IslÂm is other than the lower nature. So long as the lower impulses do not yield to purity, the heart has no affinity with IslÂm. The investigators of Truth give to the bundle of the impulses the name of 'the desire-nature'. The outer body with its limbs and joints is not dangerous, but is simply a horse to carry the directions of the Law. God says: 'He sent us a horse from His mighty palace. Let us ride on it and come to the Path'. So long as it carries His directions we should not vex it. If it attempts to transgress the Law, let us punish it with the whip of asceticism, so that it may come back to the path. This is the discipline of the body. But if a man pricks his limb The world is arrayed into two parties, the party of God and the party of Satan. Look well and see to which you belong.... A Knower has said, "No one comes to worship God, unless promised the bribe of heaven and threatened with the torture of hell." This indicates an indifference to Monotheism. It is said: On an Îd day Since the Lord is thy Origin, thou hast not come; since the Lord is thy Goal, thou wilt not go. "There is no God save AllÂh." Nothing can be separated from the Infinite, and attached to non-God. Since the Origin is from Him, the End is verily in Him. Separation and union, coming and going, are thus unreal. This is a long story. Discreet silence is here absolutely necessary.—Letter 58. |