O disciple, advice is easy what is difficult is accepting it, for it is bitter in taste to those who pursue vain pleasures, since forbidden things are dear to their hearts. [This is] particularly so for whoever is the student of conventional knowledge, who is occupied with gratifying his ego and with worldly exploits, for he supposes that his knowledge alone will be his salvation and that his deliverance is in it, and that he can do without deeds and this is the conviction of the philosophers.A Glory be to God Almighty! This conceited fool does not know that when he acquires knowledge, if he does not act on the strength of it, the evidence against him will become decisive, as the Messenger of God (God bless him and give him peace) said, 'The man most severely punished on the Day of Resurrection 1s a scholar whom God did not benefit by his knowledge.4 6

O disciple, be neither destitute of good deeds nor devoid of spiritual states, for you can be sure that mere knowledge will not help. It is as though man in the desert had ten Indian swords and other weapons besides the man being brave and a warrior and a huge, terrifying lion attacked him. What is your opinion? Will the weapons repel this danger of his from him without their being used and being wielded? It is obvious they will not repel it unless drawn and wielded!
Likewise, if a man studied a hundred thousand intellectual issues and understood them, but did not act on the strength of them, they would not be of use to him except by taking action. Or it is as though a man had a temperature and jaundice, which is treated by oxymel and barley infusion- no recovery will take place except by using them.
Though thou pour two thousand measures of wine, Unless thou drink, no oblivion is thine!
Even if you studied for a hundred years and collected a thousand books, you would not be eligible for the mercy of God the Exalted except through action. [As God says,] 'Man does not receive other than that for which he strives;'6 'So let him who hopes for the meeting with his Lord act righteously;'7 ..a reward for what they used to earn;'8 'Verily, those who believe and do righteous deeds will have gardens of Paradise, to dwell in forever, whence they will not seek change;9 8

God's Messenger (God bless him and give him peace) said, 'Call yourselves to account before you are called to account, and weigh up your deeds before they are weighed for you." And 'Ali (may God be pleased with him) said, 'Whoso believes that he will attain his goal without effort is wishful thinker. And whoso believes he will reach his goal a
by the expending of effort is presumptuous. Al-Hasan (may God the Exalted be merciful to him) said, 'Seeking the Garden without action is a sin, and he said, 'An indication of the true state of affairs is to give up paying attention to action, not to give up action.' And the Messenger of God (God bless him and give him peace) said, 'The astute man is one who passes judgement on himself and works for what is after death, and the fool is one who pursues vain pleasures and counts on God the Exalted to realize his wishes.'14 12

O disciple, knowledge without action is madness and action without knowledge is void. Know that the knowledge which does not remove you from sins today and does not convert you to obedience, will not remove you tomorrow from hellfire. If you do not act according to your knowledge today, and you do not make amends for days gone-by, you will say tomorrow on the Day of Resurrection, 'Send us back and we will act virtuously!'18 And it will be replied, 'Fool! You have just come from there!' 16

Know that the answers to some of the things about which you asked me are not brought about through writing and discussion. If you attain to that state you will know what they are, and if not-knowing them is an impossibility, in that they pertain to direct experience. The description of anything to do with direct experience is not furnished through discussion, as the sweetness of what is sweet and the bitterness of what is bitter is not known except by taste. Thus it was related that an impotent man wrote to a friend of his to tell him what the pleasure of sex was like. So he wrote back to him in reply, 'O so and so, thought you were just impotent! Now I know that you are impotent and stupid, since this pleasure is to do with direct experience—if you attain it you know it—otherwise the description of it is not furnished through talking and writing!' 24

It is related that Shibli (may God be merciful to him) served four hundred masters and he said, 'I studied four thousand Traditions, then I chose a single Tradition out of and acted in accordance with it, giving up the rest, for them,
I meditated on it and I found my deliverance and salvation in it, the knowledge of the ancients and the moderns being all included in it I contented myself with it, and it is that the Messenger of God (may God bless him and give him peace) said to one of his Companions, "Work for your terrestrial life in proportion to your stay in it, and work for your afterlife in proportion to your eternity in it! Work for God in proportion to your need for Him, anc work for the Fire in proportion to your ability to endure it!"129 26

[The sixth useful lesson is that] I saw some people acting with hostility towards others due to some motive and cause. So I meditated on His saying (the Exalted), "Verily, Satan is an enemy to you, SO take him as an enemy, my.34 and I understood that enmity towards anyone but Satan was not allowed. 32

Then know that Sufism has two characteristics: correctness towards God the Exalted; and withdrawal from mankind. Whoever is correct towards God (Mighty and Majestic!), and masters his character with men, dealing with them mildly, is a Sufi. Correctness is to sacrifice the ego's pleasure to God's command (the Exalted). And excellence of character with men is not to get men to do what your ego wants, but to get your ego to do what they want, as long as they are not at odds with the Sharl'a. 38

You questioned me about sincerity. It is that all deeds be for God the Exalted, and that your heart be gladdened by men's praises nor that you care about censure. Know that insincerity is produced by overestimating mankind. The cure for it iS for you to see them as subject to omnipotence, and for you to reckon them as though inanimate objects, powerless to bestow ease or hardship, so you become free of insincerity towards them. As long as you reckon them as having control and free-will, insincerity will not keep away from you.

O disciple, as for the rest of your questions- some are covered in my works, so look for them there. And putting others down in writing is an offence. Act in accordance with what you know for what you do not know to be unveiled to you." 40

O disciple by God, if you travel you will see marvels at every stage! Persevere, for the main thing in this affair is perseverance. As Dhü'l-Nun al-Misri (may God the Exalted be merciful to him) said to one of his disciples, 'If you can persevere, then come. If not, then do not engage in travesties of the Sufis.'41 42

As for the sickness which is curable-it is that of someone asking for guidance, [who is] intelligent, understanding, not overwhelmed by envy, anger, the love of reputation, prestige and wealth, being a seeker of the Straight Path, 47 and 46 whose questioning and querying are not out of envy, obstinacy or desire to test. This man is curable, and it is permissible to engage in a reply to his question, in fact replying to him is obligatory for you.

[The second thing] to give up is: That you are on your guard against becoming a preacher or admonisher for it involves much harm, unless you first practice what you preach', then preach it to people. Think of what was said to Jesus (upon him be peace), 'O Son of Mary! Preach to your soul, and if it learns its lesson, preach to people-otherwise show humility before your Lord.'48

[The second is] whenever you interact with people, deal with them as you would wish yourself to be dealt with by them, for a worshipper's faith is incomplete until he wants for other people what he wants for himself.

[The third is] if you read or study knowledge, your knowledge must improve your heart and purge your ego just as if you learned that your life would only last another week, inevitably you would not spend it in learning about law, ethics, jurisprudence, scholastic theology and suchlike, because you would know that these sciences would be inadequate for you. Instead, you would occupy yourself with inspecting your heart, discerning the features of your personality, giving worldly attachments a wide berth, purging yourself of ugly traits, and you would occupy yourself in adoring God the Exalted, worshipping Him, and acquiring good qualities. And not a day or night passes for [any] worshipper death during it being a possibility! 56