Abdullah Ansari was born blind in one eye and nearly blind in the other. Perhaps this is why he saw so clearly the invisible world. He lived in Herat, in what is now Afghanistan, and became known as the Pir of Herat — the Elder of Herat, the guide of guides.
His masterpiece was "Manazil al-Sa'irin" — the Stations of the Travelers. In it, he mapped one hundred stages of the spiritual path, from the first awakening to the final union. Each stage has its own qualities, its own dangers, its own necessary virtues.
"The beginning of the path is repentance —
Not mere regret, but complete turning.
You were walking away from the Beloved;
Now you turn to face Him.
This turning is the door.
Without it, there is no path."
Ansari was fearless before the powerful. When the sultan tried to silence him, he continued teaching. When theologians condemned his mysticism, he quoted scripture until they fell silent. "Truth fears nothing," he said. "Only lies need protection."
His prayers became famous for their intimacy: "O God, You know that I have not worshipped You out of fear of hell or hope of paradise. I have worshipped You because You deserve to be worshipped. If You send me to hell, I will tell its inhabitants that I love You. If You send me to paradise, I will tell its inhabitants the same."
"The final station is bewilderment —
Not confusion but wonder beyond understanding.
The traveler who arrives knows nothing
Except that he has arrived.
All his certainties have dissolved.
All his knowledge has become unknowing.
And in this unknowing, he finds everything."
Late in life, Ansari composed his "Munajat" — intimate supplications to God that are still recited across the Islamic world. They are poems of absolute vulnerability, absolute longing, absolute surrender. "I do not ask for paradise or fear hell," he wrote. "I only ask for You."
He died in 1089, at the age of eighty-three. His tomb in Herat remains a place of pilgrimage. Seekers come from across Central Asia to sit beside his grave and recite his words, hoping some spark of his fire will kindle in their hearts.
Teaching 41
The path has one hundred stations — from the first turning to the final bewilderment. Each stage must be passed; none can be skipped. The goal is not reward or escape from punishment but union with the Beloved for the Beloved's own sake. This journey requires a lifetime. Begin.