Mercy Oceans, Book 12 (192 pages, 13/15)
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slim neighbors.
Anyone may be invited to give a talk about Islam in a church. A church is also built to be a place for worshipping the Lord, Almighty Allah, and Allah Almighty rewards those people according to their intentions. It is impossible for a person not to be rewarded if he has sincere and good intentions; he must be rewarded by the Lord, Almighty Allah - don't suppose anything else. A person may be Christian, may be Jewish, may be from another religion, and Allah Almighty looks at his intentions and rewards him.
I heard a tale about a Majusi125,- a fire-worshipper who lived in Baghdad. After his death, a grandsheikh looked into Paradise and saw that one there. And he was surprised and asked, "How can you be in Paradise when you were a fire-worshipper?"
Saints have been given divine lights; to the true and real believers, Allah Almighty gives through the lights of real faith, and they are from divine lights. But they have been given only to those people who really believe. Therefore,
125 Zoroastrian
if a person has been given real faith's lights, no distance or darkness or huge mountains can hold him back; his lights reach everywhere, reaching into your hearts, also. Nothing holds back those lights.
Therefore, that grandsheikh could look into Paradise; such people can see Paradise. They have come to be out of time and space; they may look and may see. And that grandsheikh saw that person, the Majusi, in Paradise and asked, "How can you be here?"
That is in order to give people something of real knowledge and of divine knowledge, so that servants may know something about their Lord's attributes, and in order that no one should be hopeless. Every one may hope; everyone has a right to be hopeful of his Lord's Mercy Oceans. When Allah Almighty wants to save His servants from the hands of devils, He has endless, countless ways to save them. Therefore we have rights to be hopeful, fully hopeful.
And when that grandsheikh asked him, the fire-worshipper said, "O my Lord's servant, the reason that I am here in Paradise is a simple, very simple thing. I wasn't taking any care about it, but it happened:
"One day I saw that my child, a little boy, had a piece of bread in his hand, eating it, and I took him by his ear and said: "Do you not know that this is the holy month for Muslims? They are fasting. Then how are you carrying a piece of bread in your hand and, eating it, while people are respecting that this is the holy month126? What are you doing?' And I slapped him and took him inside," the Majusi said.
That was the reason why he was in Paradise: first, because he was a Majusi, a fire-worshiper - he had no responsibility for fasting because he wasn't Muslim; and secondly, although that was a small boy and no fasting
126 Even anong non-Muslims living in Muslim areas, eating in public during the daytime in Ramadan was considered a mark of disrespect for the sanctity of the holy month and toward ones Muslim neighbors
for him, even then his father respected Holy Ramadan and taught adab, good manners, to his child. Then Allah Almighty was pleased with that servant. When he was ready to leave this life, He sent divine lights, coming on him, and the seed of faith that was planted by Allah Almighty opened, and he said Shahadah and entered Paradise.
Therefore, a person may be sincere in his beliefs and have good inentions. And Allah Almighty looks at your heart. If it is correct, all right; don't be hopeless. And, also, don't be fearless. Hopeless, without hope; fearless, without fear. Yes, you must be fear-full, not fear-less - fearful of Allah Almighty.
Pharoah brought more than 250,000 magicians to have a contest with Moses, p.b.u.h. Moses came singly, alone, but they were a very big crowd, and you wouldn't have been able to look at them because they were clothed in such strange and horrible shapes, filling that big plain. And Moses came with a big stick, wearing simple clothes and so long a beard.
Then the chief of the magicians came toward Moses, standing there, and Moses looked at him while he was coming. Prophets' eyes look with divine lights. And when that chief magician came, he came surrendered; and he said to Moses, "Are you going to begin, or shall we begin the contest?127" And it was enough for that person and for that whole huge crowd of magicians to come into Islam, to come into iman - only that word.
Allah Almighty was looking at them; what was going to happen, He knew. That chief magician, when he came to Moses, came humbly and keeping his respect, because he was someone who had understanding: when he looked at Moses and saw him alone, he knew with exact knowledge that if that person, Moses, were the same as ourselves, he would never find the courage to come and compete with our huge crowd here. So Moses'
127 Refers to VII:115 and XX:65. The complete narratives concerning Moses and the magicians are found in VII:113–126; X:79-82; XX:57-73; and XXVI:34-52
authority cannot be coming from the earth; it must be heavenly and therefore I must ask permission. And he came, asking, "Are you going to begin, or do you give us permission to begin?"
That asking permission from Moses, p.b.u.h., made Allah Almighty pleased with all those magicians. A magician's work is kufr128, strongly prohibited.
That is the worst job, the worst activity: Allah Almighty never likes it. But when the chief came and asked Moses' permission, that adab made Allah Almighty pleased with the whole assembly.
Then Moses said, "You may begin." And lights, divine lights, came into their hearts, and that seed of belief, the seed of faith, that was planted on the Day of Promises129 began to grow up, quickly growing. And when Moses threw down his stick, a huge snake appeared; when it opened its mouth, between its two jaws there was one mile's distance. Pharoah was sitting in his palace, and after finishing everything that the magicians had put there, their sticks and ropes, that gigantic snake rushed at Pharoah, opening its mouth to swallow the whole palace, Allah Almighty bringing him down.
