MERCY OCEANS, Book 07 (Hidden Treasures, Shaykh Nazim, 220 pages, 8/12)
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no more restrictions tomorrow — after today you are free.”
I remember that in our country the shopkeepers used to hang up signs in their shops, saying: ‘Cash today. Tomorrow credit’. You must work in a similar fashion, and give your ego hope of the tomorrow that never arrives, for when it does, it is today. Make your
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resolve a day at a time and try to keep to it on that basis —the ego is stupid and can be fooled by such tricks — work today, free tomorrow. It is simple, but it works, and those who have thus deprived their egos will testify to the success of this method in their graves where they will arrive, finally, at that tomorrow and will be free; whereas those whose egos ran free in this life in the end will find that they are caught.
In this manner, move from day to day, always saying: “Work today, rest tomorrow,” and when a distance is covered, you might find a light to guide you. If someone says that Makkah is a forty days’ journey on foot from here, you will be discouraged; but if he is saying that it is only one day’s walk, you will start out on the road; and at nightfall you find you haven’t arrived, so you think, “Perhaps I have been walking too slowly, tomorrow I will reach Makkah,” and so you prod yourself on for five days, by which time you’ll say to yourself. “Well, I have come this far, I can’t very well turn back now, might as well go on...”
Whoever can be patient for one day will receive the reward of the King of Ascetics, Ibrahim Bin Adham. Whoever is trying to govern his ego must not let it wander here and there but must place it firmly in the way of steadfastness (Istiqamah); then he will receive that reward every day and will gain, in the end, the recompense for having fought the Greatest Holy War (Jihad-ul-Akbar), the battle against the Self.
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ISTIQAMAH: BEARING THE LOAD OF THE DIVINE TRUST
Grandshaykh says that if a person faces an unliked
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event that is sent to him as a test, so it may be seen whether he can stand firmly in the face of it; and instead of standing firmly he runs and escapes, failing the test; and, were he then, after his failure, to pick up a Qur’an and to begin reading from it, every letter and point of the Holy Book will be cursing him.
We must keep our faith and maintain our steadfastness firmly (Istiqamah), without becoming dissolute and falling apart at the seams. Every letter, every word and verse of the Holy Qur’an tells believers to keep their faith firmly, even when so many terrible events are rushing on us; to hold that faith firmly in our hands and hearts, though that may be more difficult than holding a glowing coal in one’s hand.
In this manner our Grandshaykh was stressing] the importance of tolerating unliked events, and he said that every religion was based upon just this; and life is so full of disagreeable things that our opportunities to put this teaching into practice are many. Our egos hate having restrictions imposed upon them, but all religions are doing exactly that — they tell the ego that it may or may not do such-and-such an activity. This is the most annoying thing possible for the ego, as its main innate characteristic is not liking to be told anything. It wants absolute freedom, but absolute freedom is for Allah Almighty only, and we, as His servants, must accept this and feel honoured at being under His command, here and in the hereafter.
As we are living in a world which abounds in unliked things rushing on a person from all directions, we must be prepared to bear every burden. Mankind has taken on the load of the Divine Trust, and it requires so much patience to carry it; but it was our first promise to our Lord that we would carry it, and if we fulfil our promise, He is certainly going to fulfil the promise He has made
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to reward the patient. In religion, patience is the base you can build upon. If you try to build a building without a base, it may stand, but it will always be a precariously perched and dangerous structure that may collapse at any time.
Grandshaykh was saying that our actions, if in accordance with the Divine Commandments, will be like the doors, windows and roof of a building. As our building grows in size, our good actions become the essential parts of the building which make it complete. He says: “If there are no doors, windows or roof in a building you can’t live in it.” Paradise is as an empty space that has been parcelled out for everyone through the mercy of our Lord; all have been granted private portions of Paradise, but they are empty; then, according to one’s actions, Allah Almighty orders the Angels to build so many buildings on those ‘empty lots’. With every good action, Allah Almighty is giving more light, greatness and beauty to your paradise; you will find there exactly the fruits of your actions.
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ALLAH WILL NOT RETRACT WHAT HE HAS GIVEN
Now Grandshaykh is speaking about a Divine attribute: if Allah Almighty has given something, He is not going to take back His gift.
In the Islamic Law (Shari’a), a person is permitted to give something, and then, if he likes, to take it back again — but it is one of those actions which, though permitted, are strongly disapproved of (Makruh). There is a saying: He spat it out, then he licked it up again. For example, your friend gave you a pencil, but then
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he got angry at you and took it back — a very ugly, dishonourable action. If the Shari’a says that it is makruh (permitted though strongly disapproved), even for weak creatures who are tending towards this type of pettiness, then how should the All-Beneficent, All- Munificent Lord of the Worlds take back something He has granted to His servants? — Never. Allah has given private portions of Paradise to everyone, this is known in every religion, and this is the reality of the Divine saying: “My Mercy surpasses My anger.”
The Holy Qur’an states: “And whoever did even an atom’s weight worth of good or bad shall see it.” Whatever He gave to you, you will eventually find it, though perhaps you will encounter many sufferings up until the time you reach that grant — but in the final end, there will be mercy for all, since you cannot find anyone who never did anything good at all. Even if a person never confessed his belief in God, we can understand any good thing that he may have done along his life as being the evidence of the faith-grant that was given to him on the Day of Promises. For bad actions, people will be punished until they are cleaned and then they will receive their Lord’s pledged grant to them. For every sin there is a specified period for its purification, which, by outward appearance looks like a punishment, but for the Eye of Reality is a cleansing. * * *
WHO THE UNBELIEVERS ARE, HOW THEY ARE SERVING THE FAITHFUL AND WHAT WILL BE THEIR REWARD.
Our Grandshaykh told me that at the beginning of creation Allah created our souls and asked them: “Who
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am I and who are you?” Some of them replied: “You are our Lord, and this is our ego (nafs).” Some others said: “We are we, and You are You.” And yet some others answered, correctly: “You are our Lord, and we are Your servants.” Those whose nafs made them answer the Lord incorrectly, Allah Almighty imprisoned their nafs for eighty-thousand years in the darkness and wildness of the ‘Valley of Hunger’, and then brought them out and asked them the same question as before. Most of them answered correctly this time, but a party of them stubbornly stuck to their denial; Allah Almighty, however, did not repeat their punishment, but let them be.
