The Second Assembly

God the Exalted says: O you who believe, be mindful of God. You who confessed the oneness of the High and Glorious Lord, be pious. He first affirmed faith, then commanded piety, so you would know that the bride of faith, however beautiful, has no perfection without the ornament of piety. It is reported from the Master of the world, peace be upon him, that he said: I heard from God the Mighty, 'Whoever bears witness that I am one and that you are My messenger enters Paradise with whatever deeds he has.' With all the honor the word of faith holds, it still leans upon piety. Surely God invites the believing servant to the station of the saints: whoever speaks the word of faith enters the circle of belief, but whoever walks the path of piety most often reaches the saints. Sainthood has two sides: faith and piety. We hold one, faith, the foundation; let us for the rest of our lives practice piety, that we may not be denied the company of God's saints. Lord, as You have granted the robe of faith, grant also the adornment of piety. Be mindful of God, and let each soul consider what it has sent ahead for tomorrow. He said it twice; the repetition carries wisdom, for a saying repeated becomes fixed, yet its brevity is more eloquent than any other could be. Piety is of two kinds: that of the righteous, born of thinking on the Day of Resurrection, and that of the mystics, born of a present shame before the Lord. When some ugly act is made to seem fair, the righteous picture the reckoning: the blessed crowned with honor, the wretched bowed under shame. So they fear disgrace and keep their hands from sin. Picture yourself standing before God among the crowd on the Day of Mutual Loss, and wake, you who are warned. O Forgiver of sins, are you content for yourself to lie in captivity's chains while brothers rest on couches? On the day of gathering you will see beggars seated on the throne of the kingdom like kings, so radiant with the glory of their worship you would think they were suns and moons. But you, how will you lift your head from shame, with the load of your sins upon your shoulders? If you know you have done wrong and gone astray, come and ask forgiveness before the punishment falls. That was the piety of the righteous. The piety of the mystics is this: if a corner of their mind turns toward the forbidden, they do not merely fear the torment; they feel shame before God, who watches and knows, for ugly deeds are unfitting in the sight of the great. One of the great ones, suffering from knee pain, was told to stretch his leg since he was alone. He said, 'I am not alone, for God is present, and I am ashamed to breach good manners before my Lord.' So, righteous ones, be mindful of God and see what you have sent for the coming Day; and mystics, keep your garment from the dust of stumbling, for God is present and sees. An Abyssinian servant came to the Prophet and said, 'I have committed an indecency; is there repentance for me?' He said, 'There is, and He accepts repentance from His servants.' The man repented and left, then returned and asked, 'Was God seeing me in that state?' The Prophet said, 'Be still, why would He not see? He knows the treachery of the eyes and what the breasts conceal.' Hearing this, the man wept and let the tears of regret pour down, drew one breath from his grieving chest, and gave up his soul to God. The righteous fear the enemy might one day laugh at their ruin, while the mystic feels shame before the Beloved even now; for the Resurrection is far off, yet the Lord is nearer than the jugular vein. Win the Beloved's approval and let the others go; what does a thousand uproars matter if they raise them? Since I have made peace with You, who are all my desire, it is fine if the whole world rises against me in war. Come, let us enjoy life together as we're used to, even if the critic's life is not so sweet. Once we are content and at peace with each other, let people approve one moment and find fault the next. O you who believe, be mindful of God. God commands piety, and the sign of love is obedience. You who claim to love God, practice piety as He commanded; otherwise you have made a claim without proof, and I fear it will not stand. I fear you will not reach the Kaaba, O Bedouin, for this road you are taking leads to Turkestan. Defiance is the trait of enemies, not accepted from friends. Do not be like those who forgot God, so He made them forget themselves; the door of knowing God was shut against them, for whoever knows himself knows his Lord. Knowing oneself is the ladder to knowing God. So devote yourself to service and obedience, for by the light of worship the hearts of believers grow luminous, and by that light come many unseen unveilings. The Prophet says: Whoever devotes himself sincerely to God for forty mornings, the springs of wisdom will flow from his heart onto his tongue. So know the worth of your precious moments and do not waste them, for abandoning obedience brings darkness, and in a darkened mirror nothing can be seen. Sadi, there is no veil; only keep your mirror clean. How can a rust-eaten mirror show the Beloved's beauty? Do not be like those who forgot God, so He made them forget themselves; those who would not bow to counsel, nor heed the scholars, nor obey God and His Messenger. What reward did they see? Their insight was sewn shut; they forgot the very making of their own being and remained in bewilderment, unable to grasp the verse: 'We created man from an extract of clay, then a drop, then a clot, then a lump, then bones clothed with flesh, then brought him forth as another creation. So blessed be God, the best of creators.' This is the knowledge of knowing oneself. He said, 'Travel through the earth and see how He began creation'; the realized ones say this means travel through the earth of your own being, for a moment's journey through your own existence is nobler than measuring the whole world on foot. Though He said, 'We will show them Our signs in the horizons,' He also says, 'and within yourselves; do you not see?' For years we roamed with our soul in pursuit of our goal; the Beloved was at home, and we wandered the world around. The pavilion of His majesty was beyond all place, yet in seeking Him we circled through space and place. Never having seen Joseph's face, we described it; when it came before us we lost our mind and speech. Like the nightingale we cried out all night, until the sun showed its face and we hid away like bats. Let us return to the first point: do not be like those who forgot God, so He made them forget themselves. The unbeliever grieves nothing over neglecting worship, for he lacks the root of belief; without the root, what use is the branch? But you who believe, do not permit shortcoming in worship, lest you be marked with a trait of the strangers, which would look worse coming from you. If the enemy does wrong, that is simply his way; but you, do no wrong, for you are the beloved and the friend. Do not be like those who forgot God; those are the transgressors. They went out and are strangers, stamped with estrangement, while for you the proof of intimacy is established, for it is by opposites that things are made clear. The unbelievers are outside the circle of awakening; obedience and sin make no difference to them. But you, in the sanctuary of safety, guard your honor, for with such nobility you do not resemble the others. The companions of the Fire and of the Garden are not equal. How is lasting bliss like a painful torment? Their groaning, 'Call upon your Lord to lighten our torment for one day,' bears no likeness to those the angels greet from every gate, 'Peace be upon you for your patience; how excellent is the final home.' O God, make us among Your righteous servants and Your noble intimates, the guides who are guided, and settle us in the enclosure of Your holiness among the prophets and messengers to whom You said, 'they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve.' And seal our lives with the guardianship of Muhammad, peace be upon him, the seal of the prophets and messenger of the Lord of the worlds.