When your gratitude to Allah becomes a reality, He will inspire (alhama) the hearts and tongues of His creatures with gratitude and affection for you. At this stage, Satan and his cohorts will have no access to you.
Come O servants of Allah upon the earth! And you O abstinent ones, come here and learn something! You do not have a clue. Come into my book, so I may teach you something you do not find in your possession. Our hearts (qulub) have a book, our lower selves (nufus) have a book, and our limbs and organs (jawarih) have a book. These are degrees and stages and a series of steps.
You have not fully accomplished the first step, so how can you reach the second? Islam is not yet real for you, so how can you attain to faith (iman)? Faith is not yet real for you, so how can you attain to conviction (iqan)? Conviction is not yet real for you, so how can you attain to intimate knowledge (ma'rifa) and saintship (wilaya)? Be sensible! You are getting nowhere. Each one of you is seeking leadership of the people without equipment for the task. Leadership (riyasa) of creatures can only be achieved after abstinence (zuhd) from them, from this world, the lower self (nafs), the passions (hawa), the natural impulses (tab') and the will (irada). Leadership comes down from heaven, not from the earth. Saintship (wilaya) comes from the Lord of Truth, not from creatures. You should always be a follower, not one who is followed; an adherent, not one who attracts adherents. Be content with lowliness and obscurity, then if the opposite is intended for you by the Lord of Truth, it will come to you at the proper time.
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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