The Deceptive Adornment of the Temporal World
O, wretched human being who runs after fleeting desires! This world upon which you walk, for which you tell lies, and for which you break hearts, is in reality nothing but a dream and an illusion. As Imam Ghazali (peace be upon him) frequently reminds us, the world is like a drop of water remaining on the tip of a finger dipped in the sea, while the afterlife is that vast ocean itself. Would a sensible believer waste his life pursuing that fleeting drop, abandoning a whole ocean? In the work Makamat-i Shah-i Nakshibend, a magnificent call is made to liberate the heart from this temporal prison: “Leave behind the transient world, it is an ocean of effusion / Seven seas are surging with the Sharia” (Leave behind this fleeting, mortal world; immerse yourself in the ocean of grace).
Liberating the Heart from the World
The command “leave the temporal world” does not mean that a person should cease working in the world, stop seeking sustenance, or retreat to the mountains and seclude themselves from society. Rather, it means “to remove the world from your heart.” Hold onto the blessings of the world, conduct your business, care for your family; but do not make that wealth, that position, a throne in your heart (the Throne of God)! If you are devastated and fall into depression when you lose your temporal worldly possessions, then you have not abandoned the world; the world has enslaved you. However, if you see what you possess only as a trust from Allah and use that trust as a means to the eternal abode of the afterlife – which is the “ocean of grace” (bahr-i fuyuz) – then you have tasted true freedom.
Awakening from the Sleep of Negligence
Most people are asleep, and unfortunately, they will only awaken when the angel of death knocks at their doors. But awakening upon the arrival of death will bring nothing but terror and regret. The faithful travelers on the path of truth are those who awaken from the sleep of the temporal world before Azrael (peace be upon him) arrives, by their own volition. This awakening occurs when the heart withdraws the absolute value it gives to material things and instead gives that value only to the Eternal and Living Creator. The sorrow and joy of the world are both transient. A believer who opens his eyes from this dream is washed in the ocean of eternal grace and is no longer shaken by any wind from the temporal world.
Soaring Towards Divine Pleasure
The servant who has freed himself from the shackles of the ego and the false allurements of the world flies towards the divine heavens, like a bird whose wings have strengthened and whose cage has been broken. He submits his limited will to Allah’s universal will. For that servant, sickness and health, wealth and poverty, praise and blame become completely equal. Because he has sacrificed the transient and gained the eternal. This is the fundamental goal of the Shah-i Nakshibend path: to bring a person to this absolute submission and freedom (fana fillah).