The Sufic Path

The
Sufic Path
A compilation of some of the teachings
of some of the Masters of the Qadiriyya
Shadiliyya Darqawiyya Habibiyya Tariqa
may Allah be pleased with them
Preface i
The
Sufic Path
A compilation of some of the teachings
of some of the Masters of the Qadiriyya
Shadiliyya Darqawiyya Habibiyya Tariqa
may Allah be pleased with them
compiled by
Ahmad Thomson
ii The Sufic Path
© Diwan Press Rabi’al-Awwal 1445 | September 2023
First Edition published in 2023 by Maningi Indaba Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or otherwise,
without written permission of the publishers.
Front Cover: central image courtesy of muchbetteradventures.com

Cover design and typesetting by Ahmad Thomson
Preface iii
Contents
Acknowledgements …………………………………………….. iv
Preface ………………………………………………………………… v
Introduction ………………………………………………………… ix
1. The Source ……………………………………………………… 1
2. The Messenger ………………………………………………… 9
3. The Guide ……………………………………………………… 23
4. The Company ………………………………………………… 77
5. The Way ……………………………………………………… 121
6. Dhikru’llah ………………………………………………… 283
7. Gnosis ………………………………………………………… 335
8. Wisdom ……………………………………………………… 377
9. The Awliya …………………………………………………… 559
Conclusion ……………………………………………………… 621
Postface …………………………………………………………… 627
Glossary of Arabic Terms …………………………………… 629
The titles of the chapters are only a matter of emphasis.

Each of the chapters contains elements of the contents
of all the other chapters. None of them are exclusive.
iv The Sufic Path
Acknowledgements
This book is dedicated to my guide and teacher, Shaykh Dr ‘Abdal-
Qadir as-Sufi ad-Darqawi al-Murabit, alayhi rahma.
This book is for those who keep the company of the awliya. Only
those who keep the company of the awliya will understand it.
And in the end those who keep the company of the awliya will
not need it.
This book is a compilation of some of what is contained in the
following books:
The Sufic Path (Diwan Press 1973)
Self-Knowledge (Diwan Press 1977)
The Darqawi Way (Diwan Press 1979)
The Meaning of Man (Diwan Press 1977)
The Diwans of the Darqawa (Diwan Press 1977)
These books, which contain accurate translations into English
from the original Arabic sources by ‘A’isha ‘Abdar-Rahman at-
Tarjumana Bewley, have been made accessible thanks to her work.
They should all be read and studied in their entirety.
The text of this book was first compiled during Ramadan 1407
AH and was revised and edited during Ramadan 1416 AH. It was
completed in Muharram 1417 AH.
Ahmad Thomson
London, 25 Safar 1445 | 11 September 2023
“Books do not contain the cure of the hearts. Hearts are cured by
the company of the lords of the hearts. The knowledge of books is
a residue from the knowledge of hearts. It is impossible that it be
contained by books. The knowledge of books is an indication of
the knowledge of hearts. None contains what the hearts contain
except for the Knower of the Unseen worlds. Man is helped
by books while he does not see the Beloved. When he sees the
Beloved, books are helped by him.”
Shaykh Moulay al-‘Arabi ad-Darqawi
Preface v
Preface
THE SUFIC PATH IS THE PATH OF THE MESSENGER
MUHAMMAD, blessings and peace be upon him.
THE FIVE PILLARS OF ISLAM ARE:
1. Affirmation that there is no Divinity but The Divinity and
that Muhammad is the Messenger of The Divinity.
2. Prostration, ritually performed five times a day, from dawn
to night.
3. Fasting, throughout the month of Ramadan each year, from
dawn to sunset.
4. Zakat, a tax of 21⁄2 % of one’s possessions and earnings
throughout the year, for the needy.
5. Hajj, the pilgrimage to the purified places of standing, and
circling and going between Safa and Marwa, in the ritual acts of
ancient practice as performed by the Prophet.
This is not an ‘orthodox view’ – for that is the language of Christianity and
not of Islam. This is not outward legalism, although it is structural. If you
like, these obligatory practices are the skeleton of the body and tasawwuf
(or sufism) is the blood that keeps the body alive. One without the other
means death. The person of the sufic path – the mutasawwif – affirms the
need for form and orientation while in the world of phenomena and duality,
otherwise we separate the world from the truth. It is not that the obliga-
tory rites are some ‘outward’ practices and the sufic practice is some inner
esotericism. This is the view of the people of duality. Rather, the people of
the sufic path are lovers of Allah, so they do what is pleasing to Allah – and
this is derived from the Blessing of Creation, Sayyedina Muhammad, may
Allah bless him and give him peace. There can be no authentic spiritual
path that does not come from the Source of Life itself, Allah, may He be
exalted. Thus any authentic spiritual tradition traces back to a Prophet,
be it Krishna, Buddha, or Muhammad. This is the Qur‘anic guidance. All
the Shaykhs of Sufism affirm the Unity and the submission to the practice
(sunna) of the Prophet.
vi The Sufic Path
The Qutb and Shaykh of the Shaykhs, the Venerable Master Muham-
mad ibn al-Habib, may Allah cover him in mercy, says in the Introduction
to his blessed Diwan:
‘We praise Allah, the Glorious and Exalted, for the mysteries
with which He has entrusted us, and for the knowledge, gnosis,
and illumination He has bestowed on us. We render thanks to
Him, may His Majesty be exalted, and bear witness that there
is no god but Allah alone, without partner, for this is the testi-
mony of those of the people of Annihilation (fana) in the Unity
(Tawhid) who have drawn close to Him. And we testify that our
Lord Muhammad is His slave and Messenger whom Allah sent as
a mercy to the whole of creation.’
The Sufic Path of Islam is a Way that brings together and unifies and
harmonises all the disparate and discordant elements of the human experi-
ence. Crucial to it, and central, and essential is the alchemical practice of
the ritual prostrations that replace man in his true position among the
stars by the movement of the Sun, and the Fast and Hajj which focus for
him his place within the changing cycles of the lunar year. These acts of
prostration, fasting and pilgrimage MARK the man, alter him, sculpt him,
unfold his true nature with the same simplicity that washing and sitting
and purring reveal the nature of the cat. Rumi, the great Master of Eastern
Sufism has said that if a man truly performed the obligatory prostration
he would stand in this world and bow into the next.
In learning, all sciences radiate out from the primary obligatory sci-
ence of ‘knowing how to behave towards the Creator and the creatures.’
‘THE DEEN (exchange, or the debt – between man and his Creator) IS
BEHAVIOUR.’
To be a complete human being you must learn behaviour too from the
source, i.e. from the Creator Himself Who tells through the Prophet what
is expected of mankind. Correct social behaviour begins on the prayer
mat – for there you take upon yourself the act of orienting your being and
submitting it to harmony and pattern, and awe of the Creator.
Society as it is at present structured, or rather as it at present implodes
– for its outward rigidity is marked by an inward collapse – is, according
to the profoundest doctrines of Sufic teaching and Islam, based on fantasy
and sustained by fantasy. ‘Truly man is in loss,’ says Allah, may He be ex-
Preface vii
alted, in His Qur‘an. The very foundation of what is taught to children in

the present situation is a lie about existence. They are taught a naive and
mechanistic evolution of the species that is no longer believed among the
so-called evolutionist scientists – while even their more sophisticated and
conditioned versions of the process have been rendered meaningless by
fossil discovery after discovery. But this evolutionism veils a social Utopian-
ism, which says that man was primitive and ignorant and now he is getting
cleverer and more knowledgeable.
Man’s inevitable fragmentation of experience is then treated in the fero-
cious setting of the mental hospital with its electric shock therapy, massive
drug sedation, and doctor-control. The nature of man’s inner experiences,
be they simply in his sleep or in his waking perceptions, is rendered mean-
ingless in a world view that gives primacy to the material and solid world
of phenomena, and reduces all inner experience to the realm of something
called ‘subjective’. This comes near the nub of the whole affair, for it is es-
sentially the nature of matter – of stuff, of forms, of creation itself that is
lied about. The story of the twentieth century (the fourteenth century since
the coming of the Prophet) has been one of a complete and blank refusal
to confront the implications of the revolution in thinking that took place
in high-energy physics.
Our psychology, our economic theory, our politics, our anthropology
and our medicine – have all been based on a dualistic Cartesian view of
reality, split down the middle – like poor modern man himself. The autistic
child is the alienated result of all our ‘civilisation’.
It is to the unfortunate, conditioned creature, modern man – that
Islam addresses itself with a view of reality that declares Unity of Existence.
That says ONE
Inner/outer – ONE REALITY.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
viii The Sufic Path
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful the Compassionate,

praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, the Mer-
ciful, the Compassionate, Master of the day of deen.
You only do we serve, to You alone do we turn for help.
Guide us on the straight path, the path of those whom
You have blessed, not of those against whom You are
wrathful. Nor of those who have gone astray. Amin.
Praise be to Allah alone and peace and blessings be upon
the Prophet Muhammad after whom there is no prophet.
Introduction ix
Introduction
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above all that they
describe, and peace be upon the messengers, and praise belongs
to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
Oh Allah, bless and grant peace to our lord and master Muham-
mad, the first of the lights emanating from the oceans of the sub-
limity of the essence, with every one of Your perfections in all Your
self-manifestations, in the two worlds – the hidden and the seen
– he realises the meanings of the names and attributes. He is the
first to give praise and worship with every kind of adoration and
good action. He is the helper of all created beings in the world of
forms and the world of spirits. And blessings be upon his family
and Companions with a blessing that will lift the veil from his no-
ble face for us in visions and in the waking state and will acquaint
us with You and with him in all ranks and presences.
Be gracious to us, oh Mawlana, by his rank, in movement and in
stillness, in looks and in thoughts.
Wird of Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
At that moment, my master (‘Ali al-Jamal) ordered me to tether the mean-

ings which came to me. He said to me, may Allah be pleased with him,
‘Whenever one of the meanings comes to you, hurry to tether it. If not, it
will escape you and go. The first time when it comes to you, it is very large
like the mountain. If you rush to tether it, you grab it as it has come to you.
If you are slow, it comes to you again like a camel. If you are slow, it comes
again like a sparrow. If you are slow, it leaves you and goes from you. You
must tether it up with the senses in order for it to remain with you, since
it is like a sheep. If you tether it with a rope, it remains for you If not, it
x The Sufic Path
does not. If it remains yours, it will come to you again and again. It is like
that. In this manner, you and others acquire travelling. If you do not do it,
there is no travel. The likeness of that is like the swimmer who pushes his
right hand through the water and then his left hand, and travels without
stopping as opposed to the one who does not pass his lands through the
water and does not move. He does not travel.’ This is what he told me, may
Allah be pleased with him. I used to tether the teaching which came to me,
but not all the time. I only did it at some times. If I had always tethered it, I
would have had more of it, but we do not like a lot of talk since it has little
benefit for people. The least amount of teaching is enough if intention and
attention are present. If not, there is none.
Now I want to gather together what Allah wills of the meanings which
I tethered so that the people of my love can benefit by them during my life
and after my death, Allah willing. I was also moved to gather them together
since joining some of them to others possesses baraka and favour because
gatheredness has baraka and favour. Our tariq is outwardly manifest and
famous for our lovers. The goal is to imitate us. There may be people who
are delighted by it when they learn of it. Bringing joy to the believers has
an immense wage. Perhaps the people of knowledge who reject this path
which we have will find a precious ruby of knowledge in it. If it comes to
their hand, they will withdraw from the state of rejection to the state of
confirmation, and from the state of heedlessness to the state of dhikr. Then
we would be a cause of their being merciful, and Allah shows mercy to the
merciful. Allah willing, it is not lacking in jewels of knowledge by the baraka
of the people of the tariq, may Allah be pleased with them.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
This teaching of mine is plentiful. I did not mean it for one particular
person of the people of my love. Sometimes it was for one of them, and
sometimes it was for more than one, and at still other times, it was for all
of them, may Allah be pleased with them! The only reason that I put it
together is that its excellence, secret, good, and merit appeared to me. Allah
is the authority for what we say. The man of intellect should only write that
which the intellects of people will accept. Otherwise, he should not write
anything since the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, said, ‘Speak to the people according to what they understand.’ He
Introduction xi
should also only write that which his adversary self does not dispute about
so that he will not have opponents of his fellow men disputing it. Whatever
his opponent the self accepts certainly his fellow men will accept. What it
does not accept, they will not accept. There is no doubt that the words of
the great like al-Junayd, al-Ghazali, ash-Shadhili, al-Hatimi and their likes,
may Allah be pleased with them, were rejected and refuted by those who
had not reached their station since their words were only understood by the
one who had obtained their station. Only the one who is in their domain
surrenders to them. As far as other people are concerned, they cannot do
it unless he makes them understand and he sends packing the repugnant
matters which they have – like ignorance, deviation from the right way,
stupidity, heresy, and kufr. We seek refuge with Allah from falling into
that since the only one who falls into it is one whose inner eye is dull and
whose inner secret is dark. We seek refuge with Allah.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Part of what is related from one of the works on the gnostic of Allah, Sayyidi
‘Abdu’r-Rahman al-Fasi is that he said: ‘Do not make the people of the
outward a proof against the people of the inward. Whoever relates them
to ignorance, is more entitled to it because he denies what his knowledge
does not encompass.’ He said, may He be exalted:
Do not have doubts about what you do not have knowledge of.
Whoever rejects them without tasting their state has exceeded his condi-
tion, and is ignorant of his worth.
Shaykh ‘Ali al-Jamal
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Al-Junayd, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘To believe in our knowl-
edge is wilayat. And if this escapes you, do not let belief that others believe
in it escape you.’
Abu Yazid al-Bistami, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘If you see
the one who believes in the Way, then tell him to supplicate for you to
Allah, because his supplication is answered.’
Siqilli said, may Allah be pleased with him, in his book The Light of the
Hearts in the Gifted Knowledge, ‘Everyone that believes in this knowledge
xii The Sufic Path
is from the elite. And everyone that understands it is from the elite of the
elite. And anyone who expresses it or talks about it is the star that cannot
be reached and the sea that cannot be left.’
Shaykh Mustafa al-‘Alawi
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Shaykh said, may Allah be pleased with him:

Praise belongs to Allah who has established men in every age to revive
his tariqa. He has revealed to them the lights of Muhammad, from which
all the lovers who followed them would derive aid, be they couples or
individuals.
We praise Him, the Glorious and Exalted, for the secrets with which
He has entrusted us, and for the sciences, gnoses and lights He has poured
out on us. We greatly thank Him, may His Majesty be exalted, in recogni-
tion of all the blessings that have come to us and all the slaves of Allah,
free or in bondage.
We declare that our master Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger,
sent by Allah as a mercy to the creation, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, and his family and companions who spent themselves and their
wealth in the revival of His way and the setting up of His sunna, and who
did not turn to the destruction of the hypocrites and the veiled.
Brothers of the Darqawiyya-Shadhiliyya order and all others of the
Lord’s slaves in all of Allah’s countries who desire to emulate a master,
know, that Allah the Exalted has destined for this noble path in every age
one who sets right its deviations and manifests its secrets and its lights. He
is the Shaykh who unites the reality and the shari‘a with the idhn of Allah
and His messenger and all the perfected of Allah. He is the unique man of
Muhammad of whom there is only one in every age. If there are numerous
Shaykhs in his age, he rules over them all, whether they are aware of it or
not. Many have laid claim to the station of uniqueness with falsehood and
lies because they seek leadership and desire to possess this passing world.
The pretender is unaware that whoever claims what is not in him is exposed
by the witnesses of the test, since in their presence a man is either exalted
or humiliated True Shaykhs are satisfied with the knowledge of Allah and
depend only on Allah. All that emanates from them speaks of the baraka
of Allah. He, may He be exalted, said:
Introduction xiii
As for the baraka of your Lord – declare it.

So let Muhammad ibn al-Habib, al-Amghari al-Hassani by lineage, dwelling
in Fes, the poor slave of his Master, yet enriched by Him with other-than-
Him – declare, in speaking of Allah’s baraka – that idhn (authorisation) has
come to him from Allah and the Messenger of Allah and all the perfected of
Allah, and that Allah has singled him out with sciences and secrets which
only the unique man of Muhammad possesses.
Had we wished to reveal all that Allah has blessed us with we would
need volumes, we shall however relate to the fuqara only that tribute with
which our Shaykh and teacher Sidi Muhammad ibn ‘Ali favoured us. When
he, may Allah be pleased with him, became head of the order, we wrote
him a letter renewing our contact with him although we had taken tariq
from the Shaykh and gnostic of Allah, Sidi al-‘Arabi ibn al-Huwari. He,
may Allah be pleased with him, wrote to us and ordered us to come to his
presence. So we obeyed his command and went to Marrakesh. When we
went in to him he was filled with limitless joy and happiness and said to us:
‘The whole order came to me when you came!’ On another occasion he said
to us in a prophecy, may it long be remembered, ‘Your rank with us in our
order is that of Ibn ‘Ata-Illah in the Shadhiliyya order. As Allah revived the
Shadhiliyya path through Ibn ‘Ata-Illah, so also He will revive this blessed
tariqa through you, if He wills!’ And Allah has realised his hope in us.
By Allah and by Allah we have not passed through a city, a village or
a desert but that the people testified that love had come to them and life
flowed in their hearts. Such is the secret of Allah’s idhn. Praise be to Al-
lah, no faqir has sat with us without gaining a knowledge that was not his
before, and getting from it humility and a contrite heart. No murid of the
tariqa has sat with us without a strengthening of his innate condition and
the heightening of his himma in the quest for gnosis of Allah. There has
been no Shaykh of the Shaykhs of the age who has not increased in his
immediate tasting and gained something of benefit which he did not have
before. All that is from the secret of the idhn and its baraka.
Ibn ‘Ata-Illah says in his Hikam (Book of Wisdom): ‘He to whom the
idhn of discourse has been given, his declaration is understood in the ears
of creation, and the evidence of his selection is made plain to them.’ The
one with idhn is the one who speaks by Allah and for Allah, and so his
words have an effect on the heart, and all the elect and the beloved are
xiv The Sufic Path
guided to him. The Shaykh of our Shaykh, Sidi Muhammad al-‘Arabi, may
Allah be pleased with him, said: ‘By Allah, none has come to me who was
not acceptable.’ I say, speaking of the baraka of Allah: ‘By Allah, none has
come to me who was not beloved.’
Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said to me in
a prophecy: ‘Know, my son, that Allah will honour you with sweet and
pleasant waters.’ I said: ‘Oh Messenger of Allah, are these the waters of
Islam, iman and ihsan?’ He said to me, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, ‘They are.’ I said: ‘Oh Messenger of Allah, shall I alone drink these
waters, or myself and whoever follows me?’ He said: ‘You and all who
follow you of my community shall drink them.’ And Allah realised for us
what He promised. By Allah, we have drunk these waters, and soon all of
those who accompany us with sincerity will drink them too. So, my lords,
give praise to Allah ta‘ala and thank Him for what He has honoured you
with in your time.
He has said, may He be exalted, ‘We do not abrogate an ayah (sign)
or cause it to be forgotten but that We bring one better than it or its
like.’ Allah ta‘ala has given precedence here to the better over the like as
an indication that the heir to the perfect wali must appear even after some
time has passed. And that he will be more perfect than him in knowledge
and gnosis of Allah ta‘ala. He is the miracle of that perfect wali. So the
overflowing energy from Allah continues to increase. The Shaykh, our
lord and master, Ahmad al-Badawi, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
‘Your overflowing increases
Your existence is uninterrupted.’
I have indicated some of what Allah has granted me in the qasida that
speaks of the baraka from Allah, entitled The Robe of Nearness:
‘Invocation of the Beloved clothed us in beauty and
radiance, exaltation and joy.
In drawing near we threw off all restraint and
proclaimed the One we love to glorify.’
When the Shaykh Sidi Muhammad ibn ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with
him, died, and the idhn was renewed in me, I regarded myself as worthless
and undeserving of that station until the four Shaykhs came to me. They
are: Sidi Muhammad ibn ‘Ali, Sidi al-’Arabi ibn al-Huwari, Sidi Muham-
mad al-’Arabi, and Sidi Ahmad al-Badawi, may Allah be pleased with them.
Introduction xv
They commanded me to go out to the creation and guide them to the true
king. They said: ‘The waters which you have drunk from us are the coolest
and sweetest of waters, so stretch out your hand to the east and the west,
and fear no-one!’ Then the idhn came from the Chosen One, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, and I was awed into going forth. So I went
out to creation by Allah and for Allah, saying as Ibn ‘Ata-Illah said in his
Hikam: ‘My God, you have ordered me to return to the existence-traces,
so return me to it with a robe of lights and the guidance of discrimination
so that I may return to You from it, as I came to You from it – my secret
pure of regard for it and my himma elevated above dependence on it. You
have power over all things.’
Know my lords, that it is obligatory on every murid who seeks the
presence of Allah to take the living Shaykh. The proof of this obligation
is His word, may He be exalted: ‘Oh you who have trust, fear Allah, and
be with the truthful ones.’ Being with them necessitates accompanying
them in body, not just in spirit. He has said, may He be exalted: ‘Follow
the path of whoever turns away from self to Me.’ In this ayah, He, may He
be exalted, orders the walad (beginner/lit. youth) to follow the spiritual
father, not the father of form, because the spiritual father teaches the inner
meaning and the father of the body teaches you sensory meaning. What a
difference there is between the one whose himma is for the meaning and
the one whose himma is for the sensory! He said, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace: ‘A man follows the deen of his friend, so let each of you
look to who he takes as a companion.’ There has always been agreement
in this community of Muhammad that the first thing required of a murid
once he has become aware of his state of distraction is that he should rely
on a Shaykh of good counsel and guidance who knows the defects of the
self, its motives, and the remedies for its ailments, and who has done with
putting right of his own self and its desires. He will give the murid insight
into the faults of his self and draw him out beyond the perimeter of his
senses. Whoever has no Shaykh to direct him will most certainly be directed
by shaytan to the path of destruction.
Murid is derived from will (irada) and it depends on sincerity (ikhlas).
The true meaning of murid is one who has stripped himself of his own
will and accepted what Allah wills for him, which is the worship of Allah
ta‘ala, for as He said: ‘I have not created jinn and men except to worship
Me.’ When the murid is weak in disciplining his self – since the inner rule
xvi The Sufic Path
belongs to the self and shaytan – he places himself under the rule of the
Shaykh and in the protection of his power. He, in his turn will help the
murid to obey and worship Allah through his himma which operates by
the idhn of Allah and through his words which are made effective by the
gift of Allah. So a murid must cling to whoever of the Shaykhs of the age
are well disposed towards him.
Sidi ‘Abd al-Wahid ibn ‘Ashir says:
‘The murid keeps company with a Shaykh who knows the ways of
behaviour, and who protects him from dangers on his way.
The murid is reminded of Allah when he sees the Shaykh, who
then leads the slave to his Master.’
Look at our commentary on these verses and confusion will leave you.
Ibn ‘Ata-Illah, may Allah be pleased with him, says in his Hikam:
‘Do not accompany the one whose state does not change you, and
whose speech does not guide you to Allah.’
The elevation of your state, and the guidance of his speech are the result of
this companionship. So whoever does not find such a state from his com-
panion let him abandon him to Allah and seek one of this description. The
murid will gain a master in accordance with his own sincerity and strength
of resolution. Allah is the one to ask for help.
Explaining the attributes of the teaching Shaykh, I said in one of my
qasidas ending in ta’:
‘La ilaha illa’llah’ banishes all temptations along with the
instructions of a Shaykh who knows the reality.
His signs are: a light which shines outwardly, and a secret
which appears inwardly, with himma.
He elevates you with a glance even before he speaks, and from
this glance comes a robe of honour.
By it I mean the secrets which flow rapidly into the heart of
the murid who seeks the truth without shirk (association).
His doing-without among creatures is the staff of his journey, and
his occupation is seeking isolation of the Beloved by vision.
His speech is by idhn from the Best of the Community upon
whom the glorious truthful ones depend.
Introduction xvii
If you obtain the goal of finding such a one then set out and
offer up the self without delay.
Do not consider anything except what I have described here, for
it is enough and in it is every happiness.
Al-Junayd, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
‘Purify yourself with the water of the Unseen, if you are one pos-
sessing a secret. If not, do tayammum with dust or stone. Go before
an imam in front of whom you stand, and pray the noon prayer at
the beginning of the afternoon. This is the prayer of those who are
the gnostics of their Lord. If you are one of them, then moisten the
dry land with the sea.’
He, may Allah be pleased with him, commanded the murid to purify
himself with the water of the Unseen. It is understood that purification is
of two sorts: sensory purification which is with sensory water, and pertains
to the whole body if it is a major impurity, and to specific limbs if it is a
minor impurity. This is not what the poet meant, may Allah be pleased
with him. The second sort is spiritual purification which is the purification
of the hearts from the ailments which veil them from the presence of the
Knower of the Unseen. This purification is only done with spiritual water
which is the water of sciences, gnoses and secrets that flow from the pres-
ence of the Unseen into the heart of the Shaykh who is a gnostic of Allah,
purified of fault. The Shaykh pours it over the murid and so he purifies his
heart from otherness and it is filled with gnoses and secrets. This is if the
murid himself possesses a secret, that is to say inner sight, which brings him
into contact with the one who takes him by the hand, that is, the Shaykh
who draws his power from the presence of the Unseen as we have stated.
If the murid does not possess this secret and inner sight then he must do
tayammum with the dust of outward deeds and formal knowledge until
Allah endows him with the secret and the inner sight.
He indicates, may Allah be pleased with him, by his statement: ‘Go
before an imam in front of whom you stand,’ that the murid must go before
an imam, a Shaykh, a gnostic of Allah, to copy him in the spiritual prayer
which is the direct perception of the worshipped King, as it is necessary
for the one behind the imam in the prayer to do ruku and sujud (bowing
and prostrating). His words: ‘In front of whom you stand,’ indicate to the
murid that he should not follow any Shaykh except one he already knew in
xviii The Sufic Path
the world of spirits. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: ‘The spirits are
numerous hosts, whoever of them become acquainted will be in harmony,
and those not acquainted will be at variance.’ The meaning then is: ‘Go
before an imam in the world of forms whom you stood before in the world
of spirits. Because of the encounter and acquaintance which occurred in
the world of the spirits, harmony will occur in the world of forms.’
By his words: ‘Pray the noon prayer at the beginning of the afternoon,’
he means pray the dhuhr prayer (noon prayer), that is the manifestation
(dhuhur) of your desire for your Lord, which is uninterrupted witnessing
of the worshipped King, as we have said. ‘Asr (afternoon prayer) means
‘being together’ (mu‘asara) with your Shaykh and the negation of your
will for him. He does not refer, may Allah be pleased with him, to the
prayers of dhuhr and ‘asr containing ruku and sujud, because it is known
that dhuhr is set to be prayed at the beginning of its time and not at the
beginning of ‘asr. Thus the meaning falls into place, so understand and you
will be guided – and Allah has charge of our guidance and the guidance
of creation. Amin.
As regards his statement: ‘This is the prayer of those who are gnostics of
their Lord,’ it means this is uninterrupted contemplation of the worshipped
King. Their prayer is not interrupted because it is constant. They persevere
in the witnessing of their Lord. His word: ‘If you are among them, then
moisten the dry land with the sea,’ means if you are one of the gnostics –
and they are not veiled by creation from the truth, nor by the truth from
creation – then moisten, that is sprinkle, the dry land of your road (shari’a)
with the sea of your reality (haqiqa), and be among those who unite the
two. Likewise, our Imam Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, said: ‘He
who follows the shari’a and does not ascertain (i.e. have direct experience)
has strayed from the proper course. He who ascertains and does not follow
the shari’a has become a heretic. Whoever unites the two has realised!’
That is, he has realised the two forms of worship (‘ubudiyya), the worship
of obligation and the worship of instruction.
Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Source 1
Chapter One
The Source
The Beautiful Names
I have begun with the Name of Allah in the first line, for
His most beautiful Names are a fortress invincible against harm.
In the second, I pray for blessings on the Best of Creation,
Muhammad, who was sent with an opening and triumph.
When they begin in the circle of dhikr it is with Your Name,
oh Lord of the throne, that the reciter starts.
When I am in trouble and my breast goes tight, the lutf of Allah
enters it, coming from where I do not know,
Especially when I beg Him for worth by His most beautiful
and mighty Names.
So Allah, oh Merciful, truly I was in poverty, and You are
Compassionate, the Lord of creation and the command.
By Your purity oh Pure, oh Peace, oh Safety-Giver, oh Protector,
purify me inside and outside.
Oh Hard-of-Access, Irresistible, Proud, Creator of the creation,
shelter me on the day of reckoning.
Oh Maker, oh Former, I have none but You.
Oh Forgiving, Compelling, mend the one who has been broken.
Oh Giver, give me what I ask, oh Provider.
Oh Opener-of-the-inner-eye, the Knower, illumine the darkness
of my thoughts.
Oh He-who-contracts, He-who-expands, oh Abaser, Exalter,
exalt my dhikr by making me follow guidance.
Oh Enhancer, oh One-who-humbles, oh Hearing, Seeing,
draw Your veil over the ugliness of my faults.
Oh Decider, the Just, the Latif, Knower of every separate thing
that befalls us, we have only You in distress and hardship.
2 The Sufic Path
Oh Indulgent, Vast, Utterly Forgiving, Grateful, You do not disap-

point the one who hopes for gentleness and forgiveness from You.
Oh High, Great, Preserver, Nourisher, grant us Your certain
protection in every difficult event.
Oh All-Calculating, Majestic, Watchful, Generous, who other-
than-You can we hope will be a friend to one who has nothing.
Oh Answerer, Filler of space, Wise, Loving, answer the prayers
of the one who, hard-pressed, prays for Your bounty.
Oh Glorious, Raiser of the Dead, Directly-perceiving, Reality, by
whom we hope, be generous with Your all-engulfing generosity.
Oh Utterly Reliable, Overpoweringly Strong, Firm, Ruler,
be a protection to Your slave, and protect him from falling
into the captivity of wrong action.
Oh Praiseworthy, Knower of each separate thing, oh Bringer-into-
being and Bringer-back, Your incalculable giving never ceases.
Oh Life-giver, Life-taker, Living, Self-sustaining, Un-needing,
Glorious, do not assign me to punishment on the day of gathering.
Oh One, Self-sufficient, Lord of absolute free will, we have hope
in You when the fullness of life becomes narrow.
Oh Determiner, Who-brings-near, Who-puts-far-away, raise
my rank, and put far away all who wish me harm.
Oh First, Last, Outwardly Manifest, Inwardly Hidden, Ruler,
draw me into the presence of purity.
Oh Sublime, Benign, Relenting – be generous to us and turn,
relenting, to us. Oh Avenger, cut me off from those who are evil.
Oh Effacer-of-wrong actions, All Pitying, Possessor of the
kingdom, You are the Lord of Majesty and Gifts – forgive
every wrong action.
Oh Equitable, Gatherer, oh Rich, Enricher, enrich our hearts
so that they may be rich to overflowing.
Oh Preventer, Harmer, Benefiter, Light, Guide – guide us
by Your light to tranquillity.
Oh Originator, oh Continuing, Inheritor, Infallibly-Right,
All-Patient, give me right guidance in gratitude and difficulties.
The Source 3
We beg You by Your most beautiful Names seeking

Your approval and Lutf in this life and the grave.
And on the day of rising and gathering at the stopping place
where creation will be taken to account, oh Knower-of-secrets!
When the books are taken, and at the arrival, and when we pass
over the bridge.
Oh Vast Goodness, give us health in our life-transaction,
and this world, and mercy in the two abodes by
Your overflowing generosity.
We ask for a seal of goodness, and to be near the Prophet
Muhammad, the praiseworthy, in the station of gathering.
May the blessings of Allah be upon him, and His peace without
end, and on his family and glorious Companions.
Oh my God, pardon the poet and his family and loved ones,
and always veil their wrong actions,
And pardon the reader, and all the muslims. Praise and thanks
endlessly belong to Allah, my Lord.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Doctrine of Unification

The slave of his Lord, Muhammad ibn al-Habib, says,
One-ing his Lord:
We start everything with ‘Bismillah’ – to Him belongs their
beginning as well as their returning.
The meaning of ‘God’ is That which has no need of other-than-
Him, and anything other-than-Him has need of Him.
This ‘That’ which has no need of other-than-Him has
thirteen attributes, do not forget it!
Existence, then pre-existence, then going-on, differential aspects,
and absolute independence.
Hearing, sight, speech and inherent being – these rule
their domain –
4 The Sufic Path
Acts devoid of desire, and similarly, in judgements rejection

of concern.
Total liberty of action and letting-be – connect yourself to what
we have told you and realise it!
The poverty of all that is other-than-Him has twelve attributes:
Knowledge, power, and will, then life – admit the truth of it!
Add to that capability, transformation, knowing and living – but
do not be content with the inherent attributes!
Unity of action and attribute and essence with rejection of
number – seek it then, you trustworthy ones!
The time-nature of the universe and the negation of event either
by nature or by power – so take note.
These are twenty-five attributes. Their opposites are the same in
number – count them!
Trust in the Messenger has sixteen attributes which are:
Sincerity, transmission, trustworthiness, letting ordinary events
teach wisdom.
Acceptance of the Books, prophets, messengers, and angels. Oh
man of intellect!
Acceptance that the last day must come. Be aware of their
opposites and struggle to reject them.
These are sixty-six attributes which enter into the noble word.
So busy yourself with them at the times in the Presence,
and joyfully you will rise to their meaning.
Their proof lies in contemplation of the Qur‘an and in reflecting
on created beings with the intellect.
Oh our Lord, bless Muhammad and his family and every slave
who copies him,
And, oh Lord, let the educated and the unlettered, whoever
reads or hears this, benefit from these attributes,
Grant success to the leaders who help everything in which
there is right action.
Seal us, oh Lord, with serenity – and be kind to us when
the Hour arrives.
The Source 5
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
He is the One Who is

God in the heaven
and God in the earth.
Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, is One in His essence and in His attributes,
and in His actions.
He is the One Who brought existence into being and He is the One Who
will make the existence of existence non-existence. Had it not been for His
existence for existence, the existence of existence would not have been.
He is Rich above existence, and all existence is in need of Him. Had it not
been for His favour which pervaded existence, the name of the existence
of existence would not have come into existence. He existed and there was
no existent with Him. He has now what He had in existence. He is the
Outward who is manifest to every existent, and He is the Hidden who is
hidden from every existent Thoughts are confused in His description, and
expression is baffled. There is nothing like Him and He is the Hearing,
the Seeing. Eyes do not perceive Him and He perceives the eyes. He is the
Latif, the Aware. How can your Master be hidden from you while He is
manifest in you to you? How can your Master be hidden to you when He
is nearer to you than you? How can your Master be hidden to you when
His abundance was manifested to you before your existence?
Know that when you are occupied with My name, you are veiled from My
essence, and when you are occupied with My essence, you are veiled from
My name, because My name is among My attributes. Only My essence
veils My attributes, and only My attributes veil My essence. My shari‘a veils
My reality, and My reality veils My shari‘a. My shari‘a is only based on My
reality as My reality is only based on My shari‘a. My gatheredness veils My
separation, and My separation veils My gatheredness. My gatheredness is
only based on My separation as My separation is only based on My gath-
eredness. My senses veil My meanings, and My meanings veil My senses.
My senses are only based on My meanings as My meanings are only based
on My senses. My absence veils My existence and My existence veils My
absence. My absence is only based on My existence as My existence is only
based on My absence. My nearness veils My distance, and My distance veils
My nearness. My nearness is only based on My distance as My distance is
only based on My nearness. My poverty veils My richness as My richness
6 The Sufic Path
veils My poverty. My poverty is only based on My richness as My richness

is only based on My poverty. Understand! Reflect! Recognise! These are
part of My attributes!
Look, O brother, at this Noble Lord and how great He is. He controls
Himself by Himself as He wills and uses Himself by Himself as He wills.
Glory be to the One Who is God. He brought existence into being from
Him by Him to Him, and He put it into non-existence from Him by Him
to Him. He exalts from Him by Him to Him, and He abases from Him by
Him to Him. He taught from Him by Him to Him, and He made ignorant
from Him by Him to Him. He gave from Him by Him to Him, and He
withheld from Him by Him to Him. He gave victory from Him by Him
to Him, and He abased from Him by Him to Him. He elevated from Him
by Him to Him and He lowered from Him by Him to Him. He enriched
from Him by Him to Him, and He impoverished from Him by Him to
Him. He rules from Him by Him to Him and He possesses from Him by
Him to Him. In that way, there must be far-reaching power. Glory be to
the Powerful over what He wishes by what He wills how He wills. There
is no god but Him. Glory be to Him and may He be very greatly exalted!
Allah has means according to the number of selves of the creatures. The door
which joins all those means is our beloved and our master, Muhammad,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He is the door by which Allah
sealed the paths of arrival to Him. It is haram for the one who does not
come by the door of the beloved to reach the Beloved. It is haram for the
one who does not love the beloved to be loved by the Beloved. It is haram
for the one who does not have passionate love for the beloved to reach the
Beloved. It is haram for the one who does not cling to the beloved to have
intimate conversation with the Beloved. It is haram for the one who does
not imitate the beloved to be guided to the Beloved. It is haram for the
one who comes by other than the door of the beloved to have a portion
in love. The Rijal vary in the stations of nearness to the Beloved according
to their love of the Beloved. There is no cure for the afflicted lover swifter
than love of the beloved. By Allah, there is no lover in existence for the
Beloved except for the one whose heart is filled with love of the beloved.
By Allah, you will not be a lover of the Beloved until the beloved is dearer
to you than every lover. By Allah, had love of the beloved penetrated you,
you would have been nearer to the Beloved than every near one. By Allah,
The Source 7
had you loved the beloved with passionate love, you would not see other
than the Beloved in all existence. By Allah, had you been annihilated from
other than the beloved, you would be a lover and you would be beloved. By
Allah, had you abandoned enemies and occupied yourself with the beloved,
the most hostile of enemies would have become your lover. By Allah, had
you been a lover of the beloved, enemy and lover would be the same for you.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
8 The Sufic Path
The Messenger 9
Chapter Two
The Messenger
may Allah bless him and grant him peace
The Qualities of Muhammad

Muhammad is the fountain-head of lights and darknesses and the
source of their emergence from the presence of pre-endless-time.
So his light was the first of lights when He determined the
manifestation of His names in the first world.
From him all things were clothed in their origination in existence,
and their continuity is uninterruptedly from him.
The prophets and messengers have come from him one by one,
and all the kings and all the creatures.
The relationship of the Seal and the Poles to his light is that of
a drop to oceans of light and refreshment.
The sun and the moon and the stars have appeared from him,
as have the throne, the tablet of forms, the footstool
and the dynasties.
So witness the light which has spread through existence and
do not see other-than-it, and you will soon arrive.
For he is the highest manifestation of Allah’s names and
the perfect secret of the attributes.
So Allah chose him in His timeless knowledge and sent him
to the whole of creation and to the other messengers.
After awakening him Allah conveyed him one night to
the distance of two bow-spans until he achieved his desire.
The higher world rejoiced when he ascended, and the throne
gave him security from fear.
He perceived the veils and the lights until he drew near and it was
proclaimed: ‘Draw near My Beloved, and set aside your shyness.’
‘Rejoice in the sight of Our lights and demand all you want and
it will be given without delay.’
10 The Sufic Path
So the Chosen One returned with every noble quality and he

informed the people about al-Aqsa and the paths to it.
Take refuge with him in every dilemma, oh my brother,
and your speech among the people will become like honey.
Delight in hearing of his good character and qualities,
and evoke his virtues, and be on guard against mistakes.
How many miracles have come from his hand? They have left
the envious and all other spiritual teachings powerless.
The greatest of the miracles which were manifested for him is
that Book which brought us deeds.
In every act there are benefits which come from it, whose number
cannot be numbered, and which are not perceptible to the eyes.
The Book of Allah itself contains some of these benefits by which
every one who is sick of heart is healed of his sickness.
No hero is capable of his mighty power, so the inability to praise
him is the best of ways.
I have copied you in my praise and I have come to your compas-
sion seeking intercession with Allah, so intercede on my behalf.
With Allah you are the greatest of creation in degree, so bring
our hearts closer to what we hope for, oh my desire!
By your rank, created beings serve whoever seeks shelter with you,
oh helper of every wali.
O my support! I have sought shelter with you so do not leave me
to my body and my self, but heal us of our ill feelings.
Nothing befalls the slave whose helper you are: on the level land
and on the mountains you are my staff.
I have become confused about myself, so take me by the hand.
For me there is no turning away from your first light.
May the God of the throne bless you as long as the sun of reality
is manifested with the names and the acts.
And so with your family and Companions as long as the grass
grows and the sky pours down abundant rain.
Then I ask for acceptance for all the Men of Allah as long as
The Messenger 11
created beings give praise to the One Who is above

identification with forms.
And unfold all blessings on our brothers, in this world and
the next, and do not abandon us to our actions.
Forgive our parents all their mistakes, and the Muslims, by an
outpouring from You – oh One before-endless-time!
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Song Written before the Prophet

We are present in the garden of the Prophet, seeking acceptance
and welcome.
We have come, O best of refuges, bowed, in humility and
bewilderment.
Ask Allah to give us every help, that we may attain our desire
at the time debts fall due.
You have a vast power which is beyond compare and a message
greater than every messenger’s.
You are the door to Allah in every good thing – whoever comes
to you gains acceptance and union.
Every secret which came to the prophets is from your sublimity,
confirmed through transmission.
I have looked to the Prophet to plead with Allah in my affairs,
for he is the accepted intercessor.
All whose journey ends at the house of a generous host,
get what they ask for, even their most extreme desires.
We have given thanks to Allah for every time that He has given
us the gift of a visit to the Messenger –
And a visit to all those in Baqi of the Companions and
the offspring of Fatima –
And a visit to every wife and daughter and son of the deliverer
of mankind on the day debts fall due.
12 The Sufic Path
And a visit to every martyr in Uhud, and the uncle of

the Messenger.
We have asked by them perfect peace for us on our journey
to our land and when we enter it.
We have sought deliverance on the day of gathering and
safety from the ignorant.
Our Lord, bless the Prophet and his family and Companions
and the followers.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The spirit is luminous and comes from the world of light – and Allah knows
best. There is no doubt that Allah ta‘ala ‘Took a handful of His light and
said to it, “Be Muhammad!”’ It was. Everything took on form from his
light may Allah bless him and grant him peace, so understand!
By Allah, my brothers, I did not think that any of the people of knowledge,
may Allah be pleased with them, would deny seeing the Prophet, may Al-
lah bless him and grant him peace, while awake until one day I met some
of them at the Qarawiyyin Mosque. We spoke about it with them. They
told me, ‘How can it be true that one can see him while awake when he,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has been dead for 1200 years
and more. It is possible to see him in a dream since he said, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, “Whoever sees me in a dream, has truly
seen me. Shaytan cannot take my likeness!”’ I told them, ‘Certainly he can
only be seen when one is awake, when the meanings – or we might say
the thoughts – have moved him from the world of forms to the world of
spirits. He sees him there without any doubt, and he sees all of his loved
ones.’ Then they were silent and did not speak. I said, ‘He can be seen in
the world of spirits.’ After a moment, they said to me, ‘Tell us how that
is.’ I told them, ‘You tell me – where is the world of spirits in respect to
the world of forms?’ They did not know what to say. I told them, ‘Where
the world of form is, there is the world of the spirits. Where the world of
turbidity is, there is the world of purity. Where the world of the Kingdom
(Mulk) is, there is the world of the Dominion (Malakut). Where the lower
worlds are, there are the upper worlds, and there are all of the worlds. It
is said that Allah has 18,000 worlds. Each world is like ours. This is in the
The Messenger 13
Hilyatu’l-Awliya, may Allah be pleased with them! All is contained in

man while he is not aware of it unless Allah takes charge of him. Then He
covers his attribute with His attribute, and his quality with His quality.
Allah – glory be to Him, has taken charge of many of His slaves and He still
takes charge of them and will do so until their seal, may Allah be pleased
with them. The Shaykh Sayyidi Ibn al-Banna, may Allah be pleased with
him, said in his Mabahath:
Understand, you are a copy of existence for Allah, so no existent
is higher than you.
Is not the Throne and Footstool in you, the celestial world and
the terrestrial world?
The cosmos is only a great man, and you are its like in miniature.
The Shaykh Sayyidi al-Mursi, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
Oh you wandering lost in the desert of your secret, look! you will
find all existence in you.
You are perfection, in the Path and in the reality, oh you who join
together all the secrets of the divinity!’
I said: Seeing the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is not
far from the one who holds to his sunna and takes on his character. He is
not disappointed and does not fall short. Good does not go far from him.
This is my belief, and we will believe it until we meet our Lord. Good is
very far from the one who turns away from the sunna and turns to innova-
tion. He puts blameworthy qualities in the place of praiseworthy qualities.
He is absorbed totally in appetites so that he cannot distinguish between
good deeds and bad deeds.
As for the one who leaves that and travels on the best of roads, good is
not far from him. How can good be far from him when he is doing what
his Lord commanded him to do. No, by Allah, and again by Allah, and
again by Allah! There is no doubt that the people of meanings, may Allah
be pleased with them, are those who desire to see him, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, since they break the habits of their self and leave all
their attachments. Because of that, meanings come to them. As for the
people of the sensory, they do not desire this vision and they do not hope
to obtain it since hope is that which is accompanied by action. If it is not,
it is fantasy. How can they expect it when the senses are the opposite of
14 The Sufic Path
the meanings, and two opposites are not joined together. Whenever the
sensory is strong, the meaning grows weak, and whenever the meaning is
strong, the sensory grows weak. By Allah, whenever people are overpowered
by the sensory, they are occupied with it alone, and they only talk about
it and they are happy only with it. We seek refuge with Allah. Only a very
few leave it. Allah is the authority for what we say. If someone is like this,
then by what door will the meanings come to him? They only come to the
one who has left the sensory and renounced it for himself. Indeed, if he
abandons it and renounces it for himself, the meanings must inevitably
come to him as they have come to many others. Then they will make him
travel from world to world – if he does not remain with them – until they
bring him to the two noble presences: the divine presence of the Lord and
the presence of the Prophet.
There is no doubt that this vision is only obtained by someone after
he has been purified of all his faults and refined of all his turbidities. How
remarkable! How can you reject and find preposterous and far-fetched
that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, can be seen?
Many of the awliya, may Allah be pleased with them, have seen him while
awake, and they see him like the sun on a guidepost. By Allah, the aim of
the wali of Allah ta‘ala Sayyidi al-Busayri, may Allah be pleased with him,
was true when he said:
The eye rejects the light of the sun because of ophthalmia.
The mouth rejects the taste of water because of illness.
I said: Whoever wants to recognise whether or not the Prophet, may Al-
lah bless him and grant him peace, can be seen while awake, should look
into the books of the People, may Allah be pleased with them, like Imam
ar-Rassa, Imam Abu Nu‘aym al-Isfahani, Imam as-Suyuti, and others, may
Allah be pleased with them. In them he will find that the awliya saw the
Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, both awake and asleep,
like the sun on a guidepost. It is like that when they saw other prophets and
angels, peace and blessings be upon them. Shaykh Jalalu’d-din as-Suyuti,
may Allah be pleased with him, said in his Tanwir al-Halak (Illumina-
tion of Pitch-Black Darkness) something about the possibility of seeing
the Prophet and angels. The same was said by Shaykh ‘Abdu’l-Ghaffar ibn
Nuh al-Ghusi in his book, Al-Wahid, about the companion of Shaykh
Abu Yahya, Abu ‘Abdillah al-Aswani who lived in Akhmim. He used to
The Messenger 15
see the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, every hour so
that there was practically no hour in which he did not see him. He also
said in Al-Wahid that Shaykh Abu’l-Abbas al-Mursi had a connection to
the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. When he greeted
the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, he would return
the greeting to him, and he would answer him when he spoke with him.
Shaykh Taju’d-Din Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in the Lata’if al-Minan, ‘A man said
to Sayyidi Abu’l-‘Abbas al-Mursi, may Allah be pleased with him, “Sayyidi,
shake my hand. You have met many men and been to many lands.” He said,
“By Allah, I have not shaken anyone’s hand with my hand except for the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”’ He said
that the Shaykh said, ‘Had the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, been veiled from me for the blink of an eye, I would
not count myself among the muslims.’
Shaykh Safiyyud-Din Ibn Abi’l-Mansur, in his Risala, and Shaykh
‘Abdu’l-Ghaffar, in Al-Wahid, related a story from Shaykh Abu’l-Hassan
al-Warqani. He said that the Shaykh Abu’l-Abbas at-Tanji told him, ‘I came
to Sayyidi Ahmad ar-Rifa‘i and he told me, “I am not your Shaykh. Your
Shaykh is ‘Abdu’r-Rahim at Gana. Go to him.” So I travelled to Gana, and
came to Shaykh ‘Abdu’r-Rahim. He said to me, “Do you know the Mes-
senger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?” I said, “No.”
He said, “Go to Jerusalem until you know the Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace.” So I went to Jerusalem. When I set
foot in Jerusalem suddenly the heaven and the earth, the Throne and the
Footstool were filled with the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace. I returned to the Shaykh. He said to me, “Do you know
the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?” I said,
“Yes.” He said, “Now your Path is perfected. The aqtab are only aqtab, the
awtad are only awtad, and the awliya are only awliya by recognising him,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”’
All of this is in the Tanwir al-Halak about the possibility of seeing the
Prophet and the angel. It contains more accounts like it which are enough
for anyone. Similar wonders and marvellous things are in other books of
the People, may Allah be pleased with them.
My Lord – glory be to Him, gave me the honour of seeing him, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, at the beginning of my affair when I
16 The Sufic Path
was young. Then we were in Fes, may Allah protect it from every harm, in
1182. At that moment, I did not see anything in myself, in anyone, or in
anything, except Allah. However, we see the Prophet, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, as soon as we see Allah ta‘ala and we see Allah ta‘ala
as soon as we see the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
Also, when I saw him, I was constantly intoxicated, constantly sober. At
some moments, I was so strong in my intoxication and sobriety that my
skin almost ripped apart and my essence was nearly obliterated. My Lord
strengthened me with a strength of which we did not know and had not
heard. No one had spoken to us about it. That was that He – glory be to
Him, put my strength in my weakness, my heat in my coldness, my might
in my abasement, my wealth in my poverty, my power in my incapacity, my
wideness in my constriction, my expansion in my contraction, my victory
in my defeat, my finding in my loss, my highness in my lowness, my arrival
in my being cut off, my nearness in my distance, my love in my aversion,
my rightness in my wrongness, my profit in my loss, my elevation in my
humiliation, and so forth. Because of that, my feet were firm on the Path
so that I could be in this difficult time without a companion, i.e. without
a Shaykh. There is no doubt that that time had very few charms and many
ugly qualities.
Know my brothers, may Allah teach you good and shield you from evil,
that whenever the people of earnestness without jest move, or we might
say, fumble about in any affair, by Allah, news about that comes from all
countries and is famous among the slaves and freemen, the young and old.
The matter is hidden from everyone, although everyone talks about it.
This confirms what the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, said, ‘Whoever conceals a secret, Allah will clothe him in its
cloak.’ Understand and take note of what is said immediately. I think that
great blessing and a clear secret is mentioned in it. Allah is the authority
for what we say.
The beginning of my affair was at the time of the entry into al-Barija. The
great sultan, Sayyidi Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillah ibn Isma‘il al-Hasani al-
‘Alawi, may Allah have mercy on him and be pleased with him, entered it in
1182. At that time we saw only the essence of the Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, in everything. I would see the essence
of Allah in the essence of the Messenger and the essence of the Messenger
The Messenger 17
of Allah in the essence of Allah. Created being was completely gone from
me and we did not find it at all. Allah is the authority for what we say.
By Allah, when we took on the character of our Prophet, he was not absent
from us wherever we were. How can we desire to see our Prophet when we
have bad character. By Allah, we will not have that and we think that we
will only be increased in distance from him. There is no meaning in our
striving when we have bad character. It was said to the Messenger of Allah,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that such-and-such a woman
fasted all day and prayed all night while she had a very bad character. She
injured her neighbours by her tongue. He said, ‘There is no good in her.
She is among the people of the Fire.’ Whoever is made turbid or we could
say, overcome by injury to creation and lack of something will never profit
as we have stated before.
Sayyidi Ahmad, rejoice at what your Prophet, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, gave you when you saw him in your dream. Know that
it comes to you as a divine gift just as seeing him is a divine gift. We saw
him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, before we were with you,
in the city of Fes. We were there – and Allah knows best – at the time the
muslims entered al-Barija. (The Sultan Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillah ibn Isma‘il
entered it in 1182). I wanted to go to him from my recumbent position,
but he motioned to me with his noble hand two or three times to remain
where I was. I told that to my master when I recognised him, may Allah be
pleased with him. He told me, ‘He has given you security, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace.’ By Allah, the face of security appeared to me
and I saw it with my eyes. Praise and thanks be to Allah. After this vision of
him at that time, I saw his daughter, our lady Fatima az-Zahra, may Allah
be pleased with her. Through that vision, my heart left its habits and all its
appetites and would never accept going back to them from that moment,
and we gained great good. Praise and thanks be to Allah!
That is the secret of the true vision. My master, may Allah be pleased
with him was at some moments immersed in seeing him, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, both awake and asleep. It appears likely to me,
and Allah knows best that he was stronger than Sayyidi al-Mursi because
of the immersion that I saw that he had in the Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his conversation with him. I
18 The Sufic Path
kept his company for many years, and I also saw him describe what tasting
he had taken from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace. There was a great difference between him and Sayyidi al-Mursi.
Whoever wants to recognise this one from that one should look at what
Sayyidi Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said about his master in his book, Lata‘if al-Minan,
and what our master says in his book. Allah willing, he will see which of
them is strong and which is weak in seeing the Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace. Allah – glory be to Him, has firm power, and
Allah is our Reckoner.
Sayyidi ‘Ali al-Jamal, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘Part of what
Allah bestowed on me is that He – glory be to Him, made me such that
whenever I mention the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace or think about him, I find him present before me with his ten
noble, dutiful Companions who were promised the Garden, may Allah be
pleased with them. That is in the sensory world itself, not only the meaning.
We speak with him and we take knowledge from the source of knowledge
and action from the source of action.’ His state would change, may Allah
be pleased with him, and his skin would shiver, and his eyes would become
red when he mentioned the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, or thought about him, peace be upon him.
We say, may Allah make our words straight to the point, that we are sup-
ported by the Book and the Messenger’s sunna. We also have the baraka
of the Salaf because it goes to their successors. It came to us, praise be to
Allah, when we were young. I was moved completely to the presence of
my Lord about seven years after I reached puberty. Then I was not I. I was
other than I after I had been I because I had been changed. My attribute was
covered with the attribute of my Master, and my quality with His quality.
I was Him and not I after I had been I. My incapacity became power, my
weakness became strength, my poverty became richness, my abasement
became might, my ignorance became knowledge, and so forth. I became
an immense sea in knowledge. If I were asked about a thousand problems,
I would have answered all of them with a concise, eloquent answer. Allah
is the authority for what we say.
Part of Allah’s favour to us and the baraka of the Salaf which came to
us when we were young, is that about five years after I reached puberty, I
The Messenger 19
saw my lord and master, the lord and master of all existence, our master, the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, at the mosque
of the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Warith al-Yalsuti az-Zarwali.
Soon after I saw him, I saw his daughter, our lady Fatima az-Zahra, may
Allah be pleased with her, in a dream which was almost as if I was awake.
For about ten days after the vision, whenever I thought about her, I would
weep copiously and there was an immense feeling of love and yearning in
my heart. The Salaf who are our predecessors are the great predecessors
and clear secret which has no like or rival: our lord and master, the lord
and master of all existence, our master, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, and the pure good people of his house, may
Allah be pleased with all of them. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, said about them, ‘The stars are an assurance of
protection for the people of the heaven. The people of my house are an
assurance of protection for the people of earth. When the stars leave the
heaven, the people of heaven will be given what they have been promised.
When the people of my house leave the earth, the people of earth will be
given what they have been promised.’ May Allah be pleased with them!
They are a large group, may Allah multiply their number and provide us
with love of them! Each group of them has many perfect men, the people
of knowledge and action who join the shari‘a of Muhammad and the real-
ity. They are sober-intoxicated.
You absolutely must break the habits of your self and cling to the sunna
of your Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Following
him generates reflection and every good. This is well-known information.
Listen to my answer to some of the fuqaha of Fes, when I was speaking to
them about seeing the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, while awake. I said to them, ‘Sayyidi so-and-so has seen him,
Sayyidi so-and-so has seen him, and Sayyidi so-and-so has seen him,’ and I
counted off for them as many as Allah willed of those who had seen him,
may Allah be pleased with them. They completely rejected what I said.
Since the time when I began to use my intellect, I have believed that the
awliya of Allah see him while awake, and I believed that one of them had
died because of his yearning because he did not see him. Then they said to
me, ‘How can you say this? The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, is dead, and it has been more than 1200 years since
20 The Sufic Path
his death!’ I had no answer to this at all. ‘As far as dreams are concerned,
that is not inconceivable. It is very close to the one Allah has honoured.’
Then Allah made it easy for me to answer them by His overflowing
favour and generosity. I said to them, ‘Listen to what I tell you, and think
about it. May Allah ta‘ala open your inner eye!’ They told me, ‘Tell us
then.’ I said to them, ‘Those who see him are not like us. We are always
plunging into our blameworthy appetites and we only leave that if Allah
wills. No, by Allah! No, by Allah! No, by Allah! They have followed the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in his
words and actions. Following him has resulted in reflection for them.
Reflection has made them travel from the world of turbidity where we
are to the world of purity which is the world of the spirits. They see him
there, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. They see tremendous
secrets which are beyond description. Only their forms are here with us
in the world of turbidity. Their hearts – or we could say, their spirits – by
Allah, are in the world of spirits with the spirits.’
They were silent then and did not speak when I said that he is seen in
the world of the spirits. They were exceedingly happy about what I had said
since it agreed with them. When they were firmer in their opinion than they
had been before, I said to them, ‘If you were to say, “Where is the world of
spirits in respect to the world of forms?” I would say that where the world
of forms is, there is the world of spirits, and there are all of the worlds. It
is said that Allah has 18,000 worlds. Each world is like ours. This is in the
Hilyatu’l-Awliya, may Allah be pleased with them!’ They were silent and
did not speak. Had they spoken, I would have spoken back to them. The
truth overcomes, and is not overcome.
The true lover must not neglect the prayer on the Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace in the obligatory and superogatory prayer because
it is the place of baraka, good, and overflowing favour. Our Prophet, peace
be upon him, is worthy of mention there and in every noble place. He must
visualise him, peace be upon him, as he calls to mind the prayer on him.
It is always like that in the place which we mentioned and in other great
moments. I saw many people who greeted him as they prayed and did not
know that they were greeting him at the moment of their greeting. They
know the prayer, but the one who knows what he does is not like the one
who does not know what he does. There is a great difference between them.
The Messenger 21
Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Are they equal – those who know and those who do not
know? or are they equal – the darkness and the light?’ He should only
bless his Prophet and the best of his Lord’s creation with his body, clothes
and place pure, and his belly free of haram food and his tongue free of lies.
He should call his noble essence to mind with his heart, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace.
‘Go and do wudu and pray two rak‘ats. Then do the prayer on the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ten times. Then come
back to us. Then, Allah willing, there will be good between us.’
If you like to say it, blessed is Allah! If not, our Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, tells us that wrong actions fall away from us by
the prayer on him and other actions. They fall away from us by leaving what
does not concern him, and they fall away from us by pure generosity from
Allah. This is part of what one must believe.
If you wish to obtain what you desire, then bless the noble Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, even if only 100 times a day because
a little bit of action which is constant is better than a lot which lapses.
Action is only small if the person is based on something other than the Mu-
hammadan sunna. If one follows the sunna, then only action is abundant.
There is no doubt that the one who holds to the sunna does not miss the
prayer on the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, even if
he does not bless him with his tongue. If he follows his sunna and blesses
him with his tongue, then that is light upon light. There is no doubt that
the one who clings truly to his sunna blesses him with his entire being. The
preoccupied person who is not concerned with the sunna blesses him with
his tongue alone rather than with his limbs. A little action in the sunna is
better than a lot of action in innovation, so understand! May Allah give
us and you understanding! Cling firmly to this blessed teaching and may
Allah enrich you by it! Amin.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know that part of what our Master gave me by His favour, generosity, and
ihsan is that He made me such that I do not remember the Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, by reflection or memory, but that I
22 The Sufic Path
find him with me and I am before him, openly, in the senses and not the
meaning. He converses with me, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
about the knowledges of unseen things, and I take the knowledges of the
outward and the knowledges of the inward from him. His companions sit
with me before him, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and may
Allah be pleased with all of them. This is part of what the Generous gave me
may His praise be exalted and may His attributes and Names be purified!
Praise be to Allah for that. I took knowledges and action from the source
of knowledge and action, and generosity and nobility from the source of
generosity and nobility, and sincerity and confirmation from the source
of sincerity and confirmation, and truth and realisation from the source of
truth and realisation. I dance in him and I sing by him. My annihilation of
my annihilation is annihilated in him. He is my memory, my witnessing,
and my reflection. He is my drink, my wine, and my liquor.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Guide 23
Chapter Three
The Guide
Counsel
Peace be upon the brotherhood in every place – a place that
embraces all in every assembly.
I wish to give good counsel to all, hoping for the attainment
of desire, might, victory and strength.
My first counsel to the one who has dedicated himself to
fear of Allah is that he accompany those who are free in
making-happen and in casting-out.
For this is the basis of wealth if you are intelligent, rely on it
and stick to the shari‘a.
All those who have obtained knowledge and dominion have only
obtained it by accompanying a humble man,
By whom I mean the Shaykh whose light has overflowed, and who
has brought secrets and wealth with him.
If you desire lights and the opening of inner sight, then copy him
in exaltation of Allah and turn from conflict.
And persevere in dhikr taught with idhn and neglect it neither
in the state of distress nor of success.
Enrich the awakenings that come from the dhikr by keeping to
the shari‘a, and quickly tell your Shaykh all that happens to you.
So the negation of choice, and then all will, is the purest
of springs, if you are able to hear.
These are the stations of certainty – you start out with
turning away (from wrong action), doing-without,
and then fear which brings restraint.
Hope, gratitude, then patience and trust, then satisfaction and
the love that joins them all.
Its causes are the pure contemplation of what we have, and of the
24 The Sufic Path
perfection of the attributes, then contemplation

of the dazzling light –
By it, I mean the Messenger Muhammad, may blessings be upon
him in quantity as great as all that is even or odd,
And on his family and Companions and every gnostic calling
to the path of Allah in every assembly.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Greater Song

If you wish to ascend as lovers ascend, turn to Layla with
sincerity in love
And dismiss all who deny Her love. Travel to the lovers in
every land.
If your sincerity in love is real then by it you will see the lovers
without journeying.
If your heart’s eye is purified you will see the lights manifested
from Her.
Let Her slave be grateful and not look on otherness. All your
happiness has come from Her.
Beware of the deceptions of thought-impulses, they weaken
good counsel and they are lies.
Take a sincere brother as your intimate. He will discriminate
between the thought-impulses and dispel the source
of doubt in you.
‘La ilaha illa’llah’ banishes all temptations along with the
instructions of a Shaykh who knows the reality.
His signs are: a light which shines outwardly and a secret which
appears inwardly with himma.
He elevates you with a glance, even before he speaks,
and from this glance comes a robe of honour.
By it I mean the secrets which flow rapidly into the heart
of the murid who seeks the truth without shirk.
The Guide 25
His doing-without among creatures is the staff of his journey:

and his occupation is seeking the isolation of the Beloved in vision.
His speech is by idhn from the Best of Creation upon whom
the glorious truthful ones depend.
If you attain the goal of finding such a one then set out,
and offer up the self without delay.
Do not consider anything except what I have described here,
for it is enough and in it is every happiness.
If you have not found such a man, then let me tell you the certain
path of truth.
At the start of his journey a man’s first act is to avoid the wrong
things in each sect.
He should busy himself with dhikr of Allah, may His Majesty be
glorified, for in that lies the remedy for every fault and ill.
The most you can offer to do is to serve the Best of Creation.
Therein lies the highest gain of wealth.
See Him in created forms, that’s where His light has spread.
Help is coming from Him at every moment.
Don’t be lazy, follow what he has laid down of the shari‘a, and
avoid the desires of the self. It is the source of your sorrow.
Let the truth take over in the struggle with the self.
If knowledge does not come from fear of Allah –
you have been deceived. Don’t be!
The worst thing the slave can do is look at his self. Everything
in it is dreadful!
In one instant the unity of the act of Allah wipes out every trace
of the self and engulfs the whole creature.
Rely on Tawhid and leave behind the doubts of the self and you
will achieve what all the noble ones have achieved.
When they make an action there is no question but that they are
just like instruments moved by divine decrees,
And their turning-away is to Allah by Allah absolutely, and their
fear is experiencing the vastness of His might and awesomeness.
26 The Sufic Path
Their hope is the perfection of their certainty, as He promised,

and the hardship of their bodies’ discomfort in His service.
Their gratitude is being occupied in seeing the Giver of good
things, and in being detached from both the good things
and the bad.
Their patience is the perfection of contentment with events.
They seek no control over sickness or good health.
Their trust is to assign all their affairs to the One Who best
knows hidden matters.
Their doing-without is to renounce everything except what
Allah has already destined for them in His fore-knowledge.
Their love is intoxication with the perfection of His beauty.
Within this love is the station of intimacy –
the noblest of adornments.
In it is expansion, liberation, and speaking with the Beloved –
endlessly flow the secrets of love.
So with perfect behaviour try to outdo them in love. Be generous
too, and give what you can afford to the lovers of the Beloved.
For a man would not hesitate to spend everything he had –
if he only knew the secret of his own heart.
If a man could grasp the bliss of his secret he would shed a tear
with every breath he breathed.
Then, his body become his cage, he would fly from it with the
wings of contemplation to the lote-tree of the furthest limit.
He would freely roam around the throne and the foot-stool
which make the heavenly bodies appear like a small ring.
He would see the planets and know the secrets of their astrological
houses and the meaning of their tremendously rapid movement.
The veil of the tablet of forms would be lifted from his secret
and so the hidden sciences would emerge uncovered.
Had the trees been the pens to write it and their ink the
surrounding seas they would have dried up.
He would leave this world to visit the limitless array
of innumerable angels,
The Guide 27
Until at last in his search for the purification of the secret

of his secret from every stopping-place, he finally stopped
at the door to the pure Presence.
Now this station of the people on the journey of their spirits is
the station of concealment and bewilderment.
After it comes knowledge – which may not be revealed except by
the one who in vision has received a clear idhn.
On the earth are signs for all who reflect. Its wonders extend to
the highest teaching –
For the light of the names of the Lord of the throne has spread
through its parts, both the known and the hidden.
If you were to concern yourself with the oceans, how they first
formed, and how wisdom was taught to its creatures,
Then you would recognise the impossibility of anyone grasping
its secret. And you would affirm that the power is Allah’s.
Set loose the rein of thoughts in its mountains and you will find
that they are the pegs without a doubt.
Look at the beauty in the appearance of the flowers, and
the marvellous variety of different fruits.
Look at every visible manifestation! It all gushes from the spring
of energy and power.
Consider all these and then see the beauty of the truth.
Take care – you cannot despise even the lowest atom.
Things have no existence except through their Lord.
Oh Living! Oh Eternal! Your own most eloquent proof !
If you reflect – there are signs in the self – because
the whole macrocosm of existence is contained in it.
In purification the self expands by the power of the truth.
Now do not say: ‘How?’ or ‘Where?’ or ‘What?’
It expands by the bestowal of the trust upon it by Allah –
and God-hood has no limitation.
The great men have proved unable to bear this trust, yet still man
has to take it on, and this is the highest task (i.e. gnosis).
28 The Sufic Path
How radiant then is the one who has begun to follow a master,
a Messenger who has the highest rank and merit.
For he attains endless blessings, and his community is beyond
every other community.
No one may rise to the rank of His nearness, since that was
a special mark of favour from Allah.
There is nothing to be gained by a man trying to reach a place that
has been set aside for the Prophet from the creation of time itself.
May Allah’s blessings be upon him as long as there is one
who comes to make clear the paths of truth, and
to transmit the inner gift,
And on his family and Companions, and every murshid who calls
to the paths of Allah in every situation.
I ask my Lord Allah to bestow His secret on me and
the brotherhood in every way.
This qasida is in harmony with the majesty of the Supreme Name.
So pay attention – to its beginning and its end.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Minor Song

My Beloved gave me a drink of the purity of love, so I became
beloved in every way.
He made me blind to myself so that I saw only Him, and He
destroyed my secret in the manifestations of the Presence.
I separated what was gathered in me and gathered what
was separate: by the isolation of unity I realised my tawhid.
I attained my desires – directly to see His perfection and
to experience His reality in every meaning and form.
I tore down the illusion of my self ’s existence, which is the greatest
screen, and then I found Him, timeless, in every atom.
I made the shari‘a my wisdom-guide in taking on His attributes,
and my Lord revealed to me the secret of my wisdom.
The Guide 29
So sometimes I see creatures as the manifestations of Ahmad, and

sometimes I see them as direct manifestations of divine power.
Sometimes my act of existing is obliterated by the sight of His
active existence, and sometimes I see the attributes
appearing from Him.
And sometimes I withdraw from the metaphorical existence into
the unity of a truth unconnected by shirk.
To anyone who withdraws into the lights of the dhikr
of the Truth, creation is nothing but particles of dust in space.
In the dhikr of the Truth is a clear opening in words for the
self-renewed one who has ennobled himself with patience
and the certainty of blessings,
And thus undertaken gratitude to Allah in every state,
for every gift by which the Giver manifests Himself.
The love of isolation will grant him continual realisation of aid
which comes with the sakina (serene emptiness).
He will begin to love Allah truly, without doubt, through seeing
ihsan at every instant.
Patience and a pure love without blemish contain all the stations
of certainty.
To obtain these the wayfarer must have an Imam to guide him
in right action, taqwa, and sunna.
Have nothing to do with the one who is veiled, unaware of his
Lord, and in his extreme inner darkness unable to see
the paths of Allah.
Beware of ending up satisfied to be in the company of a sect who
are possessed by evil in their words.
Saying with their mouths what is not in their hearts, while at the
same time doing every revolting act.
I have counselled you from experience if you will only listen,
for the deen is to give every creature good counsel.
How many simple intellects have got lost because they lacked
the guidance of the light of the Lord of creation?
30 The Sufic Path
They started off with a good name and ended up in disgrace –

leading to the worst temptation, ugly acts of self-gratification.
The clear shari‘a indicates the honouring of whoever has
the best guidance for the community.
And all good belongs to one occupied with the correction
of his self, who struggles against it with dhikr in every state.
Who constantly reads the Book of Allah with gravity, and who
seeks the knowledge of lights from every ayah,
Making it his wisdom-guide in all that he does, and following
the behaviour of the Best of the Community.
He is the straight path for those who understand, for
he has brought the fullest of spiritual teachings.
May Allah’s blessings always be upon him and his family and
whoever follows them. Give them ihsan till the day of rising.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know that a stage is given two names. It is named the stage of rejection and
it is named the stage of resemblance. It is the veil between all creation and
Allah – except for a few of the people who are those whose hands Allah
takes and He guides them to His presence when He gives success in meeting
the intermediaries so that they travel with them to this great stage which
contains people by its nearness. It is as one of the Salihun said praising his
Shaykh. I think that it was Sayyidi Muhammad al-Hajj with his Shaykh,
Sayyidi Bushta, may Allah profit us by all, on his richness:
My master is the chosen, an Imam, the Imam of the Tariqa.
He made me travel to the sea of the reality and unfurled the
banner over me.
This stage which we mentioned is a sea of light between the slave and his
Lord. Whoever dives into it without a guide is immediately destroyed
Whoever Allah joins to one who takes his hand so that he travels to this
stage, there is only his words after it, ‘Here you are with your Lord.’ The
intermediaries are as if they were doormen to the presence of Allah. Who-
ever is a slave to the doorman, he lets him come to Allah. Whoever is the
slave of Allah without a doorman, never comes to Allah. It is often that
The Guide 31
you find that whenever a sincere murid comes to a gnostic of Allah, in the
beginning, he travels with him to make him resemble the people. Then
after resemblance, he moves him to the stage of perfection. We ask Allah
ta‘ala to give us a portion with them.
Part of what will show you the perfection of the Shaykh and the oblitera-
tion of his will in the will of his Master, that is, the Shaykh of instruction,
is that he is with each of his companions, that is, the Murids, in the state in
which he finds him so as to steal him from it by kindness to the presence
of his Master. The murid is not aware of it until the Shaykh says to him,
‘Here you are with your Master.’
Know that the perfect wali is the one who attracts his companion from any
state he has whenever he is found in it. By it, he comes to his Lord. From
it, he looks at the presence of His intimacy. He said, may He be exalted:
Wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allah.
Allah was and nothing was with Him. He has now what He had, since there
is no existent except Him, and there is only Him in existence. The perfect
wali finds his companion owned by the hand of his nafs and removes its
kingdom from its hand and gives him power over it and it becomes his slave.
It owned him, and he owns it. It commanded him, and he commands it. He
served it, and it serves him. It is under his command and prohibition as he
was under its command and prohibition. He only ate from its most bitter
food and then he eats its best fruits and lights because whoever misses the
good of his self, never reaches good. It is the treasury of all good, and it is
the treasury of all evil. Whoever misses its evil, obtains its good. Whoever
misses its good, obtains its evil. Whoever obtains its good, it is the nearest
of doors to Allah. Whoever obtains its evil, it is the most distant of doors
from Allah. It is the quest and the sought. It is the enemy and it is the be-
loved. It is the head of good and it is the head of affliction. It is complained
about and its complaint goes to it. The fruits of its good are sweeter than
sweets and honey, and the fruits of its evil are more bitter than colocynth
and oleander. You have no good except its good and no evil except its evil.
The perfect Shaykh is the one who directs you to the good of yourself and
feeds you its fruits and saves you from its evils until it obeys you and is
under your command and prohibition and he makes you rise with kind-
32 The Sufic Path
ness and lutf in the three stages – from the stage of the common to the
stage of the elite to the stage of the elite of the elite. As for the stage of
the common, they are those who have shari‘a dominate reality. As for the
stage of the elite, they are those who copy realities. The stage of the elite
of the elite are those who are annihilated in the realities until they do not
see other-than-Him in existence.
The teacher is not a teacher until he is finished with disciplining his self,
and the conditions of teaching abound in him. He knows that from him-
self, and other lords of the art know it from him. Among the sum of the
conditions of teaching is that his description follows the description of
the Imam of the gnostics, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It has
come in the Sahih that he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was
majestic outwardly, beautiful inwardly. The teacher is not a teacher until
he is described by this noble description because he, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, is the Imam of the people of teaching among the
Prophets, the truthful, the martyrs and the Salihun, and the model of the
people of realisation among the lords of the wisdom of disciplining the
selves who recognise its fine points. Whoever among them imitates this
great character, i.e. his character and sunna, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, creation has good from his hand and their outward and inward
parts are illuminated by being near him and sitting with him. Whoever
does not proceed in that on the sunna of the Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, is not entrusted with the custody of creation.
If his honesty is true, then he is among the rare. It is related that Sayyidi
Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillah, may Allah profit us by him, was with Sayyidi
Bushta at the same time. When discourse fell to Sayyidi Bushta while he
was speaking to his companions, Sayyidi Bushta said to them, ‘The wali of
Allah is true. What he wears are his clothes, and he travels in his journey
and has no domicile. He is lost.’ I heard that from Sayyidi al-’Arabi from his
father, Sayyidi Ahmad, from his grandfather, the above Sayyidi Muham-
mad – may Allah give us the profit of all! This is because this teaching is
like guarding the flocks. Is the shepherd whose strong sheep thrive like the
shepherd whose strong and weak sheep thrive?
Know that the Shaykh is the door of Allah for the murid, and he is the
source of the veil. Similarly, the murid is the door of Allah for the Shaykh,
and he is also the source of the veil because the door is the source of the veil.
The Guide 33
The people of the seven heavens, the people of the seven earths, the people
of the Throne, the people of the Pen, and the people of the Footstool are
all doors for the Shaykh. He enters from whichever one he likes to Allah.
This is different from the murid who only has one door to Allah. It is the
door of his Shaykh. If he enters by it, it is that. If not, he is rejected and
driven away. That is because the Shaykh had the talisman of the treasury
of himself opened to him. The self is equal to existence, and it is opposite
existence. When he owns himself, by it, he owns existence. When he owns
existence, by it, he owns himself. There is no doubt that whoever is permit-
ted to come to Allah from the doors of himself, it is permitted to him to
come in by all the doors of existence. He enters by whatever doors he likes
because the doors of the Garden of the Next World are eight, and the doors
of the Garden of seeing and eye-witnessing have no limit, number or end.
He said, may He be exalted!
We say that existence is entered by the doors of the self and the self is
entered by the doors of existence. That is like the murid with the Shaykhs.
The Murids do not enter themselves until they possess them from the doors
of existence, and they are the Shaykhs. The Shaykhs do not enter existence
and its people, i.e. the springs and others, until they possess them from
the doors of themselves. The doors of the self enter on existence, and the
doors of existence enter on the self.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Part of the overflowing favour, generosity and open-handedness of Allah

is the existence of the teaching Shaykh. Had it not been for that favour, no
one would find him or reach him because as the wali of Allah ta‘ala Sayyidi
Abu’l-‘Abbas al-Mursi said, ‘Recognition of the wali is more difficult than
recognition of Allah.’ It says in the Hikam of Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, ‘Glory be to
the One Who directs people to His awliya in order to direct them to Him,
and who only leads one to them when He wants to bring him to Him.’
There is no doubt that the master of the people of the heaven and the
master of the people of the earth, our master, the Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, was openly and clearly manifested,
like the sun on a guidepost. In spite of that, not every one saw him. Only
some saw him. Allah veiled him from others as He veiled some people to
34 The Sufic Path
In the Name of Allah the Merciful the Compassionate
Sayyiduna
Muhammad
blessings and peace of Allah be upon him
Sayyiduna ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib

Sayyidi al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali Sayyidi al-Hasan al-Basri
Sayyidi Abu Muhammad Jabir Sayyidi Habib al-‘Ajami
Sayyidi Sa‘id al-Ghazwani In the Name of Allah Sayyidi Da‘ud at-Tai‘i
Sayyidi Fathu’s-Su‘ud the Merciful Sayyidi Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi
Sayyidi Sa‘d the Compassionate Sayyidi as-Sari as-Saqti
Sayyidi Sa‘id Say: ‘He is Allah, One. Al-Imam al-Junayd
Sayyidi Ahmad al-Marwani Allah, as-Samad. Sayyidi ash-Shibli
Sayyidi Ibrahim al-Basri He has not begotten, Sayyidi at-Tartusi
Sayyidi Zaynu’d-Din al-Qazwini nor was he begotten, Sayyidi Abu’l-Hasan al-Hukkari
Sayyidi Muhammad Shamsu’d-Din and no-one is like Him.’ Sayyidi Abu Sai‘id al-Mubarak
Sayyidi Muhammad Taju’d-Din Mawlana ‘Abdal-Qadir al-Jilani
Sayyidi Nuru’d-Din Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali Sayyidi Abu Madyan al-Ghawth
Sayyidi Fakhuru’d-Din Sayyidi Muhammad Salih
Sayyidi Tuqayyu’d-Din Sayyidi Muhammad ibn Harazim
Sayyidi ‘Abd’ar-Rahman al-‘Attar
Sayyidi ‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish
Sayyidi Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shadhili
Sayyidi Abu’l-Abbas al-Mursi
Sayyidi Ahmad ibn ‘Ata’Illah
Sayyidi Da‘ud al-Bakhili
The Chain of Teachers Sayyidi Muhammad Wafa
of the Sayyidi ‘Ali Wafa
Qadiriyya Sayyidi Yahya al-Qadiri
Shadhiliyya Sayyidi Ahmad al-Hadrami
Darqawiyya Sayyidi Ahmad az-Zarruq
Habibiyya Sayyidi Ibrahim al-Falham
‘Alawiyya
Sayyidi ‘Ali ad-Dawwar
Tariqa
Sayyidi ‘Abd’ar-Rahman al-Majdhub
from their Source
Sayyidi Yusuf al-Fasi
may the blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him Sayyidi ‘Abdu’r-Rahman al-Fasi
Sayyidi Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillah
Sayyidi Qasim al-Khassasi
Sayyidi Ahmad ibn ‘Abdillah
Sayyidi al-‘Arabi ibn ‘Abdillah
Sayyidi ‘Ali al-Jamal
Mawlay al-‘Arabi ibn Ahmad ad-Darqawi
Sayyidi Abu Ya‘za al-Muhaji
Sayyidi Muhammad And there came from Sayyidi Ahmad al-Badawi
ibn ‘Abd’al-Qadir al-Basha the farthest part of Sayyidi Muhammad al-‘Arabi
Sayyidi Muhammad ibn Qudur the city a man running. Sayyidi al-‘Arabi al-Hawwari
He said, ‘O my people,
Sayyidi ibn al-Habib al-Buzidi Sayyidi Muhammad ibn ‘Ali
follow those
Mawlana Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-‘Alawi who have been sent.’ Sayyidi Muhammad ibn al-Habib
Sayyidi Muhammad al-Fayturi Hamuda
Sayyidi ‘Abd’al-Qadir as-Sufi ad-Darqawi al-Murabit

Sayyidi Moulay Mortada el-Boumeshouli
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Guide 35
the prophets, peace be upon them, and the awliya among the people of
their time. This is so much so that they cry lies to them and do not accept
them. The testimony to that is in the Book of Allah, ‘You see them looking
at you and they do not see.’ – ‘They said: What is this Messenger who
eats foods and walks in the markets?’ and more of what is in the Book
of Allah. Almost two-thirds or more is about crying lies to the prophets,
peace and blessings be upon them. One of those who did not see him, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, was Abu Jahl – may Allah curse him!
He saw him as the orphan of Abu Talib. It is like that with the teaching
Shaykh who is majdhub/salik, constantly intoxicated/constantly sober,
who joins both of them – only a few find him.
When the teaching Shaykh is found, sometimes he sees that the libera-
tion of the meaning for the murid lies in hunger, and so he makes him hun-
gry. Sometimes he sees that it lies in satiety, so he fills him up. Sometimes it
lies in a lot of worldly means and sometimes in a little of them. Sometimes
it lies in sleep and sometimes in staying awake. Sometimes it is in fleeing
from people and sometimes in associating with them and being friendly
with them, and so forth. This is because his luminosity may become too
strong for him so that the teacher fears that it may obliterate him as it has
obliterated many murids, past and present. Because of that, he brings him
out of retreat to be sociable with people so that his state may be diminished
and thereby he becomes safe from obliteration. Similarly, if his luminos-
ity weakens, he returns him to the state of retreat so that it can increase
in strength, and so forth. The end is to your Lord. Teaching has become
practically impossible because of the scarcity of people who have a heart
with a natural disposition to follow, yet the wisdom of Allah is not cut off.
We think that the tariqa is established by the strength and power of
Allah since it is taken from our Shaykhs, may Allah be pleased with them,
who took it from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, who took it from Sayyiduna Jibril, peace be upon him, who
took it from Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic. Whoever is sent to lead it,
that is by permission from Allah and His Messenger, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, and the Shaykhs, may Allah be pleased with them!
As the wali of Allah ta‘ala Sayyidi al-Mursi said, may Allah be pleased with
him, ‘No master puts himself in the front unless waridat have poured upon
him and he has permission from Allah and His Messenger. The baraka and
secret of the permission is what supports our affair and keeps the state of
its people in order. Allah knows best.’
36 The Sufic Path
My brother, recognise the virtue of the permission, and its secret and
worth. Do not be ignorant of it. The one with permission is trustworthy
since he has the surety of Allah, the surety of the Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the surety of the Shaykhs of the
tariqa, may Allah be pleased with them! Recognise this and believe it! Do
not be ignorant of it.
‘Rejoice in much good! You are among the people of sufism, may Allah be
pleased with them.’ I said, ‘Because Imam ‘Ali, may Allah honour him, is
their Imam, may Allah be pleased with him ! He is the greatest of them,
and he is their Qutb, may Allah honour him!
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Our Shaykh and our way to Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah honour
us by his dhikr, had three qualities which I did not see in anyone else in
this age of ours. This is that he was always a lover and not desired. He did
not ever reject any of the states of creation. He had different realities. His
separation did not overcome his gatheredness, and his gatheredness did
not overcome his separation.
Know that Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah profit us by him, had many
books which he wrote with his hand about what came upon his heart. I
heard him speaking about a scrapbook from these books. He said, ‘In this
scrapbook, I have numbered 3,000 tajalliyat less 100.’ He said, ‘In it, is the
tajalli in which I remained for three days, and in it is the one in which I
remained for a month, and in it is the one I remained in for a night and for
less than a night.’ I did not see him, may Allah be pleased with him, speaking
about this world in constraint to it more than three words alone. He, may
Allah be pleased with him, did not rejoice when this world came to him,
and he did not grieve when it turned away from him. No one pursued him
for any of it but that he left it to him without turning to it or him. He, may
Allah be pleased with him, was never burdened by inconvenience and he
never commanded anyone to discomfort, and he was not present with the
people of discomfort. He had no will except for what Allah willed in that
moment. He, may Allah be pleased with him, preferred recognition of the
very poor and the fuqara related to Allah above recognition of the people
The Guide 37
of this world. He, may Allah be pleased with him, was content in this world
with what he found of it. All his himma was always devoted to seeking his
Master. He, may Allah be pleased with him, was more generous than the
clouds in generosity. He, may Allah be pleased with him, did not speak any
words, even in jest, about all existence except that it was. Most of his words
about this world were as if they were jest. Jest took it and jest paid it out. He,
may Allah be pleased with him, did not reject any of the states of creation,
and he did not order anyone to move from a state in which he found him.
Rather, he confirmed him in it and urged him to strive and hope in it. He,
may Allah be pleased with him, was occupied inwardly by the paucity of his
words about this world to the extent that many of the people of this world
rejected him. He, may Allah be pleased with him, was not concerned with
their thoughts or their confirmation. He, may Allah be pleased with him,
was sought, not seeking. He was desired, not desiring. In all matters, he was
rich by Allah above creation, their good and their evil. He did not prefer
anything over sitting with the people of his art. He loved it more than his
children, his property, and this world and what is in it. He, may Allah be
pleased with him, had states in some moments. We found great forbearance
in him as well as great expansion, and in some moments, he was like a lion.
He did not speak well of anyone but that he enriched him, and he did not
speak ill of anyone, but that he annihilated him. His Master did not reject
his word in good or in evil. It was as if it were a ball which emerged from a
gun at the hand of a marksman who shoots the seed. Rather, it was swifter,
and yet again swifter. Every day, we heard from him, may Allah be pleased
with him, new fresh knowledges which we had not heard from him the day
before. We did not hear a knowledge from him one day which he returned
to the next day. Every day was a new knowledge from the time we met him
until now. He, may Allah be pleased with him, had a reality which was as
if it were flour and a shari‘a which was as if it were salt. However, he made
use of the terrestrial realities as he made use of the celestial realities. It was
as if he desired and my hardship was released. He employed descent as he
employed ascent, and he employed ascent as he employed descent. He took
his need how he found it. We did not find this state in this time of ours
in other than him. It was as if he were an interspace between two seas:
the sea of the realities and the sea of the shara‘i’.
Immense ecstasy used to descend on the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with
38 The Sufic Path
him, in some states so that he could not conceal it. When I attended to him,
he would often turn and say to me, ‘Allah is greater’. He said, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, ‘I am the treasury of knowledge and its door is by
me.’ I heard it from him many times. He, may Allah be pleased with him,
used to say to me, ‘By Allah! Had I not come out intending to meet you, I
would not have left my house for anyone,’ meaning our companions. He,
may Allah be pleased with him, whenever he saw one of the pages which
I was writing, would read it. If he saw fine rare knowledge in it, he would
order me to copy it and give him a copy of it.
I saw the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, very often treat himself and
other people. He would treat most illnesses of the outward body with oil
and most of the inward of the body with milk or couscous with milk. We
saw that the two remedies, oil and milk, had an immense secret in healing
when he commanded them. We used to doubt the healing in his words but
not in oil and milk. In healing he, may Allah be pleased with him, relied on
oil by the du‘a of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
‘May Allah put baraka in oil to eat and grease and a light in the house,’ or as
he said, he used milk because his father used to use it often to treat illness.
He brought the sunna of his father in that.
Since I recognised the Shaykh, I had three joys. The first of them is that
man came to the Shaykh and did not find him, so he sat hoping for him
until the Shaykh came, may Allah profit us by him. Then he sat before him
and began to speak with the Shaykh and the Shaykh spoke with him. I was
sitting with them. The man said to him, ‘O Sayyidi! We came to you and did
not find you.’ He said, may Allah have mercy on him, ‘You came to me and
did not find me. This one will fulfil it for you. Whenever we grant him, I am
yours,’ and he pointed to me with his hand, may Allah have mercy on him.
Another day, I was sitting with him and no one was with us. That hour, the
Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, had an immense state seize him. He
inclined to me as the man inclines to his child, and he removed his turban
from his head. He said to me, ‘Let us have your head.’ I extended my head.
He placed it on my head as it was on his head. Another day, I was sitting
with him in the morning in the zawiyya before his companions came to him
who were accustomed to sit with us each day with the Shaykh. The Shaykh,
may Allah have mercy on him, conversed with me until he said to me, ‘My
The Guide 39
son, had we not come everyday to you by your intention to this place, we
would not have come to any of these people,’ i.e. those who sat with us. ‘My
sitting here is all for your sake.’ I have not had any joy like these three times
because of the Shaykh’s concern for me. My self was more abased than that
with him. I knew that Allah ta‘ala had been kind with the thought of the
Shaykh. Had I possessed the kingdom of the Khosraus, I would not have
rejoiced at it like that. The Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, related
to me that his grandfather Sayyidi Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillah, may Allah
profit us by him, used to sit in the zawiyya and people would often come
to him until the zawiyya was full. People made a path from the door of the
zawiyya to the Shaykh – a path in the middle of the people by which people
would approach the Shaykh. Shaykh Sayyidi Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillah
used to say in some moments to his companions, ‘My son, had it not been
for a man or two men for whose sake we sit in this zawiyya, we would not
have opened its door.’ The Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, also
related to us that a man of the Fuqara found a man of the Salihun at the
sea-shore. He greeted him and began to ask him about the paths to Allah.
The man said, ‘Sayyidi, there are various paths to Allah.’ The wali said to
him, ‘There are two paths to Allah. I think that you recognise part of one.
As for the other, it is this, and he set his foot on the sea and began to walk
on the water until he vanished from the eyes of man.’
Know that as actions may diminish words, so inward action may dimin-
ish outward actions. The wisdom lies in connecting the inward to the
outward. If it is connected to the inward, it dominates the outward, and
it is inevitable. Part of what happened to me with the Shaykh, may Allah
honour us with his dhikr, is that one day I came to him in the morning as
I used to go with him. Unexpectedly, I found him, may Allah profit us by
him, at the door of the house. When he saw me, he smiled and laughed.
I greeted him and kissed his fingers. He went towards the zawiyya and I
went behind him until we entered the zawiyya. Then he sat down, and I
sat before him. The first thing that he said to me was, ‘Do you know why I
laughed when you approached the door of the house?’ I said, ‘No, Sayyidi.’
He said, ‘I wanted to tell you something that you would not suppose that
I would tell you.’ I said, ‘What is that, Sayyidi? All that comes from you is
good.’ He said to me, ‘This arrival which you bring to us, you should not
bring.’ I said, ‘How, Sayyidi?’ He said to me, ‘The profit which you used
40 The Sufic Path
to come and seek from us – you have obtained. Praise be to Allah for what
we have with you and what you have with us! Why then do you continue
to come to us in the morning and evening?’ When I heard these words, an
immense matter descended into me which I cannot describe, and I wept
violently. I concealed it until it overcame me and I could not hide it. Then
I began to sob and weep until I experienced the total loss of myself. He,
may Allah profit us by him, comforted me and said to me, ‘By Allah! my
son, I did not say these words to you to afflict you. I recognised that you
have no need of me.’ I said to him, ‘Sayyidi! By Allah, I cannot leave you,
dead or alive!’ He said to me, ‘As for myself, I have told you what I am
obliged to tell you. If you wish to come to me by the door of love, then do
so.’ I said to him, ‘Sayyidi! How much more are the words of Sayyidi Abu
Madyan when he said, ‘If you leave us, even for a breath, we will die.’’ He
said to me, ‘The Firm Grip and the White Pearl said it about me.’ I said,
‘O Sayyidi! By Allah! You are the Firm Grip and the White Pearl!’ He said
to me, ‘Do what you like.’
This matter which occurred between me and Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah
profit us by him, had the wisdom of Allah appear in it. It did not pity me
or him in spite of me and in spite of him. There is no way to repel His
judgement, may He be exalted, and there is no modifying His command.
Glory be the Wise, the Knowing! This matter occurred to me with my
parents, i.e. my natural parents, as it occurred to me with my parents in
the deen. I considered that and I examined it closely. We did not find that
it issued from me or from them. That, as we said, was the wisdom of Allah
manifesting itself. That was in spite of me and in spite of them. It had no
pity on me or on them. Glory be to the One Who comes between a man
and his heart! However, by Allah! I knew and was certain that it was from
my perfection when Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, wanted to increase
me and them in good, blessings, and generosity. Only the one who has
a dark inner eye ignores that the perfection of good, bounty, increase of
knowledge, action, and gnosis of Allah is in this matter which appeared
between me and him. We seek refuge with Allah! Now all that is gathered
must have separation by life or by death. Now we hope from Allah ta‘ala
that, if He parts us by forms, it will not be by arwah. If it is by the senses,
it will not be by the meaning. If it is in the outward, it will not be in the
inward. The matter will be like that, if Allah wills, because whoever keeps
The Guide 41
the company of one of the gnostics of Allah and does not have the quality
which we mentioned appear in him, Allah willing, he is driven away and
rejected. He has no sincerity in seeking his Master. The quality is that it
is the same to him whether the Shaykh is present or absent. He benefits
from him in his absence as he benefits from him when he is present. He
benefits from him when he is silent as he benefits from him when he speaks.
He benefits from him in his death as he benefits from him in his life. This
attribute is only found in the one for whom the veil between him and his
Master has been rent apart so that he is not veiled to his Lord or to the
Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or to his Shaykh for
the blink of an eye.
The first of what I did at the beginning of my affair was sunna after sunna.
I stood up about half the night. I had awrad at night and awrad in the day.
In the awrad of the night, I would pray two raka‘at with the Qur‘an with
a hizb in each taslima. In the awrad of the day, I did dhikr with 2,000
articulations of the names and other dhikr each morning. I would finish
it near to noon. When I finished the awrad, my tongue would not cease
to do dhikr by day and night. I withdrew much from creation and I could
not speak very much with them. I remained for 30 years while I was in that
state. The first of what opened the door for me was while I was in janaba
at the hammam. There was the darkness of the janaba and the darkness of
the hammam. I was not aware of myself until its inward lights illuminated
the outward. This was the first unexpected event – the unexpected event of
the Real is real. We were informed in the second opening of the recovery
of as-Sammakh. He said to me, ‘I am your Master. Do you recognise me?’
I said, ‘Yes. How could I not recognise you, my Master! You are yours. I
recognised you and Idnakh and Saqqakh and Hannakh.’ He said to me,
‘Rejoice and be happy! You are among my lovers, my pure friends, awliya
and old friends in the nearness of the presence of: ‘Enter among My slaves
and enter My Garden.’ By this, the fruit of its harvest from my inward, it
was as if I was guarded in gardens. This was the first of its food. When this
occurred to me while I was in these two darknesses, the darkness of janaba
and the darkness of the hammam, Allah, may He be blessed and exalted,
inspired me, so I knew that the structure of the inward is not abased by the
demolition of the outward because man only has one substance. You are
not strong if you are weak in the direction of the inward, and you are not
42 The Sufic Path
strong in the direction of the inward if you are weak in the direction of the
outward. The gnostic is the one to whom Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted,
has given power over his self and has provided him with the knowledge
of the wisdom of pre-endless-time, so that wisdom obeys him and he has
the power to strengthen the outward and strengthen the inward. From
that day, my inward was strengthened, and my outward was weakened
until Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, taught me what I did not know of
the knowledge of the outward and the knowledge of the inward. I began
to pluck the fruits of the outward as I plucked the fruits of the inward in
knowledge and action. Praise be to Allah for the abundance of His gener-
osity and His timeless Ihsan!
I heard Sayyidi Shaykh al-‘Arabi ibn Ahmad ibn ‘Abdullah, may Allah profit
us by him, relate that he heard from Sayyidi Ahmad al-Yamana, may Allah
profit us by him, speaking with his father, the above-mentioned Sayyidi
Ahmad. He said to him, ‘How can I be patient? There is no creature which
harms me so that my tears flow but that when my tears flow from the injury
of anyone, Allah destroys him instantly without delay. This is my habit with
Allah ta‘ala.’ Sayyidi Ahmad said to him, ‘Sayyidi! Allah has made me the
opposite of that. I am patient with the injury of whoever injures me so that
I laugh at his injury, and Allah destroys him instantly without delay. This is
my custom with Allah ta‘ala.’ May Allah give us the profit of all!
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
If you say to me, ‘Our master, Sayyidi ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him,
was wide while you are narrow,’ I say he was wide and he was narrow. He
was tender and he was rough. He was strong and he was weak. He was rich
and he was poor. He was a sea without a shore because his knowledge was
sweeter than sugar and his knowledge was more bitter than colocynth. He
was always uttering the words of the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Abu’l-
Mawahib at-Tunisi, may Allah be pleased with him: ‘Whoever claims to
witness the beauty before he has learned adab with the majesty, reject him,
for he is a dajjal (imposter).’
My brothers, whoever wants to receive the gifts of Allah, or we could say,
the fragrant breezes of Allah, should be ashamed before Allah and not
The Guide 43
deviate from the sunna of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace. He should be firm in it and not be dislodged from it as
long as he is alive and in so much as he is able, as we have said many times.
May Allah teach you good and shelter you from evil! Know that the
last thing I heard from Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan Sayyidi ‘Ali al-Jamal al-’Imrani,
may Allah be pleased with him, was, ‘Expose yourselves to the fragrant
breezes of Allah.’
We have love of Allah, and may Allah ta‘ala put us among those whom Al-
lah shades on the day when there is no shade except His shade. May Allah
bless you, we want you always to expose yourself to the fragrant breezes of
your Lord. That is so that your movements and stillnesses may be joined
to the dhikr of your Lord as He has commanded you and to love of the
people of Allah and constant kindness to them. Our prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, would not go to anyone the way he went
to the Ahl as-Suffa who were the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, and the dearest of people to him, may Allah
be pleased with them. They did not have any business, and no occupation
distracted them from their Lord. Every divested faqir follows them. They,
may Allah be pleased with them, wore the patched robe. However, their
patched robe covered them in such a way that their imam could not go in
front of them out of fear that they would expose their private parts. He went
to them and he was equal with them in the row. Their affair was outwardly
manifest. It was not hidden. Sayyidi, then draw near to the One to whom
your Prophet and beloved drew near, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace. Flee from the one he fled from, may Allah take you by the hand!
We urge you not to listen to the words of one who does not fear Allah
among those of means to Allah. We only see them objecting to the sunna
by innovation, not objecting to innovation by the sunna. Allah is the au-
thority for what we say. Part of the sunna, Sayyidi, is trust in the weak, the
bereft, the orphans, the exiles, and the people of Allah, such as they are.
Part of the sunna is also love for them, kindness to them, helping them,
and the like of that.
I advise you to be on your guard against letting time slip away while you
have not obtained what the people of attraction in every time and age have
obtained. You absolutely must always expose yourselves to the fragrant
44 The Sufic Path
breezes of your Lord. Do not be incapable or lazy! What has slipped away
from most people from their Lord might slip away from you! There is no
power nor strength except by Allah! Whoever wants to expose himself to
the fragrant breezes of his Lord, should not give his self what it desires and
what is light for it. He should give it what it does not desire and what is
heavy for it. Then the distance of the Path will be covered quickly and he
will pluck the fruit of his action. If he is preoccupied with actions and his
attention is not returned to Him, then he will not join the men of Allah
and he will not be free of misguidance, no matter what he does. One of
them, may Allah be pleased with them, said, ‘Leaving one appetite of the
self is more beneficial to the heart than fasting and praying for an entire
year.’ One of them said, ‘I prefer to leave a mouthful of my supper than
to eat it and stay up to pray for the entire night.’ I said: This is how you
expose yourselves to the fragrant breezes of your Lord if you want to cover
the distance of the Path quickly, your moments to be pleasant, and to have
nearness to your Lord which others do not have.
You must visit the living Shaykhs of the tariqa, may Allah be pleased
with them, if you find them. This world is not lacking them. Whoever lacks
them is empty of baraka and every good, whatever it is. Only the one who
is in very great need of them, may Allah be pleased with them, finds them.
The need of the one in great need of them will join him to them wherever
they are, in the land of Islam or the land of the Christians. He comes to
them or they come to him. Power moves him to them and it moves them
to him. The one in great need of them may find them in his own house or
near to it as happened to us. We were in great need of someone to take us
by the hand. We found him near to us. He was nearly in the same house as
us. Allah would take account of us if we were to tell you something other
than what happened to us. That is the secret of great need. How many
do not perceive what secrets there are in Allah’s kingdom!
May Allah have mercy on you! Know that a certain person had strong
need of one of the awliya, may Allah be pleased with him, to show him
the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He was
extremely insistent about it with him. Finally, he ordered him to eat some
fish until he had his fill. Then he was to keep himself from drinking water
that night until morning. He did what he told him to do and went to sleep.
For the entire night, all he saw was water and plunging into water. Ibn
‘Ata’Illah says in the Hikam: ‘Glory be to the One Who directs people to
The Guide 45
His awliya in order to direct them to Himself, and who only leads a person
to them when He wants to bring him to Himself.’
You must also visit the dead awliya like the Shaykh, our master, may
Allah be pleased with him, Shaykh Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish,
may Allah be pleased with him, and Shaykh Sayyidi al-Ghazali, and their
likes, may Allah be pleased with them. You should also visit places that are
respected by people like the Mountain of Tazyan at the tribe of Ghamara,
Banu Yafrah at the tribe of al-Akhmis, the Hadrat la ilaha illa’llah of Targha
at the Ziyatiyya tribe, al-Mansura at the Ahmadiyya tribe, and different
ribats and other respected places. By Allah, whoever lifts his himma above
this world, will be joined to the awliya. Among the benefits of high himma
is breaking habits. Among that is that one who has high himma says to a
thing, ‘Be! ’ and it is. Allah is the authority for what we say.
My advice to you is that whenever someone confronts you with one of
the attributes of freedom, confront him with one of the opposite attributes
of slaveness. If he confronts you with speech, confront him with silence. If
it is with might, then confront him with abasement. If it is with strength,
then confront him with weakness, and so on. You will conquer him, abase
him, and inevitably overcome him. Allah is the authority for what we say.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
We will mention something about the life of Mawlana al-‘Arabi, may Al-
lah be pleased with him, his beginning, his wayfaring, and a clarification
of his transmission and practices. We will mention something about his
states which were perceived by his companions. As for his states, may Allah
be pleased with him, in his beginning and his wayfaring, the greatest of
them was his doing-without in this world and divesting himself of it in the
sensory and in the meaning, his realisation of its character, his opposition
to his nafs (self ) and leaving what was light for it and making it follow
what was heavy for it since whatever is heavy for it is none other than the
truth. That is the swiftest to the answer and opening as he said, may Allah
be pleased with him, ‘Turn it to the Truth and turn it away from creation.
No one should be concerned with creatures whether they praise him or
blame him.’ He clung to poverty and neediness. He preferred abasement
and being scorned. He was on his guard about what people put together
and gathered and stored. He left nothing of his evening meal for his break-
46 The Sufic Path
fast, and nothing of his breakfast for his evening meal. He would take what
was necessary to support his physical constitution and that of his family,
and would leave the rest for Allah’s slaves. This is a great road which can
only be travelled by the one to whom Allah gives the power to do it. The
Shaykh, the great unveiled gnostic, the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Abu’l-Abbas
Sayyidi Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba al-Manjari al-Hasani, said, ‘Mawlana al-’Arabi
remained in this state for 25 years. He left nothing of his evening meal for
his breakfast and nothing of his breakfast for his evening meal, to such
an extent that it included the oil of the lampwick. It was by confidence
in Allah, reliance on Allah, and seeking refuge with Allah. Opening of
provision would come to him from Allah and he would only take of it
according to his needs, and the needs of his wife and children. They were
a group who were like birds in the nest in the morning and evening until
the time when he was given permission by Allah. Then he would take by
Allah as he had left for Allah. He began to be increased by everything and
not decreased by anything.’
At the beginning of his affair, he, may Allah be pleased with him, would
wear rough garments like coarse felt and the patched jelaba, and very
thick black-striped garments, and the short-sleeved hooded jelaba on its
own, and the old clean straw hat. He used to put straw hats on top of each
other on his head, three or four of them. He carried two or three cases on
his back. At other times he would go bareheaded and barefoot, begging
in the markets and other places. He would sit on the rubbish heaps while
being careful about impurity and he would sleep in the road. He carried
the waterskin on his back and gave water for Allah. He had other states
and actions of the malamatiyya which took him far from creation and near
to the King, the Real. He only did that to free himself from what did not
concern him and so he would not show off to his fellow men. He had most
of those states. He had strange states and superogatory actions which were
troublesome and difficult for the self. What he says in his letters is filled
with things that indicate this.
By these continuous superogatory practices, he, may Allah be pleased
with him, received from Allah the fullest portion and the greatest share. He
continued to draw near Him with these and other actions until He chose
him for His presence by His favour which He gave him. He was a sign of
gnosis of Allah, action, nobility, forbearance, steadfastness, deliberateness,
self-restraint, fear, awe, serenity (sakina), humility, modesty, generosity,
The Guide 47
open-handedness, doing-without, scrupulousness, mercy, compassion,

contentment, satisfaction with the knowledge of Allah, being at rest with
Allah, relying on Him in all states, passion, yearning, resolution, natural
inclination, good intention, love, good opinion, true sincerity, high himma,
vast capacity, noble character and immense good qualities, the resplendent
states of the sunna, lofty stations, gifts direct from the presence of Allah, and
divine ecstasies. He possessed obliteration and annihilation, sobriety and
going-on, and withdrawal in his Master and seeing that He had control of
him. He was drowned in the sea of reality. He was given attraction to Allah
(jadhb) in reality. He was given power, firm establishment and firm rooting
in gnosis and certainty. He travelled a level road and a straight path from the
sunna. He drank a clear limpid drink from the wine of before-endless-time
and came from its thirst-quenching pool. His lights were strong and his
clear signs and secrets overflowed on the horizons. He let a large number of
people drink cups of his wine and filled their hearts and spirits with moons
and suns. By that, his will continued and his gift remained with them and
they remained with it forever by an immense support. That is a favour from
Allah which He gives to whomever He wills. Allah has immense favour.
Part of what he was not concerned with is that there be proof and clear
signs given for him, especially with the people of perfect creeds and good
intentions. However, the deeds of this lofty master have arrived by many
independent definite transmissions, particularly with this noble group,
turned to Allah, which spreads out as the sun spreads out on the horizons.
In general, this master’s outward appearance was, like other gnostics, may
Allah be pleased with them, like people in their human states of eating,
drinking, sleep, marriage, buying and selling, loans, amazement, laughter at
what people laugh at, inattentiveness, forgetfulness, asking about what he
did not write down, weakness, illness, need, poverty, incapacity, and other
human qualities which are not incompatible with slaveness.
By Allah, their inward and their reality is not like that of other people,
even if they have the same form as them. Their witnessing is not restricted
to themselves and phenomenal beings. They are like the elixir which in-
evitably changes the sources in reality. They are the word of Allah which
is not restricted or exhausted. Their qualities cannot be counted and their
virtues are endless. This is so much the case that Shaykh Abu’l-‘Abbas al-
Mursi, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘If the reality of the wali were
unveiled, he would be worshipped.’ It is enough for the one who has not
48 The Sufic Path
reached their station nor left the prison of the self nor travelled the road
of this tariqa to surrender to its people and to recoil from having thoughts
about its people. He enters into the realm of the one who believes in Allah
and the Last Day. Let him speak good or be silent since whenever a man’s
Islam is good, he abandons what does not concern him. He profits by sub-
mission as he profits by iman in the unseen. Whoever wants understanding
is certainly included under the word of Allah ta‘ala, ‘They lie about what
they do not fully know.’
The basis of the tariqa of the People, may Allah be pleased with them, is
all based on submission, obedience, embracing iman, and firm trust, not on
dhikr and criticism. Shaykh Zarruq, may Allah be pleased with him, said,
‘The basis of fiqh is investigation and precise determination. The basis of
sufism is submission and assent. Success is by Allah ta‘ala.’
As far as his ‘ibada is concerned, may Allah be pleased with him, it was
based on the path of the shari‘a of Muhammad without deep penetration
or lassitude. It was in the middle without excess or not doing enough. He
allowed no indulgence in actions confirmed by the sunna and recom-
mended things, cleanliness, purity, recitation, istikhara, visiting awliya, the
duha prayer, greeting the mosque, get-ting up before dawn and waking up
his family at that time, visiting the sick, escorting funerals, feeding those
leaving and arriving to such an extent that he was a rare jewel in his age.
He was well-known and famous in all lands. He gave sadaqa every day and
night to such an extent that he also considered it an obligation for him,
above and beyond what he did of feeding the common and the elite. He
hastened to virtues at every moment. He was humble to Allah with every
creature, even the one who was a worthless good-for-nothing. He would
honour him, bring him in, sit with him, and be friendly with him more
than our esteem and behaviour with ‘ulama and the salihun. However,
whoever tastes, recognises.
He taught every group of men their watering-place.
The one who perceives the reality of existence and recognises it by eye-
witnessing and seeing is not like the one who sees only heaven and earth,
and creatures with different colours and names, attributes, languages and
essences. Are those who know and those who do not know the same? Is
darkness and light the same? By Allah, no!
In spite of that, he, may Allah be pleased with him, liked coarse clothes,
food and beds. He liked to sit on the ground. He said, ‘Sitting on the ground
The Guide 49
without a mat brings wealth.’ He, may Allah have mercy on him, was very
conscientious about keeping himself free of blame in word and deed. He
urged that more than anything. He did not do wudu until the traces of urine
had been completely removed and his heart was at rest about it. He said,
‘Whoever does wudu before he has ascertained that the traces of urine have
been removed has no wudu and no prayer and no deen.’ His companions
confirmed perseverance and relentlessness about wudu constantly.
After that was the prayer and after the prayer was supplication. He
would pull back his hat and turban in prostration, and touch the ground
with his forehead and nose. He would recite the Qur‘an and separate the
Fatiha and the surah for as long as it takes a man to swallow. He would do
the same between the surah and the takbir of bowing. He said the Basmala
before the Fatiha in the obligatory and superogatory prayers. He would
say it silently in the obligatory prayer when the prayer was spoken out
loud. Imam al-Mazi and others chose that. The dhikr which he did after
his obligatory prayer was:
‘I ask Allah’s forgiveness.’ (three times).
‘Oh Allah! You are Peace, and peace is from You and peace re-
turns to You. Our Lord, give us life by peace and let us enter the
Abode of Peace. You are blessed and Exalted, with majesty and
honour. There is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. He has
the Kingdom and He has praise. He has power over everything.
O Allah! None can bar what You give and none can give what You
bar. None can repel what You have decreed and the earnestness of
the earnest one does not bring him any profit from You.’
Then he would recite the Ayatu’l-Kursi until the end.
He would say ‘Glory be to Allah’, ‘Praise be to Allah’, and ‘Allah is
Greater’, thirty-three times.
He would then raise his hands and ask Allah for guidance and
well-being for all the slaves from His favour.
The most exact of his actions, dhikr, and ‘ibada, may Allah be pleased with
him, was the prayer. He said, ‘We repeated many actions for several years
and we found that all of them had great baraka. By Allah, we found the
baraka of the repetition of the prayer above the baraka of every action. Had
it not been for the objections raised to us by the words of the Shaykhs,
may Allah be pleased with them – ‘Whoever has no Shaykh, shaytan is his
50 The Sufic Path
Shaykh,’ and, ‘Whoever has no Shaykh, has no qibla,’ and, ‘Whoever has no
Shaykh, is idle,’ – we would have said that the prayer is in the place of the
Shaykh.’ He was like that with ‘la ilaha illa’llah’, recitation of Qur‘an, and
other good actions because he, may Allah be pleased with him, believed
in being relentless in action along with presence of the heart, completely
leaving what did not concern him and guarding the obligatory prayers and
the sunna. Perseverance is in the place of the Shaykh for the one who does
not find a Shaykh. As far as the one who finds him is concerned, he said in
respect to perseverance that it is whatever benefits the heart, like doing-
without in this world and sitting among the awliya. He would insist on the
prayer very strongly because of what he saw in it of harmony and intimate
conversation and the fact that it is the place of the descent of baraka and
mercy. It joins all the acts of ‘ibada. He said, may Allah be pleased with him,
‘Allah knows best, but we think that whenever someone prays the prayer
with its conditions and adab perfect – provided that he only does wudu
after freeing himself of urine so that not the slightest trace of it remains – he
has a great opening which has no like or parallel, Allah ta‘ala willing.’ He
used to say, ‘Seize the prayer before you miss it by weakness, old age, and
death. Whoever has missed prayers should make them up. Otherwise, he
will have cause to regret them.’ In brief, the prayer was the coolness of his
eye, the nourishment of his sight, and his sanctuary in ease and hardship,
in a group and alone. It was the greatest treasure and store which he had.
He did not fail to do it, and he was not lazy and did not toss it aside. He
did not slack off at home or on journeys, standing or sitting, in health or
illness or when he was very old because prayer is the alchemy of the people
of adab. It is what transforms the sources. The Prophet, blessings and peace
be upon him, said, ‘He made the coolness of my eye in the prayer.’
He, may Allah be pleased with him, used to quote the books of the
sufis, may Allah be pleased with them, according to their ranks: the people
of striving, discipline, and wayfaring, and the people of attraction (jadhb)
and realities, in the beginning, middle and end. He would pick flowers
and lights from their gardens, and pluck all manner of fruits from them.
He would read some books of Fiqh as ‘ibada, the commentators of the
Risala, the commentaries of the Shaykh, Miyyaratu’l-Kabir wa’s-Saghir
‘ala-l-Murshid al-Mu’in (Provider of the Young and Old by the Help-
ing Guide) by Ibn Ashir, the Sharh ad-Daghaliyya (Commentary of the
Dense Jungle) by Shaykh Zarruq, the Tabaqat al-Awliya (Classes of the
The Guide 51
Awliya), may Allah be pleased with them, by Shaykh ash-Shar‘ani, the

Tabaqat al-’Ulama, may Allah be pleased with them, by Shaykh Sayyidi
Ahmed Baba as-Sudani al-Maghribi on the manaqib (qualities) of Shaykh
Abu Ya‘za and others. He also read books of tafsir like Imam Ibn ‘Atiya,
Imam al-Khazin, and the two Jalal’ud-Dins. No book could hold him from
beginning to end except for the Sahih of Imam al-Bukhari, may Allah be
pleased with him, and the Shifa‘ (Healing ) of the Qadi ‘Iyad, may Allah
be pleased with him.
He loved divestment and commanded it. He wore the patched robe.
He said, ‘Divestment from this world, outwardly and inwardly is good for
all people. There was no Messenger or Prophet who was not divested of
this world and on his guard about following any of it.’ He said, ‘Divest-
ment with its people is like the elixir with its people. Only the one who is
ignorant of it and does not recognise its value rejects it.’
Shaykh Mawlana al-’Arabi, may Allah be pleased with him, was bewil-
dered concerning his lineage when he was young. Allah ta‘ala showed him
his lineage through eyewitnessing and unveiling by a light which was like
the light which the common people call the rainbow. It came out as a bow
from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to Mawlana
Idris and from Mawlana Idris to Sayyidi Abu Darqa, and from Sayyidi Abu
Darqa to Mawlana al-’Arabi, may Allah be pleased with him. Individuals
among the people of the House, may Allah be pleased with them, are very
often gripped by this bewilderment. Its cause is the intensity of respect for
this noble lineage and fear of pretension. This is part of scrupulousness.
The Banu Zarwal was the birthplace of Shaykh Mawlana al-‘Arabi, may
Allah be pleased with him. He grew up there and lived there and died
there. His tomb is there. This blessed tribe has many benefits and famous
special qualities. Some of those among them are the descendants of the four
Khalifs, Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, and ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with
them. Among them is the great wali, the famous master, Sayyidi al-Hajj
ibn Faqira az-Zarwali. He recited the seven variants of Qur‘an in order in
the Noble Rowdah, the meadow of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace. When he finished it, the Prophet, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, answered him and said, ‘It was sent down on me like
that, Imam az-Zarwali, may Allah bless you and your Zarwali tribe.’
Shaykh ibn al-Khayyat
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
52 The Sufic Path
Mawlana al-‘Arabi, may Allah be pleased with him, said: He informed me

about his Shaykh, but it was my custom never to undertake any matter,
great or small, until I had done the Istikhara of the Prophet. That night, I
did the Istikhara, asking Allah for good and I spent the night absorbed in
wondering about his character and appearance and what my meeting with
him would be like. I did not sleep at all that night. When I had prayed the
Subh prayer I set out for his zawiyya at ar-Rumalya between the two towns,
beside the river, on the qibla side, may Allah ennoble it! That is where his
tomb is now. It is famous and a place which people visit. I knocked on the
door and there he was, standing, sweeping the zawiyya. He always swept
it with his blessed hand every day in spite of his advanced age and the ex-
altedness of his rank. He said, ‘What do you want?’ I said, ‘Sayyidi, I want
you to take my hand for Allah.’ He turned on me fiercely and confused
me and hid his state from me. He said, ‘Who told you this? Who takes
my hand? Why should I take your hand?’ He rebuffed me and chased me
away. All of that was to test my sincerity. I turned from him and then did
the Istikhara again that night, asking Allah for good. Then I prayed the
dawn prayer and set out for his zawiyya. I found him in the same state,
sweeping the zawiyya, may Allah be pleased with him. I knocked on the
door and he opened it for me. I said, ‘Take my hand for Allah.’ He grasped
my hand and said to me, ‘Welcome!’ He brought me to his place in the
zawiyya and was very delighted about me and completely overjoyed. I said
to him, ‘Sayyidi, I have been looking for a Shaykh for a long time.’ He said
to me, ‘And I have been looking for a sincere murid for a very long time.’
He gave me the wird and told me, ‘Come and go.’ I used to come and go
every day. He had me do dhikr with some of the brothers from the people
of Fez, may Allah protect it from every harm!
Faqir, intention is certainly the real elixir, It was present with us when we
were searching for someone who would take us by the hand. We found him
in front of us with hardly any distance at all between us. It was almost as if
he were with us in the same house. Allah is the authority for what we say.
He was, may Allah be pleased with him, outwardly majesty and inwardly
beauty, i.e. his outward was abasement-slaveness and his inward was might-
freedom. How ugly the opposite is! That is, outward might-freedom and
inward abasement-slaveness. Or else it can be outwardly sunna, inwardly
innovation, or outwardly permitted, inwardly forbidden, or outwardly
The Guide 53
lordlike, inwardly shaytan, and so forth. They are deprived of arrival because
they let the foundations go to ruin. There is no doubt that when the elite,
like our master and his likes, abase their outward by choice, Allah elevates
their outward and inward. They are constantly full of joy and happiness.
The common people do the opposite. When they elevate their outward by
choice, Allah abases their outward and inward. They are always in turbidity.
My master, may Allah be pleased with him, was also content with the
knowledge of Allah. He did not turn to the manifested or the hidden.
He only looked at what was between him and his Lord. He did not turn
to regard the praise of the praiser or the blame of the blamer. He often
mentioned these verses:
Would that you were sweet while this life is bitter.
Would that You were pleased while people were angry.
Would that what is between You and me were filled
and flourishing, and that what is between me and the world
were a ruin.
If your love proves true, then all is easy, and all which is
on the earth is earth.
The tongue of his state said: Oh Allah! Disgrace with creation and veiling
faults with Allah! Not the reverse! That is, veiling faults with creation and
disgrace with Allah. Allah ta‘ala said: ‘They will not free or protect you
at all from Allah.’
Faqir, listen to some of his words, may Allah be pleased with him.
‘When people are occupied with ‘ibada, then you should be occupied with
the Worshipped. When they are occupied with love, be occupied with the
Beloved. When they are occupied with seeking for miracles, then be oc-
cupied with the pleasure of intimate conversation. When they are occupied
with repeating the wird, be occupied with the King, the Generous,’ and so
on. He also said, after some discussion which preceded it, ‘Had you seen
Him in everything, you would be veiled from everything by contemplation.
How can anything appear to you while He is Manifest? He is the Existent
by which everything exists. How can anything else appear to you when He
is Manifest? He is the One with whom there is nothing. Had you joined the
in-time to the beyond-endless-time, the in-time would have been crushed
to nothing and the beyond-endless-time would remain. Had the attributes
of the Beloved appeared, the veil and the veiled would have been annihi-
54 The Sufic Path
lated. Had the lights of contemplation appeared in tajalli-manifestation,

the one doing-without and that which he does without would have been
annihilated. When you do without things, you elevate them above their
value. That is because you are veiled from Him. Had you seen Him in them,
or before or after them, you would not have been veiled by them from
Him. Your preoccupation with them is what veils you from Him. Had you
seen their existence as being from Him, you would not have been veiled
by them from Him. All that comes between you and the Worshipped is
your joy with what you have and your sorrow for what you do not have.
All that veils you from bliss is this deformed quality. Had it not been for
the informer and the spy, your joy with the Beloved would not be perfect.
Were it not for the fire and the bee-sting, the pleasure of the honeycomb
and the honey would not be perfect,’ and so forth.
He said, may Allah be pleased with him, ‘Whoever claims that he has
drunk the drink of the people, or has understood their meanings, and yet
has not done without in this world, is a liar. As the Garden is forbidden to
the one who has not died and has been raised up, so the Garden of gnoses
is forbidden to the one whose self has not died to this world, to its manage-
ment and choice, to its will and appetite, and to everything except Allah.’
He said, may Allah be pleased with him, ‘By Allah, do not say ‘I’ before
obtaining annihilation. You can only obtain life after death. Suns will only
shine for you after the death of the self. You will not reach the desired goal
as long as people have praise for you. You will not taste the food of iman
until after you leave created beings. You will only obtain well-being after
annihilation to the people of annihilation. Had the veils been rent apart
for you, you would have seen the Beloved in your essence. Had the veils
of illusions departed from you, you would have always seen the Enduring.
Had the distance of your self been quickly traversed you would not have
seen anything in existence except for your Lord. Had your self been sound
and free of vices, the Truth would have come and the false would have
vanished,’ and so on. Among his benefits was the breaking of norms, may
Allah be pleased with him.
I do not know whether or not it is valid to take a dead Shaykh. There is
no doubt that I have seen many people who affiliated themselves with the
great wali and famous gnostic, Mawlay ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani, may Allah
profit us by him. They claimed that he was their Shaykh although they
The Guide 55
were alive and he was dead, may Allah be pleased with him. However, we
think that what they intended by that was for Allah ta‘ala to show mercy
to them because of his love and their dependence on him. This is a good
intention. One hopes for good from it because a man’s intention is better
than his action as is related in the Sahih. ‘Actions are by intentions. Every
man has what he intends.’ If they intend other than what we mentioned
by that, then their intention is like the one who attaches himself to the
living who have arrived in order that they should make them reach their
Lord as is the business of the living who have arrived. Only the one who
has no knowledge is deluded by that. Had that been valid, our master, the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would have
been enough for all of us and we would have no need of anyone since he is
the worthiest person for our affairs. No one can dispense with the Shaykh
in any of the disciplines, especially the discipline of sufism. The People, may
Allah be pleased with them, said, ‘Whoever has no Shaykh, shaytan is his
Shaykh.’ Ibn Shiban, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘Whoever has no
master is idle. Dropping off the means (of arrival) is lack of proper balance.
Basing action on them is misguidance,’ etc. Whoever claims that he has no
need of the Shaykh, has turned away from the door and turned toward the
wall. If we had kept what the Messenger of Allah brought us, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, and our hearts and limbs had not opposed
it at all, we would have no need of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, nor, by Allah, the Shaykh. We have altered and
changed until our hearts and limbs have been soiled and polluted and we
have fallen into turbidity. How then can we not have need of the Shaykh?
This is only said by one who is arrogant, ignorant, or pleased with himself.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Part of what I heard the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, say is:
‘When the Shaykh of the murid dies, he is like the one who travels with
good. When good dies for him, he must find another good to travel with.
As for the one who says that the dead Shaykh is enough for him, that is
because he has little knowledge and much ignorance.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
56 The Sufic Path
Shaykh ash-Shadhili, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘Whoever does
not become embedded in this knowledge of ours, dies persisting in great
wrong actions while he is not aware of it.’ Shaykh Ibrahim ibn Adham, may
Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘By Allah, had I known a knowledge nobler
than this one on the surface of the earth, I would have gone to it.’ Shaykh
al-Mursi, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘If you see someone who has
been given knowledge and the treasures of understanding have been opened
for him, then do not bicker with him about written texts. Do not argue with
him from the jealousy of the self because gifts are above acquisitions.’ It was
said to Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Maymun, may Allah be pleased with
him, at the beginning of his affair: ‘Throw away your book and bury your
self in the ground. Then a spring will emerge for you. If not, then leave me.’
The Shaykh, our Master Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali al-Jamal, may Allah be pleased
with him, said, ‘Books are derived from the hearts. They are what support
the books from the beginning of this world to the end of it since the hearts
are the root.’ Shaykh ash-Shadhili, may Allah be pleased with him, said
when he found his Shaykh, the qutb, Mawlay ‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish,
may Allah be pleased him: ‘Allah! I have washed myself of my knowledge
and my action so that I will not recognise any knowledge or action except
what comes to me by the hand of this Shaykh,’ i.e. Ibn Mashish. Then he
washed himself at the famous spring at al-Hasan. It is near to that Shaykh
at the foot of the mountain on the qibla side, may Allah honour it! That
became a sunna for whoever came after him since that is the only way to
obtain knowledge of the reality. Because of that, we have mentioned here
what I know of the words of the Shaykhs of the tariqa, may Allah be pleased
with them, about this meaning. Shaykh Mawlay Abd’ul-Qadir al-Jilani,
may Allah be pleased with him, said in his song in ‘Ayn:
If the decreed is helpful in carrying your baggage of fate
to a real Shaykh who is skilled in the reality,
Then concern yourself with his pleasure and follow what
he wants. Leave all that you were doing before.
With him, you should be like the corpse in the hands
of the washer. The washer turns him about as he likes
and he is completely pliable.
Do not object to that of which you are ignorant.
Objection is struggle.
The Guide 57
Surrender to him in whatever you see. If it is contrary

to the shari‘a of Muhammad, there is deception.
There is enough in the story of al-Khidr about the
killing of the boy when Musa objected.
It continues until he says, ‘Such is the knowledge of the people. There are
marvels in it.’
Sayyidi Ahmad, be careful that you do not understand me to say that
you should neglect outward knowledge for the love of inward knowledge.
No, by Allah! again no, by Allah, no! I have this although I recognise that
the only way to the reality is by the door of the shari‘a of Muhammad. The
only way to freedom is by the door of slaveness. What moved me to quote
the words of the Shaykhs of the tariqa, may Allah be pleased with them, on
this meaning? It was only because I saw that most of the fuqaha of outward
knowledge did not think badly about the people of error as much as they
thought badly about the people of the tariqa. They are the people of inward
knowledge, may Allah be pleased them. They did not rush to reject any of
the rebels like they rush to reject them. They claim that they act correctly
in their occupation with outward knowledge, and that they, may Allah
be kind to them, are occupied with the knowledge by which our Lord is
worshipped. It is as if Allah ta‘ala did not command them to oppose their
passions. This is great ignorance on their part and well-known error. We
seek refuge with Allah!
We think that they should turn in tawba from what they are doing
without delay. If not they will destroy themselves and they will destroy
the ignorant common people who follow them since they have closed the
door of tawba in their faces and in the faces of their followers. That door
will remain open until the sun rises in the West as Allah ta‘ala said, ‘A day
when some of the signs of your Lord come.’ What is meant is the sun rising
from the West, and Allah knows best. How remarkable! How often they are
harsh to people, and how often they distance them, make things difficult,
and make the paths narrow for people and turn them to perilous places!
In spite of that, the people of true sincerity always turn in tawba, always
return, always travel, and always arrive. The door of generosity is the door.
How many there are who do not recognise error from right conduct! How
remarkable! The one who arrives is not harsh nor does he constrict when
he is near. The one who is cut off is harsh and constricts when he is distant.
58 The Sufic Path
Our master, may Allah be pleased with him, always used to say to
us, ‘We have only the overflowing favour of Allah, and the favour of our
masters, the outward ‘ulama who put in our possession the waymarks of
the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Then, when one
of us is drowning in the sea of the reality, he looks at the waymarks of the
Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which are in the hands
of our masters, the outward ‘ulama, may Allah be pleased with them. He
returns to him and is saved from drowning. The words of the perfected
ones among the people of knowledge are always repeated to us. They are
the ones who join the knowledge of the shari‘a of Muhammad and the
knowledge of the reality, may Allah be pleased with him:
Whoever has the shari‘a without the reality
has left the right way,
Whoever has the reality without the shari‘a
is a heretic.
Whoever joins the two of them
has realisation.
They also repeat their statement to us: ‘Some people are veiled by the
reality from the shari‘a of Muhammad. Some people make the shari‘a of
Muhammad a door and the reality a pavilion. Those are the party of Allah.
The party of Allah, they are the successful.’
My brothers, we have nothing to do with what people have of knowledge
or actions. What we have – by the favour of Allah – is a profitable heart,
sound intention, good opinion, love, true sincerity, yearning, passionate
love, resolution, natural disposition, and high himma. All these are actions
of the heart which we have from Allah as a divine gift and a favour and
blessing from him. An atom’s worth of the actions of the heart is better
than mountains of the actions of the limbs.
Allah has slaves who do not obtain what they obtain by their knowledge
or their action. They obtain what they obtain by the overflowing favour of
their Lord on them, and nothing more. One of them was the great famous
clear Imam, Sayyiduna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him,
about whom the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, said, ‘The superiority of Abu Bakr over you is not because of much
prayer and fasting. He is superior to you by something fixed in his breast.’
The Guide 59
One of them was the famous great realised wali, Sayyidi Abu Ya‘za, may Al-
lah be pleased with him. He was illiterate and did not understand anything.
It is said that he could not recognise his own name when it was written
down. Allah taught him what he did not know and made him understand
what he did not understand. There are many of them among the awliya of
Allah, may Allah be pleased with them. This is well-known. It reached us
from one of the masters of the people of our time that he said, ‘So-and-so
does not recognise any knowledge. He and his disciples always mention
majesty.’ He did not know that Allah has slaves who do not obtain what
they obtain by any of the normal means. They obtain what they obtain by
the overflowing favour of the Generous, the Giving. Sayyidi al-Busayri,
may Allah be pleased with him, said:
It is enough for you that knowledge in the illiterate is a miracle,
as is good manners in orphans in the jahiliyya.
He said:
The eye rejects the light of the sun
because of ophthalmia.
The mouth rejects the taste of water
because of illness.
He did not know that Allah ta‘ala does not take an ignorant wali without
teaching him. It says in the Immense Qur‘an, ‘We taught him,’ i.e. Sayyi-
duna al-Khidr, peace be upon him, ‘knowledge directly from Us.’ There
is disagreement about him. Some say that he is a wali. Some say that he is
a prophet. Some say that he is a messenger, and Allah knows best about
him. It also says in the Immense Qur‘an, ‘He taught man what he did not
know.’ The upshot is, and Allah knows His unseen world best, that the
perfect wali is like a lamp, or like the full moon, or like the sun, or like the
Night of Power, or he is beyond anything that the intellect can conceive.
One of them said, ‘Had the reality of the wali been unveiled, he would
have been worshipped.’ So then where in the world is the statement of the
one who said, ‘So-and-so does not recognise any knowledge?’ We say to
him, ‘Where is his knowledge in relation to our knowledge? Where is his
perception in relation to our perception? How far apart these two are!’
Sayyidi al-Ghazali, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
I used to assume that reaching You could be bought
by precious property and profit.
60 The Sufic Path
I supposed that Your love was easy, and that noble

spirits are annihilated in it.
Until I saw You selecting and singling out the one
You choose with subtle gifts.
Then I knew that You cannot be obtained by a trick,
so I folded my head under my wing.
I made my residence the nest of passion. I am always
in it morning and evening.
It says in the Immense Qur‘an, ‘Had it not been for the favour of Allah
to you and His mercy, you would have been among the losers.’ – ‘Had it
not been for the favour of Allah to you and His mercy, you would have
followed shaytan except for a few.’ – ‘Had it not been for the favour of
Allah to you and His mercy, none of you would ever have been purified.
But Allah purifies whomever He wills.’ It says in a hadith of the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘None of you will enter
the Garden by his actions.’ When he said this, they said to him, ‘Not even
you, Messenger of Allah?’ He said, ‘Not even me unless my Lord covers
me with His mercy.’
My brothers, whoever wants to obtain blessings beyond what his intellect
can conceive of, should be ashamed before his Lord and should not deviate
from the sunna of His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
He should be firm in it and not be dislodged from it as long as he is alive
and as much as he is able. Success is by Allah. We could say, whoever wants
to be a master of his companions and a lamp for the people of his time
should be ashamed before his Lord and not be lax in his deen.
My brothers, I looked closely into the states of the men of Allah, may Allah
be pleased with them. My state shone brilliantly and I saw in a way that
was as if Allah had acquainted me with all of them, living and dead, past
and present. That is not difficult for Allah. They are in three divisions. In
the first division, their wayfaring is stronger than their attraction. These
are very numerous. In the second division, their attraction is stronger than
their wayfaring. These are less in number than the first group. The wine
of the last group is accompanied by their intellects at all moments. Their
wayfaring is not stronger than their attraction, and their attraction is not
stronger than their wayfaring. They, may Allah be pleased with them, are
The Guide 61
sober-intoxicated. They always join intoxication and sobriety. Neither of

them exceeds the other. These are very rare indeed in this world. They are
matchless because their rank is a precious sublime rank. Not everyone
perceives its end. Only one may perceive its end. That one person is called
the unique one (al-fard), and Allah knows best, because he is isolated
(tafarrad) with it. For that reason, the name the unique is true for him.
You call so-and-so the unique of his time and the singular one of his age.
The great famous realised wali, Sayyidi Ibn al-‘Arabi al-Hatimi, may Allah
be pleased with him, said, ‘The fard is greater than the qutb in knowledge
of Allah-ta‘ala.’
Two opposites are not joined together except for the man whose foot is
on the foot of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace. He is extremely rare in every age, and even more so in our time since
he is like the Philosopher’s Stone. Allah is the authority for what I say.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Oh brother! Know that whoever has a sound relationship to the reality so

that there is no separation between him and it, he is the one who obtains the
kingdom of this world and the Next, an eternal kingdom of after-endless-
time. The one with this station is the Khalif of Allah on His earth over all
His creation. The one with this station disposes of all the reality. At his
hand, the provision of creatures are all divided as well as their fruits, rains,
meats, fats, himma, will, management, choices, acts, speech – all this they
only obtain by his hand. Even the formation of the embryos in the wombs
of the mothers is in his power. Had a fish cried to him in the depths of the
dark sea in the thunder of night and the darkness at the end of the month,
he would have heard its voice immediately and answered it and given it
what it asked. Had an angel called on him at the leg of the Throne or under
the seventh lowest earth, he would have answered it. Had it been an ant
or a gnat, he would have given it what it asked. All existence with him is
like his limbs. It is still by his stillness and it moves by his movement. It
speaks by his words, acts by his actions, is concerned by his concern, and
wills by his will. The mark of the one of this immense rank is that you find
his even is contained in his odd and his odd is contained in his even, and
he is he. His essence is contained in his attributes, and his attributes are
62 The Sufic Path
contained in his essence, and he is he. His shari‘a is contained in his reality,
and his reality is contained in his shari‘a and he is he. His high things are
contained in his low things, and his low things in his high things, and he is
he. His nearness is contained in his distance, and his distance is contained
in his nearness, and he is he. His giving is contained in his withholding,
and his withholding is contained in his giving. His good is contained in
his evil, and his evil is contained in his good, and he is he. His pleasure is
contained in his wrath, and his wrath is contained in his pleasure, and he
is he. His abasement is contained in his might and his might is contained
in his abasement, and he is he. His separation is contained in his gathered-
ness, and his gatheredness is contained in his separation, and he is he. His
life is contained in his death, and his death is contained in his life, and he
is he. His wealth is contained in his poverty, and his poverty is contained
in his wealth, and he is he. His greatness is contained in his smallness, and
his smallness is contained in his greatness, and he is he. These are some
of his attributes. All of creation are veiled to the one of this rank except
for the people of zuhd in the self and zuhd in money. He is the middle
of creation, and they do not see him because of the strength of the light
which surrounds him on all sides. His manifestation is withdrawn from
creation in his inward as he presents himself to them in his manifestation.
They do not find any information about him while they shake hands with
him morning and evening. They hear his voice and talk with him and see
him and do not recognise him. Glory be to the One Who manifested him
inwardly so that He did not hide him from anyone, and Who concealed
him by his manifestation so that no one finds him. Glory be to the Wise,
the Knowing!
Your contemplation of the slave who contemplates the Master establishes
for you contemplation of the Master. That is because the slave who con-
templates Allah only has the phantom of slaveness from slaveness. It is
Allah who witnesses Himself by Himself, and there is no slave. It is then
impossible that other than Allah be recognised or that Allah see other than
Allah. However, when Allah, may His praise be exalted, wants to manifest
Himself to Himself in intermediaries, He, may He be exalted, removes the
veil from His face and appears in tajalli to whomever He chooses of His
lovers among his slaves. In that the common continue to see a phantom
of that slave. It not the slave because the slave is annihilated, vanished,
The Guide 63
dissolved, and only Allah remains. That phantom which the common see,
i.e. the phantom of slaveness, is in the eyes of the common, not in the wali
because the wali was a slave before Allah appeared to him.
The truth has come and falsehood has departed.
The people of the veil are not aware. It is as if slaveness were opposite this
station. It is that by which the people of this station reach slaveness. It is
the veil which veils this station. It is the key which alone opens this station.
Whoever arrives, arrives. Whoever is cut off, is cut off. This phantom which
the common see is, as we said, in the eyes of the common, not in the wali.
The eye may reject the light of the sun because of ophthalmia. The mouth
may reject water from illness. Glory be to the One Who made the veil the
source of the door as He made the door the source of the veil! Glory be
to the One Who punishes by that which He shows mercy if He wills, and
shows mercy by that with which He punishes if He wills. Glory be to the
Powerful, the Wise.
Know that slaveness to this Adamic, i.e. the one related to Allah, is a copy
of slaveness to Allah. That is because the Adamic is the Khalif of Allah
in the earth. Whoever fulfils the due of the Khalif, and he is Adam, in
every case, fulfils the due of slaveness to Allah. Whoever does not have
slaveness to Adam, does not undertake the rights of slaveness to Allah.
He said, may He be exalted:
Those who make a contract with you, make a contract
with Allah. The hand of Allah is above their hands.
Know that Allah ta‘ala brought this existence into being and created this
Adamic and made him the khalif in it. Whatever the khalif wants in exist-
ence, is in existence. Whatever the khalif does not want in existence, is not
in existence. The management of all existence only issues in conformity
with the will of the khalif. The will of the khalif is the will of Allah ta‘ala.
He, may He be exalted, veils it from existence. He is through with what
is in it, and it is entrusted to the responsibility of His Adamic Khalif to
dispose of by His permission, may He be exalted! He, glory be to Him, is
unique in His sublimity, greatness, immensity, and elevation. He also made
His Adamic Khalif the bride of the kingdom, its Qutb, and its Amir. All
phenomenal beings desire him. That is because he has their passage, high
and low. The Adamic is the Interspace between the presence of Allah and
64 The Sufic Path
the presence of creation. If he himself is part of creation, he is jailed by his

own choice in creation. He chose him and preferred him and gathered in
him what was separated in others. The prison of the Wise, the Knowing.
If you want to have gatheredness, you must have words. If you want to have
separation, you must have actions. The word of the inward is reflection,
and the word of the outward is dhikr. When you cling to dhikr, and it is
the word of the outward, you will have the word of the inward and it is
reflection. When you cling to reflection, and it is the word of the inward,
you will have the word of the outward, and it is dhikr. When dhikr and
reflection are joined in you, the suns of gatheredness shine on you and you
appear between them because gatheredness is meaning, and all words are
meanings. Meditation is feminine and dhikr is masculine. When they marry
a child grows between them who is called gatheredness. It is as ash-Shitri
said, may Allah have mercy on him:
Do not look at vessels.
Dive into the sea of meanings!
Perhaps you will see Me
In the company of the Sufis.
When seeing leaves meanings, there is no wonder, because looking is a
meaning and words are meanings. It is like that with actions. The action
of the outward is norms and the action of the inward is breaking norms.
The key of breaking norms is norms, as the key of norms is breaking norms.
Whenever norms and breaking norms are joined, the suns of separation
shine from between them because all actions are sensory and all separation
is sensory. Norms are feminine and breaking norms is masculine. When they
marry, a child grows between them who is called separation. If you want
results – join your outward word and your inward word – it will become
masculine, and join your outward action and your inward action – it will
become feminine, the wife of the masculine. Then marriage will occur be-
tween them and they will produce a child to whom the necks of the people
of the seven heavens and the seven earths will bow by the command of Allah
ta‘ala. His attributes are knowledge and action, and his essence is light, and
his name is the Khalif of Allah ta‘ala in His earth. His words are, ‘“Be!”
by the command of Allah!’ and it is, and his actions are to turn existence
about in his hand like a ball. His will is that whatever you see emerging in
all existence, only emerges by his contemplation and will. His foot in that
The Guide 65
is on that of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. His
beloved and his lover is in the presence of ihsan before the King, the Judge.
Know my brother, that my companions come to me in varieties. Some of
them have unbearable cold and come to me to seek heat from me. Some of
them have unbearable heat and come to me to seek coolness from me. Each
of them only leaves me full of what he seeks in the best form. By Allah, had
the people of the seven heavens and the people of the seven earths sought
me in the same hour, Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, would have fulfilled
all their needs in that hour.
Know that if the one of claim is by Allah or keeps the company of a Shaykh
who is by Allah, he is equal to all the reality. Had there been a million men,
they would not be equal to his station. Had the earth been filled with men,
they would not be equal to his station. He outweighs all. If the claim not
by Allah or by the company of one who is by Allah, that one is a mushrik.
‘If we are by Him, we delight in a proof over all free men and slaves. If we
return to ourselves, our abasement is that of the Jews.’
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
My brother, be on your guard against interpreting any ayah of Qur‘an with

an insufficient interpretation. Go to the utmost in its commentary, then
you will be right. If you do not go to the utmost in its commentary, then
you must necessarily err since it is the Immense Qur‘an. The meanings
of the Immense are only immense. None knows its interpretation except
Allah. When those masters, the ‘ulama, the people of outward knowledge,
were interpreting it, would that their recitation could distract them from
its commentary so that Allah could give them opening to its inward
meanings. Then they would join the knowledge of the outward and the
knowledge of the inward, or the knowledge of the shari‘a of Muhammad
and the knowledge of the reality. Then they would give commentary on
it as many of the perfect have given commentary, may Allah be pleased
with them and may He give us the profit of their baraka. Amin.
If you say, ‘The Qur‘an testifies to other ways as well that of Ibrahim,’ I
say, ‘Are they equal? – the one whose breast is only expanded by the exist-
ence of his appetites and desires, and the one who has withdrawn from his
appetites and desires into the contemplation of the immensity of his Lord?’
66 The Sufic Path
No, by Allah, by Allah, by Allah!

