Once upon a time Zunnoon, while returning from Jerusalem, saw a figure loom in the distance, and desired to question it. On drawing near, it was found to be an old woman clad in wool, with a stick in her hand. Zunnoon said, "Whence comest thou?" The dame replied, "From God." Zunnoon again enquired, "Whither dost thou go?" The old woman rejoined, "To God." Zunnoon then offered her a gold coin. She refused the gift, saying, "What an illusion has overcome thee? I work for God and do not receive anything save what comes from Him. As I worship Him and Him alone, I cannot receive what is not Himself and comes from other than Himself." Having spoken thus, she vanished. Such is to be the ideal of the aspirant.
Working for God alone is the test of true devotion. Some think they work for Him, but they work for Themselves. They have conquered the desires of this world, but they seek for fruits in a higher world. A few work irrespective of all consideration of internal suffering or celestial joy, in pure love to carry out the Divine Will. "The earth is a place of suffering, heaven is a place of joy. We shall not receive the fruits of either, even to the measure of a barleycorn." It has been said. The virtuous often prove more selfish in their virtue than the sinners in their sin. The gratification of the latter is but transitory, the joy of the former is permanent. God does not gain by the self-denial of men, nor does He lose by their sensual gratifications....
It is an old adage, that the mere description of a savoury dish only intensifies the misery of hunger. Take an onward step if you can: lose your head and give up your life.
As God is essentially ONE, a true believer must be a monotheist. Look for the proof of this in the holy Logion, one half of which, "There is no God," separates [the believer from the non-God], while the other half, "Save Allâh," unites [him with God]. One unites with God in proportion to one's renunciation of the non-God. He who claims to have Faith should look at his own heart. If his heart flies from the non-God, his claim is genuine. If it longs for anything save God, and shrinks from the means of Divine Union, let him weep over his faith. Either he has already lost it, or is about to do so.
A certain Great One has said: "All men claim to love, but if the claim is carefully scrutinised, 'loving' turns out to mean 'being loved.'" True love consists in the complete renunciation of all desires. If one looks for the gratification of a desire, one plays the part of the beloved, not of the lover.—Letter 65.
The Descent from Adam.
The pilgrim justifies his descent from Adam when he enters the Heart. Now he has finished the Turning, and begins his Pilgrimage. By the virtue of his complete Turning, anything coming in contact with him undergoes a change. This is the power of Transmutation. This explains the phenomena of transmutation wrought by many Derveshes (e. g. the change of wine into an innocuous beverage). Such a pilgrim may lawfully lay his hand on the imperial treasury, and use the wealth of kings. (Religious injunctions vary with circumstances. It is reported in the traditions that a young man came to the Prophet and asked if he could lawfully take a certain oil in the fast month of Ramzân. He said, "No." Next followed an old man who put the same question. He said, "Yes." The companions of the Prophet were confused, and asked, "How is it, O Messenger of God, that you allowed in the one case what you prohibited in the other." He replied: "The one was a young man, and I was afraid of the fire of his youth; the other was an old man, and I did not apprehend any danger for him.") But those who take to the outer conduct without having reached the inner stage, court their own ruin. Such a stage must have the sanction of Divine Authority.