Practices of Sufism

*





Sufism is an ancient tradition of spiritual development. It is
widespread at present.
Sufism originated inside Islam. Some Sufi teachers-sheikhs say,
however, that Sufism cannot be limited to a particular religion,
historical period, society, or language. They call Sufism the pure
essence of all religions and believe that Sufism existed always: it
is only its outer appearance that changes according to the
contemporary cultural-historical environment.
The Sufis, who often call themselves people of true beingness,
from age to age bring to the world together with their teachings
their art, which reflects their perception of the beautiful. The Sufi
symbolism, images, and themes are found in a significant part of
the oriental folklore, literature, especially poetry. Such is almost all
Persian-Iranian classic poetry, which is recognized throughout the
world. Widely known are the names of Sufi poets: Sanai, Rumi,
Hafiz, Jami, Nezami. One can say the same, though to a smaller
degree, about the Arab and Turkic literature, poetry, folklore.
What is Sufism?
The root Sufi means pure. It corresponds to the essence of the
Sufi teachings and spiritual appearance of its best representatives.
The true masters of Sufism, the true Sufis
*
are indeed pure from the
dogmatism and fanaticism, are free from confessional and national
prejudices. A strong aspiration to the ethical purity and
impeccability, peculiar to the Sufis, contributed to their receiving
another name in the Arab world Knights of Purity (Sahiba-i-Safa)
[2].
Thanks to large pliancy and openness to outer influence, Sufism
at present is not a uniform system. Its different trends, directions,
schools, groups differ from one another by methodological aspects
they emphasize, by practical methods they prefer. Among Sufis,
there are well-known orders with ancient traditions and also 12
main (parental) brotherhoods. In addition, there are many other
structures in Sufism: smaller brotherhoods, communities, centers,
circles.
Let us talk about the fundamentals of the Sufi teachings:
Sufism holds a belief that the universe consists of 7 planes
of existence [2]. This concerns multidimensionality of space.
The subtlest dimension, which the Sufis call Zat, is the Abode
of God in the aspect of the Creator. The Creator and the whole
diversity of His Creation (Sifat, in Sufi terms) compose the
Absolute. The Creator pervades the entire Creation with His Love.
The multidimensional human organism, which is similar in its
structure to the multidimensional structure of the Absolute, can
reveal in itself more subtle forms of beingness. One realizes this by
cognizing and perfecting oneself.
Thus only by knowing his true essence man can achieve the
direct perception of God and union with Him. This is expressed
very laconically in the hadith of Sunna
*
which reads: He who
cognizes himself cognizes God. On the final stages of such
cognition, the individual human consciousness merges with the
Divine Consciousness. This final goal is described in the Sufi
tradition as the highest state of consciousness Baqi bi-Allah
(Eternity in God). Hindu and Buddhist synonyms of this term are
Kaivalya, Mahanirvana, Moksha.
The foundation of Sufism is love (mahabba, hubb). The Sufis
even say of their teachings as of hymn to the Divine Love and call
it tassawuri love-vision. Love is considered in Sufism as the
power which strengthens ones feeling of being contained in God.
This process results in understanding that in the world there is
nothing but God, Who is the Lover and the Beloved at the same
time.
One of the tenets of Sufism is Ishq Allah Mabud Allah (God is
Lover and the Beloved).
A truly loving Sufi gradually submerges, sinks, and becomes
dissolved in the Creator in his or her Beloved.
The principle of regarding God as the Beloved originated from
the Sufi direct experience. The Sufis describe this in the following
way. When man traverses a certain part of the Path of Love, God
begins to help him more actively by drawing him to His Abode. And
then man begins to feel more intensely Gods Divine Love.
Let us see how such love, leading man to God, develops
according to the views of Jalaluddin Rumi [10].
This happens:
1) through the development of the emotional, cordial love for all
the beautiful and harmonious in the world;
2) through active, sacrificial love-service to people;
3) and then through extending this love to all manifestations
of the world without discriminating between them; the Sufis say: If
you make a distinction between things originating from God you
are not man of spiritual Path. If you think that a diamond can
ennoble you and a stone lowers you, then God is not with you [5];
4) such developed love for all elements of the Creation is
redirected then to the Creator and man begins to see that,
according to Rumi, the Beloved is present in everything [4,10].
Obviously, this concept of love is identical to the one described
in the Bhagavad Gita and the New Testament: it has the same
milestones and accents. The true love is regarded in Sufism in the
same way as in the best spiritual schools of Hinduism, Buddhism,
Christianity as the only power capable of bringing man to God.
Quite often Sufi sheikhs live in the world being occupied with
common worldly activity. They can operate a shop, workshop,
smithy, can compose music, write books, etc. The Sufis believe that
one does not need seclusion to go to God. They say that the
worldly activity by itself does not separate you from God if you are
not attached to its fruits and if you remember about Him. Therefore
on all steps of the spiritual ascent, man may be involved into social
life. Moreover according to Sufism, it is social life that provides one
with the possibilities for perfecting oneself. If every life situation is
considered as educational, then one can live side by side with the
most awful and despising people. One can be subjected to the most
coarse influence and do not suffer from it; on the contrary, one
can be joyful and calm, and perfect oneself through these social
contacts given by God.
As for the students-murids, Sufi sheikhs say that not anyone
wanting to become a Sufi can become it, not everyone can
comprehend the Sufi teachings. The Sufis say that one cannot be
taught anything: man can be only shown the way, but he has to
walk it himself. Therefore, if an aspirant is not capable of using the
teachings for his or her spiritual development, the education is
meaningless: the teachings will pass through such a student as
water passes through sand.
Aspirants capability of comprehending the teachings is
determined by the sheikh. For this purpose sheikhs often use
provocative methods. They put aspirants into various situations,
involve them into innocent talks with the purpose of determining
their level of development. If aspirants look promising, then sheikh
watching them for some time, determine their individual features
and to what extent they can comprehend the teachings. And then,
according to this, every murid is given certain tasks for the whole
period of learning and corresponding parts of the teachings.
After determining specific features of the students
development, the sheik can send him or her to other orders,
brotherhoods, educational centers. The neophyte moves from
sheikh to sheikh and gradually comprehends and masters the
program. After a long and all-round learning, the murid returns to
his or her first sheikh. And then the sheik gives the murid final
polishing and so-called ijaza (permission) to continue the sheiks
tradition and preach the teachings.
The sphere of the Sufi teachings includes both esoteric and
exoteric sides. That is, murids develop not only ethically,
intellectually, psycho-energetically: they also master the methods,
the secrets of their sheikhs craft or art. Later this helps them in life.
* * *
The process of Sufi teaching can be subdivided into several
stages.
The initial stage of the spiritual practice sharia (law)
concerns strict obedience to all religious precepts. Initial learning
of sharia is an obligatory condition for entering on the path of
spiritual development.
The esoteric learning begins on the next stage tariqa (path,
way). Mastering the tariqa is related to mastering a series of steps-
maqams.
In the ethical aspect, maqams imply fundamental reassess of
ones values. They imply finding ones own vices and repentance
(tauba), abstaining from the forbidden (zuhd), strict distinction
between the allowed and non-allowed (wara), refusal of non-
spiritual attachments and desires (faqr). Murids learn patience
(sabr), swallowing something bitter without showing distaste.
Constant remembrance about death, about its inevitability leads
murids to reassessing many things. In particular, murids develop a
careful attitude to the time which they have on the Earth.
Reflections on death are an efficient means of fighting unwanted
attachments and habits. Al-Ghazali said: If you like something of
the world and an attachment is born in you recall about death
[6].
On the stage of tariqa, one performs intense intellectual work.
Sheiks constantly suggest to their students new themes for
reflection, talk with them about the fundamentals of the teachings.
Murids become acquainted with various literary sources, which
present many parables, educational stories, etc.
As the murid goes through all steps of this stage, he or she
develops a strong desire to attain the unity with the Creator and
enters the state of rida. The Sufis define rida as unruffled attitude
toward ones predestination, that is the state of serenity, calm in
respect to what is happening.
They who successfully passed maqams of tariqa receive the
possibility to go further the path of marefat meditative cognition
of God. On this stage, further ethical polishing of the student
takes place; students love (in its different aspects), wisdom, and
power are perfected. The Sufi who traversed this stage really
cognizes the multidimensionality of space, illusiveness of the
values of material life, receives living experience of communion
with God. As arif (he who has cognized) such a person receives
initiation into sheikhs.
Some arifs managed to reach the forth stage haqiqat (haqq
means truth), on which one finally masters the true beingness. It
brings the arif to the full mergence of the individual consciousness
with the Goal of his or her aspirations with the Creator.
Spiritual work on these stages corresponds to the one
performed on the stages of buddhi yoga.
* * *
An integral part of the spiritual work on all stages of murids
spiritual ascent is psycho-energetic practice, which significantly
accelerates the processes of ethical and intellectual self-
development. Let us talk in more detail about psycho-energetic
methods of tariqa.
The psycho-energetic teaching in Sufism is performed so that all
students receive special tasks from the sheikh, according to their
individual peculiarities and capability of comprehending. At the
same time, the sheik gives psycho-energetic training for groups of
students.
On the initial stages of psycho-energetic practice, the sheik
suggests to murids many different exercises for development of the
ability of concentration, for stopping the flow of thoughts and
achieving the mental pause; they also work with images. After
that, various psycho-physical exercises are used: rhythmic
movements to music, Sufi whirling, etc.
The use of the whole spectrum of these means creates a
remarkable purifying effect, develops the energy structures of the
organism (anahata, in particular). Some of these exercises cause
subtle attunement of the body, mind, and consciousness, and
bring the participants to the ecstatic state which the Sufis call hal.
There are different kinds of hal. Most often the student gains the
following kinds of this state: kurb feeling of the nearness of God,
mahabba felling of the fervent love for God, khauf deep
remorse, shauq passionate longing for God, etc.
Let us consider some of such practices.
Dances of dervishes, for example, require absolute relaxation of
the body and achievement of the full mental pause. Against such
background of relaxation and meditative attunement of the
consciousness to the Creator, harmonious spontaneous
movements of the body occur. They are not planned; they do not
originate from the mind, but as if occur spontaneously, Usually, the
dances of dervishes are performed with use of meditative music or
meditative singing. This ensures proper attunement of all dancers
and brings all ready participants to the state of hal.
Another interesting technique is Sufi whirling. It allows one, in
particular, to move the consciousness out from the head chakras,
what facilitates entering the state of hal. There are various
modifications of this technique. Whirling can be performed to
music or without it, with use of mantras, with concentration in
certain energy structures of the organism. In the latter case,
whirling contributes to the development of the chakras. The general
rules of performing this exercise are the following:
1) one can start whirling not sooner than three hours after meal;
2) whirling is performed to any convenient side, against the
background of full relaxation of the body;
3) the eyes are opened and fixed on one of the raised hands or
not fixed on anything at all;
4) whirling is performed in individual rhythm, with as smooth
beginning and end of the exercise as possible;
5) in case of falling during whirling, one has to turn on the
stomach and relax;
6) after performing the exercise, it is necessary to relax;
7) also one needs to be fully confident in the technique, fully
open when performing the exercise. The duration of the exercise
is individual and can vary from several minutes to several hours.
On the mature stages of tariqa, one performs intensive work
on developing, perfecting the energy structures of the organism. In
Hindu terms, this concerns, in particular, the chakras and nadi
(meridians). In this work, a special emphasis is put on developing
the anahata the chakra responsible for producing the emotions
of cordial love.
One of the techniques of this kind is the meditation of laugh. Its
participants lay on the back and completely relax. After meditative
attunement, they place one hand on the region of anahata, and
another hand on the region of muladhara, to activate these
chakras. Then they begin to move through the organism waves of
soft light-laugh (from muladhara to the head chakras). The
meditation of laugh creates a purifying effect and contributes to the
development of the chakras, the middle meridian, if it is performed
on the due level of subtlety
*
.
Another technique used in Sufism is zikr. There are many
variations, modifications of zikr according to the traditions of the
brotherhood or order, the sheiks mastery. Zikr is performed in the
following way:
All participants stand or sit in a circle. The sheik gives
meditative attunement and then, by his instruction, the participants
begin to perform a series of consecutive exercises. These exercises
are rhythmic movements performed in ever-increasing tempo (for
example, bows, turns, sways of the body). With movements, the
participants chant praying formulas.
In some orders, they attach a great importance to music, to
singing in meditation classes. They believe that music the food
of the soul (ghiza-i-ruh) is one of the very powerful means
contributing to spiritual progress. They widely use music that
makes the body move spontaneously (tarab), facilitates entering
deep meditative states (saut), etc. In some orders and
brotherhoods, they have everyday listening to music, collective
classes with singing of mystic verses (sama), ecstatic dances to
music, etc.
The effectiveness of these techniques consists, in particular, in
the fact that meditations are performed not only in motionless
positions of the body but also against the background of
movements.
Thanks to the complex use of different methods, one activates
several centers of the organism: emotional, moving, intellectual
ones
*
. Coordinated, harmonious work of these centers makes
possible a quick change in the students psychoenergetic state.
Apart from ordinary methods, in Sufism there are accelerated
techniques of spiritual development. By means of these secret
techniques, murids can make very fast advancement. These
techniques are given only to those who possess very high psycho-
energetic readiness.
The Sufi meditation tradition is very rich and multifarious. It
accumulated vast experience of work with the body, mind, and
consciousness. The Sufis developed the ways of cognizing Wajd
(Samadhi, in Hindu terms), the techniques for accomplishing
correct crystallization of consciousness in the higher spatial
dimensions, and methods for mastering Fana-fi-Allah (Nirvana in
the Creator).
In Sufism there are many original things. However, one can see
its remarkable similarity to the spiritual traditions of other best
religious schools and directions the similarity of goals, the ways
of their realization, and even of the methods. This indicates an
important thing: that Sufism, Hesychasm, Taoism, Buddhist
mysticism, classic Hindu yoga, the way of the Mexican school of
Juan Matus, and some other directions are based on the same laws
of spiritual development. It is only the realization of these laws that
can be different in different cultural and historical conditions. And
always there are people who independent of their spiritual
traditions can successfully walk the Sufi path.

