LETTER 52: SPEECH AND BEHAVIOR

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

Brother Shamsuddin, may God bless you with both learning and mystical knowledge! All religious scholars give precedence to speech and build behavior on the foundation of speech. They say: The first thing is speech. Behavior is the child of speech. Without speech, there can be no correct behavior. The learning they acquire comes from listening and talking. On the other hand, the seekers of Truth gain their knowledge by means of a divine command. Khwaja Junaid said. It is my heart that has told me of the Lord! This happens when a person follows the Law completely and the wealth he obtains is as a result of the blessing conferred upon his behavior.

The seekers of Truth speak in this fashion: Knowledge is not talking! Knowledge is one thing; speech is something else! There is no affinity between speech and knowledge. Knowledge means anything that helps a man along the road of religion, whereas speech is simply a path to knowledge. There is righteousness in knowledge but, except in the world of Truth, there is no real knowledge. The tongue has dominion over words, but words are limited. Knowledge, on the other hand, proceeds from the heart, and there is no death for the heart. The world, in fact, exists through its agency. The Lord Almighty does not grant knowledge to all, but He does not withhold speech from anyone. No, even birds have tongues but not hearts. Since they have no heart, they have no knowledge. If a bird learns the name of anybody, he utters it, but he does not know the difference. If a bird were to expend the effort to learn the names of Moses and Jesus, he would utter them too! Hence it is that Khwaja Wasiti said: In all the heavenly creatures there is a tongue that praises and worships God, but no heart He means that except for Adam and his offspring, no one else has been granted a heart. Knowledge is anything that binds up all your evil desires, compulsions, or craving for power, and shows you the way to God. That is the path you should tread!

On the other hand, any knowledge that panders to your inclinations and makes you long for what your ego desires is but a stepping- stone leading you to the courts of oppressors and tyrants. That should not be called knowledge! It should be called the net of deserters. Knowledge will drag you from positions of eminence down to menial ones, and from speaking to being dumbstruck! It will free you from quarrels and contentions, but it will not cause you to have a crown of lordship placed on your head, nor make it possible to bind up your waist with the girdle of pride.

Knowledge, like a mirror, places before you whatever can harm or injure you. Whenever a Muslim approaches you, pull up your skirt to avoid him and say: It is not proper that any of my clothes should touch him and pollute his garments! A guide was once walking along with some of his disciples. A dog appeared in front of them. The disciples drew up their skirts to avoid it. The guide did likewise. He asked his disciples: What was your reason for pulling up your skirts? They replied, We did not want our garments to get polluted for prayer. The guide said: My purpose was this: I did not want that dog to be polluted by me! That is the way these people consider themselves! Whenever you see a Muslim on the road, you should give way to him and walk on the other side, just as the protected people (ie, Jews, Christians, and others) do for the Muslims. It is only when you see yourself as contemptible that a crown of honor may be placed upon your head.

Khwaja Zul-Nun Misri, together with his disciples, went to a gathering of wise men. They asked him who the wisest of men was? He replied, I am! Then they asked him who was the most ignorant person alive. He replied, I am he also! They asked for an explanation. He said: Because of my faults, [which I know about), I am the wisest of men; but because of the faults of people (ie, which I don't know about), I am the most ignorant of men. Travelers along the Path to God wield a sword to attack their own defects. Nowadays, however, people wield their sword to attack the defects of others, and all the while claim to be travelers and to possess learning Inevitably.

They produce no fruit. Any learning that resulted in the fear of God would be another matter, for only those servants of God who are knowledgeable fear Him (Q35:28). Hence it is that learning is the oyster that contains the pearl of the fear of God. If you do not see this pearl in the oyster, then know that there is no pearl of knowledge in the sea of your breast. Fear would also mean that you do not travel according to your desires. If you encounter an ant along the way, you should yield to it. You should not argue or contend with it on the road. If some noble person reads a few words about all this, or gains a little knowledge in such matters, or advances a few steps along the path of religion, he deceives himself into thinking that there is no one else in the city who has attained his spiritual eminence and with whom he can converse. He does not even know how to sit in the assembly, nor does he know how to travel along the road. Placing his bundle of learning on his head and flinging his prayer mat over his shoulder, he cannot be contained by the whole wide world. The wise have said that the limit of the learning of the scholars is the starting point of the discipleship of a novice of the Way. For discipleship to begin a person must first don the garment of a novice. That means that he is brought out of himself. The garment signifies that every thing he had previously seen in the garb of the divine beauty is now perceived to be but a tether and ignorance. He then proceeds step by step. A long description of what happens can be boiled down to this: The fire of discipleship consumes everything within him! After this, he falls into the world of pride. This happens because he begins to see lights, and speech begins to slip from his tongue, and people are astonished at his words, for they are no longer like those of others. He thinks that he has reached a stage of eminence never before achieved by other men. There he establishes himself. He speaks in a flattering manner and beguiles men's hearts. All this, however, is but a net and a deception to the soul.