Also test your heart again. Does it seek help from the Immense Qur‘an,
the hadith of the noble Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
from the Shaykhs of the people of the outward and the people of the in-
ward, from the brothers, from Allah, and from His Messenger, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace? If you find that it seeks help from all, then
it is a great heart. If not, then it is lower than the one who has this state.
Therefore, you should not leave him until you are like him – your dye is
his dye and his dye is your dye. As for the one who takes from Allah and
His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, all creatures seek
help from him, high and low, absent and present, near and far, dense and
subtle. Whenever his support is strong, their support is strong. Whenever
his support is weak, their support is weak. However, we think that if he is
perfect, whenever his help in one direction is strong, he turns to the other
direction so that there will be balance between the two directions which
seek help from him so that neither of them will be obliterated. Such is the
one who possesses this heart, or we can say, possesses this immense station,
until the extinction of this world. Allah is the authority for what we say.
One of the sharifs of Fez, and one of its masters and great men denounced
me very strongly in the presence of a gathering of the brothers, may Allah
be pleased with them. I was silent before him and did not speak until his
rancour had reached the brim, ebbed and abated. I was silent. I did not speak
or answer him at all. After this had gone on for some time and I still had
not answered him at all, he said to me, ‘Speak with me so I can speak with
you.’ I said, ‘I recognise the generous. They brought me up, may Allah repay
them with good from me.’ He told me. ‘How is that?’ I said, ‘If I speak with
you and plunge into discussion, I fear then that I may become involved like
you. If both of us become involved, then what good will there be between
us? By Allah, we do not think that there will be any good between us if I
join my plunging into discussion with your plunging.’ He said to me with
great strength, ‘That is what people have told me about you! They said that
you are a great faqih!’ Then he regretted the ugliness which had come from
him and apologised to me profusely and began to have great love for me.
Good character – or we might say, noble character – my brothers, is sufism
with the sufis and the deen with the people of the deen.
The Guide 67
If you are scrupulous in your words and actions, and consider as the same
the one who exalts you and the one who abases you, the one who gives to
you and the one who withholds from you, the one who makes you arrive
and the one who cuts you off, the one who loves you and the one who
hates you, the one who affirms you and the one who rejects you, the one
who recognises your value and the one who is ignorant of your value, the
one who scratches you like a hedgehog and the one who treats you like a
newborn, then we have no doubt about your perfection. This is because we
know that there is no one who moves in the knowledge of the people like
you move, and there is no one who has a heart like you. May Allah bring
the tariqa to life by you! May He protect you from the evil of the one who
envies you by His overflowing favour!
I only mention this to you so that you will recognise the favour of Allah
to you above the fuqaha of your time. We see that their water is stopped. It
is stopped by bad opinion, malignant secret, arrogance, pride, stubbornness,
self-contentment, ignorance, and ignorance of their ignorance. Had they
made their opinion good and bowed their heads to the people of their time,
Allah would have released their water. It is also stopped because of their
low himma and their claim that they are like the people. They are not, by
Allah, like the people. If they had been like the people, they would have
had what the people have. Whoever claims that he is like the people and
has what the people have, his measure is the measure of the people. That
is, that he is not concerned with himself. He abases his self and does not
exalt it. He lowers it and does not elevate it. He belittles it and does not
make it great. He disgraces it and does not cover it up. That is also because
he trades in the markets like people. He takes care of their needs with his
own hand, whatever the need may be – meat, intestines, the head, tripe,
chicken, eggs, saddle, handful of garlic, bundle of onions or the like of this.
He carries it in his hand, on his neck, or on his donkey or cow. By Allah,
I do not think that any of them will do this. If he had done it, he would
have been like the people. If he had been like the people, he would have
been stripped of what he believed about himself because he is on the same
level as the people and he and they are the same. The matter is not like that
with him: The matter is that people are common and he is elite, as far as he
is concerned. He does not see that he is better than them by his ‘ibada or
his character or his humility. He sees that he is better than them since he is
68 The Sufic Path
disconnected from the states which they have, due to their direct contact
with their means in their hands and protecting their manliness. He does
not want anyone to see him except with what he likes and is pleasing among
the high states. They are not hidden. He, may Allah be kind to him, does
not know that one of the masters, may Allah be pleased with them, used
to give water at the markets. One of them used to auction donkeys. One
of them was a blacksmith. One of them traded while riding on his donkey
with his wife following behind him. There is more of that. The people, may
Allah be pleased with them, say, ‘This path of ours is only useful for people
who sweep the rubbish heaps with their spirits.’
May Allah have mercy on you! Know that Shaykh al-Majdhub, may
Allah be pleased with him, was among our Shaykhs and the paragons of
the men of Allah in North Africa. He said, may Allah be pleased with him,
‘All of the water of Morocco is cut off except for our water. It will not be
cut off until the last day.’
May Allah have mercy on you! Know, that the Shaykhs of the Path, may
Allah be pleased with them, who join attraction and wayfaring – or if you
like, you can say intoxication and sobriety – are the means between us and
our Lord. It is not the one who is wayfaring without attraction, or the one
who is majdhub (mad-in-Allah) without wayfaring. We could say, that it is
not the one who is intoxicated without sobriety, nor the one who is sober
without intoxication. Whoever attaches himself to them is saved. Whoever
stays away from them is drowned. The People, may Allah be pleased with
them, said, ‘Whoever has no Shaykh, his Shaykh is shaytan.’
We urge you by every possible means to have respect and esteem for
your Shaykhs, your brothers, and all of the slaves of your Lord. When you
have esteem for those whom we mentioned, they have esteem for you. If
you disregard them, they disregard you:
I looked at them, they looked at me. My eyes shone.
As was said by the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Muhammad ash-Sharqawi,
may Allah profit us by him! Be on your guard against exerting all of your
energy in recalcitrance towards them. The people, may Allah be pleased
with them, said, ‘There is no tawba for recalcitrance to the masters.’
My brothers, if the murid does not have reverence, assumption of knowl-
edge, modesty, awe, fear, respect, and esteem for the Shaykh who is truly
a real Shaykh, then the murid does not benefit at all by him. If there is no
The Guide 69
benefit, then it is of no consequence to the Shaykh or the murid. Neither of

them has any profit. Listen to what I tell you and pay close attention to it as
much as you possibly can, may Allah ta‘ala give you success and help you!
Listen to the advice of one of the ‘ulama of action, may Allah be pleased
with all of them, to one of the kings, may Allah be pleased with them:
‘Have the best intention toward the one who is affiliated with Allah. Do
not expose him to any evil. If he is true, then you will benefit by him. If he
is a liar, Allah will give you benefit because of your intention.’
It is not enough for you to be attached to the Shaykhs unless it is someone
who is truly a real Shaykh. This is what we think and it is what most people
think, and Allah knows best.
The awliya of Allah ta‘ala are the elixir of the hearts. Whoever sees them,
has such a happiness by them that he is never miserable after it.
Visiting the awliya contains great virtue and a clear secret, immense impor-
tance, and far-reaching consequences. This is recognised by the one who
applies himself to it and samples it since it is one of the doors of Allah ta‘ala.
The people, may Allah be pleased with them, said, ‘The one who profits
only profits by the company of one who has profited. The one who loses
only loses by the company of one who has lost.’
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know that the likeness of the Shaykh with the murid is like the cow with
its calf. It cannot manifest its milk to anyone except because of its calf. This
is because when it aims for its calf and its liver is tender and kind to it and
its milk is generous, people obtain the benefit of what is left over from its
calf. Had it not been for its calf, no one would have profited from its milk.
It is like that with the perfect Shaykh. When he has a sincere murid with
good opinion of him, he does not desire other than him and does not see
in existence anyone higher of rank with Allah than him. When the murid
is in this state, the heart of the Shaykh must be kind to him and tender to
him. World and actions emerge from the Shaykh because of that murid, and
he is addressed by knowledges and secrets by which the murid and others
benefit in his life and after his death because when the Shaykh has an hour
70 The Sufic Path
of overflowing present with him, he is one of the doors of Allah and one of
His names. He is the greatest Name of Allah the Great. Whoever calls by
it, is answered. Whoever asks by it is given because this great privilege only
issues from the Shaykh in two states, either by overflowing which exists,
or by the guidance of a murid because all this knowledge revolves around
adab with Allah and the Shaykhs, may Allah be pleased with them. Their
adab with Allah is complete and they are the people of His presence and
those who sit with Him and His elite among His creation and His lovers.
May Allah, the Great, the Exalted, preserve them from imperfection and
guard them from that by His word, may He be exalted:
You will have no power over My slaves.
All their states only live by Allah when Allah wishes how Allah wishes.
When things issue from them, may Allah be pleased with them, related to
perfection, we understand from them in that, Divine force appears in tajalli
in them. It acts with them, so we do not criticise them for any of that. We
are obliged to have good opinion of them and to seek their baraka. Allah
has been kind to them so that the humanness which appears in them is
effective with them. We do not criticise them for anything, and we do not
have a bad opinion of them. We have a good opinion of them and cling to
adab with them, and stillness and gravity. We know that they are mortal
like us, and everything is permitted in respect to them.
It is related from Shaykh Sayyidi Muhammad ibn Nasir, may Allah profit us
by him, that a man came to him and said, ‘Sayyidi, I desire from Allah and
from you that you direct me to a Shaykh who is perfect.’ He said to him,
‘My son! look. Whoever has a perfect murid, he is your perfect Shaykh.’
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, say the like of that.
Part of what Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah profit us by him, said to
me is, ‘My son, by my self, I have not heard your voice calling me at the
door of the house, ‘O ‘Arabi!’ but that in that hour, I imagined myself like
a woman who hears the voice of her child crying in the cradle. When she
hears his voice, milk comes into her breasts to nurse him. Before she heard
his voice, there was no milk in her breasts. Because of hearing the voice
of her child, Allah brought milk into existence in her breasts with which
she can nurse him. In the same way, when I hear your voice, we find what
I will nurse you with, of the knowledge of Allah.
The Guide 71
Know that the one with an innate disposition in matters is like the green
stem. Whenever you plant it, it grows and thrives, and its results appear of
blossoms, fruits, and other than that. The one you find who lacks innate
disposition in matters is like the dry stem. It is impossible that any increase
issue from it. Since increase does not issue from it in any case, then decrease
must issue from it. They said: Whoever is not in increase, is in decrease. Part
of the condition of stems is that if they are dry and there is no greenness
in them, they end up in the fire.
Know that the first of what the seeker of this Path needs in his beginning
is that he cast himself on a Shaykh who is a gnostic of Allah, skilled in
the journey of descent and ascent. Before him, he is like the corpse in the
hands of the one who washes him. He does not resist the Shaykh when he
understands something to be lacking, even if it is not in the shari‘a. Sayyidi
‘Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani said, may Allah profit us by him, ‘If I am a rebel in
the judgement of the shari‘a, I am obedient in the knowledge of the real-
ity.’ The murid must also, when he comes to the Shaykh, wash himself of
his knowledge and his action as Shaykh Sayyidi Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shadhili,
may Allah profit us by him, did when he met Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’s-Salam
ibn Mashish, may Allah profit us by all, in his well-known encounter. He
also must turn in tawba from his good and evil deeds. He must turn in
tawba from his good deeds more than his evil deeds, as one of them said,
‘The tawba of the act of rebellion is one tawba, and the tawba of the act of
obedience is a thousand tawba.’ With this, he keeps his company and clings
to him until the Shaykh is dearer to him than himself, his property, and his
children until had he commanded him to do the impossible which cannot
be conceived of in the intellect, he would have done it without turning
away or weariness. As for our statement that he turns in tawba from his
good and evil deeds, let him come to his Master desiring His pure favour,
not by anything or for anything. Success is by Allah.
The first of what comes to the seeker of this Path is on the Shaykh. The
Shaykh finds him in the natural disposition of Allah upon which people
are formed. Part of that is that he finds him mighty by himself, rich by
himself, powerful by himself, strong by himself, and ignorant of his Lord.
He begins to move him to the station of relinquishment, and it is the sta-
tion of the elite because that station which he finds him in is the station
72 The Sufic Path
of all the common, so he moves him from it to the station of the elite with
gentleness, bit by bit, until he becomes abased by himself, poor by himself,
incapable by himself, and weak by himself. When he senses this station from
him, he moves him to a station which is higher than this. It is the station
of the elite of the elite. It is the station of adornment. He becomes rich by
Allah, mighty by Allah, strong by Allah, and powerful by Allah. Then he
becomes a gnostic of Allah. He enters the protection of Allah, his Master.
He begins to scoop up knowledge and action from the seas of wisdom. May
Allah make us among the people of this immense portion by His favour
and ihsan, generosity and nobility.
The only one who has success is the one who loves the one who has success
with the slaveness of the shari‘a. It is the door of slaveness of the reality.
Whoever is the slave of the shari‘a is the slave of the realities. Whoever is
not a slave of the shari‘a, has no portion in the slaveness of the realities. If
he is the slave of the realities, Allah ta‘ala said:
Whoever obeys the Messenger, has obeyed Allah.
He said, may the Speaker be magnified:
Those who make a contract with you,
make a contract with Allah.
The one who enters the reality is like the one who enters an empty desert.
He must either be familiar with the land, so he is rescued, or else he enters
it with someone who is familiar with it, and he is saved. If the one who
is ignorant of it enters it without the company of one of its people, he is
dead and destroyed. The matter is then that only the one who knows the
land is saved or the one who learns by the company of one who knows
the land is saved. The ignorant one who is content with his ignorance
is destroyed. No one is permitted to advance in a matter until he knows
Allah’s judgement in it.
Know that entry into the reality without the shari‘a makes a zindiq. All
creation are shara‘i’. By creation, I mean the Shaykhs. Whoever enters the
reality at the hand of a gnostic Shaykh, has entered the reality by the shari‘a.
It is like that with the shari‘a. Whoever enters it without the reality becomes
one who leaves the right way. Entering the shari‘a here without the reality is
one who keeps the company of one of creation who is not related to Allah.
The Guide 73
He leaves the right way. He said, may He be exalted:

No good is there in much of their conspiring,
except for him who bids to sadaqa, or honour,
or setting things right between people.
Perfection, properly speaking, is entering the reality by the shari‘a. Entering
the reality by the shari‘a with the seeker of Allah is entering for Allah at
the hand of a Shaykh who is a gnostic of Allah ta‘ala. The only one who
has success is the one who keeps company of one who has had success.
Know that this path of ours has three conditions. If these conditions exist,
it exists. If these conditions do not exist, it does not exist. The first of these
conditions is constant company with its masters. The second condition
is listening to them in doing what they command you, even if it were as if
impossible because of tiredness and lack of attention. The third is relation-
ship to the people of the art and imitating them.
We saw our Masters in this path of ours, may Allah profit us by them, like
the people of the Garden. When they want to speak with each other, each
of them goes near his companion to speak about what the selves desire
and eyes delight in until they come to conversation of this world. They
separate and each goes far from his companion. The people of this path of
ours are like that. They have this state in the world, may Allah be pleased
with them, because our path is the path of expansion, and speaking in this
world is contraction. Contraction is not fitting for them, and they are not
among its people.
Part of what occurred to me with the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him,
is that he was sitting in the zawiyya while we were with him. Part of his
custom, may Allah profit us by him, is that he would not say more than one
or two words about this world, no more. He could not hear more than two
words about this world. He endured hearing it only because of compassion
and forbearance for the speaker. If he was among his companions, he would
order him to change the conversation. If he was one who was shy before
him, he would leave the assembly and depart. We would recognise it by
this state. While we were with him one day, some people were sitting with
him speaking about this world and its cares. He endured something light
of it. Then he stood up and left by the door. When I saw that, I remained
74 The Sufic Path
a little while longer and then I left, following in his footsteps until I found
him on the roof of the zawiyya. He was reclining on his back and he had
covered his head and face as if he were asleep. When he felt me near him,
he uncovered his face and said, ‘Sit.’ So I sat. The first that he said to me
was, ‘Retreat, and no life is bad.’ I said, ‘Yes, Sayyidi.’ Then he said to me,
‘My son, the one of wisdom does not have his wisdom last for him unless
he does not sit with other than the people of his wisdom. If he keeps the
company of other than the people of his wisdom or sits with them, wis-
dom leaves him and he does not find any of it, whether he likes it or not.
We abandoned speech about this world because speech about it leads to
contraction. We, my son, do not find contraction good for us. We are not
among its people nor are we among those who sit with its people.’
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, speak and say that one of
the Shaykhs who was a gnostic of Allah ta‘ala used to recite to a group of
his students about wisdom. For 40 years, he only recited its branches with
them. After 40 years, the students asked him to guide them to the reality of
wisdom and they urged him to do that. He answered them about that and
said, ‘Tomorrow, Allah willing, I will guide you to news and eye-witnessing
about what you seek.’ In the morning, they came to him for that and
knocked on his door. He came out to them and he had a small child in his
hand. They asked him to do what he had promised them. He said to them,
‘Yes. Look at this son of mine.’ They looked at him. He said to them, ‘His
gnosis is what you seek from me.’ In that hour, some of them had the door
opened for them, i.e. to understanding the words of the Shaykh, and some
of them did not recognise the words of the Shaykh and were increased in
alienation by his words.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
There must be a realised Shaykh in every discipline. If not, it is generally

useless. Listen to what will confirm what we say, may Allah give you and
us success! May Allah have mercy on you! Know that one of the people
of knowledge, may Allah be pleased with him, recognised many of the
Shaykhs of his time and learned from them. In spite of that, whenever he
met me, he would complain to me about his debts and his state was very
constricted because of it.
The Guide 75
One day I said to him, ‘Listen to what I tell you and always base yourself
on it, you will see wonders. In the moment of adversity, both good and evil
are present and not absent, near and not far. If you remember your Lord in
it and forget yourself, you will profit. If the reverse happens, you will lose.
Whenever poverty gets the better of you and comes to you, occupy your-
self with the means your Lord has commanded you to, and do not turn to
anything else at all. Always be like that at the moment of adversities. Then
evil will leave you and good will come to you. If you strip away your will and
surrender yourself to your Lord at the moment of your loss, or we could
say, your adversity or affliction, and do not help yourself by any means,
that is the highest station and the clearest secret. There is nothing above
it except the station of prophecy. Allah is the authority for what we say.’
May Allah be kind to him! He said to me after this, ‘I have such-and-
such dhikr of 1000. Some of it I took from Shaykh so-and-so and some of
it I took from Shaykh so-and-so,’ until he had mentioned a large number
of Shaykhs of the people of his time. I told him, ‘Listen to what I tell you
and base yourself on it, and you will see wonders. I tell you that in reality
the Shaykh is the one who teaches you what I have taught you.
Stripping off the will and surrendering it to the Shaykh is, in reality, sur-
rendering the will to Allah. Surrendering the will to Allah is the great elec-
tion. Shaykh al-Haddad, the Shaykh of al-Junayd, may Allah be pleased
with both of them, said, ‘For forty years I have desired to desire to leave
what I desire. I have not found what I desire.’ Another of the Shaykhs of
the tariqa said, may Allah be pleased with them, ‘For the past forty years
my Lord established me in a state. I disliked it and He did not move me
from it, so I resented it.’ Shaykh ash-Shurayshi, may Allah be pleased with
him, said in his poem in Ra‘:
Whoever does not have the attribute of stripping away
his will does not desire to smell the scent of poverty.
After this, I told them, ‘Learn! Listen to me!’
A certain individual pressed me very strongly to give him the wird, so I gave
it to him. Then he said to me, ‘I want to travel to my land or to such-and-
such a land.’ I told him, ‘The form of entry is the form of departure. It was
like that before you took me as your Shaykh. Now I choose for you. You
do not choose for yourself.’ Another one came to me and the same thing
76 The Sufic Path
happened as had happened with the other one before him, no more, no
less. We tell this to everyone who resolves to travel on the Path at the hand
of its Shaykhs, may Allah be pleased with them and give us the benefit
of their baraka. Amin.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Company 77
Chapter Four
The Company
Qasida of Shaykh Abu Madyan
It is to guide the wayfarers
to the pleasure of the Lord of the worlds
The pleasure of life is only in the company of the Fuqara‘ –
they are the Sultans, the masters, and the princes.
Therefore, keep their company and have adab in their assemblies.
Leave your portion behind you whenever they send you forward.
Seize the moment and always be present with them. Know that
rida is bestowed on those who are present.
Cling to silence unless you are questioned. Then say, ‘I have
no knowledge,’ and be concealed by ignorance.
Do not look at fault unless you see a clear fault appear in you,
but it is concealed.
Lower your head and ask forgiveness without cause.
Stand apologising in just treatment.
If a fault appears from you, then apologise and lift the face of your
apology for what has flowed in you from you.
Say, ‘Your insignificant slave is more entitled to your pardon.
Act kindly in forgiveness and adhere to gentleness, O Fuqara!’
They are not entitled to condescension, and it is their practice.
Fear neither overtaking nor harm from them.
Always be generous in singing the praises of the brothers
in the senses and the meaning. Lower the eye if someone slips.
Watch the Shaykh carefully in his states, perhaps a trace
of his approval will be seen on you.
Advance seriousness and leap to serve him. Perhaps he will be
pleased, and beware lest you become irritated.
The pleasure of the Creator is in his pleasure and his obedience –
He will be pleased with you. Beware of the one who leaves it.
78 The Sufic Path
Know that the Path of the People is study, and the state of the one
who claims it today is as you see.
When will I see them and where will I see them? When will my ear
hear some news of them?
Who is mine, and where will my like compete with them in wells
about which I do not recognise impurity?
I love them and treat them gently and I offer them my
heart’s blood – especially a party of them.
A people of noble qualities – Wherever they sit, a fragrance
remains in the place after them.
Tasawwuf is guided by their character in the Paths.
Excellent harmony is theirs that delights my eye.
They are the people of my love and my lovers who are among those
who trail the coat-tails of might in magnificence.
May I be reunited with them in Allah, and my wrong actions
forgiven and pardoned in Him.
Then blessings be upon the Chosen, Sayyiduna Muhammad,
the best of those who fulfilled and who vowed.
Shaykh Abu Madyan
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
He, may Allah be pleased with him, remained in his room for a year and
did not go out except for jumu’a. People gathered at the door of his house
and asked him to speak to them. When they pressed him, he went out. He
saw some sparrows on a lotus-tree in the house. When they saw him in the
house, they fled. Therefore, he returned and said, ‘Had I been fit to speak
to you, the birds would not have fled from me.’ Then he returned and sat
in the room for another year. They came to him again. He went out and
the birds did not flee from him, so he spoke to the people. The birds came
down beating their wings and slapping until a group of them died. A man
among those present died as well.
Shaykh Ash-Shar‘ani
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Company 79
A Commentary on the Qasida

of Shaykh Abu Madyan
The pleasure of life is only in the company of the Fuqara – they
are the Sultans, the masters, and the princes.
There is no higher company. As they are the least of men and make no claims
they are the elite and the two worlds are their property. With them is the
maqam al-Mahmud, for the Messenger, blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him, has said: ‘Look for me among the poor, for I was only sent among you
because of them,’ and, ‘Poverty is all my glory,’ and, ‘Allah loves the poor.’
Therefore, keep their company and have adab in their assemblies.
Leave your portion behind you whenever they send you forward.
Keep their company – in this is half the science of knowledge. Our knowl-
edge is not informational but it is transmitted. The company of the fuqara is
like a developing fluid in which the murid is soaked, until by its properties
the image of his secret that has already been imprinted on his self emerges
and is recognised. As we see later in the poem, the imprinting of the image
is due to being exposed to the light of the Shaykh.
Spiritual courtesy has three levels:
a) adab to Allah.
b) adab to the Shaykh.
c) adab to the fuqara.
The first has three parts:
1) Performance of the obligatory.
2) Nawafil (extra) acts of ‘ubudiyya – night prayers, recitation of
Qur‘an, wirds, wazifas, diwan, asma’l-husna.
3) Muraqaba. The invocation of the Supreme Name with deep con-
templation and stillness until the falling away of the attributes and
the secret is revealed.
The secret of muraqaba is mushahadah. (That is, the secret of watching
is witnessing.)
The second has three parts:
1) Action. That is, service without judgement.
80 The Sufic Path
2) State. Taste the states of the Shaykh in three conditions:

a) dhikr - follow him in concentration on his Lord.
b) fikr—follow his exposition of the glories of his Lord.
c) himma—follow him in his yearning for his Lord.
3) Station. Recall that his maqam is the ayat of Ya Sin:
And there came a man, running, from the furthest part of
the city, saying, ‘Follow the Messengers.’
Love of the Shaykh vanishes in love of the Messenger. Love of the
Messenger vanishes in love of Allah.
The third has three parts:
1) This is contained in the last phrase of this line:
Leave your portion behind you whenever they send you
forward.
2) See their faults as your mirror in which you discover what is wrong
with you.
3) When you look at the faqir see the Shaykh.
Seize the moment and always be present with them. Know that
rida is bestowed on those who are present.
Do not think that learning comes from the discourse. It comes in the
‘keeping company’. Keeping company is an intellectual activity. Discourse
is an ecstatic activity. Sama‘a is a serene activity. All three are the conditions
of ‘being present’. This is the transformative practice that we call alchemy.
Cling to silence unless you are questioned. Then say, ‘I have no
knowledge,’ and be concealed by ignorance.
Silence must not be to draw attention but to ward off attention. Do not be
afraid among the fuqara. No one should notice your silence. Your reticence
is your victory and by it your ignorance will rapidly be transformed into
knowledge.
Do not look at fault unless you see a clear fault appear in you, but
it is concealed.
The fuqara are flawless. When you see them as flawless you have become
flawless. When you are flawless you have reached your Shaykh.
You will not find any flaw in Allah’s creation.
The Company 81
Until you can understand this to be true of the lovers of Allah how will
you grasp it among the people of suffering and the people of wrong action?
Lower your head and ask forgiveness without cause. Stand apol-
ogising in just treatment.
No blame. This is the rule of the zawiyya and the maqam of the awliya. It
is the station of ‘the stronger will cast out the weaker’ and the defeat of
hypocrisy (nifaq).
If a fault appears from you, then apologise and lift the face of
your apology for what has flowed in you from you.
Do not cling to wrong action. Do not nurse any bad feeling. Let everything
go. The fuqara must have hearts like children of whom the Messenger of
Allah, blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, said: ‘Allah loves them
for three things. One, they cry easily. Two, they hold no rancour. Three, if
you take away a gold toy and give them a clay one it is the same to them.’
Say, ‘Your insignificant slave is more entitled to your pardon.
Act kindly in forgiveness and adhere to gentleness, O Fuqara!’
The progress of the seeker lies in this verse. Here is the quick ascent and
the victory over the nafs.
They are not entitled to condescension, and it is their practice.
Fear neither overtaking nor harm from them.
Until you taste this ease in the company of the fuqara you can never taste
ease in your own company. Until you taste ease in your own company you
can not reach the stage of entering the arena of the ahwal (states) of the
Shaykh. Once you trust the fuqara you trust yourself. When you trust
yourself you meet the Shaykh at last, not as a guide or a teacher, or a leader,
but as a light calling to light.
Always be generous in singing the praises of the brothers in the
senses and the meaning. Lower the eye if someone slips.
Praising the fuqara has expansion in it, and release, and freedom from fear,
and the end of loneliness. It has compassion for the sick in it, patience with
the old, and generosity with the young. In it faqirat learn to honour their
husbands and fuqara to be sweet to their wives. ‘Lower the eye if someone
slips.’ This is a high prophetic sunna – covering the faults of the brothers.
82 The Sufic Path
It is the effect of the dhikr of astaghfiru’llah. It is the cause of the dhikr –

tabaraka’llah. From it comes the Shaykh’s love of the murid. The Shaykh
rejoices in two things – when his murid is spoken against and when his
murid refrains from speaking against.
Watch the Shaykh carefully in his states, perhaps a trace of his
approval will be seen on you.
The Shaykh has three states in public:
a) Meeting. Like a host with his guests or a father with his children.
Here all is hidden under the light of welcome, attention, news, and
the exchange of courtesies. This is the most difficult ground for the
new murid. Levity is for the nursery and where there is play there
is no work.
b) Guidance. When the Shaykh speaks to one person take it all as
meant for you. The Shaykh conceals his serious admonition and
hides his target both in reproach and in love. When the Shaykh
speaks to you consider it a crossroads – do not turn back on your
path. If he is pleased with you resolve to strengthen your purpose.
If he is displeased, delight in his noticing it. When he speaks of
Allah – take it in – all his words will become realities for you.
c) Absence. When the Shaykh withdraws from the company inwardly
during sama‘a or in meeting. Go with him. It was for this that you
set out. This draws you into the audience chamber of the heart.
Perhaps a trace of his approval will be seen on you.
This is light from Allah and without intermediary. The Shaykh does not
‘do’ anything. He recognises those Allah loves. This recognition has wisdom
in it for him and for you. Shaykh Ahmad al-Badawi of Fez, Allah be merci-
ful to him, said: ‘One glance from the Shaykh wipes out a thousand wrong
actions.’ This is very difficult for the people of thought-forms to understand
and easy for the people of the states. This concerns the inner zone of the
LUBB or core of the human self ’s awareness. Its mithal is the sun’s rays. If
you sit in the sun you become sunburned. If you sit with the Shaykh you
become purified, later intoxicated, and finally annihilated. As one who
first is warmed, then burned and at the end blinded by the rays of the sun.
In this zone is the innermost reality and the secrets of ‘keeping company’.
Advance seriousness and leap to serve him. Perhaps he will be
pleased, and beware lest you become irritated.
The Company 83
Your service to the Shaykh is a tremendous thing. Greater than it is his

service to you. Wrong feelings against the Shaykh endanger the murid by
confusion and the illusion that the nafs is other, and there is no other. Abu’l
Abbas al-Mursi, Allah’s mercy be upon him, said: ‘The one who says ‘why?’
to his Shaykh will never be happy.’ Never forget the object of the contract
with the Shaykh is to move you from ‘ilmi nafsika to ‘ilmi rabbika – from
knowledge of your nafs to knowledge of your Lord.
The pleasure of the Creator is in his pleasure and his obedience
– He will be pleased with you. Beware of the one who leaves it.
There is no shirk here. It is the secret of the People of the Path. Without a
Shaykh a man can not defeat his nafs. The more he fights himself the more
powerful the self becomes. Attention confirms nafs. The activator of the
nafs will either be outside or inside the nafs. If it is activated from inside
this is the work of Shaytan, the whisperer, who instigates wrong action.
That is why, following the word of Moulay ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, the
murid must make himself like a dead body in the hands of the washer in
relations with the Shaykh. Abu Yazid, Allah’s mercy on these great awliya,
said: ‘He who does not have a Shaykh for a Master will have Shaytan as a
Master.’ This is why ‘keeping company’ is a necessary condition of the Path.
How can the doctor heal the patient unless the patient is brought before
him? At the heart of the matter, however, there is no rule over the murid.
The murid must want what the Shaykh wants, in that is his cure. Murid is
one who has surrendered his irada – his will – to the Shaykh in order to
come quickly out of the fantasies of the khayal (the faculty investing the
solid objects with their ‘reality’) and the kufr, the covering, that is the self.
Fear Allah and He will give you discrimination.
That means not by you but by Him. Then separation does not veil you
from gatheredness and gatheredness does not veil you from separation.
Know that the Path of the People is study, and the state of the one
who claims it today is as you see.
The homeland of the People is ma‘nawiyya. The realm of meanings. In this
realm the bird of the secret flies freely into the open space of open space. The
intellect must be trained to move in the realm of ‘ishara, indication, that is
the subtle zone of meanings arrived at by hints and coded signs, inacces-
sible to the lower faculty of reason. The faculty of ‘ishara only emerges by
the practice of dhikr, not by the practice of fikr. It in return is dependent
84 The Sufic Path
on himma – constant yearning that increases and becomes more intense.

There is no end to this except in the Beloved.
When will I see them and where will I see them? When will my
ear hear some news of them?
Shaykh Ahmad al-Badawi of Fez, Allah be merciful to him, said: ‘If you
have seen the fuqara you have seen Allah.’ Once some ignorant scholars
denounced fuqara for performing hadra. They asked what happened when
the fuqara danced. The reply was, ‘We see Allah.’ The scholars exclaimed
that this was just as they had thought. It was shirk. ‘Why?’ asked the fuqara,
‘Do you see other-than-Allah?’
Who is mine, and where will my like compete with them in wells
about which I do not recognise impurity?
Once love of Allah is established in the heart the faqir becomes a means of
contemplation, and a place of meeting, and a cause of delight in the heart.
I love them and treat them gently and I offer them my heart’s
blood – especially a party of them.
Among the elite are the elect. Some are drunk wandering, helpless, in love
with the Majesty. Some are sober, still, powerful, in contemplation of the
Beauty. Some are sober/drunk, still/moving – majesty does not veil them
from beauty and beauty does not veil them from majesty. They are the
people of perfection.
A people of noble qualities – Wherever they sit, a fragrance re-
mains in the place after them.
This is baraka. Baraka is from the hadrat-ar-Rabbani. The Presence of
Lordship. Whoever denies baraka denies that Allah is the Living Who does
not die. To the Muslim, baraka is at the Black Stone, the Rowdah, on the
Laylat al-Qadr. To the mu‘min, baraka is in the mosque, at the tombs of
the awliya – without shirk or bid‘a for there is no need to do anything to
experience it – and in the presence of the salihun. To the muhsin, baraka
is in every tree and every stone and every flower and every face and every
star. Tabaraka’llah.
Tasawwuf is guided by their character in the Paths. Excellent
harmony is theirs that delights my eye.
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Sufism is not a coded doctrine. It is the acts and states of the men of Allah.
The rijala’llah. It is dhawq. Taste for the people of taste. Witnessing for the
people of witnessing. Annihilation for the people of annihilation.
They are the people of my love and my lovers who are among
those who trail the coat-tails of might in magnificence.
The love of the lovers is a tremendous thing. If you are present when they
meet and express their love, Allah has given you a great overflowing (fadl).
Their meeting takes place but is not witnessed. Their parting is witnessed
but does not take place. Their sole concern is the contemplation of the
Beloved. This is the maqam of Ihsan.
May I be reunited with them in Allah, and my wrong actions
forgiven and pardoned in Him.
What a du‘a and what a goal ! This is the maqam of Iman.
Then blessings be upon the Chosen, Sayyiduna Muhammad,
the best of those who fulfilled and who vowed.
What a prayer and what a reward! This is the maqam of Islam. We thank
Allah for the gift of Islam and it is enough for us. Amin.
Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi ad-Darqawi al-Murabit
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
My brothers, if the murid does not have reverence, assumption of knowl-

edge, modesty, fear, awe, respect and esteem for the teaching Shaykh, then
the murid does not benefit at all by him. If there is no benefit, then it is
of no consequence to the Shaykh or the murid. Neither of them has any
profit from each other. It is not correct behaviour for the murid to say to
his Shaykh, ‘Give me permission to divest myself, give me permission to
engage in worldly means, give me permission to do the dhikr of the Name,
give me permission to beg, or give me permission to wear the patched robe
or the turban, and so on.’ Correct behaviour is to surrender your will about
yourself to him so that you are like a corpse in the hands of the washer. You
should not leave him until Allah gives you what you need, immediately
or after a while. The murid who desires the Shaykh to follow him in what
he thinks, he is the Shaykh, and the Shaykh is the murid. If this is the case,
it is the very core of the realities in which the heretics are involved. The
86 The Sufic Path
Shaykh is also the imam of the murid, i.e. his master. The imam is set up as
an imam so that he can be followed, as it says in the Sahih of al-Bukhari.
This is what we think, and Allah knows best.
May Allah teach you the good and protect you from evil! Know that a
certain person came to me at an odd hour and said to me, ‘We would like
you to give us the wird.’ He desired to take it from me. I ignored him for a
day and a night. Then he came back to me, so I gave it to him. As soon as I
had given it to him, he said, ‘Give me permission to give the wird to other
people.’ When I heard what he said, I immediately said, ‘Wait until you
recognise me and I recognise you. Then there will be blessing.’ I mentioned
the story of the praiser of the Prophet who was buried. As soon as he was
buried, the two angels came to question him, peace be upon them. He said
to them, ‘Blessings be upon my master Muhammad. Now how settled we
are!’ There is no objection in the murid asking him about his important
affairs like marriage, the hajj, cultivation, building, and travel, and so on.
If the faqir desires to take the Path in its reality, he should be a slave owned
by its people. He does not keep their company at all unless he fulfils all of
their inconvenient demands as much as he is able. The Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘I and those of my community who
have taqwa are free of constraint.’ If he keeps their company, or we could
say, is near to them, and does not pray the obligatory prayer with them in
their mosque and attend their circles of dhikr, he certainly falls from their
sight. There is no doubt that this is only done by those who are hated. He
should also call to mind the benefits he has from them and what he does
not have so that his actions will not be useless without being aware of their
uselessness. Then his reality will be luminous, not dark. He will also have
taken the Path in its reality since he knows its shari‘a and fulfils it. The reality
without the shari‘a of Muhammad is paralysis as the shari‘a of Muhammad
without the reality is paralysis. Joining both of them is realisation.
It is good to obtain the intoxication which withdraws you from the
sensory and which is not hidden from people. Then your reality is a real-
ity of light, even if it is without shari‘a. Perfection is joining intoxication
and sobriety. If someone withdraws from what we mentioned, and the
cause of his withdrawal is ignorance and heedlessness, it will not profit
him at all unless he knows it, calls it to mind and acts by it. If the reason
is incapacity, laziness, arrogance, and lack of interest, what door is better
The Company 87
and more fitting if he fulfils it since he knows it and does not act by it?
Consult your hearts. Whoever leaves his family, work, tribe and land, and
keeps the company of the people of the Path, may Allah be pleased with
them, and then does not leave off socialising with people and conversing
with them about this world and its affairs is of no consequence. He will
never have success. The one with this state exists and has many followers
because they are turned upside down every moment. Sometimes they talk
to them about their selves and its necessity, and sometimes about leaving
it and being attached to other than it. It is like that until they die while
they have acquired nothing except doubt. We seek refuge with Allah! Had
they done what we said and done it in earnest, and not in jest, Allah would
have taken them by the hand since Allah ta‘ala says, ‘Had they been true
to Allah, it would have been better for them.’
Whoever has a Shaykh and his Shaykh says something to him while
he says something contrary to his Shaykh and thinks that his opinion is
greater than his shaykh’s opinion, should refute what his Shaykh says and
say that directly to him as one of the brothers, may Allah be pleased with
him, said so directly to us when I told them, ‘The path of dawn is the path
of the sun.’ He said, may Allah turn to him, ‘There is nothing to prove these
words.’ He must do that since the only cure he has is the moving storehouse
which teaches him. Then one hopes for good for him. May Allah give us
and our brothers success. Amin.
The gnostic of Allah, the Shaykh of our shaykhs, Abu ‘Abdillah Sayyidi
Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillah al-Fasi, may Allah be pleased with him, used to
give him a lot of counsel: ‘Purify the morsel of food. Abandon the company
(of people). Avoid the needs of the moment or passion will overpower you.
Very few indeed are the truly sincere among you, and very many are those
who are incapable of that.’ He said that in a counsel to one who wanted
to visit him and keep his company. He, may Allah be pleased with him,
strongly encouraged blocking the pretext in everything.
Many people results in fame. There is nothing more harmful to the murids
than fame. There is also discomfort with a lot of people. Our Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘I and those among my commu-
nity who have taqwa are free of constraint.’ Obscurity is also a blessing. As
far as its virtue is concerned, the word of Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic, is
88 The Sufic Path
enough for us, ‘We desired to show favour to those who were oppressed
in the earth and to make them imams and to make them the heirs.’
The only one who profits is the one who keeps the company of one who has
profited. The only one who loses is the one who keeps the company of the
one who has lost. My master, may Allah be pleased with him, used to tell
me, ‘Seize your hand and clench your teeth. If you see something which you
do not like, then close your eyes so that we will not fly away and leave you.’
Teaching by mutual reminding among the people, may Allah be pleased
with them, is one of the most important matters. No one can do without
it except for the one who is ignorant about its value. The Shaykh of our
master, Sayyidi al-’Arabi ibn ‘Abdillah, may Allah be pleased with him, used
to say, ‘People’s wine is in the hadra (sufic dance). Our wine is the hadra
(words or teaching by mutual reminding).’ Also, ‘The mutual teaching of
two is better than carrying two heavy loads,’ as the people do and have. We
do not like any of the brothers to be silent at the time of mutual teaching.
We dislike it intensely since there is absolutely no benefit in silence at that
time. Benefit is through lack of silence in it because the meanings move
by means of words until they move the one who has them to the divine
presence of the Lord.
It is quite obvious that the chicken is only born after the hen lays her
egg. It is like that with the shaykhs of the tariqa, may Allah be pleased with
them. The knowledges which they give out to their followers only come to
them through the existence of their search and their scraping and testing
with the touchstone. The question calls for the answer, and the answer calls
for the question. It is like that until one obtains arrival.
One day we were engaged in teaching by mutual reminding in Fez
al-Bali, and some of the brothers with us were silent and did not speak. I
said to them, ‘Speak with us or leave us!’ Our master disliked that any of
the fuqara be silent at the time of mutual teaching. He found it heavy and
disgraceful to such an extent that the effects of that showed in his face, may
Allah be pleased with him. He would recite the word of Allah, the Majestic,
the Great, ‘The word has fallen upon them because of the wrong they
were doing and they do not speak.’ He used to say, ‘The only one who
does not speak at the time of mutual teaching is the one whose heart is like
a dark house filled with bats. As for the one whose heart is free of bats, he
The Company 89
is not silent. He speaks and brings out what is inside him into the middle
of the circle, putting it down, beautiful or ugly. As for the one who does
not bring out the beautiful and the ugly, he stores it up inside of him and
is too shy to bring it out. This one will not be healed of his sicknesses. He
has deceived himself while he is in front of the doctor. Allah can heal every
sick person out of pure generosity by the rank of the beloved Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his family and Companions.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know that whoever resembles the people of the art is part of them,
whether he is part of them or not. Whoever does not resemble the people
of the art is not part of them, whether he is among them or not. Whoever
obtains resemblance to the art, obtains the art. Whoever does not obtain
resemblance of the art, has no portion in the art, whether he is among its
people or other than its people. This is the wisdom of Allah in all the arts.
Resemblance is divided into two divisions: sensory and meaning. Sensory is
wearing the clothes of the people of the art and sitting with them constantly.
Resemblance by meaning is by resembling the speech of the art with the
people of the art. Whenever these conditions are fulfilled in seeking the
art, he obtains what he seeks, whether he likes it or not. Whenever these
conditions are lacking with the one of the art, he leaves the art, whether he
likes it or not. The one with resemblance to the art being among the people
of the art is reality, and the one without resemblance to the art not being
among the people of the art is reality. These attributes are a condition in
the arts. Whenever a condition is invalid, the conditional is invalidated.
Know, my brother, that in every country it only dresses you in its clothes:
you are not dressed in its clothes until it divests you of the clothes which
were on you, i.e. clothes other than its clothes, whether you like it or not,
in senses and meaning.
O brother! Also look at these words and reflect on them. They were spoken
by the Shaykh of our Shaykhs, Sayyidi al-Majdhub, may Allah profit us by
him! By Allah! You will find in it the cure for what happens to you from
the harshness of the lovers from whom you did not think that would issue.
However, where you find the most beloved of lovers to you, you will find
90 The Sufic Path
the most hostile of enemies to you. The place of strong perfect good and
sincerity is the place of strong evil, decrease, and lying. A thing does not
rise and appear, but that you find its opposite rise with it, accompanying
it. It rises as the other rises. He said:
We sleep on the thorns of the acacia,
And we smile at our enemy’s face,
And we throw our heels into competition
And we run until we are exhausted.
Part of what I heard from Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah profit us by
him, is that he said to me, ‘My son, man, i.e. the faqir, only has his affair
set up by corruption and rightness, or he is not. He is corrupt and attaches
himself to the people of rightness, and they mend what was corrupt for
him. After that, he learns rightness, so he needs to sit with the people of
corruption to increase his gnosis and perfection in his rightness since the
thing is only recognised by its opposite. First he needs the people of right-
ness, and then he needs the people of corruption to make his benefit last
and to find his journey.’
Know that a man of the Salihun was asked by his student to teach him
the greatest great name of Allah. The Shaykh said to him, ‘The greatest
great name of Allah is that when I say to you, ‘Stand,’ you stand, and when
I say to you, ‘Sit,’ you sit.’
There is nothing which benefits the faqir and increases him like silence.
That is because it is the core of the wisdoms of the self. It is the greatest
and noblest of the branches of slaveness.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, said to me is,
‘My son, our companion does not speak with one who is above him. He
speaks with the one he finds below him.’
The might of our companion is his withdrawal and his occupation is his
reflection. Our companion withdraws from creation, taking a nest in the
presence of Allah. Our companion withdraws from the people of imperfec-
tion, annihilated in the contemplation of beauty and ihsan.
Part of what happened to me with the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him,
is that I said, ‘Sayyidi! We see these majestic realities. By contact with them,
The Company 91
we have our work and it is established. We see that you often forbid us
envy of them.’ He answered me, ‘My son, I forbid you envy of them out of
compassion for you so that creation will not reject you because the faqir
who is dominated by majestic realities is rejected by the common people
in every case. I do not forbid them to you. However, I command you that
if you have contact with a majestic reality, that you should confront it with
another beautiful reality so that the substance of the Real will not cut you
off from creation.’ The best of commands and the most in the middle.
The custom of Allah has passed in His creation that everything has an in-
termediary. Whoever obtains the intermediary obtains the thing. Whoever
does not obtain the intermediary, does not obtain the thing. Everything
has a father. Whoever obtains the father, obtains the child. Whoever does
not obtain the father does not obtain the child. This is in all to which the
name ‘thing’ is applied.
Good has a father and evil has a father. Whoever obtains the father of
good, obtains it. Whoever obtains the father of evil, obtains it. The father
of good indicates it and the father of evil indicates it. Whoever keeps the
company of the people of good, they guide him to it and he obtains it.
Whoever keeps the company of the people of evil, they guide him to it and
he obtains it. None has success except for the one who wins the company
of the one who has had success. Had it not been for the intermediary, it
would have gone as the intercessor said. Whoever says that he has reached
something without intermediary has lied and his statement is rejected. We
are speaking here about the people of beginnings, the Muridun. As for the
people of ends, they do not see anything in existence except Him. They see
Him in everything and after everything as the speaker said:
I saw my Lord with the eye of my heart. I said: There is no doubt
that You are You.
You are God. I crossed to every where to where there is no where.
There You were.
Where has no where from You, so where knows where
You are.
Illusion has no illusion of You, so illusion knows how
You are.
92 The Sufic Path
You encompass everything in knowledge, so everything which I

see is You.
In the annihilation of annihilation is annihilation, and I
find You in annihilation.
O my God, be kind with forgiveness! I do not hope for
other-than-You!
Know that knowledge is action itself as action is knowledge itself because
the matter is the same and it is gatheredness. Its colours are two. The separa-
tion of the matter is one, constant, after-endless-time, timeless. Sometimes
it is a meaning in knowledge and sometimes it is a sensory action. Whoever
is opened with knowledge and continues in it, knowledge becomes action
for him whether he is aware of it or not, and whether he wishes it or not.
He said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘Whoever acts by what
he knows, Allah will make over to him knowledge which he did not know.’
– Hadith. He does not leave off and stop with knowledge without action or
action without knowledge except that the sun of his himma becomes feeble.
The feebleness of the suns of the himma is because they were seeking their
Master, aiming for Him, increasing in ascension to ascension. Some of the
murids are among them. It is like that when this world turns to them with
its beauty and adornment. If they flee from it and flee to clinging to the
Shaykhs, sitting much with them, and throwing away what they recognise
of knowledge and action by what they hear from their mouths and see
from their states, then they are safe from its evils. There is only coolness
and safety over them. Perhaps they will seek help from it to travel to Allah.
It will become their mount. He said, may He be exalted:
And upon them, and on the ships, you are borne.
Whoever among the murids has this description is sound and rescued. If
not, he is drowned. I found with Shaykh Zaruq, may Allah give us profit
by him, that he said in one of his commentaries on the Hikam: ‘This world
is like the river of Talut (Saul). Those who drank from it – except for the
one who only took a handful with his hand – were not saved.’ He said:
Himma aiming for Allah is clear by the company of the gnostics.
If it stops with something other-than-Allah ta‘ala, he is ignorant
of the knowledge of the Path.
Himma comes to a standstill and stops and is narrowed only when it wrongs
the creature and turns away from the Real. Creature is limited, shaped, and
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contained. The himma which seeks is not limited by the scope of its goal and
shaped by its quality and contained by its restriction. As Allah ta‘ala is not
limited, shaped, and contained, so the himma seeking Allah is not limited,
shaped, or contained. They said, ‘The slave of this world is a prisoner, and
the slave of the next world is a hireling, and the slave of Allah is an Amir.’
Whoever is not in increase is in decrease except the one who turns sincerely
to Allah. His increase is by increase as his decrease is by decrease. Similarly,
the one who turns to other-than-Allah has decrease by increase as he has
decrease by decrease, even though other-than-Allah does not exist, and did
not exist. However, he imagines other, and illusion is false.
If we are flung into the people of my love,
they will make of me a camel with a king’s saddle.
If we are flung into other than the people of my love,
they will make of me a donkey with grain bags.
The company of the good illuminates the secrets and the company of the
evil is the reason for the anger of the Compeller. Wisdom and certainty
are only obtained by the company of the gnostics. Whatever your himma
is connected to, you will only reach it by the company of its people. A
condition of this path is recognition of the people of sincerity and confir-
mation to whom the Beloved appears in tajalli and lets them drink from the
pleasure of His intimacy and He is pleased with them. They have finished
with the discipline of the selves and they enjoy the songs of the cups. They
look at this world with the eye of discrimination and reflection. They are
overwhelmed by love of the Mighty, the Compeller. All good is obtained
by whoever meets them. He said, may He be exalted, ‘They are few.’ He
said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
A man is on the deen of his close friend.
Whoever has valid friendship for you, the robe of his attribute appears on
you. Leave the company of those who are impotent like you and keep the
company of one to whom your words, actions, and states are not hidden.
Leave the one who cannot repel harm from himself and keep the company
of the One Whose praise the thunder extols as well as the angels from fear
of Him.
‘Man is on the deen of his close friend.’– Hadith. The king’s friend becomes
a king, and the slave’s friend becomes a slave. None sits a lot with someone
94 The Sufic Path
but that he puts on his robe and is described by his attributes. Look at the
chameleon which crawls. It never alights on something but that it takes on
its colour and becomes its colour. Its property is colour. Its colour is the
colour of whoever it is attached to. It is like that with man. His property is
colour. His colour is the colour of his close friend to whom he is attached
and with whom he sits. Man obtains this relationship from his mixture
with divine wine because the property of divine wine is a colour which it
bestows. Rather, all colours are its colours. However, its colour by which
it is judged is the colour which you find it in at the moment. Ibn al-Farid
said, may Allah have mercy on him, describing divine wine:
They tell me: ‘Describe it! You have its description.’
The best end with me is knowledge of its attributes.
Purity and no water. Lutf and no air. Light and no fire.
Ruh and no body.
Wisdom is brought to life by the company of its people and dies by the
company of others. They are very few indeed! Shaykh Sayyidi al-’Arabi
said to me, may Allah give us profit by him, ‘There was a wise man and he
had a son. When he became a youth, he said to his father, “My father! I
want you to help me reach wisdom!” He said to him, “My son! Travel and
see who except me will teach it to you, because you are my son and I am
your father. I have concern for you. When one has concern for his pupil,
he does not learn anything from him.” He began to look for someone to
teach him wisdom until he found a wise man. He stayed some years with
him until he thought that he had learned. He went to his father, and his
father said to him, “My son, what have you obtained of wisdom?” He said,
“My father, I have obtained in it not to be involved with what does not
concern me.” He said to him, “Yes, but you still have one thing to learn,
so go and see who will teach it to you.” He went and was gone years, and
did not find anyone with information about it. He came to his father and
said, “My father! I did not find anyone to inform me about it, so teach it
to me for the Face of Allah ta‘ala!” He said to him, “You still should rub
your knee with the knee of the wise.”’
Know that the life of the art is its tie. The tie of the art is sitting with its
people. The death of the art is its divorce. The divorce of the art is sitting
with other than the people of the art
The Company 95
Part of what I heard Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi say is that a man said to him,
‘Sayyidi, before today I was in a pleasing state. Today I feel hardness increas-
ing in my heart and I do not know what the reason for that is.’ He said to
him, ‘My son, that has afflicted you because of mixing with the dead.’ He
said to him, ‘Sayyidi, what are the dead?’ He said to him, ‘The dead are the
people of this world. My son, I do not say to you that you aimed for them
or aimed for mixing with them, but you joined with them and they joined
with you. Harm has struck you from themselves. It is like the woman. When
she comes to a man who is engaging, her coming to him harms him, even
had he disliked her. It is like that with you. Now if you want the cure, you
must keep the company of the people of Allah whom people suspect of
lying in their claim. Keep their company, and you will be cured, and Allah
will answer you more than what you have. Success is by Allah. It was said to
one of the Salihun, ‘I love you.’ That salih man said, ‘What have you spent
on me in your love? Love without expending is hypocrisy.’
Know that gnosis of Allah remains with its people only as long as wisdom
remains. Wisdom only continues with its people as long as sitting with
its people remains because the wisdom of Allah with the gnosis of Allah
is in the position of the ruh with the body. It is as if gnosis were the body
and wisdom were its ruh. The people of the inward do not stay with the
people of the outward except by the wisdom of the people of the inward.
They are occupied with wisdom while their gnosis continues. The people
of the outward are distracted by service from wisdom. The one who has
no wisdom, has no gnosis. Whoever has no gnosis, may prefer what will
harm him over what will benefit him while he is not aware.
Know that the smallest of the realities attracts the greatest of them – like
sitting before a gnostic of Allah appears, to the one who does not know, to
be the smallest thing. It attracts what is greater than everything. It is gnosis
of Allah. We ask Allah ta‘ala to give us a portion by His favour and ihsan!
The Shaykh of our Shaykh, Sayyidi al-Majdhub, may Allah profit us by
him, said:
There is no lover except by arrival.
This arrival has two divisions: arrival of the self and arrival of the species.
Arrival of the species is constant arrival for the people of your art by the
96 The Sufic Path
feet. This is the root and the foundation. The Path is built on it. Whoever
is constantly with the people of an art, by that certainly the art will appear
to him. Whoever does not reach the people of an art has no portion in
the art. As for the arrival of the self, it is a branch from this root which we
mentioned. It is that you put on the clothes of the people of your art so
that whoever sees you, remembers in himself that you are among the people
of that art, so that you become known by the art and the art is known by
you, and it is not information. Information is not like eye-witnessing, and
eye-witnessing is not like information. If man is like that, the roots are
completed for him. There is only arrival after the roots in every case without
a doubt. It is as the author of the Hikam said, ‘They are forbidden arrival
because they squandered the roots.’ Whenever the roots are complete, ar-
rival is obtained in every case without a doubt.
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say, ‘The keys of all things
are clinging to their opposites constantly by harmony with the people of
the art and nearness to them.’
Whoever wants to possess increase so that it obeys his hand, i.e. increase
in sensory things and increase of meanings, his self should frequent the
meetings of the Rijal, elite and common, because the increase of all exist-
ence is contained in the senses and meaning while the element of increase
is in meetings. Whoever has meetings, is never forbidden increase. Who-
ever has increase so that it obeys him, owns wisdom. He said, may He be
exalted, ‘Whoever is given wisdom, has been given much good.’ He only
mentioned those with cores.
Know that sitting with the Rijal, the gnostics of Allah, is the root of every
root because by sitting, you acquire knowledge. By knowledge, you ac-
quire gnosis. By gnosis, you acquire exaltation. By exaltation, rejection is
invalidated. By the invalidation of rejection, you acquire establishment. By
establishment, you acquire friendship. By friendship, you acquire speaking
by the command of Allah ta‘ala to the thing, ‘“Be!” and it is.’ That is not
hard for Allah.
The seeker of Allah is not brought near to Allah by anything like his sitting
with a gnostic of Allah, if he finds him. If he does not find him, he must do
dhikru’llah night and day, standing and sitting, with withdrawal from the
The Company 97
people of this world and by not sitting with them, speaking with them, nor
looking at them because they are a piercing poison. The seeker of Allah is
not made distant from Allah by anything like his sitting with the ignorant
faqir. The ignorant is uglier than the negligent common many times over.
Sitting with the gnostic of Allah is better than withdrawal. Withdrawal is
better than sitting with the negligent common. Sitting with the heedless
common is better than sitting with the ignorant faqir. Nothing in exist-
ence blackens the heart of the murid like sitting with the ignorant faqir.
As the gnostic of Allah joins the murid and his Master by a glance or a
word, so the ignorant faqir may separate the murid from his Master by a
glance or a word and what is above it. May Allah have mercy on Sayyidi
the Majdhub when he said:
Sitting with other than the good ruins that which was pure.
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say, ‘Whoever does not sit
with you and you do not sit with them, he has not hit the mark in being
related to you, and you have not hit the mark in being related to him,
i.e. constantly.’
‘Give’ has a limit and ‘Take’ has a limit. If your limit is ‘give’, the limit is
only removed from you by ‘take’. If your limit is ‘take’, it is only removed
from you by ‘give’. Everything accepted from you has an excuse except for
company. Excuse is not accepted from you in it, i.e. the company of the
people of the art.
Know that the illumination of the outward guarantees liberal gifts of ac-
tion. It is the reason for making the inward dark. The reverse is like that.
The illumination of the inward guarantees the liberal gifts of knowledge. It
is the reason for making the outward dark. If not, the illumination of the
outward is certainly only according to the darkness of the outward. This
analogy rules the people of beginnings. As for the people of ends whose
profit is equal by darkness and light, they are those who are truly slaves of
Allah in all states. These ones do not reject darkness or light. They do not
rejoice in light and they are not grieved by darkness. Their joy is always
with the Creator of light and darkness. Their selves enjoy the contempla-
tion of their Master since their will is the will of their Master, their actions
are the actions of their Master, and their words are the words of their
Master. When they stand, they stand by Allah, and when they sit, they sit
98 The Sufic Path
by Allah. When they sleep, they sleep by Allah, and when they awaken,
they awaken by Allah. When they move, they move by Allah. The key of
this tremendous stage is much watching of the people of Allah and much
looking at them and taking on their character. That is applied so that it
becomes reality first. In them, you are annihilated to yourself. Then after
that, you are annihilated in your Master from them and from themselves.
Whoever has no annihilation in the awliya of Allah, has no annihilation
in Allah. The custom of Allah has passed in His creation that none has
success except the one who wins the company of the one who has success.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, said to me is: ‘My
son, you must keep the company of the great people and be near them.’ I
said to him, ‘O Sayyidi! Who are the great people?’ He said to me, ‘The
leaders of the outward and the leaders of the inward.’
The murid should not be silent before the Shaykh. The shy and the proud
do not learn knowledge because the silent murid before the Shaykh is like
the child who does not speak. His parents do not know what is wrong with
him because the cure only descends on the disease. When man speaks of
his disease, he finds one who will guide him to its cure.
Know that all harm is sensory or meaning. It is only treated soon after its
occurrence. If it takes very long, its treatment becomes weak to the extent
that no treatment can cure it. It is like trees. When they are small they are
treated, since their roots are not widespread and well established. When
their roots are extended and fixed and established, treatment is difficult.
Very rarely can you treat this matter in the senses and in the meaning.
When the murid meets the Shaykh, he is like the child with his mother
with himself. When she puts him down in her room, it provokes milk in
her breasts. The reason for that is his proximity to her. Had it not been
for his nearness to her, she would not find milk in her breasts. Similarly,
when the murid sits before the Shaykh, milk is provoked in the breasts of
the Shaykh. Had it not been for the proximity of the murids, perhaps the
Shaykh would not be that.
Know that the one of meanings who follows them, acquires hunger for
them and satiety by them as the one of food and drink acquires hunger and
satiety. As young and old acquire hunger and satiety, hunger and satiety of
The Company 99
meanings is acquired by the young – and he is the murid, and the old – and
he is the Shaykh. Because of this meaning, you find that the Shaykh needs
the murid as the murid needs the Shaykh, or more so, because sometimes
the Shaykh drinks from the vessel of the murid – and it is the hour of the
hunger of the Shaykh, and sometimes the murid drinks from the vessel of
the Shaykh because it is the hour of the hunger of the murid. When the
Shaykh is with the murid, the Shaykh must be sated and the murid hungry,
or the Shaykh hungry and the murid sated. It must be. Whenever a knower
and a learner meet, the inner eye is illuminated. The hungry is the one
who is hungry for the inner eye of the sated. Their self becomes one while
there must be this difference. He said, may He be exalted, ‘They still have
differences.’ Because of this meaning, the previous Shaykhs, may Allah be
pleased with them, took these zawiyyas and sat in them in order to meet
the Rijal and have contact with them. Had it not been for this, they would
not have needed any of that. May Allah make us among those who travel
their straight path by His favour and ihsan! We are not speaking about
the knowledge of books – we are speaking about the knowledge of hearts,
the knowledge of tastes, gnoses, and secrets. It is called the knowledge of
inspiration. May Allah make us among the people of favour and ihsan!
He said to me, ‘Do not be a lover of anyone. Only be a beloved. If it is
unavoidable, then only love one who loves you.’ Part of what he counselled
me is that he said to me, ‘Recognise the lowest of what is in people By
him, you will receive what you receive by the highest in people. He said,
may He be exalted:
He is the One Who is God in the heaven and God in the earth.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, counselled me
is that he said to me: ‘Only feed the food of your wisdom to the one you
find in the very limit of need of it. If not, lower yourself and hide and hold
back.’ He said, may He be exalted:
Sadaqa is for the poor and the wretched.
The Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, also said to me, ‘My son, part
of the greatest of that to which I counsel you is beware of discomforts!
Beware of discomforts! Beware of discomforts! in respect to yourself and
in respect to others. If it besets you and discomfort is inevitable, then turn
from it and recline on your back because discomfort is like the burden. It
only descends on the back of man. When you recline on your back, you
100 The Sufic Path
have rest from it, and it goes onto the earth which you recline on. This is
one of the greatest things which I put you on your guard against. May Al-
lah give you and us success. He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
when two matters were joined for him, only chose the easier of them. This
is sounder still in effects.’ Part of what he, may Allah be pleased with him,
said to me, is that he said, ‘The faqir is not a faqir until he is like the beaten
camel which is occupied with the blow which is on its side.’
One day a man asked Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah profit us by him,
and said to him, ‘Sayyidi, what is the reality of the realities?’ The Shaykh
said to him, ‘The reality of the realities is that you only do for your Master
what He desires and your Master only does for you what you desire.’ Part of
what happened to Sayyidi Muhammad al-Fudayl with our Shaykh, Sayyidi
al-‘Arabi, may Allah profit us by him, is that for six months, he was seeking
something of the realities, and the Shaykh used to say to him, ‘Come to us
everyday.’ Sayyidi Muhammad would say to him, ‘Sayyidi! Increase me in
something I can do.’ The Shaykh would say to him, ‘Your body comes to
us as long as it continues to seek increase.’ The Shaykh, may Allah profit
us by him, did not increase him in anything over ‘your body coming to us’
until one day he said to him, ‘My son, you seek discomfort, and this path
of ours is lack of discomfort.’
I also heard him speak to a man among our companions who used to come
to the Shaykh, and he was among the nobles of his people. Sometimes he
would find the Shaykh, and sometimes he would not find the Shaykh. The
Shaykh said to him, ‘My son, by coming to us, whether you find us or not,
you obtain your need when you continue in it – that is what is sought from
you. The goal is Allah ta‘ala.’ ‘Whoever draws near Me a hand-span I draw
near him an arm’s length.’ – Hadith.
Know that there is nothing in existence better than the assemblies of the
weak, seeking increase from the people of the outward and the people of
the inward because the custom of Allah in all is that whoever seeks increase,
increase seeks him. Whoever is self-sufficient from it, it is self-sufficient
from him. He said, may He be exalted, ‘Allah increases those who are
guided in guidance,’ and He said, may He be exalted, ‘Sadaqa is for the
poor, and the masakin,’ because the contented has no portion in increase.
Whenever increase is absent, decrease appears. Contentment with Allah
The Company 101
is deprivation. Ash-Shitri, may Allah have mercy on him, said, ‘Whoever

is not in increase, is in decrease.’ Look at the statement of the Prophet,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘Each of the two assemblies are
good, but I am commanded to sit with these,’ and he sat with the poor. He
also said, ‘O Allah! Make me live a miskin, and make me die a miskin, and
gather me in the company of the masakin.’ Because of what he said, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, in respect to this meaning, you will
find that the gnostics of Allah do not reject the rich and sit with the weak.
There is no doubt that the basis of rising is descent. Ascent is according to
descent. Similarly, the basis of descent is ascent. Descent is according to
ascent. It is like that.
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, say, ‘If this world is
in blossom, it delights. If it delights, it ousts. If it ousts, it exiles.’ I heard
him say, ‘When misfortune descends on the very poor like an ember of
the fire, it falls on slippery ground. On slippery ground, it does not find
what will kindle it and set it alight. It goes out and becomes ashes. When
misfortune descends on the outrageous, it is as if it were an ember of the
fire in dry straw like flax and its like. It descends like an ember and burns
up the house and what it protects.’ I heard him say, ‘When our companion
acts, he only acts the great because the great are present in the great deed.
The one who does the small is the one who does the great. Our companion
is as he were a worker in love with the daughter of the Sultan. He is not
like the grasshopper who is in love with the daughter of the wasp.’ I heard
him say, ‘We are a people who do not recognise norms. Everything with
us is breaking norms.’
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, said to me is,
‘Cling to stupidity. It plants intelligence. If it is from the direction of your
Master, plant what you can from the side of your Master and on your
Master because when stupidity is from this aspect according to where the
planting of stupidity ends, the food of intelligence ends,’ i.e. that planting
which we plant as stupidity has great fruit as intelligence according to the
greatness of it. Strive in much planting and do not turn to anything and
seek help with Allah in your stupidity and be patient. Success is by Allah.
Part of what he counselled me is that he said to me, ‘My son, beware of
rejecting the call of yourself when it urges you to something because it is
102 The Sufic Path
like the trained dog. It only barks at the living. This counsel of mine is espe-
cially for you as they said, ‘Every station has a statement,’ because when the
owner of the self is veiled, he must suspect it. When its owner is by Allah,
it is haram for him to suspect it, and he must purify it and make it grow.’
Part of what I heard the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, say is,
‘We are like the alley. The good and the outrageous cross on us, as well as
the Muslim and the Kafir, the good-doer and the evil-doer. In truth, the
noble with us is the same. We do not scold these, and we do not do much
good to them, rather than the other who crosses over us. Give to him and
answer him.’
I heard him say, ‘Creation is like man’s clothes. None is without need of
them except in moments when man wishes to strip to fulfil a need, and
then he returns to his limbs,’ i.e. to creation.
Part of what he said to me is, ‘Beware of neglecting ennoblement and
exaltation to the one who shows you some opening at his hand because in
ennoblement and exaltation of respect is a great key for increase of help,
blessings, lights, and secrets. Do not neglect this door. It is necessary. So
beware!’
One day I complained to the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him,
about my affair. I said, ‘Sayyidi! Inwardly, the matter is proper and in the
best form. Outwardly, it is not in order.’ He commanded me to imitate
stupidity and to work it in myself until the elite and common described
me by it. I did it, and the affair became in order for me. When I planted
stupidity inwardly, it bore me the fruit of intellect outwardly. I found all
things hidden in their opposites. Things are only perceived by taking on the
character of their opposites. May Allah repay our Master for us with good!
Witnessing Allah has two descriptions: you see Allah, and you do not find
a way to that, so you see the one who sees Allah. If you see the one who
sees Allah, you will acquire what the one who sees Allah has obtained. The
principle of this one is like the principle of that one, i.e. the first witnessing
and the second witnessing. Whoever sees the one who sees Allah, must
see Allah. Whoever sees Allah, must see the one who wants to see Allah
because the father must have a child and the child must have a father. The
child is not independent of the father and the father is not independent of
The Company 103
his child. All of them are one. Or it is like the teacher and the student: they
are reckoned as the people of one craft, even if the teacher is in his rank
and the student is in his rank. The one who sees Allah is like that with the
one who sees the one who sees Allah. Both of them are the people of the
same art, even if each one is in his rank.
Part of what I heard from the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, is
that he said, ‘Shaykh Sayyidi Yusuf al-Fasi, may Allah profit us by him, used
to have a lad come to sit with him in the midst of his companions. When
he came to the Shaykh and his parents heard about that and that he was
sitting with him, they argued with him and forbade him to sit with the
Shaykh. The Shaykh knew that, so the Shaykh said to him, ‘My son, obey
your parents in everything unless they tell you not to come to us. Then do
not obey them in that. Come to us, even with their wrath.’
Know that no man is free of either being a teacher or taught, no more.
Whenever teaching by another ends for him, he starts to teach another.
There are these two states, and there is no third. Whoever wants a third, it
is invalidity and halting. Invalidity and halting is something which Allah
ta‘ala did not create. Whoever wants it, wants to fight the power of before-
endless-time and after-endless-time. There is no doubt that whoever wants
to wrestle with power is brought to the ground in every case.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, counselled me is
that he said to me, ‘My son, if you want to obtain the Master, be the slave
of his slave. Beware of desiring to be His slave. Be only the slave of His
slave as Ibn al-Farid said:
She called me one day with the noblest of names.
She said, ‘O slave of our slave.’
He also said:
Remembering harshness in the time of cheerfulness
is clarity.
If you want truly to be a slave of Allah, be truly a slave to the slaves of Allah.
If you want to be sincere with Allah, be sincere with the slaves of Allah,
that is sincerity to Allah. If you want to be humble to Allah, be humble
to the slaves of Allah, that is humility to Allah. If you want to be joyful
with Allah, be joyful with the slaves of Allah. If you want to have ihsan
104 The Sufic Path
with Allah, have ihsan with the slaves of Allah, that is your ihsan with
Allah. If you want to thank Allah, thank the slaves of Allah, that is your
thanking Allah. If you want to exalt Allah, exalt the slaves of Allah, that
is your exalting Allah. This is for the slaves of Allah, common and elite. If
you make yourself proud over Allah’s slave, you are lying to Allah. If you
are bold against the slaves of Allah, you are bewildered by Allah. If your
adab is bad to the slaves of Allah, your adab with Allah is bad. When you
are angry with the slaves of Allah, you are angry with Allah. When you are
miserly with the slaves of Allah, you are miserly to Allah. When you are bad
to the slaves of Allah, you are bad to Allah. When you despise the slaves of
Allah, you despise Allah. When you exalt yourself over the slaves of Allah,
you exalt yourself over Allah. The result of your occupation with Allah is
your occupation with the slaves of Allah, and your occupation with the
slaves of Allah is your occupation with Allah without increase or decrease
because there is no existence in reality except Allah, and there is nothing
in existence except Allah. The ayat of the Book of Allah, and ahadith from
the words of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which
confirm these meanings are numerous.
Part of what the Shaykh said to me is: ‘The likeness of the murid with
the Shaykh is like the egg with the chicken. The egg is not sound and the
chick does not come out of it except by the brooding of the hen on the
egg. Had the egg come out of the wing of the hen, far from her feathers,
even by a little, it would not be sound. It is like that with the murid. His
state is not sound, and he obtains what his Shaykh obtains or a part of it
only by the brooding of the Shaykh inasmuch as he does not leave him
nor separate his knee from his knee until they are parted by death or by
permission from the Shaykh.’ If you understand, look at the chicken! The
egg is sound by her brooding with the senses outwardly and by her himma
with the meanings inwardly. The result is obtained between the senses and
the meaning. It is like that with the murid. Results are only obtained in
him by the brooding of the Shaykh on him outwardly and by his himma
with the Shaykh inwardly. Similarly, company is obligatory for him as it
becomes a condition in respect to him.
The first of what the Shaykh attends to when he recognises the murid who
seeks Allah is that he has contact with him by acts of majesty, not words.
This is part of what is obligatory for the teacher – direct contact with him
The Company 105
by majesty first of all. That is so that he acquires a portion of exaltation.

Exaltation is demanded in the beginnings, and it is intended in the ends.
As for when he has contact with him first by words of beauty, he acquires
by that expansion, and expansion before learning is a fatal poison, and it
is the source of corruption. He said in The Laws, ‘Whoever claims to wit-
ness beauty before he has adab by the majesty, reject him – he is a Dajjal.’
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
There is no doubt that this business is very uncommon as our master stated
and as Shaykh Sayyidi Abu Madyan, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
When will I see them and how will I see them?
When will my ear hear some news of them?
There is no doubt that the predominant state of the awliya, may Allah be
pleased with them, is lowness. People only look at the state of highness,
so how could they recognise them? How far they are from some of them
unless Allah takes them by the hand! The lofty Shaykh, the wali of Allah
ta‘ala, Sayyidi Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in his Hikam, may Allah be pleased with
him, ‘Glory be to the One Who only directs people to His awliya in order
to direct them to Himself, and who only leads one to them when He wants
to bring him to Himself.’ If it is said to me, ‘How did it happen that you
recognised them and took from them?’ I would say, ‘I looked at the state
of lowness, and did not look at the state of highness, so I found what I
needed there. Praise and thanks be to Allah!’ Most people look only at
this world and whoever is with them. They do not look at poverty and
whoever is poor. When some of them see a faqir-wali who has nothing of
this world, they flee from him and do not go near him. They say, ‘Had he
been a wali, he would have been rich and not poor.’ He does not behave
well inside his own head, so how can he behave well with other people?
He does not know that the wali is the one who is faqir, poor in this world,
rich with Allah, satisfied with Him.
Bring the Path of the people, may Allah be pleased them, to life so that Allah
will bring you to life. Travel it with knowledge so that Allah will make the
distance short for you. I advise you that the day when its people come to
you should be a day of feasting, a day of booty, a blessed day, and a happy
day, since it says in the noble hadith, ‘Whoever looks upon his brother’s
106 The Sufic Path
face with love is better than the one who retreats in this mosque of mine
for forty years.’ On that day, none of you should do anything except prayer,
recitation, dhikr, and teaching, and what will bring you close to Allah ta‘ala
after He has put you in a good position, whether it is a zawiyya or anywhere
else. He has given you a place to sleep and food to eat without any trouble
on your part to get them. This is as Allah commanded when He – glory
be to Him and may He be blessed and Exalted, said in His Mighty Book:
‘Let the one with wealth spend from his wealth. The one whose provision
is held back should spend out of what Allah has given him. Allah only
burdens a self with what He has given it.’ It is as the Messenger of Allah,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘I and those of my com-
munity who have taqwa are free of constraint.’ ‘The only one who honours
the guest of my Lord is the one whom Allah has honoured.’ We could say
that the only one who honours him is the one who is gracious to Allah. As
for the one who is not gracious to Allah, He does not care about him and
does not want to see him. We seek refuge with Allah!
Whoever has not the capacity to do any of what we mentioned should
give water, light lamps, clean the house, tie up the beasts when necessary, set
them loose to graze, feed them, round them up and guard them at night,
and cover the floor with sweet basil. This is an excellent thing to do. All of
it is love for Allah and gathering and drawing near to Him. This counsel is
what Allah has made easy about this matter. Allah, glory be to Him, gives
success to correct action. Act on it and none other than it. Allah will help
you and support you. Amin.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Shaykh Zaruq said from one of them, ‘Whoever reaches the reality of
Islam, cannot cease to act. Applied to it is: ‘Let a self look to what it has
advanced for tomorrow.’ Whoever reaches the reality of iman, cannot
turn to action by His word, may He be exalted, ‘Whatever you have of
blessing is from Allah.’ Whoever reaches the reality of ihsan, cannot turn
to other than Allah, by His word, may He be exalted, ‘Say: “Allah!” and
then leave them playing in their game of plunging.’
Part of what I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him is that he said,
‘When the slave goes before his master, he becomes a doorman. When a
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slave falls behind his master, he becomes a servant. It is like that with the
murid. When he is sincere and takes the roots of the path from his Shaykh,
he does not stop with what he takes from the Shaykh. He increases it many
times over. If he stops with what he takes from the Shaykh, he is censured,
and that indicates the littleness of his sincerity in his quest. This is by the
story of the Shaykh, the Imam Ash-Shafi‘i with his Shaykh, Imam Malik.
He asked his permission and said to him, ‘Sayyidi! Do I stop with what I
have taken from you and restrict myself to it, or do we do ijtihad?’ – ‘No,
my son. Do ijtihad.’
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, said to me is: ‘Sayyidi
Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, when karamat appeared at his hand
while his companions were speaking with him about their affairs, would
say, “That is stupidity. As Allah ta‘ala afflicts me, He will cure me of it.”’
I heard him, may Allah be pleased with him, speak in the midst of the
fuqara. He said, ‘One of the Salihun came out in the morning and called
his companions. He said to them, “Buy such-and-such meat and food,”
meaning more than what he was used to buy. They did not know why he
had said that to them. They did it. At the end of the day, one of the men
of the awliya of the moment came to visit with a group of his companions.
The companions of the Shaykh said to him, “By Allah, Sayyidi! Our master
told us of your coming at the beginning of the day. When he told us to buy
food, we knew that Allah ta‘ala had informed him of your coming.” He said
to them, “Our brothers, we are like prey. Our scent diffuses when we are
near you.” This was part of his humility, may Allah be pleased with him!’
Part of the sign of the outward faqir in love with the inward is that you find
that he speaks a lot about the realities and the unseen. Part of the sign of
the inward faqir in love with the outward is that he speaks a lot about the
shara‘i’, i.e. creation, and on the outward. This is because part of the habits
of the selves of creation is that they do not love something, but that they
mention it a lot. They do not possess something, but that they love other
than it. It was said to one of them: ‘When will you be at rest?’ He said,
‘When we do not find anyone who mentions Him.’ Part of his knowledge
is that he does not claim to know. Part of his poverty is that you do not see
him claiming poverty. Part of his state is that when the witness of his state
is absent, he does not claim arrival nor complain of separation.
108 The Sufic Path
Part of what the Shaykh said to me is, ‘My son, the need of the faqir is the
need which remains. Not all creation need it.’ Part of what the Shaykh
said, may Allah profit us by him, is, ‘The faqir first has the state which is
fire kindled in green twigs. First he acquires toil by smoke and blackness
until the luminosity which is ignited transforms all that smoke into light.
Then he acquires rest and the place is lit up for him so that every hidden
thing appears to him and he takes it whenever he wants when he is patient
at first with the smoke.
I heard from the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, when he said to me,
‘The faqir is the one who does not do what will remove cares in order that
none of them should harm him.’ When cares are little or enormous, he is
not a faqir. As for the gnostics of Allah, may Allah be pleased with them,
they have in themselves that by which they repel cares. Evils are good things
and joys. The first group is the elite. They have what will repel cares so that
none of them harms them. The second group are the elite of the elite, and
they have what will accept cares until they become joys, and evils become
good things. Because of that, you find them profiting from evils as they
profit from good things.
Know that reflection is the best of all the aspects of ‘ibada when it is gath-
ered. When it is separated, sensory ‘ibada is more fitting. He said, may He
be exalted, ‘If you do not find water, then do tayammum with good earth.’
The greatest of that by which reflection is separated is by sitting with the
common. That is because they are destroyed, destroyed in the worlds of
separation. Their worlds are separation and their actions are all separation
growing from separation. There is no doubt that the one who sits with the
one of separation is separated. He separates the one he sits with as the one
of gatheredness is gathered and gathers the one who sits with him. The
common are like women, children, and madmen. The ignorant fuqara are
uglier than women, children, and madmen. Sitting with the ignorant faqir
is like eating poison which pierces the forms. The ignorant faqir is the one
who is pleased with himself. He is the strongest in distance from Allah,
more so than the common many times over. The common is like new clay.
It accepts whatever is put in it. The ignorant faqir is like the clay which is
covered with pitch. It cannot be washed nor is it fit for good things.
Know that the exposure of the fault of the common is the unveiling of
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the imperfection of his body from the clothes of the people of this world.
The exposure of the fault of the faqir is the unveiling of the badness of his
heart by sitting with the people of this world. The faqir, even if he com-
mits adultery or drinks wine, does not have his manliness depart and his
fault is not unveiled. His manliness does not depart by anything as much
as miserliness with this world and rivalry with the dogs of this world by
snapping with them. The dogs of this world are their children and lovers
because man does not have anything between him and his Master except
for this passing world. Diving into annihilation veils you to going-on as
diving into going-on veils you to annihilation. The annihilated is your self
and existence, and the one going-on is the name of your Master, His essence,
and attributes. Rank and manliness are from the self. They are this world.
Creation and money are from existence, and they are this world. This world
is darkness and Allah is light. Light is not altogether with darkness in the
heart ever. Whenever the heart is filled with light, its light flows into the
limbs. Similarly, when the heart is filled with darkness, darkness gushes
out and appears and shows in all the limbs. As it is said, ‘What is in you
emerges and vessels only utter what they contain.’
I heard Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi relate from his father Sayyidi Ahmad ibn
‘Abdillah, may Allah profit us by all, that he used to say to his companions,
‘My son, when our companion acquires a benefit, he must acquire two
qualities: his deen must be sound and no one must gloat over him.’ May
Allah profit us by all of them!
The faqir will not obtain the fruit of knowledge until his shari‘a and his
reality are one thing. It is like the first Predecessors, may Allah be pleased
with them! Gatheredness did not veil them to separation, and separation
did not veil them to gatheredness.
With us, the faqir who is not an interspace between the seas is not a faqir,
i.e. the sea of the shara‘i’ and the sea of the realities. If he is this, he scoops
from each sea what he needs of it. He does not abide in one of them more
than the other. He said, may He be exalted:
O people of Yathrib! You have no abiding (maqam).
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, counselled me is
that he said to me, ‘My son! The faqir is the one who is the treasurer of the
110 The Sufic Path
treasury, i.e. the leader of leaders.’ I also heard him say, ‘The dhikr of serenity
in roughness is serenity, and the dhikr of roughness in serenity is roughness.’
Know that the sincere faqir is the one whose enemy does not find a way
to arrive to harm him. This is his sign because he never has any occupa-
tion except his Beloved. His occupation with his Beloved veils him from
his enemy. The Beloved with the enemy is like night with day – they are
never joined.
Know that the faqir who fears creation or he fears something which creation
fears, is not a faqir. The faqir is the one who is like what Sayyidi Muhammad
ibn ‘Abdillah, may Allah profit us by him, said, ‘The faqir is the one who is
like the bloody bone and the dogs do not smell its blood. They look at it
from afar and do not go near.’ The faqir is true, he does not reject anything
and nothing frightens him of the habits of the selves which fear low things
and are afraid of falling into them. The special faqir is the one who tames
himself in low things so that his self does not reject any of it as his self is
disciplined in high things so that his self also does not reject any of it. Then
high and low things become with him as if they were the same thing. He
is like a man who hunts with a lion and he has nothing left in the jungle
which he fears. As one of them said, ‘By Allah, if I had to choose between
the Garden and the Fire, I would not have chosen either of them.’
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, say, ‘We are a people
who do not relinquish the aloes to the fire until it is not good for anything,
then we relinquish it to the fire.’ I heard him say, ‘Whoever you exalt,
exalts you, and whoever you abase, abases you, except for yourself and
your money. Whenever you exalt them, they abase you, and whenever
you abase them, they exalt you.’ I heard him say, ‘Man serves occupations
and nothing of it appears to him. He repeats and again repeats. Nothing
appears to him until Allah sees sincerity in him in seeking that thing. Then
Allah commands that thing to obey him so that that thing is obedient in
his hands.’ I heard him say:
The faqir in his affairs is like the one who hunts with the lion.
All things fear him and he does not fear anything.
I heard him say:
The faqir is not a faqir until he is like a rotten bone which
the dog does not desire.
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He also said:
My companion is the one who is astute, because I do not sit
with my companions except to learn astuteness.
The faqir is not a faqir until he is like water. It flows to the low place and
does not rise to the high place unless it rises to it by force. This is the at-
tribute of the faqir who is sincere in his states.
The faqir who is sincere in turning to Allah has no due from creation and
he owes no debt to creation. All creation is owed him, and he does not owe
them anything. The sincere faqir also does not see himself as wronged or
wronging, ever, because he only sees Allah.
Know that the faqir rich in Allah is the one who leaves this world to crea-
tion so that he has no due in it with them except what is left from them
after his constraint and need of it. He also leaves the Next World to his
Master so that the only right he has in it is looking at the Face of Allah.
He also leaves himself to Allah so that he has no due in it except to Allah.
He only wants what his Master wants. He is like a fresh branch – wherever
the wind bends it, he inclines and bends with it. He does not reject any of
the states of creation.
Among the sum of the attributes of the sincere perfect faqir is that he does
not remember himself in the middle of creation, and he is not concerned
with it or with its portion. He does not relate anything of actions or wills or
effect to it. These are some of the attributes of the fuqara, the masters with
adab to their Master. They have no worth in the middle of creation. All
creation demands from him, and he does not see himself as having any due
from creation. He does not reject any of the states of creation. One of the
Shaykhs was questioned, and it was said to him, ‘Sayyidi, what does Allah
ta‘ala want from His creation?’ He said, ‘The state which they now have.’
Part of what the Shaykh said to me, may Allah be pleased with him and
may he have mercy on him, is, ‘My son, the murid-faqir who withdraws
from creation, occupied with his heart is like the one who chisels in stone.
The murid who mixes with creation and never purifies his heart is like the
one who paints on the water. His work never lasts for him.’ Part of what
he said to me also, may Allah have mercy on him, is, ‘My son, be the slave
of the slaves. You will obtain the good of masters and the good of slaves.
112 The Sufic Path
If you are the slave of masters and not the slave of slaves, perhaps you will
be forbidden the good of masters and the good of slaves.’
Part of what he related to me, may Allah have mercy on him, one day is
that he said, ‘A man came to a Shaykh and said to him, “Sayyidi, make du‘a
to Allah to come between me and Shaytan.” The man complained much
to the Shaykh because of Shaytan. The Shaykh answered him and said, “As
you have come to me to complain about Shaytan, Shaytan came to me to
complain of you. He said, ‘Sayyidi! I oppress this world and its people, and
so-and-so dives into this world with its people and wants to be rescued
from me and complains because of me.’” The man said to him, “By Allah,
Sayyidi, I have not entered into anything of this world except that I tore
my shawl and went to the market and got a needle and thread from it with
which to patch my shawl. The needle and some of the thread was left.” The
Shaykh said to him, “When he comes to you, leave the needle and thread.
Allah will give you rest from him.” He did it.’
The one sincere in Allah, i.e. in his descent or ascent, as he seeks an opinion
from his Shaykh, i.e. from his teacher, he seeks opinion from his newcomer,
i.e. his student. That is because when he cannot obtain by the Shaykh, he
is helped by his newcomer as he is helped by his Shaykh. This is because
whoever is sincere in his quest, benefits from the lowest of people as he
benefits from the highest of people. This is only sound for the one who
has firmness in certainty and it is sound and whose heart is illuminated
by the company of gnostic Shaykhs, may Allah give us and you success in
that. Amin.
The Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, said to me, ‘My son, know that
all increase, sensory and of meaning is all in the mudhole. Whoever finds
the mudhole, finds increase. Whoever does not find the mudhole, does
not find increase. Whoever has the mudhole emptied for him, his increase
is invalidated. All increase of existence is pawned in the mudhole. The
presence of the mudhole is the presence of increase. When the mudhole
withdraws, increase withdraws.’ Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah have
mercy on him, counselled me is that he said to me, ‘My son, if you seek
this world, put it and its people in its stage. Seek it by jest and take it as
jest and pay it out as jest and have contact with its people by jest. Beware
of elevating it above its value as its people do with it. That is because it is
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the greatest of their concerns. We seek refuge with Allah from that.’ Part
of what the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, informed me is that
Sayyidi Qasim al-Kassasi, may Allah be pleased with him, in his beginning
used to have his nafs strong against him. He would go out to the mountain
of Fes and circumambulate it from the two sides and then he would return
to the city and his self was rested. His goal in that was that his self might
become muddy. Whenever his self became muddy, increase would occur
for him: increase of knowledge and increase of action.
Beware of being dazzled when your narrowness is intolerable. According to
the greatness of narrowness, expansion is great. According to the widening
of evil, good widens. According to the strength of toil, rest is wide. I also
counsel you not to be proud or to oppress. Be with your Master like the
corpse with the one who washes him.
And the great Shaykhs whom we trust say that this relation is only con-
firmed for the one who has this world on a balanced scale. Whether he
has it or not does not matter to him and he gets from it according to how
it is out of his hand and his heart. Part of what our master said to me is:
The faqir is the one who has many mudholes. According to the
greatest of his mudholes, opening exists. Whoever does not get
stuck is not a faqir. It is like the people of this world. If the one of
this world does not get stuck, he does not have anything opened to
him in it. The signs of sincerity in occupations is getting stuck in it.
The opening and result is according to the mudhole.
Part of what I heard him say is: ‘The spring does not drink. The distant one
benefits by it more than it.’ The custom of Allah has passed in that. It is like
that with the wali. The distant benefits from him more, and his near ones
are forbidden more of the good of the wali. As the speaker said, ‘Whoever
visits me, does not ask for my neighbourhood.’ Part of what I heard him
say is: ‘When misfortune descends on the very poor it is like an ember of
fire which falls on water. When misfortune descends on the outrageous,
it is like an ember falling on flax.’ I heard him say, ‘Stupidity on this path
of ours is the source of intelligence, and intelligence and modesty in this
path of ours is the source of stupidity because the shy and the proud do
not learn this knowledge.’ As the Beloved said, ‘O Allah! Increase me in
bewilderment in You!’
114 The Sufic Path
The one of the outward only succeeds in the outward. As for the one of
the inward, there is no following. The one of the inward only succeeds in
the inward. As for the outward, there is no following. The shara‘i’ incline
and the realities break. It is like that. The like of the learning murid is like
a small moist tree with a slender stalk. It is what accepts the morsel when
the gardener gives it a morsel. As for the solid tree, its stem does not accept
the morsel. It is like the learning murid who only accepts learning when he
is small, moist, turning, sincere. When he is like that, he accepts increase
and decrease, i.e. he accepts what the Shaykh increases him in and what he
decreases him in. As for when he is the opposite of these attributes, i.e. old
and thick of self and content with what is in it and it is content with what
is in him, he never learns. Whoever wants to teach it, it is like the one who
wants to pluck grapes from thorns.
Know that the Shaykh informed us from his father, may Allah profit us by
all, that he used to say, ‘When you find the murid who mentions Allah in
all matters, know that he has won and obtained.’
Part of what our master, our support and our road to Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi
al-‘Arabi, the son of the perfect Shaykh, Sayyidi Ahmad ibn ‘Abdillah, may
Allah be pleased with them, and may Allah profit us by them, said is, ‘My
son, we only reached arrival by the earnestness of the struggle.’ I heard the
Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say, ‘Have you seen the bee and why it
is that honey is found among them? It is only because they are gathered to
Allah. A bee does not take account of her sister in work and she does not
envy her in anything. For that reason, you find honey among them.’ I heard
him say, ‘Come to good! Good has a servant.’ Part of what I heard him say
was, ‘Our companion is the one who stings himself in every detail like the
beast who is struck by the wind.’ Part of what I heard him say is that he
said, ‘The superogatory is leaving what the common have which the shari‘a
does not reject, i.e. of the realities.’ Part of what I heard him, may Allah be
pleased with him, say, ‘The self in man is like the white hair in the milk.
If you look closely at it, you will not find it in man. It is hidden in him.’
Our master said, ‘My companion is the one who is content with as little as
one hair.’ He also said, ‘My companion has a shell on his outward like a tur-
tle. The one who plays the game should not get offended, and the one who
is offended should not play.’ One of his companions said to him, ‘Sayyidi!
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Show me how we are perplexed by the state of these people for whom the
upper is overturned and returns them to the lower, and the lower returns
them to the upper.’ The Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, said to him,
‘If you want to reach what Allah has or what creation has, you must have
abasement. It is said that in it is the greatest great name of Allah. Whoever
is called by it, answers, and whoever is asked by it, gives.’ He also said to me,
‘My son, do not reject any of your states in which Allah puts you.’
Wisdom is not in the faqir. It is in the relationship to Allah ta‘ala which he
wears, as the treasury does not have wisdom in it. It is in the relationship to
the king which it wears. Had the relationship to Allah been lacking from the
faqir, he would not be good for anything and no one would be concerned
with him. The dog costs a sixteenth of a dirham and the necklace costs
100,000. What is 100,000 in relationship to Allah ta‘ala?
The perfect faqir is like the bee. He tends the blossoms wherever he finds
them and however he finds them like the one who tends roses, flowers, and
lilies of the valley. He tends the flowers of the oleander and the flowers of
the matrun because he possesses meanings. The meanings which he acquires
from the rose is that which he acquires from the oleander flowers. All are
flowers. It is because the possessor of meaning directs his glance into its
beauty, not into its food. Its sweetness or bitterness are the same. There is
no doubt that the glance is meaning as hearing, speech, and smell are all
meanings. Taste is sensory. Man contains senses and meaning. The senses
are the food of forms and meanings are the food of the arwah. People are
in two groups about this analogy: one group give authority to their arwah
over their bodies, and they are the people of meanings. If they have senses,
they are weak as if they did not exist. The other group gives authority to
their bodies over their arwah. They are the people of the senses. If they
have meanings, they are weak as if they did not exist. The people of mean-
ings are not concerned with sensory things, whether they did exist or not.
They revolve around meanings. They take them where they find them and
how they find them, whether their food is sweet or bitter because food is
sensory and they are not people of the senses. It is like that with the people
of the senses. They are not concerned with meanings and whether they exist
or not. They revolve around the senses and take them wherever they find
them, and take whoever they find. It is the same whether they see it as ugly
or nice, or they hear that it is ugly or nice: because looking and hearing
116 The Sufic Path
are meanings. They are not people of meanings. They revolve around the
senses. They take them by the bitterness of the meanings or their sweetness.
As the people of meanings take their meanings wherever and however they
find them, similarly the people of the senses take their senses wherever and
however they find them. Look at what the speaker said:
Would that You were sweet when life is bitter.
Would that You were pleased when people are angry.
Would that what is between You and I were filled while
what is between me and the worlds were a ruin.
When love is sound in You, all is easy, and all that is
above the earth is earth.
When the meaning becomes fine and is sharpened, it is increased in
honour, and its price becomes dear. The senses are the reverse of that. It
is increased in coarseness and its honour increases and its price becomes
dear. That is because when the meaning reaches its limit of fineness, no
one can encompass it except the one with a predominant intellect. In that,
its owner possesses existence and what it contains by it. Had the Garden
and what it contains in value been given over this world, it would not be
enough, or even a tenth of its price.
Know that when the senses and meaning are equal in the faqir who turns
to Allah so they are the same for him, he begins to twist existence, high
and low as he twists the cord of palm. The balance of the senses and the
meaning is the balance of might and abasement, and the balance of good
and evil, the balance of contraction and expansion, the balance of praise
and blame, the balance of giving and withholding, the balance of enemy
and lover, the balance of nearness and distance, the balance of majesty
and beauty, the balance of advance and retreat, the balance of height and
lowness, the balance of king and slave to what has no end of opposites.
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say, ‘The one who turns
is not among us.’
The faqir who turns, when he speaks of this world, he is like the one who
moves impurity in an assembly of people or like the one who uncovers his
private parts in the middle of the market-place while people are looking.
The faqir has enough stupidity on Allah ta‘ala and his idiocy in speaking
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on this world is more than his moving in it by action. He is yet more stupid
and more stupid and more stupid.
It is haram for a sincere faqir to speak except about his art with the people
of his art. He speaks only one, two, or three words. It is permitted to him
after much constraint. If he is not constrained to speak, it is haram for him
with other than the people of his art on other than his art.
The only one who enters all the presences is the one upon whom the effect
of guidance appears. It is not halal for the murid to enter all the presences
unless the effect of guidance appears on him. If the effect of guidance does
not appear on him, that is haram for him by the consensus of the lords of the
reality because if other than the people of its art enter the presence before
the conditions are fulfilled in him, he has turned himself to destruction.
It is not halal for a Muslim man to advance on a matter until he knows
Allah’s judgement in it. Part of the attributes of the effect of the guidance
of the murid is that he eats from all things, and things do not consume
him. That means that when he touches things, his effect appears in them,
and they do not manifest an effect in him. Part of the effect of guidance
on the murid is also that he recognises the rules of the celestial realities as
he recognises the rules of the terrestrial realities. It is as the Majdhub said,
may Allah have mercy on him:
He desires, and my hardship is the stage.
We strike with this and with that.
Nothing of the celestials is prevented but that he takes it by the terrestrial,
and vice versa. The attributes do not end, and guidance is not completed
for the murid until permission is written for him by the people of his mo-
ment among the people of his art. Before that, he remains veiled. Had he
arrived, he would not have arrived since he does not recognise guidance
from himself until he recognises it from another.
Know that the faqir is like the hammam. When he is very hot with no
coldness in him, he desires no attention. If he is very cold with no heat in
him, he deserves no attention. If he combines heat and coldness, the best of
that is the word of Allah which is never exhausted. That is the lofty Night
of Power, and it is the heir of the light of prophecy because the first of what
Allah bestows on the gnostic of Allah is that He places the reins of his self
118 The Sufic Path
in his hand so that it will obey him. He can turn it wherever he likes and
he can do with it whatever he likes. After that, He bestows a second favour
on him. He places the reins of all existence under his command and prohi-
bition. He can move it wherever he likes and he can do whatever he likes
with it. That is because he knows his adab with Him – and he has nothing
except what his Master wants. In that, He empowers him to dispose of the
celestial and terrestrial Malakut. That is because the master of this station
is distracted from will because he is absorbed in looking at his Master. He
only sees Him. When will appears from him, it is the will of his Master
appearing on him. As for him, it is the affair which he is in. He cannot
increase it as much as a mustard-seed and he cannot lessen it. Phenomenal
beings are obliterated with him and vanish, and only the Maker remains.
Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in the Hikam, ‘Had His attributes appeared, His be-
ings would have vanished.’ The master of this station has no separation
in the existence of things and their non-existence, i.e. all states and their
opposites are equal with him. Had he been weighed in all his states, they
would have been equal. That is because of his withdrawal in his presence
and his presence in his withdrawal. After this, the matter is beyond what
the describers describe. As the speaker said:
Whoever tastes, recognises. Longing is only recognised by
the one who suffers it.
There is no ardent love except for the one who is struck by it.
We only found all good gathered in withdrawal from creation. If we wrote
about the virtue of withdrawal, it would fill what is between the heaven
and the earth. We would not reach its worth. I heard him say, ‘The murid
with the Shaykh is like the one who looks in the mirror. When he turns
to it with his face blackened, only the black appears to him in it. When
he turns to it with a white face, only the white appears to him in it. It is
like that with the murid. When he looks at the Shaykh and turns to him
with the eye of perfection, he only finds the limit of perfection in him. If
he turns to him with the eye of imperfection, he only finds imperfection
in him. It is like this. When the glance in the Shaykh is perfect, it finds
perfection in the Shaykh.’ Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased
with him, said to me is, ‘My son, the faqir is like the one who is struck by a
camel. You only find him occupied with himself, because of the shock on
his side, from other-than-him.’ Part of what I heard our master say is, ‘The
The Company 119
murid-faqir who mixes with creation has ease fall from him like the blood-
clot which falls from man’s blood. He is not rescued in mixing with people
when that state is judged for him. He does not find a way to flee except
when he is silent, in control of his tongue. If not, he is rarely saved from
them. Might is in fleeing from them.’ Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah
be pleased with him, said to me when he saw me beginning in divestment
is that he said to me, ‘This state of yours, my son, has two states gathered
in it: manifestation and concealment.’ He said to me, ‘I only inform you
about this matter so that you might benefit by the information of this state
of yours, Allah willing.’ Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with
him, said to me is, ‘My son, in the morning, all things seek you, good and
evil. If you are the master of things, you take the good and turn away from
the evil. If things are your master, when the good overcomes you, you are
destroyed and parted from your Master, and when the evil overcomes you,
you are destroyed and parted from the door of your Master because man
is the bride of kingdom and all things desire him. All that is in existence
desires him because all things which are in existence are owned by him
since all things were created for this man.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
My brother, how is it that you only do dhikr when we tell you, ‘Do dhikr!’
By Allah, you are like the beast which only moves by the prod. One who is
always with those who do dhikr does not need someone to tell him, ‘Do
dhikr!’ when he has eyes and ears.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
120 The Sufic Path
The Way 121
Chapter Five
The Way
The Lesser Song
In the tavern of the Presence we drank a wine of the lights that
totally banished the darkness.
Through it we realised that the act is in every atom through its
Creator who is worshipped everywhere.
We experienced that Allah is manifest in everything through His
most beautiful names and the secrets of power.
However, the states of existence are many, and because of this,
the great veil has fallen over wisdom,
And the Merciful has sent the flower of His creation as a bringer of
good news and a warning, as a guide with inner sight.
If you wish to obtain the gift of serenity then make him the
wisdom-guide of your every thought.
Say to the impulses of the self: ‘Do not come with me. Do not cut
off my path to the Lord of creation.’
Whoever has got dhikr, fikr, and himma, will in each moment
transcend otherness,
He will attain gnosis beyond his desire and fast realise the secrets
of existence.
He will see that the purity of the shari‘a is separation, which,
properly speaking, is the source of reality.
This is why the Qur‘an has commanded mankind to reflect and
has brought a tawhid which eliminates doubt.
The Merciful is only to be seen in manifestations such as
the throne, the footstool, the tablet of forms, or the lote-tree.
The intellect is unable to realise the essence of the attributes of
the Lord through unveiling, and less able to realise what
nature itself is.
So attack the attributes of the self and efface them, and you will be
helped by the lights of the eternal attributes.
122 The Sufic Path
Thus you will see the lovers who have become intoxicated by the
lights, and the drunkest lover is the one who has been given
special licence.
There is no restriction on what those utterly overwhelmed by
Allah may reveal, nor on the people of idhn.
Here are ones who have obliterated their self and plumbed every
depth in the oceans of love,
So submit to them for what you see of their ardent love, and the
dancing and singing at their invocation of the Beloved.
If you had only tasted something of the meaning of our words, you
would already be experiencing every state.
And, oh my brother, you would have borne your troubles patiently,
and you would have rent the robes of shame and self-importance.
You would have said to the caravan leader of the people, ‘Make us
love His name! There is no shame in that song, nor in that love!’
Unfortunately, whoever becomes the property of his own self
withdraws from the secrets of this path.
The most hostile enemy of man is his self, which hinders him from
achieving understanding of the reality.
So become greater than the creatures if you desire reunion with
Him, and do not be satisfied merely with a reputation of nobility.
Oh, the triumph of a people who have answered the sublime call of
the Beloved, and so obtained the garden!
By that I mean both gnosis in the presence of nearness and gnosis
of the garden of rivers, houris, and ecstasy.
Let the one whose heart has become devoid of gnosis in every
thought weep over himself.
The joy of life without trouble, by my Lord, is only the realisation
of reunion.
Perhaps a glance will cure the sick man of his sickness, for the
perception of the essence of reality is mighty.
My best time is when I am characterised by humility, incapacity,
poverty, and the negation of the will.
The Way 123
For these are the ground of our perfect path. So take the path and
avoid reputation and self-importance.
Flee to the opposite of the attributes of the Lord, then by
the generosity of Allah, you will be the richest of creation.
His attributes are encompassing knowledge, and power over
everything, and our attributes are ignorance and less capacity
than a particle of dust.
And, oh my companion, himma is the possession to have, then if
you desire the goal of all the gnostics you can set out for it.
Being a slave of Allah is sincere when it goes along with wanting
what the Lord wants at every moment.
By slavery I mean being stripped of every power and strength and
capacity, and even the act of getting things for yourself.
Because in this way the heart is purified of blindness and is filled
with lights in every thought.
The song is over. Let there be praise at the beginning and the end
for the gift of help from the Best of the Community,
May the blessings of Allah be upon him and his family, and Com-
panions, the people who were meticulous about correct behaviour.
And its writer is the renowned one, I mean Muhammad ibn
al-Habib, who seeks perfect slavehood.
So impart to him, oh Possessor of generosity, a fragrance from You
that will spread the effulgence of reality over all creatures.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Robe of Nearness

Invocation of the Beloved clothed us in beauty, radiance,
exaltation and joy.
In drawing near we threw off all restraint and proclaimed the One
we love to glorify.
The Beloved gave us a draught of love to drink which forced all but
the Beloved to vanish.
124 The Sufic Path
We saw created beings as pure particles of dust: we saw the lights

openly appear.
After having been obliterated and annihilated in a light-giving
wine, we returned to creation.
By a bounty from Allah we were given going-on and with patience
we concealed the One we love.
How often have we looked on a wayfarer so that he has risen to the
stations of those who have plunged into the seas!
We have healed the hearts of what had taken possession of them by
sciences subtle in taste.
We concerned ourselves with something secretly, and so it was,
and the One we have chosen to love has come to us.
We heard a secret from the presence of the Unseen: ‘With Us
you are Beloved so be thankful.’
We have been given idhn to quench the thirst of whoever comes
to us longing for the encounter, and not seeking for information.
If gifts are plentiful, still, avoid them and be poor.
Humble yourself to the people – and they will give you the drink.
Draw near to them and have no fear of disgrace.
Strip yourself of every knowledge and understanding in order that
you may obtain what the great have obtained.
Offer up the self, oh lover of union, and follow the Shaykh in what
he has advised.
Witness the truth in him, in essence and heart, annihilate yourself
in him, and you will be victorious through him.
He is the light of the Messenger in every aspect, and he is
the medicine of hearts, openly and in secret.
So look to him and exalt him greatly. Go to him and be abject.
Blessings be upon the Prophet and his family and Companions
and whoever has directed people to him,
And peace, fragrant with musk and every scent, and beauty and
unrivalled sublimity.
The Way 125
The Eyewitness
Oh you who desire the presence of being an eyewitness, you must
rise above the spirit and the forms –
And cling to the original void – and be as if you were not,
oh annihilated!
Truly, you will see existence by a secret whose meanings
have spread in every age.
None of the images of action and entity multiply the Actor
in any way.
So whoever rises above every vanishing thing will be shown
existence without duality.
Oh the victory of one who has come to witness a Lord Who is
compassionate, tranquil and near.
He accepts whoever comes as a poor man who has turned from
his own darkness.
So when the slave turns away (from wrong action) he purifies
himself for the presence of love and drawing-near.
Dhikr of Allah with witnessing of His overflowing obtains for him
a luminous awakening.
Whoever is safe from his own self is safe from creation,
So oppose the self and its desires and seek the company of a gnostic
of Allah.
He will show you your hidden faults and will heal you
with a spiritual remedy.
He acts gently towards you on the journey and has compassion
for the people of trial and those who lose direction.
He will annihilate you through dhikr in the reality: and he calls on
the heart through the Qur‘an.
He will refresh the spirit with instruction so that the meanings are
manifested to it.
O Lord, bless the Prophet as long as the Suratu’l-Mathani
is recited,
126 The Sufic Path
And his family and Companions as long as people profit by iman.

I ask of the Real – bliss – for all whom my age comprises.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
My brothers, about fifty years ago, I said to one of the brothers, ‘If you
travel as I travel, you will have complete power over whichever of your
companions you like. Then none of your brothers will be able to say any-
thing.’ Many years later, I said, ‘By Allah, if I had thought that I could not
make you reach your goal, I would not have begun with you. I only began
with you with the intention of making you reach your goal.’ I said to them,
‘Now, if you hear me and follow me, I will not leave any vertigo, inversion,
or intoxication in your heads. I will leave you as Shaykhs of yourselves and
Shaykhs of others. You will not have any need of the people of your time.
Whenever you need something, you will find it with you. Allah is the
authority for what we say.’
My brother, be steady in this teaching and cling firmly to it if you want the
Path to act on all of created being. If not, then created being will make it
act on you as it has made it act on your companions. If you do not make
it act on created being, created being will make it act on you. Our master,
may Allah be pleased with him, used to say to us, ‘Created being always
says by the tongue of the state: “Strike!” If not, then stretch out your neck
to eat and watch out!’ The matter is as he said. Allah is the authority for
what we say.
Illusion is baseless, but Allah gave it form by a great wisdom. Every matter
has a great secret and a clear aspect, as Allah ta‘ala said: ‘“Our Lord! You
did not create this in vain. Glory be to You!” – “Do you suppose that
We created you as a sport?” Far be it from our Lord to create that. Our
Lord is high above that!’ If you do not get control of illusion, i.e. put your
own view on it, it will certainly get control of you and put its view on you.
If you do not reject its view, it will reject your view. It is nothing. If you
listen to its conversation it will weaken your certainty and pull you from
it to the side. If you do not listen to its conversation, your luminosity will
grow stronger. When it grows stronger, your certainty will grow stronger.
When it grows stronger, your himma will rise. When it rises, you reach your
Lord. Your reaching Him is reaching knowledge of Him, glory be to Him!
The Way 127
For those who travel to Allah and do not listen to its conversation or
follow its opinion, it is like a strong wind released for sailors. In one hour,
it makes them arrive whereas others arrive there after a month or a year.
Allah knows best. When someone halts with its conversation and opinion,
by Allah, he remains becalmed, at a standstill, as occurs to sailors. Such is
its nature. We think that the one who leaves what does not concern him
will find that the least of means is enough for him. If he does not leave it,
nothing will be enough for him, no matter what he does.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Part of the core of wisdom is that when you want gatheredness, connect
yourself to separation and stay in that. Gatheredness will seek you and it
will not forbid you its hand. The reverse is the same. If you desire separation,
connect yourself to gatheredness and stay in it. Separation will seek you and
it will not forbid you its hand. The reason for that is that gatheredness only
abides by separation as separation only abides by gatheredness. ‘O Allah!
Give succession to every exiled one and give destruction to every grasping
one.’ Or as he said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘Whenever
the gnostic of Allah, the Wise, sees something which is infeasible, he
understands the reason in that – for what reason it is wrong and for what
reason it is right.’ What a difference between the one who travels through
things recognising them and their rules, and the one who travels through
them ignorant of them and their rules. The first travels through them joy-
ful, happy, enraptured, and obtains their good and their evil misses him,
while the second one travels through them constricted, fearful, anxious,
restrained, imprisoned, and obtains their evil and their good misses him.
He said, may He be exalted, ‘Are they equal, those who know and those
who do not know?’
Intention is in two divisions: intention of inner meaning and it is spent
in all creation by intention, and another intention opposite it which is
outward sensory intention. It is company and sitting, i.e. the constant sit-
ting of the man with the people of his art. The first finds the second. It is
the meaning which finds the sensory, and it is also the reverse. The sensory
finds the meaning. When man is confronted with the sensory, he grabs the
meaning. When he is confronted with the meaning, he grabs the sensory.
128 The Sufic Path
Whoever turns to a matter and does not have intention of meaning or

intention of the senses, has no way to enter that matter because these two
intentions are the key of affairs.
The door is to all good and its entrance is evil. Whoever enters the door
and goes through its entrance, reaches good. Whoever does not enter the
door, does not reach it.
‘The Garden is surrounded by hated things.’ – Hadith.
It is as one of them said:
They do not cross the valley of profit
until they cross the valley of loss.
Our goal in diving into this art is increase of nearness and mustering to
the sea of the source of unity. May Allah make us among those who are
absorbed in it by His favour and ihsan!
Know that the answer has two conditions: sincere confusion and sincere
intention in seeking and in good opinion of the slaves of Allah. According
to the strength of these two qualities, the seeker of a need has the answer
come swiftly to him, and according to its weakness in him, it is weak. It
is said that a man of the Salihun was sitting near a river speaking with his
companions. There was a woman washing some clothes at the edge of the
river. She had a small child playing near her. Suddenly, he fell into the river
and vanished from her eyes. When she saw that, she fled to the Shaykh and
his companions shouting, striking her head, and saying, ‘Sayyidi! My son
has gone into the water!’ The companions of the Shaykh answered and said,
‘None of us are any good at swimming.’ She began to increase her weeping
and shouting. The Shaykh said to her, ‘Be patient and be content.’ She said
to him, ‘Sayyidi, my patience is weak.’ He replied to her and then she said
to him, ‘Sayyidi! By Allah! I do not find patience!’ The Shaykh said to her,
‘If you are truthful in what you say, look at the river-bank, and you will find
your child has come out of the river safe.’ She went to the river-bank and
found her child safe and sound. Look at this Shaykh, may Allah have mercy
on him, and how he sentenced her to bring her son out when he saw her
agitation from the force of the confusion which had descended in her, and
the sincerity of her seeking her child and her good opinion of the Shaykh.
The matter was like that. He said, may He be exalted, ‘He who answers
the constrained when he calls on Him.’ Look at your Master, may His
The Way 129
praise be exalted, and how He connected the answer to constraint. May
Allah have mercy on the speaker!
However, the secret of Allah is in the sincerity of the quest.
How many a one is thrown into wonder by its companions!
Know that there is no question which man seeks but that the perfection
of his obtaining it is according to the sincerity of his seeking it. He said in
the Hikam, ‘Whoever has a lofty beginning, has a lofty end.’
Know that the seeker of the reality is like the seeker of the kingdom. If he
is sincere in seeking his kingdom and continues in that, he will become a
king in every case. Whoever is not obeyed today, will be obeyed tomorrow.
Whoever is not obeyed this month, will be obeyed in the one which is after
it. Whoever is not obeyed this year, will be obeyed in the one which is after
it. It is like that with the seeker of the reality if he is sincere in his quest.
What he does not obtain today, he will obtain tomorrow. What he does
no obtain this month, he will obtain in the one which is after it. What he
does not obtain this year, he will obtain in the one after it – until he can
use the reality unseen and present, inwardly and outwardly, in knowledge
and action.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him and may He profit
us by him, counselled me is, ‘My son! Among the greatest of what is feared
for the seeker of this art is bad adab with his parents, with his Shaykh, his
self, and with his Lord.’ As for parents, they are good to him when he is small
until he reaches puberty and they see that his self is mature and complete
in respect to the essence and in respect to action. It appears to him that his
recognition is recognition, and his intellect is intellect. Then he acquires
contempt and indifference to his parents and has bad adab with them. In
that Allah seizes him remorselessly. It is like that with his Shaykh. That is
because he comes to him while he is ignorant of knowledge and ignorant
of action. Then the Shaykh takes him by the hand so as to bring him to
the arrival of men in knowledge and action. When he sees that his self has
obtained what his companions have obtained, he becomes proud of himself
and is content with his intellect and pleased with himself in its states, ac-
tions, and words. By that, he may acquire contempt and indifference to the
Shaykh. That is ingratitude for blessing. Whoever does not thank people,
does not thank Allah. ‘Whoever is ungrateful for blessings runs the risk
130 The Sufic Path
of their departure.’ - Hadith. In that he will be seized remorselessly. The

sign is that he takes contentment, and contentment with Allah or whoever
directs you to Allah is deprivation. We ask Allah for safety! It is also like
that with the self. Whoever recognises his self, recognises his Lord. When
he acquires one of the ranks of gnosis of the self, he takes the matter on
its face value and is not humble in that state to his Master by returning
himself to slaveness in spite of the reputation of its honour and the height
of its rank with the Creator which has been opened to him. He is obliged
to follow the sunna of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace in that by the word of Allah ta‘ala:
You have a good model in the Messenger of Allah,
i.e. when Allah ta‘ala gave him the choice between being a prophet-king or
a prophet-slave. He chose slaveness over kingdom as a humility from him,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with his Master. He said to Him:
O Lord! I am hungry one day and I am full one day.
When I am hungry, I seek You, and when I am full, I thank You.
If he is among the people of this Road, he is like that. If not, he is deluded.
We take refuge with Allah! It is like that with Allah, the Great, the Exalted,
when He is kind to him with what He shows of kindness to His beloved
slaves, the gnostics of Him, may Allah be pleased with them. He must
not be safe from the device of Allah. If his fear is great, his hope is great
commensurate with that, even had he reached what he reached. He looks
at Shaykh Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish, may Allah profit us by
him, when his student, Sayyiduna Abu’l-Hasan, may Allah profit us by all,
complained to him. He said to him, ‘Sayyidi! I complain about the heat
of management and choice.’ He said, ‘My son, as you complain about the
heat of management and choice, so I complain about the cold of satisfac-
tion and submission.’ He also said, ‘I ask You to make creation turn to me
so that I have no refuge nor shelter except You.’ Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shadhili
said, ‘Make us Your slaves in all states,’ in spite of the nobility of his station
and the might of his portion which is not rejected nor limited. The slave
with adab must be like that with his Master. For this reason, they said,
‘Make your action salt and your adab flour.’
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, said to me is,
‘When you hesitate in something or you need something, aim for its mine
The Way 131
or aim for its people. If you aim for its mine, it will join you to its people.
If you aim for its people, they will join you to its mine. It lets you meet its
people because all its people are in its mine, and its mine is with its people.’
Part of what the Shaykh said to me, may Allah profit us by him, is that he
said, ‘This occupation of ours is like gold. If it is rubbed, it increases in nobil-
ity.’ He also said to me, ‘The occupation of all people is that they are marred
whenever they are bent. Our occupation is not good until we are bent.’ He
also said to me, ‘All animals die when they are swallowed up by water but
when fish come out of water, they die. We are like that in this Path of ours.
Whatever creation dies by, we are brought to life by it. Whatever harms
people, we profit by it.’ – ‘Death has my life in it, and my life is my death.’
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah give us profit by him, said to me is, ‘We
are a people who are increased by presence and increased by the worthless.
We do not leave the presence and we do not leave the worthless. If we find
travelling by presence, we travel. If we find travelling by the worthless, we
travel. We are with what emerges from our Master, be it acquired or given
because all is by Him, from Him, to Him.’
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him and may Allah
profit us by him, said to me is, ‘My son, frequently you treat things by their
youth, flexibility and dryness. When they are long, great and phlegmatic,
it is rare that you treat them. This is with the doctors of the outward and
the doctors of the inward.’
Part of what the Shaykh said to me, may Allah profit us by him, is: ‘What-
ever is rebellious to you of the affairs of this world and the Next, sinks lower
into it. You will find your rest in it. Also all that you proceed in according
to the view of another, you will err little in it and you will be right often.
Whenever you proceed in it by your view, you will be often right in little
of it and you will err much in it.’
Know that when man is by his Master and he is by good or evil, he is in
the limit of perfection. When he is by other than his Master, and he is by
good or evil, he is in the limit of imperfection.
I also heard the Shaykh, may Allah give us his benefit, say, ‘Whoever wants
to see wonders should work wonders, and then he will see wonders. Who-
132 The Sufic Path
ever wants to see wonders and does not work wonders, he is like the one
who wants to pluck grapes from thorns.
Part of what I heard from the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, is that he
said, ‘Some people say, “Limit your mouth and your du‘a will be answered.”
I say, “Limit your words, and your du‘a will be answered with Allah and
with the slaves.”’
When the secret is in the inward, the outward has no portion in it. When it
comes to the outward, the inward has no portion in it. As Sayyidi ‘Abd’ul-
Qadir said in his Qasida in ‘Ayn:
If overflowing sets out on the journey, it rises.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him and have mercy on
him, counselled me, is that he said to me: ‘Do not let your prey go! Beware!
Bite it increasingly! Also beware and again beware lest your moustache
should carry its blood. Guard your moustache so that it is not touched by
the blood even a little.’
Know that the one of the realities first encounters immense hardship in
them. After that, if hardship does not defeat him, he acquires immense rest
in them. Rest is according to hardship. If his beginning shines, according to
it, his end shines, i.e. when hardship does not defeat him and he is resolute
in his affair at the beginnings, he benefits according to his resolution.
If you want to understand the words of actual poverty, it is like the one who
learns the indication. He shoots the gun and does not control it and repeats
and does not control it. He again repeats and does not control it until he is
accustomed to it. In that, he begins to hit it and does not ever miss because
whoever does not err, does not hit the mark. Whoever is not corrupt, is
not mended. Whoever is not crooked, is not made straight. Whoever is
not abased, does not become mighty. The custom of Allah has preceded
in His creation that things only issue from their opposites. However, men
vary in leadership. The bold obtains pleasure. Ash-Shitri said:
Overcome it with the foot, and the stream will begin
to fear you, O leader.
Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani said:
Only the brave fighters obtain it.
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Ash-Shadhili, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
O Allah, You have sentenced the people to abasement
until they become mighty.
The abasement of beginnings is until the might of ends is obtained. The
poet said:
The end of love is pleasure and its beginning is like jest.
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say, ‘The first of that by
which the selves are beguiled is by occupation with creation, then with-
drawal from creation, then hunger, then travelling, then giving water to
creation, then going about in the markets with chatter, then speaking with
all who turn to you among the people of the elite and common, then go-
ing about with incense fumigating people without asking for a wage, then
coarseness and bareness of clothing. These eight are permissible realities.
They are among the great realities which join the slave to Allah, i.e. the
slave sincere in his quest of Allah. These are as if they were doors to Allah.
Whoever enters one and stays in one of these eight, by it, he comes to Al-
lah, and by it, he reaches Allah. That is by a condition, and the condition is
advancing to Allah by one of these doors with the company of the lords of
the art, skilled in the knowledge of the reality. Few they are. This analogy
is from the path of travelling in attraction.
In all matters, each matter which does not have oneness of speech and ac-
tion in it is false and can never establish itself, whether it is a matter of the
deen or of this world, or of the Next World.
Among the realities are kohl, the siwak-stick, ghaliya (perfume of musk
and ambergris), musk, rings on fingers, and kissing all with excellence and
beauty. Also among the realities are sitting in the mosque a lot, and much
standing and walking between the walls of the mosque and reclining in it.
There is also much sitting, standing, reclining, and walking in the markets.
All these are realities.
All the orbit is around mud. Whenever being in mud is breaking norms
of creation, it is the reality itself. Whenever it is all norm in creation, it is
all shari‘a. The reality with people is reality before they become familiar
with it. When the become familiar with it, it becomes shari‘a. The one of
our path, when he clings to a reality and they are familiar with it, it is as if
134 The Sufic Path
it were a state, so he must change it to another reality. Realities are celes-

tial and terrestrial, and shara‘i’ are celestial and terrestrial. Basically, all of
them are realities until familiarity occurs. Whenever creations are familiar
with realities, they become shara‘i’. The one sincere in this path must take
on the character of realities wherever they are. He must not turn to their
harm or benefit because man is with what mends his heart and brings it
near to his Master.
Know that the Path to Allah is two paths: the path of the letter and the
path of the meaning. Ash-Shitri said:
It is a letter and all of it is meaning.
That is my love. It has no second.
It is like that with the paths. As for the path of the letter, it is the path of
force, i.e. travelling. As for the path of meaning, it is the path of destruc-
tion, i.e. it is the path of attraction. However, whoever enters force, ends
at destruction, and whoever enters destruction, ends at force, because the
letter is the meaning and the meaning is the letter. The affair of man is only
set up between them. They are connected to each other. Whoever stops
with one, finds the other. It is inevitable.
This path of ours is majesty outwardly and beauty inwardly. The one on
it does not abase himself to anyone except his Master. He does not forbid
anyone from speaking or looking until even, had he been called, he would
not have answered kings themselves and the state of the very poor. That is
because it is a path of one source. He said, may He be exalted:
Say: ‘He is Allah, One, the Samad. He did not beget
and was not begotten, and no one is equal to Him.’
When the one on this path is increased outwardly in majesty, that is his
looking at His power, and it increases him in beauty inwardly. This is the
path of the inward. The inward is opposite the outward king. As it is at-
tached to the outward king, so it is attached to the inward king.
The people of this Path of ours are kings who bind by a word and release
by a word. They rise by a word and they set down by a word. They appoint
by a word and remove by a word. That is because they are the people of
meanings. All their actions are meanings.
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say: ‘This Path of ours is
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like water which waters the sweet, and it grows and is sound. The bitter
is watered by it and it grows and is sound. All fields grow when it waters
them, whether the field is sweet or bitter.’
Know that all the realities, celestial and terrestrial, in the beginning are
more bitter than colocynth with the one who has them. As long as the one
who has them is sincere in them, they become sweet for him until they are
sweeter than honey. The beginner is feared for because of their bitterness.
The perfect is feared for because of their sweetness, in case they might
distract him from Allah. One of our masters said, i.e. with the words of
the people of gnosis of Allah:
They do not cross the valley of profit until they cross the valley of
loss. The worthless remain in the valley of loss.
Know that these realities have rules. Whoever enters these realities and
does not recognise their rules, is disappointed. One of the statements of
the Arabs is:
The land kills the one who knows it
and the land kills the one who does not know it.
Among the sum of its rules is that its owner may plant good and evil will
issue for him. Its owner may plant evil and good will issue for him. Only
the wise recognises the principle of that, or the one who takes the art from
a wise one sitting in the market with him when he finds him. They are few.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, counselled me is
that he said to me: ‘My son, if you write a book, great or small as it may be,
re-read it immediately before it leaves your hands. That has great usefulness
in it for you and for your book.’
There is no one in the journey more beneficial, more guiding, and more
piercing than the one who travels between a guiding Shaykh, a gnostic of
Allah, and a sincere murid who turns to Allah. This is in the path of lowering
or in the path of rising. Their judgement in this question is one, even if the
paths and colours differ because when his occupation is repeated twice, he
drinks from two directions. After it, there is only the perfect, and success
is by Allah. That is because whoever is truly sincere to Allah drinks honey
from the roots of oleander as he drinks honey from the honey of the bee.
He benefits from the lowest as he benefits from the highest of people.
Everything is the same with him – things and their opposites are equal
136 The Sufic Path
for him in everything, enemy and lover, giving and withholding, evil-doer
and good-doer, contraction and expansion, the height of the highest and
the lowest of the low. Everything in everything is equal for him. He said,
may He be exalted:
Know that all existence revolves around increase and its seeker and pre-
vention of increase and its element. What follows rises or lowers. If man
increases what follows higher, he finds increase. If he increases what fol-
lows lower, he finds increase in both of these things. All increase is present,
i.e. all increase of existence. Whoever among the people of wisdom and
gnosis of Allah recognises it, recognises. Whoever has no knowledge of it
among the people of stumbling, prohibition, insanity, and darkness, has no
knowledge of it because the common seek increase of above and recognise
it while they reject increase of below and flee from it. These two increases
cannot be avoided by man. Rather, for man and others, these two alternate
in existence. Sometimes it is this one, and sometimes it is that one. This
is the custom of Allah with them and His wisdom in His creation. His
judgement cannot be repelled and His command cannot be revised. Allah
inspired the people of this Shadhili Path, may Allah be pleased with them,
by His wisdom, so they recognise it and know it and take it with them. For
that reason, things and their opposites are equal with them: sweetness and
bitterness, good and evil, giving and withholding, life and death, soundness
and illness, praise and censure, forward and back, high and low. Had they
weighed all their states, one state would not have out-weighed another. As
the sovereign Qutb, Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shadhili, may Allah make
us among those who travel his straight road and make us Your slaves in all
states, said, ‘The people of this path, may Allah be pleased with them, seek
the benefit of evils as they seek the benefit of good things.’ That is because
of what they acquire. ‘I am his hearing with which he hears, and his eye
by which he sees.’ – Hadith. They begin only to desire its opposite. ‘Allah
was and nothing was with Him, and He has now what He had.’ Because of
that, they withdraw from everything and are present in everything. May
Allah have mercy on the Speaker:
Between the rising and the setting of the sun,
The gazelle became confused.
The one who does not go-on is annihilated,
And the one who does not vanish goes-on.
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Know that this Path of ours is only obtained by the one with whom ardent
passion is haram. He is overcome and returns, and does not love ardently.
May Allah have mercy on ash-Shitri when he said, ‘Overcome it with the
foot, and the stream will begin to fear you, O leader!’ This is one of the
signs of the one of this Path, i.e. its seeker. All this indicates the sincerity
of the quest. Whenever man is sincere in seeking something, Allah helps
him to it immediately without lassitude because lassitude on the part of
the Master is impossible. It comes from the direction of man, i.e. from lack
of sincerity in seeking. He said, may He be exalted:
He will give you all you ask Him.
This Path is a strange wondrous path. It is built on following ihsan con-
stantly. Part of beliefs is following the Predecessors. Part of rules is under-
standing (fiqh). Part of virtues is the school of the people of hadith. Part
of adab is what is sound for their hearts in resolution or indulgence, clearly
permissible or doubtful as long as it is not strong in inclining to the side
of darkness. When they say things, the one who does not recognise their
goals and prefers them, rejects them. The one who enters the path and does
not recognise it is destroyed.
Know that what I affirm for the seeker of this path when he is sincere is that
he make himself a corpse and take on the qualities of the dead because part
of the affair of the corpse is that he does not speak, does not move, is not
concerned with himself or anyone else, does not organise, does not man-
age, does not help himself or anyone else, does not resist good or evil, and
does not turn. Part of his affair is also withdrawal in the graves. Whoever
speaks to him, he does not answer him unless he is dead like him. This is
on to what has no end of his attributes. This is a sound analogy, and Allah
knows best.
In the Name of Allah. What Allah wills. There is no power except by Al-
lah. How can the reality appear to you while you are not travelling on the
Path? How can norms be broken for you while you rely on ‘ibada? How
can the journey be sound for you while you are ill with management and
choice? How can the journey be sound for you while you desire, love, and
hate? How can you reach the highest rank while your heart contains love
of this world? How can you reach pleasure with your Lord while you have
not reached discontent with yourself ? How can you have barriers fall for
you while you follow the pleasure of your self. How can you reach the rank
138 The Sufic Path
of the free while you persist in great wrong actions until you claim love of
the Creator and you desire to join love of creature and Creator. Had you
returned to the door, my brother, you would have found Him forgiving
the one who turns in tawba.
I heard him say, ‘When one of this Path of ours obtains it and his heart is
at peace with it, even if he owned a million dinars, that would not harm
him. Rather, it would benefit him.’ This is for the one who is perfect in it.
As for the beginner, only being light of this world and turning from it is
appropriate to his beginning – also turning from its people, and from div-
ing into it, and from speaking in it, and turning from sitting with its people
so that this world is like a corpse with him. He only takes it in necessity.
The first of what is done to the one of this Path is that the doors of the
outward are blocked for him so that his Master comes to him, whether he
likes it or not. After that, there occurs opening of the unseen things for
him. The doors of the unseen worlds are opened for him. This is because
the sun of the day only rises after the darkness of night. Because of that, it is
said that, ‘Great constraint is the festival of the Murids,’ because the festival
(‘id) is what returns to its people with happiness and joy. It is like that for
the intensity of want when the murid acquires it. There was a gnostic of
Allah with our Shaykh, and he was under his command and prohibition.
Nothing of what occurred to him of want was hidden from him. Want is
intensity of need. The earth is narrow for him by what is wide. That is a
sign of opening. According to the greatness of the want and its intensity,
the opening is great and open and clear. According to this, there is no day
better for the murid than the day in which want is great outwardly or
inwardly. If the matter is like that, the sincere murid must seek want and
not flee from it as has occurred to some of the Fuqara.
Know the ashes of the people of this Shadhili Path, may Allah be pleased
with them, are never boasted about, neither from the outward aspect nor
from the inward aspect because the wisdom of before-endless-time is in
their hands. Allah ta‘ala said:
Whoever has been given wisdom, has been given much good.
That is because when they needed the outward substance, they cut off the
inward substance, and so the outward substance was immediately strength-
ened. When they needed the inward substance, they cut off the outward
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substance, so the inward substance was immediately strengthened. They
were not cut off from their Master by any state. They recognised Him in all
states in things and in their opposites, and by things and their opposites.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him and give us profit
by him, said to me was, ‘My son, I moved freely in the land of tawhid, and
I did not find anything in it nearer, wider, more profitable, and swifter in
the journey than change.’ Among its properties is that it is an element of
all increase. The permissible actions of the gnostics with their Master only
continue by change as the bliss of the Garden for its people only continues
by change. Increase of meanings is only by change of meaning . Similarly,
increase of the senses is only by the change of the senses. Part of the words
of ash-Shitri, may Allah have mercy on him, is, ‘My goal in love is to be
coloured.’ It was said in a poem, ‘Change! The pleasure of passion is in
change.’ Part of what the Shaykh said to me about the sick man, may Allah
give us profit by him, is that he said to me: ‘When you see a sick man with
appetite, then know that he is better. Beware of forbidding the sick man his
craving, because his cure is in his appetite. When he desires what appears
to you to be harmful to him, then give it to him, even if only a little of it,
and do not forbid his craving.’
Until the seeker of this Path of ours is brave and resolute, and until profit
and loss are the same for him, he has no portion. He is like the one who
hunts with a gun. Whenever game appears to him, he shoots. He does not
care whether it is fierce or not. That is the goal. If he does not hit it, by
missing he acquires increase of learning, leadership, and recognition. If he
misses you and departs, still his adab does not miss you. Equally, the one
with fear has no portion in this Path. Similarly, the one of modesty and the
one of greatness have no portion. Ash-Shitri said in one of his statements:
Overcome it with the foot.
The stream will return and will be afraid of you, O leader.
Reality is like the indication, and the indication is like the lion. Whenever
you meet it and it does not attack you, and you shoot it, it then attacks you
and sees you. If you shoot it, you own it and use it. If it shoots you, it owns
you and uses you. May Allah have mercy on the one who said:
Sing to your camel and take with you the fragrant musk.
Quickly decide about yourself before you are left behind.
140 The Sufic Path
Know also that the reality has roots and branches. The reality of its roots
and branches is change. Change is names and attributes. Attributes are the
source of the essence, and the essence is the source of the attributes. It is as
if the beginning of beginnings were completed by change as the end of the
ends is only completed by change. Change arrives in every case. Whoever
does no come to it willingly, comes to it unwillingly. What a difference
between the one who travels it recognising it and the one who travels it
destroyed in it.
Know that a sound analogy is that whoever you see remaining in one state
and not taking on the character of its opposites, he is veiled from his Master
in it. The tokens of perfection are change by stations and states. Whoever
has himma by Allah or in Allah will certainly not remain in one state. His
attribute is that of his Master. Part of the attributes of his Master is that He
is on some affair every day. Good water is from good sand, and the good
slave is from good masters.
Know that the first rank that the one of travel, i.e. the murid, obtains is
creation’s turning to him. It is the greatest of misfortunes and trials. The
first of what comes to the one of attraction in his beginning is creation’s
rejection of him altogether until near and far flee from him. This is also the
greatest of misfortunes and the greatest of trials. The Garden is surrounded
by hated things. – Hadith.
The traveller of this Path must have three stages: the first of them is the
outward of commonness, then the inward of election, then the outward of
the elite of the elite. When he acquires these three stages, that is puberty,
and then the pen is appropriate for him. What encompasses men encom-
passes him. As for before the acquisition of these three stages, he is in the
stage of the child who has not yet reached puberty. His knees have not yet
parted from the knees of his parents because he needs instruction. He is
not tied nor released except when his parents agree. If they do not agree,
then no. His parents also only force the trust on him when they see the
traces of guidance on him by His word, may He be exalted, ‘Do not give
fools their property.’ When that does not appear in him to them, he is a
minor and is neither bound nor released.
There are four stations. The first is the one with understanding of Allah,
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driven from Him, and the one who turns to Allah and is veiled from Him,
and the one who withdraws in Allah and is annihilated from creation in
Him, and the gnostic of Allah who returns to creation by Him. It is the
fourth station. Travelling is divided into stations and states endlessly. Glory
be to the One Who gave to people and withheld from people and who
brings near whomever He wants to bring near and makes distant whom-
ever He wants to make distant. Glory be to the One Whose favour does
not depend on a cause. The Giver without anything and the Withholder
without anything. Glory be to the One Who originated existence by His
wisdom as a favour from Him. Glory be to the One Who is a Generous
God, and peace and blessings be upon Sayyiduna Muhammad, the Imam
of the Muttaqun, and on his family and Companions, and followers until
the Day of the Deen.
Know, my brother, that whenever you enter one of the stages of the journey
in shari‘a or reality, the king of the station seeks you more than you seek
him and helps you with his secrets and lights. He does not stop with you
until you recognise him and he recognises you, and its effects appear on you
and your effects appear on him. This is in all the stages because this man is
desired by the divine kingdom. He does not incline to a thing, but that he
finds that that thing yearns for him more than he yearns for it. ‘Whoever
draws near Me a hand-span, I draw near him an arm’s length,’ so understand!
This Path of ours is called the path of the essence. It is the noblest and
swiftest of the paths because it is described by the attributes of the essence
of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It has come in
the Sahih that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was
majestic outwardly, beautiful inwardly. Similarly, Allah ta‘ala made this
path majestic outwardly, beautiful inwardly. Allah said about the people
of this perfect description: ‘They are few.’ He said, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace:
The Garden is surrounded by hated things,
and the Fire is surrounded by desired things.
Allah made this path encircled by the wall of majesty. That is because of
the jealousy of Allah ta‘ala for it and for its people. This is because one
man among them is better than a hundred thousand others. When Allah
ta‘ala wanted to conceal them from the eyes of His creation, He made their
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outward majesty and their inward beauty. Because of that, the common
people reject them and the only one among people who recognise them is
the one whom Allah takes by the hand and opens his inner eye. The only
one who is brought to them by their Master is the one He wants to reach
Him. Oh the happiness of the one who has had his inner eye opened by
Allah and recognises one of the people of this Prophetic relationship. May
Allah make us and you among the people of their love, yearning to see them.
Amin, O Lord of the worlds.
Know that the seeker of the Shadhili path has a stage in which he is by
the command of Allah – He says to the thing, ‘“Be!” and it is.’ He first
connects it as abasement by wisdom, and secondly he connects it as might
by power. In the end, he comes out of it in abasement, and he comes out
of it in might. He only goes on by his Master and with his Master and in
what his Master has established. In that, he reaches the Abiding King Who
never departs or vanishes. When he speaks, he speaks by Allah. When he
moves, he moves by Allah. He sees his Master and speaks to Him intimately
without intermediary. After this station, he also increases to a station higher
than this. It is the station of return to the common Muslims. What a return
he has! Return by permission, firmness, and establishment in certainty!
After this station, he continues to rise, and travels through the stations of
certainty, station by station, as the sun travels its stages. We ask Allah ta‘ala
to let us drink from the water of straightness!
The weak are three: weak of nafs, weak in dunya, weak in the deen. Our
Shaykh, Sayyiduna al-’Arabi related to us from his Shaykh, Sayyiduna Ah-
mad al-Yamani, may Allah give us the benefit of all, that he, may Allah be
pleased with him, used to sit with the weak and be kind to the rich. He was
very compassionate and tender to the weak in the deen. He, may Allah be
pleased with him, was compassionate to the murderer and tender towards
him more than he was towards the murdered. He was also compassionate
to the people of leadership and he was tender to them more than his ten-
derness towards the masses. He, may Allah be pleased with him, was more
compassionate and tender to rebels than he was to the obedient.
This Path is the one in which what is not good for this world nor the Next
world, is good for the Master. When man is with this world or the Next,
he is with creation and he is only good for creation. It is like the story of
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the one the Caller called when this world and the Next appeared to him
in tajalli. He was called to, ‘Turn from both of them. If you stop with the
first, it will prevent you from the second. If you stop with the second, it
will prevent you from Us.’
Know that part of the perfection of the attributes of generosity and their
qualities is that they are generous with great generosity and ascribe it to
others. This is nobler than generosity. This is only done by the one who
raises his generosity above the generosity of all the generous. Generosity is
among the attributes of the Generous. The Generous is one of the names of
Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted. He called Himself by it and He described
the slave with the opposite of this attribute. It is miserliness. However, if He
wants to manifest His generosity, He is generous to His slaves, and covers
their miserly attribute with His generous attribute, and He ascribes the
action to them and thanks them for it and repays them for it. They become
generous by it with themselves. This is from the very limit of generosity.
Know that Allah ta‘ala is generous. Nothing is equal to His generosity.
Part of that is that He created you and proportioned you and fashioned
you in whatever form He wished to organise you. Then after He brought
you into existence as a favour and mercy from Him. He said to you, ‘My
slave! I have given you your existence as a favour and a mercy from Me. It
is yours. Now I will buy it from you.’ You say to Him, ‘What, my Lord?’
He says to you, ‘I will buy your attributes from you for My attributes and
sell you My attributes for your attributes. I will buy your essence from you
for My essence, and I will sell you My essence for your essence. I will buy
your self from you for My self, and I will sell you My self for your self.’ The
matter is like that. Whoever is pleased has contentment, and whoever is
wrathful, has wrath.
Whoever wants to possess all existence should be generous with himself
or his money because the one who is generous with himself possesses free
disposal of things in the unseen until the unseen becomes something
obedient which he sees. The one who is generous with his money possesses
free disposal of outward things until creation is under his command and
prohibition.
Part of what our master said to me is: ‘My son, whatever you see and wit-
ness of the Rijal, their action is only based on generosity because divine
144 The Sufic Path
power is like a mirror. You do not confront it with anything, but that it
confronts you with that thing. When you confront it with it, it is also a
copy of you. As one of them said, ‘The ugliest thing is a stingy Sufi.’ He
said, may He be exalted:
Whoever is miserly, is miserly to himself.
One of the Salihun said, ‘Fasting is showing endurance and prayer is a
habit. If you want to test people, test them in this,’ i.e. money, because the
path is the path of generosity and nobility from Allah. The path of ihsan
is only built on generosity and ihsan. How then, my brother, how can you
ask for the best that Allah has by the worst of what you have?’ Allah, the
Blessed, the Exalted, says:
He will repay them for what they were describing.
He is Wise, Knowing.
How can this one be like the one who plants thorns and hopes to pluck
grapes from it. It is as the speaker said:
You pluck the fruits of what you plant.
This is the custom of the age.
Whoever spends the night with mankind safe from him,
he passes the night in security from time.
Take the sound hadith from me as the youth conveyed
it to me with two hands.
How can you seek generosity while you are not generous? How can you
seek mercy while you are not merciful? He said, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace:
Show mercy to whoever is in the earth,
whoever is in the heaven will show mercy to you.
Know that the procreation of the art is its life and increase, and lack of its
procreation is its death and decrease, because whoever is not in increase, is
in decrease. Part of the sum of the procreation of the art is the connection
of the people of the art to the self and to money. From the procreation of
the self is much speaking with the people of your art and much listening
to their speech, much looking at them and much smelling of their scents
and much sitting with them and turning with the feet to them constantly.
Part of the procreation is being like them and taking on their ornaments
and their states. Part of the procreation of the art by the self is also much
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travelling in lands and much meeting with creation, elite and common, so
that he does not turn from anyone he meets in creation – poor or blind,
rich or bankrupt, or any of the people of the treasury or any among weak
or strong people. Their art procreates with the people of their art and with
other than the people of their art. Whoever wants his art to be procreated
from the people of election first, begets with humans, then with animates,
and then with inanimates, then with airs, then with celestials, then with
terrestrials, then with himself by himself for himself so that he only finds
himself in existence. As for procreating the art by money, it is by generosity
with it and spending it on the people of the art as was said, ‘Love without
expending is hypocrisy.’ The poet said:
Spend your ruh with your property on the Beloved, and buy Him
a mount from the excellence of your capital, in order to reach the
Desire and obtain your hopes.
Part of the sum of His favour, may He be exalted, to you is that He gives
you these two doors by which to reach Him: the door of your self and the
door of your money. Glory be to the Giver!
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, said to me is, ‘My
son, if you desire freedom, then take from most people and do not choose
from whom you take, and pay to most people, and do not choose to whom
you pay. If you are like this, you will become free.’ Those to whom you say,
‘Give!’ do not own you by it, and those to whom you say ‘Take!’ do not
own you by it. If you specify the people of ‘Give!’ and you stay with them,
you become their slave. It is like that if you specify the people of ‘Take!’ and
stay with them. You become their slave. Our intent in all of it is that entry
into this art is emerging from the slaveness of the creature to the slaveness
of the Creator, and He is Allah, the Great, the Exalted! If you flee from all
the arts, you will be the slave of Allah, and you will enter this art in order
not to be a slave of a slave. You will acquire the slaveness of the slaves. There
is no use except in your emerging, and not in your leaving.
Know that the reality of attraction is passion and love. The reality of
travelling is fear and awe, because you are not moved away from the self
except by disconcerting yearning or upsetting fear. Your leaving it is your
occupation with its realities. When you are annihilated to it in its reali-
ties, it begins to act in its realities because in that, it follows you. In that,
146 The Sufic Path
the attribute becomes the attribute of the self and its action becomes the
action of Allah because it is from you and you are from it. Because you are
connected to Allah, Allah clothes you in the clothes of Allah. You begin to
act by the action of Allah. As you are annihilated from it in the witnessing
of Allah, its actions are annihilated, and only Allah remains. Part of what
we counsel you, my brother, is when the moment of avidity comes, be the
greatest of them. When the moment of generosity comes, be the greatest
of them. Your hand is higher than them. It is the greatest of them and the
smallest of them, even if by jest.
Part of what Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah profit us by him, coun-
selled me is that he said to me: ‘I want you to look at the people of your
age. Beware of being greedy.’ The poet said, ‘Greed is left to the youth in
one coin.’ He said to me, ‘That greediness about which I counsel you is
the greed about which I counsel you: greed of leadership and greed of the
heart. If you want to always overcome creation, try it against Allah and you
will be overcome by creation always. Our masters, the sound predecessors,
may Allah be pleased with them, said, ‘The last of what leaves the heart of
the gnostic of Allah is love of leadership and love of rank.’ Part of what he
counselled me also was that he said to me: ‘My son, scope does not leave
you extent for scope for other than you.’
I used to leave my house and so I went to the zawiyya and its lights shone
on my heart while I was in my house. I also used to leave my house and I
wanted something of the affairs of this world, so darkness shone on my
heart. I recognised it from myself, and I was absorbed in it until I reached
that need of mine. The affair is entrusted to concern. This is only understood
by polishing the mirror of the heart.
From the pen of the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him and may He
profit us by him, and part of what was said to me is:
Follow the signs of the Sultan, and only look at him and your
Master. Incline where he says and turn where he turns, and do not
be concerned with what is said.
He said: ‘In whatever direction it is.’ If you wish, you can say that it is the
heart and it is in the position of the Lord and what follows it, that is, of the
kingdom – the limbs. May Allah have mercy on ash-Shitri when he said,
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‘I have the full moon of perfection with me.
When my heart inclines, it inclines.’
Know that when the one of crookedness intends Allah by crookedness, that
is his ‘ibada. When the one of straightness intends Allah by straightness,
that is his ‘ibada, because the Lord of straightness is the Lord of crooked-
ness, and the Lord of crookedness is the Lord of straightness. The wisdom
in the sincere quest is in the goals.
Allah looks at your hearts and not your forms. – Hadith.
Know that the heart of man is a village of the king. What village is ever
ready for two kings competing for it? The name of one is the Outward,
and the other is the Inward. They are two opposites who are never joined
together in the heart. Whenever they meet, one of them drives out the
other in every case. The one which overcomes in the moment is the one
who dwells in the village. The inhabitant of the village of the hearts of the
common is the outward, and the inhabitant of the village of the hearts of
the elite is the inward. The heart being free of both of them is impossible.
It is either filled by the outward or the inward. The outward has armies and
servants, and the inward has soldiers and servants. Whoever empties the
village from outside while soldiers fill it inside, his soldiers and emptiness
are, as we said, impossible. For that reason, you find those who desire elec-
tion in their journey from the station of the common to the station of the
elite make a lot of clamour and the trace of stupidity appears on them so
that it is recognised in them by the common and the elite. That happens
to them when the kings meet and the soldiers are in the village of their
hearts. The king of the outward and his soldiers are resident, and the king
of the inward and his soldiers attack him. When they fight for the village,
and it is the heart, the effect of that appears on them in every case. The
murid does not rest and the effect of stillness does not appear on him until
the war lays down its burdens and one of them has authority: either the
one who attacked, and it is the inward, and so the outward is driven from
the village and he becomes a body of the elite, or the resident, and it is the
outward, expels the attacker who is the inward and the one with the body
returns to the first stage and it is the rank of the common. Then the one
with the body acquires stillness by the dominance of one of them over the
other. As long as dominance does not appear to one of them, the one with
the body is in a great affair. Because of this meaning, one of them said:
148 The Sufic Path
The beginning of this Path of ours is madness,

its middle is arts, and its end is stillness.
Stillness with the common is only by the outward alone, and with the elite,
it is only with the inward alone. When they are together, the one with the
body is only like the woman in labour. One of two things are looked for:
either death by returning to negligence and separation, or life by wakeful-
ness and the lights of contemplation.
Know, O brother, that Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, brought this Adamic
into existence from opposites, outwardly and inwardly, senses and mean-
ing, words and deeds and states. All that is from opposites. Part of the sum
of that is that Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, created two worlds in His
inward: a majestic world and a beautiful world. He put a village between
them. It is the heart. As for the world of majesty, Allah made it darkness.
In that darkness, He placed a king with his soldiers and aides. All of that
is from darkness. The village is from darkness. The king is from darkness.
The soldiers and aides are from darkness. He made the worlds of beauty
light, and He put a king of light in it. His soldiers and aides are from light.
He put enmity and hate between those kings until the Day of Rising. They
war with each other for that village. Sometimes it goes to this one, and
sometimes it goes to that one. If the king of majesty overcomes, he and his
soldiers enter the village and the village is filled with darkness. He made
darkness use it outwardly and inwardly. In that hour nothing appears in
man except what is in harmony with that – betrayal, lying, wrong action,
eye-service, affectation, envy, love of leadership, pride, love of rank, love of
this world, disdain for the people of Allah, and acceptance of the people
of the false to what has no end. In that, the conquered is in the power of
the conqueror, imprisoned, overcome. He has no effect. It is as if he were
not. When the king of beauty overcomes, he enters the village and expels
whoever is in it, abased and insignificant. He and his soldiers dwell in it,
and the village is filled with light. He made light use its outward and its
inward. In that, only what is in harmony with it appears in man of fidelity,
humility, sincerity, generosity, modesty, compassion for the slaves of Allah
and asking pardon of them, zuhd in the ephemeral and its people, desire
for the abiding, acceptance of the people of Allah and tajalli by them, and
avoiding the people of wrongness and the false, to what has no end. In that,
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the other is overcome, imprisoned, conquered. He has no effect. It is as if
he were not. His witness is the word of the Prophet, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace:
There is a piece of flesh in the son of Adam. If it is sound, the whole
body is sound. If it is unsound, the whole body is unsound. It is
the heart.
The custom of Allah has preceded in His earth. Everything has an inter-
mediary. Everything has a cause. Good has a father, and evil has a father.
The father of good indicates it, and the father of evil indicates it. None has
success except the one who wins the company of one who has had success.
Giving and withholding are only from Allah. As for the intermediary, it is
in the position of the wise doctor who treats by the wisdom of medicine
while healing is only from Allah. The intermediary is thanked and not
rejected. As it is said:
Whoever does not thank people, does not thank Allah.
The one who is ill must have a doctor. He is in the position of the child with
his parent, because the two parents are a cause in you in ephemeral life. The
intermediary is the reason for the life of your heart. It is the abiding life.
By this, the heart needs adab with the parents. The greatest of parents is
the body and well-being.
Know that whoever aims for his Master, sincere in his quest, had he sought
Him in stone, he would have found Him in it. He does not appear to him in
tajalli in it until he sees Him in eye-witnessing and speaks to Him directly.
That is not difficult for Allah, and it is fitting for the Adamic slave who is
related to Allah, his Master. The one who obtains the treasury, only obtains
it by His love and good opinion of the slaves of Allah. Whoever is forbid-
den, is forbidden it by bad opinion of the slaves of Allah. May Allah make
us among the people of good opinion of the slaves of Allah.
Know that what is thought about the Real is true and what is thought
about the false is false. ‘I am in My slave’s opinion of Me.’ – Hadith. The
only one who profits is the one who profits by respect and good opinion.
The only one who loses is the one who loses by debasing respect and bad
opinion. Whoever debases respect, debases the respect of himself. Whoever
exalts respect, exalts the respect of himself. Allah is rich above the worlds.
150 The Sufic Path
The murid who is content with himself or with his intellect or his knowl-
edge is like the one who travels without company in the land of fear. He
does not recognise the road. Do not ask about the misfortunes which
befall him! Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, said
to me is, ‘My son, you are with what you set down in your doctrine. If you
need it and set down a ruby, you will only find the ruby when you open it.
If you set down dung beetles, you will only find dung beetles. The ruby is
dung beetles, and the dung beetles are the ruby. However, the thing varies
in consciousness. ‘I am in My slave’s opinion of Me.’ Whoever thinks good,
finds good, and whoever thinks evil, finds evil.
Our master said to me, ‘When your opinion of anyone is good, your opinion
of yourself is good. When your opinion of anyone is bad, your opinion of
yourself is bad. If you are generous to anyone, you are generous to yourself.
If you deprive anyone, you deprive yourself. If you elevate any of the slaves
of Allah, you elevate yourself. If you lower any of the slaves of Allah, you
lower yourself. It is like this.’ Part of what our master also counselled me is
that he said to me, ‘My son, do not look a lot at creation because the glance
at creation stops the intellect and separates from Allah because creation is
from water. Whenever you look a lot at water while you are crossing the
valley, i.e. in the middle of it, your intellect reels and your vision is scattered.
It is like that with creation. Beware of looking at them. Allah gives success.’
Know that all good is gathered in meeting creation. Whoever wants to
completely own creation, let him meet them all a lot. He will own them
all, whether they like it or not. Look at the path of Sayyidi ‘Abd’ul-Qadir
al-Jilani, may Allah profit us by him! Part of its conditions was travelling
for 14 years to meet creation. Success is by Allah.
Part of what our Master said to us is, ‘My son, you must go to the markets.
Your profit, your trade, and your booty is in them because nothing is so
fitting for the one of realities like the markets. When you want to kindle
the lights of the realities in your heart, enter the markets, and do not leave
the markets except for the moment of your rest. It is as ash-Shitri said:
The source of the crowd is the journey to death. Enter the market,
you will become hot. Enter the market, you will become hot. Enter
the market, you will become hot.
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Know that the result of what the opinion of our Shaykh gathered, may Allah
have mercy on him and may He profit us by him, is that the seeker of this
path of ours seeks help with Allah to strive with the self so that he opposes
it whenever it is concerned with common matters and permissible things
which have no penalty for leaving them and no penalty for doing them
because our companion is like the prince. He does not touch the common
except to raise his himma from all they are in. Do you suppose that had the
prince mixed with them in their markets and their buying and selling, would
then the election of the kingdom be proper for him? The election would
not be proper for him, but he would be among them. He acquires might
by the privilege of his states above what they are in and by his withdrawal
from them because whoever wants to have his election among people valid
for him, must do with himself contrary to what people do.
Part of what the Shaykh counselled, may Allah be pleased with him, is
that he said to me: ‘Seek this world from its people, but seek it as if you
were jesting and repel it as if you were jesting with it. If you see its people
crowding around it, leave it to them. If you see them crowding around it,
do not jest with them about it. In crowding about it, you will become one
of them. If you see them crowding even in jest, then leave it to them in jest
and return it to them.’
Sayyidi al-‘Arabi informed me from his father Sayyidi Ahmad ibn ‘Abdillah
that one day he and his companions were at a bee-hive, and they were taking
honey while they were talking. One of his companions said, ‘What is here
to be heard?’ The Shaykh said, ‘Where is he that will hear? Where is he
that will hear? Where is he that will hear?’ He began to say it and enjoy it
and repeat it. He said, ‘Where is he that will hear?’ until he withdrew from
existence, may Allah profit us by him! Sayyidi al-’Arabi was questioned by
a man among his companions one day. He said to him, ‘Sayyidi, what is
the way to free the heart of love of this world?’ The Shaykh said to him,
‘Free this world from your hand and be patient in being done with it. It
will then leave your heart. When it leaves and your heart is at peace, then
it will be in your hand and it will not harm you.’
Part of what Shaykh Sayyidi al-’Arabi, may Allah profit us by him, coun-
selled me is that he said to me: ‘My son, part of what we assure you, with
assurance after assurance, is that you milk the milked, and it is milk. As for
152 The Sufic Path
the pressed, you leave it. It is blood. This is your occupation with reality
and the shari‘a. You will not acquire perfect might, i.e. the might of perfect
kingdom, until you have direct contact with this world and its people. It
is like jest. Then this world will serve you as well as its people as the slave
serves the king.’
Part of what our master said to me is: ‘My son, as long as you mix with
creation, this occupation will never be pure for you.’
Know that all that comes between him and his Master which veils him is
only occupation with creation and much diving into it. May Allah have
mercy on the speaker:
Wander in the passion of the Beloved
and do not be concerned.
Be concerned with a verse the Arabs spoke:
‘All except Allah is false.’
The author of the Hikam said:
Your turning to creation is your turning away from Allah.
Say: ‘Allah!’ and then leave them plunging in their games.
The dhikr of Allah is greater.
Only error is after the truth.
The life of this world is only the joy of delusion.
It is also said in the commentary on His word, may He be exalted:
Do not let the life of this world delude you, and do not let
the Deluder delude you concerning Allah.
Do not be occupied with much diving into it, distracted from Allah. It
is said that whoever is occupied with what does not concern him, it does
not concern him because the first veil is this world. Whoever enjoys the
pleasure of diving into it and stays with it, he is deluded, deceived, veiled.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
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The actions which people display today are very numerous. However, they
have no fruit because of the love of this world which dwells in their hearts
and remains with them and does not leave them. Had they been content
with a little of it as others have been content, a tenth of a tenth of their
actions would have been enough for them and the fruits of their actions
would have been present as they were present for others. An atom’s worth
of actions by the heart is better than mountains of actions by the limbs.
There is no doubt of that. The actions of hearts are many, even if they are
few. The actions of other than the hearts are few, even if they are many as
Ibn ‘Ata’Illah says in the Hikam: ‘An action which comes from a heart
which does without is not little. An action which comes from a greedy
heart is not much.’
Going straight is desired from us, outwardly and inwardly. None of us ac-
quires it, no matter what he does, unless he expels love of this world from
his heart. By Allah, no knower goes straight unless he leaves it. No one who
fasts all day and prays all night goes straight unless he expels love of it from
his heart as we said. The sign of the departure of its love from his heart is
that it is constricted when it exists and expanded when it does not exist.
My brothers, it is impossible that one of the slaves of Allah be straight and
still lack the miracles of Allah which he bestows on His awliya, may Allah
be pleased with them. We have seen many fuqara, past and present, who
loved them and waited expectantly for them. When no trace of miracles
appeared, their intention in their Shaykhs and their Path was lost, their
opinion became bad, and they were destroyed except for whomever Allah
had mercy on. They did not know that the miracle only exists when you
go straight. Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, may Allah be pleased with him, said,
‘It is better for you to look out for the faults that you have inside of you
than to look for the unseen worlds which are veiled from you.’
There is nothing more likely to lead to gathering the heart to concentrate
on Allah than silence and hunger. There is nothing more likely to lead to
dispersal than a lot of food and talk even about what concerns us. There
is no doubt that the believer has few words and a lot of action. He will
certainly have few words and much action since silence results in reflec-
tion. Reflection is an action of the heart. An atom’s worth of the action of
the heart is better than mountains of the actions of the limbs. It has come
in tradition, ‘An hour of reflection is better than seventy years of ‘ibada.’
154 The Sufic Path
Contemplation is meaning. The meanings are only bound by the sensory.

They only last by teaching through mutual reminding, visiting (awliya) and
breaking habit. When one feels at home in his state, then there is slackness
and a pause inevitably. Do not be incapable of movement, or we might say,
means, since contemplation is strengthened by them. Our master, may
Allah be pleased with him, used always to say to me, ‘The meaning is very
subtle indeed. If man is not intelligent with inner core, then it slips from
his hands while he is unaware of it.
For us and all of the people of the station of annihilation, may Allah be
pleased with them, the sensory is the source of the meaning. If it is released,
then it is the meaning. If it is not released, then it is not.
As far as you are concerned, you should only flee from the sensory so that
it does not seize you as it has seized many of your companions, some of
whom had stronger states than yours. It is absolutely necessary if you wish
to save yourself. Listen to what I tell you and keep to it, and do not keep
to other than it. May Allah take you by the hand! My brother, the sensory
is very near to you since you recognise only it. Similarly, common people,
or most of them, recognise the sensory and do not recognise the meanings,
nor the Path which leads to them. Now, if you desire them, then flee from
the sensory as we have fled from it. Strip it off as we have stripped it off.
Fight it as we have fought it. Travel as we have travelled. My brother, if you
desire the sensory, you do not want the meanings and your heart is not
attached to them since whatever grows smaller in it, grows larger in them.
Whatever grows weaker in the sensory, grows stronger in the meanings,
and whatever grows stronger in it, grows weaker in them.
I would like you to abandon your dispersed love since it will keep you away
from the secret, good, overflowing favour, and baraka. We see some people
who are attached to this thing at one time, and attached to something else
at another time. This is like the one who is digging for water, and digs a
little here and a little there. He dies of thirst and does not find water. He
is not like the one who digs in one place, trusting and relying on Allah.
He finds water and drinks and lets other people drink. Allah knows best.
The people, may Allah be pleased with them, said, ‘Persist at one door,
and many doors will be opened for you. Surrender yourself humbly to one
master, all necks will bow to you.’
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Part of this business also is that sometimes he loves the East and travels
there. Another time, he loves the West, and travels there. Sometimes he does
without and sometimes he desires and is distant. Had he obtained nearness,
he would be still and at peace. The lofty Shaykh Sayyidi al-Majdhub said,
may Allah be pleased with him:
The day rose on the moon and only my Lord remained.
People visit Muhammad while he dwells in my heart.
My brothers, when you recognise the excellence of knowledge and its
baraka, it is easy to travel to it from the West to the East, and from the East
to the West. That is nothing for the one who knows this, since our Lord is
worshipped only by it. There is no truth and true sincerity among people
except in the one who has knowledge. It says in a hadith of the Messenger of
Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘When Allah desires good
for someone, he gives him understanding in the deen.’ Success is by Allah.
I think that knowledge is based on two things. One of them is true sin-
cerity in word and deed constantly, without change or alteration. The
second is the aptness of words to answer words. That is only given to the
one who has taqwa of Allah. ‘Have taqwa of Allah and Allah will teach
you.’ – ‘You who believe, if you have taqwa of Allah, Allah will make a
Discrimination for you.’
Ibn ‘Ata’Illah says in his Hikam: ‘Whoever becomes acquainted with the
secrets of the slaves and does not have the quality of divine mercy, his
knowledge is then a temptation and trial for him. It is also a cause for un-
wholesomeness which comes to him.’ He also said, ‘The best knowledge is
that which has fear with it. If fear is parted from knowledge, it is up to you.
If not, you must have knowledge with fear. What knowledge does a knower
have who is pleased with himself ? What ignorance does the ignorant man
have who is not pleased with himself ?’ It was said to ash-Sha‘bi, may Allah
be pleased with him, at the beginning of his business, ‘Oh knower!’ He said,
‘Do not say ‘knower’. Say ‘faqih’. The knower is the one who fears Allah.’
By Allah, truly nobility lies only in slaveness. For that reason, Allah praised
His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with it when He
said in His Book, ‘Glory to the One Who travelled with His slave by
night.’ He did not say ‘His Prophet’ or ‘His Messenger’, or anything else.
156 The Sufic Path
He chose the name ‘slave’ for him since he, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, was truly His slave in reality. He praised other prophets, peace
be upon them, with slaveness. Allah ta‘ala says in His Book, ‘He was an
excellent slave, frequently returning.’ – ‘Remember Our slaves Ibrahim,
Ishaq, and Ya’qub.’ One reading has ‘Our slave Ibrahim’. It is absolutely
clear and evident to the one who has had his inner eye opened by Allah and
his secret illuminated, that slaveness is the nobility of every being, no matter
who he may be. So grab hold of it! Take on what is heavy for your self, not
what is light for it. Allah ta‘ala says: ‘Whoever is in the heavens and the
earth comes to the Merciful as a slave.’ There is a great difference between
the one who devotes himself to his Lord by choice and not compulsion,
and the one who devotes himself to Him by compulsion and not choice.
There is no doubt that the only way to freedom is by the door of slaveness.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know that whoever is not famous for his art, is not reckoned to be among
its people, even had he obtained what he obtained in it of knowledge
because knowledge is information. Information is not like eye-witnessing.
Knowledge without action is as if it were a foundation inside the earth
without a building on the face of the earth. I seek refuge with Allah from
useless knowledge because knowledge is the ruh and action is its body. Had
it not been for the body, the ruh would not have been recognised. Had it
not been for the ruh, the body would not have been recognised.
Know that the tree of knowledge is only taken from the breasts of men.
The finished takes it from the breast of the self. The beginner takes it from
the breast of another. It is said that the lords of hearts open themselves and
take public knowledge from them. He said, may He be exalted:
And that which is in the breasts is brought out.
If you investigate, you will find that knowledge only emerges from action
and action only emerges from knowledge. It is as if knowledge were hidden
in action and action were hidden in knowledge.
Know that knowledge is gnosis of the art and it is not the art. Action is
the art itself. Whoever has no knowledge of the art is ignorant of the art.
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Whoever has no action by the art is not among the people of the art, even
had he knowledge of the art.
When the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, made us enter the land
of actions, the first thing which he commanded me to was to remove
garments. Then he commanded me to strive in the markets. Then he com-
manded me to spend from that my night doing good and giving sadaqa
with what remained and not to store up anything for the next day or to
spend the night with a dirham which I owned on the face of the earth.
Then I acquired stages in these three, and I was firm in them. After them,
only results remained for me which directed me inwardly and outwardly,
in the senses and the meaning. A gift to you and our masters, the Rijal, may
Allah honour us with their dhikr. Amin.
Know that whoever does not obtain anything by action, is not reckoned
among the people of the art, even if he reaches the knowledge of what is
reached. That is because knowledge is reports, and action negates or con-
firms. Knowledge is lights and action is fruits. What is done with lights
when there are no fruits? Whoever obtains something of the action of the
art is among its people. Whoever does not obtain anything of its actions,
is not among its people, whether he likes it or not. You plant knowledge
and tend it and care for it and make it grow until its end is complete and
it bears you fruit by knowledges which have no number, limit or end. It is
like that with action. You plant action and tend it and water it and make
it grow until its end is completed and its result comes to you, and it bears
you the fruit of actions which have no number, limit or end. The value of
the fruits of knowledge and the fruits of action are only recognised by the
people of this art who are firm in it. They are few. The result is what the
eye has not seen and the ear has not heard and what has not occurred to
the heart of man.
Wisdom is from the lowest thing to the highest thing. Will and action are
not joined but that wisdom is immediately established. That is from yourself
or from your body. Your self is like other-than-you and other-than-you is
like yourself. All are equal in that.
Wisdom is accustomed to wisdom. As for the one who obtains wisdom and
is not familiar with it so that it becomes natural for him, he has no wisdom,
even had he reached what he reached in what he reached.
158 The Sufic Path
Part of what he counselled me is that he said, ‘Guard yourself and guard

your species and guard your contemplation of your Lord.’ He also said to
me, ‘Wisdom is between the thing and its opposite.’ He said, ‘The one who
enters the presence of the Creator with creation is rejected, and the one who
leaves the presence of the Creator with creation is accepted. He also said to
me, ‘Be a seeker and do not be sought. Be a lover and do not be desired.’
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say, ‘Wisdom comes to its
owner from the presence of might. When it first comes to him, it appears
to him like the mountain. He is like the hunter. If he hits it, it is that. If he
does not hit it, and he mocks it, it grows weak until it is like the ox. Then
until it is like a sheep. Then until it is like the rabbit. Then until it is like a cat.
Then until it is like a dove. Then until it is like a stone. Then until it is like a
thread as long as he continues to mock when he hits it. It grows weak until
he seeks it and does not find any trace of it. He only obtains recklessness.’
There is also a great affair between the seeker of the people of wisdom and
the seeker of wisdom. The seeker of wisdom only finds it when he finds
its people, and the seeker of its people finds wisdom and finds its people.
The seeker of wisdom may be destroyed by his seeking it from it, while the
seeker of its people will obtain it in every case.
What a difference between the seeker of wisdom and the seeker of the
Wise, and between the seeker of blessings and the seeker of the Blesser.
O wonder! How strange the seeker of wisdom is when he does not seek
the Wise, and the seeker of blessings, when he does not seek the Blesser.
Know that the wisdom of Allah is not compassionate to anyone and it is not
concerned with anyone. Whenever its conditions are fulfilled, it appears in
any case, whether its conditions are fulfilled from the knowledge of the one
who knows it or from the ignorance of the one who does not know it. The
wisdom of Allah ta‘ala in all affairs is slaveness. He said, may He be exalted:
Whoever is given wisdom is given much good.
We said that whenever its conditions are fulfilled it appears, i.e. its fruits
appear. The fruit of the attributes of slaveness is the manifestation of the
attributes of sovereignty. The attributes of slaveness do not appear but that
the attributes of sovereignty appear inseparable from them. He said in the
Hikam, ‘Realise your attributes and He will help you with His attributes.’
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He also said:
If you were to reach Him only after obliterating your wrong ac-
tions and pretensions, you would never reach Him. However if
He wants you to reach Him, He covers your attributes with His at-
tributes, and your description with His description, so He brings
you to Him by what is from Him to you, not by what is from you
to Him.
Look at how the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, evaluated covering
the attributes of slaveness by the attributes of sovereignty. Slaveness is in
two divisions: slaveness before annihilation, and it is the slaveness of the
murids to the Shaykhs of the people of the Path, and it is a condition for
entering the Path. If it is gone, then entry is invalid. Another slaveness is
after annihilation. It is what is called ‘going-on’. It is also called the slaveness
of the people of the ends. It is the rank of the king. The slaveness of the
people of the beginnings is adab with the Shaykhs of the people of the Path.
The slaveness of the people of the ends is adab with Allah in the presence
of witnessing on the carpet of realisation. The beginning is by slaveness and
the ends reach it. As it is strong in the beginnings, it is strong in the ends.
He said in the Hikam, ‘Beginnings are the place of tajalli of the ends.’ He
also said, ‘Whoever has a lofty beginning, has a lofty end.’ That which is
between the beginnings and the ends is the station of annihilation. It is the
key of the slave’s journey from the world of himself to the world of his Lord.
The slaveness of the beginnings is the key of annihilation. Whoever has no
slaveness in the beginnings has no portion in annihilation, let alone what is
after it. Also, the slaveness of the ends is the key to going-on. Whoever has
no slaveness in the ends has no portion in going-on, let alone what is after
it. Among the beginners, whoever has the slaveness of beginnings come
to him and supposes that he has acquired the slaveness of ends and stops
with it, his foot slips and from that he acquires halting and satisfaction
with the self and seeing exaltation of himself over the slaves of Allah and
love of leadership, love of this world, love of rank, joy at creation turning
to him and sorrow when they turn from him and so on to what has no end
of ruinous qualities which are incompatible with slaveness. When slaveness
collapses, the two doors are shut in his face and he is driven from the door
of the Master, may Allah protect us from that! This is the greatest affliction.
It mostly strikes the people of beginnings who enter the Path without the
friendship of the Shaykhs, the clever, those who recognise the devices of
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the selves and their branches and politics in that. As was said, ‘The only
one who has success is the one who wins the company of the one who has
had success.’ He said in the Hikam:
They are forbidden arrival because they squandered the roots.
What is between the slaveness of the beginner and the slaveness of the one
at the end is like what is between the living and the dead. Abu’l-Mawahib
said in this meaning: ‘The ignorant resembles man. How far the mark!
How far the mark!’ His state is not like the other’s state. Annihilation is
the cradle of wilaya. Whoever has no cradle, has no wilaya. Whoever has
no slaveness has no annihilation. Slaveness is the key of all openings, unseen
and present. Whoever undertakes to teach the murids before he reaches
the station of going-on, leads astray himself and whoever follows him. That
is because the one with the station of going-on is finished with teaching
himself ‘discipline’. Whoever is finished with teaching himself discipline,
there is no harm in him when he undertakes to guide others, as opposed
to the one of annihilation.
Mithal: the flat clay pot in the kiln being cooked. One does not know
whether it will come out sound or with a fault. The one of annihilation is
in the position of the twenty year old, and the one in the station of going-
on is in the position of the forty year old. What is before twenty indicates
twenty for annihilation as what is between twenty and forty indicates
going-on. As we said, slaveness is the key of all in all states. O Allah! Make
us Your slaves in all states and teach us from Your knowledge that through
which we will become perfect in life and death!
Oh brother! Slaveness is the noblest and greatest of what the Chosen chose,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, of what Allah, the Blessed and
Exalted, gave him choice in, and he chose to be a prophet-slave, hungry
one day and full one day. Had anything been better than it in existence he
would not have chosen it in all that his Master gave him a choice, glory
be to Allah! The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is
the Imam of the gnostics. He did not find anything better than it, so he
chose it for himself and commanded it for all his Companions, may Allah
be pleased with them, the Followers, and the Followers of the Followers,
and whoever follows them with ihsan until the Day of the Reckoning, may
Allah be pleased with them!
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Know that whoever wants to possess all existence and what is in it as his
slave, must have slaveness of the self to Allah and slaveness of money to
Allah. Look at the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when
Allah wanted to give him the power to use the keys of all existence as the
master uses his slave. He, glory be to Him, inspired him to slaveness, so
he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, chose to be a prophet-slave,
hungry one day and full one day. The day when he was hungry, he asked
his Master, and on the day when he was full he praised his Master, glory
be to Him! That was by success from Allah ta‘ala to him, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace. Had it not been that slaveness is the noblest of all
stations and the highest, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, would not have chosen it after Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, gave
him power to be a king or a prophet-slave. He chose slaveness over kingdom.
Truly, kingdom is slaveness, not dominion. It is obliged on every Muslim,
let alone the one who seeks the freedom of election by a door. It is more
fitting and more appropriate that he is based on his sunna, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, in this noble station. It is the station of slaveness
to Allah. He should strive with himself by disciplining it until he takes his
share of the inheritance, i.e. the inheritance of prophecy which the Truthful
Proven one, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, informed us about
when he said, ‘The ‘ulama are the heirs of the prophets.’ That discipline is by
the company of the gnostics of Allah and sitting with them because the only
one who profits is the one who profits by the company of the one who has
profited. The pole of the gnostics, Sayyidi Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shadhili, may
Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘Make us Your slaves in all states, and teach
us knowledge from You by which we may become perfect in life and death.’
Look at how he, may Allah be pleased with him, connected knowledge of
Allah with slaveness. There is no doubt that when the gifts of knowledge
are opened, certainly the gifts of action are opened after them because the
giving of the Perfect is only perfect. He said, may He be exalted, ‘Those of
His slaves who know fear Allah.’ May Allah make us and you among the
‘ulama of action by His favour and ihsan! He has power over everything.
Know that Allah ta‘ala, and He is the Wisest of the Wise, made all slaveness
abasement as He made all freedom might. He made selves incline to free-
dom and love it, as He made them flee from slaveness and hate it. Whoever
is a gnostic or entrusts himself to a gnostic, only finds ease in slaveness.
162 The Sufic Path
The one who is ignorant or entrusts his self to one who is ignorant, only
finds ease in freedom. The companion of the gnostic is a gnostic and the
companion of the ignorant is ignorant. The gnostics are kings, the Khalif
of Allah in His earth, and the ignorant are slaves like cattle. Rather, they
are more in error. There is no doubt that Allah ta‘ala created the slaves as
a favour to the gnostic slaves. By them, their burdens are carried and they
rest on their backs. They have many uses in them. Their property is con-
tained. Similarly, He glory be to Him, made cattle the property of Adam.
They rest on their backs and have the greatest benefit from them. He said,
may He be exalted:
Say: ‘My Lord, increase me in knowledge.’
He said, may the Speaker be exalted:
Those of His slaves who know fear Allah.
He said glory be to Him:
Are they equal, those who know and those who do not know?
By Allah, the people of gnosis of Allah ta‘ala do not pass those ignorant of
Him but that they are the slaves of Allah in all existence. They find that all
existence serves them, and they do what they want with it. Those ignorant
of Him do not pass the gnostics but that they are confused and think
themselves great over the slaveness of Allah ta‘ala in existence and reject
that when they find themselves slaves of all existence and existence rules
them and does what it likes with them since they do not recognise that
there is only the Creator of existence in existence. Allah was and nothing
was with Him, and He has now what He had. He said, may He be exalted:
If you love Allah, then follow me, and Allah will love you.
So understand, this world of Mine! and serve the one who serves Me and
give trouble to the one who serves you. – Hadith.
Know that you are from existence, and existence is from you. Whenever
you are Allah’s slave in existence, existence is your slave. Whenever you want
existence to be your slave, you find yourself existence’s slave. Slaveness is in
freedom, and freedom is in slaveness. There is no doubt that all slaveness
is majesty as all freedom is beauty, i.e. basically. Beauty is in two divisions:
what is weak and what is strong. Similarly, majesty is in two divisions:
what is strong and what is weak. Whoever is in a rank does not profit by
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it until its food is pure. Beauty is haram for the rank of slaveness, and it is
the rank of majesty, except by compulsion. It is permitted to it to pursue
only weak beauty. This permission is like the permission to take a sip of
wine when choking. Each station has beauty like this world, and zuhd in
it is part of majesty. In one of the books of Shaykh Zaruq, may Allah profit
us by him, I saw that he said, ‘This world is like the river of Talut (Saul).
Those who drank from it – except for the one who only took a handful
with his hand – were not saved.’
Know that all abasement is might and all might is abasement. All night
is day and all day is night. Understand and realise this expression. If you
realise it, you will find it in all matters in existence and in man, in the es-
sence and the attributes, in the highest thing and the lowest thing. Its like
in the essence is like silence – it is abasement and it is might in due time. In
the attributes, it is like speech, and it is might, and it is abasement in due
time. This analogy is only understood by the one of realisation and preci-
sion. They are very few because the plants of the senses are planted and are
hoped for until they grow and bear fruit after a while. When the plants of
meanings are planted, they grow and bear fruit in their time without the
term of the plants of the senses. The plants of the people of money and
the plants of meanings are the plants of the lords of the selves. The plant
of the self grows in due time. ‘“Be!” and it is.’ The plant of money grows
and bears fruit after a while. That is because Allah made money the slave
of the self. The world of money is the world of slaveness. The world of the
self is the world of the secret of sovereignty. Whoever has his himma graze
in the worlds of the self is one of the kings and whoever has his himma
graze in the worlds of money is one of the slaves. This abasement which
we designate here indicates slaveness. Might indicates kingdom. Things are
hidden in their opposites. Slaveness, and it is abasement, is planted and you
find yourself a free king in due time, and vice versa. You plant freedom,
and it is might, and in due time you find yourself an owned slave, no more.
Part of the perfection of His generosity, may He be exalted, to you is that
He placed the keys of all matters in your hands as fruits. What you plant,
you pluck yourself. Matters emerge and you have them, good and evil.
Ignorance is the reason for distance and deprivation. Knowledge is the
reason for nearness and dominion over all phenomenal beings. The key of
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knowledge is sitting with the gnostics of Allah as the key of ignorance is

sitting with the ignorant, alienated from Allah. He said, may the Speaker
be exalted, ‘Those of His slaves who know, fear Allah.’ It happened to
one of the gnostics among the men of adornment that a man called him,
‘O Knower!’ He said to him, ‘O faqir. The knower is the one who fears
Allah ta‘ala.’ Sahl ibn ‘Abdullah said, ‘Knowledge calls out action, and it
answers it. If not, it travels on.’ Part of the book Qut al-Qulub by Abu
Talib al-Makki says:
We related the transmission when it was said, ‘Messenger of Allah!
What should we do if a matter comes to us and we do not find it in
the Book of Allah, the Majestic, the Exalted, or in the sunna of the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?’
He said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘Ask the Sali-
hun and make it a consultation between them, and do not decide
a matter in it without them.’
Part of it also is from Mu‘adh ibn Jabal. He said that the Messenger of Allah,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘The nearest people to the
rank of prophecy are the people of knowledge and the people of jihad.’ As
for the people of knowledge, people expend by what the prophets, peace
be upon them, brought to them and communicated to them. As for those
with jihad, they strive with their swords and spend their arwah according
to what the Messengers brought. The ‘ulama are gathered in the company
of the governors and Sultans. One of the Predecessors said, ‘The ‘ulama
are gathered in the company of the prophets, peace be upon them. Qadis
are gathered in the company of the Sultans.’
Know that Shaytan, may Allah curse him, is the Imam of the Kafirun and
their model. The reason for his kufr was only that when his Master appeared
to him in tajalli in gatheredness as reality, he recognised Him and prostrated
to Him. When He appeared to him in tajalli in separation by the shari‘a,
he rejected Him and denied Him. Allah ta‘ala said to him, ‘I will surely fill
Jahannam from you and from whoever follows you.’ Look at how Allah,
glory be to Him, informed that Shaytan would have followers imitating
him and that they would travel on his road and in his footsteps. They are
the Kafirun who recognise Allah in gatheredness in reality and prostrate
to Him. They reject Him in separation of the shari‘a and deny Him. The
Shaykh of our Shaykh, Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shadhili said:
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Make us Your slaves in all tajalliyat so that we do not become
too proud for Your ‘ibada in Your tajalliyat.
My brother, know also that whenever you love anyone other than your
Master, you are his slave. Whenever you raise a need to anyone other than
your Master, you are his slave. Whenever you desire anyone other than your
Master, you are his slave. Whenever your himma rises to anyone other than
your Master, you are his slave. Whenever you see the benefiting or harm-
ing other than your Master, you are his slave. Whenever you are abased
to anyone other than your Master, you are his slave. Whenever you seek
anyone other than your Master, you are his slave. Whenever you rejoice
with anyone other than your Master, you are his slave. Whenever you cling
to the door of anyone other than your Master, you are his slave. Whenever
you rely on anyone other than your Master, you are his slave. Whenever you
are terrified of anyone other than your Master, you are his slave. Whenever
you ask anyone for help except your Master, you are his slave.
Know that every art to which you turn, you only find Allah in it. Every art to
which you turn, you only obtain the amount of a mustard-seed of it by your
slaveness to Allah in your slaveness to His people. All arts are divided into
a pair: arts related to Allah and arts related to illusion of other-than-Allah,
and no more. All creation are the slaves of Allah, absolutely, willingly or
unwillingly, because Allah, glory be to Him, through His favour, has made
slaves by the arts of His relationship, so He makes them enter the garden of
His nearness and contemplation, and some of them He, glory be to Him,
through His justice has made His slaves by the arts of the relationship of
other-than-Him, and no more. He makes them enter the Jahim of His
distance and veil. He said, may He be exalted:
I only created jinn and men to worship Me.
A group in the Garden and a group in the Fire.
These are for the Garden, and I do not care,
and those are for the Fire, and I do not care. – Hadith.
Whoever seeks to come out of the slaveness of Allah is seeking something
which Allah did not create. May Allah have mercy on Shaykh ash-Shadhili
when he said, ‘Happiness has appeared on the one You love, and wretched-
ness appears on the one whose kingdom is other-than-You.’
166 The Sufic Path
The slaveness to Allah ta‘ala is divided into four divisions: each division
is called slaveness – the slaveness of the self, the slaveness of money, the
slaveness of the people of this world, and the slaveness of the people of
Allah ta‘ala. In general, everything which you seek, you are its slave, and
everything which seeks you is your slave. You must be the slave of Allah
in it as you must only seek one who will join you to your Master. There is
no god but Him. The judgement is on hearts and himma. What belongs
to Allah goes on and is joined. What belongs to other-than-Allah is cut
off and separated.
When you understand reliance on slaves from yourself, then beware of
replacing the slaveness of Allah with slaveness of slaves. Truly the slave of
Allah is the slave in all states. Whoever has himself rely on one state more
than another, is a slave of that state.
Among what the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, and may Allah
profit us by him, counselled me is that he said to me, ‘If you make a bond
with someone, make a sound bond with him and make yourself with him
as if you jested with him.’ That is because your gravity is jest and your jest
is gravity. The lord of jest is the lord of gravity. Do not be one who binds
his neck with a rope and then gives the end of the rope to the hand of
another in order to be a free king. Your self will become a slave of creation,
a chattel. Be among the wise who act by wisdom in the state of separation,
and by power in the state of gatheredness. In spite of this, cover what you
find, even a piece of wood or a wall. Cover what you find – even something
dropped or a piece of fennel so understand!
Know that whoever makes himself truly a slave of the slaves of Allah is truly
the master of the slaves of Allah. Whoever puts himself as truly the master
of the slaves of Allah, he is truly the slave of the slaves of Allah. Such is the
wisdom of Allah ta‘ala in His creation. Whoever loves, loves, and whoever
hates, hates. Look at the word of the truthful, confirmed one:
The servant of the people is their master. – Hadith.
If you want to truly be a master, truly be a slave and you will truly be a master
by the word of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, ‘The servant of the people is their master.’ Your mastery is according
to your slaveness, be it great or small. Also Musa asked his word and said to
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Him, ‘My Lord! Where will I find You?’ He said to him, ‘Musa! You will
find Me in the first step.’ Man has two steps: the step of the senses and the
step of meaning. As for the step of the senses, it is what you advance on a
matter by which you desire the face of Allah. You will find Allah with you
in the first step you lift or cast. If it is the step of meanings, you do not lift
the foot of your himma in a matter in which you desire the face of your
Master, i.e. strengthen it in it, but that you find Him in it.
Know that whoever reaches the reality of slaveness does not need any crea-
ture at all. Acquiring this rank demands the opposite. Its opposite is the
one who does not need all creatures. He is rich by his Master above them.
After this rank, there is only all creatures’ need of him, because whoever
does not have any need of creation, the needs of all creation are with him
because the connection must be from him, either in the direction in which
he seeks creation or from the direction in which creation seeks him. The
connection is not broken, either from his direction to creation, or the direc-
tion of creation to him. Whoever has this privilege is Ibrahimian because
when Sayyiduna Jibril said to Sayyiduna Ibrahim, ‘Have you any need?’,
he said, ‘As for you, no. As for Allah, yes!’ He said to him, ‘Then ask Him.’
He said to him, ‘His knowledge of my state is enough for me from asking.’
This was when he was in the catapult, and in the most constricted state. In
spite of this, he only needed his Master, may the best of blessings and peace
be upon him and our Prophet. Then his unseen was sweet contemplation
of his Master. Whatever occurs to him, he does not care. He did not turn
except to his Master.
Know that when you want to turn to entering any art, look at its shari‘a.
You have no way of entering except by it. The custom of Allah has preceded
that the doors of things are the shari‘a. Had it not been that the shara‘i’ are
the keys of things, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
would not have summoned to them and urged them to it although he, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the Imam of the Wise and the model
of the gnostics. All of them take a handful from the sea of the Messenger
of Allah or a gulp from the ocean. Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, may Allah have
mercy on him, said in the Lata’if al-Minan, ‘Some people are veiled by the
shari‘a from the reality and some people are veiled by the reality from the
shari‘a.’ Some people make the shari‘a a door and the reality doors, and they
are the party of Allah. The party of Allah are successful. Look at how the
168 The Sufic Path
Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, established the shari‘a as a door.
The field of every art is its shari‘a. Whoever comes to an art without the
door of the shari‘a is turned away and has no portion in the reality, even if
what appeared to him appeared. He said, may He be exalted:
Come to houses by their doors.
Knowledges are the results of the inward and actions are the results of the
outward. Whoever desires the fruit of knowledges, must have the shari‘a
of the inward. Whoever desires the fruits of actions, must have the shari‘a
of the outward. Also the arts of the outward have no number. It is like that
with the arts of the inward. They have no limit. Each of the arts of the
outward has actions or the arts of the inward have knowledges. It is only
approached by the shari‘a because the shari‘a is multiple according to the
multiplicity of the realities. The Shaykh said, may Allah profit us by him:
Some people are veiled by the shari‘a from the reality
and some people are veiled by the reality from the shari‘a.
Whatever group has their himma stop in seeking for Allah with the shari‘a,
it becomes a veil for them when they stop at it. Another group’s himma stops
in seeking with the reality. It becomes a veil for them when their himma
stops at it. Some people make the shari‘a a door and reality doors, i.e. their
himma does not stop in their search for Allah with the shari‘a nor with the
reality. Their himmas travel aiming for Allah. These are the party of Allah.
The party of Allah are the successful. That is because increase gives to man
according to the height of his himma. The end of the height of himmas is
to your Lord. The end is that Allah provides for the slave according to his
himma. – Hadith.
Part of the sum of His ihsan, may He be exalted, is that He made the price
of His favour and generosity His force. It is sincerity of seeking Him and
slaveness to Him. He said, may the Speaker be exalted:
Call on Me, and I will answer you.
According to the sincerity of your seeking the thing, your obtaining it is
sincere. Sincerity of the quest only exists between two himmas: inward
himma and outward himma. Inward himma is not outward, but words are
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what give information and news about it. Outward himma is actions by
hand, foot, eye, genitals, and whatever appears. The himma whose quest
is sincere is what joins action and words. According to the sincerity of
your quest by speech and action, you obtain what you seek. Our Master
judged Himself by this as a favour from Him to His slaves. Shortcoming
never exists in respect to your Master. It is impossible in respect to Him.
Shortcoming is only in respect to the slave when he lies in his quest. This
analogy is in respect to the Murids seeking by His favour, may He be ex-
alted! As for His ihsan and favour, it does not cease with the existence of
the quest or its non-existence.
Know that when the seeker of this path is a bold claimant, profit and loss
are the same with him. When he is not like this, he has no portion in it.
That is because it is a path of the Inner Unseen Kingdom. Its jurisdiction
is that of the outward kingdom. However, the king is not a king over the
people of his age until his himma is equal to the himma of all the people
of its age, i.e. had the himma of all the people of his age been weighed with
his himma, his himma would have outweighed them altogether. When
himma is immense, actions are immense commensurate with it because
the outward is the sign of the inward. Whatever is hidden in the unseen
of the awareness appears in the visible outward. May Allah have mercy
on ash-Shitri when he said:
‘Overcome it with the foot and the stream will begin to fear you,
O leader.’
The interest of the man of Allah is equal to the interest of the people of all
the two worlds. His words are equal to the words of the people of all the
two worlds. His actions are like that. The result is that the man of Allah is
equal to all the reality. We mentioned interest, words, and actions because
they have a great effect from man in existence and from all existence in
man. Interest is inward and actions are outward, and words are the inter-
preter between the outward and the inward. Part of His custom, may He
be exalted, in His creation is that He provides for them according to their
himma, words, and actions. Whoever thinks good or speaks good or acts
good, finds good. Whoever thinks evil or speaks evil or acts evil, finds evil.
Whoever thinks much or speaks much or acts much, finds much. Who-
ever thinks little or speaks little or acts little, finds little. According to the
nearness of the slave to his Master, his himma is great. According to the
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greatness of his himma, his words are great and his actions are great, and
vice versa. That is, according to the distance of the slave from his Master,
his himma is small, and according to the smallness of his himma, his speech
is small, and his action is small. Himma is according to this analogy. It has
two aspects: an inward aspect and it is interest, and an outward aspect, and
it is action. Speech is a juncture between the outward and the inward, and
it is interest and action. Whenever the conditions of himma are fulfilled,
the substance of Allah ta‘ala appears according to its elevation, greatness,
humiliation, weakness, and smallness immediately. ‘Allah provides for the
slave according to his himma.’ – Hadith. He said, may He be exalted:
We brought you all you asked for.
The asking of the himma is that which is interest, word, and action. Since
it is like that, what is after it is only, ‘“Be!” and it is.’ I heard the Shaykh,
may Allah have mercy on him, say, ‘When you see the one related to Al-
lah, and he wants to take away something from you, then know that he
wants to give you something greater than it because perfect profit is only
after perfect loss.’
Know that the stages of a man are separated in the glance. Each has his
rank according to his glance, i.e. whoever has himma stop in a stage, only
finds himself in it and his Master only clothes him in its robe. That is from
His generosity, may He be exalted! He said, may He be exalted, ‘He will
give you all you ask Him.’ Allah provides for the slave according to his
himma. – Hadith.
Know that as Allah ta‘ala gave you two of every limb, so He give you two
himmas: a himma in your heart and a himma in your forms. He placed the
himma of the heart above the himma of forms. The himma of the heart
is as if it were the himma of the King, and the himma of forms is as if it
were the himma of slaves. Where is the himma of the King in relation to
the himma of slaves? – And the abased over the nobility of the heart? He
said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘There is a lump in the son
of Adam. When it is sound, the entire body is sound. When it is unsound,
the entire body is unsound. It is the heart.’ – Hadith. He said, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, in a hadith qudsi, ‘Neither My heaven nor
My earth contain Me, but the heart of My slave, the Mu’min, contains
Me.’ – Hadith. He, glory be to Him and may He be exalted, was gener-
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ous to you when He said to you on the tongue of His Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, ‘Allah provides for His slave according to
his himma.’ – Hadith. When your himma alights on something small,
and it is created, you are provided for according to it. When your himma
alights on something great, and it is Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, you
are provided for according to it. Only the great knows great value. May
Allah make us and you and all the Muslims among those who attach their
himma to their Master secretly and openly!
The seeker of Allah is not given something and is zahid in it and desires
his Master, but that Allah ta‘ala gives him what is greater than it. Increase
does not stop until himma stops. The sign of the stopping of himma is
contentment with what comes.
Know that when the himma of the passing is connected to the abiding,
it becomes abiding because whenever the truth enters, the false departs.
When the himma of the abiding is connected to the passing, the seeker
becomes passing and the sought is passing. The vanishing is connected
to the vanishing. The false is connected to the false.
Say: The truth has come and the falsehood has departed.
Falsehood always departs.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Whoever wants to be adorned must relinquish passion. Allah ta‘ala said,

‘Man only has what he strives for.’ Allah ta‘ala also said, ‘Shake the trunk
of the date-palm …’ to the end of the ayat. The Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, said, ‘Move, and you will have provision.’ Ibn
‘Ata’Illah says in the Hikam, ‘How can normal patterns be broken for you
when you have not broken the normal patterns yourself ?’ How can the
heart shine when the forms of created beings are stamped on its mirror?
How can it travel to Allah when it is shackled by its appetites? How can it
desire to enter the presence of Allah when it is not purified of the janaba
(major impurity) of its heedlessness? How can it hope to understand the
fine points of the secrets when it is not safe from its own lapses? Help comes
to them according to predisposition, lights shine according to the purity of
the secrets. You must have high himma and free your goals. The Prophet,
172 The Sufic Path
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Actions are by intentions,
and a man has what he intends. Whoever emigrates for Allah and His Mes-
senger, his emigration is for Allah and His Messenger. Whoever emigrates
to obtain something of this world or for a woman he wants to marry, his
emigration is for that to which he emigrates.’ He said, ‘Do not travel from
created being to created being. You will be like the donkey at the millstone.
That from which he travels is that to which he travels. Travel from created
beings to the Maker of being. The end is to your Lord.’
Therefore be among the people of high himma. Do not be among the
people of low himma. There is no doubt that the people of high himma
are few and their open-handedness is the goal. You do not see any scholar,
any faqir, or any sharif but that you see his himma alighting on this low
world and love of rank. These two things are forbidden for the people of
Allah. For that reason, I cast my net, this teaching of mine and others, over
the fuqara. We did not cast it over the ‘ulama and other people because
we see that all of the fuqara claim to be on the path of poverty. By Allah,
they will not have it until their self and this world are nothing. This is the
reality of poverty and its path.
The fuqara are also our companions. From us and to us, they have what
we have. They own what we own as opposed to our masters, the ‘ulama.
They are not among our companions, not in the outward path, nor in the
inward path. That is from them, not from us. Allah watches us closely. It is
because they make us far from them in both directions. We are not among
the people of distance. We are among the people of nearness since we and
the favour belong to Allah. We have the fullest portion in the path of the
outward and the greatest share in the path of the inward. Had they opposed
their passions and been purified of their portions, they would have found
that most of us are people of knowledge and most of them are ignorant in
spite of the existence of our ignorance and their knowledge. Shaykh Ibn
‘Ata’Illah said in his Hikam, ‘What knowledge does a knower have when
he is pleased with himself ?’
As for the common they are as our noble master said to one of the salihun
of the city of Fez. This man laid claim to the greatest election when he said
to him, ‘In your opinion, what group am I in? The group of the common
or the group of the elite?’ Our master told him, ‘The common people are
The Way 173
our masters and your masters since they do not lay claim to anything.’
He replied, ‘In your opinion, I am not among the common or the elite,
so then who am I among in your opinion?’ The Shaykh told him, ‘In my
opinion, you are among the long-eared donkeys of Egypt.’ For that reason,
I did not remind them and I did not cast my net over them. There is no
doubt that whoever is ignorant of something opposes it. Had he tasted
something of what the men have tasted, he would have said the like of
what one of them said:
My heart had various passions.
My passions are gathered together
since I saw that You are the source.
The one I used to envy began to envy me.
When You became my Master,
I became the master of mankind.
I have left people their deen and this world.
I am occupied with You! You are my deen and this world!
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The one of this Shadhili Path is approached and he does not go to anyone.
He is needed and does not need anyone. He is always desired with every-
one and does not desire anyone except the One, the Unique, the Samad.
Whenever something of these imperfections which are not appropriate to
his state issue from him, that detracts from his himma, and he must purify
himself of it as he purifies himself from janaba, i.e. he is purified from the
janaba of meaning as he is purified from sensory janaba by the senses.
Sayyidi al-’Arabi informed us from his grandfather, Sayyidi Muhammad ibn
‘Abdillah, may Allah profit us by him, that one day he was travelling to the
public square of Ibn Zaruq. The governor lived there. When that governor
met with the Shaykh, he stood up for him and kissed his fingers. He said
to him, ‘Sayyidi, one of your companions came to me today and I granted
a need to him.’ The Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, said, ‘I seek refuge
with Allah! Far be it from me and my companions to have need of you.
This has never happened in my recognition. Do not say, ‘my companion’.
My companion has no need of you, nor do I.’ This was from the height of
his himma, may Allah be pleased with him.
174 The Sufic Path
I heard it related that Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shadhili went to one of

the kings of this world to seek to satisfy the need of a certain person l8
times. Each time, he asked him to satisfy it, and he did not grant it to him.
He returned until he had finished l8 times, and then he granted it to him.
Know that whoever recognises Allah in some things and is ignorant of
Him in other things, finds Him when he recognises Him and loses Him
when he is ignorant of Him. This is the attribute of the one who is domi-
nated by separation. Whoever recognises Allah in everything, finds Him
in everything so that he does not miss Him in anything. In that, things
and their opposites are equal for the one of this station so that one thing
does not outweigh another. This is the attribute of the one dominated by
gatheredness. The one who recognises Allah in gatheredness by gathered-
ness, and recognises Him in separation by separation, has contact with the
people of gatheredness by gatheredness, and recognises Him in separation
by separation. He has contact with the people of gatheredness by gathered-
ness through the existence of knowledge and gnosis as he has contact with
the people of separation by separation through the existence of knowledge
and gnosis. This is the attribute of the one who joins knowledge of the
shari‘a and knowledge of reality. He gives each with a due its due and pays
each with a portion its full portion. It is as if he were an Interspace between
two seas: the sea of the outward and the sea of the inward. The one with
this description is like the mirror. He manifests all that confronts him.
His description in it changes with the colour of whoever confronts him
so that no one rejects him and he does not reject anyone. In the invalidity
of rejection from you and existence, the journey is organised into the sta-
tions of the perfect in the land of ends and the ends of the ends. The end
is to your Lord.
Know that when beginnings are not in the form of ends, they are cor-
ruption. That is because ends are certainly only according to the form
of beginnings. When beginnings are corruption and ruin, in every case,
the ends are like them. For that reason, it is obliged for the Shaykh in the
beginning of the murid’s contact with him, to put him in the stages of the
people of the end. It is as he said in the Hikam:
Whoever has a noble beginning, has a noble end.
The Way 175
We saw that by putting him in the stages of the people of ends, he means
balance and being in the middle of all matters by his word, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace:
The best of matters is the most in the middle.
Being in the middle in matters is his station, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, and the station of all of the Companions, the rightly-guided
khalifs, the followers, the followers of the followers, and those who travel
on their road among the elite of the gnostics, may Allah be pleased with
all of them. The first that the gnostic commands the murid to do is to be
in the middle in action and to act according to the sunna and community
because the beginnings are by the sunna and the ends are to it because
when he is commanded to do much action, his fear is great. This is paraly-
sis. When he is commanded to little action, his hope is great and that is
also paralysis. When he is commanded to act according to the rules of the
sunna, he acquires being in the middle and balance in hope and fear. That
is sought in the beginnings, and it is the goal in the ends because the inward
acts according to the outward as the outward acts according to the inward.
According to the strength of actions in the outward, fear is great, and vice
versa. According to the strength of the inward, hope is great, and vice versa.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Do not be deceived by knowledge from one who claims to be a sufi before

he has become a sufi. The one who claims to be a sufi before he is a sufi is
the one who has not realised his attribute. By Allah, no one should accept
any of the knowledge of the sufis, may Allah be pleased with them, unless it
springs from realisation of an attribute, and that is not hidden – and Allah
knows best. The people said, may Allah be pleased with them, ‘They speak
and are recognised.’ Ibn ‘Ata’Illah says in the Hikam, ‘All the words come
forth and they wear the garment of the heart from which they emerged.’
For a long time I have been meaning to write a short letter which will
contain the discipline of the Path for us so that all of us can have its reality.
I have not seen anything which is succinct except something which has
not been written down. Now Allah has given me a reason, so the distance
has become near for me without any hardship or trouble. That is because I
176 The Sufic Path
heard one of you speaking without any benefit at all for the length of time
in which he could have prayed eighteen rak‘ats, recited five hizb of Qur‘an,
or harvested three measures of wheat. The result is that he, may Allah be
kind to him, spent the entire time between the sunset prayer and the night
prayer talking about something which had no benefit in it at all. The faqir
who is like that is not truly sincere, and he never will be.
Listen to how people behave! Sayyidi Abu’l-Qasim ash-Shatibi, may Allah
be pleased with him, would only speak when necessity forced him to do
so. Sayyidi ‘Umar az-Ziyati, may Allah be pleased with him, did not speak.
When he spoke, he would say, ‘Allah, Allah. “Say: ‘Allah!’ and leave them
playing in their plunging.”’ Sayyidi ‘Ali al-Hajj al-Baqqal, may Allah be
pleased with him, whenever he finished one ‘ibada, would start another.
These and their likes, may Allah be pleased with them, are the people. They
are the masters. They are ‘those who say, “Our Lord is Allah” and then go
straight.’ They are ‘those upon whom there is no fear nor do they sorrow.’
– ‘Those who say, “Our Lord is Allah” and then go straight. The angels
descend on them. They do not fear nor do they sorrow.’ He said, glory
be to Him, ‘Those who believe and have taqwa, they have good news.’
As for those who say ‘Our Lord is Allah’ and then do not go straight, they
have wasted their lives in other than what their Lord commanded them. By
Allah, they are not people, nor masters. Fear is on them and they sorrow.
So leave whatever has no benefit. Always be on your guard against it. Do
not waste your lives in other than what your Lord has commanded you to
do. May Allah take you by the hand! Shaykh al-Hasan al-Basri, may Allah
be pleased with him, said, ‘I have known people who were more concerned
about their hours than you are about your dirhams and dinars.’ He said that
as none of you spends a dirham or dinar except on that which will bring
benefit to him, so they only like to spend an hour of their lives in what
will bring them benefit. It says in tradition, ‘No hour comes to the slave in
which he does not remember Allah but that it is a regret and distress for
him on the Day of Rising.’ May Allah have mercy on you! Take note of
your states and do not be deceived by the states of the people of uselessness
among the people of your time!
What I have mentioned to you will keep the tariqa in order for you so that
all of you have its reality, especially if you attend to cleanliness of body,
The Way 177
clothes, and place, and free yourself of urine as is obligatory. You should
also keep on visiting your Shaykh and the people of the Path, be kind to
your parents, and abase the self when its worries recur in every moment.
The people, may Allah be pleased with them, say, ‘This Path of ours is only
useful for people who sweep the rubbish heaps with their spirits.’
If it has no benefit in it for his deen or this world, he is not occupied with
it and does not turn to it. He should perform what are established of the
commands of his Lord, provided, of course, that he does not burden himself
beyond his limit. This follows the Book of his Lord and the sunna of his
Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, since Allah ta‘ala said,
‘He has not placed any constriction for you in the deen.’ The noble hadith
says, ‘I and those of my community who have taqwa are free of constraints.’
There is more to that effect. There is no doubt that if the faqir only moves
for benefit and is only still for benefit, and he is not occupied with what
has no benefit in it, his meanings will become strong. Whoever finds that
his meanings have become strong, has been enriched by them and is free
of burdens – except what is absolutely necessary. He is drowned in the seas
of reflection. ‘An hour of reflection is better than seventy years of ‘ibada,’
as has come in tradition.
I said to one of the brothers: In our opinion, and Allah knows best,
sufism is observing the shari‘a of the deen of Muhammad, surrendering will
to the Lord of the worlds, and having good character towards the muslims.
Discarding this world is a clear matter since love of it is the source of every
error and affliction, as the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, said. My brothers, recognise the shari‘a of the deen which
the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds brought to us, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace. Do not be ignorant of it. Pay attention to it and
do not neglect it. It is the real elixir that inevitably actually transforms the
sources. By it, man controls his self, jinn, men and all existence, the good
of this world and the good of the next. Surrender your will to your Lord
in whatever He decrees for you and only choose what He chooses for you.
Surrendering the will to Allah is the great election, and there is nothing
above the great election except for the rank of prophecy. There is no doubt
that the end of the wali, may Allah be pleased with him, is the beginning
of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and Allah knows best.
Listen to the words of one who surrendered his will to his Lord and
178 The Sufic Path
only chose what He chose for him and only loved what He made him love.
It was said to the Imam Sayyiduna ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd’ul-Aziz, may Allah be
pleased with him, ‘What do you want?’ He said, ‘What Allah decrees.’
Sayyidi Abu Ja‘far al-Haddad – and he was the Shaykh of Imam al-Junayd,
may Allah be pleased with both of them, said, ‘For forty years I have desired
to desire to leave what I desire. I have not found what I desire.’ It was said
to Sayyidi Abu Jida al-Fasi who was at the Bab Banu Musafir, when he
came to the door of the garden of a certain person, ‘Ask Allah to send us
rain.’ He knocked on the door of the garden quickly. The gardener said,
‘Who is it?’ He said, ‘Water the garden.’ The gardener said, ‘What makes
you bother with that, you meddler? The garden belongs to its master, not
to you. Its master knows about it.’ Sayyidi Abu Jida said, ‘Listen to what he
tells you!’ It was said to one of the more recent awliya, from this town of
ours, the town of the Banu Zarwal – and he was a majdhub called Sayyidi
Ibrahim al-Janati, ‘Ask for rain with us.’ He, may Allah be pleased with him,
said, ‘We are slaves and will remain slaves. Allah does what He wants.’ One
of them said, ‘Allah put me in a state which I disliked for forty years and
did not move me to another, so I was annoyed about it.’ There is more like
this which we do not know and we only know a little, no matter what we
know. It says in the Immense Qur‘an addressing the noble Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘You have only been given a little
knowledge.’ Oh Allah! Make us and whoever is pleased with us among
the party of the people of Allah by the rank of our master, the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
We urge all of the people we love, those we write to and others as well,
to learn it letter for letter until it is fixed in front of their eyes. We have no
fear for the one on whom Allah has bestowed two qualities. The first is
that he is always alert and discerning so that he will not miss the good and
manliness which others have missed. The second quality is that whenever he
is heedless about dhikr of Allah, he returns to dhikr of Allah. Whenever he
rebels against Allah, he immediately turns in tawba to Allah. ‘The one who
turns in tawba from wrong action is like the one who has no wrong action,’
as the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Way 179
The Buraq of the Tariq

The poorest of mankind, Muhammad ibn al-Habib says:
Praise belongs to Allah through whose good gift mankind has
spread over land and sea.
He sent the messengers with shara‘i’ and irrefutable miracles.
And their core is sufism dedicated to Allah and established in the
Book and the sunna.
Here is a fragment of it which will bring His path close and make
its journeying precious to you.
I have named it ‘The Buraq of the Tariq’ for it will speed the murid
to realisation.
If you wish to journey on the path then rely on Allah and ask for
success.
Relieve the self of control, for that will bring enlightenment.
Beware of anxiety about your means of living, for this is the
responsibility of the Creator.
The highest and most praiseworthy qualities lie in these two good
actions:
Think the best of Allah and then think the best of His slaves.
Hold to these two and avoid having opinions.
With Allah the closest path to Him is the multiplication of your
dhikr of the Name of Allah,
Because it is the sublime and Supreme Name, and to be precise,
greater than any other known name.
When you turn your face to the invocation of the Creator free the
heart of all otherness.
Look at the secrets of the All Wise and take note!
Avoid vain discussion on them. Do not persist.
Rather, correct your wrong-action with the act of asking
forgiveness with humble supplication and self-renewal.
Look to Him and grasp that every time you make an act
of obedience, He gave it to you.
180 The Sufic Path
Praise Him whether things go well or badly, because He is the act

in every thing.
Awaken your himma with yearning and longing, and do not be
content with less than the Ever-continuing!
Do not stop at the first gleams, nor with anything else you may
experience at this stage –
Ask Him to let you cover the path with speed until you fully taste
that realisation.
Allah elects whomever He wants from among His slaves for the
presence of solitude.
Take care you do not consider the path too long, since that will
just become an obstruction to you.
Travel with your self the way of gentleness so that you may travel
with yearning.
Indeed, two raka‘at from a lover are more excellent than
a thousand without love.
Make your adab gentle as you follow the road, and in
your perception of realisation.
The likeness of this adab of things is as the mixing of iron with
the elixir.
Do you see how the iron in an instant turns to new gold?
Adab acts the same way on the heart and carries it to the presence
of the Unseen.
How many a man who did all the right actions has been left to his
own self, and how many a courteous one has drawn near to Him.
The adab of looking at the creatures is that you see the Creator –
no second face!
So you see the Creator in the created and the Provider in
the provision.
The Truth is only seen in manifestation whether by an angel or
a mortal man.
The first manifestation is the light of Ahmad,
may the most excellent of blessings be upon him eternally.
The Way 181
By him the Truth has filled every creature and all that is or was,
So see him in the self and on the horizon, and join that to
perception of the Creator.
And that seeing will make up for every defect in the self, the heart,
and the hidden of the hidden.
Keep the self aware by good intention, and bind it to that in
stillness and in action.
Move the self forward, often and far and you will undoubtedly
gain a great overflowing for it.
Shorten the path by honouring all that is laid down as the shari‘a.
Scorn no act nor utterance that has come down to us.
The path of the abdal is hunger, sleeplessness, silence, withdrawal
and dhikr. They give freedom.
This fragment of sufism is ended and praise belongs to Allah for
the perception of it.
I ask for blessings on the Prophet,
the helper with the limitless blessings of our Lord.
And on his family, and trustworthy Companions,
the wayfarers on the paths.
I ask Allah for rightness of state for us and the lovers
in the future.
And that He lift every doubt from us, by the rank of
every teaching gnostic.
Praise is due to Allah for its completion and thanks is due to Allah
for its seal.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Rescue certainly lies in following the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace. Passion overcomes everyone except the one for
whom Allah has had previous concern. Whoever you see among us who
opposes accidentally or deliberately, be quick in reminding him as Allah
ta‘ala has commanded you. Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Remind! The Reminder
benefits the believers.’ He, glory be to Him, said, ‘Call to the way of
182 The Sufic Path
your Lord by wisdom and excellent warning and argue with them by
that which is better.’
The self of the one of Adam is like the earth. If you do not cultivate good-
ness in it, then certainly wrongness will grow in it and it will be left for
the plants. How wrong! How far off ! If the good does not come, then the
ugly comes. You must have what will benefit you and what will give you a
return of good in the two worlds. Go always from the rights of your Lord
to the rights of yourselves, and from the rights of yourselves to the rights
of your Lord if you desire your heads to be safe and your outward and
inward to be straight.
Some people have much ‘ibada while they are heedless in spite of their
‘ibada. Some people have very little ‘ibada while they remember in spite
of their little ‘ibada and little knowledge, because they act by what they
know, so Allah bequeaths to them a knowledge which they did not know
as has come down in transmission. They are better than others because the
goal is what they have. It is not with the one who knows a lot and does not
act by what he knows.
To all our brothers in Allah and those who love us for His sake, in the
land of Morocco, may Allah make it flourish, the people of the cities and
the people of the deserts, those with gainful employ and those who are
divested: Peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah ta‘ala and His baraka.
I advise you for Allah and in Allah, and desiring Allah’s pleasure. I advise
you not to devote yourself to the recitation of the Immense Qur‘an the
way that the people of our mountains and others devote themselves to it
so that you are only happy when you have memorised the recitation of
the seven or the recitation of the ten and it is fixed in front of your eyes.
This happens while many of you do not recognise the obligations and
sunna, and are not good in the recitation of the Fatiha, or the adhan or
the iqama. This is clearly a well-known error. Correct behaviour – or we
could say, the truth – is that we cannot dispense with understanding of our
deen. Allah knows best, but we have enough fiqh in the famous Risala of
the great Shaykh, Sayyidi Muhammad ibn Abi Zayd al-Qayrawani, or the
Rab’al-’Ibada (Home of Worship) of Shaykh Khalil; or even the Murshid
al-Mu’in (Helping Guide) of Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Wahid ibn ‘Ashir will
The Way 183
be enough for us, Allah willing. In recitation of the Immense Qur‘an, the
Warsh recitation is enough for us. We do not dislike you reciting it in the
recitation of all the variants of the reciters, may Allah be pleased with them
and give us the benefit of their baraka. Indeed, we love it dearly. However,
success is from Allah. There is no power nor strength except by Allah.
Listen to what I said to one of the brothers who asked for permission to
go to Mazuna with the intention of studying knowledge after we had had
some previous discussion. When you recognise the excellence of knowledge
and its baraka, it is easy to travel in quest of it from the West to the East,
and from the East to the West. That is nothing for the one who knows this,
since our Lord is worshipped only by it. There is no truth nor true sincerity
among people except for the one who has knowledge. It says in a hadith of
the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘Seek
knowledge, even in China.’ He said, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, ‘When Allah desires good for someone, he gives him understand-
ing in the deen.’ In this is a door by which man learns knowledge which is
better for him than this world, even if he had it all, lock, stock, and barrel.
How remarkable is the one who hears about this great excellence which
comes from the noble Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
without any doubt or dispute, and yet does not devote all the days of his
life to studying knowledge. We think, and Allah knows best, that it is
confirmed in respect to those who pray that they should always know the
commentary of the surahs which they use in their prayers. This is what we
think, and it is what most people think, and Allah knows best. Certainly,
‘ibada without knowledge is not valid at all. It says in the Book of Allah
ta‘ala, ‘I only created jinn and men to worship Me.’ – ‘They are only
commanded to worship Allah, making the deen sincerely His.’ ‘Ibada is
certainly not valid at all without knowledge, as we all confirm.
How remarkable is the one who hears from the Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, as well as from the companions, the
followers, and other imams of the deen, about the bliss in the Garden that
Allah has prepared for those of taqwa, and does not devote all the days of
his life to obeying his Lord. Allah has prepared for those who have taqwa
such bliss in the Garden as the eye has never seen, the ear has never heard,
and as has never occurred to the heart of man. Even if those of taqwa only
had human bliss in the Garden, 70,000 houris would serve them. They rise
when they rise and sit when they sit. When they smile, the light of their
184 The Sufic Path
smile extends for a distance of 500 years. That is enough. May Allah not
deprive us and you by the rank of the Prophet, peace be upon him! May He
not deprive any of the community of Sayyiduna Muhammad, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, and may He honour him, exalt him, glorify
him, and greatly ennoble him until the day of reckoning. Peace be upon
the messengers, and praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
We urge you to be careful about removing all traces of urine, about
cleanliness, and persisting in wudu. I have pointed out what I say to you
many times and we do not know whether you have taken any notice of it,
or whether our words to you are like the wind which strikes and goes. I
recommend noble character to you since it is the deen with the people of
the deen. I also advise you to be on your guard against causes which lead
to falling from the eyes of Allah. We seek refuge with Allah! The sign of
falling from the eye of Allah is that one’s heart is empty of respect for the
shari‘a of the deen of Allah – we could say, the five things of Allah. May
Allah take us, and you, and all of the Muslims by the hand. Amin.
May Allah have mercy on you and be pleased with you! Know that by the
power and strength of Allah, I guarantee that all who are concerned and
pay attention to cleanliness, wudu, and freeing themselves of all traces of
urine after going to the lavatory, as is necessary, will have a tremendous
opening like the opening which Allah gave to Shaykh Mawlay ‘Abd’ul-
Qadir al-Jilani, Shaykh Abu Madyan al-Ghawth, and Shaykh Sayyidi
Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shadhili, may Allah be pleased with them and give us
and you the benefit of their baraka! You absolutely must pay attention
to what I have told you and do what your Lord has commanded you to
do. Whenever you finish one good action, then start another one. Then
you will completely abandon evil actions altogether. You must give your
actions a sound foundation since the building is not sound and does not
exist without the foundation. There is no doubt that cleanliness, wudu, and
cleaning oneself of urine after the lavatory is a great foundation. We have
only seen a very rare exception among people who is concerned with these
three questions. There are very few people indeed who counsel themselves
and are truly sincere in turning. Had we all counselled ourselves and been
truly sincere in our turning, Allah would have given us an opening in the
shortest possible time. We would have a tremendous affair. I advise you to
The Way 185
oppose people by good character. If you have good character, the obligatory
and confirmed sunna will be enough for you, especially those among you
who are moderate and are bereft.
Give good news of great good and a clear secret to whoever takes notice
and pays attention, and then turns away from his passion and turns to his
Master. He is a wali of Allah. Or we could say, give good news to whoever
takes notice and knows that the prayer is the buttress of the deen, the first
thing that Allah made obligatory for His slaves, and the first thing He will
question them about on the Day of Rising. It is not valid without wudu, pu-
rity of body, clothes, and place, covering the private parts, and facing qibla.
Part of the teaching which I prefer for one connected to me is that he per-
forms the obligatory prayer and confirms the sunna. He should also have
his body always clean of filth, or more precisely, its impurity, the hair of the
private parts and armpits, the nails of the hands and feet, and his clothes
and place. He should leave whatever does not concern him and he should
free himself of any traces of urine. He should hold on to that until he is
certain of it or his heart is at rest that his urine is completely removed. He
should withdraw from following the senses and all habits and appetites.
He should not think that unlikely or think it preposterous:
The self is like the child. If you neglect it, it grows up
based on love of suckling. If you wean it, it is weaned.
This is what the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi al-Busayri, may Allah be pleased
with him, said in his Burda. It is also as the lofty Shaykh, the wali of Allah
ta‘ala Sayyidi Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said, in his Hikam: ‘Whoever thinks that it is
preposterous that Allah will rescue him from his appetite and bring him
out of his heedlessness, has considered divine power to be powerless. Allah
has the power over everything.’
We think that obligatory things are enough for him when they are ac-
companied by what we mentioned. It will enrich him greatly. A lot of actions
are not enough for him if he does not have that which we mentioned. In
spite of this, we prefer that he perform the obligatory actions and the supe-
rogatory good deeds which are confirmed by the sunna. Allah gives success.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
186 The Sufic Path
The prayer is in two divisions: the sensory prayer of the shari‘a, and it is
the prayer of the common people, and the real prayer of meanings. Only
the elite recognise it. They are very few. Man enters the sensory prayer
and leaves it. Whoever enters the prayer of meaning does not ever leave it
as was said to one of the gnostics of Allah ta‘ala: ‘Sayyidi! Does the heart
prostrate?’ He said, ‘Yes, but when it prostrates, it never rises.’
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
My brothers, the causes of happiness are very numerous. After the sha-
hada, the greatest of them is the prayer. It is the first thing that Allah
made obligatory for us. It is the first thing that He will ask us about on
the Day of Rising. Even if there are actions greater than it, it is the first
thing that He made obligatory for us. It has such virtues that every man
of intellect is left in bewilderment concerning it. ‘The prayer at its proper
time is better than this world and all that is in it,’ as the Messenger of
Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said. As far as its virtue
is concerned, it is enough for us that it forbids shameless action and the
objectionable. As it says in the Book of Allah ta‘ala, ‘The prayer forbids
shameless action and the objectionable.’ One of the ‘ulama, may Allah
be pleased with him, said, ‘The relationship of the prayer to the deen is
like the relationship of the head to the body. The relationship of sufism
to the deen is like the relationship of the spirit to the body.’ We say, as
everyone else says, ‘The prayer is the buttress of the deen,’ as the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said. Do not neglect
it. You must pay attention to it and to the conditions which make it valid
with your utmost effort and as much as you possibly can as long as you
are alive. May Allah ta‘ala give us and you success.
May Allah teach you good and shield you from evil! Know that we re-
peatedly performed many actions for several years like the prayer, recitation
of Qur‘an, la ilaha illa’llah, and the prayer on the Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace. We found that they all had tremendous baraka.
By Allah, we found that the baraka of repeating the prayer was above the
baraka of every action, and Allah is the authority for what we say. Had it
not been for the objection we heard in the words of the masters, may Al-
lah be pleased with them, ‘Whoever has no Shaykh, shaytan is his Shaykh,’
‘Whoever has no Shaykh, has no qibla,’ and ‘Whoever has no master, is
The Way 187
idle. Dropping the means of arrival is unbalanced, and basing action on
them is misguidance,’ we would have said that the prayer dispenses with
the Shaykh. We would have said the same thing about recitation of Qur‘an,
saying la ilaha illa’llah, and the prayer on the Prophet, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace. All would let us dispense with the Shaykh, especially
if we leave what does not concern us and what has no benefit for us and rely
on our Lord, not on our actions, even if the actions are good and purely
sincere. Our Lord is only worshipped by knowledge, so do not disregard
it. You absolutely must do your utmost to pay attention to it as much as
you possibly can while you are alive. Whoever disregards knowledge, the
prayer, and what Allah has commanded, is completely disregarded and
abandoned by Him.
To all those who are our brothers in Allah and love us for His sake in the
land of Morocco, the people of the cities and the people of the deserts,
those gainfully employed and those who are divested: Peace be upon you
and the mercy of Allah ta‘ala and His baraka.
Whoever desires to save himself, to make himself happy, to make his
affair easy, to veil his faults, to have his Lord’s pleasure, to have his inner eye
opened, to have gifts extended to him, to have a good end, high value, the
death of his self, and the life of his heart, should be ashamed before his Lord
and not delay the prayer from its proper time and not allow himself any
indulgence in delaying it from its time. He should not pray alone as long as
he is able to do otherwise. He should pray in a group. We see many people
who delay the prayer from its proper time and allow themselves indulgence
in delaying it from its proper time because they attach little importance to
it. They pray alone while they are in a group. ‘Very evil is what they do.’
This is because making light of the command of Allah comes from lack of
gnosis of Allah and lack of modesty, fear, and awe of Him, may His majesty
be exalted! We see them immersed in anxiety, sorrow, constriction, hard-
ships, and adversities. They do not know the origin of what has afflicted
them. By Allah, what afflicts them has come from laxness in the deen and
their total immersion in their own portions and desires. Had it not been
for that, they would have been immersed, by Allah, in blessings and their
hearts would have been brought to life after death. Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Had
the people of the cities believed and had taqwa, We would have opened
baraka on them from the heaven and the earth.’ – ‘Whoever has taqwa of
188 The Sufic Path
Allah, He will make a way out for him, and provide for him from where
he does not reckon.’ – ‘Whoever has taqwa of Allah, Allah will make his
affair ease.’ There are more statements to that effect.
We also see that they do not distinguish between the prayer in the first
row and the prayer in the last row. They do not straighten the row in the
prayer although it is part of the completion of the prayer. It is also part of
the excellence of the prayer as al-Bukhari mentioned in the Sahih. That is
not because of their ignorance. It is because of their lack of concern about
their deen. As for the prayer in the first row, everyone knows its excellence
and they are not ignorant of it. We see that they do not care about cleanli-
ness and are not concerned with it even though it is half of iman and the
deen is based on it as it says in hadith. As far as freeing oneself from traces
of urine is concerned, there are very few of them indeed who do that. The
one who does not free himself of urine has no wudu. The one who has no
wudu has no prayer. The one who has no prayer has no deen. The one who
has no deen has no good.
My brothers, do what your Lord has commanded you. There is no
way you can avoid the sunna of your Prophet, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace at every moment, until certainty comes to you, i.e. death.
Allah ta‘ala said, ‘If you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love
you.’ – ‘Take what the Messenger has brought you and leave what he
has forbidden you.’
May Allah teach you good! Know that when the slave is subjected to
his Lord, his Lord, may His majesty be exalted, subjects all created being to
him and makes it obey him. Allah is the authority for what we say. Listen
to what one of them said, may Allah be pleased with them:
If time obeys and people are slaves,
Then live every day of your life as if it were an ‘Id day.
Peace
I advise all of you, elite and common, men and women, old and young,
slaves and free, to follow what Allah has commanded you. It is that you
do not delay the prayer from its proper time, and that you allow yourself
no indulgence in delaying it. You should pray in a group and not pray
individually except with an excuse. Allah knows best, but the excuse is
very rare indeed.
May Allah have mercy on you! Know that the reason which prompted
The Way 189
me to say this to you is that I see many of the brothers who delay the prayer
from its proper time. They allow themselves indulgence in its delay. They
pray alone while they are a group. ‘Very evil is what they do.’ Even if they
were among the lords of hearts, by Allah, they are sober. They are not
intoxicated, withdrawn from their sensory experience so that they should
do that. May Allah give you success! Therefore, you must be on your guard
about this. Forget remembering yourselves by remembering your Lord.
Do not be the reverse and forget remembering your Lord by remembering
yourselves. The one who remembers himself is the one who plunges into
his appetites and is immersed in that. As for the one who remembers his
Lord and forgets himself, he is only immersed in the meanings in which
all of the awliya, may Allah be pleased with them, are immersed. They left
their appetites and did not remain with them because they were ashamed
that their Master should see them with something other than Him, so
understand! May Allah make you understand! Avoid what you are for-
bidden and occupy yourselves with what you are commanded to do. May
Allah give you success!
Know that I see many of the brothers who are always in anxiety, sorrow,
distress and fraud. That is because they turn away from their Lord and turn
to their passion. Had they been the opposite of that and turned to their
Master and turned away from their passion, their anxiety, sorrow, grief and
turbidity would have left them. Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Had the people of the
cities believed and had taqwa, We would have opened up baraka on them
from the heaven and the earth.’ – ‘Whoever has taqwa of Allah, He will
make a way out for him, and provide for him from where he does not
reckon.’ – ‘Whoever relies on Allah, He is enough for him. The com-
mand of Allah reaches the mark.’ – ‘Whoever has taqwa of Allah, Allah
will make his affair easy for him. That is from the command of Allah
which He has sent down to you.’ There are more ayat and hadith like this.
As you love us, we love you. Allah is the authority for what we say. May
Allah bless you! We would like for you to draw near to mercy always. We
could say, always to be immersed in mercy. The Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, was the source of mercy. Draw near
him with a lot of prayer upon him, peace be upon him, as we told you some
days ago. Go far from all that distracts you from your Lord and do not
go near it. Disregard your inward and your outward as much as you can.
190 The Sufic Path
Among the benefits of disregarding them is the breaking of norms. It is

clear to me that whoever is content with little of this world, weans his self
constantly from it, and disregards his outward and inward, performs the
obligatory prayer and confirmed sunna, and leaves what does not concern
him, by Allah, he is embraced by the sunna of Muhammad, blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him. Whoever is not like that – and they are many
– does not follow the sunna, and Allah knows best.
Immense mercy will spread over existence, Allah willing, as it spread
over existence in the time of al-Junayd, al-Ghazali, ash-Shadhili, al-Hatimi,
and their likes, may Allah be pleased with them. All of them in existence
were in the position of the pure jewel-like heart in the body. Because of
that, their good qualities were manifested in existence so there existed what
good deeds there were. If the heart is full of good qualities, then certainly
its good qualities will be manifested in the limbs. If it is full of ugly quali-
ties, then certainly its ugly qualities will be manifested in the limbs. This
is a well-known tradition.
Allah ta‘ala has removed the prayer from the menstruating woman and the
woman with lochia after childbirth. It is one of the obligations which He
demands of His slaves, so how can it be abandoned? Women should leave
what does not concern them and perform what Allah has made obligatory
for them. They only perform what sup-erogatory things they are able to
do. Then they will be happy, Allah willing, and not wretched or burdened
because they grind flour, sieve, plait, knead, season, bandage, untie, sweep,
give water, gather firewood, spin, milk, go into labour, bear their children,
and raise them. These are all great deeds and well-known striving. With
these deeds, they only need the prayer, fasting, and what Allah has made
obligatory like zakat for the one who has the minimum of property subject
to zakat, or the hajj for the one who is able to make it.
It is like that with men when they have what concerns them and are
occupied with what concerns them in the obedience of their Lord. We
do not like for any of them to be constrained since the Prophet, peace be
upon him, said, ‘I and those of my community who have taqwa are free
of constraint.’ He said, peace be upon him, ‘Compassion does not enter
a heart but that it adorns it.’ Compassion persists for the one who has it,
as you know.
Know that man only benefits by the action which he does by knowl-
The Way 191
edge. As for the action which he does without knowledge, it does not
benefit him. The Shaykh of our Shaykh, Sayyidi al-‘Arabi ibn ‘Abdillah said
to our Shaykh, Sayyidi ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with both of them, ‘This
state of yours (and it was the state of divestment) joins the outward and
the hidden for you. I only mention this to you so that you might benefit
by it.’ My brother, in the same way I am only reminding you about what I
have mentioned concerning women so that you can inform them. Most of
them do not consider this to be action. By Allah, it is among the greatest
of actions. Allah wipes out evil deeds by it and elevates degrees. Tell them
about it so that they can leap up to it, and so they will not resent it. It is
very great with Allah. That is absolutely definite.
About the states which you have – and they are the breaking of normal pat-
terns – if you do not have the inner eye in them, they will certainly put you
far from the sunna and bring you near to innovation. Then affliction will be
generated. We seek refuge with Allah! You only break the normal patterns
of your self by what is heavy for you, as long as it is neither forbidden nor
disliked by the shari‘a of Muhammad. The statement of the right-acting
wali, Sayyidi Ahmad Zarruq, is: ‘As long as dislike is not very strong, it is
not fitting for us to use it at the moment in which loved things are few and
disliked things are many, and following is little and opposition is great, since
Allah ta‘ala said, “If you love Allah, then follow me. Allah will love you.”’
I advise you to perform the obligatory prayer and the confirmed sunna.
You should not travel any road without knowledge since the Prophet,
peace be upon him, said, ‘It is not permitted for a believer to set his foot
on a matter until he knows what Allah’s judgement in it is.’ Sayyidi Abu
Sulayman ad-Darani, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘The one who
is inspired to do something good should not do it until he hears about
it in tradition.’ We say that the one who knows is not like the one who is
ignorant since Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Are they equal – those who know and
those who do not know? Are darkness and light the same?’ We have said
before this: Whoever knows what he does is not like the one who does
not know it. We see many fuqara and others who do good actions while
they do not know that they have done them. They do bad actions while
they do not know that they have done them. The reality of these is dark,
not luminous. Whoever knows what he does and is on his guard against
opposing the command of his Lord, by Allah, his reality is luminous, not
192 The Sufic Path
dark. There is no doubt that knowledge is light and ignorance is darkness,

and knowledge is day and ignorance is night, and so on. As far as the nobil-
ity of knowledge – its height and elevation – is concerned, it is enough for
us that it is the attribute of Allah ta‘ala as the Prophet said, peace be upon
him, in what he related from his Lord, glory be to Him, ‘I am Knowing.
I love every knower.’ There is no good in the one who does not learn and
the one who does not recognise the value of knowledge since he does not
recognise his Lord. He is only worshipped by knowledge. The Prophet,
peace be upon him, said, ‘Every action which is not based on our command
is rejection.’ My brothers, the Muhammadan sunna is the sunna. Shaykh
al-Busayri, may Allah be pleased with him, said in his Burda:
He called to Allah. Those who cling to him, cling to an
unbroken rope.
You will not see any wali who is not helped by him, nor
any enemy who is not broken.
Sayyidi Ahmad Aka’rir az-Ziyati, may Allah be pleased with you and may
He have mercy on you! Know that I looked at one of your letters and
you said that the scholar Sayyidi Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba al-Manjari, may Allah
have mercy on him, is involved in reading the books of sufism, especially
the Hikam of Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, and that he had a commentary on the prayer
of Ibn Mashish. It was clear to me that you were like him in that respect.
Because of that, I warn you about halting with them in what happens. If
they are incredibly beautiful, they can also be incredibly ugly if one halts
at them because the secrets are not received from books. They are received
from breasts as it says in the Immense Qur‘an. What is in the breasts is
obtained. It is clear to me that the divine waridat which came to Sayyidi
al-Junayd, Sayyidi al-Jilani, Sayyidi al-Ghazali, Sayyidi ash-Shadhili, and
Sayyidi ‘Ali, our master, and their likes, may Allah be pleased with them,
will come, Allah willing, to Sayyidi Ahmad Aka‘rir and Sayyidi Ahmad
ibn ‘Ajiba, and us, and others if they act by what they know. It has come
in tradition: Whoever acts by what he knows, Allah will bequeath him
a knowledge which he did not know. Do not be veiled by the meanings
which other people have from what you have. You have meanings as the
sea has waves. You know that whoever acts by what he knows, Allah will
bequeath him a knowledge which he did not know. It was related from Ibn
Abi Al-Khawwari from his Shaykh ad-Darani, may Allah be pleased with
The Way 193
both of them, ‘If the self is firm in leaving wrong action, it moves freely in
the malakut, and returns to you with modes of wisdom without the knower
directing knowledge to it. This is the business of the masters:
Tongues whisper secrets which are hidden from the
Noble Scribes.
Wings fly without feathers to the malakut of the Lord
of the worlds.’
Sayyidi Ahmad al-Haddad al-Khumsi warned Sayyidi Ibn ‘Askar, when they
were talking about sufism, may Allah be pleased with them, because Ibn
‘Askar was mentioning a lot of quotations from the words of the masters.
Sayyidi Ahmad al-Haddad said to him, ‘How long will you say so-and-so
said, and so-and-so related. What do you yourself say? And me?’ Similarly,
Sayyidi ‘Ali ibn Maymun was warned by his Shaykh ad-Dabbas. We do not
caution you against knowledges of the deen as you imagine, Sayyidi Ahmad
Aka‘rir, since our Lord is only worshipped by means of knowledge. We warn
you about stopping there as we told you. How could we warn you against
them when there was none greater than the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, and Allah ta‘ala commanded him to say
every day, ‘My Lord, increase me in knowledge.’ He said, peace be upon
him, ‘Whatever day contains no increase in knowledge that will bring me
closer to Allah ta‘ala, there is no baraka in the sunrise that day.’
We do not dislike reading the books of sufism. Among their benefits is
the breaking of norms. They said: ‘Beware of the company of three types of
people: heedless tyrants, hypocritical Qur‘an reciters, and ignorant sufis.’
Also, Sayyidi Ahmad, had it not been for knowledge, none of us would
have been good for anything. If we are in need of our Lord, knowledges of
divine gift will come to us from Him as they have come to whoever has freed
his heart of preoccupations. Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, may Allah be pleased
with him, said in his Hikam: ‘Lights may come to you and find the heart
filled with the forms of effects. They will return to the place from which they
came. Free your heart of others! They will fill it with gnoses and secrets.’
I say: By Allah, Sayyidi Ahmad Aka‘rir, nothing stops us except the lack
of our need for our Lord. Had we needed Him, He would have made us rich
as He has made our companions rich since Allah ta‘ala said, ‘If they are poor,
Allah will enrich them from His overflowing favour. Sadaqa is for the
poor.’ Abasement and poverty are two of our necessary attributes. In spite
194 The Sufic Path
of that, it is heavy for us to be poor, abased. The only way to freedom is by

the door of abasement and poverty. You must have that if you want to win.
Abase yourself to the One you love – you will obtain might.
How many men have obtained might by abasement !
If the One you love is Mighty and you are not abased to Him,
then say goodbye to arrival.
Another said:
Abase yourself to the One you love. Love is not easy.
If the Beloved is pleased, then arrival is permitted to you.
Another said:
If you are not steadfast in abasement in passion, you will be
parted from the One you love in spite of yourself.
Another said:
Had abasement been exalted in it, how sweet passion
would be for me!
Had it not been for abasement in love, I would have no
might at all.
Shaykh ash-Shadhili, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘By Allah, we
have only seen might in abasement.’ We say, may Allah be pleased with us,
‘By Allah, we have only seen abasement in poverty.’ Whoever wants to abase
his self should make it poor in this world and among people except for the
one who uplifts his state. His words should guide one to Allah since there
is nothing more weighty than that. Rise for him, Sayyidi Ahmad, do not
rise for others, and you will see wonders.
Beware of saying, ‘Later, later.’ Then the leader comes and the others rise
for him and leave you with yourself, plunging into yourself. Death comes
to you and finds you in emptiness alone, neither compassionate, merciful,
nor tender. It hangs you and withdraws you from existence and takes you
to your Lord in spite of yourself. Only He knows your state since you do
not know what He will do with you. However, in general what dominates
you is fear and conflict. Conflict is worse than killing!
The secret of poverty which we mentioned is only recognised by the
one who has expelled love of this world from his heart. Listen to some of
it: Sayyidi Ahmad Ibn ‘Askar said in his Dawha: ‘More than one of the
distinguished people of Meknes told me that they were in great despair
The Way 195
and went to Shaykh Abu’r-Rawa‘il al-Mahjub, may Allah be pleased with
him, to ask him to do the rain-prayer with them. He said, “Wait for me a
bit until I come back to you.” He went into his house and gave away all that
he had in it as sadaqa. He did not leave anything. Then he got dressed and
went out to them. He said, ‘Let us begin. The request is valid and the sup-
plication is true.’ When they came back, there was practically a flood from
the intensity of the rain.’ This is something of the secret of poverty. There
are wonders and marvellous things among its secrets. The word of Allah is
enough for us concerning its secret: ‘Sadaqa is for the poor.’ Shaykh Abu’r-
Rawa‘il al-Mahjub, may Allah be pleased with him, was one of the Shaykhs
of Shaykh ‘Abdu’r-Rahman al-Majdhub, may Allah be pleased with him.
Sayyidi Ahmad, as far as the practices which you do are concerned,
they are not hidden. However, we would like you to recognise what we
say to you. It is: When you have urgency in the outward, you do not have
it in the inward. When you have it in the inward, you do not have it in
the outward, since strength cannot be in two directions as we have told
you. We have repeated our words many times. Perhaps someone will hear
them. We said in a certain teaching that we do not like one to say, ‘Allah,
Allah,’ always while his state is intense thirst for this world and devotion to
idle talk. We like him to perform the obligatory prayer and the confirmed
sunna, to leave what does not concern him, and always to take on noble
character. If he says, ‘Allah’ once, prays once, or recites one surah, that is
better for him than l000 times with a blameworthy state. Allah knows best.
Sayyidi Ahmad, if you understand this and pursue it, you will lighten
the burden of your self and bring it to your Lord. There is no doubt that it is
nearer to taqwa. Allah knows best. Similarly this secret of abasement is only
recognised by the one who has left his self, like the one who said, ‘This path
of ours is only useful for people who sweep the rubbish heaps with their
spirits.’ There must be a Shaykh in this discipline and in other disciplines,
and Allah knows best, since they said, ‘Whoever has no Shaykh, shaytan is
his Shaykh.’ They said, ‘Whoever has no Shaykh, has no qibla.’ Ibn Shayban,
may Allah be pleased with him said, ‘Whoever has no matter is idle. Drop-
ping off the means (of arrival) is lack of proper balance. Basing action on
them is misguidance.’ We think, and Allah knows best, that whoever has
opening in the knowledge of the reality without proper means, must take
on the shari‘a of its people, may Allah be pleased with them. He must take
one of their Shaykhs, i.e. the Shaykhs of the knowledge of reality, if he finds
196 The Sufic Path
him. None misses him except the one who makes himself independent by
his own opinion and thinks he knows more. As far as the one who needs
him is concerned, I think that he will find him wherever he is, near or far,
in the land of Islam or in the land of the Christians. His need of him will
join him to him wherever is. Either the Shaykh will come to the murid or
the murid will come to the Shaykh. Capacity will carry the Shaykh to the
murid or the murid to the Shaykh. Allah is the authority for what we say.
As for travelling the Path without the Shaykh and by his own opinion,
by Allah, he is as Sayyidi Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, may Allah be pleased with
him, said in the Bidayau’l-Hidaya (Beginning of Guidance): ‘When the
murid has no Shaykh, nothing comes from him. He is like a tree growing
in the deserts. It grows but its fruits never come to fruition.’ As for the one
who says that there is no Shaykh today, he is wrong and has not hit the
mark. Listen Sayyidi Ahmad, to what happened to one of the people of
the East when he came to Morocco to ask about the qutb. He met Shaykh
‘Abdu’l-Warith al-Yalsuti who was among the Banu Zarwal. He asked him
about the qutb, and he told him. ‘Had Allah opened your eye, you would
have found him in front of you.’
As far as the statement of Shaykh Ahmad Zarruq is concerned, which
he related from his Shaykh al-Hadrami, may Allah be pleased with both
of them, we have not heard it. Had we heard it, we still would not accept
it. We do not recognise that from our Lord. We recognise baraka from
Him, or we could say that wisdom is not cut off as long as the Kingdom
of Allah lasts. Allah ta‘ala said, ‘We do not abrogate any ayah or cause it
to be forgotten, but that We bring one better than it or equal to it. Do
you not know that Allah has power over everything? Do you not know
that Allah has the kingdom of the heavens and the earth? You do not
have any protector or helper apart from Allah.’
Many fuqaha’ and others have opposed us in this. Our intellects did not
accept it and our breasts were not expanded by it when we were young as a
favour and blessing from Allah. The paths which follow al-Hadrami, may
Allah be pleased with him, are branches, not the root. The root is truly
the pure Shadhiliyya tariqa. No one will change it or alter it until the last
day. It is as Shaykh al-Kharrubi at-Tarabulusi said to Shaykh ‘Umar ibn
‘Abdu’l-Wahhab al-Hasani al-‘Alami, who was among the descendants of
the great qutb, Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish, may Allah be pleased
The Way 197
with all of them, ‘This Path has guardians who protect it and guards who
guard it until the Day of Rising. They are the people of Allah ta‘ala and the
helpers of his deen. Allah has given them outward and inward knowledge.
He has helped them with His name the Helper (an-Nasir) and His name,
the Protector (al-Hafidh) …’ until the end of his words.
I think that you will recognise this in the answer that al-Kharrubi gave to
the sharif about the states of the office of qutb. I saw something of it in your
handwriting at the end of our letters which you have in your possession.
One day, we spoke about the states of the office of the qutb and taking on
the character of mercy. We were deeply immersed in that, and Allah helped
us with it since we had no proof of what we thought about the states of
the office of the qutb and we had absolutely no knowledge of it. Our Lord
brought it to us from the unseen and from nearness, not from distance,
and from gnoses, not from anything else. This only happens to the people
of great true sincerity. It happened to us. Praise and thanks be to Allah.
We do not like the one who shuts the door of Allah in the faces of Allah’s
slaves. It is always open. We dislike that intensely. Allah is the authority for
what we say. We only see virtue in the one who expands and makes things
easy Allah’s slaves by ayat and hadith. We also think that Allah will constrict
the one who constricts them, and Allah will expand the one who expands
them. Allah will be harsh to the one who is harsh to them. Allah will make
things easy for the one who makes things easy for them.
There is no doubt that nothing cuts off the people of intention, love,
true sincerity, and good opinion from their Lord. Nothing blocks their
way to Him. They are always from them to Him and from Him to them.
Nothing comes between them and Him – glory be to Him! The barrier
is impossible in respect to Him, may His Majesty be exalted! Shaykh al-
Busayri said in his Burda:
You offered me sincere advice, but I did not hear it.
The lover is deaf to critics.
May Allah bless them! They and us turn in tawba, and always return, always
travel, and always pray. The door of generosity is the door. How many do
not recognise the correct way! As for the one who wants to enter by other
than this door, he will never enter since Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Had it not been
for the favour of Allah to you and His mercy, you would have been
among the losers.’ – ‘Had it not been for the favour of Allah to you and
198 The Sufic Path
His mercy, you would have followed shaytan except for a few.’ – ‘Had
it not been for the favour of Allah to you and His mercy, none of you
would have ever been purified,’ etc. He, glory be to Him, brings near the
one He brings near without reason, and He makes distant the one He makes
distant without reason. Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Whoever has not been given a
light by Allah, he has no light.’
Know, faqir, that I would like you to take on the opposite of the character
which most of the fuqaha of our time have, may Allah be kind to them! They
have abandoned noble character and taken on blameworthy character. They
know and do not act. They are proud and not humble. They are greedy and
not content. They desire and do not do without. They are miserly and not
open-handed. Allah is greater! How far they are from knowledge and how
near they are to ignorance! My brother, flee! flee! Do not turn aside! If you
want to inherit from the prophets, peace be upon them, then take on their
character and travel their way. The secret, overflowing favour, baraka, and
good deeds lie in leaving this world – that is the business of the prophets,
blessings and peace be upon them, and the awliya, may Allah be pleased
with them! Divesting oneself of it, outwardly and inwardly, is the path of
the Prophet, peace be upon him. You must have the one who clings to his
sunna and is on a clear sign from his Lord. May Allah give you success!
Do you not know that every warning mentioned in the Immense Qur‘an is
for the unjust? Every curse in it is for them? Do you not know that forbear-
ance is the business of the people of knowledge and the deen? Its opposite is
the business of the people of ignorance and lack of deen? Do you not know
that baraka lies in compassion and seeking shelter in Allah, not in severity
and forgetting the Master, the Blessed, the Exalted? Do you not know that
the believer looks for excuses and invents seventy excuses for the mistake
of his brother? Do you not know that the people of knowledge have the
fullest portion and greatest share of the attributes of the prophets, peace
be upon them? They are their heirs. Their attributes are the attributes of
the prophets and their quality is from their quality.
Do you not know that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, said, ‘The muslim is the one from whose hand and tongue
the muslims are safe.’ They said, ‘Who is the believer?’ He said, ‘The one
the believers trust with themselves and their property.’ They said, ‘Who is
The Way 199
the emigrant?’ The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,
‘The one who separates from evil and avoids it.’ The Prophet said, ‘It is not
permitted for a muslim to indicate to his brother with a glance to harm him.’
He said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘Whoever forgets the
fault of a believer, Allah will forget his fault on the day of rising.’ He said,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘Do you not know the one for
whom the Fire is forbidden?’ They said, ‘Allah and His Messenger know
best.’ He said, ‘It is forbidden for the plain, simple, humble, near one.’
Injustice inevitably kills the one who perpetrates it when the end of its
term comes because it appears to people that he does it deliberately. So they
kill him because of the error which they see from him. By Allah, I used to
think that it was people who despised me, thought me a fool, belittled me,
demeaned me, abased me, considered me ignorant and did not recognise
my worth. When Allah opened my inner eye and illuminated my secret
by His generosity and open-handedness, then I found that my self was the
one doing that to me, and no one else. I found a large number of ayat which
indicated this. Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Allah does not change a people until they
change themselves.’ – ‘Allah does not wrong people at all. People wrong
themselves.’ – ‘Whatever evil hits you comes from your self,’ etc. When I
recognised this, I saw that the one doing the injustice was myself. I did not
see it as coming from my fellow men. This was so much the case that when
someone came to complain to me about anyone, we saw that the injustice
was only from himself. We did see it from any other direction.
May Allah bless you! Know that when you recognise your worth and the
height of your position in reality, all of existence recognises your worth and
the height of your position. If you are ignorant of it, existence is ignorant
of it and does not recognise your value at all. This is because your self, faqir,
believer, in as much as it is knowing or ignorant, right-doing or vicious, is,
in reality, the whole cosmos with the one who recognises, not with the one
who is destroyed. You see only the cosmos which everyone sees. You also
see that the cosmos injures you while only your self injures you. By Allah,
if you were to overcome it – or we might say, kill it, you would overcome
all created beings, great and small. Allah is the authority for what we say.
When one of the brothers told me that he had hit a jew without any reason,
rather by vanity and injustice, I told him, ‘Do not hit a jew or a christian or
200 The Sufic Path
a muslim, strike your self and keep on beating it until it dies. It is necessary!’
My brothers, you must also stop plunging into conversation since it is one
of the greatest temptations, and it is not compatible with your station and
not in harmony with your state. Only mention good about people since
the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, ‘Whoever is not thankful to people
is not thankful to Allah.’
The one who remains with opinion will certainly never acquire realisation.
Then stop remaining with it and do not judge anything by your supposition
or your own opinion. Judge it after you have realised the matter since true
sincerity in words and deeds banishes doubts and illusions, and establishes
tawhid in the heart permanently. It even banishes the opposition of the self.
When the opposition of the self is banished, the opposition of fellow-men
is also banished. When the opposition of fellow-men is banished, it is your
turn and Allah ta‘ala will help you. If you refrain from injuring the slaves
of your Lord and endure their harm, then your realisation will be greater
and your character will be greater. That is the state of the perfected among
the awliya of Allah, may Allah be pleased with them.
Allah can only be reached by the door of the death of the self, no matter
what you do. Its death is by opposing it and completely leaving its opinion
and following the opinion of the people of the sunna, may Allah be pleased
with them. As for the one who remains with his opinion and thinks that
he will only reach his Lord after the annihilation of his bad qualities and
the obliteration of his claims, he will never reach Him. Reaching Him is
only by His generosity alone. Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Had it not been for the
favour of Allah to you and His mercy, you would have …’ to the end of
the ayah. ‘Had it not been for the overflowing favour of Allah to you
and His mercy, none of you would have been pure …’ to the end of the
ayat. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘None
of you will enter the Garden by his actions.’ It was said to him, ‘Not even
you, Messenger of Allah?’ He said, ‘Not even I unless Allah covers me with
His mercy.’ There is more to that effect.
I urge you to lower the position of your self and to be careful in your
striving not to fall into the forbidden and disliked things which your Lord
has forbidden you. This is so that your luminous reality will not be trans-
formed into a dark reality. You should not take on what is not on your backs
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by being occupied with your management and choice, and being very wor-
ried about what Allah has guaranteed you – that is provision. You should
take on what will direct you away from people and from disliked things.
You should restrain your harm from people since it is well-known that
the pole of sufism is withholding injury and enduring injury. You should
leave whatever attributes of the commonality are left in you. You should vie
with each other in their opposite. Your himma should always be high, not
low. There are very few people in this time who have high himma. You do
not see any faqir, scholar, or sharif, but that you see that his himma is low,
not high, since all people are only fixing their himma on the low. It is this
world, and love of rank. There is no power nor strength except by Allah.
For that reason, they fall lower and do not rise above.
My brothers, therefore travel with your hearts from the world of perish-
ing appetites to the world of lasting appetites. Advance to it and do not de-
lay. Only the people of heedlessness delay. As for the people of wakefulness,
they have advanced, or we could say, travelled there and alighted there.
If you want the favour of Allah to appear on you, then persevere in your
wayfaring, being always attentive to what will benefit you and what will
bring good back to you in the two worlds. Recognise the shari‘a of your
path and act by it. Do not dive into what does not concern you. Do not
follow what is light for you. What is heavy for you is better for you since
that is what has no portion for your self. That in which there is no portion
for your self is pure for your Lord. Do not turn to the one who blames you
or praises you. Say with the tongue of the state: ‘That which you dislike
from me is that which my heart desires.’
Would that You were sweet while this life is bitter.
Would that You were pleased while people are angry.
Would that what is between You and me were filled and
flourishing, and that what is between me and the worlds
were a ruin.
If Your love proves true, then all is easy, and all which is
on the earth is earth.
There is no doubt that the people of true sincerity only look at what is
between them and their Creator. They do not look at what is between
them and creation: If you desire to free yourself of the appetites of your
202 The Sufic Path
self, then you must have what pleases your Lord. You do not need people,
whether they blame or praise you, or see you doing what they dislike or
what they like.
What a difference there is between the one whose himma is for the houris
and the castles (of the Garden) and the one whose himma is for the removal
of veils and constant presence as the wali of Allah ta‘ala.
Whoever recognises Allah ta‘ala, does not turn to the bliss of the Garden,
so what do you think about the bliss of this world? Whoever is ignorant
of Him, he is the one who is owned by the appetite of this world and the
appetite of the next.
The faqir without a heart is certainly not free of turbidity since he is always
complaining, always weeping, and always trembling. He will not be free
of his turbidity or his sickness or his whisperings until he finds his heart.
We do not see any cause for the immediate appearance of the heart like the
breaking of the habits of the self, i.e. leaving its habits of constant speech,
constant satiety, and constant socialising with people. As for sleep, it does
not harm him. It benefits him if it is at its proper time. By Allah, the fuqara
are not hindered from being immersed in the meaning of the past and
future by anything except constant speech, constant satiety, and constant
socialising with people. If the faqir were to have the nature of the opposite
of speech – and it is silence, the opposite of satiety – and it is hunger, and
the opposite of socialising with people – and it is alienation from them, and
then delayed, i.e. returned from following the sensory which is the opposite
of meanings, he would have become so immersed in the meaning that he
could not leave its sea. This is what happened to the Imam al-Ghazali, the
Imam Ibn al-‘Arabi al-Hatimi, Imam ash-Shadhili, and others like them,
for instance our master and others, may Allah be pleased with them. We
have told you before that the sensory has overwhelmed people and seized
their hearts and limbs so that they are only occupied with the sensory.
They discuss it alone and they recognise only it. It is as if Allah ta‘ala had
not given them the meaning although He, glory be to Him, has made each
of them a part of it as He has given the sea waves. Had they known the
meanings, the sensory would not have distracted them from them. Had
they known them, they would have found that there are seas without any
shore in themselves. Allah is the authority for what we say.
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Whoever is destroyed among people, is destroyed in respect to what he
is ignorant of, because all people recognise that constant speech, constant
satiety, and constant socialising with people truly corrupts the heart and
does not put it right. It harms it and does not benefit it. What then do
the people of knowledge think? However, passion has overwhelmed them,
disgraced them, deprived them, rent their honour. It has blinded them and
completely finished them. It has left them deaf, dumb, and blind. They have
no intellect at all except for the rare exception among them. ‘We belong
to Allah and to Him we return.’
May Allah have mercy on you ! Take that which will kill your self and give
life to your hearts as we told you since there is no way for us to reach the
presence of our Lord except after the death of our selves, no matter what
we do. The Shaykh, the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Abu Madyan, may Al-
lah be pleased with him, said, ‘Whoever does not die, does not see Allah.’
One of the brothers complained to us about someone who was acting
hostilely towards him with injustice. We told him, ‘If you wish to kill the
one who oppresses you, then kill your self. If you kill it, you will kill all your
oppressors with that one blow. May the curse of Allah be on those who lie!’
One only comes to Allah by the door of the death of the self as the People
have said, may Allah be pleased with them. Allah knows best, but we think
that the faqir will not kill his self until he has seen its form. He will not see
its form until he has separated himself from this world, and his companions,
loved ones and habits.
One of the fuqara said to me, ‘My wife has overcome me.’ I told him,
‘It is not she who has overcome you, but it is your self which has overcome
you. If you overcome it, you will overcome all phenomenal being in spite
of its defiance to you, or to be more precise, your wife in this case. It is only
our self which overcomes us and acts with hostility to us. If only we could
kill it, we would kill all the oppressors with that one blow.
Do not be occupied at all with the one who abuses you. Be occupied with
Allah and He will drive him away from you. He is the One Who makes
him move against you in order to test your claim to true sincerity. Many
people have erred in this matter. They are occupied with the one who
abuses them, so the abuse will continue along with wrong action. Had they
204 The Sufic Path
returned to Allah, He would have driven them away from them, and their
proper business would have been enough for them.
The one has no helper to help him, Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, will
help him.
Occupy yourselves with what your Lord has commanded and not with
yourselves when someone directs abuse towards you, whether he is one of
you or not. If you do not come to your own assistance, Allah ta‘ala will help
you and take care of your affair. If you come to your own assistance in it and
take charge of your affair, Allah, glory be to Him, will let you take care of it.
You have no power to do anything, and, ‘Allah has power over everything.’
The Shaykh, the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Qasim al-Khassasi, may
Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘Do not be occupied at all with the one
who abuses you. Be occupied with Allah and He will drive him away from
you. He is the One Who makes him move against you in order to test
your claim to true sincerity. Many people have erred in this matter. They
are occupied with the abuse of the one who abuses them so the abuse will
continue along with wrong action. Had they returned to Allah, He would
have driven them away from it all and their proper business would have
been enough for them.’
Real opposition to the enemy is truly your occupation with the love of the
Beloved, for when you are occupied with opposition to the enemy, he has
obtained what he desires from you and love of the Beloved has missed you.
I strongly urge you to be occupied with your Lord. Do not concern your-
selves about what distracts you because if you do not come to your own
assistance, Allah ta‘ala will help you and take charge of your affair. May
Allah curse whoever lies to you. If you come to your own assistance and
take charge of your affair, He will let you take care of it. You have no power
to do anything. ‘He,’ glory be to Him, ‘has power over everything.’ Know
that if you master yourselves, you master whoever abuses you and all of the
cosmos. Allah knows best. Only the one who masters his self masters people.
Only the one who has been freed from the opposition of the self drives
away the opposition of his fellow-men. None is freed of the opposition of
his self unless he opposes his passion and obeys his Master. If you control
your self as we have stated, you control people and all created being. All is
under your force and power, and you can dispose of it as you like.
The Way 205
Beware of being ignorant or being ignorant of your ignorance. That is
compounded ignorance. You suppose that you master something while you
do not master your self. By Allah, that will never be yours. If you control
your self, Allah will give you control over all created being as we have told
you. He, glory be to Him, is Generous and His generosity is great. None
of us can bestow himself on Him, i.e. be generous with it for Him, without
Him, glory be to Him, bestowing His sublime self on him to repay him.
When we give our vicious imperfect selves to Him, He, glory be to Him,
gives us His precious self to repay us for them. He covers our abasement with
His might, our poverty with His wealth, our weakness with His strength,
our ignorance with His knowledge, our anger with His forbearance, our
incapacity with His power, and so on. If you like, you could say that He
covers our attribute with His attribute and our quality with His quality.
How remarkable! The Kingdom belongs to Him, but He buys it from us
by Himself and yet we do not sell it. By Allah, by Allah! Whoever is shy
cannot listen to this, let alone do it. Listen to what our Master, the Majes-
tic, the Mighty, said to the one who was generous among us with himself
for Him, glory be to Him: ‘Slave, are you generous to Me? Generosity is
mine and I have it. Here is Myself in yourself !’
Whenever your self tries to get the better of you, hurry to your Lord’s
command and strip away your own will for Him. The thoughts of the self,
shaytan and every affliction will inevitably leave you. If, when your self
tries to get the better of you, you occupy yourself with management and
choice, and absorb yourself in close examination, the thoughts of the self
and shaytan with all their armies will pile up, overwhelm and surround
you. Then you will have no good at all. You will only have evil. May Allah
make us and you travel the road of His awliya. Amin.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in his Hikam, ‘Since you know that shaytan
will never neglect you, do not neglect, “the One Who has your forelock
in His hand.”’ Our master, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘The real
attack against the enemy is your occupation with the love of the Beloved.’
We say that all good is in dhikr of Allah. The only path to Him is by the
door of moderation with this world and alienation from people, and
disregard for the inward and the outward. ‘Nothing helps the heart like
retreat by which it enters the arena of reflection,’ as Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah,
may Allah be pleased with him, said in his Hikam. We said, may Allah be
pleased with us, ‘Nothing helps the heart like doing-without in this world
206 The Sufic Path
and sitting in the presence of the awliya, may Allah be pleased with them.’
There was a woman who was one of the lovers of Allah – may Allah make
many like her! Whisperings had got the better of her for many years and
oppressed her greatly. It was so extreme that at certain moments she would
almost stop speaking because of the intensity of her anxieties and sorrows.
I used to remind her and warn her against listening to the chatter of the
self throughout that entire period. Then her son wrote a letter to me about
her. I answered him and said: ‘By Allah, there is only good in your mother.
There is no evil in her except that she listens to all the illusions which come
to her. Illusion is baseless. We have pointed it out to her, we have reminded
her, and cautioned her about it as much as we can. Part of what I told
her is that whispering used to overwhelm me and make me conceive the
impossible. It would say to me, “Look at the sky. There are arrows of fire
falling from it which will burn you up from head to foot.” I looked at the
sky and, as the voice had said to me, it was falling on me. It was like that,
I don’t know how many times, until my breast was terribly constricted
and I was distressed and grieved. Then I went to an isolated spot with the
intention of killing myself. Allah is the authority for what we say. Then I
said, “The only thing I can do is to surrender my will about myself to Allah.
He can do what He likes with me, be it happiness or wretchedness.” Then
I completely avoided retreat and fled from it entirely. I used to talk with
people and not leave them, and I would speak with them and not be silent
for a certain period of time. Then I completely forgot those whisperings by
the overflowing favour of Allah. Every harm left me, i.e. those impossible
forms which illusion had been making me imagine withdrew from me and
completely went away. Not a trace of it remained. I did not add anything
to the obligatory and confirmed ‘ibada which Allah has made obligatory.
Then great favour and a clear secret appeared to me. The reason was that I
had surrendered my will about myself to my Lord to do with as He liked.
He could make me happy or wretched, show mercy to me or punish me,
bring me near or put me far away, make me enter the Garden or make me
enter the Fire. I had relief from what had afflicted me, and by Allah, I was
completely delighted. Praise and thanks be to Allah!’
There is no doubt that whisperings are multiplied when one is in retreat
or silent. If Mawlatna Amina is as we were, it will leave her. There is also
no doubt that whisperings only impose themselves on the best of people.
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Listen to what happened to Shaykh ash-Shadhili, may Allah be pleased
with him. He said, ‘One night, I was reciting: “Say: ‘I seek refuge with
the Lord of men, the King of men, the God of men, from the evil of
the slinking whisperer who whispers in the breasts of men, of jinn and
men.”’ Then it was said to me, “The evil of the whisperer is the whisperer
who comes between you and your Beloved. He makes you forget His good
kindness and reminds you of your evil actions. He makes little of that on
the right and makes much of that on the left to make you turn from good
opinion of Allah and His Messenger. Watch out for this door! Many peo-
ple – worshippers, those who do without, the people of earnestness and
striving – have been taken by it.”’ It is also with Shaykh Ibn ‘Abbad in the
words of Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, may Allah be pleased with him: ‘Whoever speaks
from the carpet of his own goodness is silenced by evil. Whoever speaks
from the carpet of the goodness of Allah to him, is not silenced when evil
comes.’ Shaykh Ahmad ibn Abu’l-Hawari said, ‘I complained to Shaykh
Abu Sulayman ad-Darani,’ may Allah be pleased with both of them, ‘about
the whisperer. He said, “If you want him to leave you alone, then whenever
you sense him at any moment, rejoice. If you rejoice, he will leave you alone
since shaytan hates nothing so much as the happiness of the believer. If you
are distressed by it, it will increase.”’ Part of what will confirm this is what
one of the Imams said: ‘The one whose iman is perfect is afflicted by the
whisperer. The thief does not bother to enter a ruined house.’ It is from
Al-Jawahir al-Hisan (The Beautiful Jewels).
If you wish to be freed of your self, then put an end to its conversation
when it whispers to you, and do not turn to it. It tries to get the better of
you and will not leave you alone. It says to you, for example, ‘You are one of
the losers!’ Do not let its words disturb you or alarm you. No matter what
it says. Remain seated if you were sitting, standing if you were standing,
reclining if you were reclining, eating if you were eating, drinking if you
were drinking, laughing if you were laughing, praying if you were pray-
ing, reciting if you were reciting, and so forth. Do not listen to it unless it
tells you, ‘You are of the believers, or one of the gnostics, or in the hand of
Allah, and His favour and generosity is great.’ It will not stop whispering
to you until you are always steady in the above-mentioned state and take
your strength from the sunna of Muhammad, Allah’s blessing and peace be
upon him. If you listen to what it says, it will tell you, ‘You are one of the
losers,’ then one of the evil doers, then one who leaves the right way, and
208 The Sufic Path
had it not been that kufr is the very limit of affliction, it would have said
that you are one of the kafirun or worse.
We had a brother, may Allah have mercy on him, who used to listen to
what it said. He believed it and was very worried and sad because of that.
One day he said to our father, may Allah have mercy on him, while he and I
were with him, ‘By Allah, my father, we only see our ship smashed to pieces.’
He said, ‘How dare you say such a thing! By Allah, it is not smashed to
pieces! It is whole as it was. You are smashing it to pieces with your mouth!’
These words made him extremely happy and because of those words he set
out for Allah with a great energy.
We see many people with complete and total blessings – iman, health,
food, drink, clothes, mounts, wives, abundant well-being and others of the
blessings of Allah. Yet they are always full of worry, sorrow, and constriction.
That is because they are heedless of their Lord and remain with their own
portions. Had they left their portions and turned to their Lord as He has
commanded them, every harm would have left them since only the people
of heedlessness have it. As for the people of dhikr, it has come down to us
that ‘the bolt of lightning does not strike the person doing dhikr.’
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
My slaves, when they remember, they remember Me. When they thank,
they thank Me. When they glorify, they glorify Me. When they exalt, they
exalt Me. Blessings do not distract them from turning to Me and they do
not rejoice in anything except Me. They are destroyed in My majesty and
beauty. They have withdrawn from phenomenal beings by the contempla-
tion of My immensity and greatness. The presence is the nest of their hearts.
They return to it and dwell in it. They are intimate with My nearness, drunk
with the wine of My love. They are free and rest in the presence of intimacy.
They obtain the perfumes of the scent of the assembly. They obtain the
Beloved and they gain the goal. Others are in the enchantment of appetites.
He acquires his occupation which is management and choice from being
among the free. His self obtains him, and he is its slave and obeys its calls.
It travels with him in the paths of darkness and ignorance. Whenever he
wants to rise, it holds him with the ropes of appetites and wills. It comes
between him and the path of the people of rescue. His intimate companion
is Shaytan, and the self and passion are his aides. He cannot travel from the
The Way 209
world of his nature because of the opinion which grows from the whisper-
ings of his self. He said, may the Speaker be exalted:
There is rest on their hearts for what they were earning.
In general, the cure is only in returning to Allah and fleeing to His door
because when the product is faulty, it is returned to its Maker. Know, my
brother, that you are only saved from these enemies by occupation with
the Beloved because whenever you are occupied with your Beloved, He
is enough for you from the provision of numbers because the only refuge
which the slave has from his Master is to Him since the One Who makes
one ill is the doctor and healer. He is the Beloved.
Know my brother, that occupation with the Beloved is the end of good,
desire, and the goal. When people occupy themselves with ‘ibada, occupy
yourself with the object of ‘ibada. When people are occupied with love,
occupy yourself with the Beloved. When people are occupied with du‘a,
occupy yourself with the One to Whom du‘a is addressed. When people are
occupied with enemies, occupy yourself with love of the Beloved. When
people are occupied with enduring the selves, then occupy yourself with
praise of the bride. When people are occupied with purifying the inward,
then occupy yourself with the outward and the inward. When people are
occupied with action, occupy yourself with the One Who does not depart.
When people are occupied with seeking rescue, from the Fire, then oc-
cupy yourself with the spring of secrets. When people are occupied with
seeking the Garden, occupy yourself with the One Who has sentenced
His creation to annihilation. When people are occupied with favour,
occupy yourself with the One Who goes on timelessly. When people are
occupied with rescue from Shaytan, occupy yourself with the King, the
Judge. When people are occupied with seeking karamat, occupy yourself
with the pleasure of intimate conversation. When people are occupied
with the repetition of awrad, occupy yourself with your generous Master.
When people are occupied with much striving, occupy yourself with the
light of contemplation. When people are occupied with striving to arrive,
occupy yourself with contemplation of beauty. When people are occupied
with organisation, occupy yourself with the Beloved. When people are
occupied with enjoyment and favour, occupy yourself with the One Who
lets them descend constantly. When people are occupied with piercing the
veil, then occupy yourself with the Knower of the Unseen worlds. When
210 The Sufic Path
people are occupied with seeking increase, occupy yourself with making
‘ibada sincere. When people are occupied with the waridat of hearts, then
occupy yourself with the Lover, the Beloved. When people are occupied
with gnoses and knowledges, occupy yourself with watching the Living,
the Self-Subsistent. When people find praise and might in the events of
the people of the Path, take refuge with Him in every reality and instant.
When people are occupied with anticipation of imperfection and perfec-
tion, then anticipate what was in before-endless-time.
There is no act of rebellion which returns you to abasement and contrition
before your Master but that it is better than an act of obedience by which
the self is exalted so that it sees it as worth and virtue from you. This is
because when you are the slave of obedience, you are the slave of obedience.
When you are the slave of rebellion, you are the slave of rebellion. When
you are the slave of Allah, sincere to Him, be His slave in every state in
which He places you, because if you look at all action, its action becomes
yours. All that the Handsome does is handsome because kingdom is His
kingdom. You are part of His kingdom. He is the Manager, the Chooser.
He does what He wants in His kingdom. He is the just Judge who compels
and is not compelled. He manages time and place. He created things and
brought them into existence. He knows what is good for them and what
corrupts them. All that issues from the originality of His workmanship is
in the limit of perfection and completion. We ask Allah ta‘ala to make us
among those who submit to Him, pleased with His judgement and decree.
He said, may Allah be exalted:
Shaytan is an enemy to you, so take him as an enemy.
The enemy desires to come between you and the Beloved. When you are
occupied with the hostility of the enemy, he obtains his desire from you
and love of the Beloved misses you. The enmity of the enemy is truly your
occupation with the Beloved.
Know that part of His lutf to you and His generosity to you and His
mercy to you is that He created for you Shaytan, the self, passion, and
this world, to move you to the divine presence and to stir you to it in the
hour of heedlessness. Had it not been for His love for you, He would not
have given them power over you because our Master, may His majesty be
The Way 211
exalted, is jealous of His slave. This is because these four are guards of the
presence. Whenever the slave is heedless, they seize him.
Know that all the loss of this Path of ours is gathered in miserliness of the
self and miserliness of money. All its good is gathered in the loss of the
self and the loss of money. When you desire your Master, leave yourself
and your property. You will find Him nearer to you than yourself and
your property. ‘Allah buys from the mu‘minun their selves and their
property for that they have the Garden. They fight in the way of Allah
and kill and are killed.’ It is a promise on Him in the Torah, the Injil, and
the Qur‘an. Whoever fulfils his pledge from Allah, let him rejoice in his
pledge which he took.
Know that the limit of the desire of yourself from you is that it should join
you with what is from it, and it is from you. It is existence and what is in it.
The self is true, and it will certainly only guide you by what is true. The fact
that its orbit all revolves around gatheredness will show you that. That is
because the self came from it and revolves around it and returns to it. The
self with the gnostics of Allah is the truth of the Real, and it only moves
by the Real. Therefore, the Real is from the Real for the Real.
Know that Allah ta‘ala said, ‘We Will repay them for what they were
describing. He is Wise, Knowing.’ From that is that if you see all existence
as Allah, existence sees Allah in you. If you see all existence as other-than-
Allah, all existence sees other-than-Allah in you. If you are generous to
existence, all existence is generous to you. If you are miserly to existence,
all existence is miserly to you. If you think evil of existence, all existence
thinks evil of you. If you think good of existence, all existence and whoever
is in it thinks good of you. If you are good to existence, all existence is good
to you. If you are evil to existence, all existence is evil to you. If you trust
existence, all existence trusts you. If you deceive existence, all existence
deceives you. If you exalt existence, all existence exalts you. If you debase
existence, all existence debases you. It is like this to what has no end. The
result is that existence is like the mirror. Whatever you confront it with,
it confronts you with that. That is because your self is a copy of existence,
and existence is a copy of your self. Your self is equal to all existence, and
existence is equal to your self. Its witness is His word, may He be exalted:
212 The Sufic Path
Whoever kills a self for other than a self and does corruption in
the land, it is as if he killed all the people. Whoever brings it to
life, it is as if he brought all people to life.
Know that if you are generous to existence and forget yourself, existence
will be generous to you and forget itself. If you are generous to yourself
and forget existence, existence will be generous to itself and forget you.
The sign of the honour of man over existence is that all existence follows
man’s himma. All existence follows man. It moves by his movement, and
it is still by his stillness. It is as if existence were the skin and man were its
core. Ash-Shitri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
You are the mirror of the glance, the pole of time.
In you are contained the vessels spread out.
He means that man is the pole because existence revolves around the pole.
Look at His word:
My slave, I created things for your sake,
and I created you for My sake.
Man is the wife of existence, and the orbit of all existence is around man.
Similarly, the wife of man is his ruh, and all of man revolves around the ruh.
Had the ruh ceased, man would have ceased. Had man ceased, existence
would have ceased. My brother, look at this ruh and how noble and gener-
ous it is, and how great its affair is. It is in man and he does not recognise
its value. Part of what will indicate the immensity of its honour is the word
of the truthful, confirmed one:
Whoever recognises himself, recognises his Lord. – Hadith.
Its gnosis is the gnosis of Allah. Lack of its gnosis is lack of gnosis of Allah.
People vary in gnosis of Allah according to their gnosis of themselves. Only
Allah recognises its true value. Look at man. If you examine closely, you
will find that he changes by all colours. In each moment, he is in an affair
and a state which does not resemble another state. That is because of the
light which is placed in him. It is the ruh. Whenever his ruh changes with
a colour, he changes by its colour. It is as if man were a veil on himself, and
existence is a veil on him. The light of the ruh pierces the veil of the body
and the veil of existence. Had there been a million veils on man, its light
would have pierced them by the immensity of its strength. Had the authors
The Way 213
written 100,000 books about the knowledge of the ruh, they would not
have reached the knowledge of the intimate from the letters of a name.
Following the self has two abodes: in the abode of following the self is what
is haram, and in another abode, following the self has in it what is fard and
obligatory. It is like that with following the species. It has two abodes. One
abode of following the species has what is haram in it, and another abode
of following the species has what is fard and obligatory in it. This clarifies
that when the self of the murid is safe and his Islam is eye-witnessing and
seeing, then it is obliged for the murid to follow himself, and it is haram for
him to follow his species in this station. As long as the Islam of the murid
is from proof and exposition, it is haram for him to follow his self and he
must follow his species, of the people of his art. That is because the Islam of
eye-witnessing is the greatest dhikr. The self does not acquire the greatest
dhikr until the self is annihilated and Allah goes on. When he follows him-
self after annihilation, he follows Allah. When he follows himself before,
he follows the false. He said, may He be exalted, ‘What is after the truth
except error?’ The key of following the self is following the species, i.e. the
intermediaries. Had it not been for the intermediary, He would have gone
as the Intercessor said. Similarly, the key of following your species, i.e. the
springs, is your following yourself. It is said, ‘How can the one who is not
taught teach?’ Or the one who has not obtained purification of himself,
how can another be purified by his hand?
Know that whoever says ‘I’ before he recognises the principle of ‘I’-ness
and his own state, that one is an accursed Shaytan who is driven away
because when Allah ta‘ala commanded Shaytan – may Allah curse him! –
to prostrate to Adam, he said, ‘I’, so that was the reason for his curse and
for his being driven out of the mercy of Allah. It happened like that to
Pharaoh when he said ‘I’ without knowledge. Allah overtook him with the
punishment of the Next World and the first world. That was, for him, the
cause of the disgrace of this world and the Next. We ask Allah for safety.
The ruh is the self, and the self is the ruh. However, their names vary by
different stations. It is as man is called a child or infant in his youth. When
he reaches maturity, he is called a mature man. In the state of his old age,
he is called an old man. Similarly, the self is the same as the ruh. However,
214 The Sufic Path
as long as the self is imprisoned in the darkness of the veil, it is called self.
When it is set free and comes out of the darkness of the veil to the light of
eye-witnessing it is called ruh.
I heard the Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah be pleased with him,
relate that he heard his father, may Allah be pleased with him, say to his
companions: ‘I guarantee intimate conversation for whoever drowns and
does not struggle.’ The meaning – and Allah knows best – is that he means
that lack of struggle is victory for the self because whoever is not helped
by himself, is helped by Allah.
May Allah have mercy on the speaker: ‘My cure is by that which is the
illness.’ One of the Salihun asked Abu Yazid al-Bistami, ‘Sayyidi! At what
time is the illness of the self its remedy?’ He said, ‘Yes. When it opposes its
passion, then its illness is its remedy.’ May Allah profit us by the questioner
and the questioned and make us and you among those who travel on their
straight path. Amin.
Part of what I heard the Shaykh say is: ‘My son, the place of man’s breaking
is the place of his mending. The greatest function of man is to break the
self. There is no mending for man nearer and greater than himself. It is the
most hostile of enemies and it is the most beloved of lovers.’
You will not have any rest from your self except in its rest in withdrawal and
in gathering. Do not suspect it in what it commands you. Be safe from the
opponent of your self and the opponent of your species and their politics
so that you take their thoughts, because if you win over these two enemies
nothing will be left after them except the Beloved.
Know that your self is from the earth, and it must have plants. If you do
not plant what is profitable in it, what is harmful and has no profit will
grow in it. Ash-Shitri said, ‘I planted the tree of tawhid in my presence.
The root is in my hand and the branch is in it. It increases and only the one
who recites tawhid plucks the fruit.’
Know that all the doors are locked between Allah and His slave except
for the door of his self. Whoever does not come to his Master by the
door of his self, never comes to Him. Whoever opposes himself, obtains
that creation turn to him. Whoever makes a friend of himself, obtains
The Way 215
that his Master turn to him because this consent of the self which we
mentioned is only by the company of a gnostic of Allah if he exists. Before
his existence, when man opposes himself, there is no harm in it because
the good of this self cannot be counted. Only Allah knows its value. Its
evil also cannot be counted. Only Allah knows its value. Whoever looks
at its good, falls in love with it and its evil misses him. Whoever looks
at its evil, falls in love with it, and its good misses him. May Allah have
mercy on the speaker: ‘I heard speech from my essence in a near place.’
By Allah, among those who come to the Master by the door of the self,
you have enough honour in the self. He said, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace:
Whoever recognises himself, recognises his Lord.
Part of the words of the Shaykh of our Shaykh, Sayyidi ‘Abdu’r-Rahman
al-Majdhub, may Allah profit us all by him:
From where did you come, oh spirit,
straying in this dunya, living on the carpet of power.
Hers are the states of Lordship.
Take from the nafs what you can,
in the morning and in the evening,
so that it can be between your hands
and you can hunt with it.
The matter is as we said: opposing the self enables you to obtain creation.
You increase opposition to yourself, and creation increases turning to you.
You increase in distance from your Master while the company of yourself
joins you and your Master, you increase in love and friendship with yourself,
and you increase in nearness to your Master and you increase in distance
from creation. That is because when you draw near your Master, creation
smells a scent on you which it does not recognise. Therefore, they reject
you because whoever is ignorant of something, opposes it. The custom of
Allah ta‘ala has passed that the one who goes to Allah is rejected and the
one who comes out to creation is accepted. The poet said: ‘Whoever
proposes to a beautiful woman, is patient in sacrifice.’
Man has no enemy greater than himself. If he overcomes himself, he over-
comes phenomenal beings and what they contain. If he does not overcome
his self, he is overcome by everything. Overcoming the self is not done by
216 The Sufic Path
directing it away from what it wants. The self is never overcome until it
sees its Master. Who can overcome the self when it is equal to existence
and a copy of it? However, if it sees its Master Who created it, it prostrates
to Him, whether it likes it or not, out of fear, force, longing and love. As
long as it does not see its Master, it is not pleased, even had it been given
what the earth contains of gold, and it will not be overcome, even had all
existence brought it to the ground, and it will not be still, find rest, and be
calm until it sees Him – either in life or after death. As for directing it away
from what it wants, it is adab and teaching it. When the Real overcomes it,
it is as we mentioned. This reality is only recognised by the one who travels
the art alone among his people. They are very few indeed.
Know that part of the sum of what Allah has given to this man is that He
made him perfect from every direction so that He made him a copy of
existence and existence is a copy of him. As He placed darkness and light
in existence, so He placed darkness and light in man. When the darkness of
existence appears, its light is hidden, and when its light appears, its darkness
is hidden. It is like that with man. Whenever his outward is illuminated,
his inward is dark, and whenever his outward is darkened, his inward is
illuminated. The meaning of this effect is only recognised by the one who
knows the knowledge of the self. They are very few. The knowledge of the
self is only found with the gnostics of Allah because whoever recognises
himself, recognises his Lord. Whoever decides that the luminosity of his
outward demands the luminosity of his inward is ignorant, or that the
darkness of his outward demands the darkness of his inward is also igno-
rant. He does not understand anything of the knowledge of the self. The
knowledge of the self is the knowledge of Allah. Whoever recognises it
recognises one who recognises it. I heard from my Shaykh from his father
who said that he heard from Sayyidi ‘Abdu’r-Rahman al-Fasi, may Allah
profit us by all, that he said, ‘I used to have 14 knowledges before I read
the knowledge of Allah. When I was occupied with reading knowledge of
Allah, 12 knowledges left me, and two knowledges remained for me with
which I was intimate with my companions: the knowledge of Hadith …’
and another knowledge which the Shaykh mentioned to me, but I forgot.
(It was Logic.)
Part of what Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah be pleased with him, said
to me is, ‘Your reaching Allah is your reaching knowledge of Him.’ Part
The Way 217
of what the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, said to me is, ‘One of
the Salihun tested us about the one who comes and answers with the one
who comes and does not answer anything with a sting. We act with this
according to this. He is not that one.’ Sayyidi al-‘Arabi said to me, ‘I say that
our companion who came to us and our companion who did not come
to us, we want to make them the same. But it was not the case.’ He, may
Allah have mercy on him, also said, ‘The self is like the grain of the field.
You bury it in the ugliest of things like dust in manure and it is good and
its good is abundant – meaning, when your goal is Allah. Whenever the
majesty of the self is great in the outward, its beauty is great in the inward
commensurate with it.’
Part of the habits of the selves is that they do not obtain anything but that
they debase it and belittle it. They are not forbidden anything but that
they desire it and yearn for it. The cause of their belittlement of what they
obtain or their yearning for what they are denied is that they have come
from the rug of Allah and revolve around it. When they obtain something
and do not see Allah in it, they belittle it and despise it. This is the reason
they belittle it when they obtain it. The reason for their desire for what
they are denied and their yearning for it is that they do not see anything
or hear anything but that they suppose that they will see Allah in it. When
they are prevented, their opinion becomes stronger until it becomes almost
certain. They are increased in passion and yearning for that thing, and they
are not still nor do they have rest nor are they free of it until they see Allah
truly in reality, either in life or death. This analogy is only recognised by
the gnostics of Allah, who recognise His politics in the kingdom of the
self and the kingdom of the species because the politics of the kingdom of
the self and the politics of the kingdom of the species are the same, i.e. the
politics of the self is one like the politics of existence and what it contains.
The self is a copy of existence, or existence is a copy of the self. Because of
this meaning, they said:
The love of Allah is first like madness, and then the arts
are acquired and stillness takes him.
Stillness is not acquired until being gathered to Allah is acquired by seeing
Allah by Allah.
Whoever has the reality appear to him in tajalli and the veils are broken
218 The Sufic Path
for him so that he recognises it and realises its meanings and he is set loose
in its regions, he is a wise one who is set free from the bonds of himself.
He has reached his desire. Whoever does not obtain this description, is
imprisoned, bound, barred, burdened, owned, because this self comes from
the world of the reality and revolves around it and does not rest or abide
until it returns to it, either in this life before death, or by death after life.
Because of this meaning, you find that whatever you give the self, it is not
content with it, even had it been given all of this world. This is because
it revolves around what is stronger than it. It is the world of reality from
which it came. It does not reach its desire until it reaches it.
Know that your self is equal to all the reality. Whoever owns himself so that
it obeys him in the celestial and the terrestrial is the one who owns all the
reality so that it obeys him in the celestial and the terrestrial. The one who
owns something of himself and not another owns some of the reality and
does not own some. The one who is a slave in the hands of himself, is the
slave in the hands of the reality. The result is that as you are with yourself,
so you are with the reality, no more, no less. Whoever says to himself, ‘Be!’
and it is, that is the one who says to the reality, ‘Be!’ and it is. Look at the
words of Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani in his well-known Qasida:
Your self contains all the reality.
I indicate with serious words, and I do not deceive.
No one says to the thing, ‘Be!’ and it is, until he says to himself, ‘Be!’ and it is.
All that happens to man is from himself. He has no good except from
himself and he has no evil except from himself. That is because man only
confronts existence with what is in himself, good or evil. Existence is also
like that. It only confronts you with what you confront it, good or evil,
letter for letter, no more, no less. Existence opposite man is like a mirror.
Allah knows what good is in the hearts. He will bring you good. Had the
people of the earth joined together to make evil happen to you while you
contained good, they would not be able to do that. Also had they joined
together to bring you good while you contained evil in yourself, they would
not be able to do that. He said, may He be exalted, ‘We will repay them
for what they were describing. He is Wise, Knowing.’ Because of this
meaning, we said that whatever man encounters which issues from him is
only from himself, good or evil.
The Way 219
The Shaykh said to me, ‘My son! By Allah, we have not obtained the
alchemy of the self until the alchemy of money submits to us, so we can
refuse it.’ He meant the alchemy of gold. I heard him say, ‘The gnosis of
the generous has capital in it.’
Four are from the keys of the treasure of the self: much silence, lowering the
eye from looking at creation, the generosity of the hand, and much sitting.
These are outward majestic realities. They are the keys of inward beauty.
There is no doubt that the key of inward beauty is outward majesty as the
key of inward majesty is outward beauty. All that increases your outward
in majesty, commensurate with it, it increases your inward in beauty. All
that increases your outward in beauty, increases your inward in majesty
commensurate with it. Such is the custom of Allah in His creation. You
will not find any change in the sunna of Allah.
Know that Allah ta‘ala takes truth from Himself to Himself by Himself.
Whoever takes truth from himself to himself by himself, how can Allah
not take from His slave for His slave from a door which is more fitting
and more appropriate.
I was amazed at the one who says that whoever recognises the Truth with
true recognition is pleased with himself or cares little for any of the words
of his Lord. Allah forbid! We take refuge with Allah! I was amazed at the
one who said that the one who is pleased with himself acquires something
of the pleasure of his Lord. Whoever has His pleasure miss him, falls into
His wrath. He said, may He be exalted:
A party in the Garden and a party in the Fire.
Glory be to the One Who did not place a stage between the Garden and
the Fire! Either he ascends into the Garden or he descends into the Fire.
May Allah have mercy on Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah when he said:
The root of every misfortune, negligence, and appetite is content-
ment with the self, and the root of every act of obedience, wakeful-
ness, and virtue is lack of contentment with it. What knowledge
does a knower have who is pleased with himself and what igno-
rance does an ignorant one have who is not pleased with himself ?
What is meant by knowledge here is the knowledge of eye-witnessing. It is
stronger and more far-reaching than knowledge of reports because reports
are not like eye-witnessing.
220 The Sufic Path
Know that opening is according to the indication of the himma of its

owner. If it is great, opening is great. If himma is small, it is small. If himma
is immense, it is immense. If himma is wretched, it is wretched. As for the
manifestation of the results of opening, they are gathered in following the
desires of the self, and directing it towards that to which it is commanded,
without suspicion, because the self has come from the presence of the Real,
and it only indicates the Real. Once the direction of the gnostic is sound
to Allah and when he recognises that from himself or when someone
among the people of his art who protects him recognises it, suspicion of
his gnosis becomes haram. We are speaking of this about its people, not
about most people.
This making haram is by the consensus of the people of gnosis of Allah,
those who are clever in the knowledges of the self – may Allah honour us
with their dhikr and make us and them among those obedient to them.
We are speaking of its people, i.e. those who have realised the fine points
of knowledge of Allah. There is no doubt that opposition to the self joins
its people to Allah ta‘ala. Following the self also joins its people to Allah,
but each station has a statement, as the self ’s indication of its Master is
its Islam, and its lack of indication of Allah is its kufr. Whoever has a self
which is kafir, only opposition to it brings him to Allah. Whoever has a
self which is Muslim, only following it brings him to Allah. Each seeks by
what is appropriate to his station.
Know, may Allah teach you and me, that I did not find a lover in existence
equal to my self. It is the most beloved of lovers to me, and it is the spring
of good things and the spring of secrets and lights. I found no good in
existence except its good and I did not concentrate on anything nor turn
to it but that I found it before me sooner than the blink of an eye. My cure
is in it and my healing is in it. My beginning is from it and my end is in it.
I seek by it and it is my goal. It is my drink and my watering place is from
it. My wealth is from it and it is my wealth. My annihilation is from it and
my annihilation is in it. It is my good and my presence is in it, and it is my
drink and my intoxication is by it.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Way 221
Attacks by the self and shaytan do not get the better of us from any direction
as much as that of concern for provision. Yet our Lord, glory be to Him,
has sworn to us by Himself in His Book, ‘It is true as you have speech,’ and
‘Command your family to do the prayer and persevere in it. We do not
ask you for provision. We provide for you, and the end belongs to taqwa.’
There are many ayat with this meaning and many hadith of the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The great wali of Al-
lah, Sayyidi Abu Yazid al-Bistami, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘I
must worship Him as He has commanded me, and He must provide for
me as He has promised me.’ There are more statements to this effect. I only
mention this to you out of the fear that what has happened to most people
will happen to you. We see most of them have many means – in the deen
and in this world, and yet they are intensely afraid of poverty. If they knew
the good things contained in being occupied with Allah, they would have
abandoned worldly means altogether and would have occupied themselves
with His command. Since they are ignorant and have no knowledge, they
gather up the means of this world and the deen, and yet their alarm about
fear of poverty and fear of creatures is not stilled. This is great heedlessness
and a blameworthy state. Most people have this state – almost all of them.
We seek refuge with Allah! My brother, watch out for it, and give yourself
completely up to your Lord, and you will see wonders. Do not give yourself
to this world like most people, or what happened to them might happen
to you. By Allah, were our hearts with Allah, this world would come to us,
even inside our houses, let alone to their outside, since our Master, glory
be to Him, said to it:
‘This world! Serve whoever serves Me
and exhaust whoever serves you.’
As far as we are concerned, there is no one who hits upon correct action
and is in harmony with the sunna and the Book like the one who flings
away his self and does not elevate it. He abases it and does not exalt it
since it is our worst enemy. One of the masters, may Allah be pleased
with them, said, ‘The self is your worst enemy and the director of your
destruction. Shaytan only reaches you through its appetites and you only
leap into rebellion because of its ignorance. It is like the cave of darkness,
the earth of appetite, the treasury of ignorance, and the spring of laziness.
If it lays claim to true sincerity, it lies. If you examine it, it is exposed. If
222 The Sufic Path
you make it go straight, it goes crooked. If you are indulgent with it, it
seeks a safe refuge. If you lead it by the halter, it kneels. The only cure for
it is to oppose it and give the whip of close examination power over it.’
Shaykh al-Majdhub said about it:
Self, if I am safe from you,
I have no enemy to harm me.
Oh my Lord, If I rebel against You,
Where is the earth that will give me shelter?
Faqir, whoever has this world turn to him but does not turn away from it
as our Prophet, may Allah bless him a grant him peace, turned away from
it, is among the deluded – or we might say, the destroyed. How can that
not be the case when he turns his back on the sunna and his face towards
innovation? We seek refuge with Allah! Had he thought, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, that it would not harm us, he would not have
turned away from it when it turned to him. We seek refuge with Allah
from being pleased with it so that we change the lasting for the passing.
Do not be deceived by something other than the opinion of the Prophet,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Take note of the man who was
seized by this world in front of him! The story is well-known in the Book of
Allah ta‘ala when Allah ta‘ala said about him, ‘Among them is the one who
made a contract with Allah …’ to the end of the ayah. Be moderate with
it and constantly wean the self from it. Then you will be happy. Only take
what is necessary of it. Do not choose your food, clothes, dwelling, mount,
or any of your affairs. Advance to what you find of it and be pleased with
it and content with it. Contentment is the peak of wealth. It is pleasing
life according to some of the commentators. Whoever takes more than is
enough for him, Allah blinds the eye of his heart. Part of the perfection of
Allah’s blessing to His slave is that He gives him that amount of provision
that will be enough for him and forbids him that which exceeds it, since
Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Had Allah expanded His provision to His slaves, they
would have acted unjustly in the earth.’
The best hidden dhikr and the best provision is that which is enough, as
has been related. It has always been related that this world is like the river
of Saul. No one who drinks is saved from it except the one who scoops up
a handful. How remarkable! Someone is imprisoned in the land of Islam
while he grieves for the one who is imprisoned in the land of kufr. He is not
The Way 223
aware of his imprisonment in his own land. It does not make him grieve
and weep for others although it is right and proper that he should grieve
and weep for himself. How shameful is the state of the one who is in the
hands of the enemy while he is not aware of it, and it is worse still when
he is aware of it and does not ransom himself ! Even more shameful is the
state of the one who lives for many years and does not ransom himself. He
remains in enemy hands until he dies while still in their power. The man of
intellect should not grieve for the captives of the christians until he is no
longer the prisoner of this world, the self, shaytan, may Allah curse him,
and passion - or we might say, illusion.
I am afflicted by four who bombard me with arrows
from a taut bow:
Iblis, this world, the self, and passion.
Oh Lord! You have the power to deliver (me).
Faqir, if you ransom yourself from the hands of your enemies who are
constantly with you, then you can grieve for the captives of the christians,
and be worried and saddened because of them. You can weep for them until
your eyes are red or until the whites show. There is nothing wrong in that
and you will have an immense wage and a great reward.
I heard our Master, may Allah be pleased with him, say, ‘This world is in-
troduced into the knowledge of the ‘ulama and the poverty of the fuqara.
It strips them of the reality of what they have.’ The matter is as he stated,
may Allah be pleased with him.
Faqir, know that one of the benefits of opposition to the self is breaking
normal patterns. Enough for anyone concerning that is the story of the
Christian – may Allah destroy them! – who only did what was heavy for
his self and never did what was light for it at all. Allah then gave him an
immense power because of his opposition to it. It was that he would touch
the disease of any of the Christians with his hand – and that person would
be healed of it immediately. News of him spread through the lands until
it reached one of the awliya of Allah ta‘ala. He, may Allah be pleased with
him, said, ‘This is one of the miracles of the awliya of Allah ta‘ala which
no one who is a kafir and rejects Allah ta‘ala can have. This is impossible.
This is unheard-of. By Allah, we will go to him wherever he is and ask him
about what he does.’ He said to him, ‘I only do what is heavy for my self
224 The Sufic Path
and I never do what is light for it.’ He said to him, ‘If you are sincere in
your claim, then show it Islam and see whether it is heavy or light for it.’
He showed it Islam and it was heavier for it than anything before it had
been. He confirmed and admitted that to the wali, may Allah be pleased
with him. He said to him, ‘Then become muslim if you are truly sincere in
what you say.’ He could do nothing except become muslim immediately
at his hand.
It happened to him, may Allah have mercy on him and be pleased with
him, as it happened to the one who was at the bottom of the well and then
suddenly he was on top of the minaret by a blessing and favour from Allah.
By this, he recognised Allah ta‘ala and that He was greater than him, and
still greater and more extraordinary. This story is well-known among the
people of knowledge, may Allah be pleased with them, although it was
not well-known to them before. It is not in Sayyidi al-Bukhari or Sayyidi
Muslim, or any of the books of Sahih. Its excellence is like the sun on a
guidepost since it has immense good and a clear secret.
Faqir, then test the knowledge of the realities of divestment. Whoever
tests, hits the mark. Whoever lies is ruined. The like of that happened
to a man who had made a pledge with Allah only to have what opposed
his self. He did that for a certain period of time, and then one day he was
near a butcher’s shop. He saw that he had excellent fat meat there and his
self yearned for it and intensely desired it so that all he could do was to go
and buy it. After he had bought the meat, he became aware of it and got
control of it since he was involved in abandoning his appetite and fulfilling
his pledge to Allah.
He quickly threw away the meat and went off. Then the butcher left
his shop and caught up to him. He said to him, ‘Wali of Allah! I turn in
tawba to Allah! I will not follow this profession as long as I am alive!’ This
was because he thought that the man was one of the awliya of Allah ta‘ala
and that Allah had informed him that he was selling forbidden meat to
the muslims. The butcher had had a fattened sheep which he found dead
in the morning. He was selling the dead animal to the muslims since he
coveted the dirhams which he had spent on it. When he saw what the man
did, he thought that he was a wali of Allah ta‘ala and one of the people of
unveiling. He admitted it and acknowledged his wrong action and turned
in tawba to his Lord at his hands. Both of them were happy – the butcher
and the man who had thrown away the meat after he had bought it and
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got control of himself. By Allah, opposition to the self was the reason for
their mutual profit because the butcher turned in tawba to his Lord from
his wrong action and the man was strengthened in opposition to his self
when he saw some of the secret of opposition to the self. By Allah, the man
was not a wali as the butcher thought. He was desiring and striving for
wilaya by disciplining the self. It is an amazing and excellent story which
strengthens one in opposition to the self which is the core of ‘ibada. The
only one who opposes his self is the one for whom Allah desires profit.
Oppose the self and shaytan and resist them.
If they offer you sincere advice, do not trust it.
This is what Sayyidi al-Busayri said in his highly-valued Burda. Whoever
allows the self what it desires, his passion is his idol. It is what Sayyidi Ibn
al-Banna said in his Mabahith, may Allah be pleased with him.
Faqir, if you see that you desire an appetite, then look carefully at it. You
must do that. If it is from shaytan or the self, then abandon it immediately
if you are truly sincere. If not, then you can choose. There is no doubt that
the people of true sincerity choose to leave it rather than take it since pure
sincerity lies in leaving it rather than taking it. The portion of the self may
lie in leaving it. In that case, it is better to take it if it is permitted, and
Allah knows best.
There is not doubt that the greater jihad is the jihad of the self as the
Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘We have come
from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad.’ He said this after returning from
doing jihad against the enemy.
To end with, ‘Leaving one appetite of the self is more beneficial to the
heart than fasting and praying for an entire year.’
To end with, ‘I prefer to leave one mouthful of my supper to eating it
and praying for the entire night.’
To end with, one of the masters, may Allah be pleased with them, said
that one of the prophets, peace and blessings be upon them, was speaking
with Allah ta‘ala. He said, ‘Lord, where can we find You?’ He said to him,
‘Leave your self and come to Me.’
We urge you with every possible means to always have cleanliness, bereft-
ness, and contentment. Truly, none is bereft unless he has killed his self and
recognised his Lord. Whoever has not done that, he is not bereft. Gathering
concentration on Allah gathers one to Allah. Gathering concentration on
226 The Sufic Path
other-than-Allah gathers one to other-than-Allah. We seek refuge with

Allah from other-than-Allah being with Allah! ‘Allah was, and nothing
was with Him. He is now as He was.’
Faqir, be on your guard against letting your heart incline to your self since
that is part of the hypocrisy of the heart. Inclining to it is letting it follow
what is light for it rather than what is heavier for it. The people, may Allah
be pleased with them, follow the heavier. I also advise you to have what
is heavy for your self constantly. Do not have what is light for it until it is
annihilated. We have said many times to oppose passion and it will result
in knowledge by divine gift. Knowledge by divine gift results in great cer-
tainty. Great certainty banishes doubts and illusions and pushes one into
the presence of the King, the Knowing.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
If you want gifts to be opened to you – gifts of knowledge and gifts of action,
you must wear patched clothes and be silent while you turn to the Path.
Man has poverty by silence which breaks norms by knowledge. Breaking
norms is by wearing patched garments. Breaking norms is by the gifts of
action. Command is by the command of Allah! If you said, ‘Be!’ it is. That
is because these two attributes, i.e. silence and wearing patched garments
are two of the attributes of slaveness. There is no doubt that slaveness is the
key of all openings. This analogy demands the existence of its opposite. It
is that if you want inward openings to be removed from you so that you
do not find any news of them until it is as if they did not exist, you must
wear beautiful clothes and speak a lot with the sons of this world. When
you are described by these two attributes, separation has power over you in
that so you have no reflection gathered. In that, you acquire forgetfulness
of your self. If you forget yourself, in every case, you acquire forgetfulness
of your Lord. He said, may He be exalted:
They have forgotten Allah,
so Allah has made them forget themselves.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
If you want always to be strong, you must always be weak, and make do
with a little food, few words, and not much socialising with people. If you
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want always to be rich, always be poor. If you want always to be mighty,
always be abased. If You want always to be high, always be low. If you want
always to be free, always be a slave. If you want always to see what you love
and what pleases you, then always put your self with what it does not love
and what does not please it. If you want creation to recognise you always,
then always be content with the knowledge of Allah. If you always want
benefits, always break the habits of your self, and always fear impediments,
and always leave attachments.
May Allah give you the proof of good actions which annihilate the self
and give life to the hearts! Listen to what our beloved Sayyidi al-Buzidi
said, may Allah be pleased with him: ‘The self will not die as long as it is a
neighbour and intimate of people with self. It will die by being a neighbour
to the people of dead self.’ May Allah make you an invincible fortress, so
that whoever attaches himself to you is rescued and finds happiness by the
rank of Sayyiduna Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
There is no doubt that visiting the Shaykhs, may Allah be pleased with
them has great virtue and a clear secret as the Shaykh Ibrahim at-Tazi who
is buried at Wahran said, may Allah be pleased with him:
Visiting the lords of taqwa. Go to them – it heals
and it is the key of the doors of guidance and good.
And so on to the end of his precious song.
Faqir, we strongly urge you and whoever follows us always to do it if
that is possible. He should also visit its people as long as they are alive. He
should do what will lower the position of his self for that is a condition in
the Path. He should not do what will affirm its elevation as most people do
except for the rare exception. The rare exception has no general principle.
I said to one of the brothers, may Allah be pleased with them: One of the
benefits of breaking the habits of the self is breaking normal patterns. We
think that the only one who will break the habits of his self is the one whom
Allah takes by the hand. They are very few indeed, and Allah knows best.
This is because whoever remembers himself – and we could say, his needs
– constantly, forgets his Lord constantly. Whoever remembers his Lord
constantly, forgets himself constantly. Whoever forgets himself constantly,
has no need of the dhikr of the tongue. He is immersed in eye-witnessing.
One of the people of this station, may Allah be pleased with them, said:
228 The Sufic Path
I only have to remember You, and my spirit, my heart, and

my secret begin to curse me in Your remembrance.
It is almost as if there was a watcher from You calling to me,
‘Look out! Woe to you! Look out for remembrance!’
Now you see that the witnesses of the Real shine,
and all has reached your meaning from His meaning.
May Allah make us and you among the people of this station by the rank
of the Prophet, peace be upon him! We said that whoever remembers his
Lord constantly always forgets his self. The matter is like that except for the
one who is as the great Shaykh, Sayyidi Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, may Allah be pleased
with him, said in his Hikam: ‘A slave who drinks and it increases him in
sobriety. He withdraws and it increases him in presence. His gathering does
not veil him from his separation, nor his separation from his gatheredness.
His annihilation does not veil him to his going-on nor does his going-on
stop him from his annihilation. He gives everyone with a right his right,
and he gives a full portion to every one with a portion.’
When my master saw my true sincerity in the Path, he ordered me to break
the habits of my self. He, may Allah be pleased with him, told me, ‘As we
gain knowledge of the reality, so we gain acting on it.’
I did not understand. So he grabbed my ha’ik with his noble hand, may
Allah be pleased with him, and pulled it off my head and left it bare. Then
he twisted it up a lot and wrapped it around my neck. He told me, ‘Such is
the test of good!’ My self was so terribly alarmed by that action that death
would have been easier for it than to be seen in that state. He was looking
at me without speaking until it was nearly dead from the intensity of the
weight of that state on it. Then I got up before the Shaykh had stood up. It
was not my habit with him. On the contrary, I would never stand up until
he had stood up. I walked away until I was hidden from him by the wall
of the zawiyya. My self said to me, ‘What is the meaning of this?’ I could
not find any answer for it unless it was to put the ha’ik back on my head
like everybody else. I did not do so. I told it, ‘The Shaykh recognises its
meaning, but why were you so alarmed and upset? You dislike being low?
What are you? What station do you have that you are not content in being
in this state? Do you want to remain only with your appetites and favourite
things, being set loose in them without restraint? By Allah, no! You will
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not enjoy that nor will you have that as long as I have recognition of you
and your destructive actions!’ It despaired of the appetites it had when it
realised that it would never have them after seeing my eyes red with anger
against it. It obeyed me in what I desired of it. The greatest disappointment
of all is that the faqir should see the form of his self clearly and then not
strangle it until it dies!
One day I was sitting in the Masjid al-Andalus in the third row. It was
Friday. Then I took my hat off my head and left it bare. People were looking
at me from every direction since I was not normally like that with them.
My self was terribly alarmed like a blood-clot with salt on it. It said to me,
‘What have you obtained by this? Your self-respect is disgraced.’ I said to
it, ‘By it, I have obtained recognition of you since I did not recognise you
or your form. Now I recognise it, and I will only have this state which you
dislike while I am with you.’ When it saw that my eyes were red with anger
against it, it despaired of me ever having anything except that which was
disliked, heavy, and abhorred by it. Then it completely left me. When it
left all the turbidity in my heart departed and only great purity remained.
Then many knowledges of divine gift came to me like the waves of the
sea. It was such that had the ‘ulama of the East and the ‘ulama of the West
gathered together and each of them asked me about something, I would
have been able to answer all of their questions. We would have had no need
of what we said to them since, by Allah, I had become like the lamp. After
each of them had lighted his lamp or candle from me, it would not have
diminished my light at all. It would have remained as it was. That is how I
was! Allah is the authority for what we say.
There is no doubt that each person is part of the meanings, as the sea
has waves. However, the sensory has overpowered them and snatched
their hearts and limbs. It has left them deaf, dumb, and blind. They have
no intellect.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
True perfect withdrawal is giving up the company of fools for the company
of the people of sincerity who seek the contemplation of the Creator. Lesser
retreat is with the weak, the people of consent. You withdraw in the deserts
from all creation, enemy and friend. Withdrawal with the hearts and not
230 The Sufic Path
the forms is part of the attribute of the strong and clever who are settled in
the knowledge of the arwah. Withdrawal with the forms and not the hearts
is part of the attribute of the zahids who flee with their selves to the world
of the unseen. The one who withdraws with his heart and body is safe from
every disaster except that he might obtain the favour of the unique and
miss the favour of the choicest. Some people find obligation in obligation,
and some people only find rest from obligation in obligation. Obligation
is real with them. It is the non-existence of obligation.
I will teach you one of the benefits taken by us from the masters. It is that
you leap by force to break norms. That is the source of increase with them.
Break it from you, celestial or terrestrial. This is the source of truth and
do not turn from it. In meeting creation and leaving norms is wisdom by
which increase occurs.
Know that there is no sent prophet or teaching wali but that the first thing
he commands those people who follow him to do is to break the norms
which they find they have, and the root is by it. All the reality is breaking
norms. Breaking the norm must be done by every existent. However there is
a great difference between the one who breaks them as an obedient gnostic
and the one who breaks them as a rebellious ignorant one. Whoever breaks
norms for something or in search of something, obtains it in every case.
The author of the Hikam said, ‘How can you break norms while you have
not broken the norms in yourself ?’ Breaking of norms can be by power in
force, or by wisdom in will. Both power and wisdom are attributes of the
Master, may His praise be exalted! Power is from the source of judgement
(hukm) and acquisition is from the source of wisdom (hikma). All is from
Allah and to Him.
Know that the key of breaking norms in might by Allah is breaking norms
by abasement to Allah. Abasement to Allah is abasement to the slaves
of Allah. Abasement to Allah from the slaves is a wisdom which attracts
might by Allah from Allah as power. Wisdom is slaveness. There is no
doubt that slaveness is the key of the treasures of sovereignty. He said,
may He be exalted:
Whoever is given wisdom, is given much good.
He said in the Hikam:
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How can norms be broken for you when you have not
broken the norms in yourself ?
Know that the norms of the outward are not broken until the norms of the
inward are broken because the inward is the basis of the outward. It is like
that when norms are broken in the inward, they are broken in the outward.
It is inevitable because whatever is in you emerges from you. The bearer of
musk does not have its scent concealed, even if it is veiled in seventy veils –
except for the one who cannot smell like the one who is ill and whoever is
like him. When man is ill, he must cure himself and seek the cure with its
people. In reality, everything is by decree and determination. ‘They work,
and He created every comfort for him.’ – Hadith. The shara‘i’ are organised
on the reality because every shari‘a is reality, and not every reality is shari‘a.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah ta‘ala have mercy on him and may He
give us profit by him, is, ‘The slave who serves by the impossible is like the
common who serve by habit. His master is given joy by him as the woman
is given joy by her child on the night he marries.’ That will show you the joy
of the people in the one who has something of the breaking of norms appear
at his hand. This is because the tongues of creation are the pens of Allah.
If you want to see your stage with Allah, look at your stage with people.
Part of what the Shaykh said to me, may Allah profit us by him, is: ‘My
son. All the arts are such that whoever is annihilated in his art, norms will
certainly be broken for him in it. Whoever is not annihilated in his art,
never has norms broken for him in it because annihilation is acquired. Its
recompense from Allah ta‘ala is breaking norms in it. The author of the
Hikam said, “How can norms be broken for you when you have not broken
the norms in yourself ?” If you want to see wonder in a thing, then be an-
nihilated in it and norms will be broken for you in it. Whatever you touch
with sincerity, only touches you with sincerity. What you touch with lies,
only touches you with lies.’ Annihilation here means sincerity in seeking.
Whoever has increase weak for him among the people of norms, or among
the people of breaking norms, must break norms in norms or in breaking
norms. That is because the illness is the source of the cure, and the cure is
the source of the illness. This is for the one who is by Allah and for Allah. A
man asked one of the gnostics and said to him, ‘Sayyidi, when is the disease
of the self its cure?’ He said to him, ‘The illness of the self is its cure when it
232 The Sufic Path
opposes its passion.’ This is for whoever wants to break norms in norms or
in breaking norms. May Allah have mercy on the speaker, ‘My cure is with
what is in the illness.’ The result is that whoever does not break norms in
norms or in breaking norms, has no portion in breaking norms.
Know also that breaking norms is separation as norms are gatheredness
because breaking norms is majesty outwardly, beauty inwardly. They are
together in each man as the ruh is joined to the body. However, when there
is separation in the outward of man – and it is breaking norms, certainly
gatheredness is in his inward, and it is norms. When gatheredness is in the
outward of man – and it is norms, certainly separation is in his inward -
and it is breaking norms. However, what a difference there is between the
faqir whose separation is in his outward and his gatheredness in his inward,
and the one whose gatheredness is in his outward and his separation in his
inward! That is because the place of witnessing Allah is the hearts, not the
outward. Separation is darkness and gatheredness is light. How can the
dark separated heart see Allah? May Allah have mercy on Sayyidi ‘Abd’ul-
Qadir when he said:
Connect your gatheredness and cut your separation.
He also said in the Hikam: ‘How can norms be broken for you while you
do not break the norms in yourself ?’ All election is breaking norms in the
self. The people of election are in two groups in breaking the norms of the
self: one group breaks the norms in themselves by opposing the self, and
they are the people of the shari‘a by the realities, and their path is the path
of majesty. The other group break norms in themselves by helping the self,
and they are the people of the realities by the shari‘a, and their path is the
path of beauty. The people of opposition break norms by excess in opposing
themselves and opposing creations. Norms are broken for them outwardly
in themselves and in outward existence until they begin to use the outward
as the master uses his slave. Similarly, the people of help break norms by
excess in helping themselves and helping creation until norms are broken
for them in the unseen part of themselves and in the unseen of all existence
until they begin to use the unseen as the master uses his slave. When the
people of the outward break norms in themselves by opposition, Allah the
Blessed, the Exalted, helps them with outward knowledge and its action
until the outward is as if it obeyed them. That is when their goal in that is
Allah and nothing else but Him. When the people of the inward break the
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norms in themselves by help, Allah ta‘ala helps them with the knowledge of
the Unseen and its action until the Unseen is as if it obeyed them. That is
when their goal in that is Allah, and nothing else except Him. Their wisdom
becomes all. It is in the goals. When they intend Allah altogether, they find
Allah altogether, even though the water is one – flowers have colours. The
colours of the seekers vary while the goal is one. As for the people of the
outward, and they are the people of opposition, they are dominated by
seeing separation. For that reason, they become people of striving. That is
because when the matter is separated for them, they only find that they have
striving with it, and their occupation is woven with it. Had their striving
been non-existent, their lights would have vanished. However, they con-
tinue in it, and their occupation is constant and goes on. As for the people
of the inward, and they are the people of helping, the difference is that they
are dominated by gatheredness. For that reason, they become the people
of witnessing. That is because when the matter is gathered in them, they
only find witnessing in their hands and their occupation is woven with it.
Had their witnessing been non-existent, their lights would have vanished.
However, they continue in it, and by that, their occupation continues and
goes on although the people of separation only base their occupation on
gatheredness. However, the rule belongs to what is dominant. It is separa-
tion. Similarly, the occupation of the people of gatheredness is only based on
separation. However, the rule belongs to the dominant. It is gatheredness.
In reality, separation is not gatheredness. Gatheredness is not separation.
There is only the Real by the Real for the Real.
Part of what the Shaykh counselled me, may Allah profit us by him, is that
he said to me: ‘My son, travel with slaveness. Its majesty is not stronger than
its beauty. Whenever its beauty is stronger than its majesty, it is turned over,
and the portion of the self is no slaveness.’ Look at the words of al-Busayri:
‘If the pasture is halal, it does not poison the gnostic.’ Whenever he sees
slaveness going, and he understands from himself that it is relying on that,
he recognises that beauty has overcome majesty, so his self travels from that
state to its opposite. ‘The Garden is surrounded by hated things, and the
Fire is surrounded by appetites.’ – Hadith. May Allah have mercy on the
author of the Hikam! The himma of the traveller does not want to stop
with what is unveiled unless it is called by the unseen voices of the reality
which seek before you, ‘We are a trial, so do not be ungrateful,’ because
234 The Sufic Path
the seeker of this art is always breaking norms, and the seeker of breaking
norms does not rely on norms since you only find your self in the place to
which you drive it. When you drive it to norms, you only find it in breaking
norms. He said in the Hikam, ‘How can norms be broken for you while
you have not broken the norms in your self ?’ because part of the norms of
the self is that it does not find anything, but that it is content with it and
wants to stay with it. Contentment with Allah is deprivation. Part of his
custom, may He be exalted, is that He never gives you anything which you
are zahid in and return to His slaveness, may He be exalted, but that He
gives you what is nobler than it, better, and greater. He does not give you
anything with which you are content and stay but that He confirms you in
it and orders you to it and from it. You increase zuhd in what He gives you
and His gifts grow immense, great, and vast. There is no end at which you
are content and your himma stops. Look at how great this noble Lord is!
The author of the Hikam said, ‘How can norms be broken for you while you
have not broken the norms in yourself ?’ This is a proof that breaking norms
can be from the direction of the slave, or it may be from the direction of
Allah. Breaking norms from the slave is only completed by contemplation
as contemplation is only completed by breaking norms from the side of the
slave. That is because occupation and the one occupied are, in reality, one,
based on himself for himself in himself. One of the poets said:
The lover does not enjoy his Beloved until his attributes
are like His attributes.
Then he knows that his ruh is from His ruh
and his essence is from His essence.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, said to me, is ‘The
wisdom which is the head of all inward wisdoms is that man is tricked until
he makes himself leave the norms of creation. When that happens, outward
and inward things become supple like iron became supple at the hands
of Sayyiduna Da’ud, peace and blessings be upon him and our Prophet,
because all people, i.e. the common, are tied to norms. The norms hide
from them all good and come between them and whoever has something
of outward and inward election bestowed on him. Gifts are according to
himmas.’ What belongs to Allah goes on and is joined, and what belongs
to other-than-Allah, is cut off and separated.
The Way 235
Knowledge is like property. When its owner moves it, it increases. I heard
it from the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him. Part of what he said
to me, may Allah be pleased with him and may Allah profit us by him, is
that he said, ‘My son, if Allah makes your life long and you remain in these
realities, you will see, Allah willing, where they will take you, and you will
see the breaking of norms outwardly and inwardly to an extent which has
no limit or number.’
He also said, may Allah have mercy on him, ‘How can norms be broken for
you while you have not broken the norms in your self ?’ Part of the sum of
the norms of man is being content with his heart, his glance, and his intel-
lect, and rejecting other than him, even if he is more knowledgeable and
has more understanding than him. The root of that comes from the natural
variety which Allah created in man and made necessary for him – rather
for man and other than him. That is from the core of wisdom. Glory be to
the Wise, the Knowing. He said, may He be exalted:
They are still in differences.
The reality of breaking norms i.e. one of its realities is the action of Abu’l-
Hasan ash-Shadhili, may Allah have mercy on him, when he met Shaykh
Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish. He said:
O Allah! I have washed myself of my knowledge and my action so
that I own neither knowledge nor action except for what comes to
me from this Shaykh.
May Allah profit us by all! By Allah, this one is among those who have
broken norms in themselves. My brother, look at what he obtained of
good by these words, may Allah have mercy on him! Every beginner in
this Shadhili Path must therefore cling to the action of this majestic Imam
and travel on this straight road to obtain some of what those firmly-rooted
Imams obtained. May Allah make us among those who cling to their coat-
tails and travel by their sunna, and inherit their secrets, by His ihsan and
favour! Amin.
Whenever the one of realities is amazed and pleased with his thought, he
pursues it, celestial or terrestrial, and takes his desire from the highest or
the lowest thing. He is with the desire of his self. This is with the one who
has breaking of norms. As for the one of norms, he is the reverse. Whenever
236 The Sufic Path
he is pleased with himself, he leaves it and does the opposite. The first is
the one with expansion. He takes his expansion wherever he finds it. The
second is the one of contraction. He takes his contraction wherever he
finds it. This Path of ours is one opposite the others.
This Path of ours is the path of breaking norms. Whoever does not break
the norms in himself outwardly, i.e. the norm of the common, so that his
difference from the common appears on his seven limbs, this is because
breaking norms only emerges from breaking norms. When man only goes
with the norms of people in the outward, norms are not broken for him
inwardly ever. The only one who is given breaking of norms inwardly is
the one who breaks norms outwardly. It is as Shaykh Sayyidi Ibn ‘Ata’Illah
said, ‘How can norms be broken for you while you have not broken the
norms in yourself.’
Also people say whoever ties the quicksilver and unties it, possesses all the
west. I say that whoever ties himself and unties it, possesses all phenomenal
beings. They also said, ‘Guard your mouthful and your call will be answered.
Guard your word and your himma will be elevated and your call answered.’
Know that all common people are jailed in the prison of norms, bound
and fettered in it except for the one whom Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted,
wants to move from the abode of the common to the abode of the elite.
He moves him to breaking norms. He may move him by love and yearn-
ing at the hand of a realised Shaykh if Allah enables him to do that. They
are few. If not, he moves him by force. The one moved at the hand of the
Shaykh is as if his Shaykh teaches him until he begins to teach another. As
for the one moved by force by the Shaykh, he does not teach. He leaves a
majdhub, not a traveller. Breaking of norms has four aspects: either you
break norms by disconcerting yearning or by unsettling fear. If not, it is
by force. Among the people of breaking norms is the one who has norms
broken for him and does not know how or where. Among them is the one
who has norms broken for him and he recognises how they are broken for
him and recognises how they are broken for others. This is the gnostic of
Allah. Breaking of norms is either above the norms of people or below
the norms of people.
The common speak about what your self sets out for and then finds. When
The Way 237
your self sets out to come out of norms, your Master helps you in it, and
your fruit bears fruit. It is only found among the elite of people. When your
self sets out for the norms of the common, your Master helps you and you
have its fruit, and you only find yourself with the common people. Such is
what He said, may He be exalted:
All this is only sound when the consciousness turns to its Master in its quest.
When the consciousness is lacking in its quest, i.e. by seeking something
created, and you take on the character of some of these attributes, that is
innovation by the self. ‘Every innovation is wrong error, and every wrong
error is in the Fire.’ – Hadith. When the consciousness seeks the Master,
you find Him in everything and by everything, and nearness to the Master
is permitted to the slave in everything. What belongs to Allah, continues
and is joined. What belongs to other-than-Allah is cut off and separated.
May Allah have mercy on the speaker:
Would that what is between You and I were filled while
what is between me and the worlds were a ruin.
When love is sound in You, all is easy,
and all that is above the earth is earth.
Know that whoever confirms norms, finds norms, and whoever rejects
norms, norms reject him. Whoever confirms breaking of norms, finds
breaking of norms. Whoever rejects breaking of norms, breaking of norms
rejects him. That is because He is a generous Master. You do not turn to a
thing but that He helps you in it and for it and provides for you with one
who will befriend you in it so that in it, you reach the end of your himma.
Himma is increased from you and help is increased from your Master. Help
is not cut off from your Master until your himma stops. This analogy – the
custom of Allah has preceded in all matters. Whenever your himma turns
to a matter, you are cut off from other than it. The journey of the himma
has no limit. He said, may He be exalted:
The end is to your Lord.
He said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
Allah provides for His slave according to his himma.
238 The Sufic Path
The himma of the common is bound to the norms, so they only find the
norms. The himma of the elite is bound to breaking norms, so they only
find breaking norms. You pluck the fruit of what you plant. This is the norm
of the time. This is the distinction between the one among the people of
the elite at whose hand breaking of norms appears and the one among the
people of the common at whose hand norms appear. Breaking of norms is
a wonder among the common, and norms are a wonder among the elite.
Some people wonder at the happiness of man and some people wonder at
his misery. Glory be to the Giver, the Withholder. Glory be to the Wise,
the Knowing. There is no god but Him. There is no existent in existence
except Him.
Know that whenever some of arrogance, pride, and tyranny appear on man,
in that, man does not exceed his condition. That is because he comes from
the presence of might, pride, immensity, and honour. Pride and immensity
were his norm in the land of firstness which has no beginning. Whoever
comes on his root is not questioned about it. Whenever incapacity, weak-
ness, abasement, and poverty appear on man, that is breaking norms. Be-
cause of that, you find that those who break the norms of the self are few
because planting norms bears the fruit of norms, and planting breaking
norms bears the fruit of breaking norms. You pluck the fruits of what you
plant. As it is said, ‘How can you have norms broken for you while you have
not broken the norms in yourself ?’ All the common are formed on their
first norms. All their states only indicate what they were in at first. This
matter is not recognised from oneself or from another except by the one
who travels in the land of gnosis or keeps the company of one who travels
in it. The breaking of these norms is immensely difficult. It is heavy for the
self. Only the elite obtain it, and the elite only obtain it by the company of
the elite. Who can plunge into the garment of abasement after might, and
the garment of poverty and the garment of weakness after strength, and the
garment of incapacity after capability? This is part of what is only by the
success of Allah. Whoever recognises what is intended, must not leave it.
Whoever clings to the norm of people, only has what appears on common
people appear on him. Whoever breaks the norms of people, only has what
appears on the elite of people appear on him. If you scrutinise people, you
will find that whoever obtains wisdom from this world and the Next, it is
from the wisdom of the selves, not from the wisdom of money. You will
The Way 239
find that he does not obtain it until he breaks the norms in himself. Had
it not been for that, he would not have ever obtained it. Ash-Shadhili, may
Allah have mercy on him, said:
You have sentenced the people to abasement
until they become mighty,
and You have sentenced them to loss
until they find.
The poet said:
The adab of the slave is abasement
and the slave cannot leave adab.
When his abasement is perfected,
he obtains love and is brought near.
The abased is an intercessor. He never comes from the side of creation nor
from the side of the Creator.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
May Allah have mercy on you, and be pleased with you! Know that I have
not seen anything disliked or harmful for the past forty-four years – and
Allah knows best– but that I was grieved for their sake since they were
exposing themselves to afflictions. I used to warn them, but they were not
put on their guard until one of them was imprisoned, and one of them was
flogged, and one of them became ill, and one of them died because of their
bad adab. Allah is the authority for what we say.
Each faqir with intellect must have adab. If he loses his intellect, adab falls
away from him. The people, may Allah be pleased with them, say:
The adab of the slave is abasement.
The slave must not abandon adab.
If his abasement is perfected,
he obtains love and draws near.
May Allah be pleased with them! They also say, ‘Make your action salt and
your adab flour.’ I say that whoever dissipates his adab while he still has his
intellect has been misguided from the path, even if he is annihilated in the
contemplation of the immensity of the essence of the Lord from seeing
himself while his intellect is still present. Absence and presence are two
240 The Sufic Path
states of the perfect among the people of the Path, may Allah be pleased
with them. The only one who knows them is the one who has obtained
them. All that is recognised is that when he obtains absence, he does not
obtain presence and when he obtains presence, he does not obtain absence.
They are two opposites, and two opposites can only be joined for the man
whose foot is on that of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace.
Faqir, perfect adab is that you have the reality inwardly and the shari‘a
of Muhammad outwardly without having one exceed the other. This is like
the prophets, blessings and peace be upon them and the perfect awliya,
may Allah be pleased with them. Do not be deceived by the one who has
his reality overcome his shari‘a – and they are very many, and the one who
has his shari‘a overcome his reality – and they are very many. If you said,
there is no one in this world whose reality does not dominate his shari‘a,
or his shari‘a his reality, I say that baraka will exist in this world as long
as this world endures. The only one who lacks it is the one who has a bad
opinion and does not lower his head to the men of Allah.
You must have adab with Allah, with the Messenger of Allah, may Al-
lah bless him and grant him peace, and with all the muslims, may Allah
be pleased with them! May Allah give life to the one who gives life to the
tariqa, and let us die in the goal of realisation! In our area, we have seen the
tariqa brought to life with a clear sunna from the sunna of the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Shaykh ‘Abdullah, the
sharif, and the ancestor of the sharifs, the people of Wazzan, brought it to
life, may Allah be pleased with them and give us the benefit of their baraka.
That sunna is feeding the visitors with couscous, or wheat or barley, or pearl
barley mixed with water, salt, and a bit of ghee or some other condiment.
There is no good for the faqir in appetites. He has good in leaving appetites.
There is no good for him in satiety, even with grass. Had there been any
good in it, our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would
have had his fill of food. He did not have his fill of food for any two con-
secutive days. His affair is well-known among the elite and the common
people. Whoever says other than this is lacking in the Messenger’s sunna.
The one who has the sunna is not disappointed or deficient. Good is not
far from him. This is our belief and we will have it until the meeting with
our Lord. The rare exception is not needed. What is needed is other than
the rare exception.
The Way 241
Attention is something very great and alertness is like that as well. Oh the
happiness and good news of the one who takes notice and pays attention
and constantly considers what he has from first to last! Then he is firm in
what is correct action, and leaves error and does not return to it. We have
not seen any of the people who love us or anyone else among those engaged
in worldly means and those with practices who need anything like they
need teaching. By Allah, by Allah, by Allah! He has not given any of us
either knowledge or action beyond the adab he has given us.
The adab of the slave is abasement,
and the slave should not abandon adab.
If his abasement is perfect,
The People, may Allah be pleased with them, said, ‘Make your action salt
and your adab flour.’ My brothers, always consider what you have from first
to last. If it is correct action, then praise and thanks be to Allah ! If it is error,
then leave it and know, may Allah teach you good, that whoever neglects
what he has, so that he does not differentiate between correct action and
error, or we could say, truth and falsehood, or the means by which reflec-
tion and all good is generated and the means which lead to immersion in
darkness, ignorance and heedlessness, this one definitely has a false dark
reality. We seek refuge with Allah! The first person, the one who has the
means by which reflection and all good is generated, is the one who has a
luminous reality. You absolutely must take notice and pay attention to what
we tell you! Then you will obtain might, glory and victory, Allah willing.
You must have the best intentions for each other and have concern for each
other. Be full brothers always. Be on your guard against flagging himma.
May Allah rescue you from flagging himma by the rank of the Prophet,
peace be upon him! If you see a faqir from among you or someone else
who does not make contact with his brothers, even once a month, does
not attend the circle of dhikr with them, does not give them any share of
his property from his provision, and so on, know that his himma is dull
and asleep. Nothing comes from the one whose himma is dull and asleep.
My brother, for a long time – 43 or 44 years, and Allah knows best – I
have been speaking to the fuqara and making them remember Allah ta‘ala.
I looked at their states and found that they had many desires. I wanted to
please them, and it was clear to me that pleasing people is a goal which is
242 The Sufic Path
never obtained. The stupidest of people is the one who seeks what can-
not be obtained. Part of their desires is love of position, or we could say,
elevation. Lowering position is a necessary condition of the Path. As Ibn
‘Ata’Illah says in the Hikam, ‘Bury your existence in the earth of obscurity.
That which grows from what is not buried does not have complete fruit.’
It is as one of the Shaykhs of the tariqa said, may Allah give us the honour
of their dhikr, ‘This Path of ours is only useful for people who sweep the
rubbish heaps with their spirits.’ There are more statements like that of
Shaykh ‘Umar Ibn al-Farid, in his poem in Ta’:
Had abasement been exalted in it,
how sweet passion would be for me!
Had it not been for abasement in love,
I would have had no might at all.
Another said:
If you are not steadfast in abasement in passion,
you will be parted from the One you love in spite of yourself.
Another said:
Abase yourself to the One you love – you will obtain might.
How many men have obtained might by abasement!
If the One you love is Mighty and you are not abased to Him,
then say goodbye to arrival.
Another said:
Abase yourself to the One you love.
Love is not easy.
If the Beloved is pleased,
then arrival is permitted to you.
There is more like this. There is no doubt that abasement is slaveness.
Slaveness is the door of freedom. Allah ta‘ala says, ‘Come to houses by
their doors.’
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Also the seeker of slaveness must have abasement over might in all matters
because abasement is adab. It is sought for the one whose himma is con-
nected to seeking election. The poet said:
The Way 243
and the slave cannot leave adab.
If his adab is perfected,
For this reason, I want to distinguish something of the states of abasement
which the slave must discipline himself in, so that it is a natural state for
him. Success is by Allah in words, actions, goals, and himmas. First, words
are might and silence is abasement. If it is so and there must be words, they
are terrestrial, and silence is better than them. Lowering the eye is abase-
ment and much looking is might. Withdrawal is abasement and mixing
with creation is might. Much action is might and stillness is abasement. If
there must be action, then it should be different from what the common
do. This is what we recall in the outward. In the inward, seeking things by
passionate love of them is might, and lack of seeking is abasement. Manage-
ment and choice are might, and going with what emerges without choice
or management is abasement. Rejecting the slaves of Allah in what emerges
from them is might, and submission is abasement. Joy with the existence
of a thing and sorrow at its absence is might, and lack of joy at the existent
and lack of sorrow for the absent is abasement. This is to what has no end
of the attributes of might by the self. All of them are keys to the attributes
of abasement by force. The attributes of abasement by the self are all keys
to the attributes of might by Allah by gift. It is sought. As for action, silence
is action. Sleep is action. Abasement is action. If you desire action, lock
the element of the tongue and you will see action emerge from the gaps of
the heart. The necks of all phenomenal beings bow to it by the command
of the King, the Judge. This is because whatever goes beyond the limb of
the tongue is action. The perfect wali is the one who speaks and acts by
his words. If he speaks without action, he has no election. He only has
information of election because whoever is by Allah, is only knowing. It is
like that with the one who acts without speaking, he is ignorant. The wali
is not ignorant. Allah only takes an ignorant wali to teach him.
Part of what happened to me with the Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah
profit us by him, is that one day he brought me to the Qarawiyyin for the
afternoon prayer. He intended to do the afternoon prayer without me. He
stood to pray the afternoon prayer by one of the columns of the mosque.
I sat near him. When he finished the prayer, I stood and sat before him.
244 The Sufic Path
The first thing he said to me was:

