From the Thirty-Third Discourse—page 679-680
in Irshad: Wisdom of a Sufi Master, by Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak Al-Jerrahi, trans. Muhtar Holland. An Ashki Book of Amity House, Warwick: 1988.
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THE HEART AS THE MIRROR OF TRUTH
As we have mentioned earlier, the principal cure for spiritual sickness is reading the Qur’ān, reflecting on it, understanding what one reads, obeying its commandments and avoiding things it prohibits. Other useful remedies are: moderation in eating and drinking, praying during the night, earnest supplication during the hours of vigil and keeping the company of the righteous.
When the heart has been purified through being treated with these medicines, it becomes the Mirror of Truth. Such hearts are truly enlightened. The enlightened heart can distinguish between good and evil. It does not notice the faults of others, but sees only its own shortcomings. It does not look askance at other servants of Allāh, nor does it look down on them. To repent and feel sorry for a sin, they say, is better than performing an act of worship with sanctimonious pride or hypocrisy.
Those whose hearts are enlightened never fail to affirm the Divine Unity. They love all the believers. They do not set up sects or factions within Islam. They pardon their believing brothers for any wrong they suffer at their hands. Even if they suffer deprivation, they do not deprive in return. Even if other believers criticize them, they do not criticize in return. If the believers abandon them, they do not abandon in return. They practice generosity and magnanimity, for their hearts have been healed and filled with wisdom.
The wise do not look with scorn upon other servants of Allāh. They look to the Exalted Lord in gratitude. There is perceptiveness in their eyes and light in their hearts. They are the ones who hold fast to the secure life-line of Allāh, and are united in affirming His Unity. Unfailingly and wholeheartedly they observe the commandments of Allāh, the Lord of Glory, from the smallest to the greatest.
Would you like an example? Consider Abū Bakr and look at the supplication he used to make: “O Lord, make the body of Abū Bakr so big that You may fill Hell with it, leaving no room there for sinful believers to burn.” Consider another supplication of that same supremely veracious Abū Bakr: “My God, whatever afflictions and maladies You have in store for the Community of Muhammad, give them all to me. Let the Community of Muhammad enjoy pure comfort and happiness.”
Ma’rūf al-Karkhī relates that a person will be recorded in the register of saints if he prays ten times each day: “O Lord, correct the Community of Muhammad, O Lord, solve every problem for the Community of Muhammad. O Lord, have mercy on the Community of Muhammad.”
The supreme example is our blessed Master, the venerable Muhammad Mustafā, Chief of the Prophets and Messenger to men and jinn, who used to pray: “My God, for the sake of my Community I would sacrifice my self, my Fātima, my ‘Ā’isha, my dear grandsons Hasan and Husayn, my Ruqayya, my Zaynab, my Ibrāhīm, my Qāsim, my ‘Abdullāh and my Tayyib.”