Bibliography
1. Betherels E.E. Selected Works. Moscow, 1960.
2. Inayat Khan Sufi Message about the Freedom of
Spirit. Moscow, 1914.
3. Raja Yoga and Buddhi Yoga. (Ed. V.V.Antonov),
Moscow, 1992.
4. Fish R. Jalaluddin Rumi. Moscow, 1985.
5. Attar, Farid, Ud-Din. The Conference of the Birds.
Routledge Kegan Paul, L., 1961.
6. Al-Ghazali The Revival of Religious Sciences. Sufi
Publishing Co., Tarndom, Surrey, 1972.
7. Foster W. Sufi Studies Today. Octagon, L., 1968.
8. Lefort R. The Teachers of Gurdjieff. L., 1966.
9. Rajneesh The Orange Book. Rajneesh Foundation,
1985.
10. Rumi Jalaluddin The Mathnawi. Vol. 1-8. L.-Leiden,
1925-1940.
11. Smith M. Rabia: the Mystic and her Fellow-Saints in
Islam. Cambridge, 1928.
12. Uspensky P.D. In Search of the Miraculous. N.Y.,
Harcourt, 1949.

http://www.beautyislam.org/practices_of_sufism.html


Fundamentals of the Islamic
Ethics
Compiled by Dr.Vladimir Antonov

Translated from Russian into English
by Dr.Mikhail Nikolenko


Antonov V.V., 2005

This book is available also in German.


Islam is one of the three major religious systems on the Earth.
But this is not the only reason why one needs to know about
Islam. Islam expresses the ethics of the attitude of man to God in a
laconic and methodologically true form.
Moreover, the attitude to God, which was taught by Jesus Christ,
was realized in Islam and not in the mass Christianity.
What is Islam, specifically?
Historically, it has the roots in Judaism and Christianity. Islam
esteems the Jewish prophets, Jesus Christ (in Arabic Isa). It calls
its followers to God-the-Father (in Arabic Allah) as the Jewish
prophets and Jesus understood Him. The Quran the main holy
book of Islam contains their sayings and description of their acts.
The narration in the Quran is communicated through prophet
Muhammad from God, Who gives Muhammad both personal advice
and explanations on the correct understanding of Him (God) and of
the Path to Him.
What is the newness of Islam? Why did not God spread
Christianity in the regions that are covered nowadays by Islam?
The matter is that many people calling themselves Christians
strayed from the Teachings of Jesus Christ even at that time. And
the contemporary mass Christianity has lost God; its followers can
be called Christians only relatively only because they continue to
observe the ancient Christian rites.
Let us compare it to India. The people of India have the
Bhagavad Gita, where there is a detailed description of what is God
and what man has to do in relation to this. But in India, too, the
majority of people are unable to accept the concept of monotheism
(due to the fact that in any region of the Earth, the people of early
stages of psychogenetic development are in majority). For example,
the contemporary followers of the mass Hinduism and Buddhism of
Mahayana worship not God, Who is so vividly represented in the
Bhagavad Gita, but pagan fictitious gods: Ganesha, Kali, etc., with
corresponding iconography. And in some degenerated branches of
Buddhism, this tendency has gone so far that for God there is no
room left and He is denied completely.
But people relying on the Jewish and Christian Bible turned out
to be in even worse situation, since these books do not contain a
description of God which can satisfy the inquiries of an intellectual
searching person: there God is depicted so that He becomes an
object of belief and not an object of knowledge.
Therefore, the return to the pagan form of religious outlook,
which is more convenient for young souls, was even easier among
people involved in Christianity.
The loss of God in the mass Christianity manifested in the fact
that God preached by the Jewish prophets and by Jesus as the
Main Object of ones attention, aspiration, and love, was
superseded by the pagan cults of Nicholas the Wonder-worker and
of other patron saints, by the cult of the earthly mother of Jesus,
who though was undoubtedly a remarkable and virtuous woman,
yet could not understand and accept what her Son taught. Once she
even counted Him insane (Mark 3:21,31-35). And the main essence
of the Teachings of Jesus about aspiration to the Perfection, to
cognition of God-the-Father was superseded by religious
panhandling.
It came to a point when in Russian Orthodoxy the Universal
Primordial Consciousness is pictured as an old man sitting on a
cloud, and the Holy Spirit as a pigeon.
It is important to note, that the pagan tendency was legalized by
Orthodoxy even in the liturgical tradition, where the very good but
not Divine woman Mary, the mother of Jesus, is called my all-
blessing Queen, Our Lady, and we are her slaves with no hope to
receive help from anyone but her (as one can see, God in this case
is of no importance).
So, seeing the beginning of this tendency, God once again
repeated through prophet Muhammad that people have to
concentrate attention on Total Universal God-Creator and devote
their lives to Him.
The word Islam, by the way, is translated as obedience to God,
and the word Muslim as devoted to God.
The essence of Islam is expressed in two formulas: La ilaha
illallah there is no god besides God! and Allahu akbar
God is great! (of course, great not in the sense, that He is such
a notable, fearsome, and mysterious person, whom one has to
respect and be afraid of, but that the Divine Consciousness has
really no borders in the universe and that God is really the Almighty
Creator and the Governor of the destinies of the entire Creation and
of every one of us).
Seeing the degeneration of the faith of many Christians, Muslims
even decided to take such extreme measures as the prohibition on
pictorial and sculptural images of people and animals, so that one
does not get tempted to worship them (this prohibition was slightly
eased only recently).
One may ask: why it is so important to direct the attention
mainly at God-the-Father, instead of, say, at Jesus Christ or another
Avatar? It turns out, that it is really of principal importance from the
standpoint of the methodology of spiritual development. It is so
because only the strict monotheism predisposes mature adherents
to actualization of the need to study and explore practically the
multidimensional structure of the Creation and to making their
search of the Creator, the Purpose, the Teacher being directed to
the depths of this structure, instead of being directed on a plane
in coarse spatial dimensions, what is peculiar to pagans.
* * *
Though we value so much the theological concept of Islam, it is
necessary to warn the readers against a non-critical attitude to what
may be preached by some Muslims or by some Muslim groups.
Even the fact that in the Islamic world there is no unanimity in some
religious issues demonstrates that only God knows everything, and
people make mistakes.
Let us note also that the Quran is intended only for laying and
strengthening the foundation of the true faith in man, so that
adherents may advance then on the religious Path. In Islam the step
of gaining and strengthening the faith and learning the religious
discipline is called shariah. On this stage so as not to repel the
masses of potential adherents the Quran did not require from
them even renouncing the habitual for the population of that region
of the Earth killing nutrition, which is incompatible with the higher
steps of advancement on the religious stairway tariqah, etc.
There is obviously no sense to introduce into the modern life of
all people the rules of conduct which God gave through Muhammad
to a concrete group of people in the concrete historical period, on
the background of constant military actions. It makes sense to call
people not to the petty observance of the rules of everyday life
stated in the Quran, which concern the matters of what to eat, how
to dress, and how to marry, but to encompassing the basic
principles of mans attitude toward God.
Below we give some of the most important citations from the
Quran (with several minor clarifications; based on the Russian
translation by I.J.Krachkovskiy) and from Sunna.
Reading them, one should not forget that the word Allah is the
Arabic equivalent of the words the Creator, God-the-
Father, Ishvara, Tao, Primordial Consciousness and others
synonyms.
* * *
In the name of Allah, the loving, the compassionate!

