Balkis be praised! Allah bestowed upon her the intellect of hundreds of men. A hoopoe bird brought a letter from Suleiman, containing only a few lines. Balkis read it. She did not dismiss the profound insights carried by the messenger. Her eyes beheld the hoopoe, and her heart recognized him as an Anka (a mythical phoenix). Her feelings perceived him as a dog, while her soul saw him as an ocean.
Reason wages war with emotion, battling like Muhammad against the Abu Jahls of old, due to these two-colored enchantments. The disbelievers saw Ahmed (peace be upon him) as merely human, for they did not witness his splitting of the moon. Let dust be sprinkled upon the eye of reason. The perceptive eye is an enemy to reason and to religion. Allah said, “He makes the eye blind,” calling them idolaters, our opposites – for they saw only foam, not the sea; they saw only this moment, not tomorrow.
He is the master of this day, and He is the master of tomorrow. He stands before all things, yet a miser sees nothing from His treasure. Even a speck testifies to Him, and the sun becomes a servant to that very speck. The drop, an emissary of the ocean of unity, becomes captive to seven seas. If even a handful of earth quickens because of him, then the heavens will prostrate themselves before that handful of earth. Why was the sky created? To reveal a sight that removes difficulties and establishes a connection with the earth. The earth descends into the depths of water due to its density. Yet behold how it quickens, swiftly traversing the heavens! Know that this lightness is not from water, but from the bestowal of the Giver—the unique, unparalleled Creator. He may humiliate the air, the fire; He may elevate thorns above roses. Allah is the Judge; He does what He wills.
He creates a remedy from the ailment itself. If He humiliates the air and fire, He darkens, pollutes, and weighs them down. If He exalts the earth and water, they will measure out the path of the universe with their feet and walk upon it. It is now fully understood that He elevates whom He wills, and says to what belongs to the earth, “Spread your wings.” To what belongs to fire, He says, “Walk; be a devil, practice sorcery beneath the seventh layer of the earth.” And to the man made of earth, He says, “You too, walk; surpass even the Zuhal star.”
Let the jinn created from fire also descend into the depths of the earth. I am not the four natures and the ailment of shala (a disease). I am Eternal and Everlasting in all dominion. My work is without defect, without cause, and straightforward. O man with evil thoughts! My decree cannot be bound by cause. A time will come when I change my custom; a time when I will lay this dust to rest. To the sea, I say, “Do not stop; quickly fill yourself with fires.” And to the fire, I command, “Be a garden of roses!”
To the mountain, I say, “Lighten like cotton!” To the sky, I say, “Appear upside down before the eye!” To the sun, I say, “O sun, unite with the moon,” and I turn both into two black clouds. I dry up the fountain of the sun and transform the fountain of blood into musk with my artistry. Allah puts a yoke upon the necks of the sun and moon, binding them like two black oxen.
A person reciting the Quran was reading the verse “Will they not see that I have made for them gardens of delight, wherein are delights to enjoy, and a comfortable lodging? Yet they deny it, and devise plots and plans.” A scornful philosopher, a base logician, passed by the school and disliked this verse. He said, “We draw water from its source. With the strike of the pickaxe, we boil it from the depths of the earth.”
He slept at night and saw in a dream a man like a lion. That man struck the philosopher with a slap, blinding both his eyes. He said, “O wicked person! If you are truthful, if your eyes see correctly, then dig up those two springs with your pickaxe!” The philosopher leaped up from sleep during the day and found that both his eyes were blind, and the light of both his eyes extinguished! Had he wept and groaned, had he repented and sought forgiveness, the lost light would have reappeared by Allah’s grace.
But repentance is not easily attained. The pleasure of repentance is not a treat for every drunkard. The ugliness of the deeds done, the barrenness of disbelief, prevented repentance from entering his heart; it bound the path to repentance. His heart had turned to stone in rigidity. How can repentance plow that land? Where is one like Shuayb who could turn a mountain into fertile soil with his prayer? Through Khalil’s (Abraham’s) devotion and belief, impossible things became possible.
Or as it was with Muqavis (a righteous person), when the Prophet requested it, a rocky place turned into a beautiful, fruitful field. Conversely, this wicked man’s disbelief turns gold into copper. Peace becomes war. This wicked man is a flawed cat’s eye; he turns even fertile soil into stone.
Not every heart has permission to prostrate, and not every servant receives reward of mercy. Come to yourself and do not commit sin by saying “I repent to Allah.” Even repentance requires brilliance. Repentance requires a thunderbolt, a cloud. Heat and water are necessary for the fruit to appear. For this, clouds and lightning are needed. How can the fire of threat and wrath subside without a flash of lightning in the heart? How can the greenery of bliss be born, how can pure, clear water gush from springs? How does a rose garden confide in greenery, how does a violet make an agreement with jasmine? How does a sycamore tree extend its hands for prayer, how does a tree shake its head in the air?
How does the flower spread its skirt in springtime (filled with colors and scents)? How does the face of the tulip blush like blood? How does the rose scatter gold from its pouch? How does the nightingale scent the rose; how does the oriole chirp as if longing, “Where are you, where?” How does the stork utter its voice, “lek, lek – that is your voice”? O Allah, who is sought after for help, what do You say? Everything is already part of Your dominion.
How does a leaf reveal inner secrets? How does the garden illuminate like the sky? From where did they bring these beautiful and weighty garments? All from the generous Allah! All from the merciful Allah! These lightnesses are a sign of beauty, and that sign is the footprint of an adoring devotee. He who sees the sign from the sovereign rejoices. As for him who does not see it, he cannot awaken and come to himself. The soul of the person who sees his Lord in the time of Elest (a primordial covenant) and passes out drunk with Him also sees his Lord today and passes out.
The scent of wine is known by one who drinks wine. One who does not drink wine knows nothing of the scent of wine. Wisdom is like a lost camel for the believer; wisdom brings the man of ceremony to meet with the sovereign. You see a beautiful-faced person in a dream, he gives you a promise, tells you signs: Your desire will be fulfilled, and this is its sign: Tomorrow that person will come to you.
One sign is his being a rider. Another sign is that he will embrace you when he sees you. Another sign is that he will smile when he sees you, another of his signs is that he will fold his arms towards you. Another sign is this: You will not tell anyone about this dream tomorrow in excitement. This sign was also shown to the father of Yahya (peace be upon him), and it was said to him, “You will not be able to speak for three days.”
And to you too, these signs are told sweetly, like sugar. What are they anyway? There are hundreds more signs. This dream signifies that you will attain the kingdom, the desired position, from Allah, which you desire endlessly, in long nights of weeping and supplication at dawn; it signifies that you will reach your goal, which darkens your days and thins your neck.
How many times have the righteous ones given their possessions, their wealth, their sleep? How often has the color of their faces faded, even passing beyond their heads, remaining as a single strand? For countless ages, like a charcoal burner, they have been thrown into fires. How many times has the sword gone before them like a helmet!
These are countless sorrows, it is the nature of lovers. You look to the right and left, searching for those signs when daylight arrives after seeing this dream at night. You tremble like a leaf, fearing that if the days pass without those signs appearing. Like a calf lost in the neighborhood, you run around.
If someone says, “Father, what are you running around for? Have you lost something here? What have you lost?” You say, “It is nothing to do with anyone but me. If I speak, the signs shown to me will disappear. If they disappear, I am gone.” You look carefully at the face of every rider. The rider says to you, “Do not stare at me like a madman. I have lost my master.”
O rider, may your state be permanent. Have mercy on the lovers, excuse them. Since you sought with diligence and looked carefully, embracing this matter wholeheartedly, you will surely find it. They say that those who embrace a task seriously do not fail. O lucky one, suddenly the rider comes to you and embraces you tightly. You pass out, separating from your friends. Those unaware of this matter say, “Behold the hypocrite, behold the dissembler!”
How would they know what ecstasy is for one who has passed out? What sign is this of bliss? They do not know that this sign is specific to the person who sees it. How can this sign appear to another? Every moment, a sign appears from him to the yearning soul; bliss is being added to his life. It is as if a fish that has been desperate for water has found water—these signs are the proofs of that book. The signs in the prophets are also specific to the familiar soul.
This word remains incomplete, I cannot decide! My heart is not under my control, excuse me! How can one count the grains of sand? Especially a man whose mind has been captivated by love! Can I count the leaves in the vineyard and their chirping? They are countless, but I am counting to test the man who is striving. Even he who tries to count the ill omen of the Zuhal star cannot be contained.
But having said that, it is still necessary to explain some of the effects—the good and bad—of these two. In this way, a small amount of the effects of fate and destiny will be understood by those who are fortunate and unfortunate. The person whose fortune is customer-like rejoices in his joy and grandeur; the person whose fortune is Zuhal understands the necessity of doing precautions to avoid evil.
If I were to tell completely about the conditions of the person whose star is Zuhal, the poor man would burn from the fire of that star. Our Sovereign commanded us, “Remember Allah,” granting us permission and seeing us in the fire, He said, “I am independent of you remembering Me. It is not possible to understand My unique, indescribable essence through depiction or imagination.” Corporeal perception of the Divine is a deficient imagining. When someone says to the sovereign, “You are not wearing a cloak,” what kind of praise is that? Is it not informing the sovereign that he is not wearing a cloak?