Death without life is a mawt (death) of my own created kind. I see neither benefit nor harm in it. My death from my nafs (the lower self), desires, will, and wishes is in this world and the hereafter. In none of these do I feel anything at all.
Life without death is to find life through the act of my Lord, without my own existence. Here, death is for my existence to be with my Lord. This is the will that, since reaching maturity, has been the most nafs-based will. (Futūḥ, 138–139)
Hunger is the adornment of the people of God (ahl Allāh). By this, I mean the habitualization of hunger. This is the white death. The people of God have established four deaths as the foundations of their spiritual journey (sayr sulūk). The first is the green death: wearing patched, unostentatious clothes. The garment of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb had thirteen patches, one of which was leather, even though he was the leader of the believers (muʾmin). The black death is enduring hardships. The red death is opposing the nafs in what it desires; this is the characteristic of the Malāmatiyya. The hunger deemed suitable for the righteous on the Sufi path, and called the white death, is to reduce the excesses of (personal) nature and to choose to desire the world without needing to act for it. If the aspiration rises, it seeks the attribute of Ṣamadīyya (absolute independence from all needs). Its limit, for us, is a single day’s fast... (Futūḥāt, I, 184)
Merg-i bi-merg (death without dying) has become lawful for the lovers (ʿushshāq).
Renunciation of the head is the gift for the devoted servant.
Outwardly, it is death; inwardly, it is life.
In form, it is annihilation; inwardly, it is steadfastness (thabāt).
The fetus journeys from the mother’s womb;
Its new destination is the arena of the earth.
I have an inclination toward death because of desire.
For me, the command “Do not throw yourselves with your own hands into destruction” (lā tulqū bi-aydīkum) has become applicable.
The prohibition is certainly for the sweet; there is no need for prohibition regarding the bitter.
If both the inside and outside of a fruit are bitter, its bitterness and bad appearance themselves command “Do not eat.”
The fruit of death is sweet for me. The verse “They are alive” (āya) was revealed for those who, like me, desire martyrdom.
O my trusted friends! Kill me with blame and reproach, for my being killed will bring me to eternal life.
O brave one! Truly, my life is in my death. How long will I remain separated from my place and homeland? (Note: Mawlānā expresses similar views in a quatrain: The one who beheads and kills you is actually benefitting you, saving you from sorrow and pain. The one who crowns you is deceiving you, taking away your good traits and humility, and robbing you of your humanity. The one who burdens you with worldly goods is giving you a burden. Your true friend is the one who takes you from yourself. Mawlānā’s Quatrains, ed. Şefik Can, no. 338.)
If my stay in this world were not a separation for me, it would not be said, “When we die, there is no doubt that we will return to Allah.” The one who returns is the one who comes back to the city he left; he is the one who escapes the separation of time and attains unity. (Mathnawī, I, 237)
Some have considered the name Ḥayy (the Living) as the principal name because it precedes the attribute of knowledge. For life is a condition for knowledge; without life, there is no knowledge. Therefore, the condition must precede the conditioned. In my view, the name ʿĀlim (the Knowing) is more appropriate, for imamate (leadership) is a relative state requiring the existence of a follower, and the imam is more honorable than the follower. Knowledge, however, comes after the thing known. But for life, nothing is required except Ḥayy, which is the Essence itself. That knowledge is more honorable (prior) than life is clear. Thus, some have said that knowledge—apart from Ḥayy—is the first thing by which the Essence is determined. For knowledge does not require a nisba (relation) like wājib (necessary) and wujūb (necessity), so its precedence is not by nature. Do you not see that a balanced temperament is a prerequisite for bodily vitality? For the body, there is no doubt that life precedes temperament in honor. (Kāshānī, 33; Jāmiʿ, 77)
Mawt (death), in their (the Sufis’) terminology, is the uprooting of the desires of the nafs. For the life of the nafs is by desire. The nafs, through desire, inclines toward base and natural cravings. When the nafs turns toward the lowly, it draws the qalb (the heart), which is the rational soul, to its own center. Thus, the qalb, due to ignorance, is deprived of the reality of the life of maʿrifa (gnosis) and dies.
