Mercy Oceans, Book 12 (192 pages, 7/15)
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I haven't any money, how can I live?" A person means to
65 See, for example, XXII:58, XXIII:72, LXII:ll and other verses of similar meaning
say that with money I can buy provisions, his ego saying to him, "O my good fellow, don't be foolish - without money you can't live!" That is the advice of our egos to ourselves: "You must have money for living. If not, you can't live."
Once Abū Yazid, Sultan al-'Arifin66,' was traveling, and he came to a town and entered a big mosque. He prayed behind the imam, and then the imam turned around like this to look at the people - who was coming, who was going.
He saw a strange person; it was clear that he was not from that country. And he asked, "Who are you? From where are you coming? What do you do?"
Bayazid Bistami Hazretleri, may Allah bless him, said, "Nothing." "No work?"
"No work."
"No profession?" "No profession."
"Then from where do you eat?"
Then Abu Yazid said, "Let me pray my prayer again. I thought that you were a Muslim but you are not yet Muslim, and I must repeat my prayer. How are you the imam here? What are you asking? I thought that you knew that my provision is with my Lord, and yet you are asking, 'From what are you living?'"
And he was saying, "Subhanallān, glory to Allah Almighty! You do not trust in Allah Almighty. Why do you not catch cats or dogs and ask them from what they are living?" he asked that imam. "You have a dog or a cat? Cats, they have jobs? Dogs - a job, a profession, learned ones? Why are you not
66 Bayazid al-Bistami, the King of the Knowers of God
asking them but are catching hold of me to ask me from what I am living? Dogs and cats - from what they are living, I am living, also!" he said, very angry.
Particularly in European countries, I don't think that any cat or any dog thinks about its provision. Do you think so? Yes, fat ones here, they can carry their owners, even, carrying them away. I don't think that they have any worry within themselves about their provisions. But we human beings - we are not like them.
It owner is a person and he is trustworthy; his dog or cat never think about tomorrow. But we are thinking, although the whole world is for ourselves. And Allah Almighty says, "I am your Provider; do you not believe in Me? Am I not a Trustworthy One for you?" But Satan always comes from that direction, making a doubt in our hearts and beginning to destroy our beliefs.
We must believe that even if Allah Almighty made the whole sky to be covered with iron plates and the whole face of the earth to be rock, so that nothing could fall down from the sky or nothing could come up from that rock
- even if they were to be like that, sky and earth, you wouldn't have any right to be in doubt about your provision as long as He says, "I am promising you. I may give bis-sabab or bi-la sabab, through means or without means. I am saying that I shall give. To give you your provision, I am not in need of using means."
Once, at the time of Moses, p.b.u.h., there was a drought; no water, no rain, and people came to Moses and asked him to go out and make du'a, to pray for rain.
And all the people went out. They brought their animals, and then they took away the lambs to one side and the sheep to another side so that the lambs began to cry; and they took the little children, also, with their mothers, so that Allah Almighty might look at them with mercy.
Moses, p.b.u.h., took all the Children of Israel and went to a high hill (it was an old custom of prophets to make du'a on a place which had no sins on it, clean). They went, and Moses prayed and prayed, but no answer to his du'a. And then he asked, "O my Lord, what is the reason?" because if a prophet asks, rain must come, it must rain.
And then Allah' Almighty addressed him: "O Moses, among your people there is a nammam." A nammam is someone who runs to a husband to talk to him against his wife, or to neighbors, from one door to the next, to make mischief, to give harm - a slanderer. And Allah Almighty was saying that there was one person among that huge crowd, one man who was a slanderer.
Then Moses said, "O my Lord, please tell us who that one is so that we may take him away."
"O Moses, I have prohibited people to do that, and now you are asking Me to show you who that one is. But if I were to show you, I would be nammam Myself; if I were to say, 'That person,' then I would be that."
Then that person, the nammam, trembled too much, fearing Allah Almighty and saying within himself, "O my Lord, tubtu wa raj'atu ilaihi - I repent and I am sorry. O my Lord, forgive me!"
Allah Almighty forgave that person, and then heavy clouds came, and rain. The rains increased, increased, so much that if a person on horseback had gone into the water, it would have covered him. But at the end, no grains. There was nothing in the ears.
And then Moses was too angry: "O my Lord, what happened? This has come like bamboo - no grains."
Then Allah Almighty said, "O Moses, I shall show you My wisdom and My power. Make a fire in a tannur."
A tannur is an oven like a big jar, with fire inside. Moses, p.b.u.h., made a fire, and then Allah Almighty ordered: "Take a handful of grain and throw it into the fire." And Moses did that.
Quickly those grains grew, grew, grew, becoming ears; although the fire was burning, in the midst of the fire those grains did not burn but quickly became ears. And then Allah Almighty said, "O Moses, I am the Powerful One who can do everything; you must believe that I am able to do everything. You asked from Me rain and I sent you rain, as much as you asked for. Ask from Me your provisions and I can give. Without rain I can give; even in fire I can give. I am your Lord. You must believe in your Lord!"
Yes, we are afraid for tomorrow, but Allah Almighty, the Lord, is saying: "O My servant, I am not asking today for tomorrow's worshipping. When you come to tomorrow, then I will ask for your prayers for that day. Prayers are at their proper times; before their time I am not asking for them. Then why are you asking today about tomorrow, about next week, next month, next year? Why are you asking? If you want to keep it, you may keep it, but it may be that you have kept something that is not for you but for someone else."
Therefore Allah Almighty wants to take more heavy burdens from ourselves so that we may be lighter, we may be more at ease in this life. He wants an easy life for us but we are making it heavier, a heavy burden that we can't carry. If we believe with certainty, then our life is so easy. We have only been ordered to be in the time which we are in; we haven't been ordered to look after one hour later, one day, one week, one month, one year later. That is making troubles and difficulties for the life of mankind.
All creatures have itm'inan, confidence, within themselves. Why not for the Children of Adam, for mankind? What is the reason? No other one among creatures has been given a mind, no, and without minds they are living in confidence, in tranquility. But we have minds and we are not in confidence.
Therefore we must believe in our Lord, that He is able to do everything to make everything, to give everything, both which we can imagine or beyond our imagination, also; He is muqtadir, all-powerful to do everything. And every time Satan works on that point, particularly in our times; in our times he causes too much harm to people, to believers, beliefs, causing the destruction of their beliefs.
In this country there are so many foreigners; I must tell them, also. So many millions of foreigners are escaping from their countries and coming to England. I wonder if they are finding another provider in London. Do you think so, or the Same One?The Same One, the Only One - the Same One who gives to us here or in our homelands.
We are making our life difficult. That provision was apportioned before the creation of this universe, a long, long time ago; and it is like our shadow, following us, or like our ajal, our term of life, following ourselves for the limit of our life.
Our life is within limits, and our provision is within limits, also. You can't escape from death and you can't escape from your provision. You can't eat from his provision, he can't eat from your provision; everyone must eat from his own appointed provisions and finish and then go. No fear; if you know that, even if you are in your homeland, those provisions must come to you, because no one else can eat from them - they must come to you.
By the name of Allah, All-mighty, All-merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent.
Each time, we say, "Most Beneficent, Most Munificent." Allah Almighty is asking His servants to be merciful to His creatures, always mentioning and proclaiming His attributes of mercy.
You must also be merciful to each other because Allah Almighty, with His Mercy Oceans, gives to His creatures, and all creatures in existence take their shares from the Mercy Oceans which belong to His Holy Name, ar- Rahman. It is impossible to finish those Mercy Oceans which belong to His Holy Name ar-Rahman because everything that belongs to Allah Almighty is endless. And then, He is also ar-Rahim. There are Mercy Oceans which belong to the Holy Name ar-Rahim, signalling to His servants to be merciful to all other people and to everyone in existence.
We as human beings, the Children of Adam, must be people of much understanding, as Allah Almighty teaches us through His prophets and holy books. All of us were in the same universe before coming to this life; everyone's soul comes from the spiritual world or from the Heavens, and it is in this form during this life. All of us, we were in the spiritual world, all our souls, but I don't think that we were quarreling or fighting there. Do you suppose such a thing? Who remembers? Almost no one remembers. Only certain exceptions we have, when Allah Almighty opens the veil to His servant. Then he knows.
Our Grandsheikh, may Allah bless him, was speaking, and he asked a question: "What is the benefit of all shari'ats and tariqats67? What is the aim of the prophets and of their messages? From the beginning up to the end, for what does Allah Almighty send His prophets and His messages, and what is He going to teach people through His shari'ats, and through tariqats, also?"
Tariqat and shari'at are from the same source, no difference; but now people have changed their understanding and are getting a wrong meaning of tariqat. Tariqat is mysticism in every religion, and it must be. As we are not
67 While shari'at is the divinely-revealed Law, tariqat (literally, "way" or "path") is a path of discipline and devotion at the hands of a sheikh of an Islamic Sufi order whose spiritual descent may be traced to the Holy Prpohet either though Abu Bakr Siddiq (the Naqhsbandiyah) or through 'Ali ibnTalib (all aother tariqats)
going to be without hearts - you can't be only a form, an external appearance; there is something inside, also - so every religion has some external functions or actions, and some others, also, which are inner, internal; must be. Do you think that oceans or seas are only what we see, blue water, with nothing inside it? So many creatures that covers.
Therefore you can't find any religion without mysticism; must be - yes. And our Grandsheikh was speaking and asking that question: "What is the purpose of every shari'at and of tariqats? For what do they make people to act, to work, to worship, to fast, to do charities, to believe, or to do anything else?" And he was giving that question's answer: That all the wisdom of shari'ats and their orders and actions, in every religion, is because we are, all of us, in prison during this life.
