Dear reader…
Junayd al-Baghdadi (s) once said, “Water takes the color of its cup”… This is when you will begin to understand what he actually meant. Water takes its shape, taste and color from the cup in which it is placed. According to the nature of the cup, the water changes in taste, shape and color.
“You were certainly unaware of this (you were living in your cocoon), and We have removed from you your veil, so your sight, from this period on, is sharp.”[1]
This is the station at which this verse will manifest and you will begin to observe the Truth.
Dear reader, know that…
The Truth is always the same Truth… The only thing that changes is the level of comprehension of its observers…
Water is always the same water, what changes is the tap…
Learn about water, but try also to discern its essence!
If you have been shown the ocean, do not deny that which is in the cup; if you have been shown that which is in the pot, do not deny that which is in the steam; if you have been shown the steam, do not deny the cloud… Though the names and forms may vary, their essence is the same.
Try to acquire as much knowledge from as few words as possible so that you may reach maturity quickly.
But know that nobody has ever reached the end of the road, except those who have become droplets in the ocean. Never say “I’m in the lake, I’m safe”, instead attempt to reach the river and then the ocean so you may also become a droplet. For many lakes and ponds have dried up and disappeared in the past, but never has an ocean disappeared.
If you try to record what you see there, even if all the oceans and their like were to become ink, all of it will be exhausted before a single word is written – no hand nor mouth nor consciousness are sufficient to comprehend them.
If, after this experience of dissolution you are given a duty and must go back, everything will fall back into place, you will have to start saying ‘I’ and ‘you’ once again, but this time you will know who you are actually addressing.
Dear reader…
Never judge anyone or anything by its appearance lest you be deceived!
Satan only saw Adam’s exterior and fell into the heedless mistake of judging him according to that.
He said, “He has been created from earth while I have been created from fire… Fire is superior to earth, therefore, I am superior to Adam” and refused to prostrate to Adam.
Despite all his knowledge, he failed to recognize that Allah had given a sublime Truth to Adam, of which he was devoid and unaware, and he denied his failure to recognize this.
Whereas Allah had said:
“So, when I have proportioned him (formed his brain) and breathed into him (manifested through him; the word ‘breath’ which is ‘nafh’ in Arabic literally means to blow out, i.e. to project explicitly, to manifest, to materialize) of My spirit (My Names)…”[2]