Kitab al Hikam

[The Book of Wisdoms]

by Imam ibn 'Ata'illah al-Iskandari

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 In the Name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful

Kitabul Hikam | The Book of Wisdoms

Chapter 1
He said (May Allah be pleased with him):

1. One of the signs of relying on one’s own deeds is the loss of hope when a downfall occurs.

2. Your desire for isolation (tajreed), even though Allah has put you in the world to gain a
living (fil-asbaab), is a hidden passion. And your desire to gain a living in the world even
though Allah has put you in isolation is a comedown from supreme aspiration (al-himma al-
‘aliyya).

3. Antecedent/preceding intentions (sawaabiq al-himam) cannot pierce the walls of

4. Rest yourself from self-direction (tadbeer), for what Someone Else (ghayruka) has carried
out on your behalf, do not you yourself undertake to do it.

5. Your striving for what has already been guaranteed to you, and your remissness in what is
demanded of you, are signs of the blurring of your intellect (baseera).

6. If in spite of intense supplication, there is a delay in the timing of the Gift (al-‘aataa’), let
that not be the cause for your despairing. For He has guaranteed you a response in what He
chooses for you, not in what you choose for yourself, and at the time He desires, not the
time you desire.

7. If what was promised does not occur, even though the time for its occurrence had been
fixed, then that must not make you doubt the promise. Otherwise your intellect will be
obscured and the light of your innermost heart (sareera) extinguished.

8. If He opens a door for you, thereby making Himself known, pay no heed if your deeds do
not measure up to this. For, in truth, He has not opened it for you but out of a desire to
make Himself known to you. Do you not know that He is the one who presented the
knowledge of Himself (ta’arruf) to you, whereas you are the one who presented Him with
deeds? What a difference between what He brings to you and what you present to Him!

9. Actions differ because the inspirations of the states of being differ.

10. Actions are lifeless forms (suwar qaa’ima), but the presence of an inner reality of sincerity
(sirr al-ikhlaas) within them is what endows them with life-giving Spirit.

11. Bury your existence in the earth of obscurity, for whatever sprouts forth, without having
first been buried, flowers imperfectly.

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12. Nothing benefits the heart more than a spiritual retreat wherein it enters the domain of
meditation (maydaan fikra).

13. How can the heart be illumined while the forms of creatures are reflected in its mirror?
Or how can it journey to Allah while shackled by its passions? Or how can it desire to enter
the Presence of Allah (hadratullah) while it has not yet purified itself of the stain of its
forgetfulness? Or how can it understand the subtle points of mysteries (daqaa’iq al-asraar)
while it has not yet repented of its offenses?

14. The Cosmos (al-kawn) is all darkness. It is illumined only by the manifestation of Allah
(Dhuhoorul Haqq) in it. He who sees the Cosmos and does not contemplate Him in it or by it
or before it or after it is in need of light and is veiled from the sun of gnosis by clouds of
created things (al-aathaar).

15. That which shows you the existence of His Omnipotence is that He veiled you from
Himself by what has no existence alongside of Him.

16. How can it be conceived that something veils Him, since He is the one who manifest
everything (adh-dhara kulla shay’)?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him, since He is the one who is manifest
through everything (dhara bi-kulli shay')?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him, since He is the one who is manifest in
everything (dhara fi kulli shay')?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him, since He is the Manifest to everything
(adh-dharah li-kulli shay')?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him, since He was the Manifest (adh-dhaahir)
before the existence of anything (qabla wujood kulli shay')?

How an it be conceive that something veils Him, since He is more manifest than anything
(Adhar min kulli shay')?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him, since He is the One (al-Waahid) alongside
of whom there is nothing?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him, since He is nearer to you than anything
else?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him, since, were it not for Him, the existence of
everything would not have bee manifest?

It is a marvel how Being (al-Wujood) has been manifested in nonbeings (al-'adam) and how
contingent (al-haadith) has been established alongside of Him who possesses the attribute
of Eternity (wasf al-qidam)!

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Chapter II
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

17. He who wishes that at a given moment of time appear other than what Allah has
manifested in it, has not left ignorance behind at all!

18. Your postponement of deeds till the time when you are free is one of the frivolities of the
ego (ru'oonaat an-nafs).

19. Do no request Him to get you out of a state to make use of you in a different one, for,
were He to desire so, He would make use of you as you are, without taking you out!

20. Hardly does the intention of the initiate (himmat saalik) want to stop at what has been
revealed to him, than the voices of Reality (hawaatif al-Haqeeqa) call out to him: "That which
you are looking for is still ahead of you!" And hardly do the exterior aspects of created
beings display their charms, than their inner realities call out to him: "We are only a trial, so
disbelieve not!"

21. Your requesting Him is suspecting Him. Your seeking Him is due to your absence from
Him. Your seeking someone else is because of your immodesty towards Him. Your
requesting someone else is on account of your distance (bu'd) from Him.

22. Not a breath (nafas) do you expire but a decree of Destiny has made it go forth.

23. Do not look forward to being free of alterities (al-aghyaar), for that is indeed what cuts
you off from vigilant attention (al-muraaqabaat) to Him in that very state He has assigned to
you.

24. So long as you are in this world, be not surprised at the existence of sorrows. For truly, it
manifests nothing but what is in keeping with its character or its inevitable nature.

25. No search pursued with the help of your Lord remains at a standstill, but any search
pursued by yourself will not be fruitful.

26. Amongst the signs of success at the end is the turning to Allah at the beginning.

27. He who is illumined at the beginning is illumined at the end.

28. Whatever is deposited in the invisible world of innermost hearts (ghayb as-saraa'ir) is
manifested in the visible world of phenomena (shahaadat adh-dhawaahir)

29. What a difference between one who proceeds from Allah in his argumentation and one
who proceeds inferentially to Him! He who has Him as his starting-point knows the Real (al-
Haqq) as It is, and proves any matter by reference to the being of its Origin. But inferential
argumentation comes from the absence of union with Him. Otherwise, when was it that He
became absent that one has to proceed inferentially to Him? Or when was it that He became

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distant that created things (al-aathaar) themselves will unite us to Him?

