Purifying Oneself from False Loves and Expectations
The Sufi path is a process of cleansing the heart from worldly desires and dedicating it to the Absolute (Allah). An ordinary believer avoids sins and desires the blessings of paradise; however, for a perfect lover of Truth, even paradise itself is not the ultimate goal. Shaykh Geylani teaches this peak reached by true love with the following supplication: “Take your self, your wealth, and paradise. Let everything else be yours; give us Your Essence. We desire nothing else.” The person whose sole purpose in worship is to obtain mansions in the afterlife is still pursuing the benefit of their own ego.
To Desire the Sovereign, Not the Palace
A guest who becomes preoccupied with the decorations or food in a palace instead of looking at the face of the host commits a great disrespect. Similarly, to abandon witnessing Allah’s beauty and focus solely on the houris and rivers of paradise is contrary to the essence of Divine love. The lament, “What would we do without You even if you give us a home?” is the greatest sorrow of perfect saints. “You only desire Your Essence. When that essential being becomes yours, what remains that is not yours?…” The one who finds the host has already attained all the beauty of the house.
Annihilation in the Path of Love
The price for attaining this exalted station is to be able to detach oneself from everything transient and to be annihilated in Allah’s will. A person of gnosis understands the secret, “A believer with knowledge does not desire the world. He does not seek rewards in the afterlife. He desires his Lord from His Lord.” The lovers who live ascetically while suppressing the insatiable demands of their egos sacrifice the temporary to purchase the Eternal. The servant who strips himself of his own selfish existence ultimately attains a tremendous spiritual union that created beings envy.