In the womb of your mother you were looking at Heaven, and also when it comes to this life, for one day, two days, three, four, five, six, seven days mostly, that new baby looks at Heaven; no veil on its heart's eyes. After that they are going to be veiled; the veil comes and no more looking. There are only certain exceptions among mankind who are not veiled, ever, not covered. And Grandsheikh said, concerning those exceptions, "I am one of them." Not I, but Grandsheikh was, and when he opened it to me, I was looking; no worry. From the time of his birth up to the end, he was saying, "O Nazim Efendi, I never veiled my heart." And the main purpose and divine wisdoms of shari'ats and tariqats is only to take away that veil that comes on your heart's eyes; it is only for that opening.
Therefore the Holy Qur'an begins with the surah of Opening, al Fatehah; that surah opens to you. If a person looks to al-Fatehah for the meanings which every scholar can know, he may be able to acquire all the meanings of the life of men through those seven verses of the Surah of Opening, and those
are the actions of the Shari'ah in Islam. But when you keep to that surah by way of tariqat, it brings you an opening through your heart68.
When you reach that station, when the veils are taken from your heart's eyes, you will find yourself in the same universe that you were in before. We are still there, just as the sun is in the sky while it is on earth; we say, "The sun is here," while the sun is in the skies. It is just the same situation for your soul. Everyone's soul is like a shining sun and it has a station in Heaven, in the Divine Presence, never leaving its worshipping, never leaving its glorifying its Lord, Allah Almighty.
Don't suppose that our souls are sitting in silence, like this. All of them, in the Divine Presence, were glorifying and praising their Lord, Allah Almighty, and they are continuing the same thing. But we are here, and from that shining sun of our soul, only one ray comes and commands this body. If the whole of one soul's power were to appear in this world, it would quickly melt, going away; it would not be able to bear it. Therefore Allah Almighty only sends one ray representing your personality, which is in the Divine Presence, to come into this world.
And we are trying to be in contact with our realities, with our real existence in Heaven and in the Divine Presence. Therefore, prophets, messengers, came from Allah Almighty to make a connection through our hearts to those heavenly stations.
That is the meaning of all the practices in every religion; and finally the aim of every practice or worship in Islam is to make a connection from yourself to your real personality in the Divine Presence. The one who can reach his divine position is a real deputy of his Lord, Allah Almighty. That is the meaning of the Prophet's saying, "Mutu qabla an tamutu, die before you die,"
68 That is, the meanings of Surat al-Fatehah which are commonly understood by Islamic scho lars relate to the external observances of the Shari'ah, the Divine Law sent down for mankind through the Holy Prophet, while the meanings understood through tariqats relate to inner aspects and the spiritual life
so that you may reach real life in the Divine Presence. Whoever "dies before dying" reaches peace, absolute peace and absolute happiness; he reaches his universe that Allah Almighty gives to him and makes him sultan, majestic, in his territory in the Divine Presence. They do not sit like this, all together, but in an endless divine territory, each one taking what Allah Almighty gives to him, and no one knows his muhimmah, importance, in the Divine Presence.
Therefore, the more you improve in divine knowledge which passes through yourself, self-knowledge, the more you may feel refreshment in your heart. You may feel that you are in an endless world, never inside a narrow space; and as much as you improve in divine knowledge, you will want more, because you will receive more pleasure and ask for more. Perhaps you may send a little boy to school by force because he has not yet tasted anything of knowledge, but when he reaches a position of tasting what he reads and understanding it, he is going to be pleased with learning and to ask for more and more.
To the extent that you have more divine knowledge, it will give you more pleasure, more peace more happiness, more satisfaction; and we are also in need to know or to ask for more divine knowledge in order to reach peace during our lives. And the way to divine knowledge passes through ourselves. When you are sitting in your station in the Divine Presence - I mean to say, when there is a connection from your heart to your real personality in the Divine Presence - there will always flow from it to you, to your heart, more divine knowledge through yourself; because divine knowledge comes to your real personality in the Divine Presence, and you may take from there to your heart, and your pleasure will grow, never ending. Therefore we must try to practice the spiritual ways of Islam because it is important and necessary for our lives, in order to reach real life and to reach real deputies' stations while we are in this life.
Three times each day Allah Almighty gives His servants more favors; you must be musta'id, ready, to receive more divine favors. Those who find their Lord's divine favors find them during these three times:
During the twenty-four hours, from 'Asr up to Maghrib69 is one of the most precious times when the divine manifestations come on people, and you must be ready to receive that with your heart. Then, from Maghrib up to 'Isha70. And when night passes and there remains the last one-third of the night, that is the most precious time; the one who wants spiritual improvement, he must look after that time. Those first two times are also such precious times, but the most precious of all is during the third and last part of the night before dawn; it may be three hours, may be four hours or five hours or more, according to the length of the night. You must be ready at that time to accept the spiritual and heavenly rays that touch your heart.
No one reaches his divine station without awakening at least as long as the time of praying two rak'ats before dawn every night. That is a limited time, but at least you must be there, ready, even if only for two rak'ats. You may take a shower, ghusl -, that is best; either a shower or wudu, and then standing facing qiblah71, praying two rak'ats and then sitting, seeing to it that no one is with you except One - not your wife or your children or your parents or your friends; no one may be with you.
