Peace, one and all…
In his book, Self and Salvation, David Ford speaks eloquently, and at some length, on the related allegories of the ‘face’ and of ‘facing’. He argues, very persuasively, that these two concepts have much to say about human understandings of the self and all that is other-than-self. He speaks of the challenges inherent in ‘facing’ life and in ‘facing’ others, and of the relationship intrinsic to how we face the world. (I recently posted excerpts from this work)
The word for face in Arabic is wajh. In his Dictionary and Glossary of the Koran (originally published in 1873), John Penrice defines wajaha as follows:
‘A face, countenance, favour, honour, sake … essence, being, substance’ (p.157)
A derivative of this root means ‘to turn, direct…’ (p.157). That is, this term is used to refer to the physical face. It is also used to refer to the essence of something, as well as an orientation towards it. In other words, it is used in very similar ways to those suggested in Ford’s metaphorical usage.
The Quran says:
‘To Allah belong the east and the West: Whithersoever ye turn, there is the presence [literally 'face'] of Allah. For Allah is all-Pervading, all-Knowing’ (2:115, trans. Yusuf Ali)
When read with Ford’s useful allegory in mind, this suggests (at least to me) that wherever I may turn I am brought into contact with another aspect of the Divine mystery. When I face the beauty contained within nature, I am reminded of God’s creative power. When I face a difficult situation, I come ‘face to face’ with my own limitations and thus with God’s educative mercy. When ‘facing’ other human beings, I am reminded of their sovereign autonomy (under God’s protective hand), of their inherent freedom to decide their own ways and meanings.
In other words, to be brought into a relationship with another human being is an honour in and of itself – even where this interaction is short, even where it is ultimately unhelpful, or even where it proves distressing. On a deeper level, to ‘face’ another human being is to practice the art of relationship, or what might be called the ’science of facing’. And, because ‘facing’ is an act of orientation towards what is other, to learn about human beings is thus to learn about God.
Another facet emerges when I reflect on this metaphor. ‘Facing’ my self, my particular individuality, draws me into direct relationship with my own mortality – my inevitable re-absorbtion into the whole of life. To face my own individuality is thus to face my own connectedness, the fact that this ‘I’ is merely a temporary condition, a momentary realignment of spirit and flesh. In other words, to consider the self, through the metaphor of the ‘face’, is actually to encounter the other and how it should be approached with honour and love. It is also to realise that ’self’ and ‘other’ are merely labels – they describe our experience of the world, but they do not capture the totality of its meaning. Beneath the last layer of ‘me’ lies the ‘other’ – and beyond all such labels stands the reality of God, the Source and Sustainer of All.
Praise be to God for this face of mine and for this wonderful life of ‘facing’ the other. But, most of all, may God’s face be praised, and may I ‘face’ Hu with honour in all the quiet spaces of my soul.
And God knows best.
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
June 13, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Salams Abdur Rahman
“Beneath the last layer of ‘me’ lies the ‘other’ – and beyond all such labels stands the reality of God, the Source and Sustainer of All.”
-True indeed. Nice insights.
Katib
June 13, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Assalaamu Aleikhum
‘In other words, to be brought into a relationship with another human being is an honour in and of itself – even where this interaction is short, even where it is ultimately unhelpful, or even where it proves distressing.’
This was particularly resonant for me. Thank-you. And in reading this wonderful entry I couldn’t help but think of the word ‘effacement’. Originating in the late 15th century it first had the meaning of to ‘pardon or to be absolved from’. Which is rather lovely when thought of in the spiritual paradigm. It gives one the sense of being returned to one’s original state of purity. This in turn reminds me of the Zen school of Buddhism in which one finds the koan ‘what is one’s original face?’
Nowadays effacement is perhaps more often associated with the verb ‘erase’. Pir-O-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan wrote of this erasing of the self or ‘fana’:
”If one wants to take part in the play produced before one, this can be accomplished by effacing oneself. One has to become separate from one’s self; that is the whole secret: when one is no more what one thought oneself to be. Annihilation, which is such a frightening word, is in reality nothing but acting in a play with a different name, a different form, a different appearance. The annihilation of the self comes first by adoring another form or appearance. That annihilation never kills a person. It is Fana-fi-Shaikh, and later come Fana-fi-Rasul and Fana-fi-Allah; these are the three steps on the path of annihilation. One step is annihilation in the ideal of form, the next in the ideal of name, and the third step is annihilation in the nameless and formless.”
And of course, as a mother, I cannot help but think of the word effacement without thinking of labor and birth. Before the baby can begin to make its momentous journey into the world of individuation the cervix must be completely ‘effaced’ which in this case means ‘thinned or stretched out’. In other words before one’s being can be the accommodating door through which the child enters the world the mother’s body itself must undergo its own viscerally spiritual journey into the state of effacement. Then and only then can the brilliant luminosity called child pass through the mystic portal into the world of Name and Form.
June 15, 2008 at 9:30 am
Peace, Abdur, beautiful post. I think what you say about facing your own mortality is very important.
Your post reminds me very much of the vows Benedictine monks and nuns make upon profession. They vow Obedience (to both the voice of God and their community), Stability (to one community for life, with all it’s joys and difficulties) and – what made me think of this – Conversion.
