Chapter One: What’s the Purpose?

What is the purpose of life? A question I have always wondered about for as long as I can remember—sometimes in the foreground, and sometimes buried in the background—but always there, quietly urging.

In the noise and chaos of this world—its mundane routines for survival, its lack of focused human connection, its dependency on wealth and technology, its competitiveness and greed, its disconnection from nature, its endless distractions, and its absence of depth or meaningful love—there it was—a constant void that never seemed to settle. 

No matter what experiences I chased in hopes of fulfillment, I never found it.

Until I was blessed to cross paths with My Beloved Murshid (RA) and join his caravan—on a one-way road to self-discovery and ultimately, to Reality.

I won’t bore you with the details of how, where, when and who. But I will delight you with the what and shed light on the why—because it was his words, spoken from his lips to my heart, that became my guiding force.

The only words that ever guided me toward my destination—and began to fill—that void I was telling you about.

In my very first meeting with Murshid Kareem (RA), he generously shared with me the ultimate purpose of life—by narrating the beautiful Hadith Qudsi in which Allahﷻ  says to HIS Habeeb¹ Muhammed ﷺ:

كنت كنزاً مخفياً، فأحببت ان اُعرف، فخلقت الخلق بالحب، فبي يعرفوني.

I was a Hidden Treasure, and I loved to be known; so I created creation with Love, that through Me they may come to know Me.

After this, his words to me were as follows: “Allah will give you everything that you wish for—but the greatest Treasure is Allah HIMSELF!”

In that moment—and in many reflections that followed—I began to see that the beauty of every thing, every speck in this marvelous creation we call the universe, is created with The Attributes of one Source: Allah.

The main ingredient? Love. 

And the entire purpose of this wondrous universe—created for me, and for you—with Love, is to lead us to one ultimate Truth: to cognize, to know, and to befriend our Creator—consciously. 

Of course, with our limited bodies and minds, this profound purpose can be difficult to fully grasp in its depth. That’s why the first teaching of Murshid Kareem (RA) is:

“The greatest reward (الاجر العظيم) is that… besides learning the physical sciences, one should attain utmost certitude that this physical body is nothing but a costume of The Soul (Rooh). Life doesn’t depend on physical existence; everything is exclusively driven and controlled by The Soul.”

It is only when we accept that our Essence is not confined to physical features and forms that we can truly begin to embrace the purpose of life. 

We must accept this Truth in order to explore Reality. 

As our Prophet Muhammed ﷺ has said: “من عرف نفسه، فقد عرفه ربه — He who knows himself knows his Lord.“