Those people were then made to come to this life and, although everyone is born with faith, they were destined to manifest their stubbornness in that they were to become unbelievers in their lives here on Earth. This is because their egos tricked them into denial, even though their souls were believers and ready to obey; so Allah left them to remain under the deception of their egos and to become unbelievers.
Then my Grandshaykh explained to me what the Divine Wisdom was in leaving those people like blind men who don’t even see the sun: it is in order to facilitate the building of this, world (Ta’mir ad-Dunya). It is easy for unbelievers to build in this life, because they believe in no other, and thus they can devote their full efforts and energies to building it and arranging everything in the best way for people in this life; but believers, because they believe in a life to come after this life here on Earth, and because they are working towards it, are not so much and so exclusively interested in this life. Unbelievers who believe in no other life than their life in the world will strive to their utmost to enjoy this life and to prepare everything in it excellently for maximum comfort and pleasure.
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Unbelievers have been given ‘Satanic Wisdom’ which enables them to invent and develop so many things — they have wonderful imagination. If not for the unbelievers, we might be living in caves yet, in huts or tents: no skyscrapers, airplanes, gigantic ocean Cruisers, tape recorders, computers, central heating, no electricity — none of these discoveries and inventions. But they have been given a Satanic Wisdom, and every day you see them coming up with a new device.
Grandshaykh went on to explain how these unbelievers are, in reality, servants of the believers. How? Take this watch, it costs perhaps twenty-five pounds. If I give you one-hundred pounds, can you make me one? No, you can’t. Oriental people may possess the money, but they cannot make watches (perhaps now they are beginning to, but the invention is Western); therefore, twenty-five pounds is cheap, even one hundred pounds is still a cheap price, for even if I gave you a thousand pounds you would not be able to make me one watch. They are our servants, and we are gratefully utilizing cars, lights, planes, ships etc. They worked and then sold us those things; now, maybe we can also produce them, but we couldn’t invent them, it would be too difficult and too much trouble for us because we are not as obsessed with these things as they are.
The Prophet said: “He who serves his Nation is of its noble ranks.” Allah Almighty will inspire those inventors on the Day of Judgement to say: “Oh our Lord, we were servants for Your believers, and the Prophet has said that the servant of a people is of noble rank, so give us, therefore, our reward.” Allah Almighty is keeping so many Mercy Oceans — if He were to spread out only one of them, no one could remain outside of it. If you look at the skies above, can you imagine anyone falling outside of them? So don’t imagine that anyone can be excluded from Allah’s Mercy Oceans on that Day — everyone will
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attain what is suitable for him.
The secrets of Holy Qur’an which Grandshaykh is opening up now have not appeared in earlier times; they are knowledges pertaining to the era over which Sayyidina Al-Mahdi shall preside. Everyone who lives at that time will see the unfolding of all these secrets, the secrets which are now budding in your hearts.
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TAP YOUR UNDERGROUND SPRINGS
My Grandshaykh was speaking about the People of Truth (Ahl-ul-Haqiqa), saying that they are endowed with Divine Wisdom, and not just like ordinary learned people who parrot the knowledge they learned from books without understanding what they teach.
The Prophet says: “Everyone of us has been given wisdom treasures in his heart, but if he does not wish to dig them out, they will remain hidden, buried in his heart; nothing will become apparent of those fountains of wisdom.” Take, for example, a person who owns a piece of land beneath which are to be found abundant underground springs; but if he never does any digging in that plot of land, never explores it for water, then he will never find those springs, nor will he benefit from them. One needs to work and tire to get to that water. Some land is easy to dig, and some land is much more difficult, but we know that the harder the ground, the sweeter and purer the water.
The Holy Prophet says: “If a person can be totally sincere with his Lord for forty days, Allah Almighty will open his heart to Divine Wisdom, so that this person’s speech will be with Divine Wisdom.” It is not so easy to
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attain sincerity in worship, but it is the most important aspect of it, as Allah states in the Holy Qur’an: “Is it not Allah to whom belongs the pure religion?” Allah Almighty is asking His servants to worship Him with true sincerity.
What exactly does it mean to be sincere in our actions? When you are buying butter, you ask whether it is free of all impurities — pure, or mixed with other fats — and if it is mixed, you don’t accept it as butter. Likewise, if a person, in the course of his day, mixes his good actions and obedience to the Lord’s commands with bad actions and disobedience that Satan and his ego push him into, then even his good actions will become impure. But, if you can keep every action in line with Allah’s commands for forty days, then, according to your purity, Allah has promised you Divine Wisdoms from His Treasures.
What is involved in keeping sincerity for forty days? It is not so easy — you must keep your eyes, tongue, ears and all your limbs and organs. You must also be very watchful over your heart, that bad thoughts and darkness do not come upon it while you are heedless; it requires great patience. But once Allah has opened your heart, He will never seal it up again, it keeps pouring forth forever.
Once one’s heart is opened, he is no longer in need of studying many books, but rather, books may be written from his sayings. Once one has reached this station, one’s knowledge is always fresh, not stale, and like easily digestible and delicious food which delights those who eat it; not like stale, old food which has been sitting on a shelf for years. The words of Saints are always fresh because they are continually absorbing new knowledge from the Prophet’s heart. Now such people are very few, and most of them are hidden, while many other
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people are dishing out old, stale knowledge which no one derives any benefit from; hearts always long for the living teaching, but that is to be found only with very few.
In the Holy Qur’an, there are endless Oceans of Knowledge from which everyone may always take new knowledge, and through its verses all of the people from the time of the Prophet until the end of time may find all the guidance they ever need. Those people who have been granted Divine Wisdom may give unto people, in accordance with their capacities, what they may need to know of the secrets contained in the Qur’an — may give them what they might otherwise overlook and remain ignorant of. Therefore, when you are in the presence of such a person, you may think that he is addressing you personally and directing his speech at exactly the things you are in need of hearing and that are pertinent to your life. In fact, everyone may think that the Shaykh’s words are directly aimed at him, and this is a miracle given to those who have attained Divine Wisdom. They may give you whatever you are in need of; perchance you might hear something from him that you never thought of before, but upon hearing it it will seem to you as though you had just been thinking about that very thing.