30. Those who are united with Him: "Let him who has abundance spend out of his
abundance." [Quran 65:7] Those who are voyaging towards Him: "And whoever has his
means of subsistence straitened to him…"[Quran 65:7]

31. Those who are voyaging to Him are guided by the lights of their orientation (tawajjuh),
whereas those who are united to Him have the lights of face-to-face confrontation
(muwaajaha). The former belong to their lights, whereas the lights belong to the latter, for
they belong to Allah and not to anything apart from Him. "Say: Allah! Then leave them
prattling in their vain talk."[Quran 6:92]

Chapter III
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

32. Your being on the lookout for the vices (al-'uyoob) hidden within you is better than your
being on the lookout for the invisible realities (al-ghuyoob) veiled from you.

33. The Real (al-Haqq) is not veiled from you. Rather, it is you who are veiled from seeing It,
for, were anything to veil It, then that which veils It would cover It. But if there were a
covering to It, then that would be a limitation of its Being: every limitation of anything has
power over it. "Any He is the Omnipotent, above His servants."[Quran 6:18]

34. Amongst the attributes of your human nature, draw away from every one that is
incompatible with your servanthood, so that you may be responsive to the call of Allah and
near His Presence.

35. The source of every disobedience, indifferences, and passion is self-satisfaction. The
source of every obedience, vigilance, and virtue is dissatisfaction with one's self. It is better
for you to keep company with an ignorant man dissatisfied with himself than to keep
company with a learned man satisfied with himself. For what knowledge is there in a self-
satisfied scholar? And what ignorance is there in an unlearned man dissatisfied with himself?

36. The ray of light of the intellect (shu'aa'ul baseera) makes you witness His nearness to
you. The eye of the intellect ('aynal baseera) makes you witness your non-being ('adam) as
due to His Being. The Truth of the intellect (Haqq al-baseera) makes you witness His Being,
not your non-being nor your being.

37. "Allah was, and there was nothing with Him, and He is now as He was."

Chapter IV
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

38. Let not the intention of your aspiration to shift to what is other than He, for one's hopes
cannot outstrip the Generous (al-Karim).

39. Appeal to no one but Him to relieve you of a pressing need that He Himself has brought

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upon you. For how can someone else remove what He has imposed? And how can he who is
unable to free himself of a pressing need free anyone else of one?

40. If you have not improved your thinking of Him because of His nature, improve it because
of His treatment of you. For has He accustomed you to anything but what is good? And has
He conferred upon you anything but His favors?

41. How astonishing is he who flees from what is inescapable and searches for what is
evanescent! "For surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in
the breast." [Quran 22:46]

42. Travel not from creature to creature, otherwise you will be like a donkey at the mill:
roundabout the turns, his goal the same as his departure. Rather, go from creatures (al-
akwaan) to Creator (al-Mukawwin): "And that the final end is unto thy Lord." [Quran 53:42]
Consider the Prophet's words (May Allah's Salam or Peace be upon him): "Therefore, he
whose flight is for Allah and His Messenger, then his flight is for Allah and His Messenger;
and he whose flight is for worldly gain or marriage with a women, then his flight is for that
which he flees to." So understand his words (upon him be Peace) and ponder this matter, if
you can. And Peace be upon you!

Chapter V
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

43. Do not keep company with anyone whose state does not inspire you and whose speech
does not lead you to Allah.

44. You might be in a bad state; then your associating with one who is in a worse state
makes you see virtue (al-ihsaan) in yourself.

45. No need arising from a renouncing heart is small, and no deed arising from an avaricious
heart is fruitful.

46. Good works are the results of good states. Good states arise from the stations wherein
those having spiritual realization (at-tahaqquq) abide (muqaamat al-inzaal).

47. Do not abandon the invocation (adh-dhikr) because you do not feel the Presence of Allah
therein. For your forgetfulness of the invocation of Him is worse than your forgetfulness in
the invocation of Him. Perhaps He will take you from an invocation with forgetfulness
(ghafla) to one with vigilance (yaqadha), and from one with Presence of Allah to one wherein
everything but the Invoked (al-Madhkoor) is absent. "And that is not difficult for Allah."
[Quran 14:20]

Chapter VI
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

48. A sign of the heart's death is the absence of sadness over the acts of obedience that you
have neglected and the abandonment of regret over the mistakes that you have made.

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49. Let no sin (dhanb) reach such proportion in your eyes that it cuts you off from having a
good opinion of Allah, for, indeed, whoever knows his Lord considers his sin as paltry next to
His generosity.

50. There is no minor sin (sagheera) when His justice confronts you; and there is no major
sin (kabeera) when His grace confronts you.

51. No deed is more fruitful for the heart than the one you are not aware of and which is
deemed paltry by you.

52. He only made an inspiration (waarid) come upon you so that you would go (waarid) to
Him.

53. He made an inspiration come upon you so as to get you out of the grip of alterities (min
yadi'-aghyaar) and free you from bondage to created things (min riqqi'l-aathaar).

54 He made an inspiration come upon you so as to take you out of the prison of your
existence to the unlimited space of your contemplation (ilaa fadaa'i shuhoodika).

55. Lights (al-anwaar) are the riding-mounts (mataayaa) of hearts and of their innermost
centers (al-asraar).

56. Light is the army of the heart just as darkness is the army of the soul. So when Allah
wishes to come to the help of His servant He furnishes him with armies of Lights (junood al-
anwaar) and cuts off from him the reinforcements of darkness and alterities (madad adh-
dhulm wa'l-aghyaar).

