FIFTH CHAPTER · FOURTH SECTION · First Article
First Article
It explains the virtues and benefits of death with verses of the Qur'an (āya) and noble hadiths (ḥadith).
O dear one! It should be known that Allah, exalted is He, has said in His Eternal Speech as follows:
He has said:
“Whether you die or are slain, you shall be gathered to the presence of Allah.” (Āl ʿImrān, 3/158) “If you are truthful in your claim, then wish for death!” (al-Baqara, 2/94; al-Jumuʿa, 62/6) “Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return.” (al-Baqara, 2/156) “Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that do not die [He takes] during their sleep. Then He keeps those for whom He has decreed death and releases the others for a specified term. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.” (al-Zumar, 39/42) “He gives life and causes death, and to Him you will be returned.” (Yūnus, 10/56)
“Say: The death from which you flee will surely meet you. Then you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the seen, and He will inform you about what you used to do.” (al-Jumuʿa, 62/8) “Indeed, it is We who give life and cause death, and to Us is the final return.” (Qāf, 50/43) “Indeed, the God-conscious (muttaqūn) will be among gardens and rivers, in a seat of honor near a Sovereign, Perfect in Ability.” (al-Qamar, 54/54-55) “O tranquil soul! Return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing [to Him]. Enter among My [righteous] servants and enter My Paradise.” (al-Fajr, 89/27-30)
The Truth, exalted is He, says in a ḥadīth qudsī: “If the believer (muʾmin) knew what would be given to him after death, he would not wish to remain in the world, but would say at every moment, ‘My Lord, cause me to die, cause me to die.’”
The Noble Beloved (the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him) said:
“When the light of iman (faith) enters the heart (qalb), the heart finds ease and expands.” He was asked, “Is there a sign of this opening and expansion?” He replied, “Yes, it is to avoid this deceptive world and to turn to the abode of eternity, the Hereafter, and to prepare for it before death comes.” And he said: “Whoever contemplates and understands death with heed, abandons the world with knowledge and experience.” And he said: “The one who remembers death, his nafs (lower self) becomes pure, his heart (qalb) becomes awake. He sees the world as worthless and becomes a friend of Allah (walī).” And he said: “For whomever Allah, exalted is He, has granted hudā (guidance), death suffices as an admonisher.”
And he said: “The most intelligent of people is the one who remembers death the most and prepares for it, thus attaining the honor of both worlds.” And he said: “O my community, keep your hopes short and remember death frequently.” And he said: “At the time of death, a person’s gaze turns towards his head, for his eyes follow his soul.” And he said: “Do not think that the believer (muʾmin) perishes with death. Rather, he transfers from one house to another.” And he said: “The believer who crosses the bridge of death is united with his beloved.”
And he said: “All people are asleep in heedlessness, and they awaken with death.” And he said: “Remember your dead with goodness, do not speak ill of them, remember them with mercy.” And he said: “The son of Adam fears and flees from death. Yet death saves him from the turmoil and tribulations of the world.” And he said: “Death is the comfort of the believer (muʾmin); it is his joy and his sweet basil (rayḥān).” And he said: “Death is the joyous festival of the believer; it is the promised day of reunion.” And he said: “The world is a prison for the believer; death is his liberation and his journey.” And he said: “The best and most beloved of all the desires of the believer is his own death.”
And he said: “For every believer, death is certainly good. For the word of Allah is true: ‘But the best reward is with Allah for the righteous.’” (Āl ʿImrān, 3/198) And he said: “Whether the believer is righteous or sinful, it is clear that death is good for him.” And he said: “In the eyes of people, wealth, health, and a good life are the most beloved things. But in my eyes, poverty, illness, and death are more dear, more delightful, and more exalted.” And he said: “I rejoice in my own death. I also love the death of my friend.”
And he said: “Of the news that comes to me from a distant friend, the best is the news of his death, for he has departed from this world. The gift of death that I desire for myself, I desire for every friend as well. For our true homeland is the abode of joy (dār al-surūr), and I am weary of remaining in this abode of delusion (dār al-ghurūr).” And he said: “I have desired death for myself and for my friend. For I know that the meeting (liqāʾ) with Allah is realized through death.”
And he said: “The believer (muʾmin) who desires to meet Allah, loves death. For by means of death, he goes to the realm of meeting (liqāʾ).” And he said: “The death of the believer is separation from people (uzla); it is eternal companionship with the Truth.” And he said: “Do not think that death is annihilation (fanāʾ) and perishing. Rather, it is to be stripped from the body and to attain subsistence (baqāʾ).” And he said: “Death is separation from the body and transition from one state (ḥāl) to another; it is migration from one house to another.”
And he said: “Souls (nafs) are created for bodies. The soul of the believer is provided for by Allah.” And he said: “You are not created to be corrupted and perish; rather, you migrate from one house to another for an everlasting life and continuity.” And he said: “There are four abodes for the soul: The first, the narrowest of all, is the mother’s womb. The second is the world of witnessing (ʿālam al-shahāda). The third is the world of the isthmus (ʿālam al-barzakh). The fourth is the world of spirits (ʿālam al-arwāḥ). Each abode has its own ruling and characteristics.”
