1- O my beloved son and faithful friend! May Allâhu ta’âlâ give you a long, long life and bless you with the fortune of
spending your lifetime worshipping and following the way He has prescribed! All
sorts of teachings have been taken from our Prophet Muhammad
‘alaihis-salâm’. Any teaching not coming from him will be of no use. If you
have not taken any of these pieces of advice that have spread all over the
world, why have you stayed with me and studied with me so many years?
2- One of the worldwide teachings of our Prophet
‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ is this:
“An omen signifying that Allâhu ta’âlâ will
not havemercy on a born slave of His and that He will treat him withwrath and
torment is his busying himself with things that will not be useful in this
world or in the Hereafter and his killing his time in useless occupations. If a
person spendsone hour of his lifetime doing something disliked by Allâhuta’âlâ,
any degree of grief he would feel over it would notbe too much. If a person is
over forty years old and hispious deeds, i.e. thawâbs are not more than his
wrongdoings, i.e. sins, let him prepare himself for Hell.”
3- This advice would be enough for those who
understand well the meaning of this hadîth-i-sherîf.
4- Advice is easy to give and difficult to take. For
advice is bitter and harâms taste sweet to those who follow their sensuous
desires and run after worldly pleasures. As a matter of fact, Allâhu ta’âlâ purports in Qur’ân
al-kerîm, “Make
war with disbelievers! War will be bitter and troublesome for you. Things that
come difficult to you, that is, commandments of Allâhu
ta’âlâ, are beneficial, good foryou. Things that come
easy to you and which you like, i.e.harâms, are harmful and bad for you. Allâhu
ta’âlâ knows those that are beneficial, and you do not know them.”Advice will have no effect on people like you, who
learn useless things called knowledge and disguised in knowledge and who do not
think of their life in the Hereafter but learn knowledge in order to make a
show of superiority to others and only for worldly advantages instead of
learning it in order to be useful to yourselves and others in this world and in
the Hereafter. You think that knowledge without practice will save you and that
having knowledge will exempt you from religious practices. Your case is an
appalling paradox. For a learned person ought to know
that mere knowledge without any practices will be
harmful to him in the Hereafter and he will not be able to put forward the
excuse that he did not know. Have you not heard our Prophet’s
‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ hadîth-i-sherîf? He states, “On the Rising Day the most
vehement torment shall be inflicted onthe scholar who has not benefited from
his knowledge.”One of our
superiors ‘rahmatullâhi aleyh’ saw Juneyd-i-Baghdâdî ‘qaddas-Allâhu rűhah’ in
his dream and asked how he was doing (after death). Juneyd answered, “All my
statements, kashfs, ishârats, that is, all my zâhirî and bâtinî knowledge came
to naught; they were all gone. I had performed a namâz of two rak’ats one
night. That namâz came to my rescue.”
5- Do not be slack in your practices, worships! Do
not forget states and knowledge pertaining to heart! Your actions should be
agreeable with your knowledge and your spiritual states should be in
concordance with Tasawwuf.
Be it known very well that (religious) knowledge will
not save a person unless it is put into practice. Let me clarify this point
with an example for you: Supposing someone fully armed suddenly met a lion in
the mountains. No matter how brave and how good he might be in using a gun and
a sword, could he save himself from this lion unless he used his weapons? He
could not, as you, too, know very well. By the same token, however deeply
learned a person may be, his knowledge will come to naught if he does not act
upon his knowledge. Another example is about a doctor who becomes ill himself.
Supposing he diagnosed his illness and knew a medicine which really would cure
his illness, sheer knowledge would not cure him unless he took the medicine.
You know this very well, too. The poet says:
You
may have made thousands of physics;
To no avail, unless you use them.
However much a person may have learned and however
many books he may have read, all this will be an exercise in futility unless he
practices what he knows.
