Mercy Oceans, Book 12 (192 pages, 1/15)
https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=6173
Mercy Oceans (Towards the Divine Presence, Volume Three), Book 12
TOWARD THE DIVINE PRESENCE (BOOK THREE)
Talks of SHEIKH NAZIM ADIL AL-QUBRUSI
Ramadan - Shawwal 1986
DEDICATION
To you who have come, knocking at many doors to see if truth may perchance be concealed behind them, to the wide-open door of Islam, looking beyond the stereotypes into its infinite depth and breadth, this book is dedicated with love, in the hope that it may provide you with a key which will unlock every closed door on your journey toward the Divine Presence.
INTRODUCTION
(In this talk Sheikh Nazim addresses a gathering of English men and women who are interested in spiritual matters.]
You can't remember it, but it is a reality that we were in the Heavens and then we came here for a while, for a very short while. One hundred years ago none of our group was present, and after one hundred years none of us will be on earth; perhaps only that little one, a child of three - going to be
105. But I am seeing that there is no more time for mankind on this planet.
We haven't any authority to speak on behalf of our own opinions but according to holy books we may speak. Not from ourselves, but all holy books speak of a last day for this planet, and science also can say that every moving thing must one day come to a stop - every moving thing, and we are moving. Even if we do not look at our holy books, science says that there must come some time when this our planet is going little by little to be tired of turning and moving, and that there must be something to end it.
But we are believers in the holy books that the Lord of the worlds has sent us and in what they say. From beginning up to end, so many prophets, 124,000 prophets at various times and in various countries, have come.
They never met with each other in an assembly to make an agreement that when we come to people we must say this or that, but they came over thousands and thousands of years. In every country you can find prophets, and they came to proclaim the same principles of belief, so that we can't say that they are saying something with no reality. It must be something true because all of them have said that a day will come to this planet when life is going to stop, when everything is going to stop, and then the Last Day will come.
They have said this and we believe it. There is nothing to object to in it because we haven't any proof for objecting, for rejecting what they are
saying; perhaps it may come, we can say, but we can't say that it is impossible. But in our time it is a new fashion for people to be atheists, rejecting every belief. But they are wrong, totally wrong people.
There was a famous Muslim philosopher who is well-known in Western countries also, Ibn Sina, Avicenna. He was a philosopher, trying to put spiritual knowledge side by side with intellectual knowledge - to do it in such a way that people could benefit, not quickly rejecting everything; in our time they are calling it "positive knowledge." It is something that you can observe or you can test, and then scientists build knowledge on that base, observing and then testing all the knowledge that scientists or scholars or learned people are so proud of in our time.
Once a scholar, a big scholar, so proud of his knowledge, was sitting like this on a chair and saying to people, "O people, you can ask me anything, as you like; I am ready to answer." Then someone, like this young boy, said, "O my master, I have one question. How many hairs do you have in your beard?"
Who knows how many? You know how many hairs you have here, how many teeth you have? He did not know. So many people whom I am asking don´t know even how many teeth they have.
How can a person know everything if he is ignorant about himses about herself? So many people still do not know what is inside themselves. Where are your lungs, your liver, where are your kidneys? So many people don't know. That is easy, simple; but that boy asked how many hairs were in his beard, and he was astonished, not knowing what is the answer. And then another one asked, "In an ant, where are the intestines - in the first or the second half of its body?" And he had never seen in books where such knowledge was to be found.
Yes. One cannot know everything. In our time people are proud of their knowledge and they are trying to produce thousands and thousands of
books, but I don't think that anyone may be able to keep all knowledge in his head; never - it is impossible.
And we have, also, a kind of knowledge coming through traditions. You can't reject it. Although we have never seen such things, we are accepting that they could happen. And historical events, also; thousands, millions of events, have passed away, and those have come to our knowledge through traditional sources. How can you reject them? Perhaps so many astonishing events may have taken place which do not happen in our days - so many miracles, coming to us through traditions. But even if they do not happen in our days, why are we rejecting them?
And that philosopher, Avicenna, was saying, "O people, if there comes to your ears something that you have never heard of before, even if it is not an accustomed thing to you, even if it is such an unexpected or extraordinary happening, don't be in a rush to reject it. Even if you are not going to accept it easily, you must not be in a hurry to reject it because, if you say that to accept something without asking for evidence is a kind of foolishness, to reject it without evidence is also foolishness." And we are asking, "With what evidence can people reject the possibility that there may be a last day for this world?" No evidence; rather, science can say that it is going to be finished one day, even the sun. Therefore, we are believers.
I saw just now when I was coming a big sign on a building, writing on it "SAFEWAY." It affected my heart, and I am asking if people now are on the Safe Way or not. What that building was I don't know. A supermarket? I was thinking that it must be a church, a chapel, a synagogue or such a thing, writing "SAFEWAY" on it. A supermarket? But the meaning is very good.
