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The Ego (Nafs)

Suhba by Sheikh Nazim Al-Haqqani

Heard & transcribed by G. F. Haddad


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Here is another beautiful suhba of Mawlana Sheikh Nazim –
may Allah grant him health, long life and never-ending stations in His Divine Presence!

Aʿudhu billahi min al-shaytan al-rajim.
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim
La hawla wala quwwata illa billah al-Ali al-Azim

Allah, Allah! Subhan Allah.

This is a holy month and a holy day today.)* That it is [the] most important miracle, not only for the Seal of Prophets, but from [the] beginning up [to] today. How many thousands [of] Prophets! – they came and they have been sent by theLord of Heavens; and each one, also, they have been granted miracles.

Miracles: it is only [a] means to make people to [be] satisfi[ed with] what that person [is] claiming as his prophecy and his messengerhood, or for his message – that he has been sent by the Lord of heavens.

But always, people when they are under the hegemony or under the control of their egos, they were refusing. That is their egoistic characteristic. Because man – every man – they have ego, nafs. And nafs – [the] first characteristic of [the] ego is to be proud.

That is the biggest cursing that [is] carrying on anyone! [It] is the worst characteristic, and [what] is easily making curses coming on their head: to be proud! And Allah Almighty never likes [for a servant] to be proud. [You are] a servant! A servant! [You] can't be proud!

But pride is most important characteristic of ego, to say: LA ILAHA ILLA ANA [No god except I]. [Addressing someone] X.! Don't sleep.... Astaghfirullah. That is kufr; that is shirk; beyond shirk also. Whoever says la ilaha illa ana [is] refusing the existence for the Lord of heavens; not asking to be on an equal position with the Lord of Heavens, no; "la ilaha illa ana” – ha-ha! [It is the] worst characteristic that is making people to be thrown away from the Divine Presence.

Servanthood. It is the main characteristic that the Lord of heavens [is] asking from His servants, from His creatures. He is asking: "Declare that you are My servants!” {ALASTU BI-RABBIKUM?} ["Am I not your Lord?”] [sheepish voice, broken posture:] {qalu bala} ["they said: yes.”]

Am I your Lord? Their Creator. The greatness that was covering that assembly, ijtimaʿ – no one can be able to [raise] their eyes a little bit up. [They were] saying: [meek voice, cowed posture] "Bala, bala.” As is mentioned through Holy Qur'an – Do you recite Holy Qur'an? Hahaha. We are reciting [nodding head as if to mean "merely with the tongue”]. Astaʿidhu billah. Say: {Wa rafaʿna fawqahumu al-tur.} ["We raised above them the mount of Tur.”] (4:54).

["Them” meaning] Yahud, Jews, the children of Israel. They're [the] first, [the] first or highest level to be refusing servanthood and to claim that they're something. Moses, peace be upon him, [was] bringing Holy Torah and asking from them: "That is your Lord's commands to you, O servants of our Lord.” They [were] making: "mm, ah, er, uh, oh, wha, nn [stammering noises signifying stalling and denial], we're accepting, [but] from where you did you bring this....?”

{Wa rafaʿn fawqahum al-tur!} [And We raised above them the Mount of Tur.] Allah Almighty, with His endless power, was taking the mount of Tur up like [an] umbrella: "[Are you] ACCEPTING OR NOT??” [Immediate prostrating gesture] [They were] falling down, accepting by force. They were so very fearful, making like this [prostrating] and like this [glancing up sideways] [to see] if the mountain is coming [down] on their heads! When when they are making sajda [today], they are doing also like this. Yet [today] they are [still] doing this.

Astaghfirullah al-ʿazim. By force, ego is going to accept! When the mountain was coming [back] to its place, again they were beginning to say, "Oh, why, why… maybe this was a dream?” And their children, their generations are saying, "It can't be, it can't be, for this [mountain] to get up, a huge mountain, to stand from its base, to get up [gesturing upwards] and to be there! [With mock-earnest nasal voice:] "Be-cause-gravy-tea-ne-ver-accepts-such-a-thing!” Uh-huh. "Gravy-tea! Oh! Even this [Throws his tasbih in the air] must come down, must fall down!” They are not valuing what we are saying. Their ancestors are saying, "Don't say this.” "[But] We were there!” "Perhaps you were dreaming this. Can't be! Bring a proof that a mountain can be taken up by itself or by someone that we are not believing, to be on your head like an umbrella. Perhaps you were dreaming or, [out] of fear, you were imagining ‘a mountina may fall on ourselves.'”

The begininng of materialist philosophy, materialist principles. Materialism from our Iraelite brothers. All of us from the same root, but branches [are] different. And branches are going to be like brothers. Never accepting. Can't be. And Allah Almighty is showing, it is not only for Iraelite people, but showing that everyone's ego is of the same type. No different. The characteristic of ego – astaʿidhu billah: {Inna al-nafsa la-ammaratun bil-su'} "Truly, the soul ever commands evil” (12:53). Never, unchangeable characteristic for the ego: to order to you, ordering [you] not to believe in anything. Don't do anything for anyone else, only for me. I am – if you are asking for a lord, I am your lord. If you are asking for anyone to be worshipped, I am that one. Never changing from the beginning up to today, the ego. So proud! Even not accepting its Lord's existence, saying: "No. La ilaha illa ana”; astaghfirullah.

Aʿzamu al-bala' – that is carrying the biggest cursing on the people. Therefore the Lord of Heavens [is] asking to teach people, to train people, to give everyone's right to their owners. Your ego, what is right you must give. No more. If you are going to give more, you are going to be zalim – oppressor eating the rights of others. Coming for training people to know their rights. First, rights of the Lord of Heavens that created you and created everything. You must give first His rights. Not anyone else's. No. If you are passing, not looking that rights, don't ask that anyone is going to give rights to you, everyone is going to be oppressors for you.

Now people [are] in it; because they left heavenly orders, heavenly commands. Because they are like the first tribes of the children of Israel , they are saying la ilaha illa ana, and at least they were doing, to get a satisfaction through themselves, they are making a Golden Cow. Because common people [are] always asking to see something, to look to that one and to touch and to hear from that one. Our ego's characteristic. If leaving them as they were claiming, after a while, that idea is going to be changed. They should ask for something that they may look at, they may touch it, they may hear it, they may see that one. Because they are never going to be statisfied if they are not seeing, looking and touching.

That is materialism that destroyed whole heavenly beliefs. And people [are] on it now. Therefore, cursing [is] every day coming on earth, today one, tomorrow seven times, after tomorrow seven times [more] curses coming. Tomorrow, after tomorrow... double, double cursing coming.

What is your opinion for governments and nations? Every day they are coming into a better condition or getting everything worse, and worse, and worse. Bad situation growing up and troubles climbing, suffering climbing, and miseries coming through whole people.

La hawla wa la quwwata illa billah al-ʿali al-azim. Yes. First man. He did a khata' - mistake. He did a mistake because he did according to his ego, and mostly egoistic character [is] through women. Through traditional knowledge, Allah Almighty is making the power of ego ten parts, giving one part for men, and to women nine parts. Then making ʿaql [intelligence]�ten parts, giving nine parts to men and one part to women. Come and say to me: "Ee-qua-lee-tee” for women and men!

But people, they are drunk now. Drunk from their ignorance. Ignorance is a dark cloud – dukhan [smoke]. We can bring ta'wil [figurative interpretation]. For understanding, we may bring some words on some words [of] Holy Qur'an al-Karim. "That should be covered” [{But watch thou for the day when the sky will produce visible smoke that will envelop the people (44:10-11)}]: one of the big signs of Qiyamat, last days – [a] big sign that should be a smoke, a smoke that is going to be dark, covering the whole world from East to West, from North to South, and people – unbelievers are going to be like drunk ones, only that smoke, that darkness is never going to affect believers. Believers, they should have a majal, atmosphere private atmosphere that you should be in it. You should be in a special situation [where] that is never touching to you - that smoke, poison, darkness, [is] never touching you.

We can bring an opening with another verse/words; and it is true, it should be , what Allah Almighty said: that dukhan, that smoke should cover all the world, it is Ok, it should be [that literal meaning] but also we may give an example, we may give a new teaching, a new understanding from that: that there should be on earth [such] darkness that every religion's light just extinguished, therefore the whole world is going to be in dark darkness. Only as stars through dark darkness of space, the skies – they are keeping their positions, their lights clearly – its is clear you can see them; also, Believers, through that dark darkness, poisoned darkness, they should be in safety; their faith, their beliefs' lights [are] going to be seen, and others [are] going to be unseen through [the] dark darkness of that smoke. Now people [are] in it.

It is an understanding [of Tafsir] also. And Allah Almighty knows, and His Prophet knows, and who[ever] the Prophet may give a light may understand. The Holy Qur'an is not an ordinary book. You can find everything in it. But people are never touching such mean[ing]s, or they aren't able to dive through the oceans of Holy Qur'an. Now, people through that dark darkness. And coming also, as it is informed – because this preparing that poisoned smoke. That, as Prophet's explanations [are] giving us, never harming Believers that darkness or that dark smoke cloud because they have lights of their faith keeping themselves. But others should be like drunk, or dying to pass away.

May Allah forgive me. We were speaking on [the] characteristic, the worst characteristic of our ego: to be proud. A proud person, fighting to his Lord. [Behind] every sin, every fighting, every evil [lies] that characteristic; because they are proud and they are fighting. Proud people are never accepting peace, either in themselves or in others. Therefore I am running to Allah from their sharr - from their harms, evils. I am asking protection, not to leave me to the hands of my dirty ego. That is the summary of Prophet's hadith sharif, good perfect advice: Allahumma la takilni ila nafsi tarfata ʿayn. O my Lord, do not leave me in the hands of my ego, because to be in its hands means to fall into a dark darkness of egoistic dirty worlds, dirty situations.

May Allah forgive me and bless you for the honor of the most honored one who was teaching whole nations for their eternal lives, calling them to enlightened worlds, endless lightened worlds that the Lord of heavens prepared for them through their eternal lives, for Eternity, Eternity - Subhan Allah - Abadi, Sarmadi!

May Allah forgive me. Ya Rabbi, forgive us! For the honor of the most honored one whom You have honored with the Night-Journey and granted that which noone can grant to anyone else. From Your grants we are asking humbly for a protection and shelter from our dirty egoes and evil.

Amin. For the honor of that one. Bi-hurmat al-Fatiha.

DAY OF ISRA AND MIRAJ
27 Rajab 1425 / Saturday 11 September 2004
Lefke, Northern Cyprus
[February 10, 2005]



Human Beings Must Glorify Their Lord
by Mawlana Shaykh Nazim

'Glory be to the Lord', Maulana Sheikh Nazim

Allah Almighty puts mankind in a special position which gives him such a great value. And through that value, the honorable dress of glorifying is granted to him. And man's glorifying is at its highest level. Every smallest unit of our body is glorifying Him, but the highest glorification which the Lord is asking for is to say, 'Subhan Allah'; to use your own will and say, 'Glory be to Allah!'. That is the top point. Every atom of an unbeliever's body is glorifying Allah but that person says 'No Allah!'. Although every part of his body says, 'You are our Lord! Glory be to You, O our Lord', that foolish and heedless one denies.. so, he doesn't say that. The glorifying of a servant to his Lord causes him to come closer to His Divine generosity oceans.. to be granted more and more from these oceans.

Allah Almighty orders His servants to glorify Him but He is not in need of your glorifying Him. From His glorifying oceans, He dresses that one with a glorious dress of unimaginable value. For this reason He is ordering. Shame on mankind who claims to be civilized people, they are not civilized because they don't know the right of the Lord of Heavens, to give their best grant which is to glorify Him! Until they come to that point, troubles will never end. They will continue until there remains only one man and one woman on the earth! It is enough.. as He Almighty began the generation of Adam from one man and one woman. So even if there remains only one man and one woman, He may start a new generation whose only importance is to say 'Subhanallahil Aleiyyi-l Azim, Subhan Allah wa bihamdihi!', and to glorify their Lord with countless kinds of glorifications. That is the time coming: the time of Mahdi alaihis salaam - peace be upon him. Be awakened! Wake up to catch the train before it runs away. Get in.. don't remain at the station! We are addressing all mankind on the earth from East to West, North to South.

Courtesy mawlana40/at/yahoogroups.com

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* Living Islam – Islamic Tradition *