MERCY OCEANS, Book 07 (Hidden Treasures, Shaykh Nazim, 220 pages, 10/12)
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s); then, in turn, he will also go with you and be pleased; he sees your sincerity. When you have the sincere intention to guide a man to the right way, you may even walk among devils in order to lead this man out of their company. If you can attain to sincerity, real sincerity, then it will give you sufficient strength; devils don’t have access to sincerity nor to the strength coming from it. Rescuers may go everywhere, for they are protected by virtue of their sincerity, and they must be brave. All of the Saints have this trait, and so did the Prophets: they move among people in order to save them — they don’t sit only in mosques. Attain to sincerity so that you may act upon these important instructions.
Be polite with everyone, and everyone will be polite with you; respect everyone, and, in turn, everyone will respect you; be kind to everyone, and you will be dealt with kindly by everyone. The Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, advised us in his description of his own mission: “I was sent to be among people to ease their way, so that they can follow me.” If you are hard and demanding, nobody can follow you. Whoever uses these methods in guiding people will receive a reward as great as the reward given to the whole Muhammadan Nation.
What is the key to being easy with people? — You must abandon pride; everyone loves a humble person. You must be on the same level as the one you wish to guide, not one step higher.
There is a river running — if you want to fetch water
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from it you must go down to its water’s level; people are like water, they never like to go up.
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HUNTERS WEAR CAMOUFLAGE: THE TIME ABU YAZID DONNED PRIESTS’ GARB
Devils cause men to flee from good people, as they caused people to hide themselves from the Holy Prophet. Their thinking is faulty and they always hold wrong opinions; they say, “Do not go near those people, or else you won’t be able to enjoy your life; if you want to enjoy your life, don’t ever follow them.” This is the advice of the Devil. Someone may have a handsome appearance, like a Shaykh or a Priest, but people flee from him. Christians, in particular, run away in a hurry from everything that calls them to Islam. Therefore, it may be important to use camouflage, as then you may talk to them and counsel them more easily.
Our Muslim brothers, Alhamdulillah, have strong faith. Imitation (Taqleed) is the first level of faith in Islam, and as we imitate our parents, our level in Islam is imitation. Your Islam’s level is higher because your faith is based on real knowledge. You don’t come from Muslim parents — you used to be Christians, Jews or whatever; therefore, you are able to compare and to see that the truth is in Islam, this is a higher degree. Our Muslims do not have enough courage to wear turbans or to grow beards, but you can do it. Our people chase after European fashions, even though they are living in the Islamic World. In the West you should continue wearing the Islamic dress in the house, but on the street you may be flexible and dress according to your inspirations.
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Now listen to a story which well illustrates this point: Once the great Wali (Saint) Abu Yazid al-Bistami was ordered in a dream to join a group of Christians in a certain monastery for their celebration at Easter time. He awoke in a fright, because he had been ordered to put off his turban and exchange his Muslim clothes for the dress of a Jesuit priest on that occasion. “How can this be?” he wondered to himself, “This dream, can it be true?” Then he heard the command also in a waking state, for the Saints have extraordinary powers to receive orders from the Spiritual World, and what he heard was this: “Wear the priest’s hat for My sake, and be at that famous monastery on this day.” When he heard that, he donned the dress of a Jesuit, and in the twinkling of an eye he arrived at that place.
There were gathered, on that day, seven-hundred priests, all dressed in black. They were all assembled to listen to their Bishop speak, who came out of his seclusion only once a year for this Easter celebration. The Bishop slowly advanced and proceeded to sit down on his throne, which suddenly began to tremble. Surprised, he asked: “What is happening? Is it not standing firmly?” Then, intending to begin his speech as was customary, he moved his mouth, but he was unable to produce a sound. All the monks looked at him and asked: “Why are you not speaking?” “Something is wrong today, my brothers,” he answered, “I cannot speak to you as usual, there must be a Muhammadan among us!” They all looked around and at each other in dismay. “Why does he come to disturb our ceremony? Tell us who he is, so that we can kill him on the spot.” The Bishop became very angry with them at this, and said: “No, it is not right that you should kill him, for that you have no permission and no authority. For so many years have I preached and taught you, and still you don’t know that it is forbidden to kill any soul without a very good reason. Be quiet now and keep your peace. Now I speak to you, oh Muhammadan: by the
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honour of your Prophet, show yourself!”
Abu Yazid instantly rose; for him, they were all like ants. He said: “I am the Muhammadan.” The Bishop said: “You have come here today, but it is not right that you come here to disrupt our ceremony.” Abu Yazid answered: “I did not come here to destroy your faith, rather, I came to build it. I was ordered to be here at this time, and I will answer your every question; ask me, if you please.” So the Bishop began to ask Abu Yazid questions — one hundred questions he asked of him, too many to tell here now. The very first question he asked was this: “Who is he for whom there is no second, and who are the two for whom there is no third?’’ Abu Yazid first listened to all the hundred questions as the Bishop asked them, and only when he was finished, he began to answer them, repeating first the question, then supplying the answer.
When he had finished answering the one hundred questions, the Bishop said to him, “Yes, you have answered correctly.” Then Abu Yazid said, “If you have no more questions, may I now ask one question of you?” “Yes, of course, with the greatest pleasure,” answered the Bishop who was very proud that he had known a hundred questions to ask Abu Yazid, along with their correct answers. Abu Yazid then asked: “Oh Archbishop, can you tell me what the key to Paradise is?” The Bishop turned pale and just stared at the floor. His head fell forward until it touched the wood of the table in front of him and sank heavily onto his outstretched arms. “Oh our Bishop,” they all cried, “what is the matter with you today, are you sleeping? Why do you not answer?” “Oh my sons,’’ he at last replied, “I cannot say it, for I fear that you will not be able to follow me.” “Why should we not follow you, shall we leave the key to Paradise in the hands of the Muslims, while we ourselves go to Hell?” “Very well,” said the Bishop, “the key to Paradise is:
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‘La ilaha illallah, Muhammad Rasulallah’.” On hearing this, all the monks repeated the Muslim Credo, cut their monks’ belts, threw their hats up in the air and quickly destroyed their idols — true faith came to their hearts in no time. Then Abu Yazid was addressed from the Heavens: “Oh Abu Yazid, I did this for your sake; just as you donned the priests’ garb for My sake, I made these people accept Islam for yours.”
