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1 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

MON DA Y , A PR I L 0 6 , 2 0 09

Sufi Fable on the Cities of the Soul

.. a Sufi fable in which a mysterious city becomes a metaphor for the

layers of the human soul and for the created world, simultaneously.

... a Wayfarer journeys inward to the castle at the Center and

encounters the Principles, Virtues, and Vices clothed as administrators

and members of the population. After passing through the outer

domains of the nafs, Ammara, the Imperious City of Freedom and

Pleasure, and Lawwama, the City of Self Reproach, he at last reaches

Mulhima, the four districts of the inner City of Love and Inspiration.

Here a guide appears who will lead him on to Self-Annihilation: "Be

nought, be nought, be nought, so that you will be forever." Like one of

the birds who traveled with the Hoopoe toward God in The Conference

of the Birds, he reaches faqr, the total emptiness required for the

soul's Return. (credit)

As I was wandering in this temporal

world, Allah led me to a straight path.

Walking on it in a state between sleep

and awakening, as if in a dream, I

reached a city which was enveloped in

darkness. It was so vast, I could neither

see nor conceive of its limits. This city

contained everything which was created.

There were people from all nations and

races. So crowded were the streets that

one could hardly walk, so noisy was it

that one could hardly hear oneself or

others. All the ugly actions of all the creatures, all the sins known and

unknown to me, surrounded me. In awe and amazement I watched the

strange scene.

Far in the distance, in the apparent center of this city, there was yet

another city, with high walls, huge in size. What I observed all around

me led me to think that never since the beginning of time, had a ray of

light from the sun of truth fallen upon this city. Not only were the sky

and the roads and houses of this city in total darkness, but its citizens,

who were like bats, had minds and hearts as dark as night. Their nature

and their behavior were like those of wild dogs growling and fighting

with each other for a mouthful of food, obsessed by lust and anger,

they killed and tore each other apart. Their only pleasure was in

drinking and in shameless sex, without discrimination of male and

female, wives and husbands or others. Lying, cheating, gossiping,

slander, stealing was their custom, with total absence of concern for

others, conscience or fear of Allah. Many among them called themselves

Muslims. In fact, some were considered by them to be wise men -

shaykhs, teachers, men of knowledge, and preachers.

About Me

Name:

MysticSaint

Location:

Charlottesville,

Virginia, Bangladesh

Knowing me is knowing nothingness -

Knowing The Truth is Knowing the

Real. afterall we are all dispensable

... "Call to the way of your Lord with

wisdom and beautiful exhortation,

and reason with them in the gracious

way" (Quran 16:125) ... "O my Lord!

bestow wisdom on me, and join me

with the righteous" (Quran, 26:83) ...

"O my Lord, Sustainer of all that lives,

Your real face is covered by Your

dazzling effulgence. Kindly remove

that covering and exhibit Yourself to

Your pure devotee" (Isha Upanishad)

... "When you realize how perfect

everything is you will tilt your head

back and laugh at the sky" (Buddha)

... "Satis Est, Domine, Satis Est" / 'It

is Enough, O Lord, It is Enough' (St.

Francis Xavier) || Tracing the

evolution of Spirituality | Appreciation

for all faiths | Mysticism and Integral

Comparative Spirituality || Apologia:

'Mysticsaint' is just a coincidental

virtual identity / pen name. this one

is no saint, rather a sinning servant

who longs for God's Infinite Merciful

Forgiveness ... "And I do not make

myself free of blame, for the human

soul is inclined to ignorance, except

what my Lord has mercy on. Surely

my Lord is Forgiving, Merciful" (Quran,

12:53).

View my complete profile

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2 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

Some among them who became aware of Allah’s commandments, of

that which is right and lawful in the eyes of Allah and men, and of that

which Allah forbids, tried to act upon these and found satisfaction in it

and could no longer associate with the people of the city. Neither could

the people of the city tolerate them. I heard they took refuge in the

walled city I had seen in the center of this realm.

I stayed in this outer city for a while. At length I found someone who

could hear me and understand what I said. I asked him the name of the

place. He told me that it was Ammara, the imperious city, the city of

freedom where everyone did what he pleased. I inquired about their

state. He said that it was the city of joy, which derived from

carelessness and heedlessness. In the beautiful darkness that

surrounded it, each one thought that he was the only one. I asked him

the name of their ruler. He informed me that he was called ‘Aql

al-Ma’ash, His Highness Cleverness, and that he was an astrologer, a

sorcerer, an engineer who engineered things, a doctor who gave life to

the ones who otherwise would die, an intelligent learned king who had

no equal in this world. His advisers and ministers were called Logic, his

judges depended on the ancient Law of Common Sense, his stewards

were called Imagination and Daydreaming. He said that all the citizens

were totally loyal to their ruler, not only respecting and appreciating

him and his government but loving him, for they all felt an affinity to

him in their nature, in their customs, in their behavior.

