REVIVAL OF RELIGIOUS LEARNINGS
IMAM GHAZZALI'S
IHYA ULUM-ID-DIN
Translated by
FAZL-UL-KARIM
VOL. IV - PART II
CONTENTS
Chapter 6.
Love and Attachment 245
Greatest pleasure in vision of God 257
Attachment for God and men 275
Stories of love of the lovers 309
THE REVIVAL OF RELIGIOUS LEARNINGS
The Book of Constructive Virtues
PART II
CHAPTER VI
LOVE AND ATTACHMENT
Know, 0 dear readers, that love of God is the last stage and the highest in rank. There is no higher stage after acquisition of love God. Before it, there are the stages of repentance, patience and renunciation. These are preliminaries to love of God. Though it is difficult to enter the region of love, it is possible for human mind to be filled up with God's love as a result of firm faith. To believe in God's love is difficult, even some learned men thought it impossible. They say that it means to be engaged in divine worship. They say that Love grows for a being of equal status and hence God's love is impossible.
PROOF OF SHARIAT ABOUT LOVE OF GOD
Know 0 readers, that all the Ulemas or learned men are unanimous that love of God and His Apostle is compulsory. If there is no existence of such love, how is it compulsory ? To obey injunctions is the fruit of love but the birth of the tree of love is necessary before getting fruit. God says : He loves them and they love Him-5 :54. God says : Those who are believers love God much. These verses say that love of God is possible. The Prophet in many traditions made love of God a condition of faith.
(1) Abu Razia Ukaili once asked the Prophet : 0 Messenger of God, what is faith ? He said : The meaning of faith is your love for God and His Apostle more than your love for every other thing.
(2) In another tradition, the Prophet said that no man can be a believer until God and His Apostle become dearer to him than his family members, riches and all mankind (in another narration than his own life.)
(3) Why should it not be when God said in the following verse : Say, are your parents, your children, your brethren, your
246 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-N THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 247
wives, your relatives, the property you have acquired, the business the loss of which you fear and the houses which give pleasure to you dearer to you than God and His Apostle and Jihad in the way of God-9:24? It was said by way of warning.
(4) The Prophet said: Love God for the provision He gave you. Love me also as God loves me.
(5) It is reported that a man 'said to the Prophet: I love you. The Prophet said : Then be prepared for poverty. The man said : I love God. The Prophet said : Then be prepared for disasters.
(6) Hazrat Omar said : Once Mosab-bin-Omair came to h Prophet being covered with sheep cloth. The Prophet said : L k to the man God has illumined his heart. I see that his pare,ts maintained him with good food and drink. Love of God and His Apostle attracted towards what you see in him.
(7) There is in a famous Hadis that when the angel of death came to Abraham to take his life he told him : Have you every seen a friend taking away the life of a friend ? Then God revealed to him : Have you ever seen a friend displeased with meeting with his friend ? Abraham said : 0 angel of death, now take away my life. This love is found in such a person who loves God with his whole heart.
(8) Our Prophet used to say in his invocation : 0 God. I want Thy love, the love of one who loves Thee, the love of that thing which brings near Thy love. Make Thy love dearer to me than cold drink.
(9) Once a desert Arab came to the Prophet and asked Whee will the the Resurrection occur ? He said : What preparation have you made for that ? He said.: I have not prepared for it with much of prayer and fasting but I love God and His Prophet. The Prophet said : He who loves one will be with him. Hazrat Anas said : It pleased the Muslims so much that I did not find them more pleased after Islam than this.
(10) Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq said : The taste of sincere love which a man finds for God keeps him away from searching the world and away from all the people.
(11) Hazrat Hasan Basri said : He who recognised God, loves Him. He who recognised the world adopts renunciation. A
believer can not rest contented unless he is heedless. When he thinks, he becomes sorry.
(12) Hazrat Abu Solaiman Darani said : There are people among the creation of God whom Paradise and the pleasures there can not keep engaged. So how can the world keep them engaged?
(13) It is reported that Jesus Christ was passing once by three men whose bodies became stricken with fear of God. He asked them "What is the reason of the change that I see in you?" They said "Fear of Hell." He said : You have got claim over God that He will give security to those who fear God. Thereafter Jesus Christ passed by another three men and found them still more stricken with fear of God. He asked : What is the reason of this condition of yours ? They said: We fear the Almighty and Glorious God. He said : You are near God, you are near God, your are near God.
(14) Hazrat Abdul Wahed bin Jayed said : I was passing by a man and asked him : Don't you feel the coldness of snow ? He said : He does not feel the coldness of snow whom God's love keeps engaged.
(15) The sage Sarri Sakti said : On the Resurrection day all the Prophets will be called with their followers. Then they will be called : 0 followers of Moses. 0 followers of Jesus. 0 followers of Muhammad. The lovers of God will not be called, as they will be addressed thus.: 0 friends of God, come toMe Then their hearts will be filled up with joy.
(16) Hazrat Haram-bin Hasan said: When a believer recognises his God, he loves Him. When he loves Him, he advances towards Him. When he feels the taste of advancing towards Him, he does not look to the world with the eye of attachment and to the next world with the eye of pleasure. That keeps him sad in this world and gives him joy in the next world.
(17) There is written in a certain religious scripture : 4 My servant, by; My oath, My duty to you is to love you. So yourduty is to love Me.
(18) Ihya-bin-Muaz said : Love of God even to the measure of a mustard seed is dearer to me than divine services for seventy years without love.
248 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
(19) Hazrat Ihya-bin-Muaz said : 0 God, I am a lover. I wish to live with Thee. Every lover wants to live with his beloved. So how can I keep away from Thee?
WHAT IS LOVE AND ITS CAUSES?
1. First basis of love. Without acquaintance and understanding, love does not take form, as man does not love one with whom he is not acquainted. For this reason, he does not love a lifeless thing, rather he can love one who has got life and understanding. There are three classes of wisdom or understanding. (1) Mind likes a thing congenial to nature. (2) Mind hates a thing opposed to nature. (3) Mind hates what is injurious and pains giving. So love means attraction of mind to what is tasteful and pleasure giving. When it is strong and firm, there is deep love.
2. Second basis of love. It is that when it comes after knowledge and acquaintance, it is divided into several divisions from the stand point of knowledge and five senses every sense is satisfied with that thing over which it has got power and influence. Eye is satisfied with beautiful things, ear is satisfied with sweet sounds and songs, nose is satisfied with sweet scent and smell, tongue is satisfied with delicious foods, hand is satisfied with smooth touch. The object for which each sense finds delight is dear to it. The Prophet said : Three things of your world is dear to mesweet scent, wife, and prayer which has been made doll to my eyes. It appears from the above Hadis that prayer is not within the five senses but it is included within the sixth sense of soul. He who has got no heart can not grasp it. Man and beast are equal in the happiness of the five senses. If love of God is considered as appertaining to those five senses, then it is impossible to love Him. The sixth sense is intellect, light, heart, mind or soul. The inner eye is more powerful than the external eye and.the mind's eye is more powerful than the external eye. The beauty which can be perceived through intellect is more than that of eye sight. As the beauties of the world appear pleasing to the external eye, the sight of the existence of God and the beauties of His creation are thousand and thousand times more pleasing to him. So love of God can not be denied,. but he who has not crossed the limit of a beast can not perceive it.
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 249
(3) Third basis of love. It is the following. He who loves himself loves another for himself. Every living being loves his life. That means that he has got in his very nature an attachment to live and dislike for death. Man wants that he should live for ever and that his qualities should gain perfection. Nobody wants his destruction and loss of his qualities. So there are several causes of love.
(1) The first cause of love is that a man loves his life, then his limbs, then his properties, children, relatives and friends. Man does not love these things only for them, but for the fact they they help towards his long life and attainment of perfection. Even after his death, he wants to live through his heirs.
(2) The second cause of love is getting benefit. A man loves one from whom he gets benefit as he is a servant of benefits. The Prophet said : 0 God, don't allow a sinner to do good to me, as my mind may wish to love him. This shows that mind turns towards the benefactor. There is difference between love for health and love for a physician. Physician is the cause of health and therefore for the sake of health, a physician is loved. Similarly education is loved and also the teacher of education, but education is loved for itself and teacher is loved as he is the cause of education. Similarly food and drink and money are loved, but the former two are loved for themselves and the third is loved as it is the instrument of getting food and drink.
(3) The third cause of love is to love a thing for its quality and not for the thing itself. A good figure is loved for its beauty. Even the Prophet said: God is beautiful and He loves beauty.
(4) The fourth cause of love is acquaintance with beauty. The external eye appreciates external beauty. A man is beautiful when all his organs are proportionately beautiful. When his organs are not such, he cannot be called beautiful even though his colour is white. This is called acquaintance with beauty. So to
get acquainted with perfection is a cause for love.
Question. The matters described above are objects of five external sense organs. Can beauty be appreciated other than by external five senses ?
Answer. It can be realised. Many a time colourless and figureless things are called beautiful, such as conduct of that man
250 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
is beautiful, knowledge of that man is beautiful character of that
man is beautiful. The meaning of good conduct is that his
knowledge, courage, God-fear, generosity, gentlemanliness and other qualities are beautiful. Most of those qualities can be guessed not by external organs but by inner light. These conducts and attributes are objects of love and the man possessing these qualities is loved. People love the Prophets, saints and founders of sects for their qualities though they did not see them. Love reaches to such high pitch that the lovers are ready sometimes to dedicate their lives and properties'for them. These internal qualities are divided into two kinds-knowledge and power. All qualities grow out of these two qualities which can not be gained by external senses. A man possesses two things, external figure and internal nature. External eye sees the beauty of external figure but the internal secret nature is seen by the internal eye. He who is deprived of this secret eye can not see the secret beauty and hence does not love it. He whose secret eye is strong can see the internal secret beauties.
(5) The fifth cause of love is secret connection between a lover and his beloved. Many a time love is cemented between them not for their beauty but for the union of their souls. The Prophet said : Out of them, love grows among those who have got similarity of souls.
So it appears from what has been described above that there are five cause's of love.
(1) A man loves his life, his perfection and his living long. (2) He loves one who helps him in his livelihood. (3) He loves one who does good to the people.
(4) He loves one who has got external and internal beauty. (5) He love one who has got secret connection with him.
If these qualities are found in one person, love for him is increased manifold. Power of love increases in proportion to the increase of those qualities in a man. If these qualities find full perfection in a man, lovq gains perfection.
ONLY GOD IS OBJECT OF LOVE: He who loves other than God has not recognised God. His ignorance about God is responsible for this. The Prophet is an object of love as he is the
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 251
beloved of God. So is the love for the learned, religious men and good people, as the dear ones of the beloved are objects of love. The ambassadors and the messengers of the dear ones are also objects of love. He who loves the dear ones is also an object of love. The those whose eye of knowledge has been opened, God is the only object of love. There is no object of love than He. The five causes of love are only found in God and not in any other being.
The following are the causes that prove that nothing should be the object of love except God.
(1) First cause. Man loves himself, his life his progress and his living long and dislikes his destruction, death and impediments to progress. For this reason love of God is necessary as he who knows himself and knows God knows this fact that he has got no existence of his own and that his existence, destruction, progress and everything are gifts from God and that he will return to God and live with Him. He gives his life and He takes his life. He gives him perfection and created causes or ingredients to give him perfection and created guidance for the use of these causes. The life of a man has got no existence of its own. If God had not kept his existence, he would not have been a thing at all. Had God not kept him alive, he would have been destroyed even after coming into existence. Only God is ever-living and ever-lasting. He exists by Himself and things other than God exist only through His grace and mercy. The man who loves himself should necessarily love one for whose cause he came into existence and for whom his existence becomes lasting. This knowledge is necessary as without this knowledge there can be no love. The stronger the knowledge, the stronger the love. For this reason, Hasan Basri said : He who recognised his Lord, loves Him. He who recognised the world has adopted renunciation. How is it that man should love himself, but not love his Lord for whose cause he came into being ? It is seen that one sun burnt person loves shade but he loves also the tree that gives shade. Everything receiving power from God is like the shade of a tree or rays of the sun. As the existence of shade comes from the tree, so one's body, bodily organs and all his attributes and power come from God. In this condition, it is abominable to love oneself without loving his source God. He who does not know that he comes from God, can not love God. For this reason, the fools can not love God. Everything is the fruit or expression of
252 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
His power and every being come from His being just as the existence of rays comes from the existence of the sun. It is very clear to the experts of soul, more clear than eye sight that when the physical body and the sun are united, light comes out from the power of God as the rays of the sun eye, figure come from the power of God. He who is near God is like angels. The more a man is near the angels, the more is his insight in the world; and the more he is near the world the more is his defects.
(2) Second cause. One is the object of love if he does benefit, sympathises in sorrows and happiness and extends his helping hand to others. From this, it is understood that man should not love except God as it is only God who really does good and benefit to a servant, God says : If you count the favours of God, you will be unable to count them. The benefits that a man does to another are really benefits done by God through him. He is the medium through whom God does benefit. So man can not be real benefactor. Suppose a man gifts all his properties to you. From this you may suppose that he did benefit to you. This is your wrong notion. Who created the benefactor ? Who created his wealth? Who created his power? Who made him dear to you ? Who turned his face towards you ? Who threw this thought in his mind that in doing benefit to you lies his worldly and next worldly good ? When God created all; these things, he was bound to make a gift to you, and he could not go against it. So the real benefactor is One who compelled him to do benefit to you, gave him impetus and encouragement for the gift. His hand is only a means or intermediary through which He send these gifts. The owner of hands is compelled to give just as current of water is made to flow in canals. When a donor does benefit to another, he does benefit to himself and it is impossible for the created beings to do benefit to others. When a man spends his wealth, he spends it for some object to get rewards in the next world, to get name and fame etc. Man does not drop his wealth in to sea as that does not serve his purpose. Similarly, he does not give you something without some object. That object is his goal and not you. Your had is an instrument of receiving it. From this view point, he does benefit to himself by gift for an object which is dearer to him or more valuable than his object of gift. So the donor is not the fit object of love for two reasons-(I) God prevailed over him all the elements of gift and he has got no power to go against them. He is just like the treasurer of a king. If he gives wealth according to the
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 253
orders of the king, it will not be considered as his own gift. He is bound to comply with the king's order. Had God turned his mind otherwise, he would not have gifted a farthing. 2) The second reason is that the benefactor takes a better t'.ing in exchange of what he gives as a seller purchases a better thing than what he sells. As the seller can not be called benefactor, so the donor can not be called benefactor, as he gives in exchange of getting rewards, praise name and fame etc. The real meaning of gift is to give wealth without any exchange. Such a gift can not come from man but from God. He it is who gave wealth and favours on the inhabitants of the world in lieu of nothing. He is above all wants. So man can not receive praise for his gift and God only is the object of love and praise.
(3) Third cause. You love a doer of good for his special qualities even though his benefits did not reach you. If you hear that a king of a distant land is kind, just, religious, and wise, you love him. If you hear that a king of a distant land is cruel oppressor, transgressor, drunkard, addicted to adultery and fornication, you don't love him. There is no question of your getting benefit or harm from either of them. This love means love of good attributes and hatred for evils. This leads to the love of God, as except God, nobody can be really loved, but he can be loved only when he has got connection with God. He it is who brought everything in to being. Secondly, He gave perfection to his limbs and gave all the things required for livelihood. Thirdly, He created everything which are necessary for him. Fourtly, He gave him beauty in addition to what is necessary for him. Hands, eyes, feet, ears and nose are necessary things, but not beauty which means grace of face and body, red hue of lips etc. Food and water are absolutely necessary, medicine, meat and fruits are generally necessary, beautiful colours and taste of fruits and food are additional things. God created all these things and hence His benefits to you and favours on you are without parallel. So love is due to Him and to nobody else, and if anybody is loved, it should
be for His sake only.
(4) Fourth reason-Love of beautiful things only for the sake of beauty and not for any other thing. Beauty is external and internal. External beauty is appreciated by external eye and internal beauty by internal eye or internal light. The first kind of beauty is seen even by boys, but the second kind by those who are
254 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 255
versed in soul. If beauty is appreciated by mind, it becomes the object of love of mind. The prophets saints, religious and learned men are therefore loved by mind for their internal qualities and not for their outward appearance. The greater the thing to be known in beauty and perfectness, the more honourable and beautiful will be the knowledge. God is highest and therefore knowledge about Him is highest. God is All-Knowing and human knowledge cannot be compared with His knowledge rather He is the creator of knowledge. Nothing in heaven and earth is outside His knowledge God says : You have not been given but a little of knowledge-17 : 85. So if the object of knowledge is loved, God alone is fit to be loved as He is the Fountain of knowledge. Power is loved and as such a powerful man is loved. Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Khalid-bin Walid are loved on account of their valour and heroism. God is the creator of power valour and heroism in human beings. Therefore He is alone fit to be loved. There is no power and might except in Him and through Him. God said with regard to the great conqueror Alexander : I established him in the world. He got His power from the All-powerful. So He is to be praised and not Alexander for his vast kingdom. If God wills, even a small mosquito is sufficient to destroy such a man.
