The following brief excerpt is taken from The Book of Love by Abu Hamid Al-Ghazali (1058-1111 CE). Although popular culture glorifies love in fantasies of pleasure and delight, Al-Ghazali makes abundantly clear that in the mystical view, love is a path of self-denial and humility. The text mentions ‘Junayd’, in reference to Junayd of Baghdad (835–910 CE), a Persian mystic and one of the most famous of the early Sufi saints. For more about Al-Ghazali, see this earlier post.

What has been reported about Jesus (peace be upon him) is that he said to the Israelites, “Where does a seed grow?” They answered, “In the dust.” He said, “Truly I say unto you wisdom grows only in a heart that is like dust.” Those who aspire to sainthood come at last to meet its preconditions by self-abasement in the most extreme…

Of Ibn al-Karnabi, the teacher of Junayd, it is related that he said… “I arrived at a certain place where I had a reputation for righteousness. My heart became distracted. I entered the bath-house and went over to some sumptuous clothing, which I then stole and put on. I put my own rags on over the fine garments and left the bath-house. I began walking away very slowly. Some people confronted me, took off my rags and seized the garments. They struck me and injured me with their blows. After that I came to be known as a bath-house thief and my soul was at rest within me.”

The mightiest of all obstructions is self-absorption.

This is how they tame and break their carnal selves until God delivers them from directing their gaze towards creatures and then towards themselves. Someone who is forever gazing at his own soul is blocked from God; self-preoccupation is his veil. Between the heart and God there is no estranging distance or intervening obstacle; the heart’s distance comes about only from its being absorbed in things other than Him or in itself. In fact, the mightiest of all obstructions is self-absorption.

Tr. Eric Ormsby