Lesson 13
Beloved cloaked Itself with
seventy thousand Hijabs (veil)
made from light and darkness [1]. So that the lover is trained [2], accustomed
to seeking It beyond the shroud of objects. Until the lover’s vision
gets used
to this [3] and love rattles the chains of
desire. By the assistance of love
and by the power of love, desire drops the curtains one after another [4]. And
in that precise moment the august splendor of Allah’s countenance shall
set
ablaze all ambiguities caused by human mind and imagination [5], and It shall
reside where It (the Creator) belongs and collectively all shall fall
in love
(with the Creator and each other):
Whatsoever
was fetched, from It to It passed along
Whatsoever
was let go, to It from It proffered
Hasn’t the Messenger of Allah
PBUH hinted towards this, “One
prayer excluding one’s self is better than seventy prayers in presence
of the
self” i.e. one prayer without you, better than seventy prayers with
your self
[6]. Because when you are with your
self, (has to be) blocked by seventy
thousand veils but when you lose your self, then what/whom is left to
be veiled
against by these seventy thousand Hijabs (cloak)? And therefore this
secret
revealed:
“If you are not present, you can behold!
(The Creator)”
Therefore it is the fact that
if you are not in existence
anymore, then you can see It (The Creator) truly! (Along the same
lines) People
have claimed:
The Hijab (veil) of human
attributes is either luminous, if
he has knowledge, deep conviction, paragon demeanor worthy of praise
and
admiration. Or darkened, if mixed with ignorance, doubt, customs and
habits:
The
curtains of light and darkness in desperation [7]
In doubt
and conviction have been hung to veil
However there is a point here,
this veiling is necessary attribute
of “being human” in order to protect him from burning, since:
“If (the
Creator) unveiled the majesty of Its Face shall set
ablaze all Its creation since Its vision is boundless” [8]
Meaning if the creation and
even the descriptions (software,
books) could comprehend the splendor of Its majesty, then they are
going to
burn away. And since we can see and we are not burnt, it means that we
are
blocked and protected by a perpetual cloak. Therefore Its Hijabs are
Its names
and attributes:
- Luminous Hijab (veil): Manifestation
(Zohoor), benevolence (Lotf) and beauty (Jamaal)
- Darkened Hijab (veil): Secrecy
(Botoon), omnipotence (Qahar) and banishment (Jalal)
It is impossible that this
Hijab(veil) can be pulled away,
since if the Hijab(veil) of names and attributes [9] are pulled away, One-ness
of Allah’s essence shall shine through the curtain of rare and precious
greatness [10], all objects shall shatter
completely [10.5], since the ability
of an object to exist, is by means of names and attributes. Moreover
the
existence of all objects is emanated through the essence (Zhaat) [11] of Allah,
but this emanation does induce its effects beyond the curtains of names
and
attributes. Therefore Its veil are the names and attributes, as been
narrated
by the “Owner of power for all hearts” [12]:
“Hijab (veil) of the essence
(Zhaat) of Allah is via the attributes and the Hijab of attributes via
the
actions”
And if in reality you look
closer you see that It is Its own
Hijab as well, the intensity of Its manifestation veils and concealed
by
tempest (blinding) light. [13]
We look around but not
understanding what we view, beyond
doubt we declare:
Hijab of
Your face is, at all times, Your own face
Concealed
You are from the world, since overly manifest
Looking
upon everyone I see only Your face
In this
midst, all in my eyes are only Your presence
Defeated
the one attempting to know You, each moment
Your
beauty adorned by a different gown over and over [14]
It is impossible to find a
Hijab (veil) other than Itself, because
any other Hijab has limits but It observes no bounds. Whatever you see
in the
universe shapes, designs [15] and meanings they are indeed It,
and It
needs/(bound to) no shapes, designs or meanings. If It is not in any
object
then that object is void, and if It is in some object then that object
is again
void (because of Its Tawheed or One-ness):
You are
the universe when You become manifest [16]
You are
all life when You become veiled
You are
obvious because always a secret hidden
You are
concealed because always present to test
Yet
manifest, yet concealed, both together
Yet not
this, yet not that, both this and that [17]
[1] This is a Hadith (narration) from
Prophet PBUH however I
have not been able to find the Arabic text by Allah’s Grace will do so
soon.
[2] Man cannot simply look upon or talk
to or listen to or
touch the Creator. Its vastness and majesty is beyond any mental or
physical
utility we possess. Just like a toddler needs to learn and be trained
how to
walk, a man must be trained and learn how to love and interface Allah.