6- Unless you earn mercy of Allâhu ta’âlâ by doing His commandments and acting in the way He likes, you
shall not attain His compassion. An âyat-i-kerîma purports, “One
will attain happiness only by working and worshipping.” If someone should say that this âyat-i-kerîma was changed by another âyat, may the person who makes such an
allegation be changed,
demolished! If you assert that this âyat was changed,
what will you say about the other âyats, then? An âyat-i-kerîma purports, “Let those who wish to attain Allah’s
compassiondo His commandments.” Another âyat-i-kerîma purports, “They shall attain the
recompense for what they have donein the world.” Another âyat-i-kerîma purports, “Those
who have îmân and do the worships and avoid the harâms shall certainly enter
Gardens of Paradise and attain blessings.” Another âyat-i-kerîma purports, “Paradise is only for thosewho
have îmân and do the worships.” Another âyat-i-kerîma purports, “Those who obey Allâhu
ta’âlâ and His Messengers shall have a share in the blessings that
shall be given to Prophets and to Siddîqs and to Martyrs and toPious Muslims in
the Hereafter.” Our Prophet
‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ states in a hadîth-i-sherîf, “Islam
has been founded on five fundamentals: First, to believe in Allâhu
ta’âlâ and that Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’ is His Messenger; second,
to perform namâz five times daily;third, to give zakât to poor Muslims once
yearly, that is, togive one-fortieth of one’s property; fourth, to fast every
day in the month of Ramadân-i-sherîf; fifth, to go to Mekka-i-mukarrama and
perform Hajj once in one’s lifetime.” He states in another hadîth-i-sherîf, “Îmân
means to believe in six facts through heart and to express this belief with
tongue and to like the commandments of Allâhu ta’âlâ.” Îmân comes into being by believing and expressing and
it shines into perfection by worshipping. Imâm-i-a’zam Abű Hanîfa ‘rahmatullâhi
aleyh’ [80-
should be said that entering Paradise depends only on
(having) îmân; yes, it is true. Nevertheless, not before having weathered a
considerable number of dangers. A person who does not go to the next world with
îmân shall not enter Paradise. Entering Paradise requires moving to the
Hereafter and surviving the other dangers. And then one will attain only the
lowest grades of Paradise.
7- You have to know very well that you shall not obtain any
thawâb unless you work and follow the way shown by the religion! Once there was
an Israelite who had been worshipping for many years.
Allâhu ta’âlâ wished to show his worships to angels. He sent him an
angel and had the angel ask him: “How long are you going to go on worshipping
like this? Haven’t you already deserved (entering) Paradise?” The worshipper
answered: “My duty is to act like a born slave. He has the Commanding Post.”
Upon hearing this answer, the angel said: “Yâ Rabbi! Thou art the Omniscient.
Thou hast heard how Thine born slave hath answered.” A hadîth-i-qudsî purports,
“That
born slave of Mine, lowly and humiliated as he is, will not turn away from Us;
so We, being Generous and Compassionate, shall certainly not forsake him. O
Mine angels! Be witnesses: I have forgiven him!”
8- Behold what our Prophet Muhammad
‘alaihis-salâm’ states: “Before you are called to account in the
Hereafter,call yourselves to account in the world; and before you areweighed,
weigh yourselves!” Alî Murtadâ
‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ states: A person who expects to attain Paradise without
endeavouring and taking pains is building castles in the air. And a person who
claims to attain by working ought to exert himself and shoulder the burden of
worships. Hasan Basrî ‘rahmatullâhi aleyh’, one of hadrat Alî’s ‘radiy-Allâhu
anh’ disciples, states: It is a grave sin to ask for Paradise from Allâhu ta’âlâ without worshipping. One of our superiors states, “A person whose
knowledge is useful is a person who ceases not from worshipping but from
estimating the thawâb he will earn by worshipping.” Our master the Prophet
‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ states, “A wise person will crush his
nafs and work for (earning) what
he will need in the Hereafter. And an idiot will run after the desires of his
nafs and then pray to Allâhuta’âlâ to take him to Paradise.”
