Professor William Chittick: Divine Love in Early Persian Prose

Peace, one and all…

A fascinating lecture by William Chittick, at the Temenos Academy in London.  Enjoy and may all you do this day be blessed.

Hamza Yusuf: Tafsir Surah al-Fatihah

Peace, one and all…

A fascinating exploration of the opening chapter of the Quran.

Surah al-Fatihah (Sahih International translation)

In the name of Allah , the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.
[All] praise is [due] to Allah , Lord of the worlds -
The Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful,
Sovereign of the Day of Recompense.
It is You we worship and You we ask for help.
Guide us to the straight path -
The path of those upon whom You have bestowed favor,
not of those who have evoked [Your] anger or of those who are astray.

A Belated Seb-i Arus Offering

Peace, one and all…

A small, and belated, Seb-i Arus offering.  Ya Hazret-i Mevlana Hakk Dost!

Ask olsun,
Abdur Rahman

For Water is Sweet When it Flows

Peace, one and all…

‘Travel, for water is sweet when it flows, and when it settles, it stagnates’

Bishr al-Hafi, as quoted in Attar’s Memorials of the Saints

Readings from the Evrad-i Serif 2

Peace, one and all…

In recent posts, our readings have begun to focus on the question of will (Kabir Dede on the Will; Meister Eckhart: Counsels on Discernment 3).  This question is also brought to the fore in our current portion of the Evrad-i Serif.

Our readings are all drawn from the Quran, and although these verses explore the question of will in interesting and forceful ways, it is their particular arrangement that is especially noteworthy.

Our present portion opens thus:

‘Had We sent down this Quran on a mountain, truly, you would have seen it humble itself and break apart out of awe of God.  Such are the parables We offer to human beings, so that they might reflect.

God is He other than whom there is no god; the One who knows what is hidden and what is manifest, as well as all that can be witnessed by a creature’s senses or mind: Hu, the Infinitely Compassionate, the Infinitely Merciful.

God is He other than whom there is no deity: the Supreme Sovereign, the Holy One, the Source of Peace, the Inspirer of Faith, the Preserver of Security, the Exalted in Might, the One who subdues wrong and restores right, the One to whom all greatness belongs!  Utterly remote is God, in limitless glory, from anything to which people may ascribe a share in His divinity!

Hu is God, the Creator, the Evolver, the Bestower of form!  To Hu belong the Most Beautiful Names.  All that is in the heavens and on earth declares His praises and glory: for He is the Exalted in Might, the All-Wise!
(Surah al-Hashr 59:21-24.  You can listen to a beautiful recitation of these verses below)

These verses declare the infinite and incomparable majesty of God, in forceful and evocative terms.  All power, authority, knowledge and beauty belong solely to Him: anything we possess is given to us by Him, and is effectively on loan to us.  Even though we may possess beauty or knowledge or power, it is always and in each instance His.  Thus, our will to power, to learn and to perceive beauty are really His.   In a strange, paradoxical way the more we understand our abilities as belonging to Him, the more fully ‘ours’ they become.  Or, perhaps, the more clearly we understand His absolute ownership, the more authentically we can enter into our own partial occupancy, our own derivative ownership.  The more we fully we realise  our own weakness, the more fully we can enter into His strength.  The more we are able to take back our own projections, and the more fully we are able to let Him be God, the more human we are able to be.

Ibn Arabi makes this clear throughout his writings.  This example is particularly instructive:

‘Your attributes are His.  Without doubt, your appearance is His appearance.  What is in you is in Him.  Your before is His Before; your after is His After; your essence is His essence – without Him entering into you or you entering in Him, for ’Everything is perishing but His Face’ (Surah al-Qasas 28:88)’ (Ibn Arabi, Kitab al-Ahadiyyah)

The Evrad then explores this strange paradox by offering these subsequent verses:

‘And to everyone who is conscious of God, God always prepares a way of emergence,

and provides for him/her in ways he/she could never imagine; and for everyone who places trust in God, God is sufficient.  For God will surely accomplish His purpose: truly, for all things God has appointed an appropriate measure’
(Surah al-Talaq 65:2-3)

‘And so, be patient, even though they who are bent on denying the Truth would all but kill you with their eyes whenever they hear this reminder, and though they say, ‘See, most surely he is a madman!’

For this is nothing less than a reminder to all the worlds.’
(Surah al-Qalam 68:51-52)

‘…to everyone who will to walk a straight way.

