LETTER 11: THE STATES OF THE RIGHTEOUS

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

Dearest Brother Shamsuddin, the states of the righteous are an ocean

of purity, though it has been said, “If they be an ocean, how can one

grasp their meaning?” Those whose souls have alighted at the treasury of favors, and whose hearts are mines of divine secrets experience

already the separation of good from bad, which is a special feature of

the Day of Resurrection! Promises and threats concerning them are

made clear to them here and now. What is a threat for others is a

source of peace for them. Both this world and the next obey them,

and they are also not bypassed in either this world or the next! One

evening, Khwaja Junaid decided to go to the mosque. When he arrived at the door, he saw a glowering person in front of the door. He

said, “Who are you, for my heart is set against you?” “I am Satan,” he

replied, ‘you wanted to see me.” He said, “I have 4 question to ask .

you.” “Ask away!” He said: “Do you have any power over God’s

friends?” “‘No,” was the reply. “How is that?” I inquired. He said: “If

| want to snare them in this world, they fly to the next. If I want to

catch them in the next world, they fly to the Lord Himself, where it

is impossible for me to go.” One of God’s beloved has given us this

hint:

All who have been taught the gambit of love

Have been set ablaze with love’s eternal flame.

The heart brought to perfection for union with Him,

Its eyes sewn together, returns not to either world!

Then he said: ““O accursed one, who would believe that you

could tell us about their secrets?”’ He replied, “‘True, but there is one

occasion when I know what is manifested in them, and that is when,

during a prayer-gathering, they fall into ecstasy.” Saying this, he disappeared. Junaid grew perplexed and, wrapped in thought, entered

the mosque. A voice came to him from the corner of the mosque: “O

son, do not be deceived by the speech of this enemy! Since the saints

of God are so precious to Him, why should he reveal to this enemy

things He does not even show to Gabriel or Michael?” Junaid saw

that it was his spiritual guide, Khwaja Sari Saqati, and he was relieved. [The hidden life of Khwaja Owais Qarani is mentioned approvingly.] Tomorrow, one of the many favors of God for His just

ones will be to make them strangers to their own tribes. Thus would

the saying be fulfilled: “Have I not caused the memory of you to languish?” In this very lane I have been plundered for your sake so that

the’ night patrol might not grasp the skirt of your name and reputation. A frenzied lover has thrown some light on the meaning of this

saying:

Have you seen what idolaters do in a temple?

What small hands can do to your narrow mouth?

I am intoxicated with You, so treat me gently,

For you know, O idol, what intoxicated people can do?

Sheikh Ibrahim Shabih was, in his time, a man to be imitated.

His every prayer for the righteous was this: “O Lord, just as You

have made me forgotten in the hearts of the people, so' also make me

forget them, so that no one will recognize me, nor I them!” From this,

leaders endowed with perception say that, if people speak truthfully,

they will acknowledge that their mutual acquaintance is unhealthy,

except in those friendships that are fostered for the sake of God Almighty, as it is said in the Quran: “On that day, friends will become

enemies of one another, except for the God fearing” (Q43:67). [The attitude of Abul Hasan Noori is then prafsed.]

O brother, what sort of name would you like to have at your

death? The blessed ones have given this precept: Whatever is received

and manifested to anyone today should not be promulgated, even by a

person admitted to the seven heavens, nor should speeches filled with

love be made concerning it! The very place where a person slides

away from the faith is where, in the future, the Resurrection itself

will be revealed, since the Chosen One gave this information concerning Khwaja Owais Qarani: Among the righteous companions, on the

Day of Resurrection, the blessed ones will be told, ‘You will go into

the abode of peace!” But to Owais Qarani, “the sun of the Day of

Resurrection today shines fiercely. Come into the shadow of the divine throne and dedicate your righteous tongue-to interceding for the

sinners of the community, since it is my wish to bring into paradise

today as many sinners of the community of Muhammad as there are

hairs on the sheep of the tribes of Rabi and Mizar.” While he was in

the world, Owais conducted himself in such a way before other people that no one in the tribe where he lived was more humble than he.