9- You have
sacrificed many a night and forgone many a luscious sleep for the sake of
learning and reading books. I cannot see why you should have ruined yourself so
badly? If
your learning was
intended to hoard worldly advantages, to make a fame, to obtain a position or
to make a show of superiority to other Muslims, shame upon you! You have made a
big mistake and thrown yourself into torment! However, if your purpose was to
help Islam and Muhammad’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ religion and to purify your morals
and to tame your nafs, how lucky for you! You have prepared a lovely eternal
future for yourself. The future to be prepared is to attain eternal felicity. A
distich:
Sleepless
nights not intended for thineself are in vain;
Crying for others’ sake is only fruitless pain.
10- Live as you please! Yet this life of yours will
not last long; you will certainly die one day. You will certainly part with
those flavours which you think of day and night and which you hold so fast to.
Whatever you are fond of in the world, you will have to bid farewell to all! Do
whatever you can! But do not forget that you will have to account for all your
doings!
11- It would mean to waste one’s lifetime to try to
make the tenets of belief agreeable and sympathetic to mind, to dispute with
ignorant and irreligious people and to grapple with their corrupt thoughts, to
try to earn money before learning Qur’ân al-kerîm, how
to perform namâz and ablution, how to fast, what are farz and what are harâm,
or to busy oneself with such studies as medicine, engineering, literature and
law in order to surpass others financially.
I swear on Allâhu ta’âlâ that I
have read in Îsâ’s ‘alaihis-salâm’ Injil (original, pristine copy of the
Bible): After a (dead) person is put into his coffin, Allâhu ta’âlâ will ask him forty questions until he is left into his grave. The
first question will be, “O My born slave! As long as you lived,
you adornedyourself for the world and learned many things so that others should
like and respect you. Did you learn Mycommandments and do what I asked you and
avoid what I prohibited?”
12- Allâhu
ta’âlâ asks you every day: “Why
do you work sohard for others? Do you not see that you are covered fromhead to
foot with My goodnesses and blessings?” But you do not hear this. Like a child who is too preoccupied in
its playing to notice what is going on around it, you have been made deaf and
blind by worldly pleasures and sensuous desires!
13- It is insanity to learn knowledge and then not to
use it. And it is equally wrong and unacceptable to practise (religious
commandments) without knowing (them). A line:
Acquire knowledge, and never be
negligent in worships!
These two will save you from burning in fire.
Knowledge that does not protect you from sins and does not encourage you to
worship today, will not protect you from Hell fire on the morrow.
If you cannot have your past sins forgiven by
worshipping, in the Rising Day, when your hand and tongue become incapable, you
will be one of those who will say, “Yâ Rabbî! Send us back to the world. We
shall spend all our lives worshipping.” And you will be answered, “O
idiot! You have come from there!”
14- You should work earnestly, put up a vehement
opposition against the nafs, which is an enemy of Allâlhu ta’âlâ, and subjugate
it and prepare yourself in a way as if you were going to be lying in the grave
the next moment. Those who have gone to the next world before you are wondering
when and in what state you are going to join them. Come to your senses and do
not go there without any resources! Abű Bekr as-Siddîq ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’
stated: The human body is either like a bird’s cage: when the cage is opened
the bird will fly away; or like a stable: it is opened to put some burden on
the animal, which means trouble for the animal. Think! Which one of these are
you? If you are a bird’s cage, you will fly up as soon as you hear the voice
saying, “Attain to thine Rabb!” As a matter of fact, it is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf, “The Arsh shook upon Sa’d bin Mu’âdh’s ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ death.” If, – may Allâhu ta’âlâ protect
from being so –, you are like a stable, that is, if you are one of those people
about whom Allâhu ta’âlâ states, “Because they do not consider
what they are goingto undergo, they are like animals, or rather, lower (than animals),” do not doubt that you will fall from your dwelling
place down to the abyss, that is, straight into Hell. One day hadrat
Hasan-i-Basrî ‘rahmatullâhi aleyh’ took a glass of cool sherbet in his hand and
was about to drink it, when he suddenly swooned and dropped the glass onto the
floor. When he recovered they asked him what had happened. He explained, “When
I remembered how those people burning in Hell will call to their friends in
Paradise and ask them to ‘Give us some from the water you drink,’ I was so afraid that I almost lost my mind.”
15- If knowledge alone would be sufficient and there
were no need for worships, it would not be announced towards morning every
night, “Isn’t there anyone to ask, so that I shall give?Isn’t
there anyone to make tawba, so that I shall forgive?” One day Abdullah bin ‘Umar was commended in our Prophet’s ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ presence. The Prophet
stated, “He is a good person. He would be a better one if he
performednamâz of tahajjud [namâz
at midnight].” At some other time he advised to one of the As-hâb: “O...!
Do not sleep too long!Sleeping too long will cause deprivation on the Rising
Day.”
16- The âyat-i-kerîma, “Perform
tahajjud at night,” is a
command. The âyat, “Make istighfâr at the time of Seher,” is a shukr (thanksgiving). In other words, Allâhu ta’âlâ praises those who make istighfâr. Those who make istighfâr at the
time of Seher will also attain the thawâb for dhikr. Our Prophet
‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ states, “Allâhu ta’âlâ loves three
kinds of voices: the voice of those who read (or recite) Qur’ân al-kerîm
respectfully and with tajwîd, (that is, following the rules of pronunciation); the
voice of those who make istighfâr at the time of Seher; the voice of those
whomake dhikr of Allâhu ta’âlâ.” Sufyân-i-Sawrî ‘rahmatullâhi aleyh’ [95-
17- Loqman Hakîm ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ aleyh’ gave the
following advice to his son: My son, I wonder if the rooster is wiser than you
are! He makes dhikr and tesbîh every morning, whereas you sleep. The following
two couplets would be appropriate at this point:
In
the darkness of the night, pigeon in the tree
Cries out dhikr; and, oh, alas, as for me;
I
am so fast asleep, shame on me! If I loved Thee,
Before pigeons, the earliest mourner I would be.
18- Essence of advice is to explain what it means
to worship and obey Allâhu ta’âlâ. Tâ’at and
’ibâdat means to adapt oneself to our Prophet
Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’. In other words, it means to modify all one’s speech
and behaviour so as to be in compliance with his commandments and prohibitions.
That is, whatever one says or does and whatever one does not do or say should
be intended to carry out his commandments. You should know very well that the
deeds which you perform in the name of worships are not worships at all,
perhaps they are sins, if they are not His commandments. This is the fact, even
if those deeds are in the form of namâz or fasting. In fact, as you know, it is
sinful and an act of disobedience to fast on the first day of ’Iyd of Ramadân
and/or on any or all of the four days of ’Iyd of Qurbân. Although fasting is a
kind of worship, it is sinful (to fast on those days) because it is not a
commandment. Likewise, it is sinful also to perform namâz in clothes or at a
place usurped from others. Although namâz is a kind of worship, it becomes an
act of disobedience because it is not a commandment (to usurp others’ clothes
or place in order to perform namâz). Likewise, it is a kind of worship and
causes thawâb to play and joke and entertain oneself with a girl with whom one
is married through nikâh (marriage contract prescribed by Islam). It is stated
in a hadîth-i-sherîf that there are many
blessings in this act, although what is done is merely entertainment. Yet it
causes much thawâb because it is a commandment. As it is seen, to worship does
not mean only to perform namâz or to fast. To worship means to obey Islam’s
commandments. For the same reason, namâz and fasting become worships when they
are performed compatibly with Islam’s prescription.
