O Beloved, this letter will tell you other things. It will encourage you to action and struggle.
Read, understand, and strive to act accordingly... Be a seeker. Do not waste your days... Always have something you are seeking... Whoever seeks will surely find... But one must know the ways... Try to melt the silver of your seeking in the crucible of the verse: "As for those who strive in Our cause, We will surely guide them to Our ways." (Qur'an 29:69). Do you think that anything will come into your hand without effort? How can you hope to find what you seek, or to be melted, without following a path of moral discipline? You must be a seeker; but do not go too far in this seeking... For excessive demands often go unanswered... Especially in seeking Allah the Exalted, you must be careful... Do not attempt to transgress the limits He has set... Otherwise, not only will you fail to find what you seek, but you will also lose what you have attained. Especially regarding the Divine Essence: "Allah cautions you about Himself..." (Qur'an 3:28) — He commands not to speak idly or venture opinions about the Divine Essence. Here is where you must draw the boundary of your seeking... Continue on your way to reach there... But beyond that, have no further demand... Only wait... If the way opens, proceed. If not, wait again... Wait again... But let this waiting not weary you... Continue your inner seeking. But let it be as described... If so, your seeking will be sincere (ikhlas — sincerity). The silver of your seeking will melt by itself, and upon it will be stamped the royal seal, in accordance with the glad tidings: "We will surely guide them to Our ways..." (Qur'an 29:69). This seal is only for those who continue their seeking in the manner described. What happiness to join them, to be a seeker like them, and to receive this seal... The seeking of the one who attains this happiness gains value... Worldly goods are worthless before it. There is no market to sell it... The only market where its value is found and it can be sold is this: "Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their properties in exchange for Paradise..." (Qur'an 9:111). In this market, seeking finds its true value. The seeking departs, and in return comes a great sum... This sum then becomes the capital of that seeker... If you do what is described, you too will find that capital. Your path, insha'Allah, will be the path of Truth... And you will understand the meaning of the verse: "Beware! Pure religion is for Allah alone..." (Qur'an 39:3). Strive to be pure. Every good thing you attain will certainly be with sincerity (ikhlas); know this well... Also, do not forget that truly sincere ones are awaited by great dangers. To overcome them easily depends on the love (ʿishq) that must be present in the traveler of this path... If you too immerse yourself in love on this path, the secret of the dangers awaiting the sincere will be unveiled to you... It will be unveiled before you; you will witness it... Find love, be one of zeal... Find sincerity (ikhlas)... When you find these, the embrace of ihsan (spiritual excellence) mentioned in the verse: "Is one whose heart Allah has opened to Islam, so that he walks in light from his Lord...?" (Qur'an 39:22) will also open to you... The light of the aforementioned verse will illuminate your path... Strive to find love and zeal... After you find these, what gifts will come to you, what gifts: Our Lord is generous; He will open your breast and, in accordance with the verse: "Call upon Me; I will respond to you in your favor..." (Qur'an 40:60), He will stir your heart... You will begin to make abundant dua (supplication), to plead and implore to Him, that is, to Allah the Exalted... And you will surely receive the response to this pleading and imploring.
The most important thing is to find divine grace and generosity... After finding that, your spiritual rank will rise... The material and transient things of the world will fall from your eyes and heart... You will have understood and known the reality (ḥaqīqa)... After this, it becomes necessary for you to convey what you have understood and known to others. You enter, in a sense, the station (maqām) of guidance (irshad)... Then it will be said to you: "Say..." (Qur'an 4:77). Say — is it a lie?.. You begin to tremble before this command... But you realize it is not a threat; you calm down... However, while you can hardly find the strength to speak, the decree: "The enjoyment of this world is little..." (Qur'an 4:77) comes to your aid... The transient things that had already been erased from your heart are erased even more... Their roots are thoroughly uprooted... Now you become the property not of these transient things, but of the exalted things of the hereafter... But when you see no sign for that, you are saddened, and again the tongue of generosity is loosened for you, and with the noble sentence: "But the hereafter is certainly better..." (Qur'an 4:77), your heart is opened... Thus, after casting out transient things from your heart, you understand what will fill it... This cannot be done with words; this too is a separate reality. Surely, the departure of the world from the heart and the coming of the hereafter in its place is not visible like the comings and goings known outwardly... It is a ḥāl (spiritual state)... And the ḥāl only has outward signs:
As you seek these signs, the sentence: "This is for those who have taqwa (God-consciousness)..." (Qur'an 4:77) comes before you like a savior... You say to yourself: So, those who see the goods of the world as little and consider the hereafter superior and better than it are those who possess taqwa... You now understand the reality of the matter... You cast out love of the world from your eternal heart and place love of the hereafter in its stead... To preserve this love, you appoint taqwa as the guard at the door of your heart.