57. Insight (al-Kashf) belongs to the Light (an-nur), discernment (al-hukm) to the intellect (al-
basira), and both progression (al-iqbaal) and retrogression (al-idbaar) belong to the heart (al-
qalb).

58. Let not obedience make you joyous because it comes from you, but rather, be joyous
over it because it comes from Allah to you. "Say: In the grace of Allah and
in His mercy, in that they should rejoice. It is better than that which they hoard." [Quran
10:58]

59. He prevents those who are voyaging to Him from witnessing their deeds and those who
are united with Him from contemplating their states. He does that for the voyagers because
they have not relized sincerity (as-sidq) towards Allah in those works; and He does that for
those united with Him because he makes them absent from contemplating those states by
contemplating Him (bi-shuhoodihi).

Chapter VII
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

60. Were it not for the seeds of ambitious desire (tama'), the branches of disgrace (aghsaan

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dhull) would not be lofty.

61. Nothing leads you like suspicion (al-wahm).

62. In your despairing, you are a free man (hurr); but in your coveting, you are a slave ('abd).

63. Whoever does not draw near to Allah as a result of the caresses of love (mulaatafaat al-
ihsaan) is shackled to Him with the chains of misfortune (salaasil al-imtihaan).

64. Whoever is not thankful for graces (an-ni'am) runs the risk of losing them, and whoever is
thankful fetters them with their own cords.

65. Be fearful lest the existence of His generosity towards you and the permanence of your
bad behavior towards Him not lead you step by step to ruin. "We shall lead them to ruin step
by step from whence they know not." [Quran 7:182]

66. It is ignorance on the part of the novice (murid) to act improperly, and then, his
punishment being delayed, to say, "If this had been improper conduct, He would have cut off
help (imdaad) and imposed exile (bi'aad)." Help (al-madad) could be cut off from him without
his being aware of it, if only by blocking its increase (al-mazeed). And it could be that you are
made to abide at a distance (al-bu'd) without your knowing it, if only by His leaving you to do
as you like.

67. If you see a servant whom Allah has made to abide in the recitation of litanies (al-awraad)
and prolonged His help therein, do not disdain what his Lord has given him on the score that
you do not detect the signs of gnostics (siyamu 'l-'aarifeen). For had there not been an
inspiration (waarid), there would have been no litany (wird).

68. Allah makes some people abide in the service of Him (li-khidmatihi), and He singles out
others to love Him (bi-mahabbatihi). "All do we aid – these as well as those – out of the
bounty of thy Lord, and the bounty of thy Lord is not limited." [Quran 17:20]

Chapter VIII
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

69. It is rare that divine inspiration (al-waaridat al-ilahiyya) come except suddenly, and this, in
order that they be protected from servant's claiming them by virtue of the existence of
receptivity (bi-wujood al-isti'daad) on their part.

70. Infer the existence of ignorance in anyone whom you see answering all that he is asked
or giving expression to all that he witnesses or menioning all that he knows.

71. He made the Hereafter (ad-daar al-aakhira) an abode to reward his believing servants
only because this world cannot contain what He wishes to bestow upon them and because
he deemed their worth too high to reward them in a world without permanence.

72. Whoever finds the fruits of his deeds (thamaraat 'amalihi) coming quickly ('aajil) has

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proof of the existence of acceptance (al-qabool).

73. If you want to know your standing with Him, look at where He has made you abide now.

74. When He gives you obedience (at-taa'a), making you unaware of it because of Him, then
know that He has showered you liberally with His graces both inwardly and outwardly.

Chapter IX
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

75. The best that you can seek from Him is that which He seeks from you.

76. One of the signs of delusion is sadness over the loss of obedience coupled with the
absence of resolve to bring it back to life.

77. The gnostic (al-'aarif) is not one who, when he makes a symbolic allusion, finds Allah
nearer to himself than his allusion (ishaara). Rather, the gnostic is he who has no symbolic
allusion due to his self-extinction in His Being (li-fanaa'ihi fi wujoodihi) and self-absorption in
contemplating Him.

78. Hope (ar-rajaa') goes hand in hand with deeds, otherwise it is a wish (umniyya).

79. That which the gnostics seek from Allah is sincerity in servanthood (al-'uboodiyya) and
performance of the claims of Lordship (ar-ruboobiyya).

80. He expanded you so as not to keep you in contradiction (al-qabd), and contracted you so
as not to keep you in expansion (al-bast), and He took you out of both so that you not belong
to anything apart from Him.

81. It is more dreadful for gnostics to be expanded than to be contracted, for only a few can
stay within the limits of proper conduct (hudood al-adab) in expansion (f'l-bast).

82. Through the existence of joy the soul gets its share in expansion, but there is no share
for the soul in contraction.

83. Sometimes He gives while depriving you, and sometimes He deprives you in giving.

84. When He opens up your understanding of deprivation (al-man'), the deprivation

85. Outwardly, creatures (al-akwaan) are an illusion (ghirra), but, inwardly, they are an
admonition ('ibra) Thus, the soul looks at the illusory exterior (dhaahiri ghirratihaa), while the
heart looks at the admonitory interior (baatini 'ibratihaa).

86. If you want a glory ('izz) that does not vanish, then do not glory in a glory that vanishes.

87. The real journey (at-tayy al-haqeeqee) is when the world's dimension (masaafat ad-

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dunyaa) is rolled away from you so that you see the Hereafter closer to you than yourself.

88. A gift from man is deprivation (al-hirmaan), and deprivation (al-man') from Allah is
beneficence (al-ihsaan).

Chapter X
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

89. Far be it for our Lord to recompense with credit the servant who deals with Him in cash.

90. Suffice it as a recompense to you for obedience that He has judged you worthy of
obedience.

91. It suffices as a reward for the doers of good that He has inspired obdiece to Him in their
hearts and brought upon them the existence of His reciprocal intimacy (mu'aanasa).