19- Then, adapt all your words, all your actions to
Islam! For all sorts of learnings and studies that are disagreeable to Islam,
whosoever does them, are deviations from the right way and will incur
estrangement from Allâhu ta’âlâ. It is for this
reason that our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa
sallam’ revoked, replaced the teachings and customs that were the continuations
of the era previous to him. Then, one should not open one’s mouth without
Islam’s permission, and you must know very well that the way shown by Allah
cannot be followed under the guidance of the knowledge you have acquired. You
must know also that this way
cannot be followed, either, under the guidance of
the non-Islamic statements made by those ignorant people who name themselves
Sufis and mystics and who claim to be followers of the superior leaders of
Tasawwuf and yet who would fail to explain the meanings of their own
statements. Only those who carry on a struggle against the nafs can follow this
way. The desires and lusts of the nafs should not be allowed to overflow
Islam’s limits. This way cannot be followed with hollow words. Words and
teachings that have no place in Islam and an oblivious heart mixed with lust
are symptoms of wickedness and (that one is heading towards) a disaster.
20- You ask questions some of which can be explained
neither by talking nor by writing. Their answers are known only by those who
reached and obtained those levels. It is impossible for those who have not
obtained those levels to know them. For they are blessings which can be known
by tasting. Flavours that can be known only by enjoying them cannot be
explained or described by telling or writing about them. Sweet, sour, bitter or
salty tastes cannot be depicted by writing.
21- Supposing a sexually impotent man asked a married
person what kind of a pleasure it was to have sexual intercourse, the answer he
would deserve is this: “I knew that you were sexually impotent. Now I know also
that you are an idiot. This flavour can be known only after it is tasted. It
cannot be described to those who do not know it by telling or writing about
it.”
22- Some of your questions were of this sort. As for
those that can be explained in words and writings; their answers are written in
detail in my books Ihyâ-ul-’ulűm, Kimyâ-yi-sa’âdat, Minhâj, and others. Read these books of mine! However, I
shall write shortly for the nonce.
You want to know what a person who wishes to follow the way
guiding to Allâhu ta’âlâ ought to do first.
First of all, he will have to have a pure credo, an îmân agreeable with the
teachings of the scholars of Ahl as-sunnat. Next, tawba-i-nasűh, that is,
making tawba for your sins and promising not to commit them again, is
necessary. Thirdly, you should cleanse yourself from all sorts of debts by paying
back all the rights belonging to creatures or at least by pleasing the owners
of these rights in such a way that they forgive you. The fourth condition is to
learn Islam well enough to carry out the commandments of Allâhu ta’âlâ. It is not wâjib for everyone to learn
more of Islam than will be necessary for himself. Other branches of knowledge
should be learned as much
as necessary. Necessity in this respect varies, depending on each
person’s art, profession and specialization. The following story will help you
grasp this better.
Story:
Hadrat Shiblî ‘rahmatullâhi
aleyh’ [247-
23- This hadîth-i-sherîf shows
that you do not need knowledge more than necessary. For it is farz-i-kifâya to
learn knowledge. It is not farz-i-ayn. Others have done this job, thus
relieving you of your burden. You will understand this better if you read the
following story:
Story:
Hâtim-i-Esam [He was born in
Belh and passed away in Tirmuz in 237 (A.D. 852)] was one of the disciples of
Shaqîq-i-Belhî [passed away in 174]. One day Shaqîq-i-Belhî asked him, “How
long have you been coming here and listening to me?” “Thirty-three years.”
“What have you learned, benefited from me during this long time?” “I have
benefited (learned) eight things.” Upon hearing this, Shaqîq was appalled and
said, “Shame on you, o Hâtim! I have spent all my time for you, and you have
not benefited more than eight things from me.” Hâtim said, “O my teacher! It is
the truth, and I do not want more. They will be enough for me. For I know very
well that escaping disasters in the world and in the Hereafter and attaining
eternal happiness will be possible with these eight pieces of knowledge.” His
teacher said, “Tell me what they are. I want to know them, too.”
