MERCY OCEANS, Book 07 (Hidden Treasures, Shaykh Nazim, 220 pages, 7/12)
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ing them, pointed to Allah’s word: “My Mercy outdoes My Anger”, and he said: “For me, these are the greatest good tidings, as it gives me hope of my safety from Hell to know that Allah Almighty’s Mercy will come and cover everything on the Last Day.”
That Divine Forgiveness will cover so many people on that day; and the Prophet said that even Satan will be seeking forgiveness, and hoping that it may come to him also, but more than this the Prophet didn’t say.
Grandshaykh said that nothing from the actions of Allah Almighty’s servants will be a burden on Allah; don’t ever think that it could be. Now, listen carefully to the following description which is recorded in the Holy Books: On the Day of Judgement, Allah Almighty will order a person to Hell, and the Angels will grab him and start dragging him to the fire. When he realizes that this is really happening, he will turn to his Lord and say: “Oh my Lord, I never thought that You would really put me in the fire of Hell.” Allah then orders: “Bring him back.” He was such an evil person, did so many dark deeds and listened always to the dictates of his lower self, but he never lost hope in his Lord’s Mercy for him and His reprieving him from Hell. We can be proud of being our Lord’s servants, even if we are not obedient ones — proud that He is such a merciful Lord who will reprieve so many of us from the jaws of Hell and admit them to Paradise. My Grandshaykh was saying that there are different
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stations for each person in Paradise that Allah gave without their ever having been asked for; that is His favour and His grant unto His servants which he has communicated to them through His Prophets. When our Grandshaykh was saying that even disobedient servants will also finally attain Allah Almighty’s Mercy, he quickly drew our attention to the following important point: “Oh my son, I am saying that with Allah’s Endless Mercy everyone should finally enter Paradise. Such considerations, however, are for the common people, and we are not seeking to stay at that level. We are asking for the highest station, the greatest pleasure, the highest degree for His servants: the station of Ridwan- Allah-ul-Akbar. With those servants our Lord will be absolutely pleased, and they, in turn, will be absolutely pleased with their Lord.
Here is the answer to a question that anyone who is striving hard in the way of his Lord and obeying his commandments may ask: “Why should we make a great effort to please Allah if there is a good chance that he will forgive us anyway?” The answer is: The degrees in the Divine Presence of those who have made efforts must differ from the degrees of those who were complacent in this life.
Grandshaykh was saying, quoting the Holy Qur’an, that there are two Paradises: one of them is the real Paradise and the other is but a shadow or copy of it. Allah Almighty is going to give to His servants according to what were their wishes and desires in this life. Whoever was satisfied with this life’s pleasures, and preferred them to the love of his Lord, asking for ever more pleasures in everything of this world, and giving the love of Allah the second place in his heart, Allah will give him what he loves most: a Paradise full of pleasures: splendid gardens, luxurious castles and lovely virgin girls — all these gifts will be of a beauty
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unimaginable, incomparable to any beauty on Earth.
The original Paradise in the Divine Presence and the highest station (Maq’adu Sidq) is entirely different from the shadow Paradise. The Prophet said that in that Paradise there are no palaces, no gardens and no houris. In their place one will find the Lord’s most effulgent Countenance. In the first Paradise, the shadow Paradise, the people will regard their Lord’s Divine Countenance once a week at the time that we now pray the weekly congregational prayer (Salat ul-Jum’a). When they take a look at His Face they will forget all else; the Divine lights from His Divine Face will make them forgetful of everything else, they will occupy them until the veils of majestic grandeur are lowered; then they will return to their selves, When they are gazing at their Lord’s Countenance, they are taken from themselves and are no more there, but when the veil of grandeur is lowered, the inhabitants of that Paradise come to themselves and proceed to enjoy their paradisiacal pleasures more than ever — everything will appear new and full of more light than before. But for those who worked in this life for His pleasure, Allah is taking them to His Divine Presence and not letting them out. That is the real Paradise. Our Grandshaykh was saying that to be in the Divine Presence for only one second, he would give all the eight Paradises — it is so valuable an experience. In general, the people now living in this life like it more than they like the worship of their Lord, for which they are making only minimal efforts. In their hearts, this life takes the first place and God takes the second; in the afterlife, they will find everything according to what was their liking here on Earth. The inhabitants of both Paradises will be perfectly pleased with their Lord: those who are in the Divine Presence will be pleased, and the inhabitants of the Gardens will also be pleased — everyone will be content. Now, you are all
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free to choose: If you prefer physical enjoyments, you will find what you are accustomed to, but if, in this life, you cultivate love for your Lord in your hearts, then, in that life, you will find His Presence.
For each group there will be eternal improvement — everyone will be improving within their stations. Allah Almighty will bestow on them ever-increasing bounties, always corresponding to their levels. For example, an immature child is not going to enjoy the company of adults — he will rather seek the company of other children — just as an adult will not be content among children; and so, in the afterlife, each will blossom on his own branch and will never look to his position as being in the least deficient: there will be no envy on the part of the inhabitants of the lower Paradise in regards to those of the higher realms, for their satisfaction with their Lord’s favour will be complete. * * *
PUNISHMENT AND REWARD IN THE GRAVE AND BEYOND
(A question was asked at this point): “Mawlana, in the light of these good tidings from the secrets of the Holy Qur’an, namely: that Allah’s Mercy encompasses all, that the mere assumption of Allah’s Mercy is sufficient for attaining it, and that neither body nor soul will shoulder the blame for bad actions and will thus escape punishment — in the light of these teachings the element of fear seems to be negated. So many of us came to Islam because of the fear of Hell that we feel when we read about it in the Holy Qur’an; won’t this news of Allah’s All-Embracing Mercy eliminate the fear of Hell as a deterrent of bad actions?”
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The Shaykh answered: We can understand that punishment is Allah’s way of purifying the servant for his entry into bliss. Many people will suffer in their graves, on the Day of Resurrection and in the fires of Hell. Absolute Justice will reprieve both body and soul from punishment, and forgiveness will be granted; but from those dirty actions which have come out of the interaction of body and soul, Allah will create shapes in the exact likeness of the sinners to represent them in Hell. This likeness or effigy will be just as dirty as those actions were, and it will stay in Hell until it is cleaned. In the face of this punishment, one will suffer intensely — his shame will be so great, and at that time so difficult to bear, that he will wish for the Earth to swallow him.
