Finally, one must  forget  his  own  person,  abandon hypocrisy  and  pretension,  and  lay hold  of sincerity.

SIXTH CAUSE

Discord  among  the  people  of  truth  does  not  arise  from  lack  of  manliness, aspiration   and  zeal;  similarly,  the  wholehearted  union  among  the  misguided, neglectful  and  worldly with respect  to  their  worldly affairs does not  result  from manliness,  aspiration  and  zeal.  It  is  rather  that  the  people of truth are  generally concerned  with  benefits  to  be  had  in  the  hereafter  and  hence  direct  their  zeal, aspiration and manliness to those important and numerous matters. Since they do not devote time – the true capital of  man – to a single concern, their union with their fellows can never become firm. Their concerns are numerous and of a wide scope. As for the neglectful and worldly, they think  only  of the life of this world, and they firmly embrace the concerns of the life of this world with all their senses, their spirit and heart, and cling firmly to  whoever aids them in those  concerns. Like a mad diamond merchant who gives an exorbitant price for a piece of glass worth virtually nothing, they devote time, which is of the highest value, to matters which in reality and in the view of the people of truth are worth nothing. Paying such a high price and offering  oneself  with  the  devotion  of  all  the  senses  will  naturally  result  in  a wholehearted sincerity that yields success in the matter at hand, so that the people of truth are defeated. As a result of this defeat, the people of truth decline into a state of abasement,  humiliation,  hypocrisy and  ostentation, and  sincerity is  lost.  Thus the people of truth are obliged to flatter and cringe before a handful of vile and lowly men of the world.

O people of truth! O people of the law, people of reality and people of the path,

all worshipping God! Confronted by this awesome disease of discord, overlook each other’s faults, close your eyes to each other’s shortcomings! Behave according to the rule of courtesy established by the criterion that is the Qur’an in the verse:

When they pass by error, they pass by it with honourable avoidance.(25:72) Regard it as your primary duty – one on which your state in the hereafter depends – to abandon internal dissension when attacked by an enemy from the outside, and thereby to deliver the people of truth from their abasement and  humiliation! Practise  the brotherhood,  love  and  co-operation  insistently  enjoined  by hundreds  of  Qur’anic verses  and traditions of the Prophet (UWBP)!