THE ESSENTIALS OF THE WAY

Preference of the sacred cause over all worldly and animal desires; steadfastness in truth, once it has been discovered, to the degree that one sacrifices all mundane attachments for its sake; endurance in the face of all hardships to open the ways to the happiness of future generations; seeking happiness, not in material or even spiritual pleasures, but in the happiness and well-being of others; never aiming to obtain any posts or positions, preferring oneself to others in taking on work but preferring others to oneself in receiving wages – these are the essentials of this sacred way of serving the truth.

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Those who lead a way must set a good example for their followers. Just as they are imitated in their virtues and good morals, so too, their bad and improper actions and attitudes leave indelible marks upon those who follow them.

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One who represents the truth in any stage must try to embody it himself, with honesty, trustworthiness, consciousness of duty, high degree of perception, awareness of circumstances and far-sightedness, and absolute chastity. It is a serious defect for anyone who holds office to be lacking in any of these virtues, and bad luck for those who follow him.

PERSONAL INTEGRITY

Those who attempt to reform the world must first reform themselves. In order to be followed by others in the way to a better world, they must purify their inner worlds of hatred, rancor, and jealousy, and adorn their outer worlds with all kinds of virtues. The utterances of those who are far removed from self-control and self-discipline, who have failed to refine their feelings, may seem attractive and insightful at first, but they will not be able to inspire others – or, if indeed they do, the sentiments they arouse will soon die away.

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Goodness, beauty, truthfulness and being virtuous lie in the essence of the world. Whatever happens, the world will one day find this essence, and no one will be able to prevent that happening.

CLARITY ABOUT AIMS AND MEANS

It is essential to be as precise as possible about the aim and object of every duty we undertake so that we do not, as it were, fall between objectives. In our particular service, if we do not direct our spirits to a definite aim, our thoughts will collapse into a whirl of confusion and we will become their powerless plaything.

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With respect to thinking, clarity about the objective is especially important, indeed it must always take the first place and be defined. Otherwise, we will be lost in the flood of thoughts. In the past so many swaggering ventures failed to bear fruit, to have any beneficial result, and indeed left behind much hatred and rancor precisely because of confusion in their aims and means.

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The Exalted Creator and seeking His approval must have the first and foremost place in every activist’s perspective. Inadequacy in this can make room for idols to intervene, for falsehood to present itself as truth, for fancies to show themselves as real ideas and, though in the name of a struggle for faith, for many abuses and crimes to be perpetrated.

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As for works undertaken to seek the Almighty’s approval – a particle can have the worth of the sun, a drop the worth of the sea, a second the worth of eternity. Therefore, even supposing the world could be turned into gardens of Paradise by means that He disapproved, it would be as nothing, completely worthless, and it would be a matter about which those responsible would be questioned.

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The worth of means and instruments lies in their competence to carry through to the desired objective and to do so with fluency. That is why means which do not lead to the objective being reached, indeed form obstacles on the way to it, are regarded as cursed. That is also why the world may be cursed, insofar as it intervenes between man and his real object in life; whereas, while it reflects the grace of a thousand Glorious Names of the Creator and serves as a magnificent exhibition of His works, it is worthy to be loved and applauded.

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There are many ways and means of establishing and raising up truth. Their worth is relative to their effectiveness in enhancing respect of the Creator Who is the Truth, and the consideration of right and truth. If a household is instilling the family with knowledge, if a place of worship is rousing its community with the thought of eternity, if a school is awakening hope and faith in its pupils – these are institutions serving their purpose and therefore sacred. If not, they are all devilish traps that cut off the path of mankind. So too we may judge unions and trusts and political institutions and societies in general...

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Founders and directors of all institutions, large or small, should often remind themselves of the purpose and reason for their existence, so their work does not stray from its objective, but remains fruitful. If they do not, the homes, hostels, schools and other institutes, the purpose of whose foundation has been forgotten, work to their own loss on a line against themselves – just like a person who forgets the purpose of his creation.

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Claiming a monopoly in good ideas and approving only one’s own side as right, are signs of utter dependence on material causality and oblivion of the objective. And feelings of rancor and hatred for the ones who share the same belief, sentiments and ideas – is that anything other than lack of sufficient commitme

SELF-CRITICISM or SELF-INTERROGATION

Self-criticism and self-interrogation is that a believer always reviews whatever he says and does every day or even every hour, good or bad, right or wrong. He also thanks God for the good he has done and tries to erase his sins and deviations by asking God to forgive him and he amends his errors and sins by repentance and remorse. Self-criticism is the very important and serious attempt of a believer to assert himself in his loyalty to God.