I, possessing the same intelligence, and with it knowing that indeed the

king of this city was the perfect master of all the sciences of this world,

wished to learn these sciences in order to be rich and famous. I stayed

for a while in the king’s service and learned from him many clever

things. I learned commerce, politics, military sciences, manufacturing

arms, the law of man, and arts to glorify man. I became world-

renowned. As men pointed me out with their fingers and talked about

me, my ego rejoiced. Since all the parts of my being were totally under

the influence of my worldly intelligence, they all found energy in the

rejoicing of my ego and rushed to spend that energy in worldly delights

and the pleasures of the flesh, without any consideration of whether all

this hurt others, or even myself.

Something inside of me at times saw that all this was wrong, but I had

no strength nor ability to prevent it. That part of me which saw was

pained, and wished to get out of the darkness of this city. One such

day, when the pain was most acute, I went to my master the king, His

Highness Cleverness, and daringly asked, “How is it that the men of

knowledge of your realm never act upon their knowledge and fear Allah?

How is it that none in this city fear the punishment of Allah, while they

fear your punishment? How is it that there is no light here, nor outside,

nor in your people’s hearts? How is that your subjects appear as human

beings, yet their nature is like that of wild animals and worse still?”

He answered, “I – the one who can

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3 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

figure out how to derive personal

benefit from this world, even if

my benefit is their loss – am their

ideal. I have an agent in each of

them. They are my servants and

the servants of my agents in

them, but I also have a master

who guides me, and that is the

Devil. No one here is able to

change his way, and all are

content and think of themselves as better than others. None will to

change, and therefore they will not change.” When I heard that, I

wished to leave that city, and intended to escape. But knowing the

king’s strength and control over everything, I asked his permission to

leave. “O my absolute ruler,” I said, “You have done so much for this

humble servant of yours and have given me all I have. What a joyful life

I have led under your rule! You clothed me with rich furs, gave me

companions for fun and games. Neither drunkenness nor gambling have

you forbidden. I have tasted all the pleasures, and I feel I have had my

share. Did you know that I came to this city as a traveler? Permit me

now to go to that big castle that I see in the middle of your city.”

The king answered me, saying, “I rule over that castle also. That

district is called Lawwama, Self-Reproach, but its people are not the

same as we are here. In this imperious city of ours, our idol is the Devil.

Neither he nor I blame anyone for what they do. Therefore, none regret

what they have done for we live in imagination. In the city of

Self-Reproach, imagination does not have total power. They also do

what is called sin – they commit adultery, they satisfy their lust with

men and women alike, they drink and gamble, steal and murder, gossip

and slander as we do – but often they see what they have done, and,

regret and repent.”

As soon as I finished talking with my master, Cleverness, I rushed to the

gates of the City of Self-Reproach. Over the gates was written at ta’ibu

min adh dhanbi ka-man la adhnaba, “The one who has repented is like

the one who has never committed a sin.” I gave the password by

repenting for my sins, and entered the city.

I saw that this city was considerably less crowded than the City of

Darkness from which I had come. I would say that its population was

half of the city I had left.

After I had stayed there for a while, I

found out that there was a man of

knowledge who knew the Holy Qur’an

and expounded upon it. I went to him

and saluted him. He returned my

salutation and wished Allah’s peace

and blessings upon me. Although I had

been told by the ruler of the City of

Enlightenment from the Final

Testament

Surely, the truthful men and women

who give in charity, loan to God a

Beautiful Loan; it will be increased

manifold to their credit, and they will

have a liberal reward.

- The Qur'an 57:18

The Final Testament, Quran

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4 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

Darkness that he ruled here also, I

checked with my teacher, asking him

the same of their ruler. He confirmed

that they were under the jurisdiction of His Highness Cleverness, but

that they had their own administrators, whose name were Arrogance,

Hypocrisy, Bigotry and Fanaticism.

Among the population were many men of knowledge, many men who

appeared to be virtuous, devout, pious and righteous. I made friend

with these men and found them to be afflicted with arrogance,

egotism, envy, ambition, bigotry, and in their friendship, insincerity.

They were hostile to each other setting traps for each other. What I can

say for the best of them is that they prayed and tried to follow Allah’s

commandments because they feared Allah’s punishment and Hell, and

hoped for an eternal pleasurable life in Paradise.