‘My son, as for this matter which I see you seeking, it is only ob-
tained by what I see you fleeing. It is abasement, whether you like
it or not There is no way to it except for this. There is no way to it
except for this. There is no way to it except for this.’
He also informed me that Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’r-Rahman al-Fasi was
visited by Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish in a dream. He said to him,
‘My son, this path of ours is only obtained by abasement and something of
having little of this world.’ May Allah profit us by all! Amin.
Know that in the time of my youth, we used to listen to the people of this
world crowding with each other and saying that begging was the lesser
king. When I remembered the time of maturity and had intelligence and
understood, I found that it, by Allah, is the greater king. I thought and
examined and did not find anything swifter in killing the self than abas-
ing it to associates. This is different from the one who says that it dies by
abasement to Allah. However, abasement to Allah can be anyone’s result,
even the kafir, because abasement to the great is not abasement. Abasement
truly is abasement to the humble, and it is the slave.
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say, ‘The people of poverty
who do not obtain its results – do you know why they do not obtain them?’
I said, ‘I do not know.’ He said to me, ‘Their likeness in that is like the snake.
Whoever grabs the snake by the tail, when it turns its head to him, it bites
him. If it springs, he throws it away and is safe from its head. The like of
the people of poverty who obtain its results are like the one who takes the
snake by the head. He does not fear its tail. Its head is abasement and need.
Whoever accustoms himself to it, obtains the results of poverty. Whoever
does not accustom himself to it, does not obtain the results of poverty.
Had he arrived, he would not arrive. The self of man is not accustomed to
abasement until he keeps the company of the lords of the art and is their
slave. This is if the state helps him with meeting one of them. They are few.
Part of the greatest of what the lover needs is to learn abasement and take
on its character. His self must have it and he must teach himself it so that
his self is mixed with abasement to his Beloved since love is only sound by
abasement. It was said to Ibn Sahl al-Yahudi, ‘Why do we find sweetness
in your poems which we do not find in the words of others? ‘ He said,
The Way 245
‘Yes, it is like that because the words of others have one abasement, i.e. the
abasement of love. My words have two abasements: the abasement of love
and the abasement of Jewishness. Because of that, my words are sweeter
than the words of others.’
Part of the abasement of the outward is withdrawal and silence, and part
of it is little turning with the eyes to creation. Part of it is little going out
to the markets. Part of it is little need of creation, and little reliance on
them – even yourself is part of creation, except for the one by whom you
are increased in turning to your art like the kings of the people of the real-
ity or the kings of the people of this world. The kings of the people of the
reality guide you to Allah and you will guide them to Him. You enter to
the kings of the people of this world by Allah and leave them by Allah,
and by the relationship of Allah when you recognise how to keep their
company by Allah. If not, distance from them is more fitting. Your body
keeps the company of the kings of the reality when you find them. They
are few because the kings of this world among the poor only have direct
contact with the one who has completed his discipline. The discipline of
the faqir is only completed when he is by Allah, not by himself. It is as Ibn
al-Farid said, may Allah have mercy on him:
Whoever is not made to understand passion is in ignorance,
because the one who is by Allah eats things and things do not eat him. He
takes things and things do not take him. He acts in things and things do not
use him. The one who is by himself may be the reverse of this, although the
kings of the people of this world are the head of things. For that reason, we
said that none of the poor touch except the one who knows from himself
that he is by Allah. When it is like that, he takes them and they do not take
him. That is permitted to him, so there will be an obligation for him to help
the Muslims. If it is not as we described and his self advances their recogni-
tion for him, he is deluded and deceived. He deceives himself because the
kings of this world are the people of height and elevation, and the people
of Allah are the people of lowness and sinking. Darkened selves desire
elevation and prefer it to lowness. This is different from the self who is by
Allah. For it, height and lowness are the same. For that reason, the matters
of the kings of this world are only based on the company of the people of
Allah. The lower has his hand over the upper without a doubt, by Allah.
246 The Sufic Path
Know that according to what you acquire with the Shaykh in the way of
adab, you acquire the same amount of nearness to your Master because the
Adamic is the Khalif of Allah in His earth. By good adab with the Khalif, he
is taken to good adab with his Master. Whoever does not have good adab
with the Khalif, how can it be good with the Master? Similarly, ‘Whoever
does not thank people, does not thank Allah.’ – Hadith.
One of the greatest aspects of bad adab among the murids is rushing to an-
swer before the Shaykhs and much speech and assertion before them. That
is because speech is basically all might and height. Height is the concern
of masters, not the concern of slaves. The murid demands the attribute of
slaveness, and the attribute of slaveness is the opposite of the attribute of
masters. Whenever the attribute of masters appears, it invalidates slaveness.
He said in the Hikam, ‘The faults of the murid are leaving the attributes of
your humanness and every attribute incompatible with your slaveness so
that you will answer the call of Allah, and be near to His presence.’ That is
because all that indicates lowness and decrease is incompatible with free-
dom. It is the door to freedom and its key – i.e. whoever comes to slaveness
by his own choice, freedom must necessarily come to him, according to
that slaveness. The reverse is like that. Whenever he indicates height and
elevation, it is freedom, and it is incompatible with slaveness. It is also the
door of slaveness and its key – i.e. whoever comes to freedom by his own
free choice, slaveness must necessarily come to him in every case. It is like
that. He said in the Hikam, ‘Whoever you see answering all that is asked,
making assertions about all that he sees, and mentioning all he knows, by
that, he belittles the existence of his ignorance.’
Part of the adab of the murid with the Shaykh is that he does not eat with
him, he does not sleep with him, he does not laugh in front of him, he
does not sleep in his bed, he does not sit where he sits, and he does not
speak in the assembly of the Shaykh without his permission – not even a
single word. Speaking in it is bad adab more than anything else. Whatever
resembles these attributes leads to lack of respect and disregard in the
Shaykh’s presence. That is loss itself, and brings to Allah plundering after
giving, and expulsion after acceptance. They said, ‘Make your action salt,
and your adab flour.’ The poet said:
and the slave should not abandon adab.
The Way 247
When his abasement is complete,
The perfect gnostic among the Shaykhs is the one who brings his compan-
ion in from the direction of imperfection and desires his perfection. He
brings him imperfection by choice until perfection comes to him by force.
Where among the Shaykhs is the one who is like this? They are very few
among the sound ones from those who came before. Among those are the
great who all advance. All of them travel on this straight road until they
arrive and drink from this noble source. May Allah give us the benefit of
all of them! Look at the words of ash-Shadhili, may Allah have mercy on
him: ‘O Allah! The people have been sentenced to abasement until they
become mighty, and they have been sentenced to loss until they find.’
Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani, may Allah give us profit by him,
said, ‘I came to all the doors of Allah and I found people crowding about
the doors until I came to the door of abasement and poverty, and I found
it empty. I entered it and turned to look. I had entered and left the people
crowding at the doors.’ Abu Yazid al-Bistami, may Allah give us profit by
him, said, ‘Allah called me and said, to me, “Abu Yazid!” I said, “Yes, my
Lord!” He said, “Our treasuries are filled by service. If you want Us, you
must have abasement.”’ Abu’l-’Abbas al-Mursi said, ‘This Path is travelled
by people who sweep up the dung with their arwah.’ May Allah give us the
profit of all and make us and you among those who travel their clear road.
Abase yourself to the One you love. Passion is not easy.
If the Beloved is pleased, arrival is sound for you.
Abase yourself to Him – you will obtain seeing
His beauty.
In the Face of the One you love are the obligatory
and superogatory.
Know that there is an immense difference between compulsory abasement
and acquired abasement. It is like that with compulsory might and acquired
might. There is an immense difference between them, as if compulsory
abasement were real and compulsory might were real, and acquired abase-
ment was shari‘c and acquired might were shari‘c. Here acquisition means
choice, and shari‘c might, and shari‘c abasement is that which comes as
acquisition by its possessor’s choice. Compulsory might and compulsory
abasement is what comes by force on its possessor. Might is not separated
from abasement as abasement is not separated from might. Whoever wears
248 The Sufic Path
abasement by choice, must certainly wear might by force. It is the same

with the reverse. Whoever wears might by choice, must certainly wear
abasement by force. All that is by choice is only moist, healthy. All that
is by force is only strong, harsh, firm. For this reason, the masters of the
intellects choose might by force over might by choice.
Know that the honour of the slave is according to the greatness of his
abasement, as the honour of the free is according to the greatness of his
might, i.e. slaves differ in honour according to the greatness of their height
and elevation. However, when the slave is finished in his descent and
abasement, he begins to act with the action of the mighty in his height
and immensity. It is like that with the free: when he is finished with his
ascent, height, and might, he begins to act with the action of the abased
in his descent and abasement. Then the key of might is abasement and the
key of abasement is might. The key of freedom is slaveness and the key of
slaveness is freedom. The key of the reality is the shari‘a as the key of the
shari‘a is the reality. The key of the inward is the outward as the key of the
outward is the inward, to what has no end of opposites, since everything is
the key of its opposite. As ash-Shitri said in this meaning, ‘Your outward is
the reason for your vanishing.’ Look at how he confirmed that the outward
is the key of the inward. The words of people on the knowledge of the self
in this meaning are many.
Know that the key of the kingdom is outward abasement and inward might,
although the kingdom itself is outward might and inward abasement.
Similarly, the key of property is inward abasement and outward might,
although property itself is outward abasement and inward might. The
good of outward abasement in beginnings is strong and great, and its evil
is strong and great, i.e. in the ends. The good of inward abasement in the
beginnings is weak and little and its evil is weak and little, i.e. in the ends.
The evil of outward might in the beginnings is weak and little, and its good
is weak and little, i.e. in the ends. That is because all the outward is begin-
nings as all the inward is ends. Whoever has a great beginning, has a great
end. Beginnings are the place of manifestation of the ends. The inward is
also all himma, and all results are outward. There is no doubt that whoever
has a great himma commensurate with that, he has great results. Because
of this, the abasement of the outward and the might of the inward is the
key of the kingdom, i.e. in the beginning, because beginnings are roots.
The Way 249
He said in the Hikam:
They were forbidden arrival because they squandered the roots.
He also said:
Whoever has a lofty beginning, has a lofty end.
Many ayat of Qur‘an and prophetic hadith indicate that rightness of the
outward is great according to the rightness of the inward, and the ruin of
the outward is great according to the ruin of the inward. He said, ‘Whoever
has a lofty beginning, has a lofty end,’ i.e. whoever has a great beginning has
great inward himma, i.e. it has success, is great and mighty, and the states
of his outward are insignificant, i.e. humble, small, and abased, and then
the matter is reversed according to that, i.e. according to the abasement
of the outward in the beginnings, the might of the outward is in the ends.
According to the might of the inward in the beginnings, the abasement of
the inward is in the ends. This is the rank of kingdom, and the opposite of
this rank is the rank of property, i.e. whoever has the himma of his inward
insignificant and humble, small and abased, i.e. in the beginnings, and the
states of his outward are elevated, great, and vast, then the matter is reversed
commensurate with that in the ends. That is, according to the abasement of
the inward, the might of the inward is, and according to the might of the
outward, the abasement of the inward is. This is the rank of property. What
a difference between the king and the slave! The inward are the roots and
the outward are branches. The roots are trees, and the branches are fruits.
Had it not been for the branches, there would not be any fruit.
When man is annihilated from seeing creation and only sees Allah in them,
this abasement to them is the source of might. His poverty to them is the
source of wealth. His weakness to them is the source of strength. His inca-
pacity to them is the source of power because his action with all creation
is by Allah for Allah, and from Allah to Allah. He does not see other than
Him, and He does not recognise other than Him. The veils of illusions are
rent for him and he sees only the King, the Knowing in existence. When
man is submerged in the circle of the veil, seeing creation overcomes him,
and he cannot distinguish between separation and gatheredness. This
abasement of his to them is abasement above abasement. His poverty to
them is poverty above poverty. His weakness to them is weakness above
weakness. His incapacity to them is incapacity above incapacity. It is like
that with his action which he does by himself. The one who acts by himself
250 The Sufic Path
is deluded in every case, i.e. the one occupied with himself is a slave owned
by himself. Only what emerges of it of imperfections and blameworthy
actions appear on him which is not assigned or numbered because Allah
created the self for you as your slave. He bestowed it on you as a mark of
honour which gratitude and praise does not recognise except for what He,
may His praise be exalted, praised Himself. He gave it to you so that you
might seek help by it in His gnosis and service. It is your slave. You are the
slave of your Master. You become its slave, conquered, easy in its hands,
heedless of your Master who formed you and made you grow. Our Master,
may His praise be exalted, said:
O man ! Your noble Lord did not deceive you.
He created you and formed you and shaped you,
in whatever form He wishes, He composed you.
He said, the Blessed, the Exalted, on the tongue of His Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace:
My slave, I created things for your sake, and I created you for My
sake. Do not be distracted by what is yours from what you belong
to. - Hadith.
So he said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
Know that abasement is a condition in respect to the one who desires elec-
tion, whether it is outward election or inward election, because election is
might. There is no doubt that the key of might is abasement as the key of
abasement is might. Whoever wants to acquire might above the might of
the common, acquires abasement under the abasement of the common.
The ascent of might is according to the descent of abasement. The people
of the outward increase or decrease their abasement by words instead of
actions, and by it, they acquire might by words instead of actions. Because
of this, they are the people of the attributes. The people of the inward are
the reverse. Their abasement is by actions instead of words. By it, they
acquire might by action instead of words. Because of that, they become
the people of the essence. As the speaker said, ‘You pluck the fruit of what
you plant. This is the custom of the age.’ Abasement is not parted from
might as might is not parted from abasement. They are always joined in
man. Sometimes might is manifested in man outwardly, so then there is
abasement inwardly. Abasement is not parted from might as might is not
The Way 251
parted from abasement. They are always joined in man. Sometimes might
is manifested in man outwardly, so then there is abasement inwardly.
Sometimes it is the reverse. Abasement is manifested outwardly in man,
so there is might inwardly. Such is the sunna of Allah in His creation. The
gnostics, may Allah be pleased with them, recognise it and travel in it with
insight and knowledge. They obtain its fruits and lights. The ignorant have
no knowledge of it, may Allah forgive us and them, so they travel in it with
blindness and ignorance. Because of that, its lights of knowledge and fruits
are the fruits of action by it. He said, may He be exalted:
Are they equal, those who know, and those who do not know?
Those of His slaves who know, fear Allah.
The poet said:
Abase yourself to the One you love. Passion is not easy.
If the Beloved is pleased, arrival is sound for you.
Abase yourself to Him – you will obtain seeing
His beauty.
In the face of the One you love are the obligatory
and superogatory.
Another said:
If you do not endure abasement and passion,
you will be parted from the one you love reluctantly.
Whoever wants to be the master of his associates, let him be the least of his
associates, he will find that he is the master of his associates. However, it
is by the company of the people of his art. Whoever is occupied with the
food of the dominant, the food of the ruh misses him. By the contempla-
tion of the Lord, the heart is in the presence of arrival and nearness. The
one of reality is cut off, an exile. However, by his exile and severance, he
owns the far and near. Many enemies is many friends. The far is the near.
Wherever loss and damage is great, profit is completed and concern is great.
Wherever fires burn, gardens are adorned. You only find the watcher close
to the lover. Whoever fills up the care of livelihood, lives. Whoever seeks
livelihood has no himma. Whoever seeks himma, finds himma and liveli-
hood because most people are only distracted from witnessing Allah and
acting by Allah by fear of creation and concern about provision.
252 The Sufic Path
Say to those who see what they reject in us,

‘By the purity of our drink, you see your faults in us.’
Know that abasement in relation to poverty is in the position of the wall
to the building. When there is no wall, there is no building, even had you
seen the building in the very limit of beauty and perfection. Similarly, when
one does not enter poverty from the door of abasement, he has no poverty,
even if you saw him in the very limit of beauty and perfection. The station
of the common is rejecting the outward and the inward, and confirming the
outward and the inward and not rejecting the outward and the inward. The
station of the elite is confirming the outward and inward and not rejecting
the outward and inward. The station of the elite of the elite is confirming
the inward of everything, and in the outward, confirming one thing and
rejecting another. The common confirm and reject, the elite confirm and
do not reject, and the elite of the elite confirm everything inwardly, and
outwardly, confirm one thing and reject another as we said.
Know that the wage is according to the hardship of abasement of the self
openly, outwardly and clearly. I mean among those who turn to Allah,
there is similarly opened to them a clear, public, outward opening. The
abasement of his inward is hidden. The inward is only opened to him like
that – hidden. So the lion only begets the lion, and the wolf only begets the
wolf. With the people of the outward, the abasement of the self is hidden.
So they only acquire the might of the selves in a hidden fashion. With
the people of the inward, the abasement of the selves is open, so they only
acquire the might of the selves openly. What a difference there is between
the first group and the second group. The nobility of man’s inward over
his outward is like the nobility of the sky over the earth.
The treasury is like the great tree. The carpenter cannot obtain it and use
it unless he comes to it from below. It is like that with the treasury. You
cannot obtain it and use it as you like unless you come to it from below.
There is no doubt that the terrestrial wind overcomes the upper wind in
every case. I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say, ‘The real
majdhub desires all creation while his desire is only for his Master. He is
abased to all creation while he is only abased to his Master.’
Know that Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, placed the greatest Name of
Allah the Great in abasement. Whoever is asked by it, gives. Whoever is
The Way 253
called on by it, answers. Whenever you are abased to your Master and to
creature, and your self or your species sees your Master in it, He answers
you immediately. He said, may He be exalted:
Call on Him, humbly and secretly.
He who answers the constrained, when he calls on Him.
He connected the answer to constraint because abasement occurs with
constraint. Might is with abasement because when you turn to your Master
with abasement, He plunges you into might. Whenever you turn to your
Master with might, He plunges you into abasement. You do not turn to
your Master with abasement in anything but by that Allah, the Blessed,
the Exalted, fulfils it for you immediately. You do not turn to the slaves of
Allah ta‘ala with abasement and see your Master in them, but that Allah,
the Blessed, the Exalted, fulfils your need from them immediately without
delay, toil, or fatigue, because your turning to them by Him is your turning
to Him by them. You are veiled from them by Him. So effects are negated
and the Effector remains. It is impossible that you see Him and see another
with Him. Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said:
Realise your attributes – He will help you with His attributes.
Shaykh ash-Shadhili, may Allah have mercy on him, said, ‘O Allah! You
have sentenced the people to abasement until they become mighty.’ – i.e.
outward abasement by action is meant, not inward by word ant concern.
Allah will see your work, and His Messenger,
and the mu‘minun,
as opposed to what most of the fuqara have today. They are ruined by
love of rank, love of this world, love of appearance, and love of leadership.
They suppose that inward abasement is power and that concern is what
is demanded of them. They stay with it but the situation is the reverse of
that. When the matter becomes great for them because of their errors, they
cannot make themselves travel from the world of their loves and their na-
ture because of compassion for these and fear that their manliness will fall
with people. That brings them to the heart of the realities of knowledge if
they then make abasement their goal outwardly and openly and inwardly
and secretly. If, however, they seek help in that by letting creation turn to
254 The Sufic Path
them, and by exaltation of rank, manliness, and gathering dirhams and

dinars, then by that, they direct themselves from the path of guidance and
lead astray whoever follows them among the common. They do not know
that turning to creation is turning away from and avoiding Allah, and vice
versa. May Allah have mercy on Abu’l-Mawahib when he said in his Laws:
‘Whenever the situation of the wali is high, seeing him is insignificant in
the eyes of the common.’ If not, whatever the judgement of the common
is on his outward, the judgement of the elite is on his outward. Abasement
in this meaning is slaveness. There is no doubt that slaveness is the key of
the treasuries of sovereignty. Whoever plants slaveness, and it is abasement
to Allah and to the slaves of Allah outwardly and visually, it bears the fruit
of might by Allah outwardly and visually before the heads of the witnesses.
This is the goal. He is among those who enter the statement of the Shaykh,
‘Oh Allah, the people have been sentenced to abasement until they become
mighty.’ If he plants might in his outward visually, it will certainly bear
the fruit of outward abasement visually. What error is like the one who
wears the garment of those related to Allah, and by that he desires that
creation will turn to him and he will have rank and leadership over them
and gathering this world and filling up reputation and rising rank with
governors and leaders of the people of this world. He is content with that
and pleased with it instead of might by Allah and by Him from what is
other-than-Him. He said, may He be exalted:
Those whose striving goes astray on the life of this world,
while they think they are doing good.
May Allah have mercy on Sayyiduna and Mawlana Abd’as-Salam ibn Mash-
ish when he said in his Munajat, ‘Oh Allah! The strongest of what they ask
You is the subjugation of creation to them, and they are pleased with You
by that. I take refuge with You from that,’ until he said, ‘I ask You to hand
creation to me so that I have no refuge or shelter except You.’ Election is
zuhd in the might of the outward. If there is no election in the outward,
there is no election. ‘I am commanded to judge by the outward – and Allah
takes charge of the secrets.’ – Hadith.
Know that whoever you want to be your slave, you be his slave. You will
find him your chattel under your command. All speech is between slaveness
and sovereignty. Slaveness, and it is abasement to Allah and to the slaves of
Allah by the selves, tosses its possessor into the attributes of sovereignty, and
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it is might by Allah which compels the selves. Imitation of sovereignty, and
it is might over the slaves of Allah by the acquisition of the selves, tosses its
possessor into the attributes of slaveness, and it is abasement to Allah and
to the slaves of Allah forced on the selves. Slaveness through acquisition
possesses everything by force, and freedom through acquisition is possessed
by everything by force.
The abasement of the actions of the one of annihilation is the reason for the
might of his words. Because of that, you find him a slave in his kingdom.
The might of annihilation is based on the abasement of actions as the might
of going-on is based on the abasement of words. The annihilated without
abasement in his actions, has no might in his words as the one going-on
without abasement in his words has no might in his actions. His annihila-
tion is confirmed, his going-on is not confirmed. The might of words is
certainly only with the abasement of deeds as the might of deeds is certainly
only with the abasement of words. The might of words with the might of
deeds together is impossible as the abasement of words together with the
abasement of deeds is impossible. That is because there must be difference.
The structure of man is based on it. He said, may He be exalted, ‘They are
still in differences.’ Had differences been absent from man’s structure, he
would have immediately been destroyed, vanished and departed. Glory be
to the One Who created man in the best proportion and made him differ
in all his aspects: his words – a word differing from a word; his actions –
an action differing from an action; his essence – a limb differing from a
limb; his attributes – attribute differing from attribute; his states – a state
differing from a state; his stations – a station differing from a station; his
moments – a moment differing from a moment; his food – food differing
from food; his will – will differing from will; and so on to that whose limit
among the differences which he contains is only known by the One Who
created them in him by His wisdom and power, glory be to Him!
Know that there is nothing in existence better than your abasement to
yourself, and there is nothing in existence better for you than much avid
hope on yourself. You will not obtain the result of this meaning until you
obtain gnosis of yourself.
If you see the faqir turning to direct contact with the celestial realities after
direct contact with the terrestrial, know that he is a gnostic who is not
256 The Sufic Path
destroyed. That is part of what will show you that he has obtained its good
and missed its evil. If you see him turning to the reverse in that, in contact
with celestial realities before contact with terrestrial realities, then know
that he is destroyed, not a gnostic. He acquires their evil and their good
misses him. That proves that he is disappointed, flung far from the pres-
ence. We seek refuge with Allah because the selves of creation are naturally
disposed to contact celestial realities. The Imam of the Shadhili Path, may
Allah have mercy on him, says, ‘You are sentenced to abasement until you
become mighty, and you are sentenced to loss until you find.’ Everyone who
enters the land of might before entering abasement, certainly only enters
it by himself, and not by his Lord. The reverse is also that. When you see
anyone entering the land of might after entering the land of abasement,
this one certainly only enters by his Lord. Whoever enters things by his
Lord, obtains their good and is protected from their evil. He said in the
Hikam: ‘A goal which you seek by your Lord is not held back and a goal
which you seek by yourself is not easy.’ The faqir who turns certainly does
not enter the garden of arrival – and it is the presence of might – until he
travels the fire of abasement. He said, may He be exalted:
Not one of you there is, but he shall go down to it
– that for your Lord is a thing decreed, determined.
Know that iron is not served or softened as hearts are not served except by
the fire of meaning. It is abasement. Ash-Shadhili, may Allah be pleased
with him, said, ‘O Allah! You have sentenced the people to abasement
until they become mighty, and they are sentenced to loss until they find.’
The poet said, ‘Abase yourself to the One you love – you will have arrival.
Abase yourself to Him - you will obtain seeing His beauty. In the face of
the One you love are obligatory things and superogatory acts.’
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
We saw a clear sunna of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, which was given life by the Shaykh, our master, may Allah
be pleased with him. It is the state of divestment which was the state of our
masters, the Ahl as-Suffa who were the Companions of the Messenger of
Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the dearest of people
to him. May Allah be pleased with them! Sayyiduna ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab,
may Allah be pleased with him, and others shared their states with them
The Way 257
during the life of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
He was divested in his worldly means, earning in his divestment. He was
purely sincere in his means and his divestment without turning to what
his Lord had forbidden. This is enough of a proof for the one with worldly
means and for the divested one. Whoever rejects divestment, has rejected
reliance and trust. Whoever rejects means, has rejected the sunna. Whoever
finds divestment heavy, finds it heavy to follow the Companions, may Allah
be pleased with them.
Before these two immense famous parts of the sunna, he also saw a clear
sunna which was given life by the ancestor of the sharifs, Mawlana Idris ibn
Idris ibn ‘Abdillah al-Kamil, may Allah be pleased with them and give us the
benefit of their baraka. That was: working from the time of duha until noon
only outside of the city of Fes, not inside of it. This is what we have seen.
There is no doubt that begging and the patched robe are both heavy for
the self and light for it. Whoever finds them light, should abandon them.
Whoever finds them heavy, should take them. He should not take the
direction which is light since sincerity lies in that which is heavy. Sincerity
is that which is needed. He should not take the direction in which there is
less sincerity than in the other direction. He should take the direction in
which there is more sincerity. It is like that until he finds that the heavy and
the light, and praise and blame, are the same for him. There will be sincerity
in all directions. Then he will be free. By Allah, whoever is free, is a wali.
I scrutinised one who had left all attachments except for begging, which
is the weakest of the means of subsistence, because he had not tasted that
which the one who abandons attachments tastes, and he had not smelled
His scent. It was clear to me that the reason for that was his reliance on the
appetite of his self. That was what the self was given. Had he been purified
of it, his luminosity would have become strong and his humanness would
have become weak, and he would have tasted what the Rijal have tasted,
may Allah be pleased with them. Al-Junayd wrote to one of his brothers,
‘Whoever points to Allah while he relies on other-than-Allah, Allah will
put him to the test and veil his dhikr from his heart and make it go only
on his tongue. If he takes note and cuts himself off from what he was rely-
ing on and returns to what he indicated, then what he had of distress and
affliction will be lifted from him … etc.’
Your intellects cannot conceive of a faqir who, having nothing at all, is
258 The Sufic Path
not in the presence of Allah. That is impossible. Whoever has himma which
has risen above phenomenal beings reaches the Maker of being. To reach
Him is to reach knowledge of Him. Therefore, set out with firm resolution
and leave whatever you rely on, whatever it may be, and do not rely on it.
There is a great difference between the one whose heart is with the Maker
of being and the one whose heart is with created beings. As far as the one
whose heart is with the Maker of being, created beings are in his posses-
sion and subject to his force and strength. As for the one whose heart is
with created beings, he and his heart are in their possession, and subject
to their force and strength. They always have mastery over him, i.e. they
always make him move and afflict him unless Allah frees him of them by
His pure generosity. If not, he dies a captive in their hands.
The people of means who distract one from Allah and make one go far
from Him criticise divestment which is distance from pre-occupations.
They praise preoccupations. There is no power nor strength except with
Allah.
If you want your needs to be taken care of without working for them, then
turn away from them and turn your Lord. They will be taken care of, Allah
willing. If you had left them altogether and turned to your Lord in them,
He would give you what you desire of the good of this world and the good
of the next world. You would have roads in heaven as you have on the earth,
or even more since the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
said in what he related from his Lord, the Mighty, the Majestic: ‘Whoever
is distracted by My invocation from asking from Me, I will give him better
than what those who ask are given.’
Listen, faqir, to what I said to one of the brothers, may Allah be pleased
with them, ‘There was nothing which I needed and turned away from,
turning to my Lord, but that it was there in front of me, great or small, by
the power of the Hearing, the Knowing. We think that the needs of the
common people are taken care of by their working for them. The needs of
the elite are taken care of by turning away from them and turning to Allah.
Faqir, only the man of intellect and inner core is rescued from people,
especially the people of this time. Always be on your guard against them.
Fear their evil, even when they greet you. When one of them greets you, and
you recognise truly that he greets you in order to enter into conversation
The Way 259
with you about yourself, then you would end up in his power by doing this.
Therefore, return his greeting since it is obligatory to return the greeting
and go about your occupation. If he goes on his way, then blessed is Allah!
If he does not, then say to him, ‘Employ me for a dirham or two for Allah.’
That is exactly the turn of affairs which will rub him the wrong way and so
it will irritate him. This is what will drive him off. There is no doubt that
it is difficult to free oneself of them. Similarly, there is no doubt that the
mastery that people have over the awliya of Allah in their beginning is the
sunna of Allah in His creation. As Allah ta‘ala said, ‘You will not find any
change to the sunna of Allah.’ Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, may Allah be pleased
with him, said in the Lata’if al-Minan, ‘Know that the rule with the awliya
of Allah ta‘ala in their beginning is that creation has mastery over them.
Then they are purified of residues and virtues are perfected in them. This
is so that they will not place any dependence on this creation or incline to
them with confidence. Whoever injures you, has freed you of the bondage
of his kindness. Whoever is kind to you has robbed you because of the
favour which makes you indebted. For that reason, the Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘Whoever does you a kindness, repay
it. If you cannot, then make supplication for him.’ All that is in order to
purify the heart from the bondage of creation’s kindness and to attach it to
the Real King.’ Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, said,
‘Flee from the good of people more than you flee from their evil because
the good of people strikes your heart and their evil strikes your body. It is
better to be struck in your body than in your heart. The enemy who brings
you to Allah is better than the friend who cuts you off from Allah. Consider
their turning to you at night and turning away from you in the day. Do you
not see that when they turn to you, they tempt you?’ The mastery of crea-
tion over the awliya of Allah at the beginning of their Path is the sunna of
Allah with His lovers and friends. I said that we do not see them rejecting
any of the people of the Path, may Allah be pleased with them, the way
that they reject the people of divestment and the people of begging among
them There is no doubt that divestment is opposite means, and both of
them are in the shari‘a of Muhammad. Whoever attacks divestment, has
attacked reliance (on Allah). Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Whoever relies on Allah,
He is enough for him. The command of Allah reaches the point.’ The
wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Ibn al-Banna, may Allah be pleased with him,
said in his Mabahith:
260 The Sufic Path
Occupation with ‘ibada without earnings

is pure reliance and the proper view of the masters.
Whoever attacks means of subsistence, attacks the sunna. Begging is also
permitted in the shari‘a of Muhammad since Allah ta‘ala said to his Prophet,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘As for the beggar, do not rebuff
him.’ He said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘Give to the beggar,
even if he comes on a horse.’ I said: Whoever lies, has his lie, as Allah ta‘ala
said. Whoever changes or alters, Allah is enough for him.
The common people have capital and profit. We think that the elite only
have profit. The one who follows them should not store up anything. He
should always keep his hand open and take on the character of his Master
since Allah ta‘ala said, ‘His hands are open, outspread. He spends however
He wills.’ The hand of Allah is filled, and it has no fear of poverty. It says in
the noble hadith: ‘The only one who fears poverty is one who is far from
his Lord.’ How can he fear it when he has profit without capital? We seek
refuge with Allah from being without capital from Allah, our Lord, and
Muhammad, our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The
wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Abu’l-’Abbas al-Mursi, may Allah be pleased
with him, said, ‘People have means of subsistence, and our means is Allah.’
Another time, he said, ‘People have means of subsistence and our means are
iman and taqwa.’ Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Had the people of the cities believed
and had taqwa …’ to the end of the ayah.
One day, we spoke with one of the fuqara from our brothers, the people
of Fez, about this meaning. He preferred the people of means over the
people of divestment. As a proof, he used the noble hadith: ‘Allah loves
the slave with gainful employ.’ I told him, ‘Yes, Allah loves the slave with
gainful employ. However, the great profession is leaving professions.’ Allah
ta‘ala said, ‘Whoever fears Allah, He will make a way out for him …’ to
the end of the ayah, and, ‘Whoever relies on Allah, He is enough for him
…’ to the end of the ayah. He did not know, may Allah be kind to him,
that the best one engaged in means is the one who has acquired reliance
on Allah. Then he comes down to means after having obtained freedom,
like our master, may Allah be pleased with him, who always used to beg
for money from shop to shop in spite of his lofty value and high position,
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Among its people, divestment is like the red elixir with its people. None
rejects it except the one who is ignorant of it and does not recognise its
value. Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, may Allah be pleased with him, called it high
himma. He said in his Hikam: ‘When Allah establishes you in divestment,
your desire for means is falling from high himma.’ Sayyidi Abu Yazid
al-Bistami, Sayyidi al-Junayd, Sayyidi Abu Ya’za al-Maghribi, Mawlana
‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish, and their likes had it, may Allah be pleased
with them. They are numerous. It has only appeared to you that it is error
because you are ignorant of it and because of the scarcity of its people in
this age which has few good points and numerous ugly points. Its people
are few only because it is difficult for the self since none can divest himself
of means, clothes, and habits, unless Allah takes him by the hand and gives
him trust of Him, or we could say, reliance on Him.
If you said, ‘The people of divestment flee from people to mountains
that are far from habitation and to caves,’ we said: They are like that, but
not all of them – some of them only. Most of them are like us. One of them
who is with people in the markets and other places while he has broken
the habits of his self, is stronger than others, and stronger still. There is a
great difference between him and the one who has cut himself off from
creation. He is weak. The strong one is the one who does not leave them
while he is safe from them. The one who is in the wind – and the wind is
people – while the lamp of his heart is alight and not extinguished by the
wind of people is not like the one who is in a house with the doors closed.
When the wind blows on him, he may remain occupied and maybe not.
This is different from the one who is in the wind and it blows on him and
does not extinguish him, so understand!
If you said, ‘The affair is confused for us. We do not know the one who
is true from the baseless one,’ we said: Whoever wants to recognise that
should have good opinion of his Lord and His slaves since the Prophet,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘There is nothing better
than two qualities: good opinion of Allah and good opinion of the slaves
of Allah. There is nothing worse than two qualities: bad opinion of Allah
and bad opinion of the slaves of Allah.’ By Allah, no one profits who has
profited from the beginning of the world to its end except the one who has
intention, love, true sincerity, good opinion, and submission. No one loses
who has lost from the beginning of this world to its end except the one
262 The Sufic Path
Allah leaves empty of what we have mentioned. The one who has intention
and its sisters profits in the place of loss – and Allah knows best – let alone
the place of profit. The one who has no intention or love loses in the place
of profit – and Allah knows best – let alone the place of loss.
If you said, ‘Isn’t there any other way for us to reach our Lord except
by the door of divestment which you have? Isn’t it enough for us to divest
our inward rather than our outward?’ we said: There is no way for any of
us to reach our Lord except by the door of divestment of the outward and
divestment of the inward because divestment of both directions was the
path of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
the path of his companions, and whoever has followed them up to this very
day. None divests his inward in reality unless his divestment appears on
the limbs. If it does not appear on the limbs, then it is of no consequence.
The wali of Allah, our master, Sayyidi ‘Ali al-Jamal, may Allah be pleased
with him, said, ‘Divestment is divestment of this world in the sensory, and
not in the meaning alone since divestment of meaning has no benefit until
sensory divestment is obtained. If one obtains divestment of meaning, he
should pay no attention to it nor turn to it nor judge by it. It has no benefit
unless the sensory appears. “I am commanded to judge by the outward and
Allah takes charge of the secrets,” because the outward is firm and it is that
which is rejected. If nothing is firm for him outwardly, then he has nothing.
The inward is the basis of the outward, and it is built on it.’ Shaykh Abu
Madyan may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘When you see someone
who claims to have a state with Allah while he has nothing that testifies
to it on his outward, then watch out for him.’ We said: Had the meanings
been connected to other than the sensory, the people of iman would have
been content in as much as they believe that they have iman in their hearts
and they would not have articulated the shahada on their tongues. ‘Since
meanings are only connected to the senses, we are commanded to articulate
the shahada on our tongues, and it is not hidden.
We think that whoever purifies his heart of love of this world in reality
and of all that does not concern him, by Allah, his limbs will be purified.
Sayyidi, look at the states of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with
them, and others among the people of pure sincerity. By Allah, you see
that what they have inwardly appears on their limbs since they, may Allah
be pleased with them, only have the provision of a rider from this world.
Some of them have nothing of it. When he finds something, he is content
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with it and does not choose or store up. He follows the Messenger of Al-
lah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and takes on his character.
Had one of them chosen, he would have been constrained. Had he been
constrained, he would have resisted, since the Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, said: ‘I and those of my community who have
taqwa are free of constraint.’
Some of the Companions and other people had this world, but their
hearts were free of love of it and filled with love of Allah and love of the
Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Whoever is
like that, is not harmed by it. It benefits him since he feeds the hungry and
clothes the naked with it. It also says in hadith, ‘This world is the mount
of the believer,’ but not for everyone. It is only for some.
If you increase the dhikr which I told you about, Allah will increase you in
nearness to Him. Be careful not to do so much that you become exhausted
and slacken off since the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
said, ‘Take on as much as you can do. Allah does not slacken off so you
should not slacken off.’
Fear the tricks of hunger and satiety:
Often an empty stomach is better than indigestion,
as was said by Sayyidi al-Busayri in his Burda, may Allah be pleased with
him. If the inward – and it is the heart – is divested in reality then the out-
ward will be divested. If the inward is not divested, it will not be divested.
The wilaya of any of us is not perfected unless what we have in our inward is
on our outward, and what we have on our outward is in our inward. There
is no doubt that those who are divested outwardly and inwardly are among
the people of Allah, or we can say, among the people of the tariqa, may Al-
lah be pleased with them. Their reflection is stronger than the reflection of
those involved with means, and their station is higher than that station. It
grows from freeing the inward and freeing the outward. There is no doubt
that the outward follows the deen of the inward, and profits or loses by it
since it is the root. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
said, ‘There is a morsel of flesh in the body. If it is sound, the whole body is
sound. If it is bad, the whole body is bad. It is the heart.’ Ibn ‘Ata’Illah says
in the Hikam, ‘Whatever is lodged in the unseen part of the secret appears
in the testimony of the outward.’
264 The Sufic Path
This is what moved us to divestment, and it is that which moved other

people to it. There is no doubt that it is a great station. Sayyidi Ibn ‘Ata’Illah,
may Allah be pleased with him, called it ‘high himma’. He said in his Hikam:
‘When Allah establishes you in means, your desire for divestment is from
hidden appetite. When Allah establishes you in divestment, your desire for
means is falling from high himma.’ We would like you to forget yourself,
divestment, means and everything, for your Lord. May Allah take you by
the hand. If you have firm resolution about it, then rely on Allah since your
luminosity will be strengthened by your divestment from your occupa-
tions. When it is strengthened, your certainty is strengthened. When it
is strengthened, your himma becomes high. You reach your Lord by high
himma. Your reaching your Lord is your reaching knowledge of Him.
By Allah, if we belonged to our Lord, the cosmos and whatever is in it
would be ours, as it has belonged to others, since Allah, glory be to Him,
made it our servant and He made us His servants, glory be to Him! Then
we have exchanged our Lord and Master, glory be to Him, for that over
which we are lords and masters, and we are not ashamed of it. There is no
power nor strength except by Allah!
By Allah, it is the means of the deen which one should be concerned
with in every age, and in this time in particular since concern with matters
of the deen without this world is almost as if it had never existed. Yet it
did exist by Allah, even if it does not exist now. Allah is the authority for
what we say. We think – and Allah knows best – that one can no longer
say to most of the salihun of our time: ‘Do with but a little of the means
of this world and a lot of the means of the next world. Allah will replace it
for you as He has replaced it for other people.’ Today – and Allah knows
best – nothing will be accepted from you unless you say, ‘Cultivate, earn,
trade,’ and the like of that. If you say, ‘Abandon, do without, be content,’
very few will listen to that among the elite of the people of this time, not
to mention the common people. Listen to what the wali of Allah ta‘ala,
Sayyidi Abu’l-‘Abbas al-Mursi, may Allah be pleased with him, said: ‘People
have their means of subsistence. Our means are iman and taqwa. Allah, the
Mighty, the Majestic, said, “Had the people of the cities believed and had
taqwa, we would have opened upon them baraka from the heavens and
the earth.”’ Another time he said, ‘People have means of subsistence and
our means is Allah.’
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Our master, Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
‘None of us can avoid that which must support his structure as none of
us can avoid urine and faeces. When we have finished fulfilling what we
need, we should leave it immediately and go about means. No one should
be delighted by the proximity of that for an hour. It is like that with this
world. When the believer fulfils his need of it, he leaves it and turns to his
Lord. No one can turn to his Lord unless he turns his back on whatever
distracts him from Him.’ Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, may Allah be pleased with
him, said: ‘Your turning to Allah is your turning away from creation. Your
turning to creation is your turning away from Allah.’
Our master, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘The truly sincere faqir
is the one who is such that his enemy cannot find a way to injure him. This
is his sign since his only constant occupation is his Beloved. His occupation
with his Beloved veils him from his enemy. The Lover and the enemy are
never joined.’ There is no doubt that if the faqir obtains divestment in real-
ity, he will obtain pure sincerity. If he does not, then he will not obtain it.
Divestment is ruins. If the ruins of this world and its means and appetites
do not appear on the limbs of the faqir, he is a small child and not a great
man. If the ruins appear on his limbs and he is established in the state of
ruins, he is among the great men. This is the sign of his maturity, or we
could say, his reaching his Lord. When light is strong in the inward of the
believer, it drives out everything from it. When it drives out everything
from it, his Master, glory be to Him and may He be exalted, remains in his
inward part. Whoever is like that, is one of the awliya of Allah.
The one who says he is divested inwardly and not outwardly has no proof
since the word of Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic, is true for the one who
is divested inwardly and not outwardly: ‘It is very hateful with Allah that
you say what you do not do,’ and other statements. The word of Allah, the
Mighty, the Majestic, is true for the one who is divested outwardly and not
divested inwardly: ‘They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts.’
It is best that the faqir purify himself of the illusion of the existence
of other until he begins to take and is not taken, to overcome and is not
overcome, to pull and is not pulled, to own and is not owned, and so forth.
Then there is no objection whether he is divested outwardly or not. How
remarkable! Our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, died
and he had not placed one brick on top of another. The ‘ulama of our time,
266 The Sufic Path
may Allah be kind to them, although it is ours and theirs, do not accept
the state of ruins at all. They accept the state of building. Very few among
them will accept the state of divestment although the great Imam Sayyidi
al-Junayd, may Allah be pleased with him, was truly among the people of
divestment. The qutb Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mash-ish was among
the people of divestment. The great Shaykh, the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Abu
Yazid al-Bistami, may Allah be pleased with him, was among the people of
divestment, and he had about 4,000 of the people of divestment with him.
They had left means and clothes, and put on the patched robe.
Those, may Allah be pleased with them, all of them have lofty value and
immense importance with Allah and all the slaves of Allah. May Allah be
pleased with them, they are practically prophets, blessings and peace be
upon them and our Prophet. In spite of that, they do not accept what they
have and they do not listen to it, let alone know it. How remarkable! If we
do not follow those people, then who could we follow among people? We
would demonstrate a vicious, proud, arrogant self. By Allah! By Allah! By
Allah! The only one who can oppose his passion is the one whom his Master
strengthens. The only one who is generous with his own portion is the one
who is purely and sincerely for his Lord. The prophets, blessings and peace
be upon them, and the awliya, may Allah be pleased with them, have been
purified for their Lord. They do not have divestment of means or anything,
great or small, not even the bliss of the Garden. The contemplation and
eyewitnessing of the King, the Judge, has made them withdraw from it.
So how can they remain with means or divestment or anything? They are
always drowned in the contemplation of their Lord. They do not see hard-
ship or ease, poverty or wealth, health or sickness. May Allah honour us
with their remembrance and make us die with love of them.
I found the excellent sharif, the arrived wali Mawlay Ahmad at-Tahiri
saying to the fuqara, ‘Mawlay al-’Arabi says, “Divestment! Divestment!”
By Allah, Ibn ‘Ata’Illah in his Tanwir preferred means to divestment.’ The
good brother, Mawlay at-Tuhami ar-Rukuni agreed with him and said to
him, ‘Allah loves the slave with gainful employ.’ I heard what they said and
analysed it and then said to them by the generosity of Allah, ‘Yes, Allah loves
the slave with gainful employ, but the great profession is leaving professions.
Allah ta‘ala said, “Whoever has taqwa of Allah, He will make a way for
him and provide for him from where he does not reckon.” – “Whoever
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has taqwa of Allah, Allah will make his affair easy.” – “Whoever relies
on Allah, He is enough for him. The command of Allah reaches the
mark.” – “Had the people of the villages believed and had taqwa, we
would have opened baraka on them from the heaven and the earth.”’
Their argument was cut off. They were silent and did not speak, may Allah
be pleased with them.
A group of the fuqara were with me and then they were confronted by
divestment. It was like what happens to people when they have something
sour which they cannot stand. It is sour so they leave it. Similarly, when this
group could not remain with divestment, they were constantly finding fault
with it. They did not keep our company after that but they did not part
with us completely. By Allah’s command, we were all gathered together for
a meal with some other people. A man there said, ‘Sayyidi, by Allah, had it
not been that I was occupied, I would not have left you.’ I said, ‘What was
that?’ He repeated what he had said. By the generosity of Allah, I said to
him, ‘This which you have told us, Sayyidi, is what our Lord tells all of us.
He says to us: “By My Might and My Majesty, had it not been for your
preoccupation, I would not have left you.”’ The words fitted the place, and
by it, obedience appeared from error. The group had been praising worldly
means which make people neglect dhikr of Allah. They were finding fault
in divestment by which dhikr of Allah is obtained. There is no power nor
strength except by Allah, the High, the Great.
The Shaykh, our master, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘Had peo-
ple known the secrets and blessings that there are in need, they would
not need anything except need.’ It is said that it is in the position of the
Greatest Name.
We told one of our brothers, may Allah be pleased with them, ‘Whoever
desires constant presence should restrain his tongue from speech.’ We urge
you not to hurry to cling to anyone in the moment of your bewilderment
– not by writing or anything else for fear that you will close the need by
your own hand. This is in the same station as the Greatest Name, and Allah
knows best. Bewilderment and poverty designate intense need, and Allah
knows best. Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in the Hikam, ‘The arrival of poverty means
feast days for the murids,’ and ‘In poverty you may find increase which you
do not find in fasting or prayer.’ When it overwhelms you, do not try to
268 The Sufic Path
help yourself and do not give it life by any means, or the good might be
driven away from you after it has come to you as a divine gift. Surrender
you will to your Lord, and you will see wonders. Our master may Allah
be pleased with him, used to say to the one in bewilderment, ‘Relax your
self and learn to swim.’
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know that the lords of goods are bewilderment, the mudhole, and con-
straint. They mean the same. They are intensity of great need, and it is the
key of the unseen worlds. Whoever obtains this key, all of the treasures
of the Unseen worlds are opened for him. For that reason, it is said that,
‘Great constraint is the festival of the murids.’ This is because of the good
that is in it. Had the benefits of need been recognised, man would not have
needed anything except need. It is said that need is a copy of the greatest
great name of Allah.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, said to me is, ‘My
son, do not choose one state over another. You are with what Allah estab-
lishes you. If it is so and there must be choice, then choose constriction over
expansion, i.e. constriction outwardly is the source of expansion inwardly.’
Look at His word, may He be exalted:
We sent it down on the Night of Power.
What will teach you what the Night of Power is?
The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
One of the commentators said, ‘Power is constriction.’
Know that retreat (i’tikaf ) is the snare of divestment (tajrid). It is from
the core of slaveness. It is the greatest of the attributes of the essence. Basi-
cally, all slaveness is retreat, prayer, fasting, abasement, recitation, getting
up at night, retreat, silence, lowering the eye, hearing, sitting among the
Rijal, lack of management and choice, contentment with what happens,
fearful watching of Allah ta‘ala, divestment, zuhd, frugality in this world,
wakefulness, and avoiding the people of decrease. All of that is retreat.
Destruction of rank and lack of leadership is also retreat as well as what
cannot be enumerated of the attributes of outward and inward slaveness.
All slaveness is majesty, and it is the key of beauty. Majesty is greater than
The Way 269
retreat. Rather, retreat is a tree, and all of the attributes of slaveness are
its branches.
There is no vanity in the one who wears the muraqqa‘a and fasts the day
and rises in the night and keeps the company of this state. Vanity is from
the one who wears fine clothes and does not fast in the day and sleeps the
night and keeps the company of this state. The one who leaves this world
is not zahid in it. The one who is zahid in this world is the one who keeps
its company. The one who finds this world and then abandons it is not
zahid in it. The one who is zahid in this world is the one for whom its ex-
istence and absence is the same. The one who leaves this world and leaves
its people is not zahid in it. The one who is zahid in this world is the one
who recognises Allah in its retreat and advance.
Poverty has two worlds: the world of speech and the world of action. The
world of speech is shari‘a and the world of action is reality. Each of them are
directed to Allah. From each of them, Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, calls
him in his station and his state. According to his state, the one of words is
helped in words and the one of actions is helped in his actions. Had you
turned to a gesture, a gesture would have helped you as it is related from
the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He said, ‘Allah, the
Blessed, the Exalted, says, “Whoever draws near Me a hand’s span, I draw
near him an arm’s length. Whoever draws near Me an arm’s length, I
draw near him two arms’ lengths.”’ What a difference between the one of
words and the one of actions. The one of words is limited by the sweetness
of his tongue and the one of action is hidden in his shelter.
Whenever your stomach is hungry, all the limbs are full. Whenever your
stomach is full, all the limbs are hungry. It is as it is related from the Mes-
senger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He said:
The stomach kills intelligence. Whoever has
his stomach die, his intelligence is brought to life.
Hunger is illumination for the heart and health for the body because hunger
has a legacy of wisdom, and satiety has a legacy of indigestion.
Part of what Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi said to me, may Allah profit us by
him, is, ‘My son, part of iman in the Unseen is that you seek provision from
the directions from which you suppose that you will not have provision by
270 The Sufic Path
the word of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, “Allah refuses to provide for His slave, the mu’min, except from
where he does not reckon.”’
Know that Allah made this Path of ours the reverse of what the intellects
understand. It is impossible in the understanding of the common people.
Because of that, only the impossible is proper for the one of this path in
his words, actions, and states. That is his might and honour. This state is
called divestment by the people of the Path. With them, it is in the position
of the elixir of which a small amount overcomes what is between the two
footsteps. The reality of this impossible is emerging from norms outwardly,
i.e. the norms of the common in words, actions, and states, and continuing
in it. Planting the impossible only grows the impossible, and only bears the
fruit of the impossible. Planting norms only grows norms and bears the
fruit of norms. It is as the speaker said, ‘You pluck the fruits of what you
plant. This is the custom of the age.’ He said, may He be exalted:
He said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
Allah provides for the slave according to his himma. – Hadith.
Know, O man, that the help of Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, is not ever
cut off from His slave because it is before-endless-time and after-endless-
time. It is how He wants and not how you want. Sometimes He brings it
to you from the direction of the senses and sometimes from the direction
of the meaning, sometimes from the direction of the outward, and some-
times from the direction of the inward, sometimes from the direction of
the essence, and sometimes from the direction of the attributes, sometimes
from the unseen and sometimes from the present, to what is not perceived
nor counted of the variety of gates. Allah refuses to provide for His slave,
the mu‘min, except from where he does not reckon. It is as the hadith
said. As for the Exalted, Allah ta‘ala has power to provide for His slave a
field without winter, and fullness in the bellies of His creation without a
field. If these are some of the attributes of His power, may He be exalted,
how can provision be suspected? He decreed it and was finished with it
before-endless-time, before He created the cosmos and what is in it. We
ask Allah ta‘ala to make His abundance enough for us above our anxiety.
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One day the Shaykh saw me while I was eating food. He said to me, ‘My son,
that which I see you doing is what comes between people and all secrets.’
He meant concern with provision.
What is desired of man is to leave means. Had you left means, you would
see the Causer of means. When the slave is with the slave, he wears the
garment of slaveness. When the slave is with the Lord, he wears the gar-
ment of sovereignty.
Part of what I heard from Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah profit us by him and
his words, is that he said, ‘Whoever guarantees me his livelihood in this
world, I will guarantee for him that he will reach all the stations.’ It is as
the Qutb, may Allah profit us by him, said: ‘The one who enjoys and does
not fear cares, drinks. He enjoys and goes from among those who went
before.’ The common say, ‘Well-being guarantees wealth.’
Know that creation is in the position of the mirror. Whenever you confront
them with something, they confront you with that thing itself. If you look
at them by Allah, they look at you by Allah. If you look at them by yourself,
they look at you by themselves. Part of what our master said to me is, ‘My
son, by Allah, I will inform you. Had it not been that I know that you will
believe what I say, I would not tell you. This state of yours, i.e. divestment, is
the real elixir. There is nothing in existence greater, nobler, or nearer than it.’
Part of what I heard from Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah profit us by
him, is that he said to me, ‘By Allah, my son, had I seen anything for you
more sublime, nearer and higher than divestment, I would have told you
about it. However, with the people of this path, it is in the position of the
elixir, a minute portion of which will transform into gold what is between
the two lungs. Divestment is like that in this path. I heard the Shaykh, may
Allah have mercy on him, say, ‘Fat is only bound to the illness, and the
illness is only bound to fat.’ Part of what Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi said to
me, may Allah profit us by him, is, ‘My son, there is nothing which I have
advanced to do and joined the thing and its opposite, but that it obeyed
my hand. Take care if you perform an action. Do it, and do its opposite
with it, because no two things are not joined in a matter, but that it is set
up by the permission of Allah ta‘ala.’
272 The Sufic Path
Part of what the Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi counselled me, may Allah profit
us by him, is a counsel which he took from his father and he used to do
it. He said to me, ‘My son, if you have a need with one of the people of
this world, the treasurer or another, beware of offering him something of
this world or its like. Do not come to a mighty rich one except with the
relationship of Allah and the relationship of poverty because it is higher
than everything and nothing is erected for it.’
Part of what the Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi said to me is that one day a man
of the people of this world came to me and began to reject the gnosis of
the very poor. He said to him, ‘How much more with you, O Sayyidi! You
are one of those who recognises so-and-so and his like.’ Sayyidi al-‘Arabi
answered him and said, ‘O sir! In this world, the pleasure of the like of
the gnosis of a man you know has passed you by! Had he been one with a
livelihood or a Sultan, and had you acquired this privilege, you would have
recognised what the Rijal recognised and you would have tasted what the
Rijal tasted. However, you are forbidden that because of your love of this
world. May Allah be ours and yours!’
In the past, I was familiar with one of the outward kings. I was his friend
and sat with him before I entered this art. Part of what I saw among them
is that when someone wanted to be among the servants, i.e. among their
servants, the first time that he came before them, he dressed himself in
the clothes of the slaves, of water-carriers. He would isolate himself and
stand before the king. They called that ‘divestment with the contract of the
water-carriers.’ Whoever the King sees isolating himself with the contract
of the water-carriers, that is a sign that he wants to serve the king. When I
took up the company of the people of the inward and made them friends,
I found that among them, whoever wanted to enter the presence of the
inward, the first thing which he needed to do was to isolate himself with the
divestment of the contract of the water-carriers, i.e., he went beyond what
was normal in himself seeking the outward presence of the King until its
people let him understand that if he wanted to be their slave, they would
bring him near. Similarly, he goes beyond what is normal in himself to seek
the inward presence of the King until its people let him understand that if
he wants to be their slave, they will bring him near. Divestment becomes as
if it were a condition in seeking the outward presence in separation as it is
a condition in seeking the inward presence in gatheredness, and no more.
The Way 273
Whoever realises his abasement in seeking something, realises his might
by obtaining it. Whoever proposes to a beautiful woman is patient in sac-
rifice. The poet said, ‘You will not reach glory until you lick bitter aloes.’
Divestment is like gold and silver for the faqir. When it is blackened in the
fire, impurity does not remain in it. It is like that with the faqir divested
to the realities. The realities purify him outwardly and inwardly so that
no impurity is left in him. It is like the perfection of gold and silver. Allah
did not bring anything into existence for the murid of a higher rank than
divestment. The sincere murid is divested of all imperfection. Success is by
Allah, but with a gnostic Shaykh who guides him.
While I was sitting with the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, a man
questioned him and said, ‘O Sayyidi! About this path of yours – we have
heard one of the people talk about it. So tell me, what path is it?’ The Shaykh
answered him, ‘This path of ours is the path which the Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, was on as well as his Companions, may
Allah be pleased with all of them – Abu Bakr, ‘Uthman, ‘Ali, and all the
Companions – may Allah provide us with their love! This path of ours is
the path of divestment from this world and zuhd in it. The Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the Imam of the zahids, and the
model of the realised.’ Part of what he said to him was, ‘By Allah, my son!
This path of ours for the beginner who turns to Allah is like one who is
bound with a firm secure rope. This Path is as if it were a sharpened knife
with which you cut all these ropes. We have not found any path quicker
than it and more piercing, nearer and more far-reaching in all the paths.
It is the Shadhili Path on which the Last Hour will come, and it will never
be cut off.’ May Allah profit us with its Rijal and place us in their company
in this world and the Next by His favour and ihsan!
Know that lifting and setting down are two realities which have great effect.
Lifting can be in the senses and in the meaning. Setting down is like that. It
can be in the senses and the meaning. The substance of the one with rising
is exalted according to his rising and his substance is weak according to his
rising. When one of rising sits on a chair, his substance is stronger than when
he sits on the ground. When the one of setting down sits on the ground,
his substance is stronger then when he sits on a chair. If the one of rising
raises as much as a finger in the senses and meaning, his substance is wider
274 The Sufic Path
in power. When the one of setting down lowers as much as a finger in the
senses or meaning, his substance is increased according to that. The one of
rising is related to the direction of separation more than the direction of
gatheredness. The one of setting down is related to the direction of gath-
eredness more than the direction of separation. The one of separation is cut
off and the one of gatheredness is connected. Because of this meaning you
find that these Shaykhs, may Allah be pleased with them, follow the sunna
of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, setting down,
and they only guide the murids to it because the Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, taught man and jinn. His sunna in them is like
his word, ‘O Allah! make me live as a miskin, and make me die as a miskin,
and gather me in the company of the masakin,’ or as he said with his God,
‘Forgive me for my wrong actions, past and future.’ Allah ta‘ala informed
him that he was the best of the children of Adam. In spite of this, he, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, was humble because he taught. Then
we find that these teaching Shaykhs only guide their companions to setting
down like the word of ash-Shadhili, ‘Make us Your slaves in all states.’ Look
at the word of ash-Shitri: ‘My richness is in my poverty, and my might is
in my abasement.’ Look at the words of Ibn al-Farid: ‘The most wondrous
thing is that whenever I am increased in abasement to them, I see my power
among people rise in them.’ He said, may He be exalted:
Yet We desired to be kind to those that were abased in the land,
and to make them leaders, and to make them inheritors.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, said to me one
day is, ‘My son, had it not been for poverty in this world, nothing would
have been set up for us. However, Allah intended good for us. He helped
us by poverty in it. That is the sunna of Allah in the elite of His slaves
among the Prophets and the Salihun. He removes this world from their
hands so that their hearts possess light, certainty, and knowledge. After
that, He returns it to them, and it does not harm them. Even had it been
like the mountains, it would only increase them in good and help for what
is in their hands, because it behaves according to following with them. It
never enters their hearts. Its stage is only the outward. As for their hearts,
they are filled with knowledge and wisdom. They are sealed with the seal
of pure tawhid in the pure heart. Its seal is never broken. Had this world
been in their hands first, nothing of that would have been in order for them
The Way 275
because when the heart is empty, it is only filled by what is in the hand – it
is this world. When this world is firm in the heart, nothing of the secrets
of the awliya ever enters it, except for a few people. This few do not have
that set in order for them unless they take it from company with one of
the gnostics of Allah skilled in treating the selves, if they are to be found.
They are few. If not, no. Ash-Shitri said:
I have a Beloved. He is jealous.
You see Him emerging like a strong bird.
If anything is seen in my heart,
it is forbidden to visit,
because whenever the illusion of evil enters the heart, Allah departs from it.
Outwit what you need. Then after that, your children. After that, whoever
goes around you of the very poor. After that, your parents who bore you
of clay. Success is by Allah and seek help with Allah. Be patient. Allah is
with you.
Know that divestment is divestment from this world – outward, sensory. It
is not meaning because the benefit of divestment as meaning is not obtained
until sensory divestment is obtained. If sensory divestment is not obtained
and divestment of meaning is obtained, it is of no importance and there is
no use in it, and it is not turned to nor judged by unless the sensory appears.
‘I am commanded to judge by the outward and Allah takes charge of the
secrets,’ because the outward is that which confirms and which negates.
Whoever has something confirmed for him in the outward, it is confirmed.
Whoever does not have it confirmed for him in it, it is nothing, even if the
inward is the basis of the outward, and it is built upon it.
Know that divestment is a sea with no shore. It is only based on two aspects:
inward and outward. As for the inward aspect, it only has one reality, and
it is called the reality of realities. As for the outward aspect, its realities
have a certain number. Whoever obtains it, i.e. divestment, being an inward
reality and an outward reality, and continues in it until he obtains its fruits,
he owns all existence so that he uses celestial and terrestrial kings. He is by
the command of his Master. He says to the thing, ‘“Be!” and it is.’ One of
the gnostics said, addressing Allah ta‘ala:
Whoever has acts of devotion from You
travels in creation like knowledge.
276 The Sufic Path
The Shaykh of our Shaykh, Sayyidi Ahmad al-Yamani, may Allah profit us
by him, was among the people of divestment outwardly and inwardly. As
for inwardly, it has no shape. As for outwardly, its reality was in his hands.
Our Shaykh, Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah profit us by him, was also among
the people of divestment outwardly and inwardly. As for inwardly, it has no
shape. As for outwardly, it was a reality on his tongue. Allah has a slave. From
His baraka, Allah has given me recognition of those men, our masters, the
people of love. May Allah honour us with their dhikr. However, my master
was among them – my reliance and my master. He is Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, the
son of the gnostic of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Ahmad ibn ‘Abdillah, may Allah
profit us by all! I took divestment from him outwardly and inwardly. As for
inwardly, it has no shape. As for outwardly, it is in four limbs: in my tongue,
in my hand, in my foot, and in my back. These are four realities. Another
man, my brother in the Shaykh, took divestment from our Shaykh Sayyidi
al-‘Arabi, outwardly and inwardly. Inwardly, it has no shape. Outwardly,
he took a reality from him in his eyes. He acts now while the divestment
of his inward is knowledge and his outward is action. I saw many of the
fuqara of our age take divestment in action without knowledge of the
outward and without knowledge of the inward. That is because they saw
their Shaykhs doing something, so they did it in imitation of their Shaykhs
while they did not perceive the aims of their Shaykhs in that action. Allah,
the Blessed, the Exalted, is only worshipped by knowledge. It is not halal
for a Muslim man to advance in a matter until he knows Allah’s judgement
in it. He said, may He be exalted:
When he advances in something by the company of the gnostics, that has
no harm in it because it is as if he were travelling in a land he did not know
with an informed one who knew it. He has no harm.
Know that the reality of poverty is annihilation in Allah and richness
in Allah.
It is enough for you about divestment that the one who has it has arrived
and is not cut off. There is no veil between him and his Master. It is enough
for you about means that the one who has them is always cut off and has
not arrived. According to the strength of the divestment, the veil is weak.
According to the strength of the means, the veil is great. According to the
The Way 277
weakness of the means, the veil is weak and vanishes. The result is that the
one with divestment is always with his Master, and the one of means is
always with creation. Whatever increases from the direction of the truth,
decreases from the direction of the false. Whatever increases from the
direction of the false, decreases from the direction of the truth. The Truth
is Allah, and the false is creation. He said, may He be exalted:
Allah takes charge of those who believe. He brings them out of
the darkness into the light, and those who deny, their protectors
are idols: they bring them out of the light to the darkness. Those
are the people of the Fire, abiding in it endlessly.
Everything except Allah is false, and the false are the idols. It is related that
a man of the slaves said, ‘I was solely devoted to the ‘ibada of my Master
in a cave. There was a tree near the cave. One day I felt lonely, so l went
near the tree in order to hear the sound of a bird and enjoy it. Because of
that, I was veiled to my station for forty days.’ Ash-Shitri, may Allah have
mercy on him, said:
If anything is seen in my heart,
it is forbidden to visit.
The head of every good is zuhd in this world. The head of every evil is love
of this world. This is the sound balance.
Know that divestment (tajrid) is not completed for its possessor until it
is self, deen, and this world. The signs of the perfection of its possessor is
that you find that he does not reject any of Allah’s creatures. He affirms
them in their words, deeds, and states, even his own self. He only sees all
of existence and what it contains in the very limit of thoroughness and
the very limit of perfection. They call this station annihilation. When this
meaning is perfected for the divested slave, then he may become liberal with
the command of Allah ta‘ala. He says to a thing, ‘Be!’ and it is.
Whoever claims that he has drunk the drink of the People or understood
their meanings and he is not zahid in this world, he has lied. As the Garden
is forbidden to the one who has not died and risen, so the garden of gnoses
is forbidden to one whose self has not died to this world, its management
and choice, and its will and appetites. It is said:
278 The Sufic Path
Die by the will – you will be brought to life by nature.

The head of all good things is returning to Allah in movements and still-
nesses. All that appears to you from reality and fineness is from returning
to Allah. The lack of that is by returning to means and shortness of vision
in outward acquisition. Ibn ‘Ashir, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Love of the life of this world is the head of every error.
Another said:
The head of afflictions is love of the life of this world.
The cure is only in constraint to it.
Man is not lacking whether being a lover or beloved or not being a lover
or beloved. If he is a lover, he must fly to his beloved in any state. If he is
a beloved, it is necessary that his lover be his beloved in any state. If in a
moment, he is neither lover nor beloved, perhaps that is a fault in him, and
the fault returns him to his Master. Whenever he returns to his Master,
that is the very thing to do.
The goal is joining the quest of wisdom and the quest of the wisdom of
wisdom. Seeking wisdom is the seeking of the creature – the slave of the
dirham is tired. Seeking the wisdom of wisdom is seeking sincerity of turn-
ing to Allah in all things. May Allah make us and you among those who
are sincere in their turning to Allah by His favour and ihsan! He has power
over everything and is ready with the answer.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Ask Allah for success for me, and may Allah be enough for you! The actions
of our master, may Allah be pleased with him, reminded us. Very few people
have it, although actions are based on it. It is realisation of the attributes.
As Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in his Hikam:
Be attached to the attributes of His lordliness
and realise the attributes of your slaveness.
The People, may Allah be pleased with them, said, ‘Whenever you bury
your self earth under earth, your heart rises through heaven after heaven.’
Sayyidi Ahmad, one of the fuqaha of Fes, told me the same thing that you
have told me. I answered him at some length, and we will mention some
of what I said to you out of love for you, not in order to confront you.
The Way 279
Part of it is the statement of one of the Companions, may Allah be
pleased with them: ‘We pursued all actions, and we did not see any more
direct matter for the Next World than doing-without in this world.’ We
have tasted some of that. Because of that, your words leave us lukewarm
as you can see. Also, whenever there is urgency in outward actions, there
is none in inward actions, since there cannot be strength in two directions
as we have stated numerous times, and as others have stated.
Sayyidi Ahmad, I told him that no one perceives our superogatory
actions except the people of unadulterated taste. They put a person far
from creation and near to Allah. The thing you dislike from me is what
my heart desires, as has been said. Very few of the people of the Path have
this. Some of the strong awliya have this, like Shaykh Abu Hafs ‘Umar
ibn al-Farid, may Allah be pleased with him, when said:
Hold on to the coat tails of passion and cast off modesty.
Leave the path of those with pious practices,
even if it is earnest.
It is as the Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali ash-Shushtari said, may Allah be
pleased with him:
We want to go stripped,
And the most splendid thing,
As it goes before me, is in need of me.
Shaykh ‘Izzu’d-din ibn ‘Abdi’s-Salam, may Allah be pleased with him, used
to say, ‘Is there a path other than the one we understand from the Book
and Sunna?’ He rejected the Path of the People. When he met ash-Shadhili
and learned from him, he began to say, ‘By Allah, no one abides by the
undestroyed laws of the shari‘a of Muhammad except the sufis.’ Imam al-
Ghazali, may Allah be pleased with him, used to speak like this before he
met his Shaykh al-Bazghani.
Sayyidi Ahmad, I told him that a great number of awliya, may Allah
be pleased with them, have travelled the path of the inward, and no one
turned them aside from it, no one of great importance and no one of small
importance. Allah ta‘ala said in His Book, ‘If these reject it, we will entrust
it to a people who do not reject.’ That is it, and Allah knows best! The
outward and the inward are two opposites, and opposites are only joined
by a man whose foot is on the foot of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, like Imam Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, may Allah be
280 The Sufic Path
pleased with him, Imam Sayyiduna ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, Imam Sayyiduna
‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan, and Imam Sayyiduna ‘Ali ibn Talib, may Allah honour
his face, and his sons al-Hasan and al-Husayn, may Allah be pleased with
them all, and like the great wali, Sayyidi al-Hasan al-Basri, the great wali,
Sayyidi Dhu’n-Nun al-Misri, the great wali, Sayyidi Ibrahim ibn Adham,
the great wali, Sayyidi Sufyan ath-Thawri, the great wali, Sayyidi Ma’ruf al-
Karkhi, the great wali, Sayyidi Abu Yazid al-Bistami, and their likes among
the Shaykhs of the East and the Shaykhs of the West. They are numerous
as we have stated, may Allah be pleased with them and us. They are only
recognised by the one who reaches their station or comes upon their tracks
which guide him to them. As far as others are concerned, they are only
among the people of the outward without the inward, or the people of the
inward without the outward, or they have neither outward nor inward.
This is because the two opposites are only joined by the man whose foot
is on the foot of the Messenger Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, as we said. It is very difficult indeed. It is said that one of the angels,
blessings and peace be upon them, glorifies Allah ta‘ala constantly and says
in his glorification, ‘Glory be to the One Who combines ice and fire!’
Shaykh Abu’l-’Abbas Sayyidi Ahmad al-Yamani, and those of our
Shaykhs in Fez and our Shaykhs in ‘Abdalawa, who were with him, may
Allah be pleased with them, objected to Shaykh Sayyidi Ahmad al-Yusi
when he said, ‘The outward is adorned by striving, and the inward is put
right by contemplation.’ They told him that there cannot be strength in
two directions. When the outward becomes strong in striving, the inward
becomes weak in contemplation. When the inward becomes strong in
contemplation, the outward grows weak in striving. One of the masters
said, ‘When you see someone concerned about his outward, know that his
inward is in ruins.’ I said: There are very few who join the outward and the
inward, the shari‘a of Muhammad and the reality, sobriety and intoxication,
separation and gatheredness, and so on. We have mentioned this many
times in our teaching. We do not need to pursue it further.
The sincere one can wear whatever clothes he likes, high or low, since the
state of elevation and the state of lowness are the same for him. There is no
difference between them. The one who is not sincere should only be like
the common people. Faqir, leave forbidden and disliked things, and wear
what you like. Marry whom you like. Ride what you like. Earn what you
The Way 281
like. Dwell where you like. Be as you like. If a proof is established against
you, I will take the blame, sincere one:
If a man does not wear the garments of taqwa, he is
stripped naked, even if he wears clothes.
The best clothes a man has are obedience to his Lord. There is
no good in the one who rebels against Allah.
Had this world lasted for its people, the Messenger of Allah
would still be alive.
However, it is annihilated and its bliss is annihilated.
Wrong actions and acts of rebellion go on as they are.
We only like one to divest himself after he has turned in tawba from every
wrong action and does not return to it. The one who turns from wrong
action is like the one who has no wrong action.
The outward state of the faqir which you see must inevitably be his inward
state. As Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in the Hikam: ‘Whatever is lodged in the unseen
part of the secret appears in the testimony of the outward.’ Faqir, sometimes
we see you inclining to the people of the outward, and sometimes to the
people of the inward. Sometimes you turn in both directions and sometimes
you turn away from both directions. Sometimes you are energetic, and
sometimes you are lazy and slacken off. Sometimes you accept the truth and
sometimes you do not accept it, and so on. We see that your words are the
words of the sufis, may Allah be pleased with them, and at the same time
your passions play with you. It is always like that. Your state saddens me and
I want to offer you counsel. The aim of my advice to you is that you turn
in tawba to your Lord from the passions which play with you. You should
only approach the one who calls you to your Lord without confusion. As
for your attachment to everyone, there is no good in it for you since Allah
ta‘ala said, ‘If you obey most of those in the earth, they will misguide you
from the way of Allah.’ There is no doubt that your safety, my safety, and
the safety of everyone lies in following the people of the Muhammadan
sunna. They are the gathering about which the hadith of the Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, has come down, ‘The hand of Allah
is with the gathering,’ since there is no doubt that it follows the agreement
with Allah. If there are few people in it, still they are many. The gathering
can consist of one man if his foot is firm in the sunna of the Messenger of
282 The Sufic Path
Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace outwardly and inwardly.
The gathering of many people is not a gathering if it is not based on the
sunna of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
One man can be a community as well if his heart is based on the heart of
the prophet of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyiduna Ibrahim, the friend, peace be upon
him, since Allah ta‘ala said in His Book:
‘Ibrahim was an obedient community.’
b b b b b
Dhikru’llah 283
Chapter Six
Dhikru’llah
Praise
Praise is due to You, the possessor of serenity, forgiveness and
veiling. My praise is part of Your blessing, oh abundant Giver.
Praise is due to You, in number as great as the drops of rain,
the grains of sand, the pebbles, the plants of the earth
and the fish of the sea.
Praise is due to You in number as great as the ants, jinn, and men,
in quantity as great as the sky, the Throne, and the stars
like scattered pearls,
In quantity as great as space itself, and the tablet of forms,
the Footstool, the moist earth, and the number of all created
beings on the day of gathering.
Praise is due to You, oh my Lord, as You deserve it, for I cannot
praise You fittingly to the full extent of time.
Praise is due to You, oh endless Giver of gifts, the One Who
grants opening and triumph to the people of Allah.
Praise is due to You with every breath with the body and the heart.
Look kindly on a slave who is perplexed by the command.
If my wrong actions weigh me down, I still have a good opinion
of You that You will mend my broken spirit.
Oh Forgiving! Grant a turning away (from wrong action) to us
which will undo what happened in our early years.
Increase us in blessing, light and unveiling, and strengthen us
in guidance, with idhn and the secret.
Support us in our words and deeds, and make our provision easy
for us – from where we know not!
Here we are standing at the door of favour, waiting
without hardship for the Beloved to turn to us.
284 The Sufic Path
Swiftly, send us Your ease, oh Answerer, for You are the Possessor
of generosity, liberality and goodness.
Your Bounty exists without our existence, and Your Generosity
pours down on us, undenied.
Give us success in the thankfulness which is our duty and which
itself calls for increase from You without loss to us.
Free us from the prison of our bodies and raise us up to
the presence of the spirits as a reward for our gratitude.
Let us see the meaning of the essence in every manifestation
in order to strengthen our witnessing both in times of ease
and trouble.
Annihilate us to ourselves and give us going-on in You always,
so that we may join the people who have inherited
the presence of the secret.
Your command to things is in the word ‘“Be” – it is!’
So shape things for us with firm intention and
without deception.
Bless Ahmad, the guide to the presence of purity,
with all the forms of perfection,
And his family and noble Companions and whoever prays for
expansion of the breast for the composer of these verses.
And oh Lord! Through the compassionate guide, Muhammad,
grant us sciences that will benefit us on the Day of Rising.
Strengthen us with lights at every instant, and make us firm
at the sealing, the agony of death, and the grave.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Reflection
Reflect upon the beauty of the workmanship with which
the land and sea are made, and openly and secretly
busy yourself with the attributes of Allah.
In the self and on the horizon is the greatest witness
to the limitless perfections of Allah.
Dhikru’llah 285
If you were to concern yourself with the physical bodies

and their perfection of form and their inner connection,
like a string of pearls:
If you were to concern yourself with the secrets of the tongue
and its articulation, and its expression of what
you conceal in your breast:
If you were to concern yourself with the secrets of all the limbs
and the ease with which they obey the heart:
If you were to concern yourself with the turning of the hearts to
obedience, and how they sometimes move to disobedience:
If you were to concern yourself with the earth and the variety
of its plants and the great expanse of smooth
and rugged land that it contains:
If you were to concern yourself with the secrets of the oceans
and its fish, and its endless waves held back
by an unconquerable barrier:
If you were to concern yourself with the secrets of the winds –
how they bring the mists and clouds which bring down rain:
And if you were to concern yourself with the secrets
of all the heavens, and the Throne and the Footstool
and the spirit of the Command:
Then you would believe in Tawhid with a firm belief,
and you would turn from illusions, doubt and the other.
You would say: ‘My God, You are my desire and my goal
and my fortress against evils, injustice and deceit.
You are my hope in providing for my needs, and You are the One
Who rescues us from evil and wickedness.
You are the Compassionate, the Answerer to whoever calls
upon You. And You are the One Who makes up
for the poverty of the poor (faqir).
To You, oh Exalted, I have raised my pleas,
so hasten the Opening and the Secret, oh my God.
By the rank of the one who is hoped for on the day of grief
and distress, and the day of the coming of the people
to the Place of Gathering.’
286 The Sufic Path
May the blessings of Allah be upon him as long as there is

a gnostic who concerns himself with the lights
of His Essence in every manifestation,
And upon his family and Companions and every one who
follows his glorious sunna in prohibition and command.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Stimulation of Desire
for the Act of Dhikr
Oh you who desire nearness to Allah immediately – you must
perform dhikr of Allah openly and secretly.
Fill the times with it and you will swiftly ascend to the pinnacle
of gnosis with pure contemplation.
Through polishing the mirror of the heart, the veil is drawn aside,
and lights appear to it from the purity of the dhikr.
By invocation of the God of the Throne you will become a zahid
among men, and you will be annihilated from the self
which delays you on the journey.
You will become one who sits with Allah, without ceremony,
and you will be safe from doubt, shirk and otherness.
You will journey from the cosmos to the presence of purity,
and you will witness the act of Allah in the creation
and the command.
You will rise to the names and drink of their light,
so the attributes will appear to you without a veil.
The meaning of the essence will be manifested from the perfection
of annihilation, so you will have going-on rich with Allah
for the rest of your life.
If the breath of His dhikr were to fill the west and there was a sick
man in the east, that man would be cured of his affliction.
In every drawing-near, the pivot of the deen rests on it,
especially the dhikr of majesty from one who is free.
Dhikru’llah 287
There is no wali but he is concerned with His invocation

with the ruh and his secret at every breath.
So he was a rememberer and he became remembered,
and this gave him power over the creatures, without boasting.
There is no boasting except in slavery, freed from strength,
power and self-deception.
The results of dhikr of Allah are without limit, so, my brother,
persevere at evening and at dawn.
Endless riches have come from it, so study the Book of Allah
along with the sunna and you will understand.
The Glorious has promised to remember whoever remembers
Him – Oh, the victory of the one who is singled out by dhikr.
Whoever turns away from dhikr of Allah has a companion
allotted to him from shaytan to tempt him from the journey.
The heart is only made serene by His dhikr,
so that it is stilled from fear of creation and poverty.
Provision only turns up for him who repeats it until
he absents himself in the One.
The Messenger of Allah did dhikr constantly at all times,
and laid down the shari‘a for others.
He said: ‘Do dhikr until they say, “He is a hypocrite in dhikr
of Allah who seeks only the blessing!”’
You must do it, for the people have become intoxicated by it, and
they have annihilated their spirits in it – what a reward for them!
All the stations of the rijal are contained in love and
dhikr of Allah, with mouth and heart.
Do not be satisfied just with the waridat that will come from
the wird, but only ask for His approval along with
His veiling of wrong-actions.
So, oh Lord, give us success in sincere turning to You, by
the rank of the one who brought an opening and a triumph:
Muhammad, the source and secret of existent beings,
the seal of the messengers of Allah and the glorious prophets.
288 The Sufic Path
May the blessings of Allah be upon him as long as there is one left
to invoke his Lord in times of trial and of ease,
And on his family and Companions and every slave who follows
the Chosen One in prohibition and command.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Go and do wudu and pray two rak‘ats. Then do the prayer on the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ten times. Then come
back to us. Then, Allah willing, there will be good between us.
When a certain person told me that it was difficult for him to cross a
threshold in front of him, I said to him, ‘If you say the prayer on the Mes-
senger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, by Allah, you
will cross seventy thresholds and you will cross the Sirat in the blink of an
eye while you are not aware of crossing the threshold or the Sirat.’ He did
not listen to me. He continued to talk about the threshold and was not
silent. Then I said to him, ‘My brother, forget yourself by your Lord, and
you will see wonders. Do not forget your Lord by yourself, and then die
in sorrow, anxiety, and fear, i.e. forgetting your Lord. We seek refuge with
Allah from forgetting the Lord, glory be to Him!’
My brother, this is the secret of returning to Allah in all matters, great and
small. This is the secret of gathering things to Him and from Him. I know
what I am telling you and what I say to you. It is that each and every person
needs many things, but in reality, they are all in need of just one thing.
It is to turn to Allah and turn away from everything except Him. Shaykh
Sayyidi at-Tustari recognised this when he answered his murid who had said
to him, ‘Master, food.’ He said to him, ‘Allah.’ The murid was silent awhile
and then said, ‘We must have food.’ Shaykh at-Tustari said, ‘We must have
Allah.’ Whoever of you recognises this and is not at all ignorant of it, my
brothers, should leave me. Whoever does not recognise it, should cling to
us and not leave us until he dies or we die.
My brother, know that I heard the Shaykh, our master, Sayyidi ‘Ali al-Jamal,
may Allah be pleased with him, say, ‘People say that there has never been
such a disaster as the loss of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant
Dhikru’llah 289
him peace, from the earth, and like leaving Andalusia since it was a land of
knowledge. Mawlay at-Tuhani ibn Mawlay at-Tayyib living at Silimaniyya
at the Sharra‘a citadel said: “I say that the greatest of all disasters is that
a man wastes his entire life in other than what his Lord has commanded
him.”’ Sayyidi, look closely at what you have from first to last! If it is what
concerns you and what will bring you good in both worlds, then praise
Allah and thank Him! If not, then have what Allah commanded you and
always cling to the sunna of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace. Whoever turns to Allah and turns away from his
passion, is a wali of Allah.
I said to one of the brothers, may Allah be pleased with them, ‘The root of
happiness and good things is turning to Allah and always gathering oneself
to Him. The root of anxieties, sorrows, turbidities, and loss is heedlessness
to Allah and turning away from Him. We seek refuge with Allah! If a man
looked carefully and turned to his Master and turned away from his pas-
sion, he would have the gifts of Allah which the awliya of Allah have. You
absolutely and categorically must direct your attention to what I have told
you and act on it. May Allah give us and you success.
I also said to one of the brothers, may Allah be pleased with them, ‘If your
wind has no direction and your state is constricted and your situation is un-
bearable, then stop plunging into yourself, do the prayer on your Prophet,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as much as Allah wills, recite
what is easy of the Qur‘an as much as Allah wills, say “La ilaha illa’llah” as
much as Allah wills, and pray two rak‘ats. Always be like that no matter
what happens to you and you will see wonders.’
Do not be sad about a state which you do not have and do not be joyful
about a state you have. Choose what your Lord chooses for you, whether
it is finding or loss, giving or withholding, might or abasement, health
or sickness, wideness or narrowness, expansion or contraction, wealth
or poverty, height or depth, life or death, and so on. It is the state of the
people who surrender their will to their Lord, and the state of the one who
wants to be connected to them and wants to be among them. As for the
one who chooses above Allah and wants what he wants, he remains the
prisoner of his passions.
290 The Sufic Path
Surrender to Salma, and go where she goes.

Follow the winds of the Decree,
and move where she moves.
This is what we would like to hold on to and to rival each other in. It is
the goal of the Path and the end of realisation. None is purified of passion
except for the one who is calm at the time of affliction.
Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Isn’t Allah enough for his slave?’ or isn’t it enough that
your Lord sees everything? ‘Doesn’t he know that Allah sees?’ The one
who is content with Allah has many proofs. When he is parted from what
he loves, he is not lonely. He is calm at the time of affliction. If something
is lost, he finds in his loss. If he is abased, he is exalted in his abasement.
If he is impoverished, he is rich in his poverty. If he is weak, he is strong
in his weakness. If he is powerless, he is powerful in his incapacity. If he is
constricted, he is wide in his constriction. If he is broken, he is mended in
his brokenness. If he loses, he profits in his loss, and so on.
Faqir, listen. I was bewildered about a certain matter of mine for several
days until I was extremely exhausted because of it. That state forced me
into a very strong need of my Lord. Then I found the matter in the Book
of Allah before and after: ‘The matter belongs entirely to Allah, and the
whole affair returns to Him.’ I surrendered His affair to Him and cast
myself down before Him. I did not carry it since it is carried as was stated
by the Shaykh of our Shaykhs, Abu ‘Abdillah Sayyidi Muhammad ibn Sa‘id
al-Habari at-Tarabulisi, may Allah be pleased with him: ‘Leave the house
to its builder. If He wishes, He will set it up, and if He wishes, He will
destroy it.’ It is as the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi al-Hadrami, may Allah
be pleased with him, said:
Surrender to Salma, and go where she goes.
Follow the winds of the Decree,
and turn wherever they turn.
I found rest from my exhaustion and enjoyed myself. My moment was
pleasant. Praise and thanks be to Allah! The entire secret lies in abandon-
ing the self. As far as killing it is concerned, the Garden (is obtained) by
its payment!
You must absolutely, categorically be on your guard against the opinion of
Dhikru’llah 291
the fuqara, the opinion of others, and your own opinion. That goes straight
to the point since Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Man has an inner eye on himself.’ –
‘If you follow many of those who are in the earth, they will misguide
you from the way of Allah.’ If you are confused in any matter and do not
know whether good lies in doing it or leaving it, then you should do the
Istikhara of the Prophet without delay, or pray two rak‘ats and recite two
short surahs in them like Expansion or Power, do the prayer on the Mes-
senger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, at least three
times morning and evening, and say, ‘Husbuna’llahu wa ni‘ama’l-wakil’
(‘Allah is enough for us and He is the best Protector’) and, ‘La howla
wa la quwwata ila bi’llahi’l-‘Aliyyu’l-Adheem’ (‘There is no power nor
strength except by Allah, the High, the Great’), the same number of
times. Then Allah will prove the truth for you and nullify the false. Allah
We think that when the wayfarer (salik) uses this and consults his
heart as the Prophet, peace be upon him, said to one of his Companions,
may Allah be pleased with him, ‘Consult your heart,’ then only the truth
will be established in his heart. It is best that you verify it by the inner eye
of one of the fuqara or someone else more than your own inner eye. The
correct way is to follow the one with inner eye, be he a faqir or not. Allah
will strengthen your help and help you Himself.
If you desire to overcome illusion as it overcomes you, then hold on tightly
to the sunna of your Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
as long as you are alive and as much as you are able. If you desire to do
anything important and fear its outcome, then hurry to do the Istikhara of
the Prophet. It is to pray two rak‘ats. In the first one, you recite the Fatiha
and the surah of Kafirun. In the second you recite the Fatiha and Ikhlas.
You say the Basmala, both for the Fatiha and at the beginning of the other
surah. You say, ‘Amin’ after ‘those astray (dhalleen)’. You make supplication
to Allah with the well-known supplication in every prostration. It is ‘Oh
Allah! I ask You for good by Your knowledge and I ask You for strength by
Your power. I ask You for some of Your immense overflowing favour. You
have power and I have no power. You know and I do not know. You are
the Knower of the unseen worlds. Oh Allah! If you know that this matter
is good for me in my deen, this world, my livelihood, my daily affairs and
the outcome of my affair, sooner or later, then decree it for me and make
292 The Sufic Path
it easy for me and bless me in it. If you know that it is bad for me in my
deen, this world, my livelihood, my daily affairs, and the outcome of my
affair, sooner or later, then turn it away from me and turn me away from it.
Decree good for me wherever it is and then make me pleased with it. You
have power over everything.’ When you finish with the Taslim (greeting),
then repeat your action from beginning to end seven times. Allah ta‘ala
will confirm the truth and nullify the false. Know that from the time of
my youth up until this very day – and it is a period of 50 years – I have not
undertaken any important business without performing the Istikhara of
the Prophet. In that entire period, I have experienced nothing but good.
Allah is the authority for what we say.
Allah knows best, but we think that the repetition of the Istikhara befits
the station of the people of heedlessness since every station has its vocal
expression. There is no doubt that we consider this teaching to be for the
common fuqara, not for the elite. The elite already do as we have mentioned
and they are not ignorant of it. It is necessary. You must recognise the shari‘a
of the deen and not be ignorant of it. You must pay attention to it and not
neglect it. You must always have esteem for it and esteem for the one who
brought it to us. That is our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace. You must have esteem for those who took it from him and conveyed
it to us exactly as it came without any alteration. Beware, and again beware
of losing esteem for it and esteem for the one who brought it or you might
fall from the eyes of the Merciful. We seek refuge with Allah from falling
from the eyes of Allah!
I advise you for Allah and in Allah, desiring the pleasure of Allah. I advise
you to hold as tight as you possibly can to the Messenger’s sunna which is
the invincible fortress against every affliction. It is the ship of rescue and
the treasury of secrets and blessings at every moment and time. Cling to
it until certainty comes to you, i.e. death. If you are confused about any
of your affairs and your breast is constricted and the matter is critical and
you have exhausted all of your devices, then do not plunge into it – do
not manage or choose as is the business of the people of heedlessness, may
Allah be kind to us and them! Occupy yourself with what your Lord has
commanded you. Either you pray as much as Allah wills, recite as much
Qur‘an as Allah wills, do the dhikr of ‘La ilaha illa’llah’ as much as Allah
wills, do the prayer on the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
Dhikru’llah 293
grant him peace, as much as Allah wills, or study knowledge as much as

Allah wills, and so forth. Then Allah will give you a release and a way out
as He has given to His awliya, may Allah be pleased with them and give
us and you the benefit of their baraka.
May Allah teach you good and shield you from evil! Know that Shaykh
Sayyidi Sahl ibn ‘Abdillah at-Tustari, may Allah be pleased with him, was
one of the great sufis, may Allah be pleased with them. He said, ‘Beware
of management and choice. They make people’s lives turbid.’ I said that
they both distract them from the remembrance of their Master. Dhikr is
the fortress of the believer. During dhikr of Allah, peaceful calm descends
so that the one who does dhikr does not choose, is not turbid, alarmed,
anxious, or sorrowful. It says in the Immense Qur‘an, ‘Those who believe
and whose hearts are peacefully calm by the dhikr of Allah. The hearts
are made peacefully calm by the dhikr of Allah.’ Certainly, peaceful calm
descends during the dhikr of Allah. If you want to know that with certain
knowledge, then persevere in dhikr of Allah with tranquillity, gravity, es-
teem, respect, and a state of cleanliness based on the sunna while you rely on
Allah. This is what we think and what most people think. Allah knows best.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
I also found two qualities of working in order to be set free and there is
nothing in existence nobler than them. The first is the abasement of the
self to Allah and its weakness to Him in the hands of decrees. This quality
is the noblest quality by His word, may He be exalted:
Yet We desired to be kind to those that were abased in the earth
and to make them leaders, and to make them the inheritors, and
to strengthen them in the earth.
The second is dhikr of Allah ta‘ala. It is also the greatest of all qualities by His
word, may He be exalted, ‘And dhikr of Allah is greater.’ These qualities of
dhikru’llah and abasement to Allah are in the hands of the slaves of Allah.
I did not find them joined in anything except the word of the striver:
Then Allah belongs to Allah.
There is no doubt that dhikru’llah does not draw near to anything except
that it annihilates, and only dhikru’llah remains. As for abasement to Al-
lah in the consensus of the people of realisation and precision – and they
294 The Sufic Path
are the lords of the reality and its Shaykhs, it is the key of all openings and
the springhead of good things altogether. The Shaykhs of the reality, may
Allah be pleased with them, are famous like Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shadhili,
Abu’l-’Abbas al-Mursi and Ibn ‘Ata’Illah. The springhead of their secret is
Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish and ‘Abd’ul-Qadir al-Jilani, Ibn Wafa‘,
Abu Madyan al-Ghawth, Sayyidi Ahmad ibn Yusuf Madani, Mawlana
‘Abdullah al-Ghazwani, ash-Shiba‘, al-Jazuli, Sayyiduna ‘Abdu’r-Rahman
al-Majdhub, Sayyidi Yusuf al-Fasi, Shaykh al-Ghazali, the Imam ash-Shitri,
and Imam al-Junayd, and the likes of these men. May Allah profit us by
them and provide us with their love. Amin.
Know that the people of Allah are those who do dhikr of Allah ta‘ala.
Dhikr is what hearts understand and what the tongue mentions.
Know that one man is occupied with Allah and one man is occupied with
the words of Allah. Both of them are occupied with Allah. There is no
distinction between them. O Allah! The one occupied with the words of
Allah is occupied with his tongue rather than his heart – the one occupied
with Allah is better than him. If the one occupied with Allah is occupied
with his tongue rather than his heart, the one occupied with Allah is better
than him because the reciter of Qur‘an, the one who prays, and the one
doing dhikr mean the same. All good is joined in these three things. These
are the doors of arrival to Allah. Whoever does not arrive by one of them,
does not ever arrive. Dhikr by the tongue is shari‘a, and by the heart, it is
reality. Shari‘a must have reality, and reality must have shari‘a. Joining the
two of them is the truth and the right way because every shari‘a is reality, and
the matter is not reversed. Shari‘a is a structure and the reality is meaning.
This Path of ours is the path of shara‘i’, and its results are the realities. For
that reason, it is called inward. Its name is based on its results. Its opposite
is the path of the outward. It is a path of reality and its results are shara‘i’.
For that reason, it is called the path of the outward. Its name is based on
its results. The people of the inward seek shara‘i’ and their seeking is re-
alities. The people of the outward are the reverse. They seek realities and
their seeking is shara‘i’. The people who join the outward and the inward
seek shara‘i’ as they seek realities. Their seeking is realities when they seek
shara‘i’. In the book of Abu Musa al-Ash’ari, we found:
Dhikru’llah 295
Wrong actions are decreased by dhikru’llah and inner eyes and

hearts are wiped out. Dhikru’llah is better than everything. The
sun of the hearts does not withdraw.
The substance of Allah to His slave is on the description of their awareness,
words, deeds, no more. He said, may He be exalted, ‘We brought them
their dhikr.’ He said, may the Speaker be exalted, ‘He shall repay them for
their describing. He is Wise, Knowing.’ I heard from the Shaykh Sayyidi
Ahmad ibn ‘Abdillah, may Allah profit us by all, say, ‘When the tongues
of peoples incline to good, they are enriched. When they incline to evil,
they are drained.’
You are only veiled from that which goes on by familiarity with the pass-
ing. The abiding only appears to you by intimacy with the abiding. All
except Allah is a veil on Him. Whenever your himma is connected to love
of a thing, you mention it a lot. Whenever you mention it a lot, its love is
established in your heart.
Know that whatever was from Allah to me in the beginning of my journey
was that He bestowed dhikr on me. Then He extracted the presence from
the dhikr for me, and then He extracted knowledge from the presence for
me, i.e. the knowledge of inspiration. Then He extracted withdrawal from
what is other-than-Allah from knowledge for me. Then from withdrawal
from what is other-than-Allah, He extracted gnosis of Allah for me. We only
have the favour of our masters by whom Allah supported us and guarded
us in all of these states. May Allah repay them with good from us! They
guided us and helped us and taught us adab and disciplined us. We only
have what they bestowed. May Allah place us among those who travel their
straight road and make us die in their love. Amin, by His favour and ihsan.
The path is two paths: the path of dhikr and the path of reflection. As for
the path of dhikr, it is the path of the shara‘i’ of the inward. As for the path
of reflection, it is the path of the realities of the inward. When man turns
to his Master by the path of reflection or the path of dhikr, his Master is
enough for him. The provision of his outward is the most beautiful of what
is set up for himself because whoever has his destruction by Allah, what
comes after it is also by Allah. Whoever does not manage, is managed. As
the path of dhikr is speech and action, so the path of reflection is speech and
296 The Sufic Path
action. The reality of the inward is the source of its shari‘a, and its shari‘a is
the source of its reality. All this matter is only by the company of its people
and clinging to them and staying under their command and prohibition.
Know that the door of election is annihilation, and annihilation has two
doors: dhikr and reflection. They are two doors. Through them, annihila-
tion is entered. Whoever comes from the direction of the outward only
enters by means of dhikr. Whoever comes by the direction of the inward,
only enters by means of reflection. Dhikr and reflection are two worlds. The
people of the world of dhikr desire the world of reflection and its people,
and the people of the world of reflection desire the world of dhikr and its
people. In general, each of them is dhikr, although outward dhikr is called
dhikr, and dhikr of the heart is called reflection. Reflection is dhikr of the
heart. Only Allah is aware of it. Only their Maker knows what is in the
hearts. He has knowledge of the Unseen worlds. He said, may He be exalted:
The dhikr of Allah is greater.
This reflection has two aspects: this is what we mentioned. One is called
the reflection of the self, and the other aspect is called reflection of the
species. It is the reflection of two or three. It is stronger than the reflection
of the self because the hand of Allah is with the community. Between the
reflection of the self and the reflection of the species is what is between
the prayer of the individual and the community prayer. This is where the
people of reflection are to be found. They are few.
The like of the one of dhikr and the one of reflection is like the skilled
workman with the one of means because great merchants are not from the
people of crafts. They are from means. They said, ‘The dirham of trade is
better than ten wages because this world is only abundant with the people
of trades.’ If one of the people of crafts owns this world, it is only imperfect
in relation to the people of trades. This is the custom of Allah in His earth.
However, craft belongs to the veil. They said, ‘When craft is not able to do
without, its ends veil this.’ Means is the place of wealth for the people of
trade. This is a sound analogy because Allah made reflection not equalled by
any of the limbs of man. As he said in a clear hadith, ‘Reflection for an hour
is better than the ‘ibada of a year.’ It is as Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in the Hikam:
The heart does not benefit by anything like withdrawal
by which it enters the arena of reflection,
Dhikru’llah 297
because the people of reflection are the people of might and the people of
the treasury. The ‘ibada of the people of reflection is the noblest of ‘ibadat
because the one of reflection is a Sultan. No one is equal to him. His house
is the house of knowledges and gnoses of Allah. What is between the actions
of reflection and the actions of the limbs is what is between purification by
water and tayammum. Similarly, if man does not find any way to reflection,
he moves to dhikr. It is as the speaker said:
Do purification with the water of the Unseen,
if you have a secret.
If not, do tayammum with good earth or stone.
The water of the Unseen means reflection, and good earth and stone
indicates the actions of the limbs. It is also as it is said:
An atom of the actions of the heart is better
than mountains of the actions of the limbs.
Know that it is haram for the Rijal to reach the place of arrival except by
love of the Rijal. It is said that whoever has success, only wins it by winning
the company of one who has had success. It is said, ‘This Path is travelled
by people who have swept dung-heaps with their arwah.’ He said, may the
Speaker be exalted:
Call on Him, humbly and secretly.
By this, concealing dhikr is the head of all good. It is the greatest of ‘ibada.
The fruit of this immense virtue is only obtained by lords of the hearts who
conceal their dhikr in their hearts from all that is other-than-the Beloved,
even from their guardians. None except Him is aware of their hearts, from
Him to them, and from them to Him. As the speaker said:
The hearts of the gnostics have eyes.
They see what the lookers do not see.
They have tongues which converse intimately
about secrets, withdrawn from the Noble Scribes.
Wings fly without feathers to the Malakut
of the Lord of the Worlds.
An atom of the deeds of hearts is better
than the like of mountains of the deeds of the limbs.
298 The Sufic Path

Reflection for an hour is better
than the ‘ibada of a year. - Hadith.
This is because Allah made the heart an Amir over the limbs of man. Its
good deeds are better than the good deeds of the limbs. Its evil deeds are
greater than all the evil deeds of the limbs.
Know that had the meanings been like the foam of the sea, and they are
the reason of the slave’s dhikru’llah, where would the foam of the sea be in
relation to dhikru’llah? He said, may He be exalted, ‘The dhikr of Allah
is greater.’ Because of this, they said, whoever rebels and remembers Allah
is better than the one who does not rebel and does not remember Allah.
The worse is the rebellion of the slave in the dhikr of Allah, the Blessed,
the Exalted, because the sincere slave does not rely on obedience and doing
it. He is commanded to do it. Similarly, he does not rely on rebellion. If
he is commanded to leave it, he leaves it. He relies on Allah without fault.
The majority of the judgement of pre-endless-time is that it is related to
faults because Allah does what He likes. Perhaps He will show mercy to
His slave by rebellion if He wills. Perhaps He will punish him by obedience
if He wills that, and the reverse. There is no injustice. Since the matter is
like that, how can the slave rely on his obedience or his rebellion? The slave
only relies on the One Who created him, and created his obedience and
rebellion. He is Allah ta‘ala.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know, may Allah have mercy on you! that when the faqir changes the
remembrance of all things for the remembrance of Allah, his slaveness for
Allah is purified and made sincere. When his slaveness is pure and sincerely
Allah’s he is the wali of Allah. Remember only Allah and be Allah’s alone.
Whoever belongs to Allah, Allah is his. How happy is the one who belongs
to Allah and Allah is his! His words, may He be exalted, about the virtue
of dhikr of Allah is enough, ‘Remember me and I will remember you.’
The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said in that which
he related from his Lord, the Great, the Majestic, ‘I sit with the one who
remembers Me.’
Dhikru’llah 299
My master, may Allah be pleased with him, used to say to me, ‘I like what
I hear said against you.’ Al-‘Arabi ad-Darqawi is like that. He likes what
he hears said against you which kills the self and gives life to your hearts,
and not the opposite. Only the heedless ignorant man, whose inner eye is
dull and secret is dark, is concerned with what gives life to the self and kills
the hearts. Man has only one heart. Wherever he turns in one direction,
he turns away from the other since, ‘Allah did not give a man two hearts
in his breast,’ as Allah ta‘ala said. The lofty Shaykh, Sayyidi Ibn ‘Ata’Illah,
Your turning to Allah is your turning away from creation.
Your turning to creation is your turning from Allah.
One of the brothers said to me, ‘I am nothing.’ I told him, ‘Do not say,
“I am nothing.” Do not say, “I am something.” Do not say, “Something
concerns me.” Do not say, “Nothing concerns me.” Say, “Allah” and you
will see wonders.’
Another one said to me, ‘What is the cure for the self ?’ I said, ‘Forget it
and do not remember it at all since the only one who remembers his Lord
is the one who forgets himself.’
All good is in the dhikr of Allah. Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Those who remember
Allah often, men and women, Allah has prepared forgiveness for them
and an immense wage.’ Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Remember me, and I will re-
member you. Thank Me and do not be ungrateful to Me.’ Allah ta‘ala
said, ‘Woe to those who are hardhearted against the dhikr of Allah.
Those are in clear misguidance.’ The Prophet, peace be upon him, said
in what He related from his Lord; glory be to Him: ‘I sit with the one
who remembers Me, and I am with him when he remembers Me …’ to
the end of his words. This is enough about the virtue of dhikr and censure
of heedlessness. If what we mentioned of ayat and hadith is not enough
for us about its virtue, then nothing is enough for us and there is no good
in us. Allah exalts our wages and we do not need anything else. What we
need to do is oppose our passions. That will open up knowledge by divine
gift. Knowledge by divine gift will result in great certainty. Great certainty
purifies us of doubts and illusions and brings us to the presence of the King,
the Knowing. Glory be to Him! There is no god but Him!
300 The Sufic Path
If the believer is constant in his dhikr and says ‘Allah, Allah, Allah,’ he will
obtain nearness to Allah, and he win obtain might from Allah, and he will
obtain victory from Allah. May the curse of Allah be upon whoever lies.
The root of all good qualities such as they are, is freeing the heart from
this world.
Harm and dhikr of Allah are not joined together. Whenever dhikr of
Allah is present, harm departs. Whenever harm is present, dhikr of Allah
departs. Whoever claims that they can be joined together is ignorant of the
virtue of dhikr of Allah, the secret of dhikr of Allah, or the rank of dhikr
of Allah. Dhikr of Allah has great value and a great secret. How can it not
have? The one who is at peace with dhikr of Allah will not be grieved by
the greatest terror on the Day of Rising, let alone the afflictions and trials
which befall him in the abode of this world. What dhikr or ‘ibada is there
for the one who is immersed in the sea of doubts and illusions; by Allah,
we do not think that he has any good.
As for the brother who is bewildered in his affair, tell him to perform the
obligatory prayer and the confirmed sunna. After that, he should say: ‘Al-
lah is enough for us, and He is the best Protector,’ three times; ‘There
is no power nor strength except with Allah, the High, the Great,’ three
times; ‘Allah will be enough for you against them, and He is the Hearing,
the Knowing,’ three times; ‘Our Lord, give us mercy from You …’ to the
end of the ayah, three times; ‘Oh Allah, bless Sayyiduna Muhammad, the
unlettered Prophet, and his family and Companions, and grant them
peace abundantly,’ morning and evening, and he will see wonders, whether
he is at home or on a journey. If he does what we have mentioned, it will
strengthen his resolution to go in the direction in which good lies, Allah
willing, so strongly that he will not be able to repel it.
The believer acquires peace of mind by dhikr until even the greatest terror
on the Day of Rising does not grieve him. What then do you think about
whatever trials and afflictions come to him in this world? My brother, al-
ways cling firmly to the dhikr of your Lord as we have told you – you will
see wonders. May Allah give us and you success. As far as we are concerned,
dhikr is not that the one doing it should say, ‘Allah, Allah,’ constantly,
pray and fast, and then, when some affliction befalls him, should search
Dhikru’llah 301
for whatever means he has to hand and then not find anything. With the
people of realisation, may Allah be pleased with them, dhikr is based on
the fact that the one doing dhikr follows well-marked commands. The
most confirmed of them is that he always leaves what does not concern
him. That if his Lord acquaints him with Himself – or we might say, with
a tajalli-manifestation from his Lord by the names of majesty or the names
of beauty – he recognises Him and is not ignorant of Him. This is the dhikr
of those who truly do dhikr, not of the one who constantly worships Allah,
and when his Master gives him a tajalli-manifestation in what conflicts with
his passion, is ignorant of Him and does not recognise Him. Understand!
May Allah make us and you understand! Amin.
Be steadfast with your Lord and cling firmly to steadfastness. Then He,
glory be to Him, will cover your weakness with His strength by His might,
and your poverty with His wealth by His power, your ignorance with His
knowledge, your anger with His forbearance, and so forth. Then you will
live the life of after-endless-time in this world before the Next World, and
the life of after-endless-time will not be hidden from you since Allah ta‘ala
said about its people, ‘We remove whatever rancour is in their breasts.’
Our brothers face each other on couches. Fatigue does not touch them in
it and they do not leave it.
Faqir, the secret action is seventy times better than the public action as has
come in tradition. Allah knows best, but we think that the circle of dhikr
which our brothers, the fuqara, have publicly – standing and sitting, in
zawiyyas and in houses, in isolated places and inhabited places – is in the
same position as the secret action since this age is an age of heedlessness.
Heedlessness has overwhelmed people and seized their hearts and limbs. It
has left them deaf, dumb and blind. They have no intellect. Fervour for the
deen is like that – making it public and well-known is better than conceal-
ing it, especially the circle of dhikr. It has great excellence and a clear secret
since the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘When
you pass by the meadows of Paradise, graze there.’ It was said, ‘Messenger
of Allah, where are the meadows of Paradise?’ He said, ‘Circles of dhikr.’
He said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘There is no group of
people who gather together to do dhikr of Allah, only desiring Allah’s face
by that, but that a caller calls to them from heaven, “Arise, forgiven! Your
evil actions have been changed into good actions.”’
302 The Sufic Path
I advise you to draw near your Prophet with the prayer and peace upon
him as we told you many days ago. We think that the reality of the prayer
of blessings and peace upon him is only obtained by the one who follows
his sunna and takes on his character. Many people bless him constantly
while they swim in darkness. That is because they are ignorant of his sunna.
They take on the character of innovation. May Allah have mercy on you!
Take note of this deep hole and avoid it. May Allah save us and you from
falling into it!
Our masters, may Allah preserve their existence, told us that they always
set aside a moment for Allah alone without any portion for anything else,
whether it was at night or in the daytime. They would recite the word of
Allah in it, or do dhikr of ‘La ilaha illa’llah’, or the Divine Name alone, or
pray as much as Allah willed, or do the prayer on the Messenger of Allah,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace. By Allah, if you do as I have told
you, Allah will give you an opening which He has not yet opened to you.
It will be greater than the one which you have. His overflowing favour will
appear on you as it has appeared on your like among the people of knowl-
edge and others. Do not be content with the outward knowledge that you
have. Seek inward knowledge as you seek outward knowledge. Use means
to acquire both of them. May Allah give you success! Be among the people
of hearts and limbs. Do not be among the people of limbs alone. ‘Allah
does not look at your forms or your bodies. He looks at your hearts,’ as has
come in tradition. It says in the Book of Allah, ‘The eyes are not blind, but
the hearts which are in the breasts are blind.’ It also says, ‘Hearts which
do not understand,’ and other things. Beware of putting most of your
energy in action. As the speaker said: ‘Today there are only the people of
the outward. As for the people of the inward, that is a community which
has passed away.’ Many of the people of knowledge, may Allah be pleased
with them, were quite explicit about this. By Allah, the matter is not what
they have. It is the opposite of what they have.
The eye may reject the light of the sun because of ophthalmia,
And the mouth may reject the taste of water because of illness.
By Allah, my friend, according to the statements of Shaykh Abu’l-‘Abbas,
Sayyidi Ahmad Zarruq and others, Allah has bestowed inward knowledge
and great opening on a large number of the people of knowledge and others.
Dhikru’llah 303
Whoever wants to realise what is true and what is false should expel the love
of this world from his heart and should not be pleased with himself because
luminosity is strengthened by leaving this world. Certainty is strengthened
by strengthening luminosity. When certainty is strengthened, himma rises
above created beings. When himma rises above created beings, the Maker of
being is reached. Reaching Him is reaching knowledge of Him. This is our
belief and we will believe it until we meet our Lord. We do not believe other
than it because whoever belongs to Allah, Allah is his. Whoever has Allah,
how can he be lacking in good and baraka? This is impossible. By Allah, we
tell you: set aside a time for Allah without any portion for anything else
because the one who gives his entire attention to Allah always has lights and
secrets. Whoever has lights and secrets, has election. Whoever has election,
recognises the true from the false. Recognition of the true from the false
is a sublime rank. This is different from the one who has no election, and
has commonality. He only sees what the common see.
I think that Shaykh Ahmad Zarruq said, ‘When a man blocks off the
people of instruction before he recognises them and before Allah has given
him an opening as He has given them, he will only have an opening at the
end of his lifetime and he will only live a short time after the opening. The
one who lives for many years after the opening is not like the one who dies
shortly after it.’ We could say that the one who enters the land and lives in
it until he knows its common, and its elite, and what it contains, is not like
the one who enters it in the morning and leaves it in the evening.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know that commonness and election are joined and contained in dhikr.
The dhikr of the common is separation, and the dhikr of the elite is gath-
eredness. The common in their dhikr are in two groups: the people of
outward dhikr by the tongue – its people are veiled to the object of their
dhikr. Because of that, they are common. The other group are the people of
dhikr of the heart in meaning. They are on the floods of the veil, distance,
and withdrawal from the object of dhikr. These two groups are the two
groups of the common. The people of the dhikr of the heart are called
the people of watchfulness. They are stronger than the people of the first
group. The elite – may Allah profit them, are the people of gatheredness.
304 The Sufic Path
Their dhikr is by contemplation and eye-witnessing. Each of them takes

from them according to his station in his states. The dhikr of the common
is information, and the dhikr of the elite is eye-witnessing. Information is
not like eye-witnessing. The people of watchfulness in the circle of the veil
take by His word, may He be exalted, ‘He is with you wherever you turn.’
The people of contemplation only see the King, the Giver.
Say: ‘Allah!’ and then leave them plunging in their games.
They withdraw from other-than-Him and see only Him. May Allah provide
us with their love and make us slaves of their slaves by His favour and ihsan
because the slave of the slave is nobler. We said contemplation is gathered-
ness because its people acquire it by all the outward and the inward. Every
tree, every root, every limb, every branch, takes its portion from it. By the
reality, its possessor is veiled to all except Allah – even himself, because it
flows in the body of its owner as water flows in the body of a thirsty man.
Each tree of it takes its portion. For that reason, one of them said, ‘Had the
light of iman directed, it would have covered the existence of phenomenal
beings, and eye-witnessing would have occurred without eyes.’
Know that dhikr has three aspects: outward dhikr without the inward, and
the one who does it does not acquire anything, but he hopes for its good if
he continues in his dhikr. There is then dhikr outwardly and inwardly, and
it is sought-after. The one who has it acquires the Firm Grip. There is dhikr
inwardly without the outward. This one is absorbed in contemplation and
eye-witnessing. As one of them said:
Looking at Allah distracts him from other-than-Him,
Being gathered to Him sees only Him.
This is the state of the strong Rijal, may Allah make us and you among
those who follow their straight road by His favour and ihsan. He has power
over everything.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Dhikru’llah 305
Miftah al-Wird
This is our noble wird for whoever wishes it and seeks it.
Its recital guarantees every good and repels every evil.
If the slave perseveres in it with idhn of the Shaykh,
or from a muqaddem who has idhn of the Shaykh,
Allah will unite the shari‘a and reality for them.
The Key to the Source

Oh Allah bless our master Muhammad, Your slave and Messen-
ger, the unlettered Prophet, and his famil y and Companions and
grant them peace, as great as the number of Your creations and
Your pleasure and the weight of Your throne and the ink of Your
words. I take refuge with Allah, the Hearer, the Wise, from the
accursed shaytan. In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Com-
passionate. There is no power and no strength but through Allah,
the High, the Great. (1)
I ask forgiveness of Allah. (3)
Oh Allah, bless our master Muhammad, Your slave and Messenger,
the unlettered Prophet, and his family and Companions and grant
them peace. (3)
There is no god except Allah alone, without association. The king-
dom and the praise belong to Him, and He has power over all
things. (3)
Glory be to Allah and praise belongs to Allah. There is no god
except Allah. Allah is greater. There is no power and no strength
but through Allah, the High, the Great. (3)
Glory be to Allah, by His praise. Glory be to Allah, the Great. (3)
Praise be to Allah and thanks be to Allah. (3)
Now there has come to you a Messenger from among yourselves:
grievous to him is your suffering, anxious is he over you, gentle to
the trusting, compassionate. (1)
306 The Sufic Path
So if they turn their backs say, ‘Allah is enough for me. There is no
god but Him. In Him I have put my trust, and He is the Lord of
the mighty throne.’ (3)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate: Say: ‘Al-
lah is One. Allah is Eternal. Who has not begotten (form) and was
not begotten (of form). And no one is equal (like) to Him.’ (3)
Thanks to Allah. (3)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate: Praise
belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, the Mer-ciful, the Com-
passionate, Master of the day of the deen. You only do we serve, to
You alone do we turn for help. Guide us on the straight path, the
path of those whom You have blessed, not of those against whom
You are wrathful, nor of those who have gone astray. Amin. (3)
describe, and peace be upon the messengers, and praise belongs to
Allah, the Lord of the worlds. (1)
Oh Allah, bless our master Muhammad, Your slave, Prophet and
Messenger, the unlettered Prophet and his family and compan-
ions and grant them peace by the measure of the sublimity of Your
Essence at every time and in every age. (3)
Amin. Amin. Amin. (1)
Oh Allah! We ask You for sound Islam accompanied by submis-
sion to Your orders and prohibitions and for pure iman, firmly
established, enduring, protected from all the ambiguities and dan-
gers, and for ihsan that will drive us into the presence of the un-
seen. May we be purified by it from every kind of negligence and
defect. We ask for the certainty which will reveal to us the presenc-
es of the names and attributes by which we will be carried into the
direct seeing of the lights of the self-manifestations of the essence,
and for useful knowledge through which we may understand how
to conduct ourselves in Your presence and how to confide in You
in prayer. Fill our hearts with the lights of Your gnosis so that we
Dhikru’llah 307
may witness Your All-Sustaining Gatheredness flowing in all cre-

ated things. Let us be among the circle of Your bounty, beloved in
Your presence and among the firmly grounded and enduring in
trust and sincerity of dependence on You. Realise our hope with
the answer to all that we ask, Oh Generous, Oh Giving!
Oh Master do not let us rely on any other than You in stillness or
in action. You have accustomed us to Your ihsan before we even
asked for it while we were in our mother’s wombs. You have raised
us with the Latif of Your lordship over existence in a manner far
beyond the perception of illuminated intellects.
We ask You, Oh Allah, by Your Prophet, whom You have preferred
above all other prophets and messengers, and by Your Messenger
whose message You made universal and a mercy to all creation,
to bless him and his family and grant them a peace by which we
may attain his love and follow him in words, deeds, in watching-
practice, direct-seeing, courtesy, morals and states.
We ask You, oh Master, by his rank, to grant us that useful knowl-
edge through which every listener may profit and every heart may
be made humble, and at which the skin may thrill and the tears
flow. You are the All-Powerful, the Transformer, the Knowing, the
Living, the Vast.
(Then you pray the prayer called the Treasury of Truths in the
prayer on the most noble of creatures from whom I received it,
the Chosen One – may Allah bless him and grant him peace.)
Oh Allah, bless and grant peace to our lord and master Muham-
mad, the first of the lights emanating from the oceans of the sub-
limity of the essence, with every one of Your perfections in all Your
self-manifestations, in the two worlds – the hidden and the seen
– he realises the meanings of the names and attributes. He is the
first to give praise and worship with every kind of adoration and
good action. He is the helper of all created beings in the world of
forms and the world of spirits. And blessings be upon his family
308 The Sufic Path
and Companions with a blessing that will lift the veil from his no-
ble face for us in visions and in the waking state and will acquaint
us with You and with him in all ranks and presences. (1)
stillness, in looks and in thoughts. (3)
I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed shaytan:
And the people said to them, ‘Men have gathered against you, so
fear them.’ And it increased them in iman and they said: (1)
Allah is enough for us – He is the best guardian. (10 or 73)
So they returned with blessing and fullness from Allah, untouched
by evil. (3)
They followed the good pleasure of Allah: and Allah is of an im-
mense fullness. (3)
And if they desire to trick you, Allah is enough for you. He has
confirmed you with His help, and the trusting ones, and has
brought their hearts together. Had you expended all that is in the
earth, you could not have brought their hearts together, but Allah
brought their hearts together. Surely He is the Mighty, the Wise.
Oh Prophet, Allah is enough for you, and the trusting ones who
follow you. (3)
Ya Latifu, ya Latifu, the lutf is Yours! You are the Latif, and from
You the lutf engulfs us.
Ya Latifu, ya Latifu, I beg You by Your lutf – be the lutf to me –
and the lutf has descended!
Ya Latifu, we have hidden in Your lutf – we have gone into
the centre of lutf – and the lutf has descended.
We have been freed by the lutf of Allah, the Possessor of lutf –
Latifu, Latifu – His lutf is always that.
Ya Hafidhu, ya Hafidhu, the hifdh is Yours! You are the Hafidhu,
and from You the hifdh engulfs us.
Dhikru’llah 309
Ya Hafidhu, ya Hafidhu, I beg you by Your hifdh – be the hifdh

to me – and the hifdh has descended!
Ya Hafidhu, we have hidden in Your hifdh – we have gone into
the centre of hifdh – and the hifdh has descended.
We have been freed by the hifdh of Allah, the Possessor of hifdh –
Hafidhu, Hafidhu – His hifdh is always that.
By the rank of the imam of the messengers, Muhammad, were he
not the source of the hifdh, then it would not have descended.
Blessings be upon him as long as there is one who chants:
‘Ya Hafidhu, ya Hafidhu, the hifdh is Yours!’ (1)
No God – except Allah (10 or 100)
No god – except Allah: our master Muhammad is the Messenger
of Allah. May Allah bless him and his family and grant them peace.
Oh Lord, make us firm by its recital, oh Mawlana, give us results
from its invocation. Let us enter into the fortress of its protection
– let us be among its people – and let us say it and know it at the
time of death. Gather us into the company of our lord and master
Muhammad, may Allah bless him and his family and grant them
peace, and his Companions and all the believing slaves of Allah.
Amin. Amin. Amin. (1)
And peace be upon the prophets and the messengers. (3)
And on all the saliheen. And the last of our prayer is: Praise be
to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. There is no great power and no
strength but through Allah, the Mighty, the Great. My help is only
with Allah. In Him I have put my trust – and to Him I turn in
renewal. Praise belongs to Allah for the blessing of Islam, and it is
blessing enough. (1)
Oh First! Oh Last! Oh Manifest! Oh Hidden! Hear my cry as you
heard the cry of Your slave, our master Zakariah, peace be upon
him. Give me victory through You – for You. Support me through
You – for You. Join me to You – separate me from other-than-You.
(1)
Allah (10 or 66)
(Here ends the Greater Wird)
310 The Sufic Path
The Lesser Wird

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate: Oh Al-
lah, we ask You by the secret of the essence and by the essence of
the secret. He is You and You are He. I have veiled myself with
the light of Allah and the light of the throne of Allah and all the
names of Allah from my enemies and the enemies of Allah. With
one thousand ‘no power, no strength but through Allah’ I have
set a seal upon my self and my deen and upon everything given to
me by Allah with the seal of Allah with which He has sealed the
Heavens and the earth. Allah is enough for us and He is the best
guardian, the best protector, the best helper. The blessings of Allah
be upon our lord and master Muhammad, and upon all his family
and companions, and great peace. Praise belongs to Allah, the
Lord of the worlds. (1)
Oh Lover! (3)
Oh Possessor of the glorious throne! (3)
Oh He who does whatever He wills! (3)
I ask You by the light of Your face that fills every corner of Your
throne: (3)
And I ask You by the power You exercise over Your creation: (3)
And by Your mercy that encompasses all things: (3)
No god but You – oh Rescuer – rescue us! (3)
Allah is Latif with His slaves. He gives wealth to whom He chooses,
and He is the Strong, the Inestimably Precious. (10)
describe, and peace be upon the messengers and praise belongs to
The Wird of Fajr

(This is only recited when the Wird is recited after Subh)
There is no divinity except Allah and Allah is greater. Glory be to
Allah and by His praise – and I seek forgiveness from Allah – and
there is no strength nor power except by Allah. He is the First and
the Last and the Outwardly Manifest and the Inwardly Hidden.
Dhikru’llah 311
Good is in His hand and He has power over everything. (10)

And blessings of Allah upon our lord and master, Muhammad,
and upon his family and Companions, and let there be perfect
peace, as great as the number of Your creations and Your pleasure
and the weight of Your throne and the ink of Your words. (1)
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above what they de-
scribe, and peace be upon the messengers, and praise belongs to
Glory be to Allah and praise be to Allah and there is no divinity
except Allah and Allah is greater. There is no strength nor power
except by Allah, the High, the Great, in quantity as great as what
He knows and the weight of what He knows and the quantity of
what He knows. (3)
The Seal of the Wird

Oh Allah, open our inner eyes to Your watching and con-tem-
plation through Your generosity and overflowing, and illuminate
our secrets to the tajalliyat of Your names and attributes through
Your gentleness and nobility, and annihilate us to our metaphori-
cal existence in Your real existence through Your forbearance and
favour and make us have going-on by You, not by us, preserving
Your shari‘a and the sunna of Your Prophet. You have power over
everything and answering becomes You.
By a secret and a blessing:
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate: Praise be-
longs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, the Merciful, the Compas-
sionate, Master of the day of the deen. You only do we serve, to You
alone do we turn for help. Guide us on the straight path, the path
of those whom You have blessed, not of those against whom You
are wrathful, nor of those who have gone astray. Amin. (1)
(Then pray for yourselves and for your parents and for your
Shaykhs, and for the Shaykh of your age and the Amir al-Mu‘minin
in particular, and for all the muslims in general. Then say:)
312 The Sufic Path
On Allah, bless our master Muhammad and the family of Muham-

mad with a blessing by which You will save us from every fear and
harm. Supply us with all our needs by it, and purify us from all
evils by it, and raise us to the highest degrees by it. Through it let us
attain the furthest goal of the good in life and after death.
Oh Allah, in this hour send down some of Your good and Your
baraka on us as You sent it down on Your perfect ones – send us
what is kept for Your lovers. Let us taste the coolness of Your par-
don and the sweetness of Your forgiveness. Spread over us Your
compassion which encompasses all things. Sustain us with Your
love, Your acceptance, our renewal in You, Your counsel, Your
response to our asking, forgiveness, and well-being, taking in the
present and the absent, the living and the dead, in Your mercy. (1)
Oh Most Merciful of the merciful, Lord of the worlds. (3)
Oh Allah, do not disappoint us in what we ask of You, nor deny us
what we hope for from You. Protect us. Protect us. Protect us – in
life and in death. You are the Answerer of prayers.
Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
Oh Allah, I ask You for the blessing of knowing You, and I ask for
strength through Your power. I ask You for some of Your great and
sublime fullness. You have power and I do not. You know and I do
not. You are the Knower of the Unseen.
Oh Allah, if You know that my situation – my movement and still-
ness, apparent and hidden, in speech, deeds, character and state, in
spiritual work and daily life, as regards myself and others, in this
day (or night) and those after it, and all the rest of my life – is good
for me in my deen, and my worldly existence, in this life and my
next life, and my final end, be it sooner or later, then decree it for
me and make it easy for me and bless me in it.
But if You know that my situation – all my movement and still-
ness, apparent and hidden, in speech, deeds, character and state,
in spiritual work and daily life, as regards myself and others in this
day (or night) and those after it, and all the rest of my life – is evil
Dhikru’llah 313
for me in my deen, and my worldly existence, in this life and my

next life, and my final end, be it sooner or later, then divert it from
me and divert me from it, and destine the good for me wherever
it may be and accept it from me. You have power over all things.
Oh Allah, provision us with fear of You that may come between
us and acts of disobedience against You, and grant us obedience to
You that will bring us to Your Garden and grant us certainty that
will make the misfortunes of this world easy for us.
Oh Allah, let us enjoy our hearing and vision and strength for as
long as You grant us life and make it our legacy. Avenge us on those
who have wronged us and give us victory over those who have at-
tacked us, and do not give us misfortune in our deen. Do not let
this world be the greatest of our cares, nor the scope of our knowl-
edge, nor the object of our desire, and do not let our home-com-
ing be the Fire. Do not place over us because of our wrong actions
those who have no fear of You and will not show mercy to us. (1)
Oh Most Merciful of the merciful. (3)
Oh Allah! Oh Lord, by the rank of Your chosen Prophet and ap-
proved Messenger, purify our hearts of every attribute that might
separate us from Your contemplation and love. Let us die in the
sunna and the community and in yearning for Your encounter. (1)
Oh Lord of majesty and generosity. (3)
So glory be to Allah both in your evening hour and in your morn-
ing hour. Praise belongs to Him in the heavens and the earth, alike
at the setting of the sun and in your noontide hour. He brings forth
the living from the dead – even so you shall be brought forth.
Oh Allah, we ask You for Your pleasure and the Garden and what
brings one near to them, from speech and action – and we take
refuge with You from Your wrath and the Fire and what brings one
near to them from speech and action.
Oh Allah, Oh Abundant in blessing, Oh Repeller of adversities,
Oh One Who frees us from troubles and who lifts up the darkness,
and Oh Most Just of those who judge, Oh Reckoner of those who
are unjust, and Oh Protector of those who are wronged, Oh First
without beginning and Oh Last without end, Oh You Who have
a name without a kunya:
314 The Sufic Path
Free us and all the muslims from the state they are in – by the
secret of Your Name – the Guarded, the Hidden, the Blessed, the
Pure, the Purified, the Wholly Pure. You are Powerful over all
things and fitted to answer our prayers.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Commentary on the Wird

The slave of Allah, I mean Muhammad ibn al-Habib,
says in counsel:
Oh my companions! Live in joy and serenity. If you are among us
as one with firm trust and intention,
And if you are sincere in the love which is, without a doubt,
our staff while travelling on the path of Allah,
And if you have a strong resolve to do the wird, and are present
for the heart to grasp its hidden meanings,
And if at all times you have the meaning of the dhikr in your
consciousness, you will quickly be helped in your life.
The key of the wird is to say the prayer on the Prophet,
the taking refuge, the Bismillah, the ‘no power’ (but with
Allah) – and that’s enough for all your problems.
So right at the beginning of the wird you start with the istighfar:
and by it you will gain every good quality.
Its real meaning is the veil of Allah over the wrong action
of the slave: and so it keeps him from every great fear and
every temptation.
So no anxiety can remain in the same company as your
perseverance in His dhikr: and no doubt can remain
when your needs are met.
After you finish this, bless the Prophet with the prayer
of a lover firmly rooted in love:
Dhikru’llah 315
Its real meaning is the compassion that befits his rank,

and his rank is above the rank of every creature.
Constantly reflect him in the mirror of your heart
and rely on him for the attainment of the Presence.
After the prayer on the Prophet do the ‘La ilaha illa’llah’.
By it you will reject illusion from the inner eye.
And be swift to negate otherness for there is still no doubt
that it is a screen to the people of the path of reality.
And you will directly see a Lord whose attributes have been
manifested by the secrets of phenomena
and the lights of the garden.
You will grasp the secret – only the gnostic of Allah
who possesses vision knows its value.
Glorify Him with the glorification of Allah that is in His Book,
but take care not to perform tanzih with reason and thinking,
But do it in the way that the Truth has purified Himself –
and entrust yourself to Him, and purify Him
from contamination with time-forms and shirk itself.
Give praise as you bear in mind your inability to praise
as it was reported by the Best of Creation.
After finishing the wird say ‘Husbuna’llah’ and
do it with intention seventy-three times.
The Glorious Truth has promised to the dhakir who recites it
a state unbounded, complete.
It extinguished the fire of the friend (Ibrahim) by its secret,
and from it the Beloved (Muhammad) was given every gift.
In this time of ours, its dhikr takes preference
over sections of Qur‘an or wazifas.
If you wish to hasten an understanding of the reality,
then with himma persevere in repeating the Supreme Name.
Always mirror the letters of the name in your heart,
and repeat it unconsciously at every moment.
Do not turn to otherness – for it is indeed a barrier. Even when
it is praiseworthy it is still more suitable to darkness.
316 The Sufic Path
To the people, His dhikr does in place of what is other-than-Him.

If you possess himma there is no opposite to Allah.
Fear Him in the dhikr and be annihilated to other-than-Him:
and there is no other except for the illusion of multiplicity.
Multiplicity is only oneness multiplied in accordance
with the names and the existence-traces of divine power.
Its highest place of manifestation is the Messenger Muhammad,
may the blessings of Allah be upon him at every instant,
And on his family and Companions as long as there is a dhakir
who yearns for the dhikr of the God of the Throne in every state.
Our path is above all other paths – because it gives us
the goal we desire – first time!
And it unites the two aspects without a doubt –
the aspect of the reality and the aspect of the shari‘a.
I ask my Lord Allah for a divine opening to every sincere murid
on the path,
And that He always guide the brotherhood to stay together,
holding to what is pleasing to the God of creation.
I convey my greetings of peace to those of every sect devoted
to the dhikr of the Best of Creation.
So if you are a lover of our Lord, continue to be
and Allah will reward you with a glance of His.
The qasida is completed and I seek forgiveness for any illusion
of other than the existence of the Truth that I may have
every time I look (at the creation).
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Wird of the Salat

(After each of the fard prayers say:)
I ask forgiveness of Allah. There is no god but He, the Living,
the Eternal: to Him I turn. (3)
Dhikru’llah 317
Allah, Your forgiveness is vaster than my wrong actions

and Your mercy more hopeful for me than my behaviour. (3)
Allah, bless Your slave, Prophet and Messenger, the unlettered
Prophet, and his family and companions, and grant them peace, as
great in measure as Your essence, at all times and in every age. (3)
Amin. Amin. Amin.
Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
Allah, we ask You that we should do good, leave what is objection-
able and love the poor. If You will that there be schism among Your
slaves, grant that You will take us to You uncorrupted.
Amin. Amin. Amin.
(Then say:)
Glory be to Allah. (33)
Praise belongs to Allah. (33)
Allah is greater. (33)
(Then seal the hundred with:)
There is no god except Allah, alone, without connection. The
kingdom and the praise belong to Him, and He has power over
all things.
(Then say:)
I ask forgiveness of Allah. (3)
Praise be to Allah and thanks be to Allah. (3)
There is no power and no strength but through Allah. (3)
Oh Allah, we commend our deen and our iman to You, so protect
them for us with a Muhammadan protection in our lives and at
our deaths and after our passing and grant us perfection of them
in following him, blessings of Allah be upon him in words and
318 The Sufic Path
actions and behaviour and states, and by that means we seek Your
noble face, oh most noble of the noble. Amin.
(Then say:)
belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds, the Mer-ciful, the Com-
passionate, Master of the day of the deen. You only do we serve, to
You alone do we turn for help. Guide us on the straight path, the
path of those whom You have blessed, not of those against whom
You are wrathful, nor of those who have gone astray. Amin. (1)
Allah! There is no god but He, the Living, the Self-Sustaining.
Drowsiness does not overtake Him, nor does sleep. To Him be-
longs all that is in the heavens and the earth. Who is there that
shall intercede with Him except by His leave? He knows what lies
before them and what is after them, and they do not understand
anything of His knowledge except what He wills. His Throne
comprises the heavens and the earth, and the preserving of them
oppresses Him not. And He is the All-High, the Vast.
The Messenger trusts in what was sent down to him from his Lord
and the trusting ones. Each one trusts in Allah and His angels,
and in His books and His messengers. ‘We make no distinction
between any of His messengers.’ They say: ‘We hear and we obey.
Our Lord, grant us Your forgiveness. To You is the homecoming.’
Allah charges no self except to its capacity. Recorded for it is what
it has earned, and against it what it has deserved. ‘Our Lord, take
us not to task if we forget or make mistake. Our Lord, charge us
not with a load such as you laid on those before us. Our Lord, do
not burden us beyond what we have the strength to bear. And
pardon us. And forgive us. And have mercy on us. You are our
Protector, so help us against the people who cover over.’
Allah affirms that there is no divinity but He, and the angels and
men possessed of knowledge, upholding justice: There is no divin-
ity but He, the Mighty, the Wise. The true transaction with Allah
is Islam.
Dhikru’llah 319
Say: Oh Allah of the kingdom, You give the kingdom to whom

You will and You seize the kingdom from whom You will. You
abase whom You will and You exalt whom You will. In Your hand
is the good. You are powerful over everything. You make the night
to enter into the day and You make the day enter into the night,
and You bring forth the living from the dead, and You bring forth
the dead from the living, and You provide whom You will without
reckoning.
There has come to you a messenger from among yourselves, griev-
ous to him is your suffering. Anxious is he over you. Gentle to
the trusting ones, compassionate. So if they turn their backs, say:
‘Allah is enough for me. There is no divinity except Him. In Him
have I put my trust, and He is the Lord of the mighty throne.’
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate: Say: ‘He
is Allah, One. Allah the Self-Sufficient. He has not begotten and
has not been begotten, and nothing is like Him.’
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate: Say: ‘I
take refuge with the Lord of daybreak, from the evil of what He
has created, and from the evil of darkness when it gathers, and
from the evil of women who blow on knots, and from the evil of
the envier when he envies.’
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate: Say: ‘I
take refuge with the Lord of men, the King of men, the God of
men, from the evil of the slinking whisperer, who whispers in the
breasts of men, of jinn and men.’
Oh Allah, You are my Lord. There is no god but You. You created
me and I am Your slave and I act according to Your covenant and
Your promise as far as I am able. I take refuge with You from the
evil of what I have done. I return to You with Your blessings on me
and I return to You with my wrong action, so forgive me. None
forgives wrong action but You. Oh my Lord, forgive me and have
mercy on me and turn towards me. You are the One Who turns,
the Compassionate.
belongs to Allah, who created the heavens and the earth and ap-
pointed the shadows and the light, then the ones who cover over
320 The Sufic Path
and ascribe equals to their Lord. It is He Who created you from

clay, then determined a term, and a term is stated with Him. Yet
thereafter you doubt. He is Allah in the heavens and in the earth.
He knows your secrets and what you publish and He knows what
you are earning.
Praise belongs to Allah Who guided us to this. Had Allah not
guided us we had surely never been guided. Indeed our Lord’s
messengers came with the truth. (3)
Oh Allah, praise belongs to You. (3)
Oh Allah, what You have bestowed on us of blessing is from You,
by You, and Yours alone. There is no partner with You. I am unable
to praise You properly as You praise Yourself. (1)
It is as Allah wills. There is no strength but with Allah. Praise
belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. (3)
(Then raise your hands and pray for the Prophet, salla’llahu
‘alayhi wa sallam, and for the people of the house and for the
near-to-Allah and the Shaykhs, parents, brothers and loved ones,
and all the muslims, men and women. Then say:)
Oh Allah, bless our master Muhammad, Your slave and Your Mes-
senger, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and Companions,
and grant them peace. (3)
Allah, we ask You for a constant iman. We ask You for a submis-
sive heart. We ask You for useful knowledge. We ask You for a true
certainty. We ask You for correct deen. We ask You for pardon in
every trial. We ask You for perfect forgiveness. We ask You for our
needs beyond the reliance on men. Allah, make good the outcome
of all these our affairs. Protect us from the shame of the world, and
from punishment in the world to come. (1)
Allah, oh Latif, we ask You for lutf in what the decrees entail. (3)
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above all that they de-
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Dhikru’llah 321
Salatu’l-Mashish
Oh Allah, bless the one out of whom the secrets have burst and the
lights have flooded. By him realities arose and the knowledges of
our master Adam, peace be upon him, descended on him. So the
creatures are incapable beside him and understanding is a trifle to
him. Not one of us has attained to his level before or after. The gar-
dens of the malakut are delighted by the flowers of his beauty, and
the basins of the jabarut are overflowing with the effusions of his
lights. There is no single thing that is not dependent on him since
it was said, ‘Without the means, the end would have escaped us.’
Bless him as is appropriate for You and as he deserves.
Oh Allah, he is Your all-embracing secret, guiding to You by You,
and Your mightiest veil standing before You.
Oh Allah, join me with his family, and let me realise his degree,
and let me know him with a gnosis by which I will be protected
from the springs of ignorance, and by it let me sip from the springs
of giving. Put me on his path to Your presence, protected by Your
aid. Keep me from unreality so that I might triumph over it. Drive
me into the seas of unity. Snatch me from the mires of tawhid and
drown me in the source of the sea of Oneness, so that I may not
see, hear, find or feel other than Oneness. Make the great veil the
life of my spirit, and its spirit the secret of my reality, and its reality
the integrator of my universe of the first truth.
Oh First, Oh Last, Oh Manifest, Oh Hidden, hear my cry as You
heard the cry of Your slave, our master Zakariah, peace be upon
him. Give me victory through You for You, support me through
You for You, and join us together, and separate me from other-
than-You.
Allah. (666)
Shaykh Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Dawn Dhikr
Oh Living, Oh Self-sustaining, there is no god but You. (41)
322 The Sufic Path
Glory be to You, surely I was from among those in error. (1)

Glory be to Allah through praise of Him. Glory be to Allah,
the Vast. I ask forgiveness of Allah. (10)
Allah. (7)
And oh Lord! through the compassionate guide, Muhammad,
grant us sciences that will benefit us on the Day of Rising.
Strengthen us with lights at every instant, and make us firm at the
sealing, the agony of death, and the grave. (1)
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Whoever is destroyed among people, is destroyed only in respect to what

he knows, not that of which he is ignorant. Each of them truly recognises
that action-by-knowledge is what is needed. It is not knowledge. Some of
them do not recognise this, and think that knowledge is what is needed.
The matter is not as he thinks. It is the opposite of what he thinks. The
lofty Shaykh Sayyidi Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, may Allah be pleased with him, said in
his Hikam: ‘It is not feared that the paths will become confused for you.
What is feared, is that passion will overwhelm you.’ Therefore take note
and always expose yourselves to the fragrant breeze of your Lord. Do not
slacken in travelling your path as we see many of you doing. Help is ac-
cording to predisposition, as in the Hikam of Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, ‘Help arrives
according to predisposition, and lights shine according to the purity of
the secrets. The only one who belittles the wird is the one is ignorant of
the warid which exists in the next world. The wird will last as long as this
world. It is more proper to be concerned with that, the existence of which
is not disputed. There is no replacement for whatever of your life you have
missed, and that which you have obtained of it is worthless.’
I tell you that the wird is what the slave has of means of his Lord. The
warid is what comes to His slave from Allah of gifts. You absolutely must
expose yourselves to the fragrant breezes of your Lord. But you should
always be on your guard against what will harden your hearts, like constant
speech, constant satiety, and constant socialising with people. Your outward
should always have the state of humility. You should leave every state which
leads to arrogance and pride. You should not desire any of the states of the
proud at all. You should have the state of humility, cleanliness, bereftness,
contentment, and so forth.
Dhikru’llah 323
I took the wird from him (Shaykh ‘Ali al-Jamal), and it is: ‘I ask Allah’s
forgiveness,’ 100 times; ‘Oh Allah, bless Sayyiduna Muhammad, the un-
lettered Prophet and his family and Companions, and grant them peace
abundantly,’ 100 times; and ‘La ilaha illa’llah,’ 1,000 times – and at the end
of each hundred, ‘Sayyiduna Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace.’ It was done after the dawn prayer and
after the sunset prayer. After I took it from him, he said to me, ‘For us, this
is part of the path of the people of the outward, the victorious masters, may
Allah be pleased with all of them.’ Then he taught me the Greatest Name.
It is ‘Allah’ without any specific number.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The existence of the fruits of actions demands the absence of the fruits of
words. Similarly, the existence of the fruits of words demands the absence
of the fruits of actions. That is because the substance is one. However,
sometimes it appears as sensory actions and sometimes it changes and ap-
pears as words and meanings. What is meant by fruits here, means gifts,
i.e. the gifts of knowledge and the gifts of action which come on the people
of election from the presence of the unseen worlds from the element of
contemplation and eye-witnessing. They come as we said. Sometimes they
come to them as words and knowledges, and sometimes they come on them
as actions and deed. This change is part of the perfection of its beauty and
its radiance. The poet said:
My goal in love is that I become coloured.
It is what is called the waridat. It is also called gnoses. It is also called tastes.
It is only found by pure tawhid from the source of certainty or by the truth
of certainty from the people of the source of certainty by Allah and the
people of the truth of certainty for Allah, and no more.
Know that man in general is as if he were made on the lookout for his
tajalliyat. Part of the sum of his tajalliyat is tajalli in the senses and tajalli
in the meanings. These tajalliyat are waridat which alternate on man, thing
coming after thing. They are never rejected. They are connected and never
decline. They happen to man like the waters of the river. The water which
comes, flows, and never returns and never is exhausted – always a travelling
resident. In the same way, Allah made tajalliyat always come to man and
324 The Sufic Path
depart. They are never exhausted. Whoever wants to stop with them or
wants them to stop with him, wants to do something which Allah ta‘ala
has not created. It is like the one who comes to a strong river and wants
to contain it. He cannot do it, even if all creation helped him. The author
of the Hikam said, ‘He sent the world to you so that you would reach
Him by it.’
Know that the judgement of the one of a warid-state is that of the one
with madness who faints. Have you seen the one who faints in the state of
his swoon? Does he have any disposal of himself in the state of the attack
of madness? He has no disposal of himself until that state is finished with
him. For that reason, Allah and His Messenger pardon whatever he does in
that state. He is not taken to account for it because authority belongs to the
dominant. Similarly, the one with states, when he is dominated by his states,
is used by them, how they wish, in what they wish. In that, obligation falls
from him as Shaykh Abu Madyan, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
Obligation is removed from us in our intoxication.
Whoever says that the one with states does not have their effect appear on
him has lied, because states do not come upon anyone but that their effect
appears on him, except for the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace. Allah singled him out among His creation. He is the spring of
secrets and lights. The Salihun, may Allah be pleased with them, are leak-
ages from the oceans of his lights. Allah, the Great, the Exalted, gave him
this immense privilege. All states are joined in him, and no state dominates
him more than another state which comes to his heart, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, which has not come to the heart of mortal man. He,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, gives each with a due its due and
fulfils the portion of everyone with a portion. As the speaker said, ‘Only
a lover He has chosen drinks the cup and sips it,’ that is, the Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his family.
Know that Allah created death in two respects: death of the senses and
death of meaning. He made the rule of sensory death the rule of death
of meaning. When one dies a sensory death, all obligations are removed
from him. Similarly, whoever dies a death by meaning, all obligations are
removed from him. As Shaykh Sayyidi Abu Ma‘rin said in one of his state-
ments, ‘Obligations are removed in our intoxication with Him.’ If the slave
is someone of insight, when he looks in the face of his Master, all obligations
Dhikru’llah 325
fall from him. Rather, they are haram for him because the judgement is that
of one standing in prayer. It is haram for him to turn from it, and whatever
distracts him from his prayer is haram for him. Shaykh Sayyidi Bushta, may
Allah profit us by him, when it was said to him, ‘So-and-so has died,’ would
say, ‘He has rest from the prayer.’ Shaykh Sayyidi Muhammad ibn Sa‘id
al-Habri and Shaykh Sayyidi Ahmad ibn ‘Abdillah, may Allah give us the
profit by all, reported that he said to them, ‘Allah unveiled my inner eye, so
I saw all the people of the seven heavens and the seven earths prostrating
to Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, except for me. I did not prostrate. I was
seized with great sorrow because of that. Then there was a call to me from
before Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted! It was said to me, “Muhammad!
Allah is generous to the one who has a veil between him and Us. As for
the one for whom there is no veil between him and Us, he is not obliged to
prostrate.”’ Whenever man is pleased with slaveness and mixes with it, his
Master moves him to the station of His essential being. One of them said,
‘They summoned me to their property so why should I love them?’ They
said, ‘We called you to the Kingdom, not to property, because Allah, the
Great is too noble for you to be generous to Him with yourself while He
is not generous to you with Himself.’ Whenever the slave is pleased with
slaveness and his self is at peace with it, Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, says
to him, ‘I am too noble that you should be pleased with slaveness to Me
while I leave you a slave. Rather, you are Me, and I am you.’
Know that evil, bitterness, and the objectionable are only before you men-
tion Allah’s name over them or in them. Whenever you mention Allah
ta‘ala in them or over them, evil is immediately transformed into good, and
bitterness is immediately transformed into sweetness, and the objection-
able is immediately transformed into the acceptable because whenever
you mention Allah ta‘ala over things, good and evil, they fall away and are
annihilated and vanish immediately. Allah ta‘ala remains. Among the sum
of things is your self. If you remember yourself, you forget your Lord. If you
remember your Lord, you forget yourself. He said in the Hikam: ‘Had His
attributes appeared, His beings would have vanished.’ The Name is from
the core of the attributes. How can things not fade away when His dhikr
exists? He said, may He be exalted:
We hurl the truth against falsehood, and it prevails
over it, and falsehood vanishes away.
326 The Sufic Path
Say: ‘The truth has come and falsehood has vanished away.
Falsehood is ever certain to vanish.’
Know, O brother, that that illness which removes your affair in it to Allah
is called the darkness of others. Only the light of the gnosis of the One,
the Conqueror, lets you pierce it. If you are sincere in seeking the cure and
you desire it from the side of the shari‘a, you must keep the company of its
people. If you desire it from the side of the reality, you must be content
with what occurs and return the product to the Maker, because the One
Who makes ill is the doctor. The head of the remedy is love of the Beloved.
We ask Allah ta‘ala to inspire us and you to it so that we recognise Him
as He should be recognised. Another remedy will not save you from that
illness except for the gnosis of the greatest name of Allah the Great. The
greatest name of Allah the Great indicates Him. Recognise what you seek.
Whoever recognises what he seeks, what he leaves is easy for him. The poet
said, ‘Whoever seeks beautiful women, endures expense.’
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Gifts of the Supreme Name

Free yourself from all that is other and you will attain
His proximity and you will ascend to the ranks
of the people of every assembly.
Fill your every breath with dhikr of Allah, for each breath
has to be accounted for on the day of gathering and promise.
Exalt all phenomena because it is formed from the light
of the Prophet Muhammad.
Regard it as lights from the names of our Lord and withdraw
from being unresponsive and speaking from opinion.
Love with the love of Allah and hate with His hate.
This is the shari‘a, so be aware of it, my friend!
Be an isthmus between the two oceans –
the reality and the shari‘a, and you will attain
the rank of recognition in every assembly.
In every mosque, guide the slaves of Allah by Allah, openly,
Dhikru’llah 327
by showing the beauty of the paths of Allah.

And if you wish to go swiftly into the presence of our Lord, then
have a good opinion of Allah’s creation and speak well of Him.
Persevere in the sublime and Supreme Name
with a good heart, sincerity and concentration.
Recognise the beauty of the essence in every manifestation.
Were it not for it, the existence of the Existent
would not have been established.
All the attributes of the self are annihilated by His invocation,
and all that remains is tranquillity of heart, sweeter than honey.
Every inner state along with the stations, arises from invocation
of the Supreme Name with gravity.
So from it comes the opening for every wayfarer,
and from it comes the overflowing for every murshid.
From it is the state of intoxication and annihilation,
and from it, too, the states of sobriety and ecstasy.
Power is only given to the one who has isolated himself with Him,
and who, through much praise, is adorned with what pleases Him.
Thus he will continue to ascend in the deserts of His essence
until he is utterly annihilated in an annihilation
that has nothing in it but loss.
If he returns to the existence-traces, he brings a robe of honour
which proclaims his wilaya (being a wali) and glory.
So be a slave and servant to the one whose description this is,
and fulfil the contract of Allah, and He will give you
what He has promised.
The greatest of Allah’s creation in this matter are His messengers
and the most perfect of them in it is the Prophet Muhammad.
So his outward is a light and his inward is a secret.
His perfections are beyond numbering.
May the blessings of Allah be upon him and his family
and companions, and give us limitless lutf.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
328 The Sufic Path
I used to stay up for the last third of the night and do the dhikr of the
Majestic Name, Allah. I learned how to do this dhikr when I found it in
one of the books of Shaykh Sayyidi ash-Shadhili, may Allah be pleased
with him. My master also taught me how to do it in a different way which
is more exact and more to the point. Allah knows best. It is that we were
to visualise the five individual letters of the Name before our eyes when
we mentioned them without writing them on a wall or stone. We would
only visualise them before our eyes. Whenever I let their visualisation fade
away, I visualised them once again. If I let them fade away a thousand times
or more an hour, I would return to them. This state resulted in immense
reflection for me, and it always brought me knowledges by divine gift. I
paid no attention to them and did not occupy myself with them at all.
Then my human-ness became weak and luminosity grew stronger every
moment. One night the word of Allah ta‘ala came to me: ‘He is the First
and the Last and the Outward and the Inward.’ I turned away from this
statement as I was accustomed to before this. It would not leave me alone.
It said to me, ‘He is the First and the Last and the Outward and the In-
ward.’ I said to it, ‘As for His words that He is ‘the First’ and ‘the Last’ and
‘the Inward’, I understand them. As for His word ‘the Outward’, I do not
understand it since we only see created being outwardly manifest.’ It said,
‘Had He meant by His word, may He be exalted, ‘the Outward’, something
other than the outward which we see, that would have been ‘inward’ and
not ‘outward’. I say to you, ‘the Outward’.’ It overpowered me with its force
and overwhelmed me with its attention so I was silent and did not answer
it as I had no proof at all against it. Then I realised that there is nothing in
existence except Allah, and there nothing in created beings except Him.
Praise and thanks be to Allah.
I told my master about that, and he was very happy and completely
delighted with me. He began to talk to me about pure tawhid and was
unrestrained. He, may Allah be pleased with him, used often to quote the
words of the great realised wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi ash-Shustari, may
Allah be pleased with him: ‘You! You! You! You! You! You! The lover is
with the Beloved! The union is You!’
There was a period in my life
when I wanted to know
what we could know of anyone.
Dhikru’llah 329
Then I saw that I was I.

