Day in the Divine Presence. On that day, the Prophet’s authority for judgement will appear. To know this is enough to know the honour belonging to our Prophet, who said in a Hadith: “On that day Adam and all the Prophets will
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be under my flag. I am not saying this from pride, but only to inform you so you may believe in what my Lord is giving me on the Last Day; on that day all Prophets will be under my flag by the order of Allah Almighty, and by His command I am informing you so that you may know everyone’s rank in the Divine Presence.”
When Adam’s soul was first blown into him, he looked up to the throne of Allah; later, when he sinned in Paradise and Allah Almighty sent him to Earth, he asked his Lord, “Oh my Lord, for the sake of Muhammad, forgive me.” Allah Almighty asked him, “Oh Adam, how did you know Muhammad when yet he is not created?” “Oh my Lord, when my soul entered my body and I first opened my eyes, I looked to Your throne, where I saw written, “There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is His Messenger” (La ilaha illallah. Muhammadun Rasulallah), and so 1 know that he must be the most beloved person to You Almighty and the most honourable of creatures that his name may be thus written alongside Yours.” Allah Almighty answered Adam, “Yes, you are right, he is My beloved, and is so respectable in My sight that I created the whole Universe for his sake; if you ask Me for forgiveness for his sake, I shall forgive you and shall be merciful with your sons as well.”
Allah Almighty will give authority to Muhammad on the Last Day. On that day Allah will judge everyone, and when He is finished with His judgement He will call Muhammad to the most praised station (Maqam- ul-Mahmud), which no one else can reach. Allah Almighty shall say, “Ask, and whatever you want shall be granted to you, for these people are now subject to your judgement.” This is the meaning of the Quranic saying that Muhammad was not sent but as a mercy to the worlds.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF ALIGNING OUR WILL WITH THE WILL OF THE LORD
My Grandshaykh was speaking on a very important point concerning Satan: For what reason was he thrown out of the Divine Presence? Grandshaykh said that Satan was a complete servant of his Lord, worshipping and respecting Him without any disobedience for over two thousand years; but one time, only one time, he used his will against the Will of his Lord. Putting his will above his Lord’s was not and could never be a correct action and was the sole reason for his banishment. When Allah created Adam, His Will was that everyone prostrate themselves in front of him as a sign of respect, and thus, He commanded all to do so. Everyone obeyed except Satan, who said, “No.” The meaning of this was, “My will is above your will, I am not obeying your order.” That refusal to submit made him fall into the darkness of banishment, and that is the beginning and the fountain of sins.
Anyone of the Sons of Adam, says our Grandshaykh, who puts his will above the Will of Allah or that of the Prophet is secretly ascribing partners unto Allah (Shirk Khafi); it is not open, but hidden and thus very dangerous and a cause of deep trouble. Particularly in our time, everyone is catching and holding firmly to his own will, demanding that it prevail over all else. You may find only a very few people who will be in agreement with your will — the majority are holding firmly to their own. So how shall they agree with the Lord’s Will or the Prophet’s will if they cannot even bend to accept each other’s? This is the fountain of sins; this is why all Tariqats are teaching people how they may abandon their wills in front of a person: you may say, “This is my Shaykh — I left my will for his will so that it may be a first step towards my learning to be an obedient
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servant of Allah and of His Prophet, otherwise I can’t even begin.”
Now Satan and his armies are fighting against Shaykhs and Tariqats because Tariqats are teaching people how to leave their wills in front of Allah and His Prophet. Tariqats are educators — when I am saying that he is my Shaykh in love of Allah Almighty and His Prophet, then I love him not for this world, but truly for Allah and His Prophet.
* * * We are speaking on the will of servants — an extremely important matter affecting our lives and our improvement in the Divine Presence. To use our willpower as we should means to make it accord with our Lord’s desires — if we can bring ourselves to do that, we will be acceptable in the Divine Presence; if not, it means unhappiness for us, defeat and darkness — all of which descended upon Satan because he could not bring himself to do what his Lord desired of him — to bow down to Adam. Because of this, all the devotions and acts of worship he performed for two thousand years were rendered useless, and he was banished.
Grandshaykh was stressing the importance of this point, as everything in every religion and faith is based upon it. If you can do your Lord’s Will you may improve to the ranks of Prophets and Saints; you may approach the Divine Presence and find acceptance there; otherwise, you are secretly ascribing partners unto Allah, and you become stuck on this Earth like a plane that is tied down and can’t take off. Whoever pays no attention to these subtle points is in danger of going the way of Satan. This is the common base of all religions, because Allah Almighty has said through all of His Holy Prophets: “Oh My people, if you claim that you are servants, then
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put your desires in line with Mine, otherwise you are not servants.” Allah Almighty said to the Children of Israel through the Prophet Jesus: “Testify that Jesus Christ is My Prophet unto you.” They didn’t like that, and so they fell. Allah said to them: “I am not in need of your worshipping, all I want from you is that you accord with My desires.” Similarly, Allah said through His Prophet Muhammad: “Oh Christians, come and agree with Muhammad.” They answered “No, we only like Jesus Christ, that is enough for us.” He Almighty replied: “Your worshipping is unacceptable until your desires are alike unto Mine.” Everyone wishes that his own desires be fulfilled — true or not? We must either serve as we like or as He likes. We must accept our Lord’s Word about Jesus Christ, and the same is true for Moses and the other Prophets. Now Muslims are also running after so many desires and fleeing from the way of Muhammad, saying, “We like this and that.” As a result, their worship comes to naught. If you can understand this point, it will suffice you, as it is the first and most important lesson we can learn from the actions of Satan — are you not afraid that you will be like him?
The Prophet’s companions learned to obey the Lord through obeying His Prophet. They said: “Oh our Prophet, we have ransomed our mothers and fathers for you.” They said this to him sincerely and with love; in this way they came to obey Allah through obeying Muhammad. Therefore, Allah ordered people to follow the inheritors of the Prophet and to hold to them as the companions (Sahaba) held to the Prophet, so that through them we may learn to obey the Lord. If this discipline of following those who are truly on the Prophet’s way was not in Islam, there would be no more Islam. Islam is coming with discipline, strong discipline: no more are the people to go like this or like that, but to follow in the
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way of the Prophet. This is the meaning of the discipline of Islam. We must accept this or else we are cheating ourselves; we must keep discipline, as Allah Almighty orders in the Holy Qur’an: “And don’t follow your vain desires as they will cause you to deviate from the way of Allah.”
Our Grandshaykh was saying about Adam that when Allah Almighty put him in Paradise and said to him: “Everything has been granted, enjoy every abundance except this fruit tree which you must not approach,” Adam’s ego was saying: “Oh my Lord, You don’t want me to eat from it, but I want to eat.” Because of his ego’s desire being out of line with his Lord’s desire, he was vulnerable to the suggestion of Satan; therefore, he had to go to Earth to learn manners and discipline, the sum of which is to say inside of ourselves, “As You like my Lord.” If we can’t say this in our innermost selves, it means that we are making our desire lord over our Guardian Lord Almighty.
When Adam ate from that tree in opposition to his Lord’s Will, Allah took from him his paradise clothes and left him naked and ashamed in order to make him feel shame at what he had done.
* * * We must be very careful of attributing partners to Allah Almighty through our actions. If we can be careful of these fine points, then it is easy for us to receive Divine Lights in our hearts.
The Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, was saying about Abu Bakr, May Allah be pleased with Him, that he was one who ‘died before he died.’ From among all the companions, why was it Abu Bakr who accomplished this? — Because he had absolutely left all his desires
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behind, so that there was nothing left of them in the face of his Lord and his Prophet. He was as a dead person with no desire for this life. When he had arrived at this state, he was like a shadow for the Prophet, and you can’t find a shadow that doesn’t entirely agree with its original; to this absolute extent Abu Bakr never left the Prophet’s way. Because of this attribute, Abu Bakr became trustworthy in all respects, and thus the Prophet was able to plant many knowledge’s in his heart. The Prophet knew that Abu Bakr would not do anything contrary to his wish or his liking. Therefore, in spiritual rank, Abu Bakr was at the top of all the companions of the Prophet.
Sayyidina ‘Ali was also one of the Prophet’s companions who never used his will or desires against the will of the Prophet or contrary to the Prophet’s desires. He was one of two among all the Sahaba who had put his desires totally in line with the Prophet’s desires. Therefore, ‘Ali has been described by the Prophet as follows: “I am the City of Knowledge and ‘Ali is the Gate to that City.” My Grandshaykh was saying that because the Prophet was so pleased with ‘Ali’s following him like a shadow, one day he ordered ‘Ali to look at him; when ‘Ali looked at the Prophet, the Prophet showed him his real Prophethood personality in the Divine Presence. No one may look at that personality until he reaches the station of Sayyidina ‘Ali; what is that station? — It is the station of being a shadow in every action.
Once the Son of ‘Umar was going to Hijaz, traveling by camel. When he arrived at a certain point in the road he made a detour to the right, rode around in a circle and then returned to the road, continuing on his way. People asked him, “Oh Son of ‘Umar, the road was going straight, so why did you go around in a circle?” He replied, “Oh people, I was once accompanying the Prophet on this road and when he came to that point he
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made a circle to the right, then he continued on straight; therefore, I wanted to do as the Prophet had done.”
Look at how the companions were desiring and doing what the Prophet desired and did. If anyone can attain to that station, then the Prophet may show him his real Prophethood personality in the Divine Presence, for even now the Prophet is alive, but not in the same way that we are alive — he has real life in the Divine Presence. Both Abu Bakr and ‘Ali reached their divine positions and took their holy trusts from the Prophet during this life. Others from among the Sahaba took their trusts only upon reaching the hereafter.
Grandshaykh told me that one day Sayyidina ‘Ali said to Sayyidina ‘Umar, regarding the secret knowledge that had been opened up to him: “Oh ‘Umar, if I would speak to you from the secret knowledges which have been opened up to us, you would instantly cut my head off with your sword; you wouldn’t be able to let me get up from my seat if I told you from the secrets of the Way, the creation, the religion, Prophethood and the secrets of Allah Almighty — you can’t even listen.”
When the Prophet was taken to the Heavens on the Night Journey or Ascension (Mi’raj), the news of this miraculous journey spread among the Muslims. ‘Umar, on hearing this — to him — incomprehensible news, ran to see the Prophet to find out for himself what this was all about. On the way to see the Prophet he ran into Abu Bakr and asked him: “What is your companion (Muhammad) saying, are you believing such a thing?” Abu Bakr, who had as of yet not met with the Prophet since the mi’raj, said: “Oh ‘Umar, what are you saying? If all of creation has been created for his sake, is it too much for him to ascend to the heavens or perform other miracles? Oh ‘Umar, I believe he is capable of even greater miracles than this; he is so great, so respected
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in the Divine Presence that no one can know his real personality but his Lord.”
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SURPASSING THE MIND’S LIMITATIONS
Grandshaykh was telling me about Ka’b-ul Ahbar, the most learned man among the Jews living in Hijaz in the time of the Prophet. Because of his great learning, Ka’b was expecting the coming of a Prophet, the Last Prophet, whose appearance he had found foretold in the Scriptures.
Ka’b’sknowledgewasso extensivethathehadreached to the ‘Station of Gabriel’, but not beyond. According to Grandshaykh, knowledge is divided into two parts: one part extends from the Earth to the Station of Gabriel. The Sons of Adam may learn these knowledges through their intellectual efforts. The other part extends upward from the Station of Gabriel. Gabriel is the Angel who represents intelligence — and intellectual knowledge reaches up to his station; however, after that station are oceans of strange and wonderful knowledges which are all out of the boundaries of the mind and intellect. The mind is not capable of balancing those knowledges, and when confronted with them can only say, “No further can I go, I have reached my limit.”
Technologically learned people are floundering and struggling unsuccessfully to arrive at a complete understanding of the creation through empirical knowledge — they want to be able to see everything in front of their two eyes and analyse it; they want to analyse everything by means of their five senses, and anything outside of the perception of their senses is
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rejected. Whoso says that knowledge is limited to what the five senses can observe and does not accept any other type of knowledge, he is a fool, for you can never limit knowledge at all.
In order to prove this point, it is enough to point out that every day in the scientific fields they work in there is progress, and all the time they are progressing from one horizon of knowledge to the next. If one were to say, “This is the last horizon,” he would be foolish, for when he arrives at that first horizon there will be yet another in front of him, and so on; in fact, endless horizons may be discovered — and so it is with knowledge; endless horizons, and the only limits are in our minds. If we can surpass those limits, we will find that whenever we are tired and cannot go on any further, there will appear another horizon — oceans, endless oceans. To reach the next ocean you must discard this mind, otherwise you will have been caught and trapped by it.
People can acquire many knowledges through study and practice, and they may attain high degrees, but as long as they are bound to mind’s limitations, they can advance no further. Ka’b was a person who advanced through his mind to the Station of Gabriel but couldn’t go on from there. He knew the Prophet well but delayed his acceptance of Islam until the time of ‘Umar; therefore, he delayed also in reaching that spiritual knowledge.
Grandshaykh was saying about the third Khalifa, ‘Uthman, that he was of a very high degree among the Sahaba and was the most modest of the Prophet’s companions. He performed so many services for the Prophet, and after the Prophet’s lifetime he gathered all the verses and Surahs of the Holy Qur’an into book form. In spite of this, ‘Uthman didn’t attain the spiritual ranks attained by Abu Bakr and ‘Ali because he sometimes held firmly to his own desires instead of putting them
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completely in line with the Prophet’s. This was also one reason for his martyrdom: misfortunes befell him as a result of his not being able to totally leave his own desires behind.
Man hasn’t the capacity to carry all knowledges in his mind and body, and yet he asks for more and more: this is a sign for mankind that within them there exists something which is always asking without ever becoming satiated. This ‘something’ is above our physical bodies and minds, a power which controls them and without which neither of them could function. Therefore, beyond any doubt, our bodies and minds are under the control of an unknown, indescribable, ‘supernatural’ power. That power impels man to seek more and more knowledge, endlessly; but the mind cannot keep all these knowledges, and so it says, “I can’t.” But still man asks for more, because there is something above our minds controlling it, and that ‘something’ is our soul and the indescribable power behind it. This is the meaning of the verse which says that Allah Almighty created man for the purpose of knowing Him, for His Divine Knowledges.
Every knowledge which has appeared points to the Creator and describes His attributes, but still we are asking to know who our Creator is and what His attributes are, as our souls are always thirsty to know their Lord and to approach Him. The more we know our Lord, the more we are going to love Him, and the more we love Him, the more we will approach Him and taste of boundless bliss.
If we put a spoon of sugar in this glass of water, it will dissolve; and in like manner up to four or five spoonfuls will dissolve, but more than that it will be unable to absorb, and the sugar will fall to the bottom of the glass. Likewise, our minds have a limited capacity for absorbing knowledge — they reach their maximum,
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beyond which they cannot go. Our limited minds are as incapable of absorbing boundless Divine Knowledge as that little glass of water would be of absorbing all the sugar in the world. Our souls, however, have unlimited capacity for knowledge and will ever be thirsting for more. As long as the soul is imprisoned by the senses of the physical body, our mind will hold it down. The mind is the guardian over the soul and keeps it passive, inactive. The situation will remain so until you transcend the boundaries of the mind and open yourself up for the soul’s activity — endless activity; but people are closed, and only the souls of Prophets and Saints are really opened up — all others are sleeping, passive, imprisoned.
How and why do our souls remain passive? You must pay close attention to this point. When we are putting the desires of our physical bodies over and above the desires of our Lord and His Prophet, there can be no activity for our souls. The reason for the passivity of the soul is that we follow the dictates of our minds, which are, in turn, striving only to please the physical body. If you are able to reject the base dictates of your mind and follow the desires of the Prophet, then soul-activity will appear little by little.
Among the Sahaba, the most active soul was the soul of Abu Bakr because he never put his desires in the first place; after him came Sayyidina ‘Ali who, in like manner, attained strong soul-activity. It is incumbent upon us (Fard) to do as much as we possibly can of our Lord’s desires, and it is a meritorious action (Sunna) to do as much as we can of the Prophet’s desires; those who have done their utmost to fulfil this Fard and Sunna have attained the light of Sainthood. Of all the souls, the brightest is that of Sayyidina Muhammad, after his the souls of the other Prophets, and after them, the soul of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq.
