On Drawing Near to Allah: Selections from “Revelations of the Unseen” by Shaikh ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī: “Discourses 7-9,” Part 2 of 2

“The Shaikh (may Allah be well pleased with him, and grant him contentment) said: When you are in a particular condition, do not seek to exchange it for another, whether higher or lower. If you are at the gate of the King’s palace, therefore, do not seek admittance to the palace itself until you are obliged to enter, under compulsion and not of your own accord. By compulsion I mean a stern, insistently repeated command. Do not content yourself with mere permission to enter, since this may be just a trick and deception on the King’s part. You should rather wait patiently until you are compelled to go in, so that your entry into the palace will be through sheer coercion and gracious favor from the King. Then, since the action is the King’s own, He will not chastise you for it. If any punishment is meted out to you, it will only be due to your wrong motivation, greed, impatience, uncouthness, and discontentment with the situation in which you have been placed. When you do gain an entree to the palace, you must therefore bow your head in silence, keep your eyes modestly downcast and mind your manners as you perform the tasks and services assigned to you, without seeking promotion to the highest summit. Consider the words of Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He): Strain not your eyes toward that which We have given for some pairs among them to enjoy— the flower of this world’s life, that We may thereby put them to the test. Your Lord’s provision is better and more lasting.”

“Let your conduct always be as we have told you, until you are promoted to a position which will become a permanent station for you, from which you will not be removed. You will then recognize it as a gift, self-explanatory and self-evident, so cling to it and do not let go. Ordinary saints have changeable states, while permanent stations belong to the Abdal (Allah’s Saints). Allah is in charge of your guidance!”

“As for direct contemplation of the Divine Beauty, that is an experience in which hearts are adorned with light and joy and gracious favors, sweet words and friendly conversation, glad tidings of tremendous gifts and lofty stations, and a foretaste from Him of how all their affairs must in the end return to Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He), for the Pen ran dry from allotting their destinies in times primordial. This is a favor from Him and a mercy, and a confirmation for them in this world until the attainment of the final term that is the time appointed.”