In the Name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Ădăb
al-Sulŭk:
A
Treatise on Spiritual Wayfaring
By Shaykh Najm
al-din Kubra (qs)
CHAPTER
TWO
On the Principles of This Journey
You should know that this journey of the
heart towards God requires observance of certain rules (ădăb), some of
which are related to the outward (zăhir) and certain others to the
inward (bătin).
*
* I * *
The first princeiple relating to the
outward is that the wayfarer should give up material possessions and means and
detach himself from worldly engagements. He should not have any engagement
except the service of his Master and obedience to Him and His rememrance.ą God, the Exalted, has said:
Remember the Name of thy Lord, and devote
thyself unto Him very devotedly. (73..8)
*
* ii * *
The second principle consists of seclusion and detachment
from people, especially from everyone who hinders one from approaching God. And
God has said to the Prophet (S): "Keep away from them and avoid those who
call upon everything other than God."
* *
iii * *
The third principle is that the wayfarer (salik)
should protect the seven organs of his body from what is abominable to his
Master, God. They are as follows: The eyes should be shut from looking at what
is prohibited and is not beneficial for one; the ears should not listen to
slander, vilification and obscene words, and the like; the tongue is to he
protected from the same kind of errors and the lips should be sealed from
speaking what is devoid of benefit. And some 'urafă' have. said, one's
speech should be in remembrance of God, one's silence should be an effort to
contemplate, one's looking at things should be for deriving a lesson. The salik
should also protect his belly from unlawful and suspect things, and in the case
of lawful things also he should not consume greedily, lustfully in a state of
being oblivious of God; rather, while eating food he should be awake and aware
of God's presence. In the same way, he should protect his feet and hands as
well as his sexual organs from what is unlawful and abominable.
* *
iv * *
The fourth principle is that salik should oppose his
carnal self (nafs), that is, fight against its urges in desiring good
food, good drink, good clothing, sensuous acts, and possessing a good mount for
riding, etc. This is the jihad akbar (the higher struggle) about which
the prophet (S), the supreme leader of mankind, said: "You have returned
from jihad asghar (the minor jihad) to the jihad akbar (the major
jihad)."
And this jihad is more important and its fruits are
more comprehensive than fighting against infidels (kufr), for infidels,
in war, seek wealth and are subject to the urges of their carnal self (nafs)
which lead them to their everlasting perdition and eternal privation. According
to the 'urafa', subordination to the nafs is just like throwing
firewood into flames, and the seeker (talib) and the salik, in order to get
rid of his nafs, should extinguish that fire in himself.
* *
v * *
The fifth principle is that the salik should seek out
an aware, perfect and wise shaykh in order to guide him on the path of
attaining perfection so that he may attain to Haqq; for the seeker is
like a patient who is surrounded by various maladies and evils and afflicted by
numerous diseases and ailments. The salik is unaware of them, and even
if he is aware, he does not know how to cure his nafs. So he has no
option but to seek out a compassionate and friendly physician who can diagnose
his diseases and help him to recover and overcome his maladies. In other words,
the salik is like a traveller in a perilous and dreadful desert, who has
no choice but to find a guide in order to be led to his destination.