God is pure from defects and evils and so He is fit to be loved. The Prophets even are not free from defects. God is free from defects and perfect. Perfection is due to God and not to any created being. God is perfect by Himself. He is above all imperfections and defects. There are degrees of imperfections in created beings. A horse is more perfect than an ass and a man is more perfect than a horse. So there is difference of perfection and beauty in created beings. The most perfect is only One. There is nothing like Him. He is above example. He is independent having no need or necessity. He is All-Powerful and does what He wishes, He is all knowing and there is nothing outside His knowledge in heaven and earth. He is All-Powerful whose sovereignty lies over everything. He has got no beginning, He has got no end. He exists by Himself and everything exists for Him. The greatest wise man gets tried in search of Him. The highest limit of the gnostics is to meet with failure in knowing Him.
The Prophet said: I am unable to count Thy praise. Thou art as Thou praiseth Thyself. Hazrat Abu Bakr said : To attain God
means to'be baffled to get Him. God revealed to David : The dearest of My dear persons is that servant who worships Me without receiving any favour from me and who fulfills his duty to God most faithfully. It was revealed in the Zabur : Who is a greater sinner than one who worships Me in greed of Paradise and in fear of Hell ? If I have not created Paradise and Hell, should I not be entitled to get worship
Once the Prophet Jesus Christ was passing by some lean and thin men. They said : We fear Hell and hope for Paradise. He told them : You then fear created things and hope for created things. He passed by another group of persons and they said : We worship God as we love Him and His glory. He said : You are then the real friends of God. I have been order to live in our company. The saint Abu Hazem said : I feel ashamed to worship God to get rewards and to ward off punishment. In that case, I shall be a dishonest servant, as a dishonest labourer does not work if he does not fear. The Prophet said : Nobody amongst you should be a dishonest labourer. If he does not get his wages, he does not work.
(5) Fifth reason. Love begets among persons of similar nature and habits. So you find that one boy loves another boy, an old man loves another old man. There is a proverb that birds of feather flock together. The Prophet said : The souls are regulated army. The souls which agree with one another love one another, and those souls which have no agreement differ. Ignorance of one another's nature is a cause of disagreement. This reason also shows path to the necessity of love for God. The Prophet said Imbue yourselves with divine attributes. This injunction is only for following the good attributes, such as acquisition of knowledge, honesty, showing kindness, to do, good to the people, to enjoin them good, to show them right path and to prohibit them from evils. These subject take to the nearness of God. This does not mean that these attributes will take you to a fixed place, but they will take you near His attributes. Man has been endowed with a special thing which has been prohibited to be mentioned in details. God says : They ask you about soul. Say, soul is an order from my Lord-17 : 85. The reason is that spiritual matters are outside the comprehension and intellect of man. The following verse is to this effect : When I fashioned him and infused in him from My spirit-15 :29. For this reason the
256 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
angels of God made obeisance to Adam. It is understood also from this verse : I have made you My successor in the world. The Prophet Adam would not have been fit for Khilafat unless he was given the connection of spirit. The Prophet said hinting at this connection : God created Adam according to His image. Some say that there is no figure except what can be grasped by the five senses. They out of ignorance gave a body and a figure to God. From this it appears that there is a great connection between God and man. God said to Moses : When I was ill, why did you not come to see Me ? Moses said : 0 Lord, how an it be ? God said : A servant of Mine was ill. You did not go to see him. Had you gone to see him you would have found Me near him. This connection appears when one keeps himself in constant engagement. in additional divine service besides the prescribed compulsry services. The Prophet said : God says: A servant continues to come near Me by his optional divine services till I love him. When I love him I become his ear with his which he hears, I become, his eyes with which he sees, and I become his tongue with which he speaks.
Here the force of pen is compelled to stop. Men differed in this respect, some were inclined to forms, some fell into the whirling circle of Ittehad, some say that God exists everywhere some say 'I am truth.' The Christians say that Jesus is God, Some say that Nasut has been mixed with Lahut, that is the nature of man has been mixed with the nature of God. Abul Hasan Nuri once heard the following poems:
Love descending from Thee, covered every hook and corner. At the time of descent
human knowledge becomes tired.
Hearing this poetry his ecstasy reached such a high pitch that he began to run over the sharp pointed heads of cutted reeds in the field. As a result, his feet became wounded stained with blood and swollen and he ultimately died. This is the extreme sign of love.
So these are the give causes of love which are well-known to the people. These qualities exist in God in full perfection. Those who have got deep insight take God as the only object of love, as the ignorant people take others as their objects of love.
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 257
GREATEST PLEASURE IN KNOWLEDGE
AND VISION OF GOD
Know, 0 readers, that pleasure comes out of appreciation. There are innumerable natures of man and every nature has got its own taste and pleasure. To get the object for which a nature has been created is the meaning of taste. These natures have been given to man with a set purpose an not in vain. For instance the nature of anger is to take revenge. The greed for food has been created to earn food as it is food that preserves the body. Eyes get pleasure from beautiful sight ear from sweet sound and nose from sweet scent. So there are different tastes and pleasures for different organs.
Similarly soul has got a nature which is termed divine light. God says : He whose breast God has expanded for Islam remains upon divine light. Some say that it is intellect, some say it is secret insight some say it is light of certainty of faith. There is no meaning of engagement with these names. Soul can be separated from its special attributes which is outside the five senses and unimaginable, as the creation of the world is unimaginable. The nature of that soul is termed by us as intellect by which man is differentiated from beasts and by which spiritual experience can be gained. So the nature of intellect is Marfat or spiritual knowledge of God. In this there lies its pleasure just as good sight is the pleasure of eye and sweet sound is the pleasure of ear.
The pleasure which is found in spiritual knowledge is not found in the knowledge of other things. Spiritual knowledge includes besides knowledge of God knowledge of the reign of angels and heaven and earth. The more is the honour of thr' acquainted thing the more is the taste and pleasure. A man gets great pleasure in getting the secret information of an emperor. God is the most high and the most honorable. So the pleasure gained by the pursuit of His attributes is the greatest. So divine knowledge is the best of all kinds of knowledge. It is thus proved that the best and highest pleasure can be obtained by the pursuit of knowledge relating to God and His attributes. It is many times more than the pleasure gained by satisfaction of lust or greed by the sense organs.
Pleasure differs in respect of difference of objects. For instance there is difference in the pleasure in the cohabitation
258 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
and songs. Then again there is difference in the co-habitation of a young man and that of an old, man. Again pleasure is of two kinds, external pleasure gained y five sense organs and internal pleasure as power victory honour which are outside the pleasure of the five sense organs. It is also true that one likes power of rule more than delicious foods, but a boy will certainly like delicious foods more than power of rule. Similarly the pleasure of spiritual knowledge of God and search of His attributes are more to some men than the pleasure of power of rule. God says : Nobody knows what pleasure pleasing to the eyes lies in store for him. The Prophet said : 'God prepared for the righteous servants such happiness as no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no heart of man has conceived.' But now he will not understand it. He who has got this spiritual pleasure immerges himself in the sea of Marfat and give up all earthly powers name and fame treasures riches, as he knows that all these earthly things will vanish and He will ever remain. He will one day have to give up these earthly pleasures by the event of death. When his sight goes out of these things limited by space, his sight then knows no distance. At that time, the gnostic searches such a paradise as covers the whole earth and heaven.
Death cannot destroy the place of God's Marfat and that is soul which is a spiritual thing. Death causes the change of the condition of soul and relieves it from the prison of this bodily cage. It does not end as God says : Don't think those who are killed in the way of God as dead, but they are alive near their Lord and are given provision. They are joyous of what God bestowed upon them of His favours and they give good news to those who have not as yet reached them.' Don't think that this position is acquired only by the killed in war field. Every breath of a gnostic is a martyr. There is in the Hadis that the martyr will wish in the next world that he be returned to the world and killed again and again. He will hope for it seeing the immense rewards of martyrdom. An Aref need not go to a distant place with his body. He can go anywhere he likes.
Now it is clear that the pleasure of Marfat is the greatest, greater than ruling power and honour. He who has tasted it understands it. This is a thing to be tested and not to be understood by logic. Hazrat Abu Sulaiman Darani said : There are such servants of God who can not be turned away from God
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 259
by the hope of paradise and fear of Hell. How can the worldly engagements keep them away from God ? For this reason, a friend of Fateh Musalli once asked him : Tell me what thing gives you impetus for divine worship and keeps you away from the people ? He said : Remembrance of grave and Hell. He again asked : What is grave ? He said : Fear of Hell and hope of Paradise. He again asked : What are these things ? He said Everything is in the hand of God. If He wishes He can make you forgetful of all things. If there is acquaintance between you and Him, you are in no need of them.
It is reported that Jesus Christ said: When you find a young man engaged in the pursuit of God, know that it is the thing which kept him forgetful of all other things. A certain sage saw Basher-bin-Hares in dream and asked him: What is the condition of Abu Naser Tamer and Abdul Wahab Warbak ? He said : I have left them at this time for taking food and drink before God. I asked him : What is your condition ? He said : God knows that I have got little desire for food and drink. So He gave me the favour of His Dider. Ali-bin Muket said: I saw a man looking at God in dream. I asked Rezwan : Who is this man ? He said : Maruf Karkhi who did divine service not in hope of Paradise, not for fear of Hell but for love of God. So God bestowed on him the favour of looking at Him upto the Resurrection Day. For this reason, Abu Sulaiman said : He who is to-day busy with himself will also be busy tomorrow with himself. He who is busy with his Lord to-day will be busy also tomorrow with-his Lord. Sufiyan Saori asked the saint Rabeya : What is the sign of your faith ? She said : r don't worship for fear of Hell or for greed otParadise. In that c, ' I would be a labourer. Rather I worship Him loving Him and being attached to Him. She said in describing her love in the following poems;
Either I love Thee out of passion,
Or I love Thee for Thy attributes in appreciation. Thy constant remembrance is the fruit of love., Lifting of screen is the fruit of realisation. I have got no pride in love of either, Rather beauty of both is only for Thee.
The taste of the appreciation of beauty has been explained by the Prophet in the in following Hadis. God says: I have prepared for My righteous servants such rewards as no eye hath seen, no
260 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 261
ear hath heard and no heart of man hath conceived. If the soul of any man can be turned completely, he can get some taste in this world. For this reason, a certain sage said: If I say, 0 Lord, O God I find it in my heart heavier than a mountain, a voice comes from behind the screen : Have you ever heard a man calling a friend with a loud voice ? He said : When a man reaches the highest stage of this spiritual matter people throw stones at him. In other words, his words go out of the limit of intelligence of man. He is then called either a man or an infidel. The object of a gnonstic is His vision, When he reaches this stage, he does not feel the pangs of burning if he is thrown in to fire. how can a worldly man believe this thing when he is engaged in the pleasures of his senses?
DIFFERENT STAGES OF PLEASURES
(1) A boy takes pleasure in plays and sports but not in power, name and fame. (2) In the second stage, when he is a grown up young man, he takes pleasure in cohaiting with women. In comparison with this pleasure, he thinks his pleasure of plays and sports as trifling. (3) In the third stage, he takes pleasure in power, name and fame. (4) In the fourth stage he is eager to have taste of spiritual pleasure leaving all the earlier pleasures behind. At that time, the people of earlier stages laugh at them as they laugh at the boys in the second stage. (5) Spiritual knowledge in the world is less than that in the next world. All things are of two kinds. One kind comes in imagination such as figure of various kinds and the second kind is out of imagination, such as God's being and attributes. He who sees a man and then shuts up his eyes can see his figure in imagination. The second kind is out of imagination such'as God's being and attributes, knowledge, power, will etc. Knowledge by sight is more clear than knowledge by imagination. There is some difference in clearness it you see a man very early in the morning when there is still darkness and when you see him in sun. The latter is more clear. Imagination is like the sight of a man in the morning darkness. That is made more clear when he is seen in clear sun. This latter vision by mind or soul is the last stage of sound. This is clear sight by mind and not by eye.
The object of knowledge can be known by imagination in two way- one is corroborative and the other is real. The utmost limit of Kashf is direct sight. If one shuts up eye sight, direct sight can
not be obtained as between eye and the object to be seen, there is the screen of eye. The screen must be removed to have direct sight. Similarly soul is covered by body, greed and passion and as such direct sight is not possible in worldly life. God said to Moses: You will not be able to see Me. God says: Eye sight can not overtake Him. According to an authentic Hadis the Prophet did not see God in the night of his ascension to heaven. When the screen will be removed by the event of death, still then the soul will remain covered with the screen of the sins he has committed in the world. The greater the sins, the greater the thickness of the screen on soul. The brilliant light of God will not be seen in the screened soul. It is like uncleanliness in a mirror. One's face can not be seen unless the dust and uncleanliness are removed from the surface of the mirror. There are souls which do not go out of the limit of cleanliness. This uncleanliness will be removed by fire and as such soul will be burnt by fire in order that it may come out pure.
God says: 'There is nobody among you who will not come before it (Hell.) This is the decree of your Lord. Then I will rescue those who are God-fearing and keep the sinners therein.' So every soul shall have' to present itself before Hell fire. When it will be fully cleared of impurities, it will be deemed fit to enter paradise. There is no time limit, as it will occur after the resurrection day which is unknown. God will shed His luster on the pure souls in proportion to his clearness of soul and degree of Marfat. This luster is called direct sight which is a truth. This is not an idea. God is realised in truth here in this world but will be seen in the hereafter. The knowledge of Marfat attained in this world will gain perfection in the hereafter and the idea in the world will turn into direct sight of God. This is seen from the following verse: Their light will run in their front and sides. They will say : 0 our Lord, make our light perfect.' The perfection of light means perfection of sight and increase of Kashf.
Knowledge of Marfat is a seed of next worldly sight. The seed grows into a tree and the tree gives fruits. He who does not sow seeds cannot expect fruits. Similarly he who does not sow seeds of Marfat in this world cannot expect to have sight of God in the next world. The greater the knowledge of Marfat in this world, the greater will he appreciate the beauty of God in the next world. The Prophet said : God will disclose His own luster
262 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 263
on all people in a general manner and on Abu Bakr in a special manner. The saint Rabia was asked about paradise. She replied First neighbour and then abode. It appears that her goal was not paradise but the Lord of paradise. He who did not recognise God in the world will not be blessed with His vision in the next world. He who did not enjoy the pleasure of God's Marfat in the world will not get God's vision in the next world. A man will be resurrected upon the condition in which he lived in the world. So Marfat is the foundation of fortune.
Question. If the pleasure of sight is connected with Marfat, it seems that the pleasure will be little, as little pleasure is gained in Marfat in this world.
Answer. The argument is not correct and the pleasure of Marfat is not little in the world. How can he who is free of Marfat realise that pleasure ? The gnostics feel immense pleasure in Marfat but it is not to be compared with that pleasure to be gained by direct sight in the next world. The pleasure in thoughts of the beloved is hundred times less than that of direct sight, and the pleasure of hand touch is thousand times less than that gained by cohabitation. There is a great deal of difference between these two.
Pleasure differs with the difference of the causes of
happiness. The first cause is the degree of beauty of the beloved.
The most beautiful gives great pleasure. The second cause is perfection of the power of love. The pleasure of one whose love is very deep is more than that of one whose love is moderate. The third reason is perfect knowledge. If the beloved is seen in darkness, it gives less pleasure than what is got if seen in light. The fourth reason is mental sorrow and happiness. If the beloved is seen by a mind free from sorrows, the pleasure is certainly greater than that gained by a mind full of sorrows.
The life of the next world is a real life. God says : The life of
the next world is a real life if you had known- 29: 64. He who
reaches this stage loves meeting with God and loves death. But he who waits for increase of his Marfat is like a seed which is yet to grow into a tree. There is no limit to the sea of Marfat. To reap fruits is impossible without the next world. For this reason, the Prophet said : To live long in divine service is the best fortune, as Marfat becomes perfect through training during this long time.
This requires time. He who loves death loves it because he himself is experienced in Marfat. He who dislikes death makes delay in Marfat. Ignorance and negligence are the basis of misfortune and knowledge and Marfat are the basis of fortune.
Question. What will be the instrument of sight in the next world eye or heart. Answer. Those who are deep in insight do not look to their difference of opinion about this. Whose hopes to see his beloved, his love keeps him engaged in His sight. He does not look whether his sight lies in eye or forehead.
CAUSE OF INCREASE OF LOVE OF GOD. Know, 0 readers, that the most fortunate one in the next world will be one who loves God most. For this reason, the meaning of the next world is to proceed towards God and see Him. What a good fortune is for a lover when he meets his beloved after long hopes and awaitings, but this fortune is deep according to the degree of love. The more is the degree of love the more is happiness. Every man can gain the love of God in this world and no believer is free from it. Deep love can be acquired in two ways. (1) The first way is to severe all worldly connections and to oust love of things other than God from mind. Mind is like a cup. If water is not taken out of it, it does not become vacant. God has not given any
man two minds. The cup of love becomes full when God is loved
with the entire mind. Love of God lessens in proportion to the love of things other than God. God says : Say Allah and then let them off in their idle talks. God says : Angels descent upon those who say 'God is our lord' and then they remain steadfast to that-41: 30. 'There is no deity but God` means there is no object of love except God. Every object of love is deity or lord and he who keeps a slave, he is his lord. So every lover is confined by one whom he loves. God says : Have you seen a person who takes his low desires as deity? The Prophet said: The most detestable deity of man in the world is his passion. He said : He who utters 'There
is no deity but God' with sincere heart will enter paradise. Here
sincere heart means heart set apart for God. There can be no place of Shirk or partner in this condition. So God becomes the object of love of his heart, the deity of his heart, the ultimate goal of his heart. If this stage is reached, the world becomes to him a prison, as it becomes a stumbling block against his meeting with his beloved. Death releases him out of this prison and gives him opportunity of meeting with his Lord.
