The Greatest Master Muhyiddin Ibn al-Arabi

The beloved Muhammad, may Allah bestow Divine Peace upon him, once expressed to the sublime companion 'Ali these words, which were then transmitted, through many faultless witnesses, to the present poor lover, Ibn al Arabi, while seated with his mystic guide before the noble Ka'ba in the Masjid al-Haraam:

In the Garden of Paradise, Allah Most High will communicate to the people of

Paradise:I am Allah the Generous, the Self-Sufficient, the Integral, the Truthful. This is My Abode, where I have now established you. This is My Paradise, which I have now opened for you. And here is My Own Self, which I now reveal to you. Here is My Hand, which distributes the dew and the rain, now open and extend over you. I will never draw it back from you. I now gaze at you, and My direct gaze will never turn away from you. Ask Me what you wish and what you ardently desire, for I have made you intimate with My Own Self. I am your Friend and your Confidant. There will never again exist for you need or privation, tribulation or misery, neither weakness nor aging, neither anger nor constraint nor adversity. The delights of eternity now surround you. You are the ones who are secure, who are eternally abiding, the noble ones, the ones who ceaselessly receive My Generosity. You are the distinguished royal souls who obeyed Me and followed My Guidance. Ask of Me, and I will satisfy you completely from My Abundance.

The chose ones will then cry out: "Our Lord, the delights of Paradise are neither what we hope for nor desire. What we ardently long for is You alone, the timeless vision of Your Noble Blessed Countenance and Your Good Pleasure upon us eternally."

Whereupon the Supreme One, the All-Sublime, the Sultan of the Divine Kingdom, the

All-Generous Giver, may He be glorified and exalted, will respond to them: Here is My Countenance, revealing Itself to you forever. Therefore rejoice, for My Own Self is pleased with you. Rejoice! Turn to your companions, O My chosen ones. Embrace them and celebrate together the mystical marriage. Turn to the other souls linked to you, and share your joy. Go to your elevated spiritual stations and enter them joyfully. Go to your interior gardens and stroll there. Go to your heavenly mounts and ride them. Don your robes of Paradise. Attend your spiritual gatherings and converse with each other in love and praise.Without entering sleep or losing consciousness, repose beneath deep shade in most peaceful refuge, nearness to the All-Majestic One. Visit the holy waters of Paradise: the upwelling spring of Kawthar; the fragrant spring of Kafur, where servants of Allah drink ecstatically, the spring of Clairty; the resonant fountain of Tasnim, where souls of nearness drink; the healing springs of Salsabil and Zanjabil. Immerse yourselves in these waters and quench your spiritual thirst with them. This will be the bliss of union, the height of mystical return.

Thereupon, recline on green cushions and rich carpets placed on raised couches in expansive shade, where water gushes forth and fruits of wisdom abound, unrestricted and inexhaustible.

The Messenger of Allah, may peace be upon him, concluded this account with words from the Glorious Quran: "The companions of Paradise will be absorbed in bliss on this Day-- they and their noble spouses, resting upon divans in cool shade. There will be manifest for them fruits of wisdom and all they can desire, contained in the Word from their Most Loving Lord: Peace be upon you." Once again the beloved Muhammad, may peace be upon him, chanted from the Book of Reality: "The lovers in Paradise experience this eternal Day as permanent repose, the most beautiful spiritual station, Peace."

This hadith was imparted to me by the Shaykh, the Imam, the Honored, the entrusted keeper of Hadith, Abu Muhammad Yunus ibn Yahya. We recited it mutually to each other several times, alternatively speaking and listening, in the precincts of the Haram ash-Sharif, facing the Ka'ba, in the month of Jumada al-Akhira in the year 599.