There is a famous tradition (Hadith) from the Holy Prophet which will shed more light upon the point in question. He said that once a man died and was laid in his grave where two Angels came to question him, saying: “Who is your Lord? What is your religion? Who is your Prophet? And what is the Book that he brought?” He withstood this interrogation and gave all the correct answers, so that, when the angels left, an opening formed in his grave and through this entered a person of such beauty, elegance and delightful fragrance that he couldn’t turn his eyes away from him. He had never seen such a magnificent person, and his happiness at beholding him was so great that, if it could have been divided among the whole World, no one would have remained sad. He asked that radiant person: “Oh my Lord’s servant, who might you be?” That person replied with the sweetest voice: “I am your good actions. My Lord created me from the good actions performed throughout your life, and now I am your friend and companion forever.” Then the Prophet went on to say that if, however,
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a person has spent his life committing evil deeds and then, in his grave, is not able to answer the questions of the Angels correctly, there will come to him a person so ugly, so vile and so wild — impossible to imagine. How do you feel when a scorpion or a cobra is creeping up upon you? The disgust and repulsion he will feel at the sight of this horrible shape will be far in excess of that, and he will be thinking only of how he could escape from that grave, but it is impossible and every way he turns he will be facing that hideous apparition. You cannot imagine the distress he will find himself in. Finally, that horrid shape will take him in its arms and embrace him, exuding such a stench, that if you were to smell it now, you would not be able to eat for the next forty days.
Then the person in the grave will say: “I seek refuge in Allah from you! Who are you?” The vile creature will answer: ‘‘Don’t you recognize me? You were with me all your life and you were very proud of me; I accompanied you to so many bars, casinos and houses of ill-repute, and now you do not know me? I am your bad actions; I carried you all your life, and now you must carry me — I shall be with you until Judgement Day.” Then, he and his bad actions will lie in that grave, and for that reason the grave is called ‘the box of works’.
On the Day of Resurrection, Allah orders for the effigy of those bad actions to be thrown into Hell, while the person stands on the heights between Paradise and Hell (Al-A’raf) to observe, in a state of shame and contrition, the punishment being dealt out to him, unto the form of his bad actions. Then, finally, when he has been cleansed of those dirty actions, he is freed of them and passes on to the gates of Paradise. There he finds two springs, two pools of water big enough for the whole Nation of Mankind (Ummah) to bathe in. In the first spring, all those who enter it will be transformed physically, so that they emerge in a form befitting the
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inhabitants of Paradise: if they be male, they will come out as handsome as the Prophet Joseph, and if they be women, they will be transformed into equivalent beauties. From the second spring they will drink, and this drink will eliminate all of ego’s bad characteristics. Both physically and spiritually clean, handsome and excellent, they will pass through a gate so wide that one billion people may pass at one time; but immediately on entering paradise, each one will find his own private way to his own private Paradise, where he will be with his loved ones.
That is the final destination, but along the way one will encounter many troubles, as the results of bad actions are sufferings. The Prophet said that his Nation (Ummah) would often find punishment in this life rather than in the next, and that each of those sufferings in this World would amount to forgiveness there. This applies to all people after the time of Muhammad, Peace be Upon Him, for now all people belong to his Nation, whether they like it or not. There now remains no Nation belonging to any of the former Prophets, as their time has passed and gone. This is the time of the Last Prophet, and, at the end of time, Jesus Christ (‘Isa) will return and announce that he and all Prophets before him are followers of Muhammad, Peace be Upon Him.
Allah Almighty has created Hell for the purpose of cleaning and purifying, as He does not like to make people suffer without wisdom. This is Grandshaykh’s understanding and it was also Shaykh Muhyuddin Ibn ‘Arabi’s understanding of the Holy Tradition (Hadith Qudsi) : “My Mercy surpasses My Anger.” Therefore, we may hope for the final outcome to be a general ‘amnesty’ for everyone, and we are pleased by that prospect. For example, you may be in a palace full of every comfort, but the fact that there are suffering people outside your palace prevents you from being truly happy; when,
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however, you learn that all those people have attained mercy according to their levels, you will feel relieved and say: “Now Allah has expanded His encompassing Mercy to everyone.”
It is a good manner to always think about our own egos as being worthy of eternal punishment in Hell. We can hope for reprieval only through Allah’s All- Encompassing Mercy, and we ought never to assume that we will be the first to enter Paradise; instead, we should always think to ourselves: “I am the worst and my ego is the dirtiest; were it not for Allah’s Mercy, I would surely be destined for Hell. My only hope is His Forgiveness.”
In a famous Hadith the Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, is related to have said: “To him who knows no mercy, no mercy will be shown.” The merciless person in whose heart there is no wish for mercy for anyone, he will himself not taste of mercy. Mercy attracts more mercy, cruelty attracts cruelty, badness draws badness and goodness draws goodness. But mercy dwells in the hearts of all true believers and therefore, in the face of the punishment, so many Saints will run forward offering to take the punishment of so many others upon themselves — this is the degree of mercy and self- sacrifice their hearts have attained — however, it is not Allah’s way to lay any burden or punishment on his Saints in the afterlife, nor to punish any individual for sins he has not committed.
Sultan Al-Arifin, Abu Yazid Al-Bistami, once said: “Oh my Lord, You have Power over all things and You have absolute Power to do anything You wish to do; therefore, I am asking You now to make my body so big as to fill seven Hells, so that no place remains for other people. Every punishment You would give to Your people, pour it on me instead.” Then came the Divine
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reply: “Oh My servant, are you trying to compete with Me in generosity and mercy whereas I am the Most Merciful of the Merciful (Arham-ur-Rahimeen), the Most Generous of the Generous (Akram-ul-Akrameen)? All your generosity and mercy is only like a drop in an endless ocean compared to My Mercy and Generosity that I am giving out to My servants every minute, and I demand of you no blood sacrifice.”
