The Fifteenth Letter

In His Name, be He glorified!

And there is nothing but it glorifies Him with praise.(17:44)

My Dear Brother!

YOUR FIRST QUESTION

Why  didn’t  the  Companions   discover  the  troublemakers   with  the  eye  of sainthood,  with  the  result  that  three  of  the  four  Rightly-Guided   Caliphs  were martyred? For it is said that even the lesser Companions were greater than the greatest saints?

T h e  A n s w e r :  This matter comprises two stations.

First Station

The  question  may  be  solved  by  explaining  as  follows  a  subtle  mystery  of sainthood:

The Companions’ sainthood, known as the greater sainthood, is one that proceeds from the legacy of prophethood,  and passing directly from  the apparent  to realit y without travelling the intermediate path, looks to the unfolding of divine immediacy. Although this way of sainthood is very short, it is extremely elevated. Its wonders are few,  but  its  virtues  are  many.   Illuminations   and   wonder-workings   are  to  be encountered on it only infrequently. Moreover, the wonder-working of the saints is mostly involuntary;  wonders appear from them unexpectedly as a divine bestowal. And  the  majority  of  such  illuminations  and  wonder-workings  occur  during  their spiritual journeying, as they traverse the intermediate realm of the Sufi path; they manifest those extra-ordinary states because they have withdrawn to a degree from ordinary humanity. As for the Companions, due to the reflection, attraction, and elixir of the company of prophethood, they were not obliged to traverse the vast sphere of spiritual journeying  of the Sufi way. They were able to pass from the apparent  to reality in one step, through one conversation with the Prophet (UWBP). For instance, there are two ways of reaching the Night of Power, if it was last night: