LETTER 43: GRATITUDE FOR THE BLESSING OF ISLAM

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

Brother Shamsuddin, Islam is the fountainhead of all favors. There should be no time when you are not giving thanks for this blessing! You should consider that if you had been created at the very beginning of the world and were to sing the praises of the blessings of Is- lam till eternity, you would still not have canceled the debt of gratitude incumbent upon you for this blessing! It was not enough that the herald, when he arrived from Egypt, gave Jacob news about Jo Seph Jacob asked: What religion was he following? The herald re- plied: The religion of Islam. Jacob exclaimed: Now my blessing is complete! It is necessary for you not to rest content in this religion for any length of time. There is current a saying of Sufyan Thawri to the effect that anyone who is content to see the gift of Islam declining will certainly be deprived of it! It is also said of this great man that he used to repeat with every breath, O God, make me a Muslim, make me a Muslim, just like someone in a sinking ship who cries out, O God, save me!

A Sufi once said that a certain prophet requested the Lord to drive him far from the state of Balaam, son of Beor. This man was then granted so much dignity and knowledge that whenever he lifted up his head, he would reach the exalted throne and see twelve thou sand scholars busily taking notes in His assembly The decree then came: I have granted him many favors, yet he has not thanked Me for them. If throughout his whole life he had thanked Me even once, he would not have had his blessings snatched away from him! And losing favors once granted is the most difficult of all punishments to bear! Hence it is noted that separation, after the experience of union, is an intolerable burden. It is also related that wise men say: We have seen that there are five onerous trials to be undergone in this world: sickness in a foreign land, indigence in one's old age, death in the flower of youth, blindness after the gift of sight, and separation after union. If you ask, Who has the strength to undergo this difficult work by bringing to bear all the things required for this task? then know that the Glorious Quran gives this injunction: Very few of My servants are grateful (Q34:13). But the Quran also attests: Those who struggle earnestly for Our sake, We will certainly guide them in Our Ways (Q29.69). When a weak servant stands firm, no matter what befalls him, what suspicion can the powerful, wealthy, gener ous, and merciful Lord entertain toward him, a useless sort of person? None at all! And if you protest, saying that the life of man is too short and the difficulties of the Way too burdensome for anyone to live a life of fidelity and meet all the requirements made on him, then know that the difficulties of the Way are indeed many, and its requirements very strict! Nonetheless, whenever God wants a servant to pass along it, He makes this long way short for him, and turns difficulties into things easily accomplished, with the result that someone after passing

by all of them may exclaim: How short is this way, and how easy is

this work!

Hence it is that a number of venerable Sufis have said: There are two steps on the way to God, and they are quite distinct. It might take someone seventy years to traverse the difficulties of the Way. Another might spend twenty years in overcoming these difficulties. Another might take ten years to do so. Someone else might pass be- yond them in a year. It is also possible that someone might do so in a month, or even in a week, or in only an hour. Finally, it might hap pen that, by a special grace of God, all difficulties of the Way are traversed in a single moment. Do you not see that the companions of the cave required no more than a moment till they saw a change in the country of Daqyanus and proclaimed: Our Lord is He who gave birth to both heaven and earth? They saw what truths lay along this Way and traveled beyond them. They entered the ranks of those who put their trust in God and who follow the right path. All of these attained the goal toward which they were traveling. It took but a moment. It was thus also with the magicians of Pharaoh. Their time amounted to a moment, for when they saw the miracles of Moses, they announced: We have put our faith in the Lord of the two worlds! They saw the Way and went along it. Not merely from one hour to another, but in less than an hour they joined the ranks of the Gnostics and those who yearn for a glimpse of the Lord. Hence, they raised a cry, We are returning to our God! There is no harm for us! Do whatever you like to us! The secret of this has been thus ex- pressed:

Sometimes a dog is shown the way to the threshold; Sometimes a cat is granted a royal revelation!

It is written in the story of Khwaja Ibrahim Adham, a man engaged in the affairs of the world, that when he turned his back on them and began to follow the Way, it happened that in the measure of one prostration he reached Merv from Balkh! He was like the man falling off a bridge into water: The Almighty made a sign with His hand that the man should be made upright in the air and thus he was saved from destruction. Then there was Rabia of Basra. She was a slave girl being sold in the market. No one wanted her, for she was no longer young. One of the merchants purchased her for a hundred silver pieces and then freed her. Rabia chose to follow this Way, she took to worship of God. One whole year had not lapsed when the devotees and scholars of Basra came to pay their respects to her on account of the eminence of the stage she had attained. On the other hand, consider the situation of some unfortunate one who has not been blessed by the divine favor, for it has simply passed by his soul. How can it be that one branch of a tree remains with its fresh green leaves for seventy years, during which time it experiences no change and is forever crying out and saying: How narrow is this road and how difficult this enterprise!