This
learning comes from long exposure to trials of life and sensitivity of
heart
and mistakes of mind. Mankind is been made aware by Araqi, that he or
she must
learn how to interface their Lord via these veils.
[3] It is a shocking, trembling affair
to come close to the
Creator, we can not even directly look upon the sun!? Those who show
relaxed TV
poses of tranquility claiming in congruence with the Lord indeed are
actors.
The real deal is quite tumultuous and emotional. ‘Love’ is something in
and of
itself, independent of Mankind and the universe all-together. It is the
power
of Love that moves the human heart to desire people and things and
eventually
the Lord.
[4] These veils that cloak the Creator
are there for
wondrous many purposes, Araqi discovered several reasons as you will
read later
on. Araqi teaches, “The only way to remove these veils whether light or
dark,
is via love”. Prophet Mohammad PBUH told us that once a man climbed
down a well
to fill his shoe with water to avoid certain death from thirst, and
when he
came out of the well he saw a dog suffering from thirst and offered the
water
to it first. And then climbed down again to drink himself. Than man was
placed
in Paradise by Allah. If the love for a wandering dog can drop all
these veils,
imagine love for mankind, love for your woman, love for your family,
love for
your neighbors. And yes! Someday true love for your Creator.
[5] Most of what we call or write or
imagine as God, is
nothing but our own imaginations, often lies and frequently
hallucinations.
Nothing on the surface of our words or actions or thoughts is God or
related to
God. As the poet indicated, there is a fine moment that the flashes of
light
emanating from the Creator burns and chars all the said ambiguities and
settles
once and for all who is the Creator and what is the Creator within our
inner
most, often hidden abilities to be cognizant of Allah. That capricious
moment
comes to man by Allah’s grace not by any doing of man himself be it
worship,
charitable acts or deep meditation. If you think that such acts bring
you
closer to the Creator then you are wallowing in ambiguities Araqi talks
about.
If you possess a heart-felt sensitivity, the moment comes to you
exclusively
and suddenly beyond any reasoning or recompense from the Creator, then
you were
exposed to burning divine flash of light as said in the prose. As Araqi
teaching us, that moment is signified by the absolute and unconditional
love
for the Creator and consequently for all Mankind, the universe. That
moment is
when all hate has left you, you forgave the very one who betrayed you
and
enemies evaporate and pain becomes just a long shadow for love… that
moment you
get the poem Araqi wrote:
Whatsoever
was fetched, from It to It passed along
Whatsoever
was let go, to It from It proffered
That moment you are entangled
between Allah and Allah, and
you forsake the people and the universe, now all things are
done/taken/given by
Allah to/from/to Allah. It was not you who gave money to charity, It
was Allah
who gave/offered the funds and It was Allah who accepted the funds and
you were
in the middle an instrument. It was not you who worshiped and praised
the Lord,
It was Allah who put the words of praise on your tongue and It was
Allah who
accepted/heard these praises and you were in the middle only a conduit.
[6] The word ‘hint’ which was
‘Eshaarat’ in the original
manuscript means a bit more than hinting. It means metaphorical hinting
towards
someone or something in order to make things clear by means of a
paradigm or
example. Obviously no man can pray without himself, but metaphorically
this
means when you forget about your self and all other concerns. Original
Arabic
text can be read, alternatively, as prayer with brushed teeth better
than the
prayer without… I am not sure what the Prophet meant but Araqi uses
this a
metaphor to make a point. The reason there are seventy thousand
curtains
between the man and the Creator is because, Allah has chosen to be by
Itself serene
and away from any object or partner. Therefore Mankind is cloaked away
to
guarantee this One-ness and this uniqueness. Once you do away with your
self,
these veils are no longer necessary because you no longer exist so all
is left
is only Allah. Here is the Arabic text:
[7] Araqi uses the Arabic word ‘Ajez’
which I translated
into ‘desperation’. Again it being a poem there is an ambiguity. Does
he talk
about desperation meaning desperate to understand the nature of light
and dark
veils? Or desperation due to impossibility to unveil/surpass/penetrate
these
curtains?
[8] I am including the Arabic text:
I will make sure my
translation is checked by experts and if
mistakes then surely revise and repost INSHALLAH.