But you cannot will it unless God, the Sustainer of all the Worlds, wills it’
(Surah al-Takwir 81:28-29)

To be truly conscious of God is to realise that all things are His; at best, we are merely guests, even in the depths of ‘our’ own being.  Understanding that our will is already encompassed in His will is both deeply humbling and deeply liberating, freeing us from the urge to control life.  This awareness is a deeper ‘way of emergence’, a deeper liberation from the limitations of our workaday egos.

Striving to live this way is also important because it demonstrates that we live in a magical universe, in a realm of unlimited possibilities and of infinite potentiality.  We are provided for in ways we could never imagine, both within and beyond ourselves.  Living in a world of infinite potentiality requires that we strive to trust in God, and realise that the Divine is absolute beneficence, and absolute sufficiency.

‘…for all things has God appointed an appropriate measure’ is an interesting phrase.  It reminds me that that ‘my’ will has a limit, beyond which lies His will.  It also reminds me that the trials and tribulations of my own life are measured out for me: I am challenged, but never overwhelmed, stretched but never obliterated.  Moreover, this ‘I’ within me that demands and urges is itself limited.  There are deeper levels of being within me, beyond this passing ego; there are hidden depths below the shallow waters of conventional reality.

‘And so, be patient…’.  Wait in patient readiness for all that Hu might work within and beyond us.  Wait in calm alertness for His unfolding will.  ’For this is nothing less than a reminder to all the worlds’.  It is a reminder to the universe around me.  It is a reminder to the universe within.

‘And to everyone one of you who wills to walk a straight way.  But you cannot will it unless God, the Sustainer of all the worlds, wills it’.  It is His will that is primary.  Our will only becomes a reality when it harmonises with His.  This underlines the need for harmonisation, with God, with myself and everything around me.  And, as Meister Eckhart makes clear in his counsels, this involves an inner emptying, a giving-over of ourselves to Him, in Him.  In Counsel 20, Meister Eckhart says this:

‘And therefore, if you wish to receive your God worthily, be sure that your superior powers are directed toward your God and that your will is seeking His will, that you are intending Him, and that your trust is based on Him’ (Counsels on Discernment, 20)

Merciful One!  Join our wills to Yours.  Help us to will for ourselves what You will for us.  Help us to accept life in all its diversity.  Help us to see that all things come from You, for our betterment.

Related Posts

• Spiritual Dialogue 1
• Readings from the Evrad-i Serif 1

Ask olsun,
Abdur Rahman

Kabir Dede on the Will

Peace, one and all…

In a recent post, we saw Meister Eckhart speak forcefully of the will.  Mevlevi tradition has a similar focus on the will (irada).  As a starting point for further discussion, let’s explore Kabir Dede’s definition:

‘The ability to act consciously; the faculty of conscious choice; a power of the soul by which we can direct our thoughts, actions, and, eventually, even our feelings.  Will is directly connected with Spirit.  It is a unique attribute of the human being, because no other creature, as far as we know, has this degree of conscious choice.  Will enables us to rise above personal desire and egoistic satisfactions.

Human will is derived from the divine will as the image in a mirror is a reflection of the source of that image.  Human will is a dim reflection of the divine will.  The human being, then, is the mirror of God’s will.  As we develop spiritually we begin to see how our own will is related to the Will of the Divine …

Will develops as we make conscious choices and bring those conscious choices and decisions to completion.  In other words, our fulfilling of our responsibilities develops our will; whereas every uncompleted decision drains us of will.  Will is a capacity that we must continually preserve and maintain, if we are to be fully human’.  The Book of Language, pp. 145-146

Ask olsun,
Abdur Rahman

Hizb al-Latif

Peace, one and all…

I first heard this beautiful zikr about 8 or 9 years ago.  It is very beautiful.  Enjoy, and may all that you do this day be blessed.

Ask olsun,
Abdur Rahman

There You Are

Peace, one and all…

I hide Your beauty in my eye;
Whatever I look at,
There You are.

I hide Your presence in my heart;
How could a stranger live there?
There You are.

You are my foundation and my all;
My intimate one and the word on my tongue;
You bring the greeting from my darling one;
Within that greeting,
There You are.

All the blossoms and tender leaves
They hide their beauty in reds and greens
In night’s darkness and the dawn’s first beams.
As each one awakens,
There You are.