Know that all kinds of work originate from a single root. That is the ordinance of the Wise and Great God (Q36:38). If you ask, How is it that this one is selected for special grace, while that other one is deprived of the same special grace, even though each of them has a common devotion? O brother, it was a long time ago that this was heard in the world: He cannot be questioned about what He does! (Q21:23). Intellect and knowledge are of no avail here, as has been said:

Thousands became mere polo-balls along this Way: This is the reason why the gutters ran with blood! A hundred thousand prostrated their intellects here, while he who did not ran headlong to perdition!

Hence it is that a renowned Sufi has said: It was the question of fate and predestination that killed us! We can take the bridge over hell as an example of this Way in the next life. A person can cross the bridge over hell like a flash of lightning, or like the wind, or he can fly across it like a bird, or gallop across it like a horse. On the other hand, there are some who, on hearing the cries of hell, will fall head- long into it, while still others are destined to be seized by the hounds of hell and dragged downward.

Actually, there are two bridges, the bridge of this world and that of the next. The bridge of the next world is for souls, and those endowed with perception see its terrors. The bridge of this world is for hearts, and people of perception understand its trials. The difference in the states of the travelers in the next world reflects their different states in the present one. 'Ponder this carefully! Understand it according to the mystical knowledge you have been granted, that you might reach the degree you are capable of attaining! The one who is un- aware arrives nowhere, as has been said:

The real work is given to someone who knows what is going on: What do ignorant people know about present sorrow? Realize that the real state of affairs is that this Way, with respect to its length or shortness, is not like an ordinary road that one can travel on foot. No, one travels this road with one's heart, on Theon dation of one's basic religious tenets and insights. It is rooted in the light of heaven, and the glance of God falls upon the heart of a servant, enabling him to see that the work of angels, as well as the angelic state, is fixed by that glance. This light is such that a servant could seek it for a hundred years but not find it, or he could search for ten years before finding it, or for only one day, or even a mere hour, or a fleeting moment. It is given through the graciousness of the Lord of the worlds, and it is incumbent upon the servant to fulfill whatever is commanded. His work is fixed and settled. The decree concerning His justice is: Whatever He wants, He commands, whatever He in- tends. He accomplishes!

And if you say, What is the use of all this striving and effort since the work is already fixed and determined, then such speech would be proof of your foolishness. It would be as if you said, Of what significance is all this striving and effort in comparison to that which the weak servant seeks? Do you actually know what the weak servant is seeking? He seeks at least two things: One is peace in both resting places, and the other is possessions and honor in each of them. Peace in the world, however, has to be gained despite temptations that are such that even the angels, as close as they are to God and bedecked in purity, cannot keep from succumbing to them!

This is what is highlighted by the story of the angels Harut and Marut. It is related that when the soul of a servant was taken aloft into heaven, the angels of the seven heavens said in surprise. How did he manage to be saved? The very best of us had perished there! In addition, the terrors and hardships of Judgment Day know no limit, so that the early prophets and even the Apostle himself cried out, Look to your soul! He also said, We do not want our souls separated from You! How could you say that rest from all this trouble is of no great consequence? But possessions, dignity, and that country it- self are under the sway of annihilation and the will of God. The verification of this in the world is seen in the example of the saints, for whom earth, and sea are but one step, and, as a result, men, fairies, wild beasts, animals, and birds become subject to them. Whatever they wish comes to pass, but they do not desire anything except what God Himself wants and everything that God wants must certainly come to pass! What can you say about such a king of what account are two prostrations, or two silver pieces given as alms, or two nights spent in vigil? By God, if a man had thousands of souls, or thousands of spirits, or thousands of lives equivalent to the life of the world itself, and all of these were to be bestowed in place of this dear Beloved, it would be but a trifle! O brother, although it is beyond the limited power of man to intend to arrive at the place glimpsed by you and me, still the treasure and the secrets that are made easy in Him have been evidenced in the world. The stars in this world are very high. The moon has the face of the king. The sun, which is the king of all and the light of the world, comes from Him. Whoever receives light does so from the heart of a believer, while the illuminated heart of a believer gets its light from God, the Praised and Exalted One! He created the di- vine throne and gave it to those near Him. He created paradise and gave it into the charge of an angel, Rizwan. He created hell and entrusted it to Malik. But when He created the heart of a believer, He said: The heart of a believer is between two of God's fingers. The meaning of these fingers is the bounty and justice of God. Sometimes, when the gentle breeze of the divine bounty blows, they experience the delight of lovers, at other times the hot wind of the divine wrath blows, and they melt. Astounded by both these qualities, all they can do in either state is to remain lost to themselves!

Sometimes I am intoxicated by the sweetness of union with You Sometimes I am crushed by the blow of Your departure! As soon as I put aside the grief of separation from You, Immediately I feel the urge to continue loving You!