264 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
One of the causes of the weakness of heart in leaving God for love for the world. The world includes love for his family members, wealth, riches, children, relatives animals and the implements of his enjoyments. The more is his attachment for the world, the less is his love for God. The greater is his happiness in the world, the less will be his happiness in the next world. The nearer a man goes to the east, the more distant he will got from the west. This world is like the east and the next world is like the west. Or these worlds are like two co- wives. He who has got heart can understand it very clearly, more clear than eye sight. The only way to cleanse the mind from attachment of the world is to sojourn in the path of renunciation and to take to patience and other attributes.
(2) The second way of increasing love is to increase the power of Marfat and extend it over the entire heart. Power of love increases after mind is purified of all worldly engagements. That is like sowing seeds after weeding out the weeds. This weeding out of weeds is half work of growing crops Thereafter out of this seed grows the tree of Love and Marfat. This seed is Kalima Tayyeb as God says: God setup example of Kalima Tayyeb. It is like a good tree of which the root is firmly rooted and the branches extend in horizon-14:24. In another verse. God says: Kalima Tayyeb raises him up and good deeds also raise him up. So good deeds are like servants for God's Marfat. The object of every good deed is first to purify mind from the world and then to preserve it for long. in short good works are done for this Marfat. Knowledge is necessary for good 'works. It appears therefore that knowledge is necessary in the beginning as well as in the end. Knowledge is first necessary in order to gain knowledge of outward actions whose object is good deeds. The object of good deeds is to purify minds so that truth may blossom therein. The knowledge of Marfat means spiritual knowledge. When this knowledge is achieved, love comes in. When he loves Him, he takes pleasure therein. Love comes in after Marfat or acquaintance. This Marfat can be acquired after purification of mind from worldly thoughts along with clear thoughts constant Zikr, ceaseless efforts and constant search into the attributes of God and His sovereignty over the heavens and earth.
Those who reach this stage are divided into two classes one group are powerful and another group are weak. The first
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 265
acquaintance of the first group is only with God and the preliminary acquaintance of the second group can be gained by their good works and then they are raised up to God. God says with regard to the first group: Is not your Lord sufficient that He is a witness over everything? God says: God testifies that there is no deity but God. A certain sage was asked: How have you recognized your Lord? He said: I have recognized my Lord through the help of my Lord. Had not there been my Lord, I could not have recognized Him. With regard to the second group the following verse says: I will show them My signs in the horizon and in themselves, till it becomes clear to them that He is the truth. God says: Do they not see the sovereignty of heaven and earth? God says: Say, look to what is in heaven and earth? God says: 'He created the seven heavens in stages. You will find no incongruity in the creations of the Merciful. Turn your look again. Do you see any incongruity therein? Then turn you look again, your look will return to you confused.' This mode is easy for majority of the people and more spacious for the travellers of the path of religion.
The easier way is to ponder over the wonderful creation of God. The lowest creation is earth and what is therein. It is in relation to heaven and angels and other beings, If you see the earth in comparisons to a body, you will see the earth very very big. The sun appears to be small but still it is 160 times greater than the planet of the earth. Now look to smallness of the earth in relation to the sun. The sun is attached to the open horizon. Look to the smallness of the sun in relation to the horizon. It is not comparable even in relation to the vastness of the horizon. The seat of the sun is in the fourth heaven. This fourth heaven is very small in comparison with higher heavens. The seventh heaven lies before the Throne is such a way that a stone lies is it were in a vast field. The Throne itself lies likewise in the vast Arsh. Now look at the earth how small it is in comparison with the sun, heavens, Throne and Arsh. In the earth again, the landed portion is very small in comparison with the area of oceans, seas and watery portions. The Prophet said: The land hemisphere in the seas is like a ball in the land hemisphere. The earth is therefore like as island in the area of water.
Then look to man made of earth. Man is only a clot of earth. Look to other animals also. How small they are in comparison
266 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 267
with the earth. In the animal kingdom, there are ants, bees, worms, insects, mosquitoes etc. Look to the creation of a mosquitoes. Think of its power inspite of its smallness. How God created it in the form of an elephant which is biggest of animzls. It has been given a trunk like that of an elephant. He created all organs for it as He created them for an elephant. In addition, a mosquito has been given two wings. Then look how God showed it the path of procuring food. He informed it that is food is blood. He gave it two wings to fly to men and animals to procure blood with its trunk. It is open within and fit to preserve blood. It flees away with its wing when man goes to attack it.
Look to the eye of an animal. It has got eye lids which prevent falling of dust and other injurious things to the eye. Two hands have been created for mosquitoes and flies. By these two hands, they rub eye lids always. He made black hairs for eye lids, so that they may help eye sight. They work as windows, if dusts and refuges fall.
Now look at the bees. God revealed to them to build habitation in mountains and hillocks, in trees and high places. God makes out honey and wax from their sittings. God allows bee wax to be used as light and prescribes medicine by another thing. One wonders how God makes the bees fly from flower to flower b gather honey, to take care of themselves from dirts, how they obey their leaders and how they remove unclean things from thoir hives Look to the wise construction of their habitation and at the six concerned round room. They do not construct four or five concerned room. The wisdom of mathematicians become baffled at this. The figure of a fly is round and long. If each room is four cornered, some space of a four cornered room lies useless. If each room is made round and if several rooms are attached to one another, some often places are left outside. See how God gave them instincts to build each room of six cornered size in a big house.
So all praise is due to God. How great is His mercy and how extensive 'and intensive are His favours. Though this thing is trifling, yet there are lessons in this for mankind for pondering. The knowledge of mankind is not at all a knowledge in relation to the knowledge of God. In this way, knowledge of the recognition of God can be increased. With the increase of higher knowledge, love also increases. If you wish to gain vision of God, throw the
world behind your back and keep yourself long with constant zikr and pondering.
CAUSES OF DIFFERENCE OF MEN'S LOVE: Know, 0 readers, that the believers are partners in the basic love, as well as partners in faith, but there is difference in their love as there is difference in their acquaintance or Marfat. The gonstics are the nearest ones to God. God mentioned the condition of these classes in the following verse: 'If he is one of the near ones, there is for him rest, provision and paradise of Nayeem'. The general believers love Imam Shafeyi on hearing his piety and knowledge, but his disciples love him more for his religion, conduct, character and good habits. A man with deep insight searches for detailed acquaintance with divine attributes and His wonderful creations. Even in a mosquito, he finds wonderful skill of God. The more a man searches after His glory the more is his love for Him. There is no limit to the sea of Marfat of God. So it is no wonder that there would be different degrees of love of different individuals for God.
CAUSES OF DEFECTS IN RECOGNITION: Know, 0 readers, that of all the bright things seen by our naked eyes, the brightest is God. So it is necessary to have his recognition first by intellect in an easy manner, but the matter is contrary. What is its cause? That God is most express, open and clear requires illustration for understanding. When we see a man to write somethings, we see him clearly more than anything else that he is alive. His life, knowledge, power and his will to write appear to us more vividly than his other open and secret natures. The meaning of his secret natures is his passion, anger, health, disease etc. We don't know these natures. Among his often natures, we know some and some are not free from doubt, such as the measure of the length and colour of his body. His life, power, will, knowledge, his being an animal appear to us more vivid to us than to catch them with external eye, as these natures are outside the five senses and it is not possible to know his life, power and will except by his movements. If we look to what is in the earth, why shall we not recognise Him?
What we see about God proves His being, His power, His knowledge and His other attributes. We can understand them by our open and secret senses. We can realise them from the stones, trees, animals, heaven, earth, stars, sun, moon land and watery
I LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
as of the earth. Rather the first proof of His existence is our ils, our bodies, our natures, changes of our souls, our vements and our works and deeds. The most clear thing that nes to our intellect among all things is our soul, then our sa tions arising out of our five senses and then our knowledge ring out of our intellect and deep insight. Every sense has got separate function and separate proof. All the things of the rld give ample proof of the existence of the Creator and proper uaintance of His knowledge, power, mercy and skill. If the id writing gives proof of the life of a writer and his existence,
wonderful creations of heaven and earth give sufficient of of the All Powerful. There is nothing which does not prove existence. Our external and internal conditions give proof of glory and omnipotence as we know that the hands of a writer iot automatically move.
There are two causes of the defect of our intellect to lerstand Him One cause is that the matter is subtle and 'et, but its illustration is not secret. The second is His ;htness being out of limit, as a bat can see in darkness, but it not withstand the brightness of day. The sun's rays defeat eye sight of a bat as the sun's rays are strong and the sight bat is very very weak. Similar is our sight. God's light is ~edingly high covering all in heavens and earth. Our eye it is very very weak in comparison to God's light. So we can see Him. He is invisible because his light is too strong. A g appears clear in contrast with a thing opposite to it. God post express and open and everything gets light from His t. Had he been secret and not open, all in the heaven and h would have been destroyed. All things are regulated by principle. That proves His existence. On account of his ~ssive light, He is hidden. He whose insight is strong and ,se faith is firm, is in the middle path in his affairs. He does see anything except God and knows nothing except Him. :vows that there is no existence of anything except that of . He who looks at the writing on a paper knows the hence of a writer. The heaven and earth and what is therein he writings of that Great Writer with the pen of power. He s God and knows Him through His works. He sees nothing pt God. It can be said of him that he loses himself in uid and forgets his own existence. A weak man cannot
E!rstand it.
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 269
Man can understand even before the dawn of his knowledge that everything attests to the existence of G(--i. But his religious feelings of childhood disappear when he mixes with the corrupt society. Owing to his worldly engagements, he is debarred from swimming the ocean of Marfat. For this reason, a poet said
Thou art open. Thou art not hidden,
How can deaf and blind man Can know the open moon?
Thou hats kept secret what Thou disclosed. How can He be known who though open Keeps himself hidden.
MEANING OF ATTACHMENT FOR GOD: There are three modes of describing attachment for God.
(1) Mode of thought. Every lover has got attachment for his beloved in his absence, But it cannot be said that he has got attachment only in his presence as the meaning of attachment is to hope for getting a thing. There is no meaning of hoping for a thing which has been obtained. There cannot be any attachment for a thing which cannot be known. He who has not seen another or heard his qualities cannot have attachment for the latter. Direct vision of God will occur in the next world. Now therefore there should be attachment for God.
(2) The second mode of attachment. There is no end of divine secrets but some of these are disclosed to every man. There is also no end of matters which lie hidden. A gnostic knows His existence and knows also that God knows it. He knows also that the matters unseen are more than the matters seen. So he remains anxious to know which lies hidden until he gets knowledge about them. Hazrat Ibrahim-bin-Adham said ; I prayed one day--O God, if Thou give anything to any of Thy dear ones before his meeting with Thee, give it to me, Anxiety destroy me. Then I saw in a dream that God made me sit before Him and said 0 Ibrahim, are you not ashamed that you pray for such a thing which will console your mind before meeting with Me ? Can an Aref get satisfaction before meeting with his beloved ? I said : 0 Lord, I am immerged in Thy love. I know not what I say. Forgive me. Teach me with what I should invoke Thee. God said : Say. 0 God, let me be satisfied with Thy decree, let me have patience at Thy given dangers and difficulties, let me be grateful for the
LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 271
es given to me. This attachment will give you consolation text world.
The third mode of attachment. This attachment has got I in this world and in the hereafter. God's knowledge is is but man's knowledge is limited. He continues to acquire edge and what he could not acquire remains to be !d. So his hope remains unsatisfied, specially of one who rges after stages about Him. He hopes for perfection of g with Him. God says : Light will run in front of them and sides. They will say: 0 our lord make the light perfect for means : Pour down upon us the treasure of light as Thou ven us in the world. It s object is make the light perfect. ys : They say look at us. We shall borrow from your light. ill then be told: Return to your backs and seek you light. It hat if the light increases in the world, it will also increase ext world. It will not be a new light.
HADIS AND SAYINGS OF SAGES
The Prophet used to pray: 0 God, I pray to Thee for Lion over destiny, provision after death and abundant e for seeing the beauty of Thy face and hope for meeting ee.
,bu Darda said to Ka'ab : Tell me a verse from the Torah.
God says : Hope of the righteous persons to meet Me is id My hope for meeting them is still greater. There is by its side: He who wants Me gets me. He who does not e does not get Me. Abu Darda said: I bear witness that I e Prophet say this.
iazrat Daud said : God said : 0 Daud tell the inhabitants orld : I love one who loves Me. I am with one who sits e alone. I am satisfied to remember one who finds
to remember Me. I become the companion of one who ,mpany with Me. I choose one who chooses Me I remain t to one who obeys Me. I take the love of one who loves heart and I love him so much which nobody can get. He nts Me sincerely gets Me. He who searches other than oes not get Me. 0 inhabitants of the world think over the which you live. Come to see My skill, to keep company
and to stray with Me in solitude. Be satisfied with My r and I shall also be satisfied with your company and
hasten to love you. I have prepared the conduct of My dear ones with the conduct of My dear friend Abraham, My dear friend Moses and My chosen Muhammad. I have created the hearts of those who hope for Me with My light and increased it with My glory.
(4) A certain ancient sage said : God revealed to a Siddiq There are some servants of Mine who love Me. I also love them. I am attached to those who are attached to Me. I remember those who remember Me. I look to those who look to Me. If you adopt their ways, I will love you. I will hate you if you give up their ways. He said : 0 Lord, what are these ways ? God said : They see the shade of the day in such a way as a kind shepherd remains anxious for the setting of the sun when grazing a herd of sheep or as a bird is anxious to return to its nest at the time of sun- set. When the night covers them, darkness spreads evil and every lover is engaged with his beloved. They stand up on their legs, fall prostrate upon their foreheads, talk with Me in solitude with My words, invoke Me for My favour. Some cry some raise voices, some prostrate down. I will give them three kinds of rewards for the troubles they take for Me. (1) I will cast My light in to their hearts. Then they will give news about Me as I give out news to them. (2)1 will think light if the heavens and the earth and what is therein are weighed against them. (3)1 will appear to them with the brilliance of My face.
(5) Hazrat Daud said : God sent Me this revelation : 0 Daud, how long will you remember paradise and not pray for attachment for me ? He asked : 0 Lord, who have got attachment for Thee ? He said : Those whom I have purified from every evil, whose hearts I have broken and opened towards Me so that they can look towards Me. I carry their hearts with My hands and keep them in heaven. Then I call My chosen angels. They unitedly prostrate before Me. I say : I have not called you to make prostration before Me. I have called you for this reason that I will present before you the hearts of those who cherish hope for Me and I feel proud for them. 0 Daud, I have made the hearts of those who are attached to Me with My pleasure and increased My favours with the brilliance of My face. I have chosen them as those who will speak with Me and I have made their bodies in the world as My targets, Daud said : 0 Lord, allow me to see myself as Thy beloved. God said : 0 Daud, come to the mountain of
272
LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Lebanon and see that there are 14 monks here of whom two are young, some old and some extremely aged. When you will come to them, tender them Salam on My behalf saying : Your Lord is tendering you Salam. He is asking you : Have you got any need ? You are My dear ones, My chosen people and My fiends. I get pleasure at your pleasure and your love reaches Me without
delay.
Daud come out and found them near a fountain. They were then meditating over the glory of God. They looked at Daud and were about to go away from him, Daud told them : I am a messenger to you from God. I have come to you. They then came to him and looked downwards to hear him. Hazrat Daud told them : I am a messenger of God to you. He tenders you Salam and says : Have you got any need ? I will hear you what you say as you are My dear ones, chosen ones and dear friends Your love comes to Me without delay. I look to you always like a kind father. Then they began to shed tears which began o to flow down their cheeks.
Among them an old said said : 0 God. Thou art pure. 0 God, we are Thy servants and children of Thy servants. Accept from us what passes between you and us. Another said ; 0 God Thou art pure, we are Thy servants and children of Thy servants. What courage have we got to pray to Thee. We know that Thou hast got no necessity for our services. Thy mercy on us is that we may tread the path towards Thee. Another said : 0 God, we have got defects in searching Thy pleasure. Help us to remove them by Thy help. Another said : 0 God, Thou hast created us from a drop of semen and Thou hast given us grace to ponder over Thy glory. Will he dare to speak with Thee who is busy in proclaiming Thy glory and think over Thy grace ? We try to come near Thy light.
Another said : 0 God, Thou art glorious and stay near Thy friends and show kindness to Thy dear once. So give us grace to our tongues to glorify Thee. Another said : 0 God, Thou hast showed us path to remember Thee and to find leisure to be busy with Thee. Forgive us for our faults in the matter of gratefulness to Thee. Another said : 0 God, Thou knowest our needs. We need to look to Thy face. Another said : 0 God, how can a servant be daring against his Lord ? When you have ordered us to invoke Thee, give us such light as can guide us through the darkness of the stages of heavens. Another said : We pray to Thee to accept
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 273
our invocation and make it last long. 0 God, we invoke from Thee full favours for what Thou hast given us. Another said : We need nothing from Thy creation. Only give us grace to look at Thy beautiful face. Another said : I pray to Thee that my eyes become blind for looking to the inhabitants of the world and my mind remains busy with the next world. Another said : 0 God. I know that Thou art glorious and noble. Thou love your friends. Be kind to us that our minds may keep attached to Thee and to no other thing except Thee.
