Editing Kitab-i-Iqan/Page11/GPT4 215

And they must consider backbiting as misguidance and never step into that arena, for backbiting extinguishes the luminous lamp of the heart and kills the life of the heart. They should be content with a little and refrain from seeking more. They should count the company of the detached as gain and consider isolation from the clingy and arrogant a blessing. They should engage in remembrance during the predawn hours, and strive with all their effort and capability in seeking their Beloved. They should burn neglect in the fire of love and remembrance and pass beyond everything other than God like a lightning bolt. They should distribute portions to the portionless and not withhold gifts and benevolence from the deprived. They should aim to take care of animals, let alone human beings and the people of speech. They should not withhold the life of the soul from the Beloved and not seek protection from the Creator's scorn because of people's mockery.

They should not like for others what they do not like for themselves and not promise what they cannot fulfill. They should forgive transgressors at the height of their power and seek forgiveness. They should draw the pen of pardon on sinners and not look down upon them, for the goodness of the end is unknown. Many a sinner attains the essence of faith at the moment of death, drinks the wine of immortality, and hastens to the highest assembly. Many an obedient and faithful person experiences a reversal at the time of the soul's ascension and finds a home in the lowest layers of hellfire.

Indeed, the purpose of all these refined expressions and firm indications is that the seeker and traveler must consider everything other than God as perishable and count everything other than the object of worship as non-existent.