WHAT THE SEEKER NEEDS ( 1)

WHAT THE SEEKER NEEDS

By Ibn 'Arabi

Note:

What the seeker needs is also known as Kitab Kunh ma la budda minhu lil- murid. This short work was written in Mosul in 1204 in answer to the question of what the seeker "should believe in and what he should do in the beginning, before anything else."

Translations of this work have been printed on several occasions: in Turkish (by Mahmud Mukhtar Bey, 1898); Spanish (excerpts by M. Asin Palacios, 1931); and in English (by A. Jeffrey, 1962).

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WHAT THE SEEKER NEEDS

All praise and thanks are due to Allah Most High, and may His benedictions and salutations be upon His messenger, and the progeny and companions of His messenger.

This short guide is a response to one who wishes to take the path of faith, hope, and love so that he might become complete and perfect as he was created. It was written to answer his questions about what he should believe in and what he should do in the beginning, before anything else.

O you who yearn ( inginkan )  for eternal ( kekal / abadi ) beauty, traveler on the path of the true wish, may Allah make you successful in knowing the true way, finding it, and being upon it. May He use you and us in actions that please Him and are done for His sake ( kemahuan  ) . 

For the beginning and the end and what is in between, and success in them all, belong only to Him.

The way and means to eternal salvation and bliss is in coming close to the Truth. Allah Himself teaches us the meaning of His closeness to us. He teaches us by sending us His prophets. We say, "we believe." It is the truth. We accept and confirm it. The only thing then left for us to do is to follow the teachings and the example of His prophet.

First, you must believe in the oneness and uniqueness of the One who is before the before and after the after, who created us and everything else, and you must not associate with Him anything unbefitting ( tidak sesuai ) the purity of His Essence ( zatNya ) . He Himself says in His divine book:

If there were in them gods besides Allah, (the heavens and the earth) would both have been in disorder (mixing and clashing and being destroyed). continue

(Anbiya', 22)