When they saw that happening, all the magicians quickly ran to make sajdah, prostrating themselves, and in that sajdah Allah Almighty showed each one of them his station in Paradise. And Pharoah, so angry, said, "What are you doing? You are all partners with this one; Moses is your chief! I shall cut off your hands and feet, and then I shall hang you on the trunks of palm trees!"
And they said, "It doesn't matter; no worry. You can cut, you can do anything to our physical bodies, but our souls are free. We are with our Lord."
128 Unbelief, denial of God
129 A reference to that occasion in pre-eternity. mentioned in VII:72, when Allah Almighty assembled the souls of all human beings-to-come and asked then, "Am I not your Lord?” whereupon they replied, "Yes, truly," thereby affirming their witness to their Lord´s existence and unity throughout all times and under all conditions
Therefore, adab, good manners and good behavior, is the fruit of good intentions, always. But good intentions come from sincerity, and sincerity does not come without deep beliefs. And we are asking forgiveness for our bad behavior, bad intentions and bad actions.
By the name of Allah, All-mighty, All-merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent. Every building needs a base; every structure stands upon a base, yes? This building, without a base, a foundation, would never stand up, and a strong building must have a strong foundation.
There is a big mosque in Istanbul, one of the biggest mosques in the Islamic world, Sülemaniye. This night it is going to be full, about 50,000 people entering it for the Night of Power (tonight we are observing it). And this famous mosque has a story: .
Suleyman, Sultan Sulaiman the Magnificent, ordered his architect to build for him a mosque, a big mosque, to be magnificent. As the sultan was magnificent, so must his mosque also be magnificent.
And, as he had been ordered, the architect made foundations; and a foundation means digging with pickaxe and shovel, not these machines, coming and doing it quickly, no. They went down to the distance where water comes; down to there they dug. When the water came, it was enough digging, and he filled up the whole foundation
Then he disappeared. And the sultan was very angry and ordered - all the people of the empire to try to find that person: "Quickly bring him to me!"
One year, two years, three years, four years - where is this person? I am going to die and this person has disappeared! If he is not going to build it, we must look for another one; but he was the magnificent one, also, in his architecture.
Yes. Then, when it was going to be seven years and the sultan was too angry, that architect appeared. The sultan was too much angry: "Where were you?!!!"
"O Sultan, you are the sultan! You know what you are going to do. But you are not an architect. The architect I am. You understand about governing this empire, but this building I understand; you do not understand. If I had not disappeared and had built as you ordered, quickly, then perhaps after one year or ten years this would have fallen down.
"Now I will build a building and will put on it such a dome that, if, on the Last Day, there is an earthquake throughout the whole world, this dome will fall down and roll like a helmet on the ground, not breaking. I am that architect; you are the sultan. This building I have responsibility for."
We are saying this for understanding that every important building must be built on strong foundations. Then, what about Islam, which we know from the Prophet, p.b.u.h.?
Our teachers have taught us that Islam has how many "pillars"? Five pillars. But these pillars must be raised on a strong foundation. And what is that foundation?
The Prophet, p.b.u.h., said, "Utitu jawami'-l-kalam130. I have been given authority to speak, and if I say a few words, they may contain an ocean of knowledge." And his inheritors, awliya, also have such an authority to speak or to give an understanding, to give wisdoms, in brief words. Grandsheikh was one of those inheritors, no doubt, and he was saying:
"O Nazim Efendi, the foundation that Islam is raised on is one thing. It is also so for every religion, because Islam is the universal, original religion from the beginning, from the time of Adam up to the end; and Islam is just built on one
130 I have been given conciseness (or comprehensiveness) of speech. (Hadith)
thing, and that is tahammul: to be able to carry or to bear everything that may come to the Children of Adam."
In this life everything is just loaded upon the Children of Adam. This life is a heavy burden on everyone, and you have been ordered to carry that heavy burden. Therefore Islam and its pillars are trusts from Allah Almighty, and you have been ordered to carry those trusts on your shoulders.
When Allah Almighty called the mountains and all the seven worlds and the Seven Heavens, and ordered them to carry His divine trust, amanat, they said, "O our Lord, are you ordering us to carry that, or giving a choice to us? We are saying, "We can't. Forgive us; we can't carry that.' 131Then Allah Almighty made it like a piece of stone and Adam lifted it a little bit, and - like this, like this, like this - lifted it higher and higher. When he had raised it to his middle, Allah Almighty said, "It is going to be on your shoulders, My divine trust. You should carry it."
"Innahu kana dhaluman jahula132": Man is too dhalim, unjust and cruel, in not looking after that divine trust, to keep it; Allah knows that they are unjust and ignorant about their Lord's rights. And we are carrying it; all the Children of Adam, we are carrying that divine trust, or we have been asked to carry it.
And you can't carry it if you haven't any belief in your Lord; if you are not a believer you can't carry that divine trust.