I asked one of them about the City of

Darkness outside the walls, and

complained about the people there. He

agreed with my complaints, and said that

the population of that city consisted of

corrupt, seditious, murderous nonbelievers.

They had no faith, nor did they ever pray.

He said they were totally unconscious and

heedless. But from time to time, by some

mysterious guidance, they were led to the

City of Self-Reproach. Then they realize

what they had done and regretted,

repented, and asked for forgiveness. In their city, he said, they did not

know what they were doing, so it never occurred to them to regret or to

ask for forgiveness. Therefore, they did not help each other, and no one

interceded for them.

When I had first come to the City of Self-Reproach, I had seen that in its

center there was yet another castle. I asked the learned inhabitant

about it. He said that it was called Mulhima, the City of Love and

Inspiration. I asked about its ruler, and was told that he was called ‘Aql

al Ma’ad, His Highness Wisdom, Knower of Allah. This king, said my

informant, had a prime minister whose name was Love.

“If ever any one of us enters the City of Love and Inspiration,” he went

on, “we don’t accept him back to our city. For anyone who goes there

becomes like the rest of the city’s population – totally attached to that

prime minister. He falls in love with him, and is ready to give up

anything – all that he has, his possessions, his family and children even

his life – for the sake of that prime minister called Love. Our sultan, His

Highness Cleverness, finds this attributes absolutely unacceptable. He

fears the influence of those who have this quality, for both their loyalty

and actions seem to be illogical and are not understandable by common

sense.

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5 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

“We hear that the people of that city call upon Allah chanting and

singing, even with the accompaniment of reed flute and tambourines

and drums, and that doing so they lose their senses and go into ecstasy.

Our religious leaders and theologians find this unacceptable according to

our orthodox rules. Therefore, none of them even dreams of setting foot

in the City of Love and Inspiration.”

When I heard that, I felt a terrible distaste for the City of

Self-Reproach, and ran to the gates of the blessed City of Love and

Inspiration. I read over the door bab ul-jannati maktub: la ilaha illa

Llah. I recited aloud the sacred phrase: la ilaha illa Llah – ‘There is no

god but Allah” – prostrated myself, and offered my sincere

thankfulness. At this, the gates opened and I entered.

Soon I found a dervish lodge, where I saw the high and the lowly, the

rich and the poor together, as if one single being. I saw them loving and

respecting each other, serving each other with regard, reverence, and

deference, in a continuous state of pure joy. They were talking, singing

– their songs and their talk captivating, beautiful, always about Allah

and the Hereafter, spiritual; removed from all anxiety and pain, as if

living in Paradise. I did not hear or see anything that resembled dispute

or quarrel, anything harmful or damaging. There was no intrigue or

malice, envy or gossip. I felt immediately a peace, comfort, and joy

among them.

I saw a beautiful old man, consciousness and wisdom shining through

him. I was attracted to him and went over and addressed him: “O my

dearest, I am a poor traveler and a sick one at that, seeking a remedy

for my sickness of darkness and consciousness. Is there a doctor in this

City of Love and Inspiration to cure me?”

He stayed silent for a while. I asked his name. He told me his name was

Hidaya, Guidance. Then he said, “My nickname is Truthfulness. Since

time immemorial not a single untruth passed from these lips. My duty

and my charge are to show the way to the ones who sincerely seek union

with the Beloved. And to you I say, And serve thy Lord until there comes

to thee that which is certain. (Hijr, 99). And remember the name of thy

Lord and devote thyself to Him with complete devotion. (Muzammil, 8).

“You are also a sincere lover: listen to me

with the ear of your heart. There are four

districts in this city of Love and Inspiration

to which you have come. These four

districts are one within the other.

“The outer one is called Muqallid, the

district of the imitators. The skillful

doctor you seek to cure your ills is not

within that district. Neither is the

pharmacy that has medicine for the

sickness of heedlessness, darkness of the

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6 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

heart, and hidden polytheism. Although you will find many who

advertise themselves as doctors of the heart – appearing as such,

dressing in robes, and wearing great turbans; declaring themselves to

be wise men while trying to hide their ignorance, their depravity, their

lack of character; unable to prove what they claim to be; seeking fame

and ambitious for the world – they themselves are sick with the sickness

of themselves. They assign partners to Allah, and are masters of only of

imitation.

