Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani "On Love"

" the outside of maqam Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani "

I would like to share a great insight by Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani (rahimullah), but I forget which text exactly (I think it's Revelations of the Unseen...but it is from one of the English translations published by Al-Baz).

On Love

The Shaykh (may Allah be well pleased with him, and grant him contentment) said:

You so often say: "No matter whom I love, my love does not last long. Something always comes between us, whether through absence or death or hostility, or, in the case of material objects, through destruction or loss." Well, this may be said to you: Do you not know, O beloved of the Lord of Truth, so cared for and looked after, so jealously watched and guarded, do you not know that Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) is jealous? He has created you for Himself, and you are yearning to belong to someone other than Him! Have you not heard His words (Almighty and Glorious is He):

He loves them and they love Him... (5:54)

and His words (Exalted is He):

I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me. (51:56)

Have you not heard the saying of the Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace): "When Allah loves a servant, He puts him through a trial, and if he is patient, He makes him His own." When someone asked: "O Messenger of Allah, what is meant by 'He makes him His own'?" he replied: "He leaves him neither wealth nor children." This is because if he had wealth and children he would love them, and his love for his Lord would be diminished and fragmented, since it would be shared between Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) and others. But Allah (Exalted is He) will tolerate no partner, for He is jealous, prevailing over all things and predominant over all things. He therefore destroys and annihilates His 'partner', so that His servant's heart will be His and His alone, with no other to share it. The truth of His words (Almighty and Glorious is He), "He loves them and they love Him," is now confirmed.

The heart is cleansed at last of all partners and rivals, such as wife, wealth and children, sensual pleasures and cravings, and the ambitious pursuit of positions of authority and leadership, of charismatic powers and spiritual states, stages and stations, heavenly gardens and degrees, proximity and advancement. Since no will or desire remains in the heart, it becomes like a cracked vessel in which no liquid can be contained, for it is broken through the working of Allah. Whenever any self-will arises there, it is shattered by Allah's action and His jealousy. Then around it are pitched the tents of dignity and might and awe, and in front of them are dug the moats of majesty and power, so that no willful desire for anything at all can gain access to the heart.

Now the heart can no longer be harmed by any means, not by wealth, not by children, family and friends, nor yet by charismatic gifts, wisdom, knowledge and acts of piety. Since all of this will remain outside the heart, it will not excite the jealousy of Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He). It will rather be a mark of honor and a kind of favor from Allah to His servant, and a blessing, a provision and a useful benefit for those who come to him, for they will be honored by it, and receive mercy, and because of this gift of grace they will enjoy protection from Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He). He will therefore be a sentinel for them, a protective wing, a refuge and an intercessor in this world and the hereafter.



The Shaykh (may Allah be well pleased with him, and grant him contentment )said:

How often the believer will say: "So and so is brought near to the Lord, while I am kept at a distance; so and so receives gifts, while I am deprived; so and so is enriched, while I am impoverished; so and so is granted good health, while I am plagued with illness; so and so is honored, while I am despised; so and so is praised, while I am blamed; so and so is believed, while I am called a liar." Does he not know that He is One, and that the One loves oneness in love, and loves one who is single in his love for Him? If He drew you near to Him by means of any other, your love for Him (Almighty and Glorious is He) might be diminished and dispersed. Perhaps you would develop an affection for the one at whose hands you experienced the connection and the blessing, so that the love for Allah in your heart would decrease.

Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) is jealous and loves no partner, so He keeps the hands of others from connecting with you, their tongues from praising and complimenting you, and their feet from running toward you, so that you will not devote your attention to them instead of Him. Have you not heard the saying of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace): "Hearts are disposed by nature to love those who treat them well"? Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) therefore uses all ways and means to keep people from treating you well, until you profess His Oneness, love Him, and become His in every respect, outwardly and inwardly, in action and at rest, so that you see no good coming from any but Him and no evil coming from any but Him (Almighty and Glorious is He). You become extinct to creatures and to the self, to passion, will and desire, and to everything apart from the Lord. Then He causes hands to open up to you with delights and gifts and presents, and tongues to praise and compliment you, and so He always pampers you in this world and then in the hereafter.

So do not misbehave. Notice Him who notices you, attend to Him who attends to you, give your hand to Him who holds you tight from falling, who brings you out of the darkness of your ignorance, saves you from destruction, washes away all your dirt, cleans up all your filth, and releases you from your stinking carcass, from your wicked fantasies, from your evil-prompting self, from your misguided and misguiding fellows, from your devils and your ignorant friends, those highway robbers on the road to the Lord of Truth, who stand between you and all that is precious and valuable and dear.

How much longer habits, how much longer creatures, how much longer passions, how much longer folly, how much longer this world, how much longer the hereafter, how much longer that which is other than the Lord? Where are you in relation to the Creator of things, the Maker and Shaper, the First and the Last, the Outer and the Inner, the point of return and point of origin, to whom all hearts belong, the solace of spirits, the resting place of burdens, the giving of gifts and bestowal of blessings?

Mighty is His estate!