Grandshaykh says: “Whenever I speak on this subject, I am always asking Divine Permission to bring out more and more good tidings of Allah’s endless Mercy and Generosity. Now we are giving these good tidings, and if you are not receiving them with welcome, then you are only making yourselves suffer. If there is anyone objecting and saying that there must be eternal Hell, then he may go there. We are trying to pull them into our Lord’s Mercy Oceans — but they intend to put everyone in Hell, and they never think that they themselves will enter it; therefore they are agonized and outraged by our good tidings to the servants of our Lord.” * * *
OUR BEING’S ESSENCE (DHAT) IS FOREVER FREE OF SIN; HUMILITY, ACCEPTING THE QURANIC TRUTH: “AND ABOVE EVERY KNOWER THERE IS ONE WHO KNOWS MORE”
Our Grandshaykh was saying: “When I am speaking about the bad characteristics of people, and especially when I am ‘firing’ at them in order to clean them of these, I am attacking only their characteristics but never the essence of their beings (Dhawat), because that essence is always preserved in the Divine Presence and is never
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in any danger of being damaged. If I were to attack their inner beings, Allah would allow the Heavens to fall upon me, as He is never pleased with anyone who regards that virtuous essence as being faulty. You may say that someone’s character is no good, but you can’t say: ‘This person is no good’, for that is another matter entirely. We are, however, sharply attacking those bad characteristics, since Allah Almighty is not pleased by them, and thus we also cannot be pleased.”
Our Grandshaykh had a servant by the name of Abu Bakr, a Daghestani dervish who came with him from Turkey to Damascus. He was already an old man, but one of high aspiration (Ulu-al-Himma). One day he was complaining to Grandshaykh about some people who, by their careless treatment of a heating stove, had rendered it useless. Then our Grandshaykh said to him: “Oh Abu Bakr, if you are saying that a person did wrong and you criticize him instead of praising him, and do not like him because he has damaged the stove, at that moment you are committing hidden unbelief (Shirk Khafi).”
What does our Grandshaykh mean? He means to point out that people, when faced with the bad actions of another, fight and despise that person and don’t keep in mind the distinction between the pure, immutable soul (Dhat) of each person, and the bad action that perchance he may perform; it is, however, of the utmost importance that this distinction be made. We all have potential to do both good and evil, but if we do evil, it does not mean that we are evil, but only that our actions are. One should feel no hatred for anyone doing evil, but many people make no distinction at all, and are mistakenly taking actions and essence as being one and the same thing. If it were true that our actions and essences are the
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same thing, then how could we explain that ‘Umar came to kill the Prophet and left, instead, as a Muslim? If his intention of committing a bad action had indicated an evil inner being, then how could he have changed around so completely? He came with unbelief to kill and left with faith in Islam: his actions and condition changed, but not his essence. If we were to believe that his immutable essence was also in a state of unbelief, then, despite his becoming one of the greatest companions of the Prophet, we would have to think of him as a prophet-murderer in essence, and thus we would hate him always. But since we realize that only bad actions and characteristics are hateful, and not the souls themselves, we may fight evils and devils, always bearing in mind that at any time they may re-establish contact with their pure inner souls and that suddenly their actions may change for the opposite —from most evil to most excellent, as it happened in the case of ‘Umar Ibn-al-Khattab.
For these reasons, Grandshaykh often brought people to realize their faults through signs and indirect methods, rather than addressing them in direct terms; for so many undesired consequences may result from talking to someone about his mistakes — that person may feel humiliated and degraded, and from this feeling he may commit angry and dangerous actions.
Then that servant of Grandshaykh said: “Oh my Master, now I have understood that I am an absolutely useless person, that everything about me is all wrong.” Grandshaykh replied: “Oh Abu Bakr, if you really mean what you have just said, then you have attained humility and now you may indeed be useful.”
If anyone looks to himself and says: “Oh, I am so useful among my community and among people in general,” thinking that he is really something, that indicates pride on his part, and his pride makes him
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useless and unworthy. But, if he says: “I am a useless person, I am nothing,” and looks at himself as being the lowest among people, then he is suitable ‘clay’ from which many useful things may be moulded.
If a person lacks humility, he may be useful on the common level, but on the level of Awliya he is worthless. For this reason, Grandshaykh admonished his servant, and all of us, so that no one will say proudly: “I am a Grandshaykh, I am a murid, I am an ‘Alim...” Anyone who looks to himself as being something, proves his uselessness. A real murid, or follower, must say: “If it were not for my Shaykh then I would have no chance at all to improve. I am nothing except with his help and he is the power with which I stand — my spirit, my essence.” In turn, the Saints say: “We are nothing without the guidance of the Holy Prophet,” and the Prophet says: “Had Allah not chosen me, I would be nothing.” This is good manners (Adab).
On the other hand, whoever sees himself as being something, is on the same level as Satan. Why? — What did Satan do? He saw himself as possessing completeness of knowledge and worship; he claimed: “I am better than Adam”; this caused his fall. He thought that he was something great, he could not admit that he was nothing save by Allah Almighty’s Grace and Power; and so, when he regarded himself as being complete through himself, he fell from his heights.
In our time, also, so many people think that they know something or that they are something — because everyone is pointing to them and their knowledge and praising them. These people have learnt some parts of knowledge and then they think they are perfect, and that other people must follow them. But, in reality, it is they who must find a perfected one whom their heart agrees with, then his perfection will rub off on them,
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according to how sincerely they are able to follow him. At that time, one will see his completeness as resulting from association with that perfect person, and he will see that only with him is he anything at all.
Whoever refuses to accept a Guide (Murshid), thinking that he knows everything well enough to find his own way — he knows nothing, and he will lose his way. If Satan had been looking at himself as being nothing when Allah Almighty tested him through Adam to whom He had given more knowledge than to Satan, he would have prostrated himself as he was ordered and would not have fallen into disgrace. Most people are putting their four real enemies (ego, vain desires, Satan, love of the world) in the place their Lord should occupy, and they obey their enemies instead of heeding the command of their Lord — so how shall they be useful?
“Sometimes,” says Grandshaykh, “I am ordered to speak on some secret Divine Wisdoms, particularly regarding Allah’s predestination. At the time of Shaykh Muhyuddin lbn-Arabi and Mansur Al-Hallaj, there was no permission to explain some of those secret knowledges which they uttered and for which the religious authorities of their time had them put to death, judging them heretical sayings. But, now, we have the permission to speak such startling knowledges and also to give full explanations thereof, so that people’s hearts may be at ease. Our predecessors were not ordered to explain their sayings, but we have been ordered to do so, so that these knowledges may be easily digested in the hearts of people.”
