Friday, July 10, 2009

'All men need only one thing' - Shaykh ad-Darqawi


Bismillah.

Lastly, my brother, I strongly advise you - 'religion is sincere counsel' - not to give up the remembrance (zikir) of your Lord, as He himself told you to do it, standing, sitting and reclining (Quran IV, 104) and in all conditions, for we need nothing but that; we, you and every man, whoever he may be.

Listen to what I am about to say to you and do not forget it, do not take it lightly or let it go unheeded. In the course of the past fifty-five years or so, I have said to many a brother: every single man has any number of needs, but in reality all men need only one thing, which is truly to practise the remembrance of God; if they have acquired that, they will not want for anything, whether they possess it or do not possess it.

Long after having said that, I read, in the Imam Abul Qasim al-Qushayri's commentary on the most beautiful names of God, that a disciple said to his master: "Master, what about food?" The master answered "God!" The disciple persisted: "We absolutely have to have food," to which the master rejoined: "We absolutely have to have God." Later on, I found these words in Ibn Ata-Illah's Hikam: "What can he find who has not found You? And what can he lack who has found You? Whoever is content with anything in exchange for You perishes, and whoever desires some other thing in place of You is lost."

Without fail, without fail, be constant in your remembrance of your Lord, as He ordained, and cling to your religion with all your strength; God will open the eyes of your intelligence and enlighten your inmost conscience. And beware lest you think that a man who truly remembers God could possibly not be content with that; do not believe it, for it is impossible.
- Shaykh ad-Darqawi in 'Letters of a Sufi Master' translated by Titus Burckhardt
Photo credit: Deenislam.co.uk

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