BEŞİNCİ BÂB · DÖRDÜNCÜ FASIL · Üçüncü Madde
Third Article
It explains the nature of death.
Beloved! It is known that the wise (Sufis) have said: Those who flee from death are those who do not know its nature; they lack knowledge of where the human soul (speaking self – *nefs-i nâtıka*) comes from and where it goes. Or, they suppose that when the body perishes, their own essence (*zât*) will also perish. Or, they imagine that they will be unaware of this world after death. Or, they compare death to a great sorrow greater than the sorrows of illness. Or, they are those who remain perplexed, not knowing what their state will be after death. Or, they are those who grieve over what they leave behind in terms of property and children.
These seven reasons for fleeing from death are merely weariness/boredom and aversion (*kelâl* and *melâl*). For these seven reasons consist only of flawed thoughts and bad suspicions, the sources of which are imagination and ignorance. This fear and flight is a painful illness whose cure lies in eliminating the corrupting causes mentioned above. The elimination of these causes comes from knowing the truth of death, attaining its meaning and nature. Eliminating the first of these seven reasons—that is, the cure—is to know that the human soul (*nefs-i nâtıka*) [83] does not use the bodily instrument. Just as a skilled artisan leaves his tools behind, so too the *nefs-i nâtıka* abstains from and withdraws from its own body.
Thus, there are two states of the human reality that is the *nefs-i nâtıka*. In one state it governs the body, uses it; in another state it abandons it, does not use it. This control of the soul within the body is like a scribe’s control over the pen. The scribe may move the pen and write, or he may stop the pen and put it back in its inkwell, leaving it. Similarly, the *nefs-i nâtıka* may set the body in motion, make it run and jump; or it may refrain from setting it in motion and place it in a grave and turn it to dust. Accordingly, they call the soul’s use of the body (control) life, and the severance of that control from the body death.
Verse
1-The beautiful soul, for it is beyond the body,
From destiny, surely thus it reaches a form.
2-You who possess a bodiless body?
Then why do you fear this life departing?
The cure for eliminating the second reason (cause) is to know that the human soul, which is the *nefs-i nâtıka*, undertakes a journey from the “universal intellect” (*akl-i kül*) [84], emanating (subsisting) [85] into the realm of spirits (melekût), which is the sovereignty of the heavens. From there it enters the berzah realm, which is the melekût of the earth (arz). From there it comes to the world of origination and dissolution (kevn ü fesâd), which is the natural world, entering the human body. It becomes powerful and eloquent within it. The human attains excellence and maturity in this world and attains the blessing of knowing his Lord (marifa). He obtains what is higher than his previous station. He has harmony and familiarity with God [87] and all his desires are fulfilled.
Therefore, if the soul, while governing the body, has words, deeds, and morals that are bad and does not attain excellence and maturity, when it separates from the body, it will remain imprisoned and bound in the berzah realm until the Day of Resurrection, along with its actions and character. It is as if it is punished with terrifying dreams. If, while the soul, which is the *nefs-i nâtıka*, governs the body, has good words, deeds, and morals and attains excellence and maturity, then when it separates from the body, it will not remain imprisoned in the berzah realm. It will be unbound, sometimes entering the spiritual realm (melekût), sometimes flying through the world of witnessing (shahâdet). It comes and goes with joy and peace. As if experiencing delightful events [88] and dreams. Finally, it proceeds to a dwelling place of truth (*maq‘ad-ı sıdqa*) [89] in paradise. There, it returns again to love, which is the universal intellect. Thus, just as the first beginning and end of the human soul are the sea of divine love, so too its final end and return are that same ocean.
Quatrain
1-The sea of the self, having become the face of the world through love,
Its waves are the events of the world, eternally.
2-For our beginning and end are indeed that love;
We are a relative multitude in this intermediate realm—peace be upon us.
The cure for eliminating the third reason is to know this: This *nefs-i nâtıka* is an infinite essence that does not perish with the corruption of the body’s parts.
Just as juice remains after pomegranates and apples are squeezed, water remains when snow and ice melt. Even if a hundred thousand homes are destroyed and their lights extinguished, the moonlight remains. Similarly, even if the organs of the body become fragmented and the animal soul perishes, this human soul will remain just as it is.
But one who does not know his own self supposes that he is the form of the body, unaware of the meaning of the soul. He does not understand it to be sweet juice, thinking it pomegranates and apples. He does not understand it to be life-giving water, thinking it snow and ice. He does not understand it to be moonlight, comparing it to houses and lights. Such a one’s fear and flight comes from his own ignorance, not from death. As an adept says:
Verse
1-Dying and killing with the form of the body,
Is like crushing and splitting pomegranates and apples.
2-Pour forth the water of life into this sea of the soul,
You will become a boundless ocean—they cannot reach its depths.
The cure for eliminating the fourth reason is to know that when this human soul severs its connection from the body, it becomes thoroughly aware of the conditions of both realms.
1. Abandon this prison, this abode of mortal suffering; for it is fleeting. Seek that garden and pavilion whose expanse has become the sky.
2. May God protect us, for the human body is a prison to the soul; may God be exalted, for the dove’s nest has grown cramped.
The remedy for the fifth affliction lies in knowing that the animal soul, which serves as the mount of the human spirit, when it turns entirely outward and inward, attending to it with interest, fills the body with perfect beauty and movement. If it cuts off even a little of its turning outward and attention, sleep comes upon the body.
If it completely cuts off all interest and connection from the body, then death occurs in the body. Then the human spirit’s dominion and control also departs from that body, finding release.
For when the animal soul's interest in the body is cut off even a little, sleep results; and when it is completely cut off, death ensues. Therefore, since death and sleep are alike in cutting off the soul’s connection with the body, death is not of the kind of suffering from illness but is of the same kind as sleep. As indeed, there is a promise in the saying: “Sleep is the brother of death.”
The believer knows that peaceful and safe sleep is like death, which is a blessing and grace, and considers them equal, similar, and alike. Those with eyes of the heart have accepted sleep and death as two brothers resembling each other. Just as the soul in sleep knows about those things through dreams, so too does the soul in the state of death go to that realm and behold it.
For the condition of the deceased is like that of a horse which has been freed from its load but is still bound by a long rope (hobble), and yet grazes in pastures resembling gardens, enjoying flowers and greenery, with water flowing on all sides, until finally he returns under a heavy burden again because of that harness and bit, and runs and falls for a while.
But the death of one who has been freed from his load, whose hobbles have been cut, and who has been released from many a heavy burden of body and self is like that horse’s condition. He has always enjoyed safety in the gardens of the world of the soul.
For it is freedom and ease for a person who is a slave to his anger and desire, a prisoner of his nafs and nature; therefore, death is an immense honor and complete delight for him, while to consider it a severe illness and great suffering is extreme ignorance and blindness.
It is said that the intoxication of death is drawn by the body. As in the prohibition in the verse (Al-Baqarah, 2:195), "Do not harm yourselves," which is an indication of the sweetness of death.
For the believer’s death is sweeter and more delightful than this world and all that is in it—since decay and nonexistence come to his body—this prohibition is a sign that he will remain in the body for a time. Prohibition is customary with beloved things; forbidding painful things is contrary to wisdom.
Because our prison is this body, our true salvation is death.
Indeed, sleep and death are known as brothers, so do not fear death at all.
Hakkı! Know death as peace and joy, do not mourn, do not call this a calamity.
The remedy for the seventh affliction lies in knowing that this world is a tree, and humankind is its fruit. For just as the fruit is unripe and tasteless while attached to the tree, then it ripens and becomes delicious, so too it no longer needs the tree and departs from it. Similarly, as long as humankind is deficient and raw, its attachment to this world is complete. All of its attention and effort are spent entertaining itself in the transient life of the body. Its entire order and arrangement are based on worldly possessions. But when it attains perfection and turns inward, then it tastes the sweetness of death. What use does it have for this fleeting life?
The perfect human being does not even consider this world of coming into existence and decay to be a kernel. He has no inclination or affection for wealth or children. He is indifferent to worldly honor and pleasures.
Do not become arrogant. With the desire for the blessing of death, stability does not remain in this world.
Nazm
1- How can this bird of life fly when that Presence of Beauty speaks with grace and affection, saying “Come”?
2- Why doesn’t that fish cast itself into the water, hearing the sweet sound of the waves of the clear sea?
3- Why does that falcon not fly to its master, having heard the news of "Return!" proclaimed by drums and trumpets?
4- Truly wondrous is the sweetness of this life-giving love; he who finds stability within it sees illusion and bewilderment when it departs.
5- Fly swiftly, reach Him immediately, O bird of life! Be freed from this cage, let your wings unfold.
6- Make a journey from this barren earth to the waters of life; find bliss in the heart, being stationed at the rank of the sandals is sufficient.
7- Give the world to its people! Come to the realm of the heart, for that world of separation has become this world of reunion.