LETTER 40: THE EFFECTIVE FORMULA

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate!

Brother Shamsuddin, peace! A novice seeks refuge under the protection of There is no god but God! Both in speech and in thought, alone and in company, he should not emerge, even for the twinkling of an eye, from this formula. It is his fortress. The Lord of the world said: Whosoever has entered the fortress of 'There is no god but God' will receive rest from pain and reproach. It is by virtue of the reality of this that the novice, when he first pursues the Way, experiences fear and a certain dread of encountering robbers. When he enters the fortress that is the stronghold of the Lord, however, he feels secure, and his heart is put at ease. Wisdom demands that a fortress should be constructed out of words of both denial and affirmation s0 that, when travelers along the Way to Unity enter it, they will feel se- core from what can obstruct the way: their ego and Satan. When the world of divine Unity has been disclosed to the inner vision of the novice, he finds that any being that has come into existence through creation is other, and he perceives that the denial of other is a precondition for attaining Unity. The fire of jealousy is kindled with- in us and impels us toward God, because denial and affirmation arise from qualities of our human nature. A novice who has not managed to pass beyond the confines of his human nature will not arrive at the world of divine Unity.

For legal scholars, denial comes after affirmation, whereas lexicographers state that affirmation comes after negation. For a Sufi, both denial and affirmation are idolatry. The reason is that affirmation requires three if it is to be a complete affirmation: the thing affirmed, the affirmer, and the act of affirmation. Denial also needs three things for its completion: the act of denial, the one denying, and the thing denied yet anyone who talks even of two is a polytheist and unbeliever, so how could anyone who sees six be a sincere and or thoron believer? Why are you astonished? Any other simply does not exist! Who, then, denies and since you yourself do not exist, how can you affirm anything? Sheikh Harvi has given us a hint about this:

Beyond denial and affirmation lies a desert:

It is a place of profit for members of this group. When the lover arrives here, he turns to nothing: Not denial, not affirmation, not even you exist there!

This is the perfection of divine Unity and the outermost boundary! Having crossed the wilderness of There is no god and reached the Kaaba of but God, they taste the sherbet: He is the beginning. and to Him do we return. Khwaja Sanai has said: Until you sweep the Way with the broom of no,

How can you arrive at the stage of but God? O pearl-diver in quest of the pearl of but, Place the garment of your soul on the shore of no! Dualism has been preempted from the world of love: Why ask about this saying? You yourself are the saying!

They have said that an animal, when it falls on a pile of salt, be- comes salt. When one creature can have this effect on another, the former altering the latter through its own properties, then why should not the King of Truth be able to achieve this effect? The servant immersed in a mystic state, by witnessing Him, would be changed from his human condition and conducted to the world of possession, and then he would be taken beyond this stage and made a mere nothing, so that only God Himself would remain-He alone would speak, and He alone would hear. The man would be simply a sign in the middle. One beloved of God has said:

Say in the city: Either you remain, or I If there be two, there will be an uproar in the realm!

Everyone who has looked with the glance of divine Unity and seen the existence of the universe as something other than God and found that whatever is other than God is transient and destructible, has then rushed toward the world of divine Unity. God has awarded him the prize of paradise, clothed him with the robe of the righteous- ness of a truthful servant, and given him the wine of fidelity in para dies. He exclaimed, I have been granted a proof of God! As the Prophet attested, When the servant says, There is no god but God, the Creator replies, 'My servant has spoken correctly: There is no other god but Me! Bear witness, O My angels, that by virtue of the truth of his speech, I have forgiven all his sins. The angels were called to bear witness to the forgiveness of the servant because, by way of testing the divine Wisdom, they had said: What's this! Will such a creature be made God's vicegerent, one who will come into the world and be responsible for many sins? (Q2:30). God had replied: When My love is with them, what can their sin accomplish? When- ever love enters the scene, faults simply vanish!

