The Third Flash

Since the human being is in love with eternity, all his perfections and pleasures derive their meaning from eternity. And since eternity belongs only to Bāqī-i Dhul-JalālAllah, Whose existence is everlasting and Whose majesty and exaltedness are boundless.; and since the Names of the Eternal One are also eternal; and since the mirrors in which the Names of the Eternal One are reflected take on the colours and qualities of the Eternal One and experience a form of eternity, then the most necessary and foremost duty of the human being is to establish bonds with that Eternal One and to cling to His Names. For everything devoted and spent in the way of the Eternal One attains, in a certain sense, eternity.

Indeed, the second utterance of:

يَا بَاقِى أَنْتَ الْبَاقِىO Everlasting One, You are the Everlasting.

expresses this truth. Along with healing the countless spiritual wounds of the human being, it also satisfies the burning desire for eternity inherent in his nature.

The Third Point

In this world, the influence of time upon creatures, with regard to their transience and passing away, is exceedingly varied. Although creatures are interwoven with one another like concentric circles, the duration of each kind of existence differs greatly.

Just as the circles of a clock that count seconds, minutes, hours, and days outwardly resemble one another, yet differ in their speed, so too the circles of the body, the nafsThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits., the heart, and the spirit within the human being differ from one another. For example, the continuation, life, and existence of the body extend no further than the present part of the day, indeed even the present hour, since the past and the future do not exist for it. The heart’s circle of life and existence, however, extends from the present to many days in the past and many days into the future. As for the circle of the spirit, it is so vast that it embraces years of both the past and the future.

Indeed, on the basis of this reality, this transient worldly life — through the sources of the life of the heart and spirit, such as knowing Allah, loving the Lord, worshipping As-SubhānAllah, Who is perfect and absolutely free from every imperfection., and seeking the pleasure of Ar-RahmānAllah, the Most Compassionate. — contains within it an eternal life, results in an eternal life, and thus comes to possess the value of an everlasting and undying life.

Indeed, a single second spent for the sake of the love, knowledge, and pleasure of the True Eternal One counts as a year. If it is not spent for His sake, then a year counts as a single second. On His path, even a single second contains boundless years, while a hundred years for those who remain heedless of Allah count as no more than a single second.

There is a well-known saying:

سِنَةُ الْفِرَاقِ سَنَةٌ وَ سَنَةُ الْوِصَالِ سِنَةٌA second of separation seems to last a year, while a year of reunion passes like a second.

That is: “A second of separation seems to last a year, while a year of union passes in a second.”

In complete contrast to this statement, I say the following: a moment of union spent in seeking the pleasure of Allah is not merely equal to a year, but opens a window onto an eternal union. A union in which Allah is forgotten, however, is no more than a moment, even if it lasts not one year but a thousand. Thus there is another saying, even more famous than the previous one, that confirms our view:

اَرْضُ الْفَلَاتِ مَعَ الْاَعْدَاءِ فِنْجَانٌ سَمُّ الْخِيَاطِ مَعَ الْاَحْبَابِ مَيْدَانٌWith enemies, the vast earth seems as small as a cup, while with friends, even the eye of a needle becomes a spacious arena.