People used to throw large stones at him, play tricks on him, and inflict every sort of indignity on him. The Chosen One, at the height of

his prophethood, described the increase of his spiritual wealth in

these words: “I detect the breath of the Merciful One coming from

Yemen!” The secret of this is contained in what has been said:

O lover, if you set your foot in my alley,

Be prepared that moment to lose name and fame!

How much illumination can you expect

If you set out with a candle as your light?

When Haram ibn Hayan saw Owais, he said: ““O Owais, tell me

some tradition about the Prophet of God that I might recollect ‘in

your name!” He said, “I do not have the strength for that task, that

men should crowd me and make me a traditionist or a judge or a canon lawyer. I have a more important occupation than these. Please excuse me! If even a particle of the divine secret enters my heart, how

can I turn around and become a traditionist? I have been sealed with

‘There is no god but God.’ It does not allow me to pass on to anything

else. My regret at not finding Him in the boasting of lordship is like a

flame raging within me! That choicest morsel, divine Unity, has

made me a stranger to both worlds. The divine secrets have singed

my heart with everlasting anguish. The blemish of my penury has

undermined my security! The trial of not finding Him has dashed my

hopes to pieces! Yet the praise of the Chosen One has fixed upon me

the epithet ‘endowed with great purity.’”’ The secret of this Tradition, “I detect the breath of the Merciful One coming from Yemen,”

is indicated in unending anguish. One troubled at heart has said:

Union with You does not quell the anguish of my tormented

heart,

Nor is this thirst quenched by your refreshing water.

Drained of vitality my existence slips away.

Yet my soul is still stirred by the love of Your beauty.

Sufis say that no sound is closer to the Lord than that of a person

wailing over his sinfulness! Today it is fitting that the righteous ones

of this Way to the Lord of religion should learn lamentatior: for sin

from Owais Qarani.

O brother, anyone who is not crying and lamenting at every moment of his life is a vain person, full of negligence with respect to the

Day of Resurrection. He is as good as dead. He should be full of grief

over the opportunities of today that are lost as a result of insatiable

appetites. How can there be knowledge of God if life is limited to

maintaining and seeking position and dignity, observing commands

and prohibitions, practicing disdain and negligence, honor, worldly

pride and self-flattery?

Sacrifice your life; union with Him is not granted to mere

friends!

Only the intoxicated no longer drink milk from the goblet of

the Law.

That place where all men will drink wine together

Is where no worshiper of self will receive a drop!

O brother, as far as possible, spend your life in tasks of humble

repentance and seek protection in the shadow of the bounty of some

renowned religious figure. Seek out a saintly friend, for he will be a

veritable treasure for you. As for withdrawing from human company,

realize that you cannot travel along the road of religion without a

friend. If you say, ‘What should I do? It is not easy for me to find

such a friend. Remove from my back the weight of the robe of love

that weighs upon my infidel soul!” Do not participate in its infidelity,

for it will give your life to the wind and will plunder your religion; it

will make you a stranger on the Day of Resurrection; it will make you

well acquainted with the world; it will utter secret insinuations concerning your spiritual treasure; it will destroy the mansion of your

faith; daily your ardor for it will increase, and hourly your love for it

will grow. You should know that, in reality, this soul is the enemy of

God's religion! Consider it as your enemy, so that you may turn back

and become faithful to your religion. Do not be intimate with people;

otherwise the angels will become jealous. One mature Sufi has said:

When my soul had almost expired out of love for the Beloved,

I said, “Do not settle for union with yourself, My Guest.”

He replied, “If you want to be fit for union with Me,

Do not allow a ‘you’ in yourself! There should only remain an ee (Some particular prayers, known for their efficacy, are then reiterat-

ed.)