If, however, someone is incapable of digging out the wisdom springs in his heart, then he may talk from A to Z and benefit no one, indeed, he might even do someone harm. He is like a pharmacist who has so many drugs on his shelves but is not qualified to prescribe them. If someone comes to him, saying, “I am ill,” can he just give him any potent medicine? — No, he can’t, and if he were to do so, the patient might well die from it. He must say, ‘‘See a doctor if you are ill,” otherwise he may be criminally exceeding his limits. So many learned people have memorized the entire
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Qur’an with accompanying exegeses (Tafsir), legal decisions and jurisprudential interpretation (Fiqh and Fatwa), along with one thousand traditions of the Prophet (Hadith) — but if they don’t have the wisdom to know how these may be beneficially dispensed to people, if they don’t know how much of which medicine is appropriate for each of the patients, then they had better first study the science of diagnosis and treatment before they dispense drugs or accumulate even more drugs, uselessly, on their shelves. That science is to be learned at ‘medical school’, not ‘pharmacy school’, in other words, at the feet of a Shaykh and under his direction, not at the dry lectures of clerics and scholars who put one to sleep on the spot. Only those people who have Divine Wisdom are the real doctors who can cure the illnesses of our egos.
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UNDERSTANDING THE SECRETS OF THE DEATHBED
Our Grandshaykh was saying that all those who have been granted Divine Wisdom agree upon the point that Allah Almighty has given everyone of the Sons of Adam a portion in Paradise. Even the most intransigent unbeliever, when on his deathbed, will turn his eyes away from this world, and he will lose hope in his ever being able to enjoy it anymore. At that time, even if you put the most beautiful girl on his chest, he is not even going to look at her, and if you give him the most valuable jewels right in his hand, he is not going to take them.
At that time his Lord is looking at him, and the Lord knows best what condition His servant is in. No one knows except Allah Almighty if he is yet going to
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persist in his unbelief or turn to Him, before his soul has come up to his throat, and say, “Oh my Lord!” Therefore, Islamic Law forbids Muslims to say that anyone died in unbelief (Kufr); it is absolutely forbidden. This is a very important point and it indicates the most wide-ranging tolerance in any religion.
No one knows how that person died: in belief or unbelief; that is one of the secrets of the Unseen known only to Allah. The Prophet is aware of the condition of that member of his Ummah up until the last seven breaths, when Allah orders: “Oh My Prophet, leave that servant to Me — you are now dismissed.” Then our Lord receives His servant without any intermediary. This secret knowledge is also a great good tiding, as by it we may know that Allah Almighty, in the end, is going to take us in His Own Hands, and will not leave us in the hands of our egos and Satan.
If in those last moments unbelievers will believe, they will enter their private stations in Paradise that were granted to them in pre-eternity. Their stations differ from the stations granted to those who believed before arriving at their deathbeds, but each person will be content with his station and enjoy it, and each one will consider Allah’s grant to him as having been the greatest. No one will be sorry that he is at the station he is at and not at another — no envy or displeasure. Everyone must return finally to his ‘Heavenly Headquarters’ — that is the meaning of the Qur’anic verse: “Verily we belong to Allah, and verily to Him is our return.” So many things may occur between those two ends of our journey, but we must ultimately return to our Divine Stations in the Divine Presence.
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THE WISDOM OF NOT TRYING TO BE A TEACHER
Some people like to try and teach everyone. They say: “I know,” and they tell people, “Do this, not that; read this, not that; follow this, not that.” Especially old people have a tendency towards doing this, for when a person has grown old, he thinks that by virtue of his age alone he may have learned everything there is to be learnt, and that he is now capable of teaching others.
Our Grandshaykh was saying to his servant Abu Bakr: “Oh Abu Bakr, don’t try to be a teacher of people; when you leave off teaching people and start listening to them instead, then Allah Almighty will teach you through them. Don’t say: ‘I know,’ for whoever says this will never improve but will always remain at his present level of knowledge. If, however, a person humbles himself and listens to everyone’s knowledge, seeing himself as being in need of all the knowledge he can possibly absorb, then his Lord will teach him through His servants and pour out upon his heart ever-increasing wisdom.”
Don’t think that you are a teacher for anyone, because even Prophets weren’t claiming to teach, but only to impart a message, to call people to the way of Allah Almighty. When Prophets complained about their peoples’ disobedience, Allah said to them: “My command to you is only to call to My servants, not to check and see whether they are accepting or not, I am the One who will take account; so don’t listen for their response; deliver your message, then leave them.” That is Allah’s command, and He also says in the Holy Qur’an: “And does not the Creator know His Creation?” Allah is asking, and it is for us to say, “Yes, of course my Lord.” Allah knows best what the characteristics of His servants’ egos are — those egos will never accept that anyone
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teaches them anything. The ego always snarls: “I know; therefore I am not in need of being taught by you.” It is so proud, therefore Allah commands His Prophets only to call to the people, to remind them of what they have forgotten, as Allah spoke to our Prophet: “Make them remember!” (fa dhakkir). That is the best method.
Who, then, can be successful in his attempt to remind people of their Lord? — Only he who makes himself as equal with his students, and is not putting himself on a pedestal and looking down from it; if he can place himself together with them on their level, they will be happy and content and, thus, will be able to learn — if you are on the Sun, and they are on the Earth, how can you talk to them? — You can’t. This is a secret characteristic of people: they need to feel comfortable and equal with those whom they want to learn from. Therefore, Prophets, in spite of their having attained to heavenly stations and being so firmly planted in them that their souls are never leaving the spiritual world, yet put themselves on the level of the simplest people, in order that they may be able to benefit those people.
Here is a tale which may illustrate this point: When the Holy Prophet conquered Makkah, he cleaned the Holy House (Ka’bah) of all the idols, smashing them all to bits. One idol, however, was too tall for a single man to smash, so Sayyidina ‘Ali, the cousin of the Prophet, said to the Prophet: “Oh, Rasulallah, please step on my shoulder so you may be able to reach up to the idol and break it.” “Oh ‘Ali,” answered the Prophet, “you might not be able to support me, but come, you may stand on my shoulder.” (It is well known that whenever the revealing Angel descended on the Prophet, his body would become so crushingly heavy that it once forced a camel to kneel down by its momentous weight; as he never knew when to expect the Revelation, he was reluctant to let ‘Ali bear him, even though ‘Ali was such a powerful man
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that he was known as the ‘Lion of Allah.’) ‘Ali said, “I am ashamed to put my foot on your shoulder — may my soul be sacrificed for you.” The Prophet replied: “Don’t worry, I am ordering you, so just step up.”
When ‘Ali then climbed upon the shoulders of the Prophet, he immediately found himself looking at the Throne of Allah Almighty (Al-Arsh) — its glory taking him far away from this world. The Prophet left him gazing like this for some moments, then he said: “Oh ‘Ali, have you not broken the idol yet?” With the Prophet’s words, ‘Ali returned to this world once more, and found himself standing in front of the idol which he then proceeded to break.
