Summarize the roots of the calamities of the heart, the types of their remedies, their names and attributes…

THIRD SCIENCE · SECOND CHAPTER · SIXTH SECTION · Fifth Article Fifth Article It briefly informs about the roots of the calamities of the heart, the types of their remedies, their names and attributes. O dear one! It …

THIRD SCIENCE · SECOND CHAPTER · SIXTH SECTION · Fifth Article

Fifth Article

It briefly informs about the roots of the calamities of the heart, the types of their remedies, their names and attributes.

O dear one! It should be known that the friends of Allah (awliyāʾ) have said: The very first thing required for the traveler on the path of gnosis (maʿrifa) is to pay utmost attention and care to purifying his heart, which is the locus of the Divine gaze, from evil things and adorning it with good things. The easiest way to expel evil things from there and adorn the heart with good things is, first of all, to cleanse the heart from the four main roots of bad character traits. Those four things are: never-ending desires (ṭūl-i amal), haste, envy (ḥasad), and arrogance. For these four roots cause grief to the nafs (lower self) and the qalb (heart). They disturb the tranquility of the heart. They are the mother of all calamities and diseases. Secondly, you should adorn your heart with the four good traits that are the opposites of these evils. The four good traits are: reducing desires and ambitions (qaṣr-i amal), being prudent and wise in actions and not being hasty (taʾannī), being honest and sincere with people and giving them advice (nuṣḥ), and being humble towards everyone (tawāḍuʿ). For these are garments of karāma (saintly wonder) for the heart. They are invaluable means and causes for attaining the goal.

The never-ending desires of the nafs (ṭūl-i amal) are the source of pride and laziness. They cause one to abandon good deeds. They make one forget death and the appointed term. For the Exalted Truth (Allah) has said: "O son of Adam! Your appointed term laughs at your desires. My decree and judgment laugh at your caution. My predestination laughs at your planning."

The Noble Beloved (the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Keep your desires short (limited), and consider your death as imminent." And he said: "The world is three days: one is past, that is, yesterday, from which you have nothing left. One is to come, that is, tomorrow, and it is not certain whether you will reach it. The other is today, which you are still in. It has not yet ended. Thus, your life is only the day you are in. Know its value. Its value is beyond description."

It has been said: Yesterday is gone and will not return. Tomorrow is not to be relied upon. Therefore, consider today as a blessing, for it too will go and not remain. It has also been said: The world is three hours. One has passed, it is a dream. One is to come, its state is unknown. Thus, the moment is this moment, the hour is this hour.

Bayt

Te’emmel ile’d-dunyâ tavîlen, ve lâ-tedrî

İzâ cenne leyluke, hel te‘îşu ile’l-fecri

Translation of the bayt:

Think long and hard about the world; you cannot comprehend it. When your night grows dark, will you reach the morning?

The passing of night and day one after another does not earn the hereafter. The one who thinks "I will do it in the morning" will not attain salvation. The measure of the years of your life is only as long as your breaths last.

For breaths are the parts and sections of a human's life. You are only as many as your days. Every day that passes from your life takes a part of you with it. You have come as a guest to the world from your mother's womb and are heading to the grave. Your breaths are the steps of your journey, the towns and villages are years and months, and you are traveling to your homeland by stopping and moving on.

It has been said that the world is three breaths. You only possess one of them. If you are a traveler on the path of gnosis (maʿrifa), do not prolong your desires, and be with the Truth (Allah) at every breath. Thus, always thinking of and remembering Allah (dhikr), forgetting all else (mā siwā) and watching over ourselves (murāqaba), and establishing closeness to the Truth in the depths of our hearts is a necessary task for all of us.

For Allah, who is One and Ever-Living and loves His servants greatly, observes and supervises all hearts with His subtle and special being. For this reason, the thought of Allah is nourishment for the heart, life for the spirit (rūḥ), and healing for the body.

