BEŞİNCİ BAB · BİRİNCİ FASIL · Üçüncü Madde
Third Article
Concerning the connection of the speaking soul (nafs-i natıqa) to the human body through the carnal nafs, and its orientations towards the two worlds.
O beloved! Know that the friends of Allah have said: The greatest spirit (ruh-i a’zam) descends from the station of ahfa to the rank of the heart, settling within the human body and undertaking the management of its operations. Its connection with the body is like the devotion of a lover to his beloved.
This human soul attains to managing and governing the affairs of the body through the carnal nafs. For this blessed spirit is exceedingly subtle; the body is exceedingly dense; and the carnal nafs has become the balancing element between subtlety and density. Therefore, it has become worthy of being a means between the pure spirit descending from ahfa and the body created from earth. When this exalted spirit joins with the carnal nafs, its name becomes the heart or the speaking soul (nafs-i natıqa).
Thus, the heart has two directions: one goes towards the world of senses, perceptions, and sights; the other direction goes towards the realm of the unseen, where the holy ones reside.
Because the carnal nafs is dense, it is necessary in one aspect of the human soul, like a thick substance drawn to the back of a mirror. When that density is drawn, certain forms become visible on the other surface. This is why the heart has become the most noble of limbs, the greatest of existences, the center of manifestation of Divine attributes and names, the place of birth of lights, the treasury of secrets, the warp upon which the patterns of reality are woven, and the gaze of the Lord (Hazrat-i Mevla). Indeed, Allah Most High has said in His Eternal Word: “For him who has a heart” (Kaf 50/37), thereby declaring that the intended meaning is the heart of the perfect human being. For very few people have hearts worthy of deriving instruction from verses.
Thus, if the heart turns towards the world of witnessing to such an extent that it forgets entirely the unseen realm and the transcendence of Allah above all things, it becomes veiled from its noble qualities and becomes like animals. If the heart turns completely toward the unseen realm and forgets entirely the world of witnessing, it is utterly cleansed of base qualities and becomes like an angel. If the heart, when turning towards one of the two realms, does not remain unaware of the other, then that person who possesses such a heart becomes a perfect human being (al-insan al-kamil). This state of perfection is a station of utmost sublimity which can only be attained through the purification of the nafs and the refinement of the heart. And only those who follow the path of the closest ones (mukarrabun) can attain this maturity.
Whenever the human heart has turned towards the body with bodily pleasures and carnal desires, it is certainly hindered from its Lord by seventy veils. The name of this heart is the nafs-i ammara. For at that time, the heart becomes filled with vile qualities such as anger, envy, pride, self-conceit, arrogance, and similar ugly character traits, along with greed, evil, and lusts. These characteristics distance the heart from its Lord, and these ailments afflict it. Especially anger and lust debase the noble human being. For the right of the heart is to be the manager of the body; the body has accepted all of its commands.
Thus, when anger and lust become dominant over the heart, they become like an employee who should be a supervisor, and then things turn upside down. This is why a person overcome by his anger sees himself in a dream (reality) prostrating before a dog. And one overcome by his lust sees in a dream an ass riding upon his back. If the heart remains in this base state, forgetting itself and lingering there for a long time, then it will no longer have the power to turn towards the unseen realm. For the heart is like a mirror; as it is cleansed of dust and rust, people can see various forms and images within it. If the mirror is not polished for a long time, dirt and rust will cover and settle upon its essence, and they cannot be removed by polishing and cleansing, so that it loses its luster. As it is related: “Indeed, hearts are rusted as iron rusts. The polish of hearts is remembering death and reciting the Holy Quran” [108].
Whenever the heart turns towards its own realm, namely the unseen realm, it certainly strives to open and traverse the veils mentioned above one by one through purification (tazkiya) and reflection (tafakkur). All blemishes and sorrows arising from worldly desires and sins are utterly removed. At that time, the realities of existences (hakaik-i ashya) become visible to it, the subtleties of meaning are inscribed upon its heart, and it becomes capable of receiving Divine manifestations. For the meaning of the veils being lifted for a person is that as lusts and desires are removed from the heart, the soul regains the station it previously descended from. No trace of lust or desire remains in the heart; it attains to its beloved. There will be no veil between that heart and its Lord, who turns the hearts.
Indeed, Allah Most High has said in a sacred hadith: “I cannot contain Myself within the earth and heavens, but I can contain Myself within the merciful (pious) heart of a believing servant.” [109] That is to say, He cannot be seen by anyone except that the heart of the believing servant who is gentle and pure sees Him with his insight.
This does not mean that Allah Most High has manifested Himself in the hearts of His servants. May He be exalted; this is impossible. But when the heart of a believing servant is purified through remembrance (dhikr) and reflection, it becomes like a mirror, then such seeing [with insight] becomes possible. Just as forms in the world of witnessing appear in a mirror only through purification, so too the secrets and wonders of the unseen realm are observed in a heart that has been cleansed with dhikr. It is this intellectual observation that explains the shapes formed in the minds. For the mind refers to the speaking soul (nafs-i natıqa), which, as is known, is the heart.
Verse:
1- Come, O beloved, let your face be a mirror for understanding,
For this tongue has become like a pure mirror from non-existence.
2- Though it has become the mirror of the countenance of the Most High,
All intellects, souls, elements, and spheres.
Okay, here's the translation of the provided text, aiming for faithfulness and preserving meaning within a classical Islamic/Sufi context:
Come, O Beloved, gaze upon your face in the mirror. This heart is like a mirror,
cleansed from all foreign embroideries.
Indeed, it has become the mirror of that Pure Essence; of all intellects,
passions, elements, and the spheres.
Yet, you have only revealed yourself through it, perfecting my being. The mirror
of the heart is sorrowful within this world.
Behold the beauty of your countenance in the heart, for the heart has become
entirely purified; subtle, clear, and immaculate.
Why do you not deign to enter this pure seclusion? When I passed through it,
I found no one but You.
For I have become a microcosm of the entire universe in relation to You.
Is it fitting that I remain as mere clay and dust?
Though you cast me upon the shore, now take me into the sea. For within the
ocean of Your love, my wave forgets its origin—God forbid!
My existence is bound up with your manifestation; were I not, You would not be revealed,
and were You not, I would not exist.
You are the sun of the world; a shadow of God. All shadows find their being and
annihilation from the sun.