The Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Fellowship

From The Golden Words of a Sufi Sheikh, Word#601.

Son, let me tell you something. Listen. Even if you smell all the fragrances of all the flowers in the world, every flower and its fragrance disappears within a week, does it not?

If you realize this and look with your wisdom, you will see an indestructible flower of incomparable beauty which has an unforgettable and endlessly sweet fragrance: the flower of the qalb, the heart. In this world or the next, you will never see a flower which can compare to it. Nourish it until it becomes mature and it will bloom with good thoughts, good actions, and good conduct. Imbibe and praise its fragrance. How exquisite it will be for your life! Then there will be no other joy for you.

Furthermore, son, in this world there are many tastes, fruits, foods, and sweetnesses, are there not? But there is not one of those things that will not change in taste and become the taste of hell as soon as it passes down your throat and goes below. Such is the extent of the taste, sweetness, and praise and blame you have been able to perceive.

Son, beyond worldly taste there is a wondrously beautiful taste that is ripe and sweet and joyous. It is the taste of the grace of the mirrored ocean of divine knowledge called ‘ilm.

To partake of this taste, you must plant the tree of inner patience. Feed it with the fertilizer of contentment and pour onto it the water of certitude, determination, and absolute faith. Placing your trust in God, do your duties, giving all praise to Allah. When you act with the qualities of Allah, you will reap the fruit of the Kalimah, the word of God. Taste this fruit on the tongue of wisdom, and your heart will resplend with beauty; the joy of the taste of that fruit will flow throughout your whole body. Even on the Day of Judgment, this unchanging purity of sweetness will bring beauty to your heart and your face, and it will protect you.

M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen