O you who lay claim to knowledge, do not take from the hand of your lower self (nafs), your natural impulses (tab') and your devil (syaitan). Do not take from the hand of your present existence (wujud). Do not take from the hand of your pretense (riya') and your hypocrisy (nifaq). Your pious abstinence (zuhud) is on the outside (zahir), while your appetite is on the inside (batin). This is a futile abstinence, for which you will be punished. You are trying to cheat the Lord of Truth, but He knows what is in your private and public lives, and what is in your heart. In His presence there is no distinction between private and public, and there is no concealment. Say: "Woe, alas and shame! The Lord of Truth is surely aware of all my actions by night and by day. He is watching yet I am not embarrassed by His gaze!"
You must repent your insolence toward Him and draw near to Him by performing the obligatory religious duties (fara'id) and observing the prohibitions. You must give up sins both outwardly and inwardly, and do tangible works of charity. Through this you will reach His door and draw near to Him, and He will love you and make His creatures love you. He will love you directly, without His creatures, then He will transmit this to His creatures. When Allah and His angels love you, all creatures will love you, apart from the unbelievers and the hypocrites, for they will not go along with Allah in loving you. Everyone who has faith (iman) in his heart will love the believer (mukmin) and everyone who has hypocrisy (nifaq) in his heart will hate him, so do not feel the kind of hatred felt by the unbelievers (kafirun), the hypocrites (munafiqun), devils (shayatin) and evil spirits (abalisa). The hypocrites and unbelievers are the devils of mankind.
Note: Extracts from lectures given by Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani in Ramadhan 545 A.H. Reference: The Sublime Revelation (Al-fath ar-Rabbani) Translated from the Arabic by Muhtar Holland.
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