THE SEVENTY-SEVENTH DISCOURSE On staying with Allah and becoming extinct to creatures

Be with God, the Mighty, the Glorious, as if no creation exists, and be with the creation as if there is no self in you. When you are with God the Mighty, the Glorious, without the creation you will get Him and vanish from every other thing and when you are with the creation without your self, you will do justice and help the path of virtue and remain safe from the hardships of life. Leave everything outside the door while you are entering in your solitude and enter alone. When you have done so, you will see your friend in your solitude with your inner eye and will experience what is besides the creation, and then your self will vanish and in its place will come the command of God and His nearness. At this point your ignorance will be your knowledge, and your distance will be your nearness, and your silence will be your remembrance of God, and your bewilderment will prove friendship. O man! There will be nothing left at this stage except the Creator and the created. So if you have adopted the Creator, then say to the rest: Surely they are an enemy to me, but not (so) the Lord of the worlds (26:77) He further said: Whoever has tasted it, has come to know it. He was asked: "How can one in whom the bitterness of bile predominates taste sweetness?" In reply he said, "He should with an effort keep away the sensual desires from himself. 0 man! When a believer does a good deed, his animal self changes into his heart (i.e. in response to the dictates of the heart). The self attains the consciousness of the heart; then this heart changes into a secret; then the secret undergoes another change and becomes annihilated; then the annihilation passes through another transformation and becomes another existence." He further observed: "Friends have an access through every door. 0 man! The annihilation (self-effacement) is to deny all creations and transform your nature into the nature of the angels; then vanishing from the nature of the angels; and then getting back to the first way; and then your Lord will water you as much as He likes and cultivate you as much as He likes. If you want this stage, you should adopt Islam and then submission to the decree of God, then acquire the knowledge of God, then realise Him, and then exist in Him; and when you get such an existence you will wholly belong to Him. Piety is a work of an hour and abstemiousness of two hours and knowledge of God a work for all times."