Peace!

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

Dearest Brother Shamsuddin, the states of the righteous are an ocean

of purity, though it has been said, “If they be an ocean, how can one

grasp their meaning?” Those whose souls have alighted at the treasury of favors, and whose hearts are mines of divine secrets experience

already the separation of good from bad, which is a special feature of

the Day of Resurrection! Promises and threats concerning them are

made clear to them here and now. What is a threat for others is a

source of peace for them. Both this world and the next obey them,

and they are also not bypassed in either this world or the next! One

evening, Khwaja Junaid decided to go to the mosque. When he arrived at the door, he saw a glowering person in front of the door. He

said, “Who are you, for my heart is set against you?” “I am Satan,” he

replied, ‘you wanted to see me.” He said, “I have 4 question to ask .

you.” “Ask away!” He said: “Do you have any power over God’s

friends?” “‘No,” was the reply. “How is that?” I inquired. He said: “If

| want to snare them in this world, they fly to the next. If I want to

catch them in the next world, they fly to the Lord Himself, where it

is impossible for me to go.” One of God’s beloved has given us this

hint:

All who have been taught the gambit of love

Have been set ablaze with love’s eternal flame.

The heart brought to perfection for union with Him,

Its eyes sewn together, returns not to either world!

Then he said: ““O accursed one, who would believe that you

could tell us about their secrets?”’ He replied, “‘True, but there is one

occasion when I know what is manifested in them, and that is when,

during a prayer-gathering, they fall into ecstasy.” Saying this, he disappeared. Junaid grew perplexed and, wrapped in thought, entered

the mosque. A voice came to him from the corner of the mosque: “O

son, do not be deceived by the speech of this enemy! Since the saints

of God are so precious to Him, why should he reveal to this enemy

things He does not even show to Gabriel or Michael?” Junaid saw

that it was his spiritual guide, Khwaja Sari Saqati, and he was relieved. [The hidden life of Khwaja Owais Qarani is mentioned approvingly.] Tomorrow, one of the many favors of God for His just

ones will be to make them strangers to their own tribes. Thus would

the saying be fulfilled: “Have I not caused the memory of you to languish?” In this very lane I have been plundered for your sake so that

the’ night patrol might not grasp the skirt of your name and reputation. A frenzied lover has thrown some light on the meaning of this

saying:

Have you seen what idolaters do in a temple?

What small hands can do to your narrow mouth?

I am intoxicated with You, so treat me gently,

For you know, O idol, what intoxicated people can do?

Sheikh Ibrahim Shabih was, in his time, a man to be imitated.

His every prayer for the righteous was this: “O Lord, just as You

have made me forgotten in the hearts of the people, so' also make me

forget them, so that no one will recognize me, nor I them!” From this,

leaders endowed with perception say that, if people speak truthfully,

they will acknowledge that their mutual acquaintance is unhealthy,

except in those friendships that are fostered for the sake of God Almighty, as it is said in the Quran: “On that day, friends will become

enemies of one another, except for the God fearing” (Q43:67). [The attitude of Abul Hasan Noori is then prafsed.]

O brother, what sort of name would you like to have at your

death? The blessed ones have given this precept: Whatever is received

and manifested to anyone today should not be promulgated, even by a

person admitted to the seven heavens, nor should speeches filled with

love be made concerning it! The very place where a person slides

away from the faith is where, in the future, the Resurrection itself

will be revealed, since the Chosen One gave this information concerning Khwaja Owais Qarani: Among the righteous companions, on the

Day of Resurrection, the blessed ones will be told, ‘You will go into

the abode of peace!” But to Owais Qarani, “the sun of the Day of

Resurrection today shines fiercely. Come into the shadow of the divine throne and dedicate your righteous tongue-to interceding for the

sinners of the community, since it is my wish to bring into paradise

today as many sinners of the community of Muhammad as there are

hairs on the sheep of the tribes of Rabi and Mizar.” While he was in

the world, Owais conducted himself in such a way before other people that no one in the tribe where he lived was more humble than he.