This is a proof that the Prophet was always in the Divine Presence, but with his bodily personality was sitting, moving and speaking with the ordinary people, so that even the simplest Bedouin among them could understand him perfectly well. As a result, he was successful in delivering his Lord’s message to everyone. During the sermon he gave on the event of the farewell pilgrimage he asked: “Oh my Nation, have I conveyed the message to you as I was ordered?” — And the multitudes answered: “Yes, you have conveyed.” Then the Prophet turned unto his Lord and said: “Oh my Lord, do You witness for my Nation?”
This is a very fine point: from every person a different kind of knowledge came to the Prophet’s heart and poured itself in it; whosoever follows the Prophet’s way must do as he did: he must remind people in such a way that Allah will teach him through the people. Whoever desires improvement must be a student, as our Holy Prophet was a student throughout his life.
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THE STORY OF THE MAN WHO WAS INFATUATED WITH HIS OWN KNOWLEDGE AND PUT THE ASSEMBLY TO SLEEP
This is a tale that Grandshaykh related to me about the Great-Grandshaykh ‘AbdulQadir Al-Gilani and his son; from this tale we may understand that there are two kinds of knowledge one kind is rooted in Divine Wisdom and is given to some people who fight and capture their egos, and then enthrone their soul in its rightful place, the heart; they always move in accordance with the Lord’s commands and never deviate from them; they never stoop down to their egos’ lowest desires. The second group of people have a kind of knowledge which is learnt from books, and they are called Outward or Externalist Scholars (Zhahiri Ulama), They are often very proud of this knowledge and see themselves as being above everyone else and put themselves on a special level apart from the other people. In their eyes, the knowledge that comes to the hearts through spiritual struggle, through battling the ego (Mujahada) is not even to be counted as knowledge, not to speak of depending on such ‘knowledge’ as a way to total surrender to Allah. They claim: “Knowledge is only what is written in books.”
The son of ‘AbdulQadir Al-Gilani was a famous learned man in his time, but he was not humble and did not surrender to his father’s superior knowledge, as he regarded himself as being much more learned and of a higher station than his parent. He was always astonished when he saw how the multitudes of his father’s disciples flocked to the Grandshaykh’s lectures, and how, when he began to speak, so many seemed to swoon away in apparent ecstasy. Whenever he witnessed that amazing
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spectacle, he thought to himself: “My father’s knowledge is not as great as mine, I am seven degrees higher than he is; so, if the people swoon in such a manner upon hearing his discourse, what will happen to them when I speak? I fear that if I address them, they might have to be carried out dead!” So he thought.
Now, Grandshaykh ‘AbdulQadir was listening to all these thoughts passing through his son’s heart; Awliya know so many things that are happening in the hearts of people because Allah Almighty has given them that power of perception. They may listen, but they are not in need of always exercising this power — only when a particular situation arises in which someone may well benefit from it will they put this power to use. For instance, they may listen to and then answer a question which might have been in someone’s mind without that person having ever said anything about it. By this unsolicited answer, that person might be taken unawares and be able to learn something.
My Grandshaykh had such powers of perception, but concerning them he said to me: “Oh my son, the power of perception is not really such a great and miraculous power that one should covet and seek to gain, for it comes naturally to a Saint; however, this power was also given to Satan, so that, if goodness comes to us, he easily knows it and seeks to turn us away from it. So, we cannot say that this power is very miraculous for the Saints, nor are they particularly interested in it, but if they are ordered by the Prophet, then they may use it.”
And so, ‘AbdulQadir was sometimes listening to what went on in his son’s heart and could understand that his son had a nagging desire to speak in public. So one day he said to him: “Oh my son, tomorrow I am going to be very busy, and since our followers, spiritual sons and loved ones will be gathering at the great
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mosque, rather than sending them away, perhaps you could address them in my place, so that they may be pleased with you and not disappointed that there is no one to speak to them.’’ Needless to say, the son was very pleased about this and looked forward to the chance of showing the people exactly where he stood in the way of knowledge as compared to his father.
The next day, when the time for ‘AbdulQadir’s discourse arrived, his son mounted the pulpit in his stead and, closing his eyes, began to speak like a fountain, gushing out torrents from the highest level of his knowledges. He spouted for about ten minutes with his eyes closed in intense concentration; then, upon hearing not even the sound of breathing coming from the assembly, he thought: “Perhaps they have all died from such sudden exposure to this overwhelming knowledge.’’ So he opened his eyes to see what had happened, and there he saw the assembly, not dead — but sound asleep. Not one was awake, and now, as they fell deeper into their sleep, a number of them began to snore loudly, like saws cutting trees.
Since no one was awake to hear his lesson, he quickly finished, came down from the pulpit and moved through the mass of sleepers, carefully stepping, and left the mosque. When he arrived at his father’s house, he complained to him: “Oh my father, do you know what happened? I’m amazed at the condition of these people!’’ ‘AbdulQadir asked him: “What happened? Did anyone die or faint?” The son replied: “No, all of them fell fast asleep, even when I left the mosque, no one was aware of it — and this despite the fact that I was speaking to them on a level seven degrees higher than your teachings; I cannot understand what happened.”
Then this Grandshaykh said to his son: “Oh my son, who was sitting there on the pulpit?” The son, surprised,
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replied: “I was, of course.” “Ah, you see, therefore, as you were sitting there, they all fell asleep.” “Oh my most venerable father, why should it be like this when I sit there; don’t you sit on the pulpit in front of them the same as I did?”
Then ‘AbdulQadir explained to his son: “No, my son, I don’t sit there, I leave that pulpit to Allah Almighty and His Prophet and seat myself in the audience among the people in order to listen to Allah and His Prophet — when a verse is read, we hear Allah speaking to us, and when a Hadith is read, we hear the Prophet speaking. When in this way I put myself among the assembly and leave the pulpit to Allah and His Prophet, I leave myself behind, no more ‘AbdulQadir, just Allah and His Prophet speaking through Gilani, but no more ‘I’ is there. For this reason alone, Divine Outpourings (Fuyudat) are filling people’s hearts and they can’t keep themselves; they become happy and contented like fish in the sea. But you are sitting there yourself, saying ‘I know’, and you are appointing yourself deputy of Allah and His Prophet, and so there is no true harmony emanating from your words, nor any Divine Aid (Inayah) with you —that is why all the people fell asleep. You kille
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no more restrictions tomorrow — after today you are free.”
