There
are two degrees of this recollection of God. The first degree is that
of those saints whose thoughts are altogether absorbed in the
contemplation of the majesty of God, and have no room in their hearts
for anything else at all. This is the lower degree of recollection for
when a man's heart is fixed and his limbs are so controlled by his heart
that they abstain from even lawful actions, he has no need of any
device or safeguard against sins.
It was to this kind of recollection that the Prophet referred when he said, "He who rises in the morning with only God in his mind, God shall look after him, both in this world and the next."
Some of these recollectors of God are so absorbed in the thought of Him
that, if people speak to them they do not hear, or walk in front of
them they do not see, but stumble as if they collided with a wall.
A
certain saint relates as follows: "One day I passed by a place where
archers were having a shooting match. Some way off a man was sitting
alone. I approached him and attempted to engage him in talk, but he
replied, "The remembrance of God is better than talk." I said, "Are you
not lonely?" "No," he answered, "God and two angels are with me."
Pointing to the archers, I asked, "Which of these has carried off the
prize?" "That one," was his reply, "to whom God has allotted it." Then I
inquired, "Where does this road come from?" Upon which, lifting up his
eyes to heaven, he rose and departed, saying, "O Lord! many of Thy
creatures hold one back from the remembrance of Thee!"
The
saint, Shibli, one day went to see the Sufi Thaury; he found him
sitting so still in contemplation that not a hair of his body moved. He
asked him, "From whom didst thou learn to practice such fixity of
contemplation?" Thaury answered, "From a cat which I saw waiting at a
mouse hole in an attitude of even greater fixity than this." Ibn Hanif
relates: "I was informed that, in the city of Sur, a sheikh and his
disciple were always sitting lost in the recollection of God. I went
there and found them both sitting with their faces turned in the
direction of Mecca. I saluted them thrice, but they gave no answer. I
said, 'I adjure you, by God, to return my salutation.'
The
youth raised his head and replied, 'O Ibn Hanif! The world lasts but
for a little time, and of this little time only a little is remaining.
Thou art hindering us by requiring us to return thy salutation.' He then
bent his head again and was silent. I was hungry and thirsty at the
time, but the sight of those two quite carried me out of myself. I
remained standing and prayed with them the afternoon and evening prayer.
I
then asked them for some spiritual advice. The younger replied, 'O Ibn
Hanif, we are afflicted; we do not possess that tongue which gives
advice.' I remained standing there three days and nights; no word passed
between us and none of us slept. Then I said within myself, 'I will
adjure them by God to give me some counsel.' The younger, divining my
thoughts, again raised his head: 'Go and seek such a man, the visitation
of whom will bring God to thy remembrance and fix His fear in thy
heart, and he will give thee that counsel which is conveyed by silence
and not by speech.'"
Such
is the "recollection" of the saints which consists in being entirely
absorbed in the contemplation of God. The second degree of the
recollection of God is that of "the companions of the right hand."These
are aware that God knows all about them, and feel abashed in His
presence, yet they are not carried out of themselves by the thought of
His majesty, but remain clearly conscious of themselves and of the
world.
Their
condition is like that of a man who should be suddenly surprised in a
state of nakedness and should hastily cover himself, while the other
class resemble one who suddenly finds himself in the presence of the
King and is confused and awestruck. The former subject every project
which enters their minds to a thorough scrutiny, for at the Last Day,
three questions will be asked respecting every action: the first, "Why
did you do this?" the second, "In what way did you do this?" the third,
"For
what purpose did you do this?" The first will be asked because a man,
should act from divine and not merely Satanic or fleshly impulse. If
this question is satisfactorily answered, the second will test in what
way the action was done, wisely, or carelessly and negligently, and the
third, whether it was done simply to please God, or to gain the approval
of men. If a man understands the leaning of these questions he will be
very watchful over the state of his heart, and how he entertains
thoughts which are likely to end, action.
