LETTER 5: SEARCHING FOR A SPIRITUAL GUIDE

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

My brother Shamsuddin, may God honor you in both worlds! You should know that according to the unanimous opinion of famous saints of the Way, a novice, after undergoing genuine repentance, should seek a spiritual guide. He should be perfect, well versed in the vicissitudes of the Way, and firmly established in his high state. In short, he should be a man who has experienced both the horror of God's majesty and the delight of His beauty. The learned are the de ascendants of the prophets. With regard to the spiritual guide, all these qualities should have been realized in his person. He should be a physician skilled in the knowledge of medicines and the types of treatment to be applied to the defects and ailments for which the novice is seeking a cure. God Himself has said: Associate with the righteous (09:119), that is, associate with the prophets. After them come the great sheikhs, who are the successors to the prophets, since the learned are the descendants of the prophets. It is a Tradition of explaining the process of succession. My learned ones are like the prophets of the People of Israel is a related Tradition as is the declaration that a sheikh in his community is like a prophet in his. This is especially true if the people have no means of acquiring instruction in the path of religion from a prophet. [Three illustrative quotes follow.]

In the beginning, there was no need either for a prophet or a sheikh, because the seed is such that it requires nothing except the divine grace in order to fall into the soil of one's heart: God guides whomsoever He wishes! (Q42-52). Wherever that seed is found, some form of guidance, either through the role of a prophet or that of a sheikh, the prophet's deputy, is necessary. As the Quran has attested:

Surely you guide to the straight path (Q42:52). And also, one finds many theological arguments in Sufi works on this topic. Among them we have created a group who guide with the truth (Q7:181). One runs as follows: It is beyond dispute that the road to the Kaaba is clear and well known but, without a guide, someone who himself knows the way, a person cannot travel along it. It is not enough to be able to see the road with one's eyes and have enough strength in one's legs. Imagine what it must be like on that Road along which 124,000 prophets have traveled, and yet no trace of their journey remains! Without a guide who knows the way, it is impossible to travel along this Road.

Remember, too, that an ordinary road is infested with thieves and robbers, so that one clarinet travel along it without an escort. As for the mystic Way, the world, one's ego, devils, men, and jinn all infest this Way, thus making it impossible to travel along it without an experienced, holy man as one's escort. Remember, further, that there are many slippery places where it is easy to fall. And one can be plagued with misfortune and dangers from behind! Many philosophers and worldly-minded people, as well as others lacking faith, piety, or any semblance of morality have become followers of their own base desires. They have gone without a perfect sheikh or leader who has reached his goal on this Way and have instead trusted in their own intellectual powers. They entered the wilderness where they fell and perished, losing even their faith.

You are an ant; the Way is like the long tresses of beauty. Beware, O man, of merely guessing or blindly following others.

But the blessed ones, protected by the riches of the saints, have passed beyond those hidden dangers and arrived safely at their destination. They managed to progress without mishap and, along the way, have themselves seen where each has fallen, and also the extent of his corruption. Other travelers who managed to avoid misfortunes and pass successfully through various trials at last succumbed to lassitude! If the sheikh is possessed of supernatural powers, he will be able to protect the novice from either falling or languishing during his struggles. The explanations and subtle hints of the sheikh can also guide the novice to the proper way of acting. Otherwise, the novice will fall into dissipation or formalism and will lose whatever he has labored to gain!

Seek the shade of a guide, O blind one! He will serve you better than any staff. Humble yourself like straw! Shatter the mountain of pride That the guide may become a magnet for you! If you do not do this, then heed the words of Attar. Every sorrow you endure will be lost to the wind.

The pilgrim treading this Path will have to pass through several spiritual stages. When his soul is stripped bare of its outer garment, a ray of the divine light will illumine it, and the soul might even, in this state, perform a miracle as an agent of God. In the experience of divine union, such as was expressed in the I am the Truth of al-Hallaj, and the Praise be to me of Bistami, it is possible to become proud of being blissfully united to one's Goal. It becomes apparent that, although endowed with intellect, knowledge, and understanding, such a person is nevertheless unable to exercise true perception. If, in this condition, a sheikh who is well versed in spiritual matters does not guide him, there would be great fear that he might lose his faith and fall into the wilderness of imagining himself as God incarnate or as one identical with God! In the course of his pilgrimage, he should expect to be assailed by spiritual crises. Also, various types of mystical experiences might occur, some might be satanic, others might be produced by his own ego, still others could come from the Merciful One Himself. This is all entirely new to the novice, and he cannot discern the source of these spiritual experiences. He needs the assistance of one well versed in discerning these various spirits, in the same way as cocks alone understand the crowing of their peers. In the words of a poet:

How can you comprehend the language of cocks, since you have never met a Solomon?

