I mean tawhid (the oneness of God). This station is a very noble station.
Know that the cosmos, even when it did not exist, was bearing shahāda (testimony) to the Necessary Existent (Wājib al-Wujūd). For even when the cosmos did not exist, its existence had been preferred, it was a fixed essence (ʿayn-i thābita), and God had already attributed to it the qualities of listening and obedience even when it was in a state of nonexistence (ḥāl (spiritual state)). For God, seeing them in their nonexistence was not muḥāl (impossible). Therefore, when any of the possible beings emerged from nonexistence into the realm of existence, none of them ever denied this. However, among all beings, only this insānī (human) being, veiled by the curtain of his nature, denied it and ascribed partners to Him in some things.
Allah created him in such a way that he was to serve only a single Lord, to whom he was in fact a shāhid (witness), and to listen and obey Him. The Worshipped (Allah) created this veil of nature for him as an unseen (ghayb). Thus, some of them, due to being accustomed to seeing with their eyes, took as their lord, instead of the One Allah, either stars from the celestial realm or elements from the lower realm, or some material entities composed of these, which they could see and observe with their eyes; their nafs (lower self) found rest in this. They imagine that this deity they have taken bears witness to the Real (al-Ḥaqq) and is closer to them than He is. They serve it and worship it, hoping it will bring them closer to Allah. (Futūḥāt, III, 301)
If ten candles are lit in one place,
If you look, each is other than the rest,
But there is no difference in their light,
If you look at their light in the dark night.
waḥdat al-wujūd–waḥdat al-shuhūd
If a hundred lamps are pressed together,
When counted, they become one,
There is no division of number in meaning,
There is no rank of numbers in meaning.
The union of friends with friends is love,
The obstacles of form are astonishingly attractive.
If you efface and annihilate the form,
You have attained the treasure of unity.
You have no qudra (power) except by the grace of God,
Souls are sacrificed for His kindness.
He is the one who grants ʿināya (divine favor) to all,
Who bestows the abundance of hudā (guidance) to His servants.
We were a single, spread-out essence, head to toe,
We were a rope of foot and head, head to toe,
We were radiant with light like the sun,
We were pure from impurities, like water.
When that simple light took on form,
It became observable as multiplicity.
In appearance, in shape and form,
Each of the ten candles brought to a place appears separate from the others...
If you turn your face to the place illuminated by the candles,
It is impossible to distinguish the light of each of these ten candles from the others.
If you gather a hundred apples and a hundred quinces in one place, and then squeeze them all and extract their juices, the number one hundred no longer remains; all become one.
In meanings, there is no division, no number. In meanings, separation and counting one by one is not possible.
The meeting of the friend with friends is delightful. You too, seize the meaning, hold on to its hem; form and appearance are stubborn, rebellious.
Melt the stubborn form and appearance with hardship and ascetic discipline, so that you may see the treasure of unity hidden beneath it.
If you cannot melt that stubborn form, Allah, whom I serve and am a slave to, will melt it by His favor and mercy. (Note: O lover of the Real, perform your religious and human duties. Do not despair if your inner eye has not opened and you have not escaped the vision of multiplicity. The Compassionate and Merciful Allah will, at a time you do not expect, remove your attachment to form and shape. Şefik Can)
This cannot be seen with the physical eye, but is only felt with the eye of the heart. For it both shows itself to hearts and mends the dervish’s heart-cloak torn by worldly events, setting him on the path of love and gnosis (ʿirfān). (Note: Those of the Muʿtazilite creed believe it is impossible to see Allah, while the people of the sunnah hold, based on the hadith "You will see your Lord as you see the full moon on the fourteenth night," that it is possible to see the Real. The Real grants His lovers the grace of witnessing Him, thus removing the despair and heartbreak caused by separation from the Real, and heals their heart wounds with His eternal favor. Şefik Can) (Mathnawī, I, 46)
We were spread throughout the universe as a single essence, all of us headless and footless there.
