When a person's knowledge prevails over his passion (hawa) that is useful knowledge. How could it not be useful, when it locks the doors of creatures and opens the door of the Lord of Truth which is the greatest door of all? When the servant has accomplished this shutting and opening, the crowd departs from him and seclusion comes to him. Robes of honor come to clothe his heart. The keys come to him. The outer shell falls away from him and the kernel (lubb) remains. The way of passion is blocked, barred and suppressed, while the way to the Lord of Truth is opened and the highroad becomes plainly visible to him; the highroad of his purpose, which is the highroad of the Prophets (anbiya) who have gone before. What is this highroad? The highroad of pure clarity with no murky confusion. The highroad of the affirmation of Unity (tawhid) with no idolatrous association (shirk). The highroad of submissive obedience (istislam) with no contention. The highroad of truthfulness (sidq) with no falsehood. The highroad of the Lord of Truth without creatures. The highroad of the Originator (Musabbib) without secondary cause (sabab). This is the highroad taken by the commanders of the religion (umara addin), the sultans and kings of real knowledge (ma'rifa) who are the men of the Lord of Truth, His close friends (asfiya') and noblemen (nujaba'), the supporters of His religion, fighters in His cause and lovers in His cause.
Woe unto you! How can you claim to follow the road of these people (of the Lord) when you are an idolatrous worshiper (mushrik) of yourself and other creatures? You have no faith (iman) while your fears and hopes are attached to those who inhabit the face of earth. You have no abstinence while there is anything in this world that you desire. You have no affirmation of Unity (tawhid) while you see any but Him on your path toward Him. The knower ('arif) is a stranger in this world and the hereafter, and an abstainer (zahid) from them both and from everything whatsoever apart from the Lord of Truth; he has no interest in anything but Him.
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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