Peace!

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

Brother Shamsuddin, Islam is the fountainhead of all favors. There should be no time when you are not giving thanks for this blessing! You should consider that if you had been created at the very beginning of the world and were to sing the praises of the blessings of Is- lam till eternity, you would still not have canceled the debt of gratitude incumbent upon you for this blessing! It was not enough that the herald, when he arrived from Egypt, gave Jacob news about Jo Seph Jacob asked: What religion was he following? The herald re- plied: The religion of Islam. Jacob exclaimed: Now my blessing is complete! It is necessary for you not to rest content in this religion for any length of time. There is current a saying of Sufyan Thawri to the effect that anyone who is content to see the gift of Islam declining will certainly be deprived of it! It is also said of this great man that he used to repeat with every breath, O God, make me a Muslim, make me a Muslim, just like someone in a sinking ship who cries out, O God, save me!

A Sufi once said that a certain prophet requested the Lord to drive him far from the state of Balaam, son of Beor. This man was then granted so much dignity and knowledge that whenever he lifted up his head, he would reach the exalted throne and see twelve thou sand scholars busily taking notes in His assembly The decree then came: I have granted him many favors, yet he has not thanked Me for them. If throughout his whole life he had thanked Me even once, he would not have had his blessings snatched away from him! And losing favors once granted is the most difficult of all punishments to bear! Hence it is noted that separation, after the experience of union, is an intolerable burden. It is also related that wise men say: We have seen that there are five onerous trials to be undergone in this world: sickness in a foreign land, indigence in one's old age, death in the flower of youth, blindness after the gift of sight, and separation after union. If you ask, Who has the strength to undergo this difficult work by bringing to bear all the things required for this task? then know that the Glorious Quran gives this injunction: Very few of My servants are grateful (Q34:13). But the Quran also attests: Those who struggle earnestly for Our sake, We will certainly guide them in Our Ways (Q29.69). When a weak servant stands firm, no matter what befalls him, what suspicion can the powerful, wealthy, gener ous, and merciful Lord entertain toward him, a useless sort of person? None at all! And if you protest, saying that the life of man is too short and the difficulties of the Way too burdensome for anyone to live a life of fidelity and meet all the requirements made on him, then know that the difficulties of the Way are indeed many, and its requirements very strict! Nonetheless, whenever God wants a servant to pass along it, He makes this long way short for him, and turns difficulties into things easily accomplished, with the result that someone after passing

by all of them may exclaim: How short is this way, and how easy is

this work!

Hence it is that a number of venerable Sufis have said: There are two steps on the way to God, and they are quite distinct. It might take someone seventy years to traverse the difficulties of the Way. Another might spend twenty years in overcoming these difficulties. Another might take ten years to do so. Someone else might pass be- yond them in a year. It is also possible that someone might do so in a month, or even in a week, or in only an hour. Finally, it might hap pen that, by a special grace of God, all difficulties of the Way are traversed in a single moment. Do you not see that the companions of the cave required no more than a moment till they saw a change in the country of Daqyanus and proclaimed: Our Lord is He who gave birth to both heaven and earth? They saw what truths lay along this Way and traveled beyond them. They entered the ranks of those who put their trust in God and who follow the right path. All of these attained the goal toward which they were traveling. It took but a moment. It was thus also with the magicians of Pharaoh. Their time amounted to a moment, for when they saw the miracles of Moses, they announced: We have put our faith in the Lord of the two worlds! They saw the Way and went along it. Not merely from one hour to another, but in less than an hour they joined the ranks of the Gnostics and those who yearn for a glimpse of the Lord. Hence, they raised a cry, We are returning to our God! There is no harm for us! Do whatever you like to us! The secret of this has been thus ex- pressed:

Sometimes a dog is shown the way to the threshold; Sometimes a cat is granted a royal revelation!

It is written in the story of Khwaja Ibrahim Adham, a man engaged in the affairs of the world, that when he turned his back on them and began to follow the Way, it happened that in the measure of one prostration he reached Merv from Balkh! He was like the man falling off a bridge into water: The Almighty made a sign with His hand that the man should be made upright in the air and thus he was saved from destruction. Then there was Rabia of Basra. She was a slave girl being sold in the market. No one wanted her, for she was no longer young. One of the merchants purchased her for a hundred silver pieces and then freed her. Rabia chose to follow this Way, she took to worship of God. One whole year had not lapsed when the devotees and scholars of Basra came to pay their respects to her on account of the eminence of the stage she had attained. On the other hand, consider the situation of some unfortunate one who has not been blessed by the divine favor, for it has simply passed by his soul. How can it be that one branch of a tree remains with its fresh green leaves for seventy years, during which time it experiences no change and is forever crying out and saying: How narrow is this road and how difficult this enterprise!