If there be but an atom of the pain of God in your heart, it will profit you more than gaining mastery of both worlds The Master of the world was told: O Prophet of God, know that there is no god but God! (Q47:19). This is what was said to him, but to others it was said: Say that there is no god but God! He was aware that the veil of his humanity was extremely delicate and, through the refinement of the flames of the light that, at the time of the divine manifestation, became active in him, the thin veil of his humanity had been completely effaced. What remains hidden from others was fully revealed to him! For the confirmation of what was hid- den, there came a manifestation by word, while witnessing and direct vision came by faith, through knowledge. It has been said that when the Lord of both worlds cast a glance with his perceptive eye from the world of prophecy to that of divine Unity, he was swept off his feet by the intensity of his desire; his existence passed into oblivion in the utmost corner of nothingness, his joints became hidden to all, he passed beyond the realm of humanity. The good pleasure of the Beloved, however, became a superintendent and, for the sake of conveying the message, Muhammad was brought back to the realm of prophecy so that, from time to time, the righteous Aisha would ask him Speak to me of your own affairs for a while! This is an exalted se crept! Its purpose is to affirm that there is no other source of protection for the righteousness of a servant except in this sacred formula.

It is known that when creatures become present in space and time and are installed in the scales of justice, then in that assembly a servant will be chosen. There might be ninety-nine sheets of paper containing charges against him, each one covered with writing from top to bottom. They are presented and placed in one tray of the scales. That would represent all the punishments and afflictions of the servant. After that, one piece of paper would be brought from the divine treasury. On it would be written the words There is no god but God, and Muhammad is His prophet. This would be placed in the other tray. It would be weightier than all those other sheets! He would be freed from the threats of hell and its deepest pits and would proceed, with great honor and marks of the divine bounty, into paradise. A venerable Sufi said

Everyone who has seen the dawn is hopeful of seeing the evening!

[Two examples stressing humility are then mentioned.)

O brother, if it is possible not to bind anything to yourself, that would be a great and good work! The men who have proceeded along this Way have never ceased to struggle with themselves, for there is no peace from that struggle!

Peace!

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate!

Brother Shamsuddin, peace! A novice seeks refuge under the protection of There is no god but God! Both in speech and in thought, alone and in company, he should not emerge, even for the twinkling of an eye, from this formula. It is his fortress. The Lord of the world said: Whosoever has entered the fortress of 'There is no god but God' will receive rest from pain and reproach. It is by virtue of the reality of this that the novice, when he first pursues the Way, experiences fear and a certain dread of encountering robbers. When he enters the fortress that is the stronghold of the Lord, however, he feels secure, and his heart is put at ease. Wisdom demands that a fortress should be constructed out of words of both denial and affirmation s0 that, when travelers along the Way to Unity enter it, they will feel se- core from what can obstruct the way: their ego and Satan. When the world of divine Unity has been disclosed to the inner vision of the novice, he finds that any being that has come into existence through creation is other, and he perceives that the denial of other is a precondition for attaining Unity. The fire of jealousy is kindled with- in us and impels us toward God, because denial and affirmation arise from qualities of our human nature. A novice who has not managed to pass beyond the confines of his human nature will not arrive at the world of divine Unity.

For legal scholars, denial comes after affirmation, whereas lexicographers state that affirmation comes after negation. For a Sufi, both denial and affirmation are idolatry. The reason is that affirmation requires three if it is to be a complete affirmation: the thing affirmed, the affirmer, and the act of affirmation. Denial also needs three things for its completion: the act of denial, the one denying, and the thing denied yet anyone who talks even of two is a polytheist and unbeliever, so how could anyone who sees six be a sincere and or thoron believer? Why are you astonished? Any other simply does not exist! Who, then, denies and since you yourself do not exist, how can you affirm anything? Sheikh Harvi has given us a hint about this:

Beyond denial and affirmation lies a desert:

It is a place of profit for members of this group. When the lover arrives here, he turns to nothing: Not denial, not affirmation, not even you exist there!