At this stage the novice can by no means make progress unless he has a God-assisted sheikh to help him, a teacher who is widely experienced in the understanding of spiritual matters.

If someone is keen on gaining admission to the presence of the king in order to acquire rank and position or a province or palace or a post near the king, and if he has nothing to merit such gifts from the hands of the king, then he will have to make friends with one of the close associates of the king and bind himself to that person because the latter is a confidant of the king. When the confidant advocates the case of another, the king does not pay attention to the absence of genuine claims and services rendered by the petitioner, for his attention is on the acceptable qualities of his confidant. The king cannot ignore what he says but, on the contrary, accedes to his request. If the petitioner by himself had tried for many long years he would not have obtained what he wanted. In a similar way, the sheikhs are kings close to the King, and their requests are acceptable to Him. All those who come to the sheikhs and bind themselves to the sheikhs attain what they desire. The sheikhs, by their clear glances and purity, learn many secrets and grasp the suggestions contained in the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet, such as references to the Path, the Heart, and the Way. In order to help novices, the sheikhs draw conclusions from first principles and, according to these conclusions, issue instructions to guide them. The first instruction applies to the moment when God Almighty opens the eyes of someone to his deeds so that he can judge the good as good and the evil as evil. There then wells up within him the intention of expunging the latter, but he does not know how to set about doing so. What must he do? He should visit some holy person who lives in a religious sanctuary and bind himself to him with the determination of changing his way of life. He hopes that one of God's cherished ones will accept him, fallen and lost as he is, and release him from the vice of ungodly selfishness that grips him. Second, if any blemish or defect comes to light, the guide should, in a gentle and compassionate manner, induce the novice to abstain from such things. Third, the guide should keep him away from bad acquaintances and unsuitable companions and should also forbid him to listen to their conversation. All that it would take the novice a year to accomplish by himself can be finished off in an hour with the proper guide! The same holds true in other matters.

It is only possible for the novice to reach an advanced stage with a spiritual guide through whose assistance he obtains his desire. The novice might have to associate with two, three, four, or even more guides in order to reach his Goal. Each guide and each association would become for him the revelation of a stage, but it would be better if he made no slur about the guide's own stage of spiritual growth. Nor should he point out that the guide has only attained to some particular stage. He should say: It was allotted to me to get this far from my association with him. He must have gone higher than this! This is a more polite way of talking. The really mature ones of the Way of the Lord Most High do not preoccupy themselves with stages and states. If you are associated with a guide, you should not depart from that place without his permission nor, on your own initiative, dissociate yourself from him. This condition should be kept in mind. If the novice goes to another guide or sets out on a fruitless search without the permission of his own guide, he will not achieve what he desires! Everyone who acts in such a manner becomes a renegade of the Way. According to the understanding of the sheikhs, such a person has really abandoned the Way.

When a novice begins to associate with a spiritual guide, he will have to spend three years in three types of training. If he stands firm in obeying these orders, he can then don the real garb of the seeker. and not merely the conventional one. Unless this procedure is followed, experienced guides insist that the novice cannot be accepted into the Way. The three requirements are: one year's service on behalf of other people, one year devoted to God, and another year spent in watching over one's own heart. A novice's hands should be wide open in prayer and his tongue moving in supplication, for the prayers of those who weep, and moan find favor in God's eyes. At such times, the veil of modesty is lifted, and what one desires should be asked for importunately. Ask for whatever you wish, and do not get caught up with trifles! Do not leave the divine threshold or cut yourself off from Him! You should know that He has lavished everything freely upon men. Faith, as well as the forgiveness of sins, has been freely bestowed. He is the One who can bestow the whole world if He wants to. Is there anyone who begs to be heard? Is there anyone who seeks? Is there anyone who implores forgiveness? Something within stirred me up: Ask Me, for my generosity knows no bounds! I command you to ask! If you do not, I shall press you for being lax. I give even what has not been asked for.

Even what is not asked for He grants, if you ask, imagine what He will give. He is a King: If He so wishes, He can bestow both worlds upon a beggar!

O brother, all this flows from the divine bounty. There should be no talk of claims here, since His generosity means that He gives without making any claims. Where there is a question of what is due one cannot talk of generosity, since claims make us feel obligated to someone. Once obligation enters, debt comes as well and requiting a debt cannot be considered generosity! An anecdote of Ali's generosity follows.]

