LETTER 77: THE SECRETS OF FATE AND PREDESTINATION

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

Brother, the lords of righteousness will be questioned about their righteousness, and they are all trembling! And the obedient ones are in great danger! The devout, the ascetics, the Sufis, and also the scholars all will fear the sword of His complete self-sufficiency. Undoubtedly God has no need in either world.

This work has proved to be very difficult, for

The Beloved is so rich and we are simply beggars!

We have become the fuel of hell, joining the company of Nimrod and Pharaoh. We have fallen asleep, dreaming foolishly about ourselves. The effect of such foolishness on the hearts of men is greater than that of hell on unbelievers!

O brother, what place is there here for either stability or rest? A creature, made out of water and dust, has been destined to be thrown onto the field of calamity. If he eats his fill, he grows drowsy. If he is hungry, he grows mad. If he is asleep, he is like a dead man. If he gets up, he is perplexed. Indigence and helplessness are his inevitable qualities. If he seeks mystical knowledge of God, the reply comes: They do not honor God with the honor due Him (Q6:92). If he becomes immersed in divine service, it is said: They have been given no other command than to serve God with great sincerity! (Q98:5). And if a person ceases to pursue either gnosis or service, it is said: I did not make jinn and men except to worship Me! (QS 1:56). If he becomes foolish and sits down, he is frightened with, Know that the grip of your Lord is very tight! (Q13:6). If anyone seeks an intercessor, the order comes: No one can speak except he whom the Merciful permits to speak, and he will declare what is right (Q78:38). And if you have looked at yourself or at someone else, it is said: If you have made anyone an associate with God, all your works will come to nothing (Q39:65). And if you want to have some small benefit in your heart, it is said: Undoubtedly these are protectors over you (Q82:10).

If, on the other hand, you desire any rank in your heart, it is said: He knows the hidden secrets of the heart! If someone flees and goes into hiding, it is said: There is no place to which he can escape! If he continues to flee, calamity befalls him: All have to return in His direction! If a person abandons everything and sits helplessly, he hears: And those who strive hard for Us, We will certainly guide them in Our Ways (Q29:69), If he tries to exert himself, he hears: God distributes His mercy to whomsoever He will! If anyone despairs, it is said: Do not despair of God's mercy! (Q39:53). If, on becoming filled with hope, you grow fearless, it is said: Are they secure from God's design? (Q7:99). And if one cries out, it is said: He cannot be questioned as to what He does! (Q21:23).

One is accepted, while another is borne away: The secret of all this has been revealed to no one Fate reveals just this much to us: You are the measure, and You measure out the wine!

The Sufis have said: We entered this world in a condition of instability. We pass our days here in astonishment and, with a cry, we leave. The Prophet of Islam went to sleep one night. When he got up, seventeen of his hairs had turned white. The companions asked what had happened. He replied that the chapter Hud [Warning. Chapter II of the Quran] had descended upon him. This resulted from the command Hold firm to whatsoever has been said!

O brother, the road is not secure. The resting place is a long way off. There is no limit at all in our Beloved and Desired One, whereas we have a weak body, a helpless heart, a lover's soul, and a secret longing.

Except for soul and liver, You have no other hunting or meat: Hence it is that no head has grasped Your secret!

My harvest is devotion for the heedless, who, at the end of their lives, will be held accountable: And We shall turn to the work they have done, and We shall render it as scattered dust (Q25:23). The breasts of many, in the throes of death, will have something they never thought of made manifest to them by God (Q39:47). One can become lost at the very last moment, if his head is not placed in such a way that he is facing Mecca. A friend may be called a stranger on that night. One is told: Have sweet dreams, like a bride, while another hears, Sleep like an unhappy man! One who has not abandoned any devotion may still be rejected. All the courteous behavior of a person who is incapable of divine union is nothing but sin. On the other hand, one who does not even reflect on his sins may be accepted. There is something in his face that intercedes on his behalf and effaces his faults from hearts. Seeking pardon and forgiveness, he makes his way forward. Look at Abraham, the Friend, emerging from the idol-temple of Azar! He brings forth the living from the dead (Q6:96). Look at Canaan and Noah: And He brings forth the dead from the living (Q6:96). Look at what Adam attained, though he did not desist from his faults. And look at Satan, who was rejected without deriving any benefit from his devotion.

Those who have been called have received joyful tidings (Q39:17), but today there is no good news for the guilty (Q25:22). They carry the scar of their prostrations upon their faces (Q48:29). Hence, you will be able to recognize the guilty from their foreheads (Q55:41).

Do not sit around like a contented fool! Gain some benefit from this passing world! Dust settles of itself, and doubt arises; Am I mounted on a horse, or on a dead ass?

As far as you can, remain brokenhearted and miserable. When Moses spoke with God, he said: Lord, where should I search for You? The answer came. In that heart which has been broken as the result of a wound inflicted by Me! He said: O God, there is no heart that is more hopeless or broken than mine is! He said, I am where you are! As long as a man has a shield in his hand, he still wants to remain alive, but if he has flung away his shield, brought his horse to a halt, drawn his sword, and jumped down onto the ground, one can truly say that he has lost the will to live. One beloved of God said: I visited a dervish and said: Any lover who is unable to bear patiently an oppression inflicted by the Beloved is not a true lover. The sheikhs of Iraq said: No person has attained the epitome of mystical knowledge until rejection and favor become, for him, one and the same.

When Shibli heard this, he said: This is wrong! A man becomes a Sufi when, for him, rejection becomes preferable to favors, since rejection and difficulty underscore desire for God in a special way, while favors contain some admixture of the servant's desire for himself. A genuine Sufi is he who sacrifices his own desires for those of the Friend.