1:1. Praise to Allah, the Lord of the worlds,
1:2. the loving, the compassionate,
1:3. the Ruler in the Day of Judgment!
1:4. You we worship and You we ask for help!
1:5. Lead us along the Straight Path!
2:22. Do not set up anyone as equal to Allah!
2:107. Do you not know that Allahs is the power over the
sky and the Earth, and that besides Allah you have no
protector or helper?
2:115. To Allah belongs the East and the West, therefore,
whithersoever you turn, there is Allahs Countenance
2:117. He is the Creator of the sky and the Earth, and
when He decrees a matter, He says to it: Be! and there it
is.
2:142. Say: To Allah belong both the East and the
West; He leads whom He likes on the Straight Path!.
2:147. The Truth is from your Lord, therefore you should
not be of the doubters!
2:148. Every one has a direction to which he turns.
Therefore strive to outrun each other in good deeds!
2:154. And do not speak of those who are slain in the
way of Allah: Dead!, nay, alive! But you do not perceive.
2:155. We try you with something of fear, hunger, lack of
property and lives and fruits; and gladden the patient,
2:156. who, when a calamity befalls them, say: Verily,
we belong to Allah and to Him we return!:
2:157. those are them on whom are Blessings from their
Lord, and Mercy, they go the right path.
2:163. And your God is one God, there is no Deity but He;
He is the loving, the compassionate!
2:165. And there are some among men who take others
besides Allah, as equal (to Him); they love them as they love
Allah. And those who believe love Allah more
2:216. It may be that you hate a thing while it is good
for you, and it may be that you love a thing while it is evil for
you, verily, Allah knows, and you do not know!
2:256. There is no compulsion in religion! The Straight
Path has become clearly distinct from delusion! He who
rejects worshipping idols and believes in Allah has grasped
a firm Handhold which will never break off!
2:264. Allah does not lead on the Straight Path the
unbelieving people!
2:271. Allah is aware of what you do!
2:282. And fear Allah; verily, Allah teaches you, and
Allah knows all things!
3:2. Allah, there is no Deity but He, the living, the
self-subsisting!
3:3. He sent down to you the Scripture in truth,
confirming the truth of that which was sent down before it.
And He sent down the Torah and the Gospel before this, as
a guidance for the people
3:5-6. Verily, from Allah nothing is hidden on the Earth or
in the sky. He it is Who shapes you in the wombs as He
likes
3:28. Let not the believers take the unbelievers for
friends! And whoever does this, he shall have nothing of
Allah, unless you be cautious of their fear. Allah cautions
you about Himself, (because) to Allah is the return!
3:54. Allah is the best of schemers.
3:60. The Truth is from your Lord, so be not a doubter!
3:73. Say: Verily, the direct guidance is the guidance
of Allah!.
3:80. And He will not command you to take the angels
and the prophets for lords
3:110. And if the people of the Scripture* had believed
it would have been better for them! There are believers
among them, but the most of them are transgressors.
3:113. Not all of them are alike: among the people of the
Scripture there is a staunch community
3:150. Allah is your Protector! And He is the best of
helpers!
3:157. And if you are slain or die in the way of Allah, then
forgiveness from Allah and mercy are certainly better than
what you amass!
3:169. And never reckon those who are slain in Allahs
way as dead. Nay, they are alive! They are provided
sustenance from their Lord!
3:176. And let not those grieve you who run to unbelief:
for they can do no harm to Allah!
4:36. And worship Allah! And do not set up anyone as
His partner! And do good to the parents and to the kinsfolk
and to orphans and to the needy and to the neighbor of your
kin and to the neighbor not of your kin, and to the fellow-
neighbor and to the wayfarer Verily, Allah does not like
those who are proudly boastful,
4:37. who are niggardly and enjoin people to be niggardly
and hide what Allah has given them of His grace!
4:78. If some good befalls them, they say: This is from
Allah!; but if evil befalls, they say: This is from you!. Say:
All things are from Allah!. Why these people cannot
understand that which they are told?
4:79. Whatever good befalls you, it is from Allah, and
whatever bad befalls you, it is from yourself.
4:111. And whoever incurs sin, he incurs it against
himself: verily Allah is knowing, wise!
4:175. Those who believe in Allah and hold fast to Him,
He will let them to enter into His Mercy and Grace and will
lead them to Himself along the straight way!
5:15. O people of the Scripture! Our Messenger has come
to you to explain much of what you conceal in the
Scripture
5:17. They disbelieve who say that Allah is the Messiah*,
the son of Maryam*
5:59. Say: O followers of the Scripture! Do you take
revenge on us for aught but that we believe in Allah and in
what has been revealed to us and what was revealed before,
and that most of you are transgressors?.
5:67. Verily, Allah does not lead straightly the
unbelieving people!
5:72. They disbelieve who say: Allah is the Messiah, the
son of Maryam!. But the Messiah said: O children of
Israel! Worship Allah, My Lord and your Lord!.
5:73. They disbelieve who say: Allah is the third one of
the three, whereas there is no Deity but One God
5:116. And Allah said: O Isa, the son of Maryam! Did you
say to men: Take Me and My mother for two Gods besides
Allah? He (Isa) said: Glory to You! How could I say what I
have no right to say?
5:117. I did not say to them aught save what You
enjoined Me with: Worship Allah, My Lord and your
Lord!
6:17. And if Allah touch you with affliction, there is none
to take it off but He
6:32. The life of this world is naught but a play and
amusement; the abode of the hereafter is for those who are
god-fearing. Do you not then understand?
6:51. There is no guardian or protector besides
Him!
6:106. Follow what is revealed to you from your Lord:
There is no Deity but He!, and turn away from the
polytheists!
7:7. We are never absent!
7:27. Verily, We made the shaitans* to be the patrons
of those who do not believe!
7:42. As for those who believe and do good We
impose on any soul only that which it can bear they are
the dwellers of paradise
7:180. Allahs are the most beautiful names*, call Him by
them, and leave alone those who dissent about His names!
They will be requited for what they do!
9:51. Say: Nothing happens to us except what Allah has
predestined for us! He is our Protector!. And let the
believers rely on Allah!
9:116. Verily, Allahs is the power over the sky and the
Earth! He brings to life and makes to die; for you there is no
any guardian or helper besides Allah!
10:12. And when evil touches man, he calls on Us,
whether lying on his side or sitting or standing; but when
We remove the evil from him, he passes on as though he
had never called on Us for the evil that touched him
10:44. Surely Allah does not do any injustice to men, but
men are unjust to themselves.
10:107. And if Allah should afflict you with harm, then
there is none to remove it but He. And if He intends good to
you there is none to repel His Grace
11:15. Whoever desires this worlds life and its finery, We
will help them to finish their deeds therein, and they will not
be underpaid there.
11:16. For them there is nothing but fire (hell) in the next
life, and vain is what they did herein, and nothing is what
they worked.
13:36. And those to whom We have given the book
(Quran) rejoice in that which has been sent down to you
Say: I am commanded that I should worship Allah and not
set up anyone as His partner; to Him do I call and to Him is
my return!.
16:119. Verily, your Lord is forgiving, merciful to
those who did an evil in ignorance but then repented and
redressed the wrong.
17:23. And your Lord has decreed that you shall worship
none but Him, and do good to your parents. If either or both
of them reach old age with you, say not to them pish! nor
shout at them, but speak to them a generous word.
17:24. And lower unto them the wing of humility out of
mercy and say: O Lord! Have mercy on them, as they cared
for me when I was little..
17:26. And give to the near of kin his due and to the
needy and to the wayfarer, and do not squander wastefully,
17:27. for the squanderers are the brothers of shaitans!
17:29. And do not make your hand to be tied to your
neck* nor stretch it forth to its utmost stretch*, lest you
become blameworthy, miserable.
17:30. Verily, your Lord provides abundant sustenance to
whom He pleases and whom He gives. Verily, He is ever
seeing, aware of His slaves.
17:37. And do not walk on land haughtily!
18:110. Say: I am a person like you; the Revelation has
been sent down to me that your God is One God. Therefore,
whoever hopes to meet his Lord, he should do good deeds,
and in worshipping the Lord he should not join anyone to
Him!.
20:8. God! there is no Deity but He; His are the most
beautiful names!
20:46. He said: Fear not, I am with you, I do hear and
see!
21:35. Every soul tastes of death*; We try you by evil and
good for probation; and to Us you will be brought back!.
22:75. Allah chooses messengers from among the angels
and from among the men
28:50. Who is more astray than he who followed his
passion without any guidance from Allah? Surely Allah does
not lead on the Straight Path the unjust people!
28:59. And your Lord never destroyed the towns until He
had sent there a messenger, reciting to them Our
communications (for turning people to righteousness). And
We never destroyed the towns except when their people
were unrighteous!
31:21. And when it is said to them: Follow what Allah
has sent down, they say: Nay, we follow that on which we
found our fathers!
31:22. And whoever turned himself to Allah and does
good, he indeed has grasped a firm handhold!
31:23. And whoever disbelieves, let not his disbelief
grieve you! To Us is their return, then We will explain to
them what they did
32:11. Say: The angel of death, who is in charge of you,
takes you in death, and then to your Lord you will be
brought back.
32:12. And could you but see when sinners hang down
their heads before their Lord: Our Lord! We have seen and
we have heard! Therefore send us back, so that we may do
good! We are (now) sure of the truth!.
32:20. And as for those who are wicked, their abode is
the fire (of hell). Whenever they desire to go out from it, they
are brought back into it and told: Taste the chastisement of
the fire (of hell) which you called a lie!.
32:21. And We will make them taste of the
nearer* punishment before the greater* punishment that
perhaps they may return!
33:5. There is no sin on you in what you did by
mistake, but (there is sin) in what you intended (evil)
33:16. Say: Running away will not help you if you run
away from death
33:41-42. O you who believe! Remember Allah,
remembering frequently, and glorify Him morning and
evening!
35:41. Surely Allah upholds the sky and the Earth lest
they come to naught
37:182. And all praise to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.
39:42. Allah receives souls at the time of death, and (a
soul) which has not died yet during its sleep
39:55. Follow the best that has been sent down to you
from your Lord!
39:66. Worship Allah and be thankful!
40:60. And the Lord said: Call upon Me, I will answer
you!
41:6. Say: I am only man like you; it was revealed to me
that your God is one God, therefore follow the straight way
to Him and ask His forgiveness!.
41:8. And those who believe and do good, they shall
surely have a reward inexhaustible.
41:46. Whoever does good, it is for himself, and whoever
does evil, it is against himself
41:51. When We show favor to man, he turns aside and
withdraws; and when evil touches him, abundant are his
prayers.
42:10. Allah, my Lord, on Him do I rely and to Him do I
turn!
42:13. Allah chooses for Himself whom He pleases,
and guides to Himself him who turns (to Him).
42:30. And whatever affliction befalls you, it was incurred
by your hands; and He forgives much.
42:48. And surely when We make man taste mercy
from Us, he rejoices thereat; and if an evil afflicts him on
account of what his hands have already done, then man is
ungrateful!
42:49. Allahs is the power over the sky and the Earth; He
creates what He pleases; He grants to whom He pleases
daughters and grants to whom He pleases sons.
42:50. Or He joins them: men and women; and He makes
whom He pleases barren
46:3. We created the sky and the Earth and what is
between them, with truth and for an appointed term
59:20. Not equal are the dwellers of the fire (hell) and the
dwellers of paradise. The dwellers of paradise are those
who achieved success!
59:23. He is Allah, there is no Deity but He the King,
the Holy, the Peace, the Faithful, the Guardian, the Great,
the Mighty, the Supreme; glory be to Allah!
59:24. He is Allah the Creator, the Maker, the Teacher.
His are the most beautiful names! He is praised by whatever
is in the sky and on the Earth. He is the great, the wise!
84:6. O man! You aspire to your Lord with striving and
you will meet Him!
87:1. Glorify the name of your Lord, the Most High!

http://www.beautyislam.org/islamic_ethics.html

Main Ideas from Sunna
Compiled by Dr.Vladimir Antonov


Translated from Russian into English
by Dr.Mikhail Nikolenko



And now let us acquaint ourselves with some hadiths
statements of prophet Muhammad and of God through him, which
are recorded in the books of the Holy Tradition of Islam Sunna
(cited from Condition of Faith. Hadiths, Tumen, 1991):

* * *
Good education is the best legacy that can be handed
down to children.
Speak always the truth, even if it is not profitable for you!
Share what you know with others and teach them!
Him, who pitied no one, no one will pity.
Be not a burden to people!
Do not sit down between two sitting people without first
asking their permission.
Be economical and do not bring yourself to destitution!
Do not do things which then make you conscience-
stricken!
The riches consist not in quantity of goods but in the
breadth of the soul.
The knowledge is a treasure, the key to which is inquiry.
Step away from a fool!
Avoid intoxicating drinks!
Calmness is a gain; disarray is a loss.
Do not be in a hurry in taking decisions and provide for
consequences!
Do not judge anyone on assumptions or if you have
doubts.
Exhort every one to do no evil!
If you have to punish the guilty never strike him in the
face!
He who wakes up lately closes for himself the door to
prosperity.
Any bribe is a sin and an odious source of income!
He who has flared up should stop speaking immediately!
An inhospitable person is an inferior person!
Repay to those who made good to you!
It is a virtuous deed to forgive those who offended
you, to give to those who refused to give to you, to stretch a
hand of peace to those who quarrel with you!
O man! If you are not satisfied with the small, the great
can satisfy you neither!
Do good deeds without creating buzz.
Do not wish death to yourself or to others.
He who does not thank people will not thank Allah also.
Everything created by Allah is fine, though people do not
always understand it!
Allah created diseases, but He also created medicines
for them.
Allah is generous and likes generous people.
For everything there is a way. The way to paradise is
opened by knowledge.
Do not be lazy to go for knowledge even to distant China,
because gaining knowledge is the main duty of a Muslim!
Panhandling is an indecent occupation!
Begin a meal with remembering about Allah and be not
choosy with food!
The gate to well-being is locked, and work is the key to it.
To divine and to believe the words of diviners, foretellers,
and sorcerers is meanness.
A bad person is characterized by the following features:
he lies in conversation, does not keep his promises, and,
feeling impunity, commits base deeds.
Pay a worker for his work before his sweat dries up!
He who is mild, who behaves well, and does not harm
others will never be touched by the fires of hell!
An hour spent for gaining useful knowledge is more
pleasing to Allah than a whole night spent for praying.
In any time try to be pure!