He is my Beloved and I do not know.
He also would quote the words of the Shaykhs of the tariqa of the East,
may Allah be pleased with them:
I am Your foundation and You are my foundation.
The clarification is that I am You,
if you understand the meanings.
Why do I withdraw from You
when I know how You see me?
Before today I was bound by the shackles of separation,
veiled by illusion.
We supposed the unique to be two.
When your beauty appeared, the rust left me,
and I saw my source by my source,
and I became the source of the source.
All is beauty, the beauty of Allah.
There is no doubt about it.
Doubt overcomes the blotches of the intellect.
Oh you who come to the source,
doubt vanishes after realisation.
The essence is the source of the attributes.
There is no doubt about the meanings.
As the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Abu’l-Mawahib at-Tunisi said, may Allah
be pleased with him, ‘Annihilation is obliteration, disappearance, leaving
yourself, extinction.’ So has the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Abu Madyan,
may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘Whoever has not died has not seen
Allah.’ This is what all of the Shaykhs of the tariqa say, may Allah be pleased
with them! Be careful that you do not believe that it is subtle and dense
things which veil you from your Lord. By Allah, no! Illusion is what veils
us from Him. Illusion is false and useless. As the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi
Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, may Allah be pleased with him, says in his Hikam:
You are not veiled from Allah by the existence of something that ex-
ists with Him since there is nothing which exists with Him. You are
veiled from Him by the illusion that something exists with Him.
330 The Sufic Path
We think – and Allah knows best – that annihilation is obtained in the

shortest possible time, Allah willing, by a particular means of invocation
of the name of majesty: Allah. I found it with the Shaykh, the wali of Allah
ta‘ala, Sayyidi Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shadhili, may Allah be pleased with him,
in some books owned by a faqih from our brothers, the Banu Zarwal. My
master, the teaching sharif Abu’l-Hasan Sayyidi ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased
with him, taught it to me in a different form which is more exact and more
to the point. It is that we were to visualise the five individual letters of the
Name when we said, ‘Allah, Allah, Allah.’ Whenever I let their visualisation
fade away, I visualised them once again. If I let them fade away a thousand
times at night and a thousand times in the day, I would return to them a
thousand times at night and a thousand times in the day. This particular
means resulted in immense reflection for me after I had done it for a little
more than a month at the beginning of my affair. It brought me knowledges
and a great deal of awe. I did not occupy myself with them at all since I was
occupied with invocation of the Name and visualising its letters. After a
month had passed, a statement came to me, ‘Allah ta‘ala says: “He is the
First and the Last and the Outward and Inward.”’ I turned away from this
statement as I was accustomed to do and occupied myself with what I was
doing. It did not leave me. It imposed itself on me and did not accept my
turning away from it at all as I did not accept its knowledge and I would
not listen to it. However, since it would not leave me alone, I said to it,
‘As for His words that He is ‘the First’ and ‘the Last’ and ‘the Inward’, I
understand them. As for His word ‘the Outward’, I do not understand it
since we only see created being outwardly manifest.’ Then it said to me,
‘Had He meant by His word, may He be exalted, ‘the Outward’, something
other than the outward which we see, that would have been ‘inward’ and
not ‘outward.’ I say to you, ‘the Outward’.’ Then I realised that there was
nothing in existence except Allah, and there is nothing in created beings
except Him. Praise and thanks be to Allah!
Annihilation in the essence of our Lord is quickly obtained, Allah
willing, by the particular means which we described because it results in
reflection from morning to night if your resolution is strong. My reflection
resulted from it after a month and some days, and Allah knows best. There
is no doubt that if anyone obtains reflection – even if it is after a year, or
two or three years – he has obtained great good and a clear secret since it
says in prophetic tradition, ‘An hour of reflection is better than seventy
Dhikru’llah 331
years of worship.’ There is no doubt that it moves one from the world of
turbidity to the world of purity, or we might say, from the presence of crea-
tion to the presence of the Creator. Allah is the authority for what we say.
We urge everyone who returns from the state of heedlessness to the state
of dhikr to constantly attach his heart to seeing the essence of his Lord so
that it can supply him with its meanings as is its nature with the one who
is attached to it. He should not be content with the waridat from any wird
for that might prevent him from obtaining the real Desire.
The business of dhikr is vast. If you like, you can look at the meaning of the
words of Allah ta‘ala, ‘Oh you who believe, remember Allah frequently,’
with the people of commentary, may Allah be pleased with them. You
will then find that the business of dhikr is vast as we have told you. As far
as the dhikr of the Name itself alone is concerned, Allah knows best, but
we think that the correct way is that the one doing dhikr mention it as I
tell you: with tranquillity, gravity, esteem, respect, and a state of cleanli-
ness based on the noble sunna, while he relies on Allah. Also, he should
not do the dhikr as, ‘Allah, Allah, Allah,’ without any drawing out of the
vowel at all. He should say, ‘Alla ………… h, Alla ………… h, Alla ………… h,’
with lengthening.
He must visualise its five letters and always keep their visualisation pre-
sent with the eye of his heart. They are: alif, two lams, the elided alif, and
ha’. He should keep them present without writing them down on anything.
Whenever he lets their visualisation fade, he should immediately return
to it. If he lets it fade a thousand times, he should return to it a thousand
times. Then the one doing dhikr will have the great opening in the shortest
possible time. Allah knows best, but we think that it will not be more than
three weeks. Some people say that it will not be more than one week. Some
people say one night. Some people say less than that. That is not difficult
for Allah – provided that the one doing dhikr is as we have confirmed and
said previously in another place.
Peaceful calm certainly descends during dhikr of Allah. Whoever wants
to know that with real or certain knowledge should persevere in dhikr of
Allah with tranquillity, gravity, esteem, respect, and a state of cleanliness
based on the noble sunna while he relies on Allah. The wayfarer must have
this state in all he does. This is what we think and what most people think,
and Allah knows best.
332 The Sufic Path
My brothers, whoever of you or others wants his fire to be transformed into

a garden should not be dislodged from the sunna. It is the ship of rescue and
the treasury of secrets and blessings. Whoever rides in it is saved. Whoever
stays back and does not go on it is drowned. You should be gentle to your
self in all matters and do not overburden it. The Prophet, blessings and
peace be upon him, said, ‘I and those of my community who have taqwa
are free of constraint.’ He said, blessings and peace be upon him, ‘Take on
whatever action you are able to do. Allah does not slack off so you should
not slack off.’ He should have what actions are heavy for the self, not what
is light for it. Only the truth is heavy for it. It is swifter with the answer like
the Greatest Name, the Name of majesty, ‘Alla ………… h’.
Among the conditions of doing this dhikr is doing what is heavy for
the self, not what is light for it. That is cleanliness of the body, garment and
place. It is visualising its five letters and being steady in visualising them
before your eyes. Whenever you let their visualisation fade away, you should
quickly visualise them again. If they fade away from you a hundred times,
then return to them a hundred times. Stay with it by lengthening it. That
is, that you say, ‘Alla ………… h’ and not, ‘Allah, Allah.’ You should leave
what does not concern you because when you leave what does not concern
you, a small amount of action will be enough for you.
Whoever does dhikr as we have described, and pays close attention to
its conditions as we said, Allah will lift the veil between Him and him in
three weeks or less. Whoever does dhikr as we have described and does it
for more than seven weeks and Allah still has not lifted the veil between
Him and him, he has no intention, no true sincerity, no love, no resolu-
tion, and no certainty. Allah is the authority for what we say. If he were to
have good opinion, sound intention and other actions of the heart – and
an atom’s worth of actions of the heart is better than mountains of the
actions of the limbs – the veil would be rent for him and the doors would
be opened for him, and he would be immersed in correct behaviour by the
overflowing favour of the Generous, the Giver. Glory be to Him! There is
no god but Him!
The goal of visualising the letters of the Greatest Name and the method
of doing its dhikr as we have mentioned is to imprison the self so that it
does not plunge into the sensory and what is not correct behaviour. This
is due to the fact that the sensory is opposite the meaning. Two opposites
Dhikru’llah 333
are never joined together. As soon as the one doing dhikr stops plunging
into it, meanings will come to him from the unseen which he did not
know before. They distract him from visualisation as plunging into sensory
experience distracted him from it. If he leaves them and quickly returns to
visualisation, then strong meanings will flow over him, becoming stronger
and stronger. They will carry him to the presence of his Lord, glory be to
Him! in the shortest possible time. There he will find secrets and blessings
which no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and which have never
occurred to the heart of any man. Allah is the authority for what we say.
Only the very astute person travels this road, and not the entire tariqa.
Allah is the authority for what we say.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
334 The Sufic Path
Gnosis 335
Chapter Seven
Gnosis
Annihilation in Allah
Oh seeker of annihilation in Allah – say all the time: ‘Allah, Allah’,
And withdraw into Him from other-than-Him
and with your heart – see Allah.
Gather your concerns in Him and He will be enough
in place of other-than-Allah.
Be a pure slave to Him and you will be free
from other-than-Allah.
Submit yourself to Him and be humble and you will win
a secret from Allah.
Invoke Him with gravity and sincerity in the presence
of the slaves of Allah.
Conceal it when He is manifested to you with lights
from the essence of Allah.
With us, other is impossible, for existence belongs to Allah.
Constantly cut through your illusion with a pure tawhid
to Allah.
So the oneness of action appears at the beginning of dhikr
of Allah,
And the oneness of attribute comes from love of Allah,
And the oneness of His essence gives going-on with Allah.
Joy to the one who walks on the path of dhikr of Allah,
Believing in a living Shaykh who is a gnostic of Allah.
He holds constantly to His love and sells his self to Allah.
He rises in the night to recite His word, longing for Allah.
And so gets what he seeks of the power of knowledge in Allah.
Our gifts are from a Prophet who is the master of the creatures
of Allah.
336 The Sufic Path
May the purest of blessings be upon him in quantity

as great as the knowledge of Allah,
And his family and Companions and everyone who calls
to Allah.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know that this annihilation which the people of this Shadhili Path refer
to is like death, no more, no less. The dead annihilated one in Allah only
dies by the self which emerges and enters by the mouth, no more, because
he is as a corpse is – essence without attributes. The annihilated in Allah is
essence without attributes. As death is only a door by which man can enter
the garden of Ridwan, so annihilation is only a door by which man can
enter the garden of seeing and eye-witnessing. As the corpse only feels the
pain of death before death, and when he has died, there is no pain, so the
annihilated only feels the pain of annihilation before annihilation, i.e. by its
nearness, and when he is annihilated, there is no pain. As the corpse does
not transmit reports of death except before death, and when he dies, the
act lacks speech, so the annihilated only transmits reports of annihilation
before annihilation, i.e. in looking at it, and when he is annihilated, the act
lacks speech. As long as the corpse has a trace of life in him with creation,
people are kind to him, and when he dies, people, near and far, all leave him
and only the dead like him give him shelter, so as long as a trace of going-on
with the people of this world is in the annihilated, people are kind to him,
and when he is annihilated, people, near and far, all reject him so that he
only finds shelter with the people of annihilation like him. As the dead is
divested of his property, children, clothes, and self except for what covers
his private parts, so the annihilated is divested of his property, children,
clothes and self except what covers his private parts. As the property of the
dead is left with the people of this world, so the property of the annihilated
is left with the people of this world. As the dead is not angry with anything
nor joyful with anything, so the annihilated is not angry with anything or
joyful with anything. As the dead does not manage anything or choose
anything or prefer anything and is not concerned with anything, so the an-
nihilated does not manage anything or choose anything or prefer anything
and is not concerned with anything. As the dead finds all people the same
– enemy or friend, far or near, great or small, strong or weak, rich or poor,
Gnosis 337
king or slave, good-doer or evil-doer, so are all people the same with the
annihilated – enemy or friend, near or far, great or small, strong or weak,
rich or poor, king or slave, good-doer or evil-doer. As the dead does not
replace himself nor help it, so the annihilated does not replace himself or
help it. The result is that the annihilated is drowned in the source of one-
ness as Shaykh Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam said, may Allah profit us by him:
Drown me in the source of the sea of oneness
until I only see, only hear, only find, and only feel by it.
Then he indicated going-on and said, ‘Make the greatest veil the life of my
ruh and its ruh the secret of my reality.’
Annihilation is in two divisions: annihilation in things and annihilation
from things. All things are sensory and meanings, outward and inward, high
and low. Whenever you are annihilated in it from other, it is annihilation
in you from other-than-you. Whenever you are annihilated in other-than-it
from it, it is annihilated in other-than-you from you. Annihilation is the
key of everything. Lack of annihilation is a veil to everything. Annihila-
tion means breaking norms. In seeking the thing, all things are near you
according to your nearness to it. Its distance from you is according to your
distance from it. Its love of you is according to your love of it. Its hate of
you is according to your hate of it. Because of this meaning, they say that
existence is like the mirror. That which you confront it with, it confronts
you with, no more.
Oh Brother! Know that the one with the station of annihilation is a treasure
sealed with a talisman. Part of the sum of the attributes of the one with the
station of annihilation is that his inward parts are health and honour, and
his outward parts are abasement and humiliation. His inward is knowledge
and obedience, and his outward is ignorance and rebellion. His inward is
life and expansion and his outward is death and contraction. His inward
is gatheredness and nearness, and his outward is separation and distance.
His inward is giving and truth, and his outward is forbidding and false. His
inward is beauty and light, and his outward is majesty and darkness. His
inward is sincerity and hope, and his outward is lying and fear. His inward
is accepted and his outward is rejected. His inward is expansion and mercy,
and his outward is narrowness and revenge. His inward is kingdom, passion
and arrival, and his outward is property, forsaking and being cut off. His
338 The Sufic Path
inward helps the cosmos and what is in it, high and low. He is rich above the
cosmos and what is in it. His outward extends from the cosmos and what
is in it, high and low, and he is in need of the cosmos and what is in it. His
inward is a king for all existence and his outward is a slave to all existence.
These are part of his attributes which cannot be contained in this meaning.
In respect to that one, you find creation fleeing from him as they flee the
Fire. They do not profit from him as long as he is in this station – except for
his equal in creation. That is because the selves of the common people are
new in the contract with the divine presence. In respect to that one their
selves fear the love of perfection and hatred of imperfection. However, in
reality, there is no imperfection. All is perfection. That which is seen as
imperfection is illusion, which they perceive from themselves in themselves
because of their ignorance. Allah showed mercy when He said: ‘If you relate
every ugly thing to its beauty, the meanings of beauty in it will come to
you quickly.’ The beauty of the imperfection of the ugly becomes perfect,
so there is no imperfection and there is no ugly. The one with this station,
the station of annihilation, is rejected by creation because he is not part of
them and he is not in the knowledge in which they dwell – the knowledge
of the shari‘a. He is in the knowledge of reality. He becomes as if he were
not the same genus as them. There is no relationship between him and
them. He is the one with the reality and he is the one with the station of
annihilation. Only the Real shelters him and the one among the people
who is true with the Real.
The haven of the person on this path of ours is to rely on the highest thing
outwardly, and that is only by friendship with the leaders of the people
of the highest things. His rescue is also in relying on the lowest thing
outwardly. That is also by the friendship of the leaders of the people of
low things. You see that the master of the reality has no escape or place of
refuge except in these two directions. If he does not retire to either of these
two directions, and he does not go to these or those, then the people of
the shari‘a seize him remorselessly and tear his reputation and body apart.
Look at the words of the Shaykh of the Shaykhs, Sayyidi ‘Abdu’r-Rahman
al-Majdhub, may Allah profit us by him, when he said, ‘The people of the
reality exalt us, and the people of the shari‘a burn us.’ Whoever dies among
the people of reality, the cause of his death is only that he did not retire to
the people of high things or the people of low things, and he continued
Gnosis 339
to vacillate between them until he was seized, like al-Hallaj and his likes
who travelled this path. Whoever is rescued among the people of the Path,
i.e. the path of the reality, you will find him taking the lowest of the low
or the highest of the high.
Annihilation has two aspects: annihilation by knowledge and annihilation
by action. One follows the other. Among the fuqara is the one who is first
annihilated by knowledge, and then after that is annihilated by action.
Some of them are first annihilated by action, and after that annihilated by
knowledge. The one annihilated by knowledge before action speaks and
does not act. The one annihilated by action before knowledge acts and
does not speak. The one who is annihilated by the two aspects together,
gathers the attributes of annihilation, and he speaks and acts. When he
speaks, there is none to answer him. When he acts, there is no opponent.
Annihilation in the outward is sensory abasement and annihilation in
the inward is inward might of meaning. Outward annihilation is majesty
which bears you the fruit of outward going-on, and it is beauty. Inward
annihilation, and it is beauty, bears you the fruit of inward going-on, and
it is majesty. When your outward is majesty and your inward is beauty, that
is the perfection of perfection.
Know that there are two annihilations: annihilation from the presence of
the common to the presence of the elite, and annihilation from the pres-
ence of the people of this world to the presence of the people of the Next
World. The one of the presence of the common is in existence, and the one
of the presence of the elite has existence in him. Similarly, the one of the
presence of the people of this world is in existence, and existence is in the
one of the presence of the people of the Next World. Look at the words of
ash-Shitri about teaching the murid when he said to him:
When you are aware of existence,
then your ransom has appeared, so be still.
Cling to denial. Quiet your attributes.
Strike with your shield on the knots,
And raise your staff.
Know that there are two annihilations: annihilation from the presence
of the common to the presence of the elite, and annihilation from the
presence of the people of this world to the presence of the people of the
340 The Sufic Path
Next World. The one of the presence of the common is in existence, and
the one of the presence of the elite has existence in him, as the one of the
presence of this world is in existence, and the one of the presence of the
Next World has existence in him. Look at the words of ash-Shitri about
teaching the murid. He said:
If you are aware of existence, it shines in your essence.
It slips in and must be rejected.
It threatens you with your attributes. Strike the bonds
with your shield and cast away your staff !
Look at the word of Ibn ‘Ata’Illah in the Lata’if al-Minan. He said:
One only comes to Allah by two doors: the door of natural annihi-
lation, and it is death, and the door of the annihilation with which
this Shadhili path is concerned.
Its attributes are from the essence of existence, and his attribute in the days
of his life are a year, or ten years, or a hundred years, according to whether
the essence of existence and its attributes are strong from the essence of
man and his attributes. His attributes mean after his death. All these mat-
ters have His word, may He be exalted, applied to them, ‘Your Lord does
not wrong anyone’, since man does not depart until he becomes existence
and vice versa.
Know that annihilation has two aspects: annihilation of existence by
force, and it is the annihilation of the common, and annihilation of the
self by choice, and it is the annihilation of the elite The annihilation of the
common is that existence annihilates them by force and swallows them up
inside it. The annihilation of the elite is that they annihilate existence by
force and swallow it up inside of them. Existence is opposite you, and you
are opposite it. Either you annihilate it by Allah by choice from you, and
force on it, or if you do not do that, then it annihilates you by choice from
it, and force on you. Whoever does not answer the call of the good with
the elite, answers the call of the Sultan in the company of the common.
What a difference between the one who is driven by graciousness and the
one who is driven by the chains of affliction. Shaykh ash-Shitri said to one
of his companions:
If you are aware of existence, it shines in your essence.
It slips in and must be rejected.
It threatens you with your attributes.
Gnosis 341
Know that the people of annihilation are in two groups: the people of
annihilation by their essence, and the people of annihilation by their at-
tributes. There are two presences: the presence of the essence of Allah and
the presence of His attributes. The people of annihilation by their essences
acquire the presence of the attributes of Allah. The people of annihilation
by their attributes acquire the presence of the essence of Allah. Another
group joins the two presences: the presence of the essence and the presence
of the attributes. That is because they are first annihilated by their essences,
so they acquire the presence of the attributes. They remain in it as long as
Allah wills. They do not go-on here because they are increased over here
by their attributes. Therefore, they acquire the presence of the essence and
remain in it as long as Allah wills. Then after that their remaining in their
pasture in the two presences is equal: sometimes in this one and sometimes
in that one. Part of them, i.e. this third group, is the reverse of that: they are
first annihilated by their attributes, until they acquire the presence of the
essence. After that, they are annihilated by the essence until they acquire
the presence of the attributes. Then after that, their pasture in the two pres-
ences is equal. This group is the best of the three because they join travelling
and attraction, and attraction and travelling. The people of annihilation by
the essence are those who acquire the presence of the attributes. They are
the people of means. The people of annihilation of the attributes are those
who acquire the presence of the essence. They are the people of divestment.
Those who are annihilated by their essence so that they acquire the pres-
ence of the attributes, and then they are annihilated by their attributes so
that they acquire the presence of the essence, are those who join between
travelling and attraction. These two groups are the people of the cure of
the hearts. They are few.
Know that there are two annihilations: a sensory annihilation by the es-
sence, and an annihilation of meaning by the attributes. One does not stand
without the other. Some of the murids obtain knowledge of annihilation by
the essence and do not obtain annihilation by the attributes, and some of
them obtain annihilation by the attributes and do not obtain annihilation
by the essence. The firm is the one who combines the two annihilations –
annihilation by the essence and annihilation by the attributes. Annihilation
by the attributes is speech, and annihilation by the essence is action. If you
like, you can say that annihilation of the attributes is inward and annihila-
tion of the essence is outward. If you wish, you can say that annihilation of
342 The Sufic Path
the attributes belongs to the self, and annihilation of the essence belongs
to the species. If you wish, you can say that annihilation of the attributes
is in the presence of the Maker of being, and annihilation of the essence
is in the presence of the beings by the Maker. If you wish, you can say that
annihilation of the attributes is by beauty, and annihilation of the essence
is by majesty. If you wish, you can say that annihilation of the attributes
is by the Malakut and annihilation of the essence is by the Mulk. If you
wish, you can say that annihilation of the attributes is by the Rahamut,
and annihilation of the essence is by the Jabarut. If you wish, you can say
that annihilation of the attributes is in the arwah and annihilation of the
essence is in the forms. If you wish, you can say that annihilation of the
attributes is in giving and annihilation of the essence is in withholding. If
you wish, you can say that annihilation of the attributes is expansion and
annihilation of the essence is contraction. If you wish, you can say that
annihilation of the attributes is thriving and annihilation of the essence is
putting to ruin. If you wish, you can say that annihilation of the attributes
is hope and annihilation of the essence is fear. If you wish, you can say that
annihilation of the attributes is nearness, and annihilation of the essence
is distance. If you wish, you can say that annihilation of the attributes is
life and annihilation of the essence is death. If you wish, you can say that
annihilation of the attributes is existence, and annihilation of the essence
is non-existence. If you wish, you can say that annihilation of the attributes
is might and annihilation of the essence is abasement. If you wish, you can
say that annihilation of the attributes is wealth, and annihilation of the es-
sence is poverty. If you wish, you can say that annihilation of the attributes
is power, and annihilation of the essence is incapacity. If you wish, you
can say that annihilation of the attributes is strength and annihilation of
the essence is weakness. If you wish, you can say that annihilation of the
attributes is reality, and annihilation of the essence is shari‘a. If you wish,
you can say that annihilation of the attributes is attraction, and annihila-
tion of the essence is travelling. If you wish, you can say that annihilation
of the attributes is favour, and annihilation of the essence is justice. If you
wish, you can say that annihilation of the attributes is attributes and an-
nihilation of the essence is essence.
Take hold of the coat-tails of passion and cast aside modesty.
Leave the road of the devout, even if they are respected.
Gnosis 343
This annihilation which we indicate is a station by two annihilations. It

moves the one who has it on to that which is after it. It is the station of
going-on. It is the reverse of what was written above and its opposite. In it
there are also two goings-on: a going-on of meaning by the attributes and
a sensory going-on by the essence. Annihilation is the key of the kingdom
and its door. Going-on is the making-firm of the kingdom and its confir-
mation. After the station of annihilation is the station of annihilation of
annihilation in the source of going-on of going-on. Going-on of going-on
is in the source of annihilation of annihilation. After this, travelling in the
stations is ranks by the states without stations in the station of state. The end
of the journey is your Lord, the Self-Exalted. He said, may He be exalted:
Know that the result of the slaveness of the people of Allah is annihila-
tion in Allah, as the result of annihilation in Allah is going-on in Allah,
as the result of going-on in Allah is annihilation without annihilation and
going-on without going-on. The slaveness of the people of Allah is acquired
slaveness. The slaveness of the people of annihilation in Allah is compul-
sory slaveness. The slaveness of the people of going-on in Allah is acquired
slaveness after the compulsory. The slaveness of going-on of going-on is
acquired compulsory, compulsory acquired. The first is slaveness to Allah
by the existence of intermediaries. The second, and it is called annihilation,
is slaveness with the absence of intermediaries. The third and it is called
going-on, is slaveness by the existence of intermediaries after the absence
of intermediaries. The fourth and it is called going-on of going-on, is slave-
ness by intermediaries with the absence of the intermediaries and slaveness
with the absence of intermediaries with the existence of intermediaries.
This fourth station is called the station of change by fixity through being
firmly established in the stations of certainty.
Know that annihilation is annihilation. It is that you are annihilated first
from your humanity, then secondarily you are annihilated to your annihila-
tion with which you were annihilated to your humanity. Similarly, going-on
is going-on. It is that you first go-on from annihilation of your annihilation,
then secondly, you go-on from going-on in which you went from the an-
nihilation of the annihilation of your humanity. It raises you to annihilation
by the attributes in the attributes. Annihilation by the attributes raises you
to annihilation by the essence in the essence. Annihilation by the essence
344 The Sufic Path
raises you to going-on by the attributes in the attributes. Going-on by the

attributes raises you to going-on by the essence in the essence. May Allah
have mercy on ash-Shitri when he said:
That love annihilated me to annihilation, and I became
existence after annihilation.
The drink was in the vessel, but how sweet is the arrival!
People wonder at going-on, and I behave badly with the
one we love.
Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani said in one of his statements:
Prostrate! Be annihilated and be annihilated to annihilation.
Prostrate again and the one doing tayammum
is on fire with love.
My heart is His since He made it go-on with His beauty.
Greetings so swiftly from you to you!
What a difference between the one who enters from the presence of himself
to annihilation and the one who travels from annihilation to going-on.
The first travels from the world of separation to the world of gatheredness,
and from the world of the senses to the world of meaning. The second
is the reverse. He travels from the world of gatheredness to the world of
separation, and from the world of meaning to the world of the senses. The
first travels from the world of himself to the world of his Lord, and the
second travels from the world of his Lord to the world of himself by his
Lord. The first is clothed in the garment of himself entering the presence
of his Lord, and the second is clothed in the garment of his Lord, entering
the presence of himself by his Lord. The first travels from the world of the
shara‘i’, aiming for the world of the realities, and the second travels from
the world of realities, aiming for the world of the shara‘i’! The first grazes
in the world of creation, aiming for gnosis of Allah, and the second grazes
in the worlds of Allah, aiming for gnosis of creation by Allah. May Allah
have mercy on the Shaykh, the Shaykh of our Shaykh, Sayyidi al-Majdhub,
may Allah profit us by him, when he said:
Whoever sees the cosmos by the cosmos, it is traced to
blindness of the inner eye.
Whoever sees the cosmos by the Maker of the cosmos,
he is truthful in guarding the secret.
Gnosis 345
The wali does not guide himself until he dies and is brought to life, then
he dies and is brought to life. The first death is outward annihilation and
the life which is after it is inward going-on. The second death is inward
annihilation and the life which is after it is outward going-on. Outward
annihilation is the cause of inward annihilation, and inward going-on is
the cause of outward going-on. The first outward annihilation is distance
from creation and turning to Allah. Inward going-on is reaching Allah and
turning to creation. Inward annihilation is joining the presence of Allah
and the presence of creation. Outward going-on is joining the joining by
Allah for Allah in Allah of Allah. Allah was and nothing was with Him.
He has now what He had.
Allah is light. He is only seen by the one whose heart is filled with light.
Light is gatheredness. Whenever there is gatheredness in the heart, certainly
there is separation outwardly in every case. In that, the one with this rank
obtains being joined to Allah and separated from creation. These are the
people of annihilation. As for the one who has separation in the heart, and
it is darkness, certainly there is gatheredness in his outward – and it is light,
in every case. In that, the one of this rank also only obtains connection to
creation and separation with Allah. The heart is dark and the darkness of
the heart is the veil itself. When the heart is illuminated and the veil departs
and the door is opened, i.e. the door of annihilation, beyond the station
of annihilation there is only the station of going-on. It is the station of the
kingdom. The station of annihilation is the station of casting off and the
station of going-on is the station of adornment. Annihilation is removing
the impurity of humanness and going-on is putting on the adornment of
the brides of the divine presence. The one with the station of going-on joins
the best of the two presences: the presence of Allah and the presence of
creation. He gives everything with a due its due. He gives everyone with a
portion his full portion. He is an interspace between the two seas: the sea
of the shari‘a and the sea of the reality. He does not reject anything and
nothing rejects him. This is different from the one of annihilation. The
gnostics of Allah shelter him and he shelters them. He affirms them and
they affirm him. He flees from those who are ignorant of Allah and they flee
from him. He rejects them and they reject him. They reject him because of
their ignorance of the reality and he rejects them because of his ignorance
of the shari‘a. As for the one of going-on, the two seas are equal for him.
346 The Sufic Path
This is sweet, satisfying to taste, delicious to drink,

and that is salt, bitter to the tongue. Yet of both you eat
fresh flesh and bring forth out of it ornaments for you to wear.
Each We help – these and those, from the gift of your Lord.
The gift of your Lord is not confined.
Know that the one who speaks about knowledge of annihilation is not
among the people of annihilation. He is common and desires annihila-
tion, as the one who speaks about knowledge of going-on is not among
the people of going-on – he is annihilated and desires going-on. That is
because discourse only comes with love, not with arrival. Love is only with
longing, not with actual arrival. If actual arrival is obtained, the action has
finished with speech. The annihilated speaks of might with his tongue while
his action by his essence is abasement, as the one who is going-on speaks
of abasement with his tongue while his action by his essence is might. The
one annihilated by the essence is the one who goes-on by the attributes. He
is the one who is called the annihilated in Allah by the people of the Path.
Similarly, the one going-on by the essence is annihilated by the attributes.
This is also the one who is called going-on in Allah by the people of the
Path. Every annihilated one only bases the annihilation of his essence on
the going-on of his attributes, as everyone going-on only bases the going-
on of his essence on the annihilation of his attributes, because the one
who has no annihilation by his essence has no going-on by his attributes
until he becomes truly annihilated with no going-on by his essence, and
no annihilation by his attributes until he truly goes-on. The author of the
Laws said: ‘Going-on is the basis of the Path. By it, you reach the station
of realisation.’
The slaveness of the one of the outward is by the essence. If he continues
in it, the treasures of the attributes are opened to him by it. The one of the
inward is the reverse. His slaveness is by the attributes. If he stays in it, the
treasures of the essence are opened to him by it. The one with slaveness of
the essence goes-on, looking at annihilation. The one with slaveness of the
attributes is annihilated, looking at going-on. The speech of the one with
slaveness of the essence is annihilation and his action is going-on because
had he spoken, he would not have acted. The speech of the one with slave-
ness of the attributes is going-on and his action is annihilation because
Gnosis 347
had he acted, he would not have spoken. Annihilation and going-on are
two stations contending for you. One drives away the other always. They
have no third. If you wish, you can say two stations exist in man always.
His essence is only established by them together. Sometimes annihilation
is king and going-on is a slave. Then the king – and it is annihilation, has
authority, not the slave - and it is going-on. Sometimes it is the reverse,
and going-on is king and annihilation is the slave. Then the king – and it
is going-on, has authority, not the slave – and it is annihilation. The one
with this description is called the one going-on in his annihilation. The first
is annihilated in his going-on. His annihilation is in his outward and his
going-on is in his inward because authority belongs to that which conquers
in the moment – and it is annihilation, not to that which is hidden – and it
is going-on. The going-on of the second – and he goes on in his annihilation
– is in his outward, and his annihilation is in his inward because authority
also belongs to the one which conquers in the moment – and it is going-
on, not that one which is hidden – and it is annihilation. Annihilation is
abasement, and it is death. Going-on is might and it is life. They are, as
we said, always joined in man. It is inevitable. Man must have them. If his
annihilation is in his outward – and it is his abasement and death, then
certainly his going-on is in his inward – and it is his might and life. If his
going-on is in his inward – and it is his might and life, then certainly his
annihilation is in his inward – and it is his abasement and death. Such is
the sunna of Allah ta‘ala in His creation. You will not find any change in
the sunna of Allah, and you will not find any reversal to the sunna of Allah.
If you have knowledge of the Path and have a portion in it by realisation
and affirmation, then look at the people of the station of annihilation.
Why do people reject them altogether? That is because their station is
a station of height, might, immensity, elevation, and kingdom, in their
inward parts. For that reason, all creation rejects them outwardly. Look at
the station of the people of going-on. Why do you find that all people abase
themselves to them as their slaves, at their command and prohibition?
That is because their station is a station of slaveness, abasement, weakness,
being subdued, and property inwardly. Because of that, all creation seeks
them until they become kings over all outward existence. However, there
is only going-on after annihilation. Every one going-on is annihilated, but
not every annihilated one has going-on. Whoever claims going-on before
annihilation is deluded and deceived. His self plays with him and lies to
348 The Sufic Path
him. He is like the one who builds a castle without foundation. The only
one who distinguishes between the going-on from annihilation and the
going-on after annihilation is the one who obtains annihilation by the
station of annihilation and obtains going-on by the station of going-on,
after the arrival of the station of annihilation. When the one with the
station of annihilation exalts himself over all existence, all existence exalts
itself over him. When the one of the station of going-on abases himself
to all existence, all existence abases itself to him. The beauty of the one in
the station of annihilation is for himself and his majesty is for existence.
For that reason, he is rejected and isolated in all existence. The majesty of
the one with the station of going-on is for himself and his beauty is for
existence. For that reason, he is accepted, loved, a king confirmed over all
existence. Annihilation is the key of the kingdom and its door. Going-on is
the making-firm of the kingdom and its establishment. Success is by Allah!
Know that the station of going on is the station of the king with Allah, and
it is the station of the elite of the elite. It is the station of rest after misery
and profit after loss. It is the station of slaveness of Allah without fault. Look
at it without intermediary. It is the station of separation after gatheredness,
lowliness after elevation, incapacity after power, and adab to Allah by Allah
after being firm in the divine presence. The one with this station is firm in
knowledge and action and revels in the witnessing of Allah in majesty and
beauty by realising the stations and states. Abu’l-Mawahib at-Tunisi said in
his Laws: ‘Whoever reaches going-on, is safe from misery.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Another Song
I am ecstatic, alone, in the dhikr of my Lord. The dhikr of my Lord
– it is the cure.
I have loved a Lord on Whom I can count in each single thing
– it is He Who decrees:
And in each love for what is other-than-He, in it is pain
– in it is grief.
Oh the victory of the one annihilated to annihilation.
He will have life – and going-on!
Gnosis 349
Oh Lord bless Muhammad! From his essence light!

– Radiance too!
His family and noble Companions. They make the trusts!
– They keep them too!
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know my brother, that when the murid is sincere in his desire, the effect
of that sincerity must appear on him in his beginning by his diligence in
dhikr because whenever a man loves something, he always mentions it
a lot. When man continues in the dhikr of Allah ta‘ala, wisdom gushes
forth on his tongue. His tongue begins to speak wisdoms, knowledges,
gnoses and secrets without instruction, and that of which the intellect is
incapable. Meanings then accompany his tongue. The Qutb helps him
from the seas of the wisdom of Allah ta‘ala. None hears him but that he
pierces his breast and is invigorated by it and amazed. None argues with
him except that he is defeated before him because he speaks by Allah.
Allah overwhelms and is not overwhelmed. He said, may He be exalted:
The truth has come and falsehood has departed.
Falsehood always vanishes.
Everything except Allah is false. When he rises from words to actions,
that dhikr is mixed with his limbs so that speech becomes action. Those
meanings which accompanied his tongue become sensory. Whenever he
needs something, his hands are helped to the treasures of his Master and
he takes without delay, toil, or fatigue. First wisdom obeyed his tongue.
Then that wisdom spread in all his limbs so that his limbs become as if they
moved by Allah. As he said in hadith, ‘My slave continues to draw near to
Me with superogatory actions until I love him …’ – Hadith. When he sits,
he sits by Allah. When he stands, he stands by Allah. When he moves, he
moves by Allah. When he speaks, he speaks by Allah. When he sleeps, he
sleeps by Allah. When he awakens, he awakens by Allah. When he is silent,
he is silent by Allah. Had the seven heavens and whoever is in them and
the seven earths and whoever is in them gathered to dispute with him in
something, they would not have been able to do that because he speaks
by Allah and to Allah. Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, is not overcome by
any nor can anyone flee and escape from His judgement. Glory be to the
One Who taught man what he did not know! Glory be to the One Who
350 The Sufic Path
filled the hearts of His lovers with His love. Glory be to the One Who
emptied their hearts of others and filled them with knowledges, gnoses, and
secrets. Glory be to the One Who helped them, strengthened them, and
gave them success in His love! Glory be to the One Who permitted them
His kingdom and Malakut to dispose of as He disposes of it. Glory be to
the One Who covered their imperfect attributes with the perfection of His
attributes. Glory be to the One Who inspired them and awakened them
after heedlessness to His door. Glory be to the One Who prepared them
for His presence and made them worthy of it. Glory be to the One Who
made them, intimate with His nearness and removed His veil from them.
Glory be to the One Whose abundance does not stop at anything! Glory
be to the One Who gives without anything and the One Who withholds
without anything. Glory be to the One Who watches everything and noth-
ing in His creation is hidden from Him. Glory be to the One Who created
everything! Glory be to the One Whose favour encompasses everything!
Glory be to the One Who brought everything into existence and will put
everything into non-existence. Glory be to the One by Whom everything is
exalted! Glory be to the One by Whose might everything is abased. Glory
be to the One with Whom there is nothing like Him. Glory be to the One
with Whom nothing was and He is now, and there is nothing with Him!
Know, my brother, that there is nothing in existence truly and in reality
except Allah. He said, may He be exalted:
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Oneness of
Action and Existence
I asked my heart about the nearness of my Lord, so it said:
‘There is no doubt that He is present.’
So I said: ‘What is wrong with me that I do not see Him?’
And it said to me: ‘He is manifest in you.’
I said: ‘This is astonishing – how can He be hidden
if light is brilliant?’
Gnosis 351
It said: ‘Illusion is the veil: and it overpowers all men.

‘However, the one who is chosen withdraws from illusion
through his secrets,
‘And he becomes a spirit without body and directly sees
the Lord with inner sight.’
So the goal of openness in direct seeing is a presence has no veil.
Among the great there is neither action nor existence
from other than my Lord.
Whoever divulges the secret by choice, without idhn,
has restrictions placed on him.
Oh Lord! Open our inner sight for us and illumine
our heart and secret.
Then bless the Prophet as long as there is a lover serious in his love
and a wayfarer journeying,
And his family and Companions altogether, as long as there is
one who flies to Allah with longing.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Withdrawal from
all that is
Other-than-Allah
My ruh speaks to me and says: ‘My reality is the light of Allah,
so do not see other-than-Him.
‘If I were not a light I would be other-than-Him.
Indeed otherness is nothingness, so do not be content with it.
‘If you look with the eye of your secret you will not find
other-than-Allah in this earth or heaven.
‘But the illusion of other-than-Him hides Him.
So shed your desires if you wish to see Him.
‘Board the ship of the sunna and you will be rescued in it,
and travel the path of its captain in his love.
352 The Sufic Path
‘Unite the wine with the goblet and be annihilated by it,

and you will obtain going-on by His secret and sublimity.
‘See His tawhid with the eye of inner sight,
but separation is His shari‘a so do not forget it!
‘Make your concerns one, and by Him all your needs will be met,
and you will enter into His protection.
‘Hand over your affairs to the One Who knows best,
for He is the Knower of every heart and every desire.’
Oh Lord, bless Muhammad, the secret of existence
and its source and splendour.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Withdrawal into the

Perception of the Essence
The face of the Beloved appeared and shone in the early dawn.
His light pervaded my heart, so I prostrated myself in awe.
He said to me: ‘Rise! – and ask of Me!
You will have whatever you desire.’
I replied: ‘You. You are enough for me!
Away from You I cannot live!’
He said: ‘My slave, there is good news for you, so enjoy the vision.
‘You are a treasure to My slaves and you are a dhikr to mankind.
‘Every good and every beauty in man has spread from Me.
‘The attributes of My essence were hidden,
and they were manifested in the existence-traces.
‘Truly created beings are meanings set up in images.
‘All who grasp this are among the people of discrimination.
‘The one who is cut off from Us has not tasted
the sweetness of life.’
Our Lord, bless the one whose light has spread
through all mankind.
Gnosis 353
The Manifestation
of the Essence
Has the light of the sun appeared from the world of the Unseen,
or have the veils of Layla been lifted from Her essence?
Yes, the longing of Layla for Her beloved friend has grown
until She has revealed Her love,
So that he has become a captive of Her ardent desire
and the longings which are Her goblets called out to him.
She did not leave until She had given him a drink from Her goblet.
There is no blame. Drink – for the wine is Her speech.
And She is the presence of the Truth, alone, Who manifests
Herself with forms whose every light is different.
And She has manifested the unique beauty of the form-design
contained in Her being, so look at the attributes
of the Beloved manifested in you.
By Allah, none obtains complete bliss except the one
who becomes a humble slave and seeks Her out.
And thus, She immersed the ugliness of his nature in the beauty
of Hers, and lights shone from him, their rays appearing –
So that he withdrew from the sensory which is a barrier and
embraced a meaning from which it is unlawful to be separated.
Therefore let your goal be to commit yourself, oh my brother,
and avoid otherness, and Her gentle breeze
will waft over the beloved ones from you.
You will open the hearing of the wayfarer’s heart because the
all-pervading nature of the knowledge from Her is proof of Her.
May we always have the blessing of union with Her
and may we always withdraw from every existent thing.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
You must also be content with your Lord. The only one who is content with
Him is the one who recognises Him – glory be to Him! It is impossible to
354 The Sufic Path
recognise Him with the gnosis of eye-witnessing and then to turn to the
bliss of the gardens. Whoever claims to have recognised his Lord – or we
could say, to have seen Him, while turning to something other-than-Him,
great or small, is a liar. When someone sees the One Whom ‘there is noth-
ing like’, how can he be other than withdrawn from everything else? What
beauty is like His beauty? What is desired in the two worlds like the vision
of the face of his Lord? His vision, glory be to Him, is not perceived nor
can anyone hope for it except after the annihilation of the self, its oblitera-
tion, departure, and extinction, as we have related from our Shaykhs, their
Shaykhs, and all the Shaykhs of the Path, may Allah be pleased with them.
Our Lord is not seen by forms which are the stuff of annihilation. He
is seen by spirits which are the stuff of going-on, so understand!
There is a knowledge beyond written transmission which is finer
than the ultimate perception of sound intellects.
Faqir, listen to what the Shaykh Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Ansari as-Sahili
said in his book, Bughyat as-Saliki fi Ashraf al-Masalik (The Goal of the
Wayfarer in the Noblest Paths): ‘Know, may Allah illuminate our hearts
with the lights of gnoses and carry us on the road of every gnostic wali,
that gnosis is the end of the station of ihsan and the last of its stages. Al-
lah ta‘ala said. “They have not valued Allah with His proper value,” i.e.
recognised Him as He should be recognised. He, may He be exalted, said,
“You see their eyes overflowing with tears by what they recognise of the
Truth.” The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “The
support of the house is its foundation. The support of the deen is recogni-
tion of Allah.” By recognition/gnosis here, we mean making the state of
the contemplator firm while it is accompanied by the administration of
justice and following wisdom. This is not the usage of the people of fiqh.
They think that recognition is knowledge of rules. As a whole, recogni-
tion can be validly applied to knowledge such as it is – its most particular
requirement is gnosis of Allah ta‘ala by the meanings of the names and the
attributes without separation between the attributes and the essence. It is
gnosis which issues from the source of gatheredness, is taken from complete
pure sincerity, and is given expression from the secret being constantly with
Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic.’
When I saw the excellence of learning and its secret and good, my love for
Gnosis 355
it caught fire. By Allah, from that moment, I based myself on it along with
the people of my love. Allah strengthened them in it and He annihilated
them to themselves in it since the one who is not annihilated in Him does
not love him passionately. It is as the Imam of the passionate lovers, the
wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Abu Hafs ‘Umar ibn al-Farid, said in his poem
in Ta’, may Allah be pleased with him:
You do not love Me as long as you are not annihilated in Me.
You are not annihilated as long as My form has not
appeared in tajalli in you.
He did not speak by himself. He spoke by his Lord. As for himself, by Allah,
he had gone with those who go and won with those who have won. The
people have spoken about annihilation, and they have said many things
about it. As far as I am concerned, the most lasting of them – and Allah
knows best – are the words of the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Abu Sa‘id ibn al-
‘Arabi, may Allah be pleased with him, when he was asked about annihila-
tion. He said, ‘Annihilation is that immensity and majesty appear on the
slave and make him forget this world and the next, states, degrees, stations,
and dhikr. This annihilates him to everything – to his intellect, himself,
his annihilation to things, and his annihilation because he is drowned in
the oceans of immensity.’ The wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Abu’l-Mawahib
at-Tunisi, may Allah be pleased with him, said: ‘Annihilation is obliteration,
disappearance, leaving yourself, extinction.’ There are more statements of
that nature. One only comes to Allah by one of two doors – by the door
of the greater annihilation which is natural death, or by the door of the
annihilation which concerns this Shadhili group, may Allah be pleased
with it. It is as the wali of Allah ta‘ala Sayyidi Abu’l-’Abbas al-Mursi, may
Allah be pleased with him, said: ‘I said: “Oh Allah! Open our inner eyes,
illuminate our secrets, annihilate us to our selves and make us go on by
You, not by our selves:
If we are by Him we boast our selves above the free and the slaves.
If we return to our selves, our abasement is
the abasement of the jews.”’
It says in the Hikam of Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, ‘There is no end to your critics if
He returns you to yourself. Your praises are never finished if He manifests
His generosity on you.’
356 The Sufic Path
There is no disagreement among the people of knowledge, may Allah be

pleased with them, about people seeing their Lord in the Garden as it is
in the sound hadith. As for this world, it is permitted and not deemed
impossible among the people of the sunna, may Allah be pleased with
them. The people of the sunna have enough of a proof when they say that
had the vision been completely impossible and forbidden, Sayyiduna Musa,
peace be upon him, would not have asked for it since he was the Messenger
of Allah and the one to whom Allah spoke. The Messenger does not ask
for the impossible. He asks for what is permitted since he is protected.
Protection keeps him from doing what is not correct. The vision is not
obtained by anyone until after the annihilation of his self, its obliteration,
disappearance, departure and extinction, as has been the case with all of
the Shaykhs of the tariqa, East and West, modern and ancient, may Allah
be pleased with all of them.
When anyone acquires it, by Allah, that person departs and everything
departs. Nothing remains except Allah since it is impossible for anyone to
see Him while he sees other-than-Him with Him. The lofty Shaykh, the
wali of Allah ta‘ala, Abu’l-Qasim al-Qushayri, may Allah be pleased with
him, said in At-Tajir: ‘It is related that a man knocked on the door of Abu
Yazid. He said, “Abu Yazid is not in the house.” It is related that a man said
to ash-Shibli, “Where is ash-Shibli?” He said, “Dead, may Allah not have
mercy on him.” It was said that Dhu’n-Nun al-Misri sent a man to learn
about the states of Abu Yazid al-Bistami and to describe them to him when
the news reached him. The man came to Bistam and asked to be shown to
Abu Yazid. He was shown to him while he was in his mosque. The man
came in and greeted him. He said, “What do you want?” He said, “I want
Abu Yazid.” Abu Yazid said, “Where is Abu Yazid? I am looking for Abu
Yazid.” The man said to himself, “This man is mad. My journey has been a
complete waste of time.” He returned to Dhu’n-Nun and described to him
what he had seen and heard. Dhu’n-Nun wept and said, “My brother Abu
Yazid has departed with those who depart in Allah.” It is related from Sahl
ibn Abdillah at-Tustari, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said, “Since
such a year I have been speaking to Allah, glory be to Him, while people
imagined that I was speaking to them.” They composed on this meaning:
They supposed that I praised them before.
You were my goal when I praised them.’
Gnosis 357
The difference between contemplation and vision is that knowledge

precedes contemplation, and vision is not preceded by knowledge. It is as
the greatest Shaykh Sayyidi Muhyi’d-din ibn al’Arabi al-Hatimi, may Allah
be pleased with him, said in Al-Yawaqit wa’l-Jawahir fi Bayan ‘Aqa‘id
al-Akabir (The Rubies and Jewels in the Clarification of the Beliefs of
the Great). We see that the people of the station of going-on, may Allah
be pleased with them, after they obtain annihilation and after they obtain
going-on by their Lord, have fear and hope. Fear and hope are two of the
attributes of the self, and it is dead. I say: They have fear and hope like
that. The difference is that when fear comes to them, hope comes to them.
When hope comes to them, fear comes to them. They are always between
fear and hope. Hope does not dominate fear and fear does not dominate
hope. They are a protection that keeps them from feeling safe from the
device of Allah or despairing of the spirit of Allah. This is the state of the
prophets, blessings and peace be upon them, and the state of the perfect
awliya, may Allah be pleased with all of them.
We do not think that the one who sees his Lord in this world will see
Him any differently in the Garden from how he sees him in this world.
After the vision, we do not see him turning aside to anything else at all.
The one who is immersed in the contemplation of the immensity of the
essence of Allah, by Allah, he withdraws from his passion, from this world,
and from the next world.
By Allah, the people of Allah, are only in the presence of Allah. They are
not in this world or the next. I heard Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Ali, may Allah be
pleased with him, say, ‘When the intercession for the wrong-doers among
the community of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, occurs, they will leave the Fire and enter the Garden. They
will recognise each other. There are certain people whom they will find
neither in the Garden nor the Fire. They will have the confusion of the
people of the Garden in the Garden until their Master gives them a tajalli-
manifestation. All of them will see Him as it says in the two books of the
Sahih. Allah knows best. They will say to Him, “Our Lord, there are some
great people whom we used to know in the world. They are not here in
the Garden and they are not in the Fire. Lord, where are they then? You
have more knowledge of them.” Allah, may His majesty be exalted and His
attributes and names be pure, will say to them, “They are my guests. They
358 The Sufic Path
used to worship Me with pure sincerity for My face. Now they are with
Me as they were in the world.”’ The proof of this is in the Book of Allah.
It is clear and manifest. Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Those who are certain are in a
garden and a river in a seat of true sincerity with a Powerful King.’ There
is also a proof in the sunna when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, said, ‘This world is forbidden for the people of the next
world, and the next world is forbidden for the people of this world. This
world and the next are forbidden for the people of Allah.’
The greatest wonder is the one who only sees distance when, in reality, there
is no distance. There is nearness since Allah ta‘ala said, ‘We are nearer to
him than you,’ and, ‘We are nearer to him than the jugular vein.’ It is as one
of the realised said, may Allah be pleased with them, ‘Had I been obliged
to see other-than-Him, I would not have been able to do it since there is
nothing else with Him, so how can I see it with Him?’ One of them said:
Since I have recognised the divinity, I do not see
other-than-Him.
Similarly, other is forbidden with us.
Since I have gathered together what I feared would separate,
today I have arrived gathered.
One of them said, ‘Those who are realised refuse to see other-than-Allah.’
One of them said:
Say, ‘Allah!’ and leave existence and what it contains
if you have any doubts about reaching perfection.
If you are exact, all except Allah is non-existence
in detail and in sum.
Know that had it not been for Him, all the worlds
would have been obliteration and extinction.
Had it not been for Him, the existence of the one
whose existence is not by his own essence
would have been the impossible itself.
The gnostics are annihilated and do not see anything except
the Great, the Exalted.
They see that other-than-Him in reality is perishing
in the present, past and future.
Gnosis 359
The lofty Shaykh, the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Abu Zayd Sayyidi ‘Abdu’r-
Rahman al-Majdhub, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
My sight has disappeared into His sight,
and it is annihilated to every vanishing thing.
I realised that other-than-Him does not exist, and
departed in delight immediately.
How remarkable and yet more remarkable are those people among the
people of nearness who see only distance! There is no distance, as we said.
There is nearness.
There is nothing in existence except Allah. Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Everything
perishes except His face.’ – ‘All that is on it vanishes, and the face of your
Lord remains, the One Who possesses Majesty and Nobility.’ – ‘That is
Allah, your Lord, the Truth. What is there after the Truth except mis-
guidance?’ – ‘That is because Allah is the Truth and what they call on
apart from Him is false.’ – ‘Say: “The Truth has come and falsehood has
disappeared. Falsehood always disappears.”’ – ‘Say, “Allah!” and then
leave them plunging in their playing.’ – ‘He is the First and the Last, the
Outward and the Inward.’ Our Prophet, peace be upon him, said, ‘The
truest verse uttered by the poets is:
“Everything except Allah is false.”’
The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, ‘I have not
seen anything except that I saw Allah in it.’ We say, may Allah pardon us,
that it is impossible for our Lord to be seen while something other-than-
Him is seen as all the people of realisation know. The one who has not set
foot on the Path does not perceive it. One of them said:
Since I have recognised the Divinity, I do not see
other-than-Him. Similarly, other is forbidden with us.
Since I have gathered together what I feared would
separate, today I have arrived gathered.
Allah knows best, but it means that since I have recognised my Lord with
the recognition of the people of contemplation and witnessing, not the
recognition of the people of proof and exposition, I have not seen anything
except Him in every thing as the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, saw Him. He also said, ‘Since I have gathered together what I
360 The Sufic Path
feared would separate, today I have arrived gathered.’ It means, and Allah
knows best, that since I have seen unity in multiplicity, I do not fear that I
will see multiplicity in unity as I did before I saw my Lord in everything.
There is no doubt that there is nothing in existence except Allah. It is illusion
which veils us from seeing Him. Illusion is baseless. Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah,
said in his Hikam, ‘Had the veil of illusion been rent, eyewitnessing would
have occurred in the absence of sources and the light of iman would rise
and shine and cover the existence of created beings.’ Sayyidi al-Majdhub,
My sight has disappeared into His sight,
and it is annihilated to every vanishing thing.
I realised that other-than-Him does not exist,
and departed in delight immediately.
Your intellects should not conceive of the existence of something with Allah
since there is nothing except Allah with Allah as all the people of realisation
know. The one who has not set his foot on the Path is not aware of it.
Do not dislike the thoughts of the self when they try to get the better
of you, and pile up with their armies on your hearts. Strip off your own
will and surrender it to your Lord when they try to overwhelm you. Be
still. Do not move. Relax about them and do not be constricted by them.
Sleep if you can until you have had your fill since among the benefits of
sleep at the time of adversities is the breaking of habits. It is surrendering
the will to Allah. Whoever surrenders his will to his Lord, He takes him
by the hand. So do not dislike the thoughts of the self when they increase
against you. Be as we have told you. Then they will profit you and give you
a lot. Because of that, tawhid will be firm in your hearts and doubts and
illusions will leave you. By it, travel occurs and good is obtained. By it, the
disappearance and purification from every misguidance is obtained. Be on
your guard against being worried about many impediments, or we could
say barriers, for the good – may Allah strengthen it! – will make you pass
quickly through them if you do what we have told you.
One of the fuqaha’ said to me, ‘Appetite has struck me.’ I told him,
‘This is what benefits me. I only have the favour of Allah and its favour. By
Allah, we do not forget its beauty.’ The people of knowledge of Allah do
not flee from things like others do since they see their Lord in everything.
Others flee from them because the contemplation of created beings veils
Gnosis 361
them from the contemplation of the Maker of being. Similarly, the people
of knowledge of Allah are veiled by contemplation of the Maker of being
from the contemplation of created beings. For that reason, Shaykh Ibn
‘Ata’Illah said in his Hikam, ‘The worshippers and those who do without
alienate themselves from everything since they are withdrawn from Allah
in everything. Had they seen Him in everything, they would not alienate
themselves from anything.’
Listen to what happened to one of our brothers, may Allah be pleased
with him, while he was travelling on the road. The contemplation of the
Maker of being had veiled him to created beings. He was with some people
at a certain road and whenever he saw or heard something he said to the one
who was with him, ‘This, what is it?’ whether he had heard people speaking,
or birds, beasts, the wind, or anything. Whenever he heard or saw any of
that, he would say to the person with him, ‘This, what is it?’ The one who
was with him was amazed at what he said. A similar thing happened to
one of them at Alexandria. A crow cawed above him and he said, ‘At Your
service, Allah, at Your service,’ and he did the tawaf – the ritual seven-fold
circling of the house of Allah, the Ka‘ba, in Makkah – of the shari‘a of
Muhammad! This is because he spoke of the outside-endless-time of the
in-time and its going-on after endless-time. Far be it that other-than-our-
Lord should have that.
May Allah have mercy on you! Know that nothing prevents us from
seeing our Lord except remaining with the appetites of our self. Be on your
guard against saying that it is created being which veils us from the Maker
of being. By Allah, nothing veils us from Him except the illusion whose
result is ignorance. Did we know, our knowledge would result in certainty
for us. Indeed it would keep our hearts and all of us from seeing others as
we normally do. ‘Had the veil of illusion been rent, eyewitnessing would
have occurred in the absence of the sources, and the light of iman would
rise and shine and cover the existence of created beings.’
Listen to what happened to one of the murids in 1183. When his
witnessing was strong, he set out for the people of heedlessness intending
to hear what they did of plunging into discussion about created beings.
Perhaps by this he would be tempted, or we might say, his contemplation
might be weakened. Then because of that, his contemplation of Lord
would become stronger so that he would almost leave his sensory experi-
ence and flee and seek refuge with his Lord. His contemplation was very
362 The Sufic Path
strong when he returned to what he had in the days of his heedlessness

of diversions and passions. Allah desired to make him one of the people
of sobriety, so he became sober. He is still alive now, may Allah be kind
to him and his loved ones. Amin.
Contemplation is by the inner eye, not by the eye itself. Whoever claims
that things prevent it, has no knowledge of it since nothing stops it except
for illusion. Illusion is baseless. If illusion departed, he would find that
everything is a means to Allah and there is no means to Him except Him.
I recognised my Lord by my Lord. Had it not been for my Lord, I would
not have recognised my Lord. Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in his Hikam,
‘When were You absent so that there is any need of a proof to guide one
to You? When were You far so that there should be traces which lead one
to You? Created beings are not set up so that you see them. You should
see their Master in them.’
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
One of the gnostics also said, ‘I recognised my Lord. He sees. Had it not
been for my Lord, I would not have recognised my Lord.’ It is related that
‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, was asked, ‘O Sayyidi!
Do you recognise Allah by Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, or do you recognise Muhammad by Allah?’ He said, ‘Had I
recognised Allah by Muhammad, I would not have crossed to Him and
Muhammad would have been firmer in myself than Allah. However, Allah
made me recognise Himself by Himself.’
Part of that is that Allah ta‘ala gave the reality a skin and a core, and a core
of a core. Whoever stops with the skin is veiled from the core by its beauty,
excellence, pleasure. Whoever pierces the skin and increases his himma
to the core, finds that it is better and more excellent than the skin many
times over. The excellence of the core over the skin is like the excellence
of the bliss of the Garden over the bliss of this world. If he stops with it,
he is veiled by it from the core of the core. If he pierces the veil of the skin
and the veil of the core, and increases his himma to the core of the core,
he obtains the end of good. The excellence of the core of the core over the
core and over the skin is like the excellence of looking at the Face of Allah
ta‘ala over the bliss of the Garden and the bliss of this world. Man is with
Gnosis 363
what he seeks. He said, may He be exalted:

The moment when man emerges from his mother’s womb to this world
he is reality without shari‘a. Then after that, he grows in age and rises to
the shara‘i’ and the realities leave. The shara‘i’ dwell in him bit by bit until
the reality vanishes completely and only the pure shari‘a remains in him.
After that, he returns to the reality by the shari‘a so that his realities and
the shara‘i’ are equal. He ends in that. This is the rank of the perfect. After
it, there is only the end of all matters, outward and inward. Success is by
Allah.
The perfect among the people of the inward, after acquiring the fruits of
his inward, takes what is unavoidable from the outward since he is among
the strong Rijal. I saw in the books of some of the Shaykhs, the gnostics of
Allah, may Allah be pleased with them, that one said, ‘The master of this
art, i.e. the art of the inward, flees from the people of the outward as one
flees from the lion.’ Since it is the inward and it is the heart in the presence
of the Real while the outward is the limbs in the presence of creation, that
is the source of froth with honey. This description only exists among strong
men. This group are called the people of withdrawal by the heart, not the
body. As one of them said, ‘The body is in the tavern, and the heart is in
the Malakut.’ Oh Allah! If the one with the inward has previous knowledge
of the knowledge of the outward before the knowledge of the inward and
has great power, perhaps he will take some moments in the knowledge of
the outward. I heard that Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’r-Rahman al-Fasi, may
Allah profit us with him and his like, said, ‘I used to display 14 outward
knowledges. When I entered knowledge of Allah, all those knowledges
went until only two knowledges remained which I paid attention to with
my companions. Sometimes it would be the knowledge of Hadith and
the knowledge of diction. The knowledge of Allah is the knowledge of
the inward itself. It is certain that when the knowledge of Allah enters the
heart, other than it leaves in any state. From the travelling Rijal among
the people of knowledge of Allah, you find five divisions of knowledge of
Allah and one division of outward knowledge. This only exists for the one
who has immense power because Allah is jealous and He does not enter a
heart that associates at all.
364 The Sufic Path
There are two paths of poverty: the path of fear and awe and the path of
love and passion. As for the people of fear because of His awesomeness,
they fear the force of His might. As for the people of yearning for His love,
they sit with Him. The people of His presence are occupied with Him,
not with His service. When they find Him, they lose everything. When
they recognise Him, they forget everything because of Him. They do not
rejoice in anything except Him. Their joy continues. They are occupied
with looking at Him in movement and stillness. They take His word, may
He be exalted, ‘It is the best of what they gather.’ It corresponds to dhikr
by the tongue and by the heart. You obtain the pleasure of intimacy in the
presence of nearness.
Your reaching Allah is your reaching knowledge of Him. There is no doubt
that knowledge from Him is what is eye-witnessing. It is the knowledge of
the people of seeing and eye-witnessing without a veil. From Him is what
is information. It is the knowledge of the people of proof and exposition
with the existence of the veil. The first is the arrival of the elite and the
second is the arrival of the common. Joining the two knowledges is in the
station of the elite of the elite. He takes by the hand of the elite, and it
brings them to contemplation and eye-witnessing, as he takes by the hand
of the common, and it brings them to proof and exposition. He becomes
an interspace between the two seas: the sea of the shari‘a and the sea of the
reality. He gives to everyone with a due his due and pays to everyone with
a portion his full portion. May Allah provide us with love of all and take
us among those who travel their prophetic straight road by His favour!
Know that the reality is that which man does not make a habit, and the
shari‘a is that which man makes a habit. Because of this meaning, you find
that change always melts the gnostics of Allah, may Allah be pleased with
them, because they find the element of increase in it. It is also understood
from that, that their desire is that in constant travel so their compulsion
continues. It is said that the gnostic of Allah is always compelled and is not
settled with other-than-Allah.
All creation, good and corrupt, witnesses Allah. However, they do not
recognise Him, and they do not see the Real as the Real and recognise Him
except for the one whose heart has the lights of meanings. These lights of
meanings by which Allah is seen and recognised only appear in the heart
Gnosis 365
by the exaltation of the senses intending to seek Allah. Similarly, the dark-
ness of meanings only appears by the illumination of the senses because
wisdom is not in witnessing. It is in gnosis because Allah is manifest to
everyone, hidden to everyone. The gnostic is the one who recognises Him
in the outward as he recognises Him in the inward and recognises Him
in the inward as he recognises Him in the outward. As for the one who
recognises Him outwardly and not inwardly, or recognises Him inwardly
and not outwardly, he is ignorant. The ignorant is not called gnostic. Shaykh
ash-Shitri, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Dive into the sea of meanings.
The meanings become a condition in seeing, and exalting the senses be-
comes a condition in the manifestation of meanings. Directing conscious-
ness to seeking Allah becomes a condition in darkening the senses. Allah
gives success!
The gnostic is not a gnostic until the suns of gnoses direct him. Whoever
is not taught by passion, is in ignorance.
You do not love anything except that your Master helps you in it for it and
from it. Look at the words of Ash-Shitri, may Allah have mercy on him,
‘Whoever is brought to a Beloved sees wonders. The attributes of the Real
appear in tajalli to him.’ This is an ecstatic statement in one of his songs,
may Allah have mercy on him! That is because you found all that you see
by Him from Him. You are you. He is the same. You know that or you do
not know it. This is from His direction not from your direction. As for
your direction, what a difference between the knower and the ignorant!
Are those who know and those who do not know equal?
Part of what will guide you to the perfection of the honour of the roots
of things, if you understand, is your target in states. Every moment your
state evolves through its share of what was before it. That is because the
root is noble, immense, great, generous, forbearing, and on to what cannot
be contained of the perfection of the honour of its root. Ash-Shitri said
in one of his statements, ‘My goal in love is that I become coloured.’ Ibn
al-Farid said in one of his statements on wine:
366 The Sufic Path
They tell me: ‘Describe it! You have its description.’

The best end with me is knowledge of its attributes.
Purity and no water. Lutf and no air. Light and no fire.
Ruh and no body.
Know that all creation is veiled and none of them are veiled. The perfect
gnostic of Allah is the one who recognises his Master in all states because
whoever has a state appear to him in tajalli, it must veil him to other than
it. Allah is manifest in states and their opposites as He is hidden in states
and their opposites. He appears so He is not hidden and He is hidden so
that He does not appear – glory be to Him and may He be exalted!
Your seeing the slave who sees the Master establishes for you the station
of witnessing the Master. That is because the slave who sees the Master has
nothing of slaveness except its phantom. In truth, he sees himself by him-
self, and there is no slave since it is impossible that the Real be recognised
by other than the Real or that the Real be seen by other than the Real.
However, when Allah, may His praise be magnified, wants to manifest to
Himself by Himself in intermediaries, He, may He be exalted, lifts the veil
from His Face and gives a tajalli to the one He chooses among the lovers of
His slaves. The slave is annihilated in that so that no trace of him remains.
In that, Allah remains with the witnesser of Himself by Himself in Himself.
In that, the common remain. And He hears by Himself in Himself, and
He speaks to Himself by Himself in Himself. In that, the common remain.
They see that in that, the slave is a phantom of a slave, not the slave, because
the slave has been annihilated and has vanished and departed. Only Allah
remains. That phantom which the common see, i.e. the phantom of slave-
ness is in their eyes, not in the wali’s, because the wali was a slave before
Allah’s manifestation to Him. ‘The truth came and the false departed.’
The people of the veil are not aware that slaveness is opposite this station
and that by which slaveness reaches its people is the veil which veils this
station. It is the only key by which this station is opened. Whoever arrives,
arrives by it. Whoever is cut off, is cut off by it. This phantom which the
common see is as we said, in the eyes of the common, not in the wali’s.
The eye rejected the light of the sun from conjunctivitis.
The mouth rejected the food of water from illness.
Glory be to the One Who made the veil the source of the door as He made
Gnosis 367
the door the source of the veil. Glory be to the One Who punishes by what
He shows mercy when He wills, and who shows mercy by what He punishes
when He wills. Glory be to the Powerful, the Wise.
Part of what I heard from the Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah be
pleased with him, is that he said that he heard from his father, Shaykh
Sayyidi Ahmad ibn ‘Abdillah that he said: ‘Allah ta‘ala says to His slave,
“Tomorrow is the Day of Rising. My slave, will I not remove your mention
from creation as a favour and a mercy from Me to you?”’ I heard it like that
from the Shaykh. He heard it from his father. May Allah profit us by all!
Both the one of the Name and the one of the essence have valuables and
gnosis. However, the one of the essence surpasses him by rest in the body
and the pleasure of contemplation and eye-witnessing in the presence of the
King, the Judge. The gnosis of the one of the Name is not like the gnosis of
the one of the essence. The gnosis of the one of the Name is from behind
a veil, and the gnosis of the one of the essence is clothed in the lights of
intimate conversation and speech. The gnosis of the one of the Name is
behind veils and coverings, and the gnosis of the one of the essence is light
upon light which the ears enjoy and by which the mirrors of the hearts are
polished in the unseen of the breasts. The people of the Name are veiled
by striving from eye-witnessing, and the people of the essence are veiled
by the light of contemplation from the toil of bodies and from seeing
phenomenal beings.
The one with witnessing of beauty has two gardens: the garden of the es-
sence and the garden of the attributes. He pastures always between them.
Sometimes he is in this one, and sometimes he is in that one. The garden
of the essence is in the Unseen of the unseen worlds and the garden of the
attributes is in the outward veils. The garden of the essence is the garden
of eye-witnessing, and the garden of the attributes is the garden of gnosis.
The garden of the essence is the garden of nearness and realisation, and the
garden of the attributes is the garden of distance and passionate love. The
garden of the essence is the garden of annihilation by the attributes and
going-on by the essence in the essence, and the garden of the attributes is
the garden of annihilation by the essence and going-on by the attributes
in the attributes.
368 The Sufic Path
Real arrival with its people, may Allah be pleased with them, is in every
one of their states. Every arrival which comes to them is greater than the
one before it. Its songs and its pleasure make them forget the arrival which
was before it. Their description is like the description of the people of the
Garden. Rather, it is greater, and yet again, greater. Because of that, the
garden of gnoses was so named. He said in the Lata’if al-Minan:
Allah has a garden in this world. Whoever enters it,
does not yearn for the garden of the Next World.
Know that since the divine presence is like the Garden, the one with envy
does not enter it – nor does the one with hate, or rancour, or anger, or
anxiety, or worry. He said, may He be exalted:
We shall strip away all rancour that is in their breasts, as brothers
they shall be on couches set face to face, no fatigue shall smite
them, neither shall they ever be driven forth from there.
Know that the manifestations of Allah are knowledge. There are two
knowledges: outward knowledge by repetition – and its action which is by
repetition, and inward certain knowledge – and its action which is inward
and certain, divine, taken from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, from Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, by eye-witnessing in the
presence of purity, not by imitation. That is because the tree of iman grows
in the hearts. Its roots grow while its branches are in the heaven. Its food
comes to it at every time with the idhn of its Lord. They are the people
of the garden of gnoses, and it is the early tree. One of the Salihun said:
It is the abiding place of the hearts of the gnostics and their end. It is the
goal of the sincere. May Allah make us and you enter it by His favour and
ihsan as well as all Muslims! Amin.
Know that when man’s glance is pure and perfect, it becomes true. When
it becomes true, there is only error after the truth.
Say: ‘He is Allah, One, Allah, the Samad.
He did not beget and was not begotten
and there is no one equal to Him.’
Allah was and nothing was with Him, and He has now what He had.
Gnosis 369
Know that a lapse occurred from me and I rebelled against my Master, i.e. I
was heedless of Him. My Lord expelled me from the garden of contempla-
tion and eye-witnessing and made me enter the Garden of bliss and ridwan,
i.e. He imprisoned me in it. When I entered it and looked at its castles,
rivers and trees, and I heard the voices of the tunes of the boughs, their
voices reminded me of the presence of my Master. I turned in tawba, sought
forgiveness, and went to the door. I found Him forgiving to the one who
turns in tawba. He let me drink and He brought me near and He chose me.
Know, may Allah teach you, that while I was in contemplation of Allah,
my self distracted me and it yearned for the Garden. The Majestic, may
His majesty be exalted, ordered Ridwan, the treasurer of the Garden, to
open the door for me and let me come in to it so that we could eat of its
fruits and drink from its rivers and marry its virgins and see what Allah
has prepared for his sincere slaves. He therefore did it and he opened the
door of the Garden for me. I entered and I saw in it what the describers
cannot describe, what the eye has not seen and the ear has not heard and
what has not occurred to the heart of man. Part of the sum of what I saw
after I entered the doors and looked at the castles of the Garden, its trees,
rivers, and the houris looking out from castles as if they were pearls and
coral, is that I was beside a tree by the door of the castle which was opposite
me. It rose on one trunk until it was level and branched out in branches
and boughs, leaves and fruits. I have not seen the like of its beauty and
excellence, and the variety of its colours and fruits. One leaf was not like
another leaf, and one fruit was not like another. Its height was 500 years,
and its width was the same. Written on its trunk, on every branch, and on
every leaf, and on every fruit, was: ‘La ilaha illa’llah. Muhammad’ar-
Rasulu’llah.’ Every line was written in a pen which was not like another.
Every bough, leaf and fruit had a voice which sang in tunes which were
not like another. The voice of the boughs was not like the voice of the
leaves, and the voice of the leaves was not like the voice of the fruits. Each
voice, leaf, and fruit was not like its sister. I ate of its fruits and I drank of
its water. When I took a fruit, another would grow in its place. The taste
of each fruit was not like the taste of another, nor was its enjoyment and
blessing. In that, I questioned Ridwan and I said to him, ‘My brother! For
whom are these castles, these rivers, and these trees?’ He said to me, ‘This is
some of what Allah has prepared for a man among the people of La ilaha
370 The Sufic Path
illa’llah. Muhammad’ar-Rasulu’llah. When I saw for myself that I would

have that, I left the Garden and its bliss and ornaments and I returned to
the most radiant knowledge. When I returned to my contemplation as I
was before, I forgot the Garden as if I wanted not to enter the Garden. I
did not descend to it because of what I experienced of the pleasure of con-
templation. I went as if I was imprisoned. I had rest in the contemplation
of my Master, and I began to ask forgiveness for that. My Master forgave
me and accepted me and brought me near to His presence and He spoke
to me with the speech of the lover to his lover.
Part of the matter is that which ash-Shitri referred to when he said:
I am Beloved and lover. There is no second.
Glory be to the One Who gave to this man this great matter.
Know my brother, may Allah give me and you success, that the zahids,
may Allah be pleased with them, are zahid in themselves. They see the
self as the most hostile of their enemies. That is because they imagine its
existence with Him. Therefore that illusion veils them to Him. They are
in the harshest toil and fatigue, wandering in the self-importance of the
darkness of the veil because they see themselves. Whoever sees himself is
veiled from his Master. Whoever sees the Master, is veiled to himself. It is
impossible that you see Him and see other-than-Him with Him. As for
the gnostics of Allah, may Allah be pleased with them, they are absorbed
in the sea of His contemplation, so that they do not see other-than-Him
in existence. They see Allah in themselves. Their selves become the most
beloved of lovers for them because the gnostic of his Lord is the gnostic
of himself. He is the seeker and he is the goal. He is the lover and he is the
beloved. He is safe from all faults. Allah was and nothing was with Him.
He has now what He had. Had behaviour with the Beloved been sound for
you, it would have gone unless the Beloved returned to you. Had the light
of iman shone, it would have covered the existence of phenomenal beings
and eye-witnessing would have occurred without eyes.
The heart of the perfect gnostic of Allah is illuminated by what illuminates
the hearts of the people of meanings. The mithal of that is the one who
lights a boiler with oil. By that, he intends to repel the darkness, even
had it been by what is haram for another. It is like the one who removes
a choking lump in the throat by a mouthful of wine when he cannot find
Gnosis 371
water. It is like that with the master of this art when he cannot find what
will repel the death of the heart among permitted things. He removes it,
even with harmful things, since haram things are permitted to bring back
fading life. How can they not be permitted things to bring back fading
life? It is related that Shaykh Sayyidi Ahmad ibn ‘Abdullah was sitting one
day in a place on the outskirts of the city. Suddenly, a man from the people
of rebellion intended to sing about the people of destruction. Sayyidi
Ahmad ibn ‘Abdullah was listening and the man was not aware of that.
When the man turned, he saw the Shaykh and was ashamed before him.
He was silent. Then the Shaykh called him and said to him, ‘Say what you
were saying. I need it from you. You sing as you recognise. I am listening
in the manner in which I recognise.’ Therefore, the man returned to what
he was saying with the permission of the Shaykh. May Allah give us the
profit from him and his like!
The gnosis of the people of Allah is as if it were a person with a ruh. If
you give him food and water and make him strong, he increases at every
moment and every hour, and he continues to increase after increase. When
you neglect him and are remiss with him, he decreases bit by bit, and may
die. It is like that with the gnosis of the people of Allah because whoever
is not in decrease, is in increase, and no more.
Know that the treasury is like the lion. The one who meets it among crea-
tion is startled and amazed and it removes him from his intellect by the
strength of its scent, except for the strong among the Rijal who are not
concerned with its existence or non-existence, even if it is higher than the
mountain. They are gnostics of Allah, may Allah be pleased with them.
That is because they see their Master in every state. Their Master is the
Great. Whenever the Great gives a tajalli to them, every immense thing in
creation becomes small for them, and rises in the air like dust, and vanishes.
Only the Real remains.
Part of what the Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi, may Allah profit us by him, re-
lated to us from his father is that Sayyidi Muhammad ibn Sa‘id used to talk
while scribes were sitting writing. Whenever they heard something from
him of the divine knowledges from Allah or the gifts of the heart, and he
finished his words and was silent, they would ask him about what he said
to be sure whether they had forgotten anything of his words. The Shaykh
372 The Sufic Path
would say to them, ‘I do not know what has passed. If you like, speak with
me about something else. As for what has passed us, we will never return
to it.’ May Allah profit us by all!
One of the statements of one of the people of reality, Shaykh ‘Abdu’r-
Rahman al-Majdhub, is that he said:
We put on a turban of water and I tied it.
We dressed ourselves in a burnous of snow.
When the midday sun was very hot,
I lit a lamp from the wind,
and the wicks were from fog.
I saw that Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in one of his letters:
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, said to ‘A’isha,
may Allah be pleased with her, when her vindication from the lie
descended on the tongue of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, ‘‘A’isha! Thank the Messenger of
Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace!’ She said, ‘By Al-
lah! I will only thank Allah ta’ala.’ Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased
with him, showed her to be in the most perfect station, the station
of necessary going-on without affirmation of effect. Allah ta‘ala
said, ‘Thank Me and thank your parents.’ He said, may the bless-
ings of Allah be upon him, ‘Allah does not thank the one who does
not thank people.’ In that moment, she, may Allah be pleased with
her, was overcome and did not see herself in need of effects, so she
only saw the One, the Victorious.
Know that when Allah, may His praise be exalted, gives a tajalli, it is rec-
ognised, and appears to the gnostic as He appears and is not recognised
by the ignorant. When He appears to the gnostics, they recognise Him in
every case and confirm His oneness. He is recognised by them at every time
and they recognise Him with a different recognition to what was before it
and stronger than what was before it. When He appears to the ignorant,
they are ignorant of Him and reject Him. For that reason, they acquire
rejection of creation until they reject themselves. Had they confirmed
themselves, they would have confirmed their Lord. Had they confirmed
their Lord, they would have confirmed themselves because whoever recog-
nises himself, recognises his Lord, and whoever is ignorant of his Lord,
is ignorant of himself.
Gnosis 373
I asked the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, about the one who binds
existence and releases it by himself and binds himself and releases it by exist-
ence. He said to me, ‘This one is among the leaders of the results of this art.’
Know that one man, when he is by Allah, is equal to all the reality. When a
man is by himself, his station is from the reality, a station which is a leaf from
a tree of existence. The one who is by himself with the one who is with his
Lord is that one who places his self in a place and stays in it and only finds
himself in it. Allah, the slaves, and himself have decreed it for him. The one
who places himself with Allah and stays with that, he is by Allah. The one
who places himself with himself and stops in it, finds himself by himself.
Know that Allah placed these phenomenal beings in the position of the
people of the police over His presence. He commanded people to enter
it and forbade them to leave it. Whoever enters His presence is safe and
rescued. He acquires rest and booty. Whoever leaves the presence of his
Master, phenomenal beings have power over him. They take him and bind
him and constrict and capture him. They are pleased with him in the narrow
straits of phenomenal beings while they call him. This is the repayment for
whoever is negligent of the presence of his Master because Allah created
all phenomenal beings as your slaves and He created you His slave. When-
ever you are occupied with the service of your Master, phenomenal beings
serve you. Whenever you serve phenomenal beings and neglect the service
of your Master, what we first mentioned to you happens. Whoever says
that there is no rest in this world, has spoken the truth. Rest is in leaving
it by the heart or by death. There is only the presence of the creature and
the presence of the Creator. Whoever enters the presence of the Creator,
obtains rest and is safe from toil and all misfortune. Whoever enters the
presence of creatures, obtains toil and does not find rest with them except
for the one who enters the presence of creation by the Creator. This one
obtains the virtue of the two presences. This stage is only obtained by the
perfect rijal who arrive. May Allah profit us and you with their love and
turning to them. Amin.
What a difference between the one who recognises Allah ta‘ala in everything
and the one who recognises Him in one thing more than another. This
meaning is designated by acquiring exaltation for the people in everything
by everything for everything. They are the gnostics. The others acquire ex-
374 The Sufic Path
altation in one thing more than another or in one thing more than things.
Exaltation by it is in the beginnings, and endings reach it. People are in
ranks and stations. Each of them takes from it according to what is opened
to him. If not, there is no exaltation, and no exalted for the exaltation and
not the one who exalts or the one who does not exalt because the people
of Makka are more familiar with its work and speaking with its people.
We hurl the truth against falsehood and it prevails over it,
and falsehood vanishes away.
The truth has come, and falsehood has departed.
Falsehood always vanishes.
This is because Allah is jealous. He does not enter a place in which there
is falsehood except to conquer it and overwhelm it. Whenever Allah ap-
pears, the false vanishes and is annihilated and departs so that only Allah
remains in existence. It is related that a man who was in the presence of
al-Junayd sneezed, and he said, ‘Praise be to Allah!’ and he did not say, ‘the
Lord of the worlds.’ Al-Junayd said, ‘Finish it, my brother.’ The man said,
‘What value do the worlds have so that they should be mentioned with
Him?’ Al-Junayd said to him, ‘My brother, when the in-time is connected
to the out-of-time, the in-time vanishes and the out-of-time goes on.’ He
said in the Hikam:
O wonder! How can existence appear in non-existence
or how is the in-time established with the One Who
has the attribute of out-of-timeness?
Know that the people of leadership are the people of the lesser kingdom,
and the people of Allah are the people of the greater kingdom. The lesser
kingdom is a copy of the greater kingdom, as the jurisdiction of the greater
kingdom is that of the lesser kingdom. If you realise, you will find that the
greater and lesser kingdom are the same. However, if you look from the
direction of separation, you will find that they are two. If you look from
the direction of gatheredness, you will find that it is one. That is part of
what will indicate the immensity of Allah to you. You will find that the
greater part of reality is like its lesser part, and its lesser is like its greater,
from the atom in its smallness to existence in its greatness. It is like that
Gnosis 375
with what is between them. The judgement of some is like the judgement
of all, and the judgement of all is like the judgement of some. Some enters
in all as all contains some. The perfection of the atom is like the perfection
of existence, and the perfection of existence is like the perfection of the
atom. All is one perfection. There is only the One. The atom is contained
in existence as existence contains the atom. Glory be to the Great, the
Noble, the Powerful, the Very Powerful, the Great, the Generous, the
Vast, the Exalted!
The question of the secret is only by the secret with the people of the secret.
Whenever making public appears in it, it is voided. The question of making
public is only with uttering aloud with the people of the public. Whenever
the secret appears in it, it is voided.
The gnosis of Allah is easier than everything. The gnosis of creation is more
difficult than everything.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
376 The Sufic Path
Wisdom 377
Chapter Eight
Wisdom
The Departure of Illusion
I had an illusion. When it departed, the heart looked
upon the light of before-endless-time.
It rode on longing which flew with it, so the heart drew near
to its Beloved until it was united.
It saw created beings as an imagination that faded,
and the form of existence was obliterated and vanished.
Then it was returned to going-on, acknowledging all the forms
from which it had been absent.
It joined the two opposites in the vision,
it unified Allah and it undertook action.
It obtained a secret and a level path. Few are the people
of perfection who taste it.
Our Lord, bless the light – every slave gets his desire
who goes to it.
And be pleased with his family:
they are the people of understanding, the qutb and the badal.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know that had you scrutinised and examined your self, you would not
find in it the weight of a mustard-seed which is not correct. You will find
that it is all in the very limit of perfection, complete from every direction.
Had you scrutinised all of existence, you would not find in it the weight
of a mustard-seed which is not correct. You will find that all existence is in
the very limit of perfection. The self is a copy of existence as existence is a
copy of the self. The judgement of the self and the judgement of existence
are the same. However, none obtains this knowledge except the gnostics
of Allah, may Allah be pleased with them. By that, success is obtained be-
378 The Sufic Path
tween them and themselves and creation. When they begin not to reject
any of themselves nor to reject any of creation, the adversary is settled and
contention is removed, and they only have rising in the state and stations
and adornment with the pleasure of intimate conversation. That is when
the essence becomes the source of the attributes with them as the attributes
are the source of the essence. The only One Who can enter this art is the
One Who obtains knowledge of Allah or the company of the gnostic who
knows Allah. Winning knowledge of Allah is only possible by the company
of the people of knowledge if they exist. They are very few.
Know that all existence is one, and every question in existence which you
belittle and do not apply your hand to, certainly the state will compel you
to it. Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, is Wise. He has not created anything
for you in existence from the atom to the highest thing but that you are in
the very limit of need of it. When you do not need it today, you will need
it tomorrow. The man of intellect must neither belittle anyone nor neglect
anything in existence. It is like that.
Know that the most intelligent of people is the One Who wants to rec-
ognise himself by Allah, and the most stupid of people is the One Who
wants to recognise Allah by himself. The most knowing of people is the One
Who wants to control himself by Allah, and the most ignorant of people is
the One Who wants to control Allah by himself because only our Master
recognises our Master and only our Master controls our Master. There is
no existent independent of our Master except for our Master.
Know that election is two: the one occupied with himself and the one
occupied with his Lord. The One Who is occupied with himself does not
find any way to be occupied with his Lord because his secret is concentrated
on refining himself and his himma stops there. The One Who is occupied
with his Lord does not find any way to be occupied with himself because
his secret is concentrated on witnessing his Lord, and his himma ends with
his Lord to his Lord. The truth is that whoever sees himself is veiled to his
Lord, and whoever sees his Lord, is veiled to himself.
Know that the slave who turns to his Lord is sometimes with his Lord
while he is with himself, and sometimes he is with himself while he is with
his Lord. These two states alternate on man. The two of them must exist.
Wisdom 379
As for the hour in which he is with his Lord while he is with himself, that
is the hour of his luminosity and ruhaniya. As for the hour in which he is
with himself while he is with his Lord, that is the hour of his humanness
and darkness. He does not travel and rise until these two states are mixed
with each other and become as if they were one.
Know that existence in reality is from you and you are from it, that is, ac-
cording to what you are from it, it is from you. According to how you are
its slave, it is your slave. According to how much you are its master, it is your
master, no more, no less. Commensurate with how you exalt it and thank
it, it exalts you and thanks you. Commensurate with how much you debase
it and criticise it, it debases and criticises you. According to how much you
spend on it and are generous to existence, it is generous and spends on you.
According to your stinginess, it is stingy to you. According to your love
of it, it loves you. According to your hate of it, it hates you. According to
your affirmation of it, it affirms you. According to your rejection of it, it
rejects you. According to your truthfulness with it, it is truthful with you.
According to your denial of it, it denies you. According to your doing good
to it, it does good to you. According to your doing evil to it, it does evil to
you. According to your abasement to it, it is abased to you. According to
your might over it, it is mighty over you, to what has no end. It is as if all
matters were in your hand. The truth is that all of them are in your hand,
from your side to which you turn sovereignty, and the truth is also that
none of them are in your hand from your side to which you turn slaveness.
Know that in reality, existence is from you and you are from it. Commen-
surate with how you are a slave of Allah, it is your slave. Commensurate
with how you are its master, it is your master. Commensurate with how you
exalt it and thank it, it exalts and thanks you. It is according to that. Com-
mensurate with how you despise and criticise it, it despises and criticises
you. Commensurate with how you expend and are generous to existence,
it expends on you and is generous to you, no more, no less. Commensurate
with your miserliness to it, it is miserly to you. He said, may He be exalted:
Commensurate with your love of it, it loves you. Commensurate with your
anger with it, it is angry with you. Commensurate with your esteeming it, it
esteems you. Commensurate with your rejecting it, it rejects you. Commen-
380 The Sufic Path
surate with your sincerity towards it, it is sincere with you. Commensurate
with your excellence to it, it has excellence to you. Commensurate with
your evil to it, it is evil to you. Commensurate with your abasement to it,
it is abased to you. Commensurate with your might over it, it has might
over you, and on to what has no end of these matters. All matters issue
from you and return to you, good and evil. All matters are in your hand.
The truth is that all of them are in your hand from the direction in which
you turn to sovereignty. The truth is also that none of it is in your hand,
i.e. from the direction in which you turn to slaveness. Every man has these
two directions: a direction to sovereignty and a direction to slaveness. He
is like a mirror. When he is opposite it with slaveness, its effects appear on
him, whether he likes it or not. When he is opposite it with sovereignty,
its effects appear on him, whether he likes it or not. However, the common
become common because they are ignorant of that. They reach it and do not
recognise its jurisdiction. Because of that, they are barred from its scents.
The elite, may Allah profit us by them, become elite by their knowledge of
that and their acting by it. They reach it with gnosis and eye-witnessing, so
its scents reach them sooner or later. They smell lights and eat fruits. May
Allah give us the benefit of their love and make us among those who cling to
their coat-tails in this world and the Next World by His favour and ihsan!
Know that you do not oppress anything but that you attract from it by the
core of the core because whoever you confront with injustice, confronts
you with justice, as whoever you confront with justice confronts you with
injustice. This is with yourself and with your species. Rather, it is with all
existence. Such is the custom of Allah by His wisdom in existence. Glory
be to the Wise, the Knowing!
Know that whatever you confront existence with, it is your mirror. What
you confront it with, it confronts you with it – from among mankind,
animals, cattle, or inanimates. Not everyone recognises the meaning in
mankind and in inanimates, animals, plants, and other – this meaning in
them is only recognised by the one who has a piercing inner eye. What
appears in mankind is stronger than in others. That is because he contains
the substance of all reality. His element is from his gnosis which equals in
weight the element of reality in its totality. Despite the small size of his
body and the great size of reality, his weight is equal to its weight. Look at
the child of Adam. When you confront him with adab, he confronts you
Wisdom 381
with it. When you confront him with bad adab, he confronts you with it.
When you confront him with slaveness, he confronts you with it. When you
confront him with freedom, he confronts you with it. When you confront
him with height and bewilderment, he confronts you with it. When you
confront him with lowness and humility, he confronts you with it. The
result is that whatever you confront him with, he confronts you with it,
even if you are a slave and he is a king, or the reverse.
Know that whoever sees all people wrong, the sight is wrong. Whoever
sees all people right, the seeing is right. Whoever sees people sometimes
right, sometimes wrong, he is sometimes right and sometimes wrong. That
is because existence is the mirror of your self, and your self is the mirror of
existence. Your attributes appear to you in the mirror of existence as the
attributes of existence appear to you in your mirror – i.e. what appears
to you in existence is in yourself and what appears to you in yourself is in
existence, and no more. One of the fuqara said in this meaning, ‘Say to
those who see what they reject in us, by the purity of our drink, they see
their attributes in us.’
Know that the inward in relation to the outward is like the mirror opposite
man, i.e. the outward is man and the inward is the mirror. The mirror is
opposite man as man is opposite the mirror. That which the outward does,
the inward does, no more, no less. Whoever does good, good is done to him.
Whoever does evil, evil is done to him. Whoever exalts, is exalted. Whoever
debases is debased. Whoever constricts is constricted. Whoever expands, is
expanded. Whoever does good, good is done to him. Whoever does evil,
evil is done to him. Whoever ennobles, is ennobled. Whoever humiliates,
is humiliated. Whoever strengthens, is strengthened. Whoever lightens, is
lightened. Whoever confirms, is confirmed. Whoever rejects, is rejected.
Whoever gives, is given to, and whoever is stingy, is shown stinginess. No
one forbids a thing, but that he forbids it to himself. No one gives anything
but that he gives it to himself. He said, may He be exalted:
That is by what your hands advance, and Allah does
not wrong the slaves.
So understand! The will of Allah is the root upon which the will of the
382 The Sufic Path
slave is organised.
Know that you increase abasement before your Master and phenomenal
beings as you increase abasement before yourself. You increase humility
and poverty before yourself because the cosmos is like the mirror. You do
not come opposite your Master with something but that the cosmos comes
opposite you with its like.
Whoever is humble to existence by choice, existence is humble to him by
necessity. Whoever makes himself great above existence by choice, existence
is great over him by necessity. That is because all existence is a mirror facing
you. What you confront it with, it confronts you with it.
Say to those who see what they reject in us,
‘By the purity of our drink, you see your faults in us.’
Existence is a copy of you and you are a copy of it. Existence is your separa-
tion and you are its gatheredness. Existence is your property and you are its
king. Existence is your essence and you are its attributes. Existence is your
majesty and you are its beauty. Existence is your senses and you are its ruh.
Your inward supports the outward of existence as your outward supports
the inward of existence. Existence is as if it were your branches and you are
its root, or as if existence were your body and you were its heart or its ruh.
Know that existence and its people are like the mirror. Whatever you con-
front them with, they confront you with it, no more, no less. If you confront
them with seriousness, they confront you with it. If you confront them
with jest, they confront you with it. If you confront them with beauty, they
confront you with it. If you confront them with majesty, they confront you
with it. If you confront some of them with majesty and some with beauty,
the one you confront with majesty, confronts you with it, and the one you
confront with beauty, confronts you with it. If you separate, they separate.
If you gather, they gather. If you expand, they expand. If you facilitate, they
facilitate. If you fulfil, they fulfil. If you deceive, they deceive. If you are
truthful, they are truthful. If you lie, they lie. If you oppress, they oppress. If
you are just, they are just. If you are generous, they are generous. If you are
miserly, they are miserly. If you fear them, they fear you. If you make claims,
they make claims. If you love them, they love you. If you hate them, they
hate you. All the matter is in your hand. It emerges from you and returns
Wisdom 383
to you, good or evil, sweet or bitter. Your Lord does not wrong anyone.
May Allah have mercy on ash-Shitri when he said:
From me, my glasses revolve around me.
After my death, you will see me alive.
Look, O brother, at this noble Lord! How generous He is! How Forbearing!
How Great! He is Rich, above the worlds. Glory be to the One discon-
nected from His slaves by His immensity!
Part of what indicates to you that all existence is one and that you are that
one is that when you are concerned with something inwardly and none
except you know your inward, all existence only confronts you with what
you are concerned with, good or evil.
I am in My slave’s opinion of Me. - Hadith.
Know that whenever you prepare for something, that thing prepares for
you, be it outward or inward. You do not seek anything but that it seeks
you. You do not reject anything, but that it rejects you. You do not turn
to anything, but that it turns to you. You do not turn from anything, but
that it turns from you. You do not love anything, but that it loves you.
You do not hate anything, but that it hates you. The result is that existence
is like the mirror. Whatever you confront it with, it confronts you with
it. Wherever you drive yourself, you find it. He said, may He be exalted:
He said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘Allah provides for the
slave according to his himma.’ The self is like the bee. The land on which it
grazes to eat its food for supper, it takes home with it on its legs.
All existence is one. Some are in love with others of it, and some yearn
for others so that some of it meet others of it and some of it marry others,
and some of it bear others of it. Increase therefore emerges between some
and others. Increase has two aspects. Increase which descends and increase
which rises.
Know that when you are humble to existence and give it power over your
self, existence is humble to you and gives you power over it and it obeys you
and you can do what you like with it. When you are proud over existence
and want to possess it, existence is proud over you and wants to possess
you and so you obey it and it does with you what it likes. The kingdom
384 The Sufic Path
of man is in his slaveness, and the slaveness of man is in his kingdom. He

He will assuredly repay them for their describing,
surely He is Wise, Knowing.
Look at the word of ash-Shadhili, may Allah have mercy on him, ‘Make
us Your slaves in all states,’ because existence changes colour. You change
colour as the mirror changes colour with your colour when you are opposite
it. That is because existence is from you and you are from it. Existence is
you and you are existence.
Know that Allah ta‘ala created two worlds: the world of the senses and the
world of the selves as He created a time of summer and a time of winter. He,
may His praise be exalted, appeared between these two worlds. He made the
world of the senses great in the senses and small in meaning, and He made
the world of the self small in the senses and great in the meaning. The world
of the senses is based on the self, and the world of the self is based on the
world of the senses. Increase of the senses is only with decrease of the self,
and increase of the self is only with the decrease of the senses. The gnostic
of Allah is the one who recognises their wisdom so that he uses the self as
he uses the senses, and he uses the senses as he uses the self. The world of
the senses is the cosmos, high and low. The world of the self is the world
of man’s essence. Whoever has been empowered to act in the world of his
self, must be empowered to act in the cosmos. Whoever is not empowered
to act in the world of his self, has no action in existence.
Know that your self is a copy from existence, and existence is a copy
from your self. Whoever Allah gives power to dispose of himself, is
given power to dispose of existence. Whoever is not given power to
dispose of himself, has no disposal in existence, because the judge-
ment of yourself is the judgement of existence, and the judgement of
existence is the judgement of yourself.
The kingdom in retreat is that whoever loves, loves, and whoever hates,
hates. Whoever wants to own existence or a man of existence, withdraws
from it, whether it is outward or inward kingdom. Their judgement is the
same. Similarly, the judgement of all existence is like the judgement of one
man. The judgement of one man is like the judgement of all existence, no
more, no less. He said, may He be exalted:
Wisdom 385
Therefore We wrote for the Tribe of Israel that whoever slays a

self, not to retaliate for a slain self, nor for corruption done in
the land, is as if he had slain all people. Whoever gives life to a
self, it is as if he had given life to all people.
Know that all existence is like the one man. You are in the position of a
finger of that man. If you own that finger – and it is your self, you own all
existence and overcome it and conquer it, whether it likes it or not, until
you can dispose of all existence as you like and only what you want is in it.
If that finger overcomes you – and it is your self, all existence overcomes
and conquers you, whether you like it or not, so that existence disposes
of you as it likes by what it likes. When you own your self, all existence is
your slave. When your self owns you, you are existence’s slave. The self is
only owned by the gnosis of the gnostics of Allah, and their company and
sitting with them constantly.
Know that Allah ta‘ala placed existence from you in the position of your
limbs. You have authority and are the Sultan over them. They have no
authority over you. This is when you belong to it, so you have everything.
You are by it, everything is by you.
Glory be to the One Who gave this man what He gave him. Part of the sum
of what He gave him is that you find him small-great, near-far, dead-alive,
abased-mighty, terrestrial-celestial, incapable-powerful, speaking-answer-
ing, ignorant-knowing, actor-acted upon, expanded-contracted, miserly-
generous, dark-luminous, wide-narrow, begetter-begotten, and He is neither
begetter nor begotten, separated-gathered, hot-cold, advancing-retreating,
sleeping-awake, strong-weak, doing good-doing evil, confirmed-rejected,
conquering-conquered, withholding-giving, standing-sitting, still-moving,
unseen-present, sensory-of meaning, intelligent-stupid, truthful-lying,
true-false, oppressor-oppressed, lover-enemy, outward-inward, mending-
ruining, dutiful-outrageous, rich-poor, teaching-learning, male-female,
slave-free, doing to himself-done to it, laughing-weeping, happy-angry,
travelling-resident, maker-made, manager-managed, thankful-thanked,
remembering-reminded, judging-judged, overcoming-overcome, looker-
seen. He is good and he is evil. He is profit and he is loss. He is king and
he is a slave. He disposes and he is disposed of. He exalts and debases. He
is contained, content, and he is not content nor contained. He is the one
386 The Sufic Path
who recognises himself and he is the one who is ignorant of himself. He is

the one who sees his Master and confirms His Oneness, and he is the one
who is veiled to his Master and rejects His sovereignty. He is the veil and he
is the veiled. He is the contractor and he is the contracted. He is the seeker
and he is the sought. He is the lover and he is the beloved. He is the one for
whose sake existence was brought into being, and he is the one for whose
sake existence will be brought into non-existence. Had it not been for him,
there would not have been any enduring blessing. Had it not been for him,
there would not be any fire of Jahim. He is the bride of the kingdom and
he is its Amir and its servant. He is also abased and insignificant in it. The
result is that had I been familiar with fixed familiarity about what Allah
gave him, I would not be able to compute that. All is a gift from Him to
him. He said, may He be exalted:
If you count the blessing of Allah,
you will not be able to number it.
Know that Allah ta‘ala created everything, and everything He created has
its opposite. All that is knotted is only untied by its opposite. All that is
unknown, is only known by its opposite. Everything that is untied, is only
tied by its opposite, and all that is known is only known by its opposite.
All that is wrong is only mended by its opposite, and all that is right is only
ruined by its opposite. As the bringing-into-existence of things is only by
the connection of opposites, so their being put into non-existence is only
by the connection of opposites. Similarly, the life of things is between the
connection of opposites, and their death is only by the connection of op-
posites. As nearness is only between the connection of opposites, so distance
is only between the connection of opposites. As love is only between the
connection of opposites, so hate is only between the connection of oppo-
sites. As might is only between the connection of opposites, so abasement
is only between the connection of opposites. The result is that whatever
Allah ta‘ala brings into existence, His custom has preceded that as He only
brings into existence between the connection of opposites, His custom is
also that He only puts it into non-existence by the connection of opposites.
That by which He punishes, He shows mercy if He wills. That by which He
shows mercy, He punishes if He wills. His wisdom is in His power, and His
power is in His wisdom. Glory be to the Wise, the Knowing.
Know that the wisdom of Allah in this knowledge, that is, the knowledge
Wisdom 387
of the senses, is all contained in knowledge of the judgement of opposites.

Because of that, height is hidden in descent and descent is hidden in height.
Darkness is hidden in light, and light is hidden in darkness. Might is hidden
in abasement, and abasement is hidden in might. Life is hidden in death and
death is hidden in life. Good is hidden in evil and evil is hidden in good.
Know that this existence is based on things and their opposites. Allah
created a pair of everything: the thing and its opposite. Part of the sum
of that is that Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, created knowledge and
ignorance. Knowledge only appears by ignorance, and ignorance only ap-
pears by knowledge. Whenever you describe yourself with knowledge, you
receive ignorance. Whenever you are described by ignorance, you obtain
knowledge. It is like that with all things. Whenever you are described by
a thing or do it, you acquire its opposite, whether you like it or not. It is
like hunger and being full. The one of hunger must be full, and the one of
being full must have hunger, whether he likes it or not.
Know that the reality of the states of man is like the reality of the states of
existence. The reality of the states of existence is like the reality of the states
of man, letter for letter, no more, no less. The states of existence are based on
opposites like winter and summer. By it, we mean heat and cold. Each state
is only set up by the other with it. Had there been only one state, existence
would have vanished. However one of them must have authority over the
other. That is, the one who dominates in the moment has authority over
the other. Had it been with it, it would not part from it and it only exists
by it – as in the summer, authority belongs to heat although cold does not
leave it. Had there been heat in the summer without cold, existence would
have vanished with whoever is in it, and it would have disappeared because
of heat. Similarly in the winter, cold has authority although heat does not
leave it. Had there been cold without heat in the winter, existence and
whoever is in it would have vanished and disappeared by cold. It is like that
with man – every season and every moment, the state and its opposite, are
in him. However, authority belongs to the one dominant at the moment
because the existence of existence is only established and level by things
and their opposites always. Had there been one state in it for the blink of
an eye, existence would have been destroyed and non-existent. Similarly,
man is only set up and his existence level by things and their opposites
always. Had there been one state for the blink of an eye, man would have
388 The Sufic Path
been destroyed, non-existent and vanished. It is like that. Man is, as we said
at first, a copy of existence and existence is a copy of man. It is said that the
world of the selves is the macrocosm, and the world of existence is a copy
of it, because the world of selves has authority over the world of existence.
The world of existence has no authority over the world of selves. That is
from when Allah exalted and honoured it when He said:
Neither my heaven nor My earth contain Me,
but the heart of My slave, the mu‘min, contains Me.
This indicates His honouring it.
Know that this existence is set up by things and their opposites. The
gnostics, may Allah be pleased with them, whenever the wisdom of things
appears to them, wisdom and their opposites appear to them because man
is fashioned by his words and actions and all his essence from opposites.
Whenever one of the two opposites is invalidated in him, he looks at de-
struction. The intelligent man must recognise the wisdom of finding and
the wisdom of loss. He must recognise the wisdom of giving and the wisdom
of withholding, and recognise the wisdom of blessing and the wisdom of
vengeance, the wisdom of contraction and the wisdom of expansion, the
wisdom of the lover and the wisdom of the enemy, the wisdom of the pre-
sent and the wisdom of the Unseen, the wisdom of manifestation and the
wisdom of concealment, the wisdom of hunger and the wisdom of being
full, the wisdom of poverty and the wisdom of wealth, to what cannot be
counted of the opposites by which this man is set up by this wisdom.
Know that part of the sum of the perfection of Allah’s work in man is that
He made him differ in his states, actions, and words, and in his essence, and
in his attributes, and in his gravity and jest, his good and evil, his creation
and his character, his outward and his inward, his height and his lowness,
and his senses and his meaning, to what cannot be enumerated. Part of
the difference is that He made different states come to him. The good in
them turns him from good and joins him to evil. The states of evil in him
turns him from evil and joins him to good. Other states are the reverse.
Good in them turns him from evil and joins him to good, and the states
of evil in them turn him from good and join him to evil. There is what has
no end. That is so that you know that Allah has power over everything.
He said, may He be exalted, ‘They still have differences.’ Glory be to the
Wise, the Knowing!
Wisdom 389
Know that according to what there is of good in rightness, there is what

there is of good in wrongness. According to what there is of good in the
intellect, there is what there is of good in stupidity. According to what
there is of good in might, there is what there is of good in abasement
because all these are the products of Allah. Allah, the Blessed, the Great,
is beautiful. Whatever the Beautiful creates, it is only beautiful. Look at
the word of Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani, may Allah profit us by him, in
his well-known qasida:
If you relate every ugly thing to its beauty,
the meanings of beauty in it will come to you swiftly.
All sovereignty is might as all slaveness is abasement Slaveness is meant by
sovereignty, and sovereignty is meant by slaveness. It is as if abasement is
meant by might and might is meant by abasement. Man is the most in the
middle. It is as if he were an interspace between two seas: the sea of abase-
ment and the sea of might. Because of that, man is the wife of existence.
Man in relation to existence is in the position of the heart in man. When
man is good, existence is good. When man is corrupt, existence is corrupt.
Similarly, when the heart is good, man is good.
The height of the slave in his might and nobility indicates the greatness of
his Master and His elevation and immensity.
I also heard him say: ‘My son, intend the action which is present and with-
draws, even if it appears to people that it is ugly. Abandon action which
you are constantly in, even if it appears to you and people that it is good.
Look at man. Had this structure been based on satiety without hunger, his
Master would not have turned him to hunger ever, even though hunger
appears to people to be the ugliest of ugly things. Had the structure of man
also been based on obedience without rebellion, his Master would not have
turned him to rebellion, although He is the One Who commanded him
to obedience and gratitude for it and forbade rebellion and censured it.’
All that is in existence of things is only supported by its opposite, whether
it likes it or not. Being constantly with the thing will certainly join you
to its opposite, whether you like it or not because man does not persist
in doing good, but that that good is transformed into evil. He does not
persist in doing evil, but that that evil is transformed into good, because
there must be variety. Whoever wants to be in one state will not find that
because he desires something which Allah ta‘ala has not created. He said,
390 The Sufic Path
may He be exalted, ‘They are still in differences.’ He said, may the Speaker
be exalted, ‘and the variety of your tongues and colours’. However, what
a difference between the people of compulsory variety and the people
of acquired variety!
Know that the reality of humanness is that you do not elevate anyone, but
that he lowers you. You do not lower anyone, but that he elevates you. You
are not good to anyone, but that he is evil to you, and the reverse. You do
not exalt anyone but that he debases you, and the reverse. You do not bring
anyone near but that he makes you far, and the reverse. It is like that to what
has no end. This is part of the very limit of perfection because all things are
accompanied by their opposites. Existence is set up by that, that is, set up
between differences. He said, may the Speaker be exalted:
This is the wisdom of Allah ta‘ala in His creation. By those differences,
whoever is rescued is rescued, and whoever is destroyed, is destroyed. All
increase of existence is between these differences. Only the gnostic of Allah
or one who has wisdom about the selves recognises this. One of them said:
Know that part of the perfection of the work of Allah is that Allah ta‘ala
made this existence based between two. He said, may He be exalted:
We created pairs of everything.
That is by the uniqueness of the oneness of Allah, the One, the Unique,
may His praise be exalted and His attributes and names be purified! He
gave everything an opposite and everything desires its opposite and seeks
it. Whenever arrival occurs between those attributes, existence is set up and
appears between them like the woman with the man. Whenever they meet,
a child comes into existence between them. He is a clear adversary. It is like
winter with summer. When they meet, all fruits exist between them. It is
like yellow bile and phlegm. Whenever they meet in man, his essence is set
up and sound. If one overcomes the other, he is destroyed and vanishes.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him and may He profit
Wisdom 391
us by him, counselled me is: ‘My son! Whoever says anything to you and
you see him enhancing it for you, say to him, “This is half the thing and
the other half remains,” because whatever Allah created in this existence,
He made a mate to it.’ That is so that He, may His majesty be exalted, alone
possesses oneness and there is no One alone except Him, may His majesty
be exalted! He has no second and He has no opposite, no like, no similar,
and no partner. Glory be to Him and may He be exalted above what they
associate. There is no god but Him! There is no Worshipped but Him!
Among opposites are disconcerting yearning and unsettling fear, knowl-
edge and ignorance, giving and withholding, praise and censure, good and
evil, bitterness and sweetness, abasement and might, wealth and poverty,
weakness and strength, incapacity and power, lover and enemy, summer
and winter, water and fire, health and illness, life and death, smallness and
greatness, anger and pleasure, and generosity and miserliness.
Had it not been for loss, the value of finding would not have been recog-
nised. Had it not been for forbidding, the value of giving would not have
been recognised. Had it not been for narrowness, the value of wideness
would not have been recognised. Had it not been for innovation, the value
of the sunna would not have been recognised. Had it not been for the of-
fensive, the value of the pleasant would not have been recognised. Had it
not been for revenge, the value of blessings would not have been recognised.
Had it not been for the objectionable, the value of the accepted would not
have been recognised. Had it not been for the enemy, the value of the friend
would not have been recognised. Had it not been for the unseen, the value
of the present would not have been recognised.
Know that Allah ta‘ala created a pair of everything. Part of the sum of that
is that He gave His slave two provisions: bodily provision and provision
of meaning. He made each of them derive from the other. The senses are
only set up by the meaning, and the meaning is only set up by the senses.
When the substance of the senses is great, the substance of the meaning
is weak. When the substance of the meaning is great, the substance of the
senses is weak, whether the slave likes it or not. The substance of the heart
is luminous and the substance of the body is dark. When darkness is strong,
light is negated and weak. When light is strong, darkness is negated and
weak. When the substance of light is strong, by it darkness is negated and
392 The Sufic Path
weak. When the substance of light is strong, by it the inward of unseen

things is unveiled for you in the celestial and the terrestrial Malakut. By it,
the suns of the realities shine on you in all presences. You become intimate
with the Beloved in the meadow of beauty and intoxicated with the wine of
the presence of the people of perfection, saying by the tongue of your state:
Praise be to Allah who removed sorrow.
Our Lord is Forgiving, Thankful.
When the substance of darkness is strong, the clouds of phenomenal be-
ings rise and remain on the mirror of your heart. They veil you to the suns
of gnosis. Then you are among those of your species. If you are a gnostic
of your states, know that He appears in tajalli in you by the perfection of
His attributes and is manifest in you by what is not related to you of the
beauty of His actions. Then He wants to complete His blessing on you, so
He is pleased with it from you to you so that the good of the two presences
might not miss you, the good of the presence of your Lord, and the good
of the presence of yourself. By the good of the presence of your Lord, you
miss the presence of yourself, and by the good of the presence of yourself,
you miss the presence of your Lord. All is from Him to Him. He said, may
the Speaker be exalted:
You will not be able to number it.
This is the station of the elite, the praisers who praise Allah in every state.
As for the elite of the elite, they are the people of annihilation. They see no
existence except Allah. For the one of annihilation, the presence of himself
is the presence of his Lord, and the presence of his Lord is the presence of
himself. His secret is gathered to his Master, and he sees only Him. Had
he been obliged to do other-than-that, he would not have been able to do
it. May Allah make us among them by His pure favour and generosity!
When you want to understand the words of actual poverty, it is like the
one who learns to point with the gun. He first fires at the indication and
does not hit it, and he repeats it and does not hit it. It is like that until
wherever he shoots, he hits it – because whoever does not miss, does not
hit or mend. Whoever is not crooked, is not made straight. Whoever is not
abased, is not made mighty. The custom of Allah has passed in His creation
that things only emerge from their opposites. However, men vary in claim.
Wisdom 393
The bold wins pleasure. Ash-Shitri said, ‘Overcome it with the foot, and
the stream will begin to fear you, O leader.’ Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani
said, ‘Only the brave knocker obtains it.’ Ash-Shadhili said, may Allah have
mercy on him, ‘O, Allah! You have sentenced the people to abasement,’ i.e.
the abasement of the beginnings until they acquire the might of the ends.
The poet said, ‘The end of love is pleasure and its beginning is like jest.’
Whenever man is granted something, he is granted it by its opposite. As the
king overwhelms people by his might, so the one of abasement overwhelms
people by his abasement, because might has force and abasement has force.
Each We help, these and those, from the giving of your Lord.
As light has force, so darkness has force. As strength has force, so weakness
has force. As power has force, so incapacity has force. As speech has force,
so silence has force. As the highest of what is in people has force, so the
lowest of what is in people has force, because things are only occupied by
their opposites in their actions. No one confronts you with anything and
you confront him with its opposite, but that you obliterate him from these
opposites which we mentioned and others. These matters only stumble for
the one who does not serve the highest of matters or the lowest of them.
Wavering between that, not to these nor to those.
By this, the one who is cut off is cut off, and the one who arrives, arrives.
The result is that all good is gathered in the highest of what is in things
and in the lowest of what is in things. Allah knows best. All this is if he is
for Allah and by Allah and from Allah, and also if he is by a Shaykh with
insight and with a sincere brother in Allah.
Know that as the key of celestials is terrestrials, and the key of might is
abasement, the key of terrestrials is celestials, and the key of abasement is
might. The key of the reality is the shari‘a and the key of the shari‘a is the
reality. The key of corruption is rightness and the key of rightness is cor-
ruption. The key of nearness is distance, and the key of distance is nearness.
The key of death is life, and the key of life is death. The key of wealth is
poverty, and the key of poverty is wealth. The key of hunger is being full,
and the key of being full is hunger. The key of greatness is smallness, and
394 The Sufic Path
the key of smallness is greatness. The key of arrival is emigration, and the
key of emigration is arrival. The key of wideness is narrowness, and the key
of narrowness is wideness. The key of the beautiful is the ugly, and the key
of the ugly is the beautiful. The key of gatheredness is separation, and the
key of separation is gatheredness, to what has no end of opposites. Each
opposite is the key of its opposite. So perfect majesty is the key of perfect
beauty, and perfect beauty is the key of perfect majesty. Allah, the Great,
the Blessed, made all existence and what is in it like that – it travels always
from opposite to opposite. It is always flying, either in the opposite, or in
its opposite. In that way, you find the greatest of what is in existence as you
find the smallest of what is in existence, and the most immense of what is in
existence and the most insignificant of what is in existence. The judgement
of the small is like the judgement of the great, and the judgement of the
great is like the judgement of the small. Glory be to the Wise, the Knowing.
He also said, may the Speaker be magnified:

We sent it down on the Night of Power.
What will teach you what is the Night of Power?
The Night of Power is better than a thousand months.
Look and reflect if you have understanding! You will find that the im-
mensity of things only issues from their immensity. Immense light only
issues from immense darkness. Immense vastness only issues from immense
narrowness. Immense might only issues from immense abasement. Im-
mense nearness only issues from immense distance. Immense expansion
only issues from immense contraction. Immense giving only issues from
immense withholding. Immense profit only issues from immense loss.
Immense gatheredness only issues from immense separation. It is like that
in the reverse of all these matters and others which have no end. Glory be
to the One Who made all things hidden in their opposites by His wisdom
and power – may He be exalted! Glory be to the Great, the Wise, the
Compassionate, the Merciful!
You are not occupied with the good interest of your self but that the good
interest of your body misses you. You are not occupied with the good inter-
est of your body but that the good interest of your self misses you. That is
because ruin does not leave its brother, and it is goodness, as goodness does
not leave its brother, and it is ruin. When you turn to the good interest
Wisdom 395
of your self, ruin wins from the side of your body. When you turn to the
good interest of your body, ruin wins from the side of your self. All matters,
as long as they are inward, are gatheredness. Whenever they come out to
the outward, they become separated. Gatheredness is not sound by the
absence of connection as separation is sound by the absence of separation.
As long as matters are in the Unseen, they are one. When they appear, they
are separation. Glory be to the One Who made the outward separation
in which there is no gatheredness as He made the inward gatheredness in
which there is no separation. He made the outward the source of the inward
as He made the inward the source of the outward. He made separation the
source of gatheredness as He made gatheredness the source of separation.
Glory be to the Wise, the Knowing. Glory be to the One Who made
connection the source of difference as He made difference the source of
connection. Glory be to the One Who separated opposites so that they
are not joined as He joined opposites so that they are not separated. Glory
be to the Wise, the Knowing.
A basic wisdom is that the keys of things are their opposites. If you desire to
possess great things, you must have the small. If you want to possess small
things, you must have the great. The highest thing finds the lowest thing,
and the lowest thing finds the highest thing. The matters are connected
to each other.
Know that whoever wants to overcome is overcome, and whoever wants to
be overcome, overcomes. Whoever wants to own, is owned, and whoever
wants to be owned, owns. Whoever wants to be exalted is abased, and
whoever wants to be abased is exalted. Whoever wants to be great is small,
and whoever wants to be small is great. Whoever wants to be mighty is
abased and must be abased. Whoever wants to be abased, must be mighty.
The result is that things are hidden in their opposites. The attributes of
perfection are hidden in the attributes of imperfection, and the attributes
of imperfection are hidden in the attributes of perfection. All is perfection,
and there is no imperfection.
Creation, according to what you show them of light, they show you of
darkness. According to what you show them of darkness, they show you
of light. Whenever you confront them with something, they confront you
with its opposite. The opposite is according to the opposite.
396 The Sufic Path
Know that opposites are only in balance in someone when his intellect is
disordered and impaired and his body has disappeared. He said, may He
be blessed and exalted, ‘You will not be able to be equitable.’ Balance
between two opposites is impossible. Whenever they are equal in anyone,
impairment immediately appears in his intellect and body. Man is based
on opposites outwardly and inwardly. However, when opposites are equal
in him, he is destroyed. If there is one of the two opposites, and its oppo-
site is not with it, man is also destroyed. When two opposites are joined
in man, and one of them dominates the other, that is man’s perfection in
his essence and intellect. If you want to realise this meaning, then look at
man and reflect on him. You will find that he is a copy of existence. Look
also at existence and reflect on it, you will find that its judgement is that of
man, no more, no less. Haven’t you looked at existence when opposites are
joined in it, like heat and cold in spring-time? Many illnesses occur by that
in people. One of the gnostics of Allah said, ‘The principle is that whenever
two opposites are joined, one of the rejectors appears in the connection
of something in-time to something in-time – Allah creates a third matter,
although spring only has one day of balance in it. However, it is near to
balance, so its rule is that of balance.’ Allah created man from existence as
He created existence from man. Because of that, man’s nature changes and
his blood changes with the air of the seasons. The season of spring is blood,
and the season of summer changes blood into yellow bile. The season of
autumn changes yellow bile into black bile, and the season of winter changes
black bile into phlegm. It is like that with every season. Man changes by
the change of its air. These opposites which we mentioned in man are also
in existence. Look at summertime. It is the time of heat, but cold is with
it. Had it been heat without cold, people would have died of heat. Look at
wintertime. It is the time of cold, but there is heat with it. Had it been cold
without heat, people would have died of the cold. However, the judgement
belongs to the one which dominates the moment. The time of balance is
like spring and autumn. In it, people get many illnesses, and die more than
in the other seasons. It is inevitable, and that is because of balance.
The Real only appears when opposites are connected and equal and evenly
balanced. The Real appears shining in that. When the Real appears and
is manifest, the false vanished. The false is not ever joined to the Real, as
injustice is never joined to justice. The like of that is the balance. When
Wisdom 397
the two scales are equal – and they are opposites – the Real appears in the
balance of the support.
The judgement of the reality of man and the reality of existence is as if it
were one, no more, no less. If you look closely at them in the root, you will
find them a reality. Their judgement has five divisions. The first of them
is that its heat is according to its cold. This is the stage of balance. Or it is
heat without cold. Or it is cold without heat. Or it is heat and cold, and
heat is stronger than cold. Or it is also heat and cold, but cold is stronger
than heat. As for the first division, it is the division of balance. It is what
Allah ta‘ala censured in His word, ‘wavering in that between these and
those’. Increase of this division is terrestrial. The increase of the second
division, and it is heat without cold, is also terrestrial. The increase of the
third division, and it is cold without heat, is also terrestrial. The increase
of the fourth division, and it is heat dominating cold – and it is the school
of the people of the inward, is celestial. The increase of the fifth division,
and it is cold dominating heat – and it is the school of the people of the
outward, is celestial. As for the first three, the custom of Allah has passed
about them in existence – the stage of balance, the stage of the first pre-
dominance, and the stage of the second predominance. As for the stage of
heat alone and the stage of cold alone, it does not exist in something but
that it does not exist.
His wisdom in the affair is that man in the winter is 2/3 food and 1/3 water.
In the summer, it is the reverse, i.e. 2/3 water and 1/3 food. Autumn and
spring are extra. Opposites do not terminate their opposites. The filling of
the Wise, the Knowing.
Whoever wants to recognise the truth as true must not reject. It is the
head of all openings and blessings. The sunna of Allah ta‘ala preceded in
His creation that whoever sees the truth as true finds himself by the true.
Whoever sees the truth as false finds himself false because the truth emerges
from you and returns to you as the false emerges from you and returns to
you. It is as Shaykh ash-Shitri said, may Allah have mercy on him:
From me, my glasses revolve around me.
After my death, you will see me alive.
Similarly, the much accepted is the much rejected as the little rejected is
398 The Sufic Path
little accepted. The much accepted is the much rejected in gatheredness,

and the little rejected is the little accepted in separation. The reality of
gatheredness is kingdom, and the shari‘a of separation is property. In all
existence, there is only the reality of the kingdom and the shari‘a of property,
although the reality is the source of the shari‘a and the shari‘a is the source
of the reality. As the speaker said:
O beauty of creatures! O source of the reality!
This has perception in it that the kingdom is the source of property as
property is the source of the kingdom. There is only the kingdom in exist-
ence. Allah was and nothing was with Him. He has now what He had.
Know that the place in which good is great, evil is also great in it as well.
The place in which profit is great, loss is also great in it. A place in which
lovers come near, enemies also come near. Wherever your lover is, your
enemy is as well, i.e. every place in which you find your lover, you find
your enemy. The place in which light is strong, darkness is also strong. The
place of nearness is the place of distance. The place of giving is the place of
withholding. The place of narrowness is the place of wideness. The place of
severity is the place of comfort. The place of slaves is the place of masters.
The place of abasement is the place of might. The place of strength is the
place of weakness. The place of absence is the place of finding. The place
of separation is the place of gatheredness. When the gnostic sees things
and realises that all things are hidden in their opposites, things and their
opposites become one with him. There is no separation in them. When
this station is realised for him and established, after it, only absorption in
the source or the sea of oneness remains. That is the source of the goal. This
absorption is designated by annihilation. We ask Allah ta‘ala by his favour
and ihsan to give us a portion with the people of these sublime ranks. He
has power over everything.
O brother! Look at the word of Allah ta‘ala, ‘The favour of Allah to you
is great.’ Part of the favour and ihsan of Allah to His slave, man, is that He
made him the bride of existence, the Sultan of the divine kingdom. All
beings are his slaves, connected to him, abased before him, in love with
him in his command and prohibition. Part of His gift to him is also that
He made him change in blessings outwardly and inwardly, in senses and
in meaning. The outward blessings are not completed for him until they
Wisdom 399
become inward, and the inward are not completed for him until they
become outward. Sensory blessings are not completed for him until they
become meanings, and the meanings are not completed for him until they
become sensory. It is like that always. This meaning with the common
people is among the wonders – the outward becomes inward, and the
inward becomes outward. The meaning becomes sensory, and the sensory
becomes meaning. Although this is their custom, they change constantly
in it, morning and evening – however they do not know. Glory be to the
One Who elected what is elected and made common what is common!
Glory be to the Wise, the Knowing! Glory be to the One Who honoured
the People with the lights of gnosis! He said, may He be exalted, ‘Are they
equal, those who know and those who do not know?’ And He said, may
the Speaker be magnified, ‘Those of His slaves who know fear Allah.’
Whoever you remove your himma from, certainly loves you and seeks you.
Whoever you love and seek, certainly removes his himma from you. The
sunna of Allah has passed on that. Part of what the Shaykh said to me, may
Allah give us his benefit, is: ‘My son. This world does not enrich its master
at all. Wealth is only with Allah.’
The gnostic does not eat the fruits of meanings until much silence makes
speech pleasant and much speech makes silence pleasant. All things are
only pleasant by their opposites, and only the complete gnostic finds things
pleasant by their opposites. This meaning is with the self and with the spe-
cies. That which is with the species is what we mentioned and that which
is with the self. When man acquires some tiredness with himself, that state
is called by its opposite. That tiredness goes and the self is pleasant. This
is the adab of the people of the politics of the self and the politics of the
species, because its principle is the same. Whoever owns himself, owns all
existence. Whoever is owned by himself, is owned by existence and what
is in it. The self is only owned by recognising its politics, and the species
is also like that.
He, may He be exalted, also said: ‘They are still in differences.’ This is a
judgement which Allah ta‘ala decreed on existence. It is only established and
in order by it. If you want things to be in order for you, they are in order for
you, even by bonds or speech or what is possible, they are in order for you
in every case by the power of Allah ta‘ala. By that, the custom of Allah has
400 The Sufic Path
passed in existence that things are hidden in their opposites. Corruption is

the source of rightness and rightness is the source of corruption. It is as it is
said, ‘When is the illness of the self its cure?’ It was said, ‘When its passion
is opposed.’ The illness of the self is its cure. This is only understood by the
gnostic of Allah or the one who is wise by Allah. Know that man is the
bride of the kingdom. All existence desires him, outwardly and inwardly.
The heart of man only has one direction. When he neglects his outward,
his inward turns to him. His service is the service of the slave to his master.
His outward goes on by the principle of following. When man neglects his
inward, his outward turns to him, and its service is that of the slave to his
Master. His inward goes on by the principle of following. It is like that.
The realities are eight. Its roots are four. The roots of the four are two, and
the root of the two is one. There is only the One, and He is the One. The two
are: the inward and the outward. The four are: the sensory of the outward
and the meaning, and the meaning of the inward and its senses. The eight
are the sensory of the outward, celestial and terrestrial, its meaning, celestial
and terrestrial, the meaning of the inward, celestial and terrestrial, and its
senses, celestial and terrestrial. None of these eight rise in one by a matter
and are acquainted to us and then change to another of these eight but that
its jurisdiction is immediately overturned. All these eight are opposites.
Whenever something stops with you, overturn it and it will be in order.
Himmas are roots and acts are branches. According to the greatness of the
roots, the branches are great. According to the weakness of the roots, the
branches are weak. Roots mend branches if they are broken and branches
do not mend roots. Had it not been for roots, branches would not exist.
Had it not been for branches, roots would not have been recognised.
The branching out of the planter of the trees of the outward is only until
fruits appear for him. The fruits of the trees of the outward are the inward.
Fruits increase the manifestation and it increases rest and comfort until its
fruits are completed and end. In that, his rest and blessing are completed
and end. It is like that with the one who plants the trees of the inward.
They only put forth branches until results appear to it. They are fruits. The
fruits of the trees of the inward are the outward. The fruits of the outward
increase the one of the inward in manifestation, and it increases rest and
comfort until its fruits are completed and end. In that, his blessing and
Wisdom 401
rest are completed and end. The fruits of the outward are the inward, and
the reverse, and the fruits of the inward are the outward. The results of the
outward are the inward as the results of the inward are the outward. This
analogy appears in planting the earth since you find that trees become
fruits, and fruits become trees. It is like that.
Know that man in his essence is two worlds: the world of his outward and
the world of his inward. Glory be to the One Who made him and made
His product perfect and whose Master made him different from every
aspect. Part of the sum of that difference is that all you see outwardly is
the opposite of that inwardly. All you see inwardly is the opposite of that
outwardly. A state does not appear in it but that its opposite follows it. He
said, may He be exalted, ‘They are still in differences,’ except for the one
on whom your Lord has mercy. He created them for that.
The wisdom of the outward is two gathered things in two questions. In the
inward, it is also two gathered things in two questions. In the outward, you
do not desire a thing, but that it is zahid in you, and you are not zahid in
a thing but that it desires you. The inward is the reverse. You do not desire
a thing but it desires you, and you are not zahid in a thing, but that it is
zahid in you. It is like that. That is because there must be a difference. The
outward is the opposite of the inward, and the inward is the opposite of the
outward, although in reality, the outward is the inward and the inward is
the outward. However, separation separates until there is no gatheredness
in it, and gatheredness gathers until there is no separation to be found in
it. All is true, and there is only Allah.
There are two worlds: the world of the outward and the world of the in-
ward. As for the world of the outward, they are only free in the world of
the outward. As for the world of the inward, they are free in the world of
the outward and the inward.
The sign of the one of the outward is that he prefers his outward to his
inward, that is, he is content with what he finds of the inward, and of the
outward – whenever he finds them, he seeks increase. The sign of the one
of the inward is the opposite. He prefers his inward to his outward, that
is, he is content with what he finds of the outward, and of the inward –
whenever he finds some of it, he seeks increase. It is like that because the
402 The Sufic Path
one of the inward relies entirely on the Unseen, and the one of the outward
relies entirely on what he has in his hands. However, the one of the Unseen
must have the outward, and the one of the outward must have the Unseen.
Authority belongs to the dominant.
Know that the one of the inward cannot be occupied with the outward,
nor with the occupation of everyday life, nor with the occupation of ‘ibada,
except for a few. When he is forced, he acts. He does not acquire any vir-
tue in it. Similarly, the one of the outward cannot be occupied with the
inward, nor with the occupation of everyday life, nor with the occupation
of ‘ibada, except for a few. When the state compels him, he does it. He does
not acquire any virtue in it.
Know that the people of the outward do not attach any importance to
the inward nor to the one who brings it, as the people of the inward do
not attach any importance to the outward nor to the one who brings it.
He said, may He be exalted, ‘Each party rejoicing in what is theirs.’ The
perfect gnostic gives everything with a right its due, and gives every one
with a portion his portion. He looks at the people of the outward by their
outward parts until he has authority over them by that, whether they like
it or not. He looks at the people of the inward by their inward parts until
he has authority over them by that, whether they like it or not. When he
is through with the two of them, then his authority is extended over all
existence, and he obtains it, high and low. He takes the high by the sword
of high things, and he takes the low by the sword of low things. In that, by
the command of Allah ta‘ala, he becomes the Khalif over the kingdom of
lands and slaves. He acts in his kingdom as he wishes, in spite of whoever
dislikes it and the will of whoever desires.
Know that the people of outward knowledge and the people of outward
action have no portion in the secret of the hearts and what they contain
of the knowledges of the Unseen worlds. Their portion is only in the out-
ward. If the one of the outward intends the face of Allah by it, sincere in
his claim, pure in it, then the outward becomes one of the stages and one
of the stations. When he intends the face of Allah, he does not settle in
a station. He said, may He be exalted, ‘O people of Yathrib! There is no
abiding (maqam) here for you.’ The sign of the people of this stage is what
we mentioned of moving in the stations and stages.
Wisdom 403
The increase of the people of the inward is decrease with the people of the
outward, as increase with the people of the outward is decrease with the
people of the inward. All is increase with the people who join the outward
and the inward. There is no decrease. That is when they recognise that
increase is one divine timeless substance in after-endless-time. Sometimes
it rises in the outward, and sometimes it rises in the inward. When it is pre-
sented in the outward, it is sensory, and when it is presented in the inward,
it is meaning. If you wish, you could say that it is shari‘a in the outward
and reality in the inward. If you wish, you could say that it is majesty in the
outward and beauty in the inward. If you wish, you could say separation
in the outward and gatheredness in the inward. If you wish, you could say
slaveness-property in the outward and freedom-kingdom in the inward. It
is like that to what cannot be counted of the varieties of its appearance.
Know that Allah made the inward of this man greater than every great
thing, and He made his outward smaller than every small thing. His inward
is beautiful and his outward is majestic. This is what Allah wants of him.
When his states agree with his root, he is in the most perfect form. When
his states do not agree with his root, he is deluded. When his outward is
majesty and his inward is beauty, then his good is much and his evil is little.
When his outward is beauty and his inward is majesty, his evil is much and
his good is little. Judgement belongs to the dominant.
The property of the people of the outward is in order and level only by
adab and veneration of creation and with creation. It is like that with the
people of the inward kingdom. Their property is only in order and level
by adab and veneration for the King, the Real. Their principle is the same.
However, this one belongs to the Creator, and that one belongs to the
creatures. What belongs to Allah continues and is joined. What is for
other-than-Allah is cut off and severed.
Know that whenever your outward is confirmed for you, it is firm even had
all creatures forbidden it to you. Whenever your inward forbids you, it is
forbidden even if all creatures confirm it for you. That is because your inward
is knowledge and words, and your outward is action and deeds. There is
no doubt that actions confirm and actions deny. ‘You are the witnesses of
Allah in His earth.’ – Hadith. Or as he said, what creation confirms for
you is firm, and what creation denies you has no firmness. This is speaking
of the majority.
404 The Sufic Path
Whoever is occupied with his inward, is finished with his outward. Who-
ever is occupied with his outward, is finished with his inward.
If you want to obtain the inward and have it subjected to you in the best
form, turn from the outward completely. You will then obtain the inward
completely. If you want to obtain the outward completely, then turn from
the inward completely. You will obtain the outward completely. The inward
is strong according to the weakness of the outward, and the outward is
strong according to the weakness of the inward. Speech about this world
is like the fire. The smallest amount of it burns.
Know that whenever you turn to the outward, the inward turns from you,
and whenever you turn to the inward, the outward turns from you. The
luminosity of the outward is only with the darkness of the inward, and
the luminosity of the inward is only with the darkness of the outward. It
is like that.
Among the greatest misfortunes of the outward is expansion, as one of the
greatest misfortunes of the inward is contraction. That is because expansion
is light inwardly and darkness outwardly, as contraction is light outwardly
and darkness inwardly, because darkness is the source of the sensory things,
as light is the source of the attribute of meanings. There is no doubt that the
essence is the entrance of the attributes, as the attributes are the entrance
of the essence. He brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from
the living, so understand!
The inward exists by that through which sleep exists, and it is non-existent
by what makes sleep non-existent. Even as sleep leaves the sleeper by many
words in the place, and he does not find it, similarly when there are many
words before the one with the inward, his inward leaves, and he does not
find a trace of it. As sleep also exists by withdrawal, so the inward exists
by withdrawal for the one with the inward. As sleep leaves the person by
much joy and its opposite when he has much care and anxiety, so when
one with the inward has much joy occupy him, or much care, his inward
goes and he does not find any trace of it. Whatever cancels sleep, as when
the sleeper feels a pain in his body and it removes sleep from him, it is like
that with the one of the inward. When his body is pained, his inward goes
and he finds no trace of it. Whenever the sleeper has his sleep cancelled,
Wisdom 405
his inward is cancelled by it. This is the wisdom of Allah. Look at the word
of at-Tustari, may Allah have mercy on him, when he said in one of his
poems about the inward:
If anything is seen in my heart, it is forbidden to visit.
I heard a man of the people of Allah ta‘ala whom I recognise as I recognise
myself say, ‘I dived into the two seas of knowledge: the sea of the outward
and the sea of the inward. The sea of the outward has knowledge and ac-
tion. The sea of the inward has knowledge and action. I brought out two
qualities from them. I did not find their like. The first is that I found the
nearest of creation to Allah is the furthest of creation from Allah in his
nearness. The second is that I found that the furthest of creation from Al-
lah is the nearest of creation to Allah in his distance, so understand if you
have understanding!’
All the outward of the one of the outward is perfection except for his
tongue. It is imperfect. If he is silent, his silence is imperfect, and if he speaks,
only an imperfect expression issues. Similarly, the one of the inward is the
reverse. All his outward is imperfect except for his tongue which is perfect.
If he speaks, his words are perfection. If he is silent, his silence only issues
from perfection because Allah has made the inward tongue, and speech
is the interpreter of the inward, to connect the inward and the outward.
Since speech is inward, it only emerges clothed with the garment of the
inward. When the outward is perfect, then the inward must be imperfect,
and if the inward is perfect, then the outward must be imperfect Such is
the custom of Allah in His creation.
Know that the speech of man with creation outwardly only emerges from
him according to his station inwardly. If he speaks to people by perfection
and looks in people by perfection, know that his inward contains perfec-
tion. Know that speech only issues from man according to his station. It is
as one of them said, ‘What is in you appears on your mouth. Only what
you contain of good or evil appears to you in people.’
Part of what he also said to me, may Allah have mercy on him, is: ‘My son,
whoever dictates to you by the outward, confront him with the inward.
406 The Sufic Path
You will overcome him and rule him. Whoever dictates to you by the
inward, confront him with the outward. You will overcome him and rule
him because only the opposite crushes its opposite. Speech is feminine and
the answer is masculine.’
Know that you do not have two himmas on a thing but that it exists and
is without delay: i.e. the himma of your outward and the himma of your
inward. The himma of your inward is your knowledge, certainty, and
resolution. The himma of your outward is your usage and action by what
is in your knowledge, i.e. your acting by your outward limbs. When it is
accompanied by the action of your inward limbs, the two actions do not
accompany a thing, but that it is, even if it were impossible. However, look
at what is meant from this. If the goal is Allah, all that belongs to Allah
goes-on and is joined. If the goal is other-than-Allah, what belongs to
other-than-Allah is cut off and separated.
Whatever your inward contains of perfection, all existence only confronts
you with perfection. Whatever your inward contains of imperfection,
all existence only confronts you with imperfection. Your outward is not
perfection but that all existence confronts you with imperfection, and
your outward is not imperfection but that all existence confronts you
with perfection.
The people of the outward conceal their actions fearing ruin and publish
their words intending good. The people of the inward conceal their words
fearing ruin and publish their actions intending good. The shara‘i’ of the
people of the outward is words and their realities are action. The shara‘i’ of
the people of the inward are actions and their realities are words. Realities
must be concealed and shara‘i’ must appear. The realities of action move
the people of the outward. Words with them are like cold water for the
thirsty man. Similarly, the realities of words move the people of the inward.
Actions with them are like cold water for the thirsty man. The people of
the outward only have rest in words as the people of the inward only have
rest in actions. Whoever conceals what is published or publishes what is
concealed, that is insanity, and insanity is leaving the right way.
After the secret when it is published,
there is only an empty house.
I heard these words from the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him!
Wisdom 407
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say: ‘With the people of
the outward, a community enriches a man and one man does not enrich a
community. With the people of the inward, one man enriches a community
and a community does not enrich one man.’
Know that, briefly, the might of the outward only emerges from the abase-
ment of the inward, and the might of the inward only emerges from the
abasement of the outward. Your being occupied with the thing and having
direct contact with it is that which makes it possible for you without debt
to anyone for it, because the life of the thing is constant direct contact with
it. If not, the death of the thing is occupation with other than it.
Know that the outward with the inward is as if the outward were the
child and the inward were its father. When the inward is strong, it only
bears a strong child, and it is the outward. When the inward is weak, it
only bears a weak child, and it is the outward. If the inward is dark, it
only bears a dark outward. When the inward is luminous, it only bears
a luminous outward. The result of the affair is that the outward is the
result of the inward.
When the outward is affirmed, from it issues a wonder of wonders, whether
it is by the inward or not by the inward. The head of good and the end of
victory is the confirmation of the outward. Whoever affirms his outward
affirms his good and its result and booty is affirmed. Whoever does not
affirm his outward has no victory and no result. Look at the words of the
Shaykh al-Majdhub, may Allah profit us by him: ‘There is no lover except
by reaching its fruits of outward sensory arrival.’ It is as if he were saying,
‘Love is only confirmed by outward arrival by the essence. As for the arrival
of meaning by the heart, love is not confirmed by it. ‘I am commanded to
judge by the outward.’ – Hadith.
Know that arrival is not passion for union, as union is not passion for
union. The people of the outward are the people of love for union, and the
people of the inward are the people of union itself. It is as if the people of
the outward were the people of attributes, and the people of the inward
were the people of the essence. Essence is the senses, and attributes are
meaning. Love is one of the meanings of the attributes, and union is one
of the sensory things.
408 The Sufic Path
Sometimes wisdom emerges from the tongue of a scoundrel, like the words
of the one who says, ‘Excess fear is better than a qintar of love.’ We under-
stand from this that excess of majesty is better than a qintar of beauty, i.e.
outwardly. There is no doubt that the outward is the source of the inward.
All that illuminates the outward, illuminates the inward, and vice versa.
The outward and the inward are two states. As the outward is the key of the
inward, so the inward is the key of the outward. Abu’l-‘Abbas said, ‘Make
your action salt and your adab flour.’ There is no doubt that the salt of adab
is outward forms and the travelling of action and its use is inward arwah.
They are meanings. Meanings are few as they are many. It is not like the
outward which is in parts, because the station and ranks which are related
to the inward are metaphorical in the inward and a reality in the outward.
Beginnings are the place of manifestation of ends. ‘Whoever has a lofty
beginning, has a lofty end.’
Know that increase of the people of the outward is decrease of the people
of the inward. Similarly, increase with the people of the inward is decrease
with the people of the outward. Gathering between the outward and the
inward has all increase and no decrease. That is when they recognise that
increase is one divine matter in after-endless-time. Sometimes it moves in
the outward, and sometimes it moves in the inward. When it occurs in the
outward, it is sensory, and when it occurs in the inward, it is meaning. If you
wish, you can say it is shari‘a in the outward and real in the inward. If you
wish, you can say majesty in the outward and beauty in the inward. If you
wish, you can say separation in the outward and gatheredness in the inward.
If you wish, you can say slaveness in the outward and freedom you own in
the inward, to what cannot be counted of the variety of its appearance.
The people of the outward plant gatheredness, and separation grows for
them. The people of the inward plant separation, and gatheredness grows for
them. Such is the custom of Allah ta‘ala in His creation. He brings forth the
living from the dead and He brings forth the dead from the living. Whoever
recognises, recognises. Whoever is ignorant, is ignorant. Whoever loves,
loves. Whoever hates, hates. Glory be to the Wise, the Knowing!
Know that the kings of the outward are those who use the outward and
the kings of the inward are those who use the inward. As the people of
the outward have deputies, aides, and police, similarly the people of the
Wisdom 409
inward have deputies, aides, and police. The kingdom of the people of the
outward is not established and their command is not firm unless they are
in harmony with the people of the inward kingdom. It is like that with
the people of the inward kingdom. Their kingdom is not established and
their command is not firm unless they are in harmony with the people of
the outward. It is like this. This connection is basic, before-endless-time,
out-of-time. This is part of what will show you that the kingdom belongs
to Allah alone and there is nothing in existence except Allah. Allah was
and nothing was with Him, and He has now what He had.
The people of the outward turn to seeking election by action. They obtain it
by the Name so that they obtain disposal of the outward of all existence by
that. They have no portion in the inward. The people of the inward turn to
seeking election by speech. They obtain it by action. They obtain disposal
of the unseen things of all existence by that. They have no portion in the
outward. The people who join between the outward and the inward turn
to seek election by the Name and by action. They obtain election in Name
and action. They acquire disposal of knowledge and action by speech and
deed. They use existence, outward and inward, unseen and present, celestial
and terrestrial. May Allah provide us with love of all and make us among
those who travel their Road by His favour. Amin.
This path of ours is called the path of the inward kingdom. It is the path
of real kingdom. The outward kingdom is a copy of it. It is as if it were its
phantom. Similarly, the outward kingdom is reached by the one who wants
to reach it and only the one who wants to reach it, reaches it. It is like that
with the one of the inward. There is a veil between him and people. He
perceives whoever he wants to of creation, and none of creation perceives
him except for the one whom Allah desires to make reach Him by His will.
Know that no two meet – one from the lords of the inward and one from
the people of outward discipline – but that an immense affair appears
between them. That is because they are opposites. There is no doubt that
when opposites meet, immense matters appear – whether related to majesty
or to beauty.
Know that the people of the kingdom of the outward are kings and the
people of the kingdom of the inward are kings: they are opposites of each
410 The Sufic Path
other. Whenever they meet on good, their good has no limit, and no count-
ing. Whenever they meet on evil, their evil has no end and no counting.
Their good is in their agreement and their evil is in their disagreement.
Their help is only when one of them is abased to the other. In that their
good is obtained. Their evil is obtained by the lack of one of them obeying
the other. I mean that when one of them says such-and-such and the other
says this-and-that, it is disagreement. That is evil itself. The gnostic of Allah
among the people of the inward does not leave the people of the outward
nor clash with them a single night to prevent their good. He does not
enter under their power nor do they ever own him. When it is like that, he
obtains good and it passes him. Their evil passes him and foes do not strike
him. This description only exists in the strong Rijal, the gnostics of Allah.
These are very few because the affair is not in leaving the bees because of
their sting. The affair is the one who owns the bees and eats their honey
and their sting misses him.
Know that the kingdom of the one of the outward is, ‘“Be!” and it is,’ and
the kingdom of the one of the inward kingdom is, ‘“Be!” and it is.’ When
the kingdom of the one of the outer kingdom is completely by ‘“Be!” and it
is,’ he is not hidden from anyone and all necks are bowed to him, elite and
common. It is like that with the one of the inward. When his kingdom is
complete by ‘“Be!” and it is,’ he is not hidden from anyone, and all necks
are bowed to him, elite and common. That is because Allah created dark-
ness and light. As He gave light an effect, He gave darkness an effect. As
for the one of the outward kingdom, it is darkness by light. As for the one
of the inward kingdom, it is light by darkness. He said, may He be exalted:
Each We help, these and those, from your Lord’s gift,
and your Lord’s gift is not confined.
Part of the properties of the one of the outward is that ignorance accompa-
nies him and he is not departed from it because darkness dominates him.
Darkness is like a tree whose fruit is ignorance. The core of ignorance is
denial. Part of the properties of the one of the inward is that knowledge
does not leave him because light dominates him. Light is also like a tree
whose fruit is knowledge. The core of knowledge is submission and affir-
mation. It is lack of denial. Allah has not taken from an ignorant wali but
that he taught him.
Wisdom 411
All kingdom of the one of the inward is not completed and set in order
until he conquers the people of his time among the lords of his moment.
The lords of his moment are the people of outward knowledge, and they
are the fuquha, and the people of outward action, and they are the people
of outward leadership. If he has power over these two groups, the moment
is his moment. Whoever loves, loves, and whoever hates, hates, whether
their kingdom is yearning and love, or force and fear. This is because the
honour of all things only appears after they are connected to their oppo-
sites. Similarly, the honour of the knowledge of the one of the inward is
not manifested until his inward knowledge is connected to the outward
knowledge of the people of his moment. In that, things are distinguished
by their opposites. It is like that with action. The nobility of the action of
the one of the inward does not appear until it is connected with the action
of the people of leadership among the people of his moment. In that, if his
inward is based on the rules of the reality, he overcomes everyone, and no
one overcomes him because none overcomes the Real nor is safe by fleeing
from His judgement.
Say: ‘The truth has come and falsehood has departed.
Falsehood always departs.’
The force of the kings of the outward is fear and awe, and the force of
the kings of the inward is yearning and love. The power of the kings of
the outward is with the cutting sword, and the power of the kings of the
inward is with brilliant light. The kingdom of the kings of the outward
is over outward creation and outward existence, and the kingdom of the
kings of the inward is over the unseen of selves and the unseen of exist-
ence. The kingdom of the kings of the outward is based on separation by
creation, and the kingdom of the kings of the inward is based on gathered-
ness by Allah. The kingdom of the kings of the outward is ‘Be!’ by the
tongue, and the kingdom of the kings of the inward is ‘Be!’ by concern,
and ‘it is.’ The kingdom of the kings of the outward is by celestials, and
the kingdom of the kings of the inward is by terrestrials. There is no doubt
that Allah ta‘ala has made terrestrial winds rule celestial winds. He said,
may He be exalted:
We desired to be kind to those that were abased in the earth,
and to make them leaders, and to make them the inheritors,
and to strengthen them in the earth.
412 The Sufic Path
Know that as nearness to the kings of meanings has nobility and might in
it, so nearness to the kings of the senses has nobility and might in it. There
is no predominance between the kings of meanings and the kings of the
senses. The kings of meanings use radiant light, and the kings of the senses
use the cutting sword. The affair of the people of brilliant light is not set up
until they are in harmony with the people of the cutting sword. Similarly,
the affair of the people of the cutting sword is not set up until they are in
harmony with the people of brilliant light. You only find the perfect of the
people of brilliant light always in love with the people of the cutting sword.
That is because they know that their kingdom is only set up and perfected
by them. Similarly, the perfect of the people of the cutting sword are always
in love with the people of the brilliant light. That is because they know that
their kingdom is only perfected by them. The people of the cutting sword
use the outward, and the people of the brilliant light use the unseen. The
outward is only set up by the unseen as the unseen is only set up by the
outward. With the people of the outward, action dominates knowledge,
and with the people of the unseen, knowledge dominates action, although
the people of the outward are the people of knowledge and action, and
the people of the unseen are also the people of knowledge and action.
However, authority belongs to the dominant. The people of the outward
use the outward and the inward. They know only a little because action is
darkness. The people of the unseen use the unseen and the outward, and
they only act a little because knowledge is light. It is as if the people of the
outward hear and act, and the people of the unseen see and know. The one
who sees and knows is not like the one who hears and acts, nor is the one
who hears and acts like the one who sees and knows. It is as if the action of
this one is only set up by the knowledge of that one, and the knowledge of
this one is only set up by the action of that one. Knowledge has an immense
effect and action has an immense effect. Knowledge belongs to action, as
action is by knowledge. Success is by Allah.
Know that the traveller in the land of the inward only has the noble qualities
of meaning appear on him, as the traveller in the outward only has the noble
qualities of the outward, i.e. the senses, appear on him. If sensory noble
qualities appear on the one of the inward, he has one portion of sensory
noble qualities and nine portions of the noble qualities of meaning. It is
like that if the noble qualities of meaning appear on the one of the outward
Wisdom 413
– he has one portion of the noble qualities of meaning and nine portions
of the sensory noble qualities. The one of the outward is not finished until
he looks at the land of the inward, as the one of the inward is not finished
until he looks at the land of the outward. It is like that.
Know that Allah ta‘ala honoured the inward over the outward, rather over
all existence, by his word, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
Neither My heaven nor My earth contains Me,
He also honoured it by his word, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
There is a piece of flesh in the son of Adam. If it is sound, all the
body is sound. If it is corrupt, all the body is corrupt. It is the heart.
– Hadith.
He also showed you the nobility of the inward over the outward when He,
glory be to Him and may He be exalted, made all your inward gatheredness
and all your outward separation. It is as if your inward were a kingdom and
your outward property. From this, it is understood that whoever is ascribed
to the inward, is ascribed to the kingdom. There is no doubt that whoever
is ascribed to the kingdom is a king. Whoever is ascribed to the outward,
is ascribed to property, and whoever is ascribed to property is a slave. All
existence only has the king and the chattel in it. The lord is a king, and the
slave is a chattel. Whoever has himma connected to love of the king is a
king by the kingdom of his Master and Beloved. Whoever has his himma
connected to the love of the slave is a slave by the property of his master
and beloved. The first is the slave of the King, and He is Allah, and the
second is the slave of the chattel, and it is the dirham.
The people of outward leadership come to beauty by choice, so majesty
comes to them of necessity. The people of inward leadership come to
majesty by choice, so beauty comes to them by necessity. The sunna of
Allah ta‘ala occurs. Whoever comes to something by choice in any state,
its opposite comes to him by necessity. The people of the outward turn to
increase, and decrease turns to them, as if they found decrease in increase.
The people of the inward are the reverse. They turn to decrease, and increase
turns to them as if they found increase in decrease.
Part of what will show you that the people of the inward are greater than
414 The Sufic Path
the people of the outward is that you look at yourself. Where is your in-
ward with your outward? If you look with the eye of the outward, you see
a mile or two miles. If you look with the eye of your inward, you pierce
through all existence, high and low, and you cross that until you pierce
through the cosmos, of ‘where’, and ‘how’, until you see with the eye of
your inward the One Who is not contained by ‘where’ or ‘how’. Glory be
to Him and may He be exalted! ‘Will you not look in yourselves?’ This is
part of what indicates that all the world of the senses is a ship in the sea of
meanings. Where is the ship in relationship to the sea, and where is the sea
in relationship to the ship?
The faqir is not a faqir until all the cosmos is in the position of his limbs,
i.e. phenomenal beings and whoever is in them. You do not contain it and
hold it by a limb but that it is aware of you. Shaykh Sayyidi Ahmad ibn
‘Abdillah, may Allah be pleased with him, said to one of his companions,
‘Whoever has something stolen from him in the market and then finds it
in a box, has he lost anything or not?’ They said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘It is like
that with the one of the inward. He does not lose anything of the outward
but that he finds greater than it in the inward. People suppose that he has
lost what he found, and he recognises that he has found more than he lost.’
Know that the kingdom of the people of the inward is divided into l00
divisions, of which 99 divisions are in the Unseen and one division is in
creation. If the division of the people of the inward is in creation, in it they
obtain the kings of the outward. Their kingdom is completed and shines
like the sun, because their kingdom becomes a reality joining the inward
and the outward. The inward is their basic kingdom. They take it without
intermediaries. They take the outward by the kingdom of leadership because
whoever owns kings, it is more fitting and appropriate that he own the
servant, the slave, and what he owns belongs to his master. If it is the kings
of the inward, they obtain in that division the fringe of people and their
weak ones. If he owns them, he is not perfect. Rather he becomes weak
and his results do not appear. Similarly, the kingdom of the people of the
outward is divided into 100 divisions, of which 99 divisions are in creation
and one in the Unseen. If that division is in the people of the Unseen of
the people of the outward, in it they obtain the people of the kingdom of
the inward. The kingdom of the people of the outward is completed and
shines as the sun shines, because their kingdom joins the outward and the
Wisdom 415
inward. The outward is their basic kingdom. They obtain the inward by the
kingdom of leadership. If it is the people of the outward, they obtain the
fringe of the people of the inward in the division which emerges to them in
the inward. By the fringe, he means the weak of the people of the inward.
Their kingdom is not complete. It is weak and imperfect, and its results do
not appear. It is as if he were not a king. That is because the opposite only
stands by its opposite, as winter only stands by summer and summer only
stands by winter. Similarly, the kingdom of the outward only stands by the
kingdom of the inward, and the kingdom of the inward only stands by the
kingdom of the outward.
Know that the outward is as if it were 1/99 part of the world. The portion of
knowledge and the inward is the reverse. If one takes 99 parts of knowledge
and one part of action and use, it is only in four groups of people: two
groups are the people of outward knowledge and the people of outward
action, and two groups are the people of inward knowledge – and it is
the knowledge of tastes, and a group of the people of inward action – and
they are the people of divestment. If you wish, you could say the people
of outward senses and the people of outward meanings, and the people of
inward senses and the people of inward meanings. These are four groups.
They are the people of free action in existence. There is none except them.
Know that the outward of the people of the outward is in their inward,
as the inward of the people of the inward is in their outward. The people
of the outward are the people of the inward, and the people of the inward
are the people of the outward. The custom of Allah has preceded that
things are hidden in their opposites. Because of that, the expression varies.
Sometimes the people of the inward are designated by the outward over
their inward, and sometimes the people of the outward are designated by
the inward over their outward.
Know that the outward has two rules: the rule of the deen and the rule
of this world, as the inward has two rules: a rule of the deen and a rule of
this world. The judgement of the inward is that of the outward, no more,
no less. The substance of man is one – constant, before-endless-time, after-
endless-time, eternal. It has standing and it is never contained, because
sometimes overflowing is in man’s outward while his inward is idle, and
sometimes it is the reverse – its overflowing is in man’s inward while his
416 The Sufic Path
outward is idle. Sometimes it is divided into the outward and the inward.
However, judgement belongs to one over the other. It is inevitable. When
the substance of the outward is stronger than the substance of the inward,
the outward has the judgement. When the substance of the inward is
stronger than the substance of the outward, the inward has the judgement.
What increases the outward substance, decreases the inward substance, and
what increases the inward substance, decreases the outward substance. It is
like that. Because of this meaning, you find that when the people of hearts
want to strengthen their inward, they make a ruin of their outward. It is
like the one who has a portion of water, and he has two buckets. One is
on the right and one is on the left. When he lowers the right bucket, the
water returns to the left bucket. When he lowers the left bucket, the water
returns to the right bucket. The provision is one – sometimes it is mean-
ings, and sometimes it becomes senses. The ignorant is only aware of the
substance of the senses. The one with the inner eye recognises the substance
of the senses as he recognises the substance of meaning. He recognises the
substance of meaning as he recognises the substance of the senses. That is,
he understands that from himself in himself and recognises what is more
and less than that. He recognises the reason for his increase and the reason
for his decrease. The people of this art are few. The only one who travels
this land is the one whose hand is taken by Allah through meeting one of
the people of this art. They are few.
The leaders of the moment are the moment, and the moment belongs to
its leaders. The leaders of the inward are the awliya, the gnostics of Allah
and their followers. The leaders of the outward are the kings and their fol-
lowers. Whenever a man from the kings of the inward meets with a man
from the kings of the outward, existence remains between them like a piece
of dough in the hands of the baker. He does what he likes with it. It is like
that when one of the kings of the outward and one of the kings of the in-
ward meet, and are humble. Existence remains in their hands like dough.
They do what they like with it. The kingdom of the kings of the outward
is not established, confirmed, or completed, except by harmony with the
people of the inward. Similarly, the kingdom of the kings of the inward
is not established, confirmed, or completed, except by harmony with the
people of the outward, because the people of the outward are the people
of separation, and the people of the inward are the people of gatheredness.
The thing is only established by its opposite.
Wisdom 417
Know that the people of the outward aim for the inward, so they find the
outward. The people of the inward aim for the outward, so they find the
inward. Things are hidden in their opposites. Because of this meaning,
you find that when the people of the outward want one of the people of
the inward, they love him but cannot keep his company. Allah ta‘ala is the
Outward, the Inward. This analogy is only recognised by the gnostic of
Allah or the one who takes it from a gnostic of Allah. On this analogy, these
seek the outward and the inward obeys them so that it is in their hands
and they can do what they like with it. These others seek the inward, and
the outward obeys them so that it is in their hands and they can do what
they like with it. It is like that.
Know why the one of the inward is given the name of the inward although
the inward only exists by the outward, and why the one of the outward is
given the name of the outward although the outward only exists by the
inward. That is because the one of the inward is occupied with Allah in his
inward – and it is his heart, and occupied with creation in his outward – and
it is his self. The one of the outward is occupied with Allah in his outward
– and it is his limbs, and he is occupied with himself in his inward – and it
is his heart. What a difference between the one whose heart is devoted to
Allah while his outward is a ruin, and the one whose outward is occupied
with Allah while his heart is a ruin.
– Hadith.
The people of election of the outward are the people of separation and its
weapons in it are the names of Allah. The people of election of the inward
are the people of gatheredness, and its weapons in it are the contempla-
tion of Allah. The people of the names acquire the gifts of knowledge and
action by the names. The people of contemplation acquire the gifts of
knowledge and action by contemplation. However, the people of names
are distinguished by striving and enduring the toil of the veil. The people of
contemplation are distinguished by the heart and body at rest in the pres-
ence of seeing and eye-witnessing. Their occupation is pleasant conversation
which distracts them from all toil and fatigue. The designation of the people
of names is confined by their restriction, limited by their limitation, from
the knowledge of certainty. The designation of the people of contemplation
418 The Sufic Path
is clothed in a light which pierces all breasts, appearing from them by the
source of certainty. The one of the name is always striving with his veil. He
acquires the fruits of gnosis. The one of contemplation is always witnessing
the Object of worship. He acquires the nobility of eye-witnessing and the
fruits of gnosis. Because of that, his rank is higher than the associates. He
Each We help, these and those, from the gifts of your Lord.
The gift of your Lord is not contained.
The existence of the gifts of outward knowledge and action are the reason
for the absence of the gifts of inward knowledge and action, and vice versa,
i.e. the existence of the outward is the reason for the absence of the inward,
and the absence of the outward is the reason for the existence of the inward.
Their being joined together in the heart is impossible. Your outward con-
firms your inward and your outward also nullifies your inward. Similarly,
your inward confirms your outward, and your inward also nullifies your
outward. Your outward destroys you to your inward as your outward joins
you to your inward. Your inward destroys you to your outward as your
inward also joins you to your outward. The place of profit is the place of
loss. When profit is great and concern is great, then loss is great and disaster
is great. If you want your inward to make a ruin of your outward, you will
find your inward obeys you. If you want to lose your inward, make your
outward sound – your inward will go until you do not find any report or
scent of it. It is as if it were not. At-Tustari, may Allah have mercy on him,
said in this meaning:
If anything is seen in my heart, it is forbidden to visit.
Removing the heart from each of the two is impossible – either it is filled
with the outward or it is filled with the inward. There is no other. On the
hour when the one enters into the other, existence will be missing and the
missing will exist. The entering one is confirmed and the departing one
is rejected.
Know that all the inward is meanings and all the outward is sensory things.
However, the inward steals something of the sensory things from the out-
ward, and the outward steals something of the meanings of the inward.
The sensory things of the inward becomes metaphorical, not basic, as the
Wisdom 419
meanings of the outward become metaphorical, not basic. The wisdom