92. Whoever worship Him for something he hopes for from Him, or in order to stave off the
arrival of chastisement (al-'uqooba), has not concerned himself with the real nature of His
Attributes (bi-haqqi awsaafihi).

93. When he rives, He shows you His kindness (birr); when He deprives, He shows you His
power (qahr). And in all that, He is making Himself known to you and coming to you with His
gentleness.

94. Deprivation (al-man') hurts you only because of the lack of your understanding of Allah in
it.

95. Sometimes He opens the door of obedience for you but not the door of acceptance; or
sometimes He condemns you to sin and it turns out to be a cause of arriving at Him.

96. A disobedience that bequeaths humiliation and extreme need is better than an
obedience that bequeaths self-infatuation and pride.

97. There are two graces (ni'mataan) from which no being can be separated and that are
inevitable for every creature: the grace of existence (al-ijaad), and the grace of sustenance
(imdaad).

98. He bestowed His grace upon you, first, through giving you being (bil ijaad), and, second
through uninterrupted sustenance (bi-tawaali 'l-imdaad).

99. Your indigence (faaqa) belongs to you essentially, for accidents do not abolish essential
indigence: the trials that arrive in this word are but reminders to you of what you ignore of
indigence.

100. The best of your moments is the one wherein you witness the existence of your
indigence and, through it, arrive at the existence of your lowliness (dhilla).

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101. When He alienates you from His creatures, then know that He wants to open for you
the door of intimacy with Him.

102. When He loosens your tongue with a request, then know that He wants to give you
something.

103. The imperative need (al-idtiraar) of the gnostic never vanishes, nor is his repose (qaraar)
in anyone but Allah.

104. He illumined exterior phenomena (adh-dhawaahir) with the lights of His created things
(aathaar); and He illumined the innermost hearts (as-sara'ir) with the uncreated lights of His
attributes (bi-anwaar awsaafihi). For that reason, the lights of exterior phenomena set,
whereas the lights of hearts (al-quloob) and of the innermost hearts (as-saraa'ir) do not set.
That is why it is said, "Verily, the sun of the day sets at night, but the Sun of the hearts
(shams al-quloob) never sets!"

Chapter XI
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

105. To soften for you the suffering of affliction, He has taught you that He is the One who
causes trials to come upon you (al-Mublee laka). For the one who confronts you with His
decrees of Fate (al-aqdaar) is the same who has accustomed you to His good choice (husn al-
ikhtiyaar).

106. Whoever supposes that His gentleness (lutf) is separate from His decree of Fate (qadar)
does so out of shortsightedness.

107. It is not feared that the way leading to Allah be confusing to you, but rather, it is feared
that passion overcome you.

108. Praise be to Him who has hidden the inner reality of holiness (sirr al-khusoosiyya) by
manifesting the quality of human nature (bi-dhuhoor wasf al-bashariyyah), and who has
appeared in the sublimity of Lordship ('adhamat ar-ruboobiyya) by manifesting servanthood
(al-'uboodiyya)

109. Do not press claims against your Lord because your request (matlab) has been delayed;
instead, press claims against yourself for slacking in your behavior.

110. When He makes you submissive to His command outwardly and provides you with
resignation to His power inwardly, then He has enhanced the greatness of the favor
accorded you.

111. Not all who are most certainly amongst the chosen go on to perfect their liberation.

Chapter XII
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

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112. Only the ignorant man scorns the recitation of litany (al-wird). Inspiration (al-waarid) is
to be found in the Hereafter, while the litany vanishes with the vanishing of this world. But it
is more fitting to be occupied with something for which there is no substitute. The litany is
what He seeks from you, the inspiration is what you seek from Him. But what comparison is
there between what He seeks from you and what you seek from Him?

113. The arrival of sustainment (wurood al-imdaad) is in accordance with receptivity (al-
isti'daad), while the raying-out of lights (shurooq al-anwaar) is in accordance with the purity
of the innermost being (safaa'u'l-asraar).

114. When the forgetful man (al-ghaafil) gets up in the morning, he reflects on what he is
going to do, whereas the intelligent man (al-aaqil) sees what Allah is doing with Him.

115. The devotees (al-'ubbaad) and the ascetics (az-zuhhaad) are alienated from everything
only because of their absence from Allah in everything. For had they contemplated Him in
everything, they would not have been alienated from anything.

116. He commanded you in this world to reflect upon His creations (bi'n-nazar fi
mukawwanaatihi); but in the Hereafter He will reveal to you the Perfection of His Essence
(kamaal dhaatih).

117. When He knew that you would not renounce Him, He made you contemplate that which
issues from Him.

118. Since Allah (al-Haqq) knows of the existence of weariness on your part, He has varied
the acts of obedience (at-taa'aat) for you; and since He knows of the existence of
impulsiveness (ash-sharah) in you, He has limited them to specific times (fi'l-awqaat), so that
your concern be with the performance of the ritual prayer (iqaamat as-salaat), not with the
existence of the ritual prayer (wujood as-salaat). For not everyone who prays performs well
(fa-maa kull musall muqeem).

119. Ritual prayer is a purification for hearts (tuhra li'l-quloob) and an opening-up of the
door of invisible domains (al-ghuyoob).

120. Ritual prayer is the place of intimate discourse and a mine of reciprocal acts of purity
wherein the domains of the innermost being are expanded and the rising gleams of light ray
out. He knew of the existence of weakness in you, so He made the number of ritual prayers
small; and He knew of your need of His grace, so He multiplied their fruitful results.

121. When you seek a recompense for a deed, the existence of sincerity (as-sidq) in it is
demanded of you in return. As for the insincere (al-mureeb), the feeling of security (wijdaan
as-salaama) from chastisement suffices him.

122. Do not seek recompense for a deed whose doer (faa'il) was not you. It suffices you as a
recompense for the deed that He accepts it.