When the nafs is uprooted from all its desires and dies, the qalb naturally and with original love turns toward the Knower of itself—the holy knower, light, and the life of the ẓātiyya (essential life) that never accepts death. Plato alluded to this death with his saying: “Die by will so that you may live by nature!” Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq said: “Death is tawba (repentance).” The Exalted Allah said: “Repent and kill your souls.” Whoever repents, his nafs dies. For this reason, when classifying deaths, they especially specified the opposition of the nafs to the mewt-i aḥmar (red death). When the Prophet returned from jihad against the unbelievers, he said: “We have returned from the lesser jihad to the greater jihad.” In another hadith: “The mujāhid is the one who strives against his nafs. Whoever abandons his desires, he departs from misguidance and attains hudā (guidance), and by distancing himself from ignorance, he attains maʿrifa and thus comes to life.”
The Exalted Allah said: “Is one who was dead and We gave him life...” (al-Anʿām 6:122), meaning he was dead in ignorance, and We revived him with knowledge. This death has also been called the mewt-i jāmiʿ (comprehensive death) that encompasses all mortal deaths. (Kāshānī, 91; Jāmiʿ, 100)
The very essence of life (ʿayn al-ḥayāt) is the inner aspect of Allah’s name Ḥayy. Whoever realizes this name within himself, drinking from it, will never die eternally. He is alive with the life of the Real (al-Ḥaqq). Everything in the world is alive through the life of that person, for his life is the life of the Real. (Kāshānī, 134; Jāmiʿ, 91)
The first subtlety of life is that the scholar comes to life after the death of ignorance. The second subtlety is that unity comes to life after the death of separation. The third is the life of existence (wujūd), which is the life of the Real. (Rawḍa, 494)
The existence of a thing for its own nafs is its complete life. The existence of a thing for another is a life possible only by relation. Thus, the Real exists for His own nafs. Therefore, the true possessor of life is He. His life is complete; there is no death for Him.
As for created beings, they exist for Allah. Their life is only possible by relation. They are not the true possessors of life. Their exposure to fanāʾ (annihilation) and death is due to this. Then, Allah’s life in creation is perfect and unique. Creation takes on different forms in that life according to their own states. Let us consider the beings in whom this life is manifest: In some, life is fully manifest. The human being who receives this full manifestation is the insan al-kāmil (perfect human). For he exists for his own nafs, but with a true existence. There is neither relation nor metaphor in this. His nearness to the Real is not due to any of the aforementioned states. For others, he is the true possessor of life. Another group included in this class are the angels of the Illiyyūn, named by Allah as al-Muhaymin. Also included are the Supreme Pen (Qalam al-Aʿlā) and the Tablet (Lawḥ). These are not composed of natural elements.
There are others besides these two types that are outside the natural elements. All of these are included with the insan al-kāmil. Understand this! Then come the animal human, angels, and jinn. In some beings, life appears as their own being, but it is not a complete life. This type of life is possessed by the animal human, angels, and jinn. Each of them exists for themselves by knowing they exist. But this existence is not a true existence for them, for such existence does not bring them nearness to the Real. Thus, their existence is not for themselves, but for the Real. Their nearness to true life is also incomplete. Then come animals. In some of them, life is manifest, but not in their own forms. Finally, there are plants, minerals, and the remaining living beings. In some of these, life has been removed. They exist not for themselves, but for others. Thus, life is present in all things. (Insān, I, 44)
Mawt (death) is the extinguishing of the innate (natural) fire that is the cause of life in this world. Life is the turning of spirits (arwāḥ) toward themselves within material forms. What sustains this is the original heat. This original heat must continue with a natural balance. Natural balance means that this heat is at the fourth degree in the human body. For its return to the first degree is the strength of the heat. At this degree, it does not accept union with any other element. Here, it accepts to its utmost limit. Its analogues are at the second degree, which is a fiery heat capable of union.
