Text of a Speech by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh, Previous Master of the Nimatullahi Order, to a Sufi Gathering
When Sufis speak of attraction, they mean the divine Attraction and Grace directed to the lover and seeker of God. It must be stressed here that such attraction cannot be bestowed upon a heedless person. Whoever acquires such a blessing, in addition to his or her innate aptitude, must have struggled along the Path of God for a long time. As the poet says:
The state of attraction to the Friend appears suddenly, But it only descends upon an aware heart.
One who is attracted to God does not know anyone or anything but God, and in comparison to the intellectuals of the path only he or she is worthy of being called “the fool of God.”
Those who have been attracted by God (ahl-i jazba) must encounter a master to be guided from their own state of attraction to God to the state of social conduct on the path (suluk). To put it differently, they must be brought back to the state of sobriety (sahw) from their own state of drunkenness (sukr), so that their drunkenness can be transformed back into a state of wakefulness.
There are, on the other hand, lovers and seekers of Truth who follow the path of suluk (social conduct on the path). By practicing love, service, and struggling against self-worship, these people gradually traverse the path. Most seekers of the Truth are in this state of suluk, although some travelers do reach the state of suluk from the station of divine attraction, and others reach the state of divine attraction while following the path of suluk (though the latter are brought back to the state of suluk through the aid of the guiding master).
It is important to note here that those who are attracted by God cannot reach perfection unless they enroll, as it were, in the school of the inward journey and social conduct. And those who are traveling on the path of inward journey and social conduct on the path cannot reach perfection until they pass through the stage of divine attraction.
Thus, the seekers of God can be classified into four separate groups, namely: the attracted ones, the travelers, the attracted ones who later become travelers, and the travelers who later become attracted. However, out of these four groups, only the attracted ones who later become travelers are qualified to guide and lead others. The other three groups of people, though they may be very advanced Sufis, are not qualified to guide others. That is to say, only those Sufis who have first completed the stage of divine attraction and then traveled the path of social conduct can be masters of the Path and as such guide others on the path to God.
My hope is that all lovers and seekers of the Truth succeed in traveling the stages of love. I would also like to remind everyone that the main cornerstone of the building of suluk is service to humanity—regardless of color, race, and creed—without the expectation of anything in return.