Mathnawi

1-Zikr u fikret dā’imā Allāh bād

Ārzūyet ḥazret-i ān shāh bād

2-Bāsh ḥālī hīn zi-afkār-i jihān

Tā ki fikr-i to Khodā mānad hamān [240/a]

3-Fikrhā-yī nā-sazā-yī nafs-i bad

Rūy-i jān-rā hamchū kezhdom mī-heled

4-Fikrhā-yī fāsid-i dār al-ghurūr

Mī-konad jān-rā zi-bazm-i dūst dūr

5-Ger tahī gashtī zi-afkār-i jihān

Pūr shodī ey dil zi-asrār-i nihān

Translation of the poem:

1-Let your remembrance and thought always be of Allah. Let your desire always be in the presence of that Sovereign.

2-Escape from the thoughts of this world; let only the thought of Allah remain within you.

3-The improper thoughts of the evil nafs sting the soul like a scorpion.

4-The corrupt thoughts of this abode of delusion keep the soul away from the assembly of the Friend.

5-If you are freed from the worries of the world, O heart, you will be filled with hidden secrets!

Haste is a great calamity and a heavy burden that brings torment to the heart; it is a trait of Satan. Its end is regret and being left without help. As it is reported in a narration: "Deliberation (acting with calmness and consideration) in every matter is from the Merciful (al-Raḥmān). Haste is from Satan." And it has been said: hearts are afflicted and sorrowful with two traits. The first is wanting something excessively and insistently; the second is wanting something whose time is fixed before its time.

Haste is a vile and base trait. It is close to heedlessness and lust. It is an obstacle to the presence and spiritual closeness of the Exalted Truth (Allah).

Envy (ḥasad) is the ugliest and worst of bad character traits. It is the most painful and harmful of heart diseases. As the Exalted Truth (Allah) has said in the Noble Qur'an: "Do not covet what Allah has given some of you over others." (al-Nisāʾ, 4:32) The Exalted Truth has commanded His servants to seek refuge from the evils of the envious just as He has commanded them to seek refuge from the evils of Satan, saying: "From the evil of the envier when he envies." (al-Falaq, 113:5)

The Noble Beloved (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Envy consumes good deeds just as fire consumes wood." Thus, envy is such a severe torment that it is the enemy of goodness and generosity and causes pain to a person.

According to the saying "The envious are never happy," the heart of the envious is tightly bound with hatred and enmity, and thus is expelled from the spiritual presence, closeness, and love of Allah, the source of life and love.

Arrogance (seeing oneself as great) is the mother of all faults and the greatest of sins; it is the source and mine of bad character. It is the heaviest and greatest of the calamities of the heart. The heart that is saved from arrogance is distant from all diseases and separated from all sorrow. For this reason, the blessed friends of Allah (awliyāʾ) would devote themselves fully to removing arrogance. They would choose the path of humility and poverty. For the Exalted Truth has said: "Allah does not love any arrogant boaster." [362]

In a sacred hadith, it is said: "Grandeur is My cloak and majesty is My lower garment. Whoever contends with Me regarding either of them, I will cast him into My Fire." The Noble Beloved (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Exalted Truth has placed all evils in a house and made its door arrogance."

A perfect person has said: "As long as a person thinks that there are others among all creatures worse than himself, he is arrogant and tyrannical. If he sees no station or state for himself, then he joins the ranks of the humble servants. For the foremost wealth of the free (ahrār) is to see oneself as lowly and despicable."

As Ibrahim bin Adham (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

"Throughout my life, I have been extremely happy in these three situations. One is this: Once I boarded a ship. There was a joking Muslim on that ship. That man said to the people on the ship: 'Once, in Turkistan, I used to pull the halters of wild donkeys like this.' At that moment, he grabbed my hair, shook my head, and mocked me. This brought me great joy.

Because that jester found me, among all on the ship, to be the most despicable. My second joy is this: I had fallen ill in a mosque and could not go anywhere. The muezzin came in and asked me to leave. I could not do as he said due to my weakness. The muezzin immediately grabbed me by the foot and dragged me out of the mosque. [240/b] I was so delighted by this that I was overwhelmed with joy. My third joy is this: One day I was sitting by a wall. A man came and said to me, 'O shaykh! Here is rosewater for you!' and urinated on me. This brought me such joy that I had never been so happy."