The highest level of all good manners (Adab), especially for learned people, is to realize the Qur’anic saying: “And above every knower there is one who knows more than he.” There are endless degrees of knowledge,
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and it is our fault and mistake that we are trying to accommodate everything within the confines of our limited knowledge. Every person who knows a little bit from Qur’an and Hadith thinks that he has learned all there is to know; and, if anything unknown to him comes up, he cannot accept it.
When confronted with knowledges above and beyond one’s understanding, one must at least concede to admit that: “This knowledge of which he speaks is on a level that we have not yet reached.” He says this without judging and leaves those knowledges to those who have realized them, and he carries no responsibility for them. This kind of attitude is acceptable, but the best attitude is to strive hard to hear and understand well these verses from the Holy Qur’an: “Above every knower there is one who knows more”, and also, “You will proceed from station unto station (of knowledge)”, and to actually realize those higher knowledges and take benefit from them, reaping Allah’s reward from them in this life and in the next.
Our Grandshaykh was one of those great Saints who had realized these knowledges; he was unlettered, and so he did not take any knowledge from books, but received, instead, guidance from the Holy Prophet Muhammad by way of heart; he was permitted to hear him and to tell some of what he heard. We are proud of our Grandshaykh.
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A DEFINITION OF FOLLOWING (ITTIBA’A): LEAVING THE EGO’S CHOICE
This lecture will define what true following is. True following (Ittiba’a), as we understand it, has a very wide meaning which includes not merely following, but also carrying out orders. Once my Grandshaykh told me: “Oh my son, to carry out orders is more important and of greater value than performing the devotions of all mankind and Genies (Jinn); for performing all these devotions is not possible, but carrying out orders is possible, and this is what is important in the Divine Presence.”
“For example,” says Grandshaykh, ‘‘so many people, particularly religious people, are saying, ‘We love our Lord, we love Jesus Christ, or, we love our Prophet so much that we will gladly sacrifice our souls for our Lord and our Prophet.’ So many people of each nation are making such claims, but their claims ring hollow. I say to them in earnest: ‘If you really love your Lord, please leave one forbidden thing for His sake; just leave one thing that is disliked in the Divine Presence, one little thing that Allah tells you not to do and which you are doing anyway. He is not asking you to sacrifice your souls now, but to start out by taking only one small step — a step away from something forbidden. In every religion, not only in Islam, you will find at least eight-hundred forbidden things.’”
“These forbidden things are acts everyone deep down inside himself knows are wrong, because each person has a conscience, and for every bad doing his conscience pricks him. Their consciences say, ‘Don’t do it’, but their egos push them on to those bad actions, because ego derives enjoyment from those things; ego is
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swimming contentedly in Bad Oceans. Therefore, like a fish seeing water cannot make himself stay on dry land and throws himself into the sea, the ego quickly runs toward Evil Oceans when it is left to do so. If, as you claim, you love your Lord so much, go then and catch your ego but once!’’
When can we say that we are really following? — When we can catch hold of our egos before they drag us into bad actions; that catching is the essence of the following of orders that will be rewarded by Allah more than if one were to perform the entire worship of all Mankind and Jinn. Nowadays people like to do everything that their egos demand of them, and they also claim that they love God and would sacrifice anything for Him. So, if you really love God, then keep far away from what He has forbidden.
Grandshaykh says that we are living in a time when the number of forbidden things is eight hundred; when the Anti-Christ (Dajjal) comes, he is not going to bring with him any new or previously unknown forbidden thing. All things which have been forbidden from the time of Adam until this present day can now be found in abundance, and therefore people are running to them, under the command of their egos whom they have made their god. They are all fighting against the teachings of Muhammad, Peace be Upon Him, because his intention was to eradicate evil from the earth and to teach people how to avoid badness.
As Muslims, we are awaiting the coming of Imam Muhammad Al-Mahdi, who will be sent to clean the world of evils and devils, and also for the return of Jesus Christ, who will be sent to kill the Anti-Christ, and to re-establish the Word of Truth on this Earth under the banner of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be Upon Him. We are living for to see those days, and we are asking
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Allah Almighty that we might be alive during that time so that we may lend our hands to the cleansing of the Earth of devils.
If the lake of evil is not drained and dried, more and more ‘mosquitos’ will hatch and spread infectious disease. Nowadays those lakes of evil can be found everywhere, but people do not even see them, what to speak of draining them; rather, they are depending upon new ‘insect-repellents’, ‘insecticides’ and ‘malaria control programs’ but they will never succeed in controlling the ‘disease’ until they look into the matter of drying up those lakes. Until they succeed in doing so, there will be no more peace on Earth, and no satisfaction in people’s hearts — people will be drinking each other’s blood, and generally seeking to harm one another.
How can we combat our own ego, and how can we start to back up our claims of loving our Lord with the performance of actions that are pleasing to Him, not to our egos? My Grandshaykh says that if some event or situation confronts you, before involving yourself in it, regard it carefully, and honestly ask yourself whether it is something pleasing to your Lord or pleasing to your ego. If it is your ego’s choice, then leave it and seek your Lord’s pleasure — you will have become a great ascetic.
“In our view,” says Grandshaykh, “it is not so important if someone is ready to give a huge treasure in charity to the poor, for that is easy in comparison to leaving one forbidden action. Perhaps he would give away the whole world in charity if he had it, but to turn his eyes away from looking at a lady, that is more than he is willing and able to do.”
Don’t look! In every religion Allah Almighty has revealed that it is forbidden to look lustfully at any women other than your wedded wives, and if you are
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single, you may marry; if you are in need of a lady, it is permitted to seek marriage, but to seek gratification in any other way is a great sin in all religions. Nowadays, since unlawful intercourse has become so prevalent, we can see people’s characters going down, down, down and spiritual grace (baraka), goodness and mercy are rapidly disappearing from the Earth. The Prophet Muhammad said: “The lustful glance is the messenger of lewdness.”
The person who has attained to being a real follower will simply do every action he has been ordered to do and leave all that has been forbidden. Grandshaykh says: “To whomever may worship the worshipping of all Mankind and Jinn, and give all the treasures on Earth in charity, the Angels may write for him a handsome reward, but for him who leaves one forbidden thing, the reward will be so great, that even all the Angels together will not be able to write it out.”
