seed is the germ of life, as it is there that lies the real plant. The
seed is put into the soil, lies concealed therein, and receives sun
and rain, heat and cold, without any [apparent] change. When the time
comes, it sprouts, flowers, and fructifies. So, when Love takes root
in the heart, it bears presence and absence, joy and sorrow, union and
separation, with equanimity....
Devotion is the perfection of Love. Worship makes a servant, knowledge
makes a knower, abstinence makes an ascetic, sincere seeking makes
an earnest aspirant, sacrifice of all the world makes a Friend,
self-sacrifice makes a Lover, losing the perishable and imperishable
elements of self in the Beloved makes a Devotee.
It has been said: Devotion is born of the Light of the Presence of the
Eternal Beloved. It is like a flash of lightning, illuminating the eye
of the Devotee, speaking to his ear, enlivening his movements, and
alienating him from all the world--so that his acts are not for self
nor for others, but are works of impersonal Devotion to the Beloved.
Devotion is beyond words, intellect, and astral perception. "I am
Devotion, beyond this world and the next; I conquer all without
arrow or bow; I shine as the sun in every atom, yet my presence for
its very brightness is unperceived; I speak in every tongue, I hear
in every ear; yet, strange to say, I am tongueless and earless; as
every thing in the Universe is verily Myself, My like cannot be found
therein."--_Letters 46 to 48._
[The following extract from _Fawâed-i-Ruknî_ may appropriately find
place here.--_Trs._]
As prayers and fasts are the _outer_ duties, so Love and Devotion are
the _inner_ duties. Their ingredients are pain and sorrow. Devotion
leads the devotee to God. Hence Devotion is necessary to tread the
Path. Know Devotion as Life, its absence as death. The privilege of
Devotion is not granted to every man, nor does every man deserve it.
He who deserves it is worthy of his God; he who does not deserve it is
unworthy of Him. A Devotee alone can appreciate the value of Devotion.
A vast multitude seek after heaven, while very few seek after Devotion;
for heaven is the lot of the desire-nature, while Devotion is the lot
of the Soul.
Get rid of the notion of selfhood, and give up thy self to Devotion.
When thou hast done so, thou hast reached the Goal.
Dost thou know why so many obstacles have been set up on the Path?--In
order that the devotee may gradually develop strength, and be able to
see the Beloved without a veil.
The boat on the sea [of life] is Devotion; the Boatman is the Divine
Grace.
SEEKING GOD.
Nothing is more binding upon you than to seek God. If you go to market,
seek Him. If you come home, seek Him. If you enter a tavern, seek
Him. If the Angel of Death come to you, take care not to neglect the
Seeking. Tell him, "Do thou thy work, I do mine." ... If you be taken
down to hell, you shall not neglect the Seeking. Say to the Angel of
Hell, "Strike my useless personality with the whip of chastisement: I,
on my part, tread the Path of Seeking"--so that the Work may go on. If
you are taken up to Heaven, do not look to the _houris_ and palaces,
but speed on the Way of Seeking. "Tho' they offer me both the worlds, I
will not have them without Thy Presence."
The first stage on the Path of Seeking is _Humility_. The Great Ones
say: 'Humility is the messenger from God to man.' Sown in the heart,
it impels to God. Practised for some time, it turns into _Courage_.
Masters unanimously hold that Love cannot put up save with the Courage
of the Disciple. Practised for some time, Courage turns into _Seeking_.
This Seeking is led by the Divine Will to the secrets of [the holy
formula], "There is no God except Allâh." The drum of Seeking proclaims
at the gate of the Divine Sanctuary, "He who seeks God obtains Him." A
cry resounds: "Let neither sky nor earth, heaven nor hell, hinder the
Path of My Seekers, for they seek Me, and I am their Goal." These are
the steps on the ladder of human progress. Each pilgrim has his own
stage, according to his aspiration.
The vigilant Seeker should kill out self-conceit and self-respect with
asceticism and purification, transcend both the worlds, and be ready to
lose his life. It is unlawful for him to aspire after anything in the
universe. "One does not unite with the All, unless one parts with all."
It is said:
When Adam was lodged in Paradise, the Law commanded him not to approach
the Tree, while the Path dictated to him to turn away from all.
Adam said unto himself. "This Paradise is full of wonders, and I am
its lord. But my heart longs to visit the abode of sorrow: lordship
will not serve my purpose." A voice spoke to his spirit, "Adam, wilt
thou remove to a foreign country?" "Yes," answered Adam, "for I have
something to do." The voice said, "Do this work here." Adam: "The other
is more important." The voice: "Heretofore, Paradise and the angels
have been thy servants. Now thou shalt have to exchange the home of
peace for the abode of condemnation, the crown for poverty, reputation
for disgrace." Adam: "I accept all these, and will proclaim my freedom
throughout the universe." So it cannot be said that Adam was deprived
of Paradise, but rather that Paradise was deprived of Adam.--_Letter
50._
THE WAY TO GOD.
=Khwâjâ Bâyazîd= was asked, "What is the way to God?" He replied: "When
_thou_ hast vanished on the Way, _then_ hast thou come to God." Mark
this: If one attached to the Way cannot see God, how can one attached
to self see God?
When the Sun of Divine Knowledge rises, all modes of knowledge become
ignorance; when Divine aspiration appears, all desires melt away....
Whoever is bound to his exterior--his turban, his robe, the size and
colour of his garment--is still attached to the personality and a
worshipper thereof. Thou canst serve either personality or the Law: two
contraries cannot unite. So long as you hanker after approbation and
dignity, so long as you become angry at an insult, you are with your
old genius and self-conceit, and have not been accepted by the Law.
You should sacrifice yourself in the SELF. To no purpose do you change
your dress and food. If you eat a single blade of grass in a lifetime,
remain clad in a single garment for a thousand years, are shut up in
a monastery away from the sight of men,--beware, lest you should be
deluded. All these are but the subtleties of the desire-nature, its
cunning and craft.
Many pious men are as motionless as a serpent or a scorpion frozen
with cold. Their piety is not due to rectitude and purity, but to lack
of opportunity. When summer comes in and the surroundings change, one
may behold what they do.... No one can safely tread the Path without
a Guide.... In the beginning, a disciple is not a fit recipient of
the Divine Light. He is like a bat, unable to bear the light of the
Sun. As it is dangerous folly to travel in utter darkness, he needs a
light less dazzling than the Sun, in order to illumine the Path for his
safety. Such a light is that coming from the Masters, who, like the
moon [reflecting the light of the sun], have become fit reflectors of
the Spiritual Light.--_Letter 51._
SPEECH AND CONDUCT.
All learned men base conduct on speech. They have gathered their
learning through the avenues of hearing and speaking. The Masters of
Truth have received Their Knowledge through divine inspiration, which
depends on following the Law. With Them, knowledge does not depend
upon words or speech. It has no connection with the tongue. Knowledge
is that which makes a man follow the Law. Secular learning deals with
words. Knowledge deals with Truth, and is not to be found save in the
region of the Real. The province of the tongue is letters, and they are
limited. Knowledge comes from the Heart, and the Heart does not perish.
God has not given Knowledge to all, whereas He has not withheld speech
from any. Knowledge is that which controls desire and leads to God.
That which contributes to the gratification of desire and leads to
the courts of chiefs and oppressors is not Knowledge, but a snare.
Knowledge makes one humble and frees from ostentation and disputes....
The end of all learning is the beginning of Discipleship.
The _first_ robe worn by a Disciple consists in coming out of the self.
The _second_ robe consists in setting no value on what he heretofore
took as divine, so that the flame of Discipleship burns all things in
him. Then, he begins to see lights and utter charming words, leading
to self-conceit and the admiration of others. This is a snare of the
desire-nature, and stops his progress. Here comes in the necessity of
a Teacher to help him cross this stage and bring him from stagnation
to motion. Thus _light is a thicker veil than darkness_. Hence is it
that the Wise are dumb and blind, unaffected by the opinion of the
people. Hence is it, again, that the difficulties of a Disciple cannot
be solved by a learned man, as the latter is but versed in religion,
while the difficulties of the former are connected with the Path. It
is useless for a Disciple to follow the learned, as the dicta of the
latter are concerned with _outer_ conduct, while he has to deal with
the _inner_ life. The one is preparing for the destruction of self;
the other seeks salvation for the self through knowledge. The business
of the learned is to gather up what has been left by others, and store
in his bosom the knowledge of the past. The business of the Disciple
is to throw away and renounce what he has, and to unlearn what he
has learned. So they are opposites and cannot be reconciled in any
way.--_Letter 52._
MAGNANIMITY.
A disciple lacking in magnanimity makes no progress at all. One whose
aspiration does not go beyond heaven, is not fit for this battle. The
Wise hold that the desire to have everything in the world according
to one's own wishes, befits a woman, not a _man_.... In short, a
magnanimous disciple should first of all tread upon his own life,
and try his sword on his own desire-nature, not on an infidel. For
the infidel can only hurt the body, and plunder earthly possessions;
whereas the desire-nature injures the very root of religion and
destroys faith....
Be on the alert, and take no step without due caution, for Time is a
penalty to the heedless.
It is said:--When a man wishes to enter the Path, the Chief of the Evil
Ones, Satan, seizes his skirt and says: "I bear the Cross of Curse for
this work, that no unclean fellow may enter the Path. If any dare come
in without the Robe of Monotheism and sincere Earnestness, I lop off
his feet." ...
"Should thy inner eyes unfold, every atom would tell thee a hundred
secrets. Then wouldst thou see each atom ever advancing. All are
absorbed in the march--_thou_ art blind--and the march goes on _in
thee_ as well. There is no limit to the progress of LOVE. Such _has
been_, there is no help." From highest heaven to lowest abyss,
all things are seeking and striving. It is the wicked man alone
who has made peace with the enemy, and cut himself off from the
Beloved.--_Letter 53._
KNOWLEDGE.
Knowledge is to purification and asceticism what ablution is to prayer.
No practice is possible without knowledge, as no prayer is possible
without ablution....
Knowledge is of two kinds: that received from teachers and books, and
that unfolded in the soul. Again the latter kind is twofold:
(1) The Knowledge transmitted from the Divine Sanctuary into:--
(_a_) The Soul of a Prophet. Such Knowledge is called =Wahî=.[10]
(_b_) The Soul of a Master. Such Knowledge is =Ilbâm=
(inspiration).
(2) The knowledge transmitted into:--
(_a_) The Soul of a Master from a Prophet.
(_b_) The Soul of a Disciple from a Master.
[10] A revelation received from God through an Angel (mostly
Gabriel).--_Trs._
As a Master sees God in the Soul of a Prophet, so a Disciple sees God
in the Soul of a Master.
"So long as the tablet of thy heart bears the impression of letters,
thou dost not know any of the secret meanings. When the letters
completely vanish from the tablet of thy heart, then comes the
knowledge of the secret meanings."
Knowledge is the key to all virtues, as ignorance is the key to all
vices. Knowledge ushers in liberation, ignorance brings in destruction.
The celestial ranks and abnormal sacred powers spring from knowledge;
chastisements in the various grades of hell result from ignorance. So
the faithful should shun ignorance and the ignorant in the same way as
vice and infidelity. "A wise man is my friend, and a fool is my foe."
As ignorance and the ignorant are to be avoided, so is it obligatory to
seek knowledge and the company of the wise--not worldly knowledge, but
the moral; not the worldly wise but the morally wise. "If you acquire
knowledge thoughtlessly, you will use it as a means of gaining worldly
position. True Knowledge is that which leads to the Divine Sanctuary,
not that which leads to wealth, rank and passional gratifications."
The company of a Sage for a day is more conducive to progress than
purification and asceticism.--_Letter 55._
[The following note may be added from "_The Series of 28
Letters_."--_Trs._]
Real knowledge comes from the Soul, and a true knower is he in whom
lies the original and final Knowledge. The purer the Soul, the deeper
and more subtile its comprehensions.--_Loc. cit., Letter 6_.
THE STEPS OF A DISCIPLE.
The first step is Religion (=Sharîat=). When the disciple has _fully_
paid the demand of Religion, and aspires to go beyond, the Path
(=Tarîqat=) appears before him. It is the way to the Heart. When he has
fully observed the conditions of the Path, and aspires to soar higher,
the veils of the Heart are rent, and Truth (=Haqîqat=) shines therein.
It is the way to the Soul, and the Goal of the Seeker.
Broadly speaking, there are four stages: =Nâsût=, =Malakût=, =Jabarût=
and =Lâhût=, each leading to the next. =Nâsût= is the animal nature,
and functions through the five senses--_e. g._, eating, contacting,
seeing, hearing and the like. When the disciple controls the senses
to the limit of bare necessity, and transcends the animal nature by
purification and asceticism, he reaches =Malakût=--the region of the
angels. The duties of this stage are prayers to God. When he is not
proud of these, he transcends this stage and reaches =Jabarût=--the
region of the Soul. No one knows the Soul but with the divine help;
and Truth, which is its mansion, baffles description and allusion. The
duties of this stage are love, earnestness, joy, seeking, extasy and
insensibility. When the pilgrim transcends these by forgetting self
altogether, he reaches =Lâhût=, the unconditioned state. Here words
fail.
