Finally, we should deal with an important question that may occur to people’s minds. One of you may ask:
You have mentioned and repeated more than one time that a link with God is the way that leads to avoiding and being cured of spiritual disease and suffering, and being free of the magicians’ control and influence. But I wonder: how can people perform real communication with God, so as to be one of the believers over whom the devil has no power?
In the Holy Qur’an, God says: “No power has he over believers who put their trust in their Provider. He has power only over those who befriend him and those who obey others besides Him.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 16, An-Nahl (The Bees), verse 99-100
According to what is mentioned in this noble verse, the secret to escape and success is nothing but belief. So, how can real and true belief be achieved? To answer this question, we say the following: when a person leaves their mothers’ womb and enters into this universe, they come into being knowing nothing. Yet the Almighty God has granted them hearing, vision and mind.
So, when they grow and begin to perceive what is around them, they set to recognizing things. They examine them, turn them, and test the extent of their resistance and the degree of their power in overcoming them.
They sometimes strike them against one another so as to hear their sounds and to know their effects on each other.
Then, when their perception increases and they begin to understand, they look at the sky and what is in it, such as the sun, the moon and the shining stars, just as they behold the earth and what is on it, such as the seas, the rivers, the mountains, and humans and animals. Then, they wonder:
“Why do the stars shine?! Where do the clouds come from?! Where does the sun go in the evening?!”
They may even ask about God the Almighty, saying:
“Where is Al’lah?!”
Through such questions and many others, they seek to recognize this universe and its causes, and even to recognize the Originator of it and the Artificer of what it contains.
I wonder, who dictates such questions to the child?
Who addresses these questions to them?
Undoubtedly, there is a hidden voice that flows in the depths of their spirit from time to time. This is the voice of the angel whom is sent to this child by Al’lah.
They are called to in secret, in order to make their spirit direct these new inquiries to the power of thought, so that it may answer these questions.
So, the power of thought is the system which God has put into humanity in order to help the spirit find out the facts and recognize all that surrounds it; thereby, it perceives and pays attention to these facts, and becomes satisfied and pleased with the knowledge it has attained by means of this ability to think.
By such questions (which the angel throws into the child’s spirit), the wheels of this system start working, so its cells begin to grow and its parts begin to be completed. This continues day by day and year after year, until this child reaches the age of maturity, where the full ability to grasp the truth and to know the Superior Maker and the Lord Provider emerges.
If a person of this age of maturity reflects on the wonderful construction of their body, and on their appearance which has been shaped based on the greatest degree of perfection in accuracy and arrangement, and contemplates each of their organs and the order of the systems of their body; if they think of the correlation between these systems and of their continuous movements and functional workings, seeing how they all work together in cooperation and in harmonious order so as to provide for this body and for the whole world; and indeed, the body can also be referred to as a world and as a single unity in itself, in a state of continuous existence and growth; I say, if a person examines their body from such a perspective and thinks in this way, and then returns to their origin on the day when they were a drop of semen that was put in their mother’s womb; if they remember that day when they were nothing worth mentioning, and how they had no character, no prestige and no rank, and did not have such an organized body or such an arrangement; I say, if a person examines themselves by adopting these two approaches, one of which is through the lens of the present time, and the other through the lens of the past, and then they bring these two cases to remembrance together, in comparison, inquiry and judgment: there is no doubt that their thought will quickly lead them to realize that there must be a potent Hand that has made them into a complete person and has created them as such a perfect creation. It has taken care of them up to now, and it keeps doing so all throughout their life.
If this spirit keeps thinking deeply on this point, and advances in this field stride after stride, this fact will settle in this spirit’s depths until it becomes an axiomatic case, for it is a case that does not need disputation or proof or evidence.
Thus, humanity’s origin and entry into this world is an important case which evokes meditation and stimulates thought.
Just as coming into existence is an important case, this also goes for leaving it; in fact, this is even more serious and has a more deep-reaching effect on the spirit.
How many people have had somebody with whom they lived, who they loved, and who they watched work and overwork, so that they entertained great hopes for their life with them, and put plans in place with them that were filled with golden dreams of the future; but suddenly, just like the lamp when a storm blows out its light, death quenched the movements of this lover and left them as nothing more than a lifeless corpse and a motionless body!!
Where is the lamp?!! Where is the light?!
Where are their movement and speech? Where have their wishes gone? Where are the girls, the boys and the children that they were hoping for?
The flame has gone out; the movement has stopped; the storm is becalmed and the person has died.
In this situation, when the spirit watches such things that happen to others, the wheels of thought will run in a different way.
This line of thought differs from the first kind. They are not in agreement concerning the subject, and the direction of each line of thought is different. Nonetheless they fully agree with one another concerning their results and their aims.