Specially for men:

Be kind to women!
A noble one is kind to women; a low one is guileful to
them.
Respect women!
If you are called by the father and the mother at the same
time, come first to the mother!

http://www.beautyislam.org/sunna.html


Parable about the Master Casting no Shadows

Shadow cannot fall on the source of light!
Assyris


There were times when many Sufi schools flourished, and
people, looking for wisdom, went from one master to another,
choosing the one from whom they would like to learn.
Once some young men who decided to go on a journey and find
a great and wise sheikh gathered.
They discussed different stories about those teachers about
whom they had heard remarkable legends and were impressed
most of all by the legend of the Master Who was so perfect that He
even cast no shadows!
So they went to Him to become His disciples.
They expected to see a wonderful man a magician who was
endowed with great abilities and knowledge by the Grace of Allah.
* * *
When the travelers approached the house of the Master, He was
standing at the gate. It seemed that He was waiting for them.
The Master kindly welcomed the travelers.
The sun was shining, and to the disappointment of the seekers,
the shadow of His body followed obediently its every movement
Now the young men did not know what to do
However, the Master cordially invited them to enter, saying:
I knew that I would have some visitors over for lunch and
prepared a meal. Dont upset Me, please, and eat here with Me! You
have made a long journey and are tired! Your efforts should be
rewarded!
To avoid hurting Him and to hide their disappointment, the
young men agreed thinking that they would continue their journey
and searches after having a rest.
They washed their hands near a spring and began their meal
with the Master.
You, probably, were told nonsense about Me, said the
Master, looking at them knowingly. But it isnt worth believing
everything that people say! It is better to seek the Truth!
A lot of legends are fabricated about each Master Who works to
help people. It is said about Me too that I can do whatever I want,
that I can heal any illness and return the dead to life Rumors love
to crowd around the Truth!
Yet I never can do only that which people wish! I always do only
that which Allah wishes, and the happiness of My life consists in
the fact that My will and the Will of Allah do not differ anymore. I am
just a humble executor of His Will.
* * *
When the young men made themselves comfortable in a garden
to take a rest after the meal, a sick person came to the Master. His
body was covered with scabs.
As the Master spoke with him, his face gradually became
brighter and brighter. A smile blossomed on it. The understanding
increased, and the love for Allah and for all beings in the Creation
began to shine in his heart.
He thanked the Master, bowed low, and walked to the gate
Suddenly his skin became clean!
Shocked by that miraculous healing, he came back and thanked
the Master once again with tears in his eyes, hardly believing what
had happened
The young men were amazed
Forgive us! they said We were wrong! You are a great
Healer and the One Who knows human souls! Tell us how You do
this!
I helped this man to understand and see the cause of his
disease. When the cause is recognized and eliminated through the
right understanding and repentance, it is not difficult to heal the
body as well.
If the shadow of the past is erased with the help of repentance
and correct understanding of how one should live and act, then it is
possible, by removing the cause, to change its consequences.
Every action and every thought of a person leaves traces in the
Absolute. Sometimes such traces are dark, sometimes light,
sometimes deep, and sometimes very insignificant. Whatever the
case may be, everything that one did in the past has its influence
on ones present destiny, while the way one thinks and acts now
will have an effect on ones future destiny.
Yet every one of us has the ability to purify and transform
himself or herself as a soul, thus coming closer to the Purity of
Allah!
We can really purify ourselves from the dark shadows of the
past! In this case, our lives will change for the better!
When such a transformation of the soul is reached, it becomes
possible to heal the body as well.
* * *
So it happened that the young men stayed with the Master and
became His disciples.
Many years had passed since then. They learned to see the
causes and effects of events, to cleanse the organs inside human
bodies with the Light of Allah, to hear His instructions in the silence
of their spiritual hearts, to feel that love for people which, among
other things, impels one to help those who suffer. They also
learned to preach Love and Truth
When, going to the world to serve people by the knowledge
that they had received from the Master, they turned around they
saw Him standing at the gate of His house like in the first day they
met. Behind His body, they could contemplate the
shining Light, which was similar to the huge risen sun. That was the
Light of Allah, flowing, illuminating and saturating all around.
Indeed, no shadows were seen anywhere!
Now they could see this.

Parable about Good and Evil


The Lord of everything was evident for Me
and I perceived His Presence
in the manifested and in the unmanifested,
in people whom I met on My Path, and in everything that His
generous Hand gave Me!
I did not divide these gifts into good and bad ones,
because Allah does not give
that which should not be received!


Every minute of your life is the message of Allah to you and your
response to Allah.
You can read every moment like the Quran,
because everything around is the Book of Existence,
and He teaches you to read it!
When you learn this, you will
experience only the Bliss of His Love!
And when you talk after that
it will be the song of thankfulness to the Creator!


Haji Bei Murat


Once a woman came to the Master casting no shadows and
brought a sick girl with her.
This woman, who called herself the mother of the girl, said:
If you really know Allah, heal this child! But if all that you can
do is only to deliver homilies, with which you deceive those
miserable who come to you, then take this girl! While she was little,
I carried her in my arms, and people used to give me charity out of
pity. Now she has grown, but still cannot walk. I have no more
strength to carry her and nothing to feed her. I cannot raise the
child who is going to be a cripple till its last day!
This is a very difficult case. It will take a lot of time to heal her,
said the Master quietly.
He looked at the girl attentively, and then He lifted His eyes to
the woman.
Do you really want to leave her to Me? If this child given to you
by Allah is a burden to you then, well, I agree. But dont regret
this later!
* * *
Many acquaintances of the Master reproached Him for allowing
the sick girl to stay in His house. They said:
What will those who want to learn from You think about You?
They will think that You are a bad healer and not a true Master if a
cripple lives in Your house!
However, the Master calmly replied:
I accept that which Allah sends Me and thank Him for His gifts!
The disciples of the Master began to call the girl Sufy, since she
lived in the house of Sufi sheikh. Thus this endearing nickname had
become her spiritual name long before she received her first
serious initiation.
Almost every evening, the Master told stories or parables to Sufy
but never finished them.
He spoke as if the heroes of His stories came to life, as if the
sounds of their speeches were heard and their figures and
movements seen. Even the fragrance of flowers and a breath of
wind seemed to reach the little listener
The Master ended His every incomplete story with a question
about how this or that hero should continue to act.
The next day Sufy answered Him, and depending on her
response, the tale took a new turn and had a happy or bitter end.
The girl got accustomed to thinking about the answers seriously
as if a real person, and not a fairy tale hero, got into troubles or
avoided them, depending on her right or wrong decision. If she
made a mistake, she was very upset and tried to correct it. Then a
fairy tale had a happy end!
Every day the girl was taught by the Master and His disciples to
read and write, to wash and cook. She tried to do her best, even
though she still had little strength.
Once Sufy asked the Master:
How can I learn to make no mistakes in my answers?
It is difficult or, perhaps even impossible, to make no mistakes
at all Everyone in life learns not only from his or her right words
and acts but also from the wrong ones.
Do you remember how I once asked you to wash glass
containers for medicine and explained how to do it better? Yet you
were stubborn and broke them I recall that you were very upset
then but remembered that case, and since then you have followed
carefully My advice. When you manage to understand something
important from your own error from that moment on, you know
very well how to behave right!
Still there is one method that allows one to make fewer
mistakes.
Teach it to me! asked Sufy.
Every human has the spiritual heart. Inside it, love for
everything can be born: for blossoming flowers, tender animals,
infinite beauty of nature around us, kind people, and Allah Himself,
Who has created all this and gives life to everything and everyone!
The spiritual heart is in the chest. You can feel it in that place to
which you inhale and from which you exhale the air.
Right here, in your chest, you have this especial center of you
as a soul. Love is born in this place. From here, it grows and
embraces those whom we love, no matter how far they are. If love is
strong and pure it can expand immensely and fill everything and
everyone regardless of distance!
It is in the spiritual heart that one can understand the advice of
Allah. It is here that we can decide how to act correctly. The Love of
Allah can be felt only here as well in the spiritual heart that
became big and developed enough!
So the Master taught Sufy how to submerge oneself into the
spiritual heart, how to look with the eyes of the heart at the world
and at people, how to listen to Allah in the silence of this heart,
filled with love and calm, and how to expand this heart love more
and more.
Sufy mastered all this and changed drastically! She stopped
being a sickly girl, who longed for the care and special attention
from others!
With each day, she became more joyful and healthier! A smile of
happiness lit up her face more frequently! Soon her pure laughter,
similar to a ringing bell, began to sound in the house of the Master,
emphasizing the beauty of the transparent silence that usually
reigned there. Now Sufy gave everyone the warmth and gentle calm
of her heart!
* * *
Once Sufy asked the Master:
Why do diseases exist? How nice it would be if they didnt!
Are you sure?
Yes!
But then you and Me would never have met!
Oh! I didnt think about this
Allah brought many people to Me through their miseries and
diseases, and I was able to help some of them.
Everything is slightly more complex than people usually think
When you grow up, Sufy, I will teach you to see the hidden
causes of everything that happens. Now just remember that
everything is connected in this world, in the world beyond the death
of the bodies, and in the Infinite Light of the Love of Allah!
Everything is created by His Love and rests on the foundation made
of this Great Love! Therefore, no matter how difficult and hopeless
a situation seems to be love allows you to resolve it!
I too wish that diseases and misfortunes didnt exist
However, many things must be changed in the world and in people
living in it so that they never forget about kindness
* * *
Time passed by
The Master taught Sufy other methods of purification of the body
and soul. She grew and became a beautiful girl. The light of her
spiritual heart was transforming and healing her body each time
more, but she still walked with great difficulty
In those days, sheikhs sometimes sent their disciples to learn
from other sheikhs. In this way, by listening about the Truth from
other sources and learning from different teachers, disciples could
obtain wider vision and knowledge of life.
And so it happened that the Master and Sufy were alone in the
house that day. The Master was writing a book while Sufi was
washing in the patio when burglars entered the house.
Since deep silence was there, they did not suspect that the
Master was in one of the rooms. They were quickly putting in their
bags all that they believed were of value. (People often thanked the
Master with different gifts; therefore, in the house there were items
that could be sold at a high price).
Having gathered all that they found, they suddenly saw the
Master Who came up to meet them like welcome and kind guests.
The burglars behaved in the same way as people led by fear
usually behave One of them, having approached the Master from
the back, hit Him on the head with a heavy lamp The Master fell
and lost consciousness. The bandits hurriedly ran away taking the
stolen with them
Sufy heard a strange noise and ran into the house She saw the
body of the Master on the floor with trickles of blood around She
ran up to Him
This is the end, My girl! said the Master happily, having
opened His eyes
No, no, dont die!
I am not going to die! Dont be afraid! The wound is superficial!
Yet now you are completely healed!
Only in this moment Sufy realized that she could move freely on
her legs!
* * *
Look how beautiful todays gift of Allah is! said the Master,
while Sufy bandaged the wound. People often cry and complain
when difficulties and adversities befall them They talk about how
terrible the evil is! However, the good and the evil often exist in
this world as two sides of one hand of destiny. This hand acts in
accordance with the Will of Allah and the laws of the existence of
the universe created by Him. So lets thank Him! If these thieves
hadnt come we would have to spend some more years, trying to
heal you
But what about them? By causing harm to You, they caused
great harm to themselves, to their destinies
Today they did what they have been doing always. But those
gifts of love and gratitude that they stole will change their lives in
some way. We will see this soon
Sufy finished bandaging the wound and looked anxiously at the
face of the Master. He smiled reassuringly. At this point, He
mentally observed the sixteen years of their common hard work
and the sudden complete recovery of Sufy
The girl wanted to suggest that the Master lay down, but she
heard from Him something so familiar:
Well, its time for you and Me to start working! Lets put the
things in order and clean the house! Cleanliness everywhere and in
everything brings us closer to the Perfection!