of Allah ta‘ala in that is that the outward is only established between the
duality of the senses and the meaning, and the inward is only established
between the duality of the senses and the meaning. The reality of the inward
is the meaning and its shari‘a is the senses. The reality of the outward is the
senses and its shari‘a is the meaning. It is like that.
Know that the people of the kingdom are in four groups: two outward
groups and two inward groups. The first group of the two outward groups
only see themselves and the result of their kingdom is pleasure in this
world, and they are cut off in any case. The kingdom of the second group
is from Allah. Their results are witnessing blessing from their Master. The
kingdom of the two inward groups also belongs to Allah. Their result is
seeing blessings from Allah for Allah. The kingdom of the fourth group
is by Allah. Their result in it is looking at the Face of Allah. They do not
recognise anything except Allah. Allah was and nothing was with Him.
He has now what He had. The first group are veiled from their Master by
enjoyment when they stick with it. The second group are veiled by blessings
from the Blesser when they stick with them. The third group are veiled by
their Master by the inward of blessings. The fourth group are not veiled
from their Master by the enjoyment of the people of this world, and they
are not veiled from their Master by outward or inward blessings. They are
occupied with looking at Allah and gathering on Him, and distracted from
other-than-Him. They only recognise Him. They are annihilated in the
essence of Allah and go-on in Him until they begin to see Him without
intermediary. Glory be to the One Who chose them and gave to them and
elected them and brought them near and honoured them and made them
the people of His intimate conversation as a favour from Him to them not
by anything. Glory be to the One Whose favour does not stop at anything.
Glory be to the One Who was and nothing was with Him and now there
is nothing with Him.
Know that the secret of all ranks is gathered in a rank, and it is the noblest,
the highest, the greatest, and the most immense. It is that your inward
is truly with Allah and your outward is with creation by Allah. As ash-
Shadhili, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Gatheredness is witnessed in your secret,
and separation exists on your tongue,
420 The Sufic Path
because when your outward is with creation and your inward is with Allah,
then all your states are pure from the side of the outward and creation
does not reject you. From the side of the inward, there is no intermediary
between you and Allah.
Know that all the inward is gnosis and all the outward is sensory things.
However, it is as if the inward stole something of sensory things from
the outward, and as if the outward stole something of meanings from the
inward. The sensory things of the inward are metaphorical, not basic, as
the meanings of the outward are metaphorical, not basic. The wisdom
of Allah ta‘ala in that is that the outward is only based on two: the senses
and the meaning, as the inward is only based on two: the meaning and the
senses. It is as if the reality of the inward were meaning and its shari‘a the
senses, and as if the reality of the outward were the senses and its shari‘a
the meaning. It is like that.
Know that whoever can dispose of the outward of himself, must be able to
dispose of the outward of existence. Whoever can dispose of the inward of
himself, i.e. its unseen, must be able to dispose of the inward of existence
and its unseen things. The one of the outward plants with Allah and has
fruit in creation. The one of the inward plants with creation and has fruit
with Allah. The one of the outward plants gatheredness of himself and has
the fruit of the separation of existence. The one of the inward plants the
separation of existence and has the fruit of the gatheredness of himself.
What a difference between the one who plants separation and plucks the
fruit of gatheredness, and the one who plants gatheredness and plucks the
fruits of separation. Planting is loss and fruits are profit.
There are four stations with the people of the outward, and they are the com-
mon. The noblest and highest station is the fourth station. The first station
is the senses finding the senses, the second station is the senses finding the
meaning. It is higher than the first. The third station is the meaning finding
the meaning. It is higher than the second. The fourth station, and it is the
noblest of the four, is the meaning finding the senses. It is like that with the
people of the inward. They are the elite. There are four stations. Each one is
higher than the one before it. The noblest and highest of them is the fourth
station. The first is the inward senses finding the inward senses. The second
is the inward senses finding the inward meaning, and it is higher than the
Wisdom 421
first. The third is the inward meaning finding the inward meaning. This is
higher than the second. The fourth station, and it is the noblest of the eight
stations – the stations of the outward and the stations of the inward – is
the inward meaning finding the inward senses. What a station its people
have in existence! It is like the Philosopher’s Stone. Whoever finds one of
them and agrees with him, he has acquired the kingdom of this world and
the kingdom of the Next. May Allah have mercy on Shaykh Abu Madyan
the Ghawth when he said:
When will I see them or my ear hear news of them?
They are the people of my love
and my lovers who have risen.
They trail the coat-tails of might in glory.
Know that whoever has great luminosity inwardly, you will find that he
has very little gnosis of creation. That is because when his luminosity be-
comes great inwardly, the darkness of his outward becomes great. When
the darkness of his outward becomes great, creation flees from him. After
creation flees from him, there is only Allah’s attention toward him. It is like
that with the person when the luminosity of his outward becomes great,
you only find that he has very little gnosis of Allah. That is because the
luminosity of his outward becomes great until the darkness of his inward
becomes great. He is veiled from Allah. After being veiled from Allah, there
is only creation’s concern with him. The one who turns to creation, flees
from Allah. The one who flees from creation, turns to Allah.
Part of what I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say is: ‘The
least of people is the one who leaves what he has for what people have.’ Also,
this path – I mean the Shadhili path – is a path of wonders. The one who
has it continues to take on the character of wonders. Whenever he takes
on the character of the norms of the common people, he leaves the group
of its people, because planting norms bears the fruit of norms, and planting
wonders bears the fruit of wonders. The honour of the people of divest-
ment is according to the rottenness of their outward parts. The honour of
the people of means is according to the goodness of their outward parts.
As the outward of the people of divestment is increased in rottenness and
ruin, their hearts are increased in illumination and goodness commensurate
with it. The heart is the Sultan, and all the outward and inward limbs are its
soldiers. The people of means are the reverse. That is because whenever their
422 The Sufic Path
outward parts are increased in goodness and illumination, their inward

parts are increased in rottenness and ruin commensurate with it. That is
because there must be a difference. He said, may He be exalted, ‘but they
continue in their differences.’ The sunna of Allah occurs in His Adamic
slave. When his outward contains something, his inward contains its op-
posite. However, He, glory be to Him, by His wisdom, gave the inward
jurisdiction over the outward.
If Allah knows of any good in your hearts,
He will give you better.
He, glory be to Him, made the outward incline to the inward. The inward
is the Sultan and the outward is its soldiers. As the army is only based on
property, similarly property is only based on the army. The army is opposite
the Amir, and the Amir is opposite the army. If the word of the army agrees
on a matter, the Amir follows them, whether he likes it or not. If the word
of the Amir agrees on a matter, the army follows it, whether they like it
or not. The station of the Amir becomes the station of the army, and the
station of the army becomes the station of the Amir – i.e. all the army is
equal to the Amir and the Amir is equal to the army.
The people of outward cultivation say about the cultivation of the land
of existence: Whoever is killed by thirst is brought to life by water, and
whoever is killed by water is not brought to life by thirst. We say about the
inward cultivation in the fields of the selves: Whoever is killed by majesty
is brought to life by beauty, and whoever is killed by beauty is not brought
to life by majesty. Whoever is killed by yearning is brought to life by love,
and whoever is killed by love is not brought to life by yearning. Whoever
is killed by separation is brought to life by gatheredness, and whoever is
killed by gatheredness is not brought to life by separation. Whoever is killed
by the essence is brought to life by the attributes, and whoever is killed by
the attributes is not brought to life by the essence. Whoever is killed by
abasement is brought to life by might, and whoever is killed by might is
not brought to life by abasement. Whoever is killed by the attribute of
slaveness is brought to life by the attribute of sovereignty, and whoever is
killed by the attribute of sovereignty is not brought to life by the attribute
of slaveness. It is like that.
Know that the attributes of the outward are increase and decrease,
Wisdom 423
wideness and narrowness, elevated-lowered, celestial-terrestrial, great-

small, existent-absent, mighty-abased, strong-weak, giving-withholding,
powerful-incapable, expanded-contracted, gathered-separated, happy-sad,
sound-ill, alive-dead, friend-enemy, connected-cut off, inhabited-empty,
gatheredness-separation, cold and heat, ease and hardship, to what has no
end of attributes and their opposites. That is because it is separation, and
the inward is different from that. Its attributes are increase without decrease,
wideness without narrowness, elevation with no lowering, celestial with-
out terrestrial, great without smallness, existent without absence, mighty
without abasement, strong without weakness, giving without withholding,
powerful without incapacity, expanded without contraction, gatheredness
without separation, happy without sorrow, sound without illness, alive
without death, friend without enemy, connected and not cut off, filled
and not empty, gathered without separation, ease without hardship, to
what cannot be contained of these attributes gathered without separa-
tion. Because of that, whoever enters the separation of the outward by the
gatheredness of the inward, has entered the secret of after-endless-time, as
whoever has entered the separation of the outward before he has acquired
the gatheredness of the inward, is deluded. As one of them said:
I am with creation by Allah.
I witness gatheredness on the rug of separation.
Sayyidi the Majdhub, may Allah profit us by him, said:
Whoever sees the cosmos tracing itself to the cosmos,
his inner eye is blind.
Whoever sees by the Maker of the cosmos,
alights upon the core of the secret.
The structure of man is set up by two matters: a sensory matter and a mat-
ter of meaning. The matter of the senses is at the hand of the people of
the senses, and the matter of the meaning is from the people of meanings.
Sometimes the senses are helped by meaning and sometimes the meaning
is helped by the senses. These two matters only come to you from yourself
or from your species.
Know that meanings are roots and sensory things are branches. Sensory
things only exist by meanings as branches only exist by roots. Such is the
custom of Allah, and Allah does what He wants.
424 The Sufic Path
What decreases sensory things, increases meanings. What decreases mean-

ings, increases sensory things. Man is in between. Whenever the gnostic
wants meanings, he ruins the senses to strengthen the meanings. When he
wants the senses, he ruins the meanings to strengthen the senses. He is an
interspace between them. The senses and the meaning are his slaves, and
he is over them. The ignorant is the reverse. Senses and meanings are two
kings, and he is their slave. They compete with each other over him. The
one who wins does what it likes with him, by force. The knower is a king
and the ignorant is a slave.
Know that the ‘ibada of Allah ta‘ala is divided into two divisions: the ‘ibada
of the senses and the ‘ibada of the meanings. With the people of ‘ibada of
the senses, their ‘ibada is only established by meanings. However, ‘ibada of
the senses dominates them. The ‘ibada of the people of meanings is only
set up by the senses. However, ‘ibada of the meanings dominates them,
because it is the custom of Allah in existence that two are not joined but
that judgement belongs to one over the other. If not, one destroys the other.
The people of ‘ibada of the meanings are the people of rest and expansion,
and the people of ‘ibada of the senses are the people of toil and contraction.
The people of meanings have expansion dominate them, and the people
of the senses have contraction dominate them. The judgement is the same.
Glory be to the One Who gave every heart what occupies it, and made
every party happy with what they have.
Know that meanings only result and are established by the ruin of the senses.
Similarly, the senses are only established for their seeker and have results
by the ruin of meanings. The seeker of meaning is not reckoned among the
people of meanings until he attracts and repels, harms and benefits. He uses
meanings as the people of the senses use the senses, because Allah placed
‘“Be!” and it is’ in the senses as He placed it in the meanings. He placed it
in the meanings as He placed it in the senses. The senses have people who
use it and the meanings have people who use it. As the people of the senses
have ranks and degrees, so the people of meanings have ranks and degrees.
As the senses have no end, so the meanings have no end. As the one of the
senses has no contentment, so the one of meanings has no contentment.
As they said, the seeker of knowledge and the seeker of this world are never
full. By the seeker of knowledge, they mean the seeker of meanings, and
Wisdom 425
by the seeker of this world, they mean the seeker of the senses, because
contentment with Allah is deprivation with both parties.
Know that sensory election is not halal until you obtain the meaning, and
election of meaning is not halal until you obtain the sensory. Sensory mean-
ing is only obtained by sensory things, and the meaning is only obtained
by the meaning.
Expansion has people and contraction has people. As for the people of
expansion, when contraction confronts them, they are increased in expan-
sion over expansion. When the people of contraction are confronted by
expansion, it increases them in contraction over contraction. Contraction
with the people of expansion is the source of expansion, and expansion
with the people of contraction is the source of contraction.
Know that each animal in outward existence is like mankind and what
resembles man. It is sensory things in the world of meanings. Each animal
in inward existence is like a whale and what is like them. It is meanings in
the world of the senses – i.e., meanings dominate them because they are
senses and meanings. However, a meaning overcomes their senses. Glory
be to the One Who brought sensory things to life in the world of meanings
by His wisdom, as He brought meanings to life in the world of sensory
things by His wisdom. Glory be to the One Who made sensory things
without meanings inanimate, and Who made meanings without sensory
things inanimate, and Who made existence based between the two of them.
Glory be to the Wise, the Knowing!
Know that Allah ta‘ala gave the slave two provisions: sensory provision –
and it is the provision of bodies, and provision of meaning – and it is the
provision of ruh. Two himmas do not enter into the heart of man. He has
only one himma, either himma for sensory provision or himma for provi-
sion of meaning. Whoever seeks sensory provision, provision of meaning
seeks him, and whoever seeks provision of meaning, sensory provision
seeks him. The one occupied with sensory provision is burdened in his
body, ignorant of himself, ignorant of his Lord. The one occupied with
provision of meaning is at rest in his body, gnostic of his self, knowing of his
Lord. The one of sensory provision is dark of heart, even if his luminosity
is in his outward. The one of provision of meaning is luminous in his heart,
426 The Sufic Path
even if his darkness is on his outside. Darkness of the senses breaks off the
one of sensory provision from the meanings. If meanings are lacking, he
becomes ignorant of himself. If he is ignorant of himself, he is ignorant of
his Lord. The light of meaning – and it is the ruh – of the one of provision
of meaning leads him to occupation with meanings. By occupation with
meanings, he becomes a gnostic of himself. When he is gnostic of himself,
he has gnosis of his Lord. Shaykh ash-Shitri said in this meaning:
Zuhd in sensory provision confirms the existence of meaning. The exist-
ence of meanings confirms the gnosis of the self. Gnosis of the self confirms
gnosis of Allah. Desire in sensory provision confirms the lack of meanings.
The lack of existence of meanings confirms the ignorance of the self. The
existence of ignorance of the self confirms ignorance of Allah.
Know that the end of man’s honour is slaveness, and there are two aspects
to slaveness: slaveness of the senses and slaveness of meanings. Between
slaveness of the senses and slaveness of meanings is what is between the
dirham and the dinar. The people of slaveness of the senses have no portion
in meaning, and the people of the slaveness of meanings have no portion
in the senses, although the one with sensory slaveness must have some of
slaveness of meaning – i.e. when he comes to an end in the sensory, he can
only be set loose in the meaning. The one with slaveness of meaning must
have some of sensory slaveness – i.e. when he comes to an end in the mean-
ing, he can only be set loose in the senses, because the substance of man is
contained in these two attributes – senses and meaning. As for this one or
that one, there is only this one after that one. They alternate on man like
the alternation of winter and summer.
Know that man is not divested of the senses but that it turns him to the
meaning, and he is not divested of the meaning but that it turns him to the
sensory, whether he likes it or not, with ignorance or without ignorance.
His divestment is compulsory or by acquisition. Whoever divests, and he
has knowledge or the idhn of one who knows, he obtains the good of his
divestment and its evil misses him. Whoever divests, and he is ignorant
Wisdom 427
of the principle of his divestment, when its good hits him he is destroyed,
and when its evil hits him, he is destroyed in it. This is the principle of
the outward. As for the principle of the inward, it is that when you seek
sensory things, meanings seek you. When you seek meanings, sensory
things seek you.
Know that existence is filled. It is never empty. Whoever wants to empty it,
or says that it is empty, he is ignorant. Allah made its filling vary between
senses and the meaning. What increases the senses decreases the meaning.
What increases the meaning decreases the senses. Existence is always filled
by the senses and the meaning. Had you scrutinised all existence, you would
not find the weight of a mustard-seed empty of senses or meaning. This
analogy is only understood and recognised by the one who plunges into
the sea of meanings. May Allah have mercy on ash-Shitri when he said:
Dive into the sea of meanings.
Whoever wants the meanings, must destroy the senses. Whoever wants
the senses, must destroy the meanings. The senses are separation and the
meanings are gatheredness. The meaning does not come to the senses, except
that the senses leave, and the senses do not come to the meaning, but that
the meaning leaves. Existence is filled between them always, either by this
one or by that one. Emptiness is impossible.
Know that the sensory fire is not kindled and its blaze is not great except
when its opposite is thrown in it, and it is wood. When you increase it in
something, it increases in flame and burning. When nothing is thrown
into it, abates, thing for thing, until it becomes ashes. It is like that with
the fire of meaning – it is love. Its wood is the senses. When you increase
with something of the wood of the senses in the fire of love, it increases
in blaze and burning until the wood is cut off from you. Then it increases
and becomes ash until no trace of it remains. Increase is by joining the
conditions, and decrease is from lack of the conditions.
I also questioned the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, and said: ‘O
Sayyidi! I used to think that the thirst of man is only cured by a sensory
428 The Sufic Path
action, and I did not think that the action of the meanings would ever cure
thirst. I found myself as it was. Its thirst was only cured by the senses. It is
the reverse of that today. Its thirst is only cured by meanings. Even though
I was to abide in the land of the senses and I had no use for the land of
meanings, today, the matter has turned over, and I abide in the meanings,
and I have no use for the sensory things.’ He answered me, may Allah give us
profit by him! He said to me: ‘My son, when your himma was enlightened
by sensory things, Allah helped you in them. Then you only made use of
sensory things. You had no use for meanings. However, the meaning began
to follow the senses, and now the matter has reversed itself. When you made
friends with the people of meaning, their gnosis affected you by pointing
your himma to the land of meanings. Your himma was turned from the
land of the senses, and directed to the land of knowledge. Allah helped
you in it, so you began to make use of meanings as you used to make use
of sensory things. However, you have no use for sensory things now. You
do, however, have the senses with you, as they follow the meanings. Man
carries his judgement by his himma. If it is directed to the senses, Allah
will help him in them, and so he will make use of them as he makes use of
a sword. If it is directed to the meanings, his Master will help him in them,
until he begins to use them as he uses the sword.’
The power of the help is based on the degree of the fickleness of the himma
for the thing. The weakness of the help is based on the degree of its turning
away from the thing.
If you want sensory things to come to you more than meanings, and if you
want meanings to come to you more than sensory things, the custom of
Allah ta‘ala has passed that things come out of their opposites. The living
comes forth from the dead, and the dead comes forth from the living. The
cause of my entering meanings in the beginning of my affair was only that
I had done many sensory actions and stayed in them for more than three
years. I was only aware that meanings approached me and they contained
me from every side so that I was absorbed in them. I continued like that
until now. I found myself in a sea without a shore. Only Allah knows its
end. Glory be to the Wise, the Knowing.
Know that the one who is occupied with his body is not occupied with
his heart, as the one who is occupied with his heart is not occupied with
Wisdom 429
his body. The sunna of Allah has passed on that. It is the same whether
his occupation with the body is good or evil, or his occupation with the
heart is good or evil. When you turn to the senses, the meanings are still,
and when you turn to the meanings, the senses are still. Man is always
and constantly occupied, sometimes in the senses and sometimes in the
meanings, sometimes outwardly and sometimes inwardly, sometimes
awake, sometimes asleep, sometimes with his self, sometimes with his body,
sometimes in animates, sometimes in inanimates, sometimes in this world,
sometimes in the Next.
The fruits of knowledge in the selves are opposite the fruits of planting in
existence. Whoever disciplines himself to eat the fruits of meanings, and
they are given knowledge, is not concerned with the fruits of the senses,
and they are the fruits of plants. Similarly, whoever disciplines himself to
eat the fruits of plants, is not concerned with the fruits of meanings. Some
people are overcome by the meanings and they are among its people. Some
people are overcome by the senses, and they are among its people. All people
are contained in these two descriptions.
One of the swiftest wisdoms, the strongest and most piercing to answer,
with which the wise treats is that he treats the senses with the meaning
and the meaning with the senses, the essence with the attributes and the
attributes with the essence. I heard that from the Shaykh, may Allah profit
us by him, and I tested it and obtained its answer and fruit.
One of them said, ‘Make your action salt and your adab flour.’ Action indi-
cates the senses and adab indicates meanings. The senses and the meanings
are two realities from which man is not free. Allah put them in every man.
However, one body dominates the other. The common have the senses
dominate the meaning, and all their affairs are built on the senses, and the
meaning as it follows them. The elite are the opposite of that. With them,
meanings dominate the senses. All their affairs are built on meanings, and
sensory things as they follow them. I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit
us by him, say: ‘The faqir is the one who makes his capital meanings, and
the core of meanings is knowledge.’ He said, may He be exalted:
Know that when the senses and meaning are balanced in the faqir who
turns to Allah so that they are equal for him, he begins to entwine exist-
430 The Sufic Path
ence, celestial and terrestrial, as he twines the nose ring. The balance of the
senses and meaning is the balance of might and abasement, good and evil,
contraction and expansion, praise and censure, giving and withholding,
wideness and narrowness, enemy and lover, nearness and distance, majesty
and beauty, turning to and turning from, height and lowness, king and slave,
to what has no end of opposites.
Know that as the tajalliyat of the senses comes to man, they must not have an
end or cessation. It is like that with the tajalliyat of meanings. Their judge-
ment is the same. However, the tajalliyat of meanings are knowledge and
information, and the tajalliyat of the senses are action and eye-witnessing.
Knowledge does not exist by other than action, and action does not exist by
other than knowledge. Similarly, information does not exist by other than
eye-witnessing, as eye-witnessing does not exist by other than information.
That which appears to you in tajalli as meaning is what appears to you in
tajalli as senses. That which appears to you in tajalli as senses is that which
appears to you in tajalli as meaning. The water is one and the flowers are
colours. However, between their variety, whoever has success has success,
and whoever is destroyed is destroyed. As at-Tustari said:
Glory be to the One Who shows mercy to many by obedience and punishes
many by it, if He wills, and Who punishes many by rebellion as He shows
mercy to many by it, if He wills. Glory be to the One Whose favour never
stops and Whose justice is above every fault. The Giver without anything,
and the Withholder without anything. The Wise with far-reaching wisdom,
the Knower whose knowledge encompasses everything. Glory be to Him
and may He be exalted greatly!
The ear feeds the ruh by hearing with benefit and harm, as the mouth
feeds the body by eating and drinking with benefit and harm. Hearing is a
meaning which feeds a meaning, and it is the ruh. Eating and drinking are
sensory – they feed the senses, and it is the body. You stand between the
two of them, i.e. between senses and the meaning. Your meaning establishes
your senses, and your senses establish your meaning. Had your senses been
Wisdom 431
invalidated, your meaning would have been invalidated. Had your meaning
been invalidated, your senses would have been invalidated. However, by
the existence of the two of them together, you are always existent-non-
existent, always living-dead, always a king-slave, always mighty-abased,
always powerful-incapable, always strong-weak, always high-low always
near-far, always cut-off-joined, always outward-inward, to what has no
end of opposites which Allah ta‘ala gathers in you by His wisdom. Glory
be to the Wise, the Knowing! May Allah have mercy on the Shaykh of our
Shaykhs when he said:
The heart is a Sultan in a house.
The eye is the key of the door,
And the ear is the hearer of insult.
He said, may He be exalted, ‘They are still in differences.’ All the realities
are contained in their variety. Each reality has two aspects: a celestial aspect
and a terrestrial aspect, an aspect from the self and an aspect from existence,
and it is what creation contains. When what is from the self is celestial,
what is from creation is terrestrial. When what is from the self is terrestrial,
what is from creation is celestial. Whenever he acquires narrowness on the
side of the self, he acquires wideness on the side of creation. Whenever he
acquires wideness on the side of the self, he acquires narrowness on the
side of the species in every case. The gnostic is the one who owns himself in
existence and owns existence by himself. If he wishes, he binds himself to
existence, and if he wishes, he loosens it. The self of the ignorant one owns
him by existence. If it wishes, it binds him, and if it wishes, it releases him.
Existence owns him by himself. If it wishes, it binds him, and if it wishes, it
loosens him. What a difference between the gnostic and the ignorant! The
gnostic is a king acting in his kingdom as he likes. The ignorant is owned,
and his owner does with him as he likes.
Whoever has celestial things as his capital, his surplus is terrestrial things.
Whoever has terrestrial things as his capital, his surplus is celestial things.
Surplus is according to capital. Whoever has vast capital, his surplus is vast
according to it. Whoever has his capital restricted, his surplus is restricted
according to it.
O brother! Look and reflect! The birth of the thing from the lowest of men,
beasts, plants, and inanimates is part of what will show you the strength
of the low over the high.
432 The Sufic Path
The low wind overcomes the high wind in every case. Allah looks at your
hearts and not at your forms.
Know that there are celestial realities and terrestrial ones. If the one with
terrestrial things meets the one with celestial things, authority belongs
to the one of terrestrial things, not the one with celestial things. The low
wind overcomes the high wind in every case. Some words are terrestrial
and some are celestial. When the one with terrestrial speech meets the one
with celestial speech, authority belongs to the one with terrestrial speech,
not to the one with celestial. Similarly, some acts are terrestrial and some
are celestial. When the one with terrestrial action meets the one with
celestial action, authority belongs to the one with terrestrial action, not
to the one with celestial action. All words are also celestial, and all actions
are terrestrial. When the one of words meets the one of actions, authority
belongs to the one of action, not to the one of speech. Speech is among
the attributes of the people of the beginnings of all matters, and action is
one of the attributes of the people of the ends of all arts. Words are among
the attributes of the weak beginners, and actions are among the attributes
of the strong experts, the khalifs. Words are lights. They permit the exist-
ence of fruits, and they permit their non-existence. Actions are the fruits
of eye-witnessing. It nullifies their doubt and probability. His word, may
He be exalted, shows you the nobility of terrestrial things over celestial:
and to make them leaders, and to make them the inheritors,
and to strengthen them in the earth.
There are many ayat and prophetic hadith which indicate that.
When man obtains a celestial reality and a terrestrial reality, he owns exist-
ence. All of this possesses in the path of the inward as they said on the path
of the outward. Whoever has adornment and adorns, possesses nearness.
Know that celestial realities have an effect and terrestrial realities have an
effect. However, when celestial and terrestrial meet, and the conditions of
the terrestrial are fulfilled as the conditions of the celestial are fulfilled, and
this one comes in its perfection and that one comes in its perfection, author-
ity belongs to the terrestrial in every case. Part of the words of the people
of wisdom is that they said, ‘If speech is silver, then silence is golden.’ That
is because speech is among the celestial realities and silence is among the
Wisdom 433
terrestrial realities. The one of wisdom is designated by silver and gold. This
indicates that when speech and silence meet, silence is nobler, i.e. authority
belongs to the silent one over the speaker, not to the speaker over the silent
one. Such is the custom of Allah. The one with a terrestrial reality is not
joined with one with a celestial reality, but that authority belongs to the
one with the terrestrial over the one with the celestial in speech with silence
in other than that among the realities. The people of this meaning are as if
the terrestrial realities are shara‘i’ by their relationship to the creature, and
the celestial realities are as if they were realities by their relationship to the
Creator. All is from Him, the Great, and to Him. By this analogy, when
realities and shara‘i’ meet outwardly, authority belongs to the shara‘i’ over
the realities. When the realities and the shara‘i’ meet inwardly, authority
belongs to the realities over the shara‘i’. As for the realised among the peo-
ple of the realities, all are realities, although they call this one a celestial
reality and that one a terrestrial reality. There is only Allah in existence.
Allah was and nothing was with Him, and He has now what he had. He
Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth.
Allah the Great spoke the truth and His chosen noble Messenger, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, conveyed it.
Know that all existence flows according to the rules of the will, or the will
of Allah. Part of the will of Allah is the will of His slave. If you investigate
all existence, you will not find in it a blade of grass or a pebble or anything
smaller than that or greater than it flowing according to other than the will.
However, you will find things based on the will of the Doer, i.e. the wise,
whether the wise is real or metaphorical. Whenever another will appears,
things are changed according to it, whether this will appeared from the
one with the first will or from one other than him. All things are celestial
or terrestrial, flowing according to will. Their judgement is not overturned
unless another will enters it. Things are overturned for the sake of that
will which entered on its authority immediately, whether it is the will of a
real wise one or the will of a metaphorical wise one, and he is the slave. In
reality, all is true, and there is only Him.
Everything except Allah is false.
434 The Sufic Path
The eye has two realities: a celestial reality – and it is looking, and a ter-
restrial reality – and it is lowering the eye. I have not seen anything stronger
than them and more profitable for men and quicker than them and nearer
for them to win the desire. As the glance breaks norms, so does lowering it.
The wisdom of the glance is recognised by all people because it is celestial.
That is the stage of the common. The wisdom of lowering the eye is only
recognised by the elite who dive into the knowledge of low things as they
dive into the knowledge of high things. Ash-Shitri, may Allah have mercy
on him, said:
And the one who does not vanish, goes on.
When the substance of the one of terrestrial realities is weak in respect to
the senses or meaning, and he wants to strengthen it, he must descend to
the terrestrial realities. It is what will immediately strengthen him in the
senses and meaning. Anything other than descending to the terrestrial is of
no use to him. Increase will occur immediately. When the substance of the
one of celestial realities is weak in respect to the senses or the meaning and
he wants to strengthen it, he must rise to the celestial realities. His substance
will be strengthened and increase will occur in the senses and meanings.
Anything other than fleeing to the celestials is of no use to him. He said,
may He be exalted, ‘He is the One Who is God in the heaven, and God
in the earth.’ Whenever the people of terrestrial things descend, they find
Allah. Those who find Allah do not lack anything, and those who do not
find Allah, do not find anything.
Part of what the Shaykh said to me, may Allah give us profit by him, is:
‘Know that the results of things do not appear until they are connected to
their opposites. Whenever things are connected to their opposites, their
results appear and shine like the sun from increase of their knowledge and
increase of their action in word and deed, senses and meaning, because all
increase of existence is in the conjunction of opposites.’ Such is the custom
of Allah in His kingdom. Glory be to the Wise!
The essence of man contains seven limbs – each limb has two realities: a
celestial reality and a terrestrial reality. Four are in the head: the tongue,
Wisdom 435
the eye, the nose, and the ear, and three are in the body: the hand, the foot,
and the genitals. Celestial realities are speech, seeing, hearing, smelling,
travelling with the feet, intercourse with the genitals, and grasping with
the hands. These are seven. The terrestrial realities are silence, lowering the
eye, closing the ear to hearing, blotting the nose from smell, much sitting,
generosity with what is in the hand, and lack of intercourse. These are seven.
As the seven celestial ones have an immense effect on the selves, so the
seven terrestrial realities have an immense effect in existence. From where
could man have this great matter except from Allah ta‘ala? He preferred
him over all phenomenal beings. He made him perfect from every aspect
of his perfection. He made him a copy of existence and existence is a copy
of him. From the highest of ‘Illiyun to the lowest of the low, all existence is
contained in man by the wisdom of Allah ta‘ala. Because of this meaning,
you find that man contains the highest thing, the noblest thing, and the
greatest thing. You find that he also contains the lowest thing, the most
despicable thing, and the smallest thing. If you describe him with nobil-
ity, you will not reach the end of his honour and height. If you describe
him with baseness, vileness, and humiliation, you will not reach the end
of his baseness and humiliation. By this meaning, the gnostics indicate his
perfection and the height of his stage. By this meaning, the ignorant also
indicates his imperfection and the lowness of his stage. Each one describes
in him what he sees.
How can the intellect contain the gnosis of man when it has come from
him in the Sahih, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that, ‘Who-
ever recognises himself, recognises his Lord.’ He said, may the Speaker
be exalted, ‘We created man in the best proportion. Then We returned
him to the lowest of the low.’ Whoever describes man with something,
has spoken truly. He is that.
If turning from hunger is to the celestial realities, he longs for the terrestrial
realities as the one who eats food longs for water. If it is to the terrestrial
realities, he longs for the celestial realities as the one who drinks water
longs to eat food. The one who is perfect has no need of terrestrials as he
436 The Sufic Path
has no need of celestials, as he has no need of eating and drinking. Food

and drink are the nourishment of forms. The terrestrial and celestial reali-
ties are the nourishment of arwah. Only the people of weighty intellects
understand this.
Look, my brother, at how noble this Adamic is for Allah so that the truthful
confirmed one said about him:
Allah created Adam on His form. – Hadith.
Part of the perfection of His creation is that He gave him an inward and an
outward. His inward is gatheredness and his outward is separation, as He
created this existence, and gave it an inward and an outward. Its inward is
gatheredness and its outward is separation. He made its separation grow
from its gatheredness, and its gatheredness grow from its separation.
Gatheredness outwardly is separation inwardly, and separation outwardly
is gatheredness inwardly.
Man must have distance and nearness. If there is distance outwardly,
there is nearness inwardly. If there is nearness outwardly, there is distance
inwardly. It is like that.
Know that troubles are one of the attributes of separation and lack of
troubles is one of the attributes of gatheredness. Separation is slaveness,
and it is true. Gatheredness is sovereignty, and it is also true. Also, the
truth becomes the speaker, and he listens to what he says. Because of this
meaning, you find it to be the friendship of those who turn to Allah ta‘ala.
Whoever has witnessing of gatheredness dominate him, you will find him
at the very limit of expansion and rest from troubles. Whoever has wit-
nessing of separation dominate him, you will find him at the very limit of
contraction, trouble and discomforts.
Know that when you seek gatheredness, you only find it in separation. It is
like that when you seek separation. You only find it in gatheredness. This
is what will show you that separation is His separation and gatheredness is
His gatheredness. There is only Him. Nothing exists but Him.
Know that you only turn from separation by turning to gatheredness, as you
only turn from gatheredness by turning to separation. There is no third. In
Wisdom 437
the direction to which you turn with your himma, you are extended by your
Master, and you find that it loves you and yearns for you more than you
yearn for it. The unseen and the present beset man like two wives crowding
around their husband. Who will obtain the husband before the other wife
and pride herself over her partner? It is like that with the presence of the
Unseen over the present when it obtains man. The presence of the present
also prides itself over the Unseen when it wins man instead of the other.
Man is desired between them. There is no reality in existence except Allah!
Know that one quality has gathered in it outward and inward good. It is
the source of joy and expansion outwardly and inwardly. It is gatheredness.
There is one quality which has gathered in it outward and inward evil. It is
the source of cares and contraction, outwardly and inwardly. It is separa-
tion. If you investigate and realise, you will only find that all the element of
joy is gatheredness, and all the element of sorrow is separation. May Allah
have mercy on the speaker:
My heart had separated passions, so I sought to gather them –
since the eye saw You in passions. Then the one I used to envy
began to envy me, and I became the master of mankind since You
became my Master. I left people their deen and this world and was
occupied with You,
O my deen and O this world of mine!
The community is a mercy and the faction is a punishment.’ – Hadith.
Know that gatheredness is like the man and separation is like the woman.
Allah, the Great, the Exalted, said:
Men are in charge of women.
The custom of Allah in His creation is that when authority belongs to the
man over the woman, all good must be present. When the woman has au-
thority over the man, there is no good at all. Similarly, when gatheredness
has authority over separation, the one with this state has all good. When
separation has authority over gatheredness, the one with this state does not
see good and does not find rest.
Know that the custom of Allah has preceded that whatever gathers you
outwardly, separates you inwardly, and vice versa. That is, affirmation out-
wardly is negation inwardly. Negation outwardly is affirmation inwardly.
438 The Sufic Path

– Hadith.
Part of the wisdom of Allah ta‘ala is that He made gatheredness continue to
help separation, thing for thing, until all separation becomes gatheredness.
He made gatheredness rule separation, as He gave separation judgement
over gatheredness. Only the one among the Rijal whose separation and
gatheredness are equal knows their judgement, i.e. they are equal in him in
action, not words. That is, his gatheredness does not veil him to his separa-
tion, and his separation does not veil him to his gatheredness. They are
few. The sign of the one whose gatheredness and separation are equal is the
one who says by the command of his Master to the thing, ‘“Be!” and it is.’
Know that Allah ta‘ala made this man always gathered, always separated.
However, sometimes his gatheredness dominates his separation and some-
times his separation dominates his gatheredness. That which dominates the
other has jurisdiction in the moment. When his gatheredness dominates
his separation, the jurisdiction belongs to knowledge over deed. When his
separation dominates his gatheredness, the jurisdiction belongs to deed over
knowledge. The gnostic understands that from himself and from others. He
recognises what is more and what is less. The ignorant man does not have a
state dominate him, but that he is destroyed in it from other than it until it
is as if he rejected all except it. Rejection is the very source of ignorance and
destruction. Because of this meaning, you find more separated people who
take the art as deed without knowledge – jailed, restricted, veiled in what
they possess of actions, until most of them think that there is no good in
existence except in what they have. That is from their ignorance of Allah
as if they were forbidding the first power. He said, may He be exalted:
We have only given you a little of knowledge.
Are those who know and those who do not know equal?
Even so, only those of His slaves fear Allah
who have knowledge.
May Allah protect us from meeting those who have gone astray and those
who are astray. In respect to this meaning, the Shaykh, may Allah ta‘ala
Wisdom 439
have mercy on him, often used to say, ‘My son, the perfect faqir is the one
whose capital is meanings.’ One of them said, ‘Make your action salt and
your adab flour.’ Adab is the meanings, and the meanings are knowledge.
What a difference between the faqir whose knowledge follows his action,
and the one whose action follows his knowledge. The first knows by his ac-
tion, and the second acts by his knowledge. How can action and knowledge
of it resemble knowledge and action by it? After this, whomever you see
from among those that turn, who continues in one state, know that he is
veiled by his hand from his Master because every direction of the reality
must be coloured by its colouring. Man is on the deen of his close friend.
– Hadith. Then certainly a man is coloured by the colouring of someone
like him when he makes him his friend. How then can there be creatures
in the friendship of the reality? Ash-Shitri said in one of his statements,
‘My goal in love is that I become coloured.’
Know that if you seek gatheredness, you will only find it in separation. If
you seek separation, you will only find it in gatheredness. This is part of
what will show you that separation is His separation, and gatheredness
is His gatheredness. There is only Him and there is nothing except Him.
Know that reflection has two aspects: it can be by gatheredness, and it
can be by separation – by gatheredness by Allah to Allah in Allah, and by
separation by creation to creation in creation. Gatheredness is true and
separation is true. There is only the Real. Allah was and nothing was with
Him. He has now what He had.
Gatheredness is true and separation is true. Separation is in gath-eredness,
and gatheredness is in separation. Whoever proclaims gatheredness in the
presence of separation dies by the shari‘a with a sensory death. Whoever
proclaims separation in the presence of gatheredness dies by the reality
with a death of meaning. Outward and inward safety is in what Shaykh
ash-Shadhili said to his disciple, as-Sabbagh, when he asked him about the
story of separation and gatheredness. He answered him, ‘My son, when you
want that in which there is no censure, gatheredness in your secret is seen
and separation in your tongue exists.’ May Allah profit us by all and make
us among those who travel their straight path by His favour and ihsan!
Know that everyone whom creation avoids, they must need him and they
must have him, whether they like it or not, as whoever avoids creation must
440 The Sufic Path
need them and must have them, whether he likes it or not, because all exist-
ence, as it is separation without any gatheredness in it, so it is gatheredness
without any separation in it. As it is in need without any wealth, so it is
rich without any poverty. The true root is one, based on itself, which is
above itself, by itself.
O brother, know that your self is just to existence and what is in it, and
existence and what is in it is just to your self. Existence is opposite your
self, and your self is opposite existence. Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani said,
‘Your self contains all the reality, and I indicate with serious words, and I
do not deceive.’ All that is beauty to your self is majesty to existence, and
all that is majesty to your self is beauty to existence. You are always postur-
ing between two slavenesses – slaveness to Allah in creation and slaveness
of creation from you to Him. The slaveness to Allah in creation is in two
groups: it is slaveness to Allah in yourself, and slaveness to Allah in exist-
ence. Slaveness of the Creator is gatheredness. If you look at separation,
you will find that it has no gatheredness in it. If you look at gatheredness,
you will find that it has no separation in it. If you realise, you will find that
separation is the source of gatheredness, and gatheredness is the source of
separation. There is only the King, the Real. The gnostic of Allah is the
slave of Allah in these three aspects of slaveness. The ignorant is a slave to
himself in it by the three. Allah takes charge of those who believe and He
brings them out of the darkness to the light. Those who have kufr, their
friends are the despots. They bring them out of the light into the darkness.
Know that all the attributes of sovereignty are gatheredness. Gatheredness
certainly only has separation issue from it. Similarly, all the attributes of
slaveness are separation, and certainly only gatheredness issues from separa-
tion. Whoever wants to separate from everything and to everything, and
perhaps even be separated from himself, must take on the character of the
attributes of freedom. Whoever wants to be gathered to everything and
on everything, and perhaps even gathered to himself, must take on the
character of the attributes of slaveness. The attributes of freedom are like
might, pride, power, wealth, strength, hearing, seeing, and speech. These
are some of the attributes of freedom. They are all gatheredness. Whoever
takes on the character of any of them, his affairs are separated, whether he
likes it or not, until that may bring him to the separation of his ruh from
his body. The attributes of slaveness are like abasement, humility, incapacity,
Wisdom 441
poverty, weakness, silence, lowering the eye, and lack of hearing. These are
some of the attributes of slaveness which are opposite what we mentioned
of the attributes of freedom. They are all separation. Whoever takes in the
character of any of them, i.e. the attributes of slaveness, his affairs are all
joined, whether he likes it or not, until that may lead him to gather his
heart to his Lord and by his Lord. This is the goal. As one of the fuqara said,
‘By Allah! We only find might true in abasement.’ He said in the Hikam,
‘Realise your attributes. He will help you with His attributes.’ Whoever
wants all the doors to be opened for him must have the attributes of slave-
ness. Whoever wants all the doors to be shut in his face must take on the
character of the attributes of freedom.
Whoever claims gatheredness without separation claims the invalidity of
slaveness. That is impossible. Whoever claims separation without gath-
eredness claims the invalidity of sovereignty. This is the very source of the
impossible! Whoever claims that separation is the source of gatheredness,
and that gatheredness is the source of separation, has found his Master and
has realised and has obtained the source of perfection. It is oneness and
uniqueness because sovereignty must have slaveness and slaveness must have
sovereignty. Had it been other than this, imperfection would have come
in. Imperfection is impossible, because between slaveness and sovereignty,
the one who realises, realises, and the one who goes wrong, goes wrong.
Know that all ploughing is loss and all its fruits are profit. Such is the action
of Allah in everything. Profit only emerges from loss, as loss only emerges
from profit. The living only issues from the dead, and the dead only issues
from the living. ‘He provides for whomever He wills without reckoning.’
Fruits issue from trees, as trees issue from fruits. What a difference between
the one whose loss is separation and whose profit is gatheredness, and the
one whose loss is gatheredness and whose profit is separation! The one
whose profit is gatheredness, his gatheredness gathers him on his separation
and he becomes gathered. The one whose profit is separation, his separation
separates him from his gatheredness and he becomes separated. The one
whose profit is gatheredness is near in his distance, and the one whose profit
is separation is far in his nearness. The one whose profit is gatheredness
is occupied with Allah, distracted from himself. The one whose profit is
separation, is occupied with himself, distracted from Allah. The one whose
profit is gatheredness is absorbed in contemplation and eye-witnessing,
442 The Sufic Path
and the one whose profit is separation is absorbed in contemplating him-

self and Shaytan. The one whose profit is gatheredness is in the station of
ihsan on the road of realisation, and the one whose profit is separation is
in the station of iman on the road of confirmation. The one whose profit is
gatheredness has been made a khalif by Allah in His earth. The one whose
profit is separation, Allah has made him a slave obeying His command.
Glory be to the One Who apportioned between them and was just! He
bestowed His nearness on whichever of them He wished, and was full of
abundance. Glory be to the Giver without anything and the Withholder
without anything! Glory be to the Wise, the Knowing!
Divestment is bitter blossoms, sweet fruit, and means are sweet blossoms,
bitter fruit. The Garden is encircled by hated things and the Fire is encircled
by desired things. – Hadith. Divestment is gatheredness and means are sepa-
ration. Al-Jilani said, ‘Join your gatheredness and cut off your separation.’
Mulk is separation and Malakut is gatheredness. Separation is the source
of gatheredness, and gatheredness is the source of separation. There is only
the Real and the reality.
Know that the details of the smallest type of ant are the details of existence.
Its judgement is the judgement of existence. Part of the sum of the details
of existence is that it is based between gatheredness and separation. There is
no animal which walks on the earth, nor bird that flies in the air, and man
and all the plants, but that you find that animal or man or bird or plant is
based between gatheredness and separation. Separation and gatheredness
are in the ant in its smallness and weakness. Gatheredness and separation
are in existence with its vastness, greatness and immensity. It is the greatest
gatheredness and the greatest separation which contains every gatheredness
and separation. May Allah have mercy on the speaker:
O wonder! How can Allah be rebelled against
or how can the disputer dispute Him?
He has a sign in everything, showing that He is the One.
Knowledge of the inward emerges between lack of the veil and its exist-
ence. Whenever it comes out to the outward and confirms it, it becomes
a veil to the known. It is as if it came out from between gatheredness and
separation. When it is confirmed in the outward, it becomes separation
without any gatheredness in it. However, had it not been for separation,
Wisdom 443
the value of gatheredness would not have been recognised. Similarly, had
it not been for gatheredness, the value of separation would not have been
recognised. Knowledge is information about arrival and it is separation, as
action is arrival itself and it is gatheredness. Had it not been for knowledge,
arrival would not have been recognised. Had it not been for action by it,
arrival would not exist.
Know that gatheredness has knowledges and intimate conversation, as
separation has knowledges and intimate conversation. Whoever acquires
the pleasure of the intimate conversation of gatheredness cannot have direct
contact with separation and its people except for a few. Similarly, the one
who acquires the pleasure of intimate conversation of separation, cannot
have direct contact with gatheredness and its people except for a few. The
affair is great, and intimate conversation is only joined in the strong Rijal
like Sayyidi Yusuf al-Fasi and his like, may Allah profit us by them! I heard
our Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi from his father Sayyidi Ahmad from his father
Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillah, may Allah profit us by all of them, say, ‘Sayyidi
Yusuf al-Fasi, may Allah profit us by him, used to read in two assemblies,
an assembly of gatheredness and an assembly of separation, each day. Each
assembly had its people. When a man would come from the people of
separation to sit before him with the people of gatheredness, he would
say to him, “Get up and sit with your companions until I come to you in
your assembly.” When a man from the people of gatheredness would come
to sit before him with the people of separation, he would not leave him
either. He would say, “Get up and sit with your companions until I come
to you.”’ This is because gatheredness joins and separation is cut off. He
Not equal are the two seas: this is sweet, grateful to taste, deli-
cious to drink – and that is salt, bitter to the tongue. Yet of both
you eat fresh flesh, and bring forth out of it ornaments for you
to wear.
He, may Allah be pleased with him, did not have his separation veil him
from his gatheredness, nor his gatheredness veil him from his separation.
It is said that he was taken to be a Qutb for 23 years. May Allah provide us
with his love and make his baraka overflow on us!
If you want to own separation, you have nine divisions of majesty and one
444 The Sufic Path
division of beauty. If you want to own gatheredness, you have nine divi-
sions of beauty and one division of majesty. If the first has ten divisions of
majesty and does not have that one division of beauty, his situation is not
put in order except by that division. The second also, if he has ten divisions
of beauty and does not have that one division of majesty, his affair is only
set right by that one division.
Know that only the reality bears the reality – that is, the reality of gathered-
ness is only borne when separation is complete. If you acquire gatheredness
on part of separation, it is in the very limit of narrowness. That separation is
in the very limit of toil. That is because you put a strong one on a weak one.
You will not obtain rest in them by some of them. All that is gatheredness
is reality and all that is separation is shari‘a.
Know that separation belongs to majesty, and gatheredness to beauty. All
that is beauty and gatheredness in your outward is majesty and separation
in your inward. All that is separation and majesty in your outward is beauty
and gatheredness in your inward. This is the sunna of Allah in His slaves.
Whenever majestic separation takes over your outward part, while beautiful
gatheredness is in your inward, the situation reverses itself until beautiful
gatheredness takes over your outward while majestic separation is in your
inward as long as its opposite is taken from you. It is the state which was
before it. Whoever that occurs to by force is not the one about whom we
are speaking. We are rather speaking about the wayfarer who acts by choice,
and so it is by attraction. He is the one who possesses his self, and whoever
makes it over to one of the lords of the art, because when one dominates his
own self, it begins to obey him whenever he uses it. As for chattels in the
hands of their slaves, we are not speaking about them. Man is not without
what owns him or what he owns. The sign that its property is good is that
if its owner wants to dress it in majestic separation outwardly, he requires
that beautiful gatheredness then be in his inward. If he wishes its opposite,
to dress it in beautiful gatheredness outwardly, there must be majestic sepa-
ration inwardly. Therefore his self becomes a chattel in his hand, like the
trainer and breaker of horses in the command and prohibition. Whenever
he claims that wayfaring belongs to attraction and does not discipline his
self to wear majestic separation outwardly for a long time until the sincerity
of his discipline is manifest to him and all creation, elite and common, his
claim is false, and he is deluded when his self cheats him and plays with
Wisdom 445
him. This is because the self is formed with a natural disposition to love of
beautiful gatheredness and its outward parts. With the people of the Path,
it is haram for the murid in his beginning. He said in The Laws: ‘Whoever
claims to witness beauty before he has adab by the majesty, reject him –
he is a Dajjal.’ Look at the words of ash-Shadhili, may Allah have mercy
on him: ‘O Allah! People are sentenced to abasement until they become
mighty, and they are sentenced to loss until they find. The one who has
no abasement becomes the one who has no might, and the one who has
no loss becomes the one who has no finding. The one who lays claim to
finding without abasement is deluded. The one who lays claim to finding
without loss is a liar.’ This is one of the roots of the Path, which is the only
road for the murids. As for perfection, it is neither in outward separation
nor in inward gatheredness, or the reverse. It is in the balance of the two
until they are equal in the self, in their existence and loss.
Know that He bases realities on two divisions: beauty and majesty. All
increases of existence are in the connection of opposites, i.e. majesty and
beauty. These realities are the manifestations of the Real. Increase of
existence is also divided into two divisions: sensory increase and increase
of meaning. Sensory increase is beauty outwardly and majesty inwardly.
Increase of meaning is majesty outwardly and beauty inwardly.
When you want the beauty of existence, you must have inward beauty, and
you only find inward beauty by outward majesty. Similarly, if you want
the majesty of existence, you must have inward majesty, and you only find
inward majesty by your outward beauty. That is because the wisdom of
Allah ta‘ala in His creation is that whoever does something by wisdom, the
power of Allah brings something into existence opposite it in every case. All
worlds stand waiting for what appears from the heart of the child of Adam.
What the hearts do, all the worlds do. The worlds are the worlds of the
forms of creation and the worlds of existence. He said, may He be exalted:
Allah knows what good there is in your hearts
– He will give you better.
The heart is the house of Allah. From it issue the actions of all the world,
good and evil. If the attribute of majesty appears in your heart, outward
existence will confront you with majesty, and your outward will confront
you with beauty, and the inward of existence will confront you with beauty.
446 The Sufic Path
If the attribute of beauty appears in your heart, outward existence confronts

you with beauty, and your outward confronts you with majesty, and the
inward of existence confronts you with majesty. That is because there must
be variety. However, the organisation of variety is by the power of Allah
ta‘ala following the heart. He said, may He be exalted:
What is meant by the heart is the heart of man. It is as if your heart inwardly
is opposite outward existence. Your heart is gatheredness, and outward
existence is separation. Similarly, your outward is opposite inward exist-
ence. Existence is gatheredness and your outward is separation. However,
your gatheredness and the separation of existence, and the gatheredness of
existence and your separation – the rule of all of them depends on one of
them. It is your gatheredness, i.e. your heart, by his word, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, in a Hadith Qudsi:
Neither My earth nor My heaven contain Me,
Because of that, all the scope of existence is based on the heart of the son
of Adam. That is because this noble heart contains the lights of the Real
and His secrets. Because of that, he is the element of all actions.
Outward majesty is with the people of wisdom of the selves. I will mention
what is easy of it, Allah willing. The beginning of majesty is silence, and its
opposite is beauty in speech. Part of majesty also is lack of laughter, and
weeping. Its opposite is beauty in laughter. Part of majesty is also standing
and sitting. Its opposite in beauty is walking. Part of majesty is also lowering
the glance, and its opposite in beauty is much looking. Part of majesty is
also lowering hearing, and its opposite in beauty is listening. Part of majesty
is also bareness of clothes, and its opposite in beauty is wearing clothes.
Part of majesty also is wearing shabby clothes, and its opposite in beauty is
wearing fine clothes. Part of majesty also is being bare-footed, and its op-
posite in beauty is wearing sandals. Part of majesty also is withdrawal from
creation, and its opposite in beauty is being joined with creation. Part of
majesty also is wearing a veil, and its opposite in beauty is baring the face.
Part of majesty is also miserliness and its opposite in beauty is generosity.
Taking on the character of the realities of majesty outwardly brings beauty
inwardly. Taking on the character of the realities of beauty outwardly in-
Wisdom 447
herits majesty inwardly. What a difference between the one whose inward
is purified and whose outward is turbid, and the one whose outward is
pure and whose inward is turbid. May Allah have mercy on the speaker:
Would that what is between You and I were filled,
while what is between me and the worlds were a ruin.
When love is sound in You, all is easy,
and all that is above the earth is earth.
Know that majestic realities confirm the inward as the beautiful realities
confirm the outward. All the majestic realities are divestment and attrac-
tion, and all the beautiful realities are travelling. The outward of the majestic
realities is majesty and its inward is beauty, as the outward of the beautiful
realities is beauty and their inward is majesty. The seeker of perfection does
not obtain perfection until imperfection is completed in him as perfection
is completed in him. The perfection of imperfection, and the perfection of
perfection, is the connection of beauty to majesty, and majesty to beauty.
Every human obtains this meaning. However, what a difference between
the one who travels it with knowledge and action, and the one who travels it
with ignorance and negligence! You only obtain perfect profit after perfect
loss. Increase is according to decrease.
Know that the master of perfect majesty owns all existence. It is like that
with the master of perfect beauty – he owns all existence, because the Majes-
tic is the Beautiful, and the Beautiful is the Majestic. Wrongness only enters
man by leaving obedience. Leaving obedience is insanity. Every direction
whose due you pay, it will pay your due in full. Every direction whose due
you do not pay in full, it will not pay you your due in full. Existence is like
a mirror. What you confront it with, it confronts you with it, no more. If
you confront it with perfection, it will confront you with it. If you confront
it with imperfection, it will confront you with it, no more, no less.
Part of the sum of the variety which Allah put in man is that whoever
has beauty in his inward, has his majesty outwardly, and whoever has his
beauty in his outward, has his majesty inwardly. The one of inward beauty
and outward majesty has 99 divisions with Allah and one division with
creation, and the one of outward beauty and inward majesty has 99 divi-
448 The Sufic Path
sions with creation and one with Allah. From here, it is said that turning
to creation is turning away from Allah, and turning to Allah is turning
away from creation.
Property is not a king until its majesty outwardly is greater than its beauty
by a hundred times or more. It is the kingdom of the outward and the
kingdom of the inward, because when his majesty outwardly is stronger
than his beauty, certainly his beauty in his inward is stronger than his
majesty – because the thing is great by the weakness of what is opposite it,
and weak by the greatness of what is opposite it. What increases this one,
decreases that one. What decreases that one, increases this one. Majesty in
the outward becomes a condition in seeking the kingdom. It is inevitable.
The custom of Allah has preceded in that. Part of the aspect of understand-
ing is also that things are only sought by their opposites. Beauty is only
sought by majesty, as majesty is only sought by beauty. The seeker of might
is only abased, as the seeker of abasement is only made mighty. ‘You have
sentenced them to abasement until they become mighty.’
Know that all beauty must be followed by majesty. If He made it by choice,
it would be fresh and comfortable. If He did not make it by choice, it would
be by force. If majesty is force, it is harsh and strong. Similarly, beauty must
follow it. If He made it by choice, it would be fresh, comfortable beauty
and one would not bring force in any state, that is, since each thing is only
understood by its opposite. Allah, glory be to Him, did not create any-
thing but that He created its opposite accompanying it. Whoever brings
it willingly, does that, and whoever does not, brings it by force, reluctantly,
because He, glory be to Him, is Wise, Knowing.
According to the greatness of the majesty of the one of the inward out-
wardly, his beauty is great inwardly. The one of the outward is the reverse.
According to the greatness of his majesty inwardly, his beauty is great
outwardly. The seeker of the path of the inward must take on the character
of what suits him in his path. Success is by Allah. Speech is beautiful and
silence is majestic.
The likeness of majesty is a coarse garment, i.e. a wool garment. The like-
ness of beauty is like a thin garment, like silk brocade and what is like it.
The likeness of the teaching Shaykh is like the mirror whose description
teaches children to remove their fine garments and put on wool garments
Wisdom 449
or what is like them when it turns to teaching children and direct contact
with them. The Shaykh is like that with the murids. Part of his description
is to remove the garment of kingdom – and it is the garment of beauty, and
throw it around him, and to put on the coarse wool garment – and it is
the garment of majesty, to complete the instruction of the murids. As the
mirror also does not teach its children in noble garments, it teaches them
in coarse garments of wool and what is like that. That is what is related to
young fledglings in the state of childhood until they become youths and
grow older, and they become men of intellect distinguishing between things
and their opposites. Then their mothers dress them in the noblest robes they
have. It is like that with the teaching Shaykh. He only teaches the murids in
coarse garments. That is what is related to them in the state of beginnings.
This is until they become youths and grow older, i.e. they increase to the
station which is after it, and it is the station which is connected to reaching
the age of fasting in children, and it is the station of annihilation. Then the
Shaykh dresses them in what is related to that station which is nobler than
the garment of teaching. This is until they also reach the station which is
after it, and it is the stage of middle-age and they become Rijal. It is the
station of going-on after annihilation. Then they wear the garment of the
king with varieties of gold and silver and silk brocade and what is like that.
Crowns are raised on their heads and they become kings, i.e. the Khalifs
of Allah in His earth. He said in The Laws: ‘Whoever claims to witness
beauty before he has adab by majesty, reject him – he is a Dajjal.’
Know that all creation are drunk. Their intoxication has two descriptions:
some people are drunk on the wine of beauty and others are drunk on the
wine of majesty. The wine of beauty is from the element of arwah. The
wine of majesty is from the element of forms. These are two wines. There
is no third. All people are drunk by them. Whoever is not intoxicated by
the wine of beauty, is drunk with the wine of majesty. There is no more.
There is only this one or that one. Whoever has his ruh overcome his body
is drunk with the wine of beauty. Whoever has his body overcome his
ruh is drunk with the wine of majesty. By these two wines, the existence
of the man is set up, i.e. the Adamic man. By the existence of this man,
the existence of existence is set up. Had intoxication been non-existent in
man, man would have vanished. Had man vanished, existence would have
vanished. The existence of man is based on the existence of intoxication
450 The Sufic Path
with wine, as the existence of existence is based on the existence of man.

The people of the wine of beauty are keys because their wine is related to
Allah, and the people of the wine of majesty are slaves because their wine
is related to creation, even if all is by Allah and what Allah relates to His
creation is for Allah by Allah.
Know that as Allah created man’s body for the sake of the ruh – and when-
ever the ruh departs, the body dies, is annihilated and vanishes, so Allah
created this existence for the sake of man. Had man departed, this exist-
ence would have been destroyed, annihilated, and vanished. Allah created
the body as a mark of honour for the ruh, as He created this existence as
a mark of honour for man – a favour and a mercy from Him. Glory be to
the One Whose generosity and nobility is not contained, the Generous,
the Self-Exalted!
Know that all the arwah are one ruh in gatheredness-separation, as the es-
sences, in reality, are all one essence in separation-gatheredness. Ibn al-Farid
said: ‘Our arwah are wine, and our forms are the grape-vine.’ Wine is from
the grape-vine, as the grape-vine is from wine. If you look at separation,
you find it separation without gatheredness. If you look at gatheredness,
you find it gatheredness without separation. If you complete your glance
and look at gatheredness, you will find it other than separation, and if you
look at separation, you will find it other than gatheredness. When you
acquire this perfect glance and are established, your gatheredness does not
veil you from your separation, and your separation does not veil you from
your gatheredness. This is the source of the goal, and success is by Allah.
Part of what our Master, may Allah profit us by him, said to me was: ‘Allah
created the forms and He created the arwah. He gave the forms nourish-
ment of food, and He gave the arwah the nourishment of speech. As the
forms are only established by food, so the arwah are only established by
speech, good or evil.’
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, said to me is: ‘My
son, as man needs to put arwah right, he needs to put forms right.’ The es-
sence and attributes of man only exist by variety. He said, may He be exalted:
The ruh only exists by the health of the body, and the body only exists by
Wisdom 451
the health of the ruh. The essence is made sound by its food and is ruined
by its food. The ruh is made sound by its food and is ruined by its food.
The food of the essences is eating and drink. The ruin of the essence is in
eating one food constantly, and its rightness is in eating in each hour a
different food than the one before it. The food of the ruh is speech, smell,
sight, hearing, touching with the hand, travelling with the foot, and in-
tercourse with the genitals. These are seven limbs. When the foods of the
ruh vary by them, that is its health. When they continue in one state, that
is its ruin. It is like that.
As Allah ta‘ala placed the judgement of the body over the ruh in this world,
so He gave the judgement of the shari‘a over the reality in this world. He
will give the judgement to the ruh over the body in the Next World, as He
will give the judgement to the reality over the shari‘a in the Next World.
Allah ta‘ala brought these two groups into existence in this world by two,
and He brought them into existence by two in the Next World. ‘A man dies
on what he has lived on and a man is raised up on what he died.’ – Hadith.
As for the group whose judgement is the body over the ruh and the shari‘a
over the reality, they are those who have this world in their hearts and bod-
ies. The group which has the judgement to the ruh over the body and the
judgement to the reality over the shari‘a, they are those who in this world
are with creation by their bodies and with Allah by their hearts. As one of
them said, and he is Shaykh Sayyidi Qasim al-Khassasi, may Allah profit us
by him, ‘The body is in the tavern and the heart is in the Malakut.’ May
Allah make us among the people of this straight road!
Know that this ruh, i.e. the ruh of man, came from the world of rest. It is
the world of the ruhaniya, and it is in the highest of Illiyun. The body came
from the world of toil. It is the world of mankind and it is in the lowest of
the low. Allah joined them by His wisdom and power. Man was therefore
well-fashioned. Part of this wisdom also is that He placed the ruh opposite
the body, and the body opposite the ruh. However, certainly jurisdiction
belongs to one over the other. If jurisdiction goes to the body over the
ruh, its owner is always in toil and misery because the body became its
jurisdiction. If jurisdiction goes to the ruh over the body, its owner is in
rest from cares because the ruh came from the world of rest – so the body
has rest from the ruh, because jurisdiction belongs to it over the body, and
it is under its authority. Because of that, it is in rest by its rest. All of man
452 The Sufic Path
therefore has two worlds: the world of rest and the world of toil, and it is the
world of the body. The common have their bodies dominate them, so they
are always in toil. The elite have the world of their arwah dominate them,
so they are always in rest. The common do not transfer the jurisdiction of
their bodies to their arwah except after sensory death. The elite transfer the
jurisdiction of their bodies to their arwah before their sensory death, i.e.,
now. The affair is more than the describers describe. Glory be to the One
Who chose the elite and made the common common by His wisdom.
Know that election has a body and ruh. As for the body, it is divestment
to it. As for its ruh, it is constant sitting before its people. The body is only
based on the ruh, and the ruh is only based on the body. Whenever the
body is joined with the ruh, election exists between them.
Know that the ruh in the abode of this world is cut off, in exile, and the
senses reach its people. Because of that, the bodies of most people in this
world rule their arwah. In the Next World, the situation will be the reverse.
The senses will be cut off, in exile, and the arwah of most people will rule
their bodies – i.e., whoever has his body rule his ruh in this world, he is
the one who in the Next World, his ruh will rule his body. These are the
common. As for the elite, their bodies have no jurisdiction over their arwah
in this world, and their arwah have no jurisdiction over their bodies in the
Next World. As the judgement belongs to Allah, not to bodies and arwah
in this world, so judgement belongs to Allah in the Next World, not to
their arwah and bodies. ‘A man dies on what he lives, and he is raised up
on what he died.’ Whoever is a slave to something in this world, he is the
slave of it in the Next World, i.e. phenomenal beings. Whoever is a slave of
Allah, pure to Him in this world, he is the slave of Allah, pure to Him in the
Next World. Then it will be said to the slaves of phenomenal beings, ‘Shame
to you and what you were serving other-than-Allah! You are firewood
coming to Jahannam.’ The company of the slaves of phenomenal beings is
entered by the slave of his self, the slave of the Adamic of his species, and
the slave of the dirham and the dinar. We ask Allah ta‘ala to protect us from
the bondage of our selves, and from the bondage of phenomenal beings,
and to make us His slaves, sincere to Him in all states by His favour, and
to give us success in that by His mercy, generosity, and nobility.
Know that man today in this world desires what comes in the Next World.
Wisdom 453
In the Next World, he desires what has passed of this world. The Next
World is the ruh of this world, as this world will become the ruh of the Next
World. As the Next World is the intermediary of this world, similarly, this
world will become the intermediary of the Next World. As the ruh today
is hidden in the body, similarly, the body will be hidden in the ruh of the
Next World. Man in this world has his senses dominate his meaning. In
the Next World, his meaning will dominate his senses.
Know that man in this world is dead-alive, and in the Next World, he
will be alive-dead. We said dead-alive in this world because in this world,
authority belongs to his death over his life. We said alive-dead in the Next
World because in the Next World, his life rules his death. In this world,
the dominant judgement is life. Man is dead-alive, and will be alive-dead.
In this world, he is separated-gathered, and in the Next World, he will be
gathered-separated. The only one who understands the matter is the one
who has realised or is a slave of the one who has realised.
Know that Allah ta‘ala created this existence and placed good and evil in
it. He made good mixed with evil and evil mixed with good. The place of
good becomes as if it were the place of evil, and the place of evil becomes
as if it were the place of good. Then, by His wisdom, He made a third
for them. It is mixing – the mixing of good with evil and evil with good.
Creation is always occupied with sorting that out until the Day of Rising.
This is from the perfection of His wisdom.
Know that shirk is the head of all evil and tawhid is the head of all good.
This is in everyday life and in ‘ibada, in state and word, senses and meaning.
He said, may He be exalted, ‘Shirk is an immense wrong.’ The meaning
of shirk is mixing, and mixing is straying from the right way, and straying
from the right way is perversion. Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani
said, ‘Connect your gatheredness and sever your separation.’
Good only abides and is straight for its people by gathering. Had they
separated, their good would have been invalidated. It is like that with the
people of evil – their evil only abides and is straight by gathering. Had they
separated, their evil would have been invalidated. Allah ta‘ala said, ‘Do not
separate and remember Allah’s blessing to you.’ He said, ‘Do not quarrel
together, and so lose heart, and your power depart.’ He said, may Allah
454 The Sufic Path
bless him and grant him peace, ‘The hand of Allah is with the gathering.’
Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani, may Allah profit us by him, said,
‘Connect your gatheredness and cut off your separation.’
Part of what the Shaykh said to me was: ‘If you are in lights and the people
of darkness want to reach you with harm, they will not be able to do it.
Darkness does not reach the light. Their harm returns to them. It is like
the one who unsheathes a sword and desires to strike a man on his left. He
closes his eye and strikes and misses the man and strikes himself. Then the
one of darkness is like that when he wants to strike the one of light with
his darkness. Darkness reaches light, but when it strikes, he only hits the
darkness of himself with the darkness of himself.’
Fragrances are a pair of fragrances: divine fragrances and shaytanic fra-
grances. Shaytanic fragrances are gathered by fulfilling its conditions
from beautiful food, beautiful drink, beautiful smell, beautiful seeing, and
beautiful hearing. Similarly, divine fragrances are gathered by fulfilling its
conditions of beautiful food, beautiful drink, beautiful smell, beautiful
seeing, and beautiful hearing. As the people of shaytanic fragrances have
the sensory doors locked on them and the veils are lowered on them out of
fear that when any outside of the people of their art come in upon them,
their fragrance will be undermined for them, it is like that with the people
of divine fragrances. The doors of meaning are locked on them and the veils
of meanings are lowered on them, so that none might come in upon them
who does not recognise their arts and thereby undermine their fragrance for
them. Because of this meaning, you find them, may Allah be pleased with
them, sometimes bringing near one who does not have any value among
base people if they find that he has something of their scents come to him.
Sometimes, they distance the one who has no rank and property and value
among people if they do not find any of their scents in him because they,
may Allah be pleased with them, are in what is good for their hearts if they
find it and how they find it since they are the lords of the hearts, even if
their outward is ruin.
The people of good do not obtain good unless they incline to the people
of good. It is something easy. The people of evil do not obtain evil except
that they incline to the people of evil. It is something easy, and it is like
that. Whoever seeks something, he sniffs its lights and plucks its fruit.
Wisdom 455
My brother, look at this noble Lord! How generous He is! How forbearing!
How great! You do not turn your himma to good or evil, but that He helps
you in it and supports you with it and prepares it for you. ‘Whoever draws
near Me a hand’s breadth, I draw near him an arm’s length.’ – Hadith. He
Allah will increase those who were guided in guidance,
– whatever guidance it is, whether your guidance is to good or to evil. All
is one in reality. He said, may He be exalted:
He gave you all you asked Him.
If you count Allah’s blessing,
you will never number it.
Know that excellent opinion of the related, when it is wrong, is better
than evil opinion of them when it is right. That is because creation is like
the earth. Whenever it is low, you find water, except that some places have
near water in them and some have distant water in them. It is like that
with the secret of sovereignty in each creature. Seek it in whoever helps
you among them, you will find that the strongest of what you find in them
is outwardly manifest and that the strongest of what you find in them is
inwardly hidden. Allah ta‘ala is the Outward Who is manifest in the people
of the outward, and He is the Inward Who is hidden in the people of the
inward. In this analogy, the one of evil is forbidden by his evil opinion.
Since he thinks evil, he finds evil. The one of good opinion is ennobled by
his good opinion Since he thinks beauty, he finds beauty. ‘I am with My
slave’s opinion of Me.’ – Hadith. Understand! He said, may Allah bless
There are two qualities about which there is nothing like them in
good – good opinion of Allah and good opinion of the slaves of
Allah. There are two qualities about which there is nothing like
them in evil – evil opinion of Allah and evil opinion of the slaves
of Allah. – Hadith,
as he said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. May Allah protect us
from evil opinion in common people more than the elite. They are those
related to Allah ta‘ala. We ask Allah ta‘ala to provide us with their love so
that we are slaves of their slaves by His favour and ihsan! Amin.
Whoever recognises himself, recognises his Lord. Part of it is also their word
456 The Sufic Path
about the shari‘a: ‘Whatever occurs to your mind, by Allah it is different

from that.’ The people of the reality say, ‘Whatever occurs to your mind, it
is the source of that.’ Part of it is his word, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace, ‘Whoever you mention with good, it is obliged. Whoever you
mention with evil, it is obliged.’ – in the hadith of the funeral-prayer. Part
of that is:
Allah was and nothing was with Him.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, counselled me is
that he said to me: ‘My son, beware and beware again lest anyone tie you.
Be always free and do not let anyone tie you with good or evil, because man
may be tied to the good of people in him, and he may be tied by his good
to people. He may be tied by his evil to people, and he may be tied by the
evil of people to him.’ Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi said to me from his father
Sayyidi Ahmad bin ‘Abdillah, may Allah profit us by all, speaking about
good with evil. He said, ‘Evil comes to the door of the house and knocks
on the door. Man says to it, “Who are you?” It says to him, “I am evil.” He
says to him, “I will not open to you. Go away. I have no need of you.” It then
sits near the door until good comes and knocks on the door. Man says to
it, “Who are you?” It says, “I am good.” He opens the door for it. As soon
as he opens the door, good enters and evil comes in with it. Had you not
opened the door for good, evil would not have entered.’
When they confront you with evil and you confront them with good,
and their evil is complete and your good is complete, certainly you will
overcome their evil by your good, because your good is terrestrial and their
evil is celestial. When the celestial and the terrestrial meet, the terrestrial
overcomes in every case. When they confront you with evil and you con-
front them with evil stronger than it, your evil overcomes their evil. The
strong overcomes the weak in every case. When they confront you with
complete evil and you confront them with good stronger than their evil,
you overcome without a doubt, because the strong overcomes the weak.
When they confront you with evil and you confront them with evil stronger
than it, you also overcome without a doubt, because the strong overcomes
the weak. The perfect gnostic overcomes the one who confronts him with
evil in every case, either by evil stronger than his evil, or by good stronger
than his evil. All times he overcomes by good or evil.
Wisdom 457
The seeker of perfect good and the seeker of perfect evil only obtain it when
all people recognise him by his indicating the art which he seeks. Whoever
does not recognise him personally, recognises him by name. Whoever wants
other than this is like the one who is a king among people who do not
recognise him and whether he exists or not. They have not heard of him.
Know that the place of good is the place of evil. Commensurate with what
emerges of good and grows great, evil emerges with it and grows great. Evil
is connected to good and it is not parted from it, as good is connected to
evil and is not parted from it. You are an interspace between them. When
you obtain good, evil seeks you. When you obtain evil, good seeks you.
This is man’s principle outwardly. As for inwardly, ‘If Allah knows of any
good in your hearts, He will give you better.’ Whoever can use good, can
use evil, and the reverse. However, there are people who use much good
and use very little evil. This one’s goodness dominates his evil. Some people
are the reverse. They use much evil and use very little good. This one’s evil
dominates his good. People are contained in these two groups.
Know that the kingdom is only based between good and evil. Whoever
does not own it by good, only owns it by evil. Whoever does not own it
by evil, only owns it by good. As for much good without evil, the king
becomes a slave, and the slave a king. It is like that with much evil without
much good – the slave becomes a king, and the king a slave. By balancing
them, the king is a king and the slave is a slave. Whoever makes his kingdom
difficult for you by evil, then make evil good. You will own him. Whoever
makes his kingdom difficult for you by good, then make good evil and you
will own him in every case. Such is the custom of Allah in His creation.
Glory be to the Wise, the Knowing!
Man must be on his guard against himself greatly, as well as being on his
guard against creation. If good only comes to man from himself or from
his species, similarly, evil only comes to him from them. The self and the
species are only overcome by the one who has real knowledge or by the
one who keeps the company of the one who has real knowledge. He said:
So, when they forgot what they were reminded of,
We opened unto them the gates of everything.
This is one aspect. Another aspect is:
458 The Sufic Path
Until, when they rejoiced in what they were given,

We seized them suddenly.
From the self and the species, man is broken, and from them, he is mended,
because part of the perfection of the Master, may His praise be exalted and
may He be exalted, is that He shows mercy to a people by what he punishes
others, and He punishes a people by what He shows mercy to others. That
is so that you might know that Allah has power over everything, and Allah
encompasses everything in knowledge.
Know that it appears to some people that good has benefit in it and evil has
harm in it. It is not like that. Good has benefit and harm in it, and evil has
benefit and harm in it, because the principle of good and evil is the same.
Look at His word, may He be exalted:
We will test you with good and evil as a trial.
Had you reflected, you would have found that Allah ta‘ala often punishes
by good and Allah often shows mercy by evil. Because of this meaning,
the people of intellect leave good and evil and occupy themselves with the
Creator of good and evil. He is enough for them in good and evil. Since
they are His slaves, good and evil are their slaves. Those who turn to Allah
ta‘ala in this meaning are in two divisions: the sincere beginner and the
perfect realised one. The beginner in his turning to Allah ta‘ala is such that
as occupation with evil harms him, so occupation with good things harms
him. The finished gnostic in his turning is different from that. As occupa-
tion with good things helps him, so occupation with evil things helps him.
That is because the first, who is the beginner, goes on with good and evil
things. Because of that, he seeks to turn from good and evil things and to
be occupied with Allah. The finished is different from that. He is by Allah
in good and evil things. Since he recognises his Master in good and evil
things, he is the same with good and evil things. He is neither in good nor
evil things, but he is with his Master. Since he recognises Allah in all states,
he is by Him in all states. There is no doubt that when the slave is by his
Master in every state, he is increased by every state, and he benefits from
every state, and no state harms him.
Know that whoever owns creation by good, his kingdom expands and
constricts creation. Whoever owns creation by evil, his kingdom constricts
and expands creation. The seeker of kingdom seeks his kingdom by what
Wisdom 459
is impossible for him. That which he does not own by good, he owns by
evil, and vice versa.
Know that all creation are kings. Each is a king over himself and a sultan of
his intellect. Whoever rules them, acquires their good. Whoever is ruled
by them, acquires their evil. Whoever comes to them is ruled by them, and
whoever they come to rules them. Whoever loves them is ruled by them,
and whomever they love rules them. Whoever seeks them is ruled by them,
and whomever they seek rules them. The wise, the gnostic of Allah, does
not possess them a single night to prevent their good, and he does not
enter in their power for a single night so that they should rule him, and so
he would be struck by their evil. He obtains their good and they find no
way to give him their evil. This description is only in the strong, the wise,
the gnostics of Allah, may Allah profit us by them!
Know that when you do good with the common, they repay you for it with
evil. When you do evil with them, they repay you for it with good. That is
by their weakness and reality’s dominance over them. When you do good
with the elite, they do good with you. If you do evil with them, they do evil
with you. That is because the shara‘i’ dominate them. When you do good
with the elite of the elite, they do good with you, and when you do evil
with them, they do good with you. That is because they have withdrawn
in Allah from your good and evil, so that all is good with them. Whatever
your Lord sends down, they say, ‘Good.’ This is one of the attributes which
they take from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
because he repaid evil with good.
Know that creation is divided into two divisions: a division which benefits
you and a division which harms you, no more. Whoever does not have
benefit in him, has harm in him, and vice versa. Outside of this, only the
gnostics of Allah, may Allah be pleased with them, have all good for them,
because good and evil are equal for them. They are increased by good as they
are increased by evil, and they are increased by evil as they are increased by
good. The common are different from that. Good is beautiful with them.
They strive to obtain it. Evil is ugly with them. They strive to repel it. The
common imagine this attraction and their repelling it by their weakness. As
for reality, it is only what preceded in the knowledge of Allah ta‘ala and His
power in pre-endless-time. ‘Your Lord finished with these four.’ – Hadith.
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Had the veils of illusions been torn, their occupation with directing the
glance and watching would have been invalidated, and they would have
been occupied with bliss in the contemplation of the Beloved, and they
would have seen that whenever Allah ta‘ala brought something into exist-
ence, it is on the limit of the sensory organisation. Look at the words of
Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani, may Allah profit us by him, in his
well-known Greater Qasida:
If you relate every ugly thing to its beauty,
the meanings of beauty in it will come to you swiftly.
The imperfection of the ugly has its beauty completed, so there is no
imperfection, and there is no ugly.
Know that all you turn to, its beginning only resembles jest, and its end is
earnestness. The custom of Allah occurs, since earnestness only comes out
of jest, as jest only comes out of earnestness. However, it generally occurs
in affairs that the beginning is only as if it were jest, and the end is earnest-
ness. All things certainly only emerge from their opposites. It is like that.
Whoever comes to you seeking gravity from you, meet him in jest. Whoever
comes to you seeking goodness, meet him with wrongness, because the
opposite only emerges from its opposite. Whoever wants to bring forth
gravity from gravity, or goodness from goodness, is broken from the Path.
The sunna of Allah ta‘ala has preceded that the living comes forth from
the dead, and the dead comes forth from the living. This analogy is only
recognised by the realised among the lords of the art. This meaning exists
in habits, as it is in the breaking of all habits. Goodness only comes from
wrongness. However, wrongness is in two divisions: wrongness which is
subject to a wise gnostic, so this is the source of goodness, and the other
wrongness is by ignorance from ignorance. This is real wrongness, wrong-
ness in respect to the Wise. Before the Wise ruins things, you find them with
one honour. After the Wise has ruined them, perhaps because of its ruin,
it will acquire a thousand honours. The other wrongness is by knowledge.
It has honour. When it is ruined through ignorance, that honour goes,
and wrongness remains.
There are people whom you confront with gravity and they confront you
with jest. When you confront them with jest, they confront you with grav-
ity. Some people are the opposite. When you confront them with gravity,
Wisdom 461
they confront you with gravity, and when you confront them with jest, they
confront you with it. The gnostic changes with each one according to his
colour. Changing colour is one of the attributes of the perfect – may Allah
profit us with them! Ash-Shitri said: ‘My goal in love is to be coloured.’
One of the gnostics, may Allah be pleased with them, said, ‘The perfect
wali of Allah changes with all states to obtain all desires.’
Among the greatest realities which have no like in the inward realities is
jest. It is among the realities of which only the strong of the Rijal of the
people are capable, because it is the greatest of terrestrial realities. It can
be by word rather than by action. This is the least aspect of it. It can be by
action rather than by words. This is the middle aspect of it. It is stronger
than the first. It can also be by word and action, and this is the greatest
aspect of it. The one of this reality owns kings by it so that they are all
under his command and prohibition. By it, he possesses all existence. The
one with jest does not confront any of the people of earnestness with his
earnestness but that the one of jest has power over him, even had the one
of earnestness whom he confronted been a king. The one of jest controls
a king so that he is under his command and prohibition, whether he likes
it or not.
The first of the realities is speech. It is a celestial reality. Silence is a terrestrial
reality. The meaning of speech is beauty, and silence is majesty. Withdrawal
is majestic, and gatheredness is beautiful.
Between the terrestrial realities and the celestial realities is what is between
gold and silver. The terrestrial realities are from gold, and the celestial
realities are from silver:
If it is speech which folds you in analogy among people,
it is from white silver.
If it is silence, it is from gold.
So understand! May Allah protect you with the adab of seeking.
Speech is beautiful for creation, majesty for yourself. Silence is beauty for
yourself, majesty for creation. Speech is also majesty-separation for the self.
Because of that, the speaker is limited. Silence is beauty-gatheredness for
the self. Because of that, the value of the height of the himma of its owner
is not perceived.
462 The Sufic Path
Speech is the tree of might and it only bears the fruit of abasement for
the one who plants it. Silence is the tree of abasement. It only bears the
fruit of might for the one who plants it. Such is the sunna of Allah in all
existence, unseen and present, sensory and meaning. If you realise, you will
find things issuing from their opposites. The living issue from the dead,
and the dead issue from the living. Silence and speech are two realities,
and there is nothing in man stronger than them and more effective. We
said that the tree of speech is might and its fruit is abasement, i.e. speech
in the beginning of its articulation is might, then it immediately changes
and becomes abasement for its owners. The tree of planting of the senses
bears fruit after a while, and the tree of meanings immediately bears fruit.
There is no length of time between its planting and its fruit. It is what is
between concern and acting by it.
Much speech is speech from smallness of himma. It is said that the smallness
of the himma in the speaker means that the call of his himma is contained
and limited. The call of the one of silence is neither contained nor limited.
Know that when man speaks, his call is limited. When he is silent, his
himma is great above all himma. Because of this meaning, silence is nobler
than speech. If speech is silver, silence is golden.
Silence is also quicker in fulfilling needs than speech. That is because what
you are described by is repaid and removed, and without reality. Silence is
your attribute. Speech is might, and might is an attribute of Allah. Silence
is abasement, and abasement is your attribute. Speech is height and silence
is lowness. When two people meet – one speaking and one silent, the
judgement goes to the silent one in every state.
Know that use of silence is like use of speech, and use of speech is like use
of silence, no more. When the one of use of silence meets the one of use of
speech, and they are together, the one of silence overcomes in every case,
because silence is terrestrial and speech is celestial. When the terrestrial
is joined to his terrestrials, and the celestial is joined to his celestials, and
they are together as we said, the one of terrestrial things will overcome
without a doubt.
Know that when the silent and the one speaking are together, the judgement
goes to the silent one over the one speaking, not to the speaker over the
Wisdom 463
one silent. That is since silence is low and speech is high. When the high
and the low are combined, the judgement goes to the low in every case.
The master of silence has gifts and the master of speech has gifts. The gifts
of the master of silence are stronger than the gifts of the master of speech.
That is because speech is part of the concern of the people of annihilation,
and silence is one of the attributes of the people of going-on. There is no
doubt that the gifts of the master of going-on are stronger than the gifts of
the master of annihilation many times over. Silence is slaveness and speech
is freedom. There is no doubt of it. The substance of the one of slaveness
is stronger than the substance of the one of freedom. Had it not been for
that, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would not
have chosen slaveness over everything. That is because it is stronger than
everything in substance, and it has a wider aspect, and it is higher than
everything in value, and nobler than everything in reckoning. Make us Your
slaves in all states by Your favour, O Lord, and by Your ihsan!
When speech is much, its benefit is little; when speech is little, its benefit
is great. The wisdom of one word may be divided into a thousand words
if speech is much, and the wisdom of a thousand words may be gathered
into one word if speech is little.
Whoever speaks much, errs much. – Hadith.
Silence is one of the wisdoms. ‘If speech is of silver, silence is golden.’
Know that wisdom is a word which varies. It can be divided into a thou-
sand words if there is much speech. The wisdom of a thousand words can
be gathered into one word if there is much silence. The one who speaks
much also becomes little in his abundance, and the one who speaks little
becomes much in his littleness. Little means wisdom, and much means from
wisdom. This analogy is from the sum of all things which Allah ta‘ala has
placed hidden in their opposites by His wisdom and power. It is as if He
were saying that silence may gather a thousand wisdoms for you into one
word, and speech may separate a wisdom for you into a thousand words.
It is like that.
Know that whoever speaks is owned by his speech. Whoever is owned is
abased, humiliated, and debased. Whoever is silent, owns. Whoever owns
is exalted, and given power, and gratitude, except for the one who speaks by
Allah. The one who speaks by Allah is the one for whom speech and silence
464 The Sufic Path
are the same. When he speaks, his speech overcomes and owns. When he
is silent, his silence overcomes and owns, because he is by Allah. Whoever
is by Allah is never overcome, neither in his words nor his actions. It is as
the author of the Hikam said:
A goal which you seek by your Lord does not hesitate,
and a desire which you seek by yourself is not easy.
Know that the one who speaks by Allah ends his words immediately. The
one who speaks to Allah ends his words after a while. The one who speaks
by himself, his words are repeated and never end.
Speech is height and silence is lowness. When silence is from knowledge,
it is higher and nobler than speech. When speech is from ignorance, it is
lower than silence and more despicable than it. The low becomes real – it is
speaking from ignorance, as the high becomes real – and it is silence from
knowledge. The one who is silent from knowledge possesses all existence,
high and low. He acts in it by Allah’s command as he wishes. The one who
speaks from ignorance is the chattel of all existence, high and low. Exist-
ence does with him as it likes. The result of this meaning is that the one
who is silent from knowledge is a king in reality when he is gathered in his
gatheredness and separated in his separation. The one who speaks from
ignorance is a chattel in the shari‘a, since he is separated in his gatheredness
and gathered in his separation. They differ about speaking from knowledge
– is it better than silence from ignorance, or the opposite? Some people
say that silence from ignorance is nobler, and some say that speaking from
knowledge is nobler. There is no doubt that speaking from knowledge is
nobler than silence from ignorance in any case. The one who is silent from
ignorance is like a hyena wearing the skin of a lion. The one who speaks
from knowledge is the opposite. The first is not wide and despicable until
he speaks. The value of the second is not recognised and exalted until he
speaks. The one who is silent from knowledge is a lion outwardly and
inwardly, heart and core, as the one who speaks from ignorance is a hyena
in heart and core, outwardly and inwardly.
Speech is celestial because it arrived from the presence of the kingdom,
and it is the heart of the inward. Action is terrestrial because it arrives
from the kingdom of dominion. It is the outward of limbs The presence
of the kingdom – and it is the heart, is gatheredness, and the presence of
Wisdom 465
property – and it is outward limbs, is separation. Gatheredness is a king over

separation, and separation is the property of gatheredness. Since things are
hidden in their opposites, kingdom – and it is speech, becomes property
itself, as property – and it is action, becomes kingdom itself. It is so much
so that the name property (milk) is kingdom (mulk), and the word king-
dom (mulk) is property (milk). Whoever wants something, must have its
opposite. That action is lower than speech, and its possessor is higher than
the one with speech. Speech is higher than action, and its possessor is lower
than the one with action. The one of speech is a king with himself, a slave
with his species. The one of action is a slave with himself, a king with his
species. If you want to possess gatheredness, you must have speech. If you
want to possess separation, you must have action.
If you want creation to confront you with action, even yourself, then con-
front them with it. They will confront you with it. It is like that if you want
creation to confront you with speech, even yourself, confront them with
it – they will confront you with it. Whenever speech passes, it is action.
Whenever action passes, it is speech. Even silence is part of action, although
speech with yourself may be inward of meaning and by the core. It may also
be outward by the tongue. With creation, speech is only outward by the
tongue. Whomever you confront with silence, he will certainly confront
you with another action. Whomever you confront with speech, he will
certainly only confront you with other words. This is the custom of Allah
in His creation. In some moments, the matter is different from this. If you
confront him with action, he confronts you with speech. If you confront
him with speech, he confronts you with action. The first aspect occurs
more than this. All is sound.
Know that when you want creation to confront you with action, even
yourself, then confront them with it – they will confront you with it. All
except words is action. All except action is words. Even silence is part of
action. Speech with yourself is inward of meaning and with the heart.
Outwardly, it is by the tongue and with creation. Speech is only outward
by the tongue alone. Whomever you confront with silence will certainly
confront you with another action. Whomever you confront with speech
will certainly confront you with other words. Such is the custom of Allah
in creation. In some moments, the matter is different from this. Whomever
you confront with action confronts you with words, and whomever you
466 The Sufic Path
confront with words confronts you with action. However, the first aspect
dominates and all is sound.
Also, when you act, you do not speak, and when you speak, you do not act.
Your word is abasement over lack of action, and your action is abasement
over lack of words, because action demands words, as words demand action.
I also complained to the Shaykh and said to him, ‘Sayyidi! I saw myself weak
in the direction of words and strong in the direction of action. I fear that
my affair will be complained about because of that.’ He said to me, ‘Praise
be to Allah for that! Recognise His favour to you in it. Had Allah put the
power which He placed in your actions in your words, the common people
would have destroyed you, because when you are safe from the people of
discipline, you are not safe from the ‘ulama of the shari‘a.’
Had the one of the inward had 99 portions of action – he would need
more than that, and one portion of words – that portion would be enough
for him. The one of the outward is the reverse. Had he had 99 portions of
words – he would need more than that, and one portion of action – that
portion would be enough for him. Speech here means knowledge, and
action means doing. This indicates that the one of the outward needs
knowledge more, and the one of the inward needs actions more, because
all of them revolve around perfection. Action with the one of the inward
is shari‘a, and knowledge with the one of the outward is shari‘a. Whoever
preserves the shari‘a and clings to it, reaches all he desires in his reality by
it. His increase does not stop until reality owns him. When it owns him,
he is cut off – i.e. his increase stops. Shara‘i’ are capital and the realities are
profit. The poet said, ‘Excess is not absent from the proceeds of capital.’
The one of the outward does not need a portion of action, and the one
of the inward does not need a portion of speech, because things are only
based on their opposites.
Know that man has two himmas: inward himma and outward himma.
Actions translate them. His like in that is the tree, and inward himma is
its root. It is gatheredness. The outward himma is its branches, and it is
separation. If inward himma is great – and it is words, outward himma is
small – and it is actions. Whenever inward himma is small – and it is words,
outward himma is great – and it is actions. Words here mean knowledge,
Wisdom 467
and actions mean doing. As for the people of beginning, you generally find
that the himma of their actions overcomes the himma of their words. As
for the people of ends, you generally find that the himma of their words
overcomes the himma of their actions. Look at the word of the speaker,
‘Make your action salt and your adab flour.’ There is no doubt that adab is
knowledge. Look at the trees. You also find that the time of the increase of
their roots is winter, and it is the time of the decrease of their branches. The
time of the increase of their branches – and it is the summer, is the time
of the decrease of their roots. It is like that with man. Whatever increases
his inward, decreases his outward, and whatever increases his outward,
decreases his inward. The sunna of Allah has passed on that. It is as if the
matter were one. What increases it inwardly, decreases it outwardly. What
increases it inwardly, decreases it outwardly. It is like that.
Know that all actions in reality are terrestrial. That is because they are
from the land of the senses. None of the celestial things which come to
them appear in them but that it is from their nearness to the meanings.
Similarly, words are the reverse of that. In reality, all words are celestial.
That is because they come from the land of meanings. All that appears in
that of terrestrial things which come to them is only from their nearness to
the senses. Their likeness in man is like the body with the ruh. The body is
dead, but it becomes alive by its nearness to life which is the ruh. The ruh
is life, but it becomes dead by its nearness to the dead which is the body.
It is like that with the judgement of actions with words. Allah ta‘ala made
wisdom emerge from the confrontation of the thing with its opposite.
All the increases of existence appear when the man of actions meets the
man of words. Actions are terrestrial and words are celestial. The man of
actions dominates because the root of actions is from the land of lowness
and the root of words is from the land of height. When the man of height
meets the man of lowness, the man of lowness dominates. It is like that
when the man of words meets the man of actions and they are two reasons
together. The man of actions dominates in every case. When the man of
actions meets the man of words, and the man of actions is celestial and the
man of words is terrestrial, the man of words dominates. When the man of
words meets the man of actions, and the man of actions is terrestrial and
the man of words is celestial, the man of actions dominates. It is like that
when the man of actions meets the man of actions, and one has celestial
468 The Sufic Path
actions and the other has terrestrial actions, the man of terrestrial actions
dominates. It is like that when the man of words meets the man of words,
and one has terrestrial words and the other has celestial words, the terrestrial
dominates the celestial in every case. It is like that when the man of action
meets the man of action, and both are celestial, the one whose meaning is
stronger than the other dominates the other. Similarly, when the man of
words meets the man of words, and their words are both terrestrial, the
one whose senses are stronger than the other one dominates. We heard
the Shaykh, may Allah give us profit by him, say: ‘When a terrestrial wind
and a celestial wind are together in the same moment, the terrestrial wind
dominates.’ He said, may He be exalted:
Yet We desired to be kind to those that were abased in the land,
and to make them leaders, and to make them the inheritors.
From all of these meanings, he extracted for us that the man of terrestrial
actions is the one whose growth is from knowledge and excellent aware-
ness. He is never overcome. He always overcomes. Whoever meets him
is overcome at his hand, whether he likes it or not. That is the state about
which they said, ‘the essence of kings and the state of the very poor.’ It is
that which most of the great have, may Allah give us profit by them!
He mentioned one of the attributes of the selves of the faqir among the
people of the outward and the inward. The first of them is the one of
outward actions. He has much silence. When he speaks, he speaks with
dark majestic speech, as the one of outward words has little action. When
he acts, he acts a beautiful luminous action. The one of inward actions has
much silence. When he speaks, he speaks with beautiful luminous words,
as the one with inward words has little action. When he acts, he acts with
dark majestic action. The one of outward actions is beautiful outwardly and
majestic in the heart. The one of inward actions is the reverse – majestic
outwardly, beautiful in the heart, because there must be a difference. The
words of the people of the inward differ from the words of the people of
the outward. The acts of the people of the outward differ from the actions
of the people of the inward. The inward differs from the outward and the
outward differs from the inward. The essence differs from the attributes
and the attributes differ from the essence. The colours of the outward differ
from the colours of the inward, and the colours of the inward differ from
the colours of the outward. Words differ from each other, and actions differ
Wisdom 469
from each other. Part of the essence is different from another part of it, and
attributes differ from attributes. He said, may He be exalted:
The variety of your tongues and colours.
Glory be to the One Who created man and preferred him above much
of phenomenal beings. He made him the pole of the sovereign kingdom.
He has decrees of what occurs in him of lights and secrets. He created
all things for his sake, and He made him an Amir over them. When He
selected him for His Khalifate and intimate conversation. He manifested
the perfection of manifestation in him, so that He was not hidden to any
of His awliya and lovers, as He is hidden in him by the perfection of hiding
so that He does not appear to any of his enemies or tyrants. Glory be to
the One Who judged and was just, and gave and was bountiful. Glory be
to the Wise, the Knowing!
Speech is like fire and action is like snow. Action extinguishes speech as
snow extinguishes fire. Speech melts action and dissolves it as fire does to
snow. The one with divestment, when he cannot dispose of opposites so
as to heat the cold with heat and make heat cold by cold, is still learning.
Whoever desires actions, must plant the field of actions. They are the
outward of separation. The fruits of the field of separation are actions. It
is like that with whoever desires knowledges and words. He must plant
the field of words. It is the inward of gatheredness. The fruits of the field
of gatheredness are knowledge and words. The distinction between knowl-
edge and words is that knowledges are what are seen by the eye, and words
are heard by the ear, and it is said, by the tongue. Similarly, the distinction
between deeds and actions is that deeds are shara‘i’ and plants, and actions
are their realities and fruits. Planting separation has the fruits of actions,
and planting gatheredness has the fruits of knowledges. Separation may be
planted by knowledge in some moments, and gatheredness may be planted
by actions in some moments. However, this is rare, and authority belongs
to the dominant. The poet said:
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These two plantings are the planting of separation and the planting of
gatheredness. Each of them has people and a group. They do not recognise
the other. Planting actions is only set up by planting knowledges, and
planting knowledges is only set up by planting actions. However, most
himmas are connected to one. They want the other and they are not aware
of it in themselves.
Your love of the thing blinds and deafens you. – Hadith.
Only the gnostic of Allah with perfect joins between the arrival and gnosis
of both of them. They are few. He is the one whose separation does not
veil him to his gatheredness, and his gatheredness does not veil him to his
separation. His annihilation does not veil him to his going-on, and his
going-on does not veil him to his annihilation. His distance does not veil
him to his nearness, and his nearness does not veil him to his distance.
His knowledge does not veil him to his action, and his action does not
veil him to his knowledge. His majesty does not veil him to his beauty,
and his beauty does not veil him to his majesty. His essence does not veil
him to his attributes, and his attributes do not veil him to his essence. All
these stages basically are only joined for the one whom Allah has made an
interspace between two seas: the sea of the shari‘a and the sea of the reality.
We ask Allah ta‘ala to open our eyes and to unveil us to them, so that we
do not put them in the middle of creation, because they are the Khalifs of
Allah in the earth, may Allah be pleased with all of them!
Know that all the realities grow and originate from wisdom and power.
Power belongs to high realities, and wisdom to low realities. All is from
Allah and to Him. He said, may He be exalted, ‘He is the One Who is
God in the heavens and God in the earth.’
Allah, ta‘ala placed man between wisdom and power. Wisdom turns him
about as he turns bread about in his hand. Power also turns him about like
that. He is an interspace between them. He emerges from power and lands
in the hand of wisdom. He emerges from wisdom and lands in the hand of
power. Power does not increase its good and evil things, and wisdom does
not increase its good and evil things. The position of power and wisdom in
man is like the man who has two wives. Each of them takes her due from
him like her co-wife.
Wisdom 471
Know that whoever comes to the door of his Master in wisdom by choice,
must come to the door of power by choice. Whoever does not answer the
call of ihsan, will certainly answer the call of the Sultan. Wisdom is His
wisdom, may He be exalted! Allah related it to creation as a gift and a fa-
vour from Him to him. Similarly, power is His power, may He be exalted!
Allah ta‘ala related it to Himself as justice from Him by Him to him. It is
as if wisdom were shari‘a and power were reality. All wisdom and power
are attributes of Allah.
Know that whoever does not come to a door of his Master by wisdom
and by choice, must come to His door by strength and by force. Whoever
does not answer the caller of kindness, must certainly answer the call of
the Sultan. Wisdom is His wisdom, may He be exalted! Allah related it to
His creation as a gift and a favour from Him to them, even if He in reality
acts by it from Him by Him to Him. Similarly, power is His power, may
He be exalted! Allah related it to Himself as justice from Him by Him to
Him. Wisdom is shari‘a and power is reality.
Know that power is gatheredness, and wisdom is separation. The use of
wisdom is like the use of power with the people of use if wisdom is free
from disorder. It is like that with power: its use is like the use of wisdom
when power is free from disorder. The disorder of wisdom is that it coun-
ters its owner with the attributes of power in the moment, as the disorder
of power is that it counters its owner with the attributes of wisdom in the
moment. Wisdom and power are two of the attributes of Allah which He,
glory be to Him, gave to his slave, man, as a favour from Him to him. They
alternate on man. He is not free of wisdom and power. The moment of
power is power, and the moment of wisdom is incapacity. The moment of
power is wealth, and the moment of wisdom is poverty. The moment of
power is might, and the moment of wisdom is abasement. The moment of
power is strength, and the moment of wisdom is weakness. The moment of
power is hope, and the moment of wisdom is fear. The moment of power
is expansion, and the moment of wisdom is contraction. The moment of
power is beauty, and the moment of wisdom is majesty. The moment of
power is giving, and the moment of wisdom is withholding. The moment
of power is nearness, and the moment of wisdom is distance.
Know that power follows the himma of creation. They do not look at
472 The Sufic Path
anyone with prosperity but that he is filled, even had he been empty. They
do not look at anyone with emptiness, but that he is empty, even had he
been full. We speak in general.
Know that realities are power and shara‘i’ are wisdom. The elite are domi-
nated by the witnessing of power, and the common are overcome by the
witnessing of wisdom. The elite incline to power because it is related to
Allah, so they become by Allah. The common incline to wisdom because
it is related to themselves. They become by themselves. Power and wisdom
are both attributes of Allah, may His praise be exalted! What a difference
between the one who is by Allah and the one who is by himself. What does
the one who lacks You find, and what does the one who finds You lack?
The one of power is a king, and the one of wisdom is a slave. The one of
power is desired, and the one of wisdom is the lover. If the power of the
one of power is only established for him by wisdom, however, his wisdom
is subtle – it is as if it were not. If the wisdom of the one of wisdom is only
established by power, his power is, however, subtle. It is as if it were not.
Authority belongs to the dominant. Whoever has power dominate him
is a king. Whoever has wisdom dominate him is a slave. Part of the sum
of the fineness of wisdom is that it is the word of the one of power to the
thing, ‘“Be!” and it is.’ ‘Be!’ is wisdom, and ‘it is’ is power. Whoever rec-
ognises that the wisdom of the one of power is in ‘Be!’ and understands
it is none other than the one of his art. The people of Makka recognise its
roads. The power of the one of wisdom is in his bringing into existence
what he seeks after toil and hardship. The wisdom of the one of power is
his toil in it, as the power of the one of wisdom is his rest in it. The one
of wisdom is always tired and his rest is weak, as if it were not. The one of
power is always at rest, and his toil is as if it were not. The one of power is
a king – and what toil does a king have? If there is toil, it is weak. The one
of wisdom is a slave – and what rest does a slave have? If there is rest, it is
weak. Wisdom means management, organisation, and choice. Power means
turning to the Unseen and devoting oneself exclusively to Allah without
management and choice.
Use of power is use of gatheredness, as use of wisdom is use of separation.
The one of gatheredness says to the thing, ‘Be!’ and it is by oneness. The
one of separation says to the thing, ‘Be!’ and it is by duality. Use of wisdom
is only with the common. Use of power is only with the elite. Use of them
Wisdom 473
together, by wisdom in its moment and by power in its moment, is with the
elite of the elite. Wisdom is His wisdom, may He be exalted! He created
the Adamic slave and gave it to him as a favour from Him to him. Power is
His power, may He be exalted! He gave it to His elite, may He be exalted!
He only gives use of it to those of His slaves whom He makes enter His
presence among the elite or the elite of the elite. As for the one who does
not enter the presence – i.e. the common, they have no portion in use of
power. Use of wisdom is enough for them. Wisdom is His wisdom, may
He be exalted! Power is His power, may He be exalted! Glory be to the
One Who made the elite elite and Who made the common common by
His wisdom and power.
Information indicates withdrawal from the object of information, because
action cancels out words as words cancel out action. Speech is by the tongue.
It indicates lack of eye-witnessing, since had eye-witnessing been obtained,
speech by the tongue would have been invalidated. Eye-witnessing is not
like information. Information is not like eye-witnessing. Information
confirms it by hearing. Eye-witnessing invalidates information. Asking for
information informs about the state for the beginner, and eye-witnessing
is the pasture of the perfect of the Rijal.
In the state of his smallness, all things, good and evil, yearn for man and
are prepared to be obtained by him in every skin and in every direction.
They do not depart until he takes of them what pleases him. They encircle
him and revive him until he reaches the strongest of it and his body and
his intellect connect to it. Then every limb of his takes a portion from that
state. It is sealed on him absolutely. It is never undone, endlessly, not in
this world or in the Next World, because a man dies on what he lives, and
a man is raised up on what he dies. As long as he is in this world, things,
good and evil, continue to yearn for him, i.e. crave him. However, when
he reaches the age of forty, he does not return from what he grew up on
of his familiar things, except for a few people, that is the well informed
ones - this does not apply to them. They said in this meaning:
Teaching the young is like chiselling in stone,
and teaching the old is like painting on water.
Youth has learning. Between it and the old, there is a great difference be-
cause the head of the young is soft, quick to incline to good and evil. The
474 The Sufic Path
old is different than that. His head is strong and only inclines to good by
great hardship. When it inclines, learning is not fixed in his intellect like
the young, except for a few people. The young is like the clay vessel before
it is baked in the fire. It is pliable. When you want to knead it and turn it
on the wheel, that is easy, because it has not entered the fire. The old is like
the vessel which you have baked in the fire. It does not accept more work,
even if you crush it in the mortar.
Arrival is in two divisions. The arrival of knowledge and the arrival of
ignorance. The arrival of ignorance is with the common people. He said,
may He be exalted, ‘We are nearer to him than you, but you do not see.’
He said, may He be exalted, ‘Do you not look in yourselves?’ The arrival
of knowledge is with the elite of people. He said, may He be exalted, ‘Are
they equal, those who know and those who do not know?’ In the Hikam,
it says, ‘Your reaching Allah is your reaching knowledge of Him.’ The com-
mon who arrives is ignorant of his arrival, and the knower who arrives has
knowledge of his arrival. Ignorance has action, and knowledge has action.
The light of majesty overcomes the ignorant, and the light of beauty over-
comes the knower. Ignorance is only recognised by knowledge, as knowl-
edge is only recognised by means of ignorance. The ignorant is ignorant
of himself and ignorant of his ignorance of it. The knower knows himself
and knows his knowledge of it. Part of what I heard from the Shaykh, may
Allah have mercy on him, is that he said: ‘Part of the adab of the murid
with the Shaykh is that when his Shaykh says to him, “I want you to leave
through the eye of the needle,” he does not turn or hesitate and says, “Yes.”’
Know that Allah has two realities which He manifests in existence. They
are knowledge and ignorance. By knowledge of Him, sovereignty exists,
and by ignorance of Him, slaveness exists. Part of His bounty is that He
created man and preferred him over all phenomenal beings. He said to him
on the tongue of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
‘My slave, I created things for your sake,
and I created you for My sake.’ – Hadith.
Part of the sum of His favour to him – i.e. to His slave, man, is that He gave
him two directions: a direction to His king – that is, to sovereignty, and a
direction to his property – that is, to slaveness. He made him an interspace
between them. He manifests in him the perfection of attributes. From the
Wisdom 475
direction of knowledge, He made him a free knower, and from the direction
of ignorance, He made him an ignorant slave. According to knowledge,
freedom is great, and according to ignorance, slaveness is great. These two
realities have no end, because the reality of knowledge is beauty, and the
reality of ignorance is majesty. Majesty and beauty end at your Lord. The
rank of man is according to the elevation of his himma or its lowness.
The himma of man is elevated commensurate with his knowledge, and
his himma is low commensurate with his ignorance. Success is by Allah.
The enmity of whoever is intelligent and discerning is sweeter and more
pleasant than the friendship of an ignorant one.
Know that the knower is not knowing until he knows his ignorance as he
knows his knowledge. The ignorant is not ignorant until he is ignorant of
his knowledge as he is ignorant of his ignorance – i.e. the knower is truly
the one who knows his ignorance and his knowledge, as the ignorant is
truly ignorant of his ignorance, his knowledge and his ignorance. As for
when the knower has knowledge of his knowledge but is ignorant of his
ignorance, this is the rank of the common. The one in it is common. He
is not called a knower. It is like that with the one who is knowing of his
knowledge, ignorant of his ignorance. This is also the pure common. That
is because as ignorance is only set up by knowledge, knowledge is only
set up by ignorance. Because of that meaning, the gnostics of Allah, may
Allah be pleased with them, do not reject an ignorant one or a knowing
one, because the thing is only set up by its opposite. The meaning is by the
senses, and the senses are by the meaning. The outward is by the inward,
and the inward is by the outward. Good is by evil, and evil is by good.
Sweetness is by bitterness, and bitterness is by sweetness. Knowledge is by
ignorance, and ignorance is by knowledge. The essence is by the attributes,
and the attributes are by the essence. Beauty is by majesty, and majesty is
by beauty. Giving is by withholding, and withholding is by giving. Life is
by death, and death is by life, to what has no end of the opposites which
are only set up by each other.
Know that abasement is outward sensory abasement. As for inward abase-
ment by meaning, it is not called abasement. It is called lack of satisfaction
with the self. Similarly, might is outward sensory might. As for inward
might by meaning, it is not called might. It is called satisfaction with the
476 The Sufic Path
self. The one with outward abasement is higher than the one with inward
abasement by several degrees, as the one of inward might is higher and
better than the one with outward might by many degrees. Because of this
meaning, the author of the Hikam said:
That you keep the company of an ignorant one who is not satisfied
with himself is better than that you keep the company of a knower
who is satisfied with himself.
Whatever knowledge a knower has, and whatever ignorance an ignorant
one has, he is not satisfied with himself in this analogy. The one whose
ignorance is in his outward and his knowledge in his inward is the true
knower. The knower whose knowledge is in his outward and his ignorance
in his inward is truly the ignorant one. That is because the root of knowl-
edge is inward meaning. Because of that, whoever has his knowledge in his
inward is the true knower. The root of ignorance is outward and sensory.
Because of that, whoever has his knowledge in his outward and is satisfied
with himself, he is truly the ignorant one.
The spring of the element of corruption and rightness is one. It is mixing
things with their opposites. That is because what is mixed from the knowl-
edge of the law of wisdom and the law of power is rightness. What is mixed
from ignorance of the law of wisdom and the law of power is corruption.
He said, may He be exalted, ‘Watered with one water, and We prefer some
of them over others in food.’ Had you realised and examined knowledge
closely, you would find that it is the source of ignorance. Similarly, had
you realised and examined ignorance closely, you would find that it is the
source of knowledge, because as knowledge is a proof of the essence and a
veil on it, so ignorance is a proof of the attributes and a veil on them. This is
because only the attributes veil you to the essence, as only the essence veils
you to the attributes. There is only the essence and the attributes. Third is
impossible. The impossible is that which Allah did not create and did not
bring into being - glory be to Him and may He be exalted! Glory be to the
One Who manifested the reality in the reality by the reality, as He hid the
reality in the reality by the reality. When He manifested it in it, it appeared
so that it was not hidden from anyone. When He hid it in it, He hid it
so that it did not appear to anyone. Glory be to the Powerful, the Wise.
Knowledge is information about the art and action is the art itself. Knowl-
Wisdom 477
edge is in the position of man’s ruh, and action is in the position of the
body. The body is man himself, although the body without the ruh is of no
account. Similarly, action without knowledge is of no account. The matter
is when knowledge and action exist, the art exists. When knowledge and
action do not exist, the art does not exist. Similarly, when the body of man
is brought into existence with a ruh, man exists. When the body and ruh
do not exist, there is no man and he has no existence.
Know that it is impossible that there be knowledge without action. Simi-
larly, action is impossible without knowledge. Knowledge does not appear
but that action appears with it according to it. Action does not appear but
that knowledge appears with it according to it. The only predominance
between knowledge and action is that sometimes knowledge rules and
action follows, and sometimes action rules and knowledge follows. That
which has rules in the moment is as if it were a king and the other is a slave,
i.e. ruled. The moment in which knowledge is king, the ignorant supposes
by wisdom that action is not. It is, but the rule belongs to another. It is like
that in the moment in which action is king. The ignorant also supposes that
knowledge is not. It is, but authority belongs to another. The one with gnosis
of the rules of the reality does not doubt that Allah ta‘ala did not bring
any existent into existence but that He brought its opposite into existence
commensurate with it. The sunna of Allah has passed on that. However,
when the opposites appear, its opposite is hidden. When the opposite is
hidden, its opposite appears in every case.
Know that reports of war are only brought by one who has seen its battle.
As for the fighter, he is occupied with the acts of war, distracted from the
reports of war. Information is knowledge and deeds are action. The place
of knowledge is the inward, and the place of action is the outward. Man
is never occupied with both the outward and the inward. Allah did not
place two hearts in a man’s breast. The sunna of Allah ta‘ala has passed in
His slave, man, that when he is occupied with his outward by action, the
knowledge of the inward ceases. When he is occupied with his inward by
knowledge, the action of his outward ceases. Joining knowledge and action
in man in the same moment is impossible. Whoever speaks of joining them
is ignorant of himself. There is no doubt that the one who is ignorant of
himself is ignorant of his Lord. People are in two groups: common and
elite. The common are in two groups also: the people of deeds – and they
478 The Sufic Path
are the kings, and the people of words – and they are their slaves. Similarly,
the elite are in two groups: the people of actions – and they are the kings,
and the people of words – and they are the slaves. Why are the people of
action among the common the kings of the common, and the people of ac-
tions of the elite kings of the elite? That is because the one with knowledge
is celestial and the one with action is terrestrial. The hand of the terrestrial
is always over the celestial in any state. He said, may He be exalted:
Yet We desired to be kind to those that were abased in the earth,
and to make them leaders, and to make them the inheritors, and
to strengthen them in the earth.
The swiftest proof of a man’s election is two matters: his knowledge of the
reality, or his acting by it. If there is neither knowledge nor action, there
is no election. This knowledge in reality is in two divisions, as is acting by
it also in two divisions. Knowledge of the unseen worlds of existence and
knowledge of the unseen things of selves also indicates election. Similarly,
acting by existence and acting by the selves indicate election. This is because
whoever has knowledge of the unseen things of the selves, certainly has
knowledge of the unseen worlds of existence. Whoever has action by the
selves, certainly has action by existence. ‘Whoever recognises himself,
recognises his Lord,’ is enough for you in that.
Know that all creation are children of male and female. The great among
them is the one whose inward himma is great – and it is knowledge, and the
one whose outward himma is great – and it is his property. According to the
greatness of these two himmas, man is great, and vice versa. The small of
creation is the one whose outward himma is small – and it is his property,
or whose inward himma is small – and it is his knowledge. According to the
smallness of these two himmas, man is small or great. Outward provision
and inward provision are according to the height of the himma.
Know that property is only property before its perfection. Whenever it
is perfected, it becomes kingdom. It is like that with kingdom. It is only
kingdom before it is perfect. Whenever it is perfected, it becomes property,
not kingdom. It is as if things are hidden in their opposites. Part of His
habit, may He be exalted, is that He brings forth the living from the dead,
and He brings forth the dead from the living. He provides for whomever
He wills without reckoning.
Wisdom 479
Know that kingdom and property are two states which alternate on every
human. One evicts the other as summer drives winter away and as winter
drives summer away. Whoever wants kingdom to last without property, or
property to last without kingdom, is like the one who wants it to be sum-
mer without winter or winter without summer. However, the elite travel
property by choice – and it is slaveness, until kingdom comes suddenly to
them by force. Then they become free kings, whether they like it or not.
The common are the opposite of that. They travel kingdom by choice –
and it is freedom, until slaveness comes suddenly to them by force – and
it is property. They become owned slaves, whether they like it or not. The
custom of Allah, glory be to Him, has preceded that things are hidden in
their opposites. He said, may He be exalted:
You will not find any change to the sunna of Allah.
Those related to Allah are in two groups: a group of the people of kingdom,
and a group of the people of property. The people of kingdom are those
to whom Allah gives a tajalli by gatheredness until they recognise Him in
it and by it. The people of property are those to whom Allah gives a tajalli
by separation so that they have no knowledge of Him by it and in it. The
first group are the people of gatheredness. When they recognise Him, they
become kings. The second group are the people of separation. When they
are ignorant of Him, they become slaves. Allah gives a tajalli to the one
of gatheredness in himself so that his separation is gathered. Allah gives a
tajalli to the one of separation in his species, so his gatheredness becomes
separated. The one of tajalli of separation seeks his Master in all of himself
and has a tajalli in the separation of his species. This is the reason for his
ignorance of Him. The one of the tajalli of gatheredness seeks his Master
in the separation of his species, so he has a tajalli in the gatheredness of
himself. That is the reason for his knowledge of Him. Knowledge is light,
even if something of action accompanies it. Action is darkness, even if
something of knowledge accompanies it. Because of this meaning, he said,
‘Make your action salt and your adab flour.’ He did not say, ‘Make your ac-
tion flour and your adab salt.’ Adab here is knowledge. I heard the Shaykh,
may Allah profit us by him, say: ‘The perfect faqir is the one whose capital
is meanings.’ He said, may He be exalted:
Those of His slaves who know, fear Allah.
Because of this, we said that knowledge is light and action is darkness –
480 The Sufic Path
although knowledge is not set up without action, as action is not set up

without knowledge. However, look at the one which is dominant. When
knowledge dominates action, that is the station of the people of contempla-
tion. They are kings. When action dominates knowledge, that is the station
of the people of striving. They are the slaves. The kingdom is not set up
without property, and property is not set up without kingdom. Similarly,
light is not set up without darkness, and darkness is not set up without light.
Glory be to the One Who made things based on their opposites, hidden in
their opposites. Whoever wants something must cling to its opposite. The
key of things is their opposites. This analogy is only understood by the one
who has dived into the sea of meanings and been gathered with its people.
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say: ‘The word of the people
of the gardens about Zubayr ad-Dawali is that what appears, departs, and
what is gathered, separates.’ We say the like of that about the gardens of
ourselves – because they are the people of the gardens of money. We are the
people of the gardens of ourselves. The judgement of the self in its worlds
is like the judgement of money in its world.
Know that all good is gathered in generosity of the selves and generosity
of money. The virtue of selves is greater than the virtue of money. All the
virtue of selves is gathered in the help of the self and the help of the species,
i.e. creation. This is with the company of a wise one who recognises the fine
points of the selves and travelling in the land of the selves. It is said that all
good is in help and all evil is in opposition.
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say: ‘The like of the one
with generosity in people is like the one who covers himself with honey.
All people desire and love him, because the generous is loved by Allah.
Whoever Allah loves, certainly all creation loves him in every case. The
miser is hated by Allah. Whoever Allah hates, certainly all creation hates
him. Allah takes the generous by the hand wherever he is. It is as the hadith
said. Generosity has two divisions: generosity of the self and generosity of
money. The one with generosity of money owns all outward existence, and
the one of generosity of the self owns all inward existence and the inward
of the Unseen worlds. The one of money uses it present in the outward,
and the one of the self uses it present in the outward as he uses the inward
in the unseen of the Unseen worlds.
Wisdom 481
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him, said to me was:
‘I have a son who is generous with himself, and I have another son who is
generous with money. I want to make them equal with me, and I do not
find a way to do that. I only find that the generous of self is dearer to me,
and more generous, nearer, higher, and more useful than the one who is
generous with money. It is as if the generous of self were dear with me,
and there is no veil between him and me. Even if the generous of money
is dear with me like the other, and greater, I find that it is as if there were
a veil between me and him. The one who has a veil between me and him
withdraws from me, and the one who has no veil between him and me is
present with me. How can the present be like the absent?’ The poet said:
I saw the crescent moon and the face of the Beloved.
It was as if two crescent moons were in my eye.
That one withdraws and this one did not withdraw.
Is the one who withdraws like the one who is present?
The generous is beautiful outwardly, majestic inwardly. The miser is majestic
outwardly, beautiful inwardly. The generous is celestial outwardly, terrestrial
inwardly. The miser is terrestrial outwardly, celestial inwardly. The generous
is meaning of the senses and sensory in meaning, and the miser is sensory
of the senses and meaning of meaning. The freedom of the generous is in
his outward, and his slaveness is in his inward. The slaveness of the miser
is in his outward, and his freedom is in his inward. The light of the gener-
ous is in his outward and his darkness is in his inward, and the darkness
of the miser is in his outward and his light is in his inward. The kingdom
of the generous is in his outward, and his property is in his inward. The
property of the miser is in his outward, and his kingdom is in his inward.
In this way, he acquires increase of gnosis of the self. Whenever the person
acquires that increase, commensurate with it is increase of gnosis of Allah
without a doubt in every case.
The speech of the miser is bitter, even if it is true. The speech of the
generous is sweet, even if it is false.
Know that part of His wisdom, may He be exalted, is that He placed the
good of the self with the evil of money. They are not separated – as He
placed the evil of the self with the good of money. They are not separated
– i.e. the beauty of the self is connected to the majesty of money. Beauty
482 The Sufic Path
of the self is its existence with its soundness. Majesty of money makes it
difficult by the lack of its existence. Similarly, beauty of the self is by the
soundness of its existence. Majesty of the self makes it difficult by the lack
of its soundness. Whoever wants to join the good of the self and the good
of money will not be able to do that, because he wants to change Allah’s
sunna in His creation, contrary to what Allah ta‘ala wills in them. Similarly,
the one who wants to join the evil of the self and the evil of money will not
be able to do it. Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in the Hikam:
The One Who wants there to appear in the moment
other than what Allah ta‘ala has willed in it,
has not abandoned any of ignorance.
Know that money is connected to the selves as the selves are connected
to money. Similarly, the selves are connected to the selves, and money is
connected to money. All existence is such that part of it is equal to another
part, although it is one. It differs and is separated so that there is no gath-
eredness in it. It is joined and gathered so that there is no separation in it.
Its gatheredness becomes the source of its separation, and its separation
is the source of its gatheredness. Its essence is the source of its attributes,
and its attributes are the source of its essence. Its nearness is the source of
its distance, and its distance is the source of its nearness. Its annihilation
is the source of its going-on, and its going-on is the source of its annihila-
tion. Its existence is the source of its non-existence, and its non-existence
is the source of its existence. Its abasement is the source of its might, and
its might is the source of its abasement. Its rising is the source of its setting,
and its setting is the source of its rising, and so on to what has no end of
attributes. Glory be to the One Who made all things hidden in their
opposites by His wisdom!
Know that the people of selves use the selves as the people of money use
their money. As the one of money uses his money, the one with the self uses
himself – unless the one with a self is property and the one with money is a
slave. Similarly, because Allah ta‘ala created money as a mark of favour for
the self and did not create the self as a mark of favour for money, the self
is property and money is owned. Whoever keeps the company of himself
by the company of the king, becomes a king. Whoever keeps the company
of himself by the company of the slave, becomes a slave. The people who
use the self are in two groups and each of the two groups are kings: one
Wisdom 483
group are the people of luminous selves with Allah – and they are kings,
and one group are the people of selves, dark with the slave – and they are
also kings, i.e. outwardly, because the Lord of light is the Lord of darkness.
As light has an effect on the king, so darkness has an effect on the king.
The people of light are in light and are not denied. The people of darkness
are in darkness and are not denied. In reality, all is from Him, by Him,
to Him. Glory be to Him!
Know that disposing of the self is like disposing of money. As the owner
of money can do whatever he wants with it, so the owner of the self can
do whatever he wants with it. Among the people of money is the one who
is a slave of his money, and he has no authority over the money because
his beloved is his money – and who can be generous with what he loves?
There is also the one among them whose money serves him. We speak
about him because this is an owner and not a slave. This one disposes of
his money and brings it to everything. The people of the self are also in
two groups: a group of slaves to themselves who have no jurisdiction over
it, and it rules them, and a group whose selves are owned by them. We are
only speaking about the one who owns his self so that he disposes of what
is in it as the people of property dispose of property. It is also property.
We are speaking about kings.
The likeness of the one who is generous with himself and his money, with
the one who is generous with himself and not his money, and with the
one who is generous with his money and not with himself, is as if they
were running madly in the Path – all three. The one who is generous with
himself and his money rides on the back of a sturdy horse. The one who
is generous with himself and not with his money is like the one who is on
foot without a mount. The one who is generous with his money and not
with himself is like one urging on his horse with gentleness. He helps them
and does not travel with them. The first one arrives rested, the second one
arrives tired, and the third one is thwarted and does not arrive because he
is protected by his help and esteem for the people of Allah ta‘ala in any
state. If he continues to be generous with his money to the people of Al-
lah, it is hoped that he will follow his money with himself. That rests on
Allah, the Mighty.
Know that creation is divided into two divisions: a division of the people
484 The Sufic Path
of money and a division of the people of selves. The people of selves are also
divided into two divisions, and the people of money are divided into two
divisions. The two divisions of the people of the selves are kings – kings of
the outward and kings of the inward. It is as if they were brothers, but in
their judgements, the kings of the outward resemble darkness. They only
see themselves and their election. The kings of the inward are luminous.
They only see Allah and do not recognise anything except Him. The kings
of the outward travel by celestial realities. As long as they have them, they
are kings. Whenever Allah gives a tajalli of their opposites, the terrestrial
realities, they are uncovered and exposed, because their kingdom is bare,
false. It resembles the truth, and it is not true. The kings of the inward travel
by both the celestial and terrestrial realities. He said, may He be exalted, ‘He
is the One Who is God in the heaven, and God in the earth.’ They obtain
good by things and their opposites. Because of that, their happiness and joy
continues. They are never cut off from their Beloved. They recognise their
Beloved in every state, in every case. Because of that, they truly become
kings, with a kingdom which does not pass or vanish. As for the two divi-
sions of the people of money, they are the people of wages of the means of
this world and of the Next World, because they are all people of actions.
They are as if they are slaves of the people of selves, and their servants. The
master of the selves is a king, and the master of money is a slave, even if
basically they are all of the species of Adam, peace be upon him, both king
and slave. However, there is an immense difference between them. Only
the one who has gnosis of Allah recognises the difference between them.
The people of money have a group which enriches a man while a man does
not enrich the group. It is the reverse with the people of selves. A man
enriches a group and a group does not enrich a man.
Know that part of the generosity of Allah, glory be to Him, is that He gave
part of existence a price – and it is money. Similarly, He gave all existence
a price – and it is the self. Whenever man pays his money, by it, he owns
part of existence. Whenever he pays himself, by it, he owns all existence. It
is inevitable, because money is part of existence which is owned by part of
existence. The self is equal to existence. By it, all existence is owned. Look
at the words of Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani:
I indicate with earnest words, and I do not deceive.
Wisdom 485
Whoever wants to own part of existence, let him be generous with his
money to his species. Whoever wants to own all existence, let him be
generous with himself to his Lord. Ibn al-Farid said in this meaning:
Whoever is not generous with the pocket of blessing
with himself,
Even if he is generous with this world,
miserliness ends up with him.
Know that whoever recognises Allah and unifies Him only recognises and
unifies Him between himself and his money. Whoever is ignorant of Allah,
glory be to Him, and denies Him, is only ignorant of Him and denies Him
between himself and his money. The place of perfect profit is the place of
perfect loss. He said, may He be exalted:
Allah buys from the Mu’minun their selves
and their property for that they have the Garden.
The people of the outward understand the garden of the Next World, and
the people of the inward understand the garden of seeing and eye-witnessing
in this world and the Next. All is sound. I found that Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said
in the Minan:
What a difference between the seeker of this world and the seeker of the
Next World, and between the seeker of the Creator of this world and the
Next! What does the one who lacks You find? What does the one who
finds You lack?
The Sultanate has two aspects: the Sultanate of selves and the Sultanate of
money. The Sultanate of selves is descent. After the end of lowering, you
rise to the end of rising, whether its master likes it or not. The Sultanate
of money rises on high. After the end of rising, it descends to the end of
lowering, whether its master likes it or not. The Sultanate of the selves is
reality, and the Sultanate of money is shari‘a. What a difference between
the noble horse and the donkey. Between them is what is between this
world and the Next World.
Know that creation is from the earth and like the earth. Their judgement
is that of the earth. As the earth in which you plant is the one from which
you harvest, so the creation in which you plant are those from whom you
486 The Sufic Path
harvest, no more, no less. Increase is from you, and increase is from them.
Decrease is from you, and decrease is from them.
Whoever accepts increase, accepts decrease, and whoever accepts decrease,
accepts increase. Whoever does not accept increase, does not accept de-
crease. Whoever does not accept decrease, does not accept increase. It
is like that.
People are in two groups: one group accept increase and decrease, and
another group do not accept either increase or decrease. As for those who
accept increase or decrease, they are the people of unsettling fear or closed
yearning. Their sign is that whomever you find who accepts decrease, ac-
cepts increase. It is inevitable. The one who does not accept decrease, does
not accept increase. This group which accepts increase and decrease has
a portion in teaching, and speech is with it. As for the group which does
not accept increase or decrease, they have no portion in teaching and no
part in it. Perhaps harm will come from the one with this description who
does not accept increase or decrease from his Shaykh when the Shaykh is
weak. As for the one who is wise, he walks with the people of sincerity and
following as he must, and he walks with others according to their weak-
ness. There is no harm and no injury. He protects himself so that nothing
afflicts him of their odour, and none of their goodness misses him. He is
kind to them so that he does not drive them from good, because the one
who is not increased or decreased is imprisoned, an owned slave. The one
who is occupied in state is free property which is liberated. He rises when
he likes. Because of this meaning, you find that the strongest companions
of the Shaykhs, may Allah be pleased with them, advance to them much
and push others back. However, it is according to the state. That is because
the one in whom they find advancement and sincerity in seeking, they
bring him near them and he profits from them and they profit from him.
The one they find who wants their company, but it is according to state,
they give him recognition according to his state. They place each of them
according to his stage.
Know that Allah ta‘ala said on the tongue of His Prophet, may Allah bless
Whoever draws near Me by a hand-span, I draw near him an arm’s
length. Whoever draws near Me an arm’s length, I draw near him
by two arms’ lengths. – Hadith.
Wisdom 487
Similarly, provision is described by the attributes of its Master – you do

not draw near it a hand-span, but that it draws near you an arm’s length.
The intelligent man must be gentle to himself in his quest and be certain
that all things desire man more than he desires them. He then has rest from
remembering that they are provision. Help is by Allah to it.
Know that slaveness is in freedom, and freedom is in slaveness. Slaveness is
all that is low. It is slaveness. Freedom is all that is high. It is freedom. Adab
with the slaves of Allah is one of the attributes of slaveness. It is acquired
abasement which brings compulsory might. Bad adab with the slaves of Al-
lah may be one of the attributes of freedom, and it is acquired might which
may bring compulsory abasement. It is like that with speech and silence.
Silence is one of the attributes of slaveness, and it is acquired abasement
bringing on compulsory might. Speech is one of the attributes of freedom,
and it may bring compulsory abasement. It is like that in all the attributes
of slaveness and freedom. The custom of Allah is like that – and you will
not find any change in the sunna of Allah. Slaveness may be compulsory
in the beginning, and freedom may be compulsory in its beginning also.
This is rare, and the rarity has no rule. The rule belongs to the dominant.
It is what we first mentioned. Slaveness may also be outward, sensory, and
it may be inward, with meaning. It is like that with freedom. It may be
inward, of meaning, and it may be sensory, outward. How many a haughty
one wears shabby, patched clothes, and how many a humble one wears
beautiful, noble clothes. All is good – wearing shabby clothes and wearing
beautiful clothes – for the one who is a gnostic. The rule is this and this. All
is evil for the one who is ignorant of their principle. Whoever recognises
the country kills it, and whoever does not recognise the country is killed
by it. O Allah! If the ignorant man keeps the company of the gnostic, his
judgement is the judgement of the gnostic.
Know that there are two wines: the wine of slaveness and the wine of free-
dom. The wine of slaveness is majestic and the wine of freedom is beautiful.
If you wish, you could say that these two wines are one wine. However, it
varies. Sometimes it is majesty and sometimes it is beauty. Sometimes it is
senses and sometimes it is meaning. Sometimes it is essence and sometimes
it is attributes. The place of its change is the hearts. After the hearts, its effect
appears on forms. After forms, their effect appears on existence, high and
low. The heart is the house of Allah and the spring of secrets and lights.
488 The Sufic Path
It is the element of all tajalliyat, i.e. the tajalliyat of existence and what it
contains – rather the tajalliyat of all reality.
Know that the people of slaveness are divided into two groups: one group
serves Allah in fear and awe, and another group serves Him in yearning,
passion, and love. As for the people of fear and awe, their art is, ‘He knows,
so He exists,’ and the art of the people of yearning and love is, ‘He exists,
so He knows.’
Know that there are two wines: the wine of slaveness and the wine of
freedom. The wine of slaveness is majestic, and the wine of freedom is
beautiful. If you wish, you can say that these two wines are one wine, but
they vary in attributes, and the place of their variety is the hearts. After the
hearts, their effect appears on forms. After forms, their effect appears on
existence, celestial and terrestrial. The heart is the house of Allah and the
spring of secrets and lights. It is the element of all tajalliyat – the tajalliyat
of existence and what it contains – rather the tajalliyat of all the reality.
Know that Allah ta‘ala is One, and His favour is great and wide. Only He
recognises its limit. However, the ranks of creation differ in it according
to their himma in the judgement of the people of the inward. If you put
yourself in a station, you will only find yourself in it. The stations vary from
the lowest of the low to the highest of the high. Raise yourself as you like,
or lower it. The station to which you raise yourself and dwell in it, your
Master confirms you in it, and creation puts you in it, and by it you are
recognised among the people of the celestial and terrestrial Malakut. ‘Allah
provides for His slave according to his himma.’ – Hadith. Every station in
which you put yourself, its effect must appear on you, and your Master only
helps you from it and by it, from the station of freedom to the station of
slaveness. The common say: ‘Wherever you put yourself, you find it.’ This
is the inward. As for the outward, it is the reverse. The station of freedom is
hidden in the station of slaveness, and the station of slaveness is hidden in
the station of freedom – i.e. might is hidden in abasement as abasement is
hidden in might. This is the judgement. All things are in their opposites.
Two are not joined but that one of them is a king and the other is a chattel:
the king is the desired, and the chattel is the lover. The king is sought for,
and the chattel is the seeker. Whoever puts himself in the stage of the king
Wisdom 489
and clings to it is a king. Whoever puts himself in the stage of the chattel
and clings to it is a chattel.
You are among the free while you do not want and choose. Whoever
chooses and wants, finds himself one of the slaves. Part of His habit, may
He be exalted, with His slave is that you are not described by the attributes
of the slave but that you find yourself among the free, and you are not de-
scribed by the attributes of the free but that you find yourself among the
slaves. The thing is hidden in its opposite.
Whoever gathers his inward, must separate his outward. Whoever gathers
his outward, must separate his inward, because separation is not without
gatheredness as gatheredness is not without separation. This is the sunna of
Allah in existence. All good is gathered in the slave’s company with himself.
Man only finds the road to company of himself by constant nearness to
the leaders of the people of his art, i.e. by their company. Choose one who
obeys for your company. Natures steal natures.
Know that the judgement of the mustard-seed is the judgement of all the
reality, and the judgement of the reality is its judgement. It is like that with
what is between them of norms by the judgement of the reality. Sometimes
it says to man, ‘You are my slave and I am your Master,’ so he begins to serve
it as the slave serves his Master, whether he likes it or not. Sometimes the
matter is reversed. It says to him, ‘I am your slave and you are my master.
I will only do what you desire and want, and I will only act under your
command and prohibition.’ So man becomes its king after he was its slave.
This is always his adab. These two situations alternate on man. Whoever
among the elite recognises it, recognises it. Whoever among the common
is ignorant of it, is ignorant of it. You find this analogy in whoever loves
something. Whenever his slaveness to that thing is completed, and that
thing’s possession of him is completed, the matter is reversed. That lover
becomes a king, and the beloved who was a king becomes a slave. Whoever
is patient in property and endures until the conditions are fulfilled, property
becomes kingdom. For that reason, one of them said, ‘They called me to
property. When I answered them, they said, “We called you to kingdom,
not property.”’ This is the wisdom of Allah in existence. Whoever owns
you, you must own him. Whoever you own, he must own you.
490 The Sufic Path
When the slaves are firmly established by their master, they despise and
belittle him. When they remain under his power, they exalt and respect
him. Only the one ignorant of the politics of his kingdom gives the slave
power from himself, i.e. his flock. They are the people of the kingdom of
the self and the people of the kingdom of the species. The intellects of
the gnostics among the people of the kingdom of the self have power over
their essences and limbs. The limbs of the ignorant have power over them.
It is like that with the gnostics of the people of the kingdom of creation.
Their intellects rule their flock, and by their policies they overcome and
subdue them, so that they are under their command and prohibition. The
ignorant are ruled by their flock, because of their lack of policy and lack
of recognition of the discipline of the kingdom. Whoever owns himself,
owns existence and what it contains. Whoever does not own himself, has
no way to own existence. Success is by Allah.
Know that the one with the outward kingdom does not confirm his king-
dom, and his disposal of it is not in order until he is the slave of the inward
kings, their chattel in their command and prohibition. Then he begins to
dispose of his kingdom as he wishes. It is like that with the master of the
inward kingdom. His kingdom is not confirmed and his disposition of it
is not in order until he is the slave of the outward kings, their chattel in
their command and prohibition. Then he begins to dispose of his kingdom
as he wishes. The master of the inward becomes a chattel of the master of
the outward outwardly, and the master of the outward becomes a chattel
of the master of the inward inwardly. The kingdom of the master of the
outward is only set up by an equivalent agreement, and it is the inward
kingdom. The kingdom of the master of the inward is only set up by an
equivalent agreement, and it is the outward kingdom. This one has no need
of submission to that one, and that one has no need of submission to this
one, and it is like that.
As the people of the treasury are kings over common people, and common
people are their flock, so the people of divestment are kings over the people
of travelling, and the people of travelling are their flock. The people of the
treasury are the kings of the common, and the people of divestment are
the kings of the elite. The people of the treasury are kings of a dark human
reality of separation, and the people of divestment are kings by a luminous
ruhani light of gatheredness. The one of divestment is like the one who is
a king over a land which he cultivates and it is irrigated. He always plants
Wisdom 491
what he likes in it. The one of travelling is like the one who cultivates unir-
rigated land. Because of that, the one of divestment is a king and the one
of travelling is a slave. The treasury is like the one who owns irrigated land,
and the common are like those who cultivate unirrigated land. Therefore,
the treasury is a king, and the common are slaves. The judgement of the
one of the treasury is the judgement of one with divestment. All of them
are people of realities, although the kingdom of the one of divestment is
by Allah, and the kingdom of the people of the treasury is by creation. In
reality, all is by Allah and for Allah.
Know that poverty is kingdom, and its people are in two groups: a group
are kings by the abasement of actions and slaveness to Allah, and a group
are kings by the might of the words of freedom by Allah. The faqir, i.e. the
king, who does not do what he wants in his kingdom is not called a king.
He has insanity. Insanity leads the one who has it to wrong action. The
king who owns the poverty which we mentioned, their flock in it are the
common. The common are also divided into three groups: The first group
are the seekers of the people of outward knowledge. The second group are
the people of leadership. The third group are the common people among
the people of the markets and the people of trades. They, the common,
only possess perfect slaveness. It is slaveness of actions for Allah or perfect
freedom – and it is freedom of words by Allah, no more. Whoever adheres
to this art and does not take it from its lords, he has turned himself to
destruction, outward and inward.
Know that slaveness is the opposite of election, and election is the opposite
of slaveness. Whoever seeks slaveness finds election, and whoever seeks
election finds slaveness. Election becomes hidden in slaveness and slaveness
becomes hidden in election. Look at Shaykh ash-Shadhili, may Allah be
pleased with him, and how he sought slaveness in all states in imitation of
the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace! When he sought
from his Master to be a prophet – a slave, a servant of the people – their
master. – Hadith.
Tyranny is a great celestial majestic reality. By it, the celestial and terrestrial
kingdom is established. According to the greatness of the tyranny, victory
and firmness are great. Whoever does not take on the character of tyranny
in knowledge and action among the kings has no kingdom. Kings are in
two divisions: kings of the self, and kings of the species. The flock of the
492 The Sufic Path
kings of the self are their outward and inward limbs. The flock of the kings
of the species are creation. When the king is oppressive to the flock, they
yearn for him. Whenever the king is kind to the flock, the flock oppresses
him. This is to the extent that it is said about tyranny that it is the ruh
of the realities and the ruh of all existence. In general, with all creation,
whenever you confront them with majesty, they confront you with beauty.
Whenever you confront them with beauty, they confront you with majesty.
This is universal for your self and your species. Such is the custom of Allah
in this existence. The kings of the self are in two groups. Among them is the
one whose tyranny is in his inward, and his beauty is in his outward, and
among them is the one whose tyranny is in his outward and his beauty is
in his inward. The majesty of the first is great and his beauty is little. The
beauty of the second is great and his majesty is little. The kingdom of the
first is shar‘ic, and the kingdom of the second is real. The kingdom of the
first is little since he is related to creation, and the kingdom of the second
is abundant, great, and immense, since he is related to the Creator, may
His praise be exalted!
Know that all existence only has essence and attributes in it. Whenever
the essence appears, it cancels out the attributes. Whenever the attributes
appear, it cancels out the essence – i.e. whoever turns to you with the at-
tributes, confront him with the essence – you will overcome him. Whoever
confronts you with the essence, confront him with the attributes – you will
overcome him. I will clarify something of the essence and something of the
attributes, Allah willing. Silence is essence, and speech is attributes. Seeing
is attributes, and blindness is essence. Hearing is attributes, and deafness is
essence. Nearness is attributes, and distance is essence. Giving is attributes,
and withholding is essence. Might is attributes, and abasement is essence.
Knowledge is attributes, and ignorance is essence. Intelligence is attributes,
and stupidity is essence. Doing good is attributes, and doing evil is essence.
Affirmation is attributes, and rejection is essence. All celestials are attributes,
and all terrestrials are essence. Advance is attributes, and retreat is essence.
The first is attributes, and the last is essence. Arrival is attributes, and be-
ing cut-off is essence. Gathering is attributes, and separation is essence. All
norms are attributes, and all breaking norms are essence. Life is attributes,
and death is essence. Means are attributes, and divestment is essence.
Laughter is attributes, and weeping is essence. Finding is attributes, and loss
Wisdom 493
is essence. The result is that whatever is majesty is essence, and whatever is

beauty is attributes – although the essence is the source of the attributes as
the attributes are the source of the essence. Whenever you direct it by the
essence, it is not disclosed to you and He directs it by the attributes – so
He is disclosed in any case, and vice versa. Whenever you direct it by the
attributes, it is not disclosed to you and He directs it by the essence – and
He is disclosed in any case. The sunna of Allah has passed in that, and you
will not find any change in the sunna of Allah.
Know that the attributes are meaning. Whoever describes meanings, they
perceive and are not perceived. The essence is the opposite. Whoever de-
scribes sensory things, they are perceived and do not perceive. The essence is
separation and the attributes are gatheredness – and gatheredness perceives
separation, while separation does not perceive gatheredness. As gathered-
ness perceives separation and separation does not perceive gatheredness,
the one who wants to perceive everything continues until he gathers
everything, so that his self has it by gatheredness. Whoever wants not to
perceive everything continues until he is separated from everything, until
his self is apart from it by separation. Gatheredness is not gatheredness until
he is gathered to separation. Similarly, separation is not separation until he
is separated to gatheredness. Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani, may
Allah profit us by him, said in one of his statements: ‘Your gatheredness
connects and your separation cuts off.’ Ash-Shitri, may Allah have mercy
on him, said on this meaning:
It is as if he said, ‘Do not look at separation, and dive into the sea of gath-
eredness – perhaps you will see Allah in the agreement of the Sufis, i.e. on
the road of the elite of the people of gnosis of Allah ta‘ala, the people of
knowledge of Him and acting by Him.
The attributes shine by the light of the essence. By it, the knowledge of
celestials and the knowledge of terrestrials is obtained. The essence shines
by the light of the attributes. By it, the action of terrestrials and the action
of celestials is set up.
494 The Sufic Path
You turn to your essence. He will make you see the attributes of Allah. You
turn to Allah with your attributes, and He will make you see the essence of
Allah. The sunna of Allah has passed in that. You only see His essence by
your attributes, and His attributes by your essence. Whoever wants to see
the essence by the essence is ignorant of the wisdom of Allah and His sunna
in His creation. It is like that with whoever wants to see the attributes by
the attributes. He is ignorant of the wisdom of Allah and His sunna, and
how it flows in His creation. He said, may He be exalted:
Whoever is given wisdom has been given much good,
and only those possessed of cores remember.
The essence has what is outward and what is inward. Similarly, the attributes
have what is outward and what is inward. All that is sensory is essence. All
that is meaning is attributes. Essence and attributes are not joined in a thing
but that it exists by the permission of Allah ta‘ala, even had it been part
of what appears the most impossible to people. It is not invalid unless the
thing is lacking by its essence or by its attributes.
Know that the essence is pained by the pain of the attributes, as the at-
tributes are pained by the pain of the essence. The attributes rest by the
rest of the essence, as the essence rests by the rest of the attributes. This is
a proof that the essence is the source of the attributes, and the attributes
are the source of the essence.
When the essence appears in tajalli, its lights cover the lights of the attrib-
utes, so that no trace of the attributes appears. The reverse is the same. When
the attributes appear, their lights cover the lights of the essence, so that no
trace of the essence remains. By the tajalli of the essence, sensory things
appear and meanings withdraw. By the tajalli of the attributes, meanings
appear and sensory things withdraw. These two states alternate on every
man. The people of knowledge know them, and the people of ignorance
are ignorant of them. Wisdom appears and is not concerned with anyone.
Know that when you confront existence with the essence outwardly,
existence confronts you with the opposite of the essence, and it is the at-
tributes. Then the effect of the attributes of existence appears on you, as the
effect of your essence appears on existence, because the mirror of existence
shines in you as your mirror shines in existence, because Allah ta‘ala, by
Wisdom 495
His wisdom and power, placed man in existence as He placed existence in

man. He placed the mirror of existence opposite the mirror of man, as He
placed the mirror of man opposite the mirror of existence. What is in one
of the two mirrors shines in the other one in every case. Similarly, when
you confront existence with the attributes outwardly, existence confronts
you with the opposite of the attributes, and it is the essence. So the effect
of the essence of existence appears on you, as the effect of your attributes
appears on existence. Your essence and the essence of existence are as if they
were majesty, as your attributes and the attributes of existence are as if they
were beauty. Existence confronts your majesty with yourself with beauty, as
your majesty with existence is confronted by beauty in yourself – i.e. your
outward and the outward of existence. Similarly, existence confronts your
beauty with yourself by majesty, as your self confronts your beauty with
existence by majesty, because certainly while your outward is beauty with
creation, your inward is majesty with yourself.
Know that the nobility of attributes does not appear but that you find
that the honour of the existence of the essence is manifested afterwards in
that. Its value is raised, like speech after silence, food after hunger, ease after
hardship, giving after withholding, rest after toil, or wideness after constric-
tion. If you find the attributes without the essence, they are demeaned.
Whoever brings them is demeaned. He does not perceive their value and
makes light of them, as he makes light of much speech instead of silence,
and food instead of need, and vastness instead of narrowness. The value
of things is only recognised by their existence with their opposites. If not,
they are demeaned, and the one who brings them is demeaned.
The essence is the source of majesty, and the attributes are the source of
beauty. What comes to the essence of beauty comes to it by its being ac-
companied by the attributes, as what comes to the attributes of majesty
comes to them by their being accompanied by the essence. If you want
to realise that, then look at the essence when the attributes are separated
from it by death – you will find it pure majesty. Similarly, when attributes
are separated from the essence, they become pure beauty. When they
are joined, the jurisdiction of the attribute of the essence overcomes the
attributes, as the jurisdiction of the attribute of the attributes overcomes
the essence. However, the attributes are the source of the essence in their
496 The Sufic Path
separation and joining, as the essence is the source of the attributes in their
joining and separation. Similarly, gatheredness is the source of separation,
as separation is the source of gatheredness. Because of that, the essence is
described by some of the attributes of the attributes – and it is beauty, as
the attributes are described by some of the attributes of the essence – and
it is majesty. This is part of the wonders of the reality. You find it always
separated – always gathered, always joined – always severed, always giving
– always withholding, always great – always small, always near – always far,
always manifest – always hidden, always beautiful – always majestic, always
alive – always dead, always accepted – always rejected, always occurring.
Had the sea been ink or the grass been pens to write the differences of the
reality and its variety and wonders, they would not be able to describe it.
Its attributes are only joined in man. Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani
said on this meaning, ‘Your self contains all the reality. I indicate with
serious words, and I do not deceive.’ Because of this meaning which we
mentioned, we say that all slaveness is essence, although it contains essence
and attributes. That is because slaveness is majesty, and majesty is basically
all essence. Similarly, we also say that all freedom is attributes, although it
contains attributes and essence. That is also because all freedom is beauty,
and beauty is basically all attributes. All that we find of majesty we relate to
essence, and all that we find of beauty we relate to attributes, whether it is
attributes or essence, because the description of attributes with majesty is
as if it were accidental, not real – as all descriptions of essence with beauty
are as if it were accidental, not real. The people of the reality do not call the
thing by the accidental name. They call it by its real basic name, because
mistake in speech confirms mistake in action. They are neither with word
nor action, but they are with what is good for their hearts and joins them to
the Real. Abu’l-Mawahib said on this meaning, ‘Whoever claims to witness
beauty before he acquires adab by the majesty, reject him – he is a Dajjal,’
i.e. he leaves it, so he is a liar. Since all slaveness is majesty, it is all basically
essence. Since all freedom is beauty, it is basically attributes. The poet said:
Whoever does not taste the abasement of learning for an hour,
drinks from the glass of ignorance all his life.
All that is in the world of existence is only essence and attributes, as all
that is in the world of man is essence and attributes, because the world of
existence is a copy of man, as the world of man is a copy of existence. The
Wisdom 497
world of existence is opposite the world of man, as the world of man is op-
posite the world of existence. What appears in the world of man appears in
the world of existence, and what appears in the world of existence appears
in the world of man. Existence and man are always two equivalent ranks.
The one of the attributes is one of intellect, and he is in the very limit of
the senses. The one of the essence is stupid, and he is in the very limit of
the senses. The one of the attributes is knowing, and he is in the very limit
of the senses. The one of the essence is ignorant, and he is in the very limit
of the senses. The one of the attributes is mighty, and he is in the very limit
of the senses. The one of the essence is abased, and he is in the very limit
of the senses. The one of the attributes is near, and he is in the very limit
of the senses. The one of the essence is far, and he is in the very limit of the
senses. The one of the attributes is noted, and he is in the very limit of the
senses. The one of the essence is neglected, and he is in the very limit of the
senses. The one of the attributes does good, and he is in the very limit of
the senses. The one of the essence does evil, and he is in the very limit of the
senses. The one of the attributes is accepted, and he is in the very limit of
the senses. The one of the essence is rejected, and he is in the very limit of
the senses. The one of the attributes gives, and he is in the very limit of the
senses. The one of the essence withholds, and he is in the very limit of the
senses. The one of the attributes is high, and he is in the very limit of the
senses. The one of the essence is low, and he is in the very limit of the senses.
The one of the attributes is celestial, and he is in the very limit of the senses.
The one of the essence is terrestrial, and he is in the very limit of the senses.
The one of the attributes speaks, and he is in the very limit of the senses.
The one of the essence is silent, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The
one of the attributes advances, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The
one of the essence retreats, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The one
of the attributes is first, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of
the essence is last, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of the
attributes is outward, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of
the essence is inward, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of
the attributes is connected, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The
one of the essence is cut off, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The
one of the attributes has all creation as his brothers, and he is in the very
limit of the senses. The one of the essence has no brother in existence, and
498 The Sufic Path
he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of the attributes has children,
parents, and companions, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The one
of the essence is an orphan without child, parent, or companion, and he is
in the very limit of the senses. The one of the attributes has his people as
his family, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of the essence
is alone and single in existence, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The
one of the attributes is by creation in creation for creation, and he is in the
very limit of the senses. The one of the essence is by himself in himself for
himself, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of the attributes
has many comrades and likes, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The
one of the essence has no comrade nor like, and he is in the very limit of
the senses. The one of the attributes is separated in his gatheredness, and
he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of the essence is gathered in
his separation, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of the at-
tributes raises the high and lowers the low, and he is in the very limit of the
senses. The one of the essence has the high and low equal with him, and he
is in the very limit of the senses. The one of the attributes affirms what is
affirmed and rejects what is rejected, and he is in the very limit of the senses.
The one of the essence affirms what is affirmed and what is rejected and
does not have anything he rejects, and he is in the very limit of the senses.
The one of the attributes grazes always in the norms, and he is in the very
limit of the senses. The one of the essence always grazes in the breaking of
norms, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of the attributes is
annihilated in the world of the unseen, going-on in the world of the present,
and he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of the essence goes-on in
the world of the unseen, annihilated in the world of the present, and he is
in the very limit of the senses. The one of the attributes uses wisdom, and
he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of the essence uses power, and
he is in the very limit of the senses. The one of the attributes has himself
controlled by another and he controls another by himself, and he is in the
very limit of the senses. The one of the essence is a king over himself and
there is no other in existence, and he is in the very limit of the senses. The
one of the attributes travels to Allah by means, and he is in the very limit of
the senses. The one of the essence is pulled to Allah by divestment, and he
is in the very limit of the senses. The perfect gnostic of Allah is the one in
whom all these states and their opposites are joined. Had it been weighed
in them, they would have been equal.
Wisdom 499
The master of high realities is left to himself, and the master of low realities
trusts in his Lord. What a difference between the one who trusts in his Lord
and the one who trusts in himself. He said in the Hikam: ‘Be described by
your attributes. He will show you His attributes.’
The one of the Name is gathered, connected. His planting is based on proof
and exposition, and his fruits are valuables and gnosis. In that, he is tired,
veiled. The one of the essence is rejected, cut off. His basis is contemplation
and eye-witnessing, and his fruits are gnosis and disposal of all phenomenal
beings. In that, he is majdhub, veiled, having rest from toil. He is safe from
destruction by Allah. The one of the Name is in striving, and the one of the
essence is in contemplation. The one of the Name is based on the essence.
The essence only encounters the lights of the attributes. The one of the es-
sence is based on the attributes. The attributes only encounter the lights of
the essence. It is as if the support of the one of striving is his essence. If the
tongue of words does not inform about that, the tongue of state informs
about it. The essence of the creature is annihilated. It is as if the support of
the one of contemplation were the essence of Allah. The essence of Allah
goes on without a doubt.
The state of the shari‘a is slaveness and the state of reality is freedom. These
two states alternate on man always like the alternation of winter and sum-
mer, night and day. Whoever recognises them, travels in them with insight
and knowledge, without hardship. Whoever is ignorant of them, travels in
them compelled with hardship, care and toil. He said, may He be exalted,
‘Are they equal, those who know and those who do not know?’ Those
who have rest in these states are those who recognise Allah in the bitterness
of slaveness as they recognise Him in the sweetness of freedom. For those,
its sweetness and bitterness are the same, because they look at Allah in it.
‘Make us your slaves in all states!’ This is different from the one who does
not see Allah in these two states: they are the states of slaveness and the
state of freedom. He is with the states, not with Allah. Because of that, he
is the slave of states, not the slave of Allah. The slave of Allah is destroyed
in Allah – what follows belongs to Allah. The slave of states is destroyed
in states. The state of freedom destroys him by its sweetness, and the state
of slaveness destroys him by its bitterness. He is always tired in them. The
reason for his fatigue and punishment is the existence of the veil.
500 The Sufic Path
O this world of Mine! Serve whoever serves Me

and exhaust whoever serves you. – Hadith.
Had the veil departed, the Real would have appeared. Had the Real ap-
peared, the false would not have been there. Had the Real come and the
false departed, fatigue and annihilation would have departed, and bliss and
well-being would have been obtained.
Whenever the Beloved appears,
every informer and watcher withdraws,
and every misery and punishment departs.
Know that the realities are the results of the shara‘i’, as the shara‘i’ are the
results of the realities. The shara‘i’ are like fields and the realities are like
trees. Fields are the result of trees, as trees are the result of fields. Realities
are the source of shara‘i’, and shara‘i’ are the source of realities. May Allah
have mercy on the speaker in praise of the Prophet, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, when he said:
O adornment of creatures!
O source of the reality!
The realities are true and they are firm.
By Allah! Whoever has the shari‘a, it is the source of the reality, as the reality
is the source of the shari‘a. The reality of the reality and the shari‘a are the
tajalliyat of Allah. If you like, you could say that when He appears in tajalli
outwardly, He appears by His shara‘i’. When He appears in tajalli inwardly,
He appears by His realities. If you wish, you could say the reverse: when
He appears in tajalli outwardly, He appears by His realities, and when He
appears in tajalli inwardly, He appears by His shara‘i’. All is true, and there
is nothing, except Allah. The realities are gatheredness, and the shara‘i’ are
separation. Separation is the source of gatheredness and gatheredness is the
source of separation. There is only Allah in existence.
Know that part of the promise is by Allah, and part of it is for Allah. What
is by Allah happens immediately in any case. What is for Allah happens,
but after the time of the promise which is by Allah. It is what happens
immediately. There is no separation between its action and its statement.
Since it is like that, the results issue immediately between the word and the
action. The promise which is for Allah is the one which is by the statement
until the time when it comes to pass. It is, however, after a time. What a
Wisdom 501
difference between what is by Allah and what is for Allah! What is for Allah
are the shara‘i’, because they are with the creature. What is by Allah are the
realities, because they are with the Real. There is no doubt that the action of
the shara‘i’ is soft, and the action of the realities is near, strong, and firm.
Part of what the Shaykh said to me one day is: ‘My son! The manifestation
of Allah is completed on four.’ I said to him, ‘How, Sayyidi?’ He said to me,
‘Weigh by the balance of the reality and the shari‘a – you will recognise.’
So I did what he said to me, and the matter appeared to me like that. I
said to him, ‘Sayyidi, I have done it.’ He said to me, ‘What is that?’ I said
to him, ‘I found knowledge illuminating the inner eye, and the inner eye
illuminating the himma, and the himma illuminating action. Whenever
action appears, that is the perfection of the manifestation of Allah. If the
manifestation of Allah is perfected, the necks of the people of the seven
heavens and the seven earths and what is between them, what is under
them, and what is above them, are bowed to him. Knowledge illuminates
the inner eye with certainty. Certainty illuminates the himma without care.
Himma without care illuminates action by effect and proof. If effect and
proof appear, that is perfection.
Know that the beginning in all things is the shari‘a, as the ends of all things
are the realities. Such is the custom of Allah in most things and in the
bulk of things. Allah does whatever He wills. The realities of the ends are
great according to the greatness of the shari‘a of the beginnings, and they
are weak according to its weakness. Part of what Allah ta‘ala says is that
He created His slave, man, incapable – and he fails to bring himself good
and cannot repel harm, let alone from anyone else. After that, He, glory be
to Him, honoured him by placing the keys of all affairs of all existence at
his disposal. They are opened by him and revolve around him from him.
The shari‘a issues from and the reality returns to him. Whoever among the
children of Adam prescribes something, realises it, good or evil. Your Lord
does not wrong anyone. You prescribe and He, may He be exalted, realises
for you. You increase or decrease in a greater or lesser thing, a higher or
lower thing, or a nobler or more abased thing, to the extent that had you
prescribed seeking to look at His Face, may He be exalted, He would have
realised it for you. Or had you prescribed searching for dirhams, or lower
or greater than that, He would have realised it with you, since nothing is
502 The Sufic Path
insignificant with Him – i.e. whatever he has recourse to or is helped by

or relies on. Glory be to Him! He said, may He be exalted:
He gave you of all you asked Him. If you count Allah‘s blessing,
you will never number it.
This Path of ours is the path of the shara‘i’, and its results are realities. For
that reason, it is named by the inward quality of its name according to its
results. Its opposite is the path of the outward. It is a real path, and its results
are shara‘i’. For that reason, it is called the path of the outward. Its name
is based on its results. The people of the inward seek the shara‘i’, and their
seeking is realities. The people of the outward are the reverse. They seek
realities, and their seeking is shara‘i’. The people of joining outward and
inward seek the shara‘i’ as they seek the realities. Their seeking is realities
as their seeking is shara‘i’.
We have no favour like the favour of our masters, the people of the shara‘i’,
since had it not been for the outward of the shara‘i’, the deen would have
vanished and disappeared and been destroyed, like the shari‘a in the reality.
Like the banner in the middle of an army, the shari‘a is a banner. Then there
is the reality as long as the banner stands in the middle of the army, and
the army is victorious. Whenever the banner is broken, the army is broken.
The shari‘a is the ruh of the reality. May Allah have mercy on the speaker
when he spoke in praise of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace: ‘O adornment of creatures! O source of the reality!’ Because
the deen only continues and endures by the outward shari‘a – the shari‘a
is our capital and the reality is our profit and bonus. The poet said: ‘Bonus
is not lacking from the acts of capital.’ Whoever has no capital, has no way
of obtaining profit, because the door of profit is capital. Whoever has the
door wide for his face, profit comes to him.
‘The Conqueror’ is among His names, may He be exalted! Part of the sum
of His force, glory be to Him, is that He made the states which man travels
through come upon him when he dislikes them and cannot extricate himself
from them. Know that Allah comes between a man and his heart. That is
because your Master is more familiar than you about what is good for you.
It may be that you hate something and it is better for you,
Wisdom 503
and you love something, and it is worse for you.