This is from the Latin conversatione morum, which literally means conversion of manners. The way it’s mostly interpreted is as a continual turning away from self and the ego to the beauty of the face of God, and the face of God within others (including ourselves).
June 15, 2008 at 12:19 pm
How true, dear Abdur Bhai
My Master says that the path is looking in one direction and seeing only the One. By which he means that wherever you turn, there is only HU! In the faces of other human being, and in your own face as well.
Ya Haqq!
June 15, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Salaams Katib,
Thank you for your kind thoughts. May Allah bless you always. Insha Allah, I am going to e-mail you shortly – to continue our helpful conversation.
Abdur Rahman
June 15, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Salaams Rose,
Thank you for adding your insights to the conversation. Allah bless you always.
Effacement is a profound idea. As I understand it, effacement in the sense you use it here is also the root meaning of the Arabic word `afuww. One of Allah’s names is al-`Afuww (the Effacer of Sins)
Thank you for the profound quote. I must confess that I know little of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan, but I can certainly see the wisdom and beauty in these words. Thank you for sharing them.
Allah! Beautiful reflections of the meaning of birth.
Abdur Rahman
June 15, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Peace Tess,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts, which I always find insightful. God bless you always.
The Latin concept you refer to sounds almost exactly like the root meaning of the Arabic word translated most often as ‘repentance’. The word is tauba and it also means to turn around, to re-turn, as it were, to the source. One of God’s Names in the Quran is al-Tawwab – the Accepter of Repentance – or the Accepter of Re-turning.
Bright blessings to you and yours…
Abdur Rahman
June 15, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Salaams Baba Darvish,
Wheresoever you turn, there is Hu! Allah!
Ya Haqq!
June 15, 2008 at 9:48 pm
“One of Allah’s names is al-`Afuww (the Effacer of Sins)”
Alhamdulillah!
In fact, al-Afuww is the fourth in the series of names around ‘forgiveness’. al-Ghaffar, al-Ghafur, al-Tawaab and al-Afuww. In my very very limited and incomplete understanding of these vast names, al-Gaffar has the sense of ongoing forgiveness, al-Gaffur has the sense of penetrating to the heart of what needs to be forgiven, a-Tawabb is the release/turning of what is being held onto so tightly that wants forgiving and finally we come into the completeness of absolution/perfection/buddha nature, al-Afuww.
Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan is credited with being the first to bring the Sufi Message to the West. His writings are indeed profound and vast in their scope and vision. I have found his work on the education of the child to be brilliant in the understanding of the inner dimensions of the spiritual life of the child anyone with children would find them beneficial. His work can be found online in many places and one of them is here: http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/index.htm
Estaghfirullah. I’ve taken up rather a lot of space here once again.
wa’salaam, rose
June 16, 2008 at 7:06 am
Salaams Rose,
Al hamdu lillah indeed! Thank you for sharing your profound knowledge and insight with us all.
No need for forgiveness at all. You’ve not taken up too much space either. Allah bless you for your contributions. The entire purpose of this blog is to open up conversation – in other words, to learn. So, please, feel free to share your thoughts in whatever form you wish – long or short, they are welcome.
I have a link to Wahiduddin’s Web here somewhere, although I will admit that I have not found my way through all of his voluminous writings.
I will certainly look out for Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan’s writings on education (and on general matters).
Allah bless you always.
Abdur Rahman
June 16, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Any knowledge or insight i may demonstrate arises out of the vast wellspring of Love called Allah, belonging to Him and Him alone. Alhamdullilah!
The link I included will take you directly to Pir-o-Murshid HIK’s writings, bypassing the voluminous, as you so rightly named it, information on the rest of Wahiduddin’s site.
Allah bless you for your kindness.
wa’salaam, Rose
June 17, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Salaams Rose,
Allah bless you always. I followed the link and insha Allah, will look into it, with great interest.
Ma’as salama
Abdur Rahman
June 17, 2008 at 5:51 pm
I am so grateful to you for this inspiring, love-filled post, Abdur Rahman. There is so much wisdom here and more wisdom and mystery beyond that words can never encompass or hope to express. The realm of the spirit encompasses us and yet we often do not see it.
Reading the post and the comments prompted me to think that there is a mystery within and a mystery beyond. Within each of us and in each and at the hear of every relationship we have that is more than superficial is a mystery that cannot be easily uncovered or expressed. And beyond us, Reality is also mysterious. Paradoxically, self-knowledge is a route to the knowledge of the Unknowable.
In His wonderful writings Bahá’u'lláh refers to God both as the Revealer and the Most Open and as the Concealer and the Most Concealed.
Please forgive these confused offerings.
June 18, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Peace Barney,
I don’t think they’re confused at all!
I think, but am not certain, that Bahaullah was referring to the names of God from the broad Islamic tradition of al-Zahir (the Manifest) and al-Batin (the Hidden). I would agree with you and him! God is indeed both subject and object, both self and other. Indeed, He is the true self and the true other – we are merely passing shadows.
Reflecting on these ideas, I begin to see that life is a process of unfolding relationship – with ourselves, with each other and with God. In other words, a relationship with the Divine is the birthright of each and every human being. It is not the preserve of one religion only. It is not the preserve of an authorised elite only. Our very humanity is based on the foundation of divinity.
Abdur Rahman