The Essence of Islam – Volume III — Page 95
Faith, Certainty and Insight 95 perfect code of conduct for progress towards nearness to God and comprehension of the Divine. Such progress begins from the point when the seeker, purely for the sake of God, imposing a death upon his ego and submit- ting to hardship and pain, discards all those desires of the flesh which constitute a barrier between him and his Master. Such desires turn his face away from God, di- recting it towards personal enjoyments, physical emo- tions, habits, thoughts, designs, other creatures and involve him in their fears and hopes. The average degree of progress is that all the effort that has to be made for the suppression of the self and all the pain that has to be endured in discarding familiar habits should appear as bounties, and labour should be perceived as delight and pain should be felt as comfort, and constraint should be appreciated as cheerfulness. The higher grade of progress is that the seeker should cultivate such union, love, and accord with God and His will and designs that his self ceases to have an identity and influence of its own. The Being and attributes of God should be reflected in the mirror of his own being without any trace of darkness or suspicion through perfect surrender, which should create the utmost inconsistency between the seeker and his per- sonal desires so that the reflection of the Being and at- tributes of the Divine should become clearly visible. In this statement there is not a single word that endorses the false theories of Wujudīs 80, or of the Vedāntists1, be- cause these people do not recognize the essential and eternal distinction between the Creator and His creation. 80 Those who believe that God and the material world are one and the same thing. [Publisher] 81 Believers in the Vedic doctrine of the eternity of souls. [Publisher]