| Important Basis of the Sufi Path |
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| Written by Bediuzzaman Said Nursi | |
| Tuesday, 17 January 2006 | |
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Among the ways of sainthood, the finest, straightest, richest, and most brilliant is following the Practices of the Prophet (PBUH). That is, to think of the Practices in acts and deeds, and to follow and imitate them, and in conduct and dealings with others, to think of the rulings of the Shari‘a and take them as guide. F i r s t P o i n t : Among the ways of sainthood, the finest, straightest, richest, and most brilliant is following the Practices of the Prophet (PBUH). That is, to think of the Practices in acts and deeds, and to follow and imitate them, and in conduct and dealings with others, to think of the rulings of the Shari‘a and take them as guide. By means of following them in this way, together with daily conduct and dealings and natural acts becoming worship, by thinking of the Practices and Shari‘a for all actions, it recalls the injunctions of the Shari‘a. This causes a person to think of the owner of the Shari‘a. By thinking of him, it brings to mind Almighty God, and that affords a sort of sense of His presence. This may make all the moments of a person’s life like worship in the Divine presence. Thus, this great highway is the highway of the Companions and the righteous of the first generations of Islam, who received the legacy of prophethood, the ‘greater sainthood.’ S e c o n d P o i n t : The most important basis of the ways of sainthood and the branches of the Sufi path is sincerity, for salvation from the hidden association of partners with God is through sincerity. One who does not obtain sincerity cannot travel those ways. The most powerful force of those ways is love. Yes, love does not seek pretexts for its beloved and does not wish to see its faults. And it sees frail signs to its beloved’s perfection as powerful proofs. It always takes the part of its beloved. It is because of this that those who are turned towards knowledge of God with the feet of love, do not give ear to doubts and objections; they are saved easily. If even a thousand satans were to gather, they could not negate in their view a hint to the perfection of their true beloved. If they did not love, then they would struggle desperately in the face of their souls and Satan and the objections of the outside satans. They would have to possess an heroic fortitude and strength of belief and attentive gaze in order to save themselves. It is because of this that in all the degrees of sainthood, the love arising from knowledge of God is the most important leaven and elixir. But love contains an abyss, which is this: it jumps from beseeching and self-effacement, which are the essence of worship, to complaint and claims and to imbalanced actions. By passing from the signified meaning of things to their literal meaning when regarding things other than God, while being the cure, it becomes poison. That is to say, although when loving things other than God, it is necessary for a person to bind his heart for God’s sake and in His name and due to their being mirrors of His Names, sometimes he thinks of the objects of his love on account of the objects themselves, and their personal perfections and in the name of their essential beauty; he loves them for themselves. Even if he does not think of God and His Messenger, he still loves them. This love is not a means to love of God; it is a veil to it. Whereas if he loves the persons for the meaning they signify, it is the means to love of God; indeed, it may be said to be a manifestation of it. T h i r d P o i n t : This world is the realm of wisdom, the realm of service; it is not the realm of reward and recompense. The wage for deeds and acts of service here is given in the Intermediate Realm and the hereafter. Acts here produce fruits in the Intermediate Realm and the hereafter. Since the reality is this, the results of actions pertaining to the hereafter should not be sought in this world. If they are given, they should be received not gratefully, but regretfully. Because since in Paradise the more its fruits are picked the more they are produced, to eat in this world in transient fashion the fruits of actions pertaining to the hereafter, which are lasting, is not sensible. It is like exchanging a permanent lamp for one that will last a minute and then be extinguished. It is because of this that the people of sainthood consider service, difficulty, misfortune, and hardship to be agreeable, and they do not complain and lament, but say: “All praise be to God for all conditions!” When illuminations and wonders, unfoldings and lights are given them, they accept them as sorts of Divine favour, and try to conceal them. They do not become proud, but offer more thanks and worship. Many of them have wanted those states to be concealed or to cease, lest they spoil the sincerity of their actions. Yes, the most important Divine favour for an acceptable person is not to make them realize His favour, so that they do not cease beseeching and offering thanks, and start complaining and become proud. It is due to this truth that if those who seek sainthood and the Sufi path do so for illuminations and wonders, which are some of the emanations of sainthood, and they are turned towards those and receive pleasure from them, they as though consume in transient fashion in this transient world the enduring fruits of the hereafter. This too opens up the way to losing sincerity, the leaven of sainthood, and to sainthood eluding them. Related Items: |
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