Know that all kinds of work originate from a single root. That is the ordinance of the Wise and Great God (Q36:38). If you ask, How is it that this one is selected for special grace, while that other one is deprived of the same special grace, even though each of them has a common devotion? O brother, it was a long time ago that this was heard in the world: He cannot be questioned about what He does! (Q21:23). Intellect and knowledge are of no avail here, as has been said:

Thousands became mere polo-balls along this Way: This is the reason why the gutters ran with blood! A hundred thousand prostrated their intellects here, while he who did not ran headlong to perdition!

Hence it is that a renowned Sufi has said: It was the question of fate and predestination that killed us! We can take the bridge over hell as an example of this Way in the next life. A person can cross the bridge over hell like a flash of lightning, or like the wind, or he can fly across it like a bird, or gallop across it like a horse. On the other hand, there are some who, on hearing the cries of hell, will fall head- long into it, while still others are destined to be seized by the hounds of hell and dragged downward.

Actually, there are two bridges, the bridge of this world and that of the next. The bridge of the next world is for souls, and those endowed with perception see its terrors. The bridge of this world is for hearts, and people of perception understand its trials. The difference in the states of the travelers in the next world reflects their different states in the present one. 'Ponder this carefully! Understand it according to the mystical knowledge you have been granted, that you might reach the degree you are capable of attaining! The one who is un- aware arrives nowhere, as has been said:

The real work is given to someone who knows what is going on: What do ignorant people know about present sorrow? Realize that the real state of affairs is that this Way, with respect to its length or shortness, is not like an ordinary road that one can travel on foot. No, one travels this road with one's heart, on Theon dation of one's basic religious tenets and insights. It is rooted in the light of heaven, and the glance of God falls upon the heart of a servant, enabling him to see that the work of angels, as well as the angelic state, is fixed by that glance. This light is such that a servant could seek it for a hundred years but not find it, or he could search for ten years before finding it, or for only one day, or even a mere hour, or a fleeting moment. It is given through the graciousness of the Lord of the worlds, and it is incumbent upon the servant to fulfill whatever is commanded. His work is fixed and settled. The decree concerning His justice is: Whatever He wants, He commands, whatever He in- tends. He accomplishes!

And if you say, What is the use of all this striving and effort since the work is already fixed and determined, then such speech would be proof of your foolishness. It would be as if you said, Of what significance is all this striving and effort in comparison to that which the weak servant seeks? Do you actually know what the weak servant is seeking? He seeks at least two things: One is peace in both resting places, and the other is possessions and honor in each of them. Peace in the world, however, has to be gained despite temptations that are such that even the angels, as close as they are to God and bedecked in purity, cannot keep from succumbing to them!

This is what is highlighted by the story of the angels Harut and Marut. It is related that when the soul of a servant was taken aloft into heaven, the angels of the seven heavens said in surprise. How did he manage to be saved? The very best of us had perished there! In addition, the terrors and hardships of Judgment Day know no limit, so that the early prophets and even the Apostle himself cried out, Look to your soul! He also said, We do not want our souls separated from You! How could you say that rest from all this trouble is of no great consequence? But possessions, dignity, and that country it- self are under the sway of annihilation and the will of God. The verification of this in the world is seen in the example of the saints, for whom earth, and sea are but one step, and, as a result, men, fairies, wild beasts, animals, and birds become subject to them. Whatever they wish comes to pass, but they do not desire anything except what God Himself wants and everything that God wants must certainly come to pass! What can you say about such a king of what account are two prostrations, or two silver pieces given as alms, or two nights spent in vigil? By God, if a man had thousands of souls, or thousands of spirits, or thousands of lives equivalent to the life of the world itself, and all of these were to be bestowed in place of this dear Beloved, it would be but a trifle! O brother, although it is beyond the limited power of man to intend to arrive at the place glimpsed by you and me, still the treasure and the secrets that are made easy in Him have been evidenced in the world. The stars in this world are very high. The moon has the face of the king. The sun, which is the king of all and the light of the world, comes from Him. Whoever receives light does so from the heart of a believer, while the illuminated heart of a believer gets its light from God, the Praised and Exalted One! He created the di- vine throne and gave it to those near Him. He created paradise and gave it into the charge of an angel, Rizwan. He created hell and entrusted it to Malik. But when He created the heart of a believer, He said: The heart of a believer is between two of God's fingers. The meaning of these fingers is the bounty and justice of God. Sometimes, when the gentle breeze of the divine bounty blows, they experience the delight of lovers, at other times the hot wind of the divine wrath blows, and they melt. Astounded by both these qualities, all they can do in either state is to remain lost to themselves!

Sometimes I am intoxicated by the sweetness of union with You Sometimes I am crushed by the blow of Your departure! As soon as I put aside the grief of separation from You, Immediately I feel the urge to continue loving You!

Peace!