[9] ‘Names’ and ‘attributes’ are
phrases that are in need of
deeper definition in English. At this point of time I translated the
‘Asmaa’ to
‘names’ that loosely means knowledge either given or by means of mental
deduction or experimental observation. Personally I dislike the ‘names’
in
English and I think at later day by Allah’s Grace to give a better
definition
for the English readers. This word comes from Koran with reference to
the first
human, Prophet Adam PBUH. Arabic word ‘Sifat’ was translated by others
into
‘attributes’ which is a pretty good word. Example of an attribute is
Ar-Rahim,
which means “The Merciful”. Araqi claims that these Hijabs(veils) are
made from
either knowledge/existence e.g. we cannot escape the time-space
therefore
physical laws are a barrier between us and the Creator or feeding a
poor person
brings us closer to Allah so this is a knowledge that shows a barrier
and how
to lift it… or attributes like The
Merciful i.e. Allah does not destroy us at a simple sin or just out of
a whim
Allah is The Merciful therefore this attribute is a cloak between us
and the
Almighty’s power to destroy all things.
[10] Arabic word ‘Ezzah’ was used which
in English means
rare precious as well as powerful respected and cherished. Perhaps
lofty and
dignified is a nice phrase. So the curtain of ‘Ezzah’ is for the most
part is
an attribute of the rare, precious and dignified Creator that separates
It from
commonly duplicated, worthless and lowly humans and objects.
[10.5] This shattering comes from the
story of Moses and the
mountain (Koran [7:143]:
[11] Arabic word ‘Zhaat’ comes from the
root ‘Zhu’ which is
a tremendous word to mean, based on context, different concepts. In
particular
in English in the context of Sufism commonly used to render the concept
of
essence, ego and perhaps embodying, possessor. Some examples might aid
the
future researchers:
1.
“Zu-l
Jalal Wal Ikram” meaning “The possessor of Majesty and
Honor” (Koran [55:27]).
2.
“Zhaat
Alwah-in Wa Dosor” meaning “On (a vessel) built with
planks and oakum” (referring to Noah’s Ark Koran [54:13], Essence of
something
being certain way or composed certain way.
3.
“Zhaat
Assodur” meaning “The very inner most thoughts and
feelings of your breast” (Koran [3:148]), Ego or again essence of an
ego.
[12] I do not know who is referred to by
‘Quwwatol Qulub”
meaning the power of all hearts.
[13] Sufis believe that one reason we
cannot see Allah is
because It is every place commanding everything, similar concept to
“trees
don’t let me see the forest”. This over exposure is mentioned later on
in his
poem down the page. The other reason they cite is that Its light
invades the
universe with such intensity that blinds all things i.e. no one can see
the
Creator. Both the “over exposure” as well as the “blinding light” are
considered by Araqi Hijabs (veils) cloaking the Creator.
[14] Since Allah is boundless and
infinite, so is Its
beauty. From moment to moment Its beauty never stales, rather varies
infinitely
from one fantastic beauty to other unbound beauty anew, afresh. If you
walk
around the universe and feel bored, nothing looks interesting, and then
you are
not seeing the ever-blasting beauty of the Creator i.e. you are afar.
If you
look upon a rose and lose your self and admire and adore the beauty,
then you
look upon a cloud refreshed with its splendor, you journeyed from one
moment of
beauty of Allah to another seamlessly. Although this happens to us in
brief
occasions, Sufis like Araqi were able to maintain that perception and
all such
feelings for years and years.
[15] The Arabic word “Soorah” (in Farsi
Soorat) was used
which means to shape or form. This is used in the physical form (Koran
[82:8]):
“In whatever Form He wills, does He put
thee together.”
[16] This is the craft of Araqi. No one
can verse poems like
this. Like an inventor Allah is made manifest through a Wow-Effect when
we look
at Its handiwork and inventions e.g. DNA strands, deep space celestial
structures. But when it comes to human affair or life, Allah hides
Itself to
examine us against each other.
[17] The ambiguity between being
manifest yet so secretively
hidden is the ambiguity that rules the universe as was described in
Araqi’s
Lesson 10. Try not to understand ‘why’ attempt to enjoy the beauty
of
‘what’!
Ask no questions because you are the answer.
Background: A new material called Aerogel the
lightest solid in the world and a super insulator is seen deflecting
heat from a
blow torch. Developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
California. 2003 ©
Peter Menzel Photography. I added this artwork to indicate that this
almost
transparent weightless insulator is an example to stretch our mind to
imagine the
seventy thousand Hijabs (veils) teenage Araqi was wondering about 700
years ago.
©
2003-2002, Dara Shayda