I remember that in our country the shopkeepers used to hang up signs in their shops, saying: ‘Cash today. Tomorrow credit’. You must work in a similar fashion, and give your ego hope of the tomorrow that never arrives, for when it does, it is today. Make your
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resolve a day at a time and try to keep to it on that basis —the ego is stupid and can be fooled by such tricks — work today, free tomorrow. It is simple, but it works, and those who have thus deprived their egos will testify to the success of this method in their graves where they will arrive, finally, at that tomorrow and will be free; whereas those whose egos ran free in this life in the end will find that they are caught.
In this manner, move from day to day, always saying: “Work today, rest tomorrow,” and when a distance is covered, you might find a light to guide you. If someone says that Makkah is a forty days’ journey on foot from here, you will be discouraged; but if he is saying that it is only one day’s walk, you will start out on the road; and at nightfall you find you haven’t arrived, so you think, “Perhaps I have been walking too slowly, tomorrow I will reach Makkah,” and so you prod yourself on for five days, by which time you’ll say to yourself. “Well, I have come this far, I can’t very well turn back now, might as well go on...”
Whoever can be patient for one day will receive the reward of the King of Ascetics, Ibrahim Bin Adham. Whoever is trying to govern his ego must not let it wander here and there but must place it firmly in the way of steadfastness (Istiqamah); then he will receive that reward every day and will gain, in the end, the recompense for having fought the Greatest Holy War (Jihad-ul-Akbar), the battle against the Self.
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ISTIQAMAH: BEARING THE LOAD OF THE DIVINE TRUST
Grandshaykh says that if a person faces an unliked
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event that is sent to him as a test, so it may be seen whether he can stand firmly in the face of it; and instead of standing firmly he runs and escapes, failing the test; and, were he then, after his failure, to pick up a Qur’an and to begin reading from it, every letter and point of the Holy Book will be cursing him.
We must keep our faith and maintain our steadfastness firmly (Istiqamah), without becoming dissolute and falling apart at the seams. Every letter, every word and verse of the Holy Qur’an tells believers to keep their faith firmly, even when so many terrible events are rushing on us; to hold that faith firmly in our hands and hearts, though that may be more difficult than holding a glowing coal in one’s hand.
In this manner our Grandshaykh was stressing] the importance of tolerating unliked events, and he said that every religion was based upon just this; and life is so full of disagreeable things that our opportunities to put this teaching into practice are many. Our egos hate having restrictions imposed upon them, but all religions are doing exactly that — they tell the ego that it may or may not do such-and-such an activity. This is the most annoying thing possible for the ego, as its main innate characteristic is not liking to be told anything. It wants absolute freedom, but absolute freedom is for Allah Almighty only, and we, as His servants, must accept this and feel honoured at being under His command, here and in the hereafter.
As we are living in a world which abounds in unliked things rushing on a person from all directions, we must be prepared to bear every burden. Mankind has taken on the load of the Divine Trust, and it requires so much patience to carry it; but it was our first promise to our Lord that we would carry it, and if we fulfil our promise, He is certainly going to fulfil the promise He has made
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to reward the patient. In religion, patience is the base you can build upon. If you try to build a building without a base, it may stand, but it will always be a precariously perched and dangerous structure that may collapse at any time.
Grandshaykh was saying that our actions, if in accordance with the Divine Commandments, will be like the doors, windows and roof of a building. As our building grows in size, our good actions become the essential parts of the building which make it complete. He says: “If there are no doors, windows or roof in a building you can’t live in it.” Paradise is as an empty space that has been parcelled out for everyone through the mercy of our Lord; all have been granted private portions of Paradise, but they are empty; then, according to one’s actions, Allah Almighty orders the Angels to build so many buildings on those ‘empty lots’. With every good action, Allah Almighty is giving more light, greatness and beauty to your paradise; you will find there exactly the fruits of your actions.
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ALLAH WILL NOT RETRACT WHAT HE HAS GIVEN
Now Grandshaykh is speaking about a Divine attribute: if Allah Almighty has given something, He is not going to take back His gift.
In the Islamic Law (Shari’a), a person is permitted to give something, and then, if he likes, to take it back again — but it is one of those actions which, though permitted, are strongly disapproved of (Makruh). There is a saying: He spat it out, then he licked it up again. For example, your friend gave you a pencil, but then
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he got angry at you and took it back — a very ugly, dishonourable action. If the Shari’a says that it is makruh (permitted though strongly disapproved), even for weak creatures who are tending towards this type of pettiness, then how should the All-Beneficent, All- Munificent Lord of the Worlds take back something He has granted to His servants? — Never. Allah has given private portions of Paradise to everyone, this is known in every religion, and this is the reality of the Divine saying: “My Mercy surpasses My anger.”
The Holy Qur’an states: “And whoever did even an atom’s weight worth of good or bad shall see it.” Whatever He gave to you, you will eventually find it, though perhaps you will encounter many sufferings up until the time you reach that grant — but in the final end, there will be mercy for all, since you cannot find anyone who never did anything good at all. Even if a person never confessed his belief in God, we can understand any good thing that he may have done along his life as being the evidence of the faith-grant that was given to him on the Day of Promises. For bad actions, people will be punished until they are cleaned and then they will receive their Lord’s pledged grant to them. For every sin there is a specified period for its purification, which, by outward appearance looks like a punishment, but for the Eye of Reality is a cleansing. * * *
WHO THE UNBELIEVERS ARE, HOW THEY ARE SERVING THE FAITHFUL AND WHAT WILL BE THEIR REWARD.
Our Grandshaykh told me that at the beginning of creation Allah created our souls and asked them: “Who
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am I and who are you?” Some of them replied: “You are our Lord, and this is our ego (nafs).” Some others said: “We are we, and You are You.” And yet some others answered, correctly: “You are our Lord, and we are Your servants.” Those whose nafs made them answer the Lord incorrectly, Allah Almighty imprisoned their nafs for eighty-thousand years in the darkness and wildness of the ‘Valley of Hunger’, and then brought them out and asked them the same question as before. Most of them answered correctly this time, but a party of them stubbornly stuck to their denial; Allah Almighty, however, did not repeat their punishment, but let them be.
Those people were then made to come to this life and, although everyone is born with faith, they were destined to manifest their stubbornness in that they were to become unbelievers in their lives here on Earth. This is because their egos tricked them into denial, even though their souls were believers and ready to obey; so Allah left them to remain under the deception of their egos and to become unbelievers.
