THE SIXTY-FOURTH DISCOURSE On death without life, and life without death

A certain matter had kept my mind very disturbed one day. My inner self was agitated under its burden and was asking for ease and comfort and a way out. I was asked what I wanted. I said: "I wanted death which has no life in it and a life which has no death in it." I was then asked what kind of death it is that has no life in it and what kind of life it is that has no death in it. I said: "The death that has no life in it is my death from my own species so that I do not see them either in benefit or in harm, and my death from my own self and my own desire and my own purpose and my own wishes in my worldly life as well as in my life after death, so much so that I do not live in any of these and am not found in them. And the life that has no death in it is my life with the act of my Lord in such a manner that I have no existence in it, and my death in it is my existence with Him. Since I have attained understanding, this has been the most precious of all purposes of mine."