The Virtue of Opening Eyes Without Seeing Pain
Human beings generally remember the transience of this world and turn to Allah only when a great calamity, illness, or loss befalls them. However, in Islamic ethics and Sufi upbringing, the true skill is to awaken from negligence with one’s own will before receiving the blow of adversity. Abdülkadir Geylânî (q.s.) warns about the importance of this willful awakening with these shocking words: “O child! Wake up, wake up spontaneously without being prodded by others. Open your eyes without seeing pain. Become a person of religious knowledge. Associate with pious people.” A person should take lessons from the deaths around them and the transient order of the universe with the intellect and understanding bestowed upon them by Allah, and listen to Allah’s warnings before calamity strikes. While someone who awakens being prodded (by the painful slap of fate) may be considered awakened, they cannot attain the virtue of the perfect believer who awakens with their own desire.
The Cost of Negligence and Those With True Intellect
Those who persist in the sleep of negligence are wasting their eternal lives for the sake of transient pleasures. Geylânî (q.s.) states, “The most perfect person and the one with a collected mind is he who awakens [to Allah]; the most ignorant and whose mind is ruined is he who raises a flag of rebellion against Him,” thereby indicating that true intellect is not merely managing worldly affairs but knowing the Creator. Those who reject waking up willingly will awaken with the tremor of the angel of death; however, as stated in the hadith-i sharif, “People are asleep, and when they die, they awaken,” awakening after death is an irreversible and only terrifyingly painful awakening.
The Protective Nature of Being With Pious People
The most practical way to wake up from negligence and remain awake is to be with righteous people who walk the Straight Path. A person is directly affected by the spiritual atmosphere of their surroundings. Geylânî (q.s.) advises, “Associate with pious people. They are the ones who are human,” to free oneself from the desires that ruin the mind. While gatherings constantly discussing the world, wealth, and transient benefits lull the heart to sleep; the company of perfect individuals who speak of Allah, the afterlife, and beautiful character keeps the heart alive. Those who awaken with their own will and join these illuminated assemblies are freed from the prison of negligence and attain freedom.