Parable about the Sight of the Master


You are completely dirty, said the Master to a disciple.
Absolutely not! Its not worth mentioning! Its just a speck!
he objected looking at a small dark spot on his white clothes.
Let Me repeat it again: you are shockingly dirty! Go and clean
this dirt right now!
You are wrong, Teacher! Its just an insignificant speck!
Perhaps, You cant see well
No, My friend, I see everything well enough to warn you about
great danger and will be happy if you hear My advice!
When a drop of dirt stains white clothes it is clearly visible
and easy to be washed off.
However, if even a small drop of pride or self-conceit
contaminates the pure waters of the soul, then it dissolves in them
and turns into turbidity, becoming barely noticeable. Then it is not
easy to remove it!
If you want to keep learning from Me, you have to get
accustomed to the fact that My sight is like a magnifying glass.
If I see a vice of My disciple, I increase it with My attentive sight
to such an extent that a disciple understands the pernicious
character of this vice and thus can destroy that which darkens his
or her spiritual purity.
On the contrary, if I look at the achievements and successes of
My disciple, My sight makes them small and insignificant in
comparison with the wide expanse that Allah opens for the future
attainments of the soul.
On the other hand, I am not forcing you, and you can continue
to consider yourself pure and innocent and live in an illusory world,
cherishing your imperfections But then Allah will give you those
lessons that will help you to understand the truth through your pain
and disappointments.
The young man lowered his head and obediently hastened to act
upon the Masters advice. He washed the speck on his clothes in
running water for a long time, cleansing himself simultaneously of
the sprouts of pride and self-conceit that had appeared in him
The Sight of the Master has great power. It can help a disciple to
see his or her problem before it turns into an illness or other
affliction.
However, only a disciple alone can erase a certain vice and
cleanse his or her own future!

Parable about How to Learn True Love


Once a man came to the Master casting no shadows to ask for
His help and advice.
You are a wise Master, so help me! I see my imperfections and
weaknesses, but I cant handle them! I have tried for many years to
restrain myself from manifesting my bad emotions or perverted
desires, but when a new situation sent to me by God overtakes me
suddenly I repeat the same mistakes! I repent after each one of
these situations and promise to myself not to sin anymore, but
again and again anger, irritation, and fear overcome me. Strong
desires and little whims enslave my will and force me to fulfill them
until I become satisfied. Am I hopeless and is there no salvation or
remedy for me? I wish to become better very much
The Master looked kindly at that man. They were near a beautiful
pond. Wonderful white and pale-pink lilies bloomed in water, whose
smooth surface was calm and clear like a mirror.
The Master said to the man:
Look at your reflection.
Now make this reflection raise its hands to its face without
moving your body!
But this is impossible!
Then move your body, but order the reflection to remain
motionless!
This cant be done because the reflection repeats all the actions
of my body!
Yes. In the situation of you and your reflection, you are the
cause, and the reflection in water is the effect.
The correlation between the qualities of you as a soul and your
emotions, thoughts, and actions is the same.
You need to change yourself as a soul and then all your
emotions, thoughts, and actions will be beautiful.
If you want, stay with Me. I can show you the techniques that
will help you in this.
However, you need to take into account one thing
Look, this bud of a white lily is not open yet And even if you
desire this intensively it will not open its petals immediately.
It takes time for a flower to form. The sun needs to caress it
every day and water needs to nourish its roots! Only then, over
time, a beautiful flower will be born! Only then its petals will open,
and all its inner beauty will be visible!
Similarly, the transformation of the soul takes a lot of time and
effort. So, be patient
* * *
The man stayed in the house of the Master, and He began to
teach His new disciple to move the center of the soul to the spiritual
heart.
He explained:
To start the transformation of the soul, it is necessary to know
that one can live perceiving the world not only with the mind, eyes,
and ears of the body, but also by the loving soul that consists of
the spiritual heart!
Now inhale deeply and exhale. Do this several times.
Feel that space inside your body to which the air is inhaled and
from which it is exhaled. Now try to inhale the light, similar to the
one radiated by the sun, in the same way you inhale the air.
Let that part of the light which you inhale stay forever in your
chest. Get accustomed to the fact that you as a soul live now there.
Love is born there too. Let it illuminate your life path among all
other people and among all other living beings on the Earth and
even in intangible spaces.
After that, each day you can learn to radiate this light, as if a
tender sun were inside you, shining from within.
Then you should expand this light to all directions as far as
your strength allows you.
You can learn to live inside this space of light, to perceive
yourself there, to look from it, to speak from it, to stretch the caring
arms of the soul from it and caress everything in the Creation of
Allah!
* * *
The new disciple of the Master began to repeat these exercises
every day.
A new fascinating perception of the world started arising in him!
It was an amazingly joyful and blissful contact of the soul, which
consisted of tenderness and calm, with everything and everyone!
Meanwhile, the Master kept showing His disciple new methods
for cleansing the energy of the body and expansion of the
consciousness.
The flower of the soul began blossoming and giving off the
fragrance of Divine Love. It became possible, because the love for
Allah arose in this man and got stronger every day!
Now he endeavored to never forget about the Love of the
Creator, Who is always around and inside each one of us!
Gradually, this man learned to encompass every situation with
his love and calm.
It became easy for him to cope with his evil thoughts and
emotions that still arose sometimes, and these negative states
appeared in him less and less frequently.
Later on, he did not need even to make special effort to look at
everything with the eyes of love from his spiritual heart that grew
many times!
Thus he cognized great bliss, in which a spiritual warrior can live
on the Path to Allah! He mastered that state in which one can
always feel the presence of the Almighty and find in Him the
Support in every life situation.
One year went by. This man cognized a lot, living in the house of
the Master casting no shadows together with other disciples.
* * *
Once his Teacher said to him:
You have mastered the first stage of discipleship: you have
learned to be stably in the center of calm and love, called the
spiritual heart. However, you have mastered this in the conditions
of the ashram, where harmony always reigns.
Now you may go into the world where ordinary people live and
learn to maintain these states also in those situations in which not
everything is favorable.
Moreover, you may teach what you have learned to those
people who will ask for your help.
Are You sending me away, my Master? But I still know and can
do only a little!
Im not sending you away! Im just giving you the next task: to
learn to do all the same but without My help. Ill meet you here
again when youre ready to continue.
How will I know this? I still cannot perceive always the
Thoughts of Allah and His Words! I havent learned enough! How
will I distinguish between the right and the wrong? How can I learn
to act correctly if I cant ask Your advice?
Allah can speak with the soul not only with the help of the
words.
Those who have mastered the ability to be love can easily
master the rest!
Do you remember that day when you came to Me for the first
time?
You then looked at your reflection
Thats how most people live in the world. They live as if they
are looking only at their reflections in everything. Their horizons are
limited. This is how small individual souls who think only about
themselves live. Such souls perceive everything in the world in
relation to how it concerns them personally: People love me or
people dont love me, Im pleased by someone or Im not
pleased, I want this and that and that
This happens because one usually sees only what one looks at!
If you, for example, look now at the reflection in the pond, you
will see much more than you saw before, wont you?
Yes, now I will also see the reflection of this beautiful sky with
light clouds and soaring birds, as well as tender flowers, which are
reflecting so amazingly on this smooth surface, as if they were
growing in Heaven! All this beauty and harmony is like music that
glorifies the Creator! I also see You and myself with You. I cant see
yet the One Who has created all this, but I know that He is reflected
here as well! He is always with us, and I feel His Presence in
everything
Well, now you can assess how your horizons have expanded!
In all that surrounds you, in all that happens to you you can
now learn to see the Manifestation of the Will of Allah, of His Power,
Beauty and Wisdom!
The whole Creation is the Manifestation of His Plan!
The entire world around you is like the message of Allah to you!
You can learn to perceive it. Once you ask a question to Allah be
sure that you will receive His answer after a while!
Even if you still cant hear the revelations from Him in the inner
silent space of your spiritual heart you, though, will be able to
understand His answer!
This answer may come to you through the words of people
whom you will meet, through a book opened to the right page, or
through some other event big or small that will answer your
question and suggest a solution.
Dont be afraid of the lessons of Allah! Dont be afraid of your
own mistakes! In this case, you will learn gradually to hear clearly
His Voice and know His Desires always!
* * *
After a while, the Master continued:
True love is devoid of selfishness. This is the criterion that
always permits one to differentiate between the right and the wrong
in oneself and in others.
You should love in this way!
Help others to cognize such pure love!
In this case, the Laws of Kindness and Care that you have
mastered by learning from Me will never let you fail!
Now you can learn to live feeling the presence of Allah always!
You will be able to feel Him and simultaneously to walk or to sit,
to be silent or to speak, to eat or just to admire the beauty!
You will be able to see the Manifestation of the Will of Allah in
everything around you and in everything coming to you! The
understanding of His Love and Wisdom will grow in you every day!
Live in this way and help all other beings that will be sent to
your destiny by Allah!
Thus you will prepare yourself for that time when you are ready
to see the Manifestation of Allah in yourself as well. You will
cognize Him as your own Higher I*, identical to the Universal I! Then
we will meet again!

