The steps of a disciple.

The steps of a disciple. The first step is religion (Shariat.) When the disciple has fully paid the demand of religion, and aspires to go beyond, the path (Tariqat) appears before him. It is the way to the heart. When he has fully observed the conditions of the path, and aspires to soar higher, the veils of the heart are rent, and truth (Haqiqat) shines therein. It is the way to the soul, and the goal of the seeker.

Broadly speaking, there are four stages: Nasut, Malakut, Jabarut and Lahut, each leading to the next. Nasut is the animal nature, and function through the five senses- e.g. eating, contacting, seeing, hearing and the like. When the disciple controls the senses to the limit of bare necessity, and transcends the animal nature by purification and asceticism, he reaches Malakut- the region of the angels. The duties of this stage are prayer to god. When he is not proud of these, he transcends this sate and reaches Jabarut- the region of the soul. No one knows the soul but with the divine help; and truth, which is its mansion, baffles description and allusion. The duties of this stage are love, earnestness, joy, seeking, ecstasy and insensibility. When the pilgrim transcends these by forgetting self altogether, he reaches Lahut, the unconditioned state. Here words fail.

Religion is for the desire-nature; the path, for the heart; truth for the soul. Religion leads the desire-nature from Nasut to Malakut, and transmutes it into heart. The path leads the heart from Malakut to Jabarut, and transmutes it into soul. Truth leads the soul from jabarransmute the desire- nature into heart, the heart into soul, and to unify the three into one. the lover, the beloved and love are essentially one. this is absolute monotheism. ... the motive of the faithful is superior to their acts. acts by themselves are of no value: the importance lies in the heart. It is said that the traveler on the divine path has three states: (1) action. (2) knowledge. (3) love. These three states are not experienced unless god wills it so. But one should work and wait. He will do verily what he has willed. He looks neither to the destruction nor to the salvation of any one. One who wishes to arrive at the truth must serve a teacher. No one can transcend the bondage and darkness of desires unless he, with the help of the divine grace, comes under the protection of a perfect and experienced teacher. As the teacher knows, he will teach the disciple according to his capacity, and will prescribe remedies suited to his ailments, so that there is no god except Allah. be firmly established in his nature, and the ingress of the evil spirits be cut off from his heart. All the world seeks to tread the divine path. But each knows according to his inner purity, each seeks and aspires according to his knowledge, and each treads the path according to his seeking and aspiration.- letters 56-57.

The steps of a disciple. The first step is religion (Shariat.) When the disciple has fully paid the demand of religion, and aspires to go beyond, the path (Tariqat) appears before him. It is the way to the heart. When he has fully observed the conditions of the path, and aspires to soar higher, the veils of the heart are rent, and truth (Haqiqat) shines therein. It is the way to the soul, and the goal of the seeker.

Broadly speaking, there are four stages: Nasut, Malakut, Jabarut and Lahut, each leading to the next. Nasut is the animal nature, and function through the five senses- e.g. eating, contacting, seeing, hearing and the like. When the disciple controls the senses to the limit of bare necessity, and transcends the animal nature by purification and asceticism, he reaches Malakut- the region of the angels. The duties of this stage are prayer to god. When he is not proud of these, he transcends this sate and reaches Jabarut- the region of the soul. No one knows the soul but with the divine help; and truth, which is its mansion, baffles description and allusion. The duties of this stage are love, earnestness, joy, seeking, ecstasy and insensibility. When the pilgrim transcends these by forgetting self altogether, he reaches Lahut, the unconditioned state. Here words fail.

Religion is for the desire-nature; the path, for the heart; truth for the soul. Religion leads the desire-nature from Nasut to Malakut, and transmutes it into heart. The path leads the heart from Malakut to Jabarut, and transmutes it into soul. Truth leads the soul from jabarransmute the desire- nature into heart, the heart into soul, and to unify the three into one. the lover, the beloved and love are essentially one. this is absolute monotheism. ... the motive of the faithful is superior to their acts. acts by themselves are of no value: the importance lies in the heart. It is said that the traveler on the divine path has three states: (1) action. (2) knowledge. (3) love. These three states are not experienced unless god wills it so. But one should work and wait. He will do verily what he has willed. He looks neither to the destruction nor to the salvation of any one. One who wishes to arrive at the truth must serve a teacher. No one can transcend the bondage and darkness of desires unless he, with the help of the divine grace, comes under the protection of a perfect and experienced teacher. As the teacher knows, he will teach the disciple according to his capacity, and will prescribe remedies suited to his ailments, so that there is no god except Allah. be firmly established in his nature, and the ingress of the evil spirits be cut off from his heart. All the world seeks to tread the divine path. But each knows according to his inner purity, each seeks and aspires according to his knowledge, and each treads the path according to his seeking and aspiration.- letters 56-57.