Allah knows and you do not know.
Had the truth followed their passions,
the heaven and the earth and whoever is in them
would have gone to ruin.
Allah the Great spoke the truth.
Know that Allah ta‘ala honoured knowledge and honoured its people by
His word, may He be exalted, ‘Those of His slaves who know, fear Allah.’
The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said,
‘The ‘ulama of my community are like the prophets of the children of Israel.’
The people of this balance are in two groups: a group of the people of out-
ward knowledge of the shari‘a, and a group of the people of the knowledge
of inspiration, real inward knowledge. Real knowledge comes from the
presence of gatheredness to the presence of separation. Shar‘ic knowledge
comes from the presence of separation to the presence of gatheredness.
The knowledge of the people of shar‘ic knowledge is only established
by real knowledge. However, they are dominated by shar‘ic knowledge.
The knowledge of the people of real knowledge is only established by
shar‘ic knowledge, but they are dominated by real knowledge. Basically,
gatheredness and separation are the same, and real knowledge and shar‘ic
knowledge are the same. However, colours differ by the difference of the
essence and the attributes of the firstness which has no beginning and the
lastness which has no end,
The one of the shara‘i’, even had he reached in it what the one in need of
the realities reached, his situation would not be established except by him,
whether he likes it or not. It is like that with the one of the realities. Had
he reached in it what the one in need of the shara‘i’ reached, his situation
would only be established by him, whether he likes it or not. Such is the
sunna of Allah in His creation. That is so that you might know that Allah
is One. He has no second nor opposite nor like. Allah was and nothing
was with Him, and He has now what He had.
There are also four. Their actions are shari‘a, and their leaving them is re-
ality: artfulness, arrangement, management, and choice. These are roots.
Whoever does them acts by shari‘a, and whoever leaves them, acts by
504 The Sufic Path
reality. Doing these four is wisdom and leaving them is power. You do not
turn from wisdom but that you find power in your hands, and you do not
turn from power but that you find wisdom in your hands. Man always
has one of them.
It is said that some people are veiled from the reality by the shari‘a, and some
people are veiled by the reality from the shari‘a, and some people make the
shari‘a a door and the reality a point of return. Those are the party of Allah.
The party of Allah are those who have success.
Know that all the reality is inwardly beauty-gatheredness and outwardly
majesty-separation. Shari‘a is the reverse. Outwardly, it is all beauty-gath-
eredness, and inwardly it is majesty-separation. The reality of the matter
is that you find that the root of all shari‘a is reality, and the root of all the
reality is shari‘a. The common set out for the shari‘a and neglect reality,
and the elite set out for the reality and neglect the shari‘a. The common
are occupied with the outward matter, and the elite are occupied with the
inward matter, and the elite of the elite set out for Allah and neglect the
false. They follow the truth where they find it and how they find it. Since
their himma is attached to Him, the Great, they do not find anything other-
than-Him. They are veiled from all phenomenal beings, even themselves.
As Shaykh Sidi Zaruq said, may Allah benefit us by him:
If the light of iman shone, the existence of the cosmos
would be covered, and witnessing
would occur from the loss of the eyes.
The attribute of generosity in the outward of man demands the attribute
of miserliness inwardly. This is the attribute of the people of the outward.
Similarly, the attribute of miserliness outwardly demands the attribute of
generosity inwardly. This is the attribute of the lords of the hearts among the
people of the inward and change. Sometimes it is miserliness or generosity
outwardly, and sometimes it is generosity or miserliness inwardly. This is the
attribute of perfection among the lords of fixity and firmness in the stations
of certainty. Whoever turns to Allah by the path of the separation of the
outward, the separation of the outward raises him to the gatheredness of
the inward. Similarly, whoever turns to Allah by the gatheredness of the
inward, the gatheredness of the inward raises him to the separation of the
outward. This is necessary and it is inevitable. He said, may He be exalted:
Wisdom 505
You will not find any change in the sunna of Allah

and you will not find any alteration in the sunna of Allah.
Know that the inward gathers you to Allah and separates you from crea-
tion, as the outward gathers you to creation and separates you from Allah.
Whoever recognises Allah inwardly and is ignorant of Him outwardly,
this one clings to the reality without the shari‘a. Whoever recognises Allah
outwardly and is ignorant of Him inwardly, this one clings to the shari‘a
without the reality. Whoever recognises Allah outwardly and recognises
Him inwardly, this one is among the awliya of Allah, travelling on the
road of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his
Companions, the Imams of guidance. So it is said:
Whoever follows the shari‘a without the reality has gone wrong,
and whoever follows the reality without the shari‘a is a zindiq,
and whoever joins them has realised.
The like of the one who follows the reality without the shari‘a is like one
who builds the foundation of a house without a house, and the like of the
one who follows the shari‘a without the reality is like the one who builds a
house without a foundation. The like of the gnostic of Allah who follows
the reality and the shari‘a, or the shari‘a and the reality, is like the one who
builds the foundation of the house inside the earth until he is finished with
it, and then builds the walls of the house above the outward of the earth.
As for the one who builds the foundation of a house without a house, he
builds the foundation of a ruin. Similarly, the one who builds the house
without the foundation, builds a ruin. What is indicated by the house is
Islam in word and deed.
The one of realities is only veiled to his realities by the shara‘i’, and the one
of the shara‘i’ is only veiled to his shara‘i’ by realities. However, realities do
not exist without shara‘i’, and shara‘i’ do not exist without realities. How-
ever, the one of realities takes from the shara‘i’ the like of what the one in
summer takes of coldness by which his realities exist, and the one of the
shara‘i’ takes from the realities the like of what the one in winter takes of
heat by which his shara‘i’ exist. What is more than that is a veil and going
the wrong way. Going the wrong way is insanity. He said, may He be exalted:
Wavering all the time, not to these, not to those.
Know that whoever has his ignorance dominate his knowledge – he is
506 The Sufic Path
shari‘a, and whoever has his knowledge dominate his ignorance – he is

reality. The common are shari‘a. They have left the reality. The elite are real-
ity. They have left the shari‘a. Some of the elite have the reality outwardly
and the shari‘a inwardly. They are the elite. Some of them have the shari‘a
outwardly and the reality inwardly. They are the elite of the elite. There is
no election for knowledge without action. ‘I will take refuge with Allah
from unprofitable knowledge,’ as the Truthful Confirmed one said, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, and ennoble him and exalt him and
magnify him and glorify him! Here we are speaking of the shara‘i’ of the
elite, not the shara‘i’ of the common, because with the elite, everything
has a shari‘a and a reality. The common only understand one shari‘a, and
they only recognise it.
Know that the fruits of iman are only acquired by the one who prostrates
twice: the prostration of the shar‘ to separation, and the real prostration to
gatheredness. It is as it is said, ‘Whoever has shar‘ and not reality has acted
wrongly. Whoever has reality and not shar‘ is a zindiq. Whoever combines
the two has realised.’ The one who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah.
If you love Allah, follow me and Allah will love you.
One of them said:
The one who is not born twice is not one of us,
i.e. the sensory birth and the birth of meaning. If you wish, you could say
the birth of the shari‘a and the birth of the reality. If you wish, you could say
the birth of the earth of earth and the birth of the heaven of air. If you wish,
you could say birth in the presence of creation and birth in the presence
of Allah. If you wish, you could say birth of majesty and birth of beauty.
If you wish, you could say birth of clay and birth of certainty. If you wish,
you could say birth in the world of forms and birth in the world of arwah.
If you wish, you could say birth by the essence, and birth by the attributes.
Know that all the people of the outward and the people of the inward are
the people of shara‘i’, seeking the realities – i.e. among those who turn to
seek Allah. However, the people of the outward have majestic shari‘a for
themselves and beautiful shara‘i’ for creation. The people of the inward are
the reverse. Their shara‘i’ are beautiful for themselves and majestic for crea-
Wisdom 507
tion. The custom of Allah has passed in His creation that realities emerge
based on shara‘i’. As the Speaker said:
It is as if the shara‘i’ were roots, and the realities the branches and the fruits.
This is part of His generosity, may He be exalted, which He bestowed on
His Adamic slave, and singled him out with this great privilege apart from
other than him of His creation, may He be exalted! He made all matters
matters of the self and matters of existence. What existence contains only
emerges according to the Adamic, good and evil. The will of creation in
reality only emerges according to the will of Allah, without a doubt. How-
ever, the outward demands that Allah, may His praise be exalted, does not
leave a slave a proof against Him, since He gave him intellect and He passed
judgement on Himself, may His praise be exalted, by His word:
you will not be able to number it.
Shari‘a follows the reality, and the reality follows the shari‘a. By what the
life of man is based on, the reality does not come to him but that the shari‘a
follows it, and the shari‘a does not come to him but that the reality follows
it. However, whoever is patient in its reality, obtains its shari‘a, and whoever
is patient in its shari‘a, obtains its reality. However, the reality results in
its shari‘a with creation more than isolation because the one of the reality
who is isolated from creation has an occupation whose result is inward.
Whenever the results of the reality draw near and appear on their posses-
sor, something of attraction and dhikr appear with him. All the shara‘i’ are
the results of realities.
Know that reality and shari‘a are as if they were two opposites to each other,
joined by gatheredness, and separated by separation. Whenever the reality
binds it, the shari‘a releases it. Whenever the shari‘a binds it, the reality
releases it, All increase in existence is between that binding and that release.
If you wish, you can say that whatever the shari‘a makes exist, the reality
508 The Sufic Path
makes absent, and whatever the shari‘a makes absent, the reality makes exist.
All increase of existence is between that absence and that existence. If you
wish, you can say that whatever the reality puts right, the shari‘a ruins, and
whatever the shari‘a puts right, the reality ruins. All increase of existence
is between that putting right and that ruin. If you wish, you could say that
whenever this one exalts you, the other one abases you, and vice versa. All
increase of existence is between that might and that abasement. If you
wish, you could say that whenever this one elevates you, that one lowers
you, and vice versa. All increase of existence is between that elevation and
lowering, to what has no end of the variety of the reality with the shari‘a.
All increases of existence are celestial and terrestrial. All of them originate
between those varieties. May Allah have mercy on ash-Shitri when he said:
And the one who does not vanish, goes on.
Know that the basis of the beauty of the reality in the station of the end is
the majesty of the shari‘a in the station of the beginning. The basis of the
majesty of the shari‘a in the station of the end of the end is the beauty of
the reality in the station of the end. According to what the murid takes of
the majesty of the shari‘a of the beginnings, he takes from the beauty of the
reality of the end commensurate with that. According to what he takes of
the beauty of the reality of the end, he takes of the majesty of the shari‘a
of the end of the end commensurate with it. Whoever has no majesty in
his beginning, has no beauty in his end, and whoever has no beauty in his
end, has no majesty in the end of his end. The author of the Laws said in
this meaning:
Whoever claims to witness beauty before he acquires adab by
majesty, reject him – he is a Dajjal.
Know that if much reality without the shari‘a goes on, it will destroy its
possessor in every case. If much shari‘a without reality goes on, it will destroy
its possessor in every case. Much reality without shari‘a destroys its pos-
sessor outwardly: his body, his property, and his children – until it makes
him among the people of going-on without annihilation, i.e. among the
people of the Next World: life without death after it. Much shari‘a destroys
its possessor inwardly: his ruh, knowledge, and understanding – until it
Wisdom 509
makes him among the people of annihilation without going-on, i.e. from
annihilated chaff. They are the people of this world. It is death with no
life after it. This is when there is shari‘a without reality. As for when there
is balance between shari‘a and reality, that is the attribute of the Prophets,
Messengers, martyrs, Salihun, and all the awliya, the firm gnostics of Al-
lah. ‘The best of matters is the most middle.’ – Hadith. The attribute of
balance is that the outward of man be filled with shara‘i’ and his inward
be filled with realities.
This is sweet, satisfying to taste, delicious to drink,
and that is salt, bitter to the tongue.
Yet of both you eat fresh flesh,
and bring forth out of it ornaments for you to wear.
Look at the previous communities that Allah ta‘ala has destroyed by the
shout, sinking into the earth, and many varieties of punishment. If you
realise their affairs, you will only find that they were destroyed because they
clung to the shari‘a without the reality, or the reality without the shari‘a.
The custom of Allah has preceded in His creation that whoever clings to
the shari‘a without the reality, or to the reality without the shari‘a, is de-
stroyed. Only the one who clings to both of them together is rescued. The
shari‘a is the life of the body, and the reality is the life of the ruh. Whoever
has the life of his body miss him, his ruh cannot stand without his body.
Similarly, whoever has the life of his ruh miss him, his body cannot stand
without a ruh. Whoever has reality and shari‘a joined in him, has the life
of the body and the life of his ruh joined in him. In that, he stands existing
between them. If man is like that alone, he is equal to all the reality. In that
his khalifate is valid, since he becomes the Khalif of Allah in His earth.
Sayyiduna ‘Abdu’l-Qadir, may Allah profit us by him, said:
I indicate with serious words, and I do not deceive.
The truth of the Real is that Allah only appears between the shari‘a and
the reality. It is as the author of the Nizam said:
When you follow the Path, happiness and meanings will
appear to you.
Between the shari‘a and the reality, you see the One Who
has no second.
510 The Sufic Path
Know that the realised faqir is the one who has no deluded fascinated love
between him and the people of the shara‘i’. What is meant by shara‘i’ are the
people of the shara‘i’ of this world – they are the people of discipline, and
the people of the shara‘i’ of the deen – and they are the people of outward
knowledge. The faqir who is not joined to one of these two groups or both
of them is deluded. That is because all poverty is reality, and the matter
of reality is certainly only straight by the company of its people with the
people of the shara‘i’, as what is other than poverty is all shara‘i’, and the
situation of the people of the shara‘i’ is only straight by their company with
the people of the reality, because when reality and the shari‘a are joined in
a million, Allah appears to them in every case. It is like that when they are
joined in a thousand, and when they are joined in a hundred, and when they
are joined in ten, and also when the reality and the shari‘a are joined in one
man. Allah appears in him in every case. When shari‘a and the reality are
joined in all existence, Allah appears in it with the perfection of manifesta-
tion. Existence is equal to one man. When the reality and the shari‘a are
joined in him, Allah appears in him with the perfection of manifestation.
As He appeared in all existence, He appears in him alone. Because of that,
man is equal to existence, and existence is equal to one man. When there
are a hundred thousand, and the shari‘a and the reality are not joined in
them, he is weightier, nobler, stronger, richer, and mightier, than them. It
is related that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had
two men before him. He said about one of them, ‘This one is better than
that one by what the earth contains.’ So he said, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace. The Rijal of the reality do not appear and their value is
not recognised except by means of the Rijal of the shara‘i’, and the Rijal of
the shara‘i’ do not appear and their value is not recognised except by means
of the Rijal of the reality. May Allah benefit us by all.
Know that when the one of realities comes to an end and his realities are
perfected, the shara‘i’ for him become like cold water for the thirsty man
in summer. When he acquires this rank, he is among the people of the sta-
tion of, ‘Let us relax in it, Bilal.’ The perfect in realities certainly only loves
the shara‘i’ and yearns for them and their people. Similarly, the perfect in
the shara‘i’ certainly only yearns for the realities and yearns for them and
their people.
Wisdom 511
Know that when the people of the shara‘i’ reject the people of the reali-
ties, they speak the truth and are right. When the people of the realities
reject the people of the shara‘i’, they lie and are wrong. That is because the
people of the shara‘i’ are the doorman at the gate of the King. The habit
of the doorman is to reject the friend of the King as well as his enemy. He
is not criticised for that because he does not recognise the friend from the
enemy. He may have his staff in his hand with which he repels everyone.
He does not say, ‘This one is the friend of the King,’ unless he hears a call
from the King to him, orally or by an intermediary whom he trusts. At that,
he leaves him and rejects other than him. The one with the reality is truly
the one for whom rejection is invalid, so that he pardons all creatures and
even pardons the one who rejects him. That is because of his annihilation
from what is other-than-Allah, and his absorption in the contemplation
of his Master. The one of the shara‘i’ is truly the one for whom rejection
is valid – for elite, common, brother, friend, and relative – even himself.
He is not criticised in Allah by a critic. He clings to the command of his
Master and does not increase or decrease by a letter what his Master com-
mands. The people of the reality are those who sit with the King, and the
people of the shara‘i’ are those who are the door-men at the house of the
King. Can the one who sits with the King show bad adab towards the
doorman of the presence of the Master while he recognises the rank of the
doorman with the Amir, and also recognises the majesty, force, greatness,
pride, and encompassing knowledge of the Amir? The nearest of people
to the King is the one who is the strongest in exalting Him. This is not
sound in his presence. However, it is among the habits of servants that
when the sincere servant finds the doorman opposing someone, he tells
him to respect his dignity.
Know that those who turn to Allah ta‘ala are in two groups: a group of the
people of means, and a group of the people of divestment. The people of
means are the people of the shara‘i’, and the people of divestment are the
people of the realities. By the people of the shara‘i’, I mean those whom the
shara‘i’ dominates, and by the people of the realities, I mean those whom
the realities dominate. The people of means are occupied with two means:
they seek one means for the food of the arwah – and their means is dhikr,
and they seek another means for the food of forms. It is possible that their
512 The Sufic Path
means in it is that of the people of this world. The people of divestment

are removed from everything and occupy themselves with contemplating
the essence of Allah and His attributes. Their Master is enough for them
from what is other-than-Him. He Himself, glory be to Him, takes charge
of their affairs. When their destruction is in it, then replacement belongs to
Allah. They are also divested of means and are occupied with the pleasure
of intimate conversation with the Maker of means. He is enough for them
in means. He acts for them in all their affairs – may Allah provide us with
their love by His favour and ihsan!
There are two paths to Allah: one is a branch of the other. One is called
the path of nearness, and the other is called the path of distance. The path
of distance is the path of norms, and the path of nearness is the path of
breaking norms. The first is a branch of the second. Norms are shari‘a, and
breaking norms is reality. The shari‘a is part of the reality, and the shari‘a is
the ladder of the reality. Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani said, ‘This shar‘ was
set down for those shara‘i’.’ May Allah profit us by him. Amin.
Allah ta‘ala said on the tongue of His Prophet, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, ‘The slave continues to draw near Me by superogatory acts
until I love him. When I love him, I am …’ – Hadith. One of the gnostics
said in commentary on this hadith, ‘The slave continues to draw near his
Master with superogatory acts, i.e. the realities, until the slave becomes
true. When he becomes true, his command is between the kaf and the nun
by the command of Allah ta‘ala He says to a thing, “‘Be!’ and it is.” That
is not hard for Allah.’
Part of what Allah gave me is that He made me enter two gardens: the gar-
den of my reality, and the garden of my shari‘a. When I was in the garden of
my reality, I found the Great Throne and what it contains all in my hand.
I made use of phenomenal beings, high and low, by my wisdom and will.
When I was in the garden of my shari‘a, I enjoyed in my passion, yearning,
humility and abasement, in my slaveness, and I strutted in my constraint,
incapacity, weakness, and poverty, in the clarification of my lovers and the
perfection of gifts to me. My shari‘a did not outweigh my reality, and my
reality did not outweigh my shari‘a.
Know that there are three types of people: the common – and they are
Wisdom 513
the people of realities in love with shari‘a, and the elite – and they are the
people of shari‘a in love with realities, and the elite of the elite – and they
are people of realities in love with the shari‘a. These three are ranks. No
one is reckoned to have obtained one of them unless the effect of its action
appears on him, not its word. That is because words are reports by an art,
and actions are the art itself. When the common obtain action by realities
and act by it through imitation, they become common by that. When the
elite obtain action by the shari‘a and act by it through proofs and evidence,
they become elite by that. When the elite of the elite obtain action by the
realities, and act by it through contemplation and eye-witnessing, they
become elite of the elite by that. When the people of the presence – i.e.
the presence of eye-witnessing, may Allah be pleased with them, look at
their Beloved, they look at Him without fault, being settled in the station
of ihsan. He said, may He be exalted: ‘Say: “Allah!” and then leave them
alone, playing their game of plunging.’
Know that the kings of the reality are truly the gnostics of Allah, as the
kings of the shari‘a of this world are those who act by the created. As all in
reality is by Allah, the gnostics of Allah are called gnostics of Allah because
there is no veil between them and Allah. Their selves are annihilated by the
contemplation of Allah. Their selves do not have any relationship in their
words, actions, or will. When the attributes of the creature are missing, the
relationship of Allah and His attributes is affirmed. For this reason, the
kings of reality are called the gnostics of Allah. The kings of the shari‘a of
this world are not said to act by Allah. They act by creation. That is because
they are veiled by the darkness of actions. It is what veils them from the
contemplation of the Real. Since they are veiled to Allah, they only find
the creature in their hands. In that, Allah does not have any relationship
in their words, actions, or will. Since the relationship of Allah is missing
from them, His attributes are missing, and the attributes of the creature are
affirmed, and he is the slave. His attributes are affirmed. For that reason, it
is said that the kings of the shari‘a of this world act by the creature, and that
the kings of the shari‘a whom we mentioned are the people of the discipline
of this world, not the people of the knowledges of this world. The kings of
the reality whom we mentioned are also the people of knowledge of Allah
– rich in Allah, not the poor – ignorant of Allah, the people of the knowl-
edge of the shari‘a, the people of the metaphorical outward rather than the
514 The Sufic Path
real. Similarly, the poor who act without knowledge are the people of the
metaphorical inward rather than the real. The people of the real inward
are the above-mentioned kings of the reality first. The people of the real
outward are the above-mentioned kings of this world. What remains of
creation are slaves to one of the four groups. Among them is the one who
is a slave of the kings of the reality who are the gnostics of Allah. Among
them is the one who is a slave of the kings of the shari‘a of this world. They
are the people of outward discipline. Among them is the one who is a slave
of the people of the knowledge of the shari‘a of this world, and they are
the people of outward knowledge. Among them is the one who is a slave
of the poor, acting without knowledge. There is no more than this fourth
group. They are the poor. Among them is the one who is not pleased with
himself, following the traces of the gnostics without rejecting any of the
people of Allah or other than them. It is hoped for him that he will enter
the company of the gnostics of Allah when he continues on what we
mentioned. Among them is the one who is pleased with himself, satisfied
with what its passion desires, rejecting the people of Allah or others. They
are more astray than the common a hundred thousand times over – rather
more, and yet more, than that! In one of his commentaries on the Hikam,
I found that the Shaykh Zaruq, may Allah profit us by him, said:
A gnostic counselled one of his companions and said to him, ‘My
son, beware of the company of three types of people: the first are
heedless tyrants, the second are the negligent reciters, and the
third are the ignorant Sufis.’
The ignorant Sufis are uglier than the first two groups, because the harm of
the first two groups to creation is like the deadly poison which kills after a
while. The ignorant Sufis are like the deadly poison which kills immediately.
Know that it is said that the snake kills a man when it bites him. The one
of negligence destroys a man by his glance meeting the other’s glance. It is
said that the one with leprosy infects a man while there is the distance of
a spear between them. The one of negligence infects a man while there is
between them the distance by which a man is distinguished from a woman.
Some people are veiled by rebellion to the One Who decreed rebellion,
and some people are veiled by obedience from the One Who decreed
obedience. Some people find obedience true by contentment with what
Wisdom 515
emerges from the presence of Allah, so they are not veiled to their Beloved
by the lights of obedience or by the darkness of rebellion. They are sincere
slaves of Allah in every state without fault – as the Imam of the Path, may
Allah be pleased with him and profit us by him, said:
Make us Your slaves in all states and teach us from You knowledge
by which we will become perfect in life and after death.
Know that whoever is described by one of the attributes of Allah, all crea-
tion flees from him and he remains alone. That is because Allah ta‘ala is
alone. Because of that, whoever is described by one of the attributes of Allah
in any state remains alone, and none of creation comes to him. Similarly,
whoever is described by one of the attributes of the slaves, all creation comes
to him and accepts him. Everything rejects the one described by Allah’s
attributes because he is described by the attribute of the people of shirk in
their opinion. We seek refuge with Allah! Because of that everything rejects
him. The one described by the attributes of the slaves enters the protection
of his Master. For this reason, everything gives him shelter.
O this world of Mine! Serve whoever serves Me
and tire whoever serves you. – Hadith.
Whoever is described by the attribute of slaveness serves his Master in
every state, so everything serves him. The one who is described by the at-
tribute of the Master serves himself – and it is his appetite in every case, so
everything flees from him. Here we are speaking about the people of the
veil who are by themselves, and not the people of eye-witnessing who are
by their Lord. The people of the veil are with the will of themselves, and
the people of eye-witnessing are with the will of their Lord. Their actions,
words, and will are opened by the actions of Allah, the words of Allah, and
the will of Allah. They are not with high or low. They are with what issues
to them from their Master. They do not choose a state, and they do not
prefer one state over another state. Things and their opposites are equal
with them: might and abasement, giving and withholding, expansion and
contraction, sweetness and bitterness, good and evil. May Allah provide us
with their love by His favour and ihsan, because whoever loves a people is
gathered with them. – Hadith.
The common find toil in the tajalli of the essence and they find rest in the
tajalli of the attributes. The elite are the reverse. They only find toil in the
516 The Sufic Path
tajalli of the attributes and they only find rest in the tajalli of the essence.
The elite of the elite find their rest the same in the two states – their rest
in the essence is like their rest in the attributes, and their rest in the at-
tributes is like their rest in the essence. That is because they see Allah in
all states. Because of that, states and their opposites are equal with them:
their majesty and beauty, celestial and terrestrial things, greatest and least,
sweetest and most bitter, highest and lowest. The food of honey and the
roots of the oleander are the same.
Use of power is use of gatheredness, as use of wisdom is use of separation.
The one of gatheredness says to the thing ‘“Be!” and it is’ by one-ness, and
the one of separation says to the thing ‘“Be!” and it is’, and it is by duality.
Use of wisdom is only with the common, and use of power is only with
the elite. Use of both of them together, by wisdom in its moment and by
power in its moment, is with the elite of the elite. Wisdom is His wisdom,
may He be exalted! He created His Adamic slave and gave it to him as a
gift from Him to him. Power is His power, may He be exalted! He made
it a privilege from Him, may He be exalted! He only gives use of it to His
slave whom He lets enter His presence, from the elite or from the elite of
the elite. As for the one whom He does not bring into the presence, from
the common, he has no portion in use of power. Use of wisdom is enough
for them. Wisdom is His wisdom, may He be exalted, and power is His
power. Glory be to the One Who made the common common and the
elite elite by wisdom and power.
Know that all creation speaks by the command of Allah ta‘ala to the thing,
‘“Be!” and it is’. However, sometimes they take things by the wisdom of
Allah ta‘ala, and sometimes by His power. Each of creation is helped by
Allah ta‘ala by the two of them, according to the height of his himma. There
are people who travel in this knowledge with knowledge and insight, and
some travel in it with ignorance, darkness and destruction. ‘Are they equal,
those who know and those who do not know?’ The one with gnosis is as
if he travels in the light of the sun of the forenoon, seeing what increases
and decreases. The one of ignorance is as if he travels in the dark night, and
does not know where to put his foot – whether it will hit a rock or fall.
Know that it is impossible to separate slaveness from freedom. Similarly,
freedom is not separated from slaveness. Speaking in this meaning refers
Wisdom 517
to three sorts of people: the freedom of the people of the station of anni-
hilation in Allah is in their inward, and their slaveness is in their outward.
This is the first group. The second group are the people of the station of
the beginning. They are the reverse of the first group. Their slaveness is in
their inward, and their freedom is in their outward. The third group are
the leaders of the common, and their slaveness is also in the inward, and
their freedom is in their outward. If you wish, you can say about the first
group that they are the people of the inward of the deen. If you wish, you
can say that the second group are the people of the outward of this world.
Part of the custom of Allah in existence is that existence confronts man
with what is in his heart. He said, may He be exalted:
He knows what good is in your hearts.
He will give you better.
The first group, the people of annihilation, confront existence with their
hearts filled with freedom, so existence confronts them with freedom as
they confront it. Therefore, they find the people of the earth and heavens,
whoever is in them to be free. For that reason, you find them rejected with
all creation. The people of the second group, the beginners in the path of
poverty, confront existence with their hearts filled with slaveness to Allah,
so existence confronts them with slaveness as they confront it. Therefore,
they find all the people of the earth to be their slaves.
O this world of Mine! Serve whoever serves Me,
and tire whoever serves you!’ – Hadith.
For that reason, you find them accepted with creation, even beasts, inani-
mates, plants, and animals – rather accepted with all existence. As for the
third group, they are the leaders of the common. They confront existence
with their hearts filled with slaveness to themselves, so existence confronts
them as their slave. However, that does not continue for them, because what
belongs to Allah goes-on and is joined, and what belongs to other-than-
Allah is cut off and separated. The first group, and they are the people of
the might of annihilation, have existence mighty over them, so that they
find no friend except for the Mighty, the Self-Exalted. Then their affair
moves them to the station which is after it. It is the station of the slaveness
of going-on. This rank is called the rank of prophetic inheritance. The one
with this station is the Khalif of Allah in His earth. His feet are on the
footsteps of the Prophets and the Messengers, peace be upon them. Nothing
518 The Sufic Path
rejects him and he does not reject anything. He speaks by the command of
Allah to the thing, ‘“Be!” and it is’. The one of the station of abasement in
the slaveness of beginners – i.e. the beginning of the quest for Allah – has
existence abased to him so that all existence is a slave to his command and
prohibition. When he continues in his quest and is safe from misfortune,
and nothing is impossible for him in his journey, he is moved to the station
which is after it. It is the station which we mentioned. When he acquires
it, all existence rejects him, as we described, as it served him – so that he
does not find any friend except his Master. As for the one of the slaveness
of the self among the leaders of the common, like the people of this world
and what is like them, existence serves him. Then they are cut off. That is
because they are slaves to the annihilated, and they are annihilated. Every
annihilated one is passing. The passing is connected to the passing. The
truth appears from them. All passes. He said, may He be exalted:
Say: ‘The truth has come and falsehood has departed.
Falsehood always departs.’
Know that as the people of Allah are travelling with no station, so the people
of creation are travelling with no station. However, the like of the people of
Allah and the people of creation in their striving is like the striving of the
bee and its occupation, and the striving of the hornet and its occupation.
Look at the result of the bee, and the result of the hornet. It is because the
Lord of light is the Lord of darkness. The slave of Allah is light and the
slave of creation is dark. As the one with light increases in his luminosity,
so the one of darkness increases in his darkness. As the one of light has no
stopping, the one of darkness has no stopping.
Know that when knowledge is accompanied by something of action, its
virtue has no limit, end, or containment. That is because it is the rank of
the elite from the elite. The people of election are divided into four groups:
the one of knowledge without action – and this one is idle, the one with
action without knowledge – and he is ignorant, the one of action accom-
panied by something of knowledge – and this is the beginner, and the
one of knowledge accompanied by something of action – and this is the
finished. If the first continues in his knowledge, it is hoped that knowledge
will move him to action, and his knowledge will not be transformed into
ignorance. If the one of action without knowledge continues in his action,
it is hoped that his action will be transformed into knowledge because part
Wisdom 519
of His custom, may He be exalted, is that He brings forth things from their
opposites. The one of action with some knowledge is nobler than the first
two groups because he grazes in the land of the elite. The one of knowledge
accompanied by something of action is among the people of stations and
states. That is the rank of the elite of the elite. May Allah provide us with
love of all and make us their slaves by His favour and ihsan!
Know also that the people of election are in six groups. The noblest of
them is the sixth group, because it is the rank of kingdom and being firm
by Allah. The first group are the people of outward knowledge. The second
group are the people of outward action. The third group are those who join
outward action and outward knowledge. The fourth group are the people
of inward knowledge. The fifth group are the people of inward action. The
sixth join inward knowledge and inward action. The sixth group are the
people who use the unseen in all the outward and command by the com-
mand of Allah, ‘If I say, “Be!” then it is.’
The sword of force and dominion is two swords: the sword of force from
above – and it is the sword of might, and the sword of lower force – and
it is the sword of abasement. They are the same in use before one of them
opens the other. The sword of abasement is in a pavilion. Its owner does
what he likes. ‘“Be!” and it is.’ The sword of might is also in a pavilion.
Its owner does what he likes. ‘“Be!” and it is.’ When they meet, and their
encounter is for good and they agree together on it, their good has no end.
The good of the lower is stronger than the good of the upper. When they
meet, and their encounter is for evil and they agree on it, their evil has no
end. The evil of the lower is stronger than the evil of the upper. When they
also meet, and the upper desires evil and the lower desires good, the good of
the lower overcomes the evil of the upper. When they meet and the lower
desires evil and the upper desires good, the evil of the lower overcomes the
good of the upper. I heard from Shaykh Sayyidi al-‘Arabi that he heard his
father, Sayyidi Muhammad ibn ‘Abdillah, may Allah profit us by them, say:
‘When a low wind and a high wind are joined in the same moment, the
lower wind overcomes in every case.’ He said, may the Speaker be exalted:
We desired to be kind to those that were abased in the
earth, and to make them leaders, and to make them
the inheritors, and to strengthen them in the earth.
520 The Sufic Path
The king of might takes it from the common, and the king of the sword
of abasement takes it from the elite. Had the king of might been stronger
than the king of abasement, the elite would not have left might to the
common and held to abasement. Look at the words of ash-Shadhili, may
Allah be pleased with him and may Allah profit us by him: ‘O Allah! You
have sentenced the people to abasement until they become mighty, and
You have sentenced them to loss until they find.’ May Allah make us enter
the company of these people whom Allah, glory be to Him, has sentenced
to abasement until they become mighty by His favour and ihsan, and may
He give us life and make us die in their love. Amin.
The common are those who are separated without gatheredness, and the
elite are those who are gathered after separation. The elite of the elite are
those who are separated after being gathered in all this. Gatheredness is
not separation and separation is not gatheredness.
The common always come to celestial realities by choice, and they only
come to terrestrial realities by force. The elite always come to the terrestrial
realities by choice, and they only come to the celestial realities by force. The
elite of the elite are always fixed with their hearts on what emerges from
Allah. They go in it without boredom or turning to other than it, celestial
or terrestrial. He said, may the Speaker be exalted:
Know that this world has two directions: a direction to nearness, and
a direction to distance. Whoever looks in it among creation from the
direction of nearness, loves it. Whoever looks at it from the direction of
distance, hates it. Whoever has the blessing of distance unveiled for him,
as the blessing of nearness is unveiled for him, its distance and nearness
are equal for this one. Ibn al-Farid, and others, said: ‘He arrived and was
parted from me.’ Similarly, the common people acquire the pleasure of
finding and do not acquire the pleasure of absence. The elite, may Allah be
pleased with them, acquire the pleasure of absence and do not acquire the
pleasure of finding. The elite of the elite acquire the pleasure of absence as
they acquire the pleasure of finding, until absence and finding become the
same for them with the same degree in all things, until they do not make
anything predominate its opposite.
Wisdom 521
Know that you possess majesty as a slave when its moment is true, as you
possess beauty when its moment is true. This analogy means outwardly. If
you want to see the wisdom of Allah in this meaning, whenever you con-
front it with beauty and it is not opened to you, then reverse the matter.
You will see a wonder. That is, transform your beauty into majesty. You will
see the secret of Allah clearly. Similarly, if you confront it with majesty and
it does not open to you, then transform your majesty into beauty. You will
win it, whether that which you confront is inanimate or man, king or slave.
The key of perfection in all matters is outward majesty in beginnings, i.e.
excellence in beginnings with yourself and with all creation – rather with
all existence, because beginnings are opposite ends. Whatever is majesty in
its beginning, is only beauty in its end, and the reverse. According to the
greatness of majesty in beginnings, beauty is great in the ends. Whoever has
a lofty beginning, has a lofty end. This meaning of majesty in the beginnings
only exists in two groups of people: the common and the elite of the elite.
As for the elite, they have no portion in it. The common desire it out of
ignorance and designate it by their words, not by their company, except after
battle. As for the elite of the elite, they desire it from knowledge, gnosis,
and far-reaching wisdom. As for the elite, they differ from that in the path.
It is outward beauty in the beginnings and only it is connected to them.
The reason for the difference in these three groups is that the elite of the
elite graze in the station of might, and the common indicate the station of
might and do not recognise it. However, when their selves come from the
presence of might before entering their bodies, the places remain by that
robe. It is the robe of might after entry. Then the adab of the shara‘i’ is not
preferred in it after entry. The selves overcome their people and rule them,
and the adab of the shara‘i’ misses them. They become common by their
ignorance and withdrawing into the contemplation of the creature from
the contemplation of the Creator. Their selves become more truthful than
them, because they are in the natural disposition in which Allah created
them. When they rule them, they only indicate the presence from which
the selves came. It is the presence of Allah, even if their bodies indicate the
presence of the false, and it is the created. Since the selves rule them, they
share with the elite of the elite in this station. However, ‘Are they equal,
those who know and those who do not know?’ The common are ignorant
by what is done to them. They are ruined in themselves from themselves
522 The Sufic Path
by themselves. They are different from the elite of the elite. They have
knowledge and act by their knowledge, recognising their nearness and their
contemplation in the presence of their Beloved. As for the elite, they have
no portion in might because they take on the adab of the abasement of
slaveness for themselves by the proofs of the shari‘a and its demonstration.
By this meaning, they rise above the common. The elite are in the low things
of the abasement to Allah. Because of that, they become elite. The elite
of the elite are in the high things of might by Allah. Because of that, they
become the elite of the elite. The common tread between that. Their selves
indicate might by sovereignty and their bodies indicate abasement. They
remain neither these nor those. For that reason, they are common. Glory
be to the One Who made the elite elite, and made the common common!
He chose from His creation the one He selected for the presence of might
and out-of-timeness. Glory be to the Wise, the Knowing!
Know that Allah ta‘ala gave His slave two provisions: a provision of arwah
– and it is meaning, and a provision of forms – and it is sensory. He, glory
be to Him, guaranteed them to His slave to find his means in them. Guar-
anteeing is a reality and means is shari‘a. The common are occupied with
means in sensory provision and searching for it, and they are not concerned
with provision of meaning, and do not recognise it and whether it exists
with them or is missing, because of the force of their turning away from it.
However, had they lacked provision of meaning, their arwah would have
been destroyed. The elite are occupied with means in provision of meaning
and searching for it. They are not concerned with sensory provision and do
not recognise whether it exists with them or not, because of the strength
of their turning away from it. However, had they lacked sensory provision,
their forms would have been destroyed. The elite of the elite seek means
in sensory provision and in provision of meaning. They are not with their
will in sensory provision or in provision of meaning. They are always with
the will of their Master, grazing always where the will of their Master puts
them, in the senses or in the meaning, without boredom or turning to
other-than-Him. It is as the speaker said:
I see myself as a tool and He moves me.
I am a pen, and Decree is the fingers.
The common are veiled from Allah by their will for sensory provision.
Wherever sensory provision is, there is the portion of the selves. They
Wisdom 523
are with themselves, and no more. The elite find Allah in their seeking of
provision of meaning, because provision of meaning is the right of Allah,
not the portion of the selves. Because of that, when they are for Allah,
Allah is theirs. The elite of the elite are not with their will in anything.
They are by Allah in all states, not by themselves. When they are by Allah,
the existence of existence is based on them. When they recognise Allah
without intermediaries, they are the intermediaries between existence and
the Creator of existence. They are the Khalifs. Their will is obliterated by
the will of Allah. Their will becomes His will, may He be exalted! Their
action becomes His action, may He be exalted! The command which Allah
commands is: ‘That I say “Be!” and it is.’ All is by the command of Allah.
He decrees by His power. This station is also called the station of firmness
in change. May Allah provide us with love of all by His favour and ihsan.
He has power over everything.

Whoever is in the heavens and the earth
only comes to the Merciful as a slave!
Slaveness is in four groups. The common are in two groups, and the elite
are in two groups. Among the elite are a group of the outward and a group
of the inward. Among the common are a group of the force and a group of
the will. Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, is the Outward and the Inward.
Part of the height of their value with Allah ta‘ala is that He related them
to this noble Name and honoured them by it. One group he related to His
Name the Outward, and one group He related to His Name the Inward.
Allah ta‘ala gives a tajalli to the people of the outward by His awe and im-
mensity. They are forced to His service and cling to His door. Allah ta‘ala
gives a tajalli to the people of the inward by the attribute of beauty and
love. Therefore their hearts are attached to Him and they wander with
love in the sea of His contemplation. They become drunk by the pleasure
of the wine of His nearness. As for the people of the outward, they are the
travellers, may Allah be pleased with them. They travel with the outward
and only take from the inward what the giver of the shari‘a, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, obliged them, since the outward is only set up
by the inward, even if it is something from it. The inward is only set up by
the outward, even if it is something from it. However, authority belongs
to the dominant. He said, may He be exalted:
524 The Sufic Path
You will not be able to be equitable.

The traveller and the majdhub all travel to Allah – however they differ by
the difference of names. The people of outward travelling travel by ascent,
and the people of inward attraction travel by descent. The end of the trav-
eller is the beginning of the majdhub, and the end of the majdhub is the
beginning of the traveller. He said, may He be exalted:
By this, it is understood that the riser and the descender have the same
goal. It is Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted. Travelling is to Him, but the
colours of travelling differ. For that reason, the rejection of the people of
the outward with the people of the inward is sound. The rejection of the
people of the inward is not sound for any of the people of the outward,
because the glance of the majdhub is more special than the glance of the
traveller. The traveller is a lover, and the majdhub is a beloved. In reality, all
of them are lovers, because all is from Him and to Him, glory be to Him
and may He be exalted!
The one of lowering, i.e. descent, must be quite pure and removed from
creation in his descent, with his words and deeds. As his actions are pure
above the actions of the common, so his words are pure above the words
of the common. Whoever is pure above them with his words without his
actions, it is like nothing. When he is pure above them with his actions
without his words, it is like nothing.
Those who turn are in three divisions: a high group which cannot descend
ever, a low group which cannot ever ascend, and a group which combine
the two states – sometimes high and sometimes low. The high does not veil
the low, and the low does not veil the high. This group is the best of them.
The author of the Hikam said: ‘Among them is the one whose intoxica-
tion overcomes his sobriety, and among them is the one whose sobriety
overcomes his intoxication, and the best of them is the one who drinks
and sobriety is increased, and who withdraws and presence is increased.’
Part of the sum of the attributes of the one with this third station is that
you find that he cannot remain in one state ever. Whenever you see him
in a state, its opposite follows it. As the one of high things cannot have
low things, and the one of low things cannot have high things, so the one
who joins them cannot remain in high or low. You do not see him in the
Wisdom 525
highest thing, but that you find him in the lowest thing. You do not see
him in the lowest thing but that you find him in the highest thing. You
do not see him in the highest thing, but that you find him in the lowest
thing. This is always his adab.
Know also that the perfect one among the strong is the one who moves
with the behaviour of the weak and lowers himself from the highest stage
to the lowest of the stages of the weak. He goes with them according to
their stages, since the parties profit from him. He helps the strong in the
highest of their stages, and he helps the weak in the lowest of their stages.
‘Speak to people according to what they understand.’ – Hadith.
The people of wayfaring do not differ with the people of attraction except
that the ‘ibada of the people of wayfaring is from behind the veil, while
there is no veil between the people of attraction and Allah, or from Him
to them or from them to Him.
The people of attraction are in two groups: a group of the people of com-
pulsory attraction, and a group of the people of attraction by choice. The
people of compulsory attraction have power opened to them by force and
closed to them by force when it wishes. Their wine rules them by its will,
not by their will. This compulsory attraction is the cause of its people’s
gnosis and it is without cause. The second group, and they are the people of
attraction by choice, open it by their hands out of choice and acquisition,
and they close it by their hands out of choice and acquisition. The seeker
only finds this attribute by the company of its people. The people of this
description rule their wine by their will, not by its will. What a difference
between the one who owns his wine and the one who is owned by it! The
one whose attraction is by force at the beginning, it is only by force in the
end. The one whose attraction is by choice in the beginning, it is only by
choice in the end, because beginnings are the place of the manifestation
of ends.
Attraction is in two divisions: the attraction of the common, and the
attraction of the elite. The attraction of the common is attraction which
grows in passion, yearning and love of the creature. The attraction of the
elite is the attraction which grows in passion, yearning and love of Allah,
the Blessed, the Great. The attraction of the elite of the elite is what gathers
526 The Sufic Path
the good of the two states: his outward is the attraction of the common,
and his inward is the attraction of the elite. They acquire the good of the
two presences: the presence of creation and the presence of the Creator.
This group is the noblest of them.
The people of the kingdom are those who are majdhub outwardly and in-
wardly. The people of the outward have those who are majdhub – and they
are their kings, as the people of the inward have people who are majdhub
– and they are their kings. Those who are majdhub in the common, and
they are the people of the outward, are the people of kingdom and leader-
ship. They obtain dominion over the common by attraction. Attraction
is coming out of the habits of the common. Had they not come out of the
attraction of the common, they would not have obtained dominion over
them. Those who are majdhub among the people of the elite, and they are
the people of the inward, are the people of divestment and kingdom and
leadership over the elite of people. They are the Salihun. Divestment in
election is leaving the habits of election. Had it not been that they left the
habits of the elite, they would not have acquired dominion over them. The
kings of the common are those who are majdhub of the common, and the
kings of the elite are those who are majdhub of the elite. The reality of
attraction is leaving habits. You must have a Shaykh to show you how to
travel it. Success is by Allah.
Know that the common people flee from the wayfarer and the people of
annihilation – i.e. the elite, reject him. The elite flee from the majdhub and
the common people reject him. The common people as well as the elite
flee from the wayfarer who is majdhub. When he does not reject anyone,
then it comes to the point where no one rejects him. The usage of Allah
flows in all of mankind, so His attribute returns to Him. A speaker said,
‘Their attribute will satisfy them that He is Wise, Knowing.’
Shaykh Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani said, may Allah give us profit by him:
Your self contains all the reality. I indicate with serious words.
I do not deceive. Enjoy it and recognise its reality.
There is nothing like its gnosis. That profits.
Realise and be true! You are a reality by your right,
and the creature gathers the essence.
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The selves of the common people are imprisoned, since they contain a part
of the reality – i.e. they own something of it and they miss something. This
is the reason for the veil. The elite have left their prison and have torn their
veils, and their eyes are cool since their selves contain the reality. Their
selves are free in all their worlds, so they are free of chains. They are free,
wherever they wish, from the highest of ‘Illiyun to the lowest of the low.
Whoever acquires this description, takes his portion of his Khalifate, i.e.
the Khalifate of Adam. Whoever does not acquire any of these attributes
does not reach the rank of the Khalifate, and he is the slave of the Khalifate
by necessity. As for the slaveness of the Khalifate by choice and love, it is
the key of these ranks which were mentioned. What is above them is the
key of all good.
The people of the outward turn to seek election by action, so they obtain it
by the name. By that, they acquire action in the unseen of all the outward
of existence. They have no portion in the inward. The people of the inward
turn to seeking election by speech. They obtain it by action. By that, they
obtain action in the unseen of all existence, and they have no portion in the
outward. The people of joining the outward and the inward turn to elec-
tion by the name and action. So they obtain election in name and action.
They acquire acting by speech and action, knowledge and deed. They use
existence, outward and inward, unseen and present, celestial and terrestrial.
May Allah provide us with love of all and make us among those who travel
on their road by His favour. Amin.
Part of that also is that Allah ta‘ala created man and made him a copy of
existence, and He made existence a copy of man. Part of the sum of that on
which existence is based is ruin and rightness. These two realities are among
the realities of existence. Whenever you betray one of them, you betray
existence. Ruin is only based on rightness, and rightness is only based on
ruin. As Allah ta‘ala placed them in existence by His wisdom, and it only
exists by them, so He, the Great, the Exalted, placed them in man, and his
essence and life is by them. Had one of them been removed from the essence
of man, man would have been invalidated, dissolved, and vanished. Part of
His wisdom, may He be exalted, is that He made the essences of creation
different. Among people is the one whose ruin He placed outwardly and
rightness inwardly. Among them is the one whose ruin He placed inwardly
528 The Sufic Path
and rightness outwardly. All of that is in the very limit of perfection. Among
people is also the one who is ruin outwardly and rightness inwardly, and
then by the wisdom of Allah ta‘ala he is overturned, and there is rightness
outwardly and ruin inwardly. That is quicker than the blink of an eye
with Allah. Among people is also the one who is the reverse – rightness
outwardly and ruin inwardly. By His wisdom, Allah overturns him quicker
than the blink of an eye, and there is rightness inwardly and ruin outwardly.
All that is part of the perfection of power, so that you might know that
Allah has power over everything, and that Allah encompasses everything
in knowledge. By this meaning, there is an indication of travelling in the
knowledge of the selves, because whoever recognises himself, recognises
his Lord. By this indication, you also acquire recognition of the distinction
between the people of divestment and the people of means. As for means,
it is whoever has his rightness put in his outward and his ruin put in his
inward by Allah ta‘ala. The people of divestment are those whose rightness
Allah ta‘ala has put in their hearts and ruin in their outward. All is good.
Wisdom is in the consciousness, and success is by Allah.
Know that creation has three stations. Each station is in a stage, or they
have a station – the station of the elite Muslims, the station of the common
Muslims, and the station of the people of shirk. May Allah protect us from
it! In these stations are contained the states of the son of Adam. The station
of kufr has two groups: the people of kufr of words, and the people of kufr
of actions. The people of kufr of words are the hypocrites, and the people
of kufr of actions are the Jews and Christians. The people of the station
of Islam, may Allah be pleased with them, are divided into two groups: a
group of the people of words, and a group of the people of actions. The
group of the people of words are the rebels, and a group have words and
actions joined in them. They are the true Muslims, may Allah be pleased
with them. As for the people of the station of election, they are divided
into two groups: a group of the people of the outward, and a group of the
people of the inward. The people of the outward are the people of words
and actions, and the people of the inward are the people of words – and they
are the people of deeds. One hopes for each of the people of these stations
that he will have what preceded in before-endless-time. Your Lord finished
with the four He created. He created and provided and determined a term.
This is the judgement of reality. The shari‘a and its rules are organised in
Wisdom 529
it. The shari‘a is from the source of the reality, and the reality is from the
source of the shari‘a. Both of them are attributes of the Lord. Allah ta‘ala
is described by power and wisdom.
Allah is manifest to all Muslims and hidden to all the Kafirun. However,
the stations of the Muslims differ in the tajalliyat of the manifestation. He
appears to the common by proof and exposition in the station of Islam. He
appears to the elite by certainty in the secret and being public in the station
of Iman. He appears to the elite of the elite by seeing and eye-witnessing
in the station of Ihsan.
Part of the counsel of the Shaykh to me, may Allah profit us by him, is
imitating and sharing with the great and behaving correctly with them: the
great of the people of this world, the great of the people of the deen, the
great of the people of words, the great of the people of deeds, the great of
the people of Allah, and the great of the people of creation. This is because
all belongs to Allah and is by Allah.
Whoever does not have any one of four qualities does not have sound
gnosis – either he is of the people of knowledge, or the people of action,
or the people of discipline, or the people of this world.
All creation and their realities are divided into four groups. Man must be
in one of them. The first group are the people of the reality of the inward.
They are the people of Allah who are by Him. The second group are the
people of a reality called the shari‘a of the inward. This group is prepared to
follow the first group. The third group are the people of the reality of the
outward. They are the leaders of the moment in the outward. As the inward
is based on the group which we mentioned first, so the outward is based on
this group. The fourth group are the people of a reality called the shari‘a of
the outward. The people of this rank are lower than what was above it. All
of them are realities. Each of these four realities has people particular to it,
near to it. Their Master has prepared them for it, and He has prepared it
for them. He has established them in it and by it, and He has established
it by them in them. He said, may He be exalted: ‘Each party rejoices in
what they have.’ This is part of the perfection of His workmanship, may
He be exalted! Glory be to the One Who gave every heart what occupies
it. Existence is based on this and it is put in order by it. Glory be to the
530 The Sufic Path
One Who gave everything what it wants. Your Lord has finished with the
four which He created. He created, provided, and set a term. The gnostic
of Allah is the one whose adab with his Master is perfected. His sign is that
he goes with each of these four groups as he travels in its land. He does
not reject any of the states of these four. He confirms each in his state and
encourages him and travels with him in his states, so that he attracts him
to the presence of the Master, like the thief. You only find this quality in
the perfect gnostics of Allah. He treats by that which is the disease, because
this noble attribute is one of the attributes of the Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace. It is related that a man was with the Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, i.e. one of his Companions. He said,
‘I kept the company of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, for such-and-such years, and he did not say about a matter, “I did
it. Why did I do it?” and he did not say, “I did not do it. Why did I not do
it?”’ This is part of the perfection of his forbearance, gnosis, and kindness,
because he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the Imam of the
gnostics and the Qutb of the zahids. He is the spring of the sea of secrets.
The Salihun are leaks from the leaks of the sea of his lights, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, and his family, companions, wives, and children,
as long as winds blow and trees move.
Know that people have three ranks: the heedless who is completely ab-
sorbed in his heedlessness. The circle of his senses is strong, and the presence
of his purity is obliterated, so that he sees ihsan from the side of creatures
and does not see it from the Lord of the worlds, either by belief – so that
he associates with Him openly, or by reliance – so that he associates with
Him in a hidden way. The one of the reality has withdrawn from creation
by the contemplation of the King, the Real. He is annihilated from means
by the contemplation of the Maker of means. This is the slave who turns by
the reality, with its radiance appearing in him. He travels on the path. Its
scope has taken possession of him, although he is drowned in the lights,
and his traces are obliterated. His intoxication has overcome his sobriety,
and his gatheredness has overcome his separation. His annihilation has
overcome his going-on. His withdrawal has overcome his presence. More
perfect than him is the slave who drinks – and it increases him in sobriety,
and who withdraws – and it increases him in presence. His gatheredness
does not veil him to his separation, and his separation does not veil him
Wisdom 531
to his gatheredness. His annihilation does not bar him from his going-on,
and his going-on does not bar him to his annihilation. He gives to everyone
with a portion his portion, and he gives everyone with a due his full due.
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, said to ‘A’isha, may
Allah be pleased with her, when her innocence from the lie came down on
the tongue of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, ‘‘A’isha! Thank the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace.’ She said, ‘By Allah! I will only thank Allah ta‘ala.’ Abu
Bakr showed her the most perfect station, the station of going-on, requiring
affirmation of effects. Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, said, ‘Thank Me and
thank your parents.’ He said, may the blessings of Allah and His peace be
upon him, ‘Whoever does not thank people, does not thank Allah.’ She,
may Allah be pleased with her, in that moment was too overcome to see it.
She was withdrawn from effect, so she only saw the One, the Conqueror.
Know that the people of witnessing are in three groups: one group sees the
action from themselves – and this is the rank of the common, one group
sees that the action belongs to power – and this is the rank of iman in the
Unseen, and the other group sees that the action belongs to the Powerful
and is from Him to Him, and there is only Him – and that is the rank of
the people of Allah who are absorbed in witnessing their Master. When
they speak, they speak by their Master to their Master, no other. When they
look, they look by their Master at their Master, no other. When they hear,
they hear by their Master for their Master, no other. When they move, they
move by their Master for their Master, no other. Defects fall away – and
only the Self-Exalted remains. The people of the first station are veiled by
themselves from their creation. The people of the second station are veiled
by power from the Powerful. The people of the third station are annihi-
lated from other-than-Him, even themselves. They only see Him, even in
themselves. Impurities are stopped, the veils have departed, and the knots
are unravelled. Only the One, the Self-Exalted, remains.
Know that the kingdom has three divisions: the kingdom of the people of
this world is fear and awe, the kingdom of the people of the Next World is
yearning and love, and the kingdom of the people of Allah is between the
kaf and the nun. They speak of Allah’s command to the thing, ‘“Be!” and it
is.’ The kingdom of the people of this world is by creation, for creation, and
532 The Sufic Path
with creation. The kingdom of the people of the Next World is by creation
for Allah. The kingdom of the people of Allah is by Allah, for Allah, and in
Allah. ‘Whoever intends something, his hijra is to what he did hijra for.’
People are in three groups: The first group are the people of this world.
The second group are the people of the Next World. The third group are
the people of Allah. The people of this world are those who are occupied
with dinars and dirhams and distracted from all else. The people of the
Next World are those who are occupied with striving in ‘ibada, distracted
from everything else. The people of Allah are those who are distracted
from everything for Allah, divested of this world of theirs and divested of
the Next World – even divested of themselves, their intellects, their body,
their lineage, their management and their choice. They are divested of all
creatures. No occupation distracts them from Allah. They do not find
anything in their possessions firmer than contemplation of Allah. In that,
they become free kings. As one of them said, ‘The slave of the dinar and
the slave of the Next World are hirelings. The slave of Allah is a prince.’
The poet said:
My heart had separate passions, so I sought to gather them,
since the eye saw You are the source.
The one I used to envy began to envy me,
and I became the master of mankind
when You became my Master.
I left the people their deen and this world. I was
occupied with You, O my deen and O this world of mine!
Know, my brother, that people are in three divisions: people who are
distracted from the Creator of this world by this world, people who are
distracted from the Creator of the Next World by the Next World, and
people who are not distracted from the Beloved of this world by the Next
World. Allah created the seven heavens and whoever is in them for their
sake. Allah created the earths and whoever is in them for their sake. Allah
created Adam for their sake. Had it not been for them, He would not have
created him. Allah created the Garden and the Fire for their sake. Had it
not been for them, Allah would not have created them. Allah created the
Throne for their sake. Had it not been for them, He would not have created
it. Allah created the jinn, men and angels for their sake. Had it not been for
them, He would not have created them. Allah created the sun, the moon
Wisdom 533
and the stars for their sake. Had it not been for them, He would not have
created them. Allah created the sea, rivers, fish, beasts and cattle for their
sake. Had it not been for them, He would not have created them. Allah cre-
ated a hundred mercies for their sake. Had it not been for them, He would
not have created them. They are the lovers of Allah and His pure ones, the
people of Allah and His party, His awliya, and they are the people of His
presence and those who sit with Him. It is as al-Husayri said:
All of them cling to the Messenger of Allah
and scoop up a handful from the sea,
or drink from the continuous rain.
Had it not been for our beloved Muhammad, these people would not have
existed. Our beloved and master, Muhammad, is the sea and they are spills
from it. From the light of our master, Muhammad, the hearts of the gnostics
were illuminated. Had it not been for our beloved and master, Muhammad,
none of them would have recognised the Lord of the worlds. He is the life
of the arwah, and he cures the heart. He is the light of the eyes, and he
is the one who removes cares. He is the sought-after intercessor for the
people of wrong actions.
The related to Allah are in two groups: one group is called the people of
obligation, and another group is called the people of lacking obligation.
Whoever emerges from the group of the people of obligation only finds
himself with the group of the people of lack of obligation. Similarly, who-
ever emerges from the people of lack of obligation, only finds himself in
the people of obligation. Leaving obligation for lack of obligation with the
people of obligation is obligation. There is no way to leave obligation for
lack of obligation except by the company of the people of lack of obliga-
tion, as there is no way to enter obligation except by the company of the
people of obligation. Lack of obligation is rest and joy, as obligation is
wretchedness and toil.
Those related to Allah are in two groups: a group called the poor in Allah,
and another group called the rich by Allah. These two groups are the people
of Allah. They are opposites to each other. All that is appropriate for the
poor is not appropriate for the rich, and all that is appropriate for the rich
is not appropriate for the poor. The people of each station have a statement.
Because of that, nothing harms the poor of Allah like management and
534 The Sufic Path
choice, and nothing benefits them like lack of management and choice.
The rich in Allah are the reverse. Nothing benefits them like management
and choice. Nothing harms the poor in Allah like manifestation, and noth-
ing benefits them like concealment. Nothing benefits the rich by Allah
like manifestation, and nothing harms them like concealment. Nothing
harms the poor in Allah like expansion, and nothing benefits them like
contraction. Nothing benefits the rich by Allah like expansion, and noth-
ing harms them like contraction. Nothing harms the poor in Allah like
being occupied with creation, and nothing benefits them like occupation
with themselves. Nothing harms the rich in Allah like occupation with
themselves, and nothing benefits them like occupation with creation. This
is to what has no end. The result is that whatever is appropriate to these is
not appropriate for those, and vice versa. Glory be to the One Who made
all existence based between opposites. Blessings with one people become
afflictions with another people. The afflictions of one people are the good
things of another people. We say about the poor that this is appropriate
to the poor, since it dominates their states. However, what is appropriate
is only set up by what is not appropriate. However, authority belongs to
the dominant. Similarly, what we have said about this being appropriate to
the rich means that it dominates their states, although what is appropriate
to them is what is only appropriate to them or other than them by what is
not appropriate. However authority belongs to the dominant. The sunna of
Allah ta‘ala has passed that existence and what is in it is only set up between
opposites. However, authority belongs to the one of the two opposites
over the other in the moment. That which has authority dominates in the
moment in every case.
Know that people are in two groups: common and elite. The common see
the action from the creature, and the elite see the action from Allah. The
end of the elite of the elite is that they see only Allah in existence. Had
they been obliged to see other-than-Him, they would not have been able
to do that. By the gatheredness of their secret on their Master, things and
their opposites are equal with them: their sweetness and bitterness, their
good and evil. The first sees his action by himself. His affair is not set up.
The second sees his action by his Lord. This action of his turns to increase,
because the matter is traced to its people since he recognises that Allah
ta‘ala is concerned about him for those actions. He becomes grateful for
Wisdom 535
this and is not cut off. The third only sees his Master in movements and
in stillness. He takes by His word, may He be exalted: ‘Say: “Allah!” and
then leave them playing in their game of plunging.’ This one is absorbed
in the contemplation of his Master. Allah was and nothing was with Him.
The nearness of the common to Allah is in respect to their actions, and
their distance is in respect to their himma, and their distance from Him
is in respect to their action. The distance of the elite of the elite is in their
nearness, and their nearness is in their distance. Their gatheredness is in
their separation, and their separation is in their gatheredness. Their annihi-
lation is in their going-on, and their going-on is in their annihilation. The
matter is the same with them in states and in their opposites, may Allah
be pleased with all of them!
Know that the kingdom is in three divisions: the king of the human earth,
the ruhani kingdom of the heaven, and the kingdom of the throne of the
Malakut. The kingdom of the earth is the common kingdom, and the
kingdom of the heaven is the kingdom of the elite – who are the people of
wayfaring, and the kingdom of the Throne is the kingdom of the elite of
the elite – who are the people of attraction with wayfaring. The jurisdiction
of each is that the people of the kingdom of the earth rule only the earth,
and the people of the kingdom of the heaven rule the people of the heaven
and earth, and the people of the kingdom of the Throne are the Khalifs of
Allah. Their command is His command, and their action is His action. All
has His abundance, may He be exalted, and He is Rich above the worlds!
All people are common people who seek arrival. Elite people seek contem-
plation. Arrival is majestic and witnessing is beautiful. The likeness of the
one of arrival with the one of contemplation is like two men who love two
women. One of them takes his beloved, marries her and never leaves her
night or day. This is the one of witnessing. The other one seeks his beloved
and obtains her for a night. He satisfies his desire for her in that night and
then parts from her. The arrival of that night does not increase him except
in passion, yearning, sorrow, and punishment. This is the one of arrival.
Know that the common say, ‘We are the people of the outward. It is: “There
is no god but Him.”’ The elite say, ‘We, and it is: “We have no strength nor
536 The Sufic Path
power except by Him.”’ The elite of the elite say, ‘It is we and we, and it is:
“There is no blessing except Him, and nothing exists except Him. Allah
was, and there was nothing with Him, and He has now what He had.”’
They say this when the Beloved gives them a tajalli by contemplation and
eye-witnessing, until their hearts are filled with the light of iman. In that,
they are veiled from the existence of phenomenal beings, and they only
find the King, the Judge, in existence, because whoever sees Allah is veiled
from himself. Whoever sees himself is veiled from Allah.
Know that the common are lights emerging from the inner to the outward,
and from firstness to lastness. The elite are lights emerging from the outward
to the inward, and from lastness to firstness. He said, may He be exalted:
He is the First and the Last,
the Outward and the Inward.
All is by Him, with Him, from Him, to Him.
The elite are dead-alive, and the common are alive-dead. As the speaker said,
‘Had Allah removed the cover, I would not have been increased in certainty.’
There is also no question which is related to the Unseen but that it is
stronger, better, more useful, more pleasant, and wider than a question
which is related to what the eyes see in norms, i.e. ‘ibada of the deen of this
world. For that reason, the common and the elite appear, because the com-
mon go with what is seen outwardly, and the elite go with what is hidden
in the unseen of the Merciful. The common take by outward acquisition,
and the elite take by the hearts and the cores. He prepared the common for
His service, and He prepared the elite for His love. Glory be to the One
Who helps these with what He helps them, and Who chooses these and
brings them near. He conquers these by His awe and force, and He makes
these others enter His presence and assembly. Glory be to the One Who
divided and was just, and was generous, noble, and kind. Glory be to the
One Who will question the slave about what he did and is not questioned
about what He does. Glory be to the Wise, the Knowing. Glory be to the
Great, the Immense.
There is no distinction between the common and the elite except that the
elite are the slaves of Allah who possess existence by Allah, so that existence
is their slave. They use it as they like. The common are the reverse. They are
Wisdom 537
the slaves of existence. Existence owns them, so that existence is their king.
It uses them as it likes. May Allah have mercy on Ibn al-Farid when he said:
You are slain by what you love,
so look at yourself in passion and at whom you choose. Do not look at
the slaveness of phenomenal beings. Look at the slaveness of the Maker
of being and reflect!
There is also the rivalry of the common, and the rivalry of the elite. The
common contend with each other – each of them says to his companion by
the tongue of state and the tongue of speech, ‘I am better than you, and I
am your master and greater than you.’ That is because their selves are alive.
By that, they become common. The rivalry of the elite is different than this.
It is that each of them says to his companion on the tongue of state or the
tongue of speech, ‘You are better than me, and you are my master and I
am your slave.’ That is because their selves are dead. By that, they become
elite. The life of the self is only with the death of the heart, and the life of
the heart is only with the death of the self. It is as it is said, ‘Love is a bride,
and its bed is the selves.’ The hearts only come to life by the death of the
selves. When the common crowd around might, all of them become slaves,
and slaveness is abasement itself. When the elite crowd around abasement,
all of them become free masters. Freedom is might itself. The common
plant might by choice, and it bears them the fruit of abasement by force.
The elite plant abasement by choice, and it bears them the fruit of might
by force. The custom of Allah in His creation is that whomever you make
yourself mighty over, he makes himself mighty over you. Whomever you
abase yourself to, he abases himself to you, be he king or slave, mighty or
lowly, among the best of creation or their worst.
Know that the one of election only enters the land of the common with one
of its people, seeking his protection, because it is not his land. If he were
to enter it without a protector, he could only enter it abased, hiding from
its people, by night. They would think his entering it without protection
would be as if he were a thief. Shaykh Ahmad al-Yamani, may Allah give
us benefit from him, was among those who used to enter the land of the
common taking a protector. His protector was with him and never left him,
because the country is kind to its occupant as a man is tender to a child. It
rejects whoever is not among its people as a man rejects one who is not his
538 The Sufic Path
child. There is no doubt that whoever enters the country with one of its
people is like one who enters it with good. He does not fear destruction.
The common are the people who bear discomfort. The elite are the people
of rest from discomfort. The elite of the elite sometimes bear discomfort
and sometimes do not bear discomfort. The common are veiled by occu-
pation with discomfort from the Creator of discomfort, and the elite are
veiled by occupation with the Creator of discomfort from discomfort and
from the people of discomfort. The elite of the elite are not veiled by their
occupation with discomfort from the Creator of discomfort, as they are
not veiled by occupation with the Creator of discomfort from occupation
with discomfort.
The common are the common of the Muslims, preoccupied in things and
their opposites by ignorance and lack of gnosis. The elite are those who
stop with what the shari‘a has limited them - may Allah bless them and
grant them peace. They make the halal halal, and do it, and they make the
haram haram, and avoid it and leave it. The elite of the elite are those with
whom things and their opposites are equal because of knowledge. Their
himma does not stop with anything except their Master, ever. All their
words and deeds are by Allah, for Allah, and from Allah. They never see
other-than-Him.
The common withdraw in seeking the appetites of the self, and the elite
withdraw in seeking good to attract it, and in seeking evil to repel it. The
elite of the elite withdraw in their Master, so that they do not see other-than-
Him. All phenomenal beings become veiled to them, even themselves. That
is when the suns of gnosis shine on them with the lights of eye-witnessing
– may Allah profit us with their dhikr and provide us with their love! Amin.
With the common, all that is beautiful is accepted, and all that is ugly is
objectionable. With the elite, whatever joins them to Allah is accepted –
even if it appears to people that it is objectionable, and all that distracts
them from Allah is objectionable – even if it appears acceptable to people.
With the elite of the elite, all that exists is accepted, and not objectionable.
That is because they recognise Allah in every state. So they do not reject
Him in any state.
Wisdom 539
Know that the manifestation of the one of this world is not complete, and
his value and honour is not distinguished from others, until he finds the
people of his art – just as the manifestation of the one of the Next World is
not complete, and his value and honour is not distinguished from others,
until he finds the people of his art. In the same way, the might of every one
with his art is not obtained until he finds the people of his art.
If I find the people of my love, they will teach me
the amount of a camel under my hood.
But if I find the people of other than my love, they
will teach me nothing in exchange for my goatskin.
O my brothers! Take care and do not deny the virtue of the common. Allah
only opened the door to me by the hands of a common ignorant man among
the common Muslims. Days came to him in which he kept the company
of one of the gnostics. Then by chance I came together with that common
man without intending it. At that moment, I was standing close to the
door, knocking on it night and day, morning and evening. When Allah
wanted to open it to me, I came together with that common man near to
the door. He had a key in his hand, and he did not know what the door
was, nor what the key was. Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, inspired me to
him, so I extended my hand to him to inform him that I would bring him
into relationship with the door. ‘Will you open it or not?’ That common
man gave it to me. He abandoned it and did not recognise its value. So I
took the key to the door and the door opened. I entered immediately. The
beginning of my day was with the common, and the end of it was with the
elite. When I entered, I prostrated and said, ‘Praise be to Allah Who has
removed sorrow from us. Our Lord is Forgiving, Thankful.’ The gift belongs
to Allah and His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as
well as the root of all of that. I used to visit Shaykh Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam
ibn Mashish a lot, may Allah give us the benefit of him and his likes! This
door which he mentioned is the door of annihilation. The one who enters
it, cannot avoid it – nor can we deny the virtue of the teacher who taught
us after entering, may Allah repay him with good from us! May Allah, the
Blessed and the Exalted, join us with him after entering! Part of what the
Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, said to me is: ‘My son! The sin-
gular one is between the one who confines himself in the reality and lives
constantly in restraint, and the one who is wide to his self in the reality and
540 The Sufic Path
lives constantly in wideness.’ There is an immense separation between the

two. Only the wise gnostics recognise it. Being wide in the reality demands
the same of those who turn in the senses and the meaning. The one who
confines himself in reality also does so in the senses or the meaning. He is
narrow to himself and lives in narrowness – they are those with a hard life.
Whoever is wide to himself, it is wide to him – and he lives in wideness,
good health, and a life of comfort.
Allah has provided for the slave according to his himma. – Hadith. Because
of that, Allah ta‘ala helps every party of His creation by what it seeks. He
helps whoever seeks the Name with the Name, and He helps whoever seeks
the attributes with the attributes, and He helps whoever seeks the essence
with the essence. The substance of each is according to their himma. Strong
substance is according to its strength, and weak substance is according to its
weakness. The people of the Name seek the Name by the Name, so Allah
helps them by the Name – just as with the common Muslims, the people
of the attributes who seek the attributes by the attributes, Allah ta‘ala helps
them by the attributes. It is the same with the elite of the Muslims and the
people of the essence who seek the essence by the essence – Allah helps
them with the essence. It is like that with the elite of the elite, may Allah
give us the profit of all! As for the one with the Name, he has a reward
as long as he continues to carry it, until he stops. Its sign is sometimes in
harshness and sometimes in comfort. The seeker of the attributes stands
with power, his eye fixed. Whatever emerges from it, he does not think
that he has any value. By it, he does not mean that this station of his is the
station of gratitude. The grateful one never stops. His sign is returning to
Allah in good times and bad times. The seeker of the essence only sees Allah
in existence. He withdraws from phenomenal beings in the Maker. He is
absorbed in witnessing his Master. Nothing except his Master occurs to his
heart, and his eye does not see and his ear does not hear anything except
Him. His hope and fear are equal. His sign is that all things are alike with
him. He does not distinguish between things and their opposites: sweetness
and bitterness, the enemy and the lover, giving and withholding, evil and
goodness, high and low, and so on, to what has no end. We ask Allah ta‘ala
by the rank of these awliya with Him to give us a portion with them by His
favour and ihsan! He has power over everything. It is as one of the gnostics
said, ‘Whoever reaches the reality of Islam cannot cease to act. Whoever
Wisdom 541
reaches the reality of iman cannot turn to action. Whoever reaches the
reality of ihsan cannot turn to what is other-than-Allah.’
Also, if you are imperfect from every aspect while you are with your Mas-
ter, know that you are perfect from every aspect. If you are perfect from
every aspect while you are with other-than-Allah, then know that you
are imperfect from every aspect, because imperfection with the people of
perfection is perfection, and perfection with the people of imperfection
is imperfection. It is as one of the kings said, ‘By Allah, had you known
what is in us of forbearance, you would have come near us with crimes.’
Know that part of what occurred to me in my journey is that a certain
state came to me, so the attributes of Allah, may His praise be exalted, ap-
peared in tajalli in myself, and in all creatures. I began to love myself and
to love all creation. Whoever I saw, man or woman, old man or child, I
loved him until some made me wander feeble-minded with wrong-doing
and zandaqa. They did not leave me what I had. They weighed me by what
was in their inward. I also began to love animals, rivers, trees, birds, the
sky and its stars, and the earth and its stones. Whenever I saw a human or
inanimate of creation, I loved him and beset him until creation did not
complain that I did wrong because of the force of entreaty and passion.
I began to love whoever loved me, and I loved whoever did not love me,
and whoever recognised me, and whoever did not recognise me, because
I saw that my essence contained existence, high and low, and all creation
was part of me. It was like my limbs and extremities. My love of them ap-
peared to me to be only love of my essence and attributes. I did not speak
of anything of that. However, witnessing of my states was information. That
was recognised and not hidden. Whoever did not recognise, thought that
I was a lover or a wrongdoer.
Beware! Be sought with creation, and do not be a seeker, because creation
is so formed that they abandon whoever seeks them, and they seek whoever
abandons them. There is none that you seek except for your Master and
then He seeks you more. The custom of Allah has preceded that whoever
seeks something does not obtain it until he spends himself and his prop-
erty on it. Oh the loss of the one who spends himself and his property in
seeking loss. It is creation. Oh the profit of the one who spends himself in
seeking the One Who will increase it for him many times over. It is Allah,
542 The Sufic Path
the Blessed, the Exalted! Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, said on the tongue
of His Prophet, the Truthful, the Confirmed:
Whoever draws near Me a hand-span, I draw near him an arm’s
length. Whoever draws near Me an arm’s length, I draw near him
two arms’ lengths.
Your nearness to Him is according to your zuhd in this world and the Next.
It is like the story of the Shaykh to whom this world appeared in tajalli. He
turned from it while it was in the best shape. He turned from it, and then
the Next World appeared to him in tajalli in a form which did not resemble
the form of this world. It was greater, and yet greater, than it. He turned
from it. Then there was a call to him, ‘O so-and-so! Had you stopped with
the first, We would have veiled you – i.e. prevented you, from the second.
Had you stopped with the second, We would have prevented you from Us.
Now you have them both and Our Face.’
Whenever you leave matters to their Master to dispose of as He wishes, He,
glory be to Him, dispatches them to you, and he enables you to be in their
moment, and commands them to be in your command, and forbids you to
act in them as you wish so that there is only what you want of them. When-
ever you undertake matters and desire them to be under your command
and prohibition, your Master returns you to them and makes them pos-
sible in your time. Affairs serve you and are owned by you, so you become
their servant and are owned by them. They do what they want with you.
What a difference between the owner and the owned! The reason for your
slaveness to existence is the love of existence’s slaveness to you – while you
and existence are slaves of Allah. The reason for the slaveness of existence
to you is your slaveness to Allah. Oh this world and the Next! Whoever
serves me and follows me, serves you. – Hadith.
Know that Allah, the Great, the Exalted, bestowed the greatest great Name
of Allah in man on him over all He created. Most of the wise gnostics of
Allah who know the rules of knowledge of the self go to Allah ta‘ala. He
gave this noble Name in man which is written by the pen of power to him in
turning. Because of that, turning is a request which is not rejected. He said,
may He be exalted: ‘He will give you all you ask Him.’ The real asking is
asking by action. As for asking by words, it is sound if action accompanies it.
This is different from the asking of action. It is sound whether or not speech
Wisdom 543
accompanies it. However, speech is like the blossom. One hopes for fruit,
and because of that it is accepted and not rejected. As the speaker said:
However, the secret of Allah is in the sincerity of the quest.
How many a one is thrown into wonder by its companions!
Sincerity in the quest is action by sincere words. Action is turning by the
essence. There is no striving in what the tongue seeks.
In the Name of Allah. As Allah wills. There is no power except by Allah.
Know that we are a people who do not seek anything except Allah, because
the seeker of blessing is veiled by it to the Blesser, and the seeker of the
gift of generosity is veiled by it from the Generous, because all these goals
are among the portions of the self. The seeker of the portions of the self is
haram with us in the school of the people of this Path. It is as one of them
said, ‘Seek uprightness and do not seek the generous gift, because the seeker
of uprightness is drawn to perfection, and the seeker of the generous gift
is drawn to error.’ Seeking the generous gift distracts you from Allah by
the portion of yourself. It is bad adab with Him. The reality of this Path is
adab with Allah. Bad adab is not among the qualities of the people of the
presence. As the sublime presence is purified, free of imperfections, so its
people are purified inwardly and outwardly from blameworthy attributes.
Only the purified touch it.
They have no will except what Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, wills. They
only want what their Beloved wants. Had He cast them into the punish-
ment of al-Jahim, it would have been more beloved to them than anything.
The generous gift has manifestation in it to creation, by seeing the virtue
of other than them and drawing creation to them. This is the head of trials
and temptations. As he said, ‘The aversion of creation gathers all good in
it.’ It is as Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said:
Your turning to creation is your turning from Allah.
The one of this Path is not concerned with turning to creation or turning
from them. All is the same with him. He does not turn to manifestation
or to concealment. It is as one of them said: ‘Whoever is a slave of mani-
festation is a slave of manifestation. Whoever is a slave of concealment is
a slave of concealment. For the slave of Allah, it is the same whether He
manifests it or conceals it.’
544 The Sufic Path
Know that you do not do good with the people of this world but that
you are prepared for the words of evil with which they will repay you for
it. You do not do evil with them, but that you prepare for the good with
which they will repay you for it. The custom of Allah ta‘ala has preceded.
In the common of His creation, you do not do good with them but that
they repay you with evil, and you do not do evil with them but that they
repay you with good. The right way is to turn from them so that you do
neither good nor evil with them, and you are only occupied with your
Master, because your turning to them for good or evil is turning from your
Master. He said in the Hikam:
Your turning to creatures is your turning from Allah
because creatures do not need your good or evil.
Leave creation for the One Who created them, even yourself, and be oc-
cupied with Him. That is the source of rescue and success. The reality of
this matter is that all that distracts you from your Master is an idol, because
occupation with creation without the Creator is hidden shirk. He said,
may He be exalted:
I only created the jinn and men to worship Me.
I do not desire provision from them
and I not desire that they feed Me.
Command your people to the prayer and persevere in it.
We do not ask you for provision.
We provide for you and the end belongs to taqwa.
Much of what people take is from anxiety for provision and fear of creation.
We ask Allah for safety.
Know that when you direct majesty to people, they direct beauty to you,
and when you direct beauty to them, they direct majesty to you, because
the opposite only attracts its opposite. Such is the wisdom of Allah in His
creation. The one with majesty is accepted in respect to creation and rejected
in respect to the Unseen, and the one with beauty is rejected in respect to
creation and accepted in respect to the Unseen. The perfect gnostic is the
one whose majesty is pleasant by beauty, and whose beauty is pleasant by
majesty. He only consumes what is pleasant. The only one who obtains this
meaning is the one who owns himself, so that he can do what he likes with
Wisdom 545
it. As for the one who is owned by himself, we are not discussing him. We
are only discussing the free. As for the slaves, they have no portion in these
meanings. The free are the slaves of Allah, pure in sincerity to Him. The
slaves are the slaves of this world and the Next World. They are the slaves
because they give slaves power over themselves. As for the one who gives
power over himself to Allah ta‘ala, he is nobler than the one who leaves it
a slave. Rather, he liberates it. Existence and what is in it are his slaves in
repayment, since he gave power over himself to the Nobler. He, glory be to
Him, is nobler than you in any case. You bestow yourself on Him, and He
bestows all existence on you – although He gave you yourself and bestowed
it on you before you came into existence, and gave you power over it by His
favour. However, when He gave it to you – and He is generous – it became
your valid property. If you return it to Him, i.e. to His slaveness, in that
He gives you power over it to dispose of it as you will. It is as if you were
His Khalif in His creation. You do the act of your Master by your Master’s
command. I heard the Shaykh, may Allah give us profit by him, say: ‘The
word of the man is like his daughter. A man only marries his daughter to
one who will be good to her and kind to her.’ I also heard him say, ‘The
house which has no wheat is empty.’
Know that phenomenal beings have ropes, and all of them are in love with
man and seek him. The judgement of good things and evil things is the
same. If you obtain good, it connects you by its ropes to all the common
people. Whoever is not connected to the rope of good is connected to the
rope of evil. The elite, may Allah profit us by them, are free. They are not
connected to the chain of good or the chain of evil. The token of the people
of this meaning is that you find them taking on all colours in their words
and deeds until they are not limited by one attribute more than another
and are not qualified by one state more than another. Shaykh ash-Shitri,
may Allah have mercy on him, said, ‘My goal in love is to be coloured.’
The one with change is free, the master of his kingdom, encompassing all
existence. The one of reliance on things is a slave owned by existence, and
what is in it. What a difference between the owner of beings and the one
whom phenomenal beings own!
Know that when you fear existence and existence overpowers you, your
fear of it is basic and its overpowering you is basic. When you overpower
existence, existence fears you, so your overpowering it is basic and its fear of
546 The Sufic Path
you is basic. May Allah have mercy to ash-Shitri when he said, ‘Overcome
it with the foot and the stream will begin to fear you, O leader!’ The result
of these words is that if you are by Allah, you overcome everything, and
everything fears you and is according to your will and under your command
and prohibition. If you are by yourself, everything overpowers you and
you fear everything. Where is the one whom everything fears in relation
to the one who fears everything? The latter is a chattel of existence, and
the former is an owner of existence. What a difference between the king
and the chattel!
There is no doubt that the one who is ignorant of his self is ignorant of Al-
lah, as the one who has gnosis of his self has gnosis of Allah. If the Shaykh
is ignorant of his self, how can he conceive of disciplining someone else’s
self. The one who is ignorant of the Path cannot inform someone else about
it. If he does so, he is lost – he and whoever follows him. As ash-Shitri said
in one of his statements: ‘He who is not educated, how can he see? And he
does not profit from anything.’
Abase yourself to Our might and in Our presence, and you will obtain
reaching Us in the presence of Our purity. Be torn open by Our ecstasy and
murmur Our name. Live in Our quarter. If you come, We will come. See
the originality of Our workmanship in Our time. Rejoice in Our perfection
and make your nest in Our security. Be annihilated from Our annihilation
and go on by Our going-on. Be wedded to Our union in the garden of
Our timelessness and see the beauty of Our Throne and Our Footstool.
See the stage of the lovers with Us. Had you seen Him in everything, even
yourself, you would have found Him nearer to you than everything, even
than yourself. Had you seen Him in everything, you would be veiled by
seeing Him from seeing everything. How can anything appear to you with
His manifestation? He brings into being the existence of everything. How
can anything appear to you with His manifestation? He is the One with
Whom there is nothing. Had the in-time been joined to the out-of-time,
the in-time would have vanished and the out-of-time would have remained.
Had the attributes of the Beloved appeared, the veil and the veiled would
have been annihilated. Had the lights of witnessing appeared in tajalli,
the zahid and the object of zuhd would have been annihilated. You raise
things above their value when you are zahid in them. That is because you
are veiled to Him. Had you seen Him in them, before them, or after them,
Wisdom 547
you would not be veiled to Him by them. Your being occupied with them
and distracted from Him is that which veils you to Him. Had you seen
their existence from Him, you would not have been veiled to Him by
them. Only joy with what exists and sorrow over what is missing comes
between you and the Worshipped. Only the blameworthy attribute veils
you to bliss. Had it not been for the slanderer and the watcher, your joy
with the Beloved would not have been completed. Had it not been for the
fire and the bee-sting, the pleasure of the honey and the honeycomb would
not have been perfected. When you look at things and see their Maker in
them, they become a light for you by which your inner eye is illuminated.
When you look at things and do not see the workmanship of their Creator
in them, they become darkness for you by which your inner eye is wiped
out. Whoever has his himma attached to something, does not see other
than it in movements and stillness. He said, may He be exalted:
Every party rejoices with what they have.
When your inward is pure of beings, it is filled with the Maker of being and
love grows between you and all beings. When your inward is filled with
beings, the Maker of being leaves it and hatred grows between you and all
beings. Whenever your behaviour with the Creator is pure, all creatures
incline to you.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
If you have freed your self of its appetites and all its portions and desires,
there is no harm if you are then occupied with purifying people. If you
are occupied with people before you purify your self, then that will not
be of any profit for you, and it will not be accepted from you. You will be
rebuffed and it will be thrown in your face. It says in the Book of Allah
ta‘ala: ‘Do you command people to dutiful obedience while you forget
yourselves? You recite the Book and do you not understand?’ The speaker
did well when he said:
You who seek to teach someone else!
Do you yourself have that teaching?
Do not forbid a quality and then do the same.
Shame on you! If you do that, it is terrible.
Begin with your self. It is full of error.
If you give it up, then you are wise.
548 The Sufic Path
Then the person will hear when you warn.

He will be guided by your action,
and teaching will profit.
Another said:
How can you desire to be called wise while you pursue
everything you desire?
You are always playing around upside down.
You perpetrate wrong actions and do not turn in tawba.
If Allah guides you and you are occupied with purifying people, then begin
with your family, then your neighbours, then the people of your city, then
whoever is human like you. First get rid of the great wrong actions, and
then the small ones. It is only valid to get rid of small wrong actions after
the great ones.
I strongly advise you always to follow the Muhammadan sunna and to
remember your Lord, whenever your state is constricted and whenever it
is expanded. You should also bless your Prophet, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace. This is because if you are as we have told you, you will
truly be Allah’s slaves. Whoever is truly Allah’s slave is not the slave of his
passion. He is a wali of Allah.
Watch out! Again – watch out! Be careful not to let anything distract
you from your Lord, since there is nothing in reality except Allah. ‘Allah
was and nothing was with Him. He is now as He was.’ Know that when
a man has need of something, that is because of his ignorance and lack of
knowledge. Had it not been for his ignorance, he would not need anything
except Allah. The Immense Qur‘an and the Prophetic hadith both testify to
this. Listen to the answer of the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Sahl at-Tustari,
may Allah be pleased with him, to one of his murids when he said to him,
‘Master – food!’ He told him, ‘Allah.’ The murid was silent awhile and then
said, ‘We must have food.’ He told him. ‘We must have Allah.’ I said, by
Allah, in reality, we and others have no need except Allah. If we are His,
He is ours, as in the past with others – He was theirs if they were His.
I also advise you always to keep together and remind each other in your
Path throughout your entire lifetime, as those before you have done. Watch
out! Again – watch out! Be careful not to hasten opening as some of you
and others seek to hasten it. By doing that, you will miss the excellence of
the Path and its blessing, secret, baraka, and bliss, because whoever wants
Wisdom 549
to pluck something before it is permitted to him is deprived of it as a result.

It is absolutely necessary that you keep together and respect each other.
You should honour each other and show esteem for each other. Seal your
business with modesty towards each other. Fulfil the contract of Allah when
you make a contract. Love each other and show affection to each other,
as the Prophet said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Be on your
guard against being foolish and insolent, against treachery, dishonesty, or
leaving the Path. Allah gives success.
Know that concern for a thing is great. We and you have no concern
except for Allah’s favour to us. The rajul is the one who does not lack
strength, is not lazy and does not slacken off. He fights his self. He gives it a
little of the things which it hates and are heavy for it until it is annihilated.
‘Annihilation is obliteration, disappearance, leaving yourself, extinction,’
as the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Abu’l Mawahib at-Tunisi, may Allah be
pleased with him, said in his Qawanin.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Purification
If you wish purification from shirk and the claim that you exist,
and to drink from the nectar of union until you are quenched,
Then wrap yourself in patience and wind on the turban
of turning-away (from wrong action). You need the shirt
of doing-without and you should wear yourself out in it.
You must put on the two sandals of fear and hope,
and take the staff of certainty and a provision from fear.
Take the halter of knowledge for the mount of himma,
and a companion who will stop your actions from causing trouble.
So struggle seriously and travel quickly on the journey,
and do not be stopped by the contemplation of created beings
so as to be veiled from the place of safety.
Rather contemplate ihsan and be sincere in gratitude to Him,
and get up at dawn and submit, and hand over the trouble to Him.
And bless the qutb of existence and his company with a blessing
that will spread out the secret from us and communicate it.
550 The Sufic Path
Forgiveness
I ask forgiveness of Allah! Truly Allah possesses generosity
and compassion for the one who turns away after his errors.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for wrong actions and mistakes,
for errors, illusion and hope.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for pride and envy,
and for hypocritical behaviour towards the rich.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for ugly ideas which emerge
from seeing the self, and admiring its form.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for malice and spite
and for the defects I concealed in my earlier years.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for saying dreadful things
and for passing over in silence accusations against others
and injury done to them.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for dishonesty and lying
and for fantasy which leads the self to indolence.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for wrong actions in anything
I have done concerning my obligations to other people.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for being drawn to a false knowledge
which would turn me from the straight path that leads to fear.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for any state which overpowers me,
and for any station that leads to terror and shame.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for any act done without intention,
and for dismay which flows quickly into the heart.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for claiming incarnation and for
claiming fusion, as these claims lead to deviation and failure.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for claiming existence, and for affirming
anything other than the Existent in before-endless-time.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for beliefs that have occurred contrary
to the path of the Chosen One and the messengers.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for ignorance and folly
and for the languor that comes from a listless self.
I ask forgiveness of Allah for any thought be it high or low
that has occupied me while without awareness.
Wisdom 551
I ask forgiveness of Allah by the measure of the worlds,

of the Throne and the Tablet of Forms,
and the duration of every dynasty.
I ask forgiveness of Allah, the Giver of gifts, for all who fear Him,
being themselves unreservedly powerless.
I ask forgiveness of Allah who grants gnoses in the paths
of knowledge, and gifts to whoever takes refuge with Him.
I ask forgiveness of Allah who has compassion on all the creatures,
the jinn, men, angels, and the exalted ones.
My Lord, by Ahmad, be the Master of our affair
and be the Guide to those who follow the straightest of paths.
May the purest of Allah’s blessings be upon him as long as
abundant rain pours down and waters flow in the earth.
And upon the family and noble Companions and all who have
fear of Allah, and every wali who follows in their footsteps.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know that Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, created corruption and He cre-
ated its opposite. Rightness is a mercy from Him to His slaves. Corruption
is majestic and it is in the limit of perfection. Rightness is beautiful and it
is in the limit of perfection. As He created all things, outward and inward,
all of them have their opposites. The opposite of majesty is beauty, and the
opposite of beauty is majesty. Whatever creation rejects, like corruption,
abasement, incapacity, weakness, poverty, and the like of that – i.e. what-
ever the thought of man rejects, we call all of these realities. The opposites
of these things, like rightness, might, power, strength, and wealth, from
the direction of the slave, we call shara‘i’. When it is from the direction of
Allah ta‘ala, they are all realities. The first are the realities of descent, and
the second are the realities of ascent. Man is constantly between these op-
posites. His existence is set up by them. It is, however, as the speaker said:
the gazelle became confused.
Whenever man is overcome by the realities of descent, the realities of ascent
seek him. The people of perfect intellect, may Allah be pleased with them,
rest on this in descent and they alight in it and enjoy a certain matter in
552 The Sufic Path
things and leap into the greatest of misfortunes. It is as ash-Shadhili said,

may Allah be pleased with him:
O Allah! You have sentenced the people to abasement
until they become mighty,
And You have sentenced them to loss until they find,
because corruption is the root of rightness. According to the greatness of
corruption, rightness is great. According to the greatness of rightness, cor-
ruption is great. It is like that with all opposites. According to the greatness
of the opposite, its opposite is great. It is like the word of Ibn al-Farid:
I wondered at a thing.
Whenever abasement to them increased,
I saw my power in people rise over them.
Rightness is not without corruption, and corruption is not without right-
ness. Our masters, may Allah be pleased with them, would not command
us to corruption, because of adab with the shari‘a. However, they had to
inform us about the path and its roots, its sweetness and its bitterness.
We understood that its sweetness is only set up by its bitterness, and its
bitterness is only obtained by its sweetness. When they informed us of it
in speech, while we were sincere in our quest, we plunged into the bitterest
of bitter things, and we did not care about the words of friend or enemy
because of what we sought.
Whoever seeks beautiful women, must endure expense.
Whoever seeks pearls, must dive into the sea. Whoever seeks sublimity,
must stay awake nights. When our masters saw us pursuing the misfortunes
of the realities, they confirmed the sincerity of our quest. They did not
ascribe it to themselves that they commanded us any of that. It is because
Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, commanded us to things, and He forbade
us things. He commanded us good things, and He forbade us evil things.
However, He, glory be to Him, knows that we have good in evil things – and
He tested us by them, and that we have good in good things – and He tested
us by them. He is the Wisest of the wise because everything, in respect to
our Master, is good, and in respect to ourselves, whatever is appropriate
is good and excellent, and whatever is not appropriate is ugly and evil.
Our masters, may Allah be pleased with them, only see good in things
and their opposites because the Master is noble, generous, perfect. Only
Wisdom 553
perfection issues from the Perfect, and He is only described by it. Similarly,
Allah ta‘ala described our masters with His attributes, may Allah be pleased
with them. Therefore, they only see perfection from Him. However, they
have adab from Him in respect to creation, and they differ outwardly with
the qualities of creation, and inwardly with the qualities of the Creator.
May Allah provide us with their love and profit us by them. Amin. This is
part of their forbearance and compassion. They teach us the rules of the
realities. Shara‘i’ are the clarification and realities are what is intended. It
is as Sayyiduna ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani said, may Allah profit us by him:
This shar‘ was laid down for those shara‘i’.
In spite of this, he was kind to us and compassionate and did not com-
mand us. When they saw us following what we heard from them, they
travelled with us as the father with his child. Whenever we did corruption,
they calmed it, and hoped for good from us. That is so that imperfection
with creation might not be related to them. As only perfection is related
to them with the Creator, so it is with creation. Allah only lets the sound
be obtained by the sound. Whoever wants this, is patient in this. Peace.
After you enter these realities, by Allah, or for Allah, or on Allah, beware
of the antagonism of the self and the antagonism of the species. If Allah
saves you from them, know that your Master has chosen you from among
creation, and has selected you for Himself and placed you in the presence
of His purity. Oh happiness for you! Oh good news for you! Rejoice in
what you hope for of the good of your Master. That is not hard for Allah,
because this shepherd tends his people among attackers, armed men, and
ghouls. Only a few are saved from them. Only the one whom Allah rescues
is saved. They are few. Success is by Allah.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Miracles of the Way

Praise belongs to Allah and may Allah bless
the Prophet Muhammad, the shelter.
Abu Hamid of Tus, the Sufi and proof of Islam, said:
The marks of honour for the one who enters on the path
are twenty in number:
554 The Sufic Path
The first is that Allah remembers him as is fitting

– Oh what good news!
The second is that he is exalted among people,
and the third is unreproachful love,
And everyone whom Allah loves is loved by the creation
– what good fortune for him!
The fourth is that Allah directs his affairs,
and so he remains constantly full of joy.
The fifth is that Allah makes his food easy to get,
and he does not have to struggle for it.
The sixth is that he is helped against his enemies by miracles,
with constant protection.
The seventh is intimacy with Allah,
so no loneliness comes to him through whatever happens.
The eighth is his power over the self,
so that the created world serves him without confusion.
The ninth is the raising of his himma
above every temptation that might obsess him,
The tenth is wealth for the heart,
so that every matter that calls for struggle is made easy.
Here briefly are the others, stressing only some of them,
so attend, oh reader!
Enlightenment of the heart which is guided by His light to
an understanding of the secrets through the generosity of his Lord,
And the expansion of the breast
so that he is undisturbed by whatever trouble comes to him.
Dignity is his and unquestioned good standing
in the minds of men,
And endearment to every creature of mankind
through the undoubted promise which he has from his Lord.
He has baraka and adab, even after he has turned to dust.
The earth is subjected to him so that he may go with speed
and without fear wherever he wishes.
Wisdom 555
The land, the sea and the air are his servants without doubt.
The wild animals, the beasts of prey, and the reptiles
have all been subjugated to him by the Lord forever.
When he seeks the keys of the treasures and the mines
they are revealed to him.
In everything that occurs people petition Allah through him
by his rank.
So the Lord provides for him from His gifts
– things are made easy. There is no hardship – or rather,
That has been left to the choice of his Lord
in previously ordained decrees.
So do not say: ‘I called on Him and He did not respond.’
That is the condition of the doubters and the uncertain.
As for the marks of honour which he has in the next world,
they are also twenty in number and they follow here:
Ease of death when the seal is set, with trust
– so that he will get what he wants.
The good news of cool refreshment,
sweet basil, acceptance and safety from fear:
Such is constant life in the gardens near to the Merciful,
tirelessly perpetual.
His ruh has ascent, and honour, and tribute from the angels.
People will crowd to bless him
if he was among those worthy of the trust,
Who gave instruction in right action when asked.
He need have no fear in the place of terrors.
The expanse of his grave is in a meadow
– he will be safe there from every temptation.
When the good news comes to him from his Lord
he will have intimacy of ruh and body-form.
The birds will carry him in their crops
wherever he wishes to roam in the garden.
On the day of gathering, he will be glorified with honour
and a crown, robes of honour and intercession.
556 The Sufic Path
His face will be radiantly white and its light

will be manifest to all those gathered at the place.
He will not see the terror of the place,
and he will take his book in his right hand.
It will not be with severity that he is called to account,
but rather it will happen with beauty and gentleness.
His deeds will weigh heavily in the balance and he will drink
from the basin of a Prophet who satisfies every thirst.
He will cross the Sirat swiftly to a garden of timelessness.
There will be no struggle.
He will not be called to explain his actions, nor rebuked for them
and in the place of weighing them he will not be harmed.
He will intercede for the people and the brotherhood,
and he will be clothed in the robes of honour and approval.
Then he will meet Allah with actual vision and
without qualification or obscurity.
That will be more glorious than entering the garden,
as it says in the Book and the sunna.
Do not forget that Allah’s granting of these robes of honour
is conditional:
On knowledge, sincere action, and the dhikr
which testifies to his special place.
The end of the path consists of total absorption
in the direct seeing of the Creator, the King.
Beware in case you should listen to one who might deny it
through his ignorance of its knowledge and excellence.
Oh Lord! May Your ceaseless generosity make its journey easy
for the brotherhood.
The miracles of the way come to an end for the
one who walks it properly.
So be merciful to the one who related it, the one who gathered
these favours together, and whoever helps us to spread them.
Muhammad ibn al-Habib asks for an opening
for the community soon,
Wisdom 557
And for a triumph for our beloved shelter

through whom the poet may overcome all desires.
May the blessing of Allah fall eternally on Muhammad
and whoever copies him,
And also on his family and Companions,
the wayfarers on the paths of right conduct.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
We think that arrival is not obtained by many actions, or by few of them.

It is obtained by pure generosity. As the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi Ibn
‘Ata’Illah, may Allah be pleased with him, says in his Hikam: ‘If you were
only able to reach Him after the obliteration of your bad qualities and the
obliteration of your pretensions, you would never reach Him. However, if
He wishes to bring you to Him, he covers your attribute with His attribute,
and your quality with His quality. He brings you to Him by what is from
Him to you, not by what is from you to Him.’
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
How can you flee from something which the Powerful has decreed for you
and determined for you before He created the first and the last? How can
you repel rebellion from yourself, or attract obedience to you, when He has
decreed what was and what will be until the Hour comes? How can you
strive with your faulty vision while He is more compassionate to you than
the parent to the child? Are you not the child of Adam? You have a model
in your father Adam when he rebelled against his Lord and ate from the
tree. He could only return to Allah and seek forgiveness. That was when he
sought intercession by the beloved lover, the crown of the gnostics and the
cure of the hearts, our master Muhammad, the Chosen, the trusty, may the
most pure peace and blessings be upon him in every moment of time. What
is sought from you is that you submit yourself to Him, and be pleased with
the conduct of His judgements, and His decree, and that you be His slave
in every state which His original workmanship causes to appear in you by
His will. Looking in things and stopping with their outward becomes a
veil for you which prevents you from reaching Him. If you look at things
558 The Sufic Path
and see their Manager and their Maker in them, then they become a mirror
for you which directs you to him. By Allah! Do not say ‘I’ except after you
have obtained annihilation. By Allah! You will not obtain life except after
you have obtained annihilation and death. By Allah! The suns of gnosis
will only shine for you after the annihilation of the selves. By Allah! You
will not reach the station of the desire until no ‘doubling’ remains between
you and people. By Allah! You will not savour the taste of iman except by
leaving phenomenal beings. By Allah! You will only acquire well-being after
annihilation from the people of annihilation. By Allah! Had you torn apart
the veils, you would have been the Beloved in your essence. By Allah! Had
the veils of illusions fallen from you, you would have been the Abiding,
constantly. By Allah! Had the barriers fallen from you, you would have
seen the light of dawn rising. By Allah! Had you rolled up the distance of
your self, you would not have seen anything existing except your Lord. By
Allah! Had the light of iman shone, eye-witnessing would have occurred,
and the existence of phenomenal beings would have been veiled to you.
By Allah! Had you travelled the road of the people of the Path, the lights
of the reality would have appeared to you. By Allah! Had you made your
self sound from vices, the truth would have come and the false would have
departed. By Allah! Had you clung to adab, you would have entered the
company of those of cores. By Allah! Had you left abandoned the appetite
of arrival in your heart, you would have leapt to arrival. By Allah! Had you
abandoned management and choice, you would have been among the free
slaves. By Allah! Had you made return to the door sincere, you would have
found Him generous and forgiving to the one who turns in tawba. By Allah!
Had you extended the hand of abasement and called in the pre-dawn, you
would have found Him forgiving, mild, pardoning. You say: ‘O Mighty!
Your humble slave is at Your door. O Strong! Your weak slave is at Your
door. O Rich! Your poor slave is at Your door. O Powerful! Your impotent
slave is at Your door.’
b b b b b
The Awliya 559
Chapter Nine
The Awliya
Qasida of Sayyidi ‘Ali Wafa
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate
may Allah bless
Sayyidina Muhammad and his family and companions
When the confusion of the nafs vanishes and the breast
is expanded, and the hobbling-cord of the intellect
is untied and the veil is lifted,
And the witness of the intellect listens to the heart,
so there is no doubt in what the ruh and sirr relate:
So on the day after the death of our selves,
whisperings and thoughts are replaced by knowledge.
The sources of existence are transmuted into gnoses,
so the separation of this world is gatheredness,
and the unseen of sublimity is proclaimed.
Habit is rent in the joining of the two opposites,
so the contraction of other is expansion,
and the even of other is odd.
You see every thing as the whole thing,
and you see its part as encompassing the whole of the whole,
and containment is cut off.
So its one is one in the one of the singular,
and intelligence has been forbidden its third
by the Remembrance.
I have cautioned you about missing companions before it passes
you by; they are a group who flee by Allah from Him to Him.
Answer a caller who calls you to Allah inwardly,
and do not make excuses, for today will not accept excuse.
Remove the cause of distraction, for the moment is sharp, and
sever the doubts of transmission, for report is not experience.
560 The Sufic Path
Withdraw from the desire of the nafs in every state

– absolve yourself of it to Allah, even if it is dutifulness.
Preserve the contract of passion without lies
– excuse is ugly in the judgement of the law of love.
When your heart is freed from the sickness of hidden shirk,
then taste, drinking, and drunkenness will become pleasant.
After annihilation in Allah, be as you wish.
Your knowledge is not ignorance,
and your action is not a burden.
The inviolability of the people of love is majestic with me,
and the value of the station of love is not surpassed by any value.
Their darkness is light, and their misguidance is guidance;
their corpse is alive, and their slave is free.
Their contraction is expansion, and their poverty is wealth;
their hardship is ease, and their shattering is mending.
Their respect is an obligation upon every Muslim,
their love is a bond, and their hate is kufr.
None except the people of our desire obtains might.
Every profit except their profit is loss.
If there is glory in the two abodes for a high one,
by your life! this is glory in the two abodes.
Shaykh ‘Ali Wafa
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
A Commentary on the Qasida

of Shaykh ‘Ali Wafa
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
May Allah bless Sayyidina Muhammad and his family and companions.
Praise belongs to Allah with all His praises in all the presences of His,
Unseen and Visible, for all His blessings and the varieties of His kindness
from His before-time to His after-time. Blessings and peace be upon the
form of praise and its reality and the source of the springs of existence,
outwardly manifest and inwardly hidden, Sayyidina Muhammad, the most
The Awliya 561
praised (Ahmad) of the praisers and the Qutb of the gnostics, and on his
family and Companions and community.
The faqir in his Lord, content with Him above power and acquisition,
Fudul ibn Muhammad al-Huwari as-Sufi, may Allah give him success se-
cretly and publicly, speaks and says: a chosen group of the notable lovers
and the most excellent of the best of the friends was concerned that I make
a brief commentary on the Qasida in Ra‘ which is from the collection of
qasa’id of the gnostic of Allah, Sayyidi ‘Ali Wafa, may Allah have mercy
on him. So I answered their request, obeying and petitioning Allah, glory
be to Him, for success and hoping for His help.
I will begin with a brief glance at the biography of the author of the
qasida. He was Sayyidi ‘Ali Wafa, may Allah have mercy on him. He was
matchless among the people of his time, and unique in his era. He was
among the perfect gnostics who are referred to in the unravelling of dif-
ficulties and the enigmas of allusions. He took the Tariq from his father,
the gnostic of Allah, Sayyidi Muhammad Wafa. He took it from the gnostic
Sayyidi Da’ud al-Bakhili. He took it from the gnostic Sayyidi Ibn ‘Ata’Illah
al-Iskandari. He took it from Abu’l-‘Abbas al-Mursi. He took it from the
greatest gnostic, Abu’l-Hasan ash-Shadhili, may Allah have mercy on all
of them and give us the benefit of their barakat. Amin.
Sayyidi ‘Ali Wafa wrote many works and qasa’id and numerous mu-
washshaha poems. Among them is this wondrous qasida which indicates
the perfection of his gnosis and the fineness of his expression. It is found
in his own handwriting that he was born, may Allah be pleased with him,
on Sunday morning, 11 Muharram, 761 AH. He died in 801 AH.
In this qasida, he clarified the station of the people of gnosis and purity,
and the masters of love and being chosen, and what they undertook of the
mortification of their selves and the purification of their hearts by cutting
off their appetites and obliterating their traces. He clarified the state of
their going-on after their annihilation-to-other and being free of hidden
partners and allegation. He interpreted the states which were manifested
from them and what they allude to from obscure statements. He clarified
what they are described with from the perfection of slavedom, and what
they undertook of the adab of rububiya. He was explicit about entry among
those gnostics, particularly his companions and friends, urging attendance
of their school (madh-hab). He, may Allah have mercy on him, was among
562 The Sufic Path
their notables and elite. They are the ‘ulama of Allah, acting according to
the shari‘a of the Messenger of Allah, guiding to Allah. How excellent is
the speech of the one who calls to Allah and acts as a Salih and says, ‘I am
among the Muslims.’
He said, may Allah have mercy on him, in this blessed qasida:
is expanded, and the hobbling-cord of the intellect
is untied and the veil is lifted …
I say: the nafs is the worst of enemies and the basis of every misfortune and
disease. The hadith says: ‘The worst of your enemies is your nafs which is
between your two sides.’ Al-Baihaqi related it from Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah
be pleased with both of them. The goal of the slave is to purify it and cleanse
it. Allah ta‘ala said: ‘Prosperous is he who purifies it and makes it expand,
and failed is he who buries it and stunts it.’ It can only be purified and
cleansed when the slave has gnosis of its machinations, camouflages, and
sicknesses in the way it acts. Whoever has gnosis of his nafs, has gnosis of
his Lord - as it has been said in the Tradition, because gnosis of the faults
of the nafs is a cause of its purification, and its purification is a cause of
gnosis of its Creator and Originator.
There is a second explanation of this knowledge of the self here: gnosis
of the self means the ruh in the state of its basic purity when it was formed.
It is a matter excused for every man by the word of Allah ta‘ala: ‘They will
question you concerning the ruh. Say: “The ruh is of the bidding of my
Lord.” You have been given of knowledge nothing except a little.’ When
the slave is incapable of gnosis of his nafs, he is still more incapable of gnosis
of its Maker. The inability to perceive is perception.
Here is a third factor. It is more sublime, better, more complete, and
more perfect. It is that the one who has gnosis of his nafs - that is, the
human nafs joining the ruh and the body - has gnosis of his Lord; that is,
the one who looks at his nafs, looks with consideration at this wondrous
composition and strange shape upon which Allah compounded this human
species. He sees that Allah joined the higher and the lower world in him,
and created him in the best stature and the most perfect composition –
which perplexes and dazzles the intellects of the philosophers, technicians,
researchers, and thinkers. Allah-subhana-wa-ta‘ala said in respect to him:
‘We created man in the best stature.’ Do you reckon that you are a small
The Awliya 563
body when the macrocosm is contained in you? Allah made him a mirror
for the one who wants to look at the perfections of the Real, may He be
glorified and exalted! He said: ‘We shall show them Our signs in the
horizons and in themselves, until it is clear to them that it is the Truth.’
This human species is a copy from the Real, may His majesty be exalted!
The allusion refers to that in the Hadith.
Allah created Adam in His form, so understand! The one who looks
at his nafs with a look of consideration, and reflects with the reflection of
understanding and acknowledgement, has gnosis of Allah ta‘ala according
to his gnosis of his self. ‘And in yourselves – what, do you not see?’ – ‘Is
it not enough that He is witness over everything?’
Let the man of intellect contemplate the sperm: it is a drop of unclear
parts. Then let him contemplate how it divides into flesh, bones, veins,
sinews, brain, blood, intestines, the liver, lungs, spleen, backbone, and the
womb. Let him contemplate how the limbs take on the various shapes
of the head, hand, and foot, the hearing, seeing, and smell. Then let him
contemplate how it has intellect and how it does not, how it reflects and
how it forgets, how it remembers and how it neglects, how it has insight
and how it knows and how it is ignorant, how it sleeps and how it awakens,
how it rejoices and how it is sad, how it is angry and how it has patience,
and how … and how … Each of your members is in a particular shape for
a particular purpose, beyond what Allah has bestowed on this human
species of human characteristics like forbearance, forgiveness, patience,
mercy, love, love of good and ihsan, love of knowledge and its people, and
the deen and its people, and what Allah has perfected for it of human at-
tributes, even if they are blameworthy in respect to their essence – that is
like anger, appetite, pride, ignorance, crying lies, and altercation. ‘Has not
man regarded how We created him of a sperm-drop? Then, indeed, he
is a manifest adversary.’
So contemplate these wonders which this human species contains –
which indicate the perfections of their Maker and His radiant power and
conquering might and far-reaching wisdom.
As for the nafs which the poet indicates by his statement:
is expanded,
he means the animal nafs which is formed from turmoil, bestial food, and
564 The Sufic Path
the food of anger and appetite. If it is designated by the ruh in respect to

its formation and source, its title and attributes are changed according to
how the human attributes and animal turmoil overcome it. When matter
is very strong in the nafs and the power of passion overwhelms it, then it
is necessary to purify it from the levity of matter and to cleanse it from the
uncleanness of passions. That is after gnosis of its disease and its remedy at
the hand of a living Shaykh, who has gnosis of its machinations and aware-
ness of its camouflages and deceptions, who has idhn by the testimony of
two just witnesses who are truthful in state and speech. If he is not found,
brothers in Allah, strive with the people of gnosis and deal honestly with
the people of sincerity and fidelity. How many a listener retained something
from an informer! How many a sick person became skilled from a doctor!
Allah knows best where He puts His message. The purest watering-place
and highest source is the Book of Allah and the Sunna of the Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
The doctors of this art have guided us to the Path leading to purification
and cleansing of the selves from their camouflages and machinations. The
slave begins by looking at what has passed of acts of rebellion, opposing
them with sincerity of tawba and realisation of turning away (from wrong)
and return (to Allah). Then in state and reception, he relinquishes all out-
ward and inward wrong-actions with all his limbs. He curbs the nafs until
it returns to its purity on the day it was formed and until he polishes its
mirror. So it acquires anew the disposition of divine descensions (tanaz-
zulat) and pure fragrances.
The greatest method of reaching this end comes after relinquishment
of wrong-actions and adornment with good qualities, persevering in
dhikru’llah in all its forms with the presence of the heart and the bringing
to mind of the meaning – because darkness does not remain with the light
of the Name, and care and sorrow do not persist, especially with the single
Name. Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. No hobbling-cord
remains on the intellect and it begins to speak truly about what was impos-
sible with it. It acquires a new pure light by the connection of the light of
the secret to the light of the ruh, and the light of the ruh to the light of the
heart, and the light of the heart to the light of the intellect. So all doubt
and all whisperings and uncertainties vanish, and then the one who has
arrived witnesses the light of the Real, without the eyes, acting alone in all
sources. So the heart only sees the truth and only hears the truth – because
The Awliya 565
the nafs, which possesses camouflages and deceptions, has died the death
of the free, and the witnessing of others has been lifted from it.
The death of the nafs indicates its purification from the uncleanness
of noxious things. It is related that Sayyidina ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased
with him, forbade a certain person to eat onions raw (lit. ‘alive’). Then he
said to him, ‘If you want to eat them, then cook them until you make them
die.’ So purification is designated by death. It says in Tradition: ‘Die before
you die,’ that is, die the death of meaning before the sensory death. When
severing factors vanish from the nafs and intellect by the purification of
the nafs, and when the hobbling-cord of the intellect is untied by what
has been mentioned, the veils and obstacles vanish between the intellect
and the heart, the heart and the ruh, and the ruh and the secret. Then the
witness of the intellect begins to listen to the heart, and he only sees and
speaks truly by what emerges from the heart. The heart only sees and wit-
nesses by what emerges from the ruh. And the ruh only sees and speaks
truly about what emerges from the secret. After this, does there remain any
doubt or uncertainty in what the ruh and the secret relate? It is because it
is by Allah, from Allah, and on Allah. So after the death of the selves and
going-on with the Living, the pure suppositions and thoughts are replaced
by certain knowledges. Worship Allah until certainty comes to you. This
is the meaning of the poet, may Allah have mercy on him, in the second
and third verse:
And the witness of the intellect listens to the heart,
so there is no doubt in what the ruh and sirr relate:
So on the day after the death of our selves,
whisperings and thoughts are replaced by knowledge.
When the slave reaches this station, his school becomes his heart and his
professor is his Lord. His silence becomes thought, his speech dhikr, and
his glance a lesson. He sees nothing but that he sees Allah with it, before
it, or after it. His unseen becomes visible, and his separation gatheredness.
He joins the two opposites in his witnessing. So the habit of the intellect is
rent by the joining of the two opposites in one witnessing in two respects,
and by the joining of contraction and expansion, and the even and the odd,
and similarly between annihilation and going-on. This gnostic becomes
the isthmus of the two seas and has two sources. He confirms what the
shari‘a confirms, and denies what the reality denies. He indicates that in
566 The Sufic Path
the fourth and fifth verse by his statement, may Allah have mercy on him:
The sources of existence are transmuted into gnoses,
so the separation of this world is gatheredness,
and the unseen of sublimity is proclaimed.
Habit is rent in the joining of the two opposites,
so the contraction of other is expansion,
and the even of other is odd.
He said, ‘The sources of existence are transmuted into gnoses,’ so sources
is the plural of source (‘ayn). The source of each thing is its reality. So the
realities of things become divine gnoses, and the names become the source
of the Named, and being the source of the Maker of being – without in-
carnation, how, or where. So there is nothing but Allah in mankind, and
there is no heard and no hearer. He brings things into existence, and He is
their existence, and the source of the essences of all, and all.
He said, ‘So the separation of this world is gatheredness, and the
unseen of sublimity is proclaimed.’ He means that the presence of separa-
tion which is this phenomenal being is, in reality after annihilation to it,
gatheredness. He called it ‘dunya’ (‘nearer, closer,’) because of its nearness
and proximity in relation to the presence of sublimity – which is the pres-
ence of the Maker of being by the sublimity of its worth. If it is unseen
with us, it is proclaimed in reality. So the one who reaches this station is
the perfect slave. The most perfect is the one who drinks and is increased
in sobriety, so his separation does not veil him from his gatheredness, and
his gatheredness does not veil him from his separation. Each one with a
due is given his due, and each one with a portion is given his portion, as it
says in the Hikam al-’Ata’iyya.
Then, may Allah have mercy on him, he said in the sixth and seventh
verses:
You see every thing as the whole thing,
and you see its part as encompassing the whole of the whole,
and containment is cut off.
So its one is one in the one of the singular,
and intelligence has been forbidden its third
by the Remembrance.
He said: ‘You see every thing …’ so this verse is of mighty concern – and
how great it is! In it, he, may Allah have mercy on him, alludes that the
The Awliya 567
tajalliyat (self-manifestation) of the perfections of the Real, glory be to

Him, diffuse through all the parts of existence. So you do not see a single
atom of the world, from the Throne to the tiny ant, but that it contains all
the perfections of the Real, may His majesty be exalted! Each one perceives
them according to his predisposition, without there being limit or end
to His perfections, glory be to Him! For example, His tajalli, glory be to
Him, to the Throne is in its whole a tajalli of Him to the lowest atom. So in
everything there is a sign of Him which indicates that He is the One. Then
you see that every thing is the whole of everything of the perfections of
the Real, glory be to Him! Some of the perfections of the Real from some
of His existents do not differ from others. The gnosis which the gnostic
acquires by looking at the Throne is that which he acquires with his eye by
looking at the lowest atom. When the gnostic looks at one of the parts of
each thing from the totalities, he sees that that part encompasses the whole
of the whole – that is, it contains the whole of the whole and encompasses it
with comprehensive encompassment and containment without division or
breaking into parts. Each part of the totalities contains the whole – which
is the presence of the Real, glory be to Him! The presence of the Real is
that which is the whole of the whole – and it encompasses the reality of
ever thing. ‘Does He not encompass everything?’ … That is by a method
which has no containment or end, as he said, ‘and containment is cut off.’
As for his statement: ‘So its one is one in the one of the singular,’ this
verse completes what was before it. He means – and Allah knows best, that
one of every thing from the presence of separation is, in reality, inside the
presence of the One which is the presence of gatheredness. So division is
twofold in respect to separation and gatheredness. It is oneness in respect
to gatheredness. So division does not have a place for threeness, especially
since the Qur‘an forbade mention of it to the people of intelligence – and
they are the people of intellect, in His word, may He be exalted: ‘They
are unbelievers who say: “Allah is the Third of Three.” No god is there
but One God.’
Then the poet, may Allah have mercy on him, clarified for the two
subjects the causes of predisposition to gnosis and the Path leading to that.
Whoever guides you to Allah has given you good counsel, especially since
we were only created for gnosis. The noblest of knowledges and the most
lasting with its possessor on the day of encountering Allah is the knowl-
edge of gnosis, because whenever the slave is increased in knowledge, he
568 The Sufic Path
is increased in fear and nearness. For that reason, our Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace, won the highest station from this knowledge
until he said in what the two Shaykhs related from ‘A’isha, may Allah be
pleased with her: ‘By Allah, I have the most knowledge of Allah among you,
and I am the strongest of you in fear of Him.’ For that reason, the gnostics
undertake cultivation of this knowledge as the strongest undertaking in
themselves and in pointing it out. The poet indicated this good counsel
with his statement, may Allah have mercy on him:
I have cautioned you about missing companions before it passes
you by; they are a group who flee by Allah from Him to Him.
He said: ‘I have cautioned you,’ that is, he has let you know and has
counselled you and warned you before the station of the companions and
friends among the gnostics passes you by. He, may Allah have mercy on
him, was among their elite. Allah honoured them with the station of gnosis
and guiding to Allah, glory be to Him! Allah guided them to flee by Allah
from Allah to Him – that is, they flee from what hinders them and makes
them distant from Allah to what brings them near to Him, glory be to Him,
by means of His gnosis, until they reach His presence. Reaching Allah is
reaching knowledge of Him.
Then he said, may Allah have mercy on him:
Answer a caller who calls you to Allah inwardly,
and do not make excuses, for today will not accept excuse.
So the one who calls to Allah never leaves off. First His Book, glory be to
Him, calls you to Him by His word: ‘And Allah summons to the Abode
of Peace,’ as He called you in the world of the wombs, the world of atoms,
by His word: ‘Am I not your Lord?’ Then this call continues to be renewed
on the tongue of the messengers and people of gnosis of Allah outwardly
by their words, and inwardly by their states. Similarly your ruh was sent
to you on the day of your formation to call you, by means of your secret,
to reflect on the might of its Maker and Creator. It continues to call you
by means of your secret, particularly in the purity of mind (lubb), the pu-
rification of your heart, and the untying of the knot of the hobbling-cord
of your intellect.
I also call you, so you no longer have an excuse. If you make excuses on
the day after these proofs have been furnished for you and good counsel
has reached you, excuse will not be accepted from you. The Truth has made
The Awliya 569
it clear to the one who has two eyes. Similarly, it is true that what is meant
by ‘today’ in his statement: ‘today will not accept excuse,’ is the Day of
Rising, the day people will rise before the Lord of the Worlds – fearful,
remorseful, encompassed by what they missed. They were excluded from
gnosis of Allah and acting by what brings one near to Allah, ‘on the Day
when remorse will not profit and excuse will not be accepted, a Day when
their excuses will not profit the wrong-doers, nor will they be suffered
to make amends.’
The cause of this separation is the distractions of the nafs and its pro-
crastinations. One out of the total of the severing factors which cut off the
people of specialness in this community is reliance on the knowledge of
transmission and forms alone without the knowledges of tastes. He warns
against that in his statement:
Remove the cause of distraction, for the moment is sharp, and
sever the doubts of transmission, for report is not experience.
He means remove the distraction which is a severing factor for the slave,
cutting him off from reaching what the people of gnosis of Allah reach
of the gnoses of taste, the lata‘if of ecstasy, and lack of restriction to the
knowledges of transmission and forms. Preoccupation with that is in the
beginnings, and it may be one of the factors cutting one off from reaching
the ultimate goal and the highest station.
Beware of the procrastination and treachery of the nafs, for the moment
is sharp – that is, it is a cutting sword. If you do not cut it, it will cut you.
Sever the knowledges of transmission – that is, cut them off, after you have
taken from them what will put your outward in order of necessary knowl-
edges of the shari‘a. Sever abiding with them and being content with them,
because the end of the knowledges of transmission is arriving at supposi-
tions. Supposition does not profit the truth at all. The knowledges of gnosis
of Allah have certainties and ecstatic knowledges for their goal. ‘Report
is not like experience.’ The one who sees is not like the one who hears. In
Hadith, report is not like seeing with the eye. Allah ta‘ala informed Musa
about what his people had done with the calf and he did not cast the Tablets
down. When he saw with his eyes what they had done, he cast the Tablets
down and they were broken. Imam Ahmad related it from Abu’l-‘Abbas,
may Allah be pleased with both of them. Since the nafs is the one cause
in the attraction of evil, treachery, and deception, its counsels – which are
570 The Sufic Path
lying and deceitful – begin to manifest the false in the form of the truth.
He ordered, may Allah have mercy on him, its completion, and mistrust
of its counsels – even if it gives good counsel, and disbelieving it – even if
it speaks truly. Oppose the nafs and shaytan and restrain it. If it shows
sincere counsel to you, then suspect it.
Withdraw from the desire of the nafs in every state
– absolve yourself of it to Allah, even if it is dutifulness.
This verse concludes what preceded it. In it, he commands the murid to
turn from the desire of the nafs and its counsels – even if it is outwardly
good, since it is lying and deceitful as long as it commands. Allah, glory
be to Him, denied its purification in His word: ‘Do not hold yourselves
purified.’ How beautiful a lethal pleasure seems to a man when he does not
perceive the poison in the fat. However, it is bitter. Flee to Allah from its
desire. He will suffice you from its evil and give you security from its deceit.
Then the poet, may Allah have mercy on him, turns to what the murid-
salik must have of good adab with his Lord in his journeying and travel.
He said:
Preserve the contract of passion without lies
– excuse is ugly in the judgement of the law of love.
This verse is also part of the good counsel of the Shaykh, may Allah have
mercy on him, to the sincere murid. He says to him: ‘When love of Allah
enters your heart and seeks nearness to Allah, then know that love has
contracts - so do not violate them, and it has adab - so do not omit them,
and it has rights - so do not abandon them.’ If you act perfidiously in your
contracts and do not stop at your limits after you have won the love of what
you witness, then beware of destruction and cling to adab. You are in the
presence of the Lord of lords and the Maker of causes. So excusing yourself
is ugly, especially in what you lay claim to of your sound love.
When your heart is freed from the sickness of hidden shirk,
then taste, drinking, and drunkenness will become pleasant.
He means when the lovers of the presence and the seekers of nearness
persevere in the obligations of acts of obedience and superogatory acts of
agreeable deeds, and they are sincere in that and purified of hidden shirk
The Awliya 571
in the love of their Beloved and in seeking nearness, Allah loves them and
chooses them. He removes the veils of other from them and He purifies
their selves of hidden shirk and allegation. He guards them and protects
them, and He annihilates them to their powers and strengths. He is their
hearing, their sight, their hands, their feet, their life, and their existence.
That is what is alluded to in the Hadith Qudsi which the Imam al-Bukhari
related, may Allah have mercy on him, from Abu Huraira, may Allah be
pleased with him, that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, said that Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, said:
‘Whoever is hostile to a wali of Mine, I declare war on him. My
slave does not draw near Me with anything dearer to Me than what
I have imposed on him, and My slave continues to draw near Me
with superogatory acts until I love him. And when I love him, I am
his hearing by which he hears, and his eye by which he sees, and his
hand by which he grasps, and his foot by which he walks. When he
asks of Me, I give to him, and when He seeks protection of Me,
I protect him.’
After the heart is freed of the sickness of witnessing other – and there is no
other in reality except from illusion – then taste, drinking, and drunkenness
is pleasant. Drinking designates the acquisition by the arwah and asrar of
what is yielded to them of divine karamat and pure fragrances. So the nafs
enjoys that as the thirsty man enjoys cold water. The beginning of drinking
is called taste. As for drunkenness, it is withdrawal by that tajalli from what
is other than the Manifester of the tajalli. The one who has this station is
considered perfect. More perfect than him is the one who is annihilated to
that annihilation, and who is returned by Allah to the station of going-on,
to undertake the adab of the shari‘a after realisation of the station of reality.
So his deeds, words, and states, are protected from the portions of passion
and witnessing of other. He is joined inwardly, and separated outwardly.
This is the allusion in the word of the poet, may Allah have mercy on him:
After annihilation in Allah, be as you wish.
Your knowledge is not ignorance,
and your action is not a burden.
This is because the one whose deeds are by Allah and for Allah is protected
from what does not please Allah; and he does not witness other-than-Him
in them. For that reason, they say that the wali is protected. As for impec-
572 The Sufic Path
cable protection (‘isma), it belongs to the prophets, peace be upon them.

When their Master loves these gnostics of Allah who are annihilated in
love of Allah, and when He chooses them and brings them near to His
presence, may He be exalted, and elects them, then He casts their love into
the hearts of the slaves and He publishes their mention in every announcer.
Whoever is loved by the Master, is loved by the slaves, and kings are their
slaves. Phenomenal being becomes a servant to their slave and to the high-
ness of their station and the goodness of their qualities. The author, may
Allah have mercy on him, said in respect to them:
The inviolability of the people of love is majestic with me,
and the value of the station of love is not surpassed by any value.
He means that the esteem of the people of love and friendship, and their
veneration with me and with everyone who has gnosis of their right and sta-
tion, is majestic and great, because the station of love requires all the stations
of certainty and the rank of the people of firm rooting and establishment,
because they have realised their following of the Messenger, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace. By that, love of Allah has been realised for
them because of following. ‘Say: “If you love Allah, then follow me and
Allah will love you and forgive you your wrong actions.”’ Wrong action
in each station is in accordance with it. As for the one whom Allah loves,
He protects him and guards him, and preserves him from every fault. For
that reason, ‘the station of love is not surpassed by any value,’ as the poet,
may Allah have mercy on him, said. Then he clarified some of their states
which are obscure for other than the people of their desire – and which
is considered dubious in respect to them. So he said:
Their darkness is light, and their misguidance is guidance;
their corpse is alive, and their slave is free.
Their contraction is expansion, and their poverty is wealth;
their hardship is ease, and their shattering is mending.
He means that what is manifested of the words and deeds of these people
to the people of ignorance and the veil, is the opposite of what they mean
from the source of what is correct. This is because their expressions in
their gnoses are not adequate for their meaning and do not unveil what
they intend, because the people of outward knowledge and the people of
transmission and forms are in one valley, and the people of taste and ecstasy
are in another valley. The ignorant are enemies to the people of knowledge.
The Awliya 573
Similarly, what is manifested to opinion of their striving and death to satisfy

their Beloved and realise their slavedom is real life and endless happiness.
Whoever dies of ardent desire in it, lives elevated among the people of
passion in the highest of degrees. They are slaves to Allah in all states, free
from phenomenal beings. They love in Allah and hate in Allah and they
are patient in Allah. When they are tested with blessings they give thanks.
When they are afflicted with hardships they are patient. When they are
stricken by wrong-action they seek forgiveness. These three states are to-
kens of the sincerity of their slavedom. The real slave is never parted from
them. Blessings from Allah come to him one after another and gratitude is
obligated. It is based on three pillars: acknowledging them inwardly, speak-
ing about them outwardly, and expediting them to satisfy their Protector
and Conferrer. When he does that, he gives thanks while he witnesses
his limitation to give thanks for the afflictions with which he is tested.
So he is obliged to be patient in them and to find comfort. It is barring
the nafs from resentment of the decreed, and barring the tongue from com-
plaint, and barring the limbs from rebellion like the slap, rending garments,
and tearing out the hair. When the slave undertakes patience in this state,
his tribulation becomes favour and his punishment becomes sweetness. His
death becomes life, his poverty becomes wealth, his shattering becomes
mending, and his being astray becomes guidance. What is hated becomes
beloved, because Allah ta‘ala does not afflict him in order to destroy him.
He afflicts him in order to test his station in the sincerity of his claim of
slavedom. This is because Allah deserves slavedom from the slave in bad
times just as He deserves it in good times. He obliges his slavedom in
whatever he hates as He obliges his slavedom in whatever he loves.
Most people give slavedom only in what they love. The matter is giving
slavedom in hated things, and in that the ranks of the slaves differ. The
high in station among them with Allah, glory be to Him, is the one who
undertakes the adab of slavedom in the two stations. The word of Allah,
glory be to Him, deals with it: ‘Is Allah not enough for His slaves?’ Com-
plete sufficiency is with complete slavedom, and the incomplete is with the
incomplete. Those who have perfected their slavedom are those over whom
shaytan has no power. Those are the ones whose freedom has been realised
by the realisation of their slavedom. That is the allusion to the statement
of the poet, ‘their slave is free,’ as preceded. Their love for Allah is sincere,
and they do not love other-than-Him. Had they loved other, they would
574 The Sufic Path
have been the slaves of other. It says in the Hikam al-‘Ata‘iyya: ‘You do not
love anything but that you are its slave – and He is not pleased that you be
a slave to other-than-Him.’ Ibn al-Farid said:
You are slain by whoever you love.
So whoever you choose, you act unfaithfully to yourself in passion.
Then the author, may Allah have mercy on him, speaks in the next three
verses about their veneration and respect by what they have of inviolability
with Allah because they are His awliya and lovers. He has made them safe
from fear and has removed their sorrow from them. ‘The awliya of Allah,
there is no fear on them, neither do they sorrow.’ Then he ordered their
veneration and lack of opposition to them, because love of them is a sign
of the bond of iman for the one who has it; and hate of them, inasmuch as
they are awliya, is kufr, because in it is the war of Allah which was alluded
to in the previous Hadith Qudsi. It is His word, glory be to him: ‘Whoever
is hostile to a wali of Mine, I declare war on him.’ For that reason, he said,
may Allah have mercy on him:
Their respect is an obligation upon every Muslim,
their love is a bond, and their hate is kufr.
None except the people of our desire obtains might.
Every profit except their profit is loss.
If there is glory in the two abodes for a high one,
by your life! this is glory in the two abodes.
He means that the awliya of Allah are one of the places of the inviolability
of Allah in His earth. They are the people of His love and friendship. They
have undertaken the rights of slavedom, so He helps them with the attrib-
utes of rububiya. In principle, you realise your attribute, and He helps you
with His attribute. So their respect and veneration is obligatory for every
Muslim. Whoever exalts them, has exalted Allah – and whoever is hostile
to them, is hostile to Allah and Allah declares war on him, because they are
His awliya. It says in the previous Hadith Qudsi: ‘Whoever is hostile to a
wali of Mine, I declare war on him,’ that is, proclaim war on him. They are
known, so they are necessary. Other than them do not obtain the like of
their might and honour. Every might and honour except their might and
honour is loss, because the might of others is material and passing. Their
might is ruhani and lasting. ‘The abiding deeds, the deeds of goodness,
The Awliya 575
are better with Allah in reward, and better in hope.’ It is obliged for
whoever wants glory or seeks might. What these Salihun obtain is real
might and real glory.
He said, ‘the people of our desire,’ that is, our goal – and they are the
gnostics, because their goal is the same. It is gnosis of Allah and His obedi-
ence, may the pleasure of Allah be upon them! When the himma of others
is attached to this world and its appetites, or the Garden and its degrees,
the himma of the gnostics is the presence of the Real and His tajalliyat.
Whoever makes his care one, Allah spares him from all cares and removes
from him all sorrows. May Allah give us the benefit of their barakat and
overflow upon us from the oceans of their gnoses and their aid, and may
He gather us in their company. Amin.
This is enough for whoever cannot reach the end and the limit. I ask
Allah to make this pure for His Face, and a cause for reaching His pleasure
and nearness. He has power to do that and He is worthy of answering. May
Allah bless Sayyidina Muhammad, the warning mortal, and his family and
Companions who, by following him, obtained the great bounty and the
generous wage. This was finished on Wednesday morning, 21st Jumada
ath-Thaniya, 1392 AH, 1972 AD. The return and homecoming is to Allah,
and He guides to the Path of the truth and what is right.
Shaykh Fudul al-Huwari
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know that our Path is the path of the kingdom. The first of what kingdom
needs is withdrawal from people, sensory and meaning. The king only sits
with the one who is suitable for his rug, and who is under his hand and
under his command and prohibition. If he mixes with the common people,
he acts as they act and does not differ from them in their states, words, or
actions. If that one is among the sum of the common, he has no election,
and he acquires election from among them by being different from them
in his words, actions, and states. By that he acquires might and elevation,
and by that his rank is higher than the ranks of people.
Know that the one with this Path cannot be spoken to by other than the
people of his art, nor can he be seen, heard, nor stopped in his gait. Also
when the one of this path sees the people of this world enjoying their world,
he obtains silence and peace. He does not move in his bed to right or left.
576 The Sufic Path
If he is standing, he sits. If he is sitting, he stands. They are increased in

agitation in their world, and he is increased in silence and diversion from
what they are in, because this world is like a corpse and its people are like
dogs who attack it. All election is gathered in being diverted from it and
lifting the himma from what its people are in – even speaking in it is impure,
even listening to the speech of its people is impure, even sitting with them is
impure, even looking at them is impure, even smelling their scent is impure.
I was with the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, sitting with him on the
edge of a river while he was conversing with me. He said to me: ‘My son,
water in the earth is in the position of blood in man.’ I heard him say: ‘My
son, good is the good of Allah, i.e. the secret of election.’ He said: ‘The
like of the valley you come from is a hundred thousand. It is a hundred
thousand, and nothing is lacking from it, and none who arrives is aware of
them.’ It is first from it. That which is seen as shortcoming and imperfection
is shortcoming in the vision and imperfection in his expression. The reason
for that comes from love of this world and love of its people and sitting
with them. From that comes the shortness of vision and the imperfection
of his expression. Expression is imperfect in the glance, and it is lacking
according to what the heart contains. When the heart contains love of
creation, the expression is imperfect. When the heart contains the love
of the Creator, the expression only emerges perfect.
Know that among those who turn to the path of election, whoever has no
reality has no election. That is because reality is like the elixir. The nearest
thing to it is rich. As the speaker said: ‘Whoever has acts of devotion from
You travels in creation like knowledge.’ This reality is the same whether it
is outward or inward. The outward reality joins him to Allah outwardly,
and the inward reality joins him to Allah inwardly. The one of election
has no contentment without them. It is unavoidable. The outward and the
inward are the stations, and the states alternate on the elected from station
to station, while he has no abiding in a station. He said, may He be exalted:
The end of election is from Allah to Allah. He is always travelling-resident.
You see the mountains and reckon them inanimate, while they are moving
like clouds.
The Awliya 577
Election is contained in three directions: it may be acquired, or given, or

inherited. I heard it from the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him!
Wilaya is not completed for the murid who desires election until he joins
two teachings: the teaching of the elite and the teaching of the common.
He takes election from its people – and they are the elite, and he takes its
results from their people – and they are the common. Election is only ob-
tained by asking its people for information about it, and its results are only
obtained by rubbing against the common. There is no doubt that asking
for information about it is not election. Election itself is the results which
appear to you – rather to the elite and the common. Since rubbing against
the common is not without results, due to this meaning it is the path of
Sayyidi ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani, may Allah give us profit by him! Travel in
it is one of its conditions. Some say ten years, and some say fourteen years.
There is no doubt that what is meant by travelling – and Allah knows best
– is rubbing up against the common people. Seeking information about
election is knowledge, and results are action and affirmation. Seeking in-
formation about it is news, and its results are eye-witnessing. Information
about eye-witnessing is lights without fruits. Eye-witnessing without news
is fruits without lights. The custom of Allah is not fruit without lights.
Wilaya is only completed for the murid who desires election when he joins
two teachings: the teaching of the elite and the teaching of the common.
Election is from its people – they are the elite, and he takes its results from its
people – and they are the common. Election is only perceived by abasement
to its people, and the results are only perceived by rubbing against the com-
mon. There is no doubt that abasement to it is not election. Election itself
is the result which appears to the elite and the common. However if there
is no abasement to it, there is no election. If there is no rubbing against the
common, there are no results. Because of this meaning, the path of Sayyidi
‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani, may Allah profit us by him, had travelling as one
of its conditions – it is said for 10 years, and it is said for 14 years. There
is no doubt that what is meant by travelling – and Allah knows best – is
rubbing against the common people. Abasement to election is knowledge
and attributes. Results are action and affirmation. Abasement is news and
its results are eye-witnessing. Information without eye-witnessing is lights
without fruits. Eye-witnessing without information is fruits without lights.
578 The Sufic Path
The custom of Allah with it has the teaching of the common for the murid
in the position of the vessel for the drink or the gulp. The teaching election
for him is in the position of the craftsman of that vessel or gulp.
The reality of election is joined in making the relationship to Allah known
and spreading it among the common and the elite. The reality of common-
ness is like that. It is joined in making the relationship to creation known
and spreading it among the elite and the common. This distinction between
the salih wali and the salih common man is that whoever is known by the
relationship to Allah is by Allah and for Allah. The one who is known by
the relationship to creation is by creation, for creation, no more. Allah is
found in the one who is by Allah, and creation is found in the one who is
by creation. It is like that.
Election is in two divisions: election of separation and election of gathered-
ness. The election of separation is election from creation. The election of
gatheredness is the election of the King, the Real. The one of separation
obtains the kingdom of creation, and the one of gatheredness obtains the
kingdom of the Real by the Real. The kingdom of the one of gatheredness
is concerned with passing thoughts. The kingdom of the one of separation
belongs to people. The kingdom of the one of gatheredness is a King, the
Lord of creation. The one of separation needs people, and the one of gath-
eredness is needed by people. The one of separation is the poor of Allah,
and the one of gatheredness is rich by Allah.
Know that dhikr is in two divisions: inward dhikr of thought, and out-
ward spoken dhikr. Thought only releases you in the outward, and spoken
dhikr only releases you in dhikr of thought. There is nothing in existence
higher and nobler than these two. All election is outward and inward. It
is dhikru’llah. The people of outward election are the people of spoken
dhikr, and it is the dhikr of the tongue. The people of inward election are
the people of dhikr of the heart in meaning. It is dhikr of thought. The
people of dhikr of the tongue are veiled by seeing the Name from seeing
the essence. The people of hearts withdraw in contemplating the essence
from the contemplation of the Name. This is the difference between the
people of inward dhikr and the people of outward dhikr. The people of
outward dhikr are veiled by the Name from contemplating the essence.
The water is the same, and the flowers are colours.
The Awliya 579
This poverty is based on one of two realities: either a celestial reality –

and it is taking possession, or a terrestrial reality – and it is pushing away.
Whoever obtains one of these two realities is poor, i.e. among the people
of election. If not, he is not. By taking possession, I mean the taking pos-
session of dirhams – i.e. he is recognised among those who take possession
of them and spend them from Allah, by Allah, and for Allah. Pushing away
is getting rid of them. These two realities are the foundation of election.
Whoever builds without a foundation, has no building.
Know that all election is exaltation, basically and in the branches. The
beginning of the seekers of election is exaltation, and their end is to it.
Exaltation of the beginning is shar‘ic, metaphorical, and exaltation of
the end is real, by force. If you wish, you could say that exaltation of the
beginnings belongs to the people of Allah, and exaltation of the end is by
Allah for Allah, without intermediary or fault. If you wish, you could say
that exaltation of the beginning belongs to the Path and its people, and
exaltation of the end belongs to all the reality. If you wish, you could say
that exaltation of the beginning is by the self for the species from behind
a veil, and exaltation of the end is by Allah for Allah after other is gone
or the veil is pierced.
Know that the like of these attributes which we described and wrote down
about election is like the one who depicts Makka while he has not seen
it – i.e. he depicts its likeness on parchment paper and depicts its road and
what will enable seekers to travel swiftly to it, by reports of roads and waters.
How is it the reason for the arrival of the one who reaches it, and how is
it the reason for the one who is cut off from it and turns aside from reach-
ing it and stops? It is in order to increase people in certainty and yearning
and passion and desire to seek it. What is meant by Makka here is the pure
presence of Allah. Shaykh Ibn al-Farid, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
Had it not been for her song, we would not have been
guided to her tavern.
Had it not been for her radiance, the imagination would
not have reached her.
One of the people of wisdom said, ‘Whatever is in you emerges at your
hand.’ Another said, ‘Every vessel pours out what is in it.’
580 The Sufic Path
By Allah, you will not acquire election until the people of election decide
that you are among the people of election. By Allah, you will not obtain
election until you obtain zuhd in election after you obtain election.
I heard the Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, have a man ask him for
election, and he aspired to the Shaykh in it. The Shaykh, may Allah have
mercy on him, said to him:
‘Guarantee me lack of concern about provision, and I will guaran-
tee that you will reach all the stations – but it is by constant sitting
with me.’
A stage will not reach you until creation puts you in it and testifies that it
is yours. Creation will not put you in a stage until you put yourself in it.
You will not put yourself in any stage until you keep the company of its
people. You will not keep the company of the people of a stage until you
are a servant and a slave to the liars among its people. Such is the wisdom
of Allah ta‘ala and His custom which has passed in His creation. You will
not find any change in the sunna of Allah.
By Allah, you continue to say: This I do – it is good and appropriate. This
is ugly – and I will not do it. If you do, you do not taste election. Had Allah
decreed it for you and had you tasted something of election so that you sold
the cattle and lost their value in order to eat the butter. By Allah, while you
are not deceived by liars and the truthful and you refuse to be deceived,
you will not taste election, and you remain among the common, and you
do not acquire election until you are deceived by the liar and the truthful.
By Allah, had you tasted something of election, you would serve plates of
food as we saw you, and you would go to the youths asking them to take it
from your hand. It is hoped for you that they will take it from your hand.
I heard him say to one of our companions: ‘My son, when you see the seeker
of this Path, i.e. election, test him in the covenant and destination. If you
find that he is sincere in his covenant and fulfils his destination, then know
that his quest is sincere. If not, he is a liar.’
The like of the common who names himself in election is the one who is
among the common people and then claims the kingdom. Only strong
men can do this. It is like that with election. When he claims election at
The Awliya 581
first, it is as if he is a liar. After that, it becomes sound true kingdom. It is

like that with election. First, one claims it and it is as if he were a liar or a
jester. After that, he goes in it and is long and confirmed, and it is sound
for him, so that he is truly worthy of kingdom. Whoever does not pluck
election as a liar, does not pluck it truly. The poet said, ‘The end of love
is pleasure, and its beginning is like jest.’ If you investigate this meaning,
you will find it in everything. Its beginning is as if he were a liar, and its
end is sound and true.
Know that those who claim election by lying are two: the first claims elec-
tion without election. In that, he is pleased with himself, contented with
his knowledge. His himma does not move to leave the worlds of his nature.
This one is a corrupt liar, may the curse of Allah be on the liars. The other
claims election without election, and travels in the path with the company
of the people of realisation. This one, even if he does not reach election with
his body, may reach it by his intention and his himma. Love and yearning
for it carries him. If he claims that he abides in it and has reached it, there
is no doubt that intention is more far-reaching than action, although this
one acquires sincere intention and he serves by action in his journey. The
word of arrival with the like of this may be sought from him by the lords
of the art, because they are with what mends their hearts. He is like one
who is a king. If he does not claim kingdom before he obtains kingdom,
he does not obtain kingdom ever. The custom of Allah has passed in His
creation. Wherever man puts himself, he will find himself. All creation
only puts you where you put yourself.
Whoever claims election and is not sincere in his claim, or based on it by a
truthful Shaykh who is a gnostic of Allah, his provision is that Allah hands
him over to every wrong condition.
Know that all the secret of election is gathered in the consciousness and
looking at it. Whoever recognises it recognises it and obtains it. Whoever
is ignorant of it is ignorant of it and is deprived of it. It is said:
They were forbidden arrival
because they squandered the roots.
That is because you do not look at all existence by perfection, but that all
existence looks at you by perfection. You do not look at all existence by
582 The Sufic Path
imperfection, but that all existence looks at you by imperfection. Similarly,

you do not look at part of existence with perfection and part of it with
imperfection, but that part of it looks at you with perfection and part with
imperfection. When you look at all existence as perfect, you find it perfect.
When you look at all of existence as imperfect, you find it imperfect. You
do not turn to a thing in existence seeking it with sincerity, but that that
thing turns to you seeking you with sincerity. It is like that when you turn
to it, lying about your quest – it turns to you lying about your quest. You
do not love a thing, but that it loves you. You do not hate a thing, but
that it hates you. You not go near to a thing, but that it goes near to you.
You do not go far from a thing, but that it goes far from you – because
existence is like the mirror. You do not confront it with anything but that
it confronts you with its like, letter for letter. That is because existence is
from you and you are from it. Whatever you do to it with it, you do with
yourself. Whenever you show generosity, you are shown generosity. You!
do not forbid, but that you are forbidden. See it in the Qur‘an:
One of the people of kalam said on this meaning:
Whoever spends the night with mankind safe from him,
he passes the night in security from time.
Take the sound hadith from me as the youth conveyed it to me,
with two hands.
Part of what the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, said to me is: ‘My
son, people have things. When they are straight, the need is fulfilled, and
when they are bent, a need is necessitated for them. In this Path of ours,
we have these things. When they are straight, a need is necessitated for us,
and when they are bent, a thousand needs are fulfilled for us. Because of
that, we find that we prefer breaking norms to norms.’
Part of what I heard from the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, is: ‘My
son, when you desire the result of the outward, then water it with the
inward, and it will stand. If you desire the result of the inward, then water
it with the outward, and it will be established, because all things are only
The Awliya 583
established by their opposites. The outward would not ever exist without
the inward. If it existed, it would be perfect. Similarly, the inward would
not ever exist without the outward. If it existed, if would be imperfect.
I heard from him that he heard his father, Sayyidi Ahmad, may Allah profit
us by all, say to him: ‘The secret of election is found in the child and is not
found in his father, and it is found in the father and not found in his child.
It is found in the slave and not in his master. It is found in the lowest of
what is among people like the baker, the butcher, the shepherd, and it is
not found in the noblest of people and the great of the moment. It is also
found in the common who cannot read or write, and not found in the great
‘ulama. He said, may He be exalted:
Allah bestows His mercy on whomever He wills.
and to make them leaders, and to make them the inheritors.
Know my brother, that the people of the reality are exiles, rejected, and the
people of the shari‘a are near, accepted. This is because the shari‘a is between
this world and the deen, and its people are many. The people of the reality
are devoted to their Master. They do not recognise other than Him and
they only see Him. Their occupation with looking at Him distracts them
from being occupied with this world and from being occupied with the
Next World. It is as one of them said: ‘By Allah, had I been obliged to buy
an onion, I would not have been able to do it. ‘ It is as if they were not from
the same species as common people, by the purification of their inward
and the illumination of their hearts by the contemplation of their Master.
However, it is as Allah, may His praise be exalted, said:
Few they are.
As for all these mosques, all these assemblies, and all these govern-ments,
they are only prepared and set up for the shara‘i’ and their people. As for
realities, their people, may Allah be pleased with them and may He profit
us by them, have been given something by Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted,
which the common people do not have. It is election for them, and only
they recognise it. The poet said:
I left people their deen and this world. I was occupied with You,
O my deen, and O this world of mine!
584 The Sufic Path
He has estranged them from creation out of jealousy from Him for them.
He put a veil of light between them and creation. Only the one who desires
to be brought to Him reaches them. Whoever hovers around them who is
not of their species is burned up by their lights. Glory be to the One Who
chose them and selected them from among His creation. He brought them
near and selected them for the presence of His nearness. May Allah provide
us with their love and let us drink their help. Amin. O Lord of the worlds!
Know that if you are a slave of your Master, you will not find in existence
anyone more truthful than yourself, and you will not have a lover like it
nor good except its good. Similarly, if you are a slave of a creature, you will
not find anyone more hostile to you than yourself, and you will not find
anything more hateful to you like it, because evil only reaches you by it.
However, whenever you are gathered to yourself, you are separated from
your species. Whenever you are gathered to your species, you are separated
from yourself. The custom of Allah has passed about this difference. He is
the Wisest of the wise. Part of the words of the common is: ‘Hate yourself
and people will love you. Love yourself and people will hate you.’ Love
of yourself is complete love. You do not acquire it until you recognise
it. Whoever recognises himself, recognises his Lord. When you acquire
gnosis of your Lord, you are at first rejected by all people until you have
no beloved except your Master or whoever is related to your Master. Such
is the custom of Allah in the elite of His slaves. That is information from
Allah to His slave.
Do the people reckon that they will be left to say:
‘We believe,’ and will not be tried?
Then that state is followed by the state of its opposite. In it, you are loved
by the people of the seven heavens and the people of the seven earths, of
jinn, men, birds, beasts, angels, the alive and the dead, inanimates, animals,
and plants – except for the one whose inner eye is blinded by Allah, and
wretchedness covers him, and he has no portion of the light of iman. We
seek refuge with Allah! After they all love you, all beings become your serv-
ants, under your command and prohibition. That is, when you are truly your
Master’s slave, phenomenal beings are truly your slaves by the command
of Allah ta‘ala. May Allah make us and you among those who travel on
this straight road by His favour and ihsan! He has power over everything.
The Awliya 585
A man who aims for Allah and does not recognise what he aims for, only
finds Allah and does not recognise what he finds. A man who aims for
Allah and recognises what he aims for, does not find other-than-Allah
and recognises what he finds. The first is clothed in the garments of His
majesty, occupied with Him in all his states. The second is clothed in the
garments of His beauty, occupied with Him from Him. This is among the
perfection of his attributes. The first drinks the wine of love and does not
recognise it. He is veiled to its sweetness and to its pleasure. The second
drinks the wine and is made to recognise it and gathers some of its lights
and eats its fruits. Glory be to the One Who gave and was kind, and Who
apportioned between His slaves and was just. Good health to the one who
enters by the doors of generosity and perfection. Woe, and woe again, to
the one against whom the word has preceded in before-endless-time.
Know that the people of Allah are in a world which the people of this world
are not in, and the people of this world are in a world which the people of
Allah are not in. May Allah make us slaves of our masters, the people of
Allah, and make our slaveness from us love and yearning for them – not
forced, because everyone acquires the forced. Part of the sum of what is
obliged for the one who seeks the company of our masters is that the people
of this world do not enjoy his glance, and he only looks at the people of
his art. The people of this world do not enjoy his hearing, and the people
of this world do not enjoy his speech. Speaking with them is the ugliest
of all things. He does not smell their scent and he does not sit with them,
because when he leaves what we have mentioned of seeing and what is
after it, then friendship is invalid. He acts in it with the people of Allah,
and his friendship with them is sound. When it is sound, ‘A man is on the
deen of his close friend.’ – Hadith. There are only the people of Allah and
the people of this world. There is no third. Whenever the friendship of
these misses you, you acquire the friendship of those, no more. May Allah
make us among the friends of His slaves, the Salihun, His gnostics, by His
favour and ihsan! Amin.
If you wish, you can say that creation has two divisions: the people of the
realities of the outward, and the people of the realities of the inward. As for
the people of the realities of the outward, they are the leaders of the moment
among the people of property, the people of leadership, and the people of
586 The Sufic Path
rank and force. The people of the realities of the inward are the very poor,
the weak, and the poor whom the common relate to Allah. Whoever rec-
ognises the people of the realities of the outward and does not reject any
of their states, obtains what is in their hands and is not denied any of their
good. Whoever recognises the people of the realities of the inward and does
not reject any of their states, obtains what is in their hands in every state
and is not denied any of their good. The gnostic of Allah joins the good
of the two groups. He keeps company with all of them. He changes with
each group according to their colours like the Shaykh of our Shaykh, may
Allah be pleased with all of them, Sayyiduna Ahmad al-Yamani, may Allah
profit us by him! He, may Allah be pleased with him, was among those
who did not reject any of the states of creation. He receives the people of
the outward for outward instruction and moves them to it and confirms
them in it. He thereby obtains the good of the two groups. That is when
Allah provides him with gnosis and wisdom. It is said that the perfect wali
changes in all conditions.
The mark of honour does not make conditions in respect to the wali, be-
cause the mark of honour is this world. This world may exist with the wali
and it may exist with the kafir. It may exist with the righteous and it may
exist with the outrageous. If you said, ‘knowledge and gnosis of Allah,’ yes,
because the wali is not ignorant. Allah does not take an ignorant wali except
to teach him. The karama is only seen on the wali by two aspects – either
by the overflowing of ecstasy, or the guidance of a murid. If it is other than
this, its manifestation is bad adab with himself. Far be it from the people
of Allah to have bad adab. May Allah profit us by them and ennoble us
with their dhikr, because the presence is pure, detached, protected. The
one who still has remnants of bad adab in him does not enter it until his
adab is perfected.
One of the greatest devices of Shaytan, may Allah curse him, on man is
that he only comes to him from the direction to which his himma turns.
He goes with him in it and he robs him and moves him from the direc-
tion of good to the direction of evil and continues with him. It is like that
until he moves him to the ugliest of ugly things. Had he first come to him
and ordered him to abandon good and do evil, he would have refused.
However, he guides him by doors which are among the doors of good. By
that, he only means to trick him to move to evil. By this, one understands
The Awliya 587
His word, may He be exalted:

‘I will surely sit in ambush for them
on Your straight Path.’
The perfect wali finds man persisting in doing evil. He keeps his company
in that state and does not object to any of that. He tricks him so that he
robs him bit by bit from the land of evil to the land of good, so that none of
the places of evil remain in him. He is not aware of himself and how it hap-
pened to him, since had he initially commanded him to good and to leave
what he had of evil, only a few of the Muridun would be able to do that.
A great one believes in it. Only the perfect of the Salihun do this action.
‘The teaching wali is the one who takes hold of his companion with the food
with which he is familiar, be it good or evil.’ He treats him with it and cures
him from it. As the poet said, ‘He cured me with that which was the illness.’
Know that the gnosis of the Master, may His praise be exalted, is easier,
simpler, and nearer, than gnosis of the slave, the wali, the gnostic of Allah.
Gnosis of the slave who is a gnostic of Allah is easier, simpler, and nearer,
than gnosis of the common slave who is ignorant of Allah. According to
this, the wali does not emerge for direct contact with the common and
their organisation unless his luminosity is completed, as well as his adab
with his Master from every aspect: from the aspect of gatheredness and
from the aspect of separation. He said, may He be exalted: ‘Few they are.’
The wali is like the prince. He only repairs to the pavilions of his might.
It is withdrawal from those of his species except from the one who is like
him in the people of his art.
Intention is the elixir of the awliya – and there is no way to obtain inten-
tion except by the company of the people of intention, and sincerity in
seeking them and patience, seeking their help and obeying them. Success
is by Allah! Shaykh Ibn ‘Abbas said in one of his works:
The one of inward knowledge flees from the people
of outward knowledge as one flees from the lion.
Know that the murid of this path of ours – and it is the Shadhili Path,
does not obtain it until he acquires sincerity in confirming it. Sincerity in
confirming it is the key of divine openings. As Shaykh ash-Shadhili, may
Allah have mercy on him, said, ‘Confirming this Path of ours is wilaya.’
588 The Sufic Path
A gnostic said, ‘Your reaching Allah is your reaching knowledge of Him.’