Everyone must choose the Safe Way for his life, and the Safe Way is to believe - to believe in something, because beliefs never harm people but without beliefs people are going to be harmed.
Once some seven or eight young people came to me. Since we are religious people, they always like to discuss about God; they are trained to be always in opposition to religious people, the new fashion now in our countries, also. Therefore they came to me and asked, "O sheikh, Sheikh Nazim, do you believe in Paradise and Hell and so on?"
"Yes, I said. "I believe." "You have proof?"
"Yes, I have proof. But you will not accept my proof, because we have traditional proofs from the beginning up to the end. If you accept traditions as knowledge, we believe in that. And if you reject them, then you must reject the whole history of mankind which has come through traditions."
Then they said, "But we are in doubt."
"You may be in doubt but you can't reject it. And I am asking you to take a Safe Way for your life. Now, I will put a glass of milk here to drink and you sit here. Then when I put it here, someone comes running and says to me, 'O sheikh, don't put this milk there for those people to drink because the one who brought it to you took a snake out of it.' Then would you drink from this milk?" I asked them.
They said, "No."
"Why wouldn't you drink it? It is milk, and you didn't see that snake taken out of it. Why don't you drink? Why do you believe that person? Perhaps, after you, he will come to drink all of it, playing a trick on you. Why do you believe it?"
"Perhaps it may be true. Therefore the safe way is not to drink."
If you are accepting this, what is the Safe Way? So many sources, traditional sources, speak about the Last Day, about the Resurrection, about the Judgment Day, about Paradise, about Hell. What is the evidence for
rejecting that? And so many people are accepting it and believing. What is the matter with you to reject it?
If it is correct, then it doesn't matter; we will not lose anything. Are our believers any different in their lives from unbelievers? Yes, we can find some differences. For although our physical life is the same as theirs, in our inner life we are happy while they are unhappy, because we believe in Eternal Life.
Day by day I am more happy on behalf of myself. Now one year has passed since we last met here, and a day is coming, quickly, when the whole of life will finish, will end. But I am not displeased or sorry that my life is each day approaching nearer to its end because I believe that that end is going to be a new beginning and I am happy. I am not sorry to see my beard getting whiter each day; no, I am happy. But those people, they are not happy.
Unbelievers, for what are they going to be happy? If it is a young person, tomorrow he is going to lose something of his youth, to be down, a little bit, a little bit, a little bit more down - not going up; coming down. And we are giving ourselves the most difficult punishment: to make ourselves hopeless of Eternal Life.
If we believe, we are happy; if not believing, we are putting that punishment on ourselves. If we believe in the Last Day, does that do some harm to our physical bodies? No; instead happiness and hope give more strength to believers. They are able to taste well from everything, from every kind of favor in this world. A believer can guard his eyes through his beliefs; his tongue, his ears, his stomach, his heart, every part of his body is going to be excellent, never getting a complaint. And so many saints in Christianity and in Islam who have reached real faith, their physical bodies served them throughout their lives, and after death so many of them can be found as they were buried.
Once I was in Daniascus. There the government was opening a motorway in a place where a saint was buried, and they had to take away that grave. He was a grand-wali, a grandsheikh, a great saint1. After five hundred years his body was going to be taken out of the ground, and people gathered to look at him when the grave was opened.
I was there because he was a sheikh of tariqat; our Grandsheikh, Sheikh 'Abdullah, had been there seven years in seclusion, and I was invited to be there while the ceremony was going on. When they opened the grave, a very beautiful scent came from it. And ten days later, I was again passing by that place where his grave had been. Little boys were going down and taking out earth, bringing it to me so I could smell it. A sweet scent like roses was there.
They opened the grave, and his body was there in its shroud; and I saw that his long beard, on his chest, had more black hair than mine, five hundred years after he had been put there. And so many saints, or all saints, are alive in the same condition, here and There.
It is an unbelievable thing, but you can look, you can see it. And therefore believers are on the Safe Way, while unbelievers are punishing themselves. And we are saying, "O our friend, you are free to believe or not to believe, but you are punishing yourself."
We are saying, "Believe in your Lord. Then you can be a good person because one who believes in his Lord feels responsibility for himself." But that new generation which has come, it does not care about any responsibility; you know, in your country. More freedom, more freedom, more freedom means that they do not want responsibility in front of anyone, here or Hereafter; leave aside the Hereafter, they mean to say that we don't want to have any responsibillty here because responsibility takes us away
1 Muslim saints are known as awliya (singular, wali), the "friends" of God.
from freedom. When we are free for everything, it means that we do not have any responsibility.
No-responsibility creatures are in the jungle, not living in a city - no. Whoever lives among people must carry responsibility here. But to feel responsibility only here, now, is not enough to make a person a good one, because sometimes people do evil hiddenly, justice never reaching them. But the one who believes that his Lord is looking at him wherever he goes, that He is with him, feels more responsibility.
Anyone who believes in his Lord must believe in responsibility, and whoever believes in responsibility must try to carry it in a good way, not leaving it.
Therefore all the prophets came and informed people that there is a Lord and there is a Judgment Day; these two pillars of belief have never changed from the beginning up to the end, and that is in our holy books, coming to us traditionally. Therefore I said that I don't think that after perhaps one hundred years there may even be anyone on earth, even of those who are born ten years, twenty years, fifty years from this time, or that there will be one hundred years more of the period of this life, the Last Day is so near; as Jesus Christ also said, "The Last Day and I are as close to each other as these two fingers, the time was so near when I came." - and two thousand years and more have passed since Jesus Christ. And the Last Prophet, Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, peace be upon them all, said, "I have come at that time in the day of the life of mankind on earth that, if you say it began with the dawn of Adam, when he came on earth, and went on up to eveningtime, I have been sent at 'Asr time2."
Therefore the day of mankind which is appointed for our meeting in this life is approaching its end, and we are observing every day so many signs, about which we have been informed through holy books or through traditions, that it is approaching. And that is Armageddon, about which it is written also in
2 'Asr is the third of the five daily prayers, observed in the latter part of the afternoon
the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Holy Qur'an that it should be soon, and so many people will go away, dying. And after that there should come, also, a period, a short period, when this world is going to be renewed or rebuilt.
In our time people are mostly interested in their physical lives, not interested in their spiritual lives; people are running, going, coming, for only their physical bodies' pleasures or their minds' pleasures. Very, very, very, very, very few people may be interested in the spiritual life and spiritual pleasures. But physical pleasures, from the first to the second, are always going to be less, while if anyone tastes spiritual pleasures, they are going to increase each day. And I am feeling that this year there is more pleasure spiritually among our attenders; I am feeling that in myself, also. Spiritual pleasures are increasing and physical pleasures are becoming less.
And after this Armageddon, people will come to fill this world more than it is full now. People or governments are worrying about population, thinking of enforcing birth control because there are too many people on this planet; they are too afraid, our scholars and governments, saying, "You must have birth control." They imagine that people are coming to this life by their orders, and by their orders are going away.
That is a new kind of foolishness, to make a "control" on birth. No one can control it except the Creator, the Lord of the worlds. Then, if it is now five billion, at that time, after Armageddon, so many people will go away, dying, and this world is going to be empty, as it was one thousand years ago. How many people were living at that time, one thousand years ago? Now, after Armageddon, it is going to be such an empty world. And then the Lord will send so many of His servants; people will have so many children that it is going to be twice as many as this, and everyone is going to be happy.
Those people, all of them, will work for their spiritual lives. They will give only a little time for their physical bodies, and it is going to be enough for them.
Enough pleasure, also. If they taste only one piece of food, it will give them as much pleasure as eating a whole lamb; if drinking a little potful, it may give them more pleasure than drinking big jugs. Everything at that time is going to be in a spiritual way, through spiritual powers. If you want to go from here to Scotland, it will be possible to go in a moment from here to Scotland, or farther away.
It is possible. You must not say, "No, it is impossible"; you haven't any evidence to reject it. One hundred years ago no one accepted or believed that a person could go from England to America in three hours; they would have said, "How can it be?" But it is going to be now. And that spiritual power is more than those concordes' flights' power; at that time, people are going to be persons of divine attributes. Now most people have technical characteristics, making them more tied to the earth; but in that time, when we believe that Jesus Christ will come3, also, these ties will be cut from our feet, making us rise to the Heavens.
And, as our holy books are informing and proclaiming, those days are approaching now, quickly, and I myself hope to reach and to see that time, that period. What about all of you? All of you we hope will insha-Allah reach those days, those happy days. Now people are living through unhappy days, but those are going to be happy days for everyone who may reach that time. And thank you for listening, for your attention.
By the name of Allah, All-mighty, All-merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent. We are asking from our Lord endless Mercy Oceans for the occasion of Holy Ramadan. This holy month is for the whole universe, for all the Children of Adam.
3 Referring to the return of Jesus, peace be upon him, to this world during the last days, according to Islamic belief
Allah Almighty is ar-Rahman. He has endless Mercy Oceans. He has ninety- nine Beautiful Names, and each Holy Name has a Mercy Ocean and each Mercy Ocean is endless. Ar-Rahman is one of the ninety-nine Beautiful Names, and its Mercy Oceans in the universe are making everything to appear from endless Power Oceans. Everyone, every creature, takes its share from those Mercy Oceans that belong to the Holy Name of ar- Rahman. Everything in existence must take a share from that Mercy Ocean; believers and unbelievers, they take their shares from that Holy Name. And during the whole month, the holy month of Ramadan, those Mercy Oceans are raining on all the people living on this earth. And we are asking through those Mercy Oceans forgiveness and endless favors from Allah Almighty.
