On Truthfulness and Sincerity.
“Truthfulness [ or sidq] is God’s sword on His earth—it is placed upon
nothing except that it cuts through it.”
“Sincerity [or ikhlas] is that which is free from being corrupted by the
enemy [i.e., Satan].”
When Dhuhul Nuun was imprisoned, he did not eat or drink for days. One
of the female slaves whom he knew came to the prison with some food,
saying, “This is lawful [halal].” But he did not eat it. When she repeated
herself, he replied, “This food is lawful, but it has come to me through
an unlawful means, so I will not eat it.” “How is that?,” she asked. Dhuhul Nuun answered, “It has come to me from the hand of the prison-keeper,
who is an oppressor, so I will not eat it.”
On Wisdom and Gnosis.
“While on one of my journeys I came across a large rock upon which
was written [the words], ‘Turn me over, and take a lesson.’ So I turned
it over and [the following] was written upon it: ‘How can you seek to
know what you do not know, while you do not practice what you do
know?’ So I said to myself, ‘Take this as a word of wisdom.’
“Whatever eyes can see relates to knowledge, and whatever hearts
can know relates to certainty.”
“I embarked on three journeys. On the first journey I came across sciences
understood by the common folk and the elect. On
the second journey I came across sciences understood by the elect, but not the common folk. And on the third journey I came across sciences
understood by neither the common folk nor the elect.”
“The renunciants, namely the poor amongst the gnostics, are the kings of the afterlife.”
“There is a punishment for everything, and the gnostic’s punishment
is his being cut off from the invocation of God.”
A man from Dhuhul Nuun circle asked, “O teacher, why is it that wisdom
has a sweetness which brings about delight when it is uttered
by the sages?” He replied, “It is because of its proximity to the Highest
King, glorified and exalted is He!”
“Whatever you conceive with your imagination, God is other
than that.”
“Wisdom will not dwell inside a person whose stomach is filled
with food.”
Dhuhul Nuun was asked, “How did you come to know your Lord? He replied,
‘I would not think of disobeying God and remember
His majesty, except that I would be ashamed before it.”
“I came to know my Lord through my Lord. Had it not been for my Lord,
I would not have known my Lord.” “I came to know God through God, and I came to know what was other
than God through the Messenger of God.”
“The best request made by the truthful is for the key to the hearts of
the gnostics.”
“Each day the gnostic is more fearful, for each hour he is closer.”
“Certainty is a caller to shortened hopes, shortened hopes call to renunciation,
renunciation gives rise to wisdom, and wisdom gives rise
to contemplation over end-affairs.”
“It is incumbent upon the gnostic that the light of his gnosis not put out
the light of his piety, that he not believe that inner knowledge
abolishes for him [the need to follow] outward legal injunctions, and
that the many charismatic gifts [ or karama] [given to him] by God not
incite him to rend the veils of what God has forbidden.”
“When the gnostic seeks out his livelihood, he is nothing.”
Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Jawhari said, "I heard Dhuhul Nuun relate that after a man had come to him and said, 'Pray to God for me,' he replied, 'If, on account of sincere tawhid, you have been aided with knowledge of the unseen, then how many answered supplications have already preceded you! But if you have not been aided with knowledge of the unseen, then calling out will not save the one who is drowning.'
'The first step taken by the gnostic is bewilderment, then poverty, then union, and then bewilderment again.'
'The person most knowledgeable of God is the one most intense in bewilderment of Him.'
'The gnostic does not adhere to a single state—he only adheres to his Lord in every state.'
'The gnostic is a man who is with men, but separate from them.'
'The gnostic was here, and then departed.'
'Keeping the company of the gnostic is like keeping the company of God: having taken on the character traits of God, he puts up with you and is gentle towards you.' 'The final outcome of the gnostic is when he is just as he was before he was.'
on Humility, Poverty, Non-Attachment.
'Whoever aspires to humility [or tawadu'], let him turn his attention to God's greatness, for it melts the soul and makes it limpid.
Whoever contemplates God's power, his sense of power will depart, since all souls are poor when in awe of Him.'
'Fear causes worry, and modesty [ or haya'] renders one silent.'
'Seek out your need with the tongue of poverty [faqr], not with the tongue of authority.'
The Sufi is the one who, when he talks, his speech elucidates realities; and if he is silent, his limbs speak on his behalf of severance from attachments.
'The man who is truly poor [or al-faqir al-sadiq] is he who does not rely upon anything; rather, all things rely upon him.'
On Repentance.