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Therefore, the Tariqat-an-Naqshbandiyya, (as it is passed down through Abu Bakr As-Siddiq), activates the souls of the murids to whatever extent the murid can bring his desires to accord with the desires of his Shaykh. So many murids have high spiritual aspiration (Himma) and they say: “Oh my Shaykh, I am asking for himma in order that my soul be activated.” The Shaykh replies: “Oh my son, I am asking service from you (Khidma). What is this service? You must be like me; when you are like me, my spiritual powers may come to you, but if we are not of the same kind of metal, the current can’t pass through you: I am copper, you must not remain stone.”
Once Grandshaykh told me that his Shaykh, Shaykh Sharafuddin, said to him: “Oh ‘Abdullah Efendi, look at me and tell me what you see.” Grandshaykh looked and said: “Oh my Shaykh, when I look at you, I see myself.” Then Shaykh Sharafuddin said: “Now look at yourself.” He looked at himself and saw Shaykh Sharafuddin — there was no opposition in him to prevent this from happening. Allah Almighty asked the Prophet to be with Him, and the Prophet asked the Sahaba to be with him; to be ‘with him’ meant for them to be as he wished for them to be. The Shaykh, also, is asking murids to be ‘with him’.
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SAYYIDINA ‘UMAR’S MERITS, SAYYIDINA ABU BAKR’S PERFECTION
Our Grandshaykh was praising the second Khalifa ‘Umar, and pointed to ‘Umar’s having said: “In the time of ignorance (Jahiliyya), before the Prophethood of Muhammad, I was always very careful to avoid three sins which later came to be strongly forbidden by Islam.
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First of all, I never lied because I knew that if a person was ever caught lying, his value in the sight of people would be reduced to the value of that lie: no value at all is given to a person who is known as a liar, so I never permitted myself to do that. In Islam, every sin may be forgiven, as repentance is the key that opens the door of forgiveness; but lies uproot faith itself, making repentance ever more difficult.”
“Secondly, I never drank wine. Everyone else in Jahiliyya was drinking, and when I looked at them in that drunken state I could understand, even then, that they were throwing away the honour given to them as the Sons of Adam. It is the particular honour of the Sons of Adam to be endowed with minds, so why throw it away? How could I throw away this honour and become like an animal, the way I saw the others doing it — some were becoming like wolves, some like donkeys, and some like hyenas — dancing, laughing, shouting, fighting.”
“Thirdly, I never looked lustfully at women belonging to other men. I never desired unlawful intercourse with another’s lady because I would not suffer anyone to look at my lady, and so I did not want to do unto others what I would never have them do unto me; this is a basic attribute of knighthood. These three evil actions I avoided even before Islam, and now I avoid them with even greater care. If everyone kept away from these three prohibited actions, there would be no more trouble on the Earth.”
Yet, despite these most admirable characteristics of Sayyidina ‘Umar, he did at times set his will against the will of the Prophet. Often ‘Umar would be quick to unsheathe his sword and ask permission to decapitate hypocrites, but the Prophet would say: “No, ‘Umar, put away your sword.” This sort of thing may happen but a few times, but the effect is that the soul is kept from
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awakening, it remains passive.
Abu Bakr never spoke up against the Prophet’s will at all, and the same is true for ‘Ali. Abu Bakr’s soul was the most active of the whole Ummah, and so the Prophet laid upon him a burden which no one else in the Ummah could have borne: the Khalifate, or guardianship over the whole Nation. When the Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, died, ‘Umar was thrown into total confusion and said: “I will behead anyone who says that Muhammad has died.” Abu Bakr arrived, and seeing that the Prophet was dead, kissed him and said: “No one tastes death twice,” then he mounted the pulpit and quoted the Quranic verse:
“And Muhammad is but a Messenger; Messengers have passed away before him, so if he were to die or be killed would you turn on your heels and flee (from Islam) and whoso turns on his heels won’t hurt Allah in the least and Allah will reward the thankful.”
(Surat Al-Imran, Ayat 42)
When ‘Umar heard this, he was amazed and said: “Is this really from the Qur’an?” Abu Bakr replied: “Yes ‘Umar, you must know that the Prophet has died, Allah Almighty has called him to His Divine Presence.” Then ‘Umar put away his sword and wept.
