An Address to the Reader

(From a letter by Hadrat 'Abdul-Qadir al-Jilani)

DEAR FRIEND, Your heart is a polished mirror. You must wipe it clean of the veil of dust

which has gathered upon it, because it is destined to reflect the light of  divine secrets.

When the light from Allah (Who) is the light of the heavens and the earth... begins to shine 

upon the regions of your heart, the lamp of the heart will be lit. The lamp of the heart is in a

glass, the glass is as it were a brightly shining star... Then within that heart, the lightning-shaft

of divine discoveries strikes. This lightning-shaft of divine discoveries strikes. This lightning-

shaft will emanate from the thunderclouds of meaning neither of the East nor of the West, lit 

from a blessed olive tree... and throw light upon the tree of discovery, so pure, so transparent

that it sheds light though fire does not touch it. (All the above are quoted from the Verse of Light

(Surah Nur: 35). Then the lamp of wisdom is lit by itself. How can it remain unlit when the light

of Allah's secrets shines over it?

It only the light of divine secrets shines upon it, the night sky of secrets is lit with thousands of

stars ... and by the stars (you) find (your) way... (Surah Nahl: 16) It is not the stars that guide us 

but the divine light. For Allah has ... decked the lower heaven with beauty (in) the stars. (Surah

Ya Sin: 36). If only the lamp of divine secrets be kindled in your inner self the rest will come, 

either all at once or little by little. Some you already know, some we will tell you here. Read,

listen, try to understand. The dark skies of unconsciousness will be lit by divine presence and 

the peace and beauty of the full moon, which will rise from the horizon shedding light upon 

light,(Surah Nur:35) ever rising in the sky, passing through its appointed stages as Allah has...

ordained for it Mansions (Surah Ya Sin: 39), until it shines in glory in the center of the sky, 

dispersing the darkness of heedlessness. (I swear) by the night when it is still ... (Surah Duha:2)

By the glorious morning light ... (Surah Duha: 1) your night of unconsciousness will see the 

brightness of the day. Then you will inhale the perfume of remembrance and repent in the 

early hours of the morning ... (Surah Al-Imran: 17) of unconsciousness and regret your life 

spent in sleep. You will hear the songs of the morning nightingales and you will hear them say

They were in the habit of sleeping but little by night, and in the

hours of early dawn they (were found) praying for forgiveness.(Surah Fatiha: 17-18)

Allah guides to His light whom He pleases. (Surah Nur: 35)

Then you will see from the horizon of Divine Reason the sun of inner knowledge rising. It is 

your private sun, for you are the one whom Allah guides and are on the right path and not the 

one He leaves in error. (Surah A'raf: 178) And you will understand the secret that 

It is not given to the sun to catch up with the moon, nor can the 

night outstrip the day. Each swims along in (its appointed) orbit. (Surah Ya Sin: 40)

Finally, the knot will be untied in accordance with the parables which Allah sets forth for 

men, and Allah is the Knower of all things, (Surah Nur: 35) and the veils will lift and shells

will shatter, revealing the fine beneath the coarse; the truth will uncover her face.

All this will begin when the mirror of your heart is cleansed. The light of the divine secrets

will fall upon it if you are willing and ask for Him, from Him, with Him.

THE SECRET OF SECRETS

The Manifestation of Lights

(Kitab Sirr al-Asrar wa Mazhar al-Anwar)

SHAIKH 'ABD AL-QADIR AL-JILANI

                   Interpreted by

Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti