“… for believing people who not only live their faith but are also charged with the duty of conveying it—especially the heirs to the mission of Prophethood—the essential path to follow, the highest form of perfection, is to be with God while living among people. In Sufism, this is called company (jalwat). Yes, to be with God in the midst of people is a Prophetic attitude.”¹⁾

“… for those who inherit the prophetic mission, withdrawal and seclusion from people are never an option. For them, the true seclusion is to find unity in multiplicity—to be with God among the people. As Rumi expressed it: like a compass, planting one foot firmly in the divine realm while with the other traveling through the world of humanity; living ascent and descent at once, conveying to people what one receives from God; keeping one foot anchored in the principles of religion while the other moves among the seventy-two nations. This is a kind of company-like seclusion.

Such is what the service of the Qur’an requires. Souls dedicated to faith and nation must be present among the people. The cause of exalting God’s word, the duty of guiding, conveying, and representing, makes it absolutely necessary to be among people despite everything. Therefore, it is by no means right for idealistic heroes to think only of themselves or, even temporarily, to withdraw into their chambers under the excuse of ‘avoiding people.’ For they have tied their own salvation to the salvation of others and have adopted the principle of living in order to give life. Indeed, what befits such people is to dedicate their lives to their ideal and to believe that this world is not worth staying in merely for personal worship and individual spiritual perfection.”²⁾

“… if we truly believe that we have dedicated ourselves to the cause of exalting God’s word, then what befits us is not seclusion and withdrawal but company and fellowship. We must strip away our personal, illusory claims to status, put all our resources into service, bind our hands, tongues, intellects, reason, and judgment to the happiness of humanity, and believe that our own salvation lies only in guiding others to eternal happiness. Thus, we must always remain among people.”³⁾

“Privacy, which initiates try to accomplish through cycles of forty days of suffering, in fact, serves to enable them to achieve refinement toward the purification of the heart, spirit, consciousness, and feelings so that they can turn back among people (jalwat) in order to guide them.”⁴⁾

“Although privacy is in appearance a retreat from people, in truth it is a process of being equipped with the necessities of guidance in order to live in people's company.

At the beginning of journeying, those who intend such privacy withdraw to a secluded place, for example, remaining in a mosque for the purpose of worship. They eat little, drink little, sleep little, speak little, and are occupied with the remembrance of God. They never abandon reflection or self-supervision. When they have reached the final point of perfection they return among people and set out to serve them as one from among them.”⁵⁾

“Jalwat (company) denotes that initiates are freed from self-centeredness or anything that feeds their egos and—having been equipped with God's qualities or way of acting and being polished mirrors to His Names—dedicate themselves to service in God's cause with whatever they have, caring about the eternal happiness of others during their whole life. Another approach to company is that after initiates are freed from relative values that are peculiar to themselves, they then devote their intellect, logic, reasoning, and tongue to the service of humanity in the light of the lamp of Prophethood.”⁶⁾

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