The divisions, separations, and distinctions seen in this world did not exist in that world. In that world, we were a jewel at the Station of Ahadiyya, radiating light like the sun in all directions, pure and clear like water. (Note: The gnostics call the first, unmanifested level of the Absolute Unseen the ahadiyya (station of absolute oneness). This station is also called the Gayb al-Ghayb (the Unseen of the Unseen) and the Hidden Treasure (Kanz al-Makhfī). The effusion (fayḍ) that manifests as the thought of Allah in the heart is divided into fayḍ al-aqdas (most holy effusion), which is the self-manifestation of Allah and the bringing into being of the fixed essences (aʿyān-i thābita), and fayḍ al-muqaddas (holy effusion), which is the manifestation of Allah’s names that cause beings to come into existence. Şefik Can)
When that beautiful and subtle light took on form and shape, numbers appeared like the shadows of fortress towers.
Demolish the towers with catapults so that the differences between those divided and separated from each other disappear. (Note: The fortress towers are the material existence, ego, and pride of human beings. Şefik Can)
waḥdat al-wujūd–waḥdat al-shuhūd
I would very much like to explain and elaborate on this secret, but I fear the slip and fall into denial of someone with a weak intellect. (Mathnawī, I, 47)
"All things are perishing except the Face of the Real (vech-i Ḥaqq)."
To perish in the Face of the Real is the truest reality.
Whoever is worthy of the Everlasting Face,
For him, "Everything will perish" is not a punishment.
He has passed from "lā" and entered into "illā"; know this.
Whoever is not annihilated in "illā",
He who says "I" and "we" at the door of the Real,
Is rejected, and wanders in the station of "lā". (Mathnawī, I, 196)
The color of the cup of unity is the dye of Allah. All crafts, everything is dyed in that cup.
If a lover of the Real falls into that cup and you say to him, "Rise, leave the cup," out of joy he says, "Do not blame me, I have become the cup." (Note: One who attains the station of tawhid (oneness) is so delighted by it that if told to leave, he says, "I am not a stranger, I have become the cup itself." Şefik Can)
To say "I am the cup" is to say "anā al-Ḥaqq (I am the Real)". Iron is iron, but it has taken on the color of fire; it has been dyed in that color. (Note: One of the gnostics said, "Men of God, that is, the perfected ones, cannot be Allah, but neither are they separate from Allah." Truly, the traveler on the path of the Real, who is subject to divine manifestation, burns his material being, like iron, in the divine crucible. He becomes red-hot like fire. At that moment, the words that come from the tongue of the lover of the Real are like a piece of iron that, having been placed in the fire and become red-hot, says, "I am fire." As long as this state continues, he is justified in saying, "I am fire," for he has taken on the color and burning quality of fire. But when this state passes, when he leaves the fire, his iron-ness becomes apparent. Şefik Can)
The color of the iron has disappeared in the color of the fire. It appears silent, but with the tongue of its state it speaks of being fire, that is, it says, "I am fire." (Mathnawī, II, 364)
When fire comes out of the mine and becomes red-hot, it says without tongue or lips, "I am fire." Inflamed by the color and nature of fire, it gains majesty and grandeur, and so it begins to say, "I am fire, I am fire."
It says, "I am fire; if you doubt, try it—touch me with your hand."
"I am fire; if you doubt, for a moment put your face to mine."
waḥdat al-wujūd–waḥdat al-shuhūd
If a human being is illuminated by the light of Allah, he becomes the chosen of the Real, and the angels prostrate to him.
He is not only the one whom the angels prostrate to; people who, like the angels, are free from doubt, rebellion, and transgression, also bow before him in respect. (Mathnawī, II, 365)
Waḥdat al-wujūd (unity of being): The Sufis have agreed that, externally, the entities are one—as the people of theoretical speculation claim. But, unlike the people of theoretical speculation, they say that entities exist by the existence of the One Real (al-Ḥaqq Taʿālā), and not by an existence added to the existence of the Real. This is not the view of those with perfect and complete unveiling. Such expressions have only come from a group who have mixed the words of the people of God with those of philosophers, taking from their ideas what they found attractive. If you are a person of the heart, know that Allah exists and that nothing exists with Him; at this station, the existence of things is not elsewhere, but only in knowledge.