Original content

English translation

When a dervish chooses travel rather than residence, the condition of his propriety is that: First, he should travel for the sake of God Most High, not in pursuit of caprice; and just as outwardly he makes a journey, inwardly he should also journey away from his own desires, and remain constantly in a state of purity, and not neglect his litanies (awrad). His aim in that travel should be either a pilgrimage (hajj), or a holy campaign (ghazw), or the visitation of some place, or the gaining of some benefit and the seeking of knowledge, or the beholding of one of the shaykhs; otherwise he is in error in that travel. In that travel he cannot do without a patched robe (muraqqa'a), a prayer-rug, a staff, a water-vessel (rakwa), a rope, and a shoe or a pair of sandals; so that with the patched robe he may cover his nakedness, on the prayer-rug perform his prayers, with the water-vessel make ablution, and with the staff ward off harms from himself—and it serves him for other purposes too—and he puts on the shoe while in a state of purity until he reaches the prayer-rug. If someone carries more implements than these for the keeping of the Sunna—such as a comb, a needle, nail-clippers, and a kohl-container—it is permissible. But again, if someone provides himself with more than this and adorns himself, we look to see what station he is in. If he is in the station of aspiration (irada), each one of these is a fetter, an idol, a barrier, and a veil, and the very cause of the manifestation of the arrogance of his lower self; but if he is in the station of stability and steadfastness (tamkin wa istiqama), this and even more than this is permitted to him. And I heard from Shaykh Abu Muslim Faris ibn Ghalib al-Farisi, may God be pleased with him, that: One day I came to Shaykh Abu Sa'id ibn Abi al-Khayr, may God be pleased with him, intending a visit. I found him upon a couch, reclining amid four cushions with his legs crossed one over the other, clothed in fine Egyptian linen; while I had a garment filthy as a leather strap, a body wasted from hardship, and a complexion turned yellow from ascetic striving. From seeing him in that state, a disapproval arose in my heart. I said: 'This one is a dervish and I am a dervish! I am in so much striving and he in so much ease!' At that very moment he became aware of my inner thought and saw my arrogance. He said to me: 'O Bu Muslim, in what register did you find that the self-seer could be a God-seer? O dervish, since we saw wholly the Truth, He said: We shall seat you only upon your throne; and since you saw wholly yourself, He said: We shall keep you only beneath yourself. Ours became contemplation (mushahada) and yours became striving (mujahada).' And these two are two stations among the stations of the path; and God Most High is beyond this rank, and the dervish is delivered from the perishing stations and from the states. Shaykh Bu Muslim said: My senses left me and the world turned black before me. When I came back to myself I repented, and he accepted my repentance. Then I said: 'O Shaykh, give me leave to depart; for my state cannot endure the sight of you.' He said: 'You have spoken truly, O Bu Muslim.' Then, by way of a likeness, he recited this verse: That which my ear could not hear through report, my eye all at once saw plainly, with sight. So the traveler must continually preserve the Sunna, and when he reaches a resident he should approach him with respect and give the greeting of peace. First he should take his left foot out of his footwear, for the Prophet, peace be upon him, did so; and when he puts on his footwear he should put the right foot in first, and when he removes the footwear he should wash his feet and perform two cycles of prayer as a salutation (tahiyya). Then he should busy himself with observing the rights of the dervishes, and he must on no account object to the residents, nor try to outdo anyone in some dealing, nor speak of his own journeys, nor recount knowledge, tales, and traditions in the midst of the company; for all of this is a display of arrogance. He should endure the hardship of the ignorant and bear their burden for the sake of God, for in that there are many blessings. And if these residents or their servant lay some command upon him, or invite him to a greeting or a visitation, let him not oppose it if he is able; yet in his heart let him disapprove of flattering worldly folk, while for the deeds of those brethren he should offer an excuse and an interpretation. And he must in no way lay the burden of his own impossible demands upon their hearts, nor drag them to the court of the sultan in pursuit of his own ease and caprice. And in all circumstances, both traveler and resident, in companionship, must seek the good pleasure of God Most High, hold a good opinion of one another, not speak ill of one another to their face, nor backbite behind their backs; for it is ill-omened for the seeker of the Truth to speak of created beings, especially unfavorably; because the verifiers (muhaqqiqan) behold the Doer in the seeing of the deed. And since creatures, whatever their attribute, belong to God and are His creation—flawed or flawless, veiled or unveiled—hostility toward the deed is hostility toward the Doer. And when one looks upon creatures with the eye of humanity, one is delivered from all this; for all creatures are veiled, forsaken, subdued, and powerless, and no one can do or be otherwise than that upon which he was created; creatures have no free disposal in His kingdom, and the power to transform the very essence of a thing belongs to none but the Truth, exalted and sanctified be He. And God knows best.