Shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi tells something very impressive when he was writing chapter 558 of The Openings Revealed in Makkah, dealing with the most beautiful names of Allah. He makes it clear that al–Momît, the One Who causes death, is necessary for you in order to avoid being among those who have killed their hearts by neglecting to do the remembrance (dhikr) of God. The shaykh tells this when writing about al-Momît: “I was busy writing this chapter […] when I heard someone reciting a poem, who was standing at the corner of the house wherein I was. Although I could hear his voice, I could not see him. I don’t know who was reciting these lines: Pass on your heritage,…
The Key to open the Door
A key [miftâh] is an instrument for opening [fath]. Keys are able to open a locked door. An opening can be considered as an unveiling: “There’s a key, an opening, and something opened”, says shaykh Ibn al-‘Arâbî. “When the opened thing is opened, that which has been veiled by it becomes manifest. So the key is your preparedness [isti’dâd] for learning and receiving knowledge, the opening is the teaching, and the opened thing is the door at which you come to a halt”. “If you don’t halt and you travel on, you’ll see with every step what you had not been seeing, and you’ll come to know what you didn’t know, and God’s bounty to you is ever magnificent [Qur’ân…
Diwaan-e-Mo’in: Ghazal 23
Delaa ba-chashm-e-haqiqat jamaal-e-dust be-bin Ze mazhar-e-hama ashyaa’ zohur-e-ust be-bin O my heart, look at the beauty of the Friend with eyes seeing reality! Observe His presence manifested in everything! Delaa to hosn-e-khodaa dida ghalat na koni Ke dar jamaal-e-botaan jelwagar hama ust be-bin O my heart, you’ve not erred when seeing the beauty of God: Observe the splendour of ‘all is He’ in the beauty of each beloved! Maraa ze didan-e-saaqist masti ay hoshyaar Na mastiyam ze sharaab-e-khom o sabust be-bin O sober one, seeing the Saqi has caused my intoxication. Observe this pitcher! I am not drunk because of wine from this jar. Ba-gush zaaher o baaten hadis-e-‘eshq sheno Ba chasm surat o ma’ni jamaal-e-dust be-bin Listen to the…
Combs
There has been someone who manufactured combs and who had his workshop in the street wherein you could also find his guild. His name was ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (the slave of the Almighty) and he always could be seen in his jallaba, the long dress with the hood and wide sleeves, and a litham, a veil which covered his somewhat severe facial expressions. The material he used for his combs, he derived from the skull of oxes. He bought them from several butchers. He dried the skulls at a rented place, he removed the horns, opened them along their length and straightened them above a fire. The last act, of course, had to be done in a very careful way, as…
The heavenly witness
Shaykh Awhaduddin Kermani says: ‘Aan shaahed-e-ma’nawi ke jaan-am tan-e-ust’, which means ‘my soul is the body of the heavenly witness’. He adds that the illuminated appearance of the heavenly witness is a co-respondent to his soul. The figure of the heavenly witness can become visible when your lower self gets purified by means of the training along the Sufi path. Spiritual development implies the transformation of the headstrong soul into the pacified soul. According to shaykh Nuruddin Esfarayini in his Kaashef al-Asraar this heavenly witness can already appear to you when you have not yet attained the level of purification of the pacified soul. The darkness available in your soul can have its effect on the heavenly witness, who may…
The works of shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi [part 11]
The doctrine of the Perfect Human Being (al–insan al–kamil), in its technical Sufi metaphysical sense, has roots in Sufi thought prior to shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi, e.g. in the earlier concept of ‘the Universal Servant’ (‘abd al-kullī) as formulated by Ibn Barrajan (d. 1141): A human being is identified as the Particular Servant (ʿabd al–juzʾi) in relation to the universal servant (ʿabd al–kulli). All things unfold as a consequence of the reality of the Universal Servant. Thus al-ʿabd al-kullī was created in the best of forms and the noblest of measurings (taqdir); the form of God’s form (ṣurat al–ḥaqq). Man, on the other hand, was created upon the form of the form of God. That is, man was created upon the…
Diwaan-e-Mo’in: Ghazal 27
This is a complete ghazal attributed to Khwâja Mo’înoddîn Cheshtî: Az pas-e-parda jamâlî mî-nomâyad kîst ân Ân-ke yak yak parda az rokh mî-koshâyad kîst Who is He Who shows His beauty from behind the curtain? Who is He Who gradually removes the veils before His face? Tâ ba-kaî chûn ahwalân bînî lebâs-e-mokhtalef Ân-ke har dam dar lebâsi mî-nomâyad kîst ân How long will you, like a squint eyed person, see creation dressed only in different, unrelated forms? Who is He Who appears all the time dressed in these outward forms? Jâm-e-maî bar kaf nehâda ‘aks-e-khûd dîda dar ân Har zamân dar bâda-ye-mastî mî-fezâyad kîst ân You see yourself reflected in the glass of wine you hold in your hand, But…
The tale of the three questions
A certain Sultan owned everything a man could wish for and still he did not know the purpose of life. The answer to three questions made his life difficult: 1. What should I do? 2. With which people should I do the things God asks me to do? 3. When should I do it? The Sultan asked the advice of all kinds of wise people, and then he was told that there was a Chishti dervish, who lived far away, and who might give him a satisfactory answer. The Sultan immediately left and after a journey of several weeks he met the dervish. The dervish was cultivating his own land. He was a simple man, but no simpleton, as he…
The inner school of the Sufis
A Chishti shaykh once pointed out to me how it can be observed that the inner school takes place. The dervishes then sit in the shape of a crescent opening up to the light of the ‘star’, their shaykh. And indeed afterwards it was easy to recognise. The subject that is discussed cannot always be judged at face value. I remember that once in my presence the shaykh discussed several things, but all of them dealing with worldly matters. I was feeling rather disappointed having made a long travel to attend. At that very moment the shaykh brought up a new subject, also having to do with outward things, but at the same time I did not only realise that…
The Letter R
Shaykh Fariduddin ‘Attar explains that the letter A [Alif] manifests itself in the other letters: Alif was the first one in origin,It then brought forward a number of connections:When it became crooked it was counted as the dāl.When it put another bend upon itself,It then became rā, O ignorant one!When the alif is bent like a reed,Its both ends then became crooked as the bā.When the alif became a horseshoe,It then became a nūn. Let’s continue with the letter rā. The teaching of shaykh al-Buni will be followed by what James Cowan, shortly before his death wrote about the letter r in the Western alphabet. Shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi connects this letter with the House of Joseph. Sh. al-Buni writes this about the…