LETTER 61: SEPARATION AND DETACHMENT?

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

Brother Shamsuddin, may God be generous to you! In the beginning of this work are found separation, which is like the bazaar day of seekers, and detachment, which is like the New Year of righteous disciples. What is meant by this separation? It means that you should come freely out of everything you find today. What is this detachment? It means you should not be enslaved by what is to come, as has been said:

Today, the day before yesterday, yesterday, tomorrow, All four will be one in the life to come!

Second, there is external and internal seclusion. What does external seclusion consist of? It means that you pass beyond all creatures and turn your face to the wall, that you might be enabled to offer up your soul upon His threshold. What does inner seclusion entail? It means cleansing your heart of thinking about any things except God. Third, consider as unlawful for yourself any other name or thinking about anything other than God. Fourth, one should speak, eat, and sleep little, for such restraint is extremely beneficial in controlling one's selfish soul. Much talk prevents us from being preoccupied with the remembrance of God. Too much sleep deprives us of the opportunity for reflection. Too much eating makes us feel heavy, and prevents us from working well.

You should be continually engaged in ablutions, for external cleanliness is an indication of internal purity. When, for instance, a dervish was asked: Tell us the secret of purity, he replied: It is a secret: just as one must always be meticulous about external purity, so too should one be fastidious about inner purity, for what sort of separation can be achieved merely by external purity? By itself it cannot sustain a strong yearning for God. A strong yearning for God is equivalent to the good works of both worlds! It will lift you up and take you to a place to which all the struggles and activities of jinn and men would not be able to take you, if you were to rely only on them. This task is extremely easy to talk about, but frightfully difficult to accomplish. Traveling along this road is not a matter of hands and feet, but requires one's heart and soul, and these do not obey orders. For those endowed with spiritual resolve as well as for righteous lovers, however, it is as easy as eating and drinking are for you and me. The doorway leading to this form of travel consists of learning and mystical knowledge. Anyone who does not enter by that door will wander around aimlessly in a desert and fall into the clutches of a fearsome demon, a demon who will snatch away both life and faith, as has been said:

These false claims are the demons of the Way:

Be careful lest their sudden attack detour you from your path!

If the pain of this endeavor has taken hold of anyone, then realize that it is a pain without remedy. One has to live with oneself, and with one's own pain. A person should not attempt to find a remedy. because he could pass his whole life fruitlessly in such a search. Some of the Sufis have said: All these seekers to whom You manifest Yourself remain in pain, and do not obtain any remedy. Hence it is that they have become engrossed in searching for a remedy, and the capital of disappointment is absorbed in this way. Prepare yourself for whatever you want! I swear that, until you abandon your relation to all things, you cannot attain to the All! This is a confirmatory hint. One beloved of God has said:

If you want to hold the heavens within your grasp, then arise. Lift up your foot, and ascend above the earth. Move forward, but never let your gaze wander backwards, Lest, from your heavenly perch, your eye rest upon earth. Look at the conflict experienced by a dying man: His thoughts are turned toward his bodily form, And yet one who knows what is the root of his work, understands that his soul can exist without a body!

Eternal life is lived through the soul, not the body. This is the work of love rather than injunction. Because it is incumbent upon servants to obey orders, they run after a remedy for every pain. Lovers, on the other hand, heed only the call of love. They want pain without remedy! All the time the Beloved says, Stay away, lest you be destroyed, but they say, We made an offering of our lives on the very first day. We have destroyed ourselves with our own hand. It would be better to die than to have to live without You. If we had to live without You, we would turn our faces toward nothingness! Better to be dead in Your lane than alive and far from Your face!

O brother, we should not trust our head on this road. Those famous for learning know nothing of this secret. If someone does not have the strength and does not believe, then he will turn toward a desert where he will see a hundred thousand heads rolling around in the base dust. Nobody, however, either outwardly or inwardly, has seen the countenance of his Recompense. Love calls you in order to raise you up from the secret of a head that is really nothing but dust, that He might place you upon the throne of honor and union. The choice now lies with you!

Love is the new wine of the garden of youth, Love it is which can purchase an everlasting domain. If, like Khizr, you seek living water, Look to love, the source of living water!

Even though there is no head completely devoid of this benefit, still this esteemed wealth and refined rank is not granted to every greedy person, for by prayer and fasting such people think they have become worthy, but they remain deprived of the Perfection of all ranks and the Honor of all stages.

Union with Your face is a treasure sought by all creation. Yet it is the task of Wealth alone who can attain it now?

Be of good cheer and remain constant in hope, for the door of favor is open. Abu Sulaiman Darani wrote Khwaja Bayazid: If there is a foolish fellow who sleeps all night long, can he reach the mansion? The answer came: If the wind of divine favor blows! It has been remarked that if all the possessions of man were put into a sieve, then not even one particle of Truth would descend upon his head! The dwellings of men were searched again and again, but no one was found who could display a face that contained purity equal to the point of a needle!

Doubts have been created to act as irritants upon the visage of faith. Habit and metaphor have been brought forth and are in conflict with Unity. Hypocrisy has been nurtured along with sincerity, staking its own claim. For every friend, there are thousands of enemies, and along with every righteous man, thousands of heretics have been created. Wherever there is a place of worship, a tavern has been built facing it. Wherever one finds a cape, there will be a sacred thread as well. Acceptance has been marked by rejection. From east to west ornaments and blessings have been bestowed, and yet beneath every blessing has been arranged some affliction or sore trial. The unfortunate one throws dust on his head and says:

God does all this and yet, out of dread, Man has no power to utter even a sigh!

