Al-Ghazali — Lettera a Shihab al-Islam (II)

Man is given a limited will, it depends upon him. Either he identifies his being with his selfness and its interests, or throws aside his selfness and thereby identifies himself exclusively with the Divine within and without. This is the path of enlightenment. Allah has raised you to the high rank of the premiership of the Seljuq empire. The time has now come when you should wish for a rank higher than this. When you reach it and feel satisfied with it, it is then that you will be transferred from this stage to another which is higher than this. It is then that you will be turned towards a rank which is more honorable and rewarded with a feeling of self- sufficiency at which time the doors of salvation will be opened to you as explained in the sayings of the Prophet, praise and peace be upon him. I have written this letter to you for a specific reason and that is to introduce you to one of my old friends. Both his inspiration to his disciples and his dedication to a noble life are due to signs from beyond which seems to him to be the domain of his own self. He is the father of religious society, a mystical society. He is an elderly man and too weak to earn a livelihood. He has faced not only hardship but arduous labor, and ill treatment, all of which have contributed to his ill-health. Besides, Abu Bakr Abdullah, who is so favored that the hidden things of Paradise are shown to him, has asked me to introduce him to you with a request that you may help ease his financial difficulties. I pray to Almighty Allah to open the doors of His everlasting kingdom to your soul so that it may behold all that happens on this earth and may He enable you to renounce your own worldly advancement for the sake of the Divine which is better. Your Excellency's humble servant, Al Ghazali