This spirit will know that this Hand – which created it perfectly and brought it into its current existence by granting life to it – one day will certainly take the spirit back to Itself at the time of death, and will withdraw the soul from it. This is true no matter how long its lifetime may last. The spirit is what had held the Trust that was given to humanity by Al’lah, which is what allows us to exercise free choice while we are alive. Thus, no matter how much the spirit may aspire to stay or seek to stay, there is no staying.
Our lifetime is temporal, and surely the Trust (and the ability to choose freely) will be recovered by God along with the spirit. After strength comes weakness, after happiness comes grief, and inevitable death follows life.
When death comes and overwhelms us, there will be no avoidance or escape. God says: “If you could only see when they (the unbelievers) will quake with terror; but then there will be no escape, and they will be seized from a position (quite) near.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 34, Saba’ (Sheba), verse 51
And He says: “Then why do you not (intervene) when (the soul of the dying man) reaches the throat? And all the while you (sit) looking on. But We are nearer to him than you, and yet see not.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 56, Al-Waqi’a (The Inevitable Event), verse 83-85
At this time, the spirit will feel fear, and so it will turn to thought, seeking to recognize the Hand which created it and built it up after it was brought into this existence, and which will take back Its charge whenever It wants.
Here, the field of thought becomes larger as the human person exceeds the limits of their own identity. They begin to think about the universal signs which surround them, such as the sun, the moon, the stars, the mountains, the rivers, the seas, the animals, the plants, the day and the night, the four seasons, the winds, the clouds, the thunder, the lightning and the rain.
When a person deeply contemplates this great universe, they will find that everything in it works and moves only according to a general discipline and a comprehensive rule.
They will see that the entire universe is but one unity that is controlled and directed by a single Potency and a single Will, with science, wisdom and compassion.
If a person looks into this universe in such a way, and then they turn to themselves, they will find that they are nothing other than a small piece of this universe, and are also subject to the same discipline. This great earth swimming in such a large and endless cosmos is correlated with the sun, the moon and the stars.
All these bodies and these beings are controlled by this supreme Will and infinite Might, watching over them all and directing them all.
Reaching this point and achieving this witnessing – that is to say, witnessing that there is no God except Al’lah and believing in Him – creates a kind of feeling of awe inside one’s spirit for the greatness of that supreme Will, which controls this universe and steers it with science, wisdom, potency and mercy.
Thus, this person will not deal badly with anybody in all humanity, whatever another person’s character, or the degree of one’s kinship or hostility to them. A person who has reached this level of understanding will not even dare to hurt anything within creation, because they will have found that all creation is but a production of this Supreme Self.
Hence, you will see this person act properly with all of creation. This straightness will make them feel sure of God’s Satisfaction with them, so they will draw nearer to Him. Through such nearness and direction, the spirit derives perfection from the Almighty God. That is communication with God in its reality. It is this kind of communication based on such self-belief which you have to seek out and practice.
Only by performing this communication and reaching this state can the spirit be prevented from inclining to the worldly life and the mean desires that it contains.
The spirit will then begin to loathe all that is contained in this life, except for the performance of good deeds and charitable actions.
All that is good is derived from Al’lah and comes from performing true communication with Him, such as polishing one’s morals, disciplining one’s manners, and fixing one’s habits.
Straightness and communication with God form the impregnable fort which protects us from spiritual complexes and ailments and drives away the evil of magicians and devils.
This is accomplished by believing in God and turning towards Him. Even the messenger (cpth), who was the first humane curer, is just a mediator to lead the spirits of the believers, who turn themselves to God through him. Thereby he (cpth) takes them out of the worldly darkness and into the Godly light, where the real recovery from anything unpleasant and from any sneaking whisperer takes place. God says:
“It is He who brings down clear revelation upon His obedient follower (the messenger Mohammad) so that he may lead you from the depths of darkness into the light. And verily, Al’lah is clement and Merciful to you.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 57, Al-Hadid (Iron), verse 9
For the messenger (cpth) is the shining lamp. He illuminates the way for the faithful spirits, and shows them God’s light and supreme Attributes in a way that is proportional to their status, their level of confidence and their nearness to Him, the Almighty.
This is achieved during communication with God.
The believing spirit flows out during its communication and heads towards the Sacred House (Al-Ka’ba), where it meets the messenger’s spirit (cpth) and couples with it in a bond of love and appreciation.
Then, through the company of this noble spirit, it ascends through the Godly light. That is where it witnesses the facts and the perfection that make it adore Him, the Almighty, so that it can live wholly in a state of lofty Godly bliss, due to seeing an aspect of His Perfection.
This is communication with God in its reality, and this is spiritual flowing and witnessing with the eye of the heart (by the Godly light) rather than with the physical eye. This is the heart’s nurture which the Almighty wants us to achieve, for our own benefit. It helps us become free of all spiritual ailments, and acquire a share of the Godly perfection. In this way, magicians and devils will cease to have power over our spirits and our bodies. On the contrary, they will become subdued, and be lowly and defeated before us.