This is a true story, a story which shows us that while we are in the West, we are not obliged to always wear turbans; we may dress like the people living there, if it will help them come to our faith, for that is our aim and purpose.
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PURIFICATION OF OUR HEARTS
A new day, a new lecture, a new knowledge. We ask Allah Almighty to grant us more power, more light and more happiness for our souls.
Today, we shall speak on behalf of our Grandshaykh about the purification of our hearts. It is an important point for everyone. Everyone has been born pure and remains pure until the age of puberty. Thereafter, his ego’s desires make him impure. Until puberty the ego’s wildest aspects are asleep. When they awaken, man is ready to do every dishonourable deed, all for the sake of his pleasure; and if it is not prevented, his impurity grows with each day. It is an impurity which the normal person cannot perceive. You may see a good- looking, well-dressed person, but perhaps, in his ego, he is terrible and very savage, for such is the natural condition of man. The characteristics of the ego are horrible, and if you do not prevent it from indulging in
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its bad characteristics, it can easily turn into a Pharaoh, Nimrod or Nero. Every ego is capable of becoming such a tyrant.
All Prophets were sent in order to purify men from these characteristics of their egos. Every religion has one and the same goal — the purification of man. Now the most excellent and complete purification is possible only in Islam. A Christian or a Jew may ask, “Why?” We answer that this is so because Christians and Jews have neglected and virtually lost their codes of law in which were contained commands and prohibitions. Why does Islam set up barriers for everyone, saying: “Up to here, no further”? What is ‘Haram’, prohibited? Haram are all the harmful things which your ego desires. ‘Halal’ is all that which pleases Allah — Allah sets the limits. Everything within these limits is halal and everything in excess is haram. If a religion contains no code of law, no prescribed behaviour, then it has lost its active force. In the present time, this active living force can be seen nowhere but in Islam. How can one recognize this? Look at the people under the influence of Islam, who keep its laws — staying always within these limits which keep them from evil. To commit haram causes bad characteristics to develop in people. Our egos’ bad characteristics flourish wildly in the garden of haram. Therefore, a man cannot purify himself and purge himself of his ego’s bad characteristics unless he places himself within the boundaries of a religion. How can one tell that a human heart is really purified? The bad tendencies of our egos impel us to perform bad actions. For example — envy; if you cannot remove envy from your heart, you cannot be purified. The truly purified man must be in connection with his heavenly station in the Divine Presence. This takes place through the Holy prophet, Peace be Upon Him. As soon as your heart is purified, the lights of the Prophet will
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appear to you — you will be seeing him. You will meet the Prophet’s holy soul. You will see him in total clarity, without doubt. He is with us now, but we can’t see him as long as our hearts have not undergone purification.
My Grandshaykh explained that someone may be very learned, but if he hasn’t met with the Prophet’s holy soul, it means that he is not yet pure enough, that he is still within the clutches of his ego. What sort of vulgar characteristic might be present in this learned person? Maybe he sees himself as being a great scholar, and he is proud of his knowledge. This would be a low, vulgar quality which would prevent him from meeting the holy soul of the Prophet; or maybe he thinks that he is better than anyone else — another low characteristic. If he sees himself as being the finest person in the world, he is on the same level as Satan. So, knowledge is one thing and purification is another. Everyone may gather knowledge; however, not every learned person is purified. Now, the importance of purification is clear to us. Furthermore, it is impossible to achieve such purification without a Shaykh who knows how to liberate people of their bad characteristics. If someone is ill, he cannot recover without seeing a doctor. Everyone must have a Shaykh who knows the way of purification and who himself is purified. I know that our Grandshaykh was always in contact with our Holy Prophet’s soul. Once I met a great Saint in Damascus who asked me who my Shaykh was. I answered, “My Grandshaykh is ‘Abdullah Ad-Daghestani.” When he heard this name he rose and said to me, “Oh my son, be his doormat, remain in his service; because, in this time, he is the only Shaykh from among all the Shaykhs in Damascus who sees the soul of the Holy Prophet while in a waking state.”
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KNOWLEDGE AND THE NECESSITY OF ACTING UPON IT
Whenever we begin an action with the words, “Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim” (In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful), Allah will send us everything that we need, because the voicing of this phrase acts as a power generator for us.
Our Grandshaykh used to admonish us time and again to preserve every knowledge by putting it into action. Knowledge without the corresponding actions is of no use whatsoever. As you are gaining knowledge, you must solidify it with actions. Satan knows all the holy books — Torah, Gospels and Qur’an, but that knowledge remains useless to him, in spite of the fact that he knows more than anyone else. His knowledge of these holy books is only outward, but what is important is to understand the inner meaning.
One who consolidates his knowledge with ac¬tions is called a ‘Hafeez’. Hafeez also is used to signify one who has learnt the whole Qur’an by heart. It is a distinguishing mark of the Holy Qur’an that among all the holy books only the Qur’an can be committed to memory with no great difficulty. No Nation, no other people has been able to memorize its holy books, only the Muslim Nation. Muslims of all nations, Turks, Indians, Africans, can learn the Qur’an by heart in its original language. This is an astonishing fact: how a human being is able to memorize seven hundred pages of Arabic without necessarily understanding the meaning of the words. Could a Frenchman so easily memorize whole volumes of Shakespeare? How can the Christians and the Western people in general claim that the Qur’an is not a holy book? Were it an ordinary book, written by the hand of man, it couldn’t have this quality.
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Allah proclaims that the Qur’an ‘is easy to read and to memorize. This is a miracle. You can find so many boys, perhaps seven years of age, who know the whole of the Holy Qur’an by heart; this is the continuing miracle of the Qur’an. Who among Christians or Jews can show us adults, not to speak of children, who can recite their holy books by heart? On English television, I saw the Archbishop of Canterbury read the whole recitation of his service from a book. It is a peculiarity of the Qur’an that it is so easy to memorize, and the Qur’an itself states: “I am the Word of Allah Almighty.”
It is important that the verses of the Qur’an find expression in our actions. Grandshaykh once told me about a great Imam of our Tariqat, Shah Naqshband, who had a son-in-law named ‘Alauddin. ‘Alauddin worked very hard; he wrote out and memorized all the lectures of his father-in-law and learned them by heart. He memorized whole volumes. Similarly, we are busy transcribing and recording in order to remember everything. When Shah Naqshband saw his Khalifa and son-in-law engaged in this activity, he said to him, “Oh my son, don’t try so hard to write down and memorize everything, it is much too difficult, and you cannot keep all these words in your head. I will teach you a special way to remember my lectures. Look, oh my son, do not be a keeper of words and writings, rather become a keeper of the meanings of these lectures and preserve them through your actions.”
