BEŞİNCİ BAB · YEDİNCİ FASIL · Altıncı Madde
**Article Six**
The seeker (sālik) who enters the path of the Approached (Mukarrabūn) finds, while in the station of the Reproving Self (nafs-i levvâme), that the cursed Satan appears to him, presenting gateways that seem righteous, intending to divert him from his way.
O esteemed one! It is known that the friends of God have said: When the traveler on the path of truth is in the station of the Reproving Self, the cursed Satan approaches him and presents virtuous deeds as attractive, instilling within him a feeling of self-admiration (ucb). At this point, the seeker is seized by self-admiration and abandons his actions. Then, the cursed Iblis appears to him in a form that seems righteous and says:
“The purpose of seeking knowledge is to perform deeds. Yet you have been successful in performing virtuous deeds. You have acquired sufficient knowledge. Therefore, there is no longer any need for you to seek further knowledge, engage in discourse with scholars, or listen to sermons. The scholar who advises you should rather restrain his own self and take instruction from it, and if he possessed but a tenth of what you do, he would attain everlasting salvation.” Thus, this feeling of self-admiration (ucub) becomes firmly entrenched within him. He considers himself superior to all others, belittling them. He harbors ill thoughts about people (sū’-i zann). Indeed, he becomes so ill-tempered that he does not accept advice from any scholar. Believing himself wise, he performs acts of worship according to his own understanding and perishes in the darkness of ignorance.
Then, this cursed Iblis approaches the seeker and says: “People have a good opinion of you. Make your deeds even more beautiful so that they may conform to them. May your reward be multiplied.”
If the seeker, with this intention, pays attention to his worship and adorns his actions, he will commit blameworthy acts. Then, the cursed one says to him: “Now perform your deeds in secret, so that the Exalted God may accept your hidden deeds and love you. And so that people may see your sincerity and love you.”
If the seeker obeys this counsel of the cursed Iblis and, desiring the affection of others, performs his actions in secret, he will unwittingly fall into the mire of ostentation (riyā).
The deceptions of Satan are numerous and varied. If he has sufficient power, he corrupts the seeker’s deeds. And if he lacks that power, he instills within his heart a more virtuous deed than he is capable of performing. Yet still, he makes the second deed seem attractive to him, encouraging him to undertake it, making it appear easy. When the seeker attempts to perform it, he ceases striving in the first deed and is unable to accomplish the second. He is deprived of both.
The cursed Iblis says to the seeker: “You claim to love God and His Messenger, yet you neither circumambulate the Noble House (Bayt-i Sharif) nor visit the revered enclosure (Rawza-i Mutahhara). Such indolence and neglect are not worthy of your affection. What say you? It is incumbent upon you to have trust in God, to circumambulate His House, and to visit His Messenger. During the journey, pray abundantly and fast. Continue with daily prayers and remembrance, and be occupied with your litanies. Thus, through these acts of worship, you will attain the reward of pilgrimage and visitation.”
If the seeker heeds this whisper and joins the caravan for Hajj without mounts or provisions, heading towards the Noble House, the fatigue of the journey will cause weakness and exhaustion to afflict his body, leading him to neglect his daily prayers and remembrance, and a laxity will enter his heart. At precisely that moment, the cursed Iblis approaches him and says: “Do not wrong your soul by burdening it with what is beyond its strength. It is possible to make up missed prayers in Mecca, so do not abandon the path.”
Thus, the seeker, weakened and exhausted, heeds the words of this cursed one and shows laxity in performing the obligatory acts at their appointed times.
If hunger and thirst overcome the seeker, and his throat constricts, the cursed one approaches him again and says: “The Exalted God has made pilgrimage incumbent upon the wealthy. How can a poor person like you go to that House? Surely, what called you to Hajj was nothing but the whisper of Satan.”
At this point, the seeker is grieved by the words of the cursed Iblis and regret descends upon him. His heart hardens as he becomes hostile to God’s decree. He gossips about people, speaks ill, commits acts of impropriety, and harbors animosity towards them. For no one offers him assistance or shows kindness on the path of Hajj. In this situation, he sees the caravan in which he is traveling as a likeness of the Day of Judgment, and realizes that everyone is preoccupied with their own concerns. He becomes occupied with finding food and is deprived of the grace and blessings of the pilgrimage. Even if he obtains a share, it comes to him through countless trials.
Previously, when he was in his homeland, he was a person with an expansive chest, joyfulness, and cheerfulness, possessing a beautiful character and gentle disposition. He preferred people to himself, and generosity was pleasing to him. But now, he has become a miserly, envious, and ill-spoken person who finds fault with everyone due to the events that have befallen him on the pilgrimage.
For a seeker in this state is diverted from his own path by going for Hajj, and countless trials befall him. The cursed Satan achieves its goal by blocking his way. If God’s help reaches him and he escapes these deceptions of the cursed one, he will strive with all his effort to adhere to the Sharia adab (manners) and the Sufi principles (erkan), progressing in spiritual travel (seyru suluk). Thus, he becomes a person guided by the self (nafs-i mülhime) and finds the third station.
**Verses:**
1- I am neither a drunkard of love’s wine nor a sober man
Neither an admirer nor one admired, I am wondrously perplexed.
2- Within the heart's ruler, I seek in distant lands,
While lost in heedlessness with my union.
3- Wine, witness, and lamp are within the soul, yet
I have not known the virginity of my essence.
4- Thousands of blasts of the trumpet resound to the world each moment,
Wondrously, how does my dead heart dwell in a body?
5- If the soul leaves this house of heedlessness, it is exiled,
For I know that in truth, the Noble House (Bayt al-Ma’mur) is mine.
6- When I see the beauty of love with the eye of understanding,
Then I appear wondrous to myself, and that is my verse.
Here's a translation of the provided text, aiming for faithfulness to meaning and preserving the classical/Sufi tone:
1. Neither am I intoxicated by the wine of love, nor am I its hidden champion. Neither am I an informer, nor one informed; how distant I am.
2. I seek my beloved in remote villages, even as union abounds, I dwell in separation through heedlessness.
3. My wine, my beloved, and my lamp reside within the heart, yet I know not what I am.
4. The world overflows with moments, with the breaths of forms. Astonishingly, I remain tranquil in a body-tomb with a soulless heart.
5. If the heart could but escape this house of heedlessness, it would believe itself to be within the Blessed House (Bayt al-Ma'mur).
6. Were I to behold the beauty of love with the eye of the heart, it would be manifest. Then would I regard myself favorably; how beautiful I would be!
7. If I were to drink from the wine of affection, O God, with that cup of life, I would indeed remain eternally delighted.