DÖRDÜNCÜ BÂB · ÜÇÜNCÜ FASIL · Üçüncü Madde
Allah’s friends' wise sayings (zāhir) are sweeter and more beneficial than the most useful of sciences.
O esteemed one! It must be known that the friends of Allah have said: The wise sayings of the saints are knowledge of Allah. Just as the Exalted One has stated, “Know that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah” (Muhammad 47/19). Hakim Sanai has conveyed this meaning in three couplets:
Versification
1- Science leads to the door of God, not to the self, wealth, or fame.
2- All sciences are hidden beneath this word; there is one form, yet all are one.
3- The science of both worlds is merely this understanding: Discern the difference between “fat” and “thin.”
Therefore, knowing Allah is itself the very essence of true knowledge, which is experiential knowledge (ḥāl), gnosis (irfān), love (ʿishq), esoteric knowledge (bāṭin), revealed knowledge (ladunnī), heart-knowledge (qalb), and soul-knowledge.
Knowing Allah is seeing the angels close to Allah (the karūbiyyūn), having faults covered, and an expiation for sins. Knowing Allah is what is known as wisdom; its many benefits are mentioned in the Noble Qur’an. [87] Whoever seeks it must accustom themselves to enduring hunger and thirst. Science and wisdom are inseparable, like body and soul. As stated in the couplet:
Versification
Esoteric knowledge is like clarified butter, while outward science is like milk. How can clarified butter be without milk? How can a spiritual guide (pīr) exist without a guide?
Science is acquired through study, while wisdom is obtained through hunger (for it). Science is transmitted from tongue to tongue, while wisdom comes from the unseen realm to the heart. Outward science emerges from the tongue and reaches listening ears before passing away. Esoteric knowledge, however, arises from the depths of the heart, influences the self, and flows into the depths of the heart.
Outward science is ultimately a function of the tongue, and the tongue belongs to the realm of dominion. Whereas esoteric knowledge pertains to the realm of the heart, and the heart is among the treasures of the spiritual kingdom (malakūt). Outward science is well-known among people and is written only in the lines of books. Esoteric knowledge is for God and is hidden within hearts; its public declaration is forbidden because it is protected.
There is esoteric knowledge that cannot be denied, and few can publicly explain it. Whoever denies the wisdom of the saints is foolish and lacking in understanding. Its mildest punishment is deprivation from the taste of wisdom. Science has a limit and an end because it is acquired through learning [298/a]. Wisdom, however, is from God; therefore, it has no limit or end. Science is attained through reflection, while wisdom is found through purification (tazkiyah).
Knowing Allah is the closest and most accurate path to Him.
Versification
1. If one's heart were capable of expressing the science of love,
One would write thousands of treatises from a single point.
2. Its memorization and repetition are wondrous;
The science of love is found through purification—do not be heedless of it.
3. For intellectual sciences are attained through reflection.
It is necessary to give instruction and understand matters in them.
4. You have secured your place within the principles and details,
Yet you have never truly transcended the particulars.
5. For intellect has become outward, this love has become inward.
Release intellect and enter into love.
In intellectual sciences, believers and non-believers are alike. However, only a believer is required to find the light of gnosis (marifah). In this respect, knowledge is more comprehensive than gnosis. Gnosis, however, is more specific and important than knowledge. The light of knowledge is limited to this universe. The light of gnosis leads its seeker to the Presence of the Divine. Therefore, it is said, “Whoever knows himself through the possibilities of knowledge [knows his Lord],” not “whoever knows himself through spiritual training (irfān), knows his Lord.”
Gnosis is more virtuous than knowledge and worthy of preference. For knowledge pertains to Allah’s names and attributes, while gnosis belongs directly to the Divine Essence. The Exalted One desires two things from His servants: First, knowledge, which is necessary for servitude; second, gnosis, which is knowing and recognizing Him properly. All other intellectual sciences beyond these are aimed at gratifying the self and often lead to heedlessness.
Versification
1. Calculation and geometry are not science; they are pure ignorance.
You have read about guidance, but do not consider it as such.
2. Guidance is finding love; it is knowing the self from the beginning—
For this breath of the human soul comes from that ocean (bahr).
3. That ocean’s foam is this form and appearance of the world.
With its passion, the seven heavens perform this dance and revolution.
4. Those are the waves of that ocean; they are the essences of things—that is wisdom; know it.
5. Do not tremble with fear; do not go far from your friend.
Survey within yourself and find the sultan in the throne of your heart.
6. If you find a beloved in your tongue, surrender this life to him.
You will see the world filled with constant Divine grace (avn-i Rabbānī).
7. Love and gnosis are yours; beauty and generosity are yours—
You have found guidance; this is the glory of those who know God.
Okay, here is the translation of the provided text, adhering to your instructions:
1. The heart of the gnostic is filled with the wisdom of the Divine; his soul becomes a vessel for the manifestation of divine lights.
2. He who has drowned in the ocean of love has attained unity; surely, his heart becomes the dwelling place of the Sacred Mosque of Jerusalem.
3. Do not speak the words of wisdom to everyone, O Truth-teller! For their words are veiled allusions and mysteries.
4. The knowledge that is truth resides within the heart; it is not acquired through instruction.
5. Even if a house is filled with hundreds of books, it yields no benefit; if the heart becomes like a book, then there is no fear.
6. Wisdom descends upon humble hearts, as water flows toward the lowlands.
“O God! Grant us success in attaining it; ease the descent of wisdom into our hearts.”
1. The soul-engraver is drawn to the soul; the inclination of the intellect manifests through the words of the lover.
2. As wisdom is heaven within the tongue, so this body is earth; there are many stages between this earth and that heaven.
3. The tongue is a cloud in the sky, and hearts are rooftops; speech is like rain descending into the gutter.
4. Purity and cleanness descend from the heart to every soul; if the soul is sullied, then what descends upon it is falsehood.
5. Wisdom is on that surface which causes rain to fall; that surface receiving rain from the clouds is worthy of utterance.
6. He who draws water from another’s gutter is a thief; he who receives wisdom from the people is merely a repeater, not an originator.
7. He who does not know his own self is ignorant; he is not a gnostic. Every answer that he speaks is slippery in meaning.
8. He who has known his self has purified his soul from otherness; through his pure speech, one finds delight and attains wisdom.
9. O Truth! Just as the foot recognizes its shoe in darkness, so every heart is capable of recognizing the pleasure of a friend.
I have strived to maintain accuracy while rendering the text into accessible English.