There are two ways to keep teachings: Firstly, in letters and words, and secondly, in actions. The Will of our Lord consists in one’s absorbing the meaning of teachings and acting upon it. The action is important —not the reading alone. The Qur’an was given to us to teach us the correct mode of action. Shah Naqshband also said, “Words are followed by actions; if you keep these teachings in action, new words will come to you
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all the time.” Therefore, with every new teaching you must look for its essence — then you will never forget it. Many people are very proud of their memorization and accumulation of knowledge; but no one has any use for this. Don’t know so much — do it, do more and more. He who is working only to know is like a man who works to accumulate more and more food but doesn’t eat. He who acts perhaps brings home less food, but at least he eats of it. Therefore, the Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, said, “Action, even if it is meagre, is better than much knowledge and no action.” * * *
ABOUT TELEVISION
Once somebody came to our Grandshaykh and asked him about television. What place, if any, should this new instrument that the twentieth century has created, have in our lives?
What do all people want? They want to keep their brains busy so that they don’t have to use them for thinking. In the Holy Qur’an this is referred to as: “All talk that diverts your mind and your heart from the truth and from Allah Almighty.” The greatest affliction of our time is brought about through television. Television is used to show young people sick behaviour and to occupy them in distraction. My Grandshaykh answered this man: “You may watch that which you may learn from.” To look at a sex film is no doubt prohibited, as is everything which results in immorality. No one, especially not young people, keep to this rule of only watching what is useful and not provoking immorality. This is the answer of true religion: If it makes a harmful impression on your character, it is forbidden to watch; otherwise, one may watch in order to derive a hidden
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wisdom or to learn from it.
I have heard that in the West there are some channels that show only documentary films and other educational programs; however, virtually no one watches these channels — perhaps one in a thousand. From this, it can be easily determined for what reasons people watch television. There exist magazines in which documentary articles are found, but people skip these pages and look for the pictures of women. In such a case, television and other media destroy good character among people and the relations between friends and within the family. In Islam, we judge each matter according to its usefulness. If someone can find something good and useful in a given thing, this thing is permitted — otherwise not. You must use this criterion for everything: Watch whether your ego finds pleasure in it; if so, then leave it. That which your ego does not like, you must keep it. Maybe you like to watch television when it shows such vulgar films and your ego is so happy with it; your soul, however, is very sorrowful. Therefore, after every enjoyment of your ego follows complete sorrow in your heart. Surely, most of you have experienced this. For instance, as someone is leaving the theatre, movie or opera house, a black cloud of sorrow befalls his heart. Everyone knows that the enjoyment coming from outside is only temporal, and that the true place of joy is our soul. When our soul is really satisfied, it remains so forever. Nowadays, people demand pleasure from without; however, they are wrong in this. Therefore, the whole world is full of outward pleasures, but no one is really satisfied. Perhaps someone is sitting in a prison, but if his heart is free, he is happy and content. Another may be sitting on a throne, surrounded by all the pleasures in the world, but his heart is in prison, so he cannot find real happiness. Someone asking for pleasure from without is like a thirsty person who drinks saltwater.
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He will never be satisfied. A cup full of fresh water will quench your thirst, but whole oceans will never quench it. Now, oh Western people, now that you have reached the peak of your enjoyments, if you do not give your souls to drink from the pure spring water, you will never quench your thirst. Therefore, stop and pause to reflect one minute upon this point. Come to the true source and quench your thirst; otherwise, you will die without satisfaction or joy and with no peace in your hearts.
These are huge cannonballs being fired upon the bastions of the devils.
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TRUST IN THE LORD; TRAVELING
If a man can trust in his Lord the way that this little boy trusts in his father (Mawlana points to a small boy among the assembly who is sleeping in his father’s lap), then he will be a Saint, Waliullah. We are weak, we have no faith power. This little boy is better than us, he has total trust in his parents, without any doubt. He has total faith in them because for all things he depends upon them entirely and thus his trust in them is complete. How is it then, that we have so little faith in our Guardian Lord? Is He not potent enough for us that we should trust Him so little? His are endless power, mercy and knowledge. He knows everything about us with the most perfect, all-penetrating knowledge. He knows of all our situations, all things in and about us, and we know nothing. Once we have come to realize this, then we must trust in our Lord. This is very valuable knowledge for us: it is the meaning of the Hadith, the tradition of the Holy Prophet in which he speaks about the most important and valuable action — which is to know Allah. It suffices to know our Lord as well as that
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little boy knows his father for us to attain the station of Walayat, Sainthood. We must seek to know Allah — this is our primary duty.
Now you are learning a little bit about your Lord and about the knowledge of your Lord. During your travels you will experience in just what ways you can trust in your Lord and just how He is looking after you everywhere and at all times. You are all foreigners coming from distant lands, from England, France, Germany etc. You came here knowing not a soul, and you speak no Arabic. But you set out for the sake of your Lord, trusting in Him you came here. This shows the power of your faith, and it means a high station for you: you set out on this trip, leaving all you had behind, and went searching to a foreign country and a strange people. This means that you are trusting sufficiently in Him and in His taking care of you. Therefore, everywhere and at all times He sends you all that you need and gives you teachers to teach you. For just this reason, traveling is one of the most important ways of training in Tariqat: it teaches you to have trust in your Lord. You may learn many things, but the most important thing to be learned is to have trust in your Lord everywhere and at all times.
Now, your Lord is looking after you in a strange country and He is looking after you well. Someone may be reading books for years and years, but he cannot learn this good manner without having practiced it. Tariqat Shaykhs order their disciples to travel, in order that they might acquire this faith-power. I am a traveling dervish of forty years’ standing, and I ask of my Lord that my trust in Him may ever increase. You may be assured that by your traveling you will receive more strength, and that the knowledge of your Lord will blossom in your hearts. Our Grandshaykh is pointing out an important fact.
