The Reality of Human Essence

bismi‘llah ir-rahman ir-rahim
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Do you think you are a small star
While, in fact, you comprise the universe?
Never shall the Lord call His slave,
But I am the caller;
And whenever a slave sees the abode of his brother,
As Suhail’s is seen in paradise,
Then the seen is My palace;
And whenever the angels attend to a throne,
Then the attended throne is Mine.
And whenever I utter a word,
Then God is the utterer.
Whenever I do something,
Then God is the performer.
He sends it knowingly, and the angels bear witness,
And Allah suffices as the witness.
It is enough that the non-believers are denying.
And he who believes in God, God will guide his heart.
And God knows everything.
Truth has come to you from God,
So hallow the name of your God,
And kneel with the others,
And worship your Lord
Until you reach the station of certainty.

In the Name of Allah, I seek refuge in Him and ask for Him and give up for Him. My Lord, You are my refuge and my end and You are the Sufficer.

You should know, my love, that this is directed by the Perfect Man to every hearer, so that he may realize the divine existence. He therefore said, “Whenever a bondsman calls his Lord, I am the caller,” since his (al-Insan al-Kamil) existence is as a true slave to Allah, who has realized in the rank of his bondsmanship, the lights that shine from the rank of divinity. His recognition is a manifest acknowledgment of what he has witnessed of the divinity of the Lord existing in the bondsman. The bondsman is but a rank of divinity through which the Lord appeared in the form of the slave. So the slave in outer appearance is not God, but the essence of the slave is indeed God. So when his bondsmanship (al-’ubudiyya: slavery) is annihilated (al-fana` to be al-baqa`) in the disappearance of his human density, the essence of the Lord shows His bondsmanship as that which had happened to Moses when God manifested Himself to him on the mountain and Moses went down on his knees stunned. He Who was witnessed in His manifestation is none but Allah, and it was He Who called. The Perfect Man thought he was the caller, while in fact, he was pointing to the divine essence in himself.

This is the ultimate end; that is, the realization of the slave of the divine essence in himself and the existence of it thereby. Then the two stages, the earthly and the divine, are distinct from the essence of God which is the manifestation of divine existence. You are the manifestation of the existence – the ground of God (al-mather al-wujud illahi). My follower, if you understand, you will do so truly and you will recognize your earthly rank and unto you will be shown the lights of divinity (an-anwar ar-rububiya). In effacing (erasing) yourself, you become fastened to it, so that you are a slave in your true being, not in your humanity. He, who in essence is a slave, then the Worshipper is recognized in his worship. The bondsmanship appears in him and divinity exists there, and through it you will be the caller, whenever the Lord calls His bondsman.

None but you is the slave
And none but your essence is Lord.

Then he, the Perfect Man, said, “A bondsman sees not the palace of his brother as Suhail’s is seen in paradise, except that the beholden is My palace.” This means that there is only one slave and slavery is of many ranks, in which the slave is but a slave. Thus we understand that whenever a slave sees the palace of his brother (i.e., his existence) as Suhail sees the palace of his brother in paradise, there is no palace but Mine, My existence. Slavery indicates only one God with many ranks in which He appears. And since the appearance of the bondsmen in the state of slavery is called bonded brotherhood (al-akhu al-'abdia), this is especially so because slavery is believing. Bonded brotherhood refers to the station of the true slaves who are bonded in the oneness, which means bonded in the truth and brothering in slavery. Therefore, these are the manifestations of the believers (al-mudhaahir al-mu`minin) which indicate the existence of the One in the palace seen by every believer, that is, every slave, as Suhail saw. And since I am the slave, then there is no being except Mine. All of the believing worshippers see My existence and abode and time in their paradise. Had they not seen this in their paradise, that is, their existence as slaves, then they would not have realized their being and their bondsmanship would not have been proven, and they would not have known their Lord.

None but a slave came to it,
One who fulfilled the pledges of love.
Since the speaker is the Perfect Man and the profusion of slavery, and its founder and supporter and guide, his original essence is in every slave. Al-Mufid, the Giver, the profusion of generosity is a spring of bounty like the well of Zamzam which never runs dry and never ceases to give the living water. He is thus a truth whose reality was there from the beginning because the quality of slavery comes from the essence of the truth of all the prophets.