Every prophet brought a message from the Lord, Allah Almighty, and the Last Prophet, beloved Muhammad, p.b.u.h.4, - brought the last Message and it is the perfect one. He brought that Message during twenty-three years.
The whole Qur'an, the Holy Qur'an, the Glorious Qur'an, guides people to the unity of Allah Almighty. All the prophets came just to proclaim that there is no God but Almighty Allah and that absolute existence is for Allah Almighty only.
Now, we are here, we are in existence. One hundred years ago none of these people was in existence, and perhaps one hundred years from now none of us will be in existence. Therefore our existence in this world has been given to ourselves by Someone, and then it is going to be taken from us, so that no one can claim that we are something having existence, absolute existence. That is only for One, whose existence must be. That One causes everything to be in existence, and we have been called into existence to proclaim the unity of Allah Almighty..
4 "Peace be upon him," the traditional Islamic invocation of God's blessings upon Prophet Muhammad and all other prophets
Allah Almighty gave us, the Children of Adam, ego, nafs, so that we have a special station, a special place, among all creatures. More than any other creature we have been honored. If we hadn't been given egos, we would be like angels5, but Allah Almighty made the Children of Adam to be deputies for Him on the earth and in the universe. All of us, we are candidates to be deputies, khalifas, of Allah Almighty here and Hereafter.
Then, everyone has that opportunity or chance to be a real deputy of Allah Almighty, and every prophet came just to teach and to guide and to show people how they may be able to reach that position of being real deputies. As many as there are Children of Adam in existence, in the Divine Presence we have thrones, and everyone's name is written on one of them; if we can do our best during this life, we have a way to reach that throne and to sit on it in the Divine Presence. We must have some method, some teaching, so that we may be able to reach that throne, that place, and sit on it.
We have been invited by Allah Almighty to come and sit on that seat in His Divine Presence. It is the top point of honor that can be given by Allah Almighty to His creatures, and it is for us. We are very fortunate people, among all creatures; even the angels, they were asking for that honor to be for themselves, but Allah Almighty just appointed that honor for the Children of Adam. They may be black ones, may be white ones, may be yellow ones, may be red ones; no worry. Pakistanis, also, they are candidates for that; African people, also, not only European people, no. Asian people, also - everyone whose name is written among the Children of Adam, they are candidates, they have seats in the Divine Presence.
Allah Almighty does not look at our shapes, our forms. He looks at our hearts. And He put there a very precious thing, in our hearts, and it has been protected by divine protection; no one may be able to take that precious
5 That is, always obedient and submitting to God, since angels do not possess freewill
thing from our hearts. Satan is running after it, but even if there were millions of Satans and their powers all came together, it would be impossible to take away that precious point from the hearts of the Children of Adam, whether they are English or French or Russian or unbelievers; Allah Almighty gave that honor to everyone, not only to Muslims or to believers, but in general all people have that honor from Allah Almighty. And it is in a safe place, and the Guardian of that point in the hearts of the Sons of Adam is Almighty Allah.
No one can touch that; it stays there. Divine lights burn anyone who may put his hand there; it is impossible. And Allah Almighty is calling us to His Divine Presence, to take our seats, inviting us to His divine feast in His Divine Presence.
Now we are living in this life and we do not know about ourselves yet. You have been created for the love of Allah Almighty; your heart has been put inside you to be the place at which Allah Almighty looks, and He put from His love into the hearts of the Children of Adam and your honor comes from that. He loved and He created, and His divine love is in every heart of the Children of Adam.
We do not know about ourselves. We know only who we are, as, "I am Muhammad Knight, a Scottish person, a teacher" - name, surname, father's name, mother's name, motherland, and nothing else. And your knowing about yourself is the entrance of divine knowledge about your Lord; when you know about yourself, that is an opening to the Lord's knowledge. .
People now are asking a question, but it is not a correct one: they are beginning to ask about the Creator, about Allah Almighty, who He is, how He is, while leaving themselves. You must ask about yourself, "Who am I? What is my position in the universe? What is the meaning of being from mankind? Who are they?" You must begin from yourself and then you may ask who is the Creator, how He is, who He is. We are asking questions in the opposite
way, and anyone who leaves himself and asks about the Creator, he is never going to reach an understanding of the Lord, Allah Almighty.
We must understand and we must know about ourselves first. And all knowledge and perfect information about ourselves was brought by the Last Prophet, the Seal of the Prophets, peace be upon him and upon them, in the Holy Qur'an. And we are in need of an opening; without an opening you can't enter it. Therefore the Holy Qur'an has an opening; the first surah is the Surah of Opening6. That surah gives us details about everything, about ourselves and about the Lord, Allah Almighty, and the relationship between ourselves and our Lord. And we must return to that Opening.