Then my Grandshaykh explained to me what the Divine Wisdom was in leaving those people like blind men who don’t even see the sun: it is in order to facilitate the building of this, world (Ta’mir ad-Dunya). It is easy for unbelievers to build in this life, because they believe in no other, and thus they can devote their full efforts and energies to building it and arranging everything in the best way for people in this life; but believers, because they believe in a life to come after this life here on Earth, and because they are working towards it, are not so much and so exclusively interested in this life. Unbelievers who believe in no other life than their life in the world will strive to their utmost to enjoy this life and to prepare everything in it excellently for maximum comfort and pleasure.
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Unbelievers have been given ‘Satanic Wisdom’ which enables them to invent and develop so many things — they have wonderful imagination. If not for the unbelievers, we might be living in caves yet, in huts or tents: no skyscrapers, airplanes, gigantic ocean Cruisers, tape recorders, computers, central heating, no electricity — none of these discoveries and inventions. But they have been given a Satanic Wisdom, and every day you see them coming up with a new device.
Grandshaykh went on to explain how these unbelievers are, in reality, servants of the believers. How? Take this watch, it costs perhaps twenty-five pounds. If I give you one-hundred pounds, can you make me one? No, you can’t. Oriental people may possess the money, but they cannot make watches (perhaps now they are beginning to, but the invention is Western); therefore, twenty-five pounds is cheap, even one hundred pounds is still a cheap price, for even if I gave you a thousand pounds you would not be able to make me one watch. They are our servants, and we are gratefully utilizing cars, lights, planes, ships etc. They worked and then sold us those things; now, maybe we can also produce them, but we couldn’t invent them, it would be too difficult and too much trouble for us because we are not as obsessed with these things as they are.
The Prophet said: “He who serves his Nation is of its noble ranks.” Allah Almighty will inspire those inventors on the Day of Judgement to say: “Oh our Lord, we were servants for Your believers, and the Prophet has said that the servant of a people is of noble rank, so give us, therefore, our reward.” Allah Almighty is keeping so many Mercy Oceans — if He were to spread out only one of them, no one could remain outside of it. If you look at the skies above, can you imagine anyone falling outside of them? So don’t imagine that anyone can be excluded from Allah’s Mercy Oceans on that Day — everyone will
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attain what is suitable for him.
The secrets of Holy Qur’an which Grandshaykh is opening up now have not appeared in earlier times; they are knowledges pertaining to the era over which Sayyidina Al-Mahdi shall preside. Everyone who lives at that time will see the unfolding of all these secrets, the secrets which are now budding in your hearts.
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TAP YOUR UNDERGROUND SPRINGS
My Grandshaykh was speaking about the People of Truth (Ahl-ul-Haqiqa), saying that they are endowed with Divine Wisdom, and not just like ordinary learned people who parrot the knowledge they learned from books without understanding what they teach.
The Prophet says: “Everyone of us has been given wisdom treasures in his heart, but if he does not wish to dig them out, they will remain hidden, buried in his heart; nothing will become apparent of those fountains of wisdom.” Take, for example, a person who owns a piece of land beneath which are to be found abundant underground springs; but if he never does any digging in that plot of land, never explores it for water, then he will never find those springs, nor will he benefit from them. One needs to work and tire to get to that water. Some land is easy to dig, and some land is much more difficult, but we know that the harder the ground, the sweeter and purer the water.
The Holy Prophet says: “If a person can be totally sincere with his Lord for forty days, Allah Almighty will open his heart to Divine Wisdom, so that this person’s speech will be with Divine Wisdom.” It is not so easy to
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attain sincerity in worship, but it is the most important aspect of it, as Allah states in the Holy Qur’an: “Is it not Allah to whom belongs the pure religion?” Allah Almighty is asking His servants to worship Him with true sincerity.
What exactly does it mean to be sincere in our actions? When you are buying butter, you ask whether it is free of all impurities — pure, or mixed with other fats — and if it is mixed, you don’t accept it as butter. Likewise, if a person, in the course of his day, mixes his good actions and obedience to the Lord’s commands with bad actions and disobedience that Satan and his ego push him into, then even his good actions will become impure. But, if you can keep every action in line with Allah’s commands for forty days, then, according to your purity, Allah has promised you Divine Wisdoms from His Treasures.
What is involved in keeping sincerity for forty days? It is not so easy — you must keep your eyes, tongue, ears and all your limbs and organs. You must also be very watchful over your heart, that bad thoughts and darkness do not come upon it while you are heedless; it requires great patience. But once Allah has opened your heart, He will never seal it up again, it keeps pouring forth forever.
Once one’s heart is opened, he is no longer in need of studying many books, but rather, books may be written from his sayings. Once one has reached this station, one’s knowledge is always fresh, not stale, and like easily digestible and delicious food which delights those who eat it; not like stale, old food which has been sitting on a shelf for years. The words of Saints are always fresh because they are continually absorbing new knowledge from the Prophet’s heart. Now such people are very few, and most of them are hidden, while many other
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people are dishing out old, stale knowledge which no one derives any benefit from; hearts always long for the living teaching, but that is to be found only with very few.
In the Holy Qur’an, there are endless Oceans of Knowledge from which everyone may always take new knowledge, and through its verses all of the people from the time of the Prophet until the end of time may find all the guidance they ever need. Those people who have been granted Divine Wisdom may give unto people, in accordance with their capacities, what they may need to know of the secrets contained in the Qur’an — may give them what they might otherwise overlook and remain ignorant of. Therefore, when you are in the presence of such a person, you may think that he is addressing you personally and directing his speech at exactly the things you are in need of hearing and that are pertinent to your life. In fact, everyone may think that the Shaykh’s words are directly aimed at him, and this is a miracle given to those who have attained Divine Wisdom. They may give you whatever you are in need of; perchance you might hear something from him that you never thought of before, but upon hearing it it will seem to you as though you had just been thinking about that very thing.
