THE SIXTH DISCOURSE On passing beyond the creation

Vanish from the people by the command of God, and from your desire by His order, and from your will by His action, so that you may become fit to be the vessel of the knowledge of God. Now, the sign of your vanishing from the people is that you should be completely cut off from them and from all social contacts with them and make your mind free from all expectations of what is in their control. And the sign of your vanishing from your desires is that you should discard all efforts for and contact with worldly means in acquiring any benefit and avoiding any harm; and you should not move yourself in your own interest and not rely on yourself in matters concerning yourself and not protect yourself nor help yourself, but leave the whole thing entirely to God; because He had the charge of it in the beginning and so will He have it till the end, just as the charge rested on Him when you were hidden in the womb (of your mother) as also when you were being suckled as a baby in the cradle. And the sign of your vanishing from your will by the action of God is that you should never entertain any resolve and that you should have no objective, nor should any feeling of need be left in you nor any purpose, because you will not have any objective other than the one of God. Instead, the action of God will be manifested in you, so at the time of the operation of the will and act of God, you will maintain passivity of the organs of your body, calmness of your heart, broadness of your mind, and you will keep your face shining and your inside flourishing and you will be above the need of things because of your connection with their Creator. The hand of Power will keep you in movement and the tongue of Eternity will be calling you, and the Lord of the Universe will be teaching you and will clothe you with light from Himself and with spiritual dress and will install you in the ranks of past men of knowledge. After this (experience) you will never remain broken down. Neither any sensual desire nor any will remains in you, like a broken vessel which retains neither any water nor any dreg. And you will be devoid of all human actions so that your inner self will accept nothing but the will of God. At this stage, miracles and supernatural things will be ascribed to you. These things will be seen as if proceeding from you when in fact they will be acts of God and His will. Thus you will be admitted in the company of those whose hearts have been smashed and their animal passions have vanished. Hence they have been inspired with the Divine will and new desires of daily existence. It is in reference to this stage that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) says: "Three things out of your world have been made dear to me — perfume, women and prayer, wherein has been reposed the coolness of my eyes. "Indeed these things have been ascribed to him after they have first gone out of and vanished from him, as we have already hinted. God says, "I am with those who are broken-hearted on account of Me." So God, the Exalted, will not be with you unless all your desires and your will are smashed. And when they are smashed and nothing is left in you and you are fit for nothing but Him, God will create you afresh and will give you a new will-power wherewith to will. And if in the newlycreated will there is found again even the slightest tinge of yourself, God the Exalted will break this one also, so that you will always remain brokenhearted. In this way, He will go on creating new wills in you and if your self is found related to it, He will smash it every time, till at last the destiny reaches its end and the meeting (of the Lord) takes place. And this is the meaning of the Divine words: "I am with those who are broken-hearted on My account," And the meaning of our words: "Your self being found related to it" is that you get established and satisfied in your new desires. God says in one of His unofficial revelations to the Holy Prophet (called Hadith Qudsi): "My faithful servant constantly seeks My nearness through optional prayers till I make him my friend. I become his ear with which he hears, and his eyes with which he sees, and his hands with which he holds (things), and his legs with which he walks, that is, he hears through Me, sees through Me, holds through Me and understands through Me." This undoubtedly, is the state of fana (or self-annihilation). And when you are annihilated in respect of yourself and the creation, and since the creation is good or bad, as you yourself are good or bad, you will be in no expectation of any good from them nor fear any evil from them. All what will be left will be new, of God alone, as it was before He started creation, and in His ordination lie good and evil. So He will give you safety from the evil of His creation and will submerge you under the ocean of His good. Thus you will become the focal point of all that is good and the springhead of all blessings and happiness and pleasure and light and peace and tranquility. So fana is the end and base of the journey of the saints. All the previous saints in their different stages of development have been asking for persistent efforts for changing their own will to the will of God. All of them, to the end of their lives, annihilated their own will and transformed it into the will of God. This is why they are called abdal (a word derived from badala meaning, change). Thus in the view of these personages, it is a sin to associate their own will with the will of God. And in the event of forgetfulness and overwhelming emotion and fear, God, the Great, comes to their help with His mercy by reminding and awakening them, so that they return from their forgetfulness and seek the protection of their Lord because there is no one absolutely free from the blemish of will except the angels. The angels are maintained in the purity of their will and the prophets are maintained in their freedom from the desires of the flesh; and the rest of creation among the Jinn and human beings charged with the responsibility of moral behaviour are not protected in either way. Of course, the saints are protected from the desires of the flesh and the abdal from the impurity of will or motive. But even these cannot be regarded as free from these two respective evils because it is possible for them to be inclined towards these two weaknesses at times; but God overtakes them with His mercy and brings them to their senses.