In short, if a person knows by experience and certainty that his own nafs is his greatest enemy, he will not find it strange to be happy when insulted and humiliated. But if a person does not understand his nafs and considers it his greatest friend, it is impossible for him to feel happiness and joy when some evil befalls him.

A perfect person has said: If all people tried to disgrace me more than I see myself, they could not do it. For in my own eyes, I am the lowest of the low.

Indeed, the character and custom of the noble Companions (ṣaḥāba), the Followers (tābiʿīn), and the righteous predecessors (salaf al-ṣāliḥīn) was to give importance to inner purification. They did not care so much for the outward appearance of the body. For this reason, they perfected their character by being fully thoughtful and careful about cleansing and adorning their hearts. They attained spiritual presence through the purity of the heart. By not giving excessive importance to outward cleanliness, they pursued spiritual purity.

For the noble Companions did not know of soap or ushnān [364] for washing their hands. They did not wipe their hands with a handkerchief. Their handkerchiefs were always their armpits. When they ate meat, they would rub their fingers with sand and earth. They would perform purification with stones and walk barefoot on muddy roads. They would perform ablution from Christian pitchers and pray with their shoes on bare ground in mosques.

The righteous predecessors (salaf al-ṣāliḥīn) would eat barley and wheat bread. Yet, animals that thresh the grain might have urinated on those grains. They were not bothered by the sweat of camels and horses, even though camels and horses often lay in filth. None of the noble Companions or the righteous predecessors (may Allah be pleased with them) ever asked about the subtleties of impurity. But now, the matter has come to such a group that they call laziness, which is difficult for a person, cleanliness, and consider it the essence of religion. They consider the shabbiness that is part of faith to be filth.

They busy themselves with the adornment of their outward appearance like a barber. They are not surprised or disgusted that their inner world is filled with the filth of arrogance, caprice, self-admiration, ostentation, and love of the world. But if someone wipes his oily hand on his armpit, or performs purification with stones, or walks barefoot on dry ground, or takes ablution from the vessel of someone who does not observe religious prohibitions, or prays without a prayer rug in a mosque covered with mats, they turn away from him. What troubles befall him! They are ashamed to be with him. They dislike eating with him.

For in our time, the matter has become the exact opposite. Therefore, seclusion (uzla) from people has reached the level of obligation. Whoever, with complete thought, cleanses his heart from evils and adorns it with beauties, has attained every desire.

Bad traits to be expelled and removed from the heart:

1-Arrogance (kibr)

2-Envy (ḥasad)

3-Relying on one's own good deeds (ʿujb)

4-Showing off (riyāʾ)

5-Stinginess (bukhl)

6-Unnecessary and excessive spending (isrāf)

7-Ignorance (jahl)

8-Denying Allah's blessings (kufrān al-niʿma)

9-Not being content with Allah's decree (sakhṭ al-qaḍāʾ)

10-Impatience (jazaʿ)

11-Being certain of a good end (amn)

12-Despairing completely of Allah (yaʾs)

13-Loving the oppressors (ḥubb al-ẓalima) [241/a]

14-Bearing malice towards those who do good (bughḍ al-ṣāliḥīn)

15-Attaching the heart only to causes (taʿlīq al-qalb bi'l-asbāb)

16-Love of rank and position (ḥubb al-jāh)

17-Fear of being blamed (khawf al-dhamm)

18-Desire and love of praise (ḥubb al-madh)

19-Following the evil desires of the nafs (ittibāʿ al-hawā)

20-Blindly imitating others (taqlīd)

21-Endless desires and ambitions (ṭūl-i amal)

22-Greed (ṭamaʿ)

23-Enduring baseness and disgrace (tadhallul)

24-Seeking revenge (ḥiqd)

25-Empty noise and commotion (shamāta)

26-Enmity (ʿadāwa)

27-Cowardice (jubn)

28-Fearlessness due to excessive anger (tahawwur)

29-Mercilessness and deception in trade (ghadr)

30-Treachery (khiyāna)

31-Breaking one's promise (khulf al-waʿd)

32-Having bad suspicion about others (sūʾ al-ẓann)

33-Belief in bad omens (ṭiyarah)

34-Shamelessness (wiqāḥa)

35-Grieving over worldly matters (ḥuzn fī amr al-dunyā)

