Volume One
A lion, a wolf, and a fox set out to hunt in the mountains. They had conspired to skillfully catch prey, intercepting their paths, intending to obtain abundant game together in that vast plain.
Though the lion felt shame at hunting with them, he still welcomed them, becoming their companion. Such companionship is an honor for a sultan; it is merely a burden. Yet, he followed them, saying, “Community is mercy.” A moon would be ashamed to travel with stars. Rather, it shines within them, bestowing grace upon them.
A judgment and measure akin to wisdom is lacking, yet the command “Shavirhum” came to the Prophet. Barley has become a companion to gold in the scale, but it does not behoove barley to be valued like gold.
The soul has temporarily accompanied form (for form protects the soul). Just as a dog once guards a door. These went with the mighty and majestic lion toward the mountain, and their endeavors were successful; they hunted a mountain bull, a mountain goat, and a plump rabbit.
A warrior lion’s companions will have kebab, night or day. When they dragged the slain and wounded prey from the mountainside into the forest, the wolf and fox desired to share the game with fitting justice worthy of kings. The two’s desire reached the lion, and he understood the reason for that desire.
The lion, who is the secret and lord, knows what passes through hearts. Come to yourself, O soul that makes contemplation a habit! Beware of bad thoughts in His presence! He knows, He understands, He drives the donkey with silence. To avoid embarrassment, He smiles upon him.
Though the lion understood their insinuations, he did not reveal them, nor spoke a word, but protected them. Yet, he thought to himself, “You miserly fools! I will give you your punishment; I will show you! Is My judgment insufficient for you? Is this what you think of My generosity?”
Your minds and judgments are from Me; they are from My grace that illuminates My world. How can a painter criticize a painting? It is the painter who gives the flaw, the bad appearance to the painting. Will you fall into such a miserly suspicion about Me? The fault of time is you, truly.
May Allah not cut off your heads if you harbor ill thoughts about Him; that would be the very essence of error. He desired to deliver the world from your fault so that this story might be told and repeated throughout eternity. The lion smiled with this thought. Do not be certain of the lion’s smiles. Worldly possessions are the smiles of Allah. This form has intoxicated, made arrogant, and ruined us.
O noble one! Poverty and sickness are good for you. For that smile ultimately lays a trap for you, bringing you down!
The lion said, “Distribute these. O great wolf, refresh justice! Let me be your representative in distributing them so that your true nature may appear.” The wolf said, “My lord, the mountain bull is your share. You are great, and you are mighty, large, and agile. The goat is of medium size, of moderate stature; it is for me. And you take the rabbit, O fox. The rabbit is perfectly suited to you.”
The lion said: “O wolf, speak again, what did you say? Do you ask for a share while I am present! A wolf would not consider himself like me, a lion unmatched and without equal, but thinks he exists in my presence. Arrogant donkey, come forward!” When the wolf came forward, he struck him with a claw and tore him apart.
Seeing no wisdom or sound judgment in him, he punished him and flayed his skin. Since you did not become annihilated in My presence, nor were you transformed by seeing Me, it is necessary to die wailing. Since you did not perish in my presence, it is incumbent to strike your neck. Everything is transient except Allah. Since you are not eternal in His essence, seek eternity!
Our truth also has no penalty of “Everything is transient” for that which has passed through ‘illa’ and beyond ‘la.’ And that which passes through ‘illa’ does not perish. He who wanders at the door, claiming ‘I’ and ‘we,’ is expelled from the door and wanders in the realm of ‘la.’
Once, a person came to his friend’s door and knocked. When his friend asked, “Who knocks?” he replied, “It is I.” His friend said, “Go now; this is not the time. Such a table is not for an immature one. What can an immature person cook but the fire of separation? How can they be saved from hypocrisy?”
The man went away and burned with longing for his friend’s separation for a full year. Burning and ripening, he returned again and began to wander around his friend’s house. He came to the door and rang the ring with hundreds of fears so that no inappropriate word would come out of his mouth.
When his beloved asked, “Who is it?” he replied, “You are my heart’s delight.” His beloved said, “Since you are I, O I, enter! The house is narrow; two people cannot fit. Just as a needle does not pass an ordinary thread if the threads are separate. Since you are one, pass through this needle! The thread has a relationship with the needle and will pass. But a camel does not pass through the needle’s path.”
Can the body of a camel be refined by anything other than the purpose of worship and devotion? This requires Allah’s hand and power. For Allah brings every imagination into being with His will. Every impossible thing is possible by His hand; every rebellious one calms down with His scent.
What are those who are born blind and afflicted with a mottled illness? Leave them aside; even the dead revive by the grace of that most revered Allah. Even more dead than the dead is non-existence, which remains in the palm of His hand (and becomes existence).
Every day He is in a state of showing signs—read “Kulle yevmin huwa fi’shani ayetin”—so do not know Him as powerless and inactive. The least of His actions is sending three legions of soldiers to this world each day. One legion goes from the wombs of fathers to the wombs of mothers for the growth and flourishing of children.
One legion journeys from the wombs into this world to fill it with men and women. And one legion travels from the earth to the realm of death so that everyone may see the reward for their deeds. This saying has no end. Come to yourself and return to the story of two faithful friends!