Parable about Offense, Forgiveness, and the
Purification of the Soul


One day a middle-aged woman came to the Master casting no
shadows.
She told Him her sad story about her life:
I came to You for help, because my life is full of sorrow and
makes no sense. I dont cherish any hope that someday everything
will change and Allah will send happiness to my home
I am a widow
My father was a Sufi. He taught me the love for Allah that lives
in the beauty of nature, of music, of words, and of wise thoughts.
He taught me to read and write, to perform music and beautiful
dances
However, he died early, and then my relatives married me off. I
was very young, almost a child, and obeyed My husband was
much older than I. I was to him like a slave-concubine that fulfilled
his indisputable will obediently even when everything inside me
resisted I couldnt even imagine then that a woman can really
love her husband Time went on My husband became old and
no longer ordered me about as before, but I continued to serve
him
We didnt have children
Then he died and I stayed all alone.
At that time, I woke up from a bad dream. I started, as in my
childhood, seeing the beauty around, hearing the singing of birds
and the murmur of water in a river. I began to see stars and the
sun. This beauty gave me the hope
I fell in love with one man, my neighbor. We could have become
a good match We spoke about the important It seemed to me
that we always understood each other It seemed to me that he
loved me too and that he wanted to marry me and soon would offer
me to unite our lives
The time was passing, but he still did not speak about the
marriage
And then he married a young girl Yes, she was very
beautiful, but this was her only virtue She was moody and not
very clever She ordered her husband about and made him satisfy
all her whims
I still loved him It was the light in my life, even though my
love was not reciprocated. I forgave him for his choice. We
remained good friends.
Then one day he offended me gravely. It was as if the light grew
dark in the soul I realized that I no longer could, as before, live by
love that I gave to him, because he didnt need my love
Even now his contemptuous and angry words continue to
sound in the soul and poison my life!
I will never be young and beautiful again. No one needs my
skills Loneliness and emptiness is all that awaits me I dont
know how to live out the time that is left for me on the Earth I
almost have no means of livelihood. I cannot maintain the property
of my ex-husband, which has already fallen into decay
Do you know that you came to a Sufi? I will not give you advice
on how and where you can find a husband. Ill talk with you about
something else. Do you want to change your life before the Eyes of
Allah?
Yes, I want to try if something still can be done
The first thing you need to learn is to forgive offenses. Look,
everything bad that happens to you now comes from your
resentment!
Everyone should learn to change situations in his or her own
life from his or her end.
It often happens that we cannot change the events that come
into our lives, because they are beyond our control. However, we
always can choose our own point of view on those events, our
attitude to what is going on.
And we should always remember that everything that comes to
our lives is sent by Allah and that He sends it for our good!
For example, it is raining. You can be sad that the weather is
not good and that you cant even leave your house. Or you can be
happy that this living moisture is nourishing crops and grasses,
trees and shrubs.
You can be sad because the intense heat does not let you enjoy
a stroll. Or you can be glad that this warmth will help the harvest to
ripen.
You are speaking like my father, and I am listening to you like a
little girl!
You were offended, and I even know that what happened to you
was unfair if we look at this situation with the eyes of an ordinary
person. Nevertheless, it depends on you whether you continue
accumulating the bile of bitter resentment and suffer because of it
or forgive and let the whole situation go so that you can open
yourself for a new and clean life in harmony with Allah!
Many people live dreaming of revenge for years, hatching up
plans of murder You are not like them: you do not want to harm
that man. Still youre doing bad to yourself! You harm yourself by
spoiling all the best that is in you! This is a sin before Allah! You
poison the soul slowly with your state of resentment! This can
result in a serious illness and then in an untimely death of your
body.
Its up to you to continue being offended or to forgive! You
managed to forgive him when he didnt choose you as his
helpmate. So, why not forgive him right now as well?
Each time we can decide how to react to what is sent by Allah
to our lives, and the only correct decision in each case is to thank
Him for all that He sends. Thanks to these lessons, we can become
better kinder and cleverer!
It is completely in our power to choose how to react to what
comes to us from Him! You once were learning to do this a long
time ago.
You dont know yet what a wonderful gift from Allah came to
your life with that event and that now you have an opportunity to
change a lot in your destiny!
Your father was a great master and could teach you how to live
by the spiritual heart. A heart with wings is a symbol of Sufis. This
heart can soar in the world of Love and Light even when everything
around takes a very unfavorable turn!
However, you have recalled the lessons of your father only a
few times during your entire adult life! This is why many things in it
were not as good as they could have been
Now you can recollect how you were taught to live being full of
love for Allah and for everything around you! You can live as the
developed spiritual heart and no longer break down due to outside
events that seem to be unwanted at first sight
You should see and understand what happens when a soul
submerges into the emotions of resentment, anger, sadness,
despair, desire to get, or envy Any low state of a soul makes this
soul move to that layer of the multidimensional universe where the
winds of the same emotions reign. They capture this soul, enslave
it and do not let it swim out to the light, to the joy of life in Purity
and Love
One should learn to purify oneself as a soul, accustoming
oneself to living in the Subtlety and Light, so that the layers of
Love, Harmony, Tenderness, and Care will become ones natural
habitat!
Look, the one who lives being entangled with low emotional
states, such as depression, creates around oneself similar dull and
lifeless space The same can be said about a soul that splashes
the filth of hatred and anger around itself. Those black and sticky
states pollute intensively the surrounding area! This evil affects
negatively other people and all other souls, including plants,
animals, and other beings! Thus sadness and filth multiply in the
space of our planet!
The longer the soul resides in heavy and dirty states, the harder
it will be for it to stand up, to cleanse and accustom itself to living
in the transparent purity, kindness, and tenderness!
Sufi path is the Path of Purity!
So you need to begin with obtaining the purity of yourself as a
soul! Only then you will be able to transform the surrounding space
with this purity!
If one, having woken up in the morning, opens ones spiritual
heart, fills it with calm, love, and tenderness, and sends these
emotions to all directions forward, backward, left, right, up, and
down wishing to give love and calm to everything around then
the pure and subtle space of the spiritual heart opens, and Allah
joyfully fills it with Himself!
You can also learn to merge with the Flow of Light of Allah that
runs from top to bottom and ask Him to help you in the purification
of your body and the soul. Then a waterfall of Purity will flow down
abundantly! This Shining Flow will help you to cleanse your body
and the soul, to wash yourself with the Light and become filled with
It!
All this is very simple! You should do it every day!
Having filled yourself with Purity, you will be able to merge with
the River of the Divine Light That flows above the expanse of fields,
meadows, steppes, or deserts. In this way, you also will be able to
give love together with Allah to everything and everyone
around you!
To begin with, these several methods of purification of the soul
will be enough for you. Then I will teach you other methods. There
are many of them! This is the Path of Purity the Path of a Sufi!
Right now another very simple technique can help you. If
suddenly dark and heavy thoughts and emotions due to your
habit formed during years try to overcome you once again, then
you can cultivate a habit of appealing immediately to Allah in such
situations. Exclaim in your spiritual heart: Allah Akbar! and then
thank Him, remembering that He Great and Omnipresent is
looking at you, loving you, and wanting to help you His reciprocal
Love then will kindle every time in your heart!
You will be able to do this if you want!
All this is great, but Id like to bring at least some benefit to
others! Its so hard to live, knowing that you are useless, that your
life does not warm anyone, does not give fruits!
You received a good education. Could you rewrite some of the
books that contain wise sayings of Sufi Masters and some edifying
stories? I have very valuable manuscripts that exist only in one or
few copies in the entire world. You could help a lot of people to
become familiar with that wisdom which is contained in them
Yes, Ill be able to do this well!
Then My disciples will bring you the texts and some money so
that you do not have to think about what to buy food with This
work is very important for many people. It will also bring great
benefit to you if you do not just copy these texts but use the
wisdom contained in them in your life.
The Master gave her one of the manuscripts, and she, full of
gratitude, went home to try to start a new life.
* * *
Some time passed since then. On the surface, almost nothing
had changed in her life, but her attitude to everything that was
happening became quite different.
The disciples of the Master brought her new books and some
money from time to time and helped her with housework. Besides,
at the request of the Master, they explained the new methods of
cleansing and development of the soul to her.
She also quite often found valuable advice on the pages of the
books that she copied for others. When she was working with those
texts, it seemed to her that she was speaking with the Master and
that He was indicating what she should pay special attention to.
She tried to follow His advice at all times.
However, one day a young disciple gave her latest work back to
her, saying that the Master was not satisfied with the ornament, in
whose design, according to Him, there was no harmony. That is
why He was asking her to do this work over again
The young man left without lingering on.
She stayed alone
Despair seized her: Can it really be true that I wasnt able to do
even this simple work? Oh Allah! Is there any hope for me?
Tears streamed from her eyes
Then she set to work again, trying hard to feel harmony and the
Love of Allah
She repainted the ornament and then began to rewrite a new
text. The words were falling into place, forming nice and neat lines.
The text was saying the following:
If a person makes a mistake and then understands it and
repents, unavoidably there will be a similar situation in his or her
life in which he or she should act correctly. In that way, this person
will prove to Allah that His lesson was learned.
If, on the other hand, the mistake persists, then the tests will be
also repeated until this person erases all the facets of this vice of
the soul.
The same thing will happen with every vice.
As a result, the soul should become like a crystal clear glass
vessel, in which the Light of Allah shines!
The one who understands this accepts difficulties of these
tests with joy and humility and praises Allah for every possibility to
become better!
She laughed happily, realizing that she had understood the idea
of this lesson received from Allah: she repeated her mistake! How
unstable her achieved level of purity and love turned out to be!
She saw the smiling face of the Master that consisted of Light
and thanked Him for this lesson!
Light and Love filled her! She comprehended how Allah was
helping her to become better!
The happiness of life under His Guidance flooded her, and she
continued her work.
* * *
Time went by She kept learning to feel the Will of Allah and the
joy of life dedicated to Him.
The disciples of the Master liked to be in her house. They liked
simplicity and purity that now reigned there. They also liked how
she rewrote books, how she decorated them with delicate
ornaments, and how she took part in discussions by expressing
humbly and simply wise thoughts sometimes.
The Master was also pleased with the success of His female
disciple
Villagers started coming to her with their requests or questions,
and she never refused anyone and explained to them what she
knew. She also retold stories that she copied. She told them in a
very simple way, and what was difficult to understand turned into
wise tales or parables from her lips
Now children frequently visited her! They loved her stories and
fairy tales very much! Thus her house became filled with laughter
and joy, and she could teach those children the Laws of Love of
Allah Even though they were not her own, they loved her and
called her among themselves Sufi storyteller.
Her neighbor changed as well. He apologized for having
offended her once and even offered her to become his second
wife She answered him kindly that she no longer remembered
that offense, but the past could not be returned, and now both he
and she had new lives
One day some travelers from the distant land came to that
village and began to ask where the famous Sufi woman lived. All
local people were very surprised and did not know what to answer
them
* * *
It so happened that the Master sent to her a new disciple who
was not young already. He was traversing the path of the
heart slowly, since in all his born days earthly love had never
happened to him, and therefore his love for Allah also was not filled
with vivid emotions. His efforts were either obedient execution of
the instructions or the attempts to conquer his bad qualities He
succeeded greatly in the understanding of ethical truths and was
diligent, but he tried to perform the meditative trainings taught by
the Master as just some given tasks. His spiritual heart did not start
singing because of the love for Allah He asked again and again
new initiations from the Master, for he truly wanted to become
better
The Master once suggested that he live in the house of that
woman and learn her simple way of life, in which she did everything
only for Allah. He also emphasized that she had visited Him only
once and had not looked for new initiations. In spite of this, she
was one of His best disciples: she successfully developed herself
as the soul and helped others to do the same. And Allah guided
her!
What happened next was the gift of Allah for those who seek
to become better and perform the acts of kindness: their mutual
love tinged their life together!
All around them was lit up by the Presence of Allah, since they
lived and worked for Him!