If, however, someone is incapable of digging out the wisdom springs in his heart, then he may talk from A to Z and benefit no one, indeed, he might even do someone harm. He is like a pharmacist who has so many drugs on his shelves but is not qualified to prescribe them. If someone comes to him, saying, “I am ill,” can he just give him any potent medicine? — No, he can’t, and if he were to do so, the patient might well die from it. He must say, ‘‘See a doctor if you are ill,” otherwise he may be criminally exceeding his limits. So many learned people have memorized the entire
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Qur’an with accompanying exegeses (Tafsir), legal decisions and jurisprudential interpretation (Fiqh and Fatwa), along with one thousand traditions of the Prophet (Hadith) — but if they don’t have the wisdom to know how these may be beneficially dispensed to people, if they don’t know how much of which medicine is appropriate for each of the patients, then they had better first study the science of diagnosis and treatment before they dispense drugs or accumulate even more drugs, uselessly, on their shelves. That science is to be learned at ‘medical school’, not ‘pharmacy school’, in other words, at the feet of a Shaykh and under his direction, not at the dry lectures of clerics and scholars who put one to sleep on the spot. Only those people who have Divine Wisdom are the real doctors who can cure the illnesses of our egos.
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UNDERSTANDING THE SECRETS OF THE DEATHBED
Our Grandshaykh was saying that all those who have been granted Divine Wisdom agree upon the point that Allah Almighty has given everyone of the Sons of Adam a portion in Paradise. Even the most intransigent unbeliever, when on his deathbed, will turn his eyes away from this world, and he will lose hope in his ever being able to enjoy it anymore. At that time, even if you put the most beautiful girl on his chest, he is not even going to look at her, and if you give him the most valuable jewels right in his hand, he is not going to take them.
At that time his Lord is looking at him, and the Lord knows best what condition His servant is in. No one knows except Allah Almighty if he is yet going to
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persist in his unbelief or turn to Him, before his soul has come up to his throat, and say, “Oh my Lord!” Therefore, Islamic Law forbids Muslims to say that anyone died in unbelief (Kufr); it is absolutely forbidden. This is a very important point and it indicates the most wide-ranging tolerance in any religion.
No one knows how that person died: in belief or unbelief; that is one of the secrets of the Unseen known only to Allah. The Prophet is aware of the condition of that member of his Ummah up until the last seven breaths, when Allah orders: “Oh My Prophet, leave that servant to Me — you are now dismissed.” Then our Lord receives His servant without any intermediary. This secret knowledge is also a great good tiding, as by it we may know that Allah Almighty, in the end, is going to take us in His Own Hands, and will not leave us in the hands of our egos and Satan.
If in those last moments unbelievers will believe, they will enter their private stations in Paradise that were granted to them in pre-eternity. Their stations differ from the stations granted to those who believed before arriving at their deathbeds, but each person will be content with his station and enjoy it, and each one will consider Allah’s grant to him as having been the greatest. No one will be sorry that he is at the station he is at and not at another — no envy or displeasure. Everyone must return finally to his ‘Heavenly Headquarters’ — that is the meaning of the Qur’anic verse: “Verily we belong to Allah, and verily to Him is our return.” So many things may occur between those two ends of our journey, but we must ultimately return to our Divine Stations in the Divine Presence.
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THE WISDOM OF NOT TRYING TO BE A TEACHER
Some people like to try and teach everyone. They say: “I know,” and they tell people, “Do this, not that; read this, not that; follow this, not that.” Especially old people have a tendency towards doing this, for when a person has grown old, he thinks that by virtue of his age alone he may have learned everything there is to be learnt, and that he is now capable of teaching others.
Our Grandshaykh was saying to his servant Abu Bakr: “Oh Abu Bakr, don’t try to be a teacher of people; when you leave off teaching people and start listening to them instead, then Allah Almighty will teach you through them. Don’t say: ‘I know,’ for whoever says this will never improve but will always remain at his present level of knowledge. If, however, a person humbles himself and listens to everyone’s knowledge, seeing himself as being in need of all the knowledge he can possibly absorb, then his Lord will teach him through His servants and pour out upon his heart ever-increasing wisdom.”
Don’t think that you are a teacher for anyone, because even Prophets weren’t claiming to teach, but only to impart a message, to call people to the way of Allah Almighty. When Prophets complained about their peoples’ disobedience, Allah said to them: “My command to you is only to call to My servants, not to check and see whether they are accepting or not, I am the One who will take account; so don’t listen for their response; deliver your message, then leave them.” That is Allah’s command, and He also says in the Holy Qur’an: “And does not the Creator know His Creation?” Allah is asking, and it is for us to say, “Yes, of course my Lord.” Allah knows best what the characteristics of His servants’ egos are — those egos will never accept that anyone
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teaches them anything. The ego always snarls: “I know; therefore I am not in need of being taught by you.” It is so proud, therefore Allah commands His Prophets only to call to the people, to remind them of what they have forgotten, as Allah spoke to our Prophet: “Make them remember!” (fa dhakkir). That is the best method.
Who, then, can be successful in his attempt to remind people of their Lord? — Only he who makes himself as equal with his students, and is not putting himself on a pedestal and looking down from it; if he can place himself together with them on their level, they will be happy and content and, thus, will be able to learn — if you are on the Sun, and they are on the Earth, how can you talk to them? — You can’t. This is a secret characteristic of people: they need to feel comfortable and equal with those whom they want to learn from. Therefore, Prophets, in spite of their having attained to heavenly stations and being so firmly planted in them that their souls are never leaving the spiritual world, yet put themselves on the level of the simplest people, in order that they may be able to benefit those people.
Here is a tale which may illustrate this point: When the Holy Prophet conquered Makkah, he cleaned the Holy House (Ka’bah) of all the idols, smashing them all to bits. One idol, however, was too tall for a single man to smash, so Sayyidina ‘Ali, the cousin of the Prophet, said to the Prophet: “Oh, Rasulallah, please step on my shoulder so you may be able to reach up to the idol and break it.” “Oh ‘Ali,” answered the Prophet, “you might not be able to support me, but come, you may stand on my shoulder.” (It is well known that whenever the revealing Angel descended on the Prophet, his body would become so crushingly heavy that it once forced a camel to kneel down by its momentous weight; as he never knew when to expect the Revelation, he was reluctant to let ‘Ali bear him, even though ‘Ali was such a powerful man
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that he was known as the ‘Lion of Allah.’) ‘Ali said, “I am ashamed to put my foot on your shoulder — may my soul be sacrificed for you.” The Prophet replied: “Don’t worry, I am ordering you, so just step up.”
When ‘Ali then climbed upon the shoulders of the Prophet, he immediately found himself looking at the Throne of Allah Almighty (Al-Arsh) — its glory taking him far away from this world. The Prophet left him gazing like this for some moments, then he said: “Oh ‘Ali, have you not broken the idol yet?” With the Prophet’s words, ‘Ali returned to this world once more, and found himself standing in front of the idol which he then proceeded to break.