Regarding ‘Umar, our Grandshaykh furthermore said, that because he was sometimes openly stating his desires despite their being contrary to the Prophet’s, that he never attained the secret knowledge which Abu Bakr and ‘Ali attained. For example, sometimes there came to the Prophet some people who were not yet real believers and would therefore raise some objections to what the Prophet told them. The Prophet tolerated
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such people and their behaviour without becoming angry, and always demonstrated exemplary patience — but ‘Umar would become very angry, saying: “Oh my Prophet, let me chop off the heads of these hypocrites!” The worst characteristic of the ego is hypocrisy; every nation and every religion condemns these people. They are dangerous and harmful because they are hiding their hearts’ real intentions and making a show of false feelings. So, ‘Umar quickly wanted to cut off their heads, but the Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, said: “Oh ‘Umar, don’t judge people’s intentions in this manner, for unless Allah Almighty informs me of their hypocrisy directly through Gabriel, even I cannot know for sure; so how shall you know?”
In light of this, Grandshaykh is stressing the following point: that we should always show our best manners to our Shaykh by not raising any objections to the way in which the Shaykh handles people and situations, or to the orders he gives. In order for this to be possible, you must first of all believe in him as the Sahaba were believing in the Prophet. For as much as you believe in a person, that much you may give your reins over to his hands, and so find rest and satisfaction in your heart. As long as you are trying to catch the reins in your own hands, you are carrying a great burden on your shoulders. Shaykhs are the inheritors of the Prophets and are offering to carry your burdens — and you must give your burdens to them, or else you are like Nasruddin Hodja in the following story:
One day Nasruddin Hodja was coming home from market on his donkey, carrying his bags over his own shoulders. The people asked, “Oh Hodja, why are you burdening your shoulders when you could sling the bags over the donkey and ride as well?” Hodja replied, “It is too much for the donkey, so I am carrying it.” If you don’t give over your burden you are like this. Give your
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load to your Shaykh — do you see a person sitting on the deck of a ship with his bags on his shoulders instead of laying them down on the deck? Shaykhs are offering to carry our burden, so don’t be so foolish as to keep it with you; just put your desires in line with the Shaykh’s — that is the way to open your heart to heavenly power. Then you may see or hear or know something which you cannot now know.
The Prophet used to say that he was but a powerless servant and completely dependent upon his Lord; and when he said this, Allah Almighty gave him from His Absolute Powers, saying: “For as much as you are admitting your own powerlessness, that much power We will give to you.’’ Our Prophet is going to act as judge for the whole Nation. You must leave your will in favour of his, then your perception will open — this is the Way.
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REAL SERVANTHOOD, FIGHTING THE EGO, AND QUESTIONS
Now our Grandshaykh is explaining to us a very important sign of attainment to real servanthood of our Lord. Unless this sign has appeared, it is impossible that one has in reality become a servant. This sign is: That one’s will is subdued to the Will of the Lord.
Trains run on rails, and if they derail, they are immediately destroyed. Their wheels must stay on the rails, and in the same manner your willpower must be aligned with the Will of your Lord, otherwise you are not a real servant and you will encounter the direst difficulties as a result — for when a train derails, it is a very terrible thing. You may confirm this by examining your own lives, for such an examination will reveal that
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as soon as you stray from the track of your Lord, terrible things happen to you.
It is really very difficult for our will to agree with our Lord’s Will, difficult for our egos. The ego always says, “I must be your Lord, you must move according to my commands.” This is the main reason for the suffering of mankind.
Yes, it is difficult to fight your ego and make it go according to the Lord’s Will, but if you are patient and perseverant in this struggle, Allah will reward you with success. Allah sets a limit for every trial and difficulty, so that it may continue from this point to that, but no more: “When My servant shows Me that he can be patient, 1 will be satisfied that it is enough, and I shall save him from that difficulty.” Maybe you have seen a plane gliding down a runway trying to take off; for the distance of that runway it must give all the power it’s got, and it is a very dangerous time, but when it comes to that essential speed required for take-off, it will fly with ease. Therefore, Grandshaykh is saying that we must be patient as we are in need of going that distance on our ‘runway’. It is a limited distance for everyone — for some, forty days, some seventy, for another one year. When you have borne that heavy burden for that specified distance and have been patient with the Will of your Lord, you will arrive at the time when you shall smell the fragrance of dawn. That fragrant breeze will lift you up in just the same manner that the plane finally leaves the runway. Allah Almighty will send to you a kind of invigorating breeze that will lift you from the attachment and hankering aft
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