You are the one who made creation,
who gave life and strength to every being.
There is no ending except for You
I believe and accept what I am seeing:
There You are.

The flute moans ‘Huuu’ in ecstasy
The waves are roaring, the seas are rushing,
The sun appears to veil the stars
In its rays’ vast shining,
There You are.

You are the one who makes Veysel speak;
You are the tree and I am your leaf.
The unconscious fly right by what they seek.
In both the fruit and seed,
There You are.

Asik Veysel, translated by Jennifer Ferrarro and Latif Bolat

Desiderata

Peace, one and all…

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be critical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful. Strive to be happy.

(Max Ehrmann 1927, source)

Carl Ernst: Shams-i Tabrizi and the Audacity of Bayazid Bistami

Peace, one and all…

An interesting lecture by Carl Ernst, on Hz Shams-i Tabriz and Bayazid Bistami.  May it be of benefit.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

My Oceans of Forgiveness

Peace, one and all…

In his Memorials of the Saints (Tadhkirat al-Awliya), Attar includes a profound story of the early Sufi saint Ibrahim ibn Adham.  I was reading it on the train home this evening and wanted to share it here. It is set in Mecca, in the environs of the Ka’ba. May it be of benefit to all who pass by.

‘It is related the Ibrahim said: ‘At night I used to be on the lookout for a time when I would find the Ka’ba empty and free of worshippers and could pray for something I needed.  I didn’t find the opportunity until one night when a heavy rain was falling.  I went and seized the chance – it was just Ibrahim and the Ka’ba.  I performed my circumambulations and took hold of the knocker on the Ka’ba’s door and asked for immunity from sin.  I heard a voice call out, ‘You ask Me for immunity from sin?  All the people ask Me for this.  If I grant everyone immunity, what will become of My oceans of forgiveness and pardon, of my mercy and compassion?  What use will they be?’

I then said, ‘O God, forgive me my sins.’  I heard the voice say, ‘Speak to Me on behalf of the world, not on behalf of yourself.  It’s better for others to speak on your behalf’

Ask olsun,
Abdur Rahman

Some Day…

Peace, one and all…

Some day the heart will bring you to the Seizer of Hearts,
And some day the soul will bring you to the Beloved of Souls.
Don’t give up your grasp on the hem of the robe of pain,
For one day that pain will bring you to the Remedy!
Mevlana, Quatrain 1729

Dr Omid Safi: How to Read Rumi: The GPS of Divine Secrets

Peace, one and all…

A wonderful lecture on Mevlana by Omid Safi.

 

Words to Lure the Breath of that Sweet One

Peace, one and all…

These sayings of mine are really a prayer to God,
words to lure the breath of that sweet One.
If you seek an answer from God,
how then can you fail to pray?
How can you be silent, knowing He always replies to
your, ‘O Lord?’ with, ‘I am here’.
His answer is silent but you can feel it from head to toe.
Masnavi 2.1189-1191

Charity and Truth

Peace, one and all…

In a beautiful passage, the Quran speaks of the collection and distribution of the compulsory alms-tax (the zakat):

‘Alms are only for the poor and for the needy and for those employed to collect and for bringing hearts together and for freeing captives and for those in debt and for the  cause of God and for the traveler – an obligation [imposed] by God.  And God is  Knowing and Wise’ (9:60)

This verse has long been understood as being the basis of an organised collection system, by which that alms-tax is collected.  Whilst this is certainly true, a closer examination draws out a number of deeper connections.

Although this compulsory alms tax is most often described as zakat (from a root meaning ‘purification’), in this verse a different term is used.  If we look a little closer at this verse, we can draw this out more clearly.  The word used here is sadaqat, literally meaning ’charity’.  Significantly, this word derives from a root denoting truth and truthfulness.  Thus, we can say that charity is a practical means of engaging with truth, of manifesting truth in everyday life.  To engage in regular charity is thus a means of visualising and actualising truth.  Moreover, given that this verse refers to the compulsory zakat, it forcefully underlines two further points: all that we own comes to us from God, of ourselves we own nothing.  Secondly, a just and equitable, organised tax system is a collective means of manifesting this truth.  Religion is not merely a matter of private observance, it is also concerned with social justice.

‘Sadaqa is only for … bringing hearts together and for freeing captives and for those in debt and for the cause of God and for the wayfarer…’

Charity is thus a means of bringing peoples together, and for the cause of God, which is here tied to freeing humanity from captivity and debt.

