DÖRDÜNCÜ BÂB · BİRİNCİ FASIL · Yedinci Madde
Seventh Point
Regarding the differences between those devoted to asceticism and those devoted to gnosis—that is, the righteous and those brought near to the Divine (mukkarrabūn).
O beloved! It is known that the friends of Allah have said: The ascetic walks, while the knower flies. The scholar is beneath what he speaks, while the knower rises above his words. The knower does not describe gnosis to those who are of this world and the Hereafter, nor does he speak it to anyone other than the friends of Allah. The silence of the knower is beneficial, and his speech is beautiful. The knower is close to Allah through gnosis, therefore distant from people, and in need of Him; thus, he is independent of everyone. He is humbled only before Him, therefore honored above everyone.
The ascetic’s devotion is linked (alāka) to people, while the knower's worship and obedience are with spiritual delight (halâwa). The ascetic desires the Hereafter, while the knower seeks the Beloved. The ascetic is with his self, while the knower is with his Lord. The ascetic is a slave of his own self and its desires, while the knower is only a slave of the Beloved. [269/a]
The ascetic mentions God with his tongue, while the knower remembers Him from the soul and heart. The ascetic’s heart is attached to means (causes), while the knower's spirit is with the Lord of the worlds. The believer looks with the light of Allah, while the knower looks with Allah. The believer clings firmly to Allah’s rope, while the knower clings to Allah. The believer finds tranquility through remembrance, while the knower finds peace with Allah. The believer has a heart, while the knower has a Turner (Mukallib).
People are a veil to the self, and the self is a veil to the Divine Presence. Thus, he who abandons people becomes aware of his own self. He who abandons his self becomes a knower. The knower has passed from body to spirit, and has sacrificed his spirit to gnosis. The scholar’s work is to seek (things), while the devotee is in delight and joy. The ascetic looks at people with his self and suffers because of their animosity. The knower looks at creation with his Beloved and shows compassion to everyone, finding ease. The knower's heart does not depart from tranquility, nor does his spirit regard that which is other than Him (māsivā). Because the knower’s heart is free from all desire and longing, it is beautiful. Just as his hand is distant from all means and empty. Though the knower has no comfort himself, he has a share in every comfort; though he has no blessing, he has a share in every blessing. In the eyes of the knower, both worlds are worthless.
Because he finds the Creator (Mükevvin) of these things within his own secret. The knower’s self has abandoned its world, and his spirit has abandoned its Hereafter, and his secret is sufficient for his Beloved. For the path to Allah is a distance of this world and the Hereafter; through them he finds peace with Truth. In the eyes of the knower, truth is an eternity that always was. That which is other than Allah (māsivā) is metaphor and can be disregarded. Therefore, God, who is One, is sufficient in place of everything.
It is narrated that there was a knower named Shibli in Baghdad. One day, as he passed by a shop selling jars, the jar-seller said, "There is nothing but Oneness." Shibli immediately cried out, “Is there anything other than Oneness?” Thus, a sign was sufficient for the knower. The provision of the knower is remembrance of Allah. The devotee’s sustenance is water and bread. The knower's qibla (direction of prayer) is the light of union, while the direction of prayer of he who fails relying on his intellect is illusion. The knower's qibla is the Merciful Allah, while the heedless one's qibla is gold and silver.
Versified Poem
1- Though you are a drop from the ocean, you have become an entity of frozen water.
2- If you abandon your self, then you are not a drop but an ocean.
3- Cast yourself into the ocean of love, do not fear at all.
4- Abandon desire, for you are like a bubble in the ocean of love.
5- You are ocean and ocean, with waves you are enslaved to desire.
6- With love you are a knower of God, with knowledge you are a Mevlana.
7- Your joy is from love, your suffering is from self and desire.
8- Love is the companion of the soul, while you are at war with all else.
9- Sometimes heart, sometimes tongue, sometimes manifestation, sometimes expression.
10- Sometimes a mirror, sometimes a sugar-eating parrot.
11- If you become self-centered, the house of your heart will be filled with conflict and strife.
12- If you abandon yourself, you are in companionship with all people.
13- Annihilate your existence through love and become one with God.
14- Even if you were a king without love, you would still be mute.