Extracts from a classic text: Book of the Quintessence Concerning What Is Indispensable For the Spiritual Seeker (transl. - Tosun Bayrak)
Muhiyy ad-Din Ibn 'Arabi
Basic Life Style
1- Be accepting, approving, forgiving, serving,
and loving to everyone and everything.
Look upon the whole creation, and above all, humankind,
with good will - accepting, approving, forgiving, serving, and loving. Make
that your nature in your dealings with the world. Listen to your conscience.
Cleanse your heart. In that clean heart, keep up prayer for your faithful
brothers. Help and serve, as much as you can, the people who hide their misery,
who are content with their poverty, the travelers on the path to truth. Do not
attribute to yourself virtue, goodness, and graciousness because of your
service to the creation. Consider that you owe other people thanks for having
humbly accepted your help. It is incumbent upon you to lighten the load of
those who are burdened. If people whose pain you have helped to alleviate cause
you pain in return - if their responses, their ways, their habits are dark and
cast shadows upon you - show patience and forbearance. Do not forget that Allah
says:
...surely Allah is with the patient. (Baqara,
153)
2- Do not waste time; try to be as helpful as
possible.
Do not spend your life in empty endeavors and
your time in idle talk. Instead, reflect and remember Allah, read the Qur'an,
guide the misguided to the enlightened path. Help others leave evil and turn to
doing good. Mend broken friendships. Help others to help others.
3- Find good friends of like mind.
Find the right friend, who will be a support
for you, a good traveling companion on the path of truth. Faith is a seed. It
grows into a tree with the beneficent watering and sunshine of faithful
friends. […]
4- Look for a good teacher
Look for a perfect teacher who will lead you on
the straight path. In your search for a guide, be sincere, because sincerity
distinguishes the true seeker. It is certain that if you cling to sincerity and
truthfulness, the Lord will manifest His attribute of the Ultimate Guide upon
you and will guide you to a perfect teacher.
5- Be sincere
Sincerity in the seeker is such a blessing that
when it is present, Allah will even turn the accursed devil himself and the
seeker's personal devil, his ego, into angels of inspiration serving him.
Sincerity is such a catalyst that it turns lead into gold and purifies
everything it touches. […]
6- Be light-hearted and low maintenance
To advance in this path, in the footsteps of
the prophets (peace and blessings be upon them), you have to be light - light
in worldly goods, light in your concerns about this world. An unmistakable sign
of the heaviness that will prevent you from advancing is to be a burden on
people. Neither be a freeloader nor let others carry your load. Particularly, do
not accept goods and favors, either for yourself or for others, from people
whose hearts are dead, submerged in the sleep of heedlessness.
7- Don’t be overly materialistic; earn your
living modestly.
In what Allah permits you to gain as your
sustenance - in all your actions, behavior and words - fear Allah. Do not seek
comfort and luxury, especially when you have not worked hard for it. Lawful sustenance
is obtained by working harder than is demanded of you. A clear sign of the
lawfulness of one's gain is that it will not permit you to be either stingy or
a spendthrift.
8- Be detached from worldly things.
Take care, since if the love of this world
takes root firmly in your heart, it constricts your heart, and it becomes
exceedingly hard to pull it out and throw it away. This world is a trial
ground; do not seek comfort and riches in it.
9- Have meditation periods to review your
actions.
Cleanse and beautify your days and nights with
worship. […] It is to be hoped that only good deeds and actions befitting a
Muslim are done between the times of prayer.
10- Do your work with devotion.
Most people complain that this world, their
work to secure their sustenance, and their work as householders for their
families, take time away from their worship. Know that work done heedfully,
with consideration for others, in accordance with proper behavior, for the
pleasure of Allah, is also worship. [...]
11- Organize your life to give maximum time for
spiritual efforts.
Use these
to gather as much of your sustenance as possible in the minimum of time. If
possible, secure in one day your week's sustenance. […]
12- Sunrise and sunset are strong spiritual
moments.
After you perform your morning prayer, stay
with your Lord until sunrise, and after your afternoon prayer stay in His
presence until sunset. These are two periods of time when spiritual powers and
enlightenment flow in abundance. Keep your heart tied to Allah in humility and
in peace. […]
13- Eat, sleep and dress sparingly.
Do not sleep until you are unable to stay
awake. Do not eat until you are hungry. Dress only to cover your body and to
protect it from cold and from heat. […]
14- Read slowly and conscientiously.
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