Is one who does devotions throughout the night, prostrating himself and standing, cau- tious about the next world and hoping for the mercy of his Lord? Say: “Are they equal, those who know and those who know not?” “Devotion” is undertaking the courteous acts of service outwardly and inwardly without slacken- ing or shortcoming, being cautious because of the threatened chastisement and hoping for the promised reward. This is the attribute of a group who are constantly at God's threshold in the station of ser- vice. Their makeup at the time of prayer becomes entirely reverence itself, and they are always burning in remorse because of shame for sin. One of the great ones of the religion said, “You must show reverence for God's commands, for it is not apparent which command brings proxim- ity to God. You must avoid all prohibited things, for it is not apparent which prohibition brings distance from God.” It has been said that putting God's commands into practice is of two sorts, one according to the property of servanthood, the other according to the property of love. The property of love is higher than the property of servanthood, because the lover's constant wish is for the Friend to command a service. Hence his service is all voluntary and nothing of it is coerced. He acknowledges the favors done to him, and he never lays favors on God, nor does he look for recompense. In contrast, a service that is done because of servanthood has both free choice and coercion. The person is seeking a reward and expecting recompense. The latter is the station of the worshipers and the common faithful, and the former is the at- tribute of the recognizers and the sincerely truthful. The two groups can never be equal. The worshipers are satisfied with the blessings and held back from the Beneficent, but the recognizers have reached the Presence and take ease in contemplating the Friend. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “How should I have known that reward is a freckle on the face of friendship? I always fancied that the greatest robe of honor was the reward. Now I have found out that in finding friendship all found things are nothing.” Say: “Are they equal, those who know and those who know not?” Knowledge is three: report- ed knowledge, inspired knowledge, and knowledge of the Unseen.