Then God revealed to Daud : Tell them : I heard your prayers and I accept your invocation. Let each one of you be separate from his companions and adopt a course for himself. In that case, I will remove the screen that lies between Me and him. He will then see My light and glory.
Daud said: 0 God, for what have they received this position? He said : For their good idea about Me, for their abstinence from the world and its inhabitants, for their living with Me in solitude and their secret talks with Me. He who does not give up the world and its inhabitants, does not turn his mind away from them, does not keep his mind busy with Me, does not choose One better than His creations, cannot get this position. When he loses these things, I show mercy on him give him leisure and remove the screen that lies between him and Me. At that time, when he sees with his eyes towards anything, I show him My wonderful skill every moment and take him near the brilliance of My face. If he falls ill, I treat him in such a way as a mother treats her child. If he becomes thirsty, I quench his thirst by the taste of My remembrance. 0 Daud, when I wish these things in his connection. I make him blind to the world and its inhabitants and steal his mind from loving them. He remains always busy with Me. He wants to come to Me soon but I don't want his death as ht is the object of My sight among My creations. He does not look beside Me and I also look to him. 0 Daud, if I see him, his mind becomes frozen, his body lean and thin, his bodily organs become broken and his mind flies on hearing My remembrance and I feel proud for him before My angels and inhabitants of heaven. His fear and divine services then increase. 0 Daud, by My glory and honour, I shall certainly give him accommodation in Ferdous Paradise, give him fortune of looking at My face, so that he-maybe satisfied and that satisfaction is highest.
274 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
(6) There is a story that God said to Daud : 0 Daud, tell my servants who are anxious for my love : When I keep behind the screen from the creation. what's the harm of your lifting the screen between Me and you and look at Me with your mind's eyes? What's the harm if I keep the world separate from you and spread the religion for you? What's the harm if the people be displeased with you when you seek My pleasure?
(7) God revealed to Daud: You think that you love Me. If you love Me, give up your love for the world from your mind, because love for Me and love for the world can not unite in the mind of man. 0 Daud, love me sincerely and mix with the people of the world outwardly and observe religion for Me and not for men. Remember what is in conformity with My love and rely on Me what seems difficult to you. I have kept you before upon guidance and control. I become now your guide and proof. I give you before you ask. I help you in your dangers and difficulties. I swear by Myself that I will not give rewards except to one whom I know to he reliant on Me and whose search and will are sincere and selfless.
(8) '0 Daud, when you cannot remain satisfied without Me, I become like wise for you. I remove disgrace and solicitude from you and give satisfaction to your mind, as I have inflicted promise on Myself that whoever remains satisfied with his works. I unrest him to himself. Ascribe everything to Me, so that your deeds may not go against you and you may not be a helping hand to sins and your companions may not be deprived of your good. You will find no limit and end to the knowledge of My
Marfat.
(9) 0 Daud teach the children of Israil that I have got no connection with anyone of My creations. In this condition their hopes and will towards Me should be too much. I will give therefor such reward which no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no heart of man has conceived. Place Me before your eyes and look to Me with your mind's eye and do not look with your eyes on your forehead at those whose minds and eyes remain closed for Me and on whose hearts there is seal. I have cut off rewards from them. I swear by My honour and glory. I will not open My rewards for one who enters in to My allegiance or examine Me and to get secret information from Me. Be modest to those whom you will teach. If My dear ones had known the
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 275
.position of the sojourners of religion towards Me, there would have been such a land for them as they could have travelled on it.
(10) 0 Daud, if you make your disciples clear of heedlessness, I will enroll you near Me as a warrior. Solicitude will not come to one whom I enroll as a warrior. He will not be deprived of getting anything from men. 0 Daud, hold fast to My word, take something from your soul for you. Don't give something out of it, or else I will take My love from you. Don't deprive My servants from My mercy. Cut off your greed for the sake of My satisfaction. I made it lawful for My weak servants. How is it that the powerful man adopts greed? Greed curbs the pleasure of invocation to Me.
(11) 0 Daud, don't make such a learned man as intermediary between you and Me who casts screen over My love. They are robbers for those who are desirous of My love. Give up greed always by the help of fasting. Be careful of giving up fast as I know that love for Me by the help of fasting is dear to Me. 0 Daud, love Me by going against your baser self. I will then prevent your greed and I will look at you. You will then see that .:screen between you and Me has been lifted. The reason is that I shall have to give you rewards and I will help you for the reason that you may be fit for this reward. Hold fast to allegiance to Me.
(12) God revealed to him: 0 Daud had those persons desirous of My love known how I remain anxious for them how I shower My favours on them, how I wish that they should give up sins, they would have surely died being attached to Me and their glands would have been cut off on account off their love for Me. 0 Daud, this is My wish in connection with those who work hard for Me. How anxious am I for those who advance towards Me? 0 Daud, when a man becomes independent of Me, he becomes more needy of Me than his other conditions. When a man turns away from Me, I feel more sympathy for him. When he returns to Me, he seems to Me to be good.
LOVE OF GOD FOR MAN
Know, 0 readers, that the Quran is a proof that God loves His servants. God says: He loves them and they also love Him. God says: God loves those who fight in a row in the way of God. God says: God loves the repentant and the pure. God says: Say, why shall not God punish you for your sins? The Prophet said: When
276 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
God loves a man, sin does not touch him. He who repents for his sin, is as it were one who did not at all commit sin. Then he read this verses. 'Surely God loves those who repeats. The meaning is that when He loves him. He accepts his repentance before his death. His past sins though many do not do him any harm as past infidelity does not do any harm to one who accepts Islam. God forgives sins on account of love. He says: Say, if you love God, follow me. God will then love you and He will forgive you your sins.
The Prophet said: God gives the world to one whom He loves or does not love but He gives Iman to one whom He loves. The Prophet said: God raises him up who humbles himself for God. He humbles him who is insolent. God loves one who remembers Him much. The Prophet said that God said: When a servant advances towards Me by his addiRonal divine service. I love him. When I love him, I become his eye with which he sees, I become his ears with which he ears'. The dear one is near God. This nearness means not the nearness of place but the nearness of attributes. The nearness of attributes means to be away from beastly or Satanic evils and to be endowed with the attributes of good conduct and character. Each man comes near God in proportion to his perfection. God loves a servant in such a way that He saves him from worldly engagements purifies his mind in such a way that he can see Him with his mind's eye. The meaning of men's love for God is his inclining towards perfection of which he was deprived before.
Question. God's love for His servant is doubtful. How can he know that he is an object of love of God?
Answer. That can be known by sign. The Prophet said: When God loves a servant. He throws him into dangers and difficulties. When he loves him with full love, He purifies him making him sincere. He was asked: What is the meaning of making him sincere? He said: God does not leave for him his family and property. So the sign of love of God for His servant is that He makes him separate from others and God comes in between him and other people and things.
Once the Prophet Jesus Christ was asked: Why do you not purchase an ass to ride upon? He said: I am more honorable than God's making me engaged to an ass. There is a tradition: When God loves a servant, He examines him by dangers and
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 277
difficulties. If, he keeps patience at them, He chooses him. If he remains satisfied, he chooses him. A certain learned man said: When you love God and see that He is giving you dangers and difficulties, know that he wishes to purify you. A certain pilgrim of religion said to his spiritual guide: Give me hints of love. He said: 0 dear son, has God examined you by any of your dear ones and have you loved him by forsaking Him? He said: No, He said: Don't be greedy for love as He does not give it to anybody without examining him. The Prophet said: God appoints an admonisher over His servant and a warner over his heart so that he may enjoin him and prohibit him. The Prophet said: When God wishes good to a servant. He shows his faults to him. The meaning of God's love is that He takes responsibility of his open and secrets deeds upon Himself. He admonishes him makes tadbir of his actions, makes his conduct and character beautiful, engages his bodily limbs in to action, helps him in his open and secret affairs, concentrates his thoughts and anxieties into one centre, creates in him hatred towards the world, makes him separate from others, gives him taste in his invocation in solitude and lifts His screen from him. These are the signs of God's love for him.
SIGNS OF MAN'S LOVE FOR GOD
Know, 0. readers, that everybody claims love for God, but love is a very ifficult task. Love is a tree the foundation of which is firmly rooted and its branches extend in to the horizon and the fruits appear in mind, tongue and bodily limbs. The existence of love is found from these things as the existence of fire is found from vapour and of tree from fruits.
(1) First sign -Love meeting with God, The first sign of love for God is love for meeting with God by way of Kashf and direct sight of Paradise. It is natural to be eager to meet with a person and to see him if one loves him in mind. When a lover can know that if he does not depart from the world and be separate from it by death, he cannot reach Him he should then love death. A lover does not feel difficulty in going from his house to the house of his Beloved to meet Him. Death is the key to this meeting and opening its door. The Prophet said: God loves one who loves to meet with Him. The saint Huzaifah said at the time of his death: The Beloved has come at the time of necessity. I will not gain success by repentance. An ancient sage said: God has got no such
278 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
conduct as is dearer to Him than prostration except meeting with God. God made fighting in His way as a condition of His love. They say: He loves God. To fight in the way of God and search for martyrdom are its signs. God says: God loves those who fight standing in rows. God says: Those who fight in the way of God, kill and are killed. Hazrat Abu Bakr left some death instructions to Omar of which there is the following: Truth is heavy but inspite of its heaviness it is benefiting. Falsehood is light but inspite of its lightness it is injurious. If you preserve my instructions, the absent things will not be dearer to you than the inevitable death. If you spoil my instructions, the absent things will be more hateful to you than death, yet you will not be able to baffle it.
Ishaq, son of Sa'ad bin-Abi Waqqas said: My father said that Abdullah-bin-Jahash said to him at the time of the Battle of Uhud: Shall we not invoke God? He went to a side and said: 0 Lord, I swear by Thee that if I am to meet tomorrow with the enemies, Thou wilt cause me to meet a strong man. I will fight with him in Thy way and he will also fight with me. Thereafter he may catch me and cut my nose and ears and pierce my stomach. When I will meet you tomorrow on the Resurrection Day, you will ask me: 0 servant of God, who has cut off your nose and ears? I will say 0 Lord, this is my condition for Thee and Thy Prophet. Then Thou wilt say: You have spoken the truth. Sa'ad said: I saw at the end of the day that, his noses and ears were tied with a thread to save hanging. Sayeed-bin-Mosayeb said: I hope that God will prove His last oath true as He has proved his first oath true.
Hazrat Sufiyan Saori and Bashr Hafi used to say: Nobody except a person having doubts hates death, as a lover under no circumstances hates meeting with his beloved. Buwaiti asked a monk: Do you love death? When he delayed in his answer we said: If you are truthful, you will love death. Then he read this verse: If you are truthful, you will hope for death. The monk said that the Prophet had said: Dont hope for death. He said: There is harm in hoping for death and therefore he said this as it is better to remain satisfied with the decree of God than to flee away from it.
Question: Can one love God who does not love death?
Answer: Death is thought an evil on account of the attachment for the world and for the pangs of separation from
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 279
family members, children, treasures and wealth. These are the impediments of the love of God as full love occupies the entire heart. If the above things are loved, love for God is reduced. When Abu Hazaifa got his sister Fatima married to his slave Salem, the Quraish began to rebuke him and said: You are a mqn of Quraish. How could you get your sister married to a slave? He said: By God, I have given Fatemah in marriage to him as I do not know whether l am better than Salem. The word was more severe to them than his deed. They said: How can it occur? She is you sister and Salem is your slave. He said: I heard the Prophet say: Let one who wishes to see a person who loves God with his entire heart look to Salem. It seems from this that there are persons who do not love God with all their hearts. They love God and love others also along with God.
The second cause of thinking death as an evil is that a man does not hate death in the early stage of his love but he does not like it before his preparation for meeting with God. He is like the lover who gets the news of the arrival of his beloved but wants to have an hour so that he may well arrange his house and its furnitures that he may get leisure to see him and talk with him after his arrival with pleasure.
(2) Second sign -to sacrifice dear things for God. The second sign of the love of God is to give priority to that work which God loves than all the dear things and for that to be busy with the difficult tasks, to give up low desires and idleness, to be busy with divine services to search God's nearness by additional divine services to hope for more position near Him. God bestows the quality of I'sar (self sacrifice) to His lovers. God says: They love those who have migrated to them and they don't see narrowness in`their minds in what they were given and place the wants of others above their own wants inspite of their wants. Low desires become the object of love of one who follows them. The lover gives up his own desires and adopts the desires of his beloved. For this reason a poet says: -
I want union with one who seeks my separation,
I give up my hopes and desires for one who wants them.
When Julaikha brought faith and married Eusuf, she kept herself separate from him and remained engaged in divine services and surrendered herself completely to God. Hazrat
280 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Eusuf called her to his bed in day time as Julaikha remained busy at night in divine service. When Eusuf called her at night, she hinted at the day time and said: 0 Eusuf, I loved you before I recognized God. When I knew God, I can have no love for others except God. I don't hope for anything for this. Even Eusuf said to Julaikha: God is good. He ordered me for that and said: He will take out of your womb two sons and will make them Prophets. Julaikha said: Be careful, when God ordered you this and made me the means of it, obey God. Julaikha then got peace for going to him. He who loves God does not disobey Him. Ibnul Mobarak said: You say "I love God". But you remain busy otherwise. By my life, what you say is wonderful. Had your love been true, you would have been busy in divine service. He who is a lover obeys his beloved always.
The sage Shaal Tastari said: To give loves prominent to yourself is the Sign of love. He who works in obedience to God's command can not become the object of love of God only on that ground. He who gives up the prohibited things of God becomes also the object of the love of God. God says: God loves them as they love God. When God loves a man He becomes his care-taker and help him against His foes. Here the meaning of foes is baser self and passion. God does not put him to disgrace and does not leave him to his low desires and passions. God says: God is well-informed' of your foes. God is sufficient as a friend and
sufficient as a Helper.
Question. Is sin opposed to basic love?
Answer. Sin is opposed to full love, but not to basic love. How many a man there are who loves himself and therefore loves his health inspite of illness. He eats a food though he knows it to be injurious to him. From this, it can not be understood that he does not love himself, but his knowledge of harm is weak. When Nuaiman was bought before the Prophet for his fault of wine drinking, he was inflicted punishment. One day after the infliction of sentence on him, one man cursed him and said: How many times have you been bought before the Prophet? The Prophet said: Don't curse him as he loves God and His Prophet. This sin has not outside him from love. True it is that the sin ousted him from full love. A certain Aref said: When faith stays outside one's mind, God loves him in a middle manner; and when faith enters his heart and he gives up his sins. He loves him
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 281
fully. In short, there is danger in the claim of love. The saint Fazil said: If you are asked, "Do you love God?" keep silent, because if you say "I don't love God," you will become an infidel. If you say, "I love God," the attributes of those who love God are not found in you. So be careful of hatred. A certain learned man said: There is no happiness more than that of the man of love and Marfat. There will be no greater punishment in Hell than the punishment of those who claim love and Marfat, as nothing of love will be found in them.
(3) Third sign. The third sign of the love of God is the predominance of Zikr of God in mind and in tongue. He who loves a thing remembers it or the things in connection with that thing. So the sign of love for God is to love His remembrance, to love His word Quran, to love His Prophet and to love those things that are connected with Him, because he who loves a man, loves all the dogs of that locality. When love becomes strong, he loves all the things connected with his beloved. This is not setting partnership in the love of his beloved as he loves the messengers of the beloved. Similarly, he whose love for God is strong, loves the creation of God, as it is the creation of his Beloved. So how can he not love the Quran, Prophet and good people? For this reason, God says: Say, if you love God, follow me. God will love you. The Prophet said: Love God, because He supplies you provision and love me for Him. Sufyan gaori said: He who loves one whom God loves, loves God. He who honours one whom God honours, honours God.
Some religious man said: I got pleasure of invocation at the preliminary stage of my walk in the spiritual field and read the Quran day and night. Thereafter idleness overtook me and I stopped Quran reading. Then I dreamt that some one said: You think that you love me, then why have you opposed the Quran? Why have you not pondered over My subtle rebuke therein? When I awoke, love of the Quran entered my mind and I returned to my previous condition. Hazrat-Ibn-Masud said: Let some of you not ask anything except about the Quran. If he loves the Quran, loves God. It he does not love the Quran, he does not love God. Sahal Tastari said: The sign of love for God is to love the Quran and the sign of the love for God and the Quran is love for His Prophet. The sign of the love for His Prophet is to love his ways of life. The sign of the love of his ways of life is love for the
282 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
next world. The sign of the love of the next world is dislike for the world. The sign of dislike for the world is not to take anything from the world except the wealth of the next world.
(4) Fourth sign is divine service in solitude. The fourth sign of love for God is to love to live with the Beloved in solitude, to invoke God, to recite His Book, to pray Tahajjud, to seek the treasures of fortune at night and to be engaged in divine service after cutting off all connections. The lowest position of love is to get pleasure of staying with the beloved in solitude and to gain the fortune of conversing with Him in private He who takes more pleasure in sleep and useless talks cannot claim love of God. Hazrat Ibrahim-bin-Adham was asked after he got down from the hillcok: Wherefrom have you come? He said: From love of God. Hazrat Daud is reported to have said: God said: Don't love anybody among My creation as I shall deprive two persons from My favours (1) He who slags in making divine service if delay is made in receiving rewards for good works. (2) He who forgets My favours and immerges himself in his low desires. The sign of this is that I leave him upon himself and keep him tied in worldly affairs. If anyone loves things other than God, keeps himself away proportionately from God and falls proportionately from His love.