It is impossible for a servant to reach that point without understanding about his ego. He must understand about his ego because ego becomes a hindrance, preventing you from reaching your reality in existence. Always that ego comes and covers it; always ego prevents a person and does not let him reach real knowledge about himself. T
Link: https://www.nvrislam.net/index.php?j=eng&post=6173
Mercy Oceans (Towards the Divine Presence, Volume Three), Book 12
TOWARD THE DIVINE PRESENCE (BOOK THREE)
Talks of SHEIKH NAZIM ADIL AL-QUBRUSI
Ramadan - Shawwal 1986
DEDICATION
To you who have come, knocking at many doors to see if truth may perchance be concealed behind them, to the wide-open door of Islam, looking beyond the stereotypes into its infinite depth and breadth, this book is dedicated with love, in the hope that it may provide you with a key which will unlock every closed door on your journey toward the Divine Presence.
INTRODUCTION
(In this talk Sheikh Nazim addresses a gathering of English men and women who are interested in spiritual matters.]
You can't remember it, but it is a reality that we were in the Heavens and then we came here for a while, for a very short while. One hundred years ago none of our group was present, and after one hundred years none of us will be on earth; perhaps only that little one, a child of three - going to be
105. But I am seeing that there is no more time for mankind on this planet.
We haven't any authority to speak on behalf of our own opinions but according to holy books we may speak. Not from ourselves, but all holy books speak of a last day for this planet, and science also can say that every moving thing must one day come to a stop - every moving thing, and we are moving. Even if we do not look at our holy books, science says that there must come some time when this our planet is going little by little to be tired of turning and moving, and that there must be something to end it.
But we are believers in the holy books that the Lord of the worlds has sent us and in what they say. From beginning up to end, so many prophets, 124,000 prophets at various times and in various countries, have come.
They never met with each other in an assembly to make an agreement that when we come to people we must say this or that, but they came over thousands and thousands of years. In every country you can find prophets, and they came to proclaim the same principles of belief, so that we can't say that they are saying something with no reality. It must be something true because all of them have said that a day will come to this planet when life is going to stop, when everything is going to stop, and then the Last Day will come.
They have said this and we believe it. There is nothing to object to in it because we haven't any proof for objecting, for rejecting what they are
saying; perhaps it may come, we can say, but we can't say that it is impossible. But in our time it is a new fashion for people to be atheists, rejecting every belief. But they are wrong, totally wrong people.
There was a famous Muslim philosopher who is well-known in Western countries also, Ibn Sina, Avicenna. He was a philosopher, trying to put spiritual knowledge side by side with intellectual knowledge - to do it in such a way that people could benefit, not quickly rejecting everything; in our time they are calling it "positive knowledge." It is something that you can observe or you can test, and then scientists build knowledge on that base, observing and then testing all the knowledge that scientists or scholars or learned people are so proud of in our time.
Once a scholar, a big scholar, so proud of his knowledge, was sitting like this on a chair and saying to people, "O people, you can ask me anything, as you like; I am ready to answer." Then someone, like this young boy, said, "O my master, I have one question. How many hairs do you have in your beard?"
Who knows how many? You know how many hairs you have here, how many teeth you have? He did not know. So many people whom I am asking don´t know even how many teeth they have.
How can a person know everything if he is ignorant about himses about herself? So many people still do not know what is inside themselves. Where are your lungs, your liver, where are your kidneys? So many people don't know. That is easy, simple; but that boy asked how many hairs were in his beard, and he was astonished, not knowing what is the answer. And then another one asked, "In an ant, where are the intestines - in the first or the second half of its body?" And he had never seen in books where such knowledge was to be found.
Yes. One cannot know everything. In our time people are proud of their knowledge and they are trying to produce thousands and thousands of
books, but I don't think that anyone may be able to keep all knowledge in his head; never - it is impossible.
And we have, also, a kind of knowledge coming through traditions. You can't reject it. Although we have never seen such things, we are accepting that they could happen. And historical events, also; thousands, millions of events, have passed away, and those have come to our knowledge through traditional sources. How can you reject them? Perhaps so many astonishing events may have taken place which do not happen in our days - so many miracles, coming to us through traditions. But even if they do not happen in our days, why are we rejecting them?
And that philosopher, Avicenna, was saying, "O people, if there comes to your ears something that you have never heard of before, even if it is not an accustomed thing to you, even if it is such an unexpected or extraordinary happening, don't be in a rush to reject it. Even if you are not going to accept it easily, you must not be in a hurry to reject it because, if you say that to accept something without asking for evidence is a kind of foolishness, to reject it without evidence is also foolishness." And we are asking, "With what evidence can people reject the possibility that there may be a last day for this world?" No evidence; rather, science can say that it is going to be finished one day, even the sun. Therefore, we are believers.
I saw just now when I was coming a big sign on a building, writing on it "SAFEWAY." It affected my heart, and I am asking if people now are on the Safe Way or not. What that building was I don't know. A supermarket? I was thinking that it must be a church, a chapel, a synagogue or such a thing, writing "SAFEWAY" on it. A supermarket? But the meaning is very good.
