LETTER 19: VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE DISEASES

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

Brother Shamsuddin, the peace of God be with you! Understand the truth and know for certain that man is composed of two different substances, one heavenly and one earthly. Just as this earthly body is susceptible to disease, so too is the heavenly one. Just as there are physicians for the earthly body who, by means of their treatment, change a sick person into a healthy one and save people from the danger of death, so too there are physicians for the heavenly nature who, by means of their treatment, understand and distinguish illnesses, causes, and connected experiences, leading the sick person from the house of destruction to the house of salvation. Physicians of the earth- ly body are experienced in the causes of physical ailments, while the physicians of all that pertains to illness in the heavenly nature are first the prophets and, then, the sheiks, who succeed them. Hence the saying, The sheikh in his community is like a prophet in his. Just as someone whose body is sick may die if there is no physician, so too the person without a prophet or a sheikh faces the danger of spiritual destruction. The learned men in the community of Muhammad are the heirs of the prophets. Without help, a sick person may perish. In our days there is a scarcity of experienced physicians, both doctors of the body and doctors of the spirit are needed to attend to the mortally ill

What is to become of us without proper physicians? What will become of health, life, prosperity, and salvation? Don't despair of God's mercy (Q19:53). Be full of hope! God is not restricted by con- ditions and prerequisites although, in His wisdom, He respects them. We, for our part, should throw dust on our heads and acknowledge our sins. We should realize that there is nothing in the hands of any human being save pride and self-conceit! Except what God wills (Q87:7), nothing happens. A physician takes the pulse of a sick man in order to acquaint himself with the cause of the sickness and to be able to prescribe different medicines and mixtures according to the patient's strength. He will prepare a mixture; he will allow one thing but forbid another in order to restore the person's health to normal. The person's need is visible on his face, thus will he be saved from destruction. In this manner the Prophet grew acquainted with the fundamental causes of inner afflictions and, according to the aptitude and receptivity of the man so afflicted, insisted on particular injunctions of the Law Sometimes two prostrations are prescribed, at another time three, and still another, four. He makes one thing lawful; other things he forbids. All this is done in order that the fundamental cause of perplexity, desires, and sicknesses might be understood, and the afflicted person quickly restored to the balance of the Law and cured. Thus, will he be saved from destruction. Herein lies the secret of meekness and the means to acquiring insight!

If a person with a bodily ailment opposes the physician and does something contrary to his order, then certainly the disease involved would daily take a greater toll of him and, without doubt, would eventually destroy him. His death would be attributed to his igno rance. If it is a question of everlasting life, then he would languish in hell, plagued with a pain for which there would be no remedy. If a person well versed in the Law, however, were to come to his aid, and assist him in withdrawing from sin, then his health would continu ously improve, rather than deteriorate. God's saints do not die, they merely change their place of residence from here to there. Even after they seem to die, their intellect remains intact. They make a full demand on that recompense of spiritual nourishment which is their duc. After the Day of Resurrection, they will live in paradise forever and ever This can be considered as certain

One who is born spiritually improverished and becomes im mersed in utter disloyalty has no possibility of finding a prophet, since that door has been closed to mankind. Even reaching a repre sentative of the Prophet is difficult, since such people are few in num ber and hard to find. Where, indeed, can the blessing of their compa ny be found? And how can this misery and poverty of ours reach the door of eternal bliss and attain the threshold of their wealth? This door aho has been closed. Concerning us, God's mercy is like the ex- perience of Khusrau:

Those intoxicated in the assembly of union with You drank deeply.

But when it was Khusrau's turn, no wine remained in the cup

What remains here? Just us, a handful of sickly, disease ridden, lowly, luckless ones who, except for books that describe their faith and actions, have nothing at all. There are accounts of their behaviour and the path they trod All we can do is grab at these aforesaid writ-ings and make them our leaders and guides for, if the sun of bliss has been removed from us hopeless ones, there is still, for the moment, a lamp. May that suffice for us!

It is my bad luck that the sun has set, But I may still use a moonbeam as my lamp!

If, God forbid, this door, too, should be closed, well then what could you or 1 or Pharaoh or Nimrod or Abu Lahab or Abu Jahl do? There would be no hope for you! What could you do? Grieve deeply and sacrifice yourself! Punish your body, cry aloud and lament, for there is a favorable wind that seeks those who have fallen, and raises them to that stage of divine favor which would take seven million years for the inhabitants of the kingdom of adoration to reach! [Words of warning for the proud, and encouragement for the afflict- ed, follow.)

Peace!

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

Brother Shamsuddin, the peace of God be with you! Understand the truth and know for certain that man is composed of two different substances, one heavenly and one earthly. Just as this earthly body is susceptible to disease, so too is the heavenly one. Just as there are physicians for the earthly body who, by means of their treatment, change a sick person into a healthy one and save people from the danger of death, so too there are physicians for the heavenly nature who, by means of their treatment, understand and distinguish illnesses, causes, and connected experiences, leading the sick person from the house of destruction to the house of salvation. Physicians of the earth- ly body are experienced in the causes of physical ailments, while the physicians of all that pertains to illness in the heavenly nature are first the prophets and, then, the sheiks, who succeed them. Hence the saying, The sheikh in his community is like a prophet in his. Just as someone whose body is sick may die if there is no physician, so too the person without a prophet or a sheikh faces the danger of spiritual destruction. The learned men in the community of Muhammad are the heirs of the prophets. Without help, a sick person may perish. In our days there is a scarcity of experienced physicians, both doctors of the body and doctors of the spirit are needed to attend to the mortally ill

What is to become of us without proper physicians? What will become of health, life, prosperity, and salvation? Don't despair of God's mercy (Q19:53). Be full of hope! God is not restricted by con- ditions and prerequisites although, in His wisdom, He respects them. We, for our part, should throw dust on our heads and acknowledge our sins. We should realize that there is nothing in the hands of any human being save pride and self-conceit! Except what God wills (Q87:7), nothing happens. A physician takes the pulse of a sick man in order to acquaint himself with the cause of the sickness and to be able to prescribe different medicines and mixtures according to the patient's strength. He will prepare a mixture; he will allow one thing but forbid another in order to restore the person's health to normal. The person's need is visible on his face, thus will he be saved from destruction. In this manner the Prophet grew acquainted with the fundamental causes of inner afflictions and, according to the aptitude and receptivity of the man so afflicted, insisted on particular injunctions of the Law Sometimes two prostrations are prescribed, at another time three, and still another, four. He makes one thing lawful; other things he forbids. All this is done in order that the fundamental cause of perplexity, desires, and sicknesses might be understood, and the afflicted person quickly restored to the balance of the Law and cured. Thus, will he be saved from destruction. Herein lies the secret of meekness and the means to acquiring insight!

If a person with a bodily ailment opposes the physician and does something contrary to his order, then certainly the disease involved would daily take a greater toll of him and, without doubt, would eventually destroy him. His death would be attributed to his igno rance. If it is a question of everlasting life, then he would languish in hell, plagued with a pain for which there would be no remedy. If a person well versed in the Law, however, were to come to his aid, and assist him in withdrawing from sin, then his health would continu ously improve, rather than deteriorate. God's saints do not die, they merely change their place of residence from here to there. Even after they seem to die, their intellect remains intact. They make a full demand on that recompense of spiritual nourishment which is their duc. After the Day of Resurrection, they will live in paradise forever and ever This can be considered as certain

One who is born spiritually improverished and becomes im mersed in utter disloyalty has no possibility of finding a prophet, since that door has been closed to mankind. Even reaching a repre sentative of the Prophet is difficult, since such people are few in num ber and hard to find. Where, indeed, can the blessing of their compa ny be found? And how can this misery and poverty of ours reach the door of eternal bliss and attain the threshold of their wealth? This door aho has been closed. Concerning us, God's mercy is like the ex- perience of Khusrau:

Those intoxicated in the assembly of union with You drank deeply.

But when it was Khusrau's turn, no wine remained in the cup

What remains here? Just us, a handful of sickly, disease ridden, lowly, luckless ones who, except for books that describe their faith and actions, have nothing at all. There are accounts of their behaviour and the path they trod All we can do is grab at these aforesaid writ-ings and make them our leaders and guides for, if the sun of bliss has been removed from us hopeless ones, there is still, for the moment, a lamp. May that suffice for us!

It is my bad luck that the sun has set, But I may still use a moonbeam as my lamp!

If, God forbid, this door, too, should be closed, well then what could you or 1 or Pharaoh or Nimrod or Abu Lahab or Abu Jahl do? There would be no hope for you! What could you do? Grieve deeply and sacrifice yourself! Punish your body, cry aloud and lament, for there is a favorable wind that seeks those who have fallen, and raises them to that stage of divine favor which would take seven million years for the inhabitants of the kingdom of adoration to reach! [Words of warning for the proud, and encouragement for the afflict- ed, follow.)

Peace!