Thinking and Verification
Man’s privilege over other animals is his reason and far-seeing thought. A child from the very first day of his birth is similar to other animals but with the growth of the body, his power of thought also develops and his foresight increases.
He finds out from what is known to him or from what he has seen and heard that which was formerly unknown to him as well as discovering the works and influences of other beings.
He engages in embellishing and grooming his corporeal body and attends to its requisites both internal and external. The more he employs his mind, the better requirements that are provided, the better he will progress.
It is evident that gradually he begins to find out the effects and the mysteries of the world of creation, and makes inventions and creates arts and techniques for the benefit of his fellow-creatures.
He should not, however, limit himself to this alone; nor devote all his thought to the outer life; nor use up all his endeavors for his body and its requirements which is mortal; rather, he should awaken and ponder on this:
Where have I come from and for what purpose?
Where am I to go, and where shall my home be?
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Proofs of the Immortality of the Spirit, Incorporeality of the Soul, and the Next World
And from the limitation of the body and material things and their transformations, from the gradual and complete annihilation of the body, from the unceasing burning of the innate search and passion for worldly desires, from the pursuit of wishes and the longing for that which he has lost, he will be brought to realize that this unending agitation of thought is not restricted to the world and that human reality is something other than this body. Rather, that which controls the [human] faculties and organs and remains unchanged throughout all the transformations of the body and is single despite the plurality of its faculties and is strange to all despite its familiarity with them and is the knowing, the seeing, and the powerful in the body and is enduring and single in spite of the unawareness of the body and the heedlessness of imagination and throughout childhood, youth, and old age as well as during happiness and unhappiness, corpulence and leanness, illness and health and to which are attributed thought and reason is called “soul” or “spirit”, it is the reality and the personality of man and is neither corporeal nor perceptible. The heart and the center of thinking are the intermediaries between spirit and body and spirit dominates over the heart and the heart dominates over the body.
We should, therefore, not entangle the spirit constantly in the well and prison of the body with illusion (wahima); rather, the body should be illuminated through the heart with the light of spirit.
And one’s truth should not be sacrificed to the world, but one should attend somewhat to one’s own self and discover that the effects, words, thoughts, and deeds which are with us throughout life and even unto death are perceptible, but are not found in the body. Therefore, as they are kept on the tablet of the spirit, they remain non perished and stay with the spirit forever, even after natural death and complete annihilation of the body, which during lifetime is also in the process of perishing.
As man lives without the body when asleep, and becomes happy or sad after waking up due to the states and the occurrences that he has undergone [during his sleep], and if he has had a good or a bad dream, whether he wants to or not, he will feel the happiness or unhappiness arising from it after waking up and later on he will see the effects or [the realization of] the dream itself; in the same way, our deeds will accompany us and will bring about ease or torture after death. We should, therefore, give thought to the comfort of the hereafter.
But thought cannot find its way there by itself: hence we have to seek for a path and a guide in order to arrive there. As the prophets and the Saints have already passed along the Path, have experienced its troubles, have gained a knowledge of the provisions for the Path, have been commissioned to awaken [people], and have indicated the right and the wrong way, we should, therefore, seek to comply with their orders. The birth of such far-sightedness is the beginning of journeying towards God.
If this search and desire intensifies, if the believer resolves to correct himself, and he realizes that he will not attain his Goal by mere outward religiousness or by merely professing to be religious by enacting the outward appearance of religion and that he cannot travel along the Path simply by the writings and the instructions of the Guide and that a Path with endless dangers and innumerable highwaymen should be traveled with a guide and a weapon, he will begin to do research or to investigate in order that he might find out the explicit decree (nass) of the Predecessors, who have been clear-sighted and well-informed and whose words he considers to be the truth. This decree is the only means by which the Guide can be recognized and is also conjoined with the [divine] effect.
He should, then adhere [to the Guide] with insight and with good belief, and surrender himself like Moses in his following of Khidr. Such adherence is called, in Gnostic usage and terminology, the “beginning of the journey”.
He should, afterwards, in accordance with the orders that he has received, pass along the Path with the steps of an aspirant. And without any objection or doubt, he should maintain his steadfastness in his inspirations (halat-I warida), removing himself from temptations by using the remembrance (dhikr) [of God] as a weapon, and be always in the state of meditation (fikr).
He should take thought of the end, not cling only to outward appearance, and as long as he lives, should not take the grip of his heart from the skirt of the Pir (i.e. should cling to him). He should also turn his face in the direction (wijha) of the Divine Order and consider showing reverence to him likewise as that paid to God and comply with what pleases him. Doing so is praiseworthy, though blind imitation (taqlid) founded on an unstable basis is blameworthy.
And he should for the attainment of [spiritual] luminosity and insight — which brings about a state of powerlessness and indigence – increase his recourses (tawassul) [to the Pir], regarding them as coming from the beams of the Pir’s [spiritual] attention, lest he should fall into the abyss of boastfulness. For the dangers of self-conceit, obstinacy, and pride are the great dangers of the Path.
Source: Sufism.ir