Parable about Variants of Teachings on One
Truth


One day the disciples asked the Master casting no shadows:
Why are there so many differences in the Teachings about God
and the Path to Him? Why even among Sufi teachers are there so
many variants of what they teach, not to mention various religious
faiths of different people? They argue and quarrel with each other
about how to worship God! Why does this happen?
Well, Ill tell you about this later, not right now. My close friend
invited us to visit his home. So prepare yourselves for the road!
The next morning the Master and His disciples went on their
way. A beautiful valley spread out before them. The majestic
mountains were seen far away cloaked in the blue haze. The sun,
rising over the tops of mountains, gently lighted all around. The
road on which the Master and His disciples walked was illuminated
by the sunlight. It was so beautiful that it seemed that this light
united the surface of the planet with the shining disk of the sun!
The Master suggested that His disciples admire this beauty and
imprint its majesty:
Here it is the road to the source of light!
By evening, they reached the house of the Masters friend. A
lovely supper and wise conversations awaited them.
After the meal, they all went to a garden.
Blossoming fragrant trees, flowerbeds, and small babbling
fountains created a blissful atmosphere of beauty and harmony.
The rays of the setting sun painted the garden with golden glow.
The path, which was faced with flat stones arranged with elaborate
patterns, was lit up so beautifully that it seemed it was possible to
enter the golden shine of the sunset directly
The Master said:
Remember this picture too! This is another road that also leads
to the source of light!
They stayed in the house of the Masters friend for some days
and then started making their way home.
When they were close to the house of the Master, He again
suggested that they admire the beautiful scenery spread out before
them. The sun illuminated the path gently and endearingly, as if
welcoming them back home. The happiness of seeing this beauty
overfilled them all again!
The Master asked:
Do you still remember that you asked Me why there are
different beliefs about the Path of the cognition of One God?
Should I speak more about this now or, perhaps, some of you can
explain this?
The disciple of the Master called Sufy replied:
Can I try to say what I have understood?
The Master smiled tenderly:
Well, try to convey what you have comprehended to others!
Sufy began to speak:
When one of the spiritual seekers comes to the end of the Path
towards the Light, to the direct cognition of Allah he or she
becomes fascinated with the Beauty of the Beloved and wants to
tell everyone about how it is possible to cognize His Blissful Love!
So this seeker describes his or her own Path and everything that
helped him or her on it.
Another seeker also cognizes the Wonderful and Great Light of
Love of Allah and describes for people everything that has helped
him or her, every detail of the Path that seems important to this
person!
This is similar to the beautiful views of the sunrise or sunset
that we contemplated. So one could see the sunrise in the east,
another the sunset in the west In one case, the path led to the
mountain peaks; in another, it passes through the quiet
contemplation in the midst of a blooming garden
Many call the spiritual Path the road to their true Home, the Way
Home! And there is no greater joy than to merge with the Greatest
Beloved in His Abode, where the soul obtains the Highest
Happiness of Mergence and the complete understanding of the
Truth, Which is Allah!
All successful seekers of the Truth cognize the same Universal
Creator, in the same way we have seen the beauty and splendor of
the same sun but with little differences.
If the followers of Those Who have cognized the Creator also
saw and understood the essence themselves, then they would see
the shining Splendor of the Divine Love and Wisdom. In this case,
there would be no disagreement among them.
But in reality people begin to argue about the direction in which
a body should be turned while worshiping or about the stones with
which the steps of the staircase are faced In such cases,
discordances multiply infinitely.
Well done, Sufy! You can explain complicated things with
simple examples!
But You are the One Who showed this to us!
Allah has showed this during thousands of years. In spite of
this, bloody discords that happen due to the differences in faith and
that are stirred up by people living in the states of hatred and
aggression continue taking place up to this day.
We should learn to see and distinguish the true and the false in
the teachings about the cognition of the Divine!
While doing this, we should remember that the Truth always
shines with the Light of Love!
That variant of the spiritual advancement is true in which the
basis is the ethical purity and the development of oneself as a
spiritual heart. This is the Path of Love, the Path of the Spiritual
Heart! This is the Straight Path!
Yes, such a Path may have variations, and it makes sense to
know and use them intelligently. Each next generation of the
spiritual seekers will be able to benefit from the experience of their
predecessors and make their own contribution to the treasury of
knowledge about the purification of the souls and about the Path
that allows one to come closer to the Divinity. All this helps to
accelerate the progress of the true spiritual seekers on the Path of
Evolution of the Universal Consciousness!

Parable about the Sufi Path and the Life in the
Embrace of Allah


Everything that you see, taste, touch,
and hear is I!
Yet I am much bigger than all this!
I am Boundless!
When you being in the great love for Me disappear in My
Primordial Calm,
you are born again
and become One with Me!


Grand Master of Sufism


In the house of the Master casting no shadows, there were
different disciples boys and mature men. Yet only one girl was
among them. Her name was Sufy, and she had lived with the Master
since a very early age.
One day the male disciples began to talk about the place of
women on the spiritual Path. They were saying that women
undoubtedly could follow the Sufi Path but that none of them would
ever become a Master who can teach others. Having heard this,
Sufy became slightly sad.
The Master Himself was not present during that conversation
and, seemingly, did not hear their statements.
However, the next day He began to tell the disciples a story
about the Beloved of Allah:


An unusual girl was born in one village from quite ordinary
parents. When she grew up a little, it became clear that she did not
resemble in any way to her parents or to her brothers and sisters.
That girl had a gift of prophecy and could easily read other
peoples thoughts.
Once, when guests were in her fathers house, the girl came
close to one of them and said:
I feel sorry for you, since they are going to cut off your arm!
The guests were so surprised to hear this that they even forgot
to scold the girl for entering a room and breaking into the
conversation without permission.
They asked her:
What are you talking about?
He took the box with someone elses jewels and pretended that
robbers had done this.
A few moments before, the guests had just been discussing that
incident.
What nonsense you are saying! Apologize immediately! How
can you insult like this my honorable guest?! the girls father
exclaimed in anger.
How can I apologize if I am telling the truth? The box is buried
in his garden under the plum tree, on that side where the sun
rises!
Of course, they decided to verify this and found the box!
This story caused quite a stir in that village.
After some similar cases, in which the girl, having been asked by
adults, named easily those who had committed a theft or fraud or in
which she said to the faces of influential people about their evil
thoughts and intentions, everyone became afraid of her and started
avoiding her.
Soon her parents began even to lock her in their house so that
she could not create any additional problems for them. Only
occasionally they tried to use her insights for their own sake.
All people feared her and almost no one loved her.
Growing up, the girl gradually realized what a stranger she was
in her family and in the entire surrounding world
One day a Sufi Master came to their village and had a long talk
with that girl.
Since then she changed, and her parents could not be happier
with their daughter. She did not lose her abilities but did not create
any problems for people around her anymore. Calm and stable light
of heart love flared up in her and burnt brighter and brighter day
after day. From that moment on, she helped only those who had
asked her for help and only sometimes warned good people about
future undesirable events...
Yet no one knew about her inner life.
When her parents decided to marry her off, she suddenly
refused point-blank and then even left her home.
She moved to a secluded place. Here only Allah was her
Beloved, and she began to compose poems about her love for Him.
Having loved the spiritual heights inaccessible to ordinary
people, she started living as a hermitess.
Enraptured by the Divine, she was not alone in her solitude: her
Beloved was always there with her!
She cognized that the life of the soul can be like a smooth
dance in the Embrace of Allah.
She cognized how wonderful it is to live in the ecstasy of Union
with the Beloved or in the tender calm of being dissolved in Him.
In this case, the corporal container of the soul becomes filled
with His Love and Light so fully that no room remains inside it for
the former I!
When the life of the soul reaches this limit, the Divine Light
begins to flow through the body of such a person.
Here are her words with which she expressed what she felt, but
only being the spiritual heart, you will be able to perceive the One
Who is behind them.

Oh, my Beloved!
I look at You
And cant stop looking!

Oh, my Beloved!
I kiss Your lips
And drink the nectar of Your Bliss!

Oh, my Beloved!
I breathe You,
And I am flying on the wings of happiness!

Oh, my Beloved!
I tremble in the Flame of Your Love
And flow in the River of Your Light!

Oh, my Beloved!
I embrace You
And cant encompass Your Infinity!

Oh, my Beloved!
I want to give all myself to You,
And then I become filled with You!

Oh, my Beloved!
You kiss me,
And I forget myself in Your Bliss!

Oh, my Beloved!
You embrace me,
And I disappear in Your Embrace!

Oh, my Beloved!
You absorb me,
And I submerge into the Depths of Your Calm!

Oh, my Beloved!
Our hearts have merged inside the Ocean of Your Fire
And live now as One Heart!


Amazed by this story and ashamed of their yesterdays
conversation, the disciples asked the Master:
Whose words are these? Are You telling us a made-up story to
heal our arrogance or such a Sufi woman actually lived?
Do you really need to see to be sure? Well, you will have this
possibility. Her name is Sulia. She asked Me to send someone of
My disciples after the book that she wrote down listening to the
words of her Master Grand Master of Sufism Who isnt
embodied right now.
* * *
The next day those disciples who had wished so went on a
journey to learn from the Sufi woman whose name was Sulia. The
girl Sufy was also among them.
The path promised to be long.
On their way to those lands, the disciples asked sheikhs and
murids about this Sufi woman but did not find out much. They were
only told that she lived a solitary life and that sometimes people
came to her for advice and healing.
After a long travel, they came to the village that was, as they
found out, the closest one to the house of Sulia. Here they began to
ask how to find a way to her house. One local female dweller said to
them:
Why are you looking for this woman? She has neither husband
nor children and lives all alone. What can a lonely woman
understand in life? Perhaps, she is not too happy, since her destiny
and the circumstances of her life werent good, as it seems.
You look healthy. Usually sick people come to her, and she can
heal their illnesses.
She gathers herbs and prepares remedies. Or maybe you too
want to become healers like she?
In spite of everything, this woman, keeping wondering, led them
to the path to the house of Sulia.
When they came, she joyfully welcomed them:
Im so glad to see you, friends! This is so great that you have
come!
They had lunch. Even the most ordinary activities seemed to
be sacred in the marvelous harmony of her house. Sulia gave them
very simple and modest food she had: honey, nuts, and dried fruits.
The disciples themselves brought with them all kinds of eatables
that they bought, but very simple food of Sulia was much more
delicious!
When they had taken a rest and then gathered near the hearth,
Sulia began to tell them about the book:
My Grand Master dictated me a book about the Sufi Path. I will
pass it on to your Master through you. Once, in my childhood, your
Master helped me a lot! I know that He is a Great Teacher and will
be able to use and guard this knowledge, which was given to
people from the One Who has maintained the purity and wisdom of
Sufi teachings for centuries.
Sulia gave them the book.
The disciples passed it around carefully and read from it aloud
as much as every one of them felt by the inner desire:


Love for all that exists in the Creation of Allah is the first stage
of the ascension of the soul to the Path.
Let the one who had the courage to start this Path become a
brother or sister to each tree growing on earth, to each bird singing
in branches or flying in the celestial expanse, to each lizard
scurrying in desert sands, and to each flower blossoming in a
garden!
Every living creature of Allah begins to have meaning in the
lives of such spiritual seekers and is perceived by them as a great
miracle created by Allah for His and our own development!
Every person then is seen not just as a relative or a stranger, a
friend or an outsider, but as a child of the Creator!


