Pearls of Wisdom 327

1. A person with knowledge of God strives to fulfill His commandments and follows the conduct of the Prophet. The nearer one is to God, the more eager he is to do His bidding, and the farther he is from God, the more averse he is to follow His Apostle.

2. Knowledge is the spirit that saves the heart from the death of ignorance; it is light that saves it from darkness of iniquity. The hearts of the iniquitous are dead because they are oblivious to God, and the hearts of the heedless are sick because they ignore His commandments.

3. Since man is made of clay, he can never be completely pure. Since clay is basically foul, how can  humans escape their basic nature? Purity does not lie in rituals, nor can human nature be changed by effort. Those who love God and remain conscious only of their Beloved attain purity.

4. The light of love and union with God is like the light of the sun and the moon shining together. The light of the sun and moon is worthless before the light of love. Visual perception can only see the sun and the moon or the skies, but the eye of the heart witnesses the empyrean.

5. When Shibli heard the verse "And remember your Lord when you forget," he declared, "The need for remembrance arises because of forgetfulness. The world has stopped remembering Him." At that a loud shriek escaped his lips, and he fainted. Upon regaining consciousness, he said, "The universe is lost in His praise, except the humans. I wonder at those who hear the dictates of God, yet continue to transgress." [Shaykh Ali al Hujwiri]