Peace!

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

My brother Shamsuddin, may God honor you in both worlds! You should know that according to the unanimous opinion of famous saints of the Way, a novice, after undergoing genuine repentance, should seek a spiritual guide. He should be perfect, well versed in the vicissitudes of the Way, and firmly established in his high state. In short, he should be a man who has experienced both the horror of God's majesty and the delight of His beauty. The learned are the de ascendants of the prophets. With regard to the spiritual guide, all these qualities should have been realized in his person. He should be a physician skilled in the knowledge of medicines and the types of treatment to be applied to the defects and ailments for which the novice is seeking a cure. God Himself has said: Associate with the righteous (09:119), that is, associate with the prophets. After them come the great sheikhs, who are the successors to the prophets, since the learned are the descendants of the prophets. It is a Tradition of explaining the process of succession. My learned ones are like the prophets of the People of Israel is a related Tradition as is the declaration that a sheikh in his community is like a prophet in his. This is especially true if the people have no means of acquiring instruction in the path of religion from a prophet. [Three illustrative quotes follow.]

In the beginning, there was no need either for a prophet or a sheikh, because the seed is such that it requires nothing except the divine grace in order to fall into the soil of one's heart: God guides whomsoever He wishes! (Q42-52). Wherever that seed is found, some form of guidance, either through the role of a prophet or that of a sheikh, the prophet's deputy, is necessary. As the Quran has attested:

Surely you guide to the straight path (Q42:52). And also, one finds many theological arguments in Sufi works on this topic. Among them we have created a group who guide with the truth (Q7:181). One runs as follows: It is beyond dispute that the road to the Kaaba is clear and well known but, without a guide, someone who himself knows the way, a person cannot travel along it. It is not enough to be able to see the road with one's eyes and have enough strength in one's legs. Imagine what it must be like on that Road along which 124,000 prophets have traveled, and yet no trace of their journey remains! Without a guide who knows the way, it is impossible to travel along this Road.

Remember, too, that an ordinary road is infested with thieves and robbers, so that one clarinet travel along it without an escort. As for the mystic Way, the world, one's ego, devils, men, and jinn all infest this Way, thus making it impossible to travel along it without an experienced, holy man as one's escort. Remember, further, that there are many slippery places where it is easy to fall. And one can be plagued with misfortune and dangers from behind! Many philosophers and worldly-minded people, as well as others lacking faith, piety, or any semblance of morality have become followers of their own base desires. They have gone without a perfect sheikh or leader who has reached his goal on this Way and have instead trusted in their own intellectual powers. They entered the wilderness where they fell and perished, losing even their faith.

You are an ant; the Way is like the long tresses of beauty. Beware, O man, of merely guessing or blindly following others.

But the blessed ones, protected by the riches of the saints, have passed beyond those hidden dangers and arrived safely at their destination. They managed to progress without mishap and, along the way, have themselves seen where each has fallen, and also the extent of his corruption. Other travelers who managed to avoid misfortunes and pass successfully through various trials at last succumbed to lassitude! If the sheikh is possessed of supernatural powers, he will be able to protect the novice from either falling or languishing during his struggles. The explanations and subtle hints of the sheikh can also guide the novice to the proper way of acting. Otherwise, the novice will fall into dissipation or formalism and will lose whatever he has labored to gain!

Seek the shade of a guide, O blind one! He will serve you better than any staff. Humble yourself like straw! Shatter the mountain of pride That the guide may become a magnet for you! If you do not do this, then heed the words of Attar. Every sorrow you endure will be lost to the wind.

The pilgrim treading this Path will have to pass through several spiritual stages. When his soul is stripped bare of its outer garment, a ray of the divine light will illumine it, and the soul might even, in this state, perform a miracle as an agent of God. In the experience of divine union, such as was expressed in the I am the Truth of al-Hallaj, and the Praise be to me of Bistami, it is possible to become proud of being blissfully united to one's Goal. It becomes apparent that, although endowed with intellect, knowledge, and understanding, such a person is nevertheless unable to exercise true perception. If, in this condition, a sheikh who is well versed in spiritual matters does not guide him, there would be great fear that he might lose his faith and fall into the wilderness of imagining himself as God incarnate or as one identical with God! In the course of his pilgrimage, he should expect to be assailed by spiritual crises. Also, various types of mystical experiences might occur, some might be satanic, others might be produced by his own ego, still others could come from the Merciful One Himself. This is all entirely new to the novice, and he cannot discern the source of these spiritual experiences. He needs the assistance of one well versed in discerning these various spirits, in the same way as cocks alone understand the crowing of their peers. In the words of a poet:

How can you comprehend the language of cocks, since you have never met a Solomon?