Self-criticism may also be described as seeking and discovering one's inwardness and spiritual depth and exerting the necessary spiritual and intellectual efforts to acquire true human values and develop the sentiments that encourage them. It is by means of such efforts that a man distinguishes between what is good and bad and what is beneficial or harmful to him throughout his life and maintains the uprightness of his heart.

It is through continuous self-criticism that a man is enabled to evaluate the present and prepare for the future. Again, it is through self-criticism that he can make up for past mistakes and be absolved in the sight of God, constantly realizing self-renewal in his inner world in order to achieve a steady relation with God. This is so because it depends on whether a man can live a spiritual life and is aware of what takes place in his inner world that he can preserve his celestial nature as a true human being and keep his inner senses and feelings active.

With respect to both his spiritual life and his everyday practical life, a Submitted one cannot be indifferent to self-criticism. On the one hand, he tries to revive his ruined past with the breezes of hope and mercy blown by Divine calls such as "Repent to God (24.31)" and "Turn to your Lord repentant (39.54)" which come from the worlds beyond and echo in his conscience. On the other, through the warnings, at once as frightening as thunderbolts and as exhilarating as mercy, contained in the verses such as "O you who believe! Fear God and observe your duty to Him. And let every soul consider what it has prepared for the morrow (59.18)", he comes to his senses and becomes alert (against committing new sins), being defended as if behind locked doors against all kinds of evils. Taking each moment of his life to be a time of germination in spring, he seeks ever-greater depth in spirit and heart with insight and consciousness arising from belief. Even if he is sometimes pulled down by the carnal dimension of his existence and falters, he is always on the alert, as is stated in the Divine declaration: "Those who fear God and observe His commandments, when a passing stroke from Satan troubles them, they immediately remember (God), and Lo! They are all aware (7.201)."

Self-criticism is like a lamp in the heart of a believer and a warner and a well-wishing adviser in his conscience. Every believing man distinguishes through it between what is good and evil and what is beautiful and ugly and what is pleasing to God and what is displeasing to Him, and by the guidance of that well-wishing adviser, he surmounts all obstacles, however seemingly insurmountable, and reaches his destination.

Self-criticism attracts Divine mercy and favor, enabling one to go deeper in belief and servanthood, to succeed in practicing Submission, and to gain nearness to God and eternal happiness. It also prevents a believer from falling into despair that will ultimately lead him to rely in vanity on his own acts of worship to be saved from Divine punishment in the Hereafter. [Note: If a man falls into despair (of Divine mercy) concerning his eternal life because of his sins, he tries to find a way to relief from Divine punishment. He then remembers his past good acts and relies on them. However, this is an utterly inadequate way, as it is purely through Divine mercy that a man can be saved from God's punishment and enter Paradise. Tr.] As self-criticism opens for man the door to spiritual peace and tranquillity, it also causes him to fear God and His punishment in awe of Him. In the hearts of those who constantly criticize themselves and call themselves to account for their deeds is always echoed the Prophetic warning: If you knew what I know, you would laugh little but weep a lot. Self-criticism which gives rise to both peacefulness and fear in a man's heart, continuously inspires in him the anxiety of those who live doubled up with the heavy responsibility they feel-the anxiety voiced as: If only I had been a tree cut into pieces. Self-criticism makes man always feel the distress and strain expressed in: "The earth seemed constrained to them for all its vastness and their own souls strained to them (9.118)." In every cell of their brains resounds: "Whether you make known what is in your souls or hide it, God will bring you to account for it (2.284)", and they groan in utterances like I wish my mother had not given birth to me!

While it is difficult for everyone to achieve self-criticism of such a degree, it is also difficult for one who does not do so [to be sure that he will be able] to live today better than yesterday and tomorrow better than today. Those who are crushed between the wheels of time, those whose every day is not better than the preceding one, cannot perform well their duties pertaining to the afterlife.

It shows the perfection of one's belief that one constantly criticizes and reprimands oneself. Every soul who has planned his life to reach the horizon of perfect, universal man is conscious of his life and spends every moment of his life struggling with himself. He demands a password or visa from whatever occurs to his heart and mind. He controls himself against the temptations of Satan or the excitement of his temper and is extremely careful about whatever he will say or do. He frequently criticizes himself even for those of his acts seemingly most sensible and acceptable. When it is evening every day, he calls himself to account for what he has done through the day and when it is morning, he begins his day with a resolution not to commit a sin. He knits the 'lace of his life' with the 'threads' of self-criticism and self-accusation. [Meaning, he spends every moment of his life in self-criticism and constant awareness of what he says and does.]