Only One is going to be with you, and you must think that at this time I am here alone; everyone has gone from me and only One is with me. My Lord is with me. From every direction, inside, outside, He is with me, and, O my Lord, I am with you. Then there rain upon you from Heaven rays of lights,
69 That is, between the time of 'Asr, the late afternoon prayer, up to Maghrib, sunset time, when the fourth of the five daily prayers is observed
70 From sunset up to the time of complete darkness, when 'Isha, the fifth prayer of the day, is observed
71 The direction which faces the Sacred House of God in Makkah, the Holy K´abah
divine lights, preparing your heart, taking it away from this life's preoccupations and making you in the Divine Presence.
One, two, three, four, five nights; ten nights, twelve, twenty, thirty nights. If you are keeping that with your Lord, then it should be for you; He should grant to you some lights in your heart, and it is the beginning of an opening for you. And then, when you feel that opening, you must continue, because the most important miracle is to continue on your way without turning back. And every forty nights a new light comes to gather in your heart until that light cuts the veil in your heart, making an operation, taking it away, and you are looking at your universe that Allah Almighty granted to you.
By the name of Allah, All-mighty, All-merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent. "Innama yuwaffa-s-sabiruna ajrahum bi-ghairi hisab72." We are in need of patience, everyone. Yes; the most important thing is to be patient throughout this life. Allah Almighty gives to shakirin, the people who are thankful for His favors, numbered rewards. But for sabirin, people who can be patient, the angels put down their pens; they are unable to write the amount of reward, and Allah Almighty Himself writes and gives rewards for those people who are patient.
Now, there are three kinds of patience. First, this world is not a place for being in pleasure always; So many times it is a very heavy burden, this life, and you must be patient. There may be illness; every kind of trouble may come on people. It is outside our wills. We are not able to take it away; by itself it comes on us. Therefore you must be patient, because everything in this life is within limits, and even if you are not patient, that trouble will never go away till its time is finished. Nothing continues; there must be a limit - for
72 Verily, those who are patient will be given their reward without measure. (XXXIX:10)
pleasure or for sadness, for troubles, for every kind of a thing. And Allah Almighty gives rewards to those who are patient.
And second, we must be patient for worshipping. To make wudu, to do ghusl, washing; to do prayers, for fasting or for pilgrimage - for all of them we are in need to be patient because without patience you can't do them. Your nafs never likes them, and you are forcing yourself to pray, to make wudu, to get up for night prayers, to do mid-day prayers73;' and for fasting and for Hajj, pilgrimage, we are also in need to be patient because our nafs, our ego, never likes them. More than for the first one, Allah Almighty rewards His servants because they are praying and worshipping.
And the third thing that is important for being patient is that you must keep your ego from prohibited actions, because your ego rushes at them. Most important of the three is to be patient when your nafs or ego rushes toward its desires, and you put on reins and control it. "Inna-n-nafs la-ammaratun bis-sou74"; no doubt that our ego always orders us the worst things, not only ordering bad but worse and worst, and if you do not keep its orders, it gets to be very angry with you. Therefore, most people are afraid of their ego, of their nafs; so that it should not be angry with them, they look after their nafs very well, excellently. And the Prophet, p.b.u.h., said, "O my Companions, do you know someone who, if you respect him and give him everything, in the face of your favors and respects to him he puts you down, and, on the contrary, if you put him down, he gives you too much respect?"
The Companions were very surprised, asking, "What kind of a fellow is that? We respect him and he puts us down, but if we put him down then he gives too much respect to us - what kind of a fellow or friend is that?"
73 Refers to the voluntary (nafil, following the Holy Prophet's practice) prayers during the last one-third of the night, and to Duha, the nafil prayers of mid-moming
74 Truly, the nafs commands to evil. (XII:53)
And the Prophet, p.b.u.h., answered, saying, "That is your nafs, your ego." As much as you give it respect, it puts you down; and as much as you are able to be strict with it, it is so respectful to you, saying, "O my Lord, as you like." As long as you say to it, "O my Lord, as you like," it puts you down.
We are respecting our egos too much and saying, "As you like," and we are working for their refreshment and happiness and pleasure. If for one day we would do for our Lord as we do for our nafs, we would be able to fly without wings; we would be able to blink our eyes and then open them in Makkah, or, like this, open them in America. But the whole day, the whole night, we are only thinking about how we can make our ego pleased, how we can give pleasure to our nafs. Is it not true? Who says that it is not like this?
You must not give that chance to your nafs; but we do give it. Therefore we are in need to be patient when our nafs rushes toward its desires. It is impossible to keep yourself if you do not think of your Lord's pleasure. Nafs is the one which is against its Lord; if it is against your Lord, how can it be with you? And it is the most difficult patience that we can practice: to stop our nafs' desires,
We have, in every religion and particularly in Islam, methods by which we may be able to keep our egos from their desires and to make them under our control, but it needs patience. We are taking some power, a little bit, from fasting, but it is not enough during Ramadan only. After Ramadan also we must practice keeping our nafs far away from its desires.