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When does a man become capable of feeling total trust in his Lord? A man will achieve full and complete trust in his Lord only when he is totally sincere and truthful towards his Lord. When a man looks into himself and finds that something is not right in him concerning his relationship with Allah Almighty, then he will realize that in his present condition he can have no real trust in his Lord. The heart of this little boy is pure, that is why he can so easily have total trust in his father. If it was not so pure he would never be able to have that kind of trust. To whatever degree a man’s heart becomes purified, his trust in his Lord grows proportionately. It is our sins that prevent us from trust. That is why Imam ‘Ali said, “If you can trust yourself to stay on the straight path, then you can go anywhere and you will be protected; everywhere you will find people who will look after you.” In this way, a man may go happily along his way and travel through jungles, deserts, oceans — everywhere he will find peace and safety. * * *
YOU ARE AS GOOD AS THE COMPANIONS YOU KEEP
Our Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, counsels us in one Hadith that we must look to have good friends. He advises us not to sit in the shop of a blacksmith, because there is fire, soot and noxious gas which will affect you, as well as excessive noise which will harm your hearing. It is not a recommendable place to spend one’s time in — far better to sit in the shop of a seller of perfumes. Even if you are not a customer, but are just sitting there, you will smell the beautiful fragrances and be delighted by them. My Grandshaykh was explaining what the Prophet means by this Hadith: “Oh Sons of Adam, you must take good people for friends; if you
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keep company with bad people, they may harm you physically or otherwise.” In our times we must be very careful of this. Our Grandshaykh explained that people are susceptible to both good and bad characteristics. The Holy Prophet said: “A man is of the same religion as his friend.” Everyone has an innate capacity for both good and evil. If someone is going with a good man, then his good characteristics will appear, but if he is going with bandits, he will also become a bandit.
One day a great Shaykh by the name of Saadi Shirazi went to take a bath. In former times, people used a special kind of mud for cleaning themselves. They prepared a certain type of earth and made of it a special mud and used it for washing themselves; for our bodies belong to the Earth, and it gives new strength to the body if it is cleaned with earth. Mostly women used this method of cleaning. Our grandmothers had bodies like young women because they used the traditional method for cleaning themselves. Nowadays, the Orientals have left their traditional habits and are using soaps which are not good for bodies.
So, that day in the bathhouse, Shaykh Saadi took a handful of this cleaning mud and smelled it. He perceived a beautiful fragrance and, surprised, he asked it, “Oh mud, I know that you are but a piece of earth and that normally you have no smell; how is it then that I perceive this delightful fragrance issuing forth from you?” The piece of mud answered him thus: “Oh my Shaykh, you are right, actually I have no smell of my own; but I have kept company with roses for some time and they left with me some of their own good fragrance.”
In the Holy Qur’an, Allah orders us to tell useful teaching stories. If you understand the meaning of this story and can keep it, then you are good-smelling people, acceptable in every company. One way of keeping your
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faith is this: to keep company with people of strong faith. If you want to keep your honour, you must stay together with honourable people. If you want to become humble, good, pious or learned, you must keep the company of people who possess such qualities.
Grandshaykh said to me, “Oh my son, you must follow the advice of the Holy Prophet; he advises us to keep our friends. How can you keep your friends? — Don’t show your anger to your friends. Anger is our ego’s worst characteristic. On account of your anger people are running away from you. The Prophet said, ‘Don’t show your anger to my Ummah nor to anyone else.’”
* * * Every lesson shows us one aspect of imperfection in our character and supplies us with building material for a perfect personality. It isn’t easy; in fact, it is more difficult than sending a rocket to the moon. “Personality engineers” are first of all the Prophets — they are the architects of human personalities. If I bring stones, cement, iron and wood, can you build a perfect castle? —You cannot. In order to carry out this task you need an architect. Everyone possesses the elements for his perfect personality within himself, but without the help of an architect, he cannot combine them to form a building. After the time of the Prophets, the Saints are the builders of human personalities. If a man cannot find a builder or an architect, he resembles one who possesses stone, cement and wood, but does not go about constructing a house.
Here we are busy building our personality with the expertise of our Grandshaykh. We must become fortified in so many aspects; therefore, every lesson is important. If one stone is missing, our personality-building will not become perfect. Every lesson gives more strength and
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beauty to our personality.
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MA SHA’ALLAH — WHATEVER OUR LORD HAS WILLED
Today our Grandshaykh is speaking to us about what the characteristics of a real servant of our Lord should be. Allah Almighty likes something and wills that it be done, and His servant, likewise, likes something and wants it to be done. What happens? Are His wishes fulfilled or ours? We shall see that it is always His Will that is fulfilled and our wish that is denied. It is a blessing from Allah Almighty that He denies the fulfilment of His servants’ wishes and that He causes His own Will to be actualized. Why? — Because Allah knows whether something is good for us or not; if He knows that something is good for us, He gives it to us, and if not, He keeps it from us. Our Grandshaykh told me that virtually everything we like is no good for us; but in spite of this, everyone wishes for his will to come to pass, and when this does not occur, he is sad or angry: this indicates total ignorance.
A man may have read many books, may have acquired many merits and academic degrees and yet he may still be in ignorance concerning himself and his relationship with his Lord. For example, someone may say to his boss, “Yes sir, as you like.” This shows us the most important characteristic that a servant should have. When a servant cannot say this to his Lord, he isn’t a real servant. We can see that everything happens according to our Lord’s Will, but in our ignorance, we want the whole world to agree with our whims. There is a tale about this:
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It once happened, that when Jesus Christ was traveling with a companion, they reached the seashore and found a pile of old bones. The companion said to Jesus: “Oh Word of God, can you not revive these bones so that I can see what kind of creature it was?” Jesus answered, “Don’t ask this of me.” His companion insisted again and again, and every time Jesus answered, “Don’t ask this of me.” All Prophets have Divine Knowledge, so Jesus knew what his companion did not know. But as he kept on insisting, Jesus prayed to his Lord to restore the bones to life. While he was yet praying, the bones came together in the form of a huge black panther which immediately pounced upon and devoured the companion and then disappeared.
You must not ask for the fulfilment of your ego’s wishes. Do not say, ‘This must be because I want it to be so,” let it happen as your Lord wishes. Maybe through your insisting upon your own wishes a panther will come and devour you. Don’t cry if your wish is not fulfilled, for you must know that your Lord exchanged the fulfilment of your desires for the fulfilment of His, and all His wishes ultimately mean only good for you here and in the hereafter.
