Spiritual states experienced by saliks who have not reached the
rank of Fanâ and Baqâ are of no value. A person who wishes to attain Haqq
ta’âlâ should retreat from His mâ-siwâ [creatures]. A person who wishes ahwâl
(hâls) and mawâjid (raptures, ecstacies) wishes the mâ-siwâ. Fanâ and Baqâ are
necessary. One has to try to obtain these two. Wilâyat is attained through
these two. The kind of ma’rifat which is the cause of our discovery is
attainable by way of these two. The spiritual states which are caused in the
heart by zeal and love are not necessary. When the beauty is incomprehensible,
love for that beauty will also be of the incomprehensible sort. Some raptures
may be experienced. One may cry and wail, for instance. Loving one’s nafs very
much is common to everybody. All sorts of love, including one’s love of
property, love of one’s wife and children, are the results of one’s love for
one’s nafs. One’s love for one’s nafs does not produce any raptures such as crying.
Mahbûb-i-haqîqî (The genuine, real darling) is loved more than the nafs. Fanâ
is the outcome of this love. So is the case with loving the Messenger of Allah
‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’. It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf,
“Unless a person loves me more than (he loves) his nafs and household and all other
people, he will not have had full îmân in me.” The Murshid is the representative of the Messenger of Allah. Love
for the Murshid, therefore, should be of the same sort.
Whatsoever
is beautiful, except remembering Him,
Is a poison to the soul, be it sweetmeat with cream!
All sorts of perfections, visible or invisible, are
within this brilliant Sharî’at and inherent in adapting oneself to the Last One
of Prophets ‘alaihi wa alaihim-us-salawât wa-l-barakât’. Only those who follow
his way are blessed with Jazba and Sulûk. Fanâ
and Baqâ are his attributes. Wilâyat-i-sughrâ, Wilâyat-i-kubrâ and Wilâyat-i-ulyâ are only drops from his ocean of Wilâyat. Nubuwwat and Risâlat (Prophethood and Messengership) are the harvest of his nûrs. The signs and symbols in Qur’ân al-kerîm are mysteries belonging to him ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa alâ Âlihi wa Ansârihi wa sallam’.