At this stage the novice can by no means make progress unless he has a God-assisted sheikh to help him, a teacher who is widely experienced in the understanding of spiritual matters.

If someone is keen on gaining admission to the presence of the king in order to acquire rank and position or a province or palace or a post near the king, and if he has nothing to merit such gifts from the hands of the king, then he will have to make friends with one of the close associates of the king and bind himself to that person because the latter is a confidant of the king. When the confidant advocates the case of another, the king does not pay attention to the absence of genuine claims and services rendered by the petitioner, for his attention is on the acceptable qualities of his confidant. The king cannot ignore what he says but, on the contrary, accedes to his request. If the petitioner by himself had tried for many long years he would not have obtained what he wanted. In a similar way, the sheikhs are kings close to the King, and their requests are acceptable to Him. All those who come to the sheikhs and bind themselves to the sheikhs attain what they desire. The sheikhs, by their clear glances and purity, learn many secrets and grasp the suggestions contained in the Quran and the traditions of the Prophet, such as references to the Path, the Heart, and the Way. In order to help novices, the sheikhs draw conclusions from first principles and, according to these conclusions, issue instructions to guide them. The first instruction applies to the moment when God Almighty opens the eyes of someone to his deeds so that he can judge the good as good and the evil as evil. There then wells up within him the intention of expunging the latter, but he does not know how to set about doing so. What must he do? He should visit some holy person who lives in a religious sanctuary and bind himself to him with the determination of changing his way of life. He hopes that one of God's cherished ones will accept him, fallen and lost as he is, and release him from the vice of ungodly selfishness that grips him. Second, if any blemish or defect comes to light, the guide should, in a gentle and compassionate manner, induce the novice to abstain from such things. Third, the guide should keep him away from bad acquaintances and unsuitable companions and should also forbid him to listen to their conversation. All that it would take the novice a year to accomplish by himself can be finished off in an hour with the proper guide! The same holds true in other matters.

It is only possible for the novice to reach an advanced stage with a spiritual guide through whose assistance he obtains his desire. The novice might have to associate with two, three, four, or even more guides in order to reach his Goal. Each guide and each association would become for him the revelation of a stage, but it would be better if he made no slur about the guide's own stage of spiritual growth. Nor should he point out that the guide has only attained to some particular stage. He should say: It was allotted to me to get this far from my association with him. He must have gone higher than this! This is a more polite way of talking. The really mature ones of the Way of the Lord Most High do not preoccupy themselves with stages and states. If you are associated with a guide, you should not depart from that place without his permission nor, on your own initiative, dissociate yourself from him. This condition should be kept in mind. If the novice goes to another guide or sets out on a fruitless search without the permission of his own guide, he will not achieve what he desires! Everyone who acts in such a manner becomes a renegade of the Way. According to the understanding of the sheikhs, such a person has really abandoned the Way.

When a novice begins to associate with a spiritual guide, he will have to spend three years in three types of training. If he stands firm in obeying these orders, he can then don the real garb of the seeker. and not merely the conventional one. Unless this procedure is followed, experienced guides insist that the novice cannot be accepted into the Way. The three requirements are: one year's service on behalf of other people, one year devoted to God, and another year spent in watching over one's own heart. A novice's hands should be wide open in prayer and his tongue moving in supplication, for the prayers of those who weep, and moan find favor in God's eyes. At such times, the veil of modesty is lifted, and what one desires should be asked for importunately. Ask for whatever you wish, and do not get caught up with trifles! Do not leave the divine threshold or cut yourself off from Him! You should know that He has lavished everything freely upon men. Faith, as well as the forgiveness of sins, has been freely bestowed. He is the One who can bestow the whole world if He wants to. Is there anyone who begs to be heard? Is there anyone who seeks? Is there anyone who implores forgiveness? Something within stirred me up: Ask Me, for my generosity knows no bounds! I command you to ask! If you do not, I shall press you for being lax. I give even what has not been asked for.

Even what is not asked for He grants, if you ask, imagine what He will give. He is a King: If He so wishes, He can bestow both worlds upon a beggar!

O brother, all this flows from the divine bounty. There should be no talk of claims here, since His generosity means that He gives without making any claims. Where there is a question of what is due one cannot talk of generosity, since claims make us feel obligated to someone. Once obligation enters, debt comes as well and requiting a debt cannot be considered generosity! An anecdote of Ali's generosity follows.]

Peace!