Chapter X: Evils of Self-Deception
'I seek refuge to Thee with the perfect words which no religious or irreligious man misses, from the evil which enters the world and which comes out of it, which comes down from heaven and which ascends to it, from the trials of day and night, from what roams about during the day and night except what travels with good, O Merciful.' When the Prophet recited it, the torch of fire fell on the body of the devil.
Hazrat Hasan Basari said: I have come to know that Gabriel once came to the Prophet and said: One party of Jinn is making conspiracy against you. So when you enter the evening, read Ayatul Qursi (2 : 255). The Prophet said: Once the devil came to me and quarrelled with me, I caught hold of his neck. By One who sent me as a true messenger, I did not let him go till his saliva of tongue touched my hand. Had not my brother Soloman called me, he would have remained lying down in the mosque. The Prophet said: 'The devil does not walk in a route which is used by Omar.' The cause is that his soul was free from greed. So remove it by sincere Zikr. Be like one who takes medicine after purgation of his bowels which was full of indigested food stuffs. If you want to get the benefit of medicine, first purge your bowels and clear it from congested stools. Similarly clear your soul first from passion and greed and when take the medicine of Zikr. When Zikr enters such a heart which is free from thoughts other than of God, the devil flees away from it, as disease goes away if medicine falls in stomach free of food.
It has been recorded in case of the devil that he will misguide one on whom he has got control and lead him to the endless pit of fire. God-fear and God's remembrance remove the devil. Prayer makes the soul pure. By its help, virtues and faults of soul are disclosed. The prayer of a man whose soul is filled up with passion and greed is not accepted. So it is beyond doubt that the devil will not go from you in that case and his machinations in you will increase, as to use medicine before purgation causes more harm. If you want to be free from the devil, proceed to fill up your soul by God-fear. Then apply the medicine of Zikr. Then the devil will flee away from you as he fled from Hazrat Omar.
Hazrat Wahab-b-Monabbah said: Fear God. A certain sage said:
Wonder is for one who does not follow the good deeds after
42 Soul and its Attributes Vol-III
knowing them and follows the devil knowing his transgression.
God says: Invoke Me and I will respond to you. You call Him but He does not respond to you. You are making Zikr but the devil does not flee away from you. The reason is that you have lost the condition of Zikr and invocation.