BEŞİNCİ BAB · ALTINCI FASIL · İkinci Madde
Second Article
This describes some states, sayings, and secrets of the Perfect One located in the sixth station.
O beloved! It is known that the Friends of God have said: At the beginning of the sixth station, signs of a great deputation (great *hilâfat*) begin to appear for the Perfect One. And at the end of this station, the garments (*hil’at*) of that deputation are bestowed. Those garments become “I am your hearing ear, your seeing eye, your speaking tongue, your grasping hand, your walking foot.” [144] This is the meaning of the sacred hadith which is the result of the servant's nearness to God (*kurb-i nevâfil*) through supererogatory devotions [145].
*Kurb-i nevâfil*: It is that, with God’s help, effect and influence belong to that servant.
Pay attention! The meaning of this term is exceedingly subtle and veiled. Heaven forbid that anyone should depart from the religion by merely thinking about the books of saints without understanding their purpose, as those who believe in hiddenness (*melâhide*) do. Indeed, the matter is not so at all. For all the books of the saints are in accordance with the foundation of the religion. Especially the books of Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi (may God have mercy on him) conform to the main principles (*usul; akaid*) and subsidiary rulings (*furû*) of the religion. However, they cause doubt among the common people due to a deficiency in the reader's understanding or ignorance.
The reality of this station is that when the Perfect One located in the state of the contented self (*nafs-i râziya*) reaches the second annihilation (*fenâ*), the ugly human attributes which are the source of evil and discontent vanish due to his struggle (*mücâhada*) for nearness (*kurb-i nevâfil*). Then God acts in such a way – with His generosity – that He bestows upon the servant beautiful attributes corresponding to those vanished qualities. And he, with God’s permission, can effect and influence through them. This is the definitive certainty (*hakka'l-yaqin*) which has been explained above, and nothing equals it. For the Exalted One is innocent of indwelling in a thing or a thing indwelling in Him. The reality of the matter is that these kinds of sensory experiences can only be known through tasting. The intellect cannot grasp these lofty truths. Whoever tries to understand these sublime realities with reason errs and strays from the right path. Therefore, these matters are only understood through experience (*hal*). It is known that those without experiential states cannot comprehend such subtleties. For there is no external counterpart to this annihilation (*fenâ*) and subsistence (*beka*) by which it can be compared.
Even the state of nearness to God (*kurb-i ferâiz*) attained by the servant through performing supererogatory and obligatory devotions, which has no parallel that can be known through examples. Our purpose in mentioning this in this chapter and section is to address the Perfect One located in the sixth station and to inform him that everything we have explained above is entirely his state, and he has found pleasure within it, knowing that he is in it.
For the ultimate and highest station of the traveler on the right path is to attain the form of Adam. This is a form whose reality is the Muhammadian truth (*hakîkat-i Muhammediyya*) and the Divine subtlety (*latîfa rabbâniyya*). The greatest secret is the word “hu,” which is the ultimate degree of spiritual nearness to the Lord. When the seeker ascends to this station, he attains perfection with pure devotion, humility, destitution, and yearning. If he knows his self with these qualities, then he knows his Lord with the attributes of lordship. For the Perfect One located in this station finds his Lord with majesty and subsistence because he finds his self in a state of abasement and annihilation. The mirror of servitude faces the mirror of lordship. Whatever is in one mirror reflects in the other. Just as the Exalted One has said, “For My majesty and glory, I cannot be encompassed by the heavens and the earth, but I can dwell within the heart of a believing servant.” [147] Therefore, the pure servant knows the subtle secrets contained in the reality of all things through Divine knowledge. As the Exalted One has said, "He taught Adam the names" (2:31). And He has announced these secrets by way of indication to His servants.
There are some hidden secrets [345/a] in this station that cannot be expressed with words.
“God, the Exalted, is innocent of all imperfection, far removed from being likened or paired.” When this form of Adam is revealed and opened to the Perfect One located in the sixth station, he knows that it is the greatest aspiration of those who enter the path of spiritual striving (*seyru suluk*), the highest rank attainable by the saints, and the highest degree among all existence. Therefore, he strives earnestly to adhere firmly to the measures of religion, to remain on the straight path in God’s way, and to continue remembering the sixth name, “the Sustaining One” (*kayyûm*).
Thus, the righteous ones consider their good deeds as being equivalent to their sins, adhering strictly to the customs of the Sharia, the principles of the Sufi path, and the truths, observing them with exceeding care. The Muhammadian reality of the form of Adam is realized in the person of the seventh station.
Verses:
1-With the beauty of existence, it was marked by something other than traces
Now, if you know what it was upon,
2-This multiplicity of forms has been a manifestation of love
Indeed, every single thing will manifest with every quality
3-That pure light appeared with these attributes
The name of the diversity of appearances is the world
4-Although everything other than love is hidden and obscure
Within the essence, nothing is hidden nor obscure
5-With His generosity, he has been a giver to the people of jinn and humans
With His grace, he has been a spreader of body and soul
6-The heart loves, the soul knows, the body feels
Indeed, seeing, hearing, and speaking are love
7-Hear from him, speak to him, look at him, know him through him
Do not reveal the secret of love, oh intellect, be safe!
8-For ignorance of the self and the delusion of desire is the torment of the soul
Know the self and otherness as love for eternal bliss
9-The root of principles is love, O you who grieve over God
Release the pleasure of the self to its origin, grant it flow
1. A reality it was, before existence began,
A hidden truth, a timeless plan.
2. It is an ecstasy, revealed in forms diverse and bright,
Each manifestation bearing its unique light.
3. He is utterly luminous, emerging with these attributes sublime,
The world's appearance through His reflections in time.
4. In the manifest and the hidden, naught but love resides,
He is neither wholly known nor completely hides.
5. Through generosity, grace flowed forth to humankind and jinn,
Spreading through bodies and souls within.
6. Loved in the heart, known in the soul, felt in the frame,
In essence, love it is—the seeing, hearing, and acclaim.
7. Hear from Him, speak to Him, gaze upon His grace, know through Him alone;
Do not utter this secret of love to reason's domain, beware!
8. Ignorance of the self, the illusion of passion’s sway—
This is the soul’s torment, leading astray.
Know the self and all else as love, eternal bliss attain with the Beloved above.
9. Truth! Love is the origin, the foundation of all things—do not grieve.
Forsake the pleasures of the self, return to your source, hasten to Him!