Real Love is forever!

Here is a Sohbet, "Lecture" from Shaikh Nazim himself. Bare the translation as it was emailed to me like this but you can understand the main essence of the lecture.

Real Love is forever, as it is For the Sake of Almighty God

There was one student in Daghestan who was on a high degree of love, a strong lover of Allah and the Prophet Muhammad (sal). He was saying about the love between people and that so many people are liking one another but that we cannot accept this love until it is tested to be true or not. A love that is true for only seven days, or seven months, or seven years and then on the eighth goes away, that is not love. How is that love described? You may see in your friend a no good word or action, and become angry with him and cut that love. Any love ending in enmity is not real love. We must love for the sake of Allah, then there is always forgiveness, and a love that is never ending. Real love must be forever.

If I like you and you are grinding me in a mill, and if it is possible for me to come out whole ? after suffering all that crushing, if my love for you changes, it is not real love. Who is in love for the sake of Allah, will be on Mimbars of Light on the Last Day, says the Prophet Muhammad (sal). All people will ask, "Who are these, Prophets??" Angels will answer: "No, they are lovers for the sake of Allah." If love is for this life and the ego's enjoyment, then it is no real love. An important characteristic for believers is to love for the sake of Allah, even if it be to love only one person.

Our Grandsheikh said to me that there were two mureeds (students) in his homeland who would sometimes meet and assault one another with words, saying to each other all manner of things. Then they would look to each other's heart to see if there came any effect from the cursing, but no change. Next, with their hands they would slap each other until they got tired then they would sit down and blow on their hands. Still, not changing in love. Finally they would beat each other with sticks, until they fell down, then they would laugh together. Here Satan (Devil) would become very angry and run away. To be like this is the highest degree of love, and for Awliya (saints) their love never changes, come what may from people. This is the love that Tariqa teaches us to endure. If one gets angry, it means, no real love in his heart. We must accept the faults of people, as we all have so many faults. We must be tolerant and compassionate.

Our Grandsheikh says if a man loves a person, he never sees any disliked thing; every thing is perfect, his features, his speaking and actions. By practicing, you may be on that station. Like Layla and Majnun, he loved everything belonging to her, her dogs, her village, including even the stones. Perfect love results in looking to a person and seeing all perfection. For a lover, nothing can be disliked in his beloved; if we see people in perfection, we will like them. Because everyone is unique in His creation, there is complete and special perfection with him. Even physically, each one is a special individual. This is from Allah?s endless power, to make everyone unique. Looking with these eyes, our hearts must incline to at least be friends with everybody. Then everybody also comes to us with friendship, and then friendship will lead to love. As much as we are loving people, we are strong in love for the Lord. Look always at people's perfection and search for their good actions. Allah orders, don?t look at people's faults, it brings you to hate and enmity. You will come down to these same faults. You must keep your eyes.