Every divine command that has come through prophets to ourselves is a heavy burden; but without being able to carry that heavy burden, it is impossible to keep those divine commands. Therefore, our religion, Islam,
131 See XXXIII:72
132 truly, he (man) was unjust and ignorant. (XXXIII:72)
and all the religions which are Islam, also133, are just built on being able to carry everything. In other words, when the Prophet was asked, "Ma al-iman? What is iman, what is faith?" he replied only with one word, saying, "As-sabr, to be patient."
"To be patient" means to be able to carry every heavy burden on your shoulders; that is being patient. Now, we are saying this, and our grandsheikh, Abu Yazid134, was also saying: "The meaning of tariqat, in our view, is to be able to carry, to bear, every unliked thing during your life; that is the meaning of tariqat that I am giving to you. If anyone is asking what is the meaning of tariqat, I am saying to him: ´To be able to carry every burden during this life.'" And it means to be sufficiently powerful in one's faith, because if a person is not powerful enough in his beliefs, he can't carry those difficult burdens.
Who can carry heavy burdens? Only those people who believe in their Lord's rewards and prizes, because He says, "Innama yuwaffa-s-sabiruna ajrahum bi-ghairi hisab135": Allah Almighty promises that those people who are carying every heavy burden during this life should be given prizes and rewarded with endless divine favors and endless mercies. Whoever believes in that may bear, may be patient. If not, it is as if you are asking a person to do a heavy piece of work and he says, "I can't do it." You say, "I shall give you ten pounds." He says, "No." "I will give you twenty"; he says, "No." "I will give you fifty pounds"; he says, "No." "I will give you one hundred pounds"; he says, "I can't." "I will give you one thousand." Then he is going to shake and tremble: "You are really going to give me one thousand?" I say: "Yes, I shall give it to you." I give it to him, and then he can do that difficult work.
133 That is, Islam, the path of surrender and submission to God Almighty, is the original, incorrupted divinely-revealed faith brought by every prophet, including Moses and Jesus, peace be upon them all
134 Bayazid Bistani, a great Naqshbandi wali
135 "Truly He bestows upon the patient their reward without measure." (XXXIX:10)
Yes; as much as servants are carrying heavy burdens, they will be given more rewards. Therefore you must believe in your Lord's, Allah Almighty's, saying, "I will pay you endlessly. There will be eternal. never-ending favors for you if you are patient." Whoever believes in that can be patient.
Therefore you can see believers being patient; but unbelievers can't be patient - never. If people were patient, there would be no more hospitals, no more prisons, no more courts. But when beliefs go down, people become impatient.
One of our sisters was asking and expressing a kind of complaint that from every side are coming thorns: from children, from husband, from neighbors, from our community, also, and she was becoming upset.
And there is no cure except to believe in our Lord, Allah Almighty. He never leaves His servants during this life without a trial, and He is asking His servants only to be patient.
Yes, you must be patient, everyone, as much as you can. And that grandsheikh, Sultan al-Arifin Abu Yazid, was saying and was practicing, also, his words. He was saying: "I kept myself among my family in my house, and I tested myself to see if I was patient with my family, most of all with my wife."
That is important for a man - to be able to carry his wife. First you must be with her, carrying her, and then you must carry children, little ones - crying, shouting, breaking. For everything you see you must be patient.
He was testing himself: one day, two days, one week, two weeks. And then he was saying: "Now I am all right with my family. I know that they are parts of myself and I am carrying them. But it is not enough. I must also carry other people." And he was going out, going through the markets, among people, and testing himself to see whether he could carry people, also.
Yes, it is important, also, to carry people, to bear them. All the prophets carried them. For some of them, there were so many people harming them, and then finally the prophets made du'a against them. Noah for nine- hundred-and-fifty years carried his nation. Every day he went out and called people to his Lord's worship, and they threw on him stones and sticks, making him fall down and then leaving him; they would say, "He is dead now," and go.
For nine-hundred-and-fifty years he bore it. Then he said, "Rabbi, la tadhar 'ala-l-ardi mina-l-kafirina dayyara136,” and Allah Almighty sent the Flood. But our Prophet, p.b.u.h., was saying, "I was the one who bore peoples' adha, harm, the most. No one bore as much as I bore." Allah Almighty's order is to bear and the sunnah of our Prophet, for his nation, is to carry, to bear.
et, pub.. dayyara, en ander said,
We are gathered and living here for this holy month, and we must be patient for carrying each other, and also we must be careful that we do not harm anyone. Trials from Allah Almighty are going on; sometimes without our will comes some unliked thing. We must be patient, we must carry it. As much as you can carry trials, you are going to develop your faith and you should find more spiritual improvement.
Whoever is able to be more patient, he is improving in his spiritual development. Therefore Abu Yazid was going around his town, his city to see if he was able to carry people. He tested himself for a while and then he said, "O my ego, you are a well-known person in your city. Everyone knows you and respects you. You must go to some foreign countries where they do not know you and may harm you with their actions, with their words. You must go. I do not trust that you are carrying everyone."
136 My Lord, do not leave upon this earth a single one of the unbelievers (LXXI:26)
And he went and traveled around various countries and saw whether he could carry people or not. Then he gave a sign that it was all right: I can trust you, O my ego, that you are carrying everyone. And that is the top point of faith, to be patient enough to carry people, because every prophet carried them, and our beloved Muhammad, p.b.u.h., just bore every hard from people. Therefore you can't find anyone who has improved in his faith without bearing people and their harm.