Barkh was a black slave of Prophet Moses God said to Moses: Barkh is a good slave. He is dear to Me, but he has got one defect. He said: 0 Lord, what is his fault? He said: Morning breeze gives him pleasure and he enjoys it. He who loves Me does not find consolation in anything else.
It is reported that a certain worshiper did divine service for long in a forest. Some birds used to sing in a tree not far from him. Their songs gave him a great delight He said: Had my closet been near that tree. I would found pleasure in hearing their songs. He did accordingly. God revealed to the Prophet of that time: Tell that worshiper: You have attached yourself to created things, I will curb your position. You will not get it by your divine service.
There was some disease in the leg of a lover of God. When he was in prayer, a surgeon came and operated his leg. He did not get any pain whatsoever by that action of the physician. Katadah once recited this verse '-They have faith and their hearts find consolation in the remembrance of God." Behold, hearts get
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 283
consolation in the rememberance of God". He said that the meaning of 'consolation' is pleasure and satisfaction. Hazrat Abu Bakr said: The pleasure which a man gets in the love of God keeps him away from searching the world and keeps him away from other men. Motarref-bin-Abu Bakr said: The lover is not tired of conversing with his Beloved. God revealed to Daud: He who claims My love after sleeping the whole night is a liar. Does not a lover like to meet with his beloved and remains with him always? I am with one who searches Me.
Moses said: 0 Lord, where are Thou? I wish to go to Thee. God said: When you have wished to come to Me you have reached Me. Ihya-bin-Maaz said: He who has not got three qualities cannot be a lover of God-(1) he will love God's words more'than those of the people, (2) he will love to meet with God mere than meeting with the people (3) and he will love divine service more than service of the people.
(5) Fifth sign. It is to feel sorry if one is unable to remember God always He becomes very sorry for any moment that slips from him without remembrance of God. He returns with more repentance at the time of heedlessness. An Aref said: There are such religious persons of God who love God and find consolation in His remembrance. They think that what is destined for them must come and therefore pleasure and sorrow go away from them for anything happy or unpleasant. The remain always satisfied, remembering the verse of God: Perchance you dislike a thing which is good for you- 2:216.
(6) Sixth sign -To feel happy in divine service and not to feel difficulty Difficulty and tiredness remove from him. A certain sage said: I made efforts for 20 years at night and then reaped fruits. Hazrat Junaid said: Constant pleasure is the sign of love and the mind then does not become tired in divine service though the body gets tired. A sage said: One does not get tired if one works out of love. A learned man said: 'A lover of God is never tired of doing divine service even though sufficient excuses come to him'. Nothing is difficult for a lover for incuring the pleasure of his beloved. He finds pleasure of mind to incur his pleasure even though his body finds trouble. If a man can sacrifice even his life and properties out of love for his friend, how greater sacrifice is needed for the love of God?
284 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
(7) Seventh sign -To love all people obedient to God. The seventh sign of love for God is to be kind to those who obey God, to be severe to the enemies of God and to those who are accustomed to do evils. God says: 'They are severe to the infidels sympathetic, among themselves.' He can not be caught by the defamation of a defamer and can not be restrained from his anger for the cause of God. For these qualities, God praised His friends saying: Those who suffer as a result of loving Me just as a boy suffers loving his friend, take recourse to My Zikr as a vulture takes refuge to its nest. They express anger at my prohibit matters as a leopard does not care to take revenge when it gets angry.
These are the signs of love. When these signs gain perfection. in a man, his love also becomes perfect and selfless. He whose love is mixed with others along with his love for God, will get happiness in the next world in proportion to his love. God says with regard to the righteous persons: The religious men will live in happiness. Then he says: They will be given drink from the closed up cups etc. -83:25.
(8) Eight sign -To remain fearful and panicky. Some think that fear is opposed to love, but really it is not true. Rather fear is necessary to realise'nobility as love is necessary to realise beauty. The speciality of the lovers is to have fear in place of love. First there is the fear of rejection still more there is the fear of falling of thick screen, still more there is the fear of going at a distance. This appears from the. Chapter Hud which made the hairs of the greatest lover white, as he heard this word of God: Beware, Samud was off. The Prophet said: He to whom both days are equal are deceived. He whose to-day is worse than yesterday is cursed. The Prophet also said: I seek forgiveness seventy times for the thoughts that daily come to my mind. He sought forgiveness for the first stage for its defects before going for the second stage. He did this for defects in his spiritual journey and for punishment for looking towards others than his Beloved. There is in Hadis Qudsi that God says: When a man loves the people of the world more than divine service I rob him of the pleasure of invocation. This is My lowest action. In short, the punishment of the religiousmen is in robbing of additional rank on account of their greed. Additional rank is closed for this for the special religious men So care should be taken of this secret thing. Only the firmly rooted religious men can take care of it.
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 285
What is found after loss has also got the fear of being lost. Ibrahim-bin-Adham once heard some poems of a poet in course of his journey, At this, he trembled and fell senseless and remained in this condition for one day and one night. Afterr recovery he said: I heard a man saying from the side of the hillock: 0 Ibrahim be My servant. When I became His servant, I regained my senses.
Fear grows from unmindfulness in the matter of the beloved, as a lover always is in the path of search and love. He never gets tired of hard search. As love enters in him unknowingly so indifference enters in him unknowingly the cause of this change is secret and unknown. Its enquiry is outside human power. When, God intends evil of someone and gives him time for evil work§. He keeps his indifference secret from him. He remains in hope. He is deceived owing to his indifference and heedlessness and becomes one of the devil's company. When love comes, some qualities grow in him like kindness, wisdom, glory, power and honour. A certain Aref said: He does divine service with love and without fear gets ruined. Distance and solicitude go away from him who does divine service in fear without love. God loves one who does divine service with fear and love and gives him the rank of nearness, traquility and knowledge. So a lover is not free from fear.
It is reported that a pious man prayed to God that he might be given something of Marfat of a certain Siddiq God granted his prayer. As a result he began to travel in hillocks and mountains, his wisdom got tired, his mind became restless and remained in one stage for seven days without getting any benefit. The Siddiq prayed to God for him: 0 Lord, reduce something of his Marfat. God revealed to him: I gave him only one portion out of one lac portions of Marfat. When you prayed for him, one lac people prayed for something of love. I made delay to accept their invocation till you prayed for him. I accepted for what you have prayed for him. I divided one drop of Marfat for one lac people. He got one portion out of one lac. He said: Thou art pure, 0 Lord of the worlds, reduce for him what Thou hast given him. God reduced it and it became one portion out of one thousand portions and generally it was one portion out of one lac thousand portions. Then his fear, love and hope stood in equilibrium and he became.quiet.
286, LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
A poet said describing the condition of a gnostic: Absorbed in God pure and having distant goal; Possessing intellect and character, distant from others. His look full of bright radiance except that of a martyr. His heart full of delight and pleasure for constant service.
(9) Ninth sign -To keep love secret. It is one of the signs of love to keep love secret, to give up claim of love and to take care to disclose ecstasy and love, to show honour and proclaim glory of God in fear. Love is a secret affair of a lover out of His secret affairs. The reason is that if one claims love, some words may come out from his mouth which go out of their meaning and then it is reduced to defamation. There is evil result for it in the next world and dangers and difficulties fall on him in this world. It is true that as a a result of love, there grows some toxication in the lover to such and extent that he becomes insame and his condition changed. If it comes without effort, there is some excuse. Sometimes the fire of love burns in such a way that his love goes beyond his control and the current of love flows in his heart which cannot he checked. He who can control it says in poems:
They say "He is near", I say: "what benefit will it do?" Can anybody get the sun if its rays come close?
What use will it be if He is not remembered with heart sincere.
Fire of love if rises in breast makes the eye sight dim.
He wants to keep love concealed, yet it is expressed in tears.
There appear other signs also as a result of ecstacy. His mind dances with joy and it is impossible to keep it concealed. Once Jun-nun Misri went to one of his friends who used to mention often about love. He saw him in a certain disaster and said: He who feels the pangs of disaster does not love Him. He said: Rather I say that he who does not gather his fortune from his disaster does not love Him. Jun-nun said: I say that he who discloses his love does not love Him. The man said: Then I sought forgiveness of God and turned to Him.
Question. Love is the last of the spiritual stages.. To disclose it is to disclose good. What is the harm in disclosing it?
Answer.Know, 0 readers, that love is good and to disclose it is also good. It becomes bad to disclose it when there is claim of
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 28.7
love and consequent pride in it. It is the duty of the lover to keep his love secret and not disclose it in deeds and words. The object of a lover is only to enquire about his Beloved. There is in Injil: When you make a gift, make it in such a way that your left hand does not know what your right hand does In lieu thereof, He who sees the matter will give you openly. When you fast, wash your face, oil your head, so that nobody knows it except your Lord. But when there is overflow of love and it goes beyond one's control, he is not to be blamed for disclosing it.
It is reported that once a man looked at such a thing of a mad man which was unknown to him. when Maruf Karkhi was informed of it, he smiled and said: 0 dear brother, there are many classes of the lovers of God-small, great, wise and mad. But out of them, you have seen a mad lover of God who thinks it bad to disclose his love. The reason is that when a lover is Aref or gnostic and remains always in love, he knows the condition of angels. Angels glorify God day and night and do not get tired. They do not disobey what they are ordered and put into practice what they are ordered. So he who discloses his love for God should be ashamed of. He should know that in this universe of God. he is the lowest among the lovers of God. A lover with deep insight said: I have tried my utmost with my heart and bodily organs for the last 30 years to do divine service. From that, I feel that I have acquired some position to God. I have reached some chosen angels of God and asked: Who are you? They said: We are lovers of God. We are doing divine service sitting here for three lac years. During this time, no other thought crossed our minds except Him and we remembered nobody except Him. He said: Then I became ashamed of the littleness of my deeds. Hazrat Junaid said: My spiritual guide Sarri Sakti once fell ill. No medicine of the disease fell in my mind as I found no cause of this disease. One expert physician was mentioned to us and one pot of his urine was given to him for examination. The physician looked to his urine very minutely for long and then said to me: I am looking at the urine of a lover. Junaid said: Hearing it I fell into swoon and the physician also fell into swoon along with me. The pot of urine fell down from my hand. Sarri was informed of this and he smiled and said: Let him be sacrificed to God. Junaid said: What a subtle sight he has got. 0 guide, love is disclosed in urine. Sarri said: Yes. Rather I shall say, His love becomes joined to my bones and His love overflows my body. Then he also fell in swoon.
288 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-N
(10) Tenth sign. Satisfaction and contentment are the signs of love. In one word, all the qualities of religion and good conduct are the results of love. What is not the fruit of love follows low desires That is bad conduct. Junaid said: Men are divided into two kinds in the matter of love of God, general people and special people. General people can not but love God if they get constant benefits and excess wealth. Special persons love God seeing His power, knowledge, skill and sovereignty. They love Him even though everything goes away from them. Hazrat Sahal Tastari said to a person at the time of conversation with him: O friend, 0 dear one. He was asked: How can you say this? He may not be your.. friend. He said to the questioner in silence: Either he is a believer or a hypocrite. If he is a believer, he is dear to God. If he is a hypocrite. He is the friend, of the devil. Abu Torab said about love: Don't be deceived, a lover has got many signs: Those who roam round Him tread also different paths.
(1) One sign: He takes bitterness of troubles as a gift. He gets delight whatever his Beloved does for him. He considers it a gift even though he gets it not. He does good deeds and considers wants as honour.
(2) Another sign: He is firm in fulfillment of promise. He is obedient even though his Beloved rebukes him.
(3) Another sign: You will see him satisfied, busy in love. (4) Another sign: He tries to satisfy a beggar.
(5) Another sign: His Kashf opens and he takes its care. Hazrat Ihay-b-Ma'az said:
(6) Another sign: He is under-fed, underclothed, roaming.
(7) Another sign: He is beset with troubles and has got no defamer.
(8) Another sign: He advances always towards Jihad and good deeds.
(9) Another sign: He renouces the world in the midst of pleasure.
(10) Another sign: He is busy always is weeping for sins.
(11) Another sign: He is busy and surrenders all his affairs to the great God.
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 289 (12) Another sign: He is satisfied with what little he has got.
(13) Another sign: He smiles before the people but his mind is thoughtful.
SATISFACTION IN THE COMPANY OF GOD: Satisfaction, fear and attachment are the results of love but they are of different kinds. Attachment or hope comes when a thing is unseen. Satisfaction comes when a thing lies in presence. When satisfaction is strong, one likes to remain alone and solitude. When Hazrat Ibrahim-bin-Adham came down from a hillock, he was asked: Wherefrom have you come? He said: From attachment of God: It is related that when God conversed with Moses, he was in such a condition for several days that if he heard the talk of men, he fell senseless, because of his love for God. One does not then even like to hear others. For this reason, a certain sage used to say in invocation: 0 One who separated me from the people and Who created in me attachment for Him by His remembrance.
God said to Daud: Be attached to Me, be satisfied in'getting Me and be separate from others. The saint Rabia was asked: For what deed, have you attained this position? He said: For giving up what is not necessary for me and for being attached to One who is the Beginning and the End. Abdul Wahed said: While passing by a man who renunciated the world, I asked him: 0 one who has renounced the world, I wonder at your solitary habitation. He said: 0 brother, if you have found pleasure in solitary habitation, you would have kept yourself separate from passion. Solitary habitation is the basis of divine service. I said: 0 one who has renounced the world, what is the least benefit you have got in solitary habitation? He said: Freedom from flattery of people and security from their evils. I asked: 0 one who has renounced the world, in what time people get the pleasure of attachment for God? He said: When love is pure and deeds sincere. I asked: When is love pure? He said: When thoughts are centered in God. A certain sage said: How are the people engaged in things other than You? How can they be attached to others giving You up?
Question. What is the sign that a man is satisfied with God?
Answer. His special signs are that his mind becomes narrow
in mixing with the people, gets disgusted in mixing with them
290 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
and becomes joyful at the pleasure of Zikr. He lives in society as if alone and lives in solitude as if in society. He is like a sojourner in his house and like a permanent resident in journey, a man present in obscurity and a man absent in presence, but he is separate in mind and remains immerged in Zikr. Hazrat Ali explained about them saying: They are a people who have been ' given more knowledge of everything and are given the good news of the light of certain faith. They think easy what the rich think difficult. They make friends with those from whom the fools keep aloof. They live in the world with their bodies but their souls keep hanging with the highest Throne. They are the real. representatives of God on earth and inviters to His religion.
FRUITS OF SATISFACTION IS EXPANSION OF BREAST: When satisfaction becomes lasting, strong and firm, breast expands. The children of Israil suffered for seven years owing to famine. Then Moses came out to pray for rain with seventy thousand people. God revealed to him: Let Barkh Asad pray for the people. Their sins are gathered over them, their hearts are impure, they pray to Me without certain faith and they are secure from My punishment. God to him and tell him to come out. Hazrat Moses enquired of him but failed to find him out. One day Moses was walking on the road when he found a black slave coming towards him. There was spots of earth on his forehead as a result of prostration. There was a sheet of cloth tied round his neck. Moses recognised him with the help of God's light, saluted him and asked: What is your name? He said: My mane is Barkh. Moses said: We are searching you for a long time. Pray for rain.
He said: "0 God, is this Thy work? Is this Thy patience? Why is it disclosed to you that fountains have gone down, air refused to obey Thee or what is near Thee has ended and Thy wealth has become narrow for the sinners? Were you not forgiving before Thou created these sinners? Thou hast created kindness and enjoined us kindness. Dost Thou not see that Thou art not giving our required food? Dost Thou give us punishment for this that nobody advances towards Thee?" Hardly had he said this when rain began to fall and the people present began to be drenched. By God's command, vegetables, plants and grass grew that very noon to knee's height: Then Barkh returned. Moses came to them and said: How have you seen him when arguing with my Lord? God revealed to him: Barkh excites My laughter thrice daily.
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 291
Hazrat Hasan Basri said: Once several houses at Basara were burnt by fire, but one of the houses was not burnt. Hazrat Abu Musa was then Governor of Basra. When he was informed of this of this affair, he called for the owner of the house and said: 0 Shaikh, why has not your house been burnt? The owner of the house said: I took oath from my Lord that He would not burnt it. Then Hazrat Abu Musa said: I heard the Prophet say: There will appear one section of my people whose hairs will remain dishevelled and whose cloths unclean. When they give oath to God, He will prove it to be true. In another narration, it is reported that once the city of Basra caught fire. Abu Obaidah came there and began to walk upon fire. The Governor of Basra said to him: Be careful that you may not be burnt by fire. He said: I gave oath to my Lord that He would not burn me by fire. Then when he was walking upon fire, it extinguished.
Abu Hafs was one day walking when a mad man came to him and he said: What has happened to you? He said: My ass in missing and I have got nothing except it. Abu Hafs said: 0 God, by Thy glory, I will not further advance till you return the ass to him. Then the ass came and Abu Hafs went away.
Thus there are many anecdotes from which attachment for God is understood. Others have got no power to follow them. Hazrat Junaid said: The satisfied men utter such talks at times which smack of infidelity before the people. He said once: If they hear it, they will call him an infidel. But they find progress therein. Some poet said:
A party of servants are engaged with their Master in joy, They disclose His glory as is due to His glory.