On some days, for controlling our nafs, our ego, we may fast - but not fasting from eating and drinking. You may fast with your eyes; some days you may fast with your tongue; some days you may fast with your hands; some days you may fast with your fe
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I haven't any money, how can I live?" A person means to
65 See, for example, XXII:58, XXIII:72, LXII:ll and other verses of similar meaning
say that with money I can buy provisions, his ego saying to him, "O my good fellow, don't be foolish - without money you can't live!" That is the advice of our egos to ourselves: "You must have money for living. If not, you can't live."
Once Abū Yazid, Sultan al-'Arifin66,' was traveling, and he came to a town and entered a big mosque. He prayed behind the imam, and then the imam turned around like this to look at the people - who was coming, who was going.
He saw a strange person; it was clear that he was not from that country. And he asked, "Who are you? From where are you coming? What do you do?"
Bayazid Bistami Hazretleri, may Allah bless him, said, "Nothing." "No work?"
"No work."
"No profession?" "No profession."
"Then from where do you eat?"
Then Abu Yazid said, "Let me pray my prayer again. I thought that you were a Muslim but you are not yet Muslim, and I must repeat my prayer. How are you the imam here? What are you asking? I thought that you knew that my provision is with my Lord, and yet you are asking, 'From what are you living?'"
And he was saying, "Subhanallān, glory to Allah Almighty! You do not trust in Allah Almighty. Why do you not catch cats or dogs and ask them from what they are living?" he asked that imam. "You have a dog or a cat? Cats, they have jobs? Dogs - a job, a profession, learned ones? Why are you not
66 Bayazid al-Bistami, the King of the Knowers of God
asking them but are catching hold of me to ask me from what I am living? Dogs and cats - from what they are living, I am living, also!" he said, very angry.
Particularly in European countries, I don't think that any cat or any dog thinks about its provision. Do you think so? Yes, fat ones here, they can carry their owners, even, carrying them away. I don't think that they have any worry within themselves about their provisions. But we human beings - we are not like them.
It owner is a person and he is trustworthy; his dog or cat never think about tomorrow. But we are thinking, although the whole world is for ourselves. And Allah Almighty says, "I am your Provider; do you not believe in Me? Am I not a Trustworthy One for you?" But Satan always comes from that direction, making a doubt in our hearts and beginning to destroy our beliefs.
We must believe that even if Allah Almighty made the whole sky to be covered with iron plates and the whole face of the earth to be rock, so that nothing could fall down from the sky or nothing could come up from that rock
- even if they were to be like that, sky and earth, you wouldn't have any right to be in doubt about your provision as long as He says, "I am promising you. I may give bis-sabab or bi-la sabab, through means or without means. I am saying that I shall give. To give you your provision, I am not in need of using means."
Once, at the time of Moses, p.b.u.h., there was a drought; no water, no rain, and people came to Moses and asked him to go out and make du'a, to pray for rain.
And all the people went out. They brought their animals, and then they took away the lambs to one side and the sheep to another side so that the lambs began to cry; and they took the little children, also, with their mothers, so that Allah Almighty might look at them with mercy.
Moses, p.b.u.h., took all the Children of Israel and went to a high hill (it was an old custom of prophets to make du'a on a place which had no sins on it, clean). They went, and Moses prayed and prayed, but no answer to his du'a. And then he asked, "O my Lord, what is the reason?" because if a prophet asks, rain must come, it must rain.
And then Allah' Almighty addressed him: "O Moses, among your people there is a nammam." A nammam is someone who runs to a husband to talk to him against his wife, or to neighbors, from one door to the next, to make mischief, to give harm - a slanderer. And Allah Almighty was saying that there was one person among that huge crowd, one man who was a slanderer.
Then Moses said, "O my Lord, please tell us who that one is so that we may take him away."
"O Moses, I have prohibited people to do that, and now you are asking Me to show you who that one is. But if I were to show you, I would be nammam Myself; if I were to say, 'That person,' then I would be that."
Then that person, the nammam, trembled too much, fearing Allah Almighty and saying within himself, "O my Lord, tubtu wa raj'atu ilaihi - I repent and I am sorry. O my Lord, forgive me!"
Allah Almighty forgave that person, and then heavy clouds came, and rain. The rains increased, increased, so much that if a person on horseback had gone into the water, it would have covered him. But at the end, no grains. There was nothing in the ears.
And then Moses was too angry: "O my Lord, what happened? This has come like bamboo - no grains."
Then Allah Almighty said, "O Moses, I shall show you My wisdom and My power. Make a fire in a tannur."
A tannur is an oven like a big jar, with fire inside. Moses, p.b.u.h., made a fire, and then Allah Almighty ordered: "Take a handful of grain and throw it into the fire." And Moses did that.
Quickly those grains grew, grew, grew, becoming ears; although the fire was burning, in the midst of the fire those grains did not burn but quickly became ears. And then Allah Almighty said, "O Moses, I am the Powerful One who can do everything; you must believe that I am able to do everything. You asked from Me rain and I sent you rain, as much as you asked for. Ask from Me your provisions and I can give. Without rain I can give; even in fire I can give. I am your Lord. You must believe in your Lord!"