And we are in need of this, particularly in our time when people are getting to be more egotistical, when they only like their egos and are less respectful to one another because they are weaker day by day in their beliefs; and if no belief, then no respect among people. People are becoming like robots, only sharing in benefits; they are looking and coming together for the purpose of investment only, nothing else - to get some advantage. If that goes on among them, no one will bring them together, and their love also does not come from heart to heart; finished. No more real love among people now because they are not giving heart love; they are giving another kind of "love," not heart love.
I saw a couple and they were saying, "We have been together for fifty years," an English family. But everyone whom I ask, "Are you married?" says, "Once I was..." - everyone! Those people are very few now; to continue for fifty years means that they are giving their love from heart to heart. But others are not giving their love; it is "love" as cats in March give "love" to each other - you know? - and afterwards, no more love among cats.
Now civilization is like cats' civilization, cats' love - for three days, three months or six months; then finished. That is love? Therefore it has no reality; neither one can carry the other. Real faith makes people carry each other, and if a wife is not able to carry or to bear her husband, or if a husband is not able to carry his wife, who can carry another person? No one. And that is the cause of illness, those crises which are increasing in our time in every
branch of our life. And the way is only to believe with real faith and to be sincere with your Lord, and your Lord will support you for every burden and will support you to carry His divine trust.
By the name of Allah, All-mighty, All-merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent. Association with a sheikh gives more power to our faith, and then it gives familiarity to everyone who attends such an assembly and meeting. But the characteristic of our egos is never to be familiar with anyone; every ego wants to be independent, by itself. It should be the first and only one among people, as a king is never going to agree to let someone sit on the same throne with himself.
That is the characteristic of our egos, always wanting to be the only one in its stage or in its station. The people of Pharoah, the Egyptian ruler, were a nation worshipping idols; so many idols, so many gods or goddesses, they worshipped. And Pharoah didn't agree to be one among all these; he wanted to be the chief, the head one. "Fa-qala, 'Ana Rabbukumu-l-a'la137”; he claimed, "O people, I am your most famous, most honored Lord. The most important one, that is I."
And everyone among mankind has an ego; you can't find anyone without an ego. Everyone has been given an ego, and ego has the same attribute from beginning to end; its characteristic never changes.
O n the Night Journey, Allah Almighty addressed His Holy Prophet, beloved Muhammad, p.b.u.h., and said, "O My servant, beloved Muhammad! If I were to give such an opportunity or chance as I gave to Pharoah, each one of My servants would be just like Pharoah; they would say to people, 'I am your greatest Lord.' If they find the same conditions and same power and authority that I gave to Pharoah, they are going to be like him."
137 Then he (Pharoah) said, 'I am your Lord Most High.' (LXXIX:24)
Therefore you must be careful about your ego, and you must not blame anyone, even Pharoah. Don't say that Pharoah was such a bad one. You can't believe in your ego, either, because Allah Almighty is saying, "If I leave you free and no one is commanding you, you are going to be like Pharoah. You will also say, 'I am your Lord,' to people. But I am not giving that chance to you." Therefore you must look at your own ego, and don't blame anyone because he does not worship or he is not a good charactered person. If we are left in the hands of our ego, our ways will also go in that direction.
Therefore this assembly gives familiarity to the attenders, because if any group comes to meet for the sake of Allah, for the love of our Lord, then the Lord, Almighty Allah, sends upon the attenders from His divine Mercy Oceans, covering them. It is such an effective mercy that if even one drop comes on a person - even if he is an unbeliever, only coming to see what those people are, what they are doing; out of curiosity coming and looking from the door to see who is there, those people sitting, and little by little coming and sitting down, curious - if that drop from divine Mercy Oceans falls on him, coming on his soul, even if he leaves this meeting and never returns, that is going to affect that person's inner life.
As an example, I may say that there is a bad illness now, very bad and dangerous; no one can be saved if that comes to a person. From very simple things it may come to people, and it is impossible to be saved from it., I am using an example from that bad thing, and also from Allah Almighty138, because we are sitting here for the sake of our Lord and we are sitting in His love.
We are not sitting here for the enjoyment of this life. Whoever wants enjoyment and pleasure for this life, outside there is too much; he may go. No one is coming here asking for his physical body's pleasure, but our souls
138 That is, as a tiny microbe can cause a fatal illness, so the smallest drop of God's infinite mercy can ultimately result in salvation
are thirsty for those Mercy Oceans and then we are attending here; and most people are coming from the far East, from the far West, from far countries. They are not coming here for eating or drinking; they may find eating and drinking in their own countries, also. But the thing which is gathering people in this place is only the love that Allah Almighty puts into every heart. But most people are imprisoning that love in a deep part of their hearts; they are not opening the door for it to come out.
And therefore we are here in the love of our Lord, attending, and that Mercy Ocean comes, and if even one drop comes on a person, it is a sign that that person is going to be a happy one. Finally he should come to the caravan that is moving toward Allah Almighty's Divine Presence.
