A True Story
The car descended into the valley and the driver lost control of the steering wheel. His eyes popped out of his head as he saw the awful end that approached, and he wondered how exactly he would die. Then he saw one of the high electro-tension towers that carry electricity from one country to the next.
Like everybody else, the men in the car had always known that one day they would die, and as the car plunged into the valley they understood that they themselves would die that very day – if not from the haphazard descent, then by colliding with the electricity tower that carried so many tens of thousands of volts of electric current. Inside of them, their spirits began to supplicate furiously and with their tongues the men began to invoke God: “Oh Al’lah! We are repenting to you! … Oh Al’lah! Save us! … Oh Succorer! … Oh Most Kind! … Would you have mercy upon us? … Oh Al’lah!” Then the pleading turned into screams of horror and dismay as the car continued on its way.
At that awful moment, with a horrible death awaiting them just a few short seconds away, one of the errant men began again to supplicate: “Oh God! I am repenting…” These words were spoken in earnest as soon as his spirit became certain of his impending death by way of electrocution. All of the man’s deeds, from the time he was sixteen years old until that day, flashed before him one by one in the space of a second and as he watched he only saw deeds that would bring shame upon him before his Provider. Because of this he turned to God in true repentance and promised to behave righteously from that day forth and to abandon his evil companions.
The car crashed into the tower, but the Omnipotent God caused it to fall in the opposite direction to the car so that, at the hands of the Most Kind, the All-Knowing One, all the passengers escaped with their lives. The man got out of the car and he could see for certain, after his brush with death, that he had been straying from the right path. The teachings that he had been following were based merely on so-called supernatural powers and false miracles, and in giving offerings to his sheikhs he was committing sins that would lead to his being condemned to hell after his death.
At that moment he made a true-hearted pledge to his Provider that he would repent and return to the right path. Would he return to his magician sheikhs after he had witnessed the truth, and seen that there was no prosperity or benefit whatsoever to be found through their methods? Of course not: “Who will come down with me into the pit – into the tomb in which the horrible fate that I have witnessed is to be found? And who will face the angels instead of me? How shall I meet my Provider with my sinful spirit and low deeds? I must find a true guide; a guide who will help me to follow the orders God has provided in His Book, for just as Al’lah saved me from death in response to my prayers, in the same way he will gather me with the true men.”
The Godly Omnipotence, which always calls people to the abode of peace, caused him to join with another true believer. He recounted his story to this man and told him of his brush with death: “I followed sheikhs who were in possession of so-called supernatural powers. I saw them performing miracles and supernatural feats that proved the truth of Islam, and I was so impressed by what I saw that I wanted to show these supernatural powers and proofs to my people, who are civilized, settled nomads. I began to perform these miracles myself – chewing on glass, walking on fire and piercing myself with skewers. Thus I had adopted the way of the sheikhs and all of my desires were within my reach. I had merely to give myself up to the magician sheikh and he would allow me to perform these miracles whenever and wherever I wanted. By invoking him and binding myself to him I could make myself feel as though skewers of metal were piercing my flesh or fiery currents were spreading inside my body, and in this way I could perform these miracles – which are in reality only tricks – without the firebrands, the glass or the skewers affecting me at all. But when I faced death, I realized that all I was doing by performing these feats was leading myself astray and heading for destruction. I realized this when the car was going down into the valley and heading straight towards the electricity tower, when I felt sure that I was about to die. At that moment all of my deeds flashed before my eyes, from the time of my childhood until that day. Now I have repented, and I place myself in your hands so that you will lead me towards the right path and guide me in virtuous conduct.”
The guide answered: “A saint is one who follows Al’lah’s guidance. Obey Al’lah’s orders and then you too will be a saint. You cannot overcome the whims and caprices of your spirit unless you implant the knowledge of the certainty of death deep within it – and an experience such as your own should be enough to do that. Then you should contemplate the universe and its signs:[6] the sun and the moon, day and night, winter and summer, all the while searching for and recognizing the evidence of God’s existence. By doing so you will come to truly believe that there is no God but Al’lah, and it is this very belief that will prevent you from sinning.