A Lord is he. Then he said, “Whenever the angels attend to a throne of Allah, who is their shelter from whence they sprung ...” The thrones of Allah, hallowed be His name, are of various ranks. Whenever the angels attend to a throne, it is Mine, which is the source of all thrones and the origin of their existence; and in reality they attend not, but to My throne which is the only one to be seen.
Say not that there is only one throne and seat (dominion); Allah has so many thrones and seats. Thrones here are the manifestations of the prophets and apostles and the perfect friends of Allah and the saints and the martyrs. All these manifestations are Mine, and the angels are Mine and their being is Mine, too.

I am the ultimate end of all that you behold
And of all that appears and manifests itself.
Whatever has been perfected is such that encompasses
My being and I am but the self in its ideal image.
Become certain, (al-yaqin) and you will see Me,
Since you will see My image in you,
exactly in the explicit manifestation.
Then you will know that I am eternal in My being,
And that I am alive, undying, and imperishable.

Know that every angel attending to a throne hallows the Lord of that throne; and he who does not hallow the Lord of that throne is degraded from the rank of angelhood and sent down from his sublime level (station) into the deep darkness, where he is torn to pieces by the limitations and barriers and the chains which hinder his existence. May God protect us, together with all His beloveds, from that. You should know how to hallow your Lord and your Master and you will succeed. Take what you want and realize your goal.

And he said, “I have never uttered a word, except that which Allah hath spoken.” Since the Perfect Man is truly a slave of Allah and his bondsmanship is complete, he speaks not except by the inspiration of Allah and he hears not but through Allah and he tastes not, nor does he smell or feel except through Allah, who is really his hearing and his eyesight and his hand and tongue and sense of smell and foot and all. It is then taken for granted that God is the Hearer (as-Sami), the Seer (al-Basir), the Living (al-Hayy), the Mighty (al-`Aziz), the Speaker (al-Mutakallim), the Knower (al’Alim), and the Follower of Him for Him and to Him.

This gracious breath, the breath of the Perfect Man, teaches us that he who is thus, is then the utterer of every word that is divine. And the prophets and their bond by friendship and through apostlehood, eternity, and individuality all are His word. He is then the utterer of them. Nothing is said, but God is the Sayer; that is, God is the Speaker by necessity and not by probability. “I perform not anything, but Allah is the Performer Who sent it knowingly and the angels are witnesses, and Allah sufficeth for the Witness; He is the Satisfier.” He (the Perfect Man) says he performs not whatever he did before those who saw someone other than Allah and think he is not what he is. “I performed the deed and it is not what you imagined, O unbelievers, and I am not darkness as you had guessed, but whatever I did in life of which I am the essence, Allah is indeed the Sender of it. And this existence which you behold other than Allah, He sent it knowingly and the angels attending upon the throne of their Lord bear witness that it is from God, that it is done by none except God and that the Sender is Allah. None has produced an image to be witnessed from the unknown but Allah, who Suffices as the Witness for existence and being.”

Then the Perfect Man said about the dwellers in darkness and density and barriers and blindness (those unbelievers), by what has befallen their hearts from disbelieving because they do not see that which is centered in the core of their being from darkness, “Whenever an apostle is sent to them, they deny him, even if they witness.” Their seeing is transient and it bears no meaning of right-beholding. That is, even if they see as they believed, they have done injustice for disbelieving. And should they see every sign they would not believe in it. This kind of blindness is linked to stony materialism and to the animal and vegetable states since they do not realize except what is the product of illusion, emanating from animal illusion.

And he who believes in God, according to what the friends have witnessed, and the believers, in the core of their being and with sincerity, then He will enlighten his heart. Allah, in whom he had believed, will reveal to him His dominion and shower him with His mercy – the sublime and Godly provision. Allah is the Knower in the presence of the true believer. Truth has come to every hearer since the essence of the matter is that the hearer is the knower, and the finder of truth is also the hearer in every position in accordance with rank.

So hallow the name of your Lord, O hearer of truth, since He is your Lord, manifest to you in the form of the love of the people to you and He is your guide. Hallow the name of your Lord and be one of the kneelers at His bidding and behave yourself according to the code of His love. And when you kneel to Him, forget everything else. If you know He is the Truth and He is the Indicator in His capacity of God, then stick to Him and worship your Lord who develops your future and potentials until what He decrees comes to you from certainty. Then you will realize everything He ordered you to do and the wisdom behind everything He prohibited you from doing. And with every divine revelation to you, you will witness Him and find Him indeed and with certainty. amin.