Sadaqa is thus connected with love, with truth, in a spiritual, personal and collective sense. It is therefore an aspect of justice, particularly in the social realm.   To give charity to others, in an arranged, socially accepted manner, is to do justice – and to do justice is to manifest the equilibrium of love.  Indeed, the more we realise this, the more deeply we are able to access truth, to plumb the depths of sadaqa.  Charity is thus a means of approaching Truth.

Charity is a function of our humanity, and is a means of enhancing relationships with others.  This is why the Prophet (alaihi al-salatu wa al-salam) speaks of sadaqa in terms of its social utility, as in the following examples:

‘Charity given to one’s relatives twice multiplies its reward’ (al-Tabarani)

‘A kind word is charity’ (al-Bukhari and Muslim)

‘God has never dignified anyone due to his ignorance, nor humiliated anyone due to his knowledge. And wealth is never diminished as a result of charity’ (al-Daylami)

‘Two qualities are never coupled in a believer: miserlinenss and immorality’ (al-Bukhari)

This verse also points towards a deeper, existential truth: we are utterly dependent upon God in every aspect of our lives, in each new moment and place.  This becomes clear when we look again at this verse:

‘Sadaqat is only for al-fuqara’ and al-masakin…’

Fuqara’ means those who are absolutely poor, without any other means, whilst masakin means those who are destitute, and therefore weak.  Elsewhere, the Quran describes this poverty and weakness in interesting terms:

 ’O mankind! You are those in need of God (literally, ‘you are the fuqara’), and God is the Free of Need (al-Ghani), the Praiseworthy (al-Hamid)’ 35:15

In other words, poverty and utter dependence are the hallmarks of the human relationship with God.  Not only does God give us all that we need, we are also dependent upon God in each new moment.  That the verse before us should come in Surah Tawba, or the Chapter of Repentance, is also significant – especially when it is remembered that classical Sufism understood tawba as the first stage of the spiritual journey.

Our poverty and God’s overflowing grace forms a relationship, and our breath is a living moment by moment transcription of this reality.  That is, we can experience this now, in our very breath.  Mevlevi tradition uses breathing techniques in its formal zikr, especially connected to the testimony of faith (the shahadah) – la ilaha illa Allah.  With each exhalaltion, the practice is to breathe la ilaha (‘there is no god…’) as a means of letting go of every limitation, of realising our utter contingency.  Each inhalation is accompanied by illa Allah (‘except God’) – in which our chest fills with God-given breath, with an organic awareness of Divine presence.  This verse alludes to this process: we acknowledge our dependence on God, we literally breathe it by emptying and we receive a new in-breath, from the Infinite Tresuries of God, al-Ghani al-Hamid.

May God help us become open handed!  May God help us realise the truth of our dependence upon Him, in each new new moment and circumstance.

Wa akhiru da`wana an il hamdu lillahi rabbil alameen.

Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman

Wherever We Set Foot

Peace, one and all…

Wherever we set foot, it was Your street.
Whatever corner we turned, it was Your name in the air.
We said, ‘Surely there must be a road leading elsewhere?’
But every road we found, it led to You
Isma`il Anqarawi

The Meaning of the Four Books

Peace, one and all…

Those who learned to be truly human
found everything in being humble.
While those who looked proudly from above
were pushed down the stairs.
A heart that must always feel superior
will one day lose its way.
What should be within, leaks out.

The old man with the white beard
never sees the state he’s in.
He needn’t waste money on making the Hajj,
if he’s broken someone’s heart.

The heart is the seat of God,
where God is aware.
You won’t find happiness
in either world, if you break a heart.

The deaf man doesn’t hear,
the blind man mistakes the day for night.
Yet the universe is filled with light.
We’ve seen how those who came later move on.

Whatever you think of yourself,
think the same of others.
This is the meaning of the Four Books,
if they have one.

May Yunus not stray from the path,
nor get on his high horse.
May the grave and the Judgement be no concern,
if what he loves is the face of God
Yunus Emre

I found listening to Surah al-Tin after reading this poem very powerful.  This recitation by Sa`ad al-Ghamdi is especially beautiful.  You can find a recitation of the entire Quran by Shaykh al-Ghamdi at the Complete Holy Quran You Tube channel.

To Adorn You

Peace, one and all…

The worlds of mind and spirit are your resources.
The earth and sky are there to adorn you
(Mahmud Shabistari, Gulshan-i Raz, 271)