ÜÇÜNCÜ FEN · İKİNCİ BÂB · ÜÇÜNCÜ FASIL · Beşinci Madde
**Article Five**
It explains the states of silence (spiritual) and how it protects the soul, causing the seeker of gnosis to abandon worldly things, and that avoiding unnecessary matters makes one acceptable in the Divine Court, attaining all their desires.
O esteemed one! Know that the friends of Allah have said: When the secrets of the unseen realm are revealed in the heart of a gnostic, and the beauties of meaning appear, he must never, ever reveal those secrets to anyone. He should not show those pristine meanings to strangers who are unqualified. He should not give the wisdom of the saints to enemies who are unworthy, lest he betray the wisdom with a disloyal friend. He should conceal it from those who are not qualified, lest he wrong the wisdom and incur sin.
For example, if a sultan were to give one of his concubines to a trusted servant in the Inner Palace and instruct him: "Be sure that the people do not see her. They must not even know she is yours. Keep her hidden in your home and protect her. Converse with her sweetly by night and day."
Would it befit that loverly servant, after such clear instruction, to bring that beautiful worldly woman to the market, forcibly holding her hand, exposing her face among a hundred strangers, revealing her modesty and respect, and uttering words that should remain hidden to those who are unqualified? If he exposes these secrets that should remain concealed, that beautiful woman will avoid him and flee. She will never again seek his company or return to his home. She will not be intimate with anyone in the street; she will not incline towards any of them. Rather, she will go directly to the sultan and complain about her master.
Upon this, the just ruler would cast out this lowly servant from his high court and rescue that virtuous woman from him. Similarly, the Exalted One has forbidden the common people from the wisdom-gift He has specifically allocated to the select few, for He knows they are not worthy of it. Therefore, the wise one who discovers the treasure of wisdom must appreciate its value and protect it in his heart, holding it more precious than his own life.
**Poem:**
Do not speak of the secrets of love and ecstasy to a litigant,
So that he may be freed from the affliction of self-worship, and die without knowing of love and intoxication.
The common people and the select few are so distant and opposed to each other that Muslims have been commanded to be prepared and vigilant against the animosity and conflict arising from the ignorance of the common people.
Indeed, Allah has said in His Eternal Word: "O you who believe! There are among your spouses and children enemies to you. So take caution against them." (Conflicting Interests, 64/14) And He has announced the enmity and struggle of the common people towards the select few.
A wise person has said: “If one gives even a single word or letter of wisdom to someone who is not completely free from worldly attachments—from wealth and possessions, family and children, body and soul, reputation and fame—that gnostic has acted contrary to his own wisdom and striven for his own destruction. For the wisdom of the select few is the essence of religious sciences. The common people’s intellect is merely the outer husk of this worldly existence. Therefore, whoever speaks of the essence of meaning – wisdom – to one who is content with the husk of the world has been deceived and misguided. For the world opposes religion, and the people of the world are the open enemies of the people of religion.”
As narrated by Hisham Ibn Sa’d, “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) taught me two pieces of knowledge: I have revealed one to the people, but if I were to reveal the other, my throat would be cut." Therefore, Junayd of Baghdad angrily said to a disciple: "While we concealed this knowledge of unity beneath the earth, you came and proclaimed it to the common people. You spoke words in public that should have remained within the throat. You awakened sleeping discord.” A wise person responded to someone asking about spiritual states with a letter: “If I knew who was asking, I would answer him accordingly."
The advice of the select few to disciples on the path of guidance is this: If one from among the common people comes to you with complete humility, obeys all your commands without opposition and without expecting anything in return, surrenders himself completely to your authority; if he gives up the remembrance of the oneness of Allah (lā ilāha illallah) from you and generously offers what he has for this purpose, if he abandons his family and children, position and status, and enters into your service; if, in short, a person surrenders everything to attain gnosis and completely submits himself to you, then do not fail to attend to his affairs, correct all his errors and shortcomings, and complete them. "They are for us, and we are for them," go one step towards him who comes to you with one step. Otherwise, it is a wrong against wisdom, a betrayal of trust, and expulsion from the presence of Allah.
To those hypocrites who love the world and deny the saints, speaking even a single word or letter of wisdom gives them strength, hope, and pleasure, making them rejoice. For the knowledge of the saints is esoteric (ledunni), and its revelation is forbidden. It is not right to reveal the secrets of the select few to the common people. The words of those who do so are not worthy of credence.
**Verses:**
1-O soul filled with love, for whom love has become a refuge,
Know your eloquent speech well, be careful, do not ever reveal anything.
2-If you have obtained a jewel from the realm of love, by all means,
Keep it in your heart and do not speak it to anyone.
3-Let your words be in accordance with the Sunnah, and if you find an understanding mind,
Continue the eternal hadith of love, and you will find a carefree drunkard.
4-He who is satisfied and tranquil within this constricted dark body,
May that soul’s kingdom witness it, for it is a beautiful garden.
5-From Adam and Eve, this world has become exceedingly clear,
But in terms of meaning, Adam and Eve are intellect and the clod of the soul.
6-He who remains with his ego, is filled with egotism.
Here's the translation of the provided text, aiming for faithfulness and preservation of meaning within a classical Islamic/Sufi context:
1. Attend, O soul consumed by passion, for love has become your refuge. Value that beautiful address, and guard against revealing it.
2. If you have drawn a jewel from the sea of love, be careful! Protect it as you would your life, and do not speak of it intentionally to anyone.
3. Let speech be law and custom; if there is a watchful rational person nearby, you will eternally cherish the word of love, and find one who is intoxicated and unconcerned.
4. He who is deceived and becomes tranquil, within this dark and constricted form—let him observe that inner realm, for it is therein that lies the true rose garden.
5. Adam and Eve have been most content within this body. According to the Saints (Waliyyin), Adam and Eve are intellect and the perfected soul.
6. Whoever remains entangled with the self has become filled with egoism. He is one of the people of ritual and custom; no such words apply to him, truly.
7. The word of love is a trust; its revelation is betrayal. How can the selfish and heedless know the speech of the lover of God?
8. That tyrant who reveals wisdom to the unqualified is blameworthy. Deprived of wisdom, his heart becomes darkened, his eyes blind.
9. He who explicates the symbols of love is bewitched, O Truth! A pleasing saying has been heard: "The lovers surrender their lives, but not their secrets."