Yes. Two caravans are moving, and every
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slim neighbors.
Anyone may be invited to give a talk about Islam in a church. A church is also built to be a place for worshipping the Lord, Almighty Allah, and Allah Almighty rewards those people according to their intentions. It is impossible for a person not to be rewarded if he has sincere and good intentions; he must be rewarded by the Lord, Almighty Allah - don't suppose anything else. A person may be Christian, may be Jewish, may be from another religion, and Allah Almighty looks at his intentions and rewards him.
I heard a tale about a Majusi125,- a fire-worshipper who lived in Baghdad. After his death, a grandsheikh looked into Paradise and saw that one there. And he was surprised and asked, "How can you be in Paradise when you were a fire-worshipper?"
Saints have been given divine lights; to the true and real believers, Allah Almighty gives through the lights of real faith, and they are from divine lights. But they have been given only to those people who really believe. Therefore,
125 Zoroastrian
if a person has been given real faith's lights, no distance or darkness or huge mountains can hold him back; his lights reach everywhere, reaching into your hearts, also. Nothing holds back those lights.
Therefore, that grandsheikh could look into Paradise; such people can see Paradise. They have come to be out of time and space; they may look and may see. And that grandsheikh saw that person, the Majusi, in Paradise and asked, "How can you be here?"
That is in order to give people something of real knowledge and of divine knowledge, so that servants may know something about their Lord's attributes, and in order that no one should be hopeless. Every one may hope; everyone has a right to be hopeful of his Lord's Mercy Oceans. When Allah Almighty wants to save His servants from the hands of devils, He has endless, countless ways to save them. Therefore we have rights to be hopeful, fully hopeful.
And when that grandsheikh asked him, the fire-worshipper said, "O my Lord's servant, the reason that I am here in Paradise is a simple, very simple thing. I wasn't taking any care about it, but it happened:
"One day I saw that my child, a little boy, had a piece of bread in his hand, eating it, and I took him by his ear and said: "Do you not know that this is the holy month for Muslims? They are fasting. Then how are you carrying a piece of bread in your hand and, eating it, while people are respecting that this is the holy month126? What are you doing?' And I slapped him and took him inside," the Majusi said.
That was the reason why he was in Paradise: first, because he was a Majusi, a fire-worshiper - he had no responsibility for fasting because he wasn't Muslim; and secondly, although that was a small boy and no fasting
126 Even anong non-Muslims living in Muslim areas, eating in public during the daytime in Ramadan was considered a mark of disrespect for the sanctity of the holy month and toward ones Muslim neighbors
for him, even then his father respected Holy Ramadan and taught adab, good manners, to his child. Then Allah Almighty was pleased with that servant. When he was ready to leave this life, He sent divine lights, coming on him, and the seed of faith that was planted by Allah Almighty opened, and he said Shahadah and entered Paradise.
Therefore, a person may be sincere in his beliefs and have good inentions. And Allah Almighty looks at your heart. If it is correct, all right; don't be hopeless. And, also, don't be fearless. Hopeless, without hope; fearless, without fear. Yes, you must be fear-full, not fear-less - fearful of Allah Almighty.
Pharoah brought more than 250,000 magicians to have a contest with Moses, p.b.u.h. Moses came singly, alone, but they were a very big crowd, and you wouldn't have been able to look at them because they were clothed in such strange and horrible shapes, filling that big plain. And Moses came with a big stick, wearing simple clothes and so long a beard.
Then the chief of the magicians came toward Moses, standing there, and Moses looked at him while he was coming. Prophets' eyes look with divine lights. And when that chief magician came, he came surrendered; and he said to Moses, "Are you going to begin, or shall we begin the contest?127" And it was enough for that person and for that whole huge crowd of magicians to come into Islam, to come into iman - only that word.
Allah Almighty was looking at them; what was going to happen, He knew. That chief magician, when he came to Moses, came humbly and keeping his respect, because he was someone who had understanding: when he looked at Moses and saw him alone, he knew with exact knowledge that if that person, Moses, were the same as ourselves, he would never find the courage to come and compete with our huge crowd here. So Moses'
127 Refers to VII:115 and XX:65. The complete narratives concerning Moses and the magicians are found in VII:113–126; X:79-82; XX:57-73; and XXVI:34-52
authority cannot be coming from the earth; it must be heavenly and therefore I must ask permission. And he came, asking, "Are you going to begin, or do you give us permission to begin?"
That asking permission from Moses, p.b.u.h., made Allah Almighty pleased with all those magicians. A magician's work is kufr128, strongly prohibited.
That is the worst job, the worst activity: Allah Almighty never likes it. But when the chief came and asked Moses' permission, that adab made Allah Almighty pleased with the whole assembly.
Then Moses said, "You may begin." And lights, divine lights, came into their hearts, and that seed of belief, the seed of faith, that was planted on the Day of Promises129 began to grow up, quickly growing. And when Moses threw down his stick, a huge snake appeared; when it opened its mouth, between its two jaws there was one mile's distance. Pharoah was sitting in his palace, and after finishing everything that the magicians had put there, their sticks and ropes, that gigantic snake rushed at Pharoah, opening its mouth to swallow the whole palace, Allah Almighty bringing him down.