Rightly
to discriminate among such, thoughts is a very difficult and delicate
matter and he who is not capable of it should attach himself to some
spiritual director, intercourse with whom may illuminate his heart. He
should avoid with the utmost care the merely worldly learned man who is
an agent of Satan. God said to David, "O David! ask no questions of the learned man who is intoxicated with love of the world, for he will rob thee of My love,"
and the Prophet said: "God loves that man who is keen to discern in
doubtful things, and who suffers no doubt." Contemplation and
discrimination are closely connected, and be in whom reason does not
rule passion will not be keen to discriminate.
Besides
such cautious discrimination before acting, a man should call himself
strictly to account for his past actions. Every evening he should
examine his heart as to what he has done to see whether he has gained or
lost in his spiritual capital. This is the more necessary as the heart
is like a treacherous business partner, always ready to cajole and
deceive; sometimes it presents its own selfishness under the guise of
obedience to God, so that a man supposes be has gained, whereas he has
really lost.
A
certain saint named Amiya, sixty years of age, counted up the days of
his life. He found they amounted to twenty-one thousand six hundred
days. He said to himself, "Alas! if I have committed one sin every day,
how can I escape from the load of twenty-one thousand six hundred sins?"
He uttered a cry and fell to the ground; when they came to raise him
they found him dead. But most people are heedless, and never think of
calling themselves to account.
If
for every sin a man committed, he placed a stone in an empty house, he
would soon find that house full of stones; if his recording
angels demanded wages of him for writing down his sins, all his money
would soon be gone. People count on their rosaries with
self-satisfaction the numbers of times they have recited the name of
God, but they keep no rosary for reckoning the numberless idle words
they speak.
Therefore
the Caliph Omar said, "Weigh well your words and deeds before they be
weighed at the judgment." He himself before retiring for the night, used
to strike his feet with a scourge and exclaim, "What hast thou done
today?" Abu Talha was once praying in a palm grove, when the sight of a
beautiful bird which flew out of it caused him to make a mistake in
counting the number of prostrations he had made. To punish himself for
his inattention, he gave the palm grove away. Such saints knew that
their sensual nature was prone to go astray, therefore they kept a
strict watch over it, and punished it for each transgression.
If
a man finds himself sluggish and averse from austerity and
self-discipline, he should consort with one who is a proficient in such
practices so as to catch the contagion of his enthusiasm. One saint used
to say, "When I grow lukewarm in self-discipline, I look at Muhammad
Ibn Wasi, and the sight of him rekindles my fervour for at least a
week." If one cannot find such a pattern of austerity close at band,
then it is a good thing to study the lives of the saints; he should also
exhort his soul somewhat in the following way: "O my soul! thou
thinkest thyself intelligent and art angry at being called a fool, and
yet what else are thou, after all?
Thou
prepared clothing to shield thee from the cold of winter, yet makest no
preparation for the afterlife. Thy state is like that of a man who in
mid-winter should say, 'I will wear no warm clothing, but trust to God's
mercy to shield me from the cold.' He forgets that God, at the same
time that He created cold, showed man the way to make clothing to
protect himself from it, and provided the material for that clothing.
Remember
this also, O soul, that thy punishment hereafter will not be because
God is angry with thy disobedience; and say not, 'How can my sin hurt
God?' It is thy lusts themselves which will have kindled the flames of a
hell within thee; just as, from eating unwholesome food, disease is
caused in a man's body, and not because his doctor is vexed with him for
disobeying his orders.
"Shame
upon thee, O soul, for thy overweening love of the world! If thou dost
not believe in heaven or hell, at any rate thou believest in death,
which will snatch from thee all worldly delights and cause thee to feel
the pangs of separation from them, which will be intenser just in
proportion as thou hast attached thyself to them. Why art thou mad after
the world?
If
the whole of it, from East to West, were thine and worshipped thee, yet
it would all, in a brief space, turn to dust along with thyself, and
oblivion would blot out thy name, as those of ancient kings before thee.
But now, seeing thou hast only a very small fragment of the world, and
that a defiled one, wilt thou be so mad as to barter eternal joy for it,
a precious jewel for a broken cup of earthenware, and make thyself the
laughingstock of all around them?"
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