Those Who Neglect Their Inner Selves While Adorning Their Outer Appearances
O, wretched one who wears the dervish cloak, speaks the zikr (remembrance of God), yet carries worldly ambition and hypocrisy in your heart! You may deceive people, but how will you trick the Exalted Allah, who knows the deepest recesses of hearts? Faridüddin Attar, in his work *Pendname*, warns those who become engrossed in outward appearances while forgetting their spirituality: “O, poor one! Do not adorn your exterior too much; let your inner self shine like a full moon.” Just as the full moon shines brightly in the darkest night, so too should your inner being (your heart) be illuminated by Allah’s light. To feign piety before people by bowing down and wearing old, tattered clothes is not true asceticism. Put on the woollen cloak upon your shoulders, but know, O one who wears woollen garments, that you must first purify your chest of pride! For a heart filled with envy, hypocrisy, and the desire for fame cannot approach Allah through outward appearances alone.
Looking at the World with a Perspective of Transience (True Asceticism)
The Sufi masters have defined asceticism (detachment from the world) not merely as poverty and lack of possessions, but as erasing the world from the heart. As stated in the ocean of *Tezkiretü'l-Evliya*, “The ascetic is one who views the world with a perspective of transience so that it may diminish in his eyes and his heart may easily relinquish it.” If the world has entered your heart, you are a worshiper of the world, even if you wear the oldest clothes. If you want to take your share from the hereafter, you must remove those garments that make you proud, be unassuming, and abandon the pursuit of comfort. The poor person is not merely one whose pocket is empty, but one who has cleansed his heart from worldly concerns.
The Degradation of Using Religion for Gain
One of the most widespread calamities today is making religious knowledge or Sufi paths a means to worldly status, respectability, or material gain. The Exalted saints have considered this state the most loathsome disease: “Using religion for gain is hypocrisy.” Those who claim to possess knowledge and insight, if they are inclined towards people’s wealth or admiration, are merchants who have sold their hereafter for a small price. One who violates the maxim “Be noble when conversing with the wealthy, and humble when conversing with the poor,” and stands subservient before the doors of patrons and sultans, is lying about being a dervish. The health of the body lies in eating little, and the health of the soul lies in committing few sins.
The Lesson of the Dog Objecting to His Master
The parable of those who avoid purifying their inner selves and boast only of their outward appearance is found in the instructive story in *Mantıku't-Tayr*. There was a dog with a Sufi master. A man came to the sheikh and asked, “O, pure and noble person! Why do you not shy away from this dog? Does he not appear filthy?” The sheikh gave the following startling reply: “The exterior of this dog is filthy; but the filth in my own heart is unseen. Since the filth that is visible on the outside is within this poor man and hidden… why should I avoid him when he is equal to me?” So, O seeker of truth! You will not attain your prayers until you see the malice, envy, and pride in your own heart as more abhorrent than the filth on the dog’s exterior. Illuminate your inner self like a full moon so that angels may enter that heart which is beloved by Allah.