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FOOLING THE EGO: TODAY CASH, TOMORROW CREDIT
Then our Grandshaykh taught us a method through which we can fight our egos: if we keep telling ourselves that the fight will be so long and bitter, our egos will rebel strongly against us. But if we always say: “Oh my ego, you must be patient for the fulfilment of your desires only up until tonight, no longer,
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ing them, pointed to Allah’s word: “My Mercy outdoes My Anger”, and he said: “For me, these are the greatest good tidings, as it gives me hope of my safety from Hell to know that Allah Almighty’s Mercy will come and cover everything on the Last Day.”
That Divine Forgiveness will cover so many people on that day; and the Prophet said that even Satan will be seeking forgiveness, and hoping that it may come to him also, but more than this the Prophet didn’t say.
Grandshaykh said that nothing from the actions of Allah Almighty’s servants will be a burden on Allah; don’t ever think that it could be. Now, listen carefully to the following description which is recorded in the Holy Books: On the Day of Judgement, Allah Almighty will order a person to Hell, and the Angels will grab him and start dragging him to the fire. When he realizes that this is really happening, he will turn to his Lord and say: “Oh my Lord, I never thought that You would really put me in the fire of Hell.” Allah then orders: “Bring him back.” He was such an evil person, did so many dark deeds and listened always to the dictates of his lower self, but he never lost hope in his Lord’s Mercy for him and His reprieving him from Hell. We can be proud of being our Lord’s servants, even if we are not obedient ones — proud that He is such a merciful Lord who will reprieve so many of us from the jaws of Hell and admit them to Paradise. My Grandshaykh was saying that there are different
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stations for each person in Paradise that Allah gave without their ever having been asked for; that is His favour and His grant unto His servants which he has communicated to them through His Prophets. When our Grandshaykh was saying that even disobedient servants will also finally attain Allah Almighty’s Mercy, he quickly drew our attention to the following important point: “Oh my son, I am saying that with Allah’s Endless Mercy everyone should finally enter Paradise. Such considerations, however, are for the common people, and we are not seeking to stay at that level. We are asking for the highest station, the greatest pleasure, the highest degree for His servants: the station of Ridwan- Allah-ul-Akbar. With those servants our Lord will be absolutely pleased, and they, in turn, will be absolutely pleased with their Lord.
Here is the answer to a question that anyone who is striving hard in the way of his Lord and obeying his commandments may ask: “Why should we make a great effort to please Allah if there is a good chance that he will forgive us anyway?” The answer is: The degrees in the Divine Presence of those who have made efforts must differ from the degrees of those who were complacent in this life.
Grandshaykh was saying, quoting the Holy Qur’an, that there are two Paradises: one of them is the real Paradise and the other is but a shadow or copy of it. Allah Almighty is going to give to His servants according to what were their wishes and desires in this life. Whoever was satisfied with this life’s pleasures, and preferred them to the love of his Lord, asking for ever more pleasures in everything of this world, and giving the love of Allah the second place in his heart, Allah will give him what he loves most: a Paradise full of pleasures: splendid gardens, luxurious castles and lovely virgin girls — all these gifts will be of a beauty
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unimaginable, incomparable to any beauty on Earth.
The original Paradise in the Divine Presence and the highest station (Maq’adu Sidq) is entirely different from the shadow Paradise. The Prophet said that in that Paradise there are no palaces, no gardens and no houris. In their place one will find the Lord’s most effulgent Countenance. In the first Paradise, the shadow Paradise, the people will regard their Lord’s Divine Countenance once a week at the time that we now pray the weekly congregational prayer (Salat ul-Jum’a). When they take a look at His Face they will forget all else; the Divine lights from His Divine Face will make them forgetful of everything else, they will occupy them until the veils of majestic grandeur are lowered; then they will return to their selves, When they are gazing at their Lord’s Countenance, they are taken from themselves and are no more there, but when the veil of grandeur is lowered, the inhabitants of that Paradise come to themselves and proceed to enjoy their paradisiacal pleasures more than ever — everything will appear new and full of more light than before. But for those who worked in this life for His pleasure, Allah is taking them to His Divine Presence and not letting them out. That is the real Paradise. Our Grandshaykh was saying that to be in the Divine Presence for only one second, he would give all the eight Paradises — it is so valuable an experience. In general, the people now living in this life like it more than they like the worship of their Lord, for which they are making only minimal efforts. In their hearts, this life takes the first place and God takes the second; in the afterlife, they will find everything according to what was their liking here on Earth. The inhabitants of both Paradises will be perfectly pleased with their Lord: those who are in the Divine Presence will be pleased, and the inhabitants of the Gardens will also be pleased — everyone will be content. Now, you are all
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free to choose: If you prefer physical enjoyments, you will find what you are accustomed to, but if, in this life, you cultivate love for your Lord in your hearts, then, in that life, you will find His Presence.
For each group there will be eternal improvement — everyone will be improving within their stations. Allah Almighty will bestow on them ever-increasing bounties, always corresponding to their levels. For example, an immature child is not going to enjoy the company of adults — he will rather seek the company of other children — just as an adult will not be content among children; and so, in the afterlife, each will blossom on his own branch and will never look to his position as being in the least deficient: there will be no envy on the part of the inhabitants of the lower Paradise in regards to those of the higher realms, for their satisfaction with their Lord’s favour will be complete. * * *
PUNISHMENT AND REWARD IN THE GRAVE AND BEYOND
(A question was asked at this point): “Mawlana, in the light of these good tidings from the secrets of the Holy Qur’an, namely: that Allah’s Mercy encompasses all, that the mere assumption of Allah’s Mercy is sufficient for attaining it, and that neither body nor soul will shoulder the blame for bad actions and will thus escape punishment — in the light of these teachings the element of fear seems to be negated. So many of us came to Islam because of the fear of Hell that we feel when we read about it in the Holy Qur’an; won’t this news of Allah’s All-Embracing Mercy eliminate the fear of Hell as a deterrent of bad actions?”
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The Shaykh answered: We can understand that punishment is Allah’s way of purifying the servant for his entry into bliss. Many people will suffer in their graves, on the Day of Resurrection and in the fires of Hell. Absolute Justice will reprieve both body and soul from punishment, and forgiveness will be granted; but from those dirty actions which have come out of the interaction of body and soul, Allah will create shapes in the exact likeness of the sinners to represent them in Hell. This likeness or effigy will be just as dirty as those actions were, and it will stay in Hell until it is cleaned. In the face of this punishment, one will suffer intensely — his shame will be so great, and at that time so difficult to bear, that he will wish for the Earth to swallow him.