When they saw that happening, all the magicians quickly ran to make sajdah, prostrating themselves, and in that sajdah Allah Almighty showed each one of them his station in Paradise. And Pharoah, so angry, said, "What are you doing? You are all partners with this one; Moses is your chief! I shall cut off your hands and feet, and then I shall hang you on the trunks of palm trees!"
And they said, "It doesn't matter; no worry. You can cut, you can do anything to our physical bodies, but our souls are free. We are with our Lord."
128 Unbelief, denial of God
129 A reference to that occasion in pre-eternity. mentioned in VII:72, when Allah Almighty assembled the souls of all human beings-to-come and asked then, "Am I not your Lord?” whereupon they replied, "Yes, truly," thereby affirming their witness to their Lord´s existence and unity throughout all times and under all conditions
Therefore, adab, good manners and good behavior, is the fruit of good intentions, always. But good intentions come from sincerity, and sincerity does not come without deep beliefs. And we are asking forgiveness for our bad behavior, bad intentions and bad actions.
By the name of Allah, All-mighty, All-merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent. Every building needs a base; every structure stands upon a base, yes? This building, without a base, a foundation, would never stand up, and a strong building must have a strong foundation.
There is a big mosque in Istanbul, one of the biggest mosques in the Islamic world, Sülemaniye. This night it is going to be full, about 50,000 people entering it for the Night of Power (tonight we are observing it). And this famous mosque has a story: .
Suleyman, Sultan Sulaiman the Magnificent, ordered his architect to build for him a mosque, a big mosque, to be magnificent. As the sultan was magnificent, so must his mosque also be magnificent.
And, as he had been ordered, the architect made foundations; and a foundation means digging with pickaxe and shovel, not these machines, coming and doing it quickly, no. They went down to the distance where water comes; down to there they dug. When the water came, it was enough digging, and he filled up the whole foundation
Then he disappeared. And the sultan was very angry and ordered - all the people of the empire to try to find that person: "Quickly bring him to me!"
One year, two years, three years, four years - where is this person? I am going to die and this person has disappeared! If he is not going to build it, we must look for another one; but he was the magnificent one, also, in his architecture.
Yes. Then, when it was going to be seven years and the sultan was too angry, that architect appeared. The sultan was too much angry: "Where were you?!!!"
"O Sultan, you are the sultan! You know what you are going to do. But you are not an architect. The architect I am. You understand about governing this empire, but this building I understand; you do not understand. If I had not disappeared and had built as you ordered, quickly, then perhaps after one year or ten years this would have fallen down.
"Now I will build a building and will put on it such a dome that, if, on the Last Day, there is an earthquake throughout the whole world, this dome will fall down and roll like a helmet on the ground, not breaking. I am that architect; you are the sultan. This building I have responsibility for."
We are saying this for understanding that every important building must be built on strong foundations. Then, what about Islam, which we know from the Prophet, p.b.u.h.?
Our teachers have taught us that Islam has how many "pillars"? Five pillars. But these pillars must be raised on a strong foundation. And what is that foundation?
The Prophet, p.b.u.h., said, "Utitu jawami'-l-kalam130. I have been given authority to speak, and if I say a few words, they may contain an ocean of knowledge." And his inheritors, awliya, also have such an authority to speak or to give an understanding, to give wisdoms, in brief words. Grandsheikh was one of those inheritors, no doubt, and he was saying:
"O Nazim Efendi, the foundation that Islam is raised on is one thing. It is also so for every religion, because Islam is the universal, original religion from the beginning, from the time of Adam up to the end; and Islam is just built on one
130 I have been given conciseness (or comprehensiveness) of speech. (Hadith)
thing, and that is tahammul: to be able to carry or to bear everything that may come to the Children of Adam."
In this life everything is just loaded upon the Children of Adam. This life is a heavy burden on everyone, and you have been ordered to carry that heavy burden. Therefore Islam and its pillars are trusts from Allah Almighty, and you have been ordered to carry those trusts on your shoulders.
When Allah Almighty called the mountains and all the seven worlds and the Seven Heavens, and ordered them to carry His divine trust, amanat, they said, "O our Lord, are you ordering us to carry that, or giving a choice to us? We are saying, "We can't. Forgive us; we can't carry that.' 131Then Allah Almighty made it like a piece of stone and Adam lifted it a little bit, and - like this, like this, like this - lifted it higher and higher. When he had raised it to his middle, Allah Almighty said, "It is going to be on your shoulders, My divine trust. You should carry it."
"Innahu kana dhaluman jahula132": Man is too dhalim, unjust and cruel, in not looking after that divine trust, to keep it; Allah knows that they are unjust and ignorant about their Lord's rights. And we are carrying it; all the Children of Adam, we are carrying that divine trust, or we have been asked to carry it.
And you can't carry it if you haven't any belief in your Lord; if you are not a believer you can't carry that divine trust.
