"If you are not lovers, serve the lovers." - Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani

Bismillah.

O people, if you are not lovers, serve the lovers, draw near to the lovers, love the lovers and think well of the lovers! For some rare individuals, love comes by way of involuntary compulsion. The True One (Allah azza wa Jall) looks at them and loves them, so He transfers them in one moment from one state to another. He does not want to love them after years but He loves them in one moment, so they love Him out of necessity, without delay, without introduction, not gradually and without passage of time.

As for the majority of people, love comes by way of choice. The lovers choose Allah in preference to His creatures. They see the blessings that they have as having come from Him, not from anyone else. They recognize His subtle favors, His preparations for them and His rewards for them so they love Him. Then they choose Him in preference to both this world and the hereafter. They give up the things that are prohibited or legally dubious, reduce the use of what is lawful and be satisfied with whatever they already have. They abandon bed and blankets, sleep and rest; 'Their sides shun their beds.' (Qur'an 32:16)

Neither their night is an ordinary night nor their day is an ordinary day. They say: "Our God, we have left everything behind the backs of our hearts and hastened to You so that you might be pleased."

They walk to Him
sometimes on the feet of their hearts,

sometimes on the feet of their innermost beings,

sometimes on the feet of their will,

sometimes on the feet of their spiritual aspiration,

sometimes on the feet of their truthfulness,

sometimes on the feet of their love,

sometimes on the feet of their yearning,

sometimes on the feet of their humility and modesty,

sometimes on the feet of their fear,

sometimes on the feet of their hope;

they do all this in love for Him and longing to meet Him.

O you who ask me, are you of those who love Allah through involuntary compulsion or through choice? If the answer is neither, then be silent and work on correcting your practice of Islam. O you who ask me, if only your practice of Islam and your faith are sound. If only you leave the company of disbelievers and hypocrites today and stay away from them in the future. If only you refrain from attending sessions of those who associate creatures and means with Allah, those who dispute with the True One, repent and do not approach the treasuries of the kings and their secrets.

O Allah, do not include us among the pretenders, liars and those who are ignorant of You and of the elite of your creatures and give us in this world good and in the hereafter good and protect us from the torment of the fire.

- Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilani

in Jila' al-Khatir

(Purification of the Mind)