Another gnostic said, ‘Your reaching Allah is your reaching a man of the
awliya of Allah.’ The man who is a wali is the one that you think is a wali,
so you find him a wali. The sign of your opinion of him that he is a wali is
preferring his knowledge to your own knowledge, and preferring his action
to your own action. Part of the sum of preferring his knowledge to your own
knowledge is that you come to him seeking election while you are ignorant
of it. Had he told you, ‘You have reached the station of wilaya, O so-and-so,
the same time you reached me,’ you would say, ‘You spoke truly, Sayyidi.
I reached it. Praise be to Allah!’ – although you have no knowledge of it
and do not recognise a single letter of it. This is because when you heard it
as information from him, his information became yours by eye-witnessing.
By your following his concern above your own concern, you judge by it and
separate and worry. His information is greater than your eye-witnessing
because exalting his information over your eye-witnessing is gratitude
to him. The grateful deserves increase. Whoever does not thank people,
does not thank Allah. Similarly, exalting your knowledge of yourself over
the information of the Shaykh is denial of him – i.e. neglecting blessing,
even though meeting the wali is the greatest blessing in this world and the
Next. As for the one who rejects blessing, there is no doubt that he deserves
deprivation. Look at the word of the Prophets, peace be upon them, in his
secret conversation with Allah when he said to him, ‘My Lord, where will I
find you?’ He said, ‘You will find Me in the first one who comes forward.’
From this meaning is what Shaykh Abu’l-’Abbas al-Mursi said in the pres-
ence of ecstasy: ‘By Allah! Had a bedouin Arab come to me urinating on
his thigh, I would have made him reach Allah immediately.’
I also heard one day from our Shaykh about this art, may Allah profit us
by his dhikr, while he was in a state of great ecstasy: ‘Abu’l-’Abbas al-Mursi
said, “By Allah, had an Arab come to me …”’ and he repeated the story. ‘I
say, by Allah! Had a Jew or a Christian come to me, I would have made
him reach Allah immediately.’ This Path of ours is the pure Shadhili path.
Its seeker must be based on its Imam. He is the Qutb al-Aqtab, the Pole
of poles, Abu’l-Hasan. When he met Shaykh Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn
Mashish after washing, he said:
‘O Allah! I have been washed of my knowledge and my action so
that I do not possess knowledge or action except what comes to me
from this Shaykh.’
The Awliya 589
Then he went to him, may Allah profit us by both of them! Then there
was only what there was from him. This sunna became a condition for the
seeker of this Path – that he wash himself of his knowledge and action. If
he finds one of the people, he does not answer him and advances to him.
Then his knowledge affects his knowledge, and his action affects his action.
Had he heard the impossible from him which cannot be imagined to exist,
he would build on it and make it a habit without turning away – even had
all existence been contrary to that, even himself. His self knows more than
all existence because the self is with it in its skin. Existence is outside of its
skin. He leaves the knowledge of himself and the knowledge of existence,
and judges by the knowledge of the Shaykh without turning or dissatisfac-
tion. It is as ash-Shitri said:
Do not advance before my doctrine. It is an educator,
and none is more entitled to it than him in the age.
If the watcher turns to another, he says to the Beloved
of the palace: Do not travel by night.
Many of the muridun take from here. As he said in the Hikam: ‘They were
forbidden arrival because they squandered the roots.’ Sayyidi al-Majdhub
said, may Allah profit us by him:
Do not reckon it cheap. Every beloved is dear.
You only harvest the heat of summer
by the coolness of the night.
Let man be rich by Allah, and ease on the road of the people will come to
them, Allah willing. Success is by Allah.
The one on this Path of ours, and it is the Shadhili Path, at first, in the time
of beginnings, receives help from his species. The time of beginnings moves
him to the time of ends. Then he receives help from himself, just as he
received it from his species. Firstly, he was given water from one direction
– and it is from the direction of his species, i.e. in the time of beginnings.
Secondly, he received water from two directions together – the direction
of himself and the direction of his species, i.e. in the time of ends. However,
the species from which he receives water in the time of beginnings are his
Shaykhs, and the species from which he receives water in the time of his ends
are his students. Among them is the one who is opened, and he is with his
Shaykhs. Sometimes he has water from his Shaykhs, and sometimes from
himself. That lasts until his Shaykh is not there. Among them is also the
590 The Sufic Path
one who is opened and he is with his Shaykhs, and then he helps a group
of beginners with him – so he has water from three directions: from the
direction of himself, from the direction of his Shaykhs, and from the direc-
tion of his students. He gives each of these three directions its particular
moment. Only the strong, sincere, gnostic murid is capable of this state,
because only the one whom Allah helps with success can fulfil the due of
his Shaykhs with adab to them after arrival!
Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in the Lata’if al Minan: ‘One only comes to Allah by
two doors: the door of sensory annihilation – and it is death, and the an-
nihilation to which this group is devoted,’ i.e. the Shadhili group. Going-on
also has two doors. We say that it is the door of acting by norms, and the
door of acting by breaking norms. Acting by norms is acting by the shara‘i’,
and the door of acting by breaking norms is acting by the realities. Each of
these paths is opposite the other. The path of the shari‘a is cold and wet,
and the path of the realities is hot and dry. The path of shara‘i’ is service by
the outward limbs, and the path of realities is service by the inward limbs
– himma and the heart. Whenever man inclines to one, it has authority.
The path of shara‘i’ is wet and slow, and the path of realities is hot and
rapid. These paths are the stations of the travelling beginners. As for our
masters, may Allah be pleased with them, they have no station. As Allah,
the Blessed, the Exalted, said to the people of Yathrib:
O people of Yathrib! You have no abiding (maqam),
because they are with their Master wherever He wants and however He
wants. Their will is obliterated in the will of their Master. They go with
creation in the station in which they find them. They do not reject anything
from themselves or from creation, because they do not see other-than-Him.
Know that the outward and the inward are not paths. They are two stations.
Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, says:
However, whoever wants breaking norms in action, must pursue the
outward shara‘i’. Planting outward shara‘i’ bears the fruits of actions. That
is because actions are darkness, and the element of darkness is separation.
Similarly, whoever wants to break norms in knowledges, the knowledges
of information and the knowledges of eye-witnessing, he must pursue in-
ward realities. Planting inward realities bears the fruit of knowledges. That
The Awliya 591
is because knowledges are light, and the element of light is gatheredness.

The gnostic of Allah has no need of the fruits of actions of separation, as
he has no need of the fruits of the knowledges of gatheredness. Constantly,
he is neither with gatheredness nor separation. He is always with Allah.
The one who is truly with Allah, his attributes exist with those that exist
and are absent with those who are absent – alive with the living, dead with
the dead. In each state in existence, or its opposite, he is with the people
of that state, or with the people of its opposite. That is because Allah, may
His praise be exalted, has covered his attributes with His attributes, and his
description with His description, may He be exalted! Part of His attributes
and His description, may He be exalted, is that, ‘Everyday He is in some
affair.’ As the attributes of Allah have no end, so the attributes of the slave
who is by Allah have no end. The matter is above what the tongues can
describe. Expression is lacking and exhausted. Only Allah knows this
matter according to its reality. Success is by Allah.
Know that Allah is mighty and the Mighty is only seen by might. How-
ever, it is not from the outward. It is by the might of hearts. The might of
hearts is only acquired by the one who acquires outward abasement. Allah
is only truly seen by the one who finishes the abasement of his outward,
because the one who finishes the abasement of his outward, in every case,
certainly finishes the might of his heart inwardly. When the might of his
heart is finished, in every case, he witnesses the Mighty by might. Whoever
witnesses the Mighty, and He is Allah, they are called the people of the
outward who seek the acquisition of the realities in fact. Therefore the
shara‘i’ come to them as a gift by force. They are always engaged in seeking
the realities by themselves and the shara‘i’ by Allah. They are always in their
quest. There is no doubt that what is by Allah is stronger than what is by
the self in every case. Because of that, the people of the outward are the
people of the shara‘i’, and the people of the inward are the reverse. They
seek the shara‘i’ by acquisition in action, so the realities come to them as a
gift by force. They are always engaged in seeking the shara‘i’ by themselves,
and they are always seeking the realities by Allah. There is no doubt that
what is by Allah is stronger than what is by the self in every case. Because
of that, the people of the inward are the people of realities. Those who find
the shara‘i’, and they are the people of the outward, find creation and are
veiled to Allah. Their wilaya is not completed until the presence of creation
592 The Sufic Path
does not veil them to the presence of Allah, and the presence of Allah does
not veil them to the presence of the creation. Those who find the realities,
and they are the people of the inward, find Allah and are veiled to creation.
Their wilaya is not completed until the presence of Allah does not veil them
to the presence of creation, and the presence of creation does not veil them
to the presence of Allah.
The corruption of the heart is adding the presence of other-than-Him
to His presence. Similarly, the corruption of the body is adding food to
food. This is from the beginning murid in the Path. The perfect wali is the
reverse. This is because the perfect wali owns himself. The murid is different
from that, because the murid seeks to leave the enchantment of his self.
The perfect wali has finished disciplining himself. He is present with his
Master in all presences, and he serves Him in all states, absent-present,
travelling-resident. His separation does not veil him to his gatheredness,
and his gatheredness does not veil him to his separation. All opposites are
equal with him. Phrases are like meanings, and meanings are like phrases.
Know also that wilaya is between poverty and this world. It only appears
between the two of them. If it is this world, and it is not poverty, reaching
it is impossible. If it is poverty and not this world, it is also impossible to
reach it. If they join the two, wilaya appears between them, because this
world is shari‘a and poverty is reality. Wilaya is the gnosis of Allah and
Allah only appears between shari‘a and reality. It is like that in all things.
Everything has a shari‘a and a reality. When your himma is connected to a
thing, and its shari‘a and reality are joined in it for you, you find that thing
between them nearer than anything, and that thing is not difficult for you
unless its shari‘a or its reality is impossible for you.
Sometimes the wali speaks to his Lord from himself by himself in himself,
and sometimes he speaks to Him from his species in himself by himself
from himself. The hour of the conversation of Allah is intoxication, and
the hour of conversation of creation is sobriety. He is always between in-
toxication and sobriety. His self is as if it were an interspace between two
worlds: the world of Allah, and the world of creation. If you like, you could
say: the world of shara‘i’ – and it is the world of creation, and the world of
realities – and it is the world of Allah. It is as it was said:
The Awliya 593
Whoever has the shari‘a and does not realise has strayed.
Whoever realises and does not have the shari‘a becomes a zindiq.
Whoever joins the two states has realised.
Know that part of the sum of what Allah, the Blessed, the Exalted, has
bestowed on man is that He made him always annihilated-going-on.
When he goes on in gatheredness, he is annihilated in separation. When
he is separated in gatheredness, he goes on in separation. This habit of His
guides the overcome weak one. When he looks at separation, he is veiled to
gatheredness. When he looks at gatheredness, he is veiled to separation. The
perfect gnostic of Allah keeps the company of his Master with his slaveness
in all states, so that he goes between his separation and gatheredness – and
his separation is like the blink of an eye. It is as if his gatheredness did not
veil him to his separation, and his separation did not veil him to his gath-
eredness. It is as if his going-on does not veil him to his annihilation, and
his annihilation does not veil him to his going-on. That is from the strength
of transformation in the states. This attribute is only acquired by much ap-
plication in the art, and connection to its people. They are few. The author
of the Hikam said, ‘Among them is the one whose sobriety overcomes his
intoxication, and among them is the one whose intoxication overcomes his
sobriety. The best of them is the one who drinks and it increases him in
sobriety, and withdraws and it increases him in presence.’
Know that the perfect wali, the gnostic of Allah, is present in all presences.
This is the state of the strong Rijal, may Allah be pleased with them. The
presence of creation does not veil them to the presence of Allah, and the
presence of Allah does not veil them to the presence of creation, because
they see their Master in every state. They do not see other-than-Him. This
is perfect tawhid. These are those for whom praise and censure are the
same, as well as enemy and lover, giving and withholding. Whoever is evil
to them is like the one who is good to them. We ask Allah ta‘ala to make
us among them.
The wilaya of the wali is not perfected until he is taught three times. The
first time is the teaching of his parents, his mother and father. The second
time is the teaching of the elite, i.e. the Shaykhs. The third is the teaching
of the common after the teaching of the elite. The teaching of his parents is
teaching his body, and the teaching of the elite is the teaching of meanings.
594 The Sufic Path
The teaching of the common is the teaching of the senses.

The people of Allah are surrounded by those of creation who suspect
them by the relationship of Allah ta‘ala. Each of those who turn to Allah
has nearness to Allah according to the strength of the relationship and its
diffusion in creation. His distance from Allah is according to the weakness
of the relationship and its concealment in creation. That is because the
secret of Allah is not hidden from creation in its people. Had they been
under the earth, their scent would have pierced the mountains and the soil.
Whoever wants to recognise the wali, he is the one that most of the com-
mon designate by wilaya. Most of the common are the treasury, and their
followers are the leaders of the common. Wilaya belongs to the one for
whom the common confirm it. Whoever does not have wilaya confirmed
by the common is not a wali.
Know that the wali is like cumin. It is not fragrant until it is crushed,
either by an opponent who censures him in his states, or by a warid which
pierces him by its love, because love is fire. It does not descend on a veil but
that it burns it. A brother in Allah, one sound of heart, one listening to
the Real – these three diffuse the scent of the wali and manifest his noble
qualities. If it is not one of these three, no effect appears in him but that
he is overcome by his states.
Among the attributes of the gnostic of Allah is that you find that his actions
and states are like the states of the weak among the common Muslims, i.e.
outwardly in respect to meaning, because the outward has senses and mean-
ing. The inward has senses and meaning. The outward is announced to you
by states and actions, and the inward is announced to you by its reports. The
gnostic of Allah is either in his states and actions as we mentioned about his
outward, or in his words, which announce his inward. You find that none
of his states are rejected by any of the common people or the elite, because
the rank of gnosis of Allah is not obtained by anyone until he is a slave of
Allah in all states. When he is a slave of Allah in all states, how can he reject
any of the states of creation? His rejection is invalid, because the reason for
rejection is ignorance. When gnosis is obtained, ignorance is negated in
every case. Because of this meaning, you often find the gnostics of Allah,
may Allah be pleased with them, travelling as the weak do. It is said that
part of his attributes, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was that
The Awliya 595
no two matters were joined but that he chose the easier of them. He, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, is the Imam of the gnostics, and all
of them scoop from the sea of his lights. We ask Allah ta‘ala to put us with
them in portion and share by his favour, ihsan, generosity, and nobility.
Know, Sayyidi, that part of what my Master, may His praise be exalted, gave
me was that He made me pardon my self and pardon whoever pardons me
and whoever does not pardon me for what they do not pardon. I remember
His blessing to me. Also, He made me change in all conditions to obtain all
desires: Sometimes I am a wali, and sometimes I am illiterate. Sometimes
I am a king, and sometimes a slave. Sometimes I am free, and sometimes
a slave. Sometimes I am a man, and sometimes a woman. Sometimes I
am old, and sometimes a child. Sometimes I am an obedient zahid slave,
and sometimes I am a rebellious, desirous, negligent one. Sometimes I
am siddiq, and sometimes I am zindiq. Sometimes I am in the highest of
‘Illiyun, and sometimes I am in the lowest of the low. Sometimes I am a
king of the people of election, and sometimes I am a leader of the people
of election. Sometimes I beget and teach, and sometimes I am born and
taught. Sometimes I am among the people of states and stations, and some-
times I am among the people of wines and taverns. Sometimes I am firm
in certainty, and sometimes I am among the weak Muslims. Sometimes I
am free in the Highest Assembly, and sometimes I am free in the lowest
of the seven earths. Sometimes the cosmos is in my hand, and sometimes
I am driven away in my abasement. Sometimes I dispose of all the worlds,
and sometimes I cannot rule my self. Sometimes my attribute is that of the
madman, and sometimes I am among the people of the arts and stillness.
Sometimes I am among the people of gnoses and secrets, and sometimes I
dive into the darkness of others. Sometimes I am the teacher of knowers,
and sometimes I am among those who shed blood. Sometimes I defeat
tyrants by my force, and sometimes I am like the Jews by my abasement.
Sometimes I harvest the lights of reflection in the tavern of my presence,
and sometimes I dance with yearning in the middle of the narrow straits.
These are some of my attributes.
The perfect wali hunts creation like hunting the bee. He strives to pluck
its good and to have its sting miss him.
The wali is not a wali until he is zahid in his wilaya. It is like the answer of
596 The Sufic Path
one of the Shaykhs when he responded to his student who questioned him
and said, ‘Sayyidi! When will arrival be?’ He said to him, ‘Arrival is when
you do not seek arrival,’ because the secret of the outward is never joined
with the secret of the inward, and the secret of the inward is never joined
with the secret of the outward, although they are always joined. Had they
been separated, the existence of man would have been invalidated. However,
the meaning in that is that one is a king and the other is a chattel. When the
outward is a king, the inward is a chattel, and when the inward is a king,
the outward is a chattel. The king has authority, not the chattel.
The wali is like the field. He does not obtain perfection until he takes
his reckoning from the winter and the summer. Then he is given a third
rank, and it is the rank of perfection. The rank of winter is the rank of
the outward, and the rank of summer is the rank of the inward. The rank
of perfection is the rank of balance. In it, the outward and the inward are
balanced. In that, Allah appears. Whatever Allah appears on, the necks
of the people of the heavens and the earths are bowed to Him. Rather,
everything in the entire universe and the Unseen worlds is bowed to Him.
The wali, the perfect gnostic of Allah, you sometimes find intelligent in
the very limit of the senses, and sometimes stupid in the very limit of
the senses. Sometimes he is knowing in the very limit of the senses, and
sometimes he is ignorant in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he is
mighty in the very limit of the senses, and sometimes he is abased in the
very limit of the senses. Sometimes he is near in the very limit of the senses,
and sometimes he is far in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he is
renowned in the very limit of the senses, and sometimes he is neglected
in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he does good in the very limit
of the senses, and sometimes he does evil in the very limit of the senses.
Sometimes he is accepted in the very limit of the senses, and sometimes he
is rejected in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he gives in the very
limit of the senses, and sometimes he withholds in the very limit of the
senses. Sometimes he is high in the very limit of the senses, and sometimes
he is low in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he is celestial in the very
limit of the senses, and sometimes he is terrestrial in the very limit of the
senses. Sometimes he speaks in the very limit of the senses, and sometimes
he is silent in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he advances in the
The Awliya 597
very limit of the senses, and sometimes he retreats in the very limit of the
senses. Sometimes he is first in the very limit of the senses, and sometimes
he is last in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he is outward in the
very limit of the senses, and sometimes he is inward in the very limit of the
senses. Sometimes he arrives in the very limit of the senses, and sometimes
he is cut off in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes all creation are his
brothers in the very limit of the senses, and sometimes he has no brother
in existence, and he is in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he has
children, parents, and companions, in the very limit of the senses, and
sometimes he has neither child, nor parent, nor friend, in the very limit
of the senses. Sometimes all creation are his family in the very limit of the
senses, and sometimes he is alone in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes
he is by creation in creation for creation in the very limit of the senses, and
sometimes he is by himself in himself for himself in the very limit of the
senses. Sometimes he has many comrades and likes in the very limit of the
senses, and sometimes he has neither comrades nor like in the very limit of
the senses. Sometimes he is separated in his gatheredness in the very limit
of the senses, and sometimes he is gathered in his separateness in the very
limit of the senses. Sometimes he raises the high and lowers the low in the
very limit of the senses, and sometimes high and low are the same for him
in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he affirms what is affirmed and
rejects what is rejected in the very limit of the senses, and sometimes he
affirms what is affirmed and affirms what is rejected and does not find what
he rejects in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he grazes in norms in
the very limit of the senses, and sometimes he grazes in breaking norms in
the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he is annihilated in the world of
the unseen, going-on in the world of the present, in the very limit of the
senses, and sometimes he goes-on in the world of the unseen, annihilated
in the world of the present, in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he
goes-on in the attributes, annihilated in the essence, in the very limit of
the senses, and sometimes he goes-on in the essence, annihilated in the
attributes, in the very limit of the senses. Sometimes he uses wisdom in
the very limit of the senses, and sometimes he uses power in the very limit
of the senses. Sometimes another controls him as he controls another by
himself, and sometimes he controls himself by himself, and there is none
except him in existence, in the very limit of the senses.
598 The Sufic Path
One of the gnostics, may Allah be pleased with them, said: ‘The perfect
wali of Allah changes in all states to obtain all desires.’ This quality is only
gathered in the salik-majdhub, the sober-drunk, whose intoxication does
not dominate his sobriety, and whose sobriety does not dominate his in-
toxication. He gives each with a due its due, and pays to each with a portion
his portion. They are few.
Know that jest is a great reality. It is among the roots of realities. Jest is
faced by earnestness, and earnestness is faced by jest. I was allotted it and
deserved it and took it from the Shaykh, may Allah have mercy on him,
and may He profit us by him! The one of jest owns all existence and the one
of earnestness does as well. It is said that the one of jest with the people of
this world is swifter than the one of earnestness, because Allah ta‘ala related
this world to jest when He said, may He be exalted:
The life of this world is only play and amusement.
The life of this world is only deceiving enjoyment.
The one of earnestness is rejected with the people of this world. He is heavy
for them, as if he were not of their species. The one of jest is accepted with
the people of this world, because he conforms to the whim of the selves.
As the gnostic of Allah uses earnestness, so he uses jest. The opposites are
equal with him. As one of the gnostics of Allah said:
We are the party of Allah.
Whoever meets us, our jest is earnestness,
and earnestness is our jest.
‘The perfect gnostic of Allah changes in all states to obtain all desires.’ Ibn
al-’Arabi al-Hatimi, may Allah have mercy on him and may He profit us
by him, Amin, said:
The gnostic of Allah has no station.
It is like the word of Sayyidi Muhammad ibn Sa‘id to Sayyidi Ahmad ibn
‘Abdillah when Sayyidi Ahmad questioned him. He said to him, ‘Sayyidi, I
ask you about the path of love and the path of fear. Which of them is swifter
and nearer to Allah?’ Sayyidi Muhammad ibn Sa‘id answered him, ‘These
are stations – and the people of Allah have no station.’ Allah ta‘ala said:
O People of Yathrib! You have no abiding (maqam).
May Allah profit us by all of them!
The Awliya 599
Part of what the perfect gnostic of Allah is described by is that you find
that he has no station (maqam) nor abiding ever at all. It is as if he were
the orbit of one travelling like the constant journey of the sun in its signs:
resident-travelling, unseen-clear.
The convention with the realised is that all things only issue from their op-
posites. However, the root of roots is, in reality, their variation in colour (i.e.
changes). Because of this meaning, you find that they, may Allah be pleased
with them, do not abide in one state – neither in words, nor deeds, nor
actions, because they travel according to what Allah desires for them, not
according to what they desire. That is part of the perfection of adab which
they acquire by contemplation. With it, not a trace of anything remains.
You only see them as travelling-residents, withdrawn-present. You see the
mountains and suppose them to be inanimate, while they are moving as the
clouds move. It is the workmanship of Allah which perfects everything!
I also heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, say: ‘None of the
fuqara touches the treasury but that he has disposal of the fourth degree. If
he touches it and does not have the power to dispose of it, he is drowned.
Disposal is by the first degree, the second degree, the third degree – and
the only ones who have disposal are the strong paragons of the awliya who
can change by conditions, that is, the conditions of the reality, because the
one who has the conditions of the reality changes with each according to
his condition. It is as one of them said, ‘The perfect wali of Allah changes
with all conditions to fulfil all desires.’
The perfect wali is the one who joins the realities of Allah and the reali-
ties of creation. He uses descents and he uses ascents by all colours. It is
as ash-Shitri said, may Allah have mercy on him: ‘My goal in love is that I
become coloured.’ Ibn al-’Arabi al Hatimi said, ‘The perfect wali changes in
all conditions to fulfil all desires.’ He means that he takes on all the colours
of creation, celestial or terrestrial.
Also among the attributes of the perfect wali is that he is not in need of the
state in which his Master has established him at the moment – i.e. what he
desires, not what emerges from the element of power. It is not what his nafs
desires. However, it is as Shaykh al-Kamil, Sayyiduna Ahmad al-Yamani said,
may Allah profit us by him, to his companions when they had quarrelled
600 The Sufic Path
about the reality of wilaya. Each of them said what it seemed to him, and
they were in dispute about it. They brought their situation to the Shaykh,
and each of them mentioned to him what had appeared to him about the
reality of wilaya. The Shaykh did not confirm any of them in the matter.
When they could not answer they said to him, ‘O Sayyidi! We desire from
Allah and from you that you yourself inform us about the reality of wilaya.’
He said: ‘The reality of wilaya is that when the one who has it sits in the
shade, his self does not desire to sit in the sun, and when he sits in the sun,
his self does not desire to sit in the shade.’
Part of what our Shaykh, Sayyidi al-’Arabi, informed me from his father,
Sayyidi Ahmad ibn ‘Abdillah, may Allah profit us by him, is that one day
he was with Sayyidi Ahmad al-Yamani, may Allah profit us by him! He
was in a hair-tent and he had a group of ‘ulama with him, like Sayyidi Sa‘id
al-‘Umayr, Sayyidi al-Hasan ibn Rahhal and their like. They were speaking
with Shaykh Sayyidi Ahmad al-Yamani. Sayyidi Ahmad al-Yamani said to
them, ‘Tell me, is there among you one who recognises the reality of wilaya
and what it is?’ Each of them began to say what is accepted of praiseworthy
actions. One of them said, ‘Sayyidi, it is taqwa.’ Another said, ‘Sayyidi, it
is knowledge of Allah.’ Each of them said what appeared to him. He said
to them, ‘No, no,’ until they said to him, ‘Sayyidi! acquaint us!’ He said
to them, ‘Look!’ They said to him, ‘Sayyidi, the information is from you,
may Allah have mercy on you!’ He said to them, ‘Information is near.’
They said to him, ‘Sayyidi, what is it?’ He said, ‘The reality of wilaya is
that if you are sitting in the shade of this tent, you do not choose to sit in
the sun. If you are sitting in the sun, you do not choose to sit in the shade.
The hadith is an analogy.’
The wali is like the ember. When it is with charcoal without flame, light
is revealed and becomes strong until that charcoal is kindled from it and
becomes like it or greater than it. Had that ember been in a hundred thou-
sand pieces of charcoal or more than that, they all would have been ignited
from it. If the ember does not find any charcoal and remains alone, its light
becomes less and grows weak until it is as if it were not. Why does it not
ignite something other than charcoal? It is because charcoal is prepared for
it and it is prepared for the charcoal. The ember ignites the charcoal, and
the charcoal ignites the ember. The Shaykh is like that with the murids.
However, if the wali is like the ember and his perfection is not affirmed,
The Awliya 601
the like of what happens to the fire happens to him. When its light is put
out, after that, only ashes and blackness remain in it. When the wali of the
likeness is perfect from the people of his art and he does not find one with
which to feed it, i.e. of charcoal, he becomes like flint outwardly, a cold stone
which is like stone, i.e. a man like men. Only what is seen on the people of
his species is seen on him. Fire is hidden in him inwardly. Had the fire of
his inward appeared, and the people of the east and the west needed it, they
would have been ignited from it. He is like the stone which is thrown into
the middle of the road. Many people walk on it with their feet, i.e. because
of ignorance of him and ignorance of his wisdom. The one who obtains
him, i.e. the one who has his inner eye opened by Allah , the Blessed, the
Exalted, so that he recognises him and keeps his company, is like the one
who obtains something which indicates all existence. The wali, the gnostic
of Allah, is the greatest great name of Allah.
The lover is inwardly a king when he loves, and the lover is outwardly a
slave when he loves. What a difference between the king and the slave!
I also heard the Shaykh, may Allah profit us by him, speak until he once
said: ‘Vitriol, alum, and sulphur are distilled by a pipette. Their water is the
cutting water which cuts through all metals. They are Indian steel, copper,
iron, silver, gold, and the like of that.’ He said, ‘I tested it.’ I also heard him
say, may Allah have mercy on him: ‘I used to sit with a man of the Salihun,
i.e. their Shaykhs, may Allah profit us by them! We spoke with him for a
month and I did not ever hear him say ‘me’, and he did not ever mention
himself in relation to good or evil.’
Know that when obligations fall from man’s self, he begins to say to the
thing, ‘“Be!” and it is.’ It is the station of the source of Oneness which
Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish sought, may Allah profit us by him
and make us travel on his straight road!
Know that in these Rijal, the people of this Path, the station which they
reach is called the station of sovereignty. It is the highest, most elevated,
greatest, and most sublime of the stations in respect to the reality. It is only
obtained by the favour of Allah ta‘ala. In respect to the shari‘a, it is only
obtained by lack of ceremonies. It is the station of the source of Oneness
which Mawlana ‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish sought, may Allah profit us
by him! Amin.
602 The Sufic Path
Know that when the will of man, i.e. the wali, is obliterated, he becomes
without will, except for what emerges in the moment. When the wali is
at peace in this state, he becomes the word of Allah which is not cut off.
It is the Greatest Great Name of Allah. So he says to a thing, ‘“Be!” and it
is,’ i.e. whenever his himma is connected to a thing, it exists before him by
the command of Allah ta‘ala.
The perfect gnostic makes use of wisdom in the hour of distance. In his
hand, it is like a sharp razor, or like a cutting sword. By it, he opens every-
thing. In the hour of nearness, he makes use of power. In his hand, it is like
the heavy cutting stone-axe. Whenever he brings it down on something,
it crushes it until it becomes destroyed. Had he used it on all of existence,
its jurisdiction would have been transferred in accordance with his will.
One of them said, ‘His command is the command of Allah. If I say, “Be!”
it is.’ This is part of the realities of the Rijal whose behaviour in states and
their opposites is the same. May Allah profit us by them and provide us
with their love. Amin.
Part of the attributes of the perfect gnostic of Allah is that he uses existence
in all his states. When he is in the state of gatheredness, he uses gathered-
ness as power, as when he strikes with the club. He allocates whatever he
is entrusted with and he does not turn to detail. When he is in the state
of separation, he uses separation as wisdom, like a sharp knife in the hand
of the cupper. He removes hair from the head while the owner of the head
is asleep and is not aware of it. If the gnostic does not use it by wisdom as
he uses it by power, and use it by power as he uses it by wisdom, then he is
imperfect by wisdom in abasement and slaveness, and by power in might
and freedom. It is like that. We saw our Shaykhs and heard from them
that they were like that, as well as the Shaykhs of our Shaykhs, may Allah
be pleased with all of them. The Shaykh of our Shaykh, Sayyidi ‘Abdu’r-
Rahman al-Majdhub, may Allah be pleased with him, said in this meaning:
Poor and rich, and a praiser, and I am not a beginner in this state
– left and right untied, I hit by this and that.
Part of what my Master bestowed on me as a gift from Him was that He
gave me two worlds: the world of the senses, and the world of meaning.
He placed me in them like a bride who is desired by them. They yearn for
me. Whichever of them obtains me without the other, boasts and is proud
The Awliya 603
over the other. They are under my command and prohibition. When I
turn to the world of the senses, it leaps to obey my commands and helps
me with what I want and desire without hesitation. If I turn to the world
of meaning, it similarly leaps to obey my command and prohibition, and
helps me with what I want without hesitation, until I have the substance of
the Unseen with me like the substance of the present, and the substance of
the present like the substance of the Unseen. I choose between them. I am
the prince and they are the army. That is from the bounty of Allah ta‘ala,
His generosity and nobility. There is no good except His good, and there
is no abundance except His abundance. There is no Lord except Him,
and truly there is no object of worship except Him.
Know my brother, that the liar with the people is the one who is not related
to his Master. As for the one who is related to his Master, he is the truthful
confirmed one. As for the one who denies the one related, he is a liar and a
denier, because he denies himself since he is not related to his Master, and
he denies others when they are related to their Master. As the one related
is related by his tongue, and no trace of that appears to us except for the
tongue alone, we would have to believe his truthfulness in his claim. We
would have good opinion of him, because the Prophet, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, said:
I am ordered to fight people until they say, ‘La ilaha illa’llah.’
– Hadith.
He also said:
I am commanded to judge by the outward
and Allah takes care of the secrets. – Hadith.
He also said:
La ilaha illa’llah has what we have and it is on what we are on.
Don’t you see that when a man says, ‘La ilaha illa’llah – Muhammad ar-
Rasulu’llah,’ with his tongue, and the effect of actions does not appear
on him to us, do we trust him by his actions? No, rather we trust him in
his Islam. We only say, ‘Our brother, and part of us.’ When he dies, we
must pray over him and bury him in a Muslim grave. When our brother is
alive and from us, what embraces us embraces him. When this is sound in
commonness, so it is sound, and more fitting and appropriate for election,
because whoever is related to his Master by his tongue and rejected, this
604 The Sufic Path
is part of bad opinion of the slaves of Allah. We seek refuge with Allah
from it, so it is said:
There are two qualities above which there is nothing in good, and
two qualities above which there is nothing in evil: good opinion
of Allah and good opinion of the slaves of Allah. Good opinion
of the slaves of Allah is good opinion of Allah.
Know, my brother, that the benefit of people from the wali is according to
their good opinion of him. The destruction of people by the wali is accord-
ing to their bad of opinion of him, because Allah ta‘ala said on the tongue
of His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:
I am in My slave’s opinion of Me.
It is haram for the one who has an evil opinion of the wali to obtain other
than evil from him, because his bad opinion is what comes between him
and his good. It is haram for the one whose opinion of the wali is good to
be forbidden his good. He benefits by his good and is forbidden his evil,
because the measure on which the wali is accepted is the measure which
he gives you. The abundant is by the abundant, and the incomplete is by
the incomplete.
Know that when a mistake or act of negligence to the presence of the
Master occurs from the one sitting in the presence of Allah, phenomenal
beings come to him from every side – and they cannot be numbered, to
tempt him and to harm him, because all phenomenal beings desire him.
When he enters the presence, a veil of light is set up between him and
phenomenal beings. Phenomenal beings cannot reach him by the force
of its light. Whenever one of them goes around him, it is burnt up by that
light. He said, may He be exalted: ‘You will have no power over My slaves.’
Similarly, He said, may He be exalted: ‘My pure sincere slaves,’ to what
has no end of ayat in this meaning as well as clear hadith. When an act of
negligence to the presence of the Master occurs from him, phenomenal
beings come to him yearning for him. They take him like hounds take game.
He is only saved from them by entering the presence. When he enters it,
he has rest from their toil and deception. In that he acquires rest from toil,
because Allah ta‘ala created the slaves for His presence and called them on
the tongue of the Prophet. He only brought this existence into being for
the sake of that. He created phenomenal beings and gave them power over
The Awliya 605
His creation. The only one who is saved from the temptation of phenom-
enal beings is the one who enters the presence. If not, he is deceived and
owned by them. They do what they like with him. It is as if Allah put these
phenomenal beings in the position of guards over the presence. Whoever
leaves His presence, they seize him and devour him and possess him and
test him. In that they are a mercy for the wali, because they return him to
his Beloved. They are a revenge for others, because they possess him and
bind him away from the coolness of his eye and his Beloved. They are the
source of blessings for the wali, and they are the source of revenge for oth-
ers. They are the most beloved of lovers for the wali, and they are the most
hostile of enemies for others. Also, they are the source of wealth for the
wali, and the are the source of poverty for others. By them the wali has his
nearness and booty, and by them others have the action of His distance
and loss. By them the gatheredness and witnessing of the wali is perfected,
and by them the separation and loneliness of others is perfected. The wali
has no greater lover than phenomenal beings, and others have no greater
enemy than phenomenal beings.
Know that good has an outward sensory action, and an inward action of
meaning. Similarly, evil has an outward sensory action, and an inward action
of meaning. The sensory action of good maintains its action of meaning,
and the sensory action of evil maintains its action of meaning. Perfection is
the manifestation of both actions in the senses, because their manifestation
in the senses obliges the maintenance of the two actions of meaning. Their
maintenance in the senses and meaning is only joined in the one in whom
the reality is completed. They are very few indeed, because the master of
this station is equal in good and evil actions. He obtains the benefit of good
and evil actions. That is because he is neither with good actions nor evil
actions. He is with his Master in good actions and evil actions.
The wali is the one to whom the necks of the elite of the common among
the people of his time bow. The one to whom the elite of the common of
the people of his age do not bow is not a wali – even had he laid claim to
what he claimed. The elite of the common are the people of leadership and
their followers, because the people of leadership are the people of great
majestic luminosity mixed with beauty. The people of Allah have another
luminosity – great, beautiful, mixed with majesty. As for the one with
606 The Sufic Path
majestic light with the one with beautiful light, the stronger of the two of
them owns the weaker in any case. If the luminosity of the wali is strong,
he owns the master of leadership – so the master of leadership becomes
a chattel and the wali is a king. If the luminosity of the master of leader-
ship is stronger than the luminosity of the wali, he owns the wali – so the
wali is a chattel and the master of leadership is a king. When the wali is
owned, what wilaya does he have? The wali is true – he owns all existence,
and only Allah owns him. Here we pursue the luminosity of the wali with
the luminosity of the master of outward leadership, because they all basi-
cally belong to Allah and are in Allah and by Allah. There is only Allah.
Because of that, the strong overcomes the weak. Among them is the one
whose luminosity overcomes the luminosity of the people of leadership
of his age. The people of leadership surrender to him. When the people
of leadership surrender to him, all the people of his age surrender to him.
The one whose luminosity is overcome by the luminosity of the people
of leadership of his age is one of the common, whether he likes it or not.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Wilaya is a noble state of the presence of lordship and a sublime state of

delegation. People’s intellects are bewildered about it. Only the strong
astute ones among them perceive it. Allah has not left this world in them.
How could it be when the wali is the one whom Allah has taken charge
of, so He has covered his attribute with His attribute, and his quality with
His quality – i.e. his incapacity with His power, his weakness with His
strength, his poverty with His richness, his abasement with His might,
his ignorance with His knowledge, and so on. No one should be ignorant
of its rank or overlook its people. It is imperative that he recognise it and
not be ignorant of it, so that his himma will be high and his heart will rise.
We see that most people do not believe in wilaya from one aspect, as
they do believe in it from two other aspects. One of them is that of the
people of attraction (jadhb) without wayfaring. The other is that of the
people of great striving. The matter is not as they believe, because jadhb
is wilaya, but it is not joined with striving. It is strength, and striving is
strength, and strength cannot be in two directions, as we have said many
times. Perhaps whoever hears us and follows us, will profit and give profit.
The Awliya 607
Jadhb is reality-intoxication. Wayfaring is shari‘a-sobriety. The reality

veils one to the shari‘a of Muhammad, as the shari‘a of Muhammad veils
one to the reality – as it says in the Hikam of Ibn ‘Ata’Illah. The one with
reality withdraws from creation by the contemplation of the King, the
Real. He is annihilated to causes by witnessing the Maker of causes. This is
a slave who is brought face to face with the reality, and its radiance appears
on him. He travels on the Path and he has mastered its distance, although
he is drowned in lights and his traces are completely obliterated. His in-
toxication has overcome his sobriety, his gatheredness has overcome his
separation, his annihilation has overcome his going-on, and his withdrawal
has overcome his presence. Our lady ‘A’isha, may Allah be pleased with her,
was so intoxicated that she withdrew when she said, ‘By Allah! I will thank
only Allah!’ However, she became sober immediately, and returned to the
state of perfection which she had. It is joining intoxication and sobriety, the
shari‘a of Muhammad and the reality, jadhb and wayfaring, the outward and
the inward, and presence and withdrawal. This is the state of the perfect,
may Allah be pleased with all of them. Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, may Allah be
pleased with him, said in his Hikam: ‘More perfect than him is a slave who
drinks and is increased in sobriety, and who withdraws and is increased in
presence. His gatheredness does not veil him from his separation, nor does
his separation veil him from his gatheredness. His annihilation does not
veil him from his going-on, nor his going-on from his annihilation. He
gives everything with a due its due, and he gives everyone with a portion
his full portion.’
One becomes so intoxicated here that many of the awliya of Allah, may
Allah be pleased with them, have withdrawn. The right-acting wali, Abu
Yazid Sayyidi ‘Abdu’r-Rahman al-Fasi, known as the gnostic of Allah, may
Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘I used to retain fourteen knowledges.
When I obtained the knowledge of the reality, all those knowledges
departed and all that remained of them was Qur‘an and hadith.’ When I
myself acquired what Sayyidi ‘Abdu’r-Rahman had obtained, I was stripped
of every bliss that I had enjoyed. I left all my habits and all my passions.
Nothing at all remained in my heart except Allah. Had I relied on Him
by my limbs alone, that would have been my contentment with my Lord.
Praise and thanks be to Allah! When Shaykh al-Junayd, may Allah be
pleased with him, obtained it, he said:
608 The Sufic Path
Purify yourself with the water of the unseen

if you have a secret.
If not, then do tayammum with sand or stones.
Step forward if you are the imam, and pray
the dhuhr prayer at the beginning of ‘asr.
That is the prayer of the gnostics of their Lord.
If you are among them,
then moisten the dry earth with the sea.
When Sayyidi al-Wasiti, may Allah be pleased with him, acquired it, he
said, ‘Those who do dhikr are more heedless in their dhikr than those who
forget His dhikr because His dhikr is other-than-Him.’ There are more
statements to that effect among the people of annihilation, may Allah be
pleased with them in this meaning. It is as they said:
I only have to remember You and my spirit, my heart,
and my secret, begin to curse me in Your remembrance!
It is almost as if there was a watcher from You calling to me,
‘Look out! Woe to you! look out!
look out for remembrance!’
Now you see that the witnesses of the Real shine,
and all has reached your meaning from His meaning.
As for the people of attraction without wayfaring, they are as they believe
them to be, since the luminosity of their Lord directs them. It brings out
their inward to their outward, and whatever happens to them happens. As
Ibn ‘Ata’Illah says in the Hikam: ‘When the divine waridat come to you,
they destroy your habits. “Kings, when they enter a city, destroy it and
make the mighty among its people abased. Such will they do.”’
In addition, another obscure matter for people is that of election among
the people of means, let alone the people of begging among them. They do
not know that the famous wali, Sayyidi Abu Silham, may Allah be pleased
with him, had the weakest means. It was fishing by the hook. In spite of
that, the sea was pulled by his himma, and he disposed of it by his force and
power. Our master, may Allah be pleased with him, used to beg for money
in Fes al-Bali from shop to shop, like someone in great need, although he
had lived as a ghawth for most of his life and he was over 80 years old. Allah
knows best. It is as if people think that trust and reliance on Allah are only
obtained by the one who leaves his worldly means. They do not know that
The Awliya 609
the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had such trust in
his Lord that no one in his community or any of the previous communities
had the like of it. In spite of that, he would use worldly means and divest
himself of them. He would not fast and he would fast. He would sleep and
he would stay up in prayer. It was all to give a shari‘a to his community.
Among his community are those who follow in his footsteps in trust in
his Lord, until they meet their Lord. We have mentioned some of them
and their likes, may Allah be pleased with them. Another obscure matter
is the one who has few practices, and is content by them with his Lord.
They do not know that constriction is absolutely not necessary among the
noble, so what about constriction among the noble one of the nobles? The
reality indicates the Real. The Real is Allah, the Mighty, the Majestic. The
shari‘a indicates the giver of the shari‘a – that is our Prophet, may Allah
bless him and grant him peace.
We think, and Allah knows best, that the one who does not see people –
i.e. who has withdrawn from seeing them, does not witness Allah with a
perfect witnessing, since the perfect one is the one who is not veiled from
the Creator by creation, nor from creation by the Creator. He is not veiled
by separation from gatheredness, nor from gatheredness by separation. He
is not veiled from the effect by the cause, nor from the cause by the effect.
He is not veiled from the reality by the shari‘a of Muhammad, nor from
the shari‘a of Muhammad by the reality. He is not veiled by travelling from
attraction, nor by attraction from travelling, and so forth. He has arrived.
He is perfect. He is the gnostic. His opposite is destroyed, except for the
majdhub who has withdrawn entirely from his senses. He is not destroyed.
Whoever is annihilated – or, we might say, drowned – in contemplating the
immensity of the essence of Allah can only be exalted by all of the slaves of
Allah. They do not exalt the one who is not drowned in contemplation of
the immensity of Allah. They exalt whoever exalts Allah – or, we can say,
the command of Allah. There is no doubt that indifference to the com-
mand comes from lack of recognition of the commands. Had they exalted
the command of Allah, they would have exalted Allah. Had they exalted
Allah, the creatures of Allah would have exalted them.
The one who is exclusively devoted to Allah has a great sign by which he is
recognised. It is that all matters, great and small, obey him and are under
610 The Sufic Path
his full command, since in existence he is like the heart in the body, and
Allah knows best. When the heart moves, they move, and when it is still,
they are still. If it stands, they stand, and if it sits, they sit. If it is contracted,
they contract, and if it is expanded, they expand. If it is weak, they are weak,
and if it is strong, they are strong. If it is humble, they are humble, and if
it is proud, they are proud, and so on. Similarly, the one who is exclusively
devoted to his Lord is annihilated in the contemplation of His immensity
from the illusion of the existence of other-than-Him. All existence follows
him and is under his full command. Wherever he goes, existence goes. Allah
This is always the business of the people of true sincerity. Whatever
emerges in their hearts, appears in the sensory world immediately.
When the slave recognises his Lord, all creatures recognise him and all
things obey him, and Allah knows best. The noble Shaykh, our master, may
Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘When your inward is free of beings, it is
filled by the Maker of being, and love grows between you and all beings.
When your behaviour with the Creator is pure, all creatures are fond of
you.’ We said, may Allah be pleased with us, when you are true in witnessing
your Lord, all His modes of recognition will try to get the better of you,
and they will come to you in every description. If you still recognise and are
not ignorant, then existence and what is in it will recognise you, love you,
respect you, honour you, pay homage to you, obey you, yearn for you, be
pleased in remembering you, care about you, boast of you, leap to you, and
brag about you, while you see it with your eyes. If you are ignorant of Him
when He makes himself known to you, then everything will be ignorant of
you, everything will reject you, everything will abase you, everything will
humiliate you, everything will push you away, everything will gloat over
you, everything will be ignorant of you, everything will flee from you,
everything will meet you in competition, and everything will defeat you.
Faqir, if you want your wind to be over all the winds and all your op-
ponents, then be firm in witnessing your Lord at the moment when He
makes himself known to you. Then He, glory be to Him, will change your
ignorance into knowledge, your weakness into strength, your incapacity
into power, your poverty into wealth, your abasement into might, your loss
into finding, your loneliness into intimacy, and your distance into nearness.
We can say that He, glory be to Him, will cover your attribute with His
The Awliya 611
attribute, and your quality with His quality. He is Generous with immense
overflowing favour – glory be to Him and may He be exalted!
The patched jelaba, begging, uncovering the head, walking barefooted,
sitting on rubbish heaps while being careful about impurity, eating in
markets, sleeping in the road, and other states which some of the sufis have
like the people of our tariqa, may Allah be pleased with them - none knows
whether they are real or baseless except for the sincere. We think that pure
sincerity is what throws the people there, since they, may Allah be pleased
with them, are not concerned with themselves and they do not choose
any state in preference over another. They are also drowned in the seas of
exaltation, as Shaykh Abu Sa‘id ibn al-‘Arabi, may Allah be pleased with
him, said when he was asked about annihilation. He said: ‘Annihilation
is that immensity and majesty appear on the slave, making him forget this
world and the next …’ to the end of the quote which is previously cited.
Allah knows best, but they were like that before they were drowned in
the seas of exaltation, because their true sincerity would not let them look
at anything except what was between them and their Lord. They did not
look at all at what was between them and His creation. This is their state,
may Allah be pleased with them. We see that the people of pure sincerity
have many great and varied strange states. They are only perceived in reality
by the person who is like al-Khidr. Look at the states of al-Khidr, peace
be upon him, in the Book of Allah, and you will see wonders. He made a
hole in the ship while it was being of good use to its owners and their bag-
gage. He killed the boy but did not kill him on behalf of his own people
or for anyone else, and there was nothing against the boy in the shari‘a
of Muhammad. He set up the wall after its owners had not offered them
hospitality when they had requested it. He did all this in the presence of
the Messenger of Allah to whom he spoke, Sayyiduna Musa, peace be upon
him, since he would only accept the truth and only perform what was true
– so understand! May Allah give us and you understanding!
People disagree about the master al-Khidr, peace be upon him. Some say
that he is a wali. Some say that he is a prophet, and some say that he is a
messenger. What I say about him is what has already reached you – except
for countering the one who thinks that it is unlikely that he, peace be upon
him, had taught the Messenger of Allah, Sayyiduna Musa, peace be upon
612 The Sufic Path
him. He did teach him, as Allah reported when Allah ta‘ala said: ‘How
can you be patient with that which your knowledge has not embraced?’
He said, the Great: ‘As for the ship, it belonged to some poor men who
worked the sea … As for the boy, his parents were believers … As for the
wall, it belonged to two boys …’ to the end of the ayat. Is this not teaching?
We seek refuge from Allah that this should not be teaching! By Allah, it
is the great teaching, since the like of it is not heard in the Book of Allah
or in the hadith of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant
him peace! The great trusty ones among his community said in the hadith
of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, ‘Allah
was merciful to my brother Musa. Had he been patient, we would not have
benefited …’ to the end. The like of what he taught him paved the way for
a hundred questions. Allah knows best. This is enough.
My self said to me, ‘Sayyiduna Ahmad al-Khidr, peace be upon him, will
lean on that post.’ Then a man came and leaned on it, just as my self had
told me. He looked at me with a beautiful look, and I experienced a great
awe of him. I was sure that it was him, peace be upon him. He left me and
I went after him, but I could not find him.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Know that the master of the reality is rejected by all creatures except for a
few people. Look at the Prophet of Allah, Musa, peace be upon him! Allah
ta‘ala called him ‘the strong trusty one’ in His Book. Allah ta‘ala spoke to
him, from Him to him, without intermediary, and Allah ta‘ala informed
him that His slave al-Khidr knew more than him. In spite of this, when
he saw the lights of the suns of the reality shine in al-Khidr, he could not
interpret, and he rejected him, one, two, and three, times. Since Sayyiduna
Musa, may the majesty of his virtue belong to our Prophet and may the best
of blessings and peace be upon him, could not interpret when the lights of
reality appeared to him, how much more so with the weak.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
It is not inconceivable that a wali or a prophet might know what a messen-

ger does not know, even if the messenger is better and has more knowledge.
The Awliya 613
This is because if the knower is not incapable, he is not supported. He

would be claiming the attribute of lordship. There is no way for him or
anyone else to have that. As Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in the Hikam: ‘He forbids
you to claim anything that is not yours from that which creatures possess.
Then how can it be permitted for you to claim His attributes when He is
the Lord of the worlds?’ It says in the Book of Allah ta‘ala, ‘You have only
been given a little knowledge.’ It is also said that part of protection is what
you do not find. Allah ta‘ala supported His messengers, blessings and peace
be upon them, with incapacity and force. He also helped them with His
attribute – i.e. He supported them with His help. He, glory be to Him, is
the Wise, the Knowing. He has power over everything. He helped all the
prophets, awliya, and slaves, just as He helped His messengers, peace be
upon them. Had it not been for His constant support, all of us would be
swimming in darkness.
Know that when the Jews, may Allah curse them, resolved to question
our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about the reality of
the spirit, they said, may Allah curse them, ‘If he cannot answer us, then he
is a Prophet. If he does, then he is not a Prophet.’ Then he did not answer
them until Allah had taught him what to say, as it says in the Book of Allah
ta‘ala: ‘They will ask you about the spirit. Say: “The spirit is from the
command of my Lord.”’ There is no doubt that incapacity is the attribute
of the slave. Slaveness is the very limit of nobility. For that reason, Allah
praises His Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with it when
He says in His Book: ‘Glory be to the One Who travelled with His slave
by night.’ He did not say, ‘His Prophet’ or ‘His Messenger’.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
This Path of ours is like the path of the night thieves: while they are one, a
pair, their affair is veiled. As for three, it is a hazard. When they are four, all
creation stand up and shout at them from every side, so they cannot save
their heads unless Allah saves them. This is forbearance, which the Prophet,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, placed in some of his companions
as a secret. Had disclosure of it been appropriate, he, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, would have disclosed it. Similarly, this was the sunna
of the khalifs after them. Some of them learned it secretly from others,
may Allah be pleased with them, until this day. Whoever hovers around
614 The Sufic Path
disclosure of that secret has turned himself to destruction. As it is said:

Whoever understands the indication, let him protect it.
If not, he will be killed by the sunna.
He counselled me to conceal the reality from all creatures, out of jealousy for
it, except for its people – and they are very few indeed. Do not give wisdom
to other than its people – or you will do an injustice to it. Do not forbid
wisdom to its people – or you will do them an injustice. It is as he said:
I will conceal my knowledge from the ignorant of my group,
and I will not scatter the precious before beasts.
If Allah the Generous decrees by His lutf and
I encounter people of knowledges and wisdoms,
I will expend my knowledges and I will learn their knowledges.
If not, it is stored up with me and concealed.
Whoever gives the ignorant knowledge, loses it.
Whoever denies it to the worthy has acted wrongly.
Know that this knowledge, i.e. knowledge of Allah, is obligatory for its
possessor. None other than the people of this art are acquainted with it.
They are few. They are jealous of it. They do not bring wisdom to other
than its people, so as to do injustice to it, and they do not forbid wisdom
to its people, so as to wrong them.
Know that whenever you give goods to other than their owners, they
diminish it for you, and debase it, and are zahid in it – even had it been
nobler than pearls and rubies. The reason that it is diminished and debased
is that you presented it to the one who does not need it. This affair of theirs
is that when they have goods and do not find one who will inspect them
or who needs them, they do not demean them and offer them to one who
does not recognise their value. They seal them up and store them in their
storehouses until someone who needs them comes and seeks them with a
high price, so that their price pleases them. This is their affair.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
My brothers, I strongly urge you not to read our book and the book of
Sayyidi ‘Ali, our Shaykh, may Allah be pleased with him, to the one who
is not among the people of our discipline. This is necessary. If the envious
The Awliya 615
hear the words of our Shaykh and our words, they will certainly abuse
us, just as they have abused those before us who were greater than us in
knowledge, action, state, and station – like Sayyidi ash-Shadhili, Sayyidi
al-Hatimi, Sayyidi ash-Shar’ani, and their likes, may Allah be pleased with
them. Whoever wants to know what has happened to them at the hands of
the envious should look at Al-Yawaqitu wa’l-Jawahiru fi Bayani ‘Aqa‘idi’l-
Akabir (The Rubies and Jewels in the Clarification of the Beliefs of the
Great) by Sayyidi ash-Shar’ani, may Allah be pleased with him. There are
wonders and strange things in it which happened to our masters, the people
of the Path, may Allah be pleased with them, in the way of injury at the
hands of the envious. They, may Allah be kind to them, are only the wind
of the people of true sincerity in reality. It is as one of the masters said, may
Allah be pleased with him:
My enemies are a favour and a blessing to me.
May the Merciful not put my enemies far from me!
They look for my error, so I avoid it.
They compete with me, so I perform high actions.
Allah knows best, but I think that the injury which they inflict on our
masters, the Shaykhs of the Path, may Allah be pleased with them, comes
before they are perfected. The perfect men are the people of knowledge
and action who join the shari‘a of Muhammad and the reality. They are
sober-intoxicated. No one has any proof against them so that they could
harm them – but they have a proof against everyone else, so that it is not
inconceivable for these others to be harmed. The most perfect of creation
was Sayyiduna Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
and he suffered great injury. So did Sayyiduna Ibrahim, Sayyiduna Musa,
and others, blessings and peace be upon them, because the messengers are
afflicted. Then they have the outcome, as it says in the Sahih of al-Bukhari,
As for the people of love and gnosis, whenever someone injures them and
gets the better of them, they have: ‘the sunna of Allah which has passed
before. You will not find any change to the sunna of Allah.’ Injury to the
awliya, may Allah be pleased with them, is an immense business. Some of
them were imprisoned. Some of them were whipped. Some of them were
forced to keep moving from place to place. Some of them were killed. We
and others have enough of this meaning in the death of the qutb, Mawlana
616 The Sufic Path
‘Abdu’s-Salam ibn Mashish, and in the death of Sayyidi al-Hallaj, and oth-
ers, may Allah be pleased with them. It is like that with the death of the
Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and with the death of the
prophets, peace be upon them. Allah ta‘ala said: ‘There has been many a
prophet with whom thousands fought – and they did not faint at what
befell them in the way of Allah, and they did not weaken or humble
themselves. Allah loves the steadfast.’
We think that the injury which the prophets, peace be upon them,
experienced is greater than the injury which the Companions, may Allah
be pleased with them, experienced. The injury which they experienced is
greater than the injury which other awliya have, peace be upon them. It is
according to stations, as has come in tradition from the best of mankind,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace: ‘The people with the most severe
affliction are the prophets, and then the awliya, and then those like them.’
By Allah, it is a sign of honour from Allah to them. It is a favour and a
blessing from Allah. It is great guidance from Allah for them.
Know that if you control yourselves, Allah ta‘ala will give you control
over whoever injures you from your fellow men and others, and all created
beings, as we have told you time and time again. The only one who masters
people and all created being is the one who masters himself. We could say,
the only one who is freed of the opposition of his fellow men is the one
who is freed of the opposition of his self. The only one who is freed of the
opposition of his self is the one who opposes his passion and obeys his
Master with sincere obedience. If you want Allah to take you by the hand,
then surrender your will to Him. He will take charge of your business, as
He has taken charge of the affairs of others. May the curse of Allah be upon
whoever lies to you. Allah willing, He will make an opening for you, so that
you have no doubt at all about anything we have told you.
The sickness which has befallen you is that which befalls the one who is
beloved with Allah. ‘The people with the most affliction are the prophets,
and then the awliya, and then those like them.’ Those like them should not
be grieved because of it, because, in general, it is inflicted on the people of
true sincerity and love. By it they obtain increase towards their Lord, and
by it their hearts are purified and made into jewel-essence. Had it not been
for encounter-perceptions, gnosis would not be given to anyone. Far from
it! Far from it indeed! ‘Had it not been for the arenas of the self, the way
The Awliya 617
of the runners would not be realised,’ as Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in the Hikam.
He also said in it: ‘By the variety of traces and transformations of states,
I knew that what You desired from me was to give me perception in eve-
rything, so that I would not be ignorant of You in anything.’ The people,
may Allah be pleased with them, said: ‘It is in the transformations of states
that men are recognised from men.’ It says in the Immense Qur‘an: ‘Do
people reckon that they will be left alone if they say, “We believe,” and
that they will not be tested?’ Also in it is: ‘Dutiful obedience is not …’
to the end of the ayat.
Listen to what the people of gnosis of Allah have. It was said to Sayyi-
duna ‘Umar ibn ‘Abdal-‘Aziz, may Allah be pleased with him: ‘What do you
desire?’ He said, ‘Whatever Allah decrees.’ Shaykh Mawlana ‘Abdu’l-Qadir
al-Jilani said, may Allah be pleased with him:
If affliction arrives, it is not up to me to turn away from it.
If bliss arrives, it is not up to me to revel in it.
I am not one to be consoled by part of my desire
for another part. I am content only with the whole.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said in his Hikam: ‘The pain of affliction should be
lightened for you by your knowledge that He, glory be to Him, is the Af-
flicter.’ There is no doubt that with the people, may Allah be pleased with
them, the best moment is the moment of their poverty, i.e. their need. By
that they obtain increase. Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah, may Allah be pleased with
him, said in his Hikam: ‘The best of your moments is the moment in which
you see the existence of your poverty – and in it, you return to the existence
of your abasement.’ He said, ‘You may find increase in poverty, while you
do not find it in prayer or fasting.’ Poverty (faqa) designates intensity of
need. The Shaykh of our Shaykh, Sayyidi al-‘Arabi ibn ‘Abdillah, called it
‘urging-on’, or sometimes ‘woman’s prodding’, because it urges on the one
who has it to his Lord. Our master, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
‘Had people known what secrets and blessings were in need, they would
not have needed anything except need.’ He said that it stood in the place
of the Greatest Name. He, may Allah be pleased with him, interpreted
power as weakness.
We see that gnosis repels affliction, just as it repelled it from others, such
as the prophets, blessings and peace be upon them, and the awliya, may
Allah be pleased with them. Allah ta‘ala said: ‘We said: “Fire! Be coolness
618 The Sufic Path
and peace for Ibrahim.” They wanted to snare him, so We made them
the losers and rescued him.’ Allah ta‘ala said: ‘It is said to those who have
taqwa of Allah, “What did your Lord bring down?” They say, “Good.”’
This is even though there is great affliction. Allah only brings it down on
them out of love for them and concern for them. It says in the Immense
Qur‘an: ‘How many a prophet there has been with whom vast numbers
fought …’ to the end of the ayat. Also: ‘If a wound touches you, a wound
like it has touched people,’ and so on. Their gnosis of their Lord and their
absorption in the contemplation of the immensity of His essence has made
them withdraw from good and evil, since they, may Allah be pleased with
them, see neither good nor evil. They see their Lord. Just as they, may Allah
be pleased with them, see Him in blessings, so they see Him in adversities,
since He is the Blesser, and He is the Avenger. They also see Him in giving,
just as they see Him in withholding, and so on. Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah said
in his Hikam, may Allah be pleased with him: ‘When He gives to you, He
shows you His kindness. When He withholds from you, He shows you
His force. In all of that He makes Himself known to you, and advances to
you by His lutf.’
The upshot is that He is the Majestic with them and He is the Beauti-
ful. They do not recognise affliction, and it does not recognise them, may
Allah be pleased with them, since that only belongs to the people of the
veil. It is not for the people from whom the veil has been lifted. The cause
of punishment is the existence of the veil. The completion of bliss is by
looking at the noble face of Allah. The sorrows and worries which the
hearts experience are because they are barred from eye-witnessing, as Ibn
‘Ata’Illah says in the Hikam.
I do not know whether or not you recognise that shaytan has influence over
the people of the Path. The Path has a living shaytan who has sway over its
people always. He injures them. He has had influence over the awliya, may
Allah be pleased with them, as well as the prophets, blessings and peace be
upon them. His harm becomes greater according to the greatness of the
stations. ‘The people with the most severe affliction are the prophets, and
then the awliya, and then those like them.’ The wisdom in his injury is that
by it they become pure for their Master, glory be to Him! That happened
before with them, and happiness also came to the prophets, peace be upon
them, and the awliya, may Allah be pleased with them, before them. Ibn
The Awliya 619
‘Ata’Illah says in the Hikam: ‘Whoever finds the fruit of his action soon,
that is a proof of the existence of acceptance.’ Allah ta‘ala says in His Book:
‘There is no fear on the awliya of Allah, neither do they sorrow. Those
who believe and have taqwa, they have good news in the life of this
world and the next. There is no change to the words of Allah. That is
the great victory.’
There is no doubt that shaytan has no power over them or anyone else,
since he has no power to benefit or harm himself. Had he been able to harm
or benefit himself, he would have been able to harm everyone. He is far
from being able to do that, nor can anyone else do that. That belongs to
Allah alone. However, it is a wisdom of the divine presence of lordship and
one of the secrets of lordship, for whoever has recognition. Opposition to
him is truly turning to Allah ant turning your back on him. As our master
said, may Allah pleased with him: ‘The real attack against the enemy is
your occupation with the love of the Beloved. When you are occupied with
attacking the enemy, he gets what he wants from you, and the love of the
Beloved passes you by.’ It is as Shaykh Qasim al-Khassasi said: ‘Do not be
occupied at all with the one who abuses you. Be occupied with Allah and
He will drive him away from you. He is the One Who makes him move
against you, in order to test your claim to true sincerity. Many people have
erred in this matter. They were occupied with the abuse of the one who
abused them – and the abuse continued along with wrong action. Had
they returned to Allah, He would have driven them away from them, and
their proper business would have been enough for them.’
That is the opinion of the great sufis, the people of teaching. We think
that the shaytan who has sway over the people of the Path is from among
human beings, not the jinn. We also think that the one who is like him is
stronger than the shaytan of the jinn. Outwardly, both of them influence
the sons of Adam. It says in the Book of Allah ta‘ala: ‘The device of shaytan
is weak.’ We have told you that opposition to the enemy truly is turning to
Allah and turning away from him.
b b b b b
620 The Sufic Path
Conclusion 621
Conclusion
Song at Departure
How much blessing You pour on me
and You do not cease Your goodness to me.
You fed me as an embryo in the womb
and You were mine before my parents.
You created me muslim and had it not been for Your overflowing
I would not have known the Prophet.
In truth I prostrate with my forehead
– yes, and my cheek and my eyes.
Oh Lord, bless the Prophet
as long as the Suratu’l-Math-ani is recited.
And his family and all the Companions,
as long as people profit by iman.
I ask of the Real: bliss – for all whom my age comprises.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Counsel on Death
Prepare yourself for death, oh my brother, for it will descend.
Do not draw out your hopes in case your heart treats you harshly.
Persevere in reflection which will make you aware
and move you to do good works, for life will depart.
Constantly go over the states of the last hour,
the raising of bodies, the gathering,
and the balance which is set up.
Then there is the bridge which will have obstacles laid out on it
to make the crossing difficult for the rebellious.
While whoever was obedient and sincere towards Allah
will pass over it like a flash of lightning or a wind and will go on.
622 The Sufic Path
If you wish to be given a drink from the fountain

on the day of gathering
you must love the Prophet and his descendants.
And bless the guide who intercedes for mankind.
He is the one who will plead for us when creation is terrified.
May the blessings of Allah be upon him in every country,
and his family and Companions and those who love him.
I ask the Lord, Allah, for the gift of bliss and a seal of goodness
for me and those who draw near.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
The Final Song

Peace be on the People – they are protected wherever they go.
May they enjoy it! How excellent the place they choose to stay.
For them the Lord has manifested the suns of His splendour.
Oh, would that my cheek were a sandal for them in the dust!
When, Oh Living, will Your bringer of good news come,
so that the world can celebrate and be unified at last?
Grant me union with You despite what is inside me:
I may not merit it, but Your merit will give it.
Peace be upon you – may Allah exalt your rank,
and may the joy of blessings be upon you always.
Without your dhikr the days are joyless
for truly you are the illumination of the eye and its light.
This is my prayer in the nights of yearning
when my eye looks on the faces of my beloved friends,
For when the beauty of their faces shines unveiled,
it lights up the whole world.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Conclusion 623
The Letter from Prison

To all of our brothers in Allah, the masters, the fuqara,
peace be upon you and the mercy of Allah and His baraka.
My brothers, the affair belongs to Allah and to no one else. Whatever Allah
wills, is. Whatever he does not will, is not. What happens to you should not
make you turbid. This is absolutely imperative. What befalls you is none
other than what has befallen our masters, who had greater worth with Allah
than us and others. They are the prophets, peace and blessings be upon them,
and the awliya, may Allah be pleased with them. My brothers and people
of my love – all of you, if something befell us that had not befallen them,
it would make us troubled, anxious, sorrowful, alarmed and fearful. What
befalls us has only befallen them, so we rejoice, are happy, and expanded.
Harm departs from us. Allah is the authority for what we say.
May Allah have mercy on you! Know that we have knowledge from
our masters, our Shaykhs. Allah widened our constriction with it. Allah
expanded our breast by it. Allah strengthened our weakness by it. Allah
changed our turbidity for great purity by it. Allah is the authority for what
we say.
I strongly recommend that you pay careful attention to the Messenger’s
sunna, which is the invincible fortress against every affliction. It is the ship
of rescue and the treasury of secrets and blessings. You should not be dis-
lodged from it for any place else at any time and moment until certainty
comes to you, i.e. death.
I strongly advise that you have present the word ‘Allah’, the Mighty, the
Majestic. ‘If a wound touches you, a like wound has touched the people.’
Allah ta‘ala said: ‘Do you suppose that you will enter the Garden without
there having come to you the like of what came to those who passed away
before you?’ – ‘Do you suppose that you would enter the Garden without
Allah knowing those who do jihad among you …?’ – ‘Dutiful obedience
is not that you turn your faces towards the East or the West … those, they
are those who are truly sincere and those, they are the ones with taqwa.’
You should also remember the words of the people of the Path. They
are our Shaykhs and the Shaykhs of others, may Allah be pleased with them
and give us and you the benefit of their baraka in this world and the next.
Amin. They said: ‘The men of Allah are recognised from other men in the
624 The Sufic Path
variation of states.’ – ‘A man is exalted or humiliated in tribulation.’ They

said: ‘Whoever claims to see beauty before he has adab with majesty, reject
him, for he is a dajjal (imposter).’ The Prophet, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, said to one of the Companions, and Allah knows best: ‘Are
you balanced?’ He said, ‘Messenger of Allah, how should I be balanced?’
He said, ‘It is that giving and withholding, might and abasement, wealth
and poverty, life and death, high and low, are equal to you.’
I said: ‘My brothers, the sufi is the one who is not saddened when he
lacks something, great or small.’ This is what I said, and it is not the state-
ment of anyone else. Listen to the answer of the wali of Allah ta‘ala, Sayyidi
Muhammad Buzayyan, may Allah benefit us by his baraka, to the one who
said to him, ‘May Allah spare the camel!’ He said, may Allah be pleased
with him, ‘Praise be to Allah! We have not missed dhuhr or ‘asr!’ There is
also what he said to the one who told him, ‘The sultan has tried Sayyidi
so-and-so and Sayyidi so-and-so and has taken their goods. Are you not
afraid of him?’ He said, ‘Fear is for Allah. Water and qibla are two things
which no one can eliminate. The rest can be left for the one who seeks it.’
There is more that the people of great certainty said, may Allah be pleased
with them and give us and you the benefit of their baraka.
We urge you not to neglect sadaqa every day and night, if only with half
of a fruit. It is the same with supplication, since it is the core of ‘ibada. It says
in the Immense Qur‘an: ‘Say: “My Lord would not have been concerned
with you had it not been for your supplication.”’
I recommend that you go wherever you like – i.e. each of you should
go to his place. It is imperative. We are in the hand of Allah.
There is no god but Allah. There is no god but Allah. There is no
god but Allah. Allah was and Allah remains. There is no god but Allah.
Praise be to Allah.
The End
Allah
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Conclusion 625
And if they desire to trick you, Allah is enough for you. He

has confirmed you with His help, and the trusting ones, and
has brought their hearts together. Had you expended all
that is in the earth, you could not have brought their hearts
together, but Allah brought their hearts together. Surely He
is the Mighty, the Wise. O Prophet, Allah is enough for you,
and the trusting ones who follow you.
Glory be to your Lord, the Lord of might, above all that
they describe, and peace be upon the messengers, and praise
belongs to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
626 The Sufic Path
Conclusion 627
Postface
ISLAM IS THE SCIENCE OF WAKING UP
ISLAM means submission – accepting how things are, our place in the
universe – recognising harmony and being part of the harmony of the vast
and beautiful creation of plants and planets. Islam means peace.
The way of the world is the way of JAHILIYYA. Jahiliyya means pride and
arrogance – which is ignorance itself. It is the political world of roles and
power and status, wealth and possession.
With Islam came another energy/process – HILM. Serenity, knowledge,
wisdom, good nature. It is the spiritual, prophetic view of existence as a
garden, to be tended and brought to fruit and flower.
In the fantasy view of matter held by the world/Jahiliyya: gold is to be
desired and possessed. Lead is worthless.
In the view of Islam/Hilm: gold is to be given, neither kept nor worn. Lead
transmutes, for all matter is in Essence the same, only apparently different.
And lead can therefore become gold. That is the alchemical practice.
It applies to the self, which seems gross and heavy and sees duality every-
where. By practice, it can become radiant, golden, and sublime.
THE PRACTICE IS DHIKR’ALLAH.
DHIKR means invocation/remembering/calling upon Allah.
It is the way to Unification: experiential, direct, and resonant with energy.
This is what man was created for: Qur‘an says: ‘I have not created jinn
and men except to glorify Me.’
And so: there are people of distraction and people of recollection. People
who forget and people who remember.
The somnambulists (‘Deaf, dumb and blind,’ says Qur‘an) who go through
life as if in a dream.
The awakeners who rise from this sleep to a quite different experience of
reality.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
628 The Sufic Path
It depends what you want. And what you want you will certainly get. Here
is the Way of the People of the Path. Of course there are as many paths
as there are people. But how do you SEE that? This matter is beyond the
thought process and begins where language ends. Such practice must be
taught and it must come from the source itself. If you desire it – go towards
it, here or elsewhere. As the Shaykh says in his Diwan: ‘The murid will gain
a teacher in accordance with his own sincerity and strength of resolution.’
If you do not desire it – then go your way, and remember that the Prophet,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, has said: ‘Love who you will, they
will certainly die. Do as you will, you will be judged accordingly.’
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
If you want an education in the science of being a human being:

If you wish to be more than a conditioned cultural unit:
If you would like your children balanced and good natured, and not angry
or autistic:
If you recognise that Reality is One:
If you know already that you were not created just to be a consumer of
goods and a slave of money:
If you would like to be able to say, ‘ I am not content with myself, but I am
content with what comes to me:
CONTACT : THE AWLI YA
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Just as knowledge is not to be found in either social upheaval or in stasis,

just as it is not to be found either in esotericism and experimental groups
or in power structures, so the seeker must break out of his cultural mould
and recognise that knowledge is the property of the poor. If poverty were
eliminated, knowledge would be eliminated. It is the only clue we can leave
in writing. The way of poverty is the way of knowledge. We write it on the
cave wall. We write it on your heart.
From the poor slave,
the helpless, the needy,
‘Abd al-Qadir as-Sufi.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Conclusion 629
Glossary
of
Arabic Terms
630 The Sufic Path
Glossary of Arabic Terms 631
Glossary of Arabic Terms

abd : man as slave of his Lord.
abdal : the plural of badl.
adab : inner courtesy coming out as graciousness in right action.
adhan : the call to prayer.
ahl as-suffa : the people of the bench. The poor and needy amongst the
companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
who lived on a verandah in a courtyard next to the house of the Prophet
in the mosque at Madina.
ahwal : the plural of hal.
akhira : the next world, what is on the other side of death, the world after
this world in the realm of the Unseen. See dunya.
‘alim (pl. ‘ulama) : a man of knowledge. In this context a man learned in
Islam who acts on what he knows.
Allah – ta’ala : Allah, the supreme and mighty Name, indicates the One,
the Existent, the Creator, the Worshipped, the Lord of the Universe. There
is no existent except Him and there is only Him in existence.
amal : actions, particularly those that characterise the deen of Islam. In
Salafi Madina, that is at the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, and the Sahaba, may Allah be pleased with all of
them, and later at the time of the Khulafa ar-Rashidun – people did not
pray and perform ‘ibada in four or more different ways. Their worship was
a unified ‘amal supported by a powerfully verified set of hadith. Madina
was, quite literally, the place of the deen.
amir : one who commands, the source of authority in any given situation.
‘aqida : articles of belief.
aql : intellect, the faculty of reason.
aqtab : the plural of qutb.
arif : the gnostic. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘Gnosis, the
central knowledge, for it is knowledge of the self, is a proof to the one who
knows it and this is its glory and its supremacy over all others. By it its pos-
sessor knows the universe, how it is set up and its underlying laws in their
632 The Sufic Path
action, their qualities and their essences. His knowledge of the Universe is
his own self knowledge, while his knowledge of his own self is direct per-
ception of his own original reality, the adamic identity. Everything he has
comes from Allah. He never sees anything but he sees Allah in it, before it,
after it. There is only Allah in his eyes as there is only Allah in his heart.’
arkan : the five indispensable pillars of Islam which are the shahada, the
salat, the zakat, the fast of Ramadan, and, if you are able to do it, the Hajj.
‘arsh : ‘the Throne’, an immense starless heaven that encompasses the visible
Universe, which is referred to as the kursi. The relationship of the kursi
to the ‘arsh is like that of a small ring lying in the middle of a vast empty
desert. This is why the ‘arsh is referred to as ‘the Throne’, and the kursi as
‘the Footstool’.
arwah : the plural of ruh.
‘asr : afternoon, and in particular the obligatory afternoon prayer which
can be prayed at any time between mid-afternoon and a little before sunset.
asrar : the plural of sirr.
awrad : the plural of wird.
awliya : plural of wali.
ayah : a verse of the Qur‘an. This term indicates a phrase structure of Qur‘an
and also means a sign, both in the linguistic and semiotic sense.
ayat : plural of ayah.
ayatu’l-kursi : ‘the Footstool’ ayah, Qur‘an: 2.255.
ayat an-nur : ‘the Light’ ayah, Qur‘an 24.35.
‘ayn : the source.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
badl (pl. abdal) : The abdal are those exalted gnostics who by the perfec-
tion of their slavery to Allah remain in constant contemplation of His
Presence. The proof of this Station is when it is attested that he has been
seen at Ka‘aba while others confirm his presence elsewhere. (Thus the word
badl means substitute for he appears to use a substitute body).
baqa : going on in Allah. It is the state described in the sublime statement of
Shaykh Ahmad ibn ‘Ata’Illah: ‘O Allah, You have commanded me to return
to created things, so return me to them robed in lights and the guidance
of inner sight, so that I may return from them to You just as I entered in
to You from them, with my secret protected from looking at them and my
himma raised above dependence on them. For truly, You have power over
everything.’ Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘The man of baqa is
outwardly slave, inwardly free, outwardly dark, inwardly illuminated, out-
wardly sober, inwardly drunk. He is the barzakh of the two oceans – the
shari‘a and the haqiqa. Separation does not veil him from gatheredness
and gatheredness does not veil him from separation.’
Baqi : the cemetery of the people of Madina where many of the family of
the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his
companions are buried.
baraka : a subtle energy which flows through everything. It is experienced
in certain places more strongly than in others, and in some places and ob-
jects overpoweringly so. Its highest realm of activity is the human being.
Purity permits its flow, for it is purity itself, which is Light. Density of per-
ception blocks it. It is transformative, healing, and immeasurable. To deny
it is to limit Allah and deny tawhid. For further and deeper explanations
see the Qur‘an. As a subject it is endless. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once
wrote: ‘Whoever denies baraka denies that Allah is the Living who does
not die. To the Muslim, baraka is at the Black Stone, the Rawdah, on the
Laylat’al-Qadr. To the mumin, baraka is in the mosque, at the tombs of
the awliya – without shirk or bida for there is no need to do anything to
experience it – and in the presence of the salihun. To the muhsin, baraka
is in every tree and every stone and every flower and every face and every
star. Tabaraka’llah.’
barzakh : an interspace between two realities which both separates and yet
links them; commonly used to describe the interspace between the dunya
and the akhira, which begins when death takes place, when the ruh leaves
the body – and ends when the Last Day arrives, when the ruh and the
body are reunited again; also used to describe the realm of the arwah in
the Unseen, which is the abode of the ruh prior to its entering the unborn
foetus in the womb after about sixteen weeks of pregnancy.
basmala : the expression, ‘Bismillahi’r-Rahmani’r-Rahim,’ meaning,
‘In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.’
bid’a : innovation, changing the original teaching of the Prophet Muham-
mad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, something introduced into
Islam after the formative period.
634 The Sufic Path
Buraq : the mount on which the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace, made his Night Journey, known as the ‘Isra or Mi‘raj.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
dajjal : the false Messiah whose appearance marks the imminent end of the
world, the antithesis of Jesus. A manifestation that will take place in the
last stage of human existence on earth. The science of recognising Dajjal is
very intricate and carefully delineated. The manifestation will appear both
as a person, and as a certain historical situation, and as a series of cosmic
phenomena. Dajjal will affect the masses and cause chaos.
deen : This means the life-transaction, literally the debt or exchange situ-
ation between two parties – in this usage between the Creator and the
created, or as some say between the conditioned and the unconditioned,
the limited and the limitless, or the many and the One, and It can not
be associated with any form – and thus submiss-ion and obedience to a
particular system of rules and practices. Allah says in the Qur‘an, ‘Surely
the deen with Allah is Islam.’ (Qur‘an: 3.19).
dhakir : one who does dhikr.
dhat : the Essence, being the Essence of Allah. Shaykh Muhammad ibn
al-Habib says in his Diwan:
Recognise the beauty of the Essence in every manifest action.
Were it not for it, the existence of the Existent would not
have been established.
dhikr/dhikru’llah : remembrance and hence invocation of Allah. Declar-
ing the unity of Allah, prostrating, fasting, giving to the needy, pilgrimage.
These are its foundation. Recitation of Qur‘an is its heart, and invocation
of the Single Name, Allah, is its end.
dhur : noon, and in particular the obligatory mid-day prayer which can
be prayed at any time between noon and mid-afternoon.
dinar : gold coinage; the most recently minted dinars weigh 5 grams.
dirham : silver coinage; the most recently minted dirhams weigh 4 grams.
diwan : a collection of qasidas primarily concerned with the declaration
of haqiqat, a description of the tariqa and confirmation of the shari‘a.
Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘From a linguistic viewpoint the
writings in the Diwani Canon are set in a structural framework which,
both thematically and verbally, contains an encoded message. This coding

is manifest both in the specifics of its vocabulary – in a complex set of
recurrent terms – in a series of metaphoric transfers which operate from
the mithal (likeness) to the subject, as well as in the deep structure of the
language which attempts to dismantle step by step the subtle awareness of
the one following the signal, both through the signal itself and ALSO the
effect of the signal on the re-tuned sensibility of the subject. In short, the
meanings and the effect of the meanings are geared to achieve a profound
inward change in the perception and subtle awareness of the subject. One
might say that this is surely the desired effect of any poem, say a piece by
Lord Byron, but it is not the case. For, if we are to be precise, we must now
abandon the word sensibility, for the matter at issue is not the feeling-life
of the subject, indeed the allaying of emotion would be the most successful
condition for taking in the deep effect of Diwani singing. It is said that the
beginner is made turbulent by the singing of Diwan while the great are
made serene. For what is desired from the Diwani activity, which is called
in Arabic quite simply sama’a (or listening), is the descent on the heart of
warid, or spiritual breakthrough; of drinking (shurb) and drunkenness
(sukr). The wine of this intoxication flows in the singing of these Diwans.
(For detailed analysis of these terms see: The Hundred Steps by Shaykh
Abdal-Qadir As-Sufi Ad-Darqawi: Diwan Press 1979).
Thus a whole technique is contained in the Diwani Canon in the same
way that a spiritual technique is contained in the Koan collections like
the Mumonkan and the Blue Cliff Record which has gathered the Koan
literature of the Zen Masters. Both these methods aim at creating ‘hayra’
or bewilderment as a point of breakthrough from the prison of the rational
mind, but the Diwani literature has in it, and we should say the sufic sci-
ences have in them, a much richer transformative energy. That is to say, the
Diwani technique opens the seekers to a flowing and delightful condition
in which the most exalted and purest experience of Divine Love is known.
It is this love between the slave and the Lord, between Majnun and Layla,
the lover and the Beloved that is the purpose and only meaning of sama’a
as a practice. And the practice of sama’a is based on the technical apparatus
of the Diwans … Any ‘study’ of these works in a university setting is futile.
This is the wine-list. The tavern is elsewhere.’
du’a : A supplication to Allah.
636 The Sufic Path
duha : the forenoon, and in particular the voluntary morning prayer of

duha.
dunya : the world, not as cosmic phenomenon but as experienced. It
derives from a root describing those grapes which appear on the vine but
which when you stretch out to pick them prove to be out of reach. Dunya
takes on its actuality through attachment. When the heart is liberated,
dunya disappears and akhira – the next invisible world – appears. Dunya
is vanishing and moving away, the next world is appearing and approach-
ing. This change of circuit in consciousness is achieved by the existential
processes of transfor-mation that are the field of the sufic science whose
subject is fully explained.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
fajr : dawn, first light, and in particular the post-dawn sunna prayer.
fana : annihilation in Allah. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘It is
the meaning-death, based on the cessation of the attributes, even life itself.
It is arrived at by the most fine process of withdrawal from the sensory by
the means of the Supreme Name until even the Name, the last contact with
awareness, disappears. From the death of the Original Void the secrets and
the lights emerge. The seeker will pass through the heavens, each with its
own colour and meanings. Light upon light. Until the great tajalli which
unveils the secret and INDICATES Allah.’
faqih (pl. fuqaha) : a scholar of fiqh who by virtue of his knowledge can
give an authoritative legal opinion or judgement.
faqir (pl. fuqara) : literally, the poor. These are the men of knowledge.
Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘There is no higher company. As
they are the least of men and make no claims they are the elite and the two
worlds are their property. With them is the maqam al-Mahmud, for the
Messenger, blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, has said: “Look for
me among the poor, for I was only sent among you because of them,” and
“Poverty is all my glory,” and “Allah loves the poor.”’
fara‘id : the plural of fard.
fard (pl. fara‘id) : obligatory acts in shari‘a.
Fatiha : ‘the Opening’, the opening surah of the Qur‘an.
fatwah : an authoritative legal opinion or judgement given by a faqih.
fiqh : the formal study of knowledge, especially the practice of Islam, the
science of the application of the shari‘a.
fi sabili’llah : in the way of Allah.
fitra : the first nature, the natural, primal condition of mankind in harmony
with nature.
fuqaha : the plural of faqih.
fuqara : the plural of faqir.
furqan : the faculty of being able to discriminate between what is valuable
and what is worthless, between what is fruitful and what is unfruitful,
between what is good and what is bad, for your self and for others. To
embody the sunna and follow the shari‘a is furqan. One of the names of
the Qur‘an is ‘Al-Furqan’.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
ghaliya : perfume of musk and ambergris.

ghawth : a qutb who heals. A granter of requests, his followers always range
in their thousands. He is characterised by vast generosity.
ghayb : the realms of the Unseen.
ghusl : the full ritual washing of the body with water alone to be pure for
the prayer. It is necessary to have a ghusl on embracing Islam, after sexual
intercourse or seminal emission, at the end of menstruation, after child-
birth, and before being buried, when your body is washed for you. It is
necessary to be in ghusl and in wudu before you do the salat or hold a
copy of the Qur‘an. See tayammum.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
hadd (pl. hudud) : the limits, Allah’s boundary limits for halal and haram.
The hadd punishments are the specific fixed penalties laid down by the
shari‘a for certain specified crimes.
hadith : reported speech, particularly of, or about, the Prophet Muham-
mad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
hadith qudsi : those words of Allah on the tongue of His Prophet, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, which are not part of the Revelation
of the Qur‘an.
hadra : presence; in this context, the invocation of ‘Hayyu’llah’ – ‘the
638 The Sufic Path
Living – Allah’, usually done standing, which increases awareness of the

Presence of Allah.
ha’ik : a length of cloth worn over the head, usually over the turban.
hajj : the yearly pilgrimage to Makka which every Muslim who has the
means and ability must make once in his or her life-time, and the perfor-
mance of the rites of the hajj in the protected area which surrounds the
Ka’aba. The hajj begins on the 8th of Dhu’l-Hijjah, the twelfth month in
the Muslim lunar calendar. It is one of the indispensable pillars of Islam.
Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘The root, HJJ means ‘to struggle
with’, to make a spiritual journey’. It means ‘Hajj’ for it is its own root. ‘An
argument’, ‘a single Hajj, a year’. In the Hajj, a man or woman experiences
life and the self within such a determined and patterned geometric activ-
ity that though there may be near to two million people, outwardly all
engaged in the same practice at the same time, inwardly each has his own
unique struggle with the nafs to surrender once and for all the fantasy
of selfhood, and the fantasy of otherness on which the world and all its
ravishingly beautiful and terrible commotion is based. The Hajj is ‘a year’,
a complete cycle of existence.’
hal (pl. ahwal) : state. Your inward state is always changing.
hajrat al-aswad : the ‘Black Stone’, a stone which some say fell from heaven,
set into one corner of the Ka’aba in Makka by the Prophet Ibrahim, peace
be upon him, which the pilgrims, in imitation of the Prophet Muhammad,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, kiss, so unifying all the Muslims
throughout the ages in one place.
halal : permitted in shari‘a.
haqiqat : the realities. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘Haqiqat,
the realities, are the inward illuminations of knowledge which flood the
heart of the seeker. It is the realm of meanings, as shari‘a is the realm of
the senses. As the one is the science of the outward, the other is the science
of the inward. There is no way to its experience but by submission to the
fact of being human, being mortal, an in-time creature. Once shari‘a is
submitted to, then the seeker on the Path realises that he has come from
non-existence and is going to non-existence.’
Haqq : the Real, the Truth, Allah.
haram : not permitted in shari‘a; also a protected area, an inviolable place
or object. See Haram.
Haram : a protected area in which certain behaviour is forbidden and other

behaviour necessary. The area around the Ka‘aba in Makka is a Haram,
and the area around the Prophet’s Mosque, in which is the Prophet Mu-
hammad’s tomb, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in Madina, is
a Haram. They are referred to together as the Haramayn.
Haramayn : the two Harams, of Makka and Madina.
Hawd : the watering-place of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace, whose drink will refresh those who have crossed
the Sirat before entering the Garden.
Hayy : the Living, Allah.
hayra : bewilderment.
hijra : to emigrate in the way of Allah. Islam takes its dating from the first
hijra of the Prophet, blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, from Makka
to Madina, in 622 AD.
Hikam : wisdom; this is also the title of the great work by the Shadhili
Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’Illah.
hammam : a public bath.
himma : yearning. It is by the heart’s yearning that the goal is reached.
All human action is based on himma only the force is directed onto the
illusory palimpsest of the world. Once the faculty is directed at the non-
objective it reaches its goal which is not other than the source from which
the himma has come.
hizb : a designated section of Qur‘an to be read at one sitting.
hudud : the plural of hadd.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
‘ibada : acts of service, acts of worship.

‘Id : a festival. There are two main festivals in the Muslim year, on the first
day of each of which ‘Id prayers are prayed.
‘Id al-Adha : the ‘Festival of the (greater) Sacrifice’, a four-day festival at
the time of the hajj; it starts on the 10th day of Dhu’l-Hijjah, the day that
the pilgrims sacrifice their animals.
‘Id al-Fitr : a three-day festival after the end of the month of fasting,
Ramadan; it starts on the first day of Shawwal.
640 The Sufic Path
idhn : permission, given by the teacher to the student. It is itself a station

of knowledge and a door to the freedom of the student. It is used not for
existential matters, but for entering realms of knowledge and for adopting
certain practices which are useless if adopted without it. Idhn is from Allah
and His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.
ihsan : the core of gnosis. The subject of this work defines this term, again
and again. You imagine/think you are observing the cosmos as a subject.
The reality is that you are being observed. When you discover that your
watching and the being watched are not two realities but one and that your
aspect in it is non-existent you have arrived. This experience does not take
place in the realm of separation. The zone of the theory is not that of the
practice. Thought is not deed.
ikhlas : sincerity, pure unadulterated genuineness. The one who has ikhlas
is the one in whose sight there is always meeting with his Lord.
‘Illiyun : ‘high places’, the station in the Garden where the record of the
pure is kept. See Sijjin.
ilm al-huruf : the science of the letters. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once
wrote: ‘The root of the word in Arabic means the cutting edge of a sword.
It also means an edge, a rim, a brink. The letters are actions. The letters cut
the undifferentiated stillness. They are edges, rims, brinks. They delineate.
Make forms. They are therefore both the means to the deep coding of all
animate forms and all inanimate forms.’
iman : acceptance, belief, trust, in the Real, a gift from Him. Iman is to
believe in Allah, His angels, His books, His Messengers, the Last Day and
the Garden and the Fire, and that everything is by the Decree of Allah,
both the good and the evil.
imam : one who leads the communal prayers.
insan al-kamil : the ‘perfect man’. Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib writes
in the introduction to his Diwan: ‘Allah the Exalted has destined for this
noble path in every age one who sets right its deviations and manifests
its secrets and its lights. He is the Shaykh who unites the haqiqa and the
shari‘a with the idhn of Allah and His Messenger and all the perfected of
Allah. He is the unique man of Muhammad of whom there is only one in
every age. If there are numerous Shaykhs in his age, he rules over them all,
whether they are aware of it or not. Many have laid claim to the station of
uniqueness with falsehood and lies because they seek leadership and desire
to possess this passing world. The pretender is unaware that whoever claims
what is not in him is exposed by the witnesses of the test, since in their
presence a man is either exalted or humiliated. True Shaykhs are satisfied
with the knowledge of Allah and depend only on Allah. All that emanates
from them speaks of the baraka of Allah. He, may He be exalted, said:
“As for the baraka of your Lord – declare it.”’
Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘The Perfect Man is not perfect
in any other way than that his gnosis is perfect and by it his life is preserved
by Allah. On being asked if such a man was free from committing wrong
actions, Imam Junayd gave the profound answer: “The decree is from
before endless time.”’
insh’Allah : if Allah wills it, God willing.
‘iqama : the qadqamati’s-salat, the call which announces that the obliga-
tory prayer is just about to begin.
‘isha : evening, and in particular the obligatory night prayer which can be
prayed at any time between nightfall and a little before dawn.
‘ishq : ardent desire for the Beloved.
Islam : peace and submission to the will of Allah, the way of life embodied
by all the prophets, given its final form in the prophetic guidance brought
by the Prophet Muhammad, may the blessings and peace of Allah be on
him. The five pillars of Islam are the affirmation of the Shahada, doing the
Salat, paying the Zakat, fasting the month of Ramadan, and doing the
Hajj once in your lifetime if you are able.
Ism al-‘Adham : the Supreme Name. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once
wrote: ‘It is ‘ALLAH’ repeated in a designated fashion in accordance with
the teaching of the Darqawi Way. It entails elongation of the Name, visuali-
sation of the letters of the Name in the heart in the first maqam, stillness,
and suspension of thought. All this is with ‘idhn, permission, by one who
is authorised.’ Shaykh al-‘Alawi counsels in his Diwan: ‘Do dhikr of the
Supreme Name, and cross through the cosmos – you will win the booty.
Dive into the sea of out-of-timeness. This is the sea of Allah.’
isnad : the written record of the names of the people who form the chain
of human transmission, person to person, by means of which a hadith
is preserved. One of the sciences of the Muslims which was developed
642 The Sufic Path
after the Prophet Muhammad’s death, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, is the science of assessing the authenticity of a hadith by assessing
the reliability of its isnad.
Isra : another name for the Mi‘raj, the miraculous night journey of the
Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which he
made on the Buraq, from Makka to Jerusalem and then through the realms
of the seven heavens beyond the limit of forms, the sidrat al-muntaha, to
within a bow-span’s length or nearer to the Presence of the Real.
istighfar : seeking Allah’s forgiveness for one’s own wrong actions, and His
protection from the wrong actions of others.
istikhara : seeking Allah’s guidance before making a decision or doing some-
thing in particular – by praying two rak‘at and saying the istikhara prayer.
istislam : greeting the Black Stone and the Yemeni corner of the Ka‘aba
during tawaf by kissing, touching or saluting with outstretched hand.
i‘tikaf : seclusion, while fasting, in a mosque, particularly during the last
ten days of Ramadan.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
jabarut : the source world, the world of divine light and power. Shaykh
Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘The kingdom of power. This is the king-
dom of lights. Shaykh al-Akbar notes: “With Abu Talib it is the world of
Immensity. With us it is the middle world.” By this he indicates that the
mulk is opposite the jabarut and it is precisely the realm of lights, the
Divine Presence that creates the split between the two worlds on which
creational reality is based. That means that Light is the barzakh, the inter-
space between the visible and the invisible. In reality existence is one, the
three kingdoms are one kingdom with one Lord. It is by the setting up of
the limits and the barriers and the differences that the universal metagalactic
existence is able to come into being. That which sets up barriers, and is the
barriers, is none other than the One Reality in its sublime perfection unre-
lated to any form. The barriers are not realities in themselves yet without
them nothing would be defined and no-one could define them.’
jadhb : irresistible and overwhelming attraction which renders a person
majdhub.
Jahannam : a name for Hell, the Fire.
Jahiliyya : the time of Ignorance, before the coming of Islam.
Jahim : the least intense fire of the Fire.

janaba : physical impurity demanding the washing of the whole body before
prayer is permissible again. See ghusl.
Jibril : the angel Gabriel who brought the Revelation of the Qur‘an to
the Prophet Muhammad, may the blessings and peace of Allah be on him.
jihad : struggle, particularly fighting in the way of Allah to defend and
establish Islam. Inwardly the greater jihad is the fight against the kufr in
your own heart. Until your heart is purified, you are your own worst enemy.
Outwardly the lesser jihad is the fight against the kufr around you.
jinn : unseen beings created of smokeless fire who co-habit the earth
together with mankind. Some are muslims, some are kafirun, and some
are the followers of shaytan – a’udhu bi’llahi min ash-shaytani’r-rajim.
Jinnah : the Garden, the final destination and resting place of the Muslims
in the akhira once the Last Day is over. Jinnah is accurately described in
great detail in the Qur‘an and hadith.
jumu‘a : the day of gathering, Friday, and particularly the jumu‘a prayer
which is prayed instead of dhur by all those who are present at the mosque
to do the prayer.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Ka‘aba : the cube-shaped building at the centre of the Haram in Makka,

originally built by the Prophet Ibrahim, peace be on him, and rebuilt with
the help of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace; also known as the House of Allah. The Ka’aba is the focal point
which all Muslims face when doing the salat. This does not mean that
Allah lives inside the Ka’aba, nor does it mean that the Muslims worship
the Ka’aba. It is Allah Who is worshipped, and He is not contained or
confined in any form or place or time or concept.
kaf : the letter ‘K’ in the Arabic alphabet.
kafir (pl. kafirun) : a person who commits kufr, one who covers up the
true nature of existence, the opposite of a mumin; to reject Allah and His
Messenger, blessings and peace of Allah be on him.
kafirun : the plural of kafir.
kalam : literally, speech, in particular the science of articulating and
expressing in words the knowledge of the Divine.
644 The Sufic Path
karama (pl. karamat) : a miracle, usually the miraculous gifts and favours
which Allah gives to His awliya. Miracles are events in the phenomenal
world that imply a break in the causal chain. It is not miracles that should
be questioned. This is ignorance. The root of the matter is the nature of
what seems to be the causal chain. It lies in perception. It is better to discuss
the matter following the performance of a miracle. This is not an unusual
event for the people of knowledge and no fuss is made about it.
karamat : the plural of karama.
kathif : thickness, the opposite of lutf.
Kawthar : it is said that it is a river in the Garden, abundant blessing,
intercession, and the Hawd of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace.
khalif (pl. khulafa) : someone who stands in for someone else; in this usage,
the leader of the muslim community who stands in as the representative
of Allah.
khalwa : retreat. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘Khalwa, retreat,
is the withdrawal from the world in the concentrated act of invocation of
the Supreme Name in order to arrive at the vision of the Face. Its guide is
the Shaykh. It is at this maqam that the words of Shaykh Moulay Abdal-
Qadir Al-Jilani must be obeyed utterly. Ignorant people misquote them
implying a false social control of the Shaykh over the murid. This is not so.
It is within the context of this maqam that he says: “Be with your Shaykh
as a dead body in the hands of the washer.”’
khayal : An important term. It means imagination, but not in the popular
sense. Rather it is that faculty in the human brain which perceptually and
experientially solidifies the objects. For example, under the influence of
hypotropic drugs the wall may melt. The observer is quick to adopt an im-
perialist position which denies the experience of the other through fear, i.e.
call it a hallucination. If this domination does not take place the observer
will realise that ‘for him’ the wall has melted. It is this shared agreement
that ‘the wall is there’ that constitutes that limited spectrum of experience
that we call sanity, just as ‘sight’ is a very limited zone of the light spectrum.
Liberation from the khayal without madness, that is, with the capacity to
‘return’, is the goal of the sufi. To be free of the khayal and not be able to
‘re-enter’ would be madness. This is almost certain without a Shaykh for
meta-biological reasons, not political ones, as can be demonstrated.
khidma : service.
Khidr : the Prophet Khidr, peace be upon him. It is said that he is the
prophet who has never died, and that he appears to people as a person in
need, in order to test their generosity.
khulafa : The plural of khalif.
khulafa ar-rashidun : the khalifs who took the right way and who were
rightly-guided: Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali, may Allah be pleased
with them.
khutba : a speech, and in particular a standing speech given by the Imam
before the jumu‘a prayer and after the two ‘Id prayers. At the jumu‘a there
are two khutbas separated by a short sitting pause.
kufr/kafir : kufr means to cover up reality: kafir is one who does so. The
kafir is the opposite of the mu‘min. The point is that everyone knows
‘how it is’ – only it suits some people to deny it and pretend it is otherwise,
to behave as if we were going to be here for ever. This is called kufr. The
condition of the kafir is therefore one of neurosis, because of his inner
knowing. He ‘bites his hand in rage’ but will not give in to his inevitable
oncoming death.
kunya : a respectful and affectionate way of calling people as the ‘Father
of so-and-so’ or the ‘Mother of so-and-so’.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
la ilaha illa’llah : ‘there is no divinity but Allah.’ More precisely, ‘No

god – only Allah.’ The last term in the formula is a proper name, therefore
it can only indicate but does not define. If I say ‘cat’, I both indicate and
define at the same time. If I say ‘John’ my naming indicates him but he
is not enclosed by definition in his name. All religion is decadent in this
proposition, and idol-worship. Idol-worship means giving delineation to
the Real. Encasing it in an object, a concept, a ritual, or a myth. This is called
shirk, or association. Avoidance of shirk is the most radical element in the
approach to understanding existence in Islam. It soars free of these deep
social restrictions and so posits such a profoundly revolutionary approach
to existence that it constitutes – and has done for fourteen hundred years
– the most radical rejection of the political version of idolatry, statism. It
is very difficult for programmed literates in this society to cut through to
the clear tenets of Islam, for the Judaic and Christian perversions stand so
646 The Sufic Path
strongly in the way either as, rightly, anathema, or else as ideals. The whole
approach to understanding reality has a quite different texture than that
known and defined in European languages, thus a deep insight into the
structure of the Arabic language itself would prove a better introduction
to the metaphysic than a philosophical statement. The uncompromising
tawhid that is affirmed does not add on any sort of ‘god-concept’. Nor does
it posit an infra-god, a grund-god, even an over-god. Christian philosophers
were so frightened by this position that when they met it, to stop people
discovering the fantasy element in their trinitarian mythology they decided
to identify it with pantheism in the hope of discrediting it. That they suc-
ceeded in this deception is an indication of how far the whole viewpoint
has been kept out of reach of the literate savage society. Let it suffice here
to indicate that there is no ‘problem’ about the nature of Allah. Nor do we
consider it possible even to speak of it. No how, who, or what or why. It is
not hedging the matter in mystery. It is simply asking the wrong questions!
The knowledge of Allah is specifically a personal quest in which the radical
question that has to be asked is not even ‘who am I?’ but ‘Where then are
you going?’ It is this revolutionary question, placing the human being as a
zone of direct confrontation with his or her own project, that lies at the
heart of the sufic experience.
layla : night; also, one of the names used to indicate the Beloved.
laylat’al-fuqara : the ‘night of the fuqara’, meaning the gathering of dhikr
attended by the fuqara with their Shaykh or one of his muqaddems,
usually on the laylat’al-jumu‘a.
laylat’al-jumu‘a : the night before the day of the jumu‘a, Thursday night.
laylat’al-qadr : the ‘Night of Power’, concealed in one of the odd nights
in the last ten days of Ramadan; the night on which the Qur‘an was first
revealed by Jibril to the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace, and which the Qur‘an itself describes as ‘better than a
thousand months’. (Qur‘an: 97.3).
lata‘if : the plural of lutf.
lubb : a core. This term is used in the Qur‘an to indicate people who have
great understanding in the core of their being, the heart.
lutf (pl. lata‘if) : subtlety, the all-pervading texture of the universe that
cannot be grasped or defined. Its opposite is kathif or thickness – as of
the solid objects. Thus by applying the method of Sidi ‘Ali al-Jamal we find
that the kathif IS latif, and vice versa. Thus the object is not there. Thus
the subject, the perceiving locus, awareness, is itself a density with form.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Madina : the City, often called Madina al-Munawarra – the Illuminated, or

the Enlightened, City – where the revelation of the Qur‘an was completed
and in which the Prophet Muhammad died and is buried, may Allah bless
him and grant him peace. The first Muslim community was established in
Madina al-Munawarra, and Allah says in the Qur‘an that this is the best
community ever raised up from amongst mankind. Their hearts and actions
were illuminated and enlightened, may Allah be pleased with all of them,
by Allah and His Messenger, and today Madina is still illuminated by the
presence of the arwah of those of them who are buried there, especially
the Messenger of Allah, may the blessings and peace of Allah be on him
and them.
maddrasah : a traditional Muslim place of learning based on memorisation
and study of the Qur‘an and the hadith.
madh-hab : a school of fiqh, particularly those deriving from the four great
scholars of Islam: thus the four main sunni madh-habs are the Maliki,
Hanafi, Shafi’i, and Hanbali madh-habs.
maghrib : the west, the time of sunset, and in particular the maghrib prayer
which can be prayed at any time between just after sundown and before
the stars appear in the sky.
mahdi : one who is rightly guided; also the name of the Muslim leader
who will fight the Dajjal until the return to this world of the Prophet Jesus,
peace be on him, who will kill the Dajjal and his followers by a miracle.
majdhub : a man who is mad-in-the-Divine. There are five major categories
of insanity:
1. The idiot, born without complete brain structure/function.
2. The damaged, whose brain has been injured.
3. The distracted. Those whose extremity of suffering has left them in
an interspace from which they cannot return or return with difficulty.
4. The possessed. Inhabited by jinn. They speak with a different voice,
or another language, they act not only irrationally but with deliberate
648 The Sufic Path
mischief. They are aware if you try to cure them and resist. Very different
symptomology from 3.
5. Mad-in-Allah. A spiritual condition which in itself has five stages. These
range from complete absorption in divine light cutting off contact from
body function (eating, sleeping) to states which permit quite ravishing
and impressive lucidity, and an elevated capacity to teach wisdom, often
in song and often in spontaneous highly sophisticated verse forms. This
is the case with the great wali, Moulay Hasan al-Majdhub. See also suluk.
Makka : the city in which the Ka’aba stands, and in which the Prophet
Muhammad was born, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and where
the revelation of the Qur‘an commenced.
makruh : a term in shari‘a meaning ‘not forbidden but frowned on’,
disapproved of without being forbidden.
mala’ika : the angels, who are made of light and glorify Allah unceasingly.
They are neither male nor female. They do not need food or drink. They
are incapable of wrong action and disobedience to Allah. They do whatever
Allah commands them to do. Everyone has two recording angels with them
who record their actions and none of this escapes the knowledge of Allah.
malakut : the hidden world, the angelic world, the kingdom of Unseen
forms. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘This is both the kingdom
of the source-forms of the creational realities, crystals, atoms, organisms,
and the kingdom of the spiritual realities, the Lote-tree, the Balance, the
Throne and so on. It is the realm of vision as the mulk is the realm of
event. As the characteristic of the mulk is fixity or apparent fixity so the
characteristic of the malakut is flux and transformation or apparent flux.
In fact one could say that the reality of the two worlds is opposite that, for
indeed the solid forms are all in change, while the visions are all unfolding
the fixed primal patterns on which all the visible world is based.’
maqam : a station of spiritual knowledge. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once
wrote: ‘Shaykh al-Akbar says of it: “It designates fulfilling the rights of the
rules completely.” That is to say the maqam is arrived at when the slave is
established in a degree of adab in his khidma, service to Allah, and when
he has acquired a firm place in certainty inwardly. Stations first manifest,
fleetingly, as ahwal (plural of hal), then they become fixed in the murid.
This is likened to dyeing cloth, so that it is dipped in the same colour and
dried, dipped and dried, until the colour at a certain point becomes fixed.
Once the dye is fixed the maqam is established.

maqam al-Ibrahim : the station of Ibrahim. The place where the Prophet
Ibrahim stood which marks the place of prayer following tawaf of the
Ka’aba.
maqam al-Mahmud : the praiseworthy station, of remembering and
worshipping Allah in every waking moment, while others sleep.
ma’rifa : gnosis, the highest knowledge of Allah possible for a man or
woman. It is to directly witness the Light of the Names and Attributes of
Allah manifested in the heart. See arif.
masakin : the plural of miskin.
ma sha’Allah : what Allah wants – happens.
mawlana : ‘our master’, a term of respect.
mimbar : steps on which the Imam stands to deliver the khutba on the
day of the jumu‘a.
Mi‘raj : the Night Journey of the Prophet Muhammad, may the blessings
and peace of Allah be on him, from Makka to Jerusalem and then through
the realms of the seven heavens beyond the limit of forms, the sidrat al-
muntaha, to within a bow-span’s length or nearer to the Presence of the
Real.
miskin (pl. masakin) : utterly bereft in poverty, helpless need.
mithal : a metaphor. It has a different texture of meaning in this science
than it does in ordinary usage. According to this teaching there are differ-
ent modalities of experiencing reality – one of these is by thinking about
it, and that in turn has different forms or qualities. The use of abstract
thought is a function of intellect. The use of analogue, however, is a higher
mental operation and involves, as it were, an extra dimension. If you like,
abstract thought is linear and diagrammatic or structural. The mithal
when used is like leaving the drawing explanation behind and constructing
a hologram in space. This function in turn is superseded by a higher zone
of intellection which calls, quite literally, for the invention of, as it were, a
special language so that the mithal itself has to be extended into the active
language structure. Then a kind of high, hermeneutic coding takes place.
The outward expression of this is so fine that it is sung and not spoken, and
the inner experience is so fine that the ‘song’ in no way can even suggest
the experience of the listener. Some of these songs are to be found in the
text of this book.
650 The Sufic Path
Mizan : the Balance. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘Its meaning
is the justice and harmony of all creation and therefore of time/space and
therefore of us and events. It is the meaning of the Garden and the Fire, of
the balance between the matrices. It is what was called in the ancient Tao-
form of Islam in China, yin/yang. It is the secret of the contrary Names.
It is what we are born and die on, and which turns our acts and intentions
into realities to be weighed on the Day of the Balance.’
muadhdin : someone who calls the adhan, the call to prayer.
mubashirat : good news, good dreams.
Muhammad ar-Rasulu’llah : ‘Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah’,
may the blessings and peace of Allah be on him.
muhsin : one who possesses the quality of ihsan, and who accordingly only
gives reality to the Real. Only the muhsin really knows what tawhid is.
Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once said: ‘The difference between the kafir
and the Muslim is vast. The difference between the Muslim and the mumin
is greater still. The difference between the mumin and the muhsin is im-
measurable.’ This is not only in inward state, but also in outward action.
mujiza : an evidentiary miracle given to a Prophet to prove his prophet-
hood.
mulk : the phenomenal world, the universe, the macrocosm. Shaykh
Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘The visible realm. The mulk is what is
experienced in the sensory (hiss) and in illusion (wahm). Of its nature mulk
is both solid, sensory and pure-space, illusory. This is now confirmed by
kafir science. The amazing interlocking substantiality of mulk veils most
people from the meaning-realm onto which it opens the intellect, thus it is
designated kingdom for it is a realm of reality, seemingly complete in itself.
It is not real, but it is made WITH THE REAL, in the language of Qur‘an.
Thus to understand it we must penetrate its imprisoning solidity. Since we
are in it and of it, it must be expected that breaking the man-barrier will
also blow apart the experiencing locks of the self.’
mu‘min (pl. mu‘minun) : one who possesses the quality of iman, one who
trusts that existence is inwardly as it is. He takes his evidence from inside
himself. His first acceptance of the knowledge of existence is dependent on
his accepting a fellow human being. Thus to be muslim you must be able
to trust the other. When you are given certainty – that is, confirmation,
you trust yourself – that is mu’min.
A muslim is one who accepts his existence outwardly, and does not
try to defy his cosmic situation. He is a frail boat within the ocean. The
mu’min allows to dawn on him that outwardness is only one dimension of
existence, and that his inwardness must contain the other. He sets out to
develop this capacity. He discovers the ocean within the boat. This takes
him to the station of being muhsin, a man of Ihsan. He then smiles and
declares: ‘What a wonderful thing this is – the boat within the ocean and
the ocean within the boat!’ Such a man is the subject of this book.
munafiq (pl. munafiqun) : a hypocrite; the hypocrites outwardly profess
Islam on the tongue, but inwardly reject Allah and His Messenger, may
Allah bless him and grant him peace, and side with the kafirun against
the Muslims. The deepest part of the Fire is reserved for the munafiqun.
munafiqun : the plural of munafiq.
Munkar and Nakir : the two angels who question your ruh in the grave
after your body has been buried, asking, ‘Who is your Lord? Who is your
Prophet? What is your Book? What was your Deen?’
muqaddem : the deputy of a Shaykh who has the idhn to act and teach on
his Shaykh’s behalf. The one who goes ahead.
muraqqa‘a : the patched robe.
murid (pl. muridun) : The student of a Shaykh of instruction. Its root
is irada, meaning will, for he must hand over his will to the teacher in
order to discover who he is. Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib writes in
the introduction to his Diwan: ‘Murid is derived from will (irada) and it
depends on sincerity (ikhlas). The true meaning of murid is one who has
stripped himself of his own will and accepted what Allah wills for him,
which is the worship of Allah ta‘ala, for as He said, “I have not created jinn
and men except to worship Me.” When the murid is weak in disciplining
his self – since the inner rule belongs to the self and shaytan – he places
himself under the rule of the Shaykh and in the protection of his power.
He, in his turn, will help the murid to obey and worship Allah through
his himma which operates by the idhn of Allah and through his words
which are made effective by the gift of Allah. So a murid must cling to
whoever of the Shaykhs of the age are well disposed towards him.’ Shaykh
Muhammad ibn al-Habib also writes: ‘The murid will gain a master in
accordance with his own sincerity and strength of resolution. Allah is the
one to ask for help.’ Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘The Shaykh
652 The Sufic Path
does not ‘do’ anything. He recognises those Allah loves. This recognition
has wisdom in it for him and for you. Shaykh Ahmad al-Badawi of Fez,
Allah be merciful to him, said: “One glance from the Shaykh wipes out a
thousand wrong actions.” This is very difficult for the people of thought-
forms to understand and easy for the people of the states. This concerns the
inner zone of the lubb or core of the human self ’s awareness. Its mithal is
the sun’s rays. If you sit in the sun you become sunburned. If you sit with
the Shaykh you become purified , later intoxicated, and finally annihilated.
As one who is first warmed, then burned and at the end blinded by the rays
of the sun. In this zone is the innermost reality and the secrets of ‘keeping
company’ … Your service to the Shaykh is a tremendous thing. Greater
than it is his service to you. Wrong feelings against the Shaykh endanger
the murid by confusion and the illusion that the nafs is other, and there
is no other. Abu’l-Abbas al-Mursi, Allah’s mercy be upon him, said: “The
one who says ‘why?’ to his Shaykh will never be happy.” Never forget the
object of the contract with the Shaykh is to move you from ilmi nafsika to
ilmi rabbika – from knowledge of your nafs to knowledge of your Lord.’
muridun : the plural of murid.
murshid : a guide; in this usage, a shaykh of instruction who teaches
with idhn.
mushrik (pl. mushrikun) : one who commits shirk.
mushrikun : the plural of mushrik.
muslim : one who follows the way of Islam, not abandoning what is fard,
keeping within the hudud of Allah, and following the sunna, in what he or
she is able. A Muslim is, by definition, one who is safe and sound, at peace
in this world, and promised the Garden in the next world.
mutaqun : those who have taqwa.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
nafila : a voluntary act of ‘ibada.

nafl (pl. nawafil) : a gift, from the same root as anfal, meaning booty taken
in war; it means a voluntary act of ‘ibada.
nafs : the illusory experiencing self. You as you think you are.
Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote, “The picture that unfolds is that
the genuine transmission of Sufism is a total psychology of the human being
based on a recognition of the illusory nature of the experiencing self, and

all its practices are to enable one to turn away from this apparently real and
trouble-making ‘identity’ that so persistently betrays us. Thus, in the true
teaching, the self is not a real entity that needs nurturing and developing,
but an illusory solidification of events around a Light, obscuring it and
imprisoning it in the fantasy of separateness.”
When it has been completely purified, the nafs is the ruh.
Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘Shaykh al-Akbar defines nafs
as, “What is caused of the attributes of the slave.” So it is that the self is
imprisoned by the very elements it imagines liberate its actions. The more
the self does the more it builds up an illusory continuity and history. Event
consolidates the myth of the self. This is why Shaykh al-Kamil says that,
“everything in the nafs is dreadful.” It is irrelevant to imagine you can ‘forge’
a good nafs. It is a more terrible idol than the bad one. The nafs is the great
idol which, while it sets up the other idols cannot smash itself. This is why
one takes the Shaykh. His function is simply to serve as a mirror self which
will help one escape the deceptions of the self which are self-perpetuating.’
Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘Nafs as experienced is complete
illusion. It is the permanent adherence to the life energy of the subject’s
actions which appear to have reality in his (inner) unseen experience. This
aggregate solidifies in the locus of the heart which becomes darkened by
these shadows which become more and more dense. The practice of dhikr
– invocation – dispels the illusory nafs from the locus of the subject, or
we can say it polishes the heart until it becomes like a mirror and finally
reflects on its surface nothing but light. Opposite the self is the universe.
When by dhikr the universe disappears, the Real appears. This is to say that
the substance of the gnostic experience is that the only existent is the Real,
and the illusory subject is nothing other than the object in which the Real
contemplates its beauty and majesty. This gnosis is called in the language
of shari‘a, Ihsan.’
Nar : the Fire of Jahannam, the final destination and place of torment of
the kafirun and munafiqun in the akhira once the Last Day is over. Some
of those Muslims who neglected what is fard in the shari‘a and who did
grave wrong action without making tawba will spend some time in the Fire
before being allowed to enter the Garden, depending on the forgiveness of
Allah Who forgives every wrong action except shirk if He wishes. Nar is
accurately described in great detail in the Qur‘an and hadith.
654 The Sufic Path
nasiha : good advice, sincere conduct.

nawafil : the plural of nafl, what is voluntary in acts of worship in the
shari‘a.
nifaq : hypocrisy. See munafiq.
nun : the letter ‘N’ in the Arabic alphabet.
nur : light. The Qur‘an states: ‘Allah is the light of the heavens and the
earth.’ (Qur‘an: 24.35)
nuri-Muhammad : the ruhani Light of Muhammad, may Allah bless him
and grant him peace.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
qabr : the grave, experienced as a place of peace and light and space by the
ruh of the mumin who sees his or her place in the Garden in the morning
and in the evening; and experienced as a place of torment and darkness
and no space by the ruh of the kafir who sees his or her place in the Fire
in the morning and in the evening. After death there is a period of waiting
in the grave for the ruh until the Last Day arrives, when everyone who has
ever lived will be brought back to life and gathered together. Their actions
will be weighed in the mizan, and everyone will either go to the Garden
or to the Fire, for ever.
qadi : a judge qualified to dispense hadd punishments.
qadr : the decree of Allah, which determines every particle in existence,
and accordingly whatever appears to be in existence. One of Allah’s names
is Al-Qadir, the Powerful, the One Who does what He wants, the One
Who has power over everything. The Prophet Muhammad, may the bless-
ings and peace of Allah be on him, once said: ‘Everything is by decree.’
(Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik: 46.1.5)
qadqamati’s-salat : the call which announces that the obligatory prayer
is just about to begin.
qasa‘id : the plural of qasida.
qasida : a verse, in this context from the Diwan of one of the Shaykhs
of Instruction. They contain the ultimate ‘means’ by which ma’rifa is
approached. These have never been studied or translated in this society,
where they have been brilliantly rendered meaningless by pseudo-poetics,
who have projected onto them an aesthetic value they never sought nor
can tolerate. The whole science of Diwan method remains to be explored.
qibla : the direction that everyone turns to pray, which, for the Muslims,
is towards the Ka’aba in Makka. Everyone has a direction in life, but only
the Muslims have this qibla.
qudrat : power, in the sense of determining one’s existence. Qudrat is, in
truth, with Allah.
Qur‘an : the ‘Recitation’, the last revelation from Allah to mankind and
the jinn before the end of the world, revealed to the Prophet Muhammad,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, through the angel Jibril, over
a period of twenty-three years, the first thirteen of which were spent in
Makka and the last ten of which were spent in Madina. The Qur‘an amends,
encompasses, expands, surpasses and abrogates all the earlier revelations
revealed to the earlier messengers, peace be on all of them. The Messenger
of Allah said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that each verse of
the Qur‘an has an outward meaning and an inward meaning and a gnostic
meaning. The Qur‘an is the greatest miracle given to the Prophet Muham-
mad by Allah, for he was illiterate and could neither read nor write. The
Qur‘an is the uncreated word of Allah. Whoever recites the Qur‘an with
courtesy and sincerity receives knowledge and wisdom, for it is the well
of wisdom in this age.
Qut al-Qulub : by Al-Makki, The Nourishment of Hearts, one of the
seminal texts of this knowledge, of which this work is the climax.
qutb : the Pole or axis of the Universe. This term is only understood by the
one who has attained to it. An approximation would be to say that in him
gnosis is complete inwardly so that outwardly his gnosis radiates as a sun
over all the other gnostics. The proofs of the qutb are these: that he is sur-
rounded by a circle of gnostics as a king is visibly recognisable by his Court,
that the Deen of Islam revives around him bringing life to the people, and
thirdly that he names his successor before his death, (as Shaykh al-’Alawi
designated Shaykh ibn al-Habib).
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
ra : the letter ‘R’ in the Arabic alphabet.

Rabb : Allah as Lord – Who oversees His creation and brings what He
wills to its full potential.
rahamut : the ‘arsh manifesting as pure tajalliyat of lights. Here the
heavenly bodies, the macrocosm, becomes as a small ring flung onto a vast
plain. This is sometimes equated with jabarut, in the triad nasut, lahut,
656 The Sufic Path
rahamut. (For detailed analysis of these terms see: The Hundred Steps
by Shaykh Abdal-Qadir As-Sufi Ad-Darqawi: Diwan Press 1979).
rahma : mercy, the mercy of Allah.
rajul (pl. rijal) : literally, man; in this context, a man of Allah, a gnostic.
The whole book defines him in considerable detail.
rak‘a (pl. rak’at) : a unit of the prayer (salat – see below), a complete series
of standing, bowing, prostrations and sittings.
rak‘at : the plural of rak‘a.
Ramadan : the month of fasting, the ninth month in the Muslim lunar
calendar, during which all adult Muslims who are in good health fast from
the first light of dawn until sunset each day. During the first third of the fast
you taste Allah’s mercy; during the second third of the fast you taste Allah’s
forgiveness; and during the last third of the fast you taste freedom from
the Fire. The Qur‘an was first revealed in the month of Ramadan during
the laylat’al-qadr. Ramadan is one of the indispensable pillars of Islam.
Rawdah : the part of the Prophet’s Mosque between his grave and the
mimbar. He said, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: ‘What is
between my house and my mimbar is one of the meadows of the Garden,
and my mimbar is on my watering-place (al-Hawd).’ (Al-Muwatta of
Imam Malik: 14.5.10)
riba : usury, which is haram, whatever form it takes.
rida : contentment.
ridwan : the sublime serenity of dynamic contentment that fills the heart
and remains.
rijal : the plural of rajul.
rububiya : lordship.
ruh (pl. arwah) : the spirit which gives life, formed from pure light. Shaykh
Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘This is seen in the dyad nafs/ruh, self/
spirit. That is, at the level of discrimination and separation, the identity is
itself a seeming actuality, opaque, solid. This is nafs. As the practices clear
the vision and rigidity yields to suppleness, what was separation is experi-
enced as gatheredness, what was dark is recognised as light. This is ruh.’
ruhani, ruhaniyya : pertaining to the ruh, spiritual realities.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
sa‘ : an hour, usually used to denote ‘the Hour’, when this world ends and
the Last Day begins.
sadaqa : a gift to another or others without any other motive than the
giving. The smallest sadaqa is to come out to your brother or sister with
a smiling face.
sahaba : the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah be pleased with them.
sahih : healthy and sound with no defects; often used to describe an au-
thentic hadith. The two most reliable collections of hadith by al-Bukhari
and Muslim are both called Sahih.
sakina : the presence of Allah sometimes made clear by a sign; also the
feeling of peace of mind and security that comes from a heart at peace.
salafi : adjective from as-salaf, ‘the early years’, and used generally to de-
scribe the early generations of the Muslims, particularly the sahaba, the
companions of the Messenger of Allah, may the blessings and peace of
Allah be on him and them.
salat : the prayer, particularly the five daily obligatory ritual prayers of the
Muslims which are called maghrib, ‘isha, subh, dhur and ‘asr. They consist
of fixed sets of standings, bowings, prostrations and sittings in worship to
Allah. The Muslim day begins at maghrib, because the first day of a new
month is only determined when the new moon is sighted shortly after
sunset. It is necessary to be in ghusl and in wudu before you do the salat.
Salat is one of the indispensable pillars of Islam.
salih (pl. salihun) : a developed man. By definition, one who is in the right
place at the right time.
salihun : the plural of salih.
salik : a wayfarer, traveller, in this context, on the Path to Allah.
salla’llahu alayhi wa sallam : ‘may Allah bless him and grant him peace’
– meaning the Prophet Muhammad.
sama’a : listening, direct oral transmission and, in this context, the result
of listening with attention and intention while performing dhikr – the
descent on the heart of waridat.
Samad : the Real in its endless effulgence of creative energy, by which the
whole universe of endless forms emerge from the possible into the existent.
It is the richness whose wealth is every form in creation. Allah is in need
of nothing and everything is in need of Him.
658 The Sufic Path
sayyedina : ‘our master’, a term of respect.

shahada : to witness, to bear witness that there is no god but Allah and
that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. The shahada is the gateway
to Islam and the gateway to Jinnah. It is easy to say, but to act on it is a
vast undertaking which has far-reaching consequences, in both inward
awareness and outward action, in this world and in the akhira. Continual
affirmation of the shahada is one of the indispensable pillars of Islam.
shahid (pl. shuhada) : a witness, a martyr in the way of Allah.
shara‘i’ : the plural of shari‘a.
shari‘a, shar’ (pl. shara‘i’) : Literally, a road. It is the behaviour modality
of a people based on the revelation of their Prophet. The last shari‘a in
history has proved to be that of Islam. Its social modality abrogates all
previous shara‘i’, e.g. Navaho, Judaic, Vedic, Buddhic, etc. These shara‘i’
however, continue until the arrival and confrontation takes place in that
culture with the final and thus superior shari‘a – Islam. It is, being the last,
therefore the easiest to follow, for it is applicable to the whole human race
wherever they are.
sharif : a descendent of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and
grant him peace; the title given to the traditional guardian of the Hara-
mayn, who for centuries was always a descendant of the Prophet, until the
formation of modern Saudi Arabia.
shaykh : the one who guides you from knowledge of the self to knowledge
of your Lord. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘Without a Shaykh a
man can not defeat his nafs. The more he fights himself the more powerful
the self becomes. Attention confirms nafs. The activator of the nafs will
either be outside or inside the nafs. If it is activated from inside this is the
work of Shaytan, the whisperer, who instigates wrong action. That is why,
following the word of Moulay Abdal-Qadir al-Jilani, the murid must make
himself like a dead body in the hands of the washer in relations with the
Shaykh. Abu Yazid, Allah’s mercy on these great awliya, said: “He who
does not have a Shaykh for a master will have Shaytan as a master.” This is
why, ‘keeping company’ is a necessary condition of the Path. How can the
doctor heal the patient unless the patient is brought before him? At the
heart of the matter, however, there is no rule over the murid. The murid
must want what the Shaykh wants, in that is his cure. Murid is one who has
surrendered his irada – his will – to the Shaykh in order to come quickly
out of the fantasies of the khayal (the faculty investing the solid objects
with their ‘reality’) and the kufr, the covering, that is the self.
Fear Allah and He will give you discrimination.
That means not by you but by Him. Then separation does not veil you
from gatheredness and gatheredness does not veil you from separation.’
Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib writes in the introduction to his Di-
wan: ‘Explaining the attributes of the teaching Shaykh, I said in one of
my qasidas ending in ta’:
‘La ilaha illa’llah’ banishes all temptations along with
the instructions of a Shaykh who knows the Reality.
His signs are: a light which shines outwardly
and a secret which appears inwardly, with himma.
He elevates you with a glance even before he speaks,
and from this glance comes a robe of honour.
By it I mean the secrets which flow rapidly into the heart
of the murid who seeks the truth without shirk.
His doing-without among creatures is the staff of his journey,
and his occupation is seeking isolation of the Beloved by vision.
His speech is by idhn from the Best of the Community
upon whom the glorious truthful ones depend.
If you obtain the goal of finding such a one
then set out and offer up the self without delay.
Do not consider anything except what I have described here,
for it is enough and in it is every happiness.’
Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib also writes: ‘There has always been
agreement in this community of Muhammad that the first thing required
of a murid once he has become aware of his state of distraction is that he
should rely on a Shaykh of good counsel and guidance who knows the
defects of the self, its motives, and the remedies for its ailments, and who
has done with the putting right of his own self and its desires. He will give
the murid insight into the faults of his self and draw him out beyond the
perimeter of his senses. Whoever has no Shaykh to direct him will most
certainly be directed by shaytan to the path of destruction.’
660 The Sufic Path
shayatin : the plural of shaytan.

shaytan (pl. shayatin) : a devil, particularly Iblis (Satan), may he be cursed,
a’udhu bi’llahi min ash-shaytani’r-rajim. Shaytan is part of the creation
of Allah, and we seek refuge in the perfect word of Allah from the evil that
He has created.
shirk : the unforgivable wrong action of worshipping something or some-
one other than Allah or associating something or someone as a partner
with Him; the opposite of tawhid which is affirmation of Divine Unity.
Shirk is idol-worship.
shuhada : the plural of shahid.
siddiq : A man of truth. Sincerity is his condition, not his adopted
position.
sidrat al-muntaha : ‘the lote-tree of the furthest limit’, the place where
form ends.
Sijjin : ‘prison’, the station in the Fire where the record of the wicked is
kept. See ‘Illiyun.
sirah : the historical study of the Prophet Muhammad’s life, may the bless-
ings and peace of Allah be on him.
Sirat : the narrow bridge which must be crossed to enter the Garden.
Sirat al-Mustaqim : ‘the Straight Path’ of Islam.
sirr : a secret.
siwak : tooth-stick of a certain tree. It is a sunna to use it.
subh : morning, and in particular the obligatory dawn prayer which can
be prayed at any time between first light (fajr - see above) and just before
the sun rises.
subhana’llah : glory to Allah.
sultan : authority, a king.
suluk : wayfaring, travel, in this context, on the Path to Allah. Shaykh
Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘The science of all the inward elements
of wayfaring. The salik is one who is grounded in the necessary wisdom
to prevent insanity when the time comes that the heart moves and love
awakens in it and the centre of the creature is possessed by the winds of
yearning and the storms of longing. When the world and everything in
it becomes for the seeker a torment and a trial it is suluk that holds the
wayfarer to wisdom so that plunging is avoided when restraint is necessary
and courageous action is possible when withdrawal is tempting. Suluk is
the means by which the benefits of jadhb (attraction) become possible
without becoming majdhub, mad-in-Allah, that is, attraction can take
place – for it is essential – and yet helpless attraction is avoided. That is to
say, one may have the experience without being condemned to the station.’
sunan : the plural of sunna.
sunna (pl. sunan) : a form, the customary practice of a person or group
of people. It has come to refer almost exclusively to the practice of the
Messenger of Allah, Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him
peace, but also comprises the customs of the First Generation of Muslims
in Madina. It is a complete behavioural science that has been systemati-
cally kept outside the learning framework of this society. The Messenger
of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘I have left
two matters with you. As long as you hold to them, you will not go the
wrong way. They are the Book of Allah and the Sunna of His Prophet.’
(Al-Muwatta of Imam Malik: 46.1.3)
surah : a large unit of Qur‘an linked by thematic content, composed of
ayat. There are 114 surahs in the Qur‘an.
Surah Ya Sin : the heart of the Qur‘an.
Surat’al-Fatiha : the opening surah of the Qur‘an, the surah of both Open-
ing and Victory. Recitation of Surat’al-Fatiha is an integral and essential
part of the salat which means that every Muslim recites the Fatiha at least
twenty times a day. It is thus the most often daily repeated statement on
the face of the earth today:
Bismillahi’r-Rahmani’r-Rahim.
Al-hamduli’llahi rabbi’l-alameen, ar-Rahmani’r-Rahim,
Maliki yawmi’d-deen. Iyyaka na’budu wa iyyaka nasta’een.
Ihdina’s-sirat al-mustaqim, as-sirat alladheen an’amta alayhim,
ghayri’l-maghdhubi alayhim wa la’dh-dhalleen. Amin.
Which means:
In the Name of Allah the Merciful the Compassionate:
Praise to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, the Merciful,
the Compassionate, King of the Day of the Life-Transaction.
662 The Sufic Path
Only You we worship and only You we ask for help.

Lead us on the Straight Path, the path of those whom You have
blessed, not of those with whom You are angry,
and not of those who are astray. Amen. (Qur‘an: 1.1-7)
Surat’al-Ikhlas : the surah of Sincerity:
Bismillahi’r-Rahmani’r-Rahim.
Qul Huwa’llahu Ahad, Allahu’s-Samad.
Lam yalid wa lam yuwlad,
Wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan Ahad.
Which means:
In the Name of Allah the Merciful the Compassionate:
Say: ‘He is Allah the One, Allah the Everlasting.
No one is born from Him and He is not born from anything,
and there is nothing like Him.’ (Qur‘an: 112.1-4)
The Prophet Muhammad, may the blessings and peace of Allah be on him,
said that Surat’al-Ikhlas is equal to one third of the Qur‘an. Its recitation
gives the freedom of action that only accompanies true sincerity.
Surat’al-Kahf : the surah of the Cave. It is said that its recitation is a
protection against the Dajjal.
Surat’al-Mathani : ‘the oft-repeated surah’ – that is, Surat’al-Fatiha.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
tabaraka’llah : blessed is Allah.

tajalli (pl. tajalliyat) : a divine manifestation witnessed by the inner eye of
the seeker. Outer experience is event, inner experience is vision. Mulk, the
kingdom of outwardness, is the realm of event. Malakut, the kingdom of
inwardness is the realm of vision. Jabarut, the kingdom of the source, is the
realm of annihilation. Mulk is the realm of darknesses, malakut of lights,
and jabarut of light upon light. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote:
‘The tajalli is the unveiling of a spiritual reality in the realm of vision. It is
a direct-seeing into the nature of existence, a showing forth of the secrets
of the One in the celestial and terrestrial realms.’
tajalliyat : the plural of tajalli.
tajrid : divestment.
takbir : the saying of ‘Allahu akbar’ – ‘Allah is greater’. The prayer (salat
– see above) begins with a takbir.
tanzih – tashbih : Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘Tanzih is from

NZH which means ‘to keep something away from anything contaminating
or impure’. It is to disconnect Allah from the forms, affirming that His
Reality is beyond any association with the forms. It must be balanced with
tashbih from ShBH meaning ‘to make or consider something similar to
some other thing’ which affirms that He participates in the form-world,
seeing is His and hearing is His.’
taqwa : being careful, knowing your place in the cosmos. Its proof is the
experience of awe, of Allah, which inspires a person to be on guard against
wrong action and eager for actions which please Him.
tariqa : the Way.
tasbih : from the root SBH which means ‘to swim’, ‘to glide through the
stars’, ‘to glorify’; in this context a string of 99 beads and an ‘alif’, making
100, used to keep count when doing specified amounts of particular dhikrs,
such as, for example, 10,000 or 20,000 ‘La ilaha illa’llah’; or 3 or 11 or
1,000 ‘Surat’al-Ikhlas’; or 66 or 666 ‘Allah’; or 313 or 450 ‘hasbuna’llahu
wa ni’m’al-wakil’; or 73 or 100 ‘astaghfirullah’; or 41 ‘Surah Ya Sin’; or
100 prayers on the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace,
such as, for example:
Allahumma salli ala sayyedina Muhammadin abdika wa
rasulika’n-nabiyyi’l-ummiyy wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim.
Which means:
O Allah, bless our master Muhammad, Your slave and Your Mes-
senger, the unlettered Prophet, and his family and his companions
and grant them peace.
Generally speaking, such dhikrs need to be given with idhn by a Shaykh
to his murid for them to be truly effective, for they are used like spiritual
medicines. The Shaykh is the doctor and the murid is the patient. Only
the Shaykh understands the nature of the illness and knows its cure, which
varies from one person to another. However, no one needs idhn to recite the
Qur‘an, since we are commanded by Allah in the Qur‘an to recite whatever
is easy for us of it, and Allah also commands us in the Qur‘an to ask bless-
ings on the Prophet Muhammad, may the blessings and peace of Allah be
on him and on his family and on his companions and on all who follow
him and them with sincerity in what they are able until the Last Day.
tashbih : see tanzih.
664 The Sufic Path
taslim : giving the Muslim greeting of ‘As-salaamu-alaikum’ – ‘Peace be

on you’. The prayer (salat – see above) ends with a taslim.
tassawuf : sufism. Shaykh Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘Its preferred
etymology is that it derives from suf, wool. Shaykh Hasan al-Basra said, “I
saw forty of the people of Badr and they all wore wool.” This means that
the sufi – tasawwafa – has put on the wool. This is distinct from those
who confirm the way of Islam with the tongue and by book learning. It
is taking the ancient way, the primordial path of direct experience of the
Real. Junayd said, “The sufi is like the earth, filth is flung on it but roses
grow from it.” He also said, “The sufi is like the earth which supports the
innocent and the guilty, like the sky which shades everything, like the
rain which washes everything.” The sufi is universal. He has reduced and
then eliminated the marks of selfhood to allow a clear view of the cosmic
reality. He has rolled up the cosmos in its turn and obliterated it. He has
gone beyond. The sufi has said “Allah” – until he has understood. All men
and women play in the world like children. The sufi’s task is to recognise
the end in the beginning, accept the beginning in the end, arrive at the
unified view. When the outward opposites are the same, and the instant is
presence, and the heart is serene, empty and full, light on light, the one in
the woollen cloak has been robed with the robe of honour and is complete.
The Imam also said, “If I had known of any science greater than sufism I
would have gone to it, even on my hands and knees.”’
tawaf : circling the Ka‘aba; tawaf is done in sets of seven circuits, after
each of which it is necessary to pray two rak‘at, preferably at or near the
Maqam al-Ibrahim.
tawba : returning to correct action after error, turning away from wrong
action to Allah and asking His Forgiveness, turning to face the Real whereas
before one turned one’s back.
Tawhid : Unity in its most profound sense. Allah is One in His Essence
and His Attributes and His Acts. The whole universe and what it contains
is One unified event which in itself has no reality. Allah is the Real. Shaykh
Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi once wrote: ‘Our Imam said, “It is a meaning which
obliterates the outlines and joins the knowledges. Allah is as He always
was. Tawhid has five pillars: it consists of the raising of the veil on the
contingent, to attribute endlessness to Allah alone, to abandon friends,
to leave one’s country, and to forget what one knows and what one does
not know.” His greatest statement on tawhid, which Shaykh al-Akbar has
called the highest of what may be said on the subject is, “The colour of the
water is the colour of the glass.” Commenting on this Shaykh Ibn ‘Ajiba
said, “This means that the exalted Essence is subtle, hidden and luminous.
It appears in the outlines and the forms, it takes on their colours. Admit
this and understand it if you do not taste it.” Tawhid is itself a definition
whose meaning is not complete for the one who holds to it until he has
abandoned it or rather exhausted its indications and abandoned it for
complete absorption in the One.’ And: ‘True tawhid is based on complete
understanding and appreciation of the self. Until you know you do not
exist you cannot know that only He exists. This idea is itself a veil over
knowledge of this, and its final enemy.’ This is the meaning of the famous
saying attributed to Yahya ibn Ma‘ad ar-Razi: ‘Whoever knows their self,
truly knows their Lord.’
tayammum : purification for prayer using clean dust, earth or stone, when
water for ghusl or wudu is either unavailable or would be detrimental to
health. Tayammum is done by striking the earth or rubbing the stone with
the palms of the hands and then wiping the face and hands and forearms.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
‘ulama : the plural of ‘alim, men of outward knowledge.

Ummah : the body of the Muslims as one distinct and integrated com-
munity.
‘umra : the lesser pilgrimage to the Ka’aba in Makka and the performance
of its rites in the protected area which surrounds the Ka‘aba. You can go
on ‘umra at any time of the year.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
wahm : illusion.
wali (pl. awliya) : a guardian, a person who has responsibility for another
person; used particularly for the person who ‘gives’ a woman in marriage.
Also someone who is a ‘friend’ of Allah, thus possessing the quality of
wilaya.
war‘a : scrupulousness, being careful in one’s actions by avoiding the haram
and keeping one’s intentions pure.
warid (pl. waridat) : another key term. A warid is what descends on the
666 The Sufic Path
awareness of the student while performing dhikr or sitting in the company

of the Teacher. The warid is sometimes described as the unwinding of the
talisman, for its effect is at the core of self experience and it is a kind of un-
doing. Warid is the first stage of awakening. In the warid the experienced
field of reality is at last tasted as being with less and less separateness. It is
the first oncoming of gatheredness. The objects are recognised but can no
longer be distinguished. Action may still be possible but not speech. It is
as if the body’s contours – not the intellect’s – were the perimeter of one’s
vision, so that the room or place where you are is part of your body which
you can feel and recognise as shimmering and melting – that is, its melting
and yours are one event. Here there is no compassion for the other, but
compassion is itself the reality of the state, without other. This is the first
hint that the self/universe is one cosmic situation. Anything can unlock
it, a glance from the Shaykh, the action of another faqir, or a mithal sung
in the Diwan.
waridat : the plural of warid.
wasila : something which makes something else take place; also the highest
station with Allah on the Last Day, reserved for the Prophet Muhammad,
may the blessings and peace of Allah be on him.
wazifa : a unit of dhikr, similar to a wird, but usually much longer.
wilaya : friendship, in particular with Allah. Wilayat, the condition of the
wali, refers uniquely to the gnostic station of a person. The station of the
wali is the station of knowledge of the Real by direct seeing. The greatest
wali is like a drop compared to the ocean of the Prophet Muhammad, may
the blessings and peace of Allah be on him.
wird (pl. awrad) : a unit of dhikr constructed to contain in it certain
patterns of knowledge and self awakening. They are medicines, and their
recitation makes them effective in altering the self-form of the student.
Shaykh Muhammad al-’Arabi’s wird lasts three hours, others can last only
a few minutes.
wudu : ritual washing of the hands, mouth, nostrils, face, forearms, head,
ears and feet with water alone so as to be pure for the prayer. You must
already be in ghusl for wudu to be effective. You should ensure that your
private parts and under-clothes are clean before doing wudu. Once you have
done wudu you remain in wudu until it is broken by any of the conditions
which make it necessary to have a ghusl, emission of impurities from the
private parts – urine, faeces, wind, prostatic fluid, or other discharge – loss
of consciousness by whatever means – usually by sleep or fainting – physical
contact between man and woman where sexual pleasure is either intended
or experienced, touching your penis with the inside of your hand or fingers,
and leaving Islam. It is necessary to be in ghusl and in wudu to do the salat
and to hold a copy of the Qur‘an. See tayammum.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
yaqin : certainty. It has three stages:

‘ilm al-yaqin – knowledge of certainty.
‘ayn al-yaqin – source of certainty.
haqq al-yaqin – truth of certainty.
The Raja of Mahmudabad defined them thus :
You are told there is a fire in the forest.
You reach the fire in the forest and see it.
You are the fire in the forest.
Yathrib : the name for Madina before Islam.
Yawm Al-Qiyama : the ‘Day of Standing’, the Last Day, also known as
‘Yawm Al-Ba‘ath’ – the Day of Rising; ‘Yawm Al-Hashr’ – the Day of
Gathering; ‘Yawm al-Qiyama’ – the Day of Standing; ‘Yawm al-Mizan’ –
the Day of the Balance; ‘Yawm al-Hisab’ – the Day of Reckoning; ‘Yawm
ad-Deen’ – the Day of the Life Transaction; and ‘Yawm al-Akhira’ – the
Day of the Next World. It will be followed by eternity, either in the Garden
or in the Fire, forever.
Yemeni corner : the corner of the Ka‘aba facing south towards the Yemen.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
zawiyya : literally, a corner. The building used as a meeting place by the

Shaykhs of instruction.
zahid/zuhd : zuhd means doing-without, the zahid is the one who does
without. It does not mean ascetic. The one who is zahid no longer needs
or desires the thing he does without, so his avoiding it eases his way and
does not result in a struggle or denial.
zakat : the wealth tax obligatory on Muslims each year, usually payable
in the form of one fortieth of surplus wealth which is more than a certain
fixed minimum amount, which is called the nisab. Zakat is payable on
668 The Sufic Path
accumulated wealth, merchandise, certain crops, certain live-stock, and

subterranean and mineral wealth. As soon as it is collected it is redistributed
to those in need, as defined in the Qur‘an and hadith. Zakat is one of the
indispensable pillars of Islam.
zakat al-fitr : a small obligatory head-tax imposed on every responsible
Muslim who has the means for himself and his dependants. It is paid once
yearly at the end of Ramadan before the ‘Id al-Fitr.
Zamzam : the well in the Haram of Makka which has the best water in
the world!
zandaqa : heresy.
zindiq : a heretic, one who abandons Islam and exchanges iman for kufr.
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
Most of the definitions in this Glossary have either been taken

directly or derive from either the books listed in the Acknowledge-
ments, or from the following books by Shaykh Dr Abdal-Qadir
as-Sufi ad-Darqawi al-Murabit, alayhi rahma:
Qur‘anic Tawhid (Diwan Press 1981)
The Hundred Steps (Diwan Press 1979)
Root Islamic Education (Madinah Press 1982)
or from the following books:
Ash-Shifa‘ of Qadi ‘Iyad (Madinah Press 1991)
Al-Muwatta‘ of Imam Malik (Diwan Press 1982)
These books should all be read in their entirety.
These definitions are from the overflowing wisdom of Shaykh
Abdal-Qadir as-Sufi ad-Darqawi al-Murabit, by the permission
of Allah and His Messenger, may Allah bless him and his family
and his companions and all those who follow in his footsteps,
and grant them peace.
“The only one who needs the proof and seeks light by the candle
is the one who is in the darkness of night. When the day breaks,
and dawn rises and shines, he does not need a lamp or a candle.”
❂ ❂ ❂ ❂ ❂
And the last of our prayer is: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the
worlds. There is no great power and no strength but through
Allah, the Mighty, the Great. My help is only with Allah. In Him
I have put my trust – and to Him I turn in renewal. Praise be-
longs to Allah for the blessing of Islam, and it is blessing enough.
670 The Sufic Path
The Sufic Path
“Sufism is the science of the journey to the King.”
(Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi)
“I did not reach Allah the Exalted by standing in prayer at night,
nor by fasting in the day nor by studying knowledge. I reached
Allah by generosity and humility and soundness of the heart.”
(Shaykh Abdalqadir al-Gilani)
“The qualities that endear man to Allah are river-like generosity,
sun-like affection and earth-like hospitality.”
(Shaykh Mu’in’ud-Din Chisti)
“Tasawwuf is loving the Lord and being kind to all his creation,
even to insects.” (Shaykh Muhammad ibn al-Habib)
“The sufi is like the earth which supports the innocent and the
guilty, like the sky which shades everything, like the rain which
washes everything.” (Imam Junayd)
“Do not say, ‘I am nothing.’ Do not say, ‘I am something.’ Do
not say, ‘Something concerns me.’ Do not say, ‘Nothing concerns
me.’ Say, ‘Allah’, and you will see wonders.”
(Shaykh Moulay al-Arabi ad-Darqawi)
“Each responsible person must learn enough of this science to en-
able him to acquire praiseworthy qualities and to keep him from
blameworthy qualities.” (Shaykh ‘Uthman dan Fodio)
“If I had known of any science greater than sufism I would have
gone to it, even on my hands and knees.” (Imam Junayd)
“If you’re it – that’s it!” (Shaykh Abdalqadir as-Sufi)
“The sufi is like the earth, filth is flung on it but roses grow from it.”
(Imam Junayd)
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© Diwan Press Rabi’al-Awwal 1445 | September 2023

First Edition published in 2023 by Maningi Indaba Press

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

Front Cover: central image courtesy of muchbetteradventures.com

The titles of the chapters are only a matter of emphasis.

alted, in His Qur‘an. The very foundation of what is taught to children in

In the Name of Allah, the Merciful the Compassionate,

At that moment, my master (‘Ali al-Jamal) ordered me to tether the mean-

The Shaykh said, may Allah be pleased with him:

As for the baraka of your Lord – declare it.

Oh Indulgent, Vast, Utterly Forgiving, Grateful, You do not disap-

We beg You by Your most beautiful Names seeking

The Doctrine of Unification

Acts devoid of desire, and similarly, in judgements rejection

He is the One Who is

veils My poverty. My poverty is only based on My richness as My richness

The Qualities of Muhammad

So the Chosen One returned with every noble quality and he

created beings give praise to the One Who is above

Song Written before the Prophet

And a visit to every martyr in Uhud, and the uncle of

Hilyatu’l-Awliya, may Allah be pleased with them! All is contained in

perfection of the attributes, then contemplation

The Greater Song

His doing-without among creatures is the staff of his journey:

Their hope is the perfection of their certainty, as He promised,

Until at last in his search for the purification of the secret

The Minor Song

So sometimes I see creatures as the manifestations of Ahmad, and

They started off with a good name and ended up in disgrace –

Part of the overflowing favour, generosity and open-handedness of Allah

In the Name of Allah the Merciful the Compassionate

Sayyiduna ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib

Sayyidi ‘Abd’al-Qadir as-Sufi ad-Darqawi al-Murabit

open-handedness, doing-without, scrupulousness, mercy, compassion,

Awliya), may Allah be pleased with them, by Shaykh ash-Shar‘ani, the

Mawlana al-‘Arabi, may Allah be pleased with him, said: He informed me

lated. Had the lights of contemplation appeared in tajalli-manifestation,

Surrender to him in whatever you see. If it is contrary

I supposed that Your love was easy, and that noble

sober-intoxicated. They always join intoxication and sobriety. Neither of

Oh brother! Know that whoever has a sound relationship to the reality so

the presence of creation. If he himself is part of creation, he is jailed by his

My brother, be on your guard against interpreting any ayah of Qur‘an with

No, by Allah, by Allah, by Allah!

benefit, then it is of no consequence to the Shaykh or the murid. Neither of

He leaves the right way. He said, may He be exalted:

There must be a realised Shaykh in every discipline. If not, it is generally

A Commentary on the Qasida

2) State. Taste the states of the Shaykh in three conditions:

It is the effect of the dhikr of astaghfiru’llah. It is the cause of the dhikr –

Your service to the Shaykh is a tremendous thing. Greater than it is his

on himma – constant yearning that increases and becomes more intense.

My brothers, if the murid does not have reverence, assumption of knowl-

You encompass everything in knowledge, so everything which I

is deprivation. Ash-Shitri, may Allah have mercy on him, said, ‘Whoever

by majesty first of all. That is so that he acquires a portion of exaltation.

The Robe of Nearness

We saw created beings as pure particles of dust: we saw the lights

And his family and Companions as long as people profit by iman.

Whoever turns to a matter and does not have intention of meaning or

of their departure.’ - Hadith. In that he will be seized remorselessly. The

it were a state, so he must change it to another reality. Realities are celes-