36-Fearing in worldly matters (khawf fīhā)

37-Not being honest in one's affairs, acting deceitfully (ghishsh)

38-Causing confusion and gossip (fitna)

39-Flattery (mudāhana)

40-Seeking intimacy only with people (uns bi-makhluq)

41-Being without honor and dignity (khiffa)

42-Stubbornness

43-Objecting unnecessarily to things that should be done (tamarrud)

44-Having little good (salaf)

45-Not being sincere in religious matters (nifāq)

46-Being cunning with deceptive words (jarbaza)

47-Foolishness, stupidity (ghabāwa)

48-Intense greed, avarice (sharah)

49-Having no desire for either the forbidden or the lawful (khumūd)

50-Insistence.

Good traits that adorn and beautify the heart:

1-Iman (faith) in Allah,

2-Adopting the creed of the people of the sunnah (iʿtiqād ahl al-sunnah),

3-Humility (tawāḍuʿ),

4-Encouraging one's religious brother to the right path (naṣīḥa),

5-Remembrance of Allah (dhikr),

6-Gratitude for Allah's blessings (minna/shukr),

7-Worshipping solely for Allah's pleasure (ikhlāṣ),

8-Worshipping as if seeing Allah (iḥsān),

9-Generosity (sakhāʾ),

10-Giving to others even when in need oneself (īthār),

11-Distancing the heart from worldly matters and filling it with love of Allah (Sufism/taṣawwuf),

12-Being fully eager in religious matters (ghayra),

13-Emulating others in good deeds for the hereafter (ghibṭa fī ʿamal al-ākhira),

14-Displaying behavior approved by religion and reason (murūwwa),

15-Helping others without expecting anything in return (futuwwa),

16-Speaking and acting in accordance with the Truth (ḥikma),

17-Expressing Allah's favors and blessings (shukr),

18-Being pleased and content with Allah (riḍā),

19-Not complaining to anyone but Allah in the face of calamities (ṣabr),

20-Fear of Allah (khawf min Allah),

21-Having hope in Allah (rajāʾ min Allah),

22-Hating for the sake of Allah (bughḍ fī Allah),

23-Loving for the sake of Allah (ḥubb fī Allah),

24-After taking the means, leaving the result to Allah and being content with what comes from Him (tawakkul),

25-Loving the patient (ḥubb al-ḥamūl),

26-Considering praise and blame as equal (istiwāʾ al-madh wa-l-dhamm),

27-Struggling against the nafs (mujāhada),

28-Contemplating the Truth in the world, which is the manifestation of His names (taḥqīq),

29-Keeping desires and ambitions short (qaṣr-i amal),

30-Detaching from everything to turn to the Truth (zuhd),

31-Being content with little (qanāʿa),

32-Remembering death (dhikr al-mawt),

33-Entrusting all affairs to the Lord (tafwīḍ),

34-Submitting to Allah's command and not objecting to what comes from Him even if it is disliked (taslīm),

35-Acquiring wealth for the sake of seeking knowledge (tamalluk fī ṭalab al-ʿilm),

36-The heart being free from the feeling of revenge (salāmat al-ṣadr ʿan al-ḥiqd),

37-Tender-heartedness (riqqat),

38-Doing good with unconditional mercy and love (shafaqa),

39-Bravery and courage (shajāʿa),

40-Gentleness (ḥilm),

41-Kindness and softness (rifq),

42-Trustworthiness (amāna),

43-Keeping one's promise (wafāʾ al-ʿahd),

44-Fulfilling one's word (injāz al-waʿd),

45-Thinking well of others (ḥusn al-ẓann),

46-Going straight on the path of Truth with firmness and complete correctness (rushd),

47-Striving hard to attain one's goal (saʿy),

48-Acting thoughtfully without haste (taʾannī fī al-umūr),

49-Beginning works for the hereafter immediately (mubādarah fī ʿamal al-ākhira),

50-Feeling shame (ḥayāʾ),

51-Patience and firmness in religious matters (ṣalāba fī amr al-dīn),

52-Desiring long life for the sake of worship (irādat ṭūl al-ḥayāt fī al-ʿibāda),

