My servant does not cease to approach me through voluntary worship or good manners, until I shall love him. And when I love him, I will be , at that time, the ears by which he hears, the eyes by which he sees, the hand by which he feels, the feet by which he walks. If he asks Me, I give to him. If he seeks refuge in Me, I protect him. I will be he, and he can say to something, Be! and it will be. (2)

Ahmad al-Badawi drew near his Lord until he reached the door of the Divine Presence and said, "O my Lord, please open the door for me." He received no answer. He tried again and again until he met someone by chance. We say by chance!, but it was not by chance.

It was well-planned--it was God's Will to test him. He saw that person on the street, an ordinary person who looked at him, and said, "O Ahmad!" He did not even call him, "O Shaykh Ahmad!" to give him due respect. He said, "O Ahmad! You need the key to God!s Divine Presence? "

I have that key. If you want it, come to me and I'll give it to you."

Many people among us refuse to accept facts and truth because of pride, even though they know, as a matter of fact, that this is the right path. They do not accept because their ego says, "No!" So Ahmad's ego said to him, "How are you going to accept something from him? Do not accept the key from him. Accept it from God." And he said, "O my brother,

I will not take the key from you, nor from anyone except the Key-Maker. Who are you? You are nobody."

Then he kept approaching the Divine Presence until he heard God's voice say ing to him, "O Ahmad, this life is the life of causes and effects. I will not give you the key. My will is that the key to my door, for you is with that person. Go and get it from him. Now, the matter is finished."

He heard it from his Lord, and he accepted. Now he had to find that guide. But that guide had disappeared. He had left him. For six months the guide was secretly examining Ahmad's heart, seeing him search for him and pray to his Lord day and night,O my Lord, send that person back to me, until he saw him another time. That person, immediately removed the veilhe had been present all the timerevealing himself.

Therefore many saints are present here. When our shaykh gives permission to speak from the East and West, saints open their aerials or antennae to listen and receive. There are many present, because the only tap left open by the Prophet (s), and Jesus (s) who is returning very soon, to speak about such knowledge is the tap of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim. This is a truth that I know, not by hearing it, but by seeing it and feeling it.

When Mawlana Shaykh Nazim speaks in his lectures and gives advice, saints come and listen to him. And when anyone talks on behalf of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim and speaks with permission, spiritual beings may be present, jinn, saints, angels coming to attend and sit with us. Whoever can see, can see this. If you do not see now, there may come a day when you will see.

So the guide removed the veil and appeared to Ahmad. Ahmad said, O my shaykh! I found you. He had not found him. It was the guide who had removed the veil. Yet he thought he had found him. He said, "O my shaykh, I accept you as a guide." The guide answered, "If you accept me as a guide now, you must submit, surrender, give your will over to me completely. You cannot have a will alongside my will. You have built your knowledge on a cliff. With just one gust of wind from the ego, it will fall apart. I have to build a good foundation for you. So, look into my eyes." Ahmad looked into his eyes and that guide immediately erased all the knowledge that Ahmad al-Badawi had learned through books. Through books means that there are many things written that come from the authors' egos. So he removed that knowledge out of Ahmad's heart and disappeared. He left him for another six months not even knowing how to say, In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate , not even knowing how to say the Name of God.

Everyone in the city was now mocking Ahmad al-Badawi, who had seemingly become insane after having been a very great scholar. Because of their limited spiritual knowledge, they thought that he was mentally ill. All they could see was that he was following someone who was making him crazy, but Ahmad al-Badawi knew that he had heard the voice of his Lord saying, "Your key is with that person." No one made him crazy. He was following that person. But if he had accepted from the beginning, when that guide came to him the first time by God's Will, he would not have had to pass through this test. So why make yourself pass through a test? When you find the truth, the correct guide, accept him immediately! Do not play games with your ego.

So he left him for another six months then reappeared to him another time. In those six months, Ahmad al-Badawi continued to search for him again. When he reappeared again, he said to him again, O my shaykh, I found you another time! At that time, the guide looked into his eyes transmitting from his heart to Ahmad al-Badawi's heart, through the eyes, internal knowledge the knowledge of the Book, and its secrets. He was giving, giving, giving until Light shone forth from Ahmad al-Badawi's eyes. It was so powerful that any one who looked into his eyes would die. Therefore he covered his face with a veil. At that time he was able to enter into the Divine Presence, and he received that key.