Every divine command that has come through prophets to ourselves is a heavy burden; but without being able to carry that heavy burden, it is impossible to keep those divine commands. Therefore, our religion, Islam,
131 See XXXIII:72
132 truly, he (man) was unjust and ignorant. (XXXIII:72)
and all the religions which are Islam, also133, are just built on being able to carry everything. In other words, when the Prophet was asked, "Ma al-iman? What is iman, what is faith?" he replied only with one word, saying, "As-sabr, to be patient."
"To be patient" means to be able to carry every heavy burden on your shoulders; that is being patient. Now, we are saying this, and our grandsheikh, Abu Yazid134, was also saying: "The meaning of tariqat, in our view, is to be able to carry, to bear, every unliked thing during your life; that is the meaning of tariqat that I am giving to you. If anyone is asking what is the meaning of tariqat, I am saying to him: ´To be able to carry every burden during this life.'" And it means to be sufficiently powerful in one's faith, because if a person is not powerful enough in his beliefs, he can't carry those difficult burdens.
Who can carry heavy burdens? Only those people who believe in their Lord's rewards and prizes, because He says, "Innama yuwaffa-s-sabiruna ajrahum bi-ghairi hisab135": Allah Almighty promises that those people who are carying every heavy burden during this life should be given prizes and rewarded with endless divine favors and endless mercies. Whoever believes in that may bear, may be patient. If not, it is as if you are asking a person to do a heavy piece of work and he says, "I can't do it." You say, "I shall give you ten pounds." He says, "No." "I will give you twenty"; he says, "No." "I will give you fifty pounds"; he says, "No." "I will give you one hundred pounds"; he says, "I can't." "I will give you one thousand." Then he is going to shake and tremble: "You are really going to give me one thousand?" I say: "Yes, I shall give it to you." I give it to him, and then he can do that difficult work.
133 That is, Islam, the path of surrender and submission to God Almighty, is the original, incorrupted divinely-revealed faith brought by every prophet, including Moses and Jesus, peace be upon them all
134 Bayazid Bistani, a great Naqshbandi wali
135 "Truly He bestows upon the patient their reward without measure." (XXXIX:10)
Yes; as much as servants are carrying heavy burdens, they will be given more rewards. Therefore you must believe in your Lord's, Allah Almighty's, saying, "I will pay you endlessly. There will be eternal. never-ending favors for you if you are patient." Whoever believes in that can be patient.
Therefore you can see believers being patient; but unbelievers can't be patient - never. If people were patient, there would be no more hospitals, no more prisons, no more courts. But when beliefs go down, people become impatient.
One of our sisters was asking and expressing a kind of complaint that from every side are coming thorns: from children, from husband, from neighbors, from our community, also, and she was becoming upset.
And there is no cure except to believe in our Lord, Allah Almighty. He never leaves His servants during this life without a trial, and He is asking His servants only to be patient.
Yes, you must be patient, everyone, as much as you can. And that grandsheikh, Sultan al-Arifin Abu Yazid, was saying and was practicing, also, his words. He was saying: "I kept myself among my family in my house, and I tested myself to see if I was patient with my family, most of all with my wife."
That is important for a man - to be able to carry his wife. First you must be with her, carrying her, and then you must carry children, little ones - crying, shouting, breaking. For everything you see you must be patient.
He was testing himself: one day, two days, one week, two weeks. And then he was saying: "Now I am all right with my family. I know that they are parts of myself and I am carrying them. But it is not enough. I must also carry other people." And he was going out, going through the markets, among people, and testing himself to see whether he could carry people, also.
Yes, it is important, also, to carry people, to bear them. All the prophets carried them. For some of them, there were so many people harming them, and then finally the prophets made du'a against them. Noah for nine- hundred-and-fifty years carried his nation. Every day he went out and called people to his Lord's worship, and they threw on him stones and sticks, making him fall down and then leaving him; they would say, "He is dead now," and go.
For nine-hundred-and-fifty years he bore it. Then he said, "Rabbi, la tadhar 'ala-l-ardi mina-l-kafirina dayyara136,” and Allah Almighty sent the Flood. But our Prophet, p.b.u.h., was saying, "I was the one who bore peoples' adha, harm, the most. No one bore as much as I bore." Allah Almighty's order is to bear and the sunnah of our Prophet, for his nation, is to carry, to bear.
et, pub.. dayyara, en ander said,
We are gathered and living here for this holy month, and we must be patient for carrying each other, and also we must be careful that we do not harm anyone. Trials from Allah Almighty are going on; sometimes without our will comes some unliked thing. We must be patient, we must carry it. As much as you can carry trials, you are going to develop your faith and you should find more spiritual improvement.
Whoever is able to be more patient, he is improving in his spiritual development. Therefore Abu Yazid was going around his town, his city to see if he was able to carry people. He tested himself for a while and then he said, "O my ego, you are a well-known person in your city. Everyone knows you and respects you. You must go to some foreign countries where they do not know you and may harm you with their actions, with their words. You must go. I do not trust that you are carrying everyone."
136 My Lord, do not leave upon this earth a single one of the unbelievers (LXXI:26)
And he went and traveled around various countries and saw whether he could carry people or not. Then he gave a sign that it was all right: I can trust you, O my ego, that you are carrying everyone. And that is the top point of faith, to be patient enough to carry people, because every prophet carried them, and our beloved Muhammad, p.b.u.h., just bore every hard from people. Therefore you can't find anyone who has improved in his faith without bearing people and their harm.