“They hide their intrigue, duplicity, and malice well. They are

intelligent, perceptive, jolly and humorous, bon vivant. Although their

tongues appear to be pronouncing the prayers and the name of Allah

and you find them often in the circles of dervishes, their minds, which

guide them, do not lead them to see the influence and benefit of their

prayers. Therefore you will not find with them the balm to soothe the

pains of unconsciousness and forgetfulness. “You may as well leave this

district of imitators and take refuge in the district of Mujahid, the

district of warriors.”

I followed his advice and went on to the district of the warriors. The

people I met there were weak and thin; gentle, thoughtful, thankful;

devoted to praying, obeying, fasting, contemplating, and meditating.

Their strength lay in living in accordance with that which they knew. I

became close to them, and saw that they had left all the failures of

character produced by egoism and egotism and the shadow of

unconsciousness. They had formed a talent for being servants, pleased

with their Lord and content with their state. I stayed in the district of

the gentle warriors for many years. I acted as they acted and lived as

they lived, seeing how I acted and how I lived, not letting a moment

pass in heedlessness. I learned and showed patience and forbearance,

and learned to be content and satisfied with my lot, and I was content

and satisfied. I fought hard, day and night, with my ego but still I was

left with the polytheism of many “me’s” and “I’s” fighting amongst

themselves, even though they faced one Allah. This, my sickness of shirk

khafi – setting up many “I’s” as partners to Allah – cast heavy shadows

over my heart, hid the truth, and kept me in heedlessness.

I asked the doctors of the district, I begged them. I told them of my

sickness, the hidden polytheism, the awful heedlessness, the darkness

of the heart, and asked for help. They told me, “Even in this place of

those who battle their egos there is no cure for your ills, for

He is with you wherever you are.” (Hadid, 4)

Then they advised me to travel in the direction of the castle of

Mutma’ina, the City of Peace and Tranquility. Near that city lay a

district called Munajat wa Muraqaba – supplication and meditation.

Perchance there, they said, there would be a doctor to cure me.

When I came to the district of meditation I saw its inhabitants, quiet

and peaceful, remembering Allah inwardly, reciting His Beautiful

Names. To each and every one of them a son of the heart had been

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7 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

born. They stood, heads bowed in the presence of their Lord, silent,

melancholic, sad, in deep humility and veneration. Although their

exteriors seemed annihilated, ruinous, their hearts shone and flourished.

Their ways were gentle and courteous.

They barely spoke with each other for fear

of distracting each other’s attention from

the One in Whose presence they felt

themselves to be, preventing each other

from deep meditation. Light as feathers

they were, yet they feared most to be a

burden and a load on others.

I spent many years in the district of

meditation and contemplation. I did as

they did, and indeed I thought I was finally

cured of heedlessness, polytheism, and unconsciousness. But I was not

cured of the hidden dualism of “I” and “He” that still cast heavy

shadows upon my heart.

My tears ran in torrents. Wretched and in total awe I fell into a strange

state where an ocean of sadness surrounded me. I wished to drown in

that sea. I found no other solution but to die. But I could not do

anything, I had no will, not even to die.

As I stood there helpless, sad, in ecstasy, there appeared the beautiful

teacher whom I had first met in these strange lands, the one who was

called Hidaya, the Guide. He looked upon me with compassionate eyes.

“O poor slave of himself, in exile in this foreign land! O wanderer away

from home! O poor wretched one, you cannot find your cure in this state

of spirit. Leave this place. Go to that district yonder, just next to the

gate of the castle of Mutma’ina. The name of that quarter is Fana – self

annihilation. There you will find doctors who have annihilated their

selves, who have no being, who know the secret of fa-afnu thumma afnu

thumma afnu fa-abku thumma abku thumma abku – “Be nought, be

nought, be nought, so that you will be, so that you will be, so that you

will be forever.”

Without delay, I went to the district of annihilation. I saw its population

mute, speechless, as if dead, with no strength in them to utter a word.

They had left the hope of any benefit from talk and were ready to give

up their souls to the angel of death. They were totally unconcerned

whether I was there or not.

I saw no action among them except their performing their prayers five

times a day. They had lost the concept of separation between this

world and the Hereafter, forgotten it. Pain and joy were equal to them.

They had no taste for either material or spiritual things. No thought

preoccupied them. They did not remember anything, nor did they look

forward to anything. All need and desire was strange to them. They had

even stopped asking Allah for what they wanted. I stayed with them for

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8 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

many years. I did what they did. I did not appear other than they, but I

did not know their inner state, so I could not do what they did inwardly.

Even in that place, among them, I felt great pain. Yet when I wished to

describe the symptoms of my ill, I couldn’t find a body nor any

existence, so as to say “This is my body”, or “This is me.” Then I knew

that which was “me,” turned into the owner of me. Then I knew that to

say “That being is mine” is a lie, and to lie is a sin for everyone. Then I

knew that to ask the real owner for what was “mine” was the hidden

polytheism of which I had wished to rid myself. What, then, was to be

done?

