The Vicegerency of Adam - What Syaikh Abul Hassan asy-Syadzily Said

I found this interesting article "The Counsels of Sulthonul Auliya' Syeikh Abul Hassan asy-Syadzily "(in Bahasa Indonesia) at an Islamic Sufi Site (in Indonesia) Sufinews.com. A wonderful explanation of man's status as the chosen vicegerent on earth. Below I provided a translation in English:

The Syeikh explained that Adam(a.s.) was created by God with His Hands and that the angels prostrated before him. He stayed in the Garden for half-a-day(equivalent to 500 years earth's time) after which he was descended to earth. However his descension to earth was not to demean his status but to complete the perfection of his creation. Verily, he was descended to become the vicegerent on earth as God has proclaimed in the Qur'an:"We shall elect a vicegerent on earth".

God did not say(the appointment of Adam a.s.) in heaven nor on earth. Hence his descent to earth was a honorable descension, not an ignominious fall. Verily, he worshipped God in heaven through his ma'rifat (ubudiyatut-ta'rif) so he was sent to earth so that he could worship Him with responsibility or obligation Taklif (ubudiyatut-taklif). Only upon the confluence of of both attributes of servanthood (ubudiyatain), would he be entitled to be appointed as a vicegerent.

Similarly like Adam, we(the Syeikh was actually speaking to his murid) possess some elements of Prophet Adam a.s. We started in Heavens ar Ruh, in the Garden al Ma'arif. We were descended onto this Earth an Nafs, so that we could worship Him with at taklif. Once there is a confluence of both attributes of servanthood, shall we be entitled to assume the position of khalifah(vicegerent).

My understanding is that besides being conscious of our divine duty and responsibility on this earth, we need to seek real knowledge of "knowing God" (ma' rifatullah). Only then can we claim that status of khalifah that God has mentioned. It also confirms what my teacher had said all this time. How can we say are the "khalifah of Allah" when we do not cover ourselves with the spiritual adornments of one ? Ikhlas, zuhud, wara' and other attributes of mazmudah are not part of ourselves . Instead we chose to manifest the ill-attributes of mazmumah like envy, greed, conceit, slander, etc.