Letter Eight
Concern yourself with that which kills your ego and brings life to your heart. The source of all things righteous is in emptying the heart of love for worldly things; and the source of all things putrid is in filling your heart with love for those things. I wrote to some of the brethren concerning those things that bring about immorality and deviancy, and all of it stems from the love of this material world. Whoever turns towards it with his heart and limbs is the most deviant of people and the worst of oppressors. Were it not for the faith in his heart we would have labelled him a disbeliever, so stick to that which kills your ego and brings life to your hearts as we have said. There is no way to God until we have killed out egos, no matter what knowledge we might have accumulated.
Abu Madyan: ‘Whoever has not killed his ego has not witnessed God.’
One of the brethren complained to us about someone who had oppressed him harshly. We said to him: ‘If you wish to kill he who oppresses you, kill your own ego. By killing it you wipe out all oppressors, and God’s curse is upon those who lie.’
Woe to him who sees his own ego in front of him and does not efface it. One does this by making it bear what is heavy for it, until it is finally slain.
Love is a bride and her dowry is ones ego, so slay it, and your heart will come alive. Once you do so you will be free of fault, and will witness the unseen world. Whoever reaches this station is amongst the best of creation.
Always be in a state of purity, humbleness and contentment as long as you live. No one is truly impoverished until they have killed their ego and known their Lord. Accumulation for the sake of God brings you towards God and accumulation for other than God’s sake takes you further away from Him, and we seek God’s refuge. In truth there is nothing but God alone. He was, and nothing else was; and He is now as He was. Peace.
Idris
No comments:
Post a Comment