There is a famous tradition (Hadith) from the Holy Prophet which will shed more light upon the point in question. He said that once a man died and was laid in his grave where two Angels came to question him, saying: “Who is your Lord? What is your religion? Who is your Prophet? And what is the Book that he brought?” He withstood this interrogation and gave all the correct answers, so that, when the angels left, an opening formed in his grave and through this entered a person of such beauty, elegance and delightful fragrance that he couldn’t turn his eyes away from him. He had never seen such a magnificent person, and his happiness at beholding him was so great that, if it could have been divided among the whole World, no one would have remained sad. He asked that radiant person: “Oh my Lord’s servant, who might you be?” That person replied with the sweetest voice: “I am your good actions. My Lord created me from the good actions performed throughout your life, and now I am your friend and companion forever.” Then the Prophet went on to say that if, however,
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a person has spent his life committing evil deeds and then, in his grave, is not able to answer the questions of the Angels correctly, there will come to him a person so ugly, so vile and so wild — impossible to imagine. How do you feel when a scorpion or a cobra is creeping up upon you? The disgust and repulsion he will feel at the sight of this horrible shape will be far in excess of that, and he will be thinking only of how he could escape from that grave, but it is impossible and every way he turns he will be facing that hideous apparition. You cannot imagine the distress he will find himself in. Finally, that horrid shape will take him in its arms and embrace him, exuding such a stench, that if you were to smell it now, you would not be able to eat for the next forty days.
Then the person in the grave will say: “I seek refuge in Allah from you! Who are you?” The vile creature will answer: ‘‘Don’t you recognize me? You were with me all your life and you were very proud of me; I accompanied you to so many bars, casinos and houses of ill-repute, and now you do not know me? I am your bad actions; I carried you all your life, and now you must carry me — I shall be with you until Judgement Day.” Then, he and his bad actions will lie in that grave, and for that reason the grave is called ‘the box of works’.
On the Day of Resurrection, Allah orders for the effigy of those bad actions to be thrown into Hell, while the person stands on the heights between Paradise and Hell (Al-A’raf) to observe, in a state of shame and contrition, the punishment being dealt out to him, unto the form of his bad actions. Then, finally, when he has been cleansed of those dirty actions, he is freed of them and passes on to the gates of Paradise. There he finds two springs, two pools of water big enough for the whole Nation of Mankind (Ummah) to bathe in. In the first spring, all those who enter it will be transformed physically, so that they emerge in a form befitting the
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inhabitants of Paradise: if they be male, they will come out as handsome as the Prophet Joseph, and if they be women, they will be transformed into equivalent beauties. From the second spring they will drink, and this drink will eliminate all of ego’s bad characteristics. Both physically and spiritually clean, handsome and excellent, they will pass through a gate so wide that one billion people may pass at one time; but immediately on entering paradise, each one will find his own private way to his own private Paradise, where he will be with his loved ones.
That is the final destination, but along the way one will encounter many troubles, as the results of bad actions are sufferings. The Prophet said that his Nation (Ummah) would often find punishment in this life rather than in the next, and that each of those sufferings in this World would amount to forgiveness there. This applies to all people after the time of Muhammad, Peace be Upon Him, for now all people belong to his Nation, whether they like it or not. There now remains no Nation belonging to any of the former Prophets, as their time has passed and gone. This is the time of the Last Prophet, and, at the end of time, Jesus Christ (‘Isa) will return and announce that he and all Prophets before him are followers of Muhammad, Peace be Upon Him.
Allah Almighty has created Hell for the purpose of cleaning and purifying, as He does not like to make people suffer without wisdom. This is Grandshaykh’s understanding and it was also Shaykh Muhyuddin Ibn ‘Arabi’s understanding of the Holy Tradition (Hadith Qudsi) : “My Mercy surpasses My Anger.” Therefore, we may hope for the final outcome to be a general ‘amnesty’ for everyone, and we are pleased by that prospect. For example, you may be in a palace full of every comfort, but the fact that there are suffering people outside your palace prevents you from being truly happy; when,
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however, you learn that all those people have attained mercy according to their levels, you will feel relieved and say: “Now Allah has expanded His encompassing Mercy to everyone.”
It is a good manner to always think about our own egos as being worthy of eternal punishment in Hell. We can hope for reprieval only through Allah’s All- Encompassing Mercy, and we ought never to assume that we will be the first to enter Paradise; instead, we should always think to ourselves: “I am the worst and my ego is the dirtiest; were it not for Allah’s Mercy, I would surely be destined for Hell. My only hope is His Forgiveness.”
In a famous Hadith the Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, is related to have said: “To him who knows no mercy, no mercy will be shown.” The merciless person in whose heart there is no wish for mercy for anyone, he will himself not taste of mercy. Mercy attracts more mercy, cruelty attracts cruelty, badness draws badness and goodness draws goodness. But mercy dwells in the hearts of all true believers and therefore, in the face of the punishment, so many Saints will run forward offering to take the punishment of so many others upon themselves — this is the degree of mercy and self- sacrifice their hearts have attained — however, it is not Allah’s way to lay any burden or punishment on his Saints in the afterlife, nor to punish any individual for sins he has not committed.
Sultan Al-Arifin, Abu Yazid Al-Bistami, once said: “Oh my Lord, You have Power over all things and You have absolute Power to do anything You wish to do; therefore, I am asking You now to make my body so big as to fill seven Hells, so that no place remains for other people. Every punishment You would give to Your people, pour it on me instead.” Then came the Divine
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reply: “Oh My servant, are you trying to compete with Me in generosity and mercy whereas I am the Most Merciful of the Merciful (Arham-ur-Rahimeen), the Most Generous of the Generous (Akram-ul-Akrameen)? All your generosity and mercy is only like a drop in an endless ocean compared to My Mercy and Generosity that I am giving out to My servants every minute, and I demand of you no blood sacrifice.”
