ÜÇÜNCÜ FEN · ÜÇÜNCÜ BÂB · DÖRDÜNCÜ FASIL · Beşinci Madde
**Article Five**
Concerning the benefits of acceptance and the various harms of discontent.
O beloved! It is known that the friends of Allah have said: To attain acceptance of divine decree, it is necessary to deeply contemplate two matters.
The first is the present and future benefits found in acceptance. The benefit of acceptance in your current time is freedom from sorrow and anxiety within your heart. For a perfect one has said: “Divine decree is truth. Therefore, there is no need for worry or fear.”
The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) said to Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him): "Let your grief be little, for that which is decreed will be, and that which is not decreed will not be." [419] The Prophet's words contain much wisdom and benefit; the wording is brief, but the meaning profound. The future benefit of patience is the boundless reward from Allah and His beautiful acceptance. As Allah says: “Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Allah.” (At-Tawbah, 98/8).
Conversely, rejecting divine decree brings about distress, sorrow, and rigidity. This state has no benefits whatsoever, but rather a heavy burden of sin and punishment. For divine decree is an operative force that cannot be rejected or turned back through discontent and grief. A sensible person will not exchange the peace of heart attained through Allah’s acceptance for sins and unnecessary grief.
The second danger lies in rejecting destiny; it is a great peril. May Allah assist those of His servants who contemplate the meaning of this verse: "Nay, but you believe only when you see the torment, and you are asked about what you denied." (Az-Zukhruf, 43/66).
For Allah has removed faith from those who dislike His Messenger's judgment and feel a constriction in their souls because of it. How then can one disobey a judgment they do not accept? Allah says: “Whoever is displeased with what has been decreed, does not persevere through adversity, and does not give thanks for the blessings I have bestowed upon him, let him seek another Lord besides Me.” [420] Thus, this is a severe warning and a terrifying admonition for those who are heedless of Allah. [262/b]
A perfect one has said: "What is fitting for the Lord of the Worlds is to judge; what is fitting for the servant is to be content with that judgment. When the Lord judges, but the servant is not pleased with that judgment, then neither lordship nor servitude can be spoken of.” Reflect deeply on these two principles so you may accept divine decree. In essence, what is necessary for you in every circumstance is to trust Allah completely, entrust all your affairs to Him, and endure all adversity. Submit to His commands and decrees at all times, and find pleasure in whatever He does.
Know with certainty that whatever Allah has decreed for you from eternity is surely within it your good and salvation. For He is the Lord who disciplines His servants; He loves them, is merciful, and compassionate. Therefore, only compassion and mercy come from the beloved Lord. It is narrated in a hadith: “He who accepts divine decree attains eternal bliss.”
If any hardship befalls you in this world, remember the mercy and compassion of your Most Merciful Lord, for He will not leave you in that difficulty nor neglect to provide for you. All the events that happen to you today were decreed from eternity. And Allah’s decree is immutable; He is with His servants and never separates from them. As it says in His eternal word: “Wherever you may be, He is with you.” (Al-Hadid, 57/4), announcing that He is with us at all times. Therefore, one who knows this companionship will not complain about adversities.
*From the Masnavi (in verse)*
1. Though thousands of snares lie in my path,
No grief shall touch me, for I am with You.
2. Every night, souls flee from the body’s pain,
And soar to the heavens, lifting up the veils.
3. Every night, souls leave their cages,
Released and free, rulers and captives all.
4. A night in a dungeon, unaware of its prisoners,
A night of dominion, unaware of kings.
5. Free from anxiety about gain or loss,
Free from the illusion of this one and that one.
6. The state of the gnostic is to be sleepless,
He says: “Rise up and perform your ritual.”
7. He observes the conditions of the world day and night,
Like a pen in the grip of the Divine scribe.
8. When he does not see the pen’s mark,
The deed appears as if from the pen itself.
9. I reveal the state of the gnostic to you,
And lull his sense-perception with sleep.
10. He departs into a boundless desert,
His soul is at peace, and his body is there.
11. For the light of dawn rises upon him,
And opens the golden gates of the world.
12. “The morning star” – Israfil arrives,
Bringing all things to their appointed places.
13. He releases the expanded souls into bodies,
And returns every soul to a body again.
14. He removes the adornments from the horses,
The secret of sleep is the death of the body.
15. But for those who return in the morning,
He ties long ropes at their feet.
16. Until his dawn reveals its light,
And his lamp shines beneath the burden.
17. Oh, if the People of the Cave had guarded you,
Or if Noah had saved you!
18. So that from this storm of awakening and consciousness,
You might be released, your mind, eyes, and ears.
19. For when the soul is not awake to truth,
Awakening is like being bound.
20. Death is sweet for the friends;
Their souls are not intoxicated by worldly pleasures.
21. Suffering should not come before the friends’ passing,
As if emerging from a dungeon and prison into a garden.
22. They departed from the world of turmoil,
No one weeps for the loss of nothingness.
23. He shattered the pillars of the dungeon,
Relieving the sorrow of the dungeon-dweller.
24. May that stone of marble be broken,
So that our soul may escape its confinement.
25. May a bitter thing befall someone,
From the midst of serpents’ venom to the path of fire.
26. The soul has transcended the body's struggle,
It flies with the wings of the heart, free from the body.
27—In the dungeon's pit, asleep through the night, dreaming.
He sees a garden and a rose-bower bright.
28—“O God,” he cries, “release me from this frame,
That I may wander deep within its name.”
29—The God replied, his prayer was granted then,
“Return not now; Allah knows best when.”
30—Such dreams are sweet to see, a blissful state,
To pass away unseen, and reach the gate.
31—No longing stirs for waking’s harsh embrace,
Bound by a chain within the dungeon's space.
32—“The world,” one said, “would be a joy untold,
If death’s foot did not tread it, stark and cold.”
33—Another cried, "If death had never been,
This world of pain would hold no worth within."
34—Like grain unthreshed, upon the barren plain,
It lay untouched, unsifted by the rain.
35—You deemed that death was life, a blessed sign,
And sowed your seed in earth both dry and fine.
36—No dead lament their passing’s bitter sting;
Their grief is for the lack of sustenance they bring.
37—For he who dies ascends from pit to plain,
To power and life, and boundless wide domain.
38—From that abode of mourning, dark and deep,
He journeys forth where wider pastures sleep.
39—The seat of truth is there, no hall of lies,
No wine of dross, but pure ecstatic prize.
40—Upon the seat of truth he dwells with God;
Released from clay and fire’s consuming sod.