This is the perfection of divine Unity and the outermost boundary! Having crossed the wilderness of There is no god and reached the Kaaba of but God, they taste the sherbet: He is the beginning. and to Him do we return. Khwaja Sanai has said: Until you sweep the Way with the broom of no,

How can you arrive at the stage of but God? O pearl-diver in quest of the pearl of but, Place the garment of your soul on the shore of no! Dualism has been preempted from the world of love: Why ask about this saying? You yourself are the saying!

They have said that an animal, when it falls on a pile of salt, be- comes salt. When one creature can have this effect on another, the former altering the latter through its own properties, then why should not the King of Truth be able to achieve this effect? The servant immersed in a mystic state, by witnessing Him, would be changed from his human condition and conducted to the world of possession, and then he would be taken beyond this stage and made a mere nothing, so that only God Himself would remain-He alone would speak, and He alone would hear. The man would be simply a sign in the middle. One beloved of God has said:

Say in the city: Either you remain, or I If there be two, there will be an uproar in the realm!

Everyone who has looked with the glance of divine Unity and seen the existence of the universe as something other than God and found that whatever is other than God is transient and destructible, has then rushed toward the world of divine Unity. God has awarded him the prize of paradise, clothed him with the robe of the righteous- ness of a truthful servant, and given him the wine of fidelity in para dies. He exclaimed, I have been granted a proof of God! As the Prophet attested, When the servant says, There is no god but God, the Creator replies, 'My servant has spoken correctly: There is no other god but Me! Bear witness, O My angels, that by virtue of the truth of his speech, I have forgiven all his sins. The angels were called to bear witness to the forgiveness of the servant because, by way of testing the divine Wisdom, they had said: What's this! Will such a creature be made God's vicegerent, one who will come into the world and be responsible for many sins? (Q2:30). God had replied: When My love is with them, what can their sin accomplish? When- ever love enters the scene, faults simply vanish!

If there be but an atom of the pain of God in your heart, it will profit you more than gaining mastery of both worlds The Master of the world was told: O Prophet of God, know that there is no god but God! (Q47:19). This is what was said to him, but to others it was said: Say that there is no god but God! He was aware that the veil of his humanity was extremely delicate and, through the refinement of the flames of the light that, at the time of the divine manifestation, became active in him, the thin veil of his humanity had been completely effaced. What remains hidden from others was fully revealed to him! For the confirmation of what was hid- den, there came a manifestation by word, while witnessing and direct vision came by faith, through knowledge. It has been said that when the Lord of both worlds cast a glance with his perceptive eye from the world of prophecy to that of divine Unity, he was swept off his feet by the intensity of his desire; his existence passed into oblivion in the utmost corner of nothingness, his joints became hidden to all, he passed beyond the realm of humanity. The good pleasure of the Beloved, however, became a superintendent and, for the sake of conveying the message, Muhammad was brought back to the realm of prophecy so that, from time to time, the righteous Aisha would ask him Speak to me of your own affairs for a while! This is an exalted se crept! Its purpose is to affirm that there is no other source of protection for the righteousness of a servant except in this sacred formula.

It is known that when creatures become present in space and time and are installed in the scales of justice, then in that assembly a servant will be chosen. There might be ninety-nine sheets of paper containing charges against him, each one covered with writing from top to bottom. They are presented and placed in one tray of the scales. That would represent all the punishments and afflictions of the servant. After that, one piece of paper would be brought from the divine treasury. On it would be written the words There is no god but God, and Muhammad is His prophet. This would be placed in the other tray. It would be weightier than all those other sheets! He would be freed from the threats of hell and its deepest pits and would proceed, with great honor and marks of the divine bounty, into paradise. A venerable Sufi said

Everyone who has seen the dawn is hopeful of seeing the evening!

[Two examples stressing humility are then mentioned.)

O brother, if it is possible not to bind anything to yourself, that would be a great and good work! The men who have proceeded along this Way have never ceased to struggle with themselves, for there is no peace from that struggle!

Peace!