The Crucible, and the Certainty that Came out of It

That harsh confrontation was a true crucible for the certainty that had settled in the depths of my heart. In those moments I found myself facing a profound existential question. Would I retreat into the zone of Concretion, in search of the false security and temporary calm that the group provides? Or would I hold on to Abstraction, in fidelity to the covenant of vicegerency under the Lord, which demands honesty with oneself and with the Creator? Quite calmly, I chose to go on exposing the veils that had piled up over the ages. I knew full well that the price of that choice would be a spiritual estrangement in a world accustomed to walking behind ready-made moulds. The collective order, by its nature, rewards those who swim with its current, and pursues with every tool it has anyone who tries to swim against it, however beautiful his thought. I discovered that the truth and essence to which I had given my life were not information to be gathered or theories to be studied. They were a living, existential energy that gives whoever holds it the power to rise above material fears. A heart that does not tremble before crowds or material pressure is a heart that has seen the truth hidden behind appearances; and whoever has seen the pure essence no longer fears the husk, however thick it may be. As a human being seeking authenticity, I found that I work within earthly reality in a material body subject to its laws, but that my consciousness must keep soaring in the horizons of transcendence, connected with the Absolute that neither time nor place can bound. As al-Mutanabbī said: When souls are great, the bodies tire in serving what they seek. The pressure was never meant to break me. It was the means by which my consciousness became immune. I learned that certainty is completed only through trial, and that returning to innate nature takes the courage to let go of illusions before it takes the courage to hold on to truths. I set this milestone before you so that you may know that the light you discover inside the siege is the very light that will show you the way through the open spaces of freedom. We live in matter, but we do not belong to it. Our real strength lies in that hidden connection with our origin in the Lord, which turns every pain into a ladder of ascent, and every constriction into a wider vision and a deeper insight. Hashem Nassar All rights reserved