In awe, I saw that I was free of all my wishes, I cried and cried. In my

despair, if I were to call upon Him and say, “O Lord,” then there would

be two – I and He, me and the One from Whom I seek help, the will and

the Willed, the desire and the Desired, the lover and the Beloved, oh so

many. I knew not the remedy.

The woeful wailing attracted the pity of the angel of inspiration whom

His Lord had charged to teach the lovers. With the permission of his

Lord, he read to me from the book of divine inspiration: “First,

annihilate your actions.”

He gave that to me as gift. As I stretched my hand to receive it, I saw

that there was no hand. It was a composition of water and earth and

ether and fire. I had no hand to take with. I had no power to act.

There is only One Who has power, the All-Powerful. Whatever action

occurs through me, it belongs to the Absolute Actor. All power, all acts,

I referred to Him, and I left all that had happened to me and through

me in this world. I knew, as I had been taught by the angel of

inspiration, what the annihilation of one’s action is. And all praise is due

to Allah.

The proof of the necessity of disowning one’s

actions in the path to truth is in the verse in

the Holy Qur’an: Qul kullun min ‘indilla-hi,

Say, all (action) is from Allah. (An-Nisaa, 78) I

am unlettered and have not been taught, yet

Allah Most High in His manifestation of the

Ultimate Truth has graced me with the ability

and power to teach. As what is related here

are occurrences that happened to me,

experiences that brought a state of mind and

spirit, and as it is said, al halu la yu’rafu

bil-qal – “the states cannot be told by words”

– and it is not possible to express such states so that others can

appreciate or even imagine them.

Then I wished, with the permission of Allah and with the help of the

angel of inspiration, to leave my attributes – those qualities which

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9 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

makes one’s personality. When I looked, what I saw was not mine.

Neither was the content mine. Totally helpless, I was cut off from all

the attributes, visible and invisible, that distinguished me, from all

qualities exterior and interior that had made me “me”.

With all my being and feeling and spirit, I supposed myself a pure

essence. Then I sensed that even this was duality. What do I have to do,

what relation do I have, with something that does not belong to me? I

was helpless again.

Then even my essence was taken away from me. Still I wished and

longed for Him. I felt the meaning of wa talibu ‘ayni ‘abdi - The one

who longs for Me is My true servant.

Woe to this me in me, I know not what to do. Helpless, I hope for union.

Wa Llahu bi kulli shay’in muhit, Allah Who encompass all things,

huwal-awwalu wal-akhiru waz-zahiru wal-batinu wa huwa bi kulli

shay’in ‘alim, Who is before the before, and after the after, and all

that is evident and all that is hidden, and He is the knower of all things

- became manifest in the secret of my heart.

Even then I wished that the secret of mutu qabla an tamutu, “to die

before dying” be actualized in me. O woe, again this hidden duality of I

and the One I long for. This, too, cannot be the truth.

What ill is this that give pangs of pain when I move, when I wish, when I

long, when I ask for help, when I pray and beg? What strange state have

I fallen into, difficult to resolve? Helpless, I gave all these to their

Owner and waited at the gate of acquiescence in agony of death,

senseless, without thought or feeling, as if dead, expecting death to

take me at every breath. I stayed in that state I know not how long.

Following the advice istafid qalbaka - “Ask your heart,” I told my heart

to instruct me. It said, “As long as there is a trace of you in you, you

cannot hear your Lord’s call: Irji’ – ‘Come to Me!’”

If a cat fell into a salt pit and drowned, and in time its body became

salt, if a single hair were left, could that salt be used as food? How

often and how long do theologians debate and discuss such matters!

Some say that in spite of the single hair the salt is clean, that the

corpse of the cat is now the salt; and some say that the single hair is as

much as the cat as was the whole body. Thus the salt is dirty and

unlawful to eat.

I felt the truth of it and wished that trace of me in me would die. I

immersed that trace in divine beatitude. An ecstasy came, from me, to

me, over which that was mine, covering it all, the taste of which is

impossible to describe. Without ear, without words, without letters I

heard the invitation: Irji’- “Come!”

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10 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

Post to Del.icio.us | posted by MysticSaint @ 4:17 AM

I tried to think, “What is this state?” My thought could not think it. I

was made to know that thought cannot think about the sacred secret.

Even that knowledge was taken away from me as fast as it came to me.

O seeker, what has been said here is not intended to show that I know.

