| And Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) used to say in his invocations: �O God, purify my heart from hypocrisy�. Even the consciousness of his miraculous grace (karamat) vouchsafed to him he regarded as an affirmation of other than God. For in unification it is hypocrisy (nifaq) to affirm other than God.
All Sufis would ascertain that �outward and inward purification must go together; e.g. when a man washes his hands he must wash his heart clean of worldliness, and when he puts water in his mouth he must purify his mouth from the mention of other than God, and when he washes his face he must turn away from all familiar objects and turn towads God. And when he wipes his head he must resign his affairs to God, and when he wipes his head he must not form the intention of taking his stand on anything except according to the command of God. Thus he will be doubly purified.� He who would serve God must purify himself outwardly with water, and he who would come nigh to God must purify himself inwardly with repentance. |
| Purification from Foulness |
| Excerpts from Kashf-al Mahjub |
| Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) has said to one of his companions: �Be constant in your abolition, that two guardian angels ay love thee.� God hath said, |
| �God loves those who often repent and those who purify themselves� (Qur�an, 2:222). |
| The method of spiritual purification |
| The method of spiritual purification is to reflect and meditate on the evil of this world and to perceive that it is false and fleeting, and to make the heart empty of it. This result can be attained only by self-mortification (mujahadat), and the most important act of mortification is to observe the external rules of discipline (adab-i-zahir) assiduously in all circumstances.
Shibli has said, �Whenever I have neglected any rule of purification, some vain conceit has always arisen in my heart.� Abu Ali Rudbari was for some time afflicted with distracting thoughts (waswas) in purification. One day he cried out, �O God, restore me to spiritual health!� A voice from sea has answered, �Health consists in knowledge�. |
| Poverty is an existent thing and can be named while purity is being pure of all existing things. It is the essence of annihilation (fana) and poverty is the essence of subsistence (baqa). Poverty is the name of station, and purity is one of the names of perfection. However, according to Ali Hujwary this distinction is worldly and baseless. It does not befit the path of Truth. Seeking same goal through different approaches must not cause rift.
However, poverty does imply, one may not be poor in knowledge, and purity does emphasize that one may not be impure in spirit. (pages 59-61) |
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| Poverty and Purity |
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| Pages 291-294 |