The happiness of Man consists in his being
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s); then, in turn, he will also go with you and be pleased; he sees your sincerity. When you have the sincere intention to guide a man to the right way, you may even walk among devils in order to lead this man out of their company. If you can attain to sincerity, real sincerity, then it will give you sufficient strength; devils don’t have access to sincerity nor to the strength coming from it. Rescuers may go everywhere, for they are protected by virtue of their sincerity, and they must be brave. All of the Saints have this trait, and so did the Prophets: they move among people in order to save them — they don’t sit only in mosques. Attain to sincerity so that you may act upon these important instructions.
Be polite with everyone, and everyone will be polite with you; respect everyone, and, in turn, everyone will respect you; be kind to everyone, and you will be dealt with kindly by everyone. The Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, advised us in his description of his own mission: “I was sent to be among people to ease their way, so that they can follow me.” If you are hard and demanding, nobody can follow you. Whoever uses these methods in guiding people will receive a reward as great as the reward given to the whole Muhammadan Nation.
What is the key to being easy with people? — You must abandon pride; everyone loves a humble person. You must be on the same level as the one you wish to guide, not one step higher.
There is a river running — if you want to fetch water
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from it you must go down to its water’s level; people are like water, they never like to go up.
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HUNTERS WEAR CAMOUFLAGE: THE TIME ABU YAZID DONNED PRIESTS’ GARB
Devils cause men to flee from good people, as they caused people to hide themselves from the Holy Prophet. Their thinking is faulty and they always hold wrong opinions; they say, “Do not go near those people, or else you won’t be able to enjoy your life; if you want to enjoy your life, don’t ever follow them.” This is the advice of the Devil. Someone may have a handsome appearance, like a Shaykh or a Priest, but people flee from him. Christians, in particular, run away in a hurry from everything that calls them to Islam. Therefore, it may be important to use camouflage, as then you may talk to them and counsel them more easily.
Our Muslim brothers, Alhamdulillah, have strong faith. Imitation (Taqleed) is the first level of faith in Islam, and as we imitate our parents, our level in Islam is imitation. Your Islam’s level is higher because your faith is based on real knowledge. You don’t come from Muslim parents — you used to be Christians, Jews or whatever; therefore, you are able to compare and to see that the truth is in Islam, this is a higher degree. Our Muslims do not have enough courage to wear turbans or to grow beards, but you can do it. Our people chase after European fashions, even though they are living in the Islamic World. In the West you should continue wearing the Islamic dress in the house, but on the street you may be flexible and dress according to your inspirations.
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Now listen to a story which well illustrates this point: Once the great Wali (Saint) Abu Yazid al-Bistami was ordered in a dream to join a group of Christians in a certain monastery for their celebration at Easter time. He awoke in a fright, because he had been ordered to put off his turban and exchange his Muslim clothes for the dress of a Jesuit priest on that occasion. “How can this be?” he wondered to himself, “This dream, can it be true?” Then he heard the command also in a waking state, for the Saints have extraordinary powers to receive orders from the Spiritual World, and what he heard was this: “Wear the priest’s hat for My sake, and be at that famous monastery on this day.” When he heard that, he donned the dress of a Jesuit, and in the twinkling of an eye he arrived at that place.
There were gathered, on that day, seven-hundred priests, all dressed in black. They were all assembled to listen to their Bishop speak, who came out of his seclusion only once a year for this Easter celebration. The Bishop slowly advanced and proceeded to sit down on his throne, which suddenly began to tremble. Surprised, he asked: “What is happening? Is it not standing firmly?” Then, intending to begin his speech as was customary, he moved his mouth, but he was unable to produce a sound. All the monks looked at him and asked: “Why are you not speaking?” “Something is wrong today, my brothers,” he answered, “I cannot speak to you as usual, there must be a Muhammadan among us!” They all looked around and at each other in dismay. “Why does he come to disturb our ceremony? Tell us who he is, so that we can kill him on the spot.” The Bishop became very angry with them at this, and said: “No, it is not right that you should kill him, for that you have no permission and no authority. For so many years have I preached and taught you, and still you don’t know that it is forbidden to kill any soul without a very good reason. Be quiet now and keep your peace. Now I speak to you, oh Muhammadan: by the
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honour of your Prophet, show yourself!”
Abu Yazid instantly rose; for him, they were all like ants. He said: “I am the Muhammadan.” The Bishop said: “You have come here today, but it is not right that you come here to disrupt our ceremony.” Abu Yazid answered: “I did not come here to destroy your faith, rather, I came to build it. I was ordered to be here at this time, and I will answer your every question; ask me, if you please.” So the Bishop began to ask Abu Yazid questions — one hundred questions he asked of him, too many to tell here now. The very first question he asked was this: “Who is he for whom there is no second, and who are the two for whom there is no third?’’ Abu Yazid first listened to all the hundred questions as the Bishop asked them, and only when he was finished, he began to answer them, repeating first the question, then supplying the answer.
When he had finished answering the one hundred questions, the Bishop said to him, “Yes, you have answered correctly.” Then Abu Yazid said, “If you have no more questions, may I now ask one question of you?” “Yes, of course, with the greatest pleasure,” answered the Bishop who was very proud that he had known a hundred questions to ask Abu Yazid, along with their correct answers. Abu Yazid then asked: “Oh Archbishop, can you tell me what the key to Paradise is?” The Bishop turned pale and just stared at the floor. His head fell forward until it touched the wood of the table in front of him and sank heavily onto his outstretched arms. “Oh our Bishop,” they all cried, “what is the matter with you today, are you sleeping? Why do you not answer?” “Oh my sons,’’ he at last replied, “I cannot say it, for I fear that you will not be able to follow me.” “Why should we not follow you, shall we leave the key to Paradise in the hands of the Muslims, while we ourselves go to Hell?” “Very well,” said the Bishop, “the key to Paradise is:
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‘La ilaha illallah, Muhammad Rasulallah’.” On hearing this, all the monks repeated the Muslim Credo, cut their monks’ belts, threw their hats up in the air and quickly destroyed their idols — true faith came to their hearts in no time. Then Abu Yazid was addressed from the Heavens: “Oh Abu Yazid, I did this for your sake; just as you donned the priests’ garb for My sake, I made these people accept Islam for yours.”
This is a true story, a story which shows us that while we are in the West, we are not obliged to always wear turbans; we may dress like the people living there, if it will help them come to our faith, for that is our aim and purpose.