The one who wishes no evil to anyone and commits no evil acts
is worthy of rising over the vanity of momentary needs and desires
and begins going to the Light!
On the contrary, the one who causes intentional harm to other
beings wounds in this way the Almighty, Who is present in each of
His creatures by a small Part of Himself!
Having realized this, a Sufi causes no evil to anyone either by
act, word, or even thought!


Accept gifts with gratitude! And let this gratitude be not just
words on your lips but the love song of your hearts!
Give also from the heart!
If there is no love in what you give, then this gift is useless!
Any stone in a desert is more valuable than the gift that is not
filled with love!


Help others in such a way that they do not feel as your debtors!
Be grateful to Allah for the opportunity to help that He gives
you!
Be grateful to whom you give for the opportunity to manifest
your love! If they had not agreed to accept your help, you would not
have acquired new skills in giving the good!
You need to learn to be grateful to everyone for the lessons of
wisdom that this person consciously or unconsciously brings
to your life. You also should be thankful to Allah for all events that
fill every day of your life with these lessons!


Beauty can teach the soul many things! It is so, because beauty
is the bridge from the world that is visible through the eyes of the
body to the world that is Divine and perceived by the heart love
only.
Blessed are those who create true beauty! They help the Light
of Allah to be seen by those who were previously blind to It!


One should grow as the soul before becoming worthy of
Freedom.
Only one alone makes oneself a slave or free person!
While one is a slave of ones own emotions and desires, one
can only dream about Freedom.
There is external and internal freedom.
Internal freedom is much more important for the soul than
external one.
When a soul attains total internal freedom, the external does
not affect it negatively anymore. Then this person becomes truly
FREE!
Other people will not be able to limit the freedom of such a
person anymore.
Internal freedom begins in the silence of the spiritual heart.
While one is not free from the crowds of thoughts and the
perturbing sea of emotions, all these torturers will be with one
wherever one goes.
Only when the mind has stopped talking and there is only the
silence of the heart, a possibility to gain Freedom emerges!
Freedom is necessary, among other things, to be able to spread
the wings of the soul in the Light!
When one becomes so strong that one can gain freedom from a
former oneself oneself as a worthless slave of ones fate and
circumstances, desires and passions and, more importantly,
when one becomes really loving, only then can one begin to
cognize the Divine Oneself!


Silence that exists in the expanded spiritual heart is not empty!
It is full of Love! It is possible to feel Allah there, and then the soul
becomes aware of His Boundlessness!
The death of the lower I is not the end but the beginning of a
different life of the soul.
A river, having flowed into the Ocean, does not die but only
begins its new life in the Unity with the Ocean!


What can be more beautiful than dissolution in love?
About the Grand Dissolution, My word will be today.
If the heart of a Sufi is flooded with love for the Almighty and
the Loving One, then such a little heart can cognize the Unity with
the Great Heart!
Small love, having cognized the Great Love, forgets its
previous smallness and attains the Omnipresence and Calm of
Allah!
Just as a river should surrender to the ocean, when, having lost
its shores and moderated its pace, it sinks in its waters, so the soul
should lose its limiting shells and learn to dissolve itself in the Love
of Allah!
In the same way, the coastal sand surrenders to the ocean tide
and allows it to flood itself with gentle waves. And then this is not
the shore anymore but the ocean floor, which extends to the
greatest depths!
Similarly, a Sufi should allow the Greatness of Allah to absorb
the separateness of the soul!
The one who has been able to surrender oneself to the
authority of Allah and aspires inside Him to the cognition of
His Boundlessness is so beautiful!


Men and women who revere Allah, what do you do to show Him
your devotion?
Does He need your praises?
Does He need your prayers and material offerings?
Or is this a way in which you in your weakness and naivety
want to approach Him by bringing donations to the temples and
asking for mercy for yourselves?
There is only one gift that delights the Almighty: this is the gift
from the soul, the gift that is called HEART LOVE!
It is not enough for this just to utter some words!
Think deeply about which of your todays deeds will please the
Almighty!


Today My word will be about the heart, but not about that heart
which beats in your chest and pumps blood through your body! I
will speak about that heart which should become home for the
Almighty. This is the spiritual heart, the heart of the soul!
Do you know your spiritual heart?
Do you know how to clothe yourself in the quietness by
submerging in the silence of this heart?
Do you hear in the silence of this heart the voice of the
One Who wants to tell you about His Love?
He is always there! He is where your body is, where your heart
is, where billions of stars shine in the eternal spaciousness of the
universe!
Beneath everything, He, the invisible One, abides forever!
The one who can open for Him ones expanded spiritual heart
will be able to see Him!
Let the soul take off all its coarse and vicious shells stained by
the sins of a former life!
Let the soul cleanse itself of all vices and become pure and
transparent!
Then it will not be ashamed before its Beloved and Friend!


Let human bodies become like vessels filled with the Light of
Life of the All-creating One!
Whose fault is this that your vessel is dirty?
If, on the other hand, Allah began to live in your heart, then
guard this Lamp and dont let the winds of life blow it out and the
torrents of human malice extinguish it!
If one always keeps the Fire of Allahs Love in ones heart, then
ones entire life becomes transformed!
Such one becomes similar to a new star that ignited in the
universe and should allow the Light of Allah to shine with all Its
fullness and power!


Allah loves all His children!
The sun equally caresses mighty trees and small flowers.
Rain makes no difference between vineyard and small blades of
grass when it shares its life-giving moisture.
The one who receives the Love of Allah as food for the growth
and maturation of the soul can bear great fruits with time!


The Love of Allah is like the light of the sun: the one who looks
at it sees its source, but the one who does not look at it does not
see it.
The one who is not spiritually awakened does not know the
causes of all that happens. That person also does not see the One
Who gives life to everything.
On the contrary, the one who has come close to Allah burns out
completely in His Love and becomes Him!
It is so, because there is no room for two there!
Thus one becomes a Part of the Shining Source of Life!


Divine Wisdom is like water.
Some receive it with joy and gratitude, but some avoid its
cleansing and nourishing streams.
When the soul reaches the Creator of everything in His
Universal Abode, it like a river that flowed into the ocean gives
Him everything valuable that it has accumulated during many lives.
In return, the soul receives all the Wisdom, Love and Power of the
Ocean!
Thus the Ocean the Great United We is enriched over and
over again!


All external love that nourishes you can quench your thirst only
temporarily, since you wish more of it after some time!
Your thirst for love can be completely slaked only in the Great
Source, the entrance to which is in your spiritual heart!
Only there the soul can merge with the Love of Allah!


The Higher Divine I abides in the world of the Great Silence.
The silence of your mouth does not give a possibility to touch
It. Only the silence of the mind uncovers the Infinity of the Silence
of Allah!
His thoughts then acquire sound and become words on your
lips.
His Silence embraces your heart with calm.
Oh, how beautiful He is, the One Who dwells in everything! See
His countless Faces in the world where you live and then this
world will shine with Love and Light!


Behind all the beauty of the world, beauty that was created by
Allah, He Himself the Primordial Beauty is shining!
His Silence has no boundaries, but His Voice sounds in It!
His loving Eyes are everywhere and see you always!
He hears each of your thoughts!
Dont try to hide anything from the Beloved because there are
no secrets for Him!
In your spiritual heart, there is the Door to the world of your
Beloved!
While your heart is pure, the Beloved does not leave it!
So purify the temple of your heart, and then Allah will be able to
look from it into the world of His Creation!


They finished reading and kept sitting without saying a word
for a long time. The silence was filled with the Presence of non-
incarnate Grand Master.
Then Sulia passed the book to Sufy:
Take it, my girl! The time will come and you will fulfill all this!
Tell us a little more about Yourself, about Your Path! asked
the disciples.
Your Master has already told you almost everything about me!
It took me many lives to traverse this Path. Yet everything was
quite easy in my last incarnation:
In the beginning, there lived on earth a girl who felt like a
stranger in this world. She lived among people who were interested
only in futilities of life...
Then your Master opened for me a life in the Light of Love and
taught me to see and hear the disembodied One Who was my
Teacher in my several past lives. At that time, I found again my
Grand Master!
Since then my life became filled with the love for Him.
During the first meetings of this kind, every contact of the
developed Consciousnesses gives the greatest happiness to both!
Later on the Mergence interrupts only to say one to another
about love over and over again and after this to lose oneself again
in the Embrace of the Beloved!
As the lovers separate their lips only to unite them again in a
kiss, in the same way the soul seeks for the Unity again and again
to experience the ecstasy of Mergence!
This is the most enjoyable stage of the Path when all around
give the Bliss of the Connection with the Divine!
The body then seems to be soaring in the transparent Fire of
Allah! This Fire does not burn, since It almost coincides with the
fire of your love.
However, the soul attains complete happiness only when it has
submerged into the Depths of the Almighty, and even the memory
of its separateness abandons it.
I asked Allah: Oh Allah shining in my heart! Take my entire
body and use it so that this receptacle belonging to You can let
Your Love manifest Itself and shine in Your Creation!
Let Your Eyes look through my eyes at this world! Let Your
Lips tell people with my lips what You want to tell!
In this way, my life was passing.
One day my Grand Master said that once He had written a book
about the Sufi Path, but it did not remain on paper so that people
could read it. Those thoughts and sayings about the Truth asked
again and again to be manifested in the form of words and lines on
paper.
I saw Him sitting at a table over the book and writing those
words. The rays of the sun were falling on it. The book was shining!
The lines under His hand were lying on the pages. Allah was in Him
and the Words of Allah were becoming visible.
I took a pen and paper then and began to rewrite this Book.
Now I give you this major work of my life. Guard it not only as
words written on paper, but as the Path of Heart, which is waiting to
be traversed by each of you!
Then Sulia stopped talking and continued Her story without
words.
They were sitting in silence. Each one perceived what he or she
could perceive from the infinite Source of Wisdom called Sulia:
I feel each of you as Allah feels!
I know about you that which is still hidden even from you
yourselves, because His Love opened for Me all secrets.
You, as souls, are naked before Me!
I know your past, all your burdens and sorrows!
I know your accomplishments and your desires!
Even your innermost thoughts are not hidden from Me!
Allah lives in Me, shines with His Flame through My Heart, and
looks through My eyes! My lips utter His Words!
We have not separated for so long that I even forgot about how
it is to be separated!
I am the One Who left myself, and therefore only Allah abides
here now!
My thoughts are filled with His wisdom!
My arms are united with His Power, and My heart is merged
with the Boundless Ocean of His Love, Which has no limits in the
universe!
I gave Him My life entirely and in return received His Life in Me!
I am like the bottomless Vessel that is full of Love of Allah! You
can drink from It!
It will never be empty! I want to bring it to the lips of everyone
who is thirsty!
I am like the Lamp in which His tenderest and infinite Flame is
burning! You can also light your lamps from It!
Everyone needs to find God within himself or herself! Carry the
Flame of His Love in your hearts! Let the heart be filled with the
Flame of Love of Allah!
I am one of Those Who cognized His Infinity!
We all in Him are equal and merged!
The cognition of His Love awaits each of you!


A few days later, when the disciples were returning home,
they were recalling the Greatness of the One with Whom they had
spoken.
They remembered how the Almighty had smiled with Her smile
and looked with Her eyes! They remembered how the Ocean of His
Love had flowed from Her spiritual heart, how Her hands had
served and keep serving Him through every action, and how Their
united Light had embraced them from all sides!
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