Abu Said Ibn Abil Khayr

Spelled Abu Sa'id Ibn Abi'l Khayr (967-1049)

Persian mystic and poet

Even on the path to God, All is god
You are free from your own desires only when God frees you. This is not effected by your own exertion, but by the grace of God. First he brings forth in you the desire to attain this goal. Then he opens to you the gate of repentance. Then...you continue to strive and...pride yourself on your efforts, thinking that you are advancing or achieving something; but afterwards you fall into despair and feel no joy. Then you know your work is not pure but tainted, you repent of acts of devotion which you had thought were your own, and percieve that they were done by God's grace and that you were guilty of polytheism in attributing them to your own exertion. When this becomes manifest, a feeling of joy enters your heart...God opens to you the gate of love....

But still you think I love and find no rest until you percieve that it is God who loves you and keeps you in the state of loving, and that this is the result of divine love and grace, not your own endeavor. Then God opens to you the gate of unity, and causes you to know that all action depends on God Almighty. Hereupon you percieve that all is God, and all is by him, and all is him [even] this self-conceit....Then you entirely recognize that you do not have the right to say "I" or "mine." At this stage you behold your helplessness; desires fall away from you and you become free and calm. You desire what God desires; your own desires are gone, you are emancipated from your wants, and have gained peace and joy in both worlds.

First, action is necessary, then knowledge, in order that you may know that you know nothing and are no one. This is not easy to know. It is a thing that cannot be rightly learned by instruction, nor sewed on with needle nor tied on with thread. It is the gift of God.

Related: Rumi | Tukaram | Hafiz