Everyone must choose the Safe Way for his life, and the Safe Way is to believe - to believe in something, because beliefs never harm people but without beliefs people are going to be harmed.
Once some seven or eight young people came to me. Since we are religious people, they always like to discuss about God; they are trained to be always in opposition to religious people, the new fashion now in our countries, also. Therefore they came to me and asked, "O sheikh, Sheikh Nazim, do you believe in Paradise and Hell and so on?"
"Yes, I said. "I believe." "You have proof?"
"Yes, I have proof. But you will not accept my proof, because we have traditional proofs from the beginning up to the end. If you accept traditions as knowledge, we believe in that. And if you reject them, then you must reject the whole history of mankind which has come through traditions."
Then they said, "But we are in doubt."
"You may be in doubt but you can't reject it. And I am asking you to take a Safe Way for your life. Now, I will put a glass of milk here to drink and you sit here. Then when I put it here, someone comes running and says to me, 'O sheikh, don't put this milk there for those people to drink because the one who brought it to you took a snake out of it.' Then would you drink from this milk?" I asked them.
They said, "No."
"Why wouldn't you drink it? It is milk, and you didn't see that snake taken out of it. Why don't you drink? Why do you believe that person? Perhaps, after you, he will come to drink all of it, playing a trick on you. Why do you believe it?"
"Perhaps it may be true. Therefore the safe way is not to drink."
If you are accepting this, what is the Safe Way? So many sources, traditional sources, speak about the Last Day, about the Resurrection, about the Judgment Day, about Paradise, about Hell. What is the evidence for
rejecting that? And so many people are accepting it and believing. What is the matter with you to reject it?
If it is correct, then it doesn't matter; we will not lose anything. Are our believers any different in their lives from unbelievers? Yes, we can find some differences. For although our physical life is the same as theirs, in our inner life we are happy while they are unhappy, because we believe in Eternal Life.
Day by day I am more happy on behalf of myself. Now one year has passed since we last met here, and a day is coming, quickly, when the whole of life will finish, will end. But I am not displeased or sorry that my life is each day approaching nearer to its end because I believe that that end is going to be a new beginning and I am happy. I am not sorry to see my beard getting whiter each day; no, I am happy. But those people, they are not happy.
Unbelievers, for what are they going to be happy? If it is a young person, tomorrow he is going to lose something of his youth, to be down, a little bit, a little bit, a little bit more down - not going up; coming down. And we are giving ourselves the most difficult punishment: to make ourselves hopeless of Eternal Life.
If we believe, we are happy; if not believing, we are putting that punishment on ourselves. If we believe in the Last Day, does that do some harm to our physical bodies? No; instead happiness and hope give more strength to believers. They are able to taste well from everything, from every kind of favor in this world. A believer can guard his eyes through his beliefs; his tongue, his ears, his stomach, his heart, every part of his body is going to be excellent, never getting a complaint. And so many saints in Christianity and in Islam who have reached real faith, their physical bodies served them throughout their lives, and after death so many of them can be found as they were buried.
Once I was in Daniascus. There the government was opening a motorway in a place where a saint was buried, and they had to take away that grave. He was a grand-wali, a grandsheikh, a great saint1. After five hundred years his body was going to be taken out of the ground, and people gathered to look at him when the grave was opened.
I was there because he was a sheikh of tariqat; our Grandsheikh, Sheikh 'Abdullah, had been there seven years in seclusion, and I was invited to be there while the ceremony was going on. When they opened the grave, a very beautiful scent came from it. And ten days later, I was again passing by that place where his grave had been. Little boys were going down and taking out earth, bringing it to me so I could smell it. A sweet scent like roses was there.
They opened the grave, and his body was there in its shroud; and I saw that his long beard, on his chest, had more black hair than mine, five hundred years after he had been put there. And so many saints, or all saints, are alive in the same condition, here and There.
It is an unbelievable thing, but you can look, you can see it. And therefore believers are on the Safe Way, while unbelievers are punishing themselves. And we are saying, "O our friend, you are free to believe or not to believe, but you are punishing yourself."
We are saying, "Believe in your Lord. Then you can be a good person because one who believes in his Lord feels responsibility for himself." But that new generation which has come, it does not care about any responsibility; you know, in your country. More freedom, more freedom, more freedom means that they do not want responsibility in front of anyone, here or Hereafter; leave aside the Hereafter, they mean to say that we don't want to have any responsibillty here because responsibility takes us away
1 Muslim saints are known as awliya (singular, wali), the "friends" of God.
from freedom. When we are free for everything, it means that we do not have any responsibility.
No-responsibility creatures are in the jungle, not living in a city - no. Whoever lives among people must carry responsibility here. But to feel responsibility only here, now, is not enough to make a person a good one, because sometimes people do evil hiddenly, justice never reaching them. But the one who believes that his Lord is looking at him wherever he goes, that He is with him, feels more responsibility.
