Spiritual and moral education, from the sincerity of orientation to the excellence of action

A literal, word-for-word translation as far as English allows; the article below presents its meaning and structure.

“In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Most Merciful. Praise be to God, to Whom belong the keys of success, through Whom hearts are oriented, souls are appeased and steps are set right. We praise Him, the Most High, for the blessings with which He has filled us, and we ask Him for help for righteous deeds. And we ask Him to make our beginnings sincerity, our effort a blessing, and our ends satisfaction and acceptance. Prayers and blessings upon our lord Mohammed, who guided his community toward the gates of good and raised it upon the sincerity of orientation and the excellence of work, and upon his family, his companions and those who follow his way until the Day of Retribution.

After that: my lords and ladies, people of union. The human being, every time he advances toward a new stage of his life, sees before him the anxieties renewed and the multitude of his aspirations; he needs what fixes him, fixes his heart, illumines his way and helps him to choose well. But the question we must ask ourselves is not only: what do we want to achieve? It is also: with what intention do we strive, with what morals do we work, and toward what end do we direct ourselves? A man can succeed in reaching the goals of worldly aspiration, yet lose on the way his sincerity, or his honesty, or his inner peace. And his work can be small in people’s eyes, yet great through its sincerity, its benefit for others and its disinterestedness toward God. We do not ask God for bare success; we ask Him for the best of successes; we do not ask Him only for the abundance of work, but for work accepted by His pleasure. We ask Him for the faith He will realise in our hearts and the constancy that will help us continue on the way. And behold, we understand that asking for God’s help and invocation do not replace work: they are the spirit of work and its support. We turn to God through our hearts, then we take the means, we tend the management, we exert effort, and we entrust Him with the results. We sow the seeds with sincerity and perfection, we water them with patience and trust, and we know that germination and fruit are in His hand. Results can be late, our path can meet difficulties, affairs may not come in the form we wished. But the believer does not make of this a cause for despair, rupture or stagnation: he reviews his intention, he sets his work right, he implores the help of his Lord, and he continues his course. For every delay is not a deprivation, and every trial is not a sign of failure. There can be in the way an education for the soul, a teaching of patience and an occasion to review one’s aims.

People of union, the foundation of this course is sincerity (al-ikhlas): that our aim be God’s pleasure, and not the seeking of people’s praise. That we work in secret as we work in public, that we keep the trust even if no one watches us, that we acknowledge error rather than justify it, and that we rejoice in God’s help and His gracious disposal. Everything the Beautiful does is beautiful; what is not for guidance breaks, and what is not for God is cut off and separated. Sincerity in work preserves its possessor from becoming a prisoner of people’s gaze or their judgments: if he errs, he returns, implores forgiveness, as it is reported in the saying: ‘Hold yourselves to account before you are held to account.’ And if he falls short, let him renew his determination, let him not make his fall a permanent dwelling; and may his loss after that not be a loss.

Spiritual and moral education, for Sufism, is the maqam of ihsan, excellence. It teaches that the visible is the sign of the hidden: whoever has a pure heart has a pure intention. If the heart is purified of envy, of spite and of the seeking of others’ gaze, and filled with sincerity and love of good, this is reflected in light, serenity and good conduct, in good relations and fine deeds. It is an education that shows itself in the details of daily life: it is not a matter of speaking of humility, but of being humble; nor of brandishing the watchword of honesty, but of accomplishing it with sincerity and truth; nor of speaking of service to people, but of stepping forward in it without expecting praise or recompense. The more a man makes supplications to God, the more he must grow in sincerity, humility and mercy; and the truer his love, the more its effect must appear in the safeguarding of rights, faithfulness to commitments and ihsan toward creatures. As the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, says in the authentic hadith: ‘The Most Merciful has mercy on those who are on earth, so He will have mercy on you who are in heaven.’

One of the greatest fields of this good and of this work according to these aims is the service of our homeland. From the person in charge who fulfils his duty with humility and honesty, from the employee who respects people’s time and strives to serve them, from every man who understands that the value of responsibility lies in the fulfilment of the trust, and not in appearances, the love of display, the seeking of praise and reputation: love of the homeland is not proved by slogans alone, but by work, excellence, honesty, the safeguarding of the public good, respect for the law, the safeguarding of public funds, service to citizens and the priority of the general interest over narrow interests. Each of us can contribute according to his place. The sustainable development our homeland seeks needs science and competence, but it also needs morals: competence without honesty can harm, and good intention without accomplished work does not realise what we hope. God, blessed be He, said in His Book: ‘Do whatever you will; God will see your deeds, and His Messenger and the believers.’ The pious work is not confined to acts of worship alone: it includes every useful work in which responsibility is fulfilled with sincerity, in which people’s rights are respected and in which the public interest is sought. If the intention is pure and the work right, professional and social responsibility can become a door of nearness to God and of service to the country and to God’s servants, for the most pleasing of people to God is the most beneficial to people, as it is reported in the authentic hadith. Let us therefore make of our education a provision for conduct, of our supplication a spur to excellence, of our love an engine of service to people; let us begin with ourselves, let us repair what we can repair, let us fulfil the duties incumbent on us, and let us despise no small work if it is sincere and useful: homelands are not built by slogans, but by firm and continuous steps. We invoke God with hearts full of hope, we strive with labouring hands, we conduct ourselves with good morals, and we implore patience when the way grows hard. Let us make of each day a step toward God, of each work an occasion of sincerity, of each relation a field of mercy and of each responsibility a door of service to the homeland and to humankind. O God, we ask You for the good of asking, the good of supplication, the good of success, the good of work, the good of reward, the good of life and the good of death; grant us acceptance, guide us in balance, realise our wishes, raise our degrees, accept our prayer, forgive our faults, and grant us the high degrees of Paradise and the loftiest degrees of Paradise.

O God, protect the Commander of the Faithful, the holder of the glorious throne, Mohammed VI; clothe him in the robe of health and safeguarding, support him with success and uprightness, and extend over him the grace of health and safeguarding. Strengthen the eye of His Royal Highness the crown prince, Prince Moulay El Hassan, and strengthen him by the support of His Royal Highness Prince Moulay Rachid; protect the other members of the Sharifian royal family. O God, protect our country Morocco and make of our country a country of religion, of mercy for the needy and the poor; extend over it the grace of security, safety, unity and stability; bless it in its path of development, guide its government toward what is good, guide its sons and daughters toward what is good for the country and for God’s servants. And protect the other Muslim countries, reconcile their hearts, avert from them trials, manifest and hidden. Our Lord, accept us: You are the One who hears and knows; and turn to us in repentance: You are the One who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful. Prayers and blessings upon our lord Mohammed, the true fulfilment of God: when a matter constricts, God loosens it; and upon his family and all his companions. And praise be to God, Lord of the worlds. May the peace, the mercy of God and His blessings be upon you.”