Are you already singing the Autumn blues? How about melancholy? Melancholy is – according to the Swedish Karin Johannison – the classical example of psychic suffering. Aristotle was already wondering why all prominent people were melancholics. Johannison has studied the history of melancholy and has shown its shapes in different cultures. She has also studied related concepts like depression. Here is a list she has produced connected to acedia (in my own translation): Indifference (tepiditas) Weakness (mollities) Drowsiness (somnolentia) Idleness (otiositas) Slowness (dilatio) Tardiness (tarditas) Negligence (negligentia) Lack of perseverance (inconsummatio) Feebleness (remissio) Being uncurbed (dissolutio) Being untended (incuria) Listlessness (ignavia) Lack of dedication (indevotio) Despondency (tristitia) Despair (desperatio) Fatigue (taedium vitae). The Kashf-ul-Asrar (Unveiling of Mysteries) is a book…

Nekah-ye-ma’nawi oftaad dar din Jehaan raa nafs-e-kolli daad kaabin A mystical marriage was celebrated in religion. The Universal Soul gave the earth as a dowry. I have visited Lahore in Pakistan a number of times. During one of these visits I went to Shaikh Muhammad Ashraf, one of the local publishers to buy some books. I noticed another customer whose pile of books was as large as mine and we started to talk. During a meal together I found out that he belonged to a Pakistani Sufi order. I told him that I had bought The Secret Rose Garden of shaykh Mahmud Shabistari. The above quote is from this book which has become one of my favourite Sufi books. As…

A lighthouse is an inspiring symbol. It points to the bestowal of light. It offers guidance and safety to the seafarer. Yusuf ibn ash-Shaykh has been fascinated by the lighthouse of Alexandria. According to some legends the lighthouse was more than 650 meters high; that its marble cladding was so bright that a tailor could thread a needle by its light at midnight; that its beacon could be seen as far as Istanbul; or that it cost 23 tons of silver to build – almost twice the cost of the Parthenon in Athens. Yusuf ibn ash-Shaykh’s Kitab Alif Ba (= the Book of the letter A and B) is more factual. Because of his description the lighthouse of the city…

We all know the expression dark night of the soul. There is an experience at the level of the heart. With heart I mean the spiritual faculty and not the physical heart. The dark night of the heart implies an experience of contraction (qabd). We have already discussed the subject in some detail by means of the teachings of a Suhrawardi shaykh. Shaykh ‘Umar as-Suhrawardi has dedicated chapter 61 of his ‘Awârif al-Ma’ârif to the description of inward states of the Sufi path. To them (the states) belong contraction (qabd) and expansion (bast), two noble spiritual states. God spoke (Qur’an 2:245): And Allah gives contraction and expansion. As you can read contraction is a gift. A gift of God is…

Jazba-ye-nur-e-jamaalash mikashad suye khudam Gu’yaa u sham’ o man parwaana am ay ‘aasheqaan The attraction of the light of His Beauty draws me towards itself, As if He is the candle and I am the moth, O lovers! ‘Jazba’ in this ghazal from the Diwaan-e-Mo’in means ‘attraction’. It is the attraction by the divine, because of which someone can be lifted to the top of the mountain, without any effort of his/her own. The noun ‘majzub’ is derived from the verb yazaba, meaning ‘to be attracted to’ and a majzub is therefore attracted to God. In order to be able to guide others someone who has experienced this divine attraction needs to travel once again to the top of the…

The Chishti pir we’ve met in Ajmer at times presented a khirqa to his murids. The khirqa could take the shape of a mantle, a cap, a handkerchief, etc. This often took place when he was alone with his disciple in order not to evoke the jealousy of other disciples who were not ready to receive a khirqa. The bestowing may take place in a formal (e.g. by means of a certain rite, going together with an official document) or in an informal way (e.g. by means of giving a cap as a last minute farewell-present at an airport). When this very Chishti pir was in Holland in August 1983 he delived a speech we have recorded. Part of it…

The Sufis are lovers of light. That is why some flashes of light will be shown in the parts below. Flash 1 In 1183 a young man, a ragged dervish, entered Aleppo. There his learning and his magical powers drew the attention of all. The prince grew to love him and became his disciple. The other learned men, jealous of his ascendancy, complained of him to the king, the great Saladin. The king feared that his son would be led into heresy, and he knew that heresy bred sedition. Twice he ordered his son to kill the dervish. Heartbroken the prince at last complied. The dervish’s disciples fled, and their names were forgotten. In Aleppo people remembered him, remembered the…

Poets write inspired poetry, but from where do they receive this inspiration? And how to become the recipient of inspiration? A disciple of the Iranian poet Sa’ib once composed the following absurd verse: Seek for the bottleless wine from the wineless bottle! Sa’ib immediately responded with the following: Haqq râ zi dil khâlî az andîsha talab kon Seek for the Truth in the heart, which is empty of thought. Hâfiz is considered to be one of the greatest among the Sufi poets. A Chishtî pîr made it clear that this famous poet was not always considered to be a good poet: “It so happened one day that Hâfiz was ridiculed to such an extent that he could not bear it….

Shaykh ‘Umar as-Suhrawardi has dedicated chapter 61 of his ‘Awârif al-Ma’ârif to the description of inward states of the Sufi path. Two of these states are now presented. To them (the states) belong contraction (qabd) and expansion (bast), two noble spiritual states. God spoke (Qur’an 2:245): And Allah gives contraction and expansion. The shaykhs have talked about both of these states and have given indications about their characteristics. Their reality has however not been unveiled to me, because they only gave indications. An indication can only be satisfactory to an initiate. I however, wish to deal with both of them in some detail. This is something a seeker may be on the outlook for. A seeker may like to receive…

You will know the saying attributed to the Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) that, he who knows his self, knows his Lord. You can of course also read this “he” as “she” because self-reflection is useful to all. It requires some practice, because we have the inclination to cover our own acts and thoughts and feelings with a subjective veil and then we do not really look at such things. That is also why it is useful to have a spiritual guide who serves as a mirror to us. An intelligent enemy is also helpful. Hazrat Bulleh Shah has said: You read to become all-knowing, But you never read your self. I’ve today read an article dealing with self-reflection. I’m subscribed to…