'The repentance [or tawba] of the common folk is from sins, while the repentance of the elect is from heedlessness [or ghafla].' Yusuf ibn al-Husayn said, 'One day I attended the gathering of Dhuhul Nuun, and Salim al-Maghribi came to him and said, "O Abu'l-Fayd! What was the cause of your repentance?" He replied, "It is a strange matter—you will be unable to bear it." Salim replied, "I will not leave you until you tell me." So Dhuhul Nuun said, "I left Egypt for one of the villages. Along the way, I fell asleep in a certain desert. When I woke up, I was next to a blind bird who had fallen from her nest onto the ground. Then, the earth split open and two bowls appeared, one of which was gold and the other silver. Sesame seeds were in one of the bowls, and water was in the other. The bird began to eat and drink from them. So I exclaimed, 'God suffices me! I have repented!' And I stood at the door until God allowed me in."' 'I have never seen anyone more ignorant than the doctor: he gives the drunkard medicine when he is intoxicated, but there is no cure to his intoxication until he returns to sobriety and is treated with repentance.' 'The sins of those brought near are the good deeds of the righteous.'
On Egoism.
'Woe to you that you be a pretender to gnosis, or a renunciant by profession, or someone attached to his acts of worship.' Dhuhul Nuun was asked, "What is the subtlest and gravest kind of veil?" He answered, "Acknowledging the self and its contrivance."
Someone asked Dhuhul Nuun to comment upon base people. He replied, "They are those who do not know the path to God and do not learn it."
'I never became satiated except that I disobeyed God, or thought of doing so.'
'The audition [or sama'] is a true inrush which rouses hearts for the Real. Whoever listens to it as is its due attains realization, and whoever listens to it for the sake of his ego commits heresy.'
On Spiritual Companionship.
'Keep the company of the one whose actions speak to you, not the one whose tongue speaks to you.' 'Keep the company of the one whose character speaks to you, not the one whose tongue speaks to you.' 'Keep the company of the one whose knowledge speaks to you, not the one whose tongue speaks to you.'
'There is no good for you in keeping the company of someone who likes to regard you as sinless.' Dhuhul Nuun was speaking to his brethren about the science of tawhid and gnosis, and a young boy asked him for some bread, saying, "Where is it?" Dhuhul Nuun said to his brethren, "Take him by the hand and go with him to the Sufis so that they may teach him etiquette."
On Patience, Trust, Contentment.
'The person nearest to ingratitude is the one who is needy and does not have patience.' 'Do not grieve over that which you lack, for it is a reminder for the existent servant. The nonexistent is that which cannot come to exist, and whose existence is impossible. So when you do not have something whose existence is possible, it is that which you lack, not that which is nonexistent.' 'Trust in God is to relinquish self-contrivance, and to be divested of one's power and strength.' 'Reflection is the key to worship, following lusts the sign of caprice, and severance from desires the sign of trust in God.' 'God says, "Whoever is obedient to Me, I shall be a friend to him. So let him trust in Me and depend upon Me. By My greatness, if he were to ask Me to end his worldly concerns, I would do that for him." 'Contentment is the heart's happiness with the passing of God's decree.' 'The believer's joy and delight is in solitude, when he is intimately conversing with his Lord.' Al-Jariri said, 'I have been informed that it was said to Dhuhul Nuun at the time of his death, 'Give us some parting advice.' He replied, 'Do not distract me, for I am marveling at the beauties of His generosity!' 'The Sufis are a folk who have preferred God over everything, so God has preferred them over everything.'
On Love and Intimacy.
Sufi teachings revolve around four things: love for the Majestic, hatred for the insignificant, following the revelation, and fear of change in one's spiritual state.' 'Love is that you love what God loves, hate what He hates, do all that is good, and abandon all that distracts you from God. In matters concerning God, love is that you not fear the reproach of the reproacher—all the while being gentle towards the believers and harsh towards the unbelievers. And in matters of religion, love is that you follow the Messenger of God.' 'Amongst the signs of love for God is that one follows the beloved of God [i.e., the Prophet] in his character traits, actions, commands, and customs.' 'Untainted, pure love for God is the casting aside of love for other than God from the heart and limbs so that there is no love for other than God, and things are done through God and for God. That is love for God.' Dhuhul Nuun went to visit one of his friends who was sick, and said to him, 'He who is impatient with his affliction is not true in his love.' The sick man replied, 'He who does not find delight in his affliction is not true in his love.' Dhuhul Nuun went to one of his friends who used to speak about love and saw him suffering from an affliction, so he said to him, 'Whoever finds pain in his affliction does not love Him.' The man replied, 'I say that whoever does not enjoy his affliction does not love Him.' Dhuhul Nuun responded, 'And I say that whoever exalts himself because of his love for God does not love Him.' Then the man said, 'I seek God's forgiveness and repent to Him.' 'Say to the one who claims to love God, 'Beware of debasing yourself for other than God.' 'When God wants to quench the Sufis' thirst from the cup of love for Him, He gives them a taste of its delight and a lick of its sweetness.' 'Intimacy is the lover's forthrightness with the Beloved.' 'Intimacy with God comes from the heart's being pure for His sake, and solitude with God comes from detachment from everything other than Him.' 'The lowest station of intimacy is for one to be thrown into the Fire while his concern for the one he hopes in does not disappear.' 'Fear of the Fire as compared to fear of separation from God is like a raindrop in a fathomless ocean.'