Without a guide, you can never reach the Divine Presence. It is impossible to reach the Divine Presence without a true guide who will open the door to you to where you are going. Ahmad al-Badawi was a great scholar who knew many things. He was proud of his knowledge and did not want to accept learning from someone else. Because of his pride, he wanted to take directly from the highest station. He did not see anyone higher than himself except God. How, then, to take from another person? It means that there was no humility in his heart. He was missing one of the three characteristics needed by God's servants. He had respect. He had love for human beings, but he did not have humility in his heart to accept advice from someone else. And because he had left out that one characteristic, it was as if he had stopped progressing.

A saint, a master, must have the three levels: respect, love, and humility. If you find one of them missing, then he is not a true guide. He will take you only a certain distance. Just as we see that Ahmad al-Badawi was able to draw nigh to a certain extent, to reach the door of Divine Presence, he was unable, however, to open it. For he was in need of someone who had the key. He had not accepted this need because he was full of pride in his know ledge. He thought too much of himself. Later, he accepted but only because he heard it from his Lord. That is why he passed through a test. If he had accepted without self-pride, that door would have immediately opened for him, without need for two years of testing.

When you find a guide and your heart is happy in his presence, do not listen to your ego. Tell your ego, You are wrong! What am I going to lose if I accept that guide as my master? You will not lose anything. You are showing humility and this is enough for God to raise you up. If I come and say, So-and-so is my shaykh, and take initiation from him, what is wrong with that? I am accepting, I am showing humility. God will raise me up.

Having humility is important. If you are humble, you accept everyone, because everyone, in a sense, will be a guide for you. There is an proverb in our country which says to ask a good person, From where have you learned perf= ect behavior in society? He will say, "From a wrongdoer. I watched him, saw what he did wrong, and I now avoid doing as he does. Thus I was able to correct myself through the mistakes of others." If you accept any person as your guide, even a bad person can guide you. By observing him and seeing what he is doing wrong, you stop.

This comes from humility. Why then do you not accept? Are you proud of your self? Who are you? You are a creature from among five billion creatures in this world. Five billion human beings and you are one. Why are you proud of yourself? We are nothing in comparison to God. There are five billion living ones other than you, not to mention those that have passed away. And only one of you! So you are nothing! What are you proud of? You do not have a political position. You are not in a spiritual position, so who are you to fight, show disrespect and not to love? On the contrary, you should make friends. Do not be a stupid person by showing pride, anger, and disrespect to people. Out of these five billion, try to make ten, fifteen, twenty, forty friends.-they will help you. To God, you are nothing, because you are one out of five billion, so it is as if you do not exist. It is like one divide d by infinity. What will it be? Like zero. So you are zero. Why are you proud of yourself? Everyone is so proud of himself, you cannot talk to him! Why? Because ego is there, Satan is pushing him.

We have to try to have these three qualities: respect, love, and humility. When we correct our inner life and our external manner, then we will find the way to God. And since it is difficult to correct ourselves, we have to follow someone who has already corrected himself, to take such a person as a guide.

This piece of advice from my shaykh is also important for me to listen to. I need this because my ego is so high. I am too happy with myself. I have to see myself as less than everyone. That is why Jesus () showed us a good sign and until now Christians remember to do it, and this good sign is that you have to see yourself lower than everyone, respecting everyone so much that you have to bend down and kiss everyone's feet, showing humility. This,= Christians still do until now, because Jesus (a) kissed the feet of his disciples. This is a sign of humility. You do not kiss the feet of someone for the sake of the feet! You kiss them to show humility. You have to teach yourself not to be proud. When you do this, you will win everything. So try as much as possible to break your pride and to increase your humility. Through pride you reach satan. Through humility, you reach your Lord.

We ask success from God through the Opening Chapter of the Quran.

--Shaykh Hisham Mohammed Kabbani