Hâtim said, “First, I observed other people and saw that
everybody has chosen an object to turn his affections towards and that most of
these objects, like faithless lovers, abandon their friends to their fate after
accompanying them for some time, until they are on their deathbed, dead or buried.
No one would accompany a person as far as into his grave or share the troubles
he is likely to face in the grave. Upon seeing this fact, I
deliberated and said to myself: ‘I must choose myself such a friend who will
come with me to my grave and accompany me there, too.’ After searching for a
long time, I saw that no other friend would be as darling and as faithful as
the worships performed towards Allâhu ta’âlâ. I
chose them as friends and clung fast to them.”
Upon hearing this, Shaqîq said, “Very well done, o
Hâtim! Tell me the second benefit, too. Let me know what it is.”
Hâtim said: “O my teacher! The second benefit is
this: I observed other people and saw that everybody was running after the
sensuous desires and pleasures of the nafs. This reminded me of the blessed
meaning of an âyat-i-kerîma, which purports, ‘Verily, those who fear Allâhu
ta’âlâ and desist from (the sensuous desires of) their nafs shall enter
Paradise.’ I pondered
hard. All my learnings, experiences, as well as my mind and conscience, agreed
on the fact that Qur’ân
al-kerîm is thoroughly correct and came
to a full belief in this truth. Knowing my own nafs as a foe, I resolved that I
would never believe it and began to pursue a course of rejecting its desires
and lusts. Eventually, I saw that the nafs, who had been shunning worships, was
now beginning to run towards worshipping Allâhu and cease from its passions.”
When Shaqîq heard these, he said, “May Allah bless you with goodnesses. You
have done very well. Now let me hear the third benefit.
Hâtim ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ aleyh’ said, “My third
benefit is this: I observed other people and saw that everybody in the world
has gotten himself into trouble of some sort striving to stash away worldlies.
Then I recollected an âyat-i-kerîma, which purports, ‘Whatever of worldly
property you hold fast to and (try so hard to) retain shall not stay with
you, but (all that belongs to
this world) shall leave you. Only the goodnessesand
worships you have performed for the sake of Allah shall abide with you.’ All the things I had collected for worldly purposes I
spent for the sake of Allah; I meted them out to the poor! In other words, I
lent them to Allâhu ta’âlâ so that they should remain (in my possession)
eternally!” Shaqîq-i-Belhî ‘qaddas-Allâhu ta’âlâ sirrah ul
’azîz’ said, “You have done so well and how beautiful is the way you put it, o
Hâtim! Now let me hear the fourth benefit.”
Hâtim ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’ said,
“My fourth benefit is this: I observed other people and saw that they loathed
one another. I knew that it was because they envied one another and
coveted one another’s position, possessions and
knowledge, which reminded me of an âyat-i-kerîma, which
purports, ‘We have divided all their substantial and spiritual
sustenancesin the world and given them their shares.’ So I realized that kinds of sustenance such as
knowledge, property, rank position and children which were to be allotted to
everybody’s share had been preordained in eternity, that no one could do anything
about it, that it was necessary to work since He (Allâhu ta’âlâ) had commanded us to work, and that jealousy, alongside its
multiple harms, would be quite futile, contented myself with the distribution Allâhu ta’âlâ had foreordained in eternity and with what my Rabb would send me
in return for my work, and thus became friendly with all people around me,
liked other people and was liked by them.” Upon hearing these, Shâqîq said, “So
well done and so well said. Now tell me the fifth benefit, o Hâtim!”
Hâtim said, “My fifth benefit: I observed other
people and saw that most people thought that man’s honour and value as a human
being lay in occupying a commanding post and seeing how other people needed him
and humiliated themselves in front of him and that they boasted with such
things. Some of them, on the other hand, thought that the human value consisted
of abundant property and progeny and boasted about possessing these qualities.
