From the Twenty-First Discourse—page 458-459
in Irshad: Wisdom of a Sufi Master, by Sheikh Muzaffer Ozak Al-Jerrahi, trans. Muhtar Holland. An Ashki Book of Amity House, Warwick: 1988.
…The Glorified and Exalted Lord then said to our Master: “O Ahmad, to beware of doubt is the beginning and end of religion. Worship has ten parts: eating lawful food accounts for nine of those parts and silence is the other. I develop the hearts of those who observe silence, while I wreck the hearts of those who talk too much. Do you know the reward due to a servant of Mine if he fasts and keeps silent to please Me?”
Our Master said: “My Lord, I do not know.” So the Exalted One explained:
“The reward for fasting, keeping silence and not talking too much is wisdom. The legacy of wisdom is esoteric knowledge. The end of esoteric knowledge is closeness to Me. I have three rewards for anyone who conducts himself to please Me and to earn My divine approval:
- I shall teach him such knowledge that no ignorance will remain in him.
- I shall give him such intelligence that no forgetfulness will remain in him.
iii. I shall give him such affection that he will love nothing other than Me.
“That servant of Mine will have his heart so full of My love that there will be no space in it for any other. I love those who Love Me. I also cause them to love my servants. I make them kings of the heart.
“In the heart of that servant of Mine, I shall open a gate through which he will behold My Beauty and hear My speech. I shall teach that servant such secrets of Mine as no one else knows. I shall dress that servant in the robe of modesty. All people will defer to him. I shall make that servant’s heart a treasure house of esoteric knowledge. I shall reveal to him the mysteries of Paradise and Hell. There will be no reckoning for him on the Day of Resurrection. I shall not have him interrogated in the tomb by Munkar and Nakīr. I shall ask no one to be interpreter between that servant and Myself. He will discuss everything with Me. He will cross the Bridge like lightning. I shall not let that servant see Hell. For that servant, I shall beautify My Paradise. I shall put that servant of Mine in my Paradise, along with the Prophets and martyrs.
“Let all my servants refrain from loving My enemies, if they wish to attain this bounty and enter Paradise without interrogation or reckoning. Let them not sit in the company of My foes. Let them await their appointed time, worshipping and obeying Me and giving Me their love. Let them worship Me until they die. I shall take away the souls of My servants who act like this, as easily and smoothly as one removes a hair from butter. When one of them dies, I shall send angels to get him; those angels will give that servant of Mine the water of Kawthar and the wine of Paradise. They will not let Satan near him. Having drunk the wine of Paradise, he will not feel the pangs of death. They will set his sould down on the right side of the Throne. When they ask that servant of Mine:
‘How did you leave the world? How did it come about?’ he will say:
‘I do not know how it happened. I was given a bowl of the wine of Paradise and I did not feel the pain of death. However, I have feared Allāh since He created me. I had no love for the lower world. I never sat in the company of the enemies of Allāh. He must have granted me this favor because I always enjoyed His approval. He kept me from feeling the agony of death.’”
Then the Exalted One will say: “What My servant says is true. His body was on earth, but his heart was with Me.” Addressing His servant, He will say: “My special servant, ask of Me whatever you wish, that I may grant it.” That person will say: “My Lord, even if they tore me to bits seventy times a day, I would be content to please You.”