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PURIFICATION OF OUR HEARTS
A new day, a new lecture, a new knowledge. We ask Allah Almighty to grant us more power, more light and more happiness for our souls.
Today, we shall speak on behalf of our Grandshaykh about the purification of our hearts. It is an important point for everyone. Everyone has been born pure and remains pure until the age of puberty. Thereafter, his ego’s desires make him impure. Until puberty the ego’s wildest aspects are asleep. When they awaken, man is ready to do every dishonourable deed, all for the sake of his pleasure; and if it is not prevented, his impurity grows with each day. It is an impurity which the normal person cannot perceive. You may see a good- looking, well-dressed person, but perhaps, in his ego, he is terrible and very savage, for such is the natural condition of man. The characteristics of the ego are horrible, and if you do not prevent it from indulging in
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its bad characteristics, it can easily turn into a Pharaoh, Nimrod or Nero. Every ego is capable of becoming such a tyrant.
All Prophets were sent in order to purify men from these characteristics of their egos. Every religion has one and the same goal — the purification of man. Now the most excellent and complete purification is possible only in Islam. A Christian or a Jew may ask, “Why?” We answer that this is so because Christians and Jews have neglected and virtually lost their codes of law in which were contained commands and prohibitions. Why does Islam set up barriers for everyone, saying: “Up to here, no further”? What is ‘Haram’, prohibited? Haram are all the harmful things which your ego desires. ‘Halal’ is all that which pleases Allah — Allah sets the limits. Everything within these limits is halal and everything in excess is haram. If a religion contains no code of law, no prescribed behaviour, then it has lost its active force. In the present time, this active living force can be seen nowhere but in Islam. How can one recognize this? Look at the people under the influence of Islam, who keep its laws — staying always within these limits which keep them from evil. To commit haram causes bad characteristics to develop in people. Our egos’ bad characteristics flourish wildly in the garden of haram. Therefore, a man cannot purify himself and purge himself of his ego’s bad characteristics unless he places himself within the boundaries of a religion. How can one tell that a human heart is really purified? The bad tendencies of our egos impel us to perform bad actions. For example — envy; if you cannot remove envy from your heart, you cannot be purified. The truly purified man must be in connection with his heavenly station in the Divine Presence. This takes place through the Holy prophet, Peace be Upon Him. As soon as your heart is purified, the lights of the Prophet will
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appear to you — you will be seeing him. You will meet the Prophet’s holy soul. You will see him in total clarity, without doubt. He is with us now, but we can’t see him as long as our hearts have not undergone purification.
My Grandshaykh explained that someone may be very learned, but if he hasn’t met with the Prophet’s holy soul, it means that he is not yet pure enough, that he is still within the clutches of his ego. What sort of vulgar characteristic might be present in this learned person? Maybe he sees himself as being a great scholar, and he is proud of his knowledge. This would be a low, vulgar quality which would prevent him from meeting the holy soul of the Prophet; or maybe he thinks that he is better than anyone else — another low characteristic. If he sees himself as being the finest person in the world, he is on the same level as Satan. So, knowledge is one thing and purification is another. Everyone may gather knowledge; however, not every learned person is purified. Now, the importance of purification is clear to us. Furthermore, it is impossible to achieve such purification without a Shaykh who knows how to liberate people of their bad characteristics. If someone is ill, he cannot recover without seeing a doctor. Everyone must have a Shaykh who knows the way of purification and who himself is purified. I know that our Grandshaykh was always in contact with our Holy Prophet’s soul. Once I met a great Saint in Damascus who asked me who my Shaykh was. I answered, “My Grandshaykh is ‘Abdullah Ad-Daghestani.” When he heard this name he rose and said to me, “Oh my son, be his doormat, remain in his service; because, in this time, he is the only Shaykh from among all the Shaykhs in Damascus who sees the soul of the Holy Prophet while in a waking state.”
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KNOWLEDGE AND THE NECESSITY OF ACTING UPON IT
Whenever we begin an action with the words, “Bismillahir-Rahmanir-Rahim” (In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful), Allah will send us everything that we need, because the voicing of this phrase acts as a power generator for us.
Our Grandshaykh used to admonish us time and again to preserve every knowledge by putting it into action. Knowledge without the corresponding actions is of no use whatsoever. As you are gaining knowledge, you must solidify it with actions. Satan knows all the holy books — Torah, Gospels and Qur’an, but that knowledge remains useless to him, in spite of the fact that he knows more than anyone else. His knowledge of these holy books is only outward, but what is important is to understand the inner meaning.
One who consolidates his knowledge with ac¬tions is called a ‘Hafeez’. Hafeez also is used to signify one who has learnt the whole Qur’an by heart. It is a distinguishing mark of the Holy Qur’an that among all the holy books only the Qur’an can be committed to memory with no great difficulty. No Nation, no other people has been able to memorize its holy books, only the Muslim Nation. Muslims of all nations, Turks, Indians, Africans, can learn the Qur’an by heart in its original language. This is an astonishing fact: how a human being is able to memorize seven hundred pages of Arabic without necessarily understanding the meaning of the words. Could a Frenchman so easily memorize whole volumes of Shakespeare? How can the Christians and the Western people in general claim that the Qur’an is not a holy book? Were it an ordinary book, written by the hand of man, it couldn’t have this quality.
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Allah proclaims that the Qur’an ‘is easy to read and to memorize. This is a miracle. You can find so many boys, perhaps seven years of age, who know the whole of the Holy Qur’an by heart; this is the continuing miracle of the Qur’an. Who among Christians or Jews can show us adults, not to speak of children, who can recite their holy books by heart? On English television, I saw the Archbishop of Canterbury read the whole recitation of his service from a book. It is a peculiarity of the Qur’an that it is so easy to memorize, and the Qur’an itself states: “I am the Word of Allah Almighty.”
It is important that the verses of the Qur’an find expression in our actions. Grandshaykh once told me about a great Imam of our Tariqat, Shah Naqshband, who had a son-in-law named ‘Alauddin. ‘Alauddin worked very hard; he wrote out and memorized all the lectures of his father-in-law and learned them by heart. He memorized whole volumes. Similarly, we are busy transcribing and recording in order to remember everything. When Shah Naqshband saw his Khalifa and son-in-law engaged in this activity, he said to him, “Oh my son, don’t try so hard to write down and memorize everything, it is much too difficult, and you cannot keep all these words in your head. I will teach you a special way to remember my lectures. Look, oh my son, do not be a keeper of words and writings, rather become a keeper of the meanings of these lectures and preserve them through your actions.”