Peace!

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

Brother, the lords of righteousness will be questioned about their righteousness, and they are all trembling! And the obedient ones are in great danger! The devout, the ascetics, the Sufis, and also the scholars all will fear the sword of His complete self-sufficiency. Undoubtedly God has no need in either world.

This work has proved to be very difficult, for

The Beloved is so rich and we are simply beggars!

We have become the fuel of hell, joining the company of Nimrod and Pharaoh. We have fallen asleep, dreaming foolishly about ourselves. The effect of such foolishness on the hearts of men is greater than that of hell on unbelievers!

O brother, what place is there here for either stability or rest? A creature, made out of water and dust, has been destined to be thrown onto the field of calamity. If he eats his fill, he grows drowsy. If he is hungry, he grows mad. If he is asleep, he is like a dead man. If he gets up, he is perplexed. Indigence and helplessness are his inevitable qualities. If he seeks mystical knowledge of God, the reply comes: They do not honor God with the honor due Him (Q6:92). If he becomes immersed in divine service, it is said: They have been given no other command than to serve God with great sincerity! (Q98:5). And if a person ceases to pursue either gnosis or service, it is said: I did not make jinn and men except to worship Me! (QS 1:56). If he becomes foolish and sits down, he is frightened with, Know that the grip of your Lord is very tight! (Q13:6). If anyone seeks an intercessor, the order comes: No one can speak except he whom the Merciful permits to speak, and he will declare what is right (Q78:38). And if you have looked at yourself or at someone else, it is said: If you have made anyone an associate with God, all your works will come to nothing (Q39:65). And if you want to have some small benefit in your heart, it is said: Undoubtedly these are protectors over you (Q82:10).

If, on the other hand, you desire any rank in your heart, it is said: He knows the hidden secrets of the heart! If someone flees and goes into hiding, it is said: There is no place to which he can escape! If he continues to flee, calamity befalls him: All have to return in His direction! If a person abandons everything and sits helplessly, he hears: And those who strive hard for Us, We will certainly guide them in Our Ways (Q29:69), If he tries to exert himself, he hears: God distributes His mercy to whomsoever He will! If anyone despairs, it is said: Do not despair of God's mercy! (Q39:53). If, on becoming filled with hope, you grow fearless, it is said: Are they secure from God's design? (Q7:99). And if one cries out, it is said: He cannot be questioned as to what He does! (Q21:23).

One is accepted, while another is borne away: The secret of all this has been revealed to no one Fate reveals just this much to us: You are the measure, and You measure out the wine!

The Sufis have said: We entered this world in a condition of instability. We pass our days here in astonishment and, with a cry, we leave. The Prophet of Islam went to sleep one night. When he got up, seventeen of his hairs had turned white. The companions asked what had happened. He replied that the chapter Hud [Warning. Chapter II of the Quran] had descended upon him. This resulted from the command Hold firm to whatsoever has been said!

O brother, the road is not secure. The resting place is a long way off. There is no limit at all in our Beloved and Desired One, whereas we have a weak body, a helpless heart, a lover's soul, and a secret longing.

Except for soul and liver, You have no other hunting or meat: Hence it is that no head has grasped Your secret!

My harvest is devotion for the heedless, who, at the end of their lives, will be held accountable: And We shall turn to the work they have done, and We shall render it as scattered dust (Q25:23). The breasts of many, in the throes of death, will have something they never thought of made manifest to them by God (Q39:47). One can become lost at the very last moment, if his head is not placed in such a way that he is facing Mecca. A friend may be called a stranger on that night. One is told: Have sweet dreams, like a bride, while another hears, Sleep like an unhappy man! One who has not abandoned any devotion may still be rejected. All the courteous behavior of a person who is incapable of divine union is nothing but sin. On the other hand, one who does not even reflect on his sins may be accepted. There is something in his face that intercedes on his behalf and effaces his faults from hearts. Seeking pardon and forgiveness, he makes his way forward. Look at Abraham, the Friend, emerging from the idol-temple of Azar! He brings forth the living from the dead (Q6:96). Look at Canaan and Noah: And He brings forth the dead from the living (Q6:96). Look at what Adam attained, though he did not desist from his faults. And look at Satan, who was rejected without deriving any benefit from his devotion.

Those who have been called have received joyful tidings (Q39:17), but today there is no good news for the guilty (Q25:22). They carry the scar of their prostrations upon their faces (Q48:29). Hence, you will be able to recognize the guilty from their foreheads (Q55:41).

Do not sit around like a contented fool! Gain some benefit from this passing world! Dust settles of itself, and doubt arises; Am I mounted on a horse, or on a dead ass?

As far as you can, remain brokenhearted and miserable. When Moses spoke with God, he said: Lord, where should I search for You? The answer came. In that heart which has been broken as the result of a wound inflicted by Me! He said: O God, there is no heart that is more hopeless or broken than mine is! He said, I am where you are! As long as a man has a shield in his hand, he still wants to remain alive, but if he has flung away his shield, brought his horse to a halt, drawn his sword, and jumped down onto the ground, one can truly say that he has lost the will to live. One beloved of God said: I visited a dervish and said: Any lover who is unable to bear patiently an oppression inflicted by the Beloved is not a true lover. The sheikhs of Iraq said: No person has attained the epitome of mystical knowledge until rejection and favor become, for him, one and the same.

When Shibli heard this, he said: This is wrong! A man becomes a Sufi when, for him, rejection becomes preferable to favors, since rejection and difficulty underscore desire for God in a special way, while favors contain some admixture of the servant's desire for himself. A genuine Sufi is he who sacrifices his own desires for those of the Friend.

Peace!