It is at this point that a guide is necessary to help him advance beyond this stage and get him on the move again after he has become stalled, for in divine light there is a more profound concealment than occurs in ordinary darkness. Hence it is that a Sufi is lost for words, nor is a pen of any avail to him, nor do his eyes help him out; nothing enables him to translate his experience into human speech! His imitation would consist in this, that the prophet of the worlds could neither read nor write. What happened? He did not speak out of desire. he only revealed what God had revealed to him (Q53:3, 4). Hence it is that the difficulties of the disciple will not be solved by what scholars have to say, for the latter are masters of doctrine, but the questions of disciples are concerned with behavior, not doctrine. The imitation of the disciple will not be acceptable to some scholars, because their own decisions are concerned with external matters, while the disciple is concerned about internal ones. The disciple must be careful not to get caught in the middle, lest he be destroyed. A scholar seeks salvation by means of what he knows. He is all for picking up whatever learning he can. He knows everything that others have left behind. All of it has been collected within his breast. He knows the accumulated learning of the past. A disciple, on the other hand, opts to throw away all past learning and press on. He desires to unlearn whatever he has learned. He wishes he did not have what, in fact, he does have. He discards whatever is his, that he might become liberated. These two positions are completely contradictory. There can be no agreement between them.

This letter should be studied carefully many times. It will be found to contain many helpful things. O brother, how can a little dirty water [man) enter a portion of the shell of Life? Especially if he says, I am! or These things belong to me! We, born of Adam, were born on a day of trial. The first sound that reaches the ears of a child born on such a day is that of lamentation. Inevitably, everyone who becomes acquainted with this situation simply melts away. He wants to pass away into nothingness in order that the record of existence might be cleansed of him completely. All those who come into existence fall Even if they attain eternal bliss, still they take along with them a hankering after sanctity, prophethood, righteousness, and love for some who have not yet passed from nothingness into existence. Finally, have you not heard what the king of the prophets, who had the crown of If it were not for you, I would not have created the heavens placed upon his head, said O that the God of Muhammad had not created Muhammad! He also said: If there were to be another prophet after me, it would be Umar! Once Umar was walking along the road. He stretched out his hand and plucked a blade of grass and said: O that Umar were this blade of grass! Umran ibn Husain was traveling in a desert place. He noticed the wind descending on him, bearing innumerable particles of dust. He said: O that I were even less than this dust!

Peace!

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

Brother Shamsuddin, may God bless you with both learning and mystical knowledge! All religious scholars give precedence to speech and build behavior on the foundation of speech. They say: The first thing is speech. Behavior is the child of speech. Without speech, there can be no correct behavior. The learning they acquire comes from listening and talking. On the other hand, the seekers of Truth gain their knowledge by means of a divine command. Khwaja Junaid said. It is my heart that has told me of the Lord! This happens when a person follows the Law completely and the wealth he obtains is as a result of the blessing conferred upon his behavior.

The seekers of Truth speak in this fashion: Knowledge is not talking! Knowledge is one thing; speech is something else! There is no affinity between speech and knowledge. Knowledge means anything that helps a man along the road of religion, whereas speech is simply a path to knowledge. There is righteousness in knowledge but, except in the world of Truth, there is no real knowledge. The tongue has dominion over words, but words are limited. Knowledge, on the other hand, proceeds from the heart, and there is no death for the heart. The world, in fact, exists through its agency. The Lord Almighty does not grant knowledge to all, but He does not withhold speech from anyone. No, even birds have tongues but not hearts. Since they have no heart, they have no knowledge. If a bird learns the name of anybody, he utters it, but he does not know the difference. If a bird were to expend the effort to learn the names of Moses and Jesus, he would utter them too! Hence it is that Khwaja Wasiti said: In all the heavenly creatures there is a tongue that praises and worships God, but no heart He means that except for Adam and his offspring, no one else has been granted a heart. Knowledge is anything that binds up all your evil desires, compulsions, or craving for power, and shows you the way to God. That is the path you should tread!

On the other hand, any knowledge that panders to your inclinations and makes you long for what your ego desires is but a stepping- stone leading you to the courts of oppressors and tyrants. That should not be called knowledge! It should be called the net of deserters. Knowledge will drag you from positions of eminence down to menial ones, and from speaking to being dumbstruck! It will free you from quarrels and contentions, but it will not cause you to have a crown of lordship placed on your head, nor make it possible to bind up your waist with the girdle of pride.

