Volume One
We have said all these things, but without Divine favor, we are nothing, absolutely nothing, on the path of Allah! Without the grace of Allah and His beloveds (awliya), even an angel’s record would be darkened. O Allah, O Bestower of blessings that fulfill needs! No one is worthy to mention Your name. You have bestowed this small measure of guidance upon us, and concealed so many of our shortcomings until now. Let the drop of Divine knowledge that You granted from eternity reach its ocean.
The drop within me is but a single droplet of knowledge; rescue it from the impurities of matter, from the dust of earth! Before this soil covers it, before these winds dry it out, deliver it! Even if those winds do dry it and destroy it, You are capable of rescuing and reclaiming it again.
How can a drop escaping into the air or spilling onto the ground evade Your treasury of power? If it vanishes, or descends to the depths of non-existence, it will hasten to you when You call it.
Hundreds of thousands of opposites annihilate one another; then Your command brings them back into the realm of existence! O my Lord! Countless caravans arrive and depart each moment from the realm of non-existence to the realm of existence. Every night, all souls and all intellects sink and perish in that boundless, fathomless ocean. Then, at dawn, those souls and intellects belonging to Allah emerge from the sea like fish.
In autumn, hundreds of thousands of branches and leaves are swept away to the sea of death. The black raven, dressed in mourning like mourners, observes a lamentation for the greenery. An edict is issued from the Lord of the village of existence, commanding a return of what was consumed to non-existence.
“O Black Death! Return whatever you have eaten from plants, medicinal herbs, roots, and leaves!” (It is commanded). Brother, bring your mind back for a moment! Within you too, there is both autumn and spring. Behold the lush, fresh, budding blossoms, roses, cypresses, and jasmine filling the garden of the heart! The abundance of leaves hides the branches; the profusion of roses obscures the meadows and pavilions.
These words coming from the Intellect of Dust are also the fragrance of that rose garden, of those cypresses and lilies. Have you ever seen a fragrance come from a place where there are no roses, or wine bubble forth in a place where there is no grape? Fragrance is your guide and beacon. It will lead you to eternal Paradise and the River al-Kausar.
Fragrance is medicine for the eyes, it enhances their light. Jacob’s eyes were opened by a fragrance. A foul odor darkens the eyes. The fragrance of Joseph gives light to the eyes. Even if you are not Joseph, be like Jacob; weep to attain what he attained!
Listen to this advice from Hakim-i Gaznevi and find a novelty in your old self: “If you do not have a rose-like face for coquetry, do not circle around your bad habits, do not act coy! A face that is ugly and yellow is also ugly. It is difficult for an eye to be both blind and diseased.”
Do not act coy towards Joseph, do not claim beauty! Do nothing but supplicate like Jacob and utter sighs!
The meaning of the death of your lips was supplication. Make yourself die in supplication and poverty! Let the breath of Jesus resurrect you, bringing you to a beautiful and blissful state like His! Can stones sprout with the influence of springs? Become earth so that flowers of all colors may bloom.
For years, you were a stone tearing hearts and causing sorrow; experience being earth for a time!