The Almighty has recommended us to direct our hearts toward the holy house (Al-Ka’ba) during our communication with Him. He says: “So from wheresoever you (Mohammad) start forth, turn your face towards the holy mosque: and wheresoever you are, turn your face thither, that there will be no ground of dispute against you among people, except those of them who have wronged (themselves); so fear them not; but fear Me, so that I may complete My favors to you and you may be rightly guided.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 2, Al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 150
This is just as He has ordered us to communicate ourselves with the great messenger (cpth), who keeps in communication with God so that he can help us to communicate with Him ourselves and perform prayer correctly. God says: “Al’lah and His angels keep in communication with the prophet. You who believe, communicate yourselves with God through him and fully surrender.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 33, Al-Ahzab (The Combined Clans), verse 56
Through achieving such a sublime state, a person becomes straight and follows the orders of his Provider, and remains far from any breach of these orders.
How can one disobey Him or hurt anything in His creation after they have completely realized that their heart’s life is accomplished only through their link with Him, the Almighty?
On the contrary to disobeying Him, they become an open way for everything that is good. The holy saying denotes: “Everything in creation is dependent on God. So, the most beloved to God in creation is the most helpful to His dependents.”[64]
At that time, we really seek refuge in our Creator, for we have truly recognized Him when we are at ease. If we only turn to Him when we are in distress, we are only recognizing Him because we need His assistance. However, when we turn to Al’lah at a time when we have no problems and face no distress, it is because we have truly understood His importance, and thus, in this case, our nearness to Al’lah is more complete.
So, whenever we feel that the devil is hovering around us and is trying to hurt us, we soon remember our link with God and communicate ourselves with His messenger (cpth).
It was reported that the prophet (cpth) said the following to the truthful believers around him: “If any one of you, when lodging in a house, says: ‘I seek refuge in the Perfect Words of God from the evil He has created’, then nothing will do harm to him in that house until the time that they leave it.”[65]
In this way, the devil will have no sway over this believing person, as long as they remain within the inaccessible fort of uprightness and connection with God. Furthermore, wherever this believer may be, the devil will soon run away once they seek refuge in God, just as the messenger (cpth) taught us.
Such a person is not affected by magic – nay! Their presence counteracts the sessions of magic and other visionary gatherings (such as conjuration, hypnotism, stabbing skewers into the body, and the like); that is, if they are obliged to be there unwillingly. As for their own will, they would never willingly approach such places at all. Is there any sane person that likes to look at or be close to a stinky sea?
The devil’s scheme is ineffective. God says: “…Satan’s machination is weak indeed.”[66]
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 4, An-Nisa’ (Women), verse 76
All responsibility falls only upon humanity. If somebody neglects or forgets the remembrance of their Provider, the viperous enemy will steal up to them, approaching them and whispering to them like a foxy thief. Yet if they remember God and return to His Presence, the devil will draw back from them, retreating, slipping, and defeated. God says: “If a suggestion from Satan assails your mind, seek refuge in God. He hears and knows (all things).”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 7, Al-A’raf (The Heights), verse 200
Through such resorting to the Almighty God, a human spirit comes close to Him, and so the devil, who is the magician’s brother and is intimate with him, withdraws, having been vanquished. Meanwhile the spirit, by virtue of its nearness to its Provider, becomes pure and cleansed of the faults that were attached to it, and it even rises up to a degree higher than its previous degree.
This makes the devil feel distressed, so that he wishes that he had not approached that spirit at all.
Regarding the state in which the Almighty wants us to live and keep living: it is a state of permanent nearness to Him, and of continuous seeking refuge in Him, as He is the source of goodness, favor, life, subsistence, food, and drink.
Thus, if we follow this approach, we will always be in an inaccessible place and a fortified fort.
The Almighty described the people of belief who have attained this top rank in the Holy Qur’an, when He says: “People who neither traffic in commerce nor profit from it cannot be diverted from the remembrance of God (whether they are believers or not), nor can they be diverted from performing prayer (communication with God), or from achieving zakat (purity): their (only) fear is for a day when hearts and eyes will be transformed.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 24, An-Nur (Light), verse 37
By having had their spirits colored by such a state by following the messenger (cpth), and by having connected themselves with him, they became permanently safe and protected.
No magician or devil can have any effect on them in the way that they can with people who are far from God. In other words, neither a charlatan nor a magician is allowed to deceive them, nor do they even have the ability to do so. If they try they will bring nothing but failure and frustration upon themselves.
