THIRD FEN · SECOND CHAPTER · FOURTH SECTION · Fourth Article
Fourth Article
It declares that seclusion is the habit of blessed people and grants constant delight and complete tranquility.
O dear one! It should be known that the friends of Allah (awliyāʾ, friends of God) have said: To be alone (uzlet, seclusion) from people is worship, dignity, and honor. Looking to people is a calamity; one who does not look to people is at ease. One who does not sit with people becomes a friend of the Truth (God). Worldly friends are like fire: a little is beneficial, but much is harmful. Conversation with the ignorant is torment to the soul (ruh, the spirit). Friendship with a fool is like befriending a great serpent. This is bewilderment. Establishing intimacy with people is a sign of bankruptcy. Mixing with people stirs up misgivings (waswasa). One who mingles with people is deceived by their tricks. One who separates from people is safe from their evils. One who understands people cannot trust them. One cannot tell everyone everything one knows. One who presents his needs to people is deprived and disgraced. The provision of one who does not ask anything from people is abundant and his worth is exalted. One who is content before people becomes rich with the Truth, exalted is He. One who stays away from people finds the friendship of the Lord (Mawlā). One who endures the humiliation of worldly possessions has stripped off the garment of taqwa (God-consciousness). One who is ashamed before people and before himself is also ashamed before the Truth, exalted is He.
Do not meet with the people of the world, nor interfere in their affairs at all. Do not go to the enemy of your friend. Do not, by showing favor to him, hurt your friend. Do not go to the doors of rulers. If you do go, do not flatter them. Be as distant from people as you would be from fire. Neither stay too far nor be too close: "Love the one who loves you, do not ask about the one who does not ask about you."
One who knows his own worth does not mingle among people. One who finds the friendship of the Truth has no more business with people. The people of the heart are close to people with their tongue and body, but with their heart (qalb) and character they are distant and contrary to all.
When they said to Ibrahim ibn Adham (may Allah have mercy on him): "Why do you not establish intimacy with people?"
He replied:
"Since I fled from the arrogance of those greater than myself, the foolishness of those younger than myself, and the envy of my peers, my head has been at peace and I have been saved from their troubles."
The deceitful one is a devil in human form. Youth is a kind of animality. To converse with young boys leads to temptation and turmoil. One who has many wives has many faults and remains bewildered.
Poem
1-Do not touch your lips to every pleasure and every kiss,
So that you may become intoxicated and taste sugar from the beloved's lips.
2-Let not the scent of the stranger's lips remain with you,
Remain alone in love, with a single heart and all alone.
3-Know that what is not from the primordial light is filth,
Leave the dunghill so that you may behold the light.
4-One who has become impure—how can he know the pure delight?
If he were purified from filth, he would find the Most Exalted.
5-Just as Moses washed his hands of Pharaoh's bounty,
The ocean of generosity gave him the shining hand (yad-i bayḍāʾ).
6-Bind this eye, for it has become cross-eyed from pride,
Keep this stomach empty, so that you may find those prepared delights.
7-O heart! Where is that soul whose aspiration is lofty?
Even if he drinks the seas, his thirst is never quenched.
8-Abandon the waves and be utterly drowned in the sea of love,
Within that pure sea, let the heart be purified.
9-If the heart is purified from filth, it attains the Primordial Truth,
It drinks the eternal wine, and all things become its cup.
In Contemporary Turkish
1-Do not touch your mouth to every pleasure, your lips to every kiss; so that you may eat sugar from the lips of the beloved and become intoxicated.
2-Let not the scent of the stranger's lips remain with you. Remain alone in love; with a single heart, all alone.
3-What is not from the primordial light, know that it is impurity. Leave that dunghill so that you may behold the light.
4-One who has become impure—how can he know the pure delight? If he were purified from filth, he would find the Most Exalted Essence.
5-Just as Moses withdrew his hand from Pharaoh's bounty, the ocean of generosity gave him the shining hand (yad-i bayḍāʾ).
6-Bind this eye, for it has become cross-eyed from pride. Keep this stomach empty, so that you may find those (spiritual) delights prepared.
7-O heart! Where is that sovereign whose aspiration is lofty? Even if he drinks the seas, his thirst is never quenched.
8-Abandon the waves and be utterly drowned in the sea of love. Within that crystal-clear sea, let the heart be purified.
9-By God! If the heart is purified from filth, it attains the Primordial. It drinks the eternal wine, and all things become its cup.