DÖRDÜNCÜ BÂB · DÖRDÜNCÜ FASIL · Beşinci Madde
The Fifth Article
Describes the miracles of the saints and how, through their trust in Allah, they are safe from all dangers and find ease.
O esteemed one! Know that the friends of Allah have said: The aspiration and generosity of the saints is for Allah. Their turning to Him and seeking refuge with Him is also with Him. Their words and decisions are His, and entirely His. Everything besides Him is worthless and insignificant in their eyes.
The worship of the saints is always being present in the presence of their Lord. Their custom is not to speak divine secrets [to outsiders] and to conceal their miracles from the people. As a devotee once saw an adept in seclusion and said to him, "What benefit did this solitude bring you?" The adept replied to the devotee: “Have you seen a vizier revealing his lord’s secret? What would the sultan do with such a vizier?” Upon this reply, the devotee knew not what to say. The friend of Allah is one who desires nothing, [303/b] but is content with what exists; in that state, nothing happens except what he desires.
Qasida (Poem)
The origin of injustice and suffering is desiring pleasures and delights.
If you abandon enjoyment, poison becomes your sustenance.
To desire the Truth is what makes you deficient.
Otherwise, all your aspirations and wishes are laid out before you.
(Simplification of the Qasida)
The origin of injustice and suffering is desiring pleasures and delights. If you abandon enjoyment, poison becomes your nourishment. To desire the Truth is what renders you lacking; otherwise, all your desires and aspirations are completely laid out before you.
The friend of Allah is one for whom that which is hidden from the people becomes manifest to him. That which is difficult for the people becomes easy for him. There was a Sufi mystic in Abyssinia whose color would turn entirely white when overcome by ecstasy.
The friend of Allah is one for whom life is like imprisonment. Death, in his eyes, is attaining freedom. His pleasure is forgetting the delights of the self and finding divine friendship and tranquility. The friend of Allah is one to whom Allah has revealed that He will always protect him and never abandon him to his own soul. As He says in His grace: “Indeed, We see Our servants who are righteous and guide them.” (Al-A’raf 7/196)
An adept said: "I was engaged in the remembrance of Allah in solitude. One day my soul desired a pomegranate, and this longing fell upon my heart. While going to the market to buy a pomegranate, I saw a person at the side of the wall, wailing and helpless. He was lying twisted there; flies and wasps were stinging his flesh.
That person, seeing me, praised Allah. I greeted him and asked him the reason for his praise of Allah.
He gave this reply: “I saw you being captivated by a desire to buy a pomegranate and turning away from the Most Merciful. I am grateful that my heart is always present with Him.”
Then I said: "If you are in companionship with Allah and feel yourself present with Him every moment, why do you not pray to Him to deliver you from this ailment?"
The person lying at the side of the wall gave me this reply: “Pray to Allah that He may deliver you from this desire. For the stinging of flies upon my skin only harms the self. But a person being led by passion and the prompting of desires directly concerns the heart.”
Thus, in the eyes of the friends of Allah, the true affliction is seeking what is other than Him.
Nazm (Poem)
1. The atmosphere of your beauty I always see
That soul who has attained love, becomes the most cherished of the cherished.
2. Intellect and imagination are the work of ignorance, sorrow, fear, and anxiety.
Abandon intellect with love so that it may be a refuge for your soul.
3. This soul has fallen into trial and tribulation from this selfhood.
He who is annihilated from trial ultimately finds salvation.
4. If the solitude of the heart were devoid of love, this chest would play the tambourine; the soul would become a dancer.
5. Behold the beauty of your soul within yourself so that this body may be like bronze and pitch.
The beauty of the garment is like borrowed bronze and pitch.
6. The soul who has known himself has become a Simurgh upon the throne.
For the souls, these bodies have become cages.
7. Wherever he looks with love, he sees the Truth.
Everyone appears to be clothed in the beautiful face of that one.
