Entering the Right Path with False Expectations is Impossible
The path of spirituality (seyr-i suluk) is not a comfortable one where the nafs (self) will be pampered, and a person will receive worldly fame, reputation, or effortless miracles. Abdülkadir Geylani (q.s.) strongly warns those who enter this path with false desires and those who avoid the shattering training of a perfect guide. He challenges those who expect easy favors from him, saying, “What will please you is also within me. But I am fire; only those who can withstand the fire can remain in my presence.” 5, 6 A perfect guide exists not to spoil his disciple but to burn away their arrogance, love of the world, and illnesses of the nafs. Those who fear the fire are doomed to remain unripe.
Insects Spinning in the Fire of Struggle
True dervishes yearn for the rigorous spiritual exercises, harsh warnings, and self-breaking moments given by their guides, just like moths rushing into a flame. Geylani (q.s.) says, “The insects spinning in the fire can live in my presence. Be like them. Endure the fire of struggle and minor hardships,” thus describing this arduous process of refinement. Breaking the nafs, depriving it of its accustomed pleasures, and learning to remain silent when criticized is not easy. Those who do not want to endure these difficulties and only seek spaciousness (comfort) cannot benefit from the fire of the spiritual hearth.
Transformation by Fire (Alchemy)
This burning training applied by a perfect guide is to erase the hypocrisy in the servant’s heart and transform it into pure gold. In accordance with the secret, “One who does not see hardship cannot attain spaciousness,” the disciple who successfully passes these trials sheds their ego. When they realize the true Divine mercy behind their teacher’s stern face, that fire comes to them as cool and safe as Abraham’s (a.s.) fire. Those who leave their immaturity in that fire are reborn as the most enlightened spiritual suns of the earth.