Therefore it will only be made known to you after I am gone from

among you. It is for the benefit of the seekers of truth, for the lovers

who long for the Beloved, so that it may help them to know

themselves, so that they may find in which of the cities I traveled

through they themselves are, and which of its citizens they befriend.

When and if in sincerity they know their place, they will act accordingly,

and know the direction of the gate of Allah’s pleasure, and be thankful.

Perchance they will remember this faqir, the writer of these words,

with a little prayer.

. Allah’s peace and blessings be upon Shaykh Muhammad Sadiq

Naqshabandi Erzinjani, the original writer of these words, and the

ones who read them. Al-Fatihah.

Allah’s peace and blessings to the faqir, who shared this with us and

may her striving to Perfected Light come true. Amen.

. photo credit. Designldg and Nkimadams via flickr

Labels: creative, guestblog, inspiration, sufi, sufi wisdom, sufism

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S A T U R DA Y , A P R I L 0 4 , 2 009

Better a cucumber breakfast than a donkey

prayer!

1.

Once a merchant, upon entering the mosque for the Subh prayer

(prescribed morning prayer), saw a person sitting on the threshold of

the mosque eating cucumbers.

It was the weekly market day and as he

performed his prayer, the merchant

considered how much he would offer for a

donkey that he wished to buy. When he came

out of the mosque he saw the same person

still sitting on the threshold eating

cucumbers.

The merchant thought to himself, "He would

do better if, instead of eating cucumbers, he

would perform the Morning prayer,'

whereupon the Shaykh with the gift of divine

intuition piercing the heart and mind of the merchant cried out: 'Better

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11 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

Post to Del.icio.us | posted by MysticSaint @ 7:14 PM

a cucumber breakfast than a donkey prayer!'

The merchant wasn't aware of the saying of Mustafa, upon him be holy

benediction, where he said, "Beaware of the sagacity of the faithful

because he sees through the Light of faith", as is the case and proof

here as the Shaykh by holy perception read the mind of the merchant.

The person in the true tale is the great malamati saint of Maghrib Sidi

Ali Sanhaji Dawar (d. 1535), may God sanctify his station.

2.

Woe to those who pray,

but void of mindfulness in their prayers.

Who do actions only to be seen,

yet refuse acts of small kindness.

- The Quran, Chapter of Small Kindness

3.

I see only bricks and a house of stone;

What do they profit me?

'Tis Thou that I want.

- Sufi woman saint, Rabia of Bashra, as she told of her journey to

Mecca. May God raise us to her saintly station's proximity.

Labels: inspiration, malamat, saints, story, sufi, sufism

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FR I DA Y , A P R I L 0 3 , 2 00 9

Ishraqiya | Suhrawardi's Philosophy of Illumination

Omphaloskepsis Library

Seven Ray Institute

Spiritual Paths

Living Islam

Jewish Meditations

Mystic Lens @ Flickr

Get Religion

Sufi Events


12 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

1.

Allahu Nurus Samawati wal Ard.

... Nurun ala Nur.

God is The Light of all planes of existence:

both terrestrial and celestial,

... heaven and earth,

....... body and soul.

The luminous candle of His Holy Personal Name, 'Allah' suspends in the

globe of the heart of a gnostic by the tree of his material body.

... Light upon Light,

............. Light of Lights.

- Non-linear translation of Quranic verses from Chapter of Light

(an-Noor)

"All forms of being in this corporeal world are images of pure Lights,

which exist in the spiritual world."

- Suhrawardi

Rabbana atmim lana nurana,

waghfir lana:

innaka aala kulli shay-in Qadir.

Our Lord! Perfect our Light for us,

and engulf us with your loving forgiveness:

indeed You have power over all things.

- Prayer from The Final Testament, 66:8

2.

Ishraqiyyun: illuminationism

Derived from “illumination,” a conventional translation of the Arabic

term ishraq (literally meaning radiance, shining of the rising sun),

“illuminationism” refers to the doctrine of the Ishraqiyyun, a school of

philosophical and mystical thought of various Graeco-Oriental roots

whose principles were propounded as an ancient “science of lights”

(‘ilm al-anwar) by Shihab al-Din Yahya al-Suhrawardi in his Kitab hikmat

al-ishraq. Ishraq is commonly used to refer to the internal illumination

or acquisition of knowledge experienced is the philosophy based upon

unveiling (kaslif).

Shihab al-Din Yahya Suhrawardi (1155 - 1191), also known as Shaikh

al-ishraq or the Master of Illumination, was a the twelfth century

Persian mystic, philosopher, Sufi and the founder of the School of

Illumination, one of the most important schools in Islamic philosophy.

