DÖRDÜNCÜ BÂB · İKİNCİ FASIL · Altıncı Madde
**Article Six**
Concerning the manifestation of Divine love in the heart and its circulation therein.
Beloved! Know that the friends of Allah (the *ahlullah*) have said: The cause for the love of Allah to arise in a person’s heart is due to the grace and beneficence of Allah, for humankind is created deficient and in need.
Just as a student requires scholars in religious matters, so that they may deliver him from the dark whirlpools of ignorance and the distresses brought by heedlessness, and teach him the religion and faith, their proper manners and foundations, and the rules of the Islamic religion; likewise, a person needs the devoted servants (the *evliyā*) of Allah. For the friends of Allah instruct in the manners and principles of the Sufi path and mysticism. They explain the realities of spiritual states and stations. They show the ways to transform the ugly traits of the self-desiring (*nafs al-ammāra*) into beautiful qualities embraced by the praiseworthy self (*nafs al-marziyya*). They relate that the world is transient (fleeting) and that loving it is incorrect. And thus, they guide one onto the path of knowing and loving Allah (knowledge of Allah and love of Allah).
They make manifest to a person the delights and bliss of the eternal abode, the tranquility of attaining closeness to the Divine through friendship with Him, and thereby detach him from the fleeting pleasures of the world and direct him towards the Hereafter.
For this reason, every student loves his teacher from whom he learns knowledge, and every disciple loves his spiritual guide (shaikh) and feels affection for them. They strive to perform actions that will please them.
As for worldly affairs, a person certainly needs many people for various reasons. Indeed, these needs are so numerous as to be beyond calculation. For example, how many people’s labor is involved in preparing food and bringing it to the table? How many people's services contribute to its manifestation? Through the efforts of countless individuals, sustenance becomes nourishment for you. In essence, a person’s need for food, clothing, shelter, marriage, and almost all professional fields is known through reliance on others. As it has been said: “Human beings are creatures destined to live in community.” Indeed, they are dependent upon the wind, rain, sun, moon, earth, and heavens.
So, O seeker of Divine love! Turn your perceptive gaze around you. If someone were to give you two dirhams or clothe you, or perform a service for you when you need it, would you not cherish them throughout your life, praising them and offering blessings whenever their name is mentioned? Yet, even that act of kindness towards you occurs through the will of the Most High and by His power.
Now, reflect! How can you fail to feel gratitude to your Lord who breathes life into you with every inhalation and exhalation, who bestows countless blessings upon you without you asking, and fulfills all your needs without your knowledge? How can you turn away from Him in disobedience and neglect of servitude while He does not withhold your provision or conceal your faults? That is, how can you fail to feel perpetual love and affection for the Lord of the worlds, who created the universe from nothingness, perfectly arranges and governs everything, and yet you do not submit to Him, nor offer thanks and praise with every moment through your tongue and heart, nor glorify Him with beautiful attributes, nor dedicate your head, soul, and all that you possess to His love?
Can it be fitting for you to swim within the grace and countless blessings of Allah while perceiving those blessings from someone other than Him? To abandon Him and incline towards others? To direct your love and praise toward anyone but Allah, the Generous One who conceals faults?
Indeed, it is a reality that a seed of Divine love exists in every heart. Just as a spark is hidden within flint, so too is Divine love concealed within hearts. So if you strike the chain of desire—with the intention of remembrance—upon your petrified heart, sparks will emerge from it. With those sparks, your inner world will find light and illumination. Through the influence of that fire, anger, hostility, various thorns and weeds, dusts of malice, envy, pride, and self-conceit will burn away and become ash. All dark qualities nurtured by the ego will vanish, and your heart will become pure and clear, worthy to stand before Allah and be close to Him (tranquility and communion).
If you stray into heedlessness for a time and turn away from continuing remembrance of Allah, the fire of love hidden in the heart will smolder; like a coal covered with ash, it will remain inactive for a long time and extinguish. After that, your heart will be filled with the darkness of carnal desires and the impurities of the ego, becoming bewildered and lost amidst the lights of Divine manifestation.
For continued remembrance of Allah stirs up love of Allah in the heart and grants boundless enthusiasm and desire in this regard.
To increase the zeal of the lovers and the bliss of the people of love, the wise sayings of the friends of Allah are helpful and strengthening. Their encouragement and exhortation in this matter is as necessary to the seeker as food is to the body, and they pour forth spiritual wisdom like a mother’s milk for her child. A perceptive person among the lovers of devotion once became blind. When asked about the reason, he replied: “This blindness is due to the exertion (jealousy) of the Most Exalted One, who dislikes that His beloved gaze upon another.”
For the Beloved does not desire that the one who loves Him be restless and indecisive, wavering with every moment in companionship with someone else. Rather, He desires that the heart of his beloved be cleansed from the dust of strangers and always be the mirror of his love, the light of his eye.
**Rhyming Verse (Nazm)**
1. O soul, do not separate yourself from your true self,
Be empty so Divine love may come to you.
2. Through love, choose no other companion unconditionally,
For faithfulness comes only from Him.
Okay, here's the English translation of the provided text, aiming for faithfulness to meaning and preserving a sense of its classical/Sufi tone. I have included notes at the end regarding some of the choices made in translating certain phrases.
—
O Soul, do not sever yourself from your own being. Renounce all else; let the love of the Divine arrive.
The true friend is Love; seek no other. In none but Him find loyalty and grace.
Either you shall die, or be parted, or abandoned. Who besides has been a companion to you?
Eternal life springs forth from Love; from it, a sweetness descends into every heart.
This beloved is the balm for every sorrow; He both knows with you and remains ever present.
At the close of your days, when despairing, those who once knew you will be strangers.
Love offers compassion in that grieving hour; cease thy worry! Come to me, welcome, greetings!
I have been your friend from eternity, steadfastly abiding. Yet you remain estranged from me through self.
Abandon the body; cast it down upon the earth. O Truth! You are pure; return to your origin.
—
**Notes on Translation Choices:**
* **"Gönül" (Soul/Heart):** This term is central in Sufi poetry and refers not just to the heart as an organ, but to the seat of consciousness, feeling, and connection with the Divine. I've translated it as "Soul" to capture this broader meaning.
* **"Mâsivâ":** This Arabic term means “everything other than God.” It’s a crucial concept in Sufism, representing all distractions from the path of devotion. I rendered it as "all else."
* **“Yâr” (Friend/Beloved):** This word carries a complex meaning – referring to both a human friend and, ultimately, the Divine Beloved. The context dictates which nuance is intended.
* **"Safâ":** This signifies a sweetness, grace, or spiritual delight that descends from God. I chose "sweetness" as a way to convey this feeling.
* **“Hâki hâke vir”:** This phrase literally means “give dust to dust.” It’s a poetic expression for relinquishing the physical body and returning it to the earth.
* **"Aslına gel":** "Return to your origin." This refers to returning to one's primordial state, purified of worldly attachments, and closer to God.
* I have tried to use language that evokes a sense of formality and reverence appropriate for classical Sufi poetry while remaining accessible to a modern reader.