O young man! You must empty your heart for the sake of your Lord while keeping your physical body and your lower self (nafs) occupied with hard work for your dependents, so that you put His commandments into practice and earn for them through His action (fi'l). To remain silent in the presence of the Lord of Truth, and to refrain with patience and contentment from putting requests to Him, is worthier than supplication (du'a), begging (su'al) and insistent pleading (ilhah). You must erase your own knowledge in favor of His knowledge, set aside your own planning in favor of His planning, cut off your own will in favor of His will, and put your own mind out of the way on the arrival of His judgments (aqdiya) and decrees (aqdar). You must act like this with Him, if you wish to have Him as Lord (Rabb), Helper (Mu'in) and Savior (Musallim). You must be calm in His presence, if you wish to attain Him.
The believer (mu'min) has all his notions (khawatir) and aspirations (himam) united as one. He has nothing left except a notion (khatir) that occurs (yakhturu) to his heart from the Lord of Truth, while he is waiting at the door of his nearness to His Lord. Then when his knowledge (ma'rifa) of Him is well established, the door is opened in front of him and he passes beyond it, to see that which he could never describe. A notion is for the heart, while an indication (ishara) is secret speech (kalam khafi) to the innermost being (sirr), when it has transcended one's lower self (nafs), passions (hawa), blameworthy characteristics (akhlaq madhmuma) and all creatures into well being, goodness and bliss. One is turned and moved about therein, like the Companions of the Cave (ashab al-kahf), concerning whom Allah has said: "And we turned them over to the right, then over to the left." (Quran 18:18)
O young man! Hear this, believe this and do not consider it untrue. Do not deprive yourself completely of all that is good.
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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