123. When He wants to show His grace to you, He creates states in you and attributes them

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to you (khalaqa wa nasaba ilayk).

124. Were He to make you go back to yourself, there would be no end to the reasons for
blaming you (li-madhaammik); and were He to manifest His beneficence (iood) to you, there
would be no end to the reasons for praising you.

Chapter XIII
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

125. Cling to the attributes of His Lordship and realize the attributes of your servanthood!

126. He has prohibited you from claiming for yourself what does not belong to you amongst
the qualities of created beings; so would He permit you to lay claim to His Attribute, He who
is the Lord of the Universe?

127. How can the laws of nature (al-'awaa'id) be ruptured for you so the miracles result,
while you, for your part, have yet to rupture your bad habits (al-'awaa'id)?

128. The point at issue is not the existence of searching. The point at issue is only that you
be provisioned with virtuous conduct (husn al-adab).

129. Nothing pleads on your behalf like extreme need, nor does anything speed gifts to you
quicker than lowliness and want.

130. If you were to be united with Him only after the extinction of your vices and the
effacement of your pretensions, you would never be united with Him. Instead, when He
wants to unite you to Himself, He covers your attributes (wasf) with His Attributes and hides
your quality (na't) with His Quality. And thus He unites you to Himself by virtue of what
comes from Him to you, not by virtue of what goes from you to Him.

Chapter XIV
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

131. Were it not for the kindness of His veiling (jameel sitrih), no deed would be worthy of
acceptance.

132. You are more in need in His forbearance (hilm) when you obey Him than you are when
you disobey Him.

133. Veiling (as-sitr) is of two kinds: veiling of disobedience, and veiling in it. Common people
seek Allah's veiling in disobedience out of the fear of falling in the rank amongst mankind.
The elect seek the veiling of disobedience out of the fear of falling from the sight of the Real
King.

134. Whoever honors you honors only the beauty of His veil in you. Therefore, praise is to
Him who veiled you, not to the one who honored and thanked you.

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135. No one is a companion of yours except the one who, while knowing your defects, is
your companion, an this is only your generous Lord. The best one to take on as a companion
is He who does not seek you out for the sake of something coming from you to Him.

136. Were the light of certitude (nur al-yaqin) to shine, you would see the Hereafter so near
that you could not move towards it, and you would see that the eclipse of extinction had
come over the beauties of the world (mahasin ad-dunya).

137. It is not the existence of any being alongside of Him (wudood mawjood ma'ah) that veils
you from Allah, for nothing (laa shay'a) is alongside of Him. Rather, the illusion of being
alongside of Him (tawahhum mawjood ma'ah) is what veils you from Him.

138 Had it not been for His manifestation in created beings (al-mukawwanaat), eyesight
would not have perceived them. Had His Qualities (sifaat) been manifested, His created
beings would have disappeared.

139. He manifests everything because He is the Interior (al-baatin), and He conceals the
existence of everything because He is the Exterior (adh-Dhaahir).

140. He has permitted you to reflect on what is in created beings, but He has not allowed
you to stop at selfsame creatures. "Say: Behold what is in the heavens and the earth!"
[Quran 10:101] Thus, with His words "Behold what is in the heavens" He opened up the door
of instruction for you. But He did not say, "Behold the heavens," so as not to lead you to the
mere existence of bodies.

141. The Universe (al-akwaan) is permanent (thaabita) through His making it permanent (bi-
ithbaatih), and it is annihilated (mam-huwwa) by the Unity of His Essence (bi-ahadiyyat
dhaatih).

Chapter XV
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

142. People praise you for what they suppose is in you but you must blame your soul for
what you know is in it.

143. When the believer is praised, he is ashamed before Allah that he should be lauded for
an attribute he does not see in himself.

144. The most ignorant of all people is the one who abandons the certitude (yaqin) he has
for an opinion (dhan) people have.

145. When He lets praise of you burst forth, and you are not worthy of it, praise Him for
what He is worthy of.

146. When ascetics (az-Zuhhaad) are praised, they are contracted, for they witness the praise
as coming from mankind (al-khalq); but with gnostics (al-'aarifoon) are praised, they are
expanded, for they witness the praise as coming from the Real King.

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147. If when given something, the giving expands you, and if when deprived of something,
the deprivation contracts you, then take that as the proof of your immaturity and the
insincerity of your servanthood.

Chapter XVI
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

148. When you commit a sin (dhanb), let it not be a reason for your despairing of attaining to
righteousness (al-istiqaama) before your Lord, for that might be the last decreed for you.

149. If you want the door of hope opened for you, then consider what comes to you from
Him; but if you want the door of sadness opened for you, then consider what goes to Him
from you.

150. Sometimes He makes you learn in the night of contraction (layl al-qabd) what you have
not learned in the radiance of the day of expansion (fi ishraaq nahaar al-basr). "You do not
know which of them is nearer to you in benefit." [Quran 4:11]

151. The hearts and the innermost centers of being are the places where light arise.

152. There is a light deposited in the hearts which is nourished by the Light coming from the
treasuries of the invisible realms.

153. There is a light wherewith He unveils for you His created things (al-aathaar), and there is
a Light wherewith He unveils for you His Attributes (awsaaf).

154. Sometimes hearts stop at lights the same way souls are veiled by the opacities of
alterities (bi-kathaa'if al-aghyaar).

154. By way of honoring them, He veiled the lights of the innermost hearts (anwaar as-
saraa'ir) with the opacities of exterior phenomena (bi-kathaa'if adh-dhawaahir) so they
would not be abused when expressing themselves nor be accused of seeking renown.

Chapter XVII
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

156. Glory be to Him who has not made any sign leading to His saints save as a sign leading
to Himself, and who has joined no one to them except him whom Allah wants to join to
Himself.