Grandshaykh says: “Whenever I speak on this subject, I am always asking Divine Permission to bring out more and more good tidings of Allah’s endless Mercy and Generosity. Now we are giving these good tidings, and if you are not receiving them with welcome, then you are only making yourselves suffer. If there is anyone objecting and saying that there must be eternal Hell, then he may go there. We are trying to pull them into our Lord’s Mercy Oceans — but they intend to put everyone in Hell, and they never think that they themselves will enter it; therefore they are agonized and outraged by our good tidings to the servants of our Lord.” * * *
OUR BEING’S ESSENCE (DHAT) IS FOREVER FREE OF SIN; HUMILITY, ACCEPTING THE QURANIC TRUTH: “AND ABOVE EVERY KNOWER THERE IS ONE WHO KNOWS MORE”
Our Grandshaykh was saying: “When I am speaking about the bad characteristics of people, and especially when I am ‘firing’ at them in order to clean them of these, I am attacking only their characteristics but never the essence of their beings (Dhawat), because that essence is always preserved in the Divine Presence and is never
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in any danger of being damaged. If I were to attack their inner beings, Allah would allow the Heavens to fall upon me, as He is never pleased with anyone who regards that virtuous essence as being faulty. You may say that someone’s character is no good, but you can’t say: ‘This person is no good’, for that is another matter entirely. We are, however, sharply attacking those bad characteristics, since Allah Almighty is not pleased by them, and thus we also cannot be pleased.”
Our Grandshaykh had a servant by the name of Abu Bakr, a Daghestani dervish who came with him from Turkey to Damascus. He was already an old man, but one of high aspiration (Ulu-al-Himma). One day he was complaining to Grandshaykh about some people who, by their careless treatment of a heating stove, had rendered it useless. Then our Grandshaykh said to him: “Oh Abu Bakr, if you are saying that a person did wrong and you criticize him instead of praising him, and do not like him because he has damaged the stove, at that moment you are committing hidden unbelief (Shirk Khafi).”
What does our Grandshaykh mean? He means to point out that people, when faced with the bad actions of another, fight and despise that person and don’t keep in mind the distinction between the pure, immutable soul (Dhat) of each person, and the bad action that perchance he may perform; it is, however, of the utmost importance that this distinction be made. We all have potential to do both good and evil, but if we do evil, it does not mean that we are evil, but only that our actions are. One should feel no hatred for anyone doing evil, but many people make no distinction at all, and are mistakenly taking actions and essence as being one and the same thing. If it were true that our actions and essences are the
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same thing, then how could we explain that ‘Umar came to kill the Prophet and left, instead, as a Muslim? If his intention of committing a bad action had indicated an evil inner being, then how could he have changed around so completely? He came with unbelief to kill and left with faith in Islam: his actions and condition changed, but not his essence. If we were to believe that his immutable essence was also in a state of unbelief, then, despite his becoming one of the greatest companions of the Prophet, we would have to think of him as a prophet-murderer in essence, and thus we would hate him always. But since we realize that only bad actions and characteristics are hateful, and not the souls themselves, we may fight evils and devils, always bearing in mind that at any time they may re-establish contact with their pure inner souls and that suddenly their actions may change for the opposite —from most evil to most excellent, as it happened in the case of ‘Umar Ibn-al-Khattab.
For these reasons, Grandshaykh often brought people to realize their faults through signs and indirect methods, rather than addressing them in direct terms; for so many undesired consequences may result from talking to someone about his mistakes — that person may feel humiliated and degraded, and from this feeling he may commit angry and dangerous actions.
Then that servant of Grandshaykh said: “Oh my Master, now I have understood that I am an absolutely useless person, that everything about me is all wrong.” Grandshaykh replied: “Oh Abu Bakr, if you really mean what you have just said, then you have attained humility and now you may indeed be useful.”
If anyone looks to himself and says: “Oh, I am so useful among my community and among people in general,” thinking that he is really something, that indicates pride on his part, and his pride makes him
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useless and unworthy. But, if he says: “I am a useless person, I am nothing,” and looks at himself as being the lowest among people, then he is suitable ‘clay’ from which many useful things may be moulded.
If a person lacks humility, he may be useful on the common level, but on the level of Awliya he is worthless. For this reason, Grandshaykh admonished his servant, and all of us, so that no one will say proudly: “I am a Grandshaykh, I am a murid, I am an ‘Alim...” Anyone who looks to himself as being something, proves his uselessness. A real murid, or follower, must say: “If it were not for my Shaykh then I would have no chance at all to improve. I am nothing except with his help and he is the power with which I stand — my spirit, my essence.” In turn, the Saints say: “We are nothing without the guidance of the Holy Prophet,” and the Prophet says: “Had Allah not chosen me, I would be nothing.” This is good manners (Adab).
On the other hand, whoever sees himself as being something, is on the same level as Satan. Why? — What did Satan do? He saw himself as possessing completeness of knowledge and worship; he claimed: “I am better than Adam”; this caused his fall. He thought that he was something great, he could not admit that he was nothing save by Allah Almighty’s Grace and Power; and so, when he regarded himself as being complete through himself, he fell from his heights.
In our time, also, so many people think that they know something or that they are something — because everyone is pointing to them and their knowledge and praising them. These people have learnt some parts of knowledge and then they think they are perfect, and that other people must follow them. But, in reality, it is they who must find a perfected one whom their heart agrees with, then his perfection will rub off on them,
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according to how sincerely they are able to follow him. At that time, one will see his completeness as resulting from association with that perfect person, and he will see that only with him is he anything at all.
Whoever refuses to accept a Guide (Murshid), thinking that he knows everything well enough to find his own way — he knows nothing, and he will lose his way. If Satan had been looking at himself as being nothing when Allah Almighty tested him through Adam to whom He had given more knowledge than to Satan, he would have prostrated himself as he was ordered and would not have fallen into disgrace. Most people are putting their four real enemies (ego, vain desires, Satan, love of the world) in the place their Lord should occupy, and they obey their enemies instead of heeding the command of their Lord — so how shall they be useful?
“Sometimes,” says Grandshaykh, “I am ordered to speak on some secret Divine Wisdoms, particularly regarding Allah’s predestination. At the time of Shaykh Muhyuddin lbn-Arabi and Mansur Al-Hallaj, there was no permission to explain some of those secret knowledges which they uttered and for which the religious authorities of their time had them put to death, judging them heretical sayings. But, now, we have the permission to speak such startling knowledges and also to give full explanations thereof, so that people’s hearts may be at ease. Our predecessors were not ordered to explain their sayings, but we have been ordered to do so, so that these knowledges may be easily digested in the hearts of people.”
The highest level of all good manners (Adab), especially for learned people, is to realize the Qur’anic saying: “And above every knower there is one who knows more than he.” There are endless degrees of knowledge,
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and it is our fault and mistake that we are trying to accommodate everything within the confines of our limited knowledge. Every person who knows a little bit from Qur’an and Hadith thinks that he has learned all there is to know; and, if anything unknown to him comes up, he cannot accept it.