Peace!

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

Brother Shamsuddin, may God be generous to you! In the beginning of this work are found separation, which is like the bazaar day of seekers, and detachment, which is like the New Year of righteous disciples. What is meant by this separation? It means that you should come freely out of everything you find today. What is this detachment? It means you should not be enslaved by what is to come, as has been said:

Today, the day before yesterday, yesterday, tomorrow, All four will be one in the life to come!

Second, there is external and internal seclusion. What does external seclusion consist of? It means that you pass beyond all creatures and turn your face to the wall, that you might be enabled to offer up your soul upon His threshold. What does inner seclusion entail? It means cleansing your heart of thinking about any things except God. Third, consider as unlawful for yourself any other name or thinking about anything other than God. Fourth, one should speak, eat, and sleep little, for such restraint is extremely beneficial in controlling one's selfish soul. Much talk prevents us from being preoccupied with the remembrance of God. Too much sleep deprives us of the opportunity for reflection. Too much eating makes us feel heavy, and prevents us from working well.

You should be continually engaged in ablutions, for external cleanliness is an indication of internal purity. When, for instance, a dervish was asked: Tell us the secret of purity, he replied: It is a secret: just as one must always be meticulous about external purity, so too should one be fastidious about inner purity, for what sort of separation can be achieved merely by external purity? By itself it cannot sustain a strong yearning for God. A strong yearning for God is equivalent to the good works of both worlds! It will lift you up and take you to a place to which all the struggles and activities of jinn and men would not be able to take you, if you were to rely only on them. This task is extremely easy to talk about, but frightfully difficult to accomplish. Traveling along this road is not a matter of hands and feet, but requires one's heart and soul, and these do not obey orders. For those endowed with spiritual resolve as well as for righteous lovers, however, it is as easy as eating and drinking are for you and me. The doorway leading to this form of travel consists of learning and mystical knowledge. Anyone who does not enter by that door will wander around aimlessly in a desert and fall into the clutches of a fearsome demon, a demon who will snatch away both life and faith, as has been said:

These false claims are the demons of the Way:

Be careful lest their sudden attack detour you from your path!

If the pain of this endeavor has taken hold of anyone, then realize that it is a pain without remedy. One has to live with oneself, and with one's own pain. A person should not attempt to find a remedy. because he could pass his whole life fruitlessly in such a search. Some of the Sufis have said: All these seekers to whom You manifest Yourself remain in pain, and do not obtain any remedy. Hence it is that they have become engrossed in searching for a remedy, and the capital of disappointment is absorbed in this way. Prepare yourself for whatever you want! I swear that, until you abandon your relation to all things, you cannot attain to the All! This is a confirmatory hint. One beloved of God has said:

If you want to hold the heavens within your grasp, then arise. Lift up your foot, and ascend above the earth. Move forward, but never let your gaze wander backwards, Lest, from your heavenly perch, your eye rest upon earth. Look at the conflict experienced by a dying man: His thoughts are turned toward his bodily form, And yet one who knows what is the root of his work, understands that his soul can exist without a body!

Eternal life is lived through the soul, not the body. This is the work of love rather than injunction. Because it is incumbent upon servants to obey orders, they run after a remedy for every pain. Lovers, on the other hand, heed only the call of love. They want pain without remedy! All the time the Beloved says, Stay away, lest you be destroyed, but they say, We made an offering of our lives on the very first day. We have destroyed ourselves with our own hand. It would be better to die than to have to live without You. If we had to live without You, we would turn our faces toward nothingness! Better to be dead in Your lane than alive and far from Your face!

O brother, we should not trust our head on this road. Those famous for learning know nothing of this secret. If someone does not have the strength and does not believe, then he will turn toward a desert where he will see a hundred thousand heads rolling around in the base dust. Nobody, however, either outwardly or inwardly, has seen the countenance of his Recompense. Love calls you in order to raise you up from the secret of a head that is really nothing but dust, that He might place you upon the throne of honor and union. The choice now lies with you!

Love is the new wine of the garden of youth, Love it is which can purchase an everlasting domain. If, like Khizr, you seek living water, Look to love, the source of living water!

Even though there is no head completely devoid of this benefit, still this esteemed wealth and refined rank is not granted to every greedy person, for by prayer and fasting such people think they have become worthy, but they remain deprived of the Perfection of all ranks and the Honor of all stages.

Union with Your face is a treasure sought by all creation. Yet it is the task of Wealth alone who can attain it now?

Be of good cheer and remain constant in hope, for the door of favor is open. Abu Sulaiman Darani wrote Khwaja Bayazid: If there is a foolish fellow who sleeps all night long, can he reach the mansion? The answer came: If the wind of divine favor blows! It has been remarked that if all the possessions of man were put into a sieve, then not even one particle of Truth would descend upon his head! The dwellings of men were searched again and again, but no one was found who could display a face that contained purity equal to the point of a needle!

Doubts have been created to act as irritants upon the visage of faith. Habit and metaphor have been brought forth and are in conflict with Unity. Hypocrisy has been nurtured along with sincerity, staking its own claim. For every friend, there are thousands of enemies, and along with every righteous man, thousands of heretics have been created. Wherever there is a place of worship, a tavern has been built facing it. Wherever one finds a cape, there will be a sacred thread as well. Acceptance has been marked by rejection. From east to west ornaments and blessings have been bestowed, and yet beneath every blessing has been arranged some affliction or sore trial. The unfortunate one throws dust on his head and says:

God does all this and yet, out of dread, Man has no power to utter even a sigh!

Peace!