There exists a bankrupt person, homeless, without family or kin. He was fallen into prison, ensnared in relentless bonds. He would find excuses to eat the food of those imprisoned with him. His greed weighed heavily on the hearts of people like Mount Kaf. No one had the power to partake of even a morsel of bread due to his wickedness. For he would seize it from the very edge.
Whoever is far from Allah’s call, even if he be a sultan, will have his eyes opened. That man had trampled upon propriety. That morsel was a hell for the food server. Wherever he fled hoping to find comfort, calamity awaited him. There is no corner free of affliction or misfortune. It is only possible to find rest and solace in Allah’s secluded place.
There is no corner of this worldly prison where debts are not collected, nor where beatings do not occur. By the Lord, if you were to enter a mouse hole, you would still be confronted by a cat’s claws. Mankind progresses through dreams. If those dreams are beautiful, one finds comfort in them. But… if bad dreams appear before his eyes, he melts away like wax melting in fire.
Even within snakes and scorpions, if Allah comforts you with beautiful dreams, the snakes and scorpions will become tame to you. For a dream is an alchemy that turns base things into gold. Patience sweetens with beautiful dreams.
For first and foremost, one falls into the dream of escaping the distress they are in. That hope for deliverance comes from faith within. And weakness of faith leads to despair and inner anguish. Patience becomes a crown because of faith. Therefore, he who has no patience also has no faith.
The Prophet said, “Allah does not give faith to one who lacks patience in his heart.” It appears as a snake to your eyes, but it appears beautiful to another’s eye. For in your eyes, there is the dream of his disbelief and wickedness, while in the friend’s eyes, the dream of his belief shines forth. Do you see?
This person has two jobs within them. Sometimes he is a fish, sometimes a hook! Half believer, half disbeliever. Half greed, half patience! Allah said, “There are believers among us, and there are disbelievers and former idolaters.” Like an ox… half black, half as white as snow. One sees his half and rejects him; the other sees his side and wants to take him in, to fall upon him.
Yusuf was a monster in his brother’s eyes, yet that same Yusuf appeared like a houri to Yaqub’s eyes. The envious eye saw him as ugly because of bad dreams, but the true eye is not present. Know that the outward eye is the shadow of the true eye. What it sees, know that this also sees it. You are in a place; your essence is beyond place. Close down this shop and open that shop. Do not scatter into six directions, for there are six doors in those directions. If all six doors are taken on the game of tawla, the opponent is mat! Mat.
The prisoners complained to the insightful female representative saying: “Please take our greetings to the judge; tell him that we are pained by this despicable man. He is a gluttonous, greedy and mischievous fellow who stays in this prison. Because of his bad and ugly character, he descends upon every meal without greeting or salutation.”
Sixty people’s food does not suffice for him. No matter how much we tell him, he remains indifferent. Whenever he sits at the table with cunning schemes, nothing is left for the prisoners. When the table is spread, that hellish gullet immediately comes and sits down. The proof of this is: Allah said, “Eat!” He is a man like a three-year famine.
May the Prophet’s life be eternal! Either let this secret escape from the prison or appoint him a salary from the endowment so he may be satisfied. O you who win the pleasure of both men and women, assist us! The sweet-tongued representative went to the woman and recounted the people’s complaints one by one.
The judge ordered that the man be brought from prison. He also investigated the matter through his own people. He realized that the prisoners’ complaints were justified. “Immediately leave this prison; you are a masterless person, go home and fall!” he said. The man said: “My home and my roots are dependent on your generosity. For me, the prison is paradise.”
“If you exile me from the prison, I will die of poverty and need! Like Iblis, may my Lord keep me alive until the Day of Judgment. I am comfortable in this worldly prison. Let me live so that I can trample on the offspring of my enemies. Whoever has a share of faith, whoever has a morsel of bread for the path, let him take it, sometimes with trickery, sometimes with grace, so that he may begin to lament.”
Sometimes he would frighten them with poverty, and sometimes captivate their eyes with beauty and charm. The sustenance in this prison is meager. Those who possess this sustenance are afflicted with anguish from the fear of a dog. The sustenance derived from prayer, fasting, and countless hardships is suddenly taken and gone. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from Satan; we perished due to his wickedness!
A dog but attacks thousands of people, and whoever he attacks, that man becomes Satan. Whoever cools you down from truth and reality, know that Satan is within that person. He is hidden beneath his skin. Such a person will enter your heart and take on the form of that person to deceive you and lead you to evil with that dream. He will make you dream of wandering and having fun, opening shops and trading, learning knowledge, building homes and raising children. Come to your senses immediately and say “Lā ḥawla.” But not in plain language; sincerely from the heart!
The judge said,