The point within the point within the point that is capable of understanding His creation is what connects man and God; that is what is called a human being.
He is human. He is called man.
Not every creation is human. Only one who has this connection is human.

(M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen)

The Right Attitude of the Mind

When speaking of the question of the mental development of humanity, I should like to say that what is mostly needed in these critical times in the world is the right mentality. Every kind of the generation follows the wrong mentality means the attitude of mind. Wrong mentality is the wrong attitude of mind.

It is upon attitude of mind that the life of men depends - his rise, his fall, his success, his failure, his happiness, or unhappiness, all are mostly caused by the mentality. In these times when commercialism is reigning over the world and when competition has become the central theme, when one is desirous of getting the best of another, then man sees nothing else but his own benefit for which he struggles along through life.

Now the question is what causes the wrong mentality? The wrong mentality is like an obsession, which is caused by a certain absorption in certain direction of this dense earth. If one is entirely absorbed in collecting wealth, he does not think for one moment of anything else in life. His whole mind is concentrated upon it, his every effort is directed to it. Then he knows nothing else but this object which blinds him, making him regardless of all virtues of love and beauty to his fellowmen, of righteousness, of his obligation to his dear ones, those who are near him, and his relation and duty to God.

Not only one thing, there are many such things - love of power, of rank, of position, fighting for all things of this world. When a man is fully absorbed he loses his balance. But by this it does not mean that earthly comfort, convenience or advantage is not for a man. It is all for man if he does not lose his poise over it, if he does not allow himself to be wholly absorbed in it. To have a right mentality, does not mean that a person should leave the life of this world. If he left it, it would not be the right mentality. Right mentality is to have a direction through life which leads to the object of one's mind, of one's heart, of one's soul.

(Hazrat Inayat Khan)

The Purpose of the Creation of Mankind

In his monumental work The Meccan Revelations, Ibn ‘Arabi claims that God created humanity in order to make Himself known. He bases his belief on the verse in the Qur’an where God says: I have only created jinn and men that they may worship me (Surah Zariyat, 56) The great commentator Ibn ‘Abbas gives the meaning of “to worship” as “to know”, stating that the purpose of man’s existence is to know God. God has created everything in perfect order, connecting everything with everything else, and connecting also, everything to Himself. He has manifested His attributes upon His creation, and regulates the actions of each thing in relation to the divine attributes bestowed upon it. Speaking through His Prophet, God says, “I was a hidden treasure, I loved to be known, and through this love I created creation.” God has honored humanity, His supreme creation with being a means of His becoming known. p.54 Just as God’s essence is incomparable with, and other than, His creation, so human being has no equal in creation as a manifestation of all His most beautiful names and attributes.God is Most Perfect and has created humanity perfectly. The human being contains all of the potential necessary for reaching the perfect state. As God is in need of nothing, He has made humanity in need of nothing but Himself. Thus God made man to know Him, and man is capable of knowing the truth and finding perfection. The practical meaning of “worship” in this Qur’anic verse is to abase oneself, to erase oneself in front of the Lord. The reward of that undertaking is a conscious connection between the created and the Creator. It is a means of coming close to Him and knowing Him. The Lord says: “Pray to Me so that I accept your prayers.” In the same divine verse, not only men but also jinn are mentioned, because in the whole of creation there are none but men and jinn who, with arrogance, claim to be Lords themselves, over everything that exists. Nothing else in creation is given the possibility of ownership. Nothing else can inherit. Nothing else can claim another of its own kind its slave. Nothing else can claim to represent God. Nothing else in the world is conscious, claiming to have life, power and will – the divine qualities of Ever-Living, All-Powerful, and Total-Will, which belong to God. The possibility of this claim is the meaning of “God has created man in His own image.” These manifestations of divine attributes in man, so misused by him, are also the connection and the relationship between us and our Lord, and a means for us to know our Lord. It is in consideration of man’s willfulness and arrogance that “worship” must signify self-abasement before it can mean knowledge of the Lord. For all the knowledge that human beings with their given intelligence can attain, is as nothing before God’s infinite greatness. We must bow our heads in cognizance of that fact. It is only through utter humbleness that we will be able to realize the purpose of our creation. But it is also true that someone who does not know his Lord already is incapable of erasing himself in the first place! (The Tree of Being:Shajarat al-kawn. An Ode to the Perfect Man. Interpreted by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti. Archetype Pub. London, 2005)