A Journey to God with Ibn Ata’s Words of Wisdom in light of Universal Laws

The Start of the Journey to God
There is no real distance between you and Him in order for you to journey. And the connection
between you and Him is not cut such that you must mend it.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
All praise is due to God. Peace and blessings be upon the Prophet Muhammad, his family, his
Companions, and whoever follows his guidance until the Last Day. We ask God Almighty to bestow
on us His Mercy and His Grace, out of His Mercy and Generosity, not because of what we do or we
have ever done, and not because of what we know or we have ever known; only out of His pure
Mercy and Generosity. God alone is All-Knowing and we do not know. God alone is All-Powerful,
and we have no power.
And God alone is the One who makes certain things happen and prevents other things from
happening. We seek refuge in Him and we rely on Him alone. We ask Him to protect us against our
ignorance and false illusion, to mend our flaws, to keep us on the straight path, and to guide us to
what pleases Him.
We ask Him to make this journey that we are starting here a journey towards some true change in
ourselves. In fact, it is impossible to change one’s self toward a better state, or to ascend in the levels of conciseness and awareness without God’s bounty and help: Verily, you cannot guide aright
everyone whom you love: but it is God who guides him that wills to be guided; and He is fully aware
of all who would let themselves be guided (Quran 28:56).

 

But God promised us that if we are grateful to Him, He will give us more, and if we ask Him to
forgive our mistakes, He will shower upon us His forgiveness as well as His blessings, materially and spiritually. He also promised that if we pray wholeheartedly, He will answer our prayers, and if we rely on Him, we will definitely succeed. In short, everything that we dream to achieve in this journey depends upon how much we rely on Him, turn to Him, seek His help, and pray to Him. Whatever good comes our way will be His choice, and He always chooses the best of circumstances for those who rely on Him.

Journey to God

This book is meant to be a ‘journey’—a journey for God, with God, and to God, although He is truly
close to us, much closer than we ever think. And if My servants ask you about Me—behold, I am near (Quran 2:186). We are closer to the human than his neck-vein (Quran 50:16). In Ibn Ata’s words:
“There is no real distance between you and Him in order for you to journey. And the connection
between you and Him is not cut such that you must mend it.” God is very near—we are the ones who are far away! God is closer to us than our neck-veins—we are the ones who are disconnected! This is why we must “journey” to Him, and learn how to come closer to Him.