Yes, we are afraid for tomorrow, but Allah Almighty, the Lord, is saying: "O My servant, I am not asking today for tomorrow's worshipping. When you come to tomorrow, then I will ask for your prayers for that day. Prayers are at their proper times; before their time I am not asking for them. Then why are you asking today about tomorrow, about next week, next month, next year? Why are you asking? If you want to keep it, you may keep it, but it may be that you have kept something that is not for you but for someone else."
Therefore Allah Almighty wants to take more heavy burdens from ourselves so that we may be lighter, we may be more at ease in this life. He wants an easy life for us but we are making it heavier, a heavy burden that we can't carry. If we believe with certainty, then our life is so easy. We have only been ordered to be in the time which we are in; we haven't been ordered to look after one hour later, one day, one week, one month, one year later. That is making troubles and difficulties for the life of mankind.
All creatures have itm'inan, confidence, within themselves. Why not for the Children of Adam, for mankind? What is the reason? No other one among creatures has been given a mind, no, and without minds they are living in confidence, in tranquility. But we have minds and we are not in confidence.
Therefore we must believe in our Lord, that He is able to do everything to make everything, to give everything, both which we can imagine or beyond our imagination, also; He is muqtadir, all-powerful to do everything. And every time Satan works on that point, particularly in our times; in our times he causes too much harm to people, to believers, beliefs, causing the destruction of their beliefs.
In this country there are so many foreigners; I must tell them, also. So many millions of foreigners are escaping from their countries and coming to England. I wonder if they are finding another provider in London. Do you think so, or the Same One?The Same One, the Only One - the Same One who gives to us here or in our homelands.
We are making our life difficult. That provision was apportioned before the creation of this universe, a long, long time ago; and it is like our shadow, following us, or like our ajal, our term of life, following ourselves for the limit of our life.
Our life is within limits, and our provision is within limits, also. You can't escape from death and you can't escape from your provision. You can't eat from his provision, he can't eat from your provision; everyone must eat from his own appointed provisions and finish and then go. No fear; if you know that, even if you are in your homeland, those provisions must come to you, because no one else can eat from them - they must come to you.
By the name of Allah, All-mighty, All-merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent.
Each time, we say, "Most Beneficent, Most Munificent." Allah Almighty is asking His servants to be merciful to His creatures, always mentioning and proclaiming His attributes of mercy.
You must also be merciful to each other because Allah Almighty, with His Mercy Oceans, gives to His creatures, and all creatures in existence take their shares from the Mercy Oceans which belong to His Holy Name, ar- Rahman. It is impossible to finish those Mercy Oceans which belong to His Holy Name ar-Rahman because everything that belongs to Allah Almighty is endless. And then, He is also ar-Rahim. There are Mercy Oceans which belong to the Holy Name ar-Rahim, signalling to His servants to be merciful to all other people and to everyone in existence.
We as human beings, the Children of Adam, must be people of much understanding, as Allah Almighty teaches us through His prophets and holy books. All of us were in the same universe before coming to this life; everyone's soul comes from the spiritual world or from the Heavens, and it is in this form during this life. All of us, we were in the spiritual world, all our souls, but I don't think that we were quarreling or fighting there. Do you suppose such a thing? Who remembers? Almost no one remembers. Only certain exceptions we have, when Allah Almighty opens the veil to His servant. Then he knows.
Our Grandsheikh, may Allah bless him, was speaking, and he asked a question: "What is the benefit of all shari'ats and tariqats67? What is the aim of the prophets and of their messages? From the beginning up to the end, for what does Allah Almighty send His prophets and His messages, and what is He going to teach people through His shari'ats, and through tariqats, also?"
Tariqat and shari'at are from the same source, no difference; but now people have changed their understanding and are getting a wrong meaning of tariqat. Tariqat is mysticism in every religion, and it must be. As we are not
67 While shari'at is the divinely-revealed Law, tariqat (literally, "way" or "path") is a path of discipline and devotion at the hands of a sheikh of an Islamic Sufi order whose spiritual descent may be traced to the Holy Prpohet either though Abu Bakr Siddiq (the Naqhsbandiyah) or through 'Ali ibnTalib (all aother tariqats)
going to be without hearts - you can't be only a form, an external appearance; there is something inside, also - so every religion has some external functions or actions, and some others, also, which are inner, internal; must be. Do you think that oceans or seas are only what we see, blue water, with nothing inside it? So many creatures that covers.
Therefore you can't find any religion without mysticism; must be - yes. And our Grandsheikh was speaking and asking that question: "What is the purpose of every shari'at and of tariqats? For what do they make people to act, to work, to worship, to fast, to do charities, to believe, or to do anything else?" And he was giving that question's answer: That all the wisdom of shari'ats and their orders and actions, in every religion, is because we are, all of us, in prison during this life.
In the womb of your mother you were looking at Heaven, and also when it comes to this life, for one day, two days, three, four, five, six, seven days mostly, that new baby looks at Heaven; no veil on its heart's eyes. After that they are going to be veiled; the veil comes and no more looking. There are only certain exceptions among mankind who are not veiled, ever, not covered. And Grandsheikh said, concerning those exceptions, "I am one of them." Not I, but Grandsheikh was, and when he opened it to me, I was looking; no worry. From the time of his birth up to the end, he was saying, "O Nazim Efendi, I never veiled my heart." And the main purpose and divine wisdoms of shari'ats and tariqats is only to take away that veil that comes on your heart's eyes; it is only for that opening.
Therefore the Holy Qur'an begins with the surah of Opening, al Fatehah; that surah opens to you. If a person looks to al-Fatehah for the meanings which every scholar can know, he may be able to acquire all the meanings of the life of men through those seven verses of the Surah of Opening, and those
are the actions of the Shari'ah in Islam. But when you keep to that surah by way of tariqat, it brings you an opening through your heart68.
When you reach that station, when the veils are taken from your heart's eyes, you will find yourself in the same universe that you were in before. We are still there, just as the sun is in the sky while it is on earth; we say, "The sun is here," while the sun is in the skies. It is just the same situation for your soul. Everyone's soul is like a shining sun and it has a station in Heaven, in the Divine Presence, never leaving its worshipping, never leaving its glorifying its Lord, Allah Almighty.
Don't suppose that our souls are sitting in silence, like this. All of them, in the Divine Presence, were glorifying and praising their Lord, Allah Almighty, and they are continuing the same thing. But we are here, and from that shining sun of our soul, only one ray comes and commands this body. If the whole of one soul's power were to appear in this world, it would quickly melt, going away; it would not be able to bear it. Therefore Allah Almighty only sends one ray representing your personality, which is in the Divine Presence, to come into this world.
And we are trying to be in contact with our realities, with our real existence in Heaven and in the Divine Presence. Therefore, prophets, messengers, came from Allah Almighty to make a connection through our hearts to those heavenly stations.
That is the meaning of all the practices in every religion; and finally the aim of every practice or worship in Islam is to make a connection from yourself to your real personality in the Divine Presence. The one who can reach his divine position is a real deputy of his Lord, Allah Almighty. That is the meaning of the Prophet's saying, "Mutu qabla an tamutu, die before you die,"
68 That is, the meanings of Surat al-Fatehah which are commonly understood by Islamic scho lars relate to the external observances of the Shari'ah, the Divine Law sent down for mankind through the Holy Prophet, while the meanings understood through tariqats relate to inner aspects and the spiritual life
so that you may reach real life in the Divine Presence. Whoever "dies before dying" reaches peace, absolute peace and absolute happiness; he reaches his universe that Allah Almighty gives to him and makes him sultan, majestic, in his territory in the Divine Presence. They do not sit like this, all together, but in an endless divine territory, each one taking what Allah Almighty gives to him, and no one knows his muhimmah, importance, in the Divine Presence.
Therefore, the more you improve in divine knowledge which passes through yourself, self-knowledge, the more you may feel refreshment in your heart. You may feel that you are in an endless world, never inside a narrow space; and as much as you improve in divine knowledge, you will want more, because you will receive more pleasure and ask for more. Perhaps you may send a little boy to school by force because he has not yet tasted anything of knowledge, but when he reaches a position of tasting what he reads and understanding it, he is going to be pleased with learning and to ask for more and more.
To the extent that you have more divine knowledge, it will give you more pleasure, more peace more happiness, more satisfaction; and we are also in need to know or to ask for more divine knowledge in order to reach peace during our lives. And the way to divine knowledge passes through ourselves. When you are sitting in your station in the Divine Presence - I mean to say, when there is a connection from your heart to your real personality in the Divine Presence - there will always flow from it to you, to your heart, more divine knowledge through yourself; because divine knowledge comes to your real personality in the Divine Presence, and you may take from there to your heart, and your pleasure will grow, never ending. Therefore we must try to practice the spiritual ways of Islam because it is important and necessary for our lives, in order to reach real life and to reach real deputies' stations while we are in this life.
Three times each day Allah Almighty gives His servants more favors; you must be musta'id, ready, to receive more divine favors. Those who find their Lord's divine favors find them during these three times:
During the twenty-four hours, from 'Asr up to Maghrib69 is one of the most precious times when the divine manifestations come on people, and you must be ready to receive that with your heart. Then, from Maghrib up to 'Isha70. And when night passes and there remains the last one-third of the night, that is the most precious time; the one who wants spiritual improvement, he must look after that time. Those first two times are also such precious times, but the most precious of all is during the third and last part of the night before dawn; it may be three hours, may be four hours or five hours or more, according to the length of the night. You must be ready at that time to accept the spiritual and heavenly rays that touch your heart.
No one reaches his divine station without awakening at least as long as the time of praying two rak'ats before dawn every night. That is a limited time, but at least you must be there, ready, even if only for two rak'ats. You may take a shower, ghusl -, that is best; either a shower or wudu, and then standing facing qiblah71, praying two rak'ats and then sitting, seeing to it that no one is with you except One - not your wife or your children or your parents or your friends; no one may be with you.
Only One is going to be with you, and you must think that at this time I am here alone; everyone has gone from me and only One is with me. My Lord is with me. From every direction, inside, outside, He is with me, and, O my Lord, I am with you. Then there rain upon you from Heaven rays of lights,
69 That is, between the time of 'Asr, the late afternoon prayer, up to Maghrib, sunset time, when the fourth of the five daily prayers is observed
70 From sunset up to the time of complete darkness, when 'Isha, the fifth prayer of the day, is observed
71 The direction which faces the Sacred House of God in Makkah, the Holy K´abah
divine lights, preparing your heart, taking it away from this life's preoccupations and making you in the Divine Presence.
One, two, three, four, five nights; ten nights, twelve, twenty, thirty nights. If you are keeping that with your Lord, then it should be for you; He should grant to you some lights in your heart, and it is the beginning of an opening for you. And then, when you feel that opening, you must continue, because the most important miracle is to continue on your way without turning back. And every forty nights a new light comes to gather in your heart until that light cuts the veil in your heart, making an operation, taking it away, and you are looking at your universe that Allah Almighty granted to you.
By the name of Allah, All-mighty, All-merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent. "Innama yuwaffa-s-sabiruna ajrahum bi-ghairi hisab72." We are in need of patience, everyone. Yes; the most important thing is to be patient throughout this life. Allah Almighty gives to shakirin, the people who are thankful for His favors, numbered rewards. But for sabirin, people who can be patient, the angels put down their pens; they are unable to write the amount of reward, and Allah Almighty Himself writes and gives rewards for those people who are patient.
Now, there are three kinds of patience. First, this world is not a place for being in pleasure always; So many times it is a very heavy burden, this life, and you must be patient. There may be illness; every kind of trouble may come on people. It is outside our wills. We are not able to take it away; by itself it comes on us. Therefore you must be patient, because everything in this life is within limits, and even if you are not patient, that trouble will never go away till its time is finished. Nothing continues; there must be a limit - for
72 Verily, those who are patient will be given their reward without measure. (XXXIX:10)
pleasure or for sadness, for troubles, for every kind of a thing. And Allah Almighty gives rewards to those who are patient.
And second, we must be patient for worshipping. To make wudu, to do ghusl, washing; to do prayers, for fasting or for pilgrimage - for all of them we are in need to be patient because without patience you can't do them. Your nafs never likes them, and you are forcing yourself to pray, to make wudu, to get up for night prayers, to do mid-day prayers73;' and for fasting and for Hajj, pilgrimage, we are also in need to be patient because our nafs, our ego, never likes them. More than for the first one, Allah Almighty rewards His servants because they are praying and worshipping.
And the third thing that is important for being patient is that you must keep your ego from prohibited actions, because your ego rushes at them. Most important of the three is to be patient when your nafs or ego rushes toward its desires, and you put on reins and control it. "Inna-n-nafs la-ammaratun bis-sou74"; no doubt that our ego always orders us the worst things, not only ordering bad but worse and worst, and if you do not keep its orders, it gets to be very angry with you. Therefore, most people are afraid of their ego, of their nafs; so that it should not be angry with them, they look after their nafs very well, excellently. And the Prophet, p.b.u.h., said, "O my Companions, do you know someone who, if you respect him and give him everything, in the face of your favors and respects to him he puts you down, and, on the contrary, if you put him down, he gives you too much respect?"
The Companions were very surprised, asking, "What kind of a fellow is that? We respect him and he puts us down, but if we put him down then he gives too much respect to us - what kind of a fellow or friend is that?"
73 Refers to the voluntary (nafil, following the Holy Prophet's practice) prayers during the last one-third of the night, and to Duha, the nafil prayers of mid-moming
74 Truly, the nafs commands to evil. (XII:53)
And the Prophet, p.b.u.h., answered, saying, "That is your nafs, your ego." As much as you give it respect, it puts you down; and as much as you are able to be strict with it, it is so respectful to you, saying, "O my Lord, as you like." As long as you say to it, "O my Lord, as you like," it puts you down.
We are respecting our egos too much and saying, "As you like," and we are working for their refreshment and happiness and pleasure. If for one day we would do for our Lord as we do for our nafs, we would be able to fly without wings; we would be able to blink our eyes and then open them in Makkah, or, like this, open them in America. But the whole day, the whole night, we are only thinking about how we can make our ego pleased, how we can give pleasure to our nafs. Is it not true? Who says that it is not like this?
You must not give that chance to your nafs; but we do give it. Therefore we are in need to be patient when our nafs rushes toward its desires. It is impossible to keep yourself if you do not think of your Lord's pleasure. Nafs is the one which is against its Lord; if it is against your Lord, how can it be with you? And it is the most difficult patience that we can practice: to stop our nafs' desires,
We have, in every religion and particularly in Islam, methods by which we may be able to keep our egos from their desires and to make them under our control, but it needs patience. We are taking some power, a little bit, from fasting, but it is not enough during Ramadan only. After Ramadan also we must practice keeping our nafs far away from its desires.
On some days, for controlling our nafs, our ego, we may fast - but not fasting from eating and drinking. You may fast with your eyes; some days you may fast with your tongue; some days you may fast with your hands; some days you may fast with your fe
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