This is a proof that the Prophet was always in the Divine Presence, but with his bodily personality was sitting, moving and speaking with the ordinary people, so that even the simplest Bedouin among them could understand him perfectly well. As a result, he was successful in delivering his Lord’s message to everyone. During the sermon he gave on the event of the farewell pilgrimage he asked: “Oh my Nation, have I conveyed the message to you as I was ordered?” — And the multitudes answered: “Yes, you have conveyed.” Then the Prophet turned unto his Lord and said: “Oh my Lord, do You witness for my Nation?”
This is a very fine point: from every person a different kind of knowledge came to the Prophet’s heart and poured itself in it; whosoever follows the Prophet’s way must do as he did: he must remind people in such a way that Allah will teach him through the people. Whoever desires improvement must be a student, as our Holy Prophet was a student throughout his life.
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THE STORY OF THE MAN WHO WAS INFATUATED WITH HIS OWN KNOWLEDGE AND PUT THE ASSEMBLY TO SLEEP
This is a tale that Grandshaykh related to me about the Great-Grandshaykh ‘AbdulQadir Al-Gilani and his son; from this tale we may understand that there are two kinds of knowledge one kind is rooted in Divine Wisdom and is given to some people who fight and capture their egos, and then enthrone their soul in its rightful place, the heart; they always move in accordance with the Lord’s commands and never deviate from them; they never stoop down to their egos’ lowest desires. The second group of people have a kind of knowledge which is learnt from books, and they are called Outward or Externalist Scholars (Zhahiri Ulama), They are often very proud of this knowledge and see themselves as being above everyone else and put themselves on a special level apart from the other people. In their eyes, the knowledge that comes to the hearts through spiritual struggle, through battling the ego (Mujahada) is not even to be counted as knowledge, not to speak of depending on such ‘knowledge’ as a way to total surrender to Allah. They claim: “Knowledge is only what is written in books.”
The son of ‘AbdulQadir Al-Gilani was a famous learned man in his time, but he was not humble and did not surrender to his father’s superior knowledge, as he regarded himself as being much more learned and of a higher station than his parent. He was always astonished when he saw how the multitudes of his father’s disciples flocked to the Grandshaykh’s lectures, and how, when he began to speak, so many seemed to swoon away in apparent ecstasy. Whenever he witnessed that amazing
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spectacle, he thought to himself: “My father’s knowledge is not as great as mine, I am seven degrees higher than he is; so, if the people swoon in such a manner upon hearing his discourse, what will happen to them when I speak? I fear that if I address them, they might have to be carried out dead!” So he thought.
Now, Grandshaykh ‘AbdulQadir was listening to all these thoughts passing through his son’s heart; Awliya know so many things that are happening in the hearts of people because Allah Almighty has given them that power of perception. They may listen, but they are not in need of always exercising this power — only when a particular situation arises in which someone may well benefit from it will they put this power to use. For instance, they may listen to and then answer a question which might have been in someone’s mind without that person having ever said anything about it. By this unsolicited answer, that person might be taken unawares and be able to learn something.
My Grandshaykh had such powers of perception, but concerning them he said to me: “Oh my son, the power of perception is not really such a great and miraculous power that one should covet and seek to gain, for it comes naturally to a Saint; however, this power was also given to Satan, so that, if goodness comes to us, he easily knows it and seeks to turn us away from it. So, we cannot say that this power is very miraculous for the Saints, nor are they particularly interested in it, but if they are ordered by the Prophet, then they may use it.”
And so, ‘AbdulQadir was sometimes listening to what went on in his son’s heart and could understand that his son had a nagging desire to speak in public. So one day he said to him: “Oh my son, tomorrow I am going to be very busy, and since our followers, spiritual sons and loved ones will be gathering at the great
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mosque, rather than sending them away, perhaps you could address them in my place, so that they may be pleased with you and not disappointed that there is no one to speak to them.’’ Needless to say, the son was very pleased about this and looked forward to the chance of showing the people exactly where he stood in the way of knowledge as compared to his father.
The next day, when the time for ‘AbdulQadir’s discourse arrived, his son mounted the pulpit in his stead and, closing his eyes, began to speak like a fountain, gushing out torrents from the highest level of his knowledges. He spouted for about ten minutes with his eyes closed in intense concentration; then, upon hearing not even the sound of breathing coming from the assembly, he thought: “Perhaps they have all died from such sudden exposure to this overwhelming knowledge.’’ So he opened his eyes to see what had happened, and there he saw the assembly, not dead — but sound asleep. Not one was awake, and now, as they fell deeper into their sleep, a number of them began to snore loudly, like saws cutting trees.
Since no one was awake to hear his lesson, he quickly finished, came down from the pulpit and moved through the mass of sleepers, carefully stepping, and left the mosque. When he arrived at his father’s house, he complained to him: “Oh my father, do you know what happened? I’m amazed at the condition of these people!’’ ‘AbdulQadir asked him: “What happened? Did anyone die or faint?” The son replied: “No, all of them fell fast asleep, even when I left the mosque, no one was aware of it — and this despite the fact that I was speaking to them on a level seven degrees higher than your teachings; I cannot understand what happened.”
Then this Grandshaykh said to his son: “Oh my son, who was sitting there on the pulpit?” The son, surprised,
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replied: “I was, of course.” “Ah, you see, therefore, as you were sitting there, they all fell asleep.” “Oh my most venerable father, why should it be like this when I sit there; don’t you sit on the pulpit in front of them the same as I did?”
Then ‘AbdulQadir explained to his son: “No, my son, I don’t sit there, I leave that pulpit to Allah Almighty and His Prophet and seat myself in the audience among the people in order to listen to Allah and His Prophet — when a verse is read, we hear Allah speaking to us, and when a Hadith is read, we hear the Prophet speaking. When in this way I put myself among the assembly and leave the pulpit to Allah and His Prophet, I leave myself behind, no more ‘AbdulQadir, just Allah and His Prophet speaking through Gilani, but no more ‘I’ is there. For this reason alone, Divine Outpourings (Fuyudat) are filling people’s hearts and they can’t keep themselves; they become happy and contented like fish in the sea. But you are sitting there yourself, saying ‘I know’, and you are appointing yourself deputy of Allah and His Prophet, and so there is no true harmony emanating from your words, nor any Divine Aid (Inayah) with you —that is why all the people fell asleep. You kille
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