There are two ways to keep teachings: Firstly, in letters and words, and secondly, in actions. The Will of our Lord consists in one’s absorbing the meaning of teachings and acting upon it. The action is important —not the reading alone. The Qur’an was given to us to teach us the correct mode of action. Shah Naqshband also said, “Words are followed by actions; if you keep these teachings in action, new words will come to you
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all the time.” Therefore, with every new teaching you must look for its essence — then you will never forget it. Many people are very proud of their memorization and accumulation of knowledge; but no one has any use for this. Don’t know so much — do it, do more and more. He who is working only to know is like a man who works to accumulate more and more food but doesn’t eat. He who acts perhaps brings home less food, but at least he eats of it. Therefore, the Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, said, “Action, even if it is meagre, is better than much knowledge and no action.” * * *
ABOUT TELEVISION
Once somebody came to our Grandshaykh and asked him about television. What place, if any, should this new instrument that the twentieth century has created, have in our lives?
What do all people want? They want to keep their brains busy so that they don’t have to use them for thinking. In the Holy Qur’an this is referred to as: “All talk that diverts your mind and your heart from the truth and from Allah Almighty.” The greatest affliction of our time is brought about through television. Television is used to show young people sick behaviour and to occupy them in distraction. My Grandshaykh answered this man: “You may watch that which you may learn from.” To look at a sex film is no doubt prohibited, as is everything which results in immorality. No one, especially not young people, keep to this rule of only watching what is useful and not provoking immorality. This is the answer of true religion: If it makes a harmful impression on your character, it is forbidden to watch; otherwise, one may watch in order to derive a hidden
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wisdom or to learn from it.
I have heard that in the West there are some channels that show only documentary films and other educational programs; however, virtually no one watches these channels — perhaps one in a thousand. From this, it can be easily determined for what reasons people watch television. There exist magazines in which documentary articles are found, but people skip these pages and look for the pictures of women. In such a case, television and other media destroy good character among people and the relations between friends and within the family. In Islam, we judge each matter according to its usefulness. If someone can find something good and useful in a given thing, this thing is permitted — otherwise not. You must use this criterion for everything: Watch whether your ego finds pleasure in it; if so, then leave it. That which your ego does not like, you must keep it. Maybe you like to watch television when it shows such vulgar films and your ego is so happy with it; your soul, however, is very sorrowful. Therefore, after every enjoyment of your ego follows complete sorrow in your heart. Surely, most of you have experienced this. For instance, as someone is leaving the theatre, movie or opera house, a black cloud of sorrow befalls his heart. Everyone knows that the enjoyment coming from outside is only temporal, and that the true place of joy is our soul. When our soul is really satisfied, it remains so forever. Nowadays, people demand pleasure from without; however, they are wrong in this. Therefore, the whole world is full of outward pleasures, but no one is really satisfied. Perhaps someone is sitting in a prison, but if his heart is free, he is happy and content. Another may be sitting on a throne, surrounded by all the pleasures in the world, but his heart is in prison, so he cannot find real happiness. Someone asking for pleasure from without is like a thirsty person who drinks saltwater.
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He will never be satisfied. A cup full of fresh water will quench your thirst, but whole oceans will never quench it. Now, oh Western people, now that you have reached the peak of your enjoyments, if you do not give your souls to drink from the pure spring water, you will never quench your thirst. Therefore, stop and pause to reflect one minute upon this point. Come to the true source and quench your thirst; otherwise, you will die without satisfaction or joy and with no peace in your hearts.
These are huge cannonballs being fired upon the bastions of the devils.
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TRUST IN THE LORD; TRAVELING
If a man can trust in his Lord the way that this little boy trusts in his father (Mawlana points to a small boy among the assembly who is sleeping in his father’s lap), then he will be a Saint, Waliullah. We are weak, we have no faith power. This little boy is better than us, he has total trust in his parents, without any doubt. He has total faith in them because for all things he depends upon them entirely and thus his trust in them is complete. How is it then, that we have so little faith in our Guardian Lord? Is He not potent enough for us that we should trust Him so little? His are endless power, mercy and knowledge. He knows everything about us with the most perfect, all-penetrating knowledge. He knows of all our situations, all things in and about us, and we know nothing. Once we have come to realize this, then we must trust in our Lord. This is very valuable knowledge for us: it is the meaning of the Hadith, the tradition of the Holy Prophet in which he speaks about the most important and valuable action — which is to know Allah. It suffices to know our Lord as well as that
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little boy knows his father for us to attain the station of Walayat, Sainthood. We must seek to know Allah — this is our primary duty.
Now you are learning a little bit about your Lord and about the knowledge of your Lord. During your travels you will experience in just what ways you can trust in your Lord and just how He is looking after you everywhere and at all times. You are all foreigners coming from distant lands, from England, France, Germany etc. You came here knowing not a soul, and you speak no Arabic. But you set out for the sake of your Lord, trusting in Him you came here. This shows the power of your faith, and it means a high station for you: you set out on this trip, leaving all you had behind, and went searching to a foreign country and a strange people. This means that you are trusting sufficiently in Him and in His taking care of you. Therefore, everywhere and at all times He sends you all that you need and gives you teachers to teach you. For just this reason, traveling is one of the most important ways of training in Tariqat: it teaches you to have trust in your Lord. You may learn many things, but the most important thing to be learned is to have trust in your Lord everywhere and at all times.
Now, your Lord is looking after you in a strange country and He is looking after you well. Someone may be reading books for years and years, but he cannot learn this good manner without having practiced it. Tariqat Shaykhs order their disciples to travel, in order that they might acquire this faith-power. I am a traveling dervish of forty years’ standing, and I ask of my Lord that my trust in Him may ever increase. You may be assured that by your traveling you will receive more strength, and that the knowledge of your Lord will blossom in your hearts. Our Grandshaykh is pointing out an important fact.
