SECTION 15

Avarice

Do not covet anything avariciously; for if you ignore it, it will come to you anyway, if it is destined to be yours. Then you would find ease in your heart with Allah (SWT), praise for leaving it; but you will be blamed for your haste in seeking it, for not trusting Him, and for not being content with the decree. Allah (SWT) created this world the same as a shadow: when you chase it, it tires you out and you can never catch up with it. If you leave it alone, it follows you inexorably, and gives you no cause for fatigue.

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) said, 'A covetous man is bereft; yet in spite of his deprivation, he is blamed wherever he is. ' For how could he be other than bereft when he flees from the covenant of Allah (SWT), and opposes His words:

Allah is He Who created you, then gave you sustenance, then He causes you to die, then brings you life. (30:40)

The covetous person is in the midst of seven difficult evils: thinking, which harms his body but brings it no help; anxiety, which has no end; weariness, from which he will find rest only in death, although he has the greatest weariness when at rest; fear, which only makes him fall into what he fears; sorrow, which makes his livelihood disturbed without any benefit to him; reckoning, which will not save him from the punishment of Allah (SWT) unless He pardons him, and punishment, from which there is neither flight nor escape.

The one who trusts in Allah (SWT) spends morning and evening in His protection and well-being. Allah (SWT) has hastened for him what suffices him, and prepared for him things which only Allah (SWT) knows. Avarice is what flows out from Allah (SWT)'s anger. When the slave is not bereft of certainty, he is not covetous. Certainty is the earth of Islam and the heaven of iman. ' 

Clarification

The intimate conversation of the gnostics possesses three roots: fear, hope and love. Fear is the branch of knowledge; hope is the branch of certainty, and love is the branch of gnosis (ma 'rifah) . The proof of fear is flight; the proof of hope is quest, and the proof of love is preferring the Beloved over all others.

When knowledge is confirmed in truthfulness, he fears. When fear is genuine, he flees. When he flees, he is saved. When he sees the light of certainty in the heart, he sees overflowing favour. When the vision of overflowing favour is firm, there is hope. When he feels the sweetness of belief in hope, he seeks. When he has sucess in the quest, he finds. When the light of gnosis is manifested in his heart, the breeze of love stirs, he settles in the shadow of the Beloved, prefers the Beloved over all others, follows His commands and avoids His prohibitions, and chooses them over everything else. When he perseveres towards intimacy with the Beloved while carrying out His commands and avoiding His prohibitions, he has reached the spirit of intimate communion and nearness.

These three roots are like the sanctuary, the mosque, and the Ka'bah: whoever enters the Sacred Precinct is safe from people. If a person enters the mosque, his senses are safe from being used in disobedience, and if a person enters the Ka'bah, his heart is safe from being occupied with anything other than the remembrance of Allah (SWT).

Take heed, O believer! If you are in a state in which you are content to meet death, then thank Allah (SWT) for His grace and protection. If it is other than that, then move from it with sound resolution, and have regret for that part of your life which passed in heedlessness. Seek Allah (SWT)'s help in purifying your outward nature of wrong actions and cleanse your inward being from faults. Cut the shackles of heedlessness from your heart, and extinguish the fire of desires in your soul.

Judgements

The heart may be described as belonging to one of four types: uplifted, open, low, or stopped. The raf (uplifting) of the heart lies in remembrance of Allah (SWT); thefath (opening) of the heart lies in the pleasure of Allah (SWT); the khafd (lowering) of the heart lies in occupation with anything other than Allah (SWT), and the waqf (stopping) of the heart lies in paying no heed to anything other than Allah (SWT) . '

Do you not see that when a servant remembers Allah (SWT) with sincere respect, every veil that was between him and Allah (SWT) is removed? If the heart obeys the source of Allah (SWT)'s decree and is content with that, then how do happiness, joy and worldly rest open up to him? When the heart is occupied with some of the matters of this world and its means, how, then, can it find what Allah (SWT) has mentioned? Then the heart becomes reduced and dark like an empty, ruined house which has neither prosperity nor occupant. When a person is distracted from remembering Allah (SWT), then you see that he is 'stopped' from advancing, and veiled. He has become obdurate and dark since leaving the light which issues from the servant's veneration of his Lord.

