The Relentless Fluttering of the Nafs
The inner world (heart) of a person is generally filled with the relentless desires, objections, worldly fears, and suspicions of the nafs. This situation is similar to the unbearable noise made by frogs constantly fluttering in shallow and murky water. Abdülkadir Geylânî (may Allah be pleased with him) explains that this inner noise must absolutely be silenced in order to speak with Allah and receive Divine grace, using this amazing metaphor: “For now, be silent. Let the water recede and the frog be exposed. Let the place be free for Allah’s worship.” The person’s sense of “I-ness,” complaints, and worldly demands (water) must be withdrawn from the heart so that that insidious nafs (frog) remains speechless and motionless, exposed.
Silence to Board the Ship of Power
True worship and Divine tranquility (tranquility of the heart) occur where words end and silence begins. When the voice of the nafs is silenced and the heart is completely emptied (free) for Allah, the servant exits his own will and submits to Allah’s power. The command “Let the secret be loaded onto the ship of power in His presence” expresses the servant’s surrender to the waves of Allah’s will in that deep silence. When a person stops struggling to swim on their own (speaking and objecting), Allah takes them aboard the ship of power and safely crosses even the most treacherous oceans.
The Name of Ascension: The Will of Allah
The servant who enters this stage of silence follows the advice, “Instruct your inner world that walking and ascending in that ship of power will be with the name of Allah.” Now, that servant’s walking, standing, and speaking occurs not with the ambitions of his own nafs, but directly with the secret of “Bismillah,” with Allah’s permission. Those who silence their own noise and are clothed in silence attain the rank of hearing the remembrance of the universe and the silent word of the Creator most clearly.