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When does a man become capable of feeling total trust in his Lord? A man will achieve full and complete trust in his Lord only when he is totally sincere and truthful towards his Lord. When a man looks into himself and finds that something is not right in him concerning his relationship with Allah Almighty, then he will realize that in his present condition he can have no real trust in his Lord. The heart of this little boy is pure, that is why he can so easily have total trust in his father. If it was not so pure he would never be able to have that kind of trust. To whatever degree a man’s heart becomes purified, his trust in his Lord grows proportionately. It is our sins that prevent us from trust. That is why Imam ‘Ali said, “If you can trust yourself to stay on the straight path, then you can go anywhere and you will be protected; everywhere you will find people who will look after you.” In this way, a man may go happily along his way and travel through jungles, deserts, oceans — everywhere he will find peace and safety. * * *
YOU ARE AS GOOD AS THE COMPANIONS YOU KEEP
Our Prophet, Peace be Upon Him, counsels us in one Hadith that we must look to have good friends. He advises us not to sit in the shop of a blacksmith, because there is fire, soot and noxious gas which will affect you, as well as excessive noise which will harm your hearing. It is not a recommendable place to spend one’s time in — far better to sit in the shop of a seller of perfumes. Even if you are not a customer, but are just sitting there, you will smell the beautiful fragrances and be delighted by them. My Grandshaykh was explaining what the Prophet means by this Hadith: “Oh Sons of Adam, you must take good people for friends; if you
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keep company with bad people, they may harm you physically or otherwise.” In our times we must be very careful of this. Our Grandshaykh explained that people are susceptible to both good and bad characteristics. The Holy Prophet said: “A man is of the same religion as his friend.” Everyone has an innate capacity for both good and evil. If someone is going with a good man, then his good characteristics will appear, but if he is going with bandits, he will also become a bandit.
One day a great Shaykh by the name of Saadi Shirazi went to take a bath. In former times, people used a special kind of mud for cleaning themselves. They prepared a certain type of earth and made of it a special mud and used it for washing themselves; for our bodies belong to the Earth, and it gives new strength to the body if it is cleaned with earth. Mostly women used this method of cleaning. Our grandmothers had bodies like young women because they used the traditional method for cleaning themselves. Nowadays, the Orientals have left their traditional habits and are using soaps which are not good for bodies.
So, that day in the bathhouse, Shaykh Saadi took a handful of this cleaning mud and smelled it. He perceived a beautiful fragrance and, surprised, he asked it, “Oh mud, I know that you are but a piece of earth and that normally you have no smell; how is it then that I perceive this delightful fragrance issuing forth from you?” The piece of mud answered him thus: “Oh my Shaykh, you are right, actually I have no smell of my own; but I have kept company with roses for some time and they left with me some of their own good fragrance.”
In the Holy Qur’an, Allah orders us to tell useful teaching stories. If you understand the meaning of this story and can keep it, then you are good-smelling people, acceptable in every company. One way of keeping your
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faith is this: to keep company with people of strong faith. If you want to keep your honour, you must stay together with honourable people. If you want to become humble, good, pious or learned, you must keep the company of people who possess such qualities.
Grandshaykh said to me, “Oh my son, you must follow the advice of the Holy Prophet; he advises us to keep our friends. How can you keep your friends? — Don’t show your anger to your friends. Anger is our ego’s worst characteristic. On account of your anger people are running away from you. The Prophet said, ‘Don’t show your anger to my Ummah nor to anyone else.’”
* * * Every lesson shows us one aspect of imperfection in our character and supplies us with building material for a perfect personality. It isn’t easy; in fact, it is more difficult than sending a rocket to the moon. “Personality engineers” are first of all the Prophets — they are the architects of human personalities. If I bring stones, cement, iron and wood, can you build a perfect castle? —You cannot. In order to carry out this task you need an architect. Everyone possesses the elements for his perfect personality within himself, but without the help of an architect, he cannot combine them to form a building. After the time of the Prophets, the Saints are the builders of human personalities. If a man cannot find a builder or an architect, he resembles one who possesses stone, cement and wood, but does not go about constructing a house.
Here we are busy building our personality with the expertise of our Grandshaykh. We must become fortified in so many aspects; therefore, every lesson is important. If one stone is missing, our personality-building will not become perfect. Every lesson gives more strength and
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beauty to our personality.
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MA SHA’ALLAH — WHATEVER OUR LORD HAS WILLED
Today our Grandshaykh is speaking to us about what the characteristics of a real servant of our Lord should be. Allah Almighty likes something and wills that it be done, and His servant, likewise, likes something and wants it to be done. What happens? Are His wishes fulfilled or ours? We shall see that it is always His Will that is fulfilled and our wish that is denied. It is a blessing from Allah Almighty that He denies the fulfilment of His servants’ wishes and that He causes His own Will to be actualized. Why? — Because Allah knows whether something is good for us or not; if He knows that something is good for us, He gives it to us, and if not, He keeps it from us. Our Grandshaykh told me that virtually everything we like is no good for us; but in spite of this, everyone wishes for his will to come to pass, and when this does not occur, he is sad or angry: this indicates total ignorance.
A man may have read many books, may have acquired many merits and academic degrees and yet he may still be in ignorance concerning himself and his relationship with his Lord. For example, someone may say to his boss, “Yes sir, as you like.” This shows us the most important characteristic that a servant should have. When a servant cannot say this to his Lord, he isn’t a real servant. We can see that everything happens according to our Lord’s Will, but in our ignorance, we want the whole world to agree with our whims. There is a tale about this:
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It once happened, that when Jesus Christ was traveling with a companion, they reached the seashore and found a pile of old bones. The companion said to Jesus: “Oh Word of God, can you not revive these bones so that I can see what kind of creature it was?” Jesus answered, “Don’t ask this of me.” His companion insisted again and again, and every time Jesus answered, “Don’t ask this of me.” All Prophets have Divine Knowledge, so Jesus knew what his companion did not know. But as he kept on insisting, Jesus prayed to his Lord to restore the bones to life. While he was yet praying, the bones came together in the form of a huge black panther which immediately pounced upon and devoured the companion and then disappeared.
You must not ask for the fulfilment of your ego’s wishes. Do not say, ‘This must be because I want it to be so,” let it happen as your Lord wishes. Maybe through your insisting upon your own wishes a panther will come and devour you. Don’t cry if your wish is not fulfilled, for you must know that your Lord exchanged the fulfilment of your desires for the fulfilment of His, and all His wishes ultimately mean only good for you here and in the hereafter.
The happiness of Man consists in his being
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