Lesson 21
A Face Within Everything!
The lover ought to
communicate with the Beloved without any
ulterior motives, removing the personal desires and solely focusing
upon Its
want. Indeed seeking (anything) is an obstacle upon Its path since the
object
of desire, once found after being sought, is worth as much as the
endurance and
measure of the seeker [1]. Therefore, all
together the true lover forsakes all
seeking (of things he yearns for) and busies with the wants of the
Beloved. And
no matter what transpires in the universe, lover perceives all
(outcomes) as
the wants of the Beloved, thus relieved and left in unchanging bliss
and
happiness:
Unless
forsaken your desires one hundred times
The object
of your want accosts not even once [2]
And if the incident is
undesirable, whilst repelling and
changing, the lover as much as he can, he shall exert tremendous effort
to
change the results. However that (unacceptable) result is what Beloved
wants.
If the lover is Mokashef (Discoverer of Secrets) [3]
clearly views the face of
the Beloved in every object and every situation. Even in undesirable
events
still beholds Its face i.e. Beloved gives not Redha (Consent) (and the
outcome
of the events suffers) or in other words seeing Its face within
undesirable
events means Beloved refuses Redha (Assent), “It liketh not ingratitude from
Its servants” Koran[39:7]. The lover who views the Beloved for
true and sees It
within the entire universe, in constant denial of reprehensible, with
certainty
for Its rights and acknowledgement stands firm upon the truth:
Whatsoever in
Shariah (Divine Law) is forbidden within that prohibition beholds the
face of
the Beloved, doubtless not only (lover) avoids them but also within
lover’s
nature no yearning for them remains.
In all this there may be an
intellectual difficulty: If the
lover is inescapably subject to Tajalli (Patent Divine Manifestation)
and the
Tajalli (Manifestation) of all objects a part of Its Tajalli, then how
can the
lover ever repel or avoid any Tajalli (Manifestation)? (In case of the
forbidden items in Shariah) [4] We (The Sufis)
respond, Indeed Tajalli (Patent
Divine Manifestation) is of two kinds:
- Tajalli (Manifestation) of Its Zhaat
(Divine Essence)
- Tajalli of Its Asmaa &
Sifaat (Divine Names & Attributes)
Therefore the Tajalli
(Manifestation) of Qahar (Subjugation
& Vanquish) is repelled by the Tajalli (Manifestation) of the Lotf
(Divine
Grace & Complaisance). In each violation of Shariah (Divine Law),
traces of
Qahar (Subjugation & Vanquish) and Jalal (Sublimity &
Greatness) found,
and in each Redha (Divine Assent & Consent) traces of Lotf (Divine
Grace
& Complaisance) and Divine Beauty found. And here he (The Prophet)
says,
“Seeking sanctuary within Your Redha
(Divine Assent & Consent) from Your
Sakhat (Displeasure)” and in Tajalli (Manifestation) of Zhaat
(Divine Essence)
he says, “Seeking sanctuary with You
from Yourself” [5]:
If I
escape not from You to Yourself, what else can I do?
Seeking
refuge to whom? Demanding justice from whom?
End.
[1] No
matter what you seek and yearn for, and no matter
what you are able to grab hold of, all are proportional to your
abilities. In
other words, that which you wish is finite and perhaps quite little in
the
scale of hopes. This is the fate of the lover that loves other than our
Beloved
Creator. But if you only sought after this Divine Beloved and yearned
not for
anything else, all wants a human being desires shall come to you in
boundless
pleasures.
[2] If you
love someone or something, if you run after that
desire you shall get a compromised short-lived version. However, if you
did not
seek your desire but ran after your Beloved, with the Royal Highness
you shall
find the object of your desire everlasting surviving the existence in
this
world to eternal hereafter.
[3]
Mokashef means the discoverer of the secrets. According
to Ansaari that uncovering is when the person is awake and conscious. For
his
write up on the matter please click here.
[4] If all
events are the manifestations of the Beloved
Creator, then how can we avoid mistakes and how can we escape from the
sins of
the lusts? And do we deserve punishment when that which we are
responsible for
is caused by the Its manifestation anyhow?
[5] Koran
[6:12]:
“Say (Mohammad): "To whom belongeth all
that is in the
heavens and on earth?" Say: "To Allah. It hath inscribed for Itself
(the rule of) Mercy.”
Mohammad Peace Be Upon Him
taught us to run away from the
Sifat (Attributes) of subjugation and anger and find refugee with the
sanctuary
of Sifaat of Allah’s Zhaat (Divine Essence) e.g. Mercy, Generosity,
Grace,
Beauty and etc.
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©
2004-2002, Dara O. Shayda
