Al 'Arabi on conscious egoism;
right work of centers
"Don't walk this earth with your chin up in arrogance. Guide yourself and others towards what is right. Forbid the wrong. Yet do not ever forget the evil-commanding ego which you carry within yourself.
"Do not ignore its presence. Instruct your most valuable minister, reason, to treat it well, to be in continuous contact with it, because it knows best how to govern the barren deserts of your realm. It has power and it lies in its hands to do good, if it so wills, or to cause disasters, if it so wills.
"If it is treated well, there will be peace in the land. Your enemies will be subdued, your treasuries will be secure. Let all your will and efforts be to make order in that which is nearest to you. And that which is closest to you is the result of your efforts and of your work.
"If you order that which is good in you to attack that which is bad, in the hopes that the bad may turn into good, you may also frighten what is neutral in you. Then you will create hatred against you among them. Even at times when your heart is constricted and hardened, show mercy and tolerance and forgiveness, and ask God's forgiveness upon them. And ask counsel from them and the things you do, because to be loved is only possible by loving. Praise be to the ones who can do it.
"Oh generous Lord of the realm of his being, most important in ruling your realm is to give the right work to the right authority, to the one who is best suited to it."
(The Divine Governance of the Human Kingdom, Ibn 'Arabi, interpreted by Shaykh Tosun Bayrak al Jerrahi al-Halveti, Fons Vitae, 1997. pgs71-72
Commentary
Al 'Arabi's text is an extraordinary and unusual set of instructions for inner work, comprehensively detailing the organization of the human being and its needs. In this work, the divine governance of the human kingdom indicates the governance of the human being by an inner higher principle. The idea is very nearly identical to Gurdjieff's concept of the role of the higher centers.
The above passage illustrates both the need for ego, and its right purpose within man, along with all the necessary cautions about its nature. This unique excerpt very nearly exactly mirrors Gurdjieff's instructions on the need for conscious egoism, That is, and egoism specifically informed by what al 'Arabi calls one's "most valuable minister," reason. Those who recall Gurdjieff's advice that the intellect is a 'policeman' will see that al 'Arabi assigned it a not dissimilar role here.
Intriguingly, we also receive here a teaching regarding the need to be kind towards one's inner parts. The nature of inner work is an interactive nature, in which both the higher and lower parts are offered love, compassion, and forgiveness.
This brief passage winds up with a succinct, one-line explanation of the need for the right work of centers.