We have touched upon this subject briefly before. But truly, however much we speak, we can only convey a thousandth of it. I wanted to narrate this event thoroughly, but the word has opened the word and gone away for many reasons. Let me make one more move so that I may tell almost nothing, as if speaking of a single limb of an elephant.
O you whose face is our servitude, listen to the story of Harut and Marut! They were intoxicated with watching Allah’s grace, manifesting as the astonishing wrath of a sultan. When there are such intoxications in Allah’s wrath, what intoxications must be present in Allah’s ascension (miraj)?
The grain within the trap gives man such an intoxication; what then does a feast do? What generosity does it offer? Harut and Marut were intoxicated, they loosened their bonds, escaped restriction, and cried out with passionate cries. But there was a trap on the path, a trial that could sweep away mountains like straw.
This test overwhelmed them. But what would an intoxicated person know of this? For the intoxicated, a ditch is one thing, a field is another; a pit is cut off from the right path, and so is a ditch! The mountain goat seeks food on the high peaks, running without harm.
Just as it finds sustenance and spreads out, suddenly the trial of fate arrives. It looks at another mountain and sees a female goat. Immediately its eyes darken. It wants to leap from this mountain to that one. The mountain where the female goat is located appears so close that leaping seems as easy as running around one’s doorstep. Thousands of arshins (units of measurement) appear as two arshins, and it desires to leap. But upon leaping, it falls into a pit between two merciless mountains.
The hunters had fled from that mountain and taken refuge in a place where their blood would be spilled. The hunters were sitting in the yard between those two mountains, waiting for the manifestation of this magnificent fate and destiny. A goat is usually hunted in this way. Otherwise, this animal is very agile and perceptive; it understands its enemies. Rustam has his head in place; he is a man with a beard and mustache. But the trap that seizes his foot and puts it into a cage is desire.
Cut yourself off from the intoxication of desire like I have! Let the camel watch this intoxication! Then know that this worldly intoxication of desire is very insignificant, very base, compared to the intoxication of angels. That intoxication destroys and annihilates this one. How can an angel pay attention to desire? Sweet water does not seem pleasing to a person until he has tasted bitter water.
Even a single drop of the wines of the heavens makes one forgo wine and sakis (cupbearers). Now, consider what kind of intoxication angels might have, how pure souls are enraptured by majesty! They gave their hearts to this world having smelled that wine; they broke the cup of wine.
But those who are hopeless and far from that realm, like disbelievers, have hidden themselves in their graves, cut off all hope from both worlds, and sown thorns beyond measure. Harut and Marut said from their intoxication: “Oh, if we could rain down mercy upon the earth like clouds, spread justice, compassion, worship, and loyalty to this land of oppression!”
But fate and destiny replied: “Halt! There are many hidden traps at your feet. Come to your senses so you don’t ride towards Karbala blindly! For those who perished in that desert cannot find a place for travelers to step on their hairs or bones. The path is full of hair, bone, and nerve. Allah’s sword of wrath has destroyed countless beings. Allah said: ‘Those servants who attain the grace of Allah walk gently and mildly upon the earth.’
How does one walk on thorns with bare feet? Slowly, slowly. Think, think; step cautiously! This is what fate was saying, but their ears were blocked by their excitement, they became deaf. Everyone except those who have escaped from existence has blinded their eyes and plugged their ears.
What opens the eyes other than Allah’s grace? What quenches anger other than love? May it not be destined for anyone to strive and toil to attain success without Allah’s favor, may it never be decreed in this world. Truth is best known by Allah.