Knowledge, like a mirror, places before you whatever can harm or injure you. Whenever a Muslim approaches you, pull up your skirt to avoid him and say: It is not proper that any of my clothes should touch him and pollute his garments! A guide was once walking along with some of his disciples. A dog appeared in front of them. The disciples drew up their skirts to avoid it. The guide did likewise. He asked his disciples: What was your reason for pulling up your skirts? They replied, We did not want our garments to get polluted for prayer. The guide said: My purpose was this: I did not want that dog to be polluted by me! That is the way these people consider themselves! Whenever you see a Muslim on the road, you should give way to him and walk on the other side, just as the protected people (ie, Jews, Christians, and others) do for the Muslims. It is only when you see yourself as contemptible that a crown of honor may be placed upon your head.

Khwaja Zul-Nun Misri, together with his disciples, went to a gathering of wise men. They asked him who the wisest of men was? He replied, I am! Then they asked him who was the most ignorant person alive. He replied, I am he also! They asked for an explanation. He said: Because of my faults, [which I know about), I am the wisest of men; but because of the faults of people (ie, which I don't know about), I am the most ignorant of men. Travelers along the Path to God wield a sword to attack their own defects. Nowadays, however, people wield their sword to attack the defects of others, and all the while claim to be travelers and to possess learning Inevitably.

They produce no fruit. Any learning that resulted in the fear of God would be another matter, for only those servants of God who are knowledgeable fear Him (Q35:28). Hence it is that learning is the oyster that contains the pearl of the fear of God. If you do not see this pearl in the oyster, then know that there is no pearl of knowledge in the sea of your breast. Fear would also mean that you do not travel according to your desires. If you encounter an ant along the way, you should yield to it. You should not argue or contend with it on the road. If some noble person reads a few words about all this, or gains a little knowledge in such matters, or advances a few steps along the path of religion, he deceives himself into thinking that there is no one else in the city who has attained his spiritual eminence and with whom he can converse. He does not even know how to sit in the assembly, nor does he know how to travel along the road. Placing his bundle of learning on his head and flinging his prayer mat over his shoulder, he cannot be contained by the whole wide world. The wise have said that the limit of the learning of the scholars is the starting point of the discipleship of a novice of the Way. For discipleship to begin a person must first don the garment of a novice. That means that he is brought out of himself. The garment signifies that every thing he had previously seen in the garb of the divine beauty is now perceived to be but a tether and ignorance. He then proceeds step by step. A long description of what happens can be boiled down to this: The fire of discipleship consumes everything within him! After this, he falls into the world of pride. This happens because he begins to see lights, and speech begins to slip from his tongue, and people are astonished at his words, for they are no longer like those of others. He thinks that he has reached a stage of eminence never before achieved by other men. There he establishes himself. He speaks in a flattering manner and beguiles men's hearts. All this, however, is but a net and a deception to the soul.

It is at this point that a guide is necessary to help him advance beyond this stage and get him on the move again after he has become stalled, for in divine light there is a more profound concealment than occurs in ordinary darkness. Hence it is that a Sufi is lost for words, nor is a pen of any avail to him, nor do his eyes help him out; nothing enables him to translate his experience into human speech! His imitation would consist in this, that the prophet of the worlds could neither read nor write. What happened? He did not speak out of desire. he only revealed what God had revealed to him (Q53:3, 4). Hence it is that the difficulties of the disciple will not be solved by what scholars have to say, for the latter are masters of doctrine, but the questions of disciples are concerned with behavior, not doctrine. The imitation of the disciple will not be acceptable to some scholars, because their own decisions are concerned with external matters, while the disciple is concerned about internal ones. The disciple must be careful not to get caught in the middle, lest he be destroyed. A scholar seeks salvation by means of what he knows. He is all for picking up whatever learning he can. He knows everything that others have left behind. All of it has been collected within his breast. He knows the accumulated learning of the past. A disciple, on the other hand, opts to throw away all past learning and press on. He desires to unlearn whatever he has learned. He wishes he did not have what, in fact, he does have. He discards whatever is his, that he might become liberated. These two positions are completely contradictory. There can be no agreement between them.

This letter should be studied carefully many times. It will be found to contain many helpful things. O brother, how can a little dirty water [man) enter a portion of the shell of Life? Especially if he says, I am! or These things belong to me! We, born of Adam, were born on a day of trial. The first sound that reaches the ears of a child born on such a day is that of lamentation. Inevitably, everyone who becomes acquainted with this situation simply melts away. He wants to pass away into nothingness in order that the record of existence might be cleansed of him completely. All those who come into existence fall Even if they attain eternal bliss, still they take along with them a hankering after sanctity, prophethood, righteousness, and love for some who have not yet passed from nothingness into existence. Finally, have you not heard what the king of the prophets, who had the crown of If it were not for you, I would not have created the heavens placed upon his head, said O that the God of Muhammad had not created Muhammad! He also said: If there were to be another prophet after me, it would be Umar! Once Umar was walking along the road. He stretched out his hand and plucked a blade of grass and said: O that Umar were this blade of grass! Umran ibn Husain was traveling in a desert place. He noticed the wind descending on him, bearing innumerable particles of dust. He said: O that I were even less than this dust!

Peace!