ÜÇÜNCÜ FEN · İKİNCİ BÂB · BEŞİNCİ FASIL · Dördüncü Madde
**Fourth Article**
Concerning the characteristics and effects of continuous remembrance (zikr-i müdâm).
Beloved! Know that the friends of Allah have said: The one who remembers,
(zâkir) without voicing it, directing his heart completely to the Real through hidden breaths,
and continues with the phrase “Lā ilāhe illallah” or "Allah, Allah, Allah,"
unites the remembrance of the tongue with the remembrance of the heart. Thus he quickly finds
the characteristics and effects of remembrance. For the remembrance done with the tongue is burning;
the remembrance done with the heart is illuminating. Therefore, the remembrance that unites these two
remembrances has a fire which leaves nothing unburned within the spiritual breast cavity of the rememberer.
It burns everything. It says, "I am, and there is none else," which is the meaning of the phrase “Lā ilāhe illallah.”
For example, if fire falls upon a house, and if there is wood there, it will burn it up.
If there is darkness there, it will remove it and bring light. If there is light there, it will increase its brightness;
it becomes light upon light. Similarly, in the heart, when the fire of remembrance finds something other than Allah,
it burns it and turns it into fire. If it finds the darkness of ignorance, it transforms it into the light of knowledge.
If it finds light, that light is not contrary to that fire; rather, it is the light of remembrance, of the rememberer,
and of the one being remembered.
Therefore, to remember Allah is true, and His attributes are also true. It annihilates the pleasures of the ego,
leaving behind its rights. For there is no contradiction to be conceived between the remembrance of Allah and the rights of the ego.
But the pleasures of the ego are unlawful expenditures, superfluous parts of the body that are not rightful.
For they consist of forbidden sustenance. Indeed, the fire of remembrance reaches those superfluous parts
and annihilates them. That is, the Sultan of Remembrance comes and all the unlawful things (bâtıllar) within the body of the rememberer
vanish completely.
If the rememberer (zâkir) continues in this manner with his remembrance, then that remembrance will surely come from his tongue to his heart.
It awakens him spiritually. The basīrat eye of the rememberer opens and he becomes accustomed to the remembrance of Allah.
He comes to a state where he does not want to leave his seclusion. If he must go out for some need, he immediately returns.
He continues remembering night and day. The soldiers of remembrance, with voices like the buzzing of bees in the veil
and like locusts, attack upon the rememberer (zâkir) from above and behind. As fire burns wood, they surround the rememberer
and begin to burn him. It happens that the rememberer (zâkir), while leaving his night seclusion, sees a great light on his right and left,
and he knows that this light is the remembrance of Allah. That light becomes a sultan in his heart so that when it comes, nothing remains in his heart but it.
It often happens that these inner meanings (vâridât) attack the rememberer to such an extent that inanimate objects (cemâdât)
disappear from his view and he cannot see them clearly; he sees them only like glass objects within a lantern.
The purity of the body reaches its ultimate point at that moment. When the body becomes like a bottle in his spiritual vision (şuhûd),
then the sun of the soul appears so brightly that the rememberer (zâkir) imagines a fire blazing upon the earth and in the heavens.
When the heart of the rememberer becomes a dwelling place for the light of remembrance, then the light of love and affection also descends upon him like sparks,
and he burns with them so much that his body vanishes. At that moment, the Light of Allah manifests itself in his heart. With this light, all other lights being remembered are annihilated.
The heart of the rememberer finds solace in the one being remembered (mezkûr).
**Poem:**
1-Bi zâlike serra tâle minke iktitâmuhû
Ve lâhe sabâhun ente kunte zulâmuhû
2-Fe-ente hicâbu’l-kalbi fî-seyri ğaybihî
Ve lev lâke lem yutba‘ aleyke hitâmuhû
**Translation of the Poem:**
1-By that, the secret which has been hidden from you for so long has become manifest. The night whose darkness you were, now has its dawn.
2-You have become the veil of the heart in traversing the unseen. Were it not for you, your nature would not be the end of it.
For the human body is a veil between the heart and the one who turns and revolves it (Mukallib; Allah Most High).
So when the body is cleansed from its attributes and egoism, the friend of the heart is found. The nearness (üns) and tranquility of Allah become light upon light.
The previously mentioned lights come to him through the attractions (cezbeleri) of Allah.
If the rememberer does not receive attraction at the beginning, then his spiritual journey (seyr) first takes place upon the four elements of his own body,
and from there descend the lights of attraction coming through the seven spheres of his soul and they manifest within him.
When the rememberer (zâkir) reaches the element of earth; he first sees that he is emerging from dark and constricted places like dust.
He feels himself rising to high places like lofty mountains. Then as this element is cleansed by the remembrance of Allah, he sees clean dwellings
and high castles – pure abodes. When he reaches the element of water, he first sees himself in murky water so that he cannot swim in it out of fear.
Then as this element is purified by the remembrance of Allah, he sees rivers and perfectly clear seas and crosses over them in the blink of an eye.
When he passes to the element of air, he first sees himself in a vast expanse. Then as this element is also cleansed by the remembrance of Allah,
he flies through the airs, colored with the hues of his states, and enjoys it. When he reaches the element of fire, he first sees himself in dark and dense fires.
Then as this element is also purified by the remembrance of Allah, he sees himself in pure fire and finds great delight. From there, passing through the spheres
of the heavens like the levels of soul and heart (atvâr), he passes through the colors of the seven spiritual senses (letâif-i seb’a) and reaches encompassing light.
Some saints have arranged and ordered these lights. They know the secret of each light as the color of one of the seven subtle centers.
Okay, here's the translation of the provided text, aiming for faithfulness and preservation of meaning within a classical Islamic/Sufi context:
"Know that Fenā-fillāh is when desire and selfhood depart, and knowledge becomes worthless in the Divine gaze. "Allah has revealed this truth with proofs so that you may know that there is no deity except Him," (Al-Imran, 3:18) – this verse clarifies it.
Most of the saints have not explained the order of colors of these lights nor the forms and appearances of the states of these stations; rather, they have commanded to erase them from the mind and turn away from them.
For preoccupation with those lights and stations, observing their times, distinguishing between them, and transitioning from one to another, distracts the practitioner from beholding the beauty of God and seeing the perfection of the Creator. Thus, most of these lights are passed over, and the practitioner capable of attraction (cezbe) is shown the lights above him. Often it occurs that those who possess certainty do not see the revealed lights at all, but only the encompassing light mentioned earlier manifests to them. They are neither detained by a vision nor remain in observation; rather, they find solace from Him alone.
[Poem]
1. O heart, cease thinking of "this" and "that!" If your remembrance is of God, you shall attain eternal life.
2. When you forget all besides Him, you become a remembrancer, silent and without tongue.
3. The delight of remembering God does not find favor in the tongue; as long as selfhood remains within you, whether it be gain or loss.
4. When the heart empties itself of its own being, it finds the promised Witness, without doubt.
5. Remembrance of names and attributes no longer remains in the tongue; when the mentioned Essence becomes manifest within the soul.
6. When remembrance of the Divine Essence overwhelms the heart, neither tongue nor soul nor spirit comes to mind.
7. It perpetually confounds the soul with bewilderment, that beauty of the Everlasting, without trace.
8. Whatever you desire, God grants it, O friend! You no longer desire yourself at that time.
9. Ask for such a state from God; do not think of fame, wealth, or lineage."