The sign of raf' lies in agreement in every respect, lack of opposition, and constant yearning; the sign offath lies in trustful dependence on Allah (SWT), truthfulness and certainty; the sign of khafd lies in pride, showing off, and greed; and the sign of waqf lies in the departure of the sweetness of obedience, lack of the bitterness of rebellion, and of confusion in the knowledge of what is permitted and what is forbidden.

Siwak

The Messenger of Allah (SWT) said, 'Using the siwak' purifies the mouth and is pleasing to the Lord,' and he made it one of the confirmed practices. It has benefits for both the outward and the inward being which even men of intelligence cannot count.

As you remove the stains caused by food and drink from your teeth with the siwak, so remove the impurity of your wrong actions by humble entreaty, humility, night prayers, and asking for forgiveness before dawn. Purify your outer being from impurities, and your inner being from the turbidity of acts of opposition and committing anything prohibited, all the while acting sincerely for Allah (SWT). The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) made its use an example for people for alertness and attention, in that the siwak is a clean, soft plant and the twig of a blessed tree. The teeth are what Allah (SWT) created in the mouth as a tool for eating, an implement for chewing, a reason for enjoying food and for keeping the intestines in order. The teeth are pure jewels, which become dirty because they are present when food is chewed, leading to a deterioration in the way the mouth smells, and decay in the gums. When the intelligent believer cleans with the soft plant and wipes it on these pure jewels, he removes the decay and adulteration from them and they then revert to their original state.

Similarly Allah (SWT) created the heart pure and clean, and made its food remembrance, reflection, awe and respect. When the pure heart turns grey by being fed on heedlessness and vexation, it is polished by the burnish of repentance and cleaned by the water of regret, so that it reverts to its primal state and its basic essence. As Allah (SWT) said,

Surely Allah loves those who turn [in repentance] to Him, and He loves those who purify themselves. (2:222)

In recommending the use of the siwak the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) was advocating that it be used on the teeth themselves; but he also implied the meaning and example we have referred to above, that for anyone who empties his faculty of reflection for the purpose of drawing inward lessons from the outward examples?with respect to both the principle and roots of faith?Allah (SWT) will open the springs of wisdom, and will give him still more of His overflowing favour, for Allah (SWT) does not neglect the reward of those who act well.

Using the Lavatory

The lavatory is called in Arabic 'the place of rest', because there people may find rest from the burden of impurities and empty themselves of grossness and filth. There the believer may reflect on how he is cleansing himself from the food and perishable matter of this world, and how his own death will come in like manner: therefore he should find ease in avoiding the world, leaving it aside and freeing himselfand his heart from its distractions. He should be averse to taking and gathering this world just as he loathes impurity, the lavatory and filth, reflecting on how something good in one state becomes so base in another. He knows that holding onto contentment and precaution will bring him ease in the two abodes.

Thus ease comes from considering this world to be insignificant, giving up one's enjoyment of it, and removing the impurity of what is forbidden or doubtful. A person closes the door of pride on himself once he recognizes this; he flees from wrong actions and opens the door of humility, regret, and modesty. He strives to carry out Allah (SWT)'s commands and to avoid His prohibitions, seeking a good end and excellent proximity to Allah (SWT). He locks himself in the prison of fear, steadfastness, and the restraint of his appetites until he reaches the safety of Allah (SWT) in the world to come, and tastes the food of His good pleasure. If he intends that, everything else means nothing to him.

SECTION 16

Purification

If you seek purification and ablution (wadu'), then go to water as you would go to the mercy of Allah (SWT), for He has made water the key to being near to Him in intimate conversation, and a guide to the domain of His service. Just as the mercy of Allah (SWT) purifies the wrong actions of His bondsmen, so are outward impurities cleansed only by water. As Allah (SWT) said,

It is He Who sends the winds as good news before His mercy; and We send down pure water out of heaven! (25:48)

and elsewhere,

We have made of water everything living. Will they not then believe? (21:30)

As He gives life to every blessing in this world from water, so by His mercy and overflowing favour He gives life to the heart and to acts of obedience, and to reflection in the purity of water, its fineness, its cleanness, its blessing and the subtleness of how it mixes with everything; through water He also gives life to the heart, when you purify those limbs which you have been commanded by Allah (SWT) to purify, and which you use to worship in your obligatory and customary prayers.

