Islâm is other than the lower nature. So long as the lower impulses do not yield to purity, the heart has no affinity with Islâm. The investigators of Truth give to the bundle of the impulses the name of ‘the desire-nature’. The outer body with its limbs and joints is not dangerous, but is simply a horse to carry the directions of the Law. God says: ‘He sent us a horse from His mighty palace. Let us ride on it and come to the Path’. So long as it carries His directions we should not vex it. If it attempts to transgress the Law, let us punish it with the whip of asceticism, so that it may come back to the path. This is the discipline of the body. But if a man pricks his limb with a pin, saying that he thereby subdues the desire-nature, he is a sinner. Many ignorant fellows labour under a delusion and foolishly take self-torture as an important discipline. By no means transgress the limit of the Law and common-sense. The body is a valuable horse, and fit to carry the divine charges. It is the desire-nature, and not the body, which deserves rooting out and chastisement.
The world is arrayed into two parties, the party of God and the party of Satan. Look well and see to which you belong. . . . .
A Knower has said, “No one comes to worship God, unless promised the bribe of heaven and threatened with the torture of hell.” This indicates an indifference to Monotheism.
It is said:
On an Îd day* Shiblî the Saint was seen mourning and clad in black. He was told: “This is the Îd day. Why are you so clad?” He replied: “I see all men rejoicing and clad in new suits, but not one of them is aware of God. I mourn this day over their heedlessness.” O brother, thou hast become inured to heedlessness, hast barred the gate of Divine Knowledge and art content with the gratification of desires. Rest assured, so long as thou dost not put off thy desires, thou canst not put on the robe of Faith; so long as thou dost not look upon the desire-nature as thy foe, Faith cannot come to thee as thy friend; so long as thou dost not cease thy connection with Satan, thou canst not see the beauty of “There is no God save Allâh”; so long as thou dost not turn from the world, thou canst not approach the Path of Purity.
Since the Lord is thy Origin, thou hast not come; since the Lord is thy Goal, thou wilt not go. “There is no God save Allâh.” Nothing can be separated from the Infinite, and attached to non-God. Since the Origin is from Him, the End is verily in Him. Separation and union, coming and going, are thus unreal. This is a long story. Discreet silence is here absolutely necessary. —Letter 58.