75:2 No! I swear by the blaming soul.
Among the words of the commentators is that the blaming soul is the soul of the person of faith which is always in remorse for own days and blaming itself for its own shortcomings. It strikes fear and dread into itself and looks upon itself with the eyes of disdain and abasement and says,
O soul mean in aspiration and deluded,
on whatever stone I strike you, you come up false.
O you who fell short in the road of seeking the Real at the first step! O you who were cut off in the desert of the Law's prescription despite a thousand steeds! O you who have never seen the tip of the hair of good fortune despite a thousand candles and lamps! O you who fell into the treasury of Tibet but did not catch the scent of musk! O you who dove into the ocean with all the divers without finding anything at all but losing your own self! O you who came late and went back early! O you who bought the mirage of delusion in place of the wine of joy and sold your heart and religion for a price! "They deemed the life of this world more worthy of love than the next world" [16:107].
You'll see when the dust clears away
if you're seated on a horse or an ass.
*
How long making the abode of delusion an abode of joy!
How long making the abode of flight an abode of lodging!
Wait until the jolt of Seraphiel's trumpet
hides your pretty face and shows your ugly character!
One swat of the Lion for a world full of carrion-eaters,
one blast of the Trumpet for a hundred thousand Pharaoh-natures!
[DS 182, 184]
A great man was asked, "Where does the road begin?"
He said, "Not with you. When you go off to the side, the road begins everywhere."
There is never a day when this call does not come from the World of Infinity: "O you whom We called but you turned away from Us! O you whom We called, morning and night, to the good fortune of companionship, but you pulled your feet back from Our lane! It is We whom you cannot avoid. If you show Us disdain, with whom will you get along? If you cannot be an elephant, at least be no less than a gnat, which has the form of an elephant and says, 'Though I don't have an elephant's strength to carry a load, at least I will have the form of an elephant and not throw my load on someone else.'"
When the faithful servant pulls the blaming soul into discipline and gives it its rightful due of rebuke and advice, and when success-giving helps him, then the blaming soul will soon turn into the serene soul. The Lord will address it and welcome it with the attribute of ennobling and exalting: "O serene soul, return to thy Lord" [89:27-28]: O serene soul at rest and at ease with Our companionship, until today you came by the road of the soul. Now come by the road of the heart so that you may reach Us. The heart is given access to Our threshold, but nothing else is ever given access.
"The blood of the sincerely truthful was purified and made into a road-
unless the spirit takes a step in this road, you will have no access.
"Then, when you reach Us, you will find this robe:"