157. Sometimes He reveals to you the invisible domain of His Realm but veils you from
knowing the secrets of servants.

158. Whoever gets to know the secrets of servants without patterning himself on the divine
mercifulness (ar-rahman al-ilaahiyyah), finds his knowledge a tribulation (fitna) and a cause
for drawing evil (al-wabaal) upon himself.

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159. The egos share in disobedience is outwardly clear (dhaahir jalee) while its share in
obedience is inwardly hidden (baatin khafee). To cure what is hidden is hard indeed?

160. Sometimes ostentation (ar-riyaa') penetrates you in such a way that no one notices it.

161. Your desire that people know your particular distinction (khusoosiyya) is a proof of
insincerity in your servanthood ('uboodiyya).

162. Make mankind's looking at you disappear by being content with Allah's looking at you!
Slip away from their approach to you by contemplating His approach to you!

163. He who knows Allah (al-Haqq) contemplates Him in everything. He who is extinguished
by Him is absent froM everything. He who loves Him prefers nothing to Him.

164. Only His extreme nearness (shiddatu qurbih) to you is what veils Allah (al-Haqq) from
you.

165. Only because of the intensity of His manifestation (shiddatu dhuhoorihi) is He veiled,
and only because of the sublimity of His light is He hidden from view.

Chapter XVIII
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

166. Let not your asking be the cause of His giving, for then your understanding of Him
might diminish. Let your asking be for the sake of showing servanthood and fulfilling the
rights of Lordship.

167. How can your subsequent asking be the cause of His prior giving?

168. Far be it for the decree of the Eternal (hukmu'l-azal) to be subject to contingent causes
(al-'ilal)!

169. His providential care ('inaayatuh) of you is not due to anything coming from you. Where
were you when He confronted you with His providence or met you face-to-face with His
care? Neither sincerity of deeds nor the existence of states have any being in His Eternity.
Instead, only pure bestowing and sublime giving are there.

170. He knew that servants would anticipate the emergence of the mystery of Providence
(sirr'l-'inaaya) in themselves, so He said, "He chooses whom He pleases for His Mercy."
[Quran 2:105] And He knew that, had He left them at that, they would have abandoned all
effort by relying on the Eternal, so He said "Surely the Mercy of Allah is nigh to the doers of
good." [Quran 7:56]

171. Everything depends on the Divine Will (al-mashee'a), but It Itself depends on nothing at
all.

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Chapter XIX
And he said (May Allah's mercy be upon him):

172. Sometimes good behavior (al-adab) leads some to abandon asking because of
confidence in His Providence or because concern for the invocation (dhikr) of Him stymies
their asking of Him.

173. Only he to whom forgetfulness is possible is to be reminded; and only he to whom

174. The feast-days of novices (al-mureedoon) are when states of need arrive.

175. Sometimes you will find more benefit in states of need than you find in fasting or ritual
prayer.

176. States of need are gift-laden carpets.

177. If you want gifts to come you way, then perfect the spiritual poverty (al-faqr) you have.
"Alms are only for the poor." [Quran 9:60]

178. Realize your attributes and He will help you with His attributes; realize your lowliness
and He will help you with His Sublimity; realize your impotence and He will help you with His
Power; realize your weakness and He will help you with His Might and Force!

Chapter XX
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

179. Sometimes a charisma (karaama) is bestowed upon someone whose righteousness (al-
istiqaama) is not perfect.

180 A sign that it is Allah who has put you in a certain state (fish-shay') is that He keeps you
in it while its fruits (an-nataa'ij) mature.

181. He who holds forth from the standpoint of his own virtuous behavior will be silenced by
his behavior toward Allah; but he who holds forth from the standpoint of Allah's virtuous
behavior toward him will not be silenced when he misbehaves.

182. The lights of sages (anwaarul hukamaa') precede their words, so that, wherever
illumination (at-tanweer) occurs, the expression (at-ta'bir) arrives there.

183. Every utterance (kalaam) that comes forth does so with the vestment of the heart
(kiswatul qalb) from which it emerged.

184. Whoever has been given permission to speak out (at-ta'beer) will have his expression
('ibaara) understood by his listeners, and his symbolic allusion (ishaara) will be clear to them.

185. Sometimes the light of inner realities will appear eclipsed when you have not been

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given permission to give expression to them.

186. Their expression ('ibaaratuhum) is either because of the overflow of ecstasy (li laydaan
wajd) or for he purpose of guiding a disciple (muteed). The former case is that of those who
progress (as-saalikoon); the latter case is that of those who possess a function (araabul
mukna) and have realization (al-mutahaqqiqoon).

187. An expression ('ibaara) is nourishment to needy listeners, and your share in it is only
what you can eat thereof.

188. Sometimes he who draws near to a station (maqaam) express himself about it, and
sometimes he who is united with it expresses himself about it. That is confusing save to him
who has insight.

189. He who is progressing (as-saalik) should not be given expression to his inspiration
(waaridaat), for that indeed diminishes their activity in his heart and strips him of sincerity
with his Lord.

190. Do not stretch out your hand to take from creatures unless you see that the Giver (al-
Mu'ee) amongst them is your Lord. If such is your case, then take what knowledge says is
suitable for you.

191. Sometimes the gnostic (al-'aarif) is ashamed of submitting his urgent need (haaja) to his
Lord being content with His will (mashee'a). So why should be not be ashamed of submitting
his urgent need to a creature of His?

Chapter XXI
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

192. When two matters seem confusing to you, see which is heavier on the ego and follow it
through. For, indeed, nothing weighs on the ego but that which is true.

193. A sign of compliance with passion is haste in supererogatory good deeds and
sluggishness in fulfilling obligatory deeds.

194. He laid down specific times for acts of obedience so that procrastination not divert you
from them, and He made each time span ample so that you would have a share in making
the choice.