"This Godly law – that one is to think of God and be alone with him in the early morning, the late afternoon, and during the night – is mentioned in many verses of the Holy Qur’an: " 'And glorify Him in the early morning and the late afternoon'
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 33, Al Ahzab (The Combined Clans), Verse 42
" ' And glorify your Provider with praise before the rising of the sun and before its setting'
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 50, Qaf (The Letter Q = Very Near to God), Verse 39
“ 'And for part of the night prostrate yourself before Him and glorify Him the whole night long'
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 76, Al-Insan (Humane Man), Verse 26
“You should perceive clearly and search persistently until you witness some of the Almighty’s attributes, for otherwise your spirit’s caprices will defeat you and you will forget this event and your newfound awareness of the certainty of death. Then you will fall once again from your high and sublime station and become – heaven forbid – as wasteful as a woman who breaks the yarn that she has just spun and made strong into individual strands. Therefore, you must follow these rules and, in so doing, become a true witness to the Godly Presence. As the Holy Hadith says: ‘Son of Adam! Seek Me and you shall find me.’ ”
The man’s condition changed completely and he came to experience the happiness and pleasure of belief. An elevated state of being, along with feelings of ease, bliss and gladness, overwhelmed him as a result of his companionship with his fellow believer, but he contented himself with these sensations and did not strive to achieve true belief on his own account. He did not think of or seek out his Provider by contemplating the creation of the universe, so he forgot the certainty of his own death, and, as his heart had taken to the feelings to which it had been introduced, he did not strive to surpass them in order to reach a higher level of insight into the Godly presence.
Many months later, his heart had become hard and his spirit began to yearn once again for those hellish paths that he had once followed and he began to miss his old companions, those possessors of devilish supernatural powers and feral lusts. His guide warned him of the consequences of a return to his old ways, but his low desires took told of him and he was no longer able to refrain from indulging them, and so he began a return to his erroneous ways. The Godly Compassion refused to let him do so, however, and one night he woke his guide in an abrupt way, amazed and stricken by the wave of astonishment and bewilderment that had swept over him. He said: “I have had a horrible dream. I was standing with you before the grave of my master, Abdul-Kadir Al-Jailany, in Baghdad. I felt a great sense of respect, as if I were standing in prayer. His tomb lay on a small hill and so I walked up to look at it. When I arrived I was surprised to find the tomb open, with Sheikh Abdul-Kadir lying inside it, all dressed in white. He appeared to be the same age as me and he called out to me: ‘Give me your hand, Oh Saleh!’ With my help he leapt from the grave in one swift leap. Meanwhile, my spirit stirred and asked me ‘How can our guide say that the purpose of a saint ceases after he leaves this worldly life and that the prophet’s purpose alone continues? There he is – Magnate Al-Jailany – alive and talking with magnificent beauty and grandeur, despite not being a prophet but merely a saint!’
“My master Abdul-Kadir Al-Jailany, the creator of my path, began to reply to my spirit’s question in a clear mellow voice: ‘It is true that only a prophet continues his earthly function without cease. I am not a prophet, I am but a believing saint. I believed in God during my life – thanks to Him – and now after my death I have no function. I am innocent of that which has been ascribed to me – I know nothing of what they have wrongfully and falsely ascribed to me. What your fellow believer has said to you is true – he admonishes you, so cling to his guidance. My mission in this world has come to an end.’ ”
That vision was the last warning to that poor man, who had bitten himself with the fangs of devils. He was humiliated in his earthly life, but after this experience, without genuinely repenting and then believing in God, and then steadily following the right path, his eventual punishment in the hereafter would be even graver. After many months of accompanying people of faith, his spirit began to yearn for the devilish ways of destructive lusts and his heart became hard. This was because he did not strive to overcome the whims of his spirit as he ought to have, but instead succumbed to them and returned to the wrong path. If he had truly believed in God, however, then he would have escaped, but alas! He failed to truly become one of God's obedient followers.
Oh God of All, if only you would bestow upon us belief with no retreat thereafter.