And others, thinking that the honour of humanity was in spending one’s property
and money on things that would please and entertain other people, deprived
themselves of utilizing their possessions at places and in manners prescribed
by Allâhu ta’âlâ and that in addition they were proud of this folly of
theirs. I remembered an âyat-i-kerîma, which purports, ‘The most honourable
and the most valuable one among you is the one who fears Allâhu
ta’âlâ very much’ Realizing that people were wrong, I dedicated myself to taqwâ. In
order to attain the forgiveness and blessings of Allâhu ta’âlâ and
fearing Him, I did not go out of Islam and always avoided harâms.” Shaqîq’s
response to these words was: “Very well said. Say the sixth benefit.”
Hâtim said, “My sixth benefit is: I observed other people. I saw
that they coveted one another’s property, status and knowledge, parted into
inimical groups and parties. I thought of an âyat-i-kerîma
which purports, ‘Your enemy is the devil.That is, the enemy is
those who will strive to misguide you out of Islam. Know them as your enemy.’ I knew Qur’ân al-kerîm as the true
word, and the devil and those who like him tried to mislead
Muslims as enemies; I never believed their words or followed
them. I did not worship their idols. I obeyed Allâhu
ta’âlâ’s commandments. I never strayed from the way shown by the
scholars of Ahl as-sunnat. I believed that the only way to salvation, the true
way is the Sunnî way. As a matter of fact, an âyat-i-kerîma
purports, ‘O you sons of Âdam! Did I not say: Do not worship the
devil, and (did I not) make
you promise! Obey and worship Me! This is the only way to salvation.’ So I did not listen to those who would try to deceive Muslims. I
did not cease from the books of the scholars of Ahl as-sunna, who are the
guides of the way taught by Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’.” Upon these statements,
Shaqîq said, “So well done. Now say the seventh benefit.”
Hâtim said, “My seventh benefit is: People are
working in order to eat and drink and earn money. This is blinding them to
harâms and dubious practices and making them insensitive to humiliations and
insults. Observing this made me recollect an âyat-i-kerîma, which
purports, ‘The earth does not carry aliving being whose sustenance is
not sent by Allâhu ta’âlâ’.I knew
that I was one of those living beings and Qur’ân al-kerîm is
absolutely correct. Placing my reliance on His promise to send me my
sustenance, which He would definitely send, I worked as He commands.” Hearing
these, Shaqîq said, “How lovely you have done and how beautiful are the facts
you express. Now say the eighth benefit, too.”
Hâtim ‘rahmatullâhi ta’âlâ aleyh’ said, “The eighth
benefit I derived is this: I observed other people and saw that everybody had
someone or something to put his trust in. Some people relied on their property
and possessions, some depended upon their crafts and earnings and some on their
ranks and positions, while others pinned their hopes on beings that were mere
human beings like themselves. So I recollected an âyat-i-kerîma, which purports, ‘Allâhu ta’âlâ shall always come
tothe rescue of those who rely only on Him.’ Then I always and only relied on Allâhu ta’âlâ in
whatever I did. I worked and held fast to (His) law of causation because He
commanded so. However, I relied only on Him, asked only from Him, and expected
only from Him.”
Upon hearing these explanations, Shaqîq ‘rahmatullâhi
ta’âlâ aleyh’ said, “O Hâtim! May Allâhu ta’âlâ come to
your rescue in whatever you do! I studied hadrat Műsâ’s Taurah (Torah), hadrat
Îsâ’s Injîl (Bible), hadrat Dâwűd’s Zebűr (Psalms) and hadrat Muhammad’s
‘alaihim-us-salawâtu wa-s-salâm’ Furqân (Qur’ân).
I saw that these four heavenly books are based on these eight fundamentals. Those who follow these fundamentals and establish a life style based on them will have adapted themselves to these four books and performed their commandments.”