And he said: “The coming of death upon a person in this world is like a child in the mother’s womb. Just as the fetus does not wish to come into the world at the time of birth, so too does the believer cry and lament, not wishing to die. Yet, just as the newborn, after tasting the delight and familiarity of the mother’s milk, never wishes to return to the womb, so too does the believer, after reaching his Lord, never wish to return to the world. Just as the child, after coming out from that narrow and dark place into this wide and bright world, forgets that place, so too does the believer, after migrating from this world to that exalted realm through death, forget and leave behind this world of hardship and toil (dār al-anā).”
And he said: “The soul (rūḥ) of the believer leaves his body with ease, just as a hair is drawn out from dough.” And he said: “It is ʿAzrāʾīl (peace be upon him) who takes the soul of every believer with gentleness (rifq) and beauty. That Angel of Death (malak al-mawt) is trustworthy, compassionate, and beautiful. Even if none of the varieties of divine generosity are present for the believer at the time of death, seeing the beautiful face of ʿAzrāʾīl (peace be upon him) is itself a great favor.” And he said: “At the moment of death, the soul (nafs) of the believer is occupied with the beauty of the Angel of Death, and due to his absorption, he does not feel the pain of the agony of death. Just as the women of Egypt, being preoccupied with the beauty of Yūsuf (peace be upon him), cut their hands and did not feel pain nor realize what they had done, as is stated in the verse (āya).” And he said: “At the moment of death, the Lord assists the believer; he is secure from the sorrows of the world and the fears of the Hereafter.”
And he said: “When Allah, exalted is He, takes the soul of the believer, his soul finds tranquility with Him; it finds comfort and deliverance from the heaviness of the body.” And he said: “The body is the cage of the bird of the soul (rūḥ). Thus, the soul is imprisoned in the body. Death is liberation from the cage.” And he said: “The souls of the dead, on the trees of the barzakh realm, are like birds; they recognize each other and are happy.” And he said: “The fear of death for the idolater (mushrik) whose heart is dark is like a bird in darkness breaking its cage. The desire for death and transition to the Hereafter for the believer whose heart is luminous is like a bird in a cage under tall trees flying out to join its fellows singing on the branches.”
And he said: “At the moment of death, sweating of the forehead, moistening of the eyes, or widening of the nostrils are signs of felicity. But labored breathing, blueness of the lips, and an ashen complexion are signs of wretchedness (shaqāwa).” And he said: “The dead know who washed and shrouded their body, who performed their funeral prayer, who followed them, who lowered them into the grave, and who gave the final exhortation.” And he said: “To see the dead as good or bad is a disclosure (kashf) of the states of souls. This kashf occurs only for glad tidings or warning. Ordinary believers experience this kashf in dreams, while those very close to Allah (muqarrabūn) experience it while awake.” And he said: “Just as a compassionate mother embraces her lost child when she finds him, so too does the grave embrace the body of the believer. A window is opened to Paradise from his grave, and showers of mercy rain upon his soul.”
And he said: “The souls of the believers are like green birds, flying in flocks in the realm of barzakh. Once a week, they come and go to the world of witnessing (this world).” And he said: “At the resurrection after death, souls will be resurrected in the form of the dominant character within them. That is, whichever animal’s soul is dominant in him, his soul will be in that form.”
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) has spoken the truth.
Poetry
1- The soul was imprisoned in the narrow body like a humā bird,
The hand of fate, with kindness, broke the cage.
2- Spreading the wings of truthfulness and purity, it flew with longing,
And in the world of the heart, it found a beautiful melody from love.
3- The heedless one knew no abode other than the cage,
So when he was separated from the body, he mourned, saying, “Alas, longing!”
4- The gnostic (ʿārif), knowing the vastness of the rose-garden of the soul,
Gives thanks for deliverance from the body and greets death with welcome.
5- That pure soul is a bird, and this earthly body is a cage;
The lofty bird does not remain in such a lowly cage.
6- If the bird’s wings are not bound, why does it not spread them?
Why does it not break the cage into a hundred pieces and seek its rightful place?
7- Let it behold its place of display in the heart;
O Truth! If you saw the value of that bird in the heart, breaking the cage would be easy for you.
In Contemporary Turkish
1- The soul was imprisoned in this narrow bodily cage like a humā bird. The hand of fate kindly broke the body.
2- (Then that bird) spread the wings of truthfulness and well-being and flew with enthusiasm, finding a beautiful provision from love in the world of the heart.
3- The heedless one, knowing no other abode than the cage, mourns upon separation from this bodily cage, saying, “Ah, longing! Alas, longing!”
4- Yet the gnostic, knowing the vastness of the rose-garden of the soul, gives thanks for deliverance from the bodily cage and greets death with “welcome.”
5- That pure soul is a bird; this earthly body is a cage. A bird dwelling in the heights does not remain in such a lowly cage.
6- If the bird’s wings are not bound, why does it not spread its wings? Why does it not break its cage into a hundred pieces and strive to reach its rightful place?
7- O Truth! If you saw the value of that bird in the heart, breaking the cage would be very easy for you.