When confronted with knowledges above and beyond one’s understanding, one must at least concede to admit that: “This knowledge of which he speaks is on a level that we have not yet reached.” He says this without judging and leaves those knowledges to those who have realized them, and he carries no responsibility for them. This kind of attitude is acceptable, but the best attitude is to strive hard to hear and understand well these verses from the Holy Qur’an: “Above every knower there is one who knows more”, and also, “You will proceed from station unto station (of knowledge)”, and to actually realize those higher knowledges and take benefit from them, reaping Allah’s reward from them in this life and in the next.
Our Grandshaykh was one of those great Saints who had realized these knowledges; he was unlettered, and so he did not take any knowledge from books, but received, instead, guidance from the Holy Prophet Muhammad by way of heart; he was permitted to hear him and to tell some of what he heard. We are proud of our Grandshaykh.
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A DEFINITION OF FOLLOWING (ITTIBA’A): LEAVING THE EGO’S CHOICE
This lecture will define what true following is. True following (Ittiba’a), as we understand it, has a very wide meaning which includes not merely following, but also carrying out orders. Once my Grandshaykh told me: “Oh my son, to carry out orders is more important and of greater value than performing the devotions of all mankind and Genies (Jinn); for performing all these devotions is not possible, but carrying out orders is possible, and this is what is important in the Divine Presence.”
“For example,” says Grandshaykh, ‘‘so many people, particularly religious people, are saying, ‘We love our Lord, we love Jesus Christ, or, we love our Prophet so much that we will gladly sacrifice our souls for our Lord and our Prophet.’ So many people of each nation are making such claims, but their claims ring hollow. I say to them in earnest: ‘If you really love your Lord, please leave one forbidden thing for His sake; just leave one thing that is disliked in the Divine Presence, one little thing that Allah tells you not to do and which you are doing anyway. He is not asking you to sacrifice your souls now, but to start out by taking only one small step — a step away from something forbidden. In every religion, not only in Islam, you will find at least eight-hundred forbidden things.’”
“These forbidden things are acts everyone deep down inside himself knows are wrong, because each person has a conscience, and for every bad doing his conscience pricks him. Their consciences say, ‘Don’t do it’, but their egos push them on to those bad actions, because ego derives enjoyment from those things; ego is
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swimming contentedly in Bad Oceans. Therefore, like a fish seeing water cannot make himself stay on dry land and throws himself into the sea, the ego quickly runs toward Evil Oceans when it is left to do so. If, as you claim, you love your Lord so much, go then and catch your ego but once!’’
When can we say that we are really following? — When we can catch hold of our egos before they drag us into bad actions; that catching is the essence of the following of orders that will be rewarded by Allah more than if one were to perform the entire worship of all Mankind and Jinn. Nowadays people like to do everything that their egos demand of them, and they also claim that they love God and would sacrifice anything for Him. So, if you really love God, then keep far away from what He has forbidden.
Grandshaykh says that we are living in a time when the number of forbidden things is eight hundred; when the Anti-Christ (Dajjal) comes, he is not going to bring with him any new or previously unknown forbidden thing. All things which have been forbidden from the time of Adam until this present day can now be found in abundance, and therefore people are running to them, under the command of their egos whom they have made their god. They are all fighting against the teachings of Muhammad, Peace be Upon Him, because his intention was to eradicate evil from the earth and to teach people how to avoid badness.
As Muslims, we are awaiting the coming of Imam Muhammad Al-Mahdi, who will be sent to clean the world of evils and devils, and also for the return of Jesus Christ, who will be sent to kill the Anti-Christ, and to re-establish the Word of Truth on this Earth under the banner of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace be Upon Him. We are living for to see those days, and we are asking
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Allah Almighty that we might be alive during that time so that we may lend our hands to the cleansing of the Earth of devils.
If the lake of evil is not drained and dried, more and more ‘mosquitos’ will hatch and spread infectious disease. Nowadays those lakes of evil can be found everywhere, but people do not even see them, what to speak of draining them; rather, they are depending upon new ‘insect-repellents’, ‘insecticides’ and ‘malaria control programs’ but they will never succeed in controlling the ‘disease’ until they look into the matter of drying up those lakes. Until they succeed in doing so, there will be no more peace on Earth, and no satisfaction in people’s hearts — people will be drinking each other’s blood, and generally seeking to harm one another.
How can we combat our own ego, and how can we start to back up our claims of loving our Lord with the performance of actions that are pleasing to Him, not to our egos? My Grandshaykh says that if some event or situation confronts you, before involving yourself in it, regard it carefully, and honestly ask yourself whether it is something pleasing to your Lord or pleasing to your ego. If it is your ego’s choice, then leave it and seek your Lord’s pleasure — you will have become a great ascetic.
“In our view,” says Grandshaykh, “it is not so important if someone is ready to give a huge treasure in charity to the poor, for that is easy in comparison to leaving one forbidden action. Perhaps he would give away the whole world in charity if he had it, but to turn his eyes away from looking at a lady, that is more than he is willing and able to do.”
Don’t look! In every religion Allah Almighty has revealed that it is forbidden to look lustfully at any women other than your wedded wives, and if you are
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single, you may marry; if you are in need of a lady, it is permitted to seek marriage, but to seek gratification in any other way is a great sin in all religions. Nowadays, since unlawful intercourse has become so prevalent, we can see people’s characters going down, down, down and spiritual grace (baraka), goodness and mercy are rapidly disappearing from the Earth. The Prophet Muhammad said: “The lustful glance is the messenger of lewdness.”
The person who has attained to being a real follower will simply do every action he has been ordered to do and leave all that has been forbidden. Grandshaykh says: “To whomever may worship the worshipping of all Mankind and Jinn, and give all the treasures on Earth in charity, the Angels may write for him a handsome reward, but for him who leaves one forbidden thing, the reward will be so great, that even all the Angels together will not be able to write it out.”
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FOOLING THE EGO: TODAY CASH, TOMORROW CREDIT
Then our Grandshaykh taught us a method through which we can fight our egos: if we keep telling ourselves that the fight will be so long and bitter, our egos will rebel strongly against us. But if we always say: “Oh my ego, you must be patient for the fulfilment of your desires only up until tonight, no longer,
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