People used to throw large stones at him, play tricks on him, and inflict every sort of indignity on him. The Chosen One, at the height of

his prophethood, described the increase of his spiritual wealth in

these words: “I detect the breath of the Merciful One coming from

Yemen!” The secret of this is contained in what has been said:

O lover, if you set your foot in my alley,

Be prepared that moment to lose name and fame!

How much illumination can you expect

If you set out with a candle as your light?

When Haram ibn Hayan saw Owais, he said: ““O Owais, tell me

some tradition about the Prophet of God that I might recollect ‘in

your name!” He said, “I do not have the strength for that task, that

men should crowd me and make me a traditionist or a judge or a canon lawyer. I have a more important occupation than these. Please excuse me! If even a particle of the divine secret enters my heart, how

can I turn around and become a traditionist? I have been sealed with

‘There is no god but God.’ It does not allow me to pass on to anything

else. My regret at not finding Him in the boasting of lordship is like a

flame raging within me! That choicest morsel, divine Unity, has

made me a stranger to both worlds. The divine secrets have singed

my heart with everlasting anguish. The blemish of my penury has

undermined my security! The trial of not finding Him has dashed my

hopes to pieces! Yet the praise of the Chosen One has fixed upon me

the epithet ‘endowed with great purity.’”’ The secret of this Tradition, “I detect the breath of the Merciful One coming from Yemen,”

is indicated in unending anguish. One troubled at heart has said:

Union with You does not quell the anguish of my tormented

heart,

Nor is this thirst quenched by your refreshing water.

Drained of vitality my existence slips away.

Yet my soul is still stirred by the love of Your beauty.

Sufis say that no sound is closer to the Lord than that of a person

wailing over his sinfulness! Today it is fitting that the righteous ones

of this Way to the Lord of religion should learn lamentatior: for sin

from Owais Qarani.

O brother, anyone who is not crying and lamenting at every moment of his life is a vain person, full of negligence with respect to the

Day of Resurrection. He is as good as dead. He should be full of grief

over the opportunities of today that are lost as a result of insatiable

appetites. How can there be knowledge of God if life is limited to

maintaining and seeking position and dignity, observing commands

and prohibitions, practicing disdain and negligence, honor, worldly

pride and self-flattery?

Sacrifice your life; union with Him is not granted to mere

friends!

Only the intoxicated no longer drink milk from the goblet of

the Law.

That place where all men will drink wine together

Is where no worshiper of self will receive a drop!

O brother, as far as possible, spend your life in tasks of humble

repentance and seek protection in the shadow of the bounty of some

renowned religious figure. Seek out a saintly friend, for he will be a

veritable treasure for you. As for withdrawing from human company,

realize that you cannot travel along the road of religion without a

friend. If you say, ‘What should I do? It is not easy for me to find

such a friend. Remove from my back the weight of the robe of love

that weighs upon my infidel soul!” Do not participate in its infidelity,

for it will give your life to the wind and will plunder your religion; it

will make you a stranger on the Day of Resurrection; it will make you

well acquainted with the world; it will utter secret insinuations concerning your spiritual treasure; it will destroy the mansion of your

faith; daily your ardor for it will increase, and hourly your love for it

will grow. You should know that, in reality, this soul is the enemy of

God's religion! Consider it as your enemy, so that you may turn back

and become faithful to your religion. Do not be intimate with people;

otherwise the angels will become jealous. One mature Sufi has said:

When my soul had almost expired out of love for the Beloved,

I said, “Do not settle for union with yourself, My Guest.”

He replied, “If you want to be fit for union with Me,

Do not allow a ‘you’ in yourself! There should only remain an ee (Some particular prayers, known for their efficacy, are then reiterat-

ed.)

Peace!