His beloved said, “O I who is completely me, enter! You are not contrary like a rose and thorn in greenery. Let falsehood vanish now; if you see the letters Kaf and Nun twice, know that there is oneness in truth.” Non-existence attracts great and difficult matters through the allure of Kaf and Nun.
In terms of doing work, being one is accompanied by a rope, but it appears as two layers in form. Whether it be two legs or four… it walks. It resembles scissors; though double-mouthed, it cuts at once. Look at two friends washing cloth. Apparently, one does work contrary to the other.
One dips the cloth in water, and the other dries it. Then the other wets it again. It appears as if they are doing contradictory things. But, O young man! The hearts of these two friends who appear to be doing opposite works are also one, and their work is also.
Every Prophet and every saint has a profession. Yet, do they not all guide the people to Truth? They are one. Have those who listen fallen asleep from their words… It means that the millstone has been carried by water. Let this water flow for you, but since you no longer need the mill, the miller let it go into its bed and into the original stream.
The power of speech comes to the mouth to teach; otherwise, that word has a separate course. Silently, without repetition, a single drop of a flowing essence flows on and on until it reaches gardens with rivers beneath them.
May Allah show us that station where soundless words appear—may your pure soul run toward its distant and vast expanse. The realm of non-existence is a very wide and boundless realm. This imagination and existence draw sustenance from that realm, emerge from it, and are nourished by it. Imaginations are narrow in relation to the realm of non-existence; therefore, they cause narrowness and distress.
Even existence is narrower than imagination. That is why months appear as crescents in this world. The existence of the realm of feeling and color—that is, this world—is, in relation to non-existence, imagination, and existence, utterly narrow, almost like a cramped prison.
Composition and number in the universe are causes of narrowness. But we are drawn to the realm of composition by our feelings. Know that realm of unity if you desire unity; then walk towards it. The command ‘Be’ does one thing, but is composed of the letters Kaf and Nun in the word. Its meaning is still single and pure. There is no end to this saying. Return and tell what the wolf experienced in that battle.
That mighty lion tore off the wolf’s head so that there would be no two heads, no two excellences. O great wolf! Since you did not consider yourself dead in the presence of the sultan, see your punishment. This is “Fentekamna minhum.” Then he turned his face to the fox and said, “Now, distribute these.”
The fox prostrated himself and said: “My lord, this plump bull is your midday meal. That goat will be a yahni for the generous sultan at mid-day. And the rabbit is the evening meal of the gracious and merciful sultan.”
The lion said: “Fox, you have illuminated justice, made it brilliantly clear. From whom did you learn this kind of distribution? O noble one! Where did you remember this distribution?” The fox said, “My lord, from the condition of the wolf!” Then the lion said, “Since you have pledged yourself to our love, they are all yours; take them all and go.”
“O fox, you have become entirely ours; how can I offend you? Since you have become us, we are also you, and all the prey is yours.”
The wise one is he who takes instruction from the death of friends in a calamity that is to be feared. Thus, the fox gave countless thanks, saying, “Had you offered me this distribution after the wolf, how could I have saved my life?”
So let us also thank Allah for bringing us into existence after those who perished. Thus, we hear of how past peoples were destroyed by Him and can protect ourselves like foxes.
Thus, that most truthful Prophet of Allah gave our community the name “Acquired Community.” O nobles, see the bones and feathers of those wolves clearly and take instruction from this situation! The wise one abandons this grandeur and pride, for it recalls the state of Pharaoh. If they do not take heed, others will take heed from their arrogance!
Noah said, “O rebellious ones! I am not I. I died from my soul; I live through Allah. My feelings of humanity have changed, so feeling, understanding, and sight became mine. Because I am not I. This breath is from Him. He who contradicts this word is a disbeliever.”
A lion is hidden in the form of this fox. It is not proper to boast of bravery before this fox. If you do not believe him to be a lion by his form, are you not hearing his lion’s roar?
Was there no power from Allah in Noah, so why did he stir up the entire world? There were ten thousand lions in one body. He was like fire, and the universe was like a threshing floor. Since the threshing floor did not regard even one-tenth of his right, he sent such a flame to the threshing floor, burning it to ashes.
Whoever opens his mouth before this hidden lion as a wolf will be torn apart by him, and just as He read “Fentekamna” to him, He will read it to him. The lion places his paw. There is no sense in the one who sells bravery before the lion. It would have been better if that wound had only gone into the body, so that the soul and faith might be safe… My strength has failed as I come to this point. How can I reveal this secret?
So let you too restrain your throat, avoid trickery in His presence. Abandon yourselves entirely in His presence… Sovereignty is His sovereignty; surrender His sovereignty. If you come humbly, the lion is yours, and the prey that the lion hunts is also yours.
For He is the Absolute; Subhan is His attribute. He is independent of all things visible and invisible. Every kind of prey, every kind of bounty and generosity from that sultan is for his servants. The sultan desires nothing; He has arranged this entire kingdom for the people—blessed are those who understand!
What use are the kingdoms of this world and the hereafter to him who created the worlds and the hereafter? So guard your hearts in His presence so that you may not be ashamed of bad thoughts. For He sees all hidden things, thoughts, like black hairs in pure milk.
He who purifies his soul from form becomes a mirror for the unseen forms. Surely he will understand our secret;
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