Sheikh Nazim

A DROP FROM THE ENDLESS OCEANS

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ALL THAT YOU CAN TAKE

Everyone and everything is powerless in relation to Allah Almighty, and no one has any power without his Lord?s giving it to him.  If the Lord Almighty gives power to servants, they may become powerful, but their original state is one of total powerlessness.  If a servant declares his powerlessness in front of his Lord, it is an honour for that servant, and as a result of his humility his Lord will grant him power and support in every situation.  The Prophet Muhammad (sal), was the first to declare his powerlessness in the Divine presence; therefore, Allah Almighty has granted him more power than He ever gave to anyone. This is a very good lesson for mankind: if we are seeking more Divine Support and spiritual power, we should first admit our own powerlessness.

Now Grandsheikh is explaining more upon this point: Allah Almighty gives of His Power to His beloved servants so that they may swim in those Oceans of Knowledge and Wisdom.  What they take, they take eternally; they ask endlessly and are endlessly bestowed upon by their Lord.  Neither servant nor Lord is ever going to say ?enough?; rather, the Lord will say, ?My servant, ask for as much as you can because I am always giving more and more.  Ask ten and I will give a hundred, ask a hundred and I will give a thousand, etc.; if you don?t ask, I shall become angry with you.?

It is one of Allah Almighty?s attributes that He always wants to give more to His servants ? if you can recognize this attribute, it will give you satisfaction.  If Allah were to say, ?That is enough, don?t ask more,? it would mean that He doesn?t have any more to give to His servants, and if it were so the hearts of mankind would explode. But Allah Almighty says, ?Oh My servants, ask more and more, and I will bestow more than you can possibly imagine.?  We must thank Allah for this and be happy that we have such a Creator, such a Lord.

Our Grandsheikh says that although you may take more and more from Allah?s Wisdom and Knowledge oceans, don?t think that you can take all, for in reality you can take but one drop, not a bit more.  Perhaps that drop may even be a huge drop, but it is still only a drop, and no matter how large it is, it still has bounds, whereas His Oceans know no boundaries. In this is real pleasure for us: Everything that Allah Almighty is giving us grows within bounds.  If we could go beyond the realm of boundaries we would become partners to Allah, and that is an impossibility.

Now my Grandsheikh was saying that there are two kinds of knowledge.  One kind belongs only to the Almighty Himself, and the other kind Allah Almighty gives to His servants.  We are speaking about that second kind only, for the first kind, the knowledge belonging to His Essence (Dhat), is impossible to behold, even for the Angels, Prophets and Saints ? off limits.  The endless oceans which He bestows upon His servants are nothing compared to His Essential Knowledge, which He is keeping to Himself.

Look at this point also: When Allah Almighty called His Prophet on the Night of the Ascension (Laylatul-mi?raj) and spoke to him without intermediary; He imparted unto Muhammed three types, or areas of knowledge.  One part of this Knowledge, He ordered the Prophet Muhammad (sal) to keep for himself only: ?No one can know that; it is private between Me and you.?  The second part, He allowed the Prophe Muhammad (sal), to share with a selected elite (Khawas) of the Nation (Ummah), and the third part He ordered to be opened to everyone.  The accounts we read in books about the mi?raj are from the third part of this knowledge, and further knowledge of it is given to people according to their individual ranks. The palm tree has knowledge that it may produce dates; the orange tree has a different knowledge, as it learned from its Lord to make oranges.  Apple trees produce apples, olive trees olives, and just so everything in the universe is producing according to its rank and position.

You have also been taught knowledge from your Lord, but now in our position it is covered.  You are yet like a seed which hasn?t even been planted.  You must plant yourself in seclusion (Khalwa).  As the seed must be covered from this world ? then you can know yourself.  When a seed is in the ground for ten days, it will sprout, but our seed has not yet been planted and thus we cannot yet see whether we are orange trees or olive trees. This is the reason why the Prophet relates from Allah Almighty: ?As long as you don?t know yourself you can?t know your Lord.?

The End