36:31 Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them?
Do they not look with the eyes of the head to see the wonders of the artifacts? Do they not look with the eyes of the secret core to see the subtleties of the duties?
Do they not look with the eyes of the head to see the signs of the horizons? Do they not look with the eyes of the secret core to see the signs of the souls?
Do they not look with the eyes of the heart to see the lights of guidance? Do they not look with the eyes of the spirit to see the secrets of solicitude? Do they not look with the eyes of witnessing to see the Presence of the Witnessed? Do they not look with the eyes of ecstasy [wajd] to see the banner of finding [wujūd]? Do they not look with the eyes of selflessness to see the Friend face-to-face? Do they not look with the eyes of annihilation to see a world without shore?
How long will you let this prison deceive you with this and that?
It's time to come out of this dark well and see the world-
A world in which every heart you find is king,
a world in which every spirit you see is joyous! [DS 704-5]
O indigent man! How long will you look at the artifacts? Look once at the Artisan! How long will you be distracted by wonders? Look once at the Wonder-Worker! How long will you be a man of every door? A man of every door will never see wholesomeness and deliverance: "Be not a weathercock, lest you perish." Tearing up a thousand bronze fortresses from the ground is easier than bringing a man of every door back to one door.
Abū Yazīd Bas?āmī was asked about the heart. He said, "The heart is that which does not contain the measure of one speck of desire for the creatures."
Have they not seen how many generations We destroyed before them? Whenever Salmān Fārsī passed by a ruins he would stop and weep miserably. He would remember those who left that domicile and say, "Where are they, those set down these foundations and built these houses? They gave their hearts and they tossed away their wealth and lives to adorn these rooms. Once they attached their hearts to them and blossomed like roses on a wall, they fell from the wall and slept in the clay."
Ask the lofty palace about its inhabitant
whom it saved from the hard and soft of life.
He established his kingdom and enslaved the people,
then death's messenger threw him on his face.