53-Suppressing anger (kaẓm al-ghayẓ),

54-Being forgiving,

55-Perseverance in servitude to Allah (istikāma),

56-Intimacy with Allah (uns bi-Allah),

57-Worshipping Allah willingly and lovingly (shawq),

58-Dignity and gravity (waqār),

59-Love of Allah (maḥabbat Allah),

60-Having good character and behavior (adab),

61-Knowing something through inspiration given by Allah to the hearts (firāsa),

62-Having no doubt in belief, no stain in state, and no fault in actions (ṣidq),

63-The heart's activity and reasoning among the meanings and concepts of things to attain what is sought (tafakkur),

64-Quickness in understanding and comprehension (dhakāʾ),

65-Chastity and purity (ʿiffa),

66-Repenting for bad deeds and turning to the Truth (tawba),

67-Watching over oneself against the evil attacks of the nafs (mushārata and murābaṭa),

68-Calling oneself to account (muḥāsaba),

69-Reproaching oneself (muʿātaba),

70-Punishing oneself (muʿāqaba),

71-Turning to worship with sincerity (niyya),

72-Acting according to the command of the Truth, not the nafs (irāda),

73-Bowing and submitting to Allah in humility (khushūʿ),

74-Certain and true knowledge with no room for doubt or hesitation (yaqīn),

75-Referring to the Truth in all matters (ʿubūdiyya),

76-Not being a servant or slave to anyone but Allah (ḥurriyya),

77-Grieving for the sake of Allah (ḥuzn Allah).

Poem

1-Do not seek joy, O heart! For inclination to the beloved is in sorrow, like being a captive in the lion's mouth.

2-Because the enemy nafs has ruled the fortress of the heart. Unless one endures hardship, that dog-like heart will not leave.

3-Striking a carpet with a stick is not considered beating, God forbid! O friend, the purpose is that the dust comes out of the carpet.

4-The dusts within are the bad traits of the nafs. Remove the dust from the mirror of the heart, and find the beloved.

5-Even if the tanner himself tans the skin, he rubs it with bitter medicines, hundreds of times.

6-So that the hidden disease is removed from its nature, and it becomes fragrant and worthy of being the cover of the Qur'an.

7-Haqqī! Carving wood is not destroying it. The carpenter knows that carving is good for the wood.

[362] . Although there is not a verse in the Qur'an exactly as in this text, there are similar verses. For example: "Thus does Allah seal the heart of every arrogant tyrant." (Ghafir, 40:35), "For Allah does not love those who are self-deluding and boastful." (Hadid, 57:23)

[363] . Ahrār: Literally means free people; in Sufism, it refers to those who have been freed from the bonds of the world and the influence of the bad traits of the nafs. (Cebecioğlu, op. cit.)

[364] . Ushnān: Soapwort. Used instead of soap.

[365] . Dabbāgh: A tanner who tans hides to make leather, morocco, sole leather, etc.

For the noble Companions did not know of soap or ushnān for washing their hands. They did not wipe their hands with a handkerchief. Their handkerchiefs were always their armpits. When they ate meat, they would rub their fingers with sand and earth. They would perform purification with stones and walk barefoot on muddy roads. They would perform ablution from Christian pitchers and pray with their shoes on bare ground in mosques.

. Ahrār: Literally means free people; in Sufism, it refers to those who have been freed from the bonds of the world and the influence of the bad traits of the nafs. (Cebecioğlu, op. cit.)

. Ushnān: Soapwort. Used instead of soap.

. Dabbāgh: A tanner who tans hides to make leather, morocco, sole leather, etc.

. Although there is not a verse in the Qur'an exactly as in this text, there are similar verses. For example: "Thus does Allah seal the heart of every arrogant tyrant." (Ghafir, 40:35), "For Allah does not love those who are self-deluding and boastful." (Hadid, 57:23)

5-Even if the tanner himself tans the skin, he rubs it with bitter medicines, hundreds of times.

It explains, in four sections, tawakkul (reliance upon Allah) and tafwīḍ (entrusting affairs to Allah), which are among the original spiritual stations of the human soul, as well as patience in the face of calamity and contentment with destiny.