If Allah wishes to make a servant among the close saints, He first frees him from the love of the world through guidance and accustoms him only to worship Him. Then He inspires him to eat little, drink little, sleep little, speak little, and avoid people, and makes it pleasing for him always to be in remembrance and contemplation.
Thereafter, He elevates him to the stations of trust, submission, patience, and acceptance, and grants him attainment to the state of knowledge of His essence and happiness through His love. Then He includes him in a gathering of tranquility and fills his heart with the light of His wisdom and knowledge.
Then He reveals Himself to him through His own being and unity, and comforts his pure soul. At this station, the servant departs from himself and purifies himself from the desires of his self, thus approaching the assembly of the friends of Allah. Fear and hope depart from him; in their place come awe and intimacy into the heart of that perfected one. From this stage onward, when he becomes eternal with His attributes by abandoning his own attributes [304/a], then this awe and intimacy depart from him, and he is enraptured by the majesty and beauty of Allah.
Nazm
1. If it does not exist, it can be found; otherwise it cannot.
It has become the qibla of those devoted to love.
2. The secrets of love are not revealed to outsiders.
Okay, here's the translation of the provided text, adhering to your instructions for faithfulness and preservation of meaning within a classical Islamic/Sufi context:
If it be found, the ecstasy remains concealed;
It is the *qibla* of the heart’s people, blessed indeed.
The secrets of love are not revealed to those who do not know them;
Only he who guides may become intimate with that mystery.
From the breath of love, the lover's heart overflows;
That heart which finds companionship in secrets is worthy.
Be a seeker of love, and pass beyond self and soul;
The station of love precedes rank and degree.
Abandon wealth and status, and find poverty and annihilation;
Know that the principle of love becomes manifest to you then.
Lay aside intellect and reason, abandon suspicion;
For the heart of the knower is more knowing and authoritative.
How sweet are the gifts bestowed by this goblet of love!
Such a goblet is worthy only of one who possesses the essence of the Divine Assembly (Cem).
This is why the Most High has removed fear and sorrow from the friends,
And said: “No fear shall touch those who believe, nor grief.” (Yunus 10:62)
For fear arises from concern for what may come to pass,
Or from apprehension that something dreaded will occur.
Sorrow is born of regret for what has passed,
Or lamentation over a misfortune experienced.
But the friends of God are children of time and circumstance;
Their father is time itself (the originator of time), and they possess perfection.
They neither know future nor past; no sorrow or hope arises in their minds concerning them,
Nor does fear or expectation dwell within their hearts.
A sage has said: “Fear and sorrow are removed from the friends because there is no contention nor opposition within their natures.”
Therefore, why should one who has attained the station of acceptance,
And whose heart has been graced with a state of tranquility and friendship,
Be fearful or sorrowful? His distinction lies in complete surrender to God,
In security and peace, in delight and joy.
Verses:
1. Though the lover be poor, he is rich in nobility and abundance;
Though transient, he abides eternally through the wine of encounter.
2. Do not describe to the lovers the kingdom of Solomon;
For the people of love are boundless within the realm of infinity.
3. He whose breast burns not with the longing for his beloved,
Is in anguish when surrendering his soul to him.
4. The lover who has no protector on earth,
Every night is in the heavens with the wings of love.
5. He who surpassed all through the loftiness of his intention,
Has abandoned fear and hope, and dwells in communion with God.
6. Abandoning management and choice, becoming devoid of desire,
He completes every matter with order and harmony.
7. Why does the knower not say, "All things are from God?"
For he is always pleased with everything his friend does.
8. If dust from others did not fall upon the mirror of the heart,
Every moment would be filled with delight in the beauty of the beloved.
9. The Real is within the heart; that sun which eternally shines upon it,
Souls dance and praise with longing like atoms.
The reason for this lengthy explanation following the verses is to clarify why the friends of God are exempt from fear and sorrow – because their very nature transcends these limitations through complete surrender and acceptance of Divine will.