Being in the World While Your Heart is with the Throne
A believer who wants to progress on the Sufi path should adopt the character of the saints, who are Allah’s most intimate and chosen servants, as their guide. Abdülkadir Geylani (q.s.) describes the spiritual rank of these great individuals as follows: “You see the world, but they see the Lord of the earth and the heavens.” Your connection is with creation, while theirs is with Allah, Exalted be He. Your heart is attached to what is on earth, while their hearts are attached to the Lord of the Great Throne! Their existence in the world is merely the movement of their bodies among people; but spiritually, they have long attained union.
Perishing from the Self and Reaching the Sovereign of Sovereigns
Perfect saints are the spiritual anchors of the earth. The person you see hunts you! They do not see what you see, they see the Creator of things and what that Creator sees through it. They succeeded and were saved with this. You, however, became a hostage to what you desired and sought from the world. They perished from the people, desires, will, and effort, and attained the Sovereign of Sovereigns. Allah, Exalted be He, enabled them to obey, praise, and glorify Him as He wished for them. The Most High destroys those servants, then, if He wills, resurrects them; after resurrecting them, He appoints them to illuminate the darkness of the people.
The Compassion and Mercy of the Sublime Rank
These great personalities do not falter in the face of blows they receive from the people; for they are like mountains. They clung to this and, thanks to the grace and help coming from the Most Merciful, their affairs became easy with little effort. Obedience is a spirit and nourishment for them; the world became a calamity and disgrace as if it belonged to them in the Garden of Paradise. For they had not seen anything until they saw the stability (the certainty of life and death) of the heavens and the earth in the act of the one who created and brought them forth. They are those whom my Lord created, spread across the earth, and multiplied; may Allah’s peace, well-being be upon them as long as the heavens and the earth stand!