From each limb come many benefits. When you treat the limbs with respect, then their benefits will soon spring up for you. Deal with Allah (SWT)'s creation like water which mixes with things and gives everything its due, while not changing itself in essence. This is expressed by the words of the Messenger (s.w.a.s.)of Allah (SWT), 'The sincere believer is like water.' Let your purity with Allah (SWT) in all your obedience be like the purity of water when He sent it down out of heaven and called it pure. Purify your heart with precaution and certainty when you purify your limbs with water.

Entering the Mosque

When you reach the door of the mosque, know that you have come to the door of a mighty King. Only the purified tread on His carpet, and only the true are allowed to sit with Him. So be alert in your approach of the court of the awesome King, for you are in great danger if you are heedless. Know that He can do whatever He wishes in justice and overflowing favour with you and by you. If He inclines to you with His mercy and overflowing favour, He has accepted a small amount of your obedience and has given you a great reward for it. If He demands His due of truthfulness and sincerity by His justice towards you, He has veiled you and rejected your obedience, even if you have had obedience in abundance. He does what He wills. Acknowledge your incapacity, inadequacy, fragility, and poverty before Him, for you have turned yourself to worshipping Him and being close to Him. Turn to Him, and know that neither the secret nor the revealed part of any creature is hidden from Him. Be like the poorest of His servants before Him: strip your heart of every occupation which might veil you from your Lord, for He only accepts the purest and most sincere. Look to see in which register your name will be written.

If you taste the sweetness of His intimate conversation and the pleasure of His addressing you, and drink the cup of His mercy, and those favours he has bestowed on you and those of your requests which He has accepted, then you have served Him properly, and may therefore enter the sphere of His permission and security. If not, then stand as one whose power and ability have been cut off, and whose term has come to an end. If Almighty Allah (SWT) knows that in your heart you are sincerely seeking refuge with Him, He will regard you with compassion, mercy and kindness. He will cause you to succeed in that which He loves and which is pleasing to Him, for He is generous. He loves noble generosity and the worship of those who need Him, and who are burning up at His door seeking His good pleasure. Allah (SWT) said,

Who answers the distressed one when he calls upon Him, and removes the evil? (27:62)

Supplication

Observe the courtesy of supplication. Consider the One on whom you call, how you call on Him and why you call; affirm the immensity and magnificence of Allah (SWT). Look with your heart at how He knows what is in your conscience, how He sees your secret being and whatever has occurred and will occur in it, both true and false. Learn the paths to your salvation and destruction, so that you do not call upon Allah (SWT) for something which perhaps contains your destruction, but which you suppose to contain your salvation. Allah (SWT) said,

Man prays for evil as he ought to pray for good, and man is ever hasty. (17:11)

Reflect about what you ask for and why you are asking: supplication should be a total response to the Truth on your part, and a melting of the heart in contemplation of its Lord. It is to abandon all choices and to surrender all matters, both outward and inward, to Allah (SWT). If the preconditions of the supplication are not met, then do not look for fulfilment, for He knows what is secret and what is hidden; you might ask Him for something when He knows that you conceal the opposite of it.

One of the companions said to the others, 'You are waiting for rain, and I am waiting for stones.' Know that if Allah (SWT) had not commanded us to call on Him, He would nevertheless have favoured us with an answer immediately after we finished the prayer?how, then, is His favour, given the fact that He has guaranteed that answer to whoever fulfils the conditions of the prayer?

The Messenger of Allah (SWT) was asked about the most powerful name of Allah (SWT): he said, 'Every name of Allah (SWT) is most powerful.' Free your heart from all that is other-than-Him, and call on Him by whatever name you like. In reality Allah (SWT) does not have one name rather than another: He is Allah (SWT), the One, the Almighty.

The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) said, 'Allah (SWT) does not answer the supplication of a heedless heart.' When one of you wants His Lord to give to him whatever he asks of Him, he should renounce all people, putting his hope in Allah (SWT) alone. When Allah (SWT) sees that in his heart, He will give him whatever he asks.

When you have established the preconditions of supplication which I have mentioned, and have become sincere in your innermost being for His sake, then rejoice in the good news that one of three things will happen: either He will hasten to give you what you have asked for, or He will store up something better for you, or He will avert from you an aSiction which would have destroyed you had He sent it. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.s.) reported that Allah (SWT) said, 'If anyone is distracted from asking Me by his own remembrance of Me, I will give him better than what I give to those who ask.'