God says: “…a magician thrives not, (no matter) where he goes.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 20, Ta Ha ‘Ta-ha’ (Pure), verse 69
We have presented the truth about those who have relations of love with a truthful believer. By their direction to Almighty God, they will all be protected from the devils and magicians, from the enviers, and from the oppressors and the bastards.
That is because when one spirit loves another, the rays of the lover’s spirit flow to those whom they love, so that the rays of the two spirits join to one another.
This pure and immaculate spirit surrounds its family and all that it loves with the shining forth of its rays, so that it is continually connecting with them without cessation. This spirit is fortified by God’s light. Accordingly, Satan can never come near to or hurt those who are protected by this spirit. He is beneath having any influence over the believer, whose heart is fully engaged in the remembrance of God, and whose spirit is swimming in the worlds of the Almighty’s perfection. Such a spirit is totally absorbed by this remembrance and this Godly light, in the company of His noble messenger (cpth).
You may ask about the way that leads to this kind of belief and such unceasing resorting to God. We can say that believing in God is not meant to be a verbal confession, but rather is an interior feeling which arises in the spirit. This takes place because of the spirit’s own self-searching and continual thinking, until the owner of such a spirit begins to sink into the Majesty of God, and to bow in prostration to His Might.
This is the way that was followed by our master Abraham (pth). As soon as his contemplation of the creation of his body, his hearing, and his sight guided him to the fact that he must have a providing Creator and a steering God, he set himself to looking for this Provider, seeking to recognize the Owner of this intensive care and continual sustenance.
And so, “When night drew its shadow over him, he saw a star. He said: ‘This is my Provider!!’ When it faded, he said: ‘I do not like those which fade’.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 6, Al-An’am (Livestock), verse 76
He (pth) said so because this Care which kept providing for him never left him or disappeared. Had it left him for one moment, its sustenance would have ceased to affect him, causing his evanescence and nonexistence.
Look at the wick of a candle: if the wax ceases to supply it, what shall its fate be? Surely, it will soon die away, and its light will be extinguished.
And so it was that to recognize his Creator and Provider, our master Abraham (pth) had to restart his search over and again, and that was what he did: “When he beheld the moon rising, he said: ‘This is my Provider!!’ When it set, he said: ‘If my Provider does not guide me, I will then be one of the straying people’.”
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 6, Al-An’am (Livestock), verse 77
At this stage, he (pth) realized that the moon, whose light disappeared from his sight, was not his God and Provider. Had it been his god, his being would have disappeared as soon as its Creator and Provider disappeared.
Since the one who is sincere in their quest does not feel tiredness or weariness, our master Abraham continued his search: “When he beheld the sun shining, he said: ‘This is my Provider (for) it is bigger!!’ When it went down he said: ‘People! I am done with your idols’.”: that is, he was finished with their claims that their idols were gods or that they had any power.
The Holy Qur’an,
Fortress 6, Al-An’am (Livestock), verse 78
He (pth) saw that these heavenly bodies did not keep watching over him, but instead disappeared behind the skyline. They are correlated with the other bodies within a comprehensive and perfect system, whose affairs are managed and directed by one Hand.
As for his Provider, it is He who supplied him, as well as supplying the sun, the stars and the moon; He is the One whose sustenance encompasses the heavens and the earth.
His Provider is the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Steerer of the whole universe. Nothing can move in this universe except through Him, for He is, alone, the Director, alongside whom there is no partner.
That is what the statement “There is no God except Al’lah” serves to illustrate.
It is the Almighty Al’lah who provides the generations with food and aliment. He then puts them to death and exterminates them, after reproducing new ones. He also provides these new ones with supplies and builds them up, for He has mercy upon them. Apart from Him, everything is only temporal vanity.
He is the Everlasting, the Maker and the Giver.
Thus, our master Abraham was able to witness his Provider and His perfect supreme Attributes, and therefore he became an ideal for each believer.
Belief is obtained only by searching oneself. When people achieve this belief and recognize their Creator, their Steerer and their Provider, they will get certain knowledge. From that place and from that time they will abide by the right path and never relapse to the wrong one at all. They will realize that the Almighty is the Director of all the affairs of the universe, therefore there is no God except Al’lah, and there is no Disposer except for Him.
Their spirits will then submit to their Provider and fear Him, and this will make them enter the secure fort of straightness, and so they will never break with His orders in any matter. Only then will the spirit of this believer draw near to its Provider, feeling assured of His satisfaction with it. Because of this, it performs the correct communication with God, by which it attains a link with Him and derives perfection from His Majesty.
That is the truth which our master Abraham discovered. His father and his people were idolaters, but nonetheless, he did not follow them.
So was it with our master Mohammad (cpth). He adopted the same way, especially in the Herra’ Cave, and kept advancing in it and ascending through the grades of perfection, from one state to the next, until he reached the top rank which none may approach. God says: “Those were (the prophets) who Al’lah guided. Follow then their guidance.”