Religion is for the desire-nature; the Path, for the heart; Truth for
the Soul. Religion leads the desire-nature from =Nâsût= to =Malakût=,
and transmutes it into Heart. The Path leads the Heart from =Malakût=
to =Jabarût=, and transmutes it into Soul. Truth leads the Soul from
=Jabarût= to the Divine Sanctuary. The real work is to transmute the
desire-nature into Heart, the Heart into Soul, and to unify the three
into one. "The Lover, the Beloved and Love are essentially ONE." This
is absolute monotheism....
"The motive of the faithful is superior to their acts." Acts by
themselves are of no value: the importance lies in the heart.
It is said that the traveller on the divine Path has three states:
(1) Action.[11] (2) Knowledge. (3) Love. These three states are not
experienced unless God wills it so. But one should work and wait. He
will do verily what He has willed. He looks neither to the destruction
nor to the salvation of any one.
[11] _lit._, walking or moving.
One who wishes to arrive at the Truth _must_ serve a Teacher. No one
can transcend the bondage and darkness of desires unless he, with the
help of the Divine Grace, comes under the protection of a perfect
and experienced Teacher. As the Teacher _knows_, He will teach the
disciple according to his capacity, and will prescribe remedies suited
to his ailments, so that "There is no God except =Allâh=" be firmly
established in his nature, and the ingress of the evil spirits be cut
off from his heart. All the world seeks to tread the Divine Path. But
each knows according to his _inner_ purity, each seeks and aspires
according to his knowledge, and each treads the Path according to his
seeking and aspiration.--_Letters 56 & 57._
[The following extracts from "_A Series of 28 Letters_" may throw
further light on the subject. The =Sûfî Mulk= (or =Nâsût=,) =Malakût=,
=Jabarût= and =Lâhût= severally correspond to, if they are not
identical with, the physical, astro-mental, causal and spiritual planes
of modern Theosophical literature.--_Trs._]
It is not permitted to give out the knowledge gained through
[supersensuous] vision. This much only can be recorded:--
The objects of the senses constitute this world (=Mulk=); those
cognised by intellect constitute the plane of =Malakût=; the
potentialities of all beings constitute the plane of =Jabarût=; ... In
other words, this world is visible, the =Malakût= is supersensuous, the
=Jabarût= is super-supersensuous.... The subtlety of this world cannot
bear comparison with that of =Malakût=, the subtlety of =Malakût= with
that of =Jabarût=, nor the subtlety of =Jabarût= with that of the Holy
Essence Divine. There is not an atom of this world but is permeated by
=Malakût=; not an atom of =Malakût= but is permeated by =Jabarût=; not
an atom of this world, =Malakût= and =Jabarût= but is permeated by God,
and conscious of Him. Being the most subtile, He must permeate all--for
the greater the subtlety, the greater the quality of permeation. Now
you may understand the meaning of the verse: "God is with thee wherever
thou art, and in thy very being, though thou mayest not see Him;
nearer is He to thee than the nerve of thy neck." Hence is it said that
this world, =Malakût=, =Jabarût= and God Himself are all with thee, and
that the True Man is the focus and mirror of all the Mysteries of the
Divine Essence. It is not permitted to go further lest exotericism may
censure. "Utter not secrets before the mob if thou art a true devotee
Hast thou not seen that =Mansûr=, intoxicated with devotion, uttered a
secret and was put to death?"--_Loc. cit., Letter 2_.
ISLÂM.
=Islâm= is other than the lower nature. So long as the lower impulses
do not yield to purity, the heart has no affinity with Islâm. The
investigators of Truth give to the bundle of the impulses the name of
'the desire-nature'. The outer body with its limbs and joints is not
dangerous, but is simply a horse to carry the directions of the Law.
God says: 'He sent us a horse from His mighty palace. Let us ride on it
and come to the Path'. So long as it carries His directions we should
not vex it. If it attempts to transgress the Law, let us punish it with
the whip of asceticism, so that it may come back to the path. This
is the discipline of the body. But if a man pricks his limb with a
pin, saying that he thereby subdues the desire-nature, he is a sinner.
Many ignorant fellows labour under a delusion and foolishly take
self-torture as an important discipline. By no means transgress the
limit of the Law and common-sense. The body is a valuable horse, and
fit to carry the divine charges. It is the desire-nature, and not the
body, which deserves rooting out and chastisement.