Based on visionary experience and the recognition of a separate world of

images, he envisioned a dynamic world of multiple irradiations

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13 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

originating with the distant “light of lights” (Nur al-Anwar, the ishraqi

equivalent of the Avicennian “Necessary of Existence,” that is, God) and

falling in various ways and degrees of intensity on obscure matter. In

technical language, his approach came to be known later as the

doctrine of the primary reality of quiddities (asala al- mahiyya), as

opposed to the primary reality of existence (asalat al-wujud). According

to Suhrawardi, the human soul is a luminous substance, namely, the

“regent light”, knows whatever it does really know through a direct

encounter with the illumined object (muqabalat al-mustanir) rather

than by way of abstraction in terms of Aristotelian species and genera.

The discovery of this type of knowledge, called presential knowledge

(al-‘ilm al-huduri), is regarded as one of Suhrawardi’s lasting

contributions in the history of Islamic thought.

At the heart of Suhrawardi's school of illumination is a particular theory

of knowledge known as "Knowledge by Presence". The elaborate web of

myth and symbolism in Suhrawardi's philosophy articulates his theory of

knowledge, an important subject in the ishraqi school of thought.

Suhrawardi, who claims first to have discovered the truth and then

embarked on a path to find the rational basis of his experiential

wisdom, represents a thinker who tried to reconcile rational discourse

and inner purification. The basic idea is, once the soul is purified, it will

be illuminated by Divine Light.

Suhrawardi held the position that Science of Light (ilm al-Ishraq)

orginated with Hermes and passed on to such figures in the West as

Pythagoras, Empedocles, Plato, Agathadaimon, Asclepius and so on,

until it reached him. In the east the science was transmitted through

ancient Persian priest kings such as Kayumarth, Faridun, Kay Khusraw

and sufis such as Abu Yazid al-Bastami, Abu Hassan al-Kharraqani and

finally Mansur al-Hallaj, who deeply influenced Suhrawardi.

According to Suhrawardi, the nature of light is axiomtic in that all

things are known through it. Light is made up of an infinite succession of

contingent dependent lights and each light is the existential cause of

the light below it. The ultimate light, which is the same as the

Necessary Being (Wajib al-Wujud), is for Suhrawardi the Light of lights

(Nur al-Anwar).

The light that functions as the illuminator of the body and the soul for

Suhrawardi is the incorporeal light which he calls Kharrah. It is the

presence of this light in the human soul that enables man to have the

inner yearning which is necessary for the pursuit of the spiritual path.

Suhrawardi describes the human soul as a tree whose fruit is certainty,

or a niche that, through divine fire, becomes illuminated.

In his writings Suhrawardi sees the encounter of Moses and the burning

busy in this context and uses the story to substantiate his ishraqi claim

that it is only the divine fire that can illuminate the human soul.

and one for whom God has not appointed light, for him there is no light.

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O My Lord, forgive me and forgive any showiness of this site. Let this work be for You and for You only. Shower your

Infinite Rahma (Grace) on us, on this place and make it sacred. My Lord, with Your Light show us the Truth. Surely

You are the Guide,

and You show the

path to whom You

will. Purify our heart,

remove the veils of

ignorance and let the

realization of the Truth make us free.

There is none i can turn to forgive but

You. O Beloved, we can not know You

completely, since You can only know

Your TrueSelf. But grant us the vision

necessary to Love You. All Glory be to

You.


14 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

- The Quran, chapter 24

Although nominally not a Sufi, his expansion and revision of rudimentary

concepts early Sufis had bequeathed to their esoteric posterity played

the crucial role in forming the dominant Sufi mythic cosmological

Weltanschauung. In his visionary cosmography old Hermetic Ptolemaic

cosmos of seven onion-like spheres has dissolved and a vast spiritual

universe was revealed to the later generations of Sufis. Abstract

concepts of “Lahut” and “Nasut”, designating metaphors for divinity

and humanity, have grown into full-fledged worlds, or dimensions of

existence, quite similar to quasi-emanationist “worlds” of Neoplatonism

and Kabbalah.

Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi imagined two more worlds between physical

(Alam-I-Nasut) and Divine (Alam-I-Lahut): imaginal or subtle world,

corresponding to Western medieval “mundus imaginalis”- Alam-I-

Malakut (literally, “world of Angels”) and world of power, Alam-I-

Jabarut, resembling Platonic Nous or “world of archetypal ideas”, the

source of other worlds two rungs “down” in the emanationist ladder.