Anyone who believes in his Lord must believe in responsibility, and whoever believes in responsibility must try to carry it in a good way, not leaving it.
Therefore all the prophets came and informed people that there is a Lord and there is a Judgment Day; these two pillars of belief have never changed from the beginning up to the end, and that is in our holy books, coming to us traditionally. Therefore I said that I don't think that after perhaps one hundred years there may even be anyone on earth, even of those who are born ten years, twenty years, fifty years from this time, or that there will be one hundred years more of the period of this life, the Last Day is so near; as Jesus Christ also said, "The Last Day and I are as close to each other as these two fingers, the time was so near when I came." - and two thousand years and more have passed since Jesus Christ. And the Last Prophet, Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets, peace be upon them all, said, "I have come at that time in the day of the life of mankind on earth that, if you say it began with the dawn of Adam, when he came on earth, and went on up to eveningtime, I have been sent at 'Asr time2."
Therefore the day of mankind which is appointed for our meeting in this life is approaching its end, and we are observing every day so many signs, about which we have been informed through holy books or through traditions, that it is approaching. And that is Armageddon, about which it is written also in
2 'Asr is the third of the five daily prayers, observed in the latter part of the afternoon
the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Holy Qur'an that it should be soon, and so many people will go away, dying. And after that there should come, also, a period, a short period, when this world is going to be renewed or rebuilt.
In our time people are mostly interested in their physical lives, not interested in their spiritual lives; people are running, going, coming, for only their physical bodies' pleasures or their minds' pleasures. Very, very, very, very, very few people may be interested in the spiritual life and spiritual pleasures. But physical pleasures, from the first to the second, are always going to be less, while if anyone tastes spiritual pleasures, they are going to increase each day. And I am feeling that this year there is more pleasure spiritually among our attenders; I am feeling that in myself, also. Spiritual pleasures are increasing and physical pleasures are becoming less.
And after this Armageddon, people will come to fill this world more than it is full now. People or governments are worrying about population, thinking of enforcing birth control because there are too many people on this planet; they are too afraid, our scholars and governments, saying, "You must have birth control." They imagine that people are coming to this life by their orders, and by their orders are going away.
That is a new kind of foolishness, to make a "control" on birth. No one can control it except the Creator, the Lord of the worlds. Then, if it is now five billion, at that time, after Armageddon, so many people will go away, dying, and this world is going to be empty, as it was one thousand years ago. How many people were living at that time, one thousand years ago? Now, after Armageddon, it is going to be such an empty world. And then the Lord will send so many of His servants; people will have so many children that it is going to be twice as many as this, and everyone is going to be happy.
Those people, all of them, will work for their spiritual lives. They will give only a little time for their physical bodies, and it is going to be enough for them.
Enough pleasure, also. If they taste only one piece of food, it will give them as much pleasure as eating a whole lamb; if drinking a little potful, it may give them more pleasure than drinking big jugs. Everything at that time is going to be in a spiritual way, through spiritual powers. If you want to go from here to Scotland, it will be possible to go in a moment from here to Scotland, or farther away.
It is possible. You must not say, "No, it is impossible"; you haven't any evidence to reject it. One hundred years ago no one accepted or believed that a person could go from England to America in three hours; they would have said, "How can it be?" But it is going to be now. And that spiritual power is more than those concordes' flights' power; at that time, people are going to be persons of divine attributes. Now most people have technical characteristics, making them more tied to the earth; but in that time, when we believe that Jesus Christ will come3, also, these ties will be cut from our feet, making us rise to the Heavens.
And, as our holy books are informing and proclaiming, those days are approaching now, quickly, and I myself hope to reach and to see that time, that period. What about all of you? All of you we hope will insha-Allah reach those days, those happy days. Now people are living through unhappy days, but those are going to be happy days for everyone who may reach that time. And thank you for listening, for your attention.
By the name of Allah, All-mighty, All-merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent. We are asking from our Lord endless Mercy Oceans for the occasion of Holy Ramadan. This holy month is for the whole universe, for all the Children of Adam.
3 Referring to the return of Jesus, peace be upon him, to this world during the last days, according to Islamic belief
Allah Almighty is ar-Rahman. He has endless Mercy Oceans. He has ninety- nine Beautiful Names, and each Holy Name has a Mercy Ocean and each Mercy Ocean is endless. Ar-Rahman is one of the ninety-nine Beautiful Names, and its Mercy Oceans in the universe are making everything to appear from endless Power Oceans. Everyone, every creature, takes its share from those Mercy Oceans that belong to the Holy Name of ar- Rahman. Everything in existence must take a share from that Mercy Ocean; believers and unbelievers, they take their shares from that Holy Name. And during the whole month, the holy month of Ramadan, those Mercy Oceans are raining on all the people living on this earth. And we are asking through those Mercy Oceans forgiveness and endless favors from Allah Almighty.