The world is arrayed into two parties, the party of God and the party
of Satan. Look well and see to which _you_ belong....
A Knower has said, "No one comes to worship God, unless promised
the bribe of heaven and threatened with the torture of hell." This
indicates an indifference to Monotheism.
It is said:
On an =Îd= day[12] =Shiblî= the Saint was seen mourning and clad in
black. He was told: "This is the =Îd= day. Why are you so clad?" He
replied: "I see all men rejoicing and clad in new suits, but _not one_
of them is aware of God. I mourn this day over their heedlessness." O
brother, thou hast become inured to heedlessness, hast barred the gate
of Divine Knowledge and art content with the gratification of desires.
Rest assured, so long as thou dost not put off thy desires, thou canst
not put on the robe of Faith; so long as thou dost not look upon the
desire-nature as thy foe, Faith cannot come to thee as thy friend; so
long as thou dost not cease thy connection with Satan, thou canst not
see the beauty of "There is no God save =Allâh="; so long as thou dost
not turn from the world, thou canst not approach the Path of Purity.
[12] The Muhammadan festival day at the end of the Ramzân fast.--_Trs._
Since the Lord is thy Origin, thou hast not come; since the Lord is thy
Goal, thou wilt not go. "There is no God save =Allâh=." Nothing can be
separated from the Infinite, and attached to non-God. Since the Origin
is from Him, the End is verily in Him. Separation and union, coming and
going, are thus unreal. This is a long story. Discreet silence is here
absolutely necessary.--_Letter 58._
THE NOBLE QUALITIES
Noble qualities were in the beginning of creation given to Adam, who
left them as a legacy to other Prophets. Mohammad, the head of the
Prophets, received them in His turn. Similarly, evil qualities were
allotted to Satan who handed them down to his followers--the proud
and the disobedient.... Since the Noble Qualities are the precious
legacy of Adam to Mohammad, no garment or decoration is better for the
faithful than that of the Noble Qualities. They are based upon harmony
with the Divine Will and the Prophet's Life.
One should curb one's temper, lest it should embitter the life of
others. One should ever be cheerful, and of controlled tongue. One
should always salute others. One should be charitable, and abstain from
slander, abusive words and untruthfulness. One should adapt one's words
and deeds (_e. g._ eating and sleeping) to the scriptural injunctions.
One should ever be magnanimous and free from the taints of miserliness,
hatred, greed and suspicion. One should do one's best to practise at
all times the virtues possessed by the Prophet, and flee from vices.
The Prophet has said: "Seek him who flees from thee; forgive him who
injures thee; give to him who does not give to thee."
The Prophet always concealed the defects of the faithful, and bore
injuries and reproaches to propagate Religion. He was never angry
for himself. He did not tolerate flattery, neglect, or silence in
the service of Truth. He helped the friends when they were disabled.
He worked for a servant in the family, when the latter was ill. He
accepted the invitations and presents of others. He never found
fault with any unprohibited food. He used any garment allowed by
the Law--sometimes a blanket, sometimes a silk wrapper, sometimes a
worn out cotton garment. He rode sometimes on a horse, sometimes on
a camel, sometimes on an ass. Sometimes he walked on foot, without
shoes, wrapper, turban or cap. He slept on a mat without bedding....
He had no miraculous power: His virtues were sufficient guarantee of
His godliness. Many an unbeliever, just as he saw Him, would exclaim,
"This is not the face of a hypocrite," and swear allegiance to =Islâm=
without asking for miracle or argument....
The Noble Qualities are based on knowledge and insight. He who is
fettered by self-conceit cannot be expected to purify his nature. Hence
the pilgrim should use insight to acquire the virtues of the Prophet.
He should guard the virtues he has been endowed with, and acquire
those he is lacking in by self-exertion (_i. e._ asceticism, service,
and the Company of the saints). Most of the virtues can be acquired,
and we have been ordered [by the Scriptures] to strive therefor to the
limit of our powers. Man is a mirror who, when trained, perfected,
and cleansed of impurities shows within him all the Divine Attributes
of construction and disintegration. Then he realises his divinity and
the purpose of his life. A Sage refers to this very fact in these
lines: "It is thou who art the Divine Scripture; it is thou who art
the mirror of the Royal Beauty. Beyond thee there is naught in the
universe: seek thy object within thyself, for thou art that."--_Letter
59._
CONTEMPLATION.