with richness; but if you attach it to anyone other than Me, I shall cut off the channels of My assistance from you and drive you away from My gate.
• Do not lean on anything beneath Us, for it will turn into a calamity for you and bring about your ruin. If you rely on deeds, We shall throw them back at you; if you rely on gnosis, We shall make it strange to you; if you rely on ecstasy, We shall entice you by means of it; if you rely on learning, We shall leave you confined to it; and if you rely on created beings, We shall consign you to them. Be content with Us as your Lord, and We will be content with you as Our servant.
Benefit
The involuntary gasp that arises while listening to the Quran or other recitations has several causes:
- A spiritual rank that is not his flashes before him; he yearns for it, and the gasp occurs—this is the gasp of longing.
- A sin he once committed looms before him; he gasps out of fear and sorrow for himself—this is the gasp of dread.
- A defect within himself, which he cannot remove, appears to him; this produces sadness, and he gasps the gasp of grief.
- The perfection of his Beloved dawns upon him, yet he sees the road to Him blocked; this brings about a gasp of regret and sorrow.
- His Beloved had been hidden from him while he was preoccupied with something else; the audition reminds him of his Beloved, he glimpses His beauty, sees the door open and the path clear, and he gasps out of joy and delight at what has appeared to him.
In every case, the cause of the gasp is the strength of the incoming spiritual influx and the frailty of the vessel to bear it.