Ninth Allusion: The benefits of the Sufi way.

NINTH ALLUSION

Here we shall describe briefly Nine out of the truly numerous fruits and benefits of the Sufi path.

The First is the unfolding and clarification, by means of Sufi paths which are on the straight way, of the truths of belief, which are the keys, sources, and springs of the eternal treasuries in everlasting happiness; it is their manifestation at the degree of ‘the vision of certainty.’

The Second: Through the Sufi path being a means of working the heart, the mainspring of the human machine, and causing the heart to stir into motion the other subtle faculties, it is to drive them to fulfil the purposes of their creation, and thus to making man into a true human being.

The Third: On the journey to the Intermediate Realm and the hereafter, it is to join one of the chains of the Sufi paths, and to be a companion in such a luminous caravan on the road to eternity, and to be saved from the desolation of loneliness, and to find familiarity with them in this world and in the Intermediate Realm; and relying on their consensus and accord in the face of the attacks of doubts and fears, and seeing each of their masters as a powerful support and proof, it is to repulse through them those doubts and instances of misguidance.

The Fourth is to understand by means of the pure Sufi way the knowledge of Allah to be found in belief in Allah, and the pleasure of love of Allah within the knowledge of Allah, and by so understanding, to be saved from the absolute desolation of this world and man’s absolute exile in the universe. We have proved in many of the Words that the happiness of both worlds, and pain-free pleasure, and familiarity without loneliness, and true pleasure, and untroubled happiness are all to be found in the reality of belief and Islam. As explained in the Second Word, belief bears the seed of a Tuba-tree of Paradise. It is through the training and nurturing of the Sufi path that the seed grows and develops.

The Fifth is to perceive through an awakening of the heart resulting from the Sufi path and remembrance of Allah, the subtle truths contained in the obligations of the Shari‘a, and to appreciate them. Then one obeys and performs his worship, not under compulsion, but with longing.

The Sixth is to rise to the station of reliance on Allah and rank of submission to Him and to gain His pleasure, which are the means to true pleasure, real solace, painfree pleasure, and familiarity without loneliness.

The Seventh is, through sincerity, the most important condition for travelling the Sufi way and its most important result, to be delivered from base qualities like the hidden associating of partners with Allah, hypocrisy, and artificiality. And it is to be saved by means of the purification of the soul, which is like the surgical operation of the Sufi path, from the dangers of the evil-commanding soul and the perils of egotism.

The Eighth : By means of the regard, sense of the Divine presence, and powerful intentions which are gained through the remembrance of Allah with the heart and reflective thought of the mind on the Sufi path, it is to transform customary actions into worship and make mundane dealings into actions for the hereafter. And through utilizing the capital of life, it is to make all its minutes into seeds which will produce the shoots of eternal happiness.

The Ninth is to work to be a perfect human being through journeying with the heart and striving with the spirit and spiritual progress; that is to say, to be a true believer and total Muslim; that is, to gain not superficial belief, but the reality of belief and the reality of Islam; that is, to be directly the slave of the Glorious Creator of the Universe, in the universe and in one respect as the universe’s representative, and to be His addressee, and His friend, and His beloved, and to be a mirror to Him; and through showing man to be on the best of patterns, it is to prove man’s superiority over the angels. It is to fly through the lofty stations with the wings of belief and actions of the Shari‘a, and to look on eternal happiness in this world, and even to enter that happiness.

Glory be unto You! We have no knowledge save that which You have taught us; indeed, You are All-Knowing, All-Wise!¹

O Allah! Grant blessings and peace to the Supreme Help in every age and the Sublime Spiritual Pole at all times, our master Muhammad, the magnificence of whose sainthood was manifested in his Ascension, as was the station of his being the beloved of Allah, and under the shadow of whose Ascension are included all sainthoods, and to all his Family and Companions. Amen. And all praise be to Allah, the Sustainer of All the Worlds.

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1. Qur’an, 2:32.