195. He knew of the irresolution of servants in dealing with Him, so He made obedience
(taa'a) to Him obligatory for them. Thus, He drove them to obedience with the chains of
obligation (bi-salaasilil ijaab). Your Lord is amazed at people who are driven to Paradise (al-
janna) with chain!

196. He made the service (khidma) of Him obligatory upon you, which is as much as to say
that He made entry into His Paradise obligatory for you.

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197. Whoever finds it astonishing that Allah should save him from passion or yank him out
of his forgetfulness has deemed the divine Power (al-qudra al-ilaahiyya) to be weak. "And
Allah has power over everything." [Quran 18:45]

198. Sometimes darkness come over you in order that He make you aware of the value of
His blessings upon you.

199. He who does not know the value of graces when they are present knows their value
when they are absent.

200. The inspirations of grace should not so dazzle you as to keep you from fulfilling the
obligations of thankfulness, for that would indeed bring you down in rank.

201. Incurable sickness results when the sweetness of passion takes possession of the heart.

202. Only an unsettling fear (kawf muz'ij) or a restless desire (shawq muqliq) can expel
passion from the heart.

203. Just as He does not love the deed possessed of associationism, so similarly He does not
love the heart possessed of associationism. As for the deed possessed of associationsim, He
does not accept it; and as for the heart possessed of associationsim, He does not draw near
to it.

Chapter XXII
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

204. There are lights that are allowed to arrive (al-wusool) and lights that are allowed to
enter (ad-dukhool).

205. Sometimes lights come upon you and find the heart stuffed with forms of created
things (suwarul aathaar); so they go back from whence they descended.

206. Empty your heart of alterities (al-aghyaar) and you will fill it up with gnostic intuitions
(al-man'aarif) and mysteries (al-asraar).

207. Do not deem His giving to be slow; but rather, deem your approaching to be slow.

208. It is possible to fulfill some obligations at times, but it is impossible to fulfill the
obligation of every moment, for there is no moment wherein Allah does not hold against you
a new obligation or a definite matter. So how can you fulfill therein someone else's
obligation when you have not fulfilled Allah's.

209. The part of your life that has gone by is irreplaceable, and that which has arrived is
priceless.

210. You have not loved anything without being its slave, but He does not want you to be
someone else's slave.

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211. Your obedience does not benefit Him, and your disobedience does not harm Him. It is
only for your own good that he commanded the one and prohibited the other.

212. His Sublimity is not increased when someone draws near to Him, and His Sublimity is
not decreased when someone draws away from Him.

Chapter XXIII
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

213. Your union with Allah is union through knowledge of Him (al-'ilmu bihi). Otherwise,
Allah is beyond being united with anything or anything being united with Him.

214. Your nearness (qurb) to Him is that you contemplate His nearness. Otherwise, what
comparison is there between you and the existence of His nearness?

215. The inner realities (al-haqaaiq) arrive synthetically (mujmala) in the state of illumination
(at-tajallee), while their explanation (al-bayaan) comes after retention (al-wa'y). "So when We
recite it, follow its recitation. Again on Us rest the explaining of it." [Quran 75: 18-19]

216. When divine inspirations comes upon you, they demolish your habits. "Surely the kings,
when they enter a town, ruin it." [Quran 27:34]

217. The inspiration comes from the Presence of the Omnipotent. As a result, nothing
opposes it without being smashed to bits. "Nay, but We hurl the Truth against falsehood,
and it prevails against it, and lo! falsehood vanishes." [Quran 21:18]

218. How can Allah (al-Haqq) be veiled by something, for He is apparent (dhaahir) and has
actual being (mawjood haadir) in that wherewith He is veiled.

219. Do not lose hope in the acceptance of an act of yours wherein you found no awareness
of the Divine Presence. Sometimes He accepts an act the fruit of which you have not
perceived right away.

220. Do not attest to the validity of an inspiration (waarid) whose fruits you know not. The
purpose of rain clouds is not to give rain; their only purpose is to bring forth fruit.

221. After the lights of inspiration have rayed out and their mysteries have been deposited,
do not seek their continuance, for you have in Allah one who enables you to dispense with
everything; but nothing enables you to dispense with Allah.

222. The proof that you have not found Him is that you strive for the permanency of what is
other than He, and the proof that you are not united to Him is that you feel estranged at the
loss of what is other than He.

Chapter XXIV
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him):

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223. While varied in its manifestations, felicity (an-na'im) is only for the sake of
contemplating and drawing near to Him; and, while varied in its manifestations, suffering (al-
'adhaab) is due only to the existence of His veil. Therefore, the existence of the veil is the
cause of the suffering, and the perfection of felicity is through the vision of the Countenance
of Allah, the Generous.

224. That which hearts find in the way of worries and sadnesses is due to that which
prevents their having inner vision (al-'iyaan).

225. Part of the completeness of grace (tamaau'in-ni'ma) accorded you lies in His providing
you with what suffices and holding you back from what makes you exceed bounds.

226. So that your sadness over something be little, let your joy in it be little.

227. If you do not want to be dismissed, then do no take charge of a post that will not always
be yours.

228. If beginnings makes you desirous, endings will make you abstinent: if their exteriors
invited you, their interiors will hold you back.

229. He only made the world the place of alterities and the mine of impurities by way of
inducing detachment (tazaahid) in you towards it.

230. He knew you would not accept mere counsel, so He made you sample the world's taste
to a degree that separation from it would be easy for you.

231. Beneficial knowledge is the one whose rays of light expands in the mind and uncovers
the veil over the heart.

232. The best knowledge is the one accompanied by fear (al-khashya).

233. If fear is united with knowledge, then it is for you; if not then it is against you.

234. When it pains you that people do not come you, or that they do so with rebukes, then
return to the knowledge of Allah in you. But if the knowledge of Him in you does not satisfy
you, then your affliction at not being content with that knowledge is greater than you
affliction at the pain coming from people.