Every prophet brought a message from the Lord, Allah Almighty, and the Last Prophet, beloved Muhammad, p.b.u.h.4, - brought the last Message and it is the perfect one. He brought that Message during twenty-three years.
The whole Qur'an, the Holy Qur'an, the Glorious Qur'an, guides people to the unity of Allah Almighty. All the prophets came just to proclaim that there is no God but Almighty Allah and that absolute existence is for Allah Almighty only.
Now, we are here, we are in existence. One hundred years ago none of these people was in existence, and perhaps one hundred years from now none of us will be in existence. Therefore our existence in this world has been given to ourselves by Someone, and then it is going to be taken from us, so that no one can claim that we are something having existence, absolute existence. That is only for One, whose existence must be. That One causes everything to be in existence, and we have been called into existence to proclaim the unity of Allah Almighty..
4 "Peace be upon him," the traditional Islamic invocation of God's blessings upon Prophet Muhammad and all other prophets
Allah Almighty gave us, the Children of Adam, ego, nafs, so that we have a special station, a special place, among all creatures. More than any other creature we have been honored. If we hadn't been given egos, we would be like angels5, but Allah Almighty made the Children of Adam to be deputies for Him on the earth and in the universe. All of us, we are candidates to be deputies, khalifas, of Allah Almighty here and Hereafter.
Then, everyone has that opportunity or chance to be a real deputy of Allah Almighty, and every prophet came just to teach and to guide and to show people how they may be able to reach that position of being real deputies. As many as there are Children of Adam in existence, in the Divine Presence we have thrones, and everyone's name is written on one of them; if we can do our best during this life, we have a way to reach that throne and to sit on it in the Divine Presence. We must have some method, some teaching, so that we may be able to reach that throne, that place, and sit on it.
We have been invited by Allah Almighty to come and sit on that seat in His Divine Presence. It is the top point of honor that can be given by Allah Almighty to His creatures, and it is for us. We are very fortunate people, among all creatures; even the angels, they were asking for that honor to be for themselves, but Allah Almighty just appointed that honor for the Children of Adam. They may be black ones, may be white ones, may be yellow ones, may be red ones; no worry. Pakistanis, also, they are candidates for that; African people, also, not only European people, no. Asian people, also - everyone whose name is written among the Children of Adam, they are candidates, they have seats in the Divine Presence.
Allah Almighty does not look at our shapes, our forms. He looks at our hearts. And He put there a very precious thing, in our hearts, and it has been protected by divine protection; no one may be able to take that precious
5 That is, always obedient and submitting to God, since angels do not possess freewill
thing from our hearts. Satan is running after it, but even if there were millions of Satans and their powers all came together, it would be impossible to take away that precious point from the hearts of the Children of Adam, whether they are English or French or Russian or unbelievers; Allah Almighty gave that honor to everyone, not only to Muslims or to believers, but in general all people have that honor from Allah Almighty. And it is in a safe place, and the Guardian of that point in the hearts of the Sons of Adam is Almighty Allah.
No one can touch that; it stays there. Divine lights burn anyone who may put his hand there; it is impossible. And Allah Almighty is calling us to His Divine Presence, to take our seats, inviting us to His divine feast in His Divine Presence.
Now we are living in this life and we do not know about ourselves yet. You have been created for the love of Allah Almighty; your heart has been put inside you to be the place at which Allah Almighty looks, and He put from His love into the hearts of the Children of Adam and your honor comes from that. He loved and He created, and His divine love is in every heart of the Children of Adam.
We do not know about ourselves. We know only who we are, as, "I am Muhammad Knight, a Scottish person, a teacher" - name, surname, father's name, mother's name, motherland, and nothing else. And your knowing about yourself is the entrance of divine knowledge about your Lord; when you know about yourself, that is an opening to the Lord's knowledge. .
People now are asking a question, but it is not a correct one: they are beginning to ask about the Creator, about Allah Almighty, who He is, how He is, while leaving themselves. You must ask about yourself, "Who am I? What is my position in the universe? What is the meaning of being from mankind? Who are they?" You must begin from yourself and then you may ask who is the Creator, how He is, who He is. We are asking questions in the opposite
way, and anyone who leaves himself and asks about the Creator, he is never going to reach an understanding of the Lord, Allah Almighty.
We must understand and we must know about ourselves first. And all knowledge and perfect information about ourselves was brought by the Last Prophet, the Seal of the Prophets, peace be upon him and upon them, in the Holy Qur'an. And we are in need of an opening; without an opening you can't enter it. Therefore the Holy Qur'an has an opening; the first surah is the Surah of Opening6. That surah gives us details about everything, about ourselves and about the Lord, Allah Almighty, and the relationship between ourselves and our Lord. And we must return to that Opening.
It is impossible for a servant to reach that point without understanding about his ego. He must understand about his ego because ego becomes a hindrance, preventing you from reaching your reality in existence. Always that ego comes and covers it; always ego prevents a person and does not let him reach real knowledge about himself. T
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