If you claim that at that degree, the heat cannot unite with the remaining parts of the elements, then fire would have to cease to exist. For fire, water, air, and earth are each composed of the four elements: heat, cold, dryness, and moisture. As long as the remainder persists, everything dominated by heat is called fiery (nārī) in nature. As long as the remainder persists, everything dominated by cold is called watery (māʾī) in nature. As long as the remainder persists, everything dominated by moisture is called airy (hawāʾī) in nature. As long as the remainder persists, everything dominated by dryness is called earthy (turābī) in nature. (Insān, II, 53)
These levels are, in reality, four names and essential attributes by which the perfection of a being’s essence is determined. One of these is the name of life. A universal essence without life is deficient in the degree of essential perfection. For this reason, some gnostics have held that the Greatest Name (ism al-aʿẓam) is Ḥayy.
Then comes knowledge. For the life of a universal living being without the attribute of knowledge is not real but accidental and temporary. Thus, knowledge is a condition for the essential living being, for the perfection of life is with it. Therefore, Allah the Exalted has expressed knowledge as life, saying: “Is one who was dead...”—that is, ignorant—“and We gave him life...” (al-Anʿām 6:122), meaning We taught him. Since the existence of a living scholar without life is inconceivable, life is mentioned before knowledge. Life precedes all essential attributes. For this reason, the verifying scholars have called it life.
There are also imām (leading) attributes. That is, all essential attributes are the imams of other attributes, for all are encompassed by these leading attributes.
Another is will. For a universal living being without will cannot be thought to create another. The Real, Glorified and Exalted, is the Creator of all things. He is the Murīd (the Willer). By will, things are specified, and in the realm of possibility, the existence of creatures is preferred over non-existence.
After this comes the name qudra (power). For one who desires something but cannot do it is powerless. The Real is free from powerlessness, for He is the Absolutely Powerful. These four attributes are the mothers of the names. This is the second manifestation, the keys of the unseen. With these attributes, our connection to the perfection of the Essence is completed. For one who possesses life, knowledge, will, and power is perfect in his existence and in creating others. (Marātib, 18)
Life is of five kinds: Existent life is the life of all beings, both high and low, subtle and dense. These beings have found life through this type of life. This life is their very existence. Some have described it as existence circulating among beings.
Spiritual life is the life of angels in the spiritual realm, which is by originality, not by dependence. Therefore, they remain as long as Allah remains. Here, the spirit is the very spirit of life, which is the opposite of both death and annihilation. The reports about the death of angels by lightning on the Day of the Great Annihilation are metaphorical, not absolute, but in one respect. Other animals also have a share in this spiritual life, but for them it is by dependence, not by originality. They lack the rational intellect for livelihood. Therefore, compared to His life, worldly life is transient; the life of the hereafter is enduring. In the hereafter, all animals will persist according to their own lives.
Animal life is the life of the warmth and moisture hidden in the blood circulating in the depths of the liver. This is also called the animal nafs. Do not misunderstand! You may see some animals without blood or a liver; they have a principal organ that serves the same function, managing nourishment in their bodies as the liver does in animal bodies.
Accidental life is like knowledge—which is the life of ignorance—like the spring season—which is the life of the earth—like the reflection of the sun on the moon’s face—which is the life of the moon—and like the sun striking the earth’s surface—which is the life of the earth. These are perfections that arise according to such conditions.
The essential notional life of the configuration is this: Through these notional conditions, the final point of perfection is reached. These are the types of life. There are beings that possess one, two, three, or even four of these types.
Only the insan al-kāmil possesses all five types. The insan al-kāmil encompasses all types of life. This is not possible for anyone else. The insan al-kāmil possesses a level of unity not found outside himself. (Marātib, 41)
Mawt (death) is to pass from darkness to light. (Nafahāt, 191)