Then you supplicate: O Allah, do not separate me from taqwa... Let the greed for the world not enter my heart... And you begin to always observe the state of taqwa... As you see the continuation of the state of taqwa, you understand that your dua is also being accepted... And... you rejoice... And... you know that all supplications are surely answered... However, not everyone receives a response in the way they know... Only those who purify their inner being and bring their essence close to the Truth understand how and when the supplication is accepted... As an example, you can consider your own state...
Now, a different wind begins to blow for you. Do you know from which direction? From the direction: "We are closer to him than his jugular vein..." (Qur'an 50:16)... When the branches of the tree of your heart hear this wind blowing, they begin to move... As these winds blow, the leaves touch each other and produce sweet melodies... Perhaps those leaves begin to fall slowly and harmoniously; at that time, it means an autumn breeze is blowing for you.
In this world of states, it is now an autumn mixed with spring. That place is a world where summer is mixed with autumn, and autumn with summer... It is a garden with many tasks... Beware of getting caught up in them and losing your way... Do not concern yourself with any of them: "Say: Allah! Then leave them..." (Qur'an 6:91). When you can say this, the winds begin to blow hard and strip you of transient things... They separate you from strangers... That is another world... And there, nothing can be done except the command: "Do not call upon another god besides Allah!" (Qur'an 28:88)...
That place is neither a perpetual spring nor an autumn. There, the atmosphere changes moment by moment with manifestations... Everyone breathes an air according to their capacity; some spring, some autumn... Some even winter... If you lose your selfhood and find your true self, you will always breathe the air of spring...
Do not think that everyone will breathe this air... That air is only for those whose identities are hidden in the tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) of the sentence: "Indeed, those for whom the best [reward] has preceded from Us..." (Qur'an 21:101)... This verse is also a glad tiding for those who know themselves...
Do not grieve to yourself, wondering whether you have the capacity or not... Do not seek unnecessary and useless paths... Immediately measure yourself; if you are steadfast on the path of Truth, it means you have the capacity... If you do not have the capacity, you would not even think to seek or ask...
After realizing that you have that capacity, learn to wait... If, in the world you are waiting for, you are caught in a divine and sacred rain of mercy, do not tire and flee. Even if you get soaked, even if your surroundings become a lake, do not flee... Stand and wait... For He, whenever He wills: "He chooses for Himself whom He wills..." (Qur'an 42:13).
Also keep in mind that before choosing, He tests. Know that your waiting there is a test... If you succeed, divine power will envelop you like a cloud and draw you to the beyond... far beyond... even beyond the beyond...
Just think for a moment about the beauty of the world you are in... Spring... Clouds of grace... And finally, the rain of virtue... All of these are happening in your essence and for you... Do you know where these things are taking place?... In your heart (qalb)...
Do not be surprised if we say this... For you are nothing but your heart... Do not immediately think of the piece of flesh in your chest that sustains your material life when you hear "heart"... The heart we mean is another heart... When the time comes, we will explain it at length... The heart we are describing is the one that makes you say: "Human..." And makes you say: "Adam..."
The domain of that heart is vast... Its soil is fertile... The heart that receives the rain of virtue from the clouds of grace gives you the fruit of knowledge... That is, knowledge from the Divine Presence (ʿilm ladunī)... "We taught him knowledge from Our own presence..." (Qur'an 18:65) is stated...
Now you have found the state of states... The trees begin to green and branch out... The fruit they will bear does not remain only within you... For you cannot be stingy... You are among those about whom Allah the Exalted says: "Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good (muhsinīn)..." (Qur'an 7:56)...
After experiencing these states, know yourself to be in a world of secrets... There are boundless valleys and flowing rivers there... The springs of union flow very sweetly there... Do not fall into the thought that, since you are in this world, you can always drink from them... For from there: "A spring from which those nearest [to Allah] (al-muqarrabūn) will drink..." (Qur'an 83:28). Others cannot drink... If you wish to drink, strive to be among the muqarrabūn... To attain the described states, some tears must be shed... One must plead and implore... Seeking forgiveness for faults is the primary condition; this must be known... These are divine gifts... To be worthy of that gift, there is no way but to purify the breast with tears...
Do not rely on your acts of worship, either... For this: "That is the grace of Allah; He bestows it upon whom He wills..." (Qur'an 5:54) — Those who say, "I have earned it; not giving it would be injustice," utter a baseless word. Especially those who have come this far... If they think such a thing, they are immediately turned away at the door... May Allah protect us... Glad tidings to those who attain that grace of Allah... Blessed are their states... For to them is announced the divine decree: "Do not fear... nor grieve... Rejoice in the Paradise you have been promised..." (Qur'an 41:30)... Now, the past is gone. The future will be better than your present states... Why should it not be better: "Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him..." (Qur'an 5:119) — after receiving this acquittal, the following command: "Eat and drink in satisfaction for what you used to do..." (Qur'an 5:119)... These blessings are attained even in this world... Let us pray to Allah; may He grant it to us as well... O Allah, grant it to us as well. Amin!