There are warnings in the Quran to this effect. All the stories in the Quran are warnings to the people having deep insight. They take them as lessons, but others take them as more stories. There is first the story of Adam and the devil. Both showed disobedience to God, but the devil was driven away from His favour and Adam was forgiven of his sins, and He guided him. God rebuked our Prophet because of his turning away from a poor man and advancing towards some rich men saying: You turn away your face from a man who has come to you running and who is God- fearing and you turn your face to him who is
292 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 293
rich-80:9. Thus expansion of breast is found in some men and absent in some men.
Moses prayed at the time of his expansion of breast: This is nothing but your trial. You misguide one whom You wish and guide one whom You wish. When Moses was ordered to go to Pharaoh, he said: I am guilty to them. I fear that they might kill me. Had it been said by others except Moses, it would have been considered as impertenance. Below this stage there was the Prophet Eunus who could not' have patience and therefore he was thrown into the stomach of a fish. Our Prophet was ordered not to obey him by this verse-Wait for the order of your Lord and don't become like the owner of fish when he cried and he was angry -68:49. This difference occurs owing to the difference of conditions and spiritual stages., Jesus Christ was one of the topmost Prophets. He saluted himself thus: Salam upon me on the day I was born, on the day I shall die and on the day I shall be resurrected 19:33. He found it in the spiritual stage of satisfaction . Hazrat Ihya was upon the stage of fear and shame. He did not speak till God spoke with him. God says: Salam upon him-19:15. Joseph bore all the hardships put upon him by his brothers. Hazrat Uzair being unable to bear asked God of a question about Taqdir. His name was cut off from the register of Prophets as a consequence.
Balaram Baur was a great learned man. He used to enjoy the world in exchange of religion. Asaf was a man who was spend-thrift. His sins were confined within his bodily organs. God forgave him. God revealed to Hazrat Solaiman: How long will your maternal cousin Asaf disobey Me? I am having patience about him. By My glory, if any punishment comes to him"I will inflict such punishment on his companions as will be examplary for his successors. Solaiman communicated this to Asaf. He got upon a sand-hill raising up his hands towards heaven and said; 0 God, my Lord, you are you and I am I. If you do 'not accept my repentance, how can I make repentance to you? If you do not protect me, how can I save myself? I surely return to you. God then revealed to him: 0 Asaf, you have spoken the truth: You are you and I am I. If you like it, I will accept your repentance. The words of God had such a tremendous influence on Asaf that he at once repented and engaged himself in divine worship.
So God makes delay for some persons and makes haste with respect to some. This occurs according to the fate written before. In the Quran, there are descriptions of three kinds -(1) His existence and purity, (2) His attributes and names (3) and His wonderful creations and His treatment towards the people. These three descriptions are found in chapter Ikhlas. Hence the Prophet termed this chapter as being one third of the Quran. Hazrat Ibn Masud said: Take light from the Quran search for its undiscovered things and gain knowledge of the predecessors and successors therein. What he said is true. Every subject of the Quran if not thought long can not be known. Almost all the secret things of the Quran are covered in stories and news.
MEANING OF CONTENTMENT WITH
THE DECREE OF GOD
Know, 0 readers, that to remain content with the Decree of God is the result of love. This is the highest spiritual stage of near ones. Its real nature is secret to many people except to one who God gives knowledge of religion.
MERITS OF CONTENTMENT: God says: He is satisfied with them and they are also satisfied with Him. God says: What is the reward of good except good? The last limit of this reward is God's. pleasure over a servant. This is the reward of a man's satisfaction with God. God says: The garden of Adnan is a good abode in paradise, but God's pleasure is greatest. God says: 'Prayer removed evils and shameful acts, but remembrance of God is greatest.' So pleasure of God is the highest reward, higher than paradise and its comforts. There is in the tradition that God will approach His servants and say: Pray to Me. They will pray: We seek Thy pleasure. After Didar or vision, their prayer will be for His pleasure, This is their last favour. God says: There is near Me more fortune. In explaining this, some commentators say: The inmates of paradise will have three rewards from God at the time of additional favour. (1) The first reward is that such presents will come to them from God as have got no parallel in paradise. God says: No man knows what delights pleasing to the eyes are hidden for them -32:17. (2) The second reward is that there will come peace to them from their Lord. That would be greater than present. God says: Salam (peace), a word from their kind Lord. (3) The third reward is that God will say: I am pleased with you. That will be better than presents and peace. God says:
294 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 295
God's pleasure is highest. So God's pleasure will be the highest of all favour.
Hadis:- The Prophet once asked his companions: What is your condition? They said: We are believers? He asked them: What are the signs of your belief? They said: We keep patience, express gratefulness in happiness and remains satisfied with the decree of God. He said: By the Lord of Kaba, you are believers. I another tradition, he said: The wise and the learned by virtue of their knowledge will be near the Prophets. In another Hadis: Thanks to one who has found guidance, who has get necessary provision and remains satisfied with that . The Prophet said: When God loves a man, He sends disasters upon him. If he remains patient at that, He chooses him. If he remains satisfied. He loves him. The Prophet said: When there will come the Day of Resurrection. He will give wings to a group of my followers. They will fly towards paradise by the help of their wings. They will travel there and enjoy to their hearts, content. The angels will ask them: Have you seen your accounts? They will say: We have not seen them. The angels will ask them: Have you crossed the Bridge? They will say: We have not seen it. The angels will ask: Have you seen Hell? They will say: We have seen nothing of Hell. The angels will ask them: Whose people are you? They will say: We are the followers of Muhammad. The angels will ask them: We give you this oath, tell us with truth: What were your actions in the world. They will say: /We have reached this rank for two of our actions. They will ask: What are these two? They will say: When we stayed in solitude, we were ashamed to disobey God and we were satisfied with little of what He gave us. The angels will say: You are truly fit for this. The Prophet said: 0 assembly of the poor give satisfaction to God from the core of your hearts You will in that case gain upperhand by the rewards of your poverty or else you will not get it.
(7) It is reported that the children of Israil said to Moses: Pray for us to your Lord for such a matter which if we do gall incur the pleasure of God. Moses prayed: 0 God, you have heard what they said. God said: 0 Moses, tell them to remain satisfied with Me. I will then remain satisfied with them'. (8) It is also found from the following Hadis: He who wishes to know what is in store for him for God should look to whys for God from him, as the Almighty and Glorious God sends down on the people
such rank which the people give to Him from them. (9);; It is reported of David: God says: What is the necessity of My friend to think of the world? The pleasure of their invocation to Me will destroy their anxiety from their minds. 0 David, My "friends think of Me spiritually being engrossed in love for Me.and they do not feel any anxiety. (10) It is reported that Moses, prayed to God: 0 Lord, guide me to such an action in which lies your pleasure and that I may do it. God then revealed to him: If you can not have patience at what you think bad, still I have got pleasure in what you dislike. Moses said: 0 Lord, guide me to that action. God said: I will remain satisfied if you remain satisfied with My decree. (11) Moses once prayed in an invocation: 0 Lord, who is the dearest person to you? God said: That man who remains attached to Me even though I take from him his dearest thing. Moses asked: Who is the person most disliked by you? God said: He who invokes good from me and becomes displeased with Me when I give him a decree. (12) There is a more severe thing than this. That is this. God says: I am God, there is no deity but I, He who does not keep patience at the dangers and difficulties sent by Me on him, who, does not express gratefulness for My favour on him, who does not remain satisfied with My decree on him should take another deity besides Me. There is also more strict word of God than what has been described above. That is this, The Prophet said: God says: I predetermined Taqdir and also Tadbir. I have also fixed the laws of My action. I remain satisfied with his lot till he meets Me. Who so is dissatisfied with his lot, I also become dissatisfied with him till he meets Me. (13) There is a well known tradition. God says: I have created good and bad. Is fortunate for whom I have created good and whose hands I have made means for its stay. He is unfortunate for whom I created bad and whose hands I have made means for its stay. Alas for him and also alas for him who asks 'Why' 'For what'. (14) There is an ancient story that a Prophet was affected with hunger, poverty and lices for twenty years and then complained to God. He did not accept his prayer till God wished. Then God revealed to him: How long will you complain like this? Your beginning was written in the "Mother of the Book" before the creation of heavens and earth. Your condition has come to you from Me accordingly. Your fate was written like this by Me before the creation of the world. Do you wish that I should create the earth a new for you? Do you wish that I should alter your fate? Do you wish that I should place your
296 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 297
wish above Mine? Do you wish that what you wish must come to pass and what I wish should not come to pass? By My honour and glory, if such thoughts arise in your mind, I will surely cut off your name from the register of the Prophets.
(15) It is reported that some children of Adam were ascending on and descending from his body. One boy ascended upon his head and was hanging his leg on his shoulder and was then descending like on a staircase. He remained silent looking towards the earth and did not raise up his head. One of his sons told him? 0 father, don't you see what this boy is doing with you: Why don't you prohibit him from that? Adam said: 0 my darlings I am seeing what you are not seeing. I know what you do not know. Once only I moved and for that I was caused to descend to a place of sorrows from the place of happiness and to a place of disgrace from the place of honour, I fear to move further and for that such disaster may come upon me as I can't conceive.
(16) Hazrat Anas said: I served the Prophet for ten years. He did not say to me during this time for what I did: Why did you do this? Why did you not do this? If anybody kept him engaged in arguing with him in that matter, he used to say: Had it been decreed by God otherwise. It would have been so. If anything occurred he used not to say: Had it not occurred? If anything had not occurred he used not to say: How it occurred. If anybody of his family members quarrelled with me, he said: Leave him. What has been decreed has come to pass. (17) God revealed to David'l9 David, you wish and I also wish. What I wish come to pass. If you remain satisfied with what I wish, I will give you what you wish. If you becomes dissatisfied with what I wish I will be dissatisfied with what you wish. Thereafter. it will not be otherwise than what I wish.
Sayings of sages. Hazrat Anas said: Those who will be called first on the Resurrection Day will be those persons who praised God under all circumstances. (2) Caliph Omar-bin-Abdul Aziz said: Nothing can please me except what has been written in Taqdir. He was asked: What do you want to get? The Caliph said: I want what God ordered. (3) Maimun-bin-Mehran said: There is no medicine for foolishness of a man who is not satisfied with the decree of God. (4) The saint Fazil said: If you cannot have patience with the decree of God, you cannot have patience with
your own fate. (5) Abdul Aziz said: There is no rank in eating vinegar and bread of barely and putting on Sufi dress and dress made of fur, but there is rank in the pleasure of God. (6) Abdullah-bin-Masud said: I like to put burning fire in my stomach than to say "It would have been better if God had not done it or if God had done it. (7) One man saw a wound in the foot of Muhammad-bin-Wais and said: I pity on you on account of this wound. He said: Since I was attacked with this wound, I here been expressing gratefulness as it did not attack my eye.
(8) There is a story of Bani-Israil that a pious man did divine service for a pretty long time. One night he dreamt that some one was telling him: Such a woman will be your companion in paradise. He inquired about her conduct and character and stayed with her as her guest for three days to see her divine service. The pious man prayed for the whole night, but the woman slept it. He fasted the day but the woman did not fast. The pious man asked her : Have you got any other good deeds besides what I have seen ? The woman said : By God, I have got no other good deeds than what you have seen. Being pressed again the woman said : I have got one nature. I don't wish to return to solvency if once I fall in poverty. I don't want to come round if once I fall ill. I don't want to enjoy shade if I remain in sun. The pious man than placed the hand of the woman upon his head and said : Is this your nature ? By God, how good is this nature. This is rarely seen in divine service.
(9) An ancient sage said : When God passes order in heaven in connection with any matter, He loves that the inhabitants of the earth might remain satisfied with His decree. (10) Abu Darda'a said : to keep patience at the decree of'God or to be satisfied with Tagdir is highest faith. (II) Hazrat Omar said : I don't care in what condition. I rise at morn or enter evening. Whether I remain in happiness or in difficulty. (12) Hazrat Sufyan Saori once prayed in presence of the saint Rabia : 0 God, be satisfied with us. Rabia said : Do you not feel ashamed to pray for God's pleasure ? He said : I seek forgiveness from God. (13) Jafar bin- Solaiman asked Rabia : When does a servant becomes pleased with God? She said: He becomes pleased with God in sorrow as he becomes pleased with Him in happiness. (14) Fazil said : When a man remains the same in case he receives gift or in case he does not receive it, he becomes pleased with God. (15)
298 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 299
Abu Solaiman Darani said : The glorious God remains satisfied with His servant as a slave remains satisfied with his master, I asked : How does it come to pass ? He said : Has not a slave this look that his master should remain satisfied with him ? I said Yes. He said : Be satisfied with God. (16) Sahal Tastari said : A man gets fortune on account of his sure faith as he gets it on account of his contentment. He gets such happiness on account of his contentment as he gets on account of his living with God. (17) The Prophet said : God has surely given life and happiness in contentment and sure faith by virtue of His glory and goodness, and sorrows and anxieties in doubt and displeasure.
WHAT IS CONTENTMENT?
Know, 0 readers, that when love for God is established and one gets himself immerged in His love, it becomes then clear that it is love which brings contentment in the deeds of the Beloved. There are two causes for this.
(I) First cause. It removes physical pain and sensation of pain. When severe strike befalls on a lover, it cannot cause his pain. He is then like a hero in a battle field. A hero does not feel pain in a battlefield at the time of fear and wrath till he knows it after seeing the oozing out of his blood. One does not get pain in leg being pierced by thorn in the course of running in hope of getting a covetable thing as his mind then remains immerged in that thing. When mind is fully engaged in one thing, it cannot grasp another thing at the same time. Similarly a man remains immerged in love with his beloved and cannot feel his bodily pain. It is reported that once the wife of Fathe Mussalli got his front nails crushed owing to a slip, but she burst into laughter. She was asked : Don't you feel pain ? The woman said : The taste of rewards has removed from me the severity of pain. Sahal Tastari once fell ill. He used to treat others for this disease, but he did not treat himself. When he asked the reason for this, he said : 0 friend, there is no pain in the strike of the lover.
(2) Second cause. to bear with satisfaction the punishment inflicted by the beloved. A lover remains satisfied even if he feels pain rather he remains anxious for Him. He who takes troubles for the sake of profit bears the hardships of journey, his hope for gaining profit is better than hardships of journey. Whenever any disaster from God comes to him and if he has got sure faith that
the rewards of the disaster will be much more than the loss suffered owing to the disaster, he remains satisfied, rather he express gratefulness for it to God. Poets looked to the external beauty which can be seen by external eye which commits mistakes many times. It sees small things big and big things small, near things distant and distant things near, beautiful things ugly and ugly thing beautiful. When love is great for external beauty, then how great and strong should be love for God whose beauty has got no limit and who is not subject to mistake or death.
The saint Shaqiq Balakhi said : He who sees the rewards of sorrows and difficulties, does not wish to get out of them. Junaid said : I asked Sarri Sakti : Does a lover feel the pangs of dangers ? He said : He does not feel. I asked : If he wounded by a sword ? He said : He will not feel pangs even if he is wounded several times one after another. A lover said : Every thing has been made dear to me on account of my love for God. Even if He loves Hell, I will love to enter Hell. Bashar bin Hares said : I was passing by a man, who was inflicted one thousand whips in the eastern suburb of Bagdad, He did not utter even word. Then he was carried to prison. I followed him. I asked him : Why have you been whipped ? He said : I am a lover, I asked him : Why have you remained silent ? He said : My beloved came to me and was seeing it. I said : What will you do if you have looked to the supreme Beloved ? Hardly had he heard this , he raised a loud shriek and breathed his last.
Ihya-bin-Mu'az said: When the inmates of Paradise will look to God, their eyes will enter their hearts owing to the taste of His sight and their sight will not return to them for 800 years.
Basher Hafi said: At the beginning of my religious life, I wished to go to Abadan and on the way I found one blind mad man lying on the ground. Numerous ants were eating his flesh. I raised up his head and took it in my lap and was about to talk with him. He recovered his senses and said: Who is this man? Such unlawful entry between me and my Lord? Had He cut me to pieces, it would have added to my love. Abu Amer and Muhammad -bin-Ash'as said: The Egyptians stayed without food for four months only looking at the beauty of Joseph. Whenever they were hungry, they used to look to the beautiful appearance of Joseph and it made them forget their hunger: In
300 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
the Quran, there is a still more fascinating story. That is this: When the women saw the unparallel beauty of Joseph, they cut off their hands. Sayeed-bin-Ihya said: In Basra, one young man with a knife in his hand was saying with his topmost voice in the restaurant of Ata-bin-Muslim and the people stood surrounding him.
Resurrection day of separation is for off, Death is sweeter than pangs of separation. People say: You must go, I say; I shall not go, But my life-blood shall have to go soon.
Then he cut off his stomach with his knife and breathed his last. I was told when I asked about his condition that this man was a lover for a slave of the king. One day he was absent from him and for this, he committed suicide.
It is reported that Hazrat Eunus asked Gabriel: Give me information of one who is the most religious and pious man? Gabriel gave him information of a man. Small pox separated his hand and feet and destroyed his eyes and ears. He heard him say: 0 God, so long as you wished that these bodily limbs would do me benefit, you have kept them and when you wished, you have robbed them. 0 Pure, you have kept my hope in you. Abdullah--bin-'Amer said: Once his son fell ill. He was extremely grieved at this and some one said: We fear for the old man as he may be inflicted with a danger for this young man. When his son died, Abdullah came out for his funeral prayer'but he appeared more cheerful than others. When asked about the reason of this, Abdullah said: My sorroww was a blessing for him. When the older of God carne, I was pleased with it.
