DÖRDÜNCÜ BÂB · İKİNCİ FASIL · Üçüncü Madde
Third Article
Regarding the limits and reality of Divine love.
O beloved! It is known that the friends of Allah have said: Divine love is the complete orientation of one’s entire being towards Him. Divine love is forgetting all else besides Him. Divine love is knowing that the parts of the body belong to Him. Love is a heart filled with passion, constantly inclining towards Him. Love does not increase with generosity nor diminish with harshness. Love is finding Truth and removing all loves from the heart except for the love of Allah. Love is fearing to abandon reverence even while revering. Attaining love is preferring the beloved above everything else. The essence of Divine love is the annihilation of attributes within the attributes in His pleasure, and the subsistence of life in His acceptance. Love is acting in accordance with the pleasure of the Beloved both in nearness and absence. Reaching Divine love is inclining towards Him and that which belongs to Him. Love is distinguishing the truthful speaker from the liar, the generous from the miser. Love is gifting oneself completely to what one loves, so that nothing remains of oneself. Until it becomes His entirely and departs. Love is requesting from the True One and being pleased with the servant. Attaining Divine love is obtaining intimacy through constant remembrance of Him. Love is a sickness whose cure lies within it. Love is abandoning one’s habits. Love is a fire in the heart that burns away all else besides Him. Love is distancing oneself from sleep and solitary individuals. Love is a precious bird, whose sustenance is the hearts of people. Love is the seed of expensive things, the ladder to high stations. Whoever is occupied with the taste of Divine love is far removed from seeking the world and the hereafter. Divine love is knowing Him and finding peace in His intimacy. Love cannot be attained through desire nor avoided by fleeing. Love is a kindness that renders no sin detrimental, for he who attains the station of Divine love does not pass within the sphere of sin.
Poem:
1- You rebel yet claim to love,
By God, this is from the novelties of His works.
2- If your love were true, you would obey Him;
Indeed, the lover is obedient to his beloved.
(Translation of Poem)
Love blinds and deafens the lover to all but the Beloved. Whoever loves Allah for His blessings, when calamities come one after another, his love will vanish.
It is narrated that a group of people visited Shaykh Shibli in Baghdad and when they arrived at his door, he said to them: "Who are you?" They replied: “We are your loving friends.” Upon this, Shaykh Shibli began throwing stones at them. All of them fled except for two lovers. Shaykh Shibli rebuked those who had fled, saying: "What happened to you that you fled from me? If you love me, why do you flee from the stone I throw?" To the two lovers, however, he spoke with affection, saying: “You are my true friends; you endured the stone I threw. Thus, you have become worthy of our private discourse.”
The end of Divine love is not reached. Just as the end of loving is not reached, neither is the end of being loved. The station of love is the desire to be with the Beloved, which is contentment with the decree of the Beloved.
Poem:
1- The ocean of love cannot be fathomed;
Whoever enters it has reached its limit.
2- Its calamities and torments are not easily borne;
Only he whose secret has been submerged in it will endure.
(Translation of Poem)
A perfect man, in a dream (vision), saw the spiritual essence of the Most Noble Prophet (peace be upon him) and apologized to him, saying: “The love of my Lord prevented me from being occupied with loving you.” Upon this statement, he smiled and said: "O blessed person, whoever attains the station of Divine love has loved us as well. Therefore, he has attained that felicity."
True lovers are those who are content with whatever comes to them from their Beloved and derive joy from it.
Verse:
Whatever arrives is good;
For it is the gift of that friend.
Since all of it belongs to Him,
What do I care for suspicion?
In modern Turkish:
Whatever arrives is good, pleasant; because it is the gift of that friend. And everything belongs to Him; so what do I care for bad suggestions?
Abu Yazid al-Bistami (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “In my early days, I was mistaken about four things. For I thought that I sought Him, remembered Him, knew Him (a gnostic), and loved Him. In the end, I realized and saw that He seeks me before I seek Him, remembers me before I remember Him, knows me before I know myself, and loves me before I love Him.”
Rhyme:
1- O our eternal companion,
Our garden, our springtime.
O our everlasting protector,
The confidant of our beloved in the cave.
2- O our joy in the heart,
Our presence, our peace.
Our source of intoxication and excitement,
Our patience and tranquility.
3- Our end will be…
Our outward appearance, our conscience,
Our patron and mentor,
Our solace for grief.
4- Our observer who sees nothing but us,
Our supporter who needs no support,
Our beloved in our grasp,
Our choice above all others.
5- Our lover and our beloved,
Our destiny and our allotment,
Our healer and our physician,
The mender of our brokenness.
6- Our raiser, our elevation,
Our creator, our originator,
Our gatherer, our completeness,
The result of our work and effort.
7- You have bestowed upon us everything,
Health and the affliction of healing,
Let annihilation be granted;
So that poverty may be our gain.
In modern Turkish:
1- O our eternal friend; our garden, our spring. O our everlasting compassion; our confidant, our beloved in the cave.
2- O our joy in the heart; our presence, our peace. Our source of intoxication and excitement, our patience and tranquility.
3- Our end will be…
Our joy is patience and gracious acceptance, our resolve.
3. Our end shall not be; what is hidden, what is revealed. Our disciple is a friend, our guide; our sorrowful heart is a friend.
4. Our unique protector; our helper without assistance. Our Beloved grants succor; our preference above all things.
5. Our love, our beloved; our bestower of fortune, our fortune. Our remedy, our physician; the one who repels afflictions.
6. Our cause, our plaintiff; our doer, our creator. Our gatherer, our everything; our gain, our profit.
7. To everyone, you have bestowed gifts: health, hardship, and healing. In your path, surrender to annihilation with grace; let our profit be forgotten.