“From the hour when you first journeyed from your home have you
also been journeying away from all sins?” He said “No.” “Then,”
said Junayd, “you have made no journey. At every stage where you
halted for the night did you traverse a station on the way to
God?” “No,” he replied. “Then,” said Junayd, “you have not trodden
the road, stage by stage. When you put on the pilgrim’s garb at
the proper place, did you discard the qualities of human nature
as you cast off your clothes?” “No.” “Then you have not put on
the pilgrim’s garb. When you stood at ʿArafāt, did you stand one
moment in contemplation of God?” “No.” “Then you have not stood at
ʿArafāt. When you went to Muzdalifa and achieved your desire, did
you renounce all sensual desires?” “No.” “Then you have not gone
to Muzdalifa. When you circumambulated the Kaʿba, did you behold
the immaterial beauty of God in the abode of purification?” “No.”
“Then you have not circumambulated the Kaʿba. When you ran between
Safā and Marwa, did you attain to purity (_safā_) and virtue
(_muruwwat_)?” “No.” “Then you have not run. When you came to Minā,
did all your wishes (_munā_) cease?” “No.” “Then you have not yet
visited Minā. When you reached the slaughter-place and offered
sacrifice, did you sacrifice the objects of worldly desire?” “No.”
“Then you have not sacrificed. When you threw the pebbles, did you
throw away whatever sensual thoughts were accompanying you?” “No.”
“Then you have not yet thrown the pebbles, and you have not yet
performed the pilgrimage.”
This anecdote contrasts the outer religious law of theology with the
inner spiritual truth of mysticism, and shows that they should not be
divorced from each other.
“The Law without the Truth,” says Hujwīrī, “is ostentation, and
the Truth without the Law is hypocrisy. Their mutual relation may
be compared to that of body and spirit: when the spirit departs
from the body, the living body becomes a corpse, and the spirit
vanishes like wind. The Moslem profession of faith includes both:
the words, ‘There is no god but Allah,’ are the Truth, and the
words, ‘Mohammed is the apostle of Allah,’ are the Law; any one who
denies the Truth is an infidel, and any one who rejects the Law is
a heretic.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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