Masruq said: One Inan lived in a vast field. He had a dog, an ass and a cock. The Sock awakened him for prayer, the ass carried for him water and other'necessary things and the dog watched him. A jackal came and 'took away the cock and the people fell aggrieved for him. The man was religious. He said: Perhaps it is for my good. Then a tiger came and killed an ass. The people fell sorry for him. The man said: Perhaps it is for my good. Then a certain disaster attacked the dog and he said: Perhaps there is good for me in this. The people rose from their sleep in the morning and saw that a gang of Dacoits were robbing of their entire properties and were making them prisoners. The religious
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 301
man said: They have suffered this disaster as they had asses, cocks and dogs, because hearing their voices, the dacoits got the clue and took them prisoners. He has been saved as he had no such things at that time. Then the owner of the house expla ated to his family members that only God knows what action will be good for the world and He does good to men in every action. So they should remain content with His decree in every circumstance.
It is reported that Jesus Christ while travelling came to a blind man afflicted with leprosy. Both sides of his body were paralysed and his flesh was melting owing to an attack of small pox. He was saying: All praise is due to God who saved me from many diseases which He gave to other men. Jesus Christ said to him: 0 man, what are the diseases from which God saved you? He said: 0 Spirit of God, I am better than the person in whose mind God did not give Marfat like me. The Prophet caught his hand and said: You have spoken the truth. Then the Prophet passed his hand over his body and instantly he was cured of all diseases and he made divine service with him for the rest of his life.
Hazrat Urwah-bin-Zubair's leg was once separated from its joint and he said: All praise is due to God who took from me one limb. By your glory, You have taken it and You have left the other, You have given me disaster and you have forgiven me. He was reciting this invocation that night. Ibn Masud said: Poverty and solvency are two riding animals. I don't care on which I Tide. If I ride on poverty. I keep patience. If I ride on solvency, I spend. Abu Solaiman Darani said: I earned rank except contentment in every stage. I got only breath from the stage of contentment. From that stage. I can say that; if God admits all the people in paradise and throws me into Hell, I will remain satisfied. One Aref was asked: Have you reached the limit of contentment from Him? He said: I have not reached the last stage of contentment, but I reached its one stage. Had I been made bridge over Hell and the inmates of paradise crossed over it to paradise, I would have liked His decree and been satisfied over His distribution to the effect that Hell should be filled up by me in lieu of other people in order to prove my oath true. This is the saying of such a man who knows that love removed his anxieties and caused even to forget the pangs of Hell.
Hazrat Rozbari said: I once asked Abu Abdullah of Damascus for the explanation of these words of a man who was
302 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 303
saying this: It would have been better if his body is cut to pieces by scissors. Had all the people obeyed Him, how good it would have been. He said: 0 gentleman. if it is said by way of honour and glory. I don't know its meaning. If it is said by way of advice to the people, I know it. Thereafter he fell down senseless.
Imran-bin-Hossain once fell ill of dirrahoea. He was upon his back for three years and he could not rise up or sit. A drain was cut for the passage of his stool and urine. Motarref and his brother All began to weep after seeing his condition. He said: Why are weeping? They said: We weep to see you in such a great disaster. Motarref said: Don't weep as I love what God loves. Then he said: I inform you such a word which if you do, God will do you good but keep it secret up to my death. The angels come to see me in my illness. I take pleasure to see them. They tender me Salam, and I hear their Salam. Know from this that this is not a punishment to me but it is the means of invaluable fortune. He who sees it in his disaster, how can he not remain satisfied with it? He said: We want to see Sowaid-bin-Motaber in his illness. We saw his face covered with a cloth. His wife said to him uncovering his cloth from his face: May our family members be sacrificed to you, shall I give you food and drink? He said: I am confined in bed for a long time. My body is lean and thin. I give up food and drink for many days. Still I don't think it good that I should do divine service less than a nail than it.
Sa'ad-bin-Abi Waqqas came to Mecca. At that time he was losing sight of eyes. People began to seek blessings from his in groups. He began to pray for each of them. His prayer was accepted. Abdullah-biniSayef said: I came to him once in my boyhood and introduced myself to him. He recognized me and said: Are you Qari of the Meccans? I said: Yes. I talked further with him. Then I said: 0 uncle, you are praying for the people. Pray for yourself to God so that He may return your eye sight. He said with a little smile: 0 darling the decree of God is dearer to me than my eye-sight.
A little boy of a Sufi was missing for three days and his whereabouts were not known. yke was asked: Had youu prayed for his return, it would have been better. he said: To complain against what God decreed is more trouble some to me than the missing of my son.
One religious man said: I committed a great sin for which I have been weeping for the last sixty years. He was making good efforts in divine service, so that his repentance might be accepted for that sin. He was asked: What is your sin? He said: Once I said: If this matter had not come to pass.
A certain sage said: I consider it better to have my body cut into pieces than to say: It would have been better had it not occurred for an action which occurred according to the decree of God. Abdul Wahed was once informed: Here there is a man who is doing divine service for the last 50 years. Hearing this he went to him and said: 0 friend, inform me about you. Are you really satisfied with God? He said: I am not satisfied. He asked: Are you pleased with Him. He said No. He asked him: Are you displeased with him? He said: Not satisfied. He said: Have you got nothing more besides prayer and fasting? He said: Yes. He thought within himself: Had I not felt ashamed of you, I would have informed you that your divine service for the last 50 years is a failure. The meaning of this is that the door of your heart has not opened during this long time and not progressed to the rank of nearness for the actions of heart. You can merely be classed within those who are fortunate, as the service of your bodily limbs has been excessive like ordinary men.
Once a group of men met the sage Shibli in a hospital. He gathered pebbles in their presence and said: Who are you? They said: Your friends. Hearing this, he began to throw pebbles at them and as a result they began to flee away. He said: What is your condition? Had you been my real friends you would have known my difficulties with patience. Shibli said: Love for God created my intoxication. Have you seen such a lover how has got no intoxication?
Fire once brake out in a bazar. People gave Sarri Sakti the information: The bazar had been burnt by fire but your shop has not been burnt. Hearing this, he said: All praise is due to God. He then said: How could I have said: All praise is due to God? This is only for security of myself but not for other Muslims. Then he gave up his shop and business. He repented for this words "All praise is due to God" as he sought forgiveness to God for this.
When you will think over these stories you will know definitely that it is not impossible that contentment might be
304 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 305
against wish rather this is a high rank among the spiritual ranks. When it is possible in the love for men, it is also possible in the love for God and happiness of the next world. This is for two reasons. One reason is to remain satisfied in pangs to get rewards as one takes bitter pills for getting cure. The second reason is to remain satisfied with the deeds of the Beloved as it is His wish and as he is then so strong in love that he immer- ges himself in Him. His dear thing then is to incur pleasure of his Beloved. Some one said: Where does the pain of a wound remain which gives pleasure? So imagination, experience and direct sight prove the existence of love. As you have not got that thing you should not deny it. He who does not get the taste of love knows not the wonderful events of love.
Amer-bin-Hares said: I was seated with one of my friends in an assembly There was a young man with us. He was in love with a singing girl. She was also present with us in the assembly. She began to sing with drum:
Unsatisfied lover keeps always on weeping.
a lover getting no return sometimes complains.
The young man said to the girl: By God, 0 darling, what a beautiful and sweet song? Will you give me permission to court death. The girl said: Court death after guidance. Then the young man placed his head on a pillow and closed up his mouth and eyes. Thereafter we moved him and found that he breathed his last.
Junaid said: I saw a man that he was requesting a boy by catching hold of his cloth and expressing his love to him. The boy looked to him and said: How long will this hypocrisy of yours continue? He said: God knows that what 1 say is true. Even if you say, I can give up my love for you. The boy said: If you speak the truth, court death. The man went to a side and closed up his eyes. Then it was seen that he breathed his last.
The lover Sammun said: A neighbor of ours had a slave-girl whom he loved very dearly. Once the girl fell ill and the man was preparing diet for her. When he was moving the kettle, the girl exclaimed 'Oh'! The man hearing this fell senseless. His moving stick fell from his hands and he was moving what was within the kettle with his hands. After sometime his fingers were burnt. The
girl then said: What a wonder. He said: This is in answer to your voice Oh".
Muhammad-bin-Abdullah Bagdadi said: I was young man singing before the people from a high roof:
"He who can be addicted in love can court death. There is no higher return of a lover except death."
Thereafter he threw himself down from the roof and met his death. The people then carried away his corpse.
These stories show how far the love of a man for a man can reach. Now imagine how far the love for God should reach. Inner sight is more true. God's beauty is more perfect than the beauty of his creation. It is true that he who has lost his eye sight will not appreciate a beautiful figure. He who has lost his power of hearing will not find pleasure in beautiful and sweet songs. He who has lost his heart is deprived of all the pleasures that a heart can get.
INVOCATION IS NOT OPPOSED
TO CONTENTMENT
He who invokes God does not go out of the stage of contentment. Similarly to hate sin, to think the sinners as bad, to know the implements of sin as bad, to try to remove sin, to enjoin good and prohibit evil are not opposed to the stage of contentment. Some have fallen in evil ways about these matters and think that sins, crimes and infidelity are decrees of God and Taqdir and one should remain satisfied with them. This is sheer ignorance and heedlessness from the secrets of Shariat. Divine service is made by invocation. The Prophet and all other Prophets used to invoke. The Prophet was at the highest stage of contentment. God praised some servants and said: They call Me in hope and fear. God ordered divine service to removed sin and to think sins as bad as God says: They are satisfied, with worldly life and are quiet therein. Hazrat Ibn Masud said: A man will bear the burden of evil being himself absent from it. He was asked: How can it happen? He said: It will occur as he will remain satisfied with an evil when he hears it. There is in a well known tradition: He who is satisfied after seet+)g an evil deed has done it as it were. There is in Hadis: He who guides to evil path is like one who does it. There is in Hadis: If a man is killed in an eastern
306 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
country and another man residing in the west remains satisfied with it, he becomes a partner in murder. God ordered to compete in good works and refraining from bad deeds. The Prophet said: There is no envy except for two -(1) a person whom God has given wisdom and who teaches. It to the people and broadcasts it, (2) a person whom God has given wealth and power to spend it and he spends In another narration, a person whom God has given the Quran and who recites it day and night and, says: If God gives me wealth like that person, I will spend,like him.
There are innumerable proofs in the Quran to show that the sinners should be hated. God says: The believers do not take the unbelievers as friends. God says: 0 believers, don't take the Jews and Christians as friends. God says: Thus I give power to some sinners over others. There is. in Hadis: God has taken promise from every believer that he will consider a hypocrite as bad and has taken promise from every hypocrite that he will regard every believer as bad. The Prophet said: A man is with one whom he loves. He said: He who loves a nation and makes friends with them will be resurrected with them on the Judgment Day. The Prophet said: To love for God and to hate for God is firm rope of faith.
Question. There are verses of the Quran and Hadis to show that one should remain satisfied with the decree of God. Sin is a decree of God and to go against it is impossible. If it is a decree of God, to consider it as bad amounts to considering the decree of God as bad. What is the solution of this?
. Answer. There is doubt in the minds of those who could not acquire the secret. things of knowledge. Some predecessors also . had such doubts. It is true that contentment and dislike are contradictory terms but they are not so, if they are united in the same thing with different objects, in other words, to dislike from one standpoint and to remain satisfied from another standpoint. For instance, Zaid is your enemy. He is also an enemy of your enemy. If Zaid dies, your mind will remain satisfied for one reason, but you will be sorry for another reasons. The two reasons of happiness and sorrow are quite different. Your enemy died and you are secure. For this reason, you are satisfied, One the other hand, Zaid kept your enemy engaged till he was alive. So ,he did not get-opportunity to injure you while your enemy was alive. For this reason, you are sorry at his death. So
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 307
happiness and sorrow are not contradictory as they wise for different reasons. If they are for the same reason, they would have been contradictory.
Similarly think of sin. Sin has got two sides even if it is the decree of God. One side extends to God as sin is His will and action. For this reason, you will remain satisfied with, it and surrender to the Almighty. Another side of sin extends to the people as sin is your. acquired thing and your guilt, It is hateful to God and its sign is that God has given you power not to commit it, For this reason, it is hateful. Take the instance of a lover. He says in presence of his beloved: I wish to differentiate between one.who loves me and one who hates me. I'will examine them. I will inflict trouble to a certain friend of mine and beat him, so that he is compelled to rebuke me. When he will rebuke me, I will dislike him and consider him an enemy. I will love. one who will not rebuke me, rather remain satisfied with my rebuke. So I will know one whom I will love that he may be my friend. Then he did so and one became his object of love owing to his rebuke and another became his enemy. He gained his purpose by men of his rebuke as a cause o dislike and love.
He who loves really and knows the condition of love should say: I love your actions your giving me trouble, yoytr beating me etc. I am satisfied with all these as these are your wishes your actions and efforts. If it is an act of enmity towards me from you, I should keep patience and not rebuke you in return. By these acts, your objects is to examine my love for you. You have beaten me that I may dislike you. This is in accordance with your wish and therefore I am satisfied with it. I don't want distruction of your will. It may be an act of friendship or enmity. But to rebuke is against your beauty. In short, I consider it good to have connection with the beloved in His every action. The reason of these two being contradictory is that I am satisfied as it is your wish and that I consider it bad as your termed it bad.
It is the duty of every lover of God that he should love what God love and hate what. He hates and that he should take him an enemy whom God takes as enemy. These things are included into the mysteries of Taqdir or fate which has got no permission to be disclosed. It can, however, be disclosed so far that good and bad are decrees of God and His will but good is the object of good will and bad is the object of bad will.. He who says that a bad thing
308 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
does not come from God is ignorant. The Prophet said: Taqdir is a secret matter of God. Don't disclose it. It has got connection with spiritual knowledge.
Now it is our duty to remain satisfied with the decree of God. It is known. from this that to seek forgiveness to pray for being free from sins and to observe the fixed rules of religion in accordance with the decree of God are not opposed to contentment as God enjoined on His servants to pray and invoke, so that these invocations may be causes of pure Zikr, humble mind and signs of modesty and these may be the causes of the purification of soul and keys of Kashf. To quench one's thirst by drinking water from a jug carried with him is not contradictory to the decree of God. To drink water to quench thirst, to take food to remove hunger, and to put on winter cloths to removed cold are not opposed to contentment. Similarly to pray to be cured of a serious disease is not opposed to contentment.
Not to use a thing for which God created it is opposed to contentment similarly to get rank by invocation is not opposed to contentment. Hence He enjoined men to invoke and pray. To disclose a disasterby way of complaint and to think it bad as it comes from God is opposed to contentment, but to disclose it by way of gratefulness is not opposed to contentment. Complaint is always opposed to contentment. Let us say what Hazrat Omar said: I don't care whether I rise up in the morning rich or poor as I don't know in which there is good for me.
Does contentment go if one flees away from a place full of sins? To flee away from a place full of sins is not to flee away from the decree of God, but to flee away from a thing which is necessary is to flee away from a decree of God. To describe the causes which call towards sin in order to prevent the people from them is not condemned. Sages of earlier times were accustomed to do this. Abdul Mobarak said: I travelled the eastern and westerh countries but never found such a bad town as Bagdad. He was asked: 'How is Bagdad'? He said: This is such a town where the favours of God are denied and disobedience to God is considered as a trifling thing. When he came to Khoasan he was asked: How have you seen the city of Bagdad? He said: I saw there three kinds of people -angry police, greedy business men and tired learned men. You should no j take it as defamation as no definite person has been named. The object is to give
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 309
warning to the people. When he wished to go to Mecca, he stayed at Bagdad to prepare his caravan for sixteen days and spent sixteen dinars every day, so that it might expiate his sins for staying at Bagdad.
Hazrat Ibn Omar asked his slave: Where do you live? He said: In Iraq. He asked: What do you do there? I heard that there is not a single person at Iraq for whom God has not sent a disaster. Hazrat Ka'ab once mentioned about Iraq: There is there nine portions of evils out of ten portions and one portion is in Syria. Nobody has got any reason to stay in a place where sins are widely practiced. God says: Was not the earth spacious enough in order that they should migrate there? Rather we should pray: 0 our Lord, take us out of this city whose inhabitants are oppressors -4:75. The reason is that when sins are widespread, danger descend there and all perish including also the pious persons. God says: 'Fear disturbance'. It does not fall specially on the sinners alone. So whoever remains satisfied at seeing the sins committed commits a great guilt.
STORIES OF LOVERS: A certain Aref was asked: Are you a lover? He said: I am not a lover, but I am a dear one. A lover is industrious. He was asked: People say: You are one of the seven. He said: I am full seven. He said: When you see me think that you have seen 40 Abdals. People asked him: How does it occur? You are only one man: He said: I have adopted one conduct from each Abdal. People asked him: We heard that you can see Khizr. He smiled and said: It is no wonder to see Khizr, but it is a wonder to wish that Khizr should see a man and remain absent from him.
It is reported that Khizr said: Whenever any thought occurred in my mind that there was not such a friend of God whom I did not know, I saw then a friend of God whom I did not know before. Once Abu Yazid Bostami was asked: Tell us of your meeting with God. At this, he raised a cry and said: We to you, there is no good in your knowing it. They asked: Tell us about your life and death struggle for God. He said: To give you a clue to it is not allowed. People asked him: Tell us about your patience at the beginning of your religious life. He said: Yes, I called my soul towards God, but it became disobedient. Then I promised that I will not drink water for one year and I will not sleep for one year. My nature fulfilled it.
310 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Ihya-bin-Muaz saw Abu Yezid standing on the sole of his feet and praying. He made prostration at the time of pre-dawn tiffin and prolonged it and then said: 0 God, a company of men are searching You: You gave them power to walk over water and fly in the air. They are satisfied with that. I seek refuge to you from it. A company of men seek you and you have given them power to travel in the earth and they are satisfied with that. I seek refuge to you from it. A company of men search you and you have given them treasure of the world and they are satisfied with it. I take refuge to you from it. He then addressed us: 0 ihya. I said: Present. He asked: How long you here? I said: For long. He remained silent. I asked: Give me clue to it. He said: I will tell you what will be good to you. God took me to the lowest region and showed it to me. He took round the world and the planets. Then he showed me the heavens. He showed me Paradise and the Throne. He said to me keeping me in His front: I will give you what you have seen. I said: 0 Lord, I have not seen a better thing which I may seek from you thinking it better than You. He said: You are My real servant. You do real service to Me. I will treat with you such and such.
Abu Torab Nakhshali was satisfied with one of his disciples. He used to go to him and help him in his good works. Abu Torab said to him one day: If you had been Abu Yezid, it would have been good. He said: I have got not need of him. Abu Torab repeat it, but the disciple said: What shall I do in meeting with Abu yezid? I had a vision of God. So I don't require to meet him. Abu Torab said: Do you take pride in meeting with God? If you had seen Abu Yezid once only it would have done you benefit more than meeting with God seventy times. The young man said: How can it occur? Abu Torab said: You don't see God near you but you will see God near Abu Yezid. Abu Torab said: We went there and stood on a lofty place and waited, so that Abu Yezid might come out from a cave. He used to reside in such a cave which was haunted by ferocious beasts. Abu Yezid threw a sheet made of camel's fur over his body and was passing by us. I said to the young man: He is Abu Yezid, look at him. The young man looked at him and at once fell senseless. We saw that he breathed his last. We said to Abu Yezid: Your look has killed him. He said: It is not that. Your friend was a truthful and did not disclose the secrets he kept in his breast concealed. When he saw us, the secrets of his heart were disclosed and he could not bear it. He was in the stage of a weak disciple and it has killed him.
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 311
Once the Barbers entered Basra and killed many men and robbed many properties. The disciples of Shahal Tastari came to him and said: If you pray to God. He will drive them away., He remained silent for sometime and then said: There are many servants in this town. If they pray to God against the oppressors, all the oppressors of the world will be destroyed within one night but they will not do it. He was asked: What is the reason? He said: They do not like what God does not like. Then he mentioned some conditions of invocations being accepted. A certain Aref said: During my Kashf, I thought that I have been given forty Hurs. I saw them wandering in the horizon. They put on dresses and ornaments of silvers and jewels I looked once at them for which I was punished for forty days. Thereafter 80 Hurs appeared before me. They were more beautiful than the previous ones. I was said: Look at them. Then I fell into prostration and closed my eyes during prostration, so that I may not look at them. I said: I seek refuge to you from things other than You. I have got no nead of them! Then God removed from me the Hurs.
A believer should not deny Kashf as he could not acquire it. If the people do not believe except what a heart full of sins sees the place of faith would be narrow. But this condition is disclosed after one overcomes his passions and crosses many stages. The lowest stage out of them is Ikhlas (sincerety) removal of low diseres, ousting the pleasure of open and secret deeds, keeping one's condition secret and sitting alone in a room in meditation. This is the preliminary step of walking in the path of religion and the lowest stage. These things are very rare in the religious people. If the heart is purified from the refuges of looking at the people, the light of faith will shine in his heart and the initial truth will be disclosed to him. To deny Kashf without gaining experience and without treading the path of religion will be like the condition of a person who does not admit the possibility of engraving figures in iron. Iron is melted, cleared and then formed into figure and made like mirror. What is in the hand of one who denies it, is only a piece of iron full of darkness. Rust and dust have fallen on it. So it has got no fitness to show figure and prints. It is the dream of those who deny miracles of the saints. They have got no other proof except their defects. It is very sad to deny God's power. He who travels a little in the preliminary stage of spiritual life gets also the fragrance of Kashf.
312 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 313
Bashar Hafi was asked: For what thing have you got this rank? I kept my condition concealed before God. Its meaning is: I prayed to God so that He may keep my actions and affairs secret. It is reported that he saw Khizr and said to him: Pray to God for me. He said: May God make your divine service easy for you. I said: Pray more for me. He said; May God keep it secret from the people, so that you may not look to them. A certain sage said: I felt a grim desire to see Khizr and prayed to God so that I may see him to get neccessary religious instructions from him. Thereafter 'l saw him. He did not ask me anything. I said: 0 Abul Abbas teach me such a a lesson that I may. recite it and that I may live hidden from the people so that nobody can know my religious tendencies. Khizr said: Say, 0 God throw on me your thick screen. 0 Lord, make me an object of your secret things. Keep me secret from the hearts of your creation. Then he disappeared I did not see him further. After that I was not eager to see him Then I used to Read this invocation every day. It is said that owing to this invocation, so much disgrace and disregard were coming on him that even the Zimmis were laughing at him and engaging him everywhere. They used to place burden on his shoulder and he used to carry it to the destination. The little boys used to play with him.
Such is the condition of the friends of God. They are to be searched among these people. The proud people search them among those persons who take decent dress and who are well-known for their learning, piety and fame, but God keeps His friends hidden as He says: My friends live in My tent. Nobody knows them except Myself. The Prophet said. There are many persons with dishevelled hairs and, laden with dust and covered with only two sheets and having no honour. If they say about something with oath of God. God shows it as true. The conceited man keeps himself away from the fragrance of these things. He remains satisfied with his own qualities and with his own learning and actions. So he keeps himself distant. He who considers himself humble and does not take seriously if anybody dishonours him, is a broken hearted man. He will have then no sense of dishonour. Such heart can hope to get preliminary fragrance. He who is not able to become the friend of God, will love the friends of God and should have faith in them. Jesus Christ said to Band Israel: Where does crop grow? They said: In earth. He said: I tell you with truth that wisdom does not grow except in an earth-like heart.
Ibnul Karabi was the spiritual guide of Hazrat Junaid. One man invited him thrice to a feast but every time the host drove him away from his door. At the fourth time, he accepted his guest and said: I have done this to examine your modesty. He said: I have been bearing this dishonour for the last 20 years. I have reached now to the condition of a dog. If it is driven away, still it will come. If you have called me fifty times and driven me away every time, I would have still then come.
He said: I went to a locality and there I became known as a pious man. I became tired at this. So I entered a public bath room, found there a valuable dress and fled away with it. I put on over that dress my gown. Then I walked slowly on the pathway, The people came to me, snatched my gown, took away the valuable dress and beat me very severely, I became then the thief of the bath room. Then my mind became quiet. Now think how God kept people like him in severe trials and trainings. They did not take care of their own lives. Those who take care only of themselves go away from nearness of God. The meaning of engagement with self is to be away from the nearness of God. There is no screen of distance between heart and God and no impediment.
There. was a beautiful and honourable man among the leaders of Bostan. He did not keep himself separate from the assembly of Abu Yezid. One day he told Abu Yezid: For the last 30 years. I have been fasting all the year round without any break and praying at night without any sleep. Inspite of this servere religious exercise, I have got nothing of wisdom of which you are speaking. I believe it and love it. Abu Yezid said: If you fast and pray at night without sleep for 300 years, you will not get but a bit of this knowledge. He asked him: Why? He said: Because you are busy with yourself. He asked: Has it got any medicine? He said: Yes. He asked: Inform me of it, I will do it. He said: You will not accept it. He said:'A will accept it. He said: Go to this barbar and have your hairs of head and beard shaved. Take off this dress and take a load of refuges and walnut call all the boys around you and say: I will give you one walnut to a boy who gives me a slap. Enter the bazar in this condition and go round the people with it Go round the people in this condition who know you. The man said: Sobhan Allah, are you telling me this? Abu Yezid said: Your expression of 'Sobhan Allah' is included in Shirk, He asked: How
314 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 315
is it? He said: Because you have uttered Sabhan Allah thinking you as big. You have not uttered real Sobhan Allah. He said: I cannot do this work. Show me another. He said: Begin with it before any other work. He said: I will not be able to do it. He said: I told you before that you will not be able to do it.
Abu Yezid told this to such a person who has got the disease of engagement with himself and also the disease that the people might look at him. There is no cure for such a disease without such a medicine. He who cannot use that medicine should not deny the cure of such a decease. This is the lowest stage of faith. Alas for him who has been deprived of this little quantity of faith. Inspite of this, he who claims to be a learned man of Shariat is far away from such a condition.
The Prophet said: The faith of a man does not becomes perfect till the little quantity of a thing does not become dearer to him than its bigger quantity. The Prophet also said: The faith of man is perfect who has got three qualities in him -(1) he does not fear the slander of a slanderer, (2) he does not do anything of his divine service for show of people and (3) when two things appear before him, one of this world and another of the next world he perfects more of the thing of the next world over that of this world. The Prophet said: The faith of nobody becomes perfect still he has got three conducts in him -(1) when he becomes angry, his wrath does not oust him from truth, (2) when he becomes pleased, his pleasure does not enter in void actions and, (3) when share is settled: he does not accept what is not due to him.
The Prophet said: When three things are given to a man, he has been given what David was given -justice in anger' and pleasure, moderate expense in solvency and poverty and fear of God secretly and openly. The Prophet mentioned these conditions for a good faith. There is in Hadis that God revealed to a certain Prophet: I take him as a friend who does not cease to remember Me, who has got no other thought except My thought and who does not prefer anything of My creation except Me, who being burnt by fire does not feel pangs of burning, who if cut off by saw, does not feel sorrow at the touch of saw. How can miracles and Kashf appear in one whose love has not reached this stage? These matters occur after love and love comes after
perfection of faith. There is no limit to the stages of faith and the difference of its increase and decrease.
For this reason, the Prophet said to Abu Bakr: God has given you faith equal to the faith of all my followers those who have faith in me. He gave me such faith which was given to all the children of Adam to believe Him. There is in another tradition: God has got three hundred conducts. He who acquires any one of them with Tauhid, will enter Paradise. Hazrat Abu Bakr asked: 0 Messenger of God, have I got any one of them? The Prophet said: 0 Abu Bakr, all these are in you. Generosity is dearest of them to God. The Prophet said: I saw an scale hanging in the horizon. My faith has been placed in one scale and the faith of my followers has been placed in another scale. My faith has become heavier than their faith. The faith of Abu Bakr has been placed in own scale and the faith of my followers has been placed in another scale. The scale of the faith of Abu Bakr has been heavier. Inspite of this, the Prophet was immerged in God as his mind did not make friendship with others. He said: Had I taken any man as my bosom friend, I would have taken Abu Bakr, but your companion is the friend of God.
SOME WORDS ABOUT LOVE
Sufyan Saori said: To follow the Prophet is love. Another person said: Constant Zikr is love. One sage said: To sacrifice (Is'ar) for the beloved is love. Another sage said: To dislike living long in the world is love. In these saying, the fruit of love is seen, but nobody described about the spirit or life of love. A certain sage said: Love for the beloved lives upon the heart and tongue is unable to disclose it. Junaid said: God made love unlawful for a man having no connection. He said: That love which comes in exchange of something goes away if the exchanged thing goes away. Jun-nun said: Tell one who discloses love for God: I fear you may be disgraced for things other than God. Shibli was asked: Describe to us the difference between an Aref and a lover. He said: If an Aref speaks a thing, he is destroyed and if a lover remains silent, he is destroyed. Shibli said:
0 Thou Gracious, Compassionate,
Love for Three remains in soul imprinted. Thou kept sleep away from my eyes" Thow knowest what is in my mind.
316 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV Another poet said:
Wonder for one who says -I remember my friend, Does a friend say? I forgot, now remember. How many times I will die and rise. I will live with hope and die with love. I will drink the wine of love in cups of colour. Yet it will not diminish from the cup of mind.
Rabeya said: Who is there who will inform me about my Beloved? One of her servants said: He is with us, but the world as separated Him from us. Ibnul Jala said: God revealed to Jesus Christ: When I enquire about the secrets of any man and find no love in him for this world and for the next, I fill it up with My love and take care of it with My protection.
Samnun was giving once the description of love, when a bird came down and began to dig earth with its beak, so much so that blood began to ooze out of it so profusely that it died. Ibrahim-bin-Adham said: 0 Lord, you know that in comparison with the honour given to me by your love, Your satisfaction towards me by your remembrance and the leisure you have given me to think about your glory; the value of paradise is like the wing of a fly. Sufyan Saori said: He who loves God is alive. He who loves the world, is a fool who works day and night uselessly and the wise man enquires about his faults.
The saint Rabiya was asked: How is your love for the Prophet of God? She said: By God, I don't love him excessively. My love for the Creator has abstained me from loving His creations. When Jesus Christ was asked about the best of actions, he said: Cotentment comes from God and love for Him. Abu Yezid said: A lover does not love the world, but love his Lord. Shibli said: Love circles round pleasure and honour. A certain sage said: The meaning of love is nearness of the Beloved wit good news and joy. Khaos said: Love eradicates wish and burns all natures and necessities. Sahal Tastari was once asked about love. He said: God prepares the mind of one to meet Him if love grows in him. A certain sage said: The affairs of a lover are established upon four stages love, shame, fear and honour. Out of these, honour and love are best as these two stages will remain with the inmates of paradise in paradise and the other two will be lifted from them. Haram bin Hayan said: When a believer
Vol-IV THE BOOK OF CONSTRUCTIVE VIRTUES 317
recognises his Lord, he loves Him. When he loves. Him, he comes forward to Him. When he gets pleasure in going to Him, he does not look with desire towards the world and with rest towards the next world. Abdullah-bin-Mohammad said: I heard a saint woman who was weeping and whose hairs were flowing upon her cheeks saying: By God I am tired of life. Even I would have purchased death if it would have been a saleable commodity for being satisfied with God and desirous of meeting with Him. I asked her: Would you do it being of firm belief on your good deeds? She said: That is not so. I would have done it loving God and cherishing good hope in Him. Do you conceive that I would love Him and He will give me punishment?
God reveled to Daud: If the worshiper had known how anxious I remain for them, how modest I am towards them and how anxious I am to forgive their sins, they would have cut off their entrails being desirous of loving Me. 0 Daud, this is My wish with regard to those who keep behind about Me. What do you conceive about those who go forward? 0 Daud, when a servant becomes daring against Me, he feels My want most. When he goes behind Me, I pity him more. When he returns to Me after repentance, he becomes more honoured to Me. Abu Khaled Saffar said: One Prophet said to a pious man: We Prophets don't worship as you a band of monks-worship. You worship in fear and hope and we worship with love and attachment.
Shibli said: God reveled to Daud, 0 Daud, My remembrance is for those who remember Me, My paradise is for the pious men. My didar is for those who are attached to Me, and I am for those who sincerely love Me. God revealed to Adam: 0 Adam, he who loves his friend trusts his word. He who gets love of his friend, remains satisfied with his deeds. He who is attached to him works hard in his travail. Khawas stroke upon his breast and said; How is He attached to me who sees me but I don't see Him? Hazrat Eunus wept so much that he became blind, stood so long in prayer that he became crooked, prayed so much that he lost power of movements. He said: By Your glory and Honour had there been a sea of fire between you and me, I would have gone to you after crossing it.
Hazrat Ali said: I asked the Prophet about his Sunnat and he said: Marfat is the root of my favour, wisdom is the root of my religion. Love is my foundation, attachment is my conveyance,
318 LOVE AND ATTACHMENT Vol-IV
Zikr of God is my friend certainty of faith is my secret treasure, sorrow is my companion, wisdom is my sword, patience is my sheet, contentment is my valuable treasure, failure is my glory renunciation of the world is my business sure faith is my power, truthfulness is my intercessor, divine service is my object of love, Jihad is my nature and prayer is the coolness of my eyes. Jun-Nun said: Glory be to God who made the souls as soldiers in battle array. The souls of Arefs are bright and pure. For this reason they are attached to God. The souls of believers are spiritual. For this reason, they are desirous of Paradise. The souls of the heedless roam in the sky. For this reason they are attached to the world. A sage said: Attachment is the fire of God which He enkindes in the hearts of His friends and burns therewith their wishes, thoughts anxieties and necessities.
This is sufficient description of love.
THE END
E-mail: webmaster
- Sign the Guest Book - Imam
Ghazali Home
Page Information:
This Page was last updated on: 18 Jun 2007 21:31:58 -0400
This page was created April 1, 2003.
Page URL: www.muslimphilosophy.com/gz/ihya/english/ihya-vol4-C6.htm.
A reader is needed for PDF files and it is available free of charge from Adobe.
Site © Copyright 2003 by Islamic Philosophy Online, Inc. A not-for-profit organization dedicated to academic study of Islamic philosophy. Individual content may have its own individual copyrights. See copyright information.