By the Door of the Death of the Self – Abdur Rahman’s Corner
Peace, one and all…
Allah can only be reached by the door of the death of the self, no matter what you do. Its death is by opposing it and completely leaving its opinion and following the opinion of the people of the sunna, may Allah be pleased with them. As for the one who remains with his opinion and thinks that he will only reach his Lord after the annihilation of his bad qualities and the obliteration of his claims, he will never reach Him. Reaching Him is only by His generosity alone. Allah ta’ala said, ‘Had it not been for the favour of Allah to you and His mercy, you would have…’ to the end of the ayat. ‘Had it not been for the overflowing favour of Allah to you, and His mercy, none of you would have been pure…’ to the end of the ayat. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: ‘None of you will enter the Garden by his actions.’ It was said to him, ‘Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?’ He said, ‘Not even I, unless Allah covers me with His mercy’. There is more to that effect.
I urge you to lower the position of your self and to be careful in your striving not to fall in to the forbidden and disliked things which your Lord has forbidden you. This is so that your luminous reality will not be transformed into a dark reality. You should not take on what is not on your backs by being occupied with your management and choice, and being very worried about what Allah has guaranteed you – that is provision. You should take on what will direct you away from people and from disliked things. You should restrain your harm from people since it is well known that the pole of sufism is withholding injury and enduring injury. You should leave whatever attributes of the commonality are left in you. You should vie with each other in their opposite …
My brothers, therefore travel with your hearts from the world of perishing appetites to the would of lasting appetites. Advance to it and do not delay. Only the people of heedlessness delay. As for the people of wakefulness, they have advanced, or we could say, travelled there and alighted there.
Shaykh Mawlay al-Arabi al-Darqawi, letter 139