235. He only made affliction come at the hands of people so that you not repose in them. He
wanted to drive you out of everything so that nothing would divert you from Him.

236. If you know that the devil does not forget you, then do not forget, for your part, Him
who has your forelock in His hand.

237. He made the devil your enemy so that, through him, he could drive you toward Himself,
and he stirred up your soul against you so that your drawing near to Him would be

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permanent.

Chapter XXV
And he said (May Allah be pleased with him)

238. He who attributes humility to himself is really proud, for humility arises only out of a
sublime state. So when you attribute humility to yourself, then you are proud.

239. The humble man is not the one who, when humbles, sees that he is above what he
does; instead, the humble man is the one who, when humble, sees that he is below what he
does.

240. Real humility is the one which arises from the contemplation of His Sublimity and the
illumination of His attribute.

241. Only the contemplation of His Attribute can disclose you from your attribute.

242. The believer is he who is diverted from extolling himself by the praise of Allah, and who
is diverted from remembering his good fortune by the fulfillment of Allah's right.

243. The lover (al-muhibb) is not the one who hopes for a recompense from his beloved
(mahboob) or seeks some object. The lover is indeed the one who spends generously on
you; the lover is not the one on whom you spend generously.

244. Were it not for the arenas of the soul (mayaadeenun-nufoos), the progress of the
adepts (sayrus-saa'ireen) could not be realized: there is no distance (masaafa) between you
and Him that could be traversed by your journey, nor is there any particle between you and
Him that could be effaced by your union with Him.

245. He put you in the intermediary world (al-aalam al-muta-wassit) between His Kingdom
(Mulk) and His Realm (Malakoot) to teach you the majesty of your rank amongst His created
beings and that you are a jewel (jawhara) wherein the pearls of His creations (mukawwanaat)
are hidden.

246. The Cosmos (al-kawn) envelops you in respect to your corporeal nature (iuthmaaniyya),
but it does not do so in respect to the immutability of your spiritual nature (thubootu
roohaaniyyatika). So long as the domains of Invisible Worlds have not been revealed to him,
the being in the Cosmos is imprisoned by his surroundings and confined in the temple of his
nature.

247. So long as you have not contemplated the Creator, you belong to created beings; but
when you have contemplated Him, created beings belong to you.

248. The permanence of sanctity does not necessitate that the attribute of human nature be
non-existent. Sanctity is analogous to the illumination of the sun in daytime: it appears on
the horizon but it is not part of it. Sometimes the suns of His Attributes shine in the night of
your existence, and sometimes He takes that away from you and returns you to your

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existence. So daytime is not from you to you, but instead, it comes upon you..

249. By the existence of His created things (aathaar), He points to the existence of His Names
(asmaa'), and by the existence of His Names, He points to the immutability of His Qualities
(awsaaf), and by the existence of His Qualities, He points to the reality of His Essence (dhaat),
since it is impossible for a quality to be self-subsistent. He reveals the perfection of His
Essence to the possessors of attraction (arbaabul jadhb); then He turns them back to the
contemplation of His Qualities; then he turns them back to dependence (at-ta'lluq) on His
Names; and then He turns them back to the contemplation of His created things. The
contrary is the case for those who are progressing (as-saalikoon): the end for those
progressing (nihaaytus-saalikeen) is the beginning for those progressing is the end for the
ecstatics. But this is not to be taken literally, since both might meet in the Path (at-tareeq),
one in his descending (fi tadallihi), the other in his ascending (fi taraqqihi).

250. It is only in the invisible world of the Real (fi ghaybil malakoot) that the value of lights of
the hearts and of the innermost centers of being (anwaaral quloob wal asraar) is known, just
as the light of the sky do not manifest themselves except in the visible world of Kingdom
(shaadatul mulk).

251. For those who do good, finding the fruits of acts of obedience in this world is glad
tidings of their recompense in the Hereafter.

252. How can you seek recompense for a deed He bestowed upon you out of charity? Or
how can you seek recompense for a sincerity He gave you as a gift?

253. The lights of some people precede their invocations (adhkaar), while the invocation of
some people precede their lights. Their is the invoker (dhaakir) who invokes so that his heart
be illumined; and there is the invoker whose hearts has been illumined and he invokes.

254. The outer aspect of an invocation (dhaahiru dhikr) would not be save for the inner
contemplation and mediation (baatinu shuhood wa fikra).

255. He made you witness before He asked you to give witness. Thus, the outer faculties
speak of His Divinity while the heart and the innermost consciousness have realized His
Unity.

256. He ennobled you with three charismatic gifts (karamat): He made you an invoker
(dhaakir) of Him, and had it not been for His grace, you would not have been worthy of the
flow (jarayaan) of the invocation of Him in you; He made you remembered by Him
(madhkoor bihi) since He confirmed His relationship to you; and He made you remembered
by those with Him (madhkoor 'indahu), thereby perfecting His grace upon you.

257. Many a life is long in years but meager in fruits, and many a life is short in years but rich
in fruits.

258. He who has been blessed in life attains, in a short time, to such gifts from Allah that no
expression or symbolic allusion could describe.

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259. It would be disappointing – really disappointing – if you were to find yourself free of
distractions and then not head towards Him, or if you were to have few obstacles and then
not move on to Him!

260. Mediation (al-fikra) is the voyage of the heart in the domains of alterities (mayaadin al-
aghyaar).

261. Mediation is the lamp of the heart (siraaj al-qalb); so when it goes away, the heart has
no illumination.

262. Meditation is of two kinds: the meditation of belief (tasdeeq) and faith (imaan), and
meditation of contemplation (shuhood) and vision ('iyaan). The first is the adepts of reflective
thought (arbaab al-i'tibaar), the second is for the adepts of contemplation and intellectual
vision (arbaab ash-shuhood wal istibsaar).

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