And we are in need of this, particularly in our time when people are getting to be more egotistical, when they only like their egos and are less respectful to one another because they are weaker day by day in their beliefs; and if no belief, then no respect among people. People are becoming like robots, only sharing in benefits; they are looking and coming together for the purpose of investment only, nothing else - to get some advantage. If that goes on among them, no one will bring them together, and their love also does not come from heart to heart; finished. No more real love among people now because they are not giving heart love; they are giving another kind of "love," not heart love.
I saw a couple and they were saying, "We have been together for fifty years," an English family. But everyone whom I ask, "Are you married?" says, "Once I was..." - everyone! Those people are very few now; to continue for fifty years means that they are giving their love from heart to heart. But others are not giving their love; it is "love" as cats in March give "love" to each other - you know? - and afterwards, no more love among cats.
Now civilization is like cats' civilization, cats' love - for three days, three months or six months; then finished. That is love? Therefore it has no reality; neither one can carry the other. Real faith makes people carry each other, and if a wife is not able to carry or to bear her husband, or if a husband is not able to carry his wife, who can carry another person? No one. And that is the cause of illness, those crises which are increasing in our time in every
branch of our life. And the way is only to believe with real faith and to be sincere with your Lord, and your Lord will support you for every burden and will support you to carry His divine trust.
By the name of Allah, All-mighty, All-merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent. Association with a sheikh gives more power to our faith, and then it gives familiarity to everyone who attends such an assembly and meeting. But the characteristic of our egos is never to be familiar with anyone; every ego wants to be independent, by itself. It should be the first and only one among people, as a king is never going to agree to let someone sit on the same throne with himself.
That is the characteristic of our egos, always wanting to be the only one in its stage or in its station. The people of Pharoah, the Egyptian ruler, were a nation worshipping idols; so many idols, so many gods or goddesses, they worshipped. And Pharoah didn't agree to be one among all these; he wanted to be the chief, the head one. "Fa-qala, 'Ana Rabbukumu-l-a'la137”; he claimed, "O people, I am your most famous, most honored Lord. The most important one, that is I."
And everyone among mankind has an ego; you can't find anyone without an ego. Everyone has been given an ego, and ego has the same attribute from beginning to end; its characteristic never changes.
O n the Night Journey, Allah Almighty addressed His Holy Prophet, beloved Muhammad, p.b.u.h., and said, "O My servant, beloved Muhammad! If I were to give such an opportunity or chance as I gave to Pharoah, each one of My servants would be just like Pharoah; they would say to people, 'I am your greatest Lord.' If they find the same conditions and same power and authority that I gave to Pharoah, they are going to be like him."
137 Then he (Pharoah) said, 'I am your Lord Most High.' (LXXIX:24)
Therefore you must be careful about your ego, and you must not blame anyone, even Pharoah. Don't say that Pharoah was such a bad one. You can't believe in your ego, either, because Allah Almighty is saying, "If I leave you free and no one is commanding you, you are going to be like Pharoah. You will also say, 'I am your Lord,' to people. But I am not giving that chance to you." Therefore you must look at your own ego, and don't blame anyone because he does not worship or he is not a good charactered person. If we are left in the hands of our ego, our ways will also go in that direction.
Therefore this assembly gives familiarity to the attenders, because if any group comes to meet for the sake of Allah, for the love of our Lord, then the Lord, Almighty Allah, sends upon the attenders from His divine Mercy Oceans, covering them. It is such an effective mercy that if even one drop comes on a person - even if he is an unbeliever, only coming to see what those people are, what they are doing; out of curiosity coming and looking from the door to see who is there, those people sitting, and little by little coming and sitting down, curious - if that drop from divine Mercy Oceans falls on him, coming on his soul, even if he leaves this meeting and never returns, that is going to affect that person's inner life.
As an example, I may say that there is a bad illness now, very bad and dangerous; no one can be saved if that comes to a person. From very simple things it may come to people, and it is impossible to be saved from it., I am using an example from that bad thing, and also from Allah Almighty138, because we are sitting here for the sake of our Lord and we are sitting in His love.
We are not sitting here for the enjoyment of this life. Whoever wants enjoyment and pleasure for this life, outside there is too much; he may go. No one is coming here asking for his physical body's pleasure, but our souls
138 That is, as a tiny microbe can cause a fatal illness, so the smallest drop of God's infinite mercy can ultimately result in salvation
are thirsty for those Mercy Oceans and then we are attending here; and most people are coming from the far East, from the far West, from far countries. They are not coming here for eating or drinking; they may find eating and drinking in their own countries, also. But the thing which is gathering people in this place is only the love that Allah Almighty puts into every heart. But most people are imprisoning that love in a deep part of their hearts; they are not opening the door for it to come out.
And therefore we are here in the love of our Lord, attending, and that Mercy Ocean comes, and if even one drop comes on a person, it is a sign that that person is going to be a happy one. Finally he should come to the caravan that is moving toward Allah Almighty's Divine Presence.
Yes. Two caravans are moving, and every
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