This letter, written to Naqîb and Sayyed Shaikh Ferîd ‘quddisa
sirruh’, explains the advantages and disadvantages of the body and soul, and
recommends enduring the nuisances and pains inflicted on the body.
May Allahu ta’âlâ protect you against
every kind of problem! For the sake of the Master of this and the next worlds
(’alaihi wa alâ âlihissalawâtu wattaslîmât) may He let you attain the blessings
of this and the next worlds!
Worldly pleasures and pains are of two
sorts: those of the body and and those of the soul. Everything that gives
pleasure to the body, gives pain to the soul. Everything that hurts the body,
tastes sweet to the soul. It is understood that the soul and the body are
opposites of each other. In this world, however, the soul has fallen down to
the grade of the body, united with the body and given itself up to the body.
The soul, taking the shape of the body, has begun to take pleasure from the
things that give pleasure to the body, and to feel pain at the things that are
painful to the body. Common people are in this state. The âyat “We then demoted it (the
soul) to the lowest
grade” in
Sûrat-u-Wa-t-tîn indicates their state. If a person’s soul does not get rid of
this slavery, this dependence, if it does not go back up to its own grade and
reach its own native land, shame upon him thousands of times!
Of all creatures,
man is in the highest rank
But he also remains
deprived of it, to be frank;
If he doesn’t turn
back and follow the road hinted.
Who else could ever
be more disappointed?
Thus one of the illnesses of the soul is
that it supposes the things that harm it to be a blessing and the things that
aid it to be a disadvantage. This state of the soul is similar to that of a
person with a sick stomach; this person tastes what is sweet as bitter because
his bile is unhealthy. At is it necessary to cure this person, so it is
necessary to save the soul from this disease. The soul, being cured, should
take pleasure from the inconveniences and pain given to the body.
To attain this
pleasure and delight
Until you die, work
hard day and night.
By thinking and observing well, it can be
understood that were it not for the cares and disasters in the world, the world
would have no value. Tragic events and misfortunes do away with the darkness
and dullness of the world. The bitterness of cares and sorrows is like the
bitterness of useful medicine that will cure a disease. I, this poor person,
understand that at some banquets given with wicked intentions or for
ostentation or for some advantages, the offence given to the host by finding
fault with the food or through some other annoyance, does away with the
obscurity and the sin in the food that originates from an evil intention,
thereby causing it to be accepted. If it were not for the guests’ complaints
and insults that offended the host, the food would be unprofitable and not
blessed, and so it would not be accepted. The hurt in the heart causes
acceptance. Then, we, who always think of our physical comfort and pleasures,
and who always run toward this purpose, are in a very difficult situation.
Allahu ta’âlâ declares in the fifty-sixth âyat-i-kerîma of Sûrat-u-Wa-z-zâriyat:
“I created
human beings and genies only so that they will worship Me.” Worships
are designed to break the heart and to enable it to understand its lowness.
Man’s creation is intended so that he will despise and humble himself. This
world is like a dungeon when compared to the Muslims’ life after death, the
blessings of Paradise. It is unreasonable for Muslims to seek pleasure and
dissipation in this dungeon. Then, it is necessary to get used to sufferings,
torments and trouble in this world. There is no other way than putting up with
the afflictions here (in this world). May Allahu ta’âlâ, for the sake of your
blessed ancestor (Rasûlullah), bless us, His weak born servants, with walking
in this way! Âmîn.
[In the book Rashahât, Hadrat Ubaydullah-i ahrâr
‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ aleyh’ says, “Man is created to worship Allah. The point
and the essence of ’ibâdat (worship) is to make the qalb (heart) become aware
of Allahu ta’âlâ at all times.”]