A disciple lacking in magnanimity makes no progress at all. One whose aspiration does not go beyond heaven,ûfî is not fit for this battle. The Wise hold that the desire to have everything in the world according to one's own wishes, befits a woman, not a _man_.... In short, a magnanimous disciple should first of all tread upon his own life, and try his sword on his own desire-nature, not on an infidel. For the infidel can only hurt the body, and plunder earthly possessions; whereas the desire-nature injures the very root of religion and destroys faith....
Be on the alert, and take no step without due caution, for Time is a penalty to the heedless.
It is said:--When a man wishes to enter the Path, the Chief of the Evil Ones, Satan, seizes his skirt and says: "I bear the Cross of Curse for this work, that no unclean fellow may enter the Path. If any dare come in without the Robe of Monotheism and sincere Earnestness, I lop off his feet." ...
"Should thy inner eyes unfold, every atom would tell thee a hundred secrets. Then wouldst thou see each atom ever advancing. All are absorbed in the march--_thou_ art blind--and the march goes on _in thee_ as well. There is no limit to the progress of LOVE. Such _has been_, there is no help." From highest heaven to lowest abyss, all things are seeking and striving. It is the wicked man alone who has made peace with the enemy, and cut himself off from the Beloved.--_Letter 53._
Knowledge is to purification and asceticism what ablution is to prayer. No practice is possible without knowledge, as no prayer is possible without ablution....
Knowledge is of two kinds: that received from teachers and books, and that unfolded in the soul. Again the latter kind is twofold:
(1) The Knowledge transmitted from the Divine Sanctuary into:--
(_a_) The Soul of a Prophet. Such Knowledge is called =Wahî=.[10]
(_b_) The Soul of a Master. Such Knowledge is =Ilbâm= (inspiration).
(_a_) The Soul of a Master from a Prophet.
(_b_) The Soul of a Disciple from a Master.
[10] A revelation received from God through an Angel (mostly Gabriel).--_Trs._
As a Master sees God in the Soul of a Prophet, so a Disciple sees God in the Soul of a Master.
"So long as the tablet of thy heart bears the impression of letters, thou dost not know any of the secret meanings. When the letters completely vanish from the tablet of thy heart, then comes the knowledge of the secret meanings."
