DÖRDÜNCÜ BÂB · DÖRDÜNCÜ FASIL · Altıncı Madde
The Sixth Point
It describes the demeanor and bearing of blessed saints, the abundance of blessing in their worship, their attainment of lofty goals, and their exercising of influence [in certain matters].
O esteemed one! Know that the friends of God have said: The demeanor and movements, posture and behavior, qualities, and states of the saints are like those of the prophets. Their observances, the conditions they consider essential among indispensable things, the methods and conditions they adhere to in worship and conduct, the prominent forms and grandeur of their worship—all these belong to the shān (glory) of the prophets.
God’s blessed servants are, in His sight, in a degree close to that of the prophets, like the rank of the martyrs. Just as the prophets do, they flee from parents, children, and relatives [if necessary] for the sake of seeking Truth. They abandon greed for wealth and love of status, practicing humility and contentment, breaking the desires of their selves. They pass beyond the pleasures of the self and fleeting desires. With God’s love, they find a unique delight in experiencing grief and sorrow with Him. They constantly supplicate to the Lord, following the path of the prophets. Their hearts are always attached to the Lord who turns and directs them. Their souls are clothed in His character. Their knowledge is inspiration and wisdom. A single hour of wakefulness for the saints is equivalent to a year of worship for others.
Their gazes are instructive. Their speech is always good advice and counsel. Their pleasantries are delightful. Their smiles are purely an expression of grace and compassion. Their silence is awareness of being in the presence of the Lord. Their breathing is remembrance and worship. Their sleep is contemplation of the realm of unity. Their deaths are a feast and celebration; it is the day of reunion with the beloved. They are taken under the protection and concealment of the Lord’s powerful hand, secure and joyful in both worlds. They triumph over their enemies and opponents.
*Nazm (Poem)*
1. My soul has found healing through the state of pain.
My heart has found delight through the polish of love.
2. Understand love as a generous sultan; he possesses the wisdom of the saints.
The sick-hearted find him, though they may experience injustice and hardship.
3. The condition of the lovers does not render them distraught or wretched.
For in the love of the lover, he finds another desire.
4. That heart becomes paradise which finds that friend constantly.
He who seeks to deceive people is hell.
5. Hell is hardness of heart, ignorance, and blindness.
Paradise is when the heart finds love and friendship.
6. My heart has pleasantly reached my soul from the darkness of the body.
O love! Every mirror has been polished by you.
7. The fire of love has carried him beyond death and sickness.
Truth! He has become transient and found the abode of eternity.
Regarding how the saints attain to the path of the Lord, it is not like distances that can be measured in length or shortness, or traversed with steps, so that progress depends on strength and weakness. Rather, it is a spiritual path where hearts journey and advance according to their understanding and striving, seeing with their insight; progressing through purification, certainty, and experiential knowledge to higher spiritual levels. Its essence is a heavenly light composed of divine grace, which when it occurs in the heart of a servant, he sees both worlds with its truth. As he attains to collective intellect through it, he sees that his soul has permeated existence and finds things as if they were his own limbs. In that state, with God’s help, he administers the affairs of the world. Therefore, those who possess a high spiritual rank are endowed with influence.
*Rubā'ī (Quatrain)*
My soul is one, yet my body is ten thousand.
What is soul? What is body? They are both me.
I feign myself as another through much effort,
So that it may please another—but that other too is me.
Sometimes it happens that a person searches for this light for seventy years and does not find a trace of it in his heart. For he has sought the light with ignorance and therefore has not attained his desire. Some find it in fifty years. Some find it in ten years. Some find it in one month. Some in one day, some in one hour, and some—with the help of God—find the light in their hearts in an instant. Through it they attain to the state of knowledge and are blessed with the happiness of love. They become gnostics and perfect beings, attaining all their desires.
*Nazm (Poem)*
1. Whoever is unaware, news of love is a message;
The lover who sees love is one of clear vision.
2. Sleep and disdain have overcome the lover, concealing him from himself;
It is at that moment he is in union.
3. If the light of love falls upon the heart and soul of the lover,
By God, it is more beautiful than the sun.
4. He who is filled with love from head to toe is free from restraint and proud.
5. From every particle seeing the splendor of love,
Knowledge shines forth in his vision; he is a light of insight.
6. Those who reach poverty and annihilation through eagerness and silence,
Are eternally established—they are esteemed forever.
7. O heart! Purify it with the fire of love.
Herewith the translation:
The love has filled the soul with awareness; every thing is known by it. The lover sees the love; he is the one who perceives.
Hunger and satiety veiled the lover from his true self. Even if sleepless, even if hungry, union is his delight.
The light of love descended upon the heart and soul of the lover; truly, what are the sun and moon in comparison?
It is wholly filled with the light of love. The head is bare, the feet are naked, from top to toe it shines with love’s radiance.
He who beholds the beauty of all things from every atom; he is skilled in the science of vision, an eye full of light.
Having attained to poverty and annihilation through hunger and thirst; he is eternally established in the dominion of endlessness.
O Truth! Purify your heart with the fire of love. Whoever employs this alchemy, that one *is* gold itself.
Whoever enters this path and attains to this truth, has cancelled all relative things, and affirmed the unity of God through the acknowledgement of oneness. The Most High grants him dominion and power. For dominion is, in essence, the penetration of the attribute of desire and will into events. This dominion belongs to the saints who are content with Divine decree upon the earth, and the lands and seas, and all territories are within the vast heart of the saints as a single step. Stone and tile are gold and silver for them. Jinn and men, wild beasts and birds are all under their command.
They desire nothing but what God wills; and they achieve it. For their desire coincides with God’s will. In every matter, this is so: that which they do not desire does not come to pass. They fear no one. Rather, people find them awe-inspiring.
The devoted servants of God are servants only to the Divine—yet all creation is their servant, for they serve only out of love for God.
**Ghazal (Poem)**
1. Serving the love of Truth has always been our custom;
The beauty that shines forth is our fortune and bliss.
2. When God created Adam in His own form,
It was to manifest the most perfect creation [98] that our honor arose.
3. He breathed into Adam the love from his spirit;
What matter if our creation and existence are through love?
4. Let us be coy, may He grant it according to our whims,
For the reflection of beauty is what we desire from Him.
5. The lover of God becomes beloved throughout the world, inevitably;
Our honor and elevation come through servitude to Him.
6. With Him are sorrow and pain, joy and pleasure;
With Him is all our increase and abundance.
7. His harshness is delight and purity in the heart, O Truth!
Let humility be sought, for it is our old custom.
[97] *This refers to a playful or coy demeanor, often employed in Sufi discourse.*
[98] *Ahsen-i takvîm: The most perfect of proportions; referring to the ideal human form.*