So, fourfold emanationist universe was conceived in this spectacular

cosmography- to stay with the Sufism for later generations. The fifth

“world” was equated with unknowable God’s essence and named

Alam-I-Hahut (the world of “He-ness”: etymologically, Arabic root word

for God with attributes or Manifest Absolute is Al-Lah or “the Divinity”

(hence Lahut) and Hu (“He”) for Unmanifest Absolute, naked essence of

Godhead nothing can be said about (similar to Christian polarity of Deus

revelatus and Deus absconditus, or Hindu notions of Saguna and Nirguna

Brahman).

3.

About few weeks ago i came across a

wonderful interview that Emmanuel

Vaughan-Lee did with Peter Kingsley,

a prominent mystic of our time, may

God bless him and his work. He has

written extensively on the

pre-Socratic philosophers Parmenides

and Empedocles and the world they

lived in.

In the interview Peter Kingsley talks

about how dramatically he came across a sufi manual that literally fell

from a shelf in a London Bookstore and led to his interest to the study

of his life time. And this sufi school trace back to the same group of

illuminated beings that Suhrawardi borrowed his inspiration from.

[>] Click to Listen and Watch the Complete Interview of Peter Kingsley.

4.

About the Painting on top

This work is licensed under a Creative

Commons Attribution - Noncommercial

- Share Alike 3.0 United States License

/ Sadiq M. Alam // Los Angeles, USA //

Blogging since 2004 // About the

images which might contain copyright,

if you find such case pls contact me

with a removal request // Email:

mysticsaint [at] gmail.com.


15 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

Post to Del.icio.us | posted by MysticSaint @ 5:22 PM

Title: Light upon Light by Sadiq

Media: Water Color and Acrylic on Paper

Dimension: 11 by 8.5 inch, Price: $313

Part of Fundraising sale (read details).

# Further Resources:

. Ishraqi Literature of Suhrawardi

. Suhrawardi on Knowledge and Experience of Light by Hossein Ziai

. Ishraqi Philosophy of Rumi

. Suhrawardi and the School of Illumination By Mehdi Amin Razavi via

Google Book

. Illuminationism by Professor Hermann Landolt

. Biography of Suhrawardi

. Suhrawardi

. Illumitionist Philosophy

. The Presence of Light: Divine Radiance and Religious Experience By

Matthew Kapstein via Google Book

. Introduction of his book Hikmat al-Ishraq: The Illumitionist Philosophy

Surah Nur, selected verses recitation via youtube

. Noor Ayat 35

Labels: esoteric, philosophy, sufism

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T H U R SDA Y , A PR I L 0 2 , 2 0 09

secret of why flowers are painted in tints


16 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

when i play with you, my love

i understand why there is such a play

of colours on clouds, on water,

and why flowers are painted in tints.

when i sing to make you dance

i know why there is music in leaves,

and why waves send their chorus of voices

to the heart of the listening earth.

when you whisper sweet things to me,

i know why there is honey in the cup of the flower,

and why fruits are secretly filled

with sweet juice.

when i kiss your face to make you smile,

i understand what pleasure streams from the sky

in the morning light,

and what delight the summer breeze brings to my body

and i kiss to make you smile.

- Rumi's poetry, version by Deepak Chopra

from A Gift of Love, Volume 2

Sufi mystic poet Jami tells the story of a seeker who went to ask a sage

for guidance on the Sufi way. The sage counseled, "if you have never

trodden the path of love, go away and fall in love; then come back and

see us." The sufis knows the ancient, ancient secret truth that 'the

creation is made of Love'.

Thats the secret of why flowers are painted in tints, and of why there is

honey in cup of flowers. The awesome play of colors in nature are

playful gifts of His Love. Darwinian understanding may offer us a

different view of reality of why flowers are painted in tints where we

are told that its because to attract the bees and the insects to help

pollination, to help evolution. Well, sufis don't need to prove Darwin

wrong because truth is multifaceted, yet people of certainty, the sufis

knows the essential truth behind the 'apparent'. Because in order to

connect everything, God implanted a need in everything that is created

and this connection is connection of love and the symbiotic inter-

penetrating needs are the interplay of love. And innumerable symbiosis


17 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

Post to Del.icio.us | posted by MysticSaint @ 7:20 AM

in nature are the innumerable ayah (signs) of the Open Book (the Open

Quran) for us to read (iqra).

# Related. Configuration of Cosmic Romance

. Travelling the Path of Love: Sayings of Sufi Master

Edited by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee

Labels: love, poem, poetry, rumi

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18 of 18 4/7/2009 8:04 PM

Documents

Inspirations and Creative sufism.pdf