Saturday 31 July 2010
Bahr al Ulum
--
Risaleh ye Sayr wa Suluk: A Treatise on Wayfaring
by - Bahr al Ulum
The original in Persian, entitled Risaleh ye sayr was suluk mansub be Bahr 'Ulum, Allamah Ayatullah al-'Uzma Sayyid Mahdi ibn Sayyid Murtada al‑Tabataba'i al-Najafi, ridwan Allah 'alayh (Tehran: Intisharat-e Hikmat, 1360 H. Sh./1402 H.), has been introduced and annotated by Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tehrani, qudissa sirruh.
Introduction
Part 1: Number Forty
Part 2: An Overview of the Destination
# Introduction
During the days of my studies at the holy centre of religious studies at Qum, this nondescript came across the manuscript of a treatise whose title was Tuhfat al‑muluk fi al‑sayr wa al‑suluk, ascribed to our master, al‑Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al‑ `Ulum. This copy belonged to marhum Hujjat al‑Islam Hajj Shaykh Abbas Tehrani, and as I found it very absorbing I borrowed it from him to make a copy of my own, which I wrote in the year 1366 H. [1947]. This copy contained many errors, to the extent that it did not make any sense in some places. Accordingly I wanted to find an error‑free copy of it and to edit it. When I arrived for studies in Najaf Ashraf I found a copy of it with Hadrat Hujjat al‑Islam Ayatullah Hajj Shaykh Abbas Hatif Quchani, may his blessings be perpetual, and I borrowed it from him. But that copy was also full of errors and was not useful except for some corrections in a few cases. On my return from Najaf Ashraf in the year 1376 [1956), once in a meeting with my honoured teacher Hadrat Allamah Tabatabai, may his shadow endure forever, he said, "I have a fine copy of it which I have written myself." He added, "When I was engaged in studies at Tabriz I came across a manuscript and made a copy from it. When I went to Najaf Ashraf I found a similar copy with our teacher marhum Ayatullah Hajj Mirza Ali Aqa Qadi, may God be pleased with him. That copy was also full of errors and later I found out that he also had copied from the same manuscript from which my copy was made and both of them were from one manuscript. The copy possessed by marhum Qadi was written in an unsavoury hand as if written by a child in his early days at school. Hence one could see many errors in it. But afterwards I found a very good copy of it in a very graceful handwriting and written on an excellent kind of paper marked with lines in the possession of my teacher in mathematics and astronomy, marhum Sayyid Abu al‑Qasim Khunsari. I took it from him for making a copy which was made in the year 1354 H. [1935], and the date of the manuscript from which my copy was made was 90 years older."
I asked him to lend me his manuscript, which he did with utmost generosity which was characteristic of him, and from it I made the present copy Accordingly, this copy is free of errors and reliable. This was an account of the textual background of the accuracy of this manuscript.
As to the authenticity of its ascription to marhum Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al‑`Ulum, may God be pleased with him, this nondescript himself has heard marhum Ayatullah Aqa Mirza Sayyid Abd al‑Hadi Shlrazi, may God be pleased with him, say, “It is highly probable that this treatise, excepting its last parts, belongs to Bahr al‑'Ulum and are in his own hand."
And I have also heard marhum Allamah Ayatullah Shaykh Aqa Buzurg Tehrani say "I also believe this treatise, excepting its last parts, to be by the pen of marhum Bahr al‑`Ulum." However, in his book al‑Dhari `ah, vol. 12, p. 285, he has written:
Risalah fi al‑sayr wa al‑suluk, in Persian, in two thousand lines, is attributed to our master Bahr al‑`Ulum ibn Murtada al‑Tabatabai al‑Burujerdi al‑Najafi (died in 1212/[1797]). But its authenticity is doubtful and a copy of it exists at Bahr al‑`Ulum's house at Najaf... I have seen another manuscript of it, with additions and expanded expressions and phrases, bearing the title "Tuhfat al‑muluk fi al‑sayr wa al‑suluk" ….. The Risalah fi al‑sayr wa al‑suluk, the Arabic translation of this treatise, has been mentioned on page 282.
On page 282 he writes:
Risalah fi al‑sayr wa al‑suluk is Arabic translation of the Persian [treatise] on sayr wa suluk ascribed to our master, Bahr al‑`Ulum. It was translated into Arabic by Shaykh Abu al‑Majd Muhammad Rida al‑Isfahani on the request of Sayyid Husayn ibn Mu`iz al‑Din Muhammad al‑Mahdi al‑Qazwini al‑Hilli, at his home in Najaf at "al‑Barrani” in the course of several nights, after the fifth hour of the night. Abu al‑Majd states that Bahr al‑`Ulum wrote it at Kirmanshah . . . . I say: The ascription of the last half of it to him, may God have merry upon him, is doubtful, because it is according to the taste of the Sufis. Hence if it is established that it is by him that would be true of only the first half of it, as will be mentioned on page 284.
Marhum Allamah Sayyid Muhsin Amin Jabal‑`Amili in Ayan al‑Shi `ah, part 48, p. 170, states, "Bahr al‑`Ulum has written a treatise in Persian concerning the gnosis (ma’rifah)of God, the Exalted. But the author of Tatimmah Amal al‑Amil has categorically denied its ascription to Bahr al‑`Ulum."
Thereafter marhum Amin says, "Among things that are found in that treatise is the necessity of picturing one's teacher (murshid)in the mind while pronouncing the words "iyyaka na `budu wa iyyaka nasta`in." Another relates to the invocation of spiritual assistance from the planet Mercury and its citation of a quatrain (ruba `i) composed on this theme."
However, he has committed an error in this regard, because, firstly, in no place in this treatise is there any mention of the necessity of picturing one's murshid in the mind while reciting the words "iyyaka na budu wa iyyaka nasta`in."
Secondly, the invocation of spiritual assistance from Mercury‑as will be mentioned later on‑does not form a part of Bahr al‑Ulum's treatise but is by the copyist, who mentions it in the course of his own biographical account added at the end of the treatise and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the treatise itself. But the view of our teacher Allamah Tabatabai is as follows: "Some have said that this treatise belongs to Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al‑'Ulum Khurasani. But this is very improbable. Shaykh Ismail Mahallati, who was one of those who claimed to represent the Imam of the Age (ahl‑e da`wat), considered the whole of this treatise to be from marhum Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al‑`Ulum Najafi, excepting the twenty‑second, twenty‑third and twenty‑fourth items which relate to thought control (nafy khawatir), chanting (wird), and contemplation (fikr). The copy possessed by Shaykh Isma'il Mahallati did not contain these three items and his copy was a complete one from which these three items had been excluded." Allamah Tabatabai added, "Some consider it to be translation of a treatise by marhum Sayyid ibn Tawus and they believe that the Arabic original‑which is not presently extant‑bore the title "Risalah fi al‑sayr wa al‑suluk li Ibn Tawus," and I too have seem it in the title of the manuscript that I had borrowed from marhum Aqa Sayyid Abu al‑Qasim Khunsari. However, our great teacher, the sign of God, marhum Hajj Mirza Ali Aqa Qadi, may God be pleased with him, considered this treatise definitely and undoubtedly in its entirety to be by marhum Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al‑`Ulum."
One day this nondescript said to my teacher Allamah Tabatabai, may his shadow be enduring, "Although this nondescript has read many books on ethics, wayfaring and gnosis, I have not found any of them to be so comprehensive, inclusive, firm, well‑founded on the principles and useful as this treatise despite its brevity and conciseness which is such that one can put it in one's pocket and use it while travelling." He was surprised at my words and he said, "I have heard similar words from marhum Qadi, may God be pleased with him. He used to say, A book with its purity and richness of content has not been written on the subject of `irfan." Hadrat Ayatullah Aqa Hajj Shaykh Abbas Quchani, who is the successor (wasi)of marhum Qadi, says, "Marhum Qadi had a great respect for this treatise, but he would repeatedly say, `I do not permit anyone to carry out the awrad and adhkar mentioned in this treatise."' In any case, from the indications cited here it can be inferred that apparently all of this treatise is by Bahr al‑`Ulum and for following reasons.
First, as mentioned above in the citation from al‑Dhari`ah, the erudite and critical scholar, legist, theologian and jurisprudent marhum Shaykh Muhammad Rida Isfahani, author of the book Wiqayat al‑adhhan wa naqd falsafah Darwin, may God's mercy be upon him, considered it to be by Bahr al‑`Ulum and he also specified Kirmanshah as the place where it was written.
Second, marhum Qadi, may God be pleased with him, who was an authority on the subject and a versatile scholar of esoteric and exoteric sciences and a master of ethics and ma`arif (the esoteric sciences), considered it to be by marhum Bahr al‑`Ulum, and the witness of such a scholar and great authority in the realm of ma`arif is not something which can be overlooked.
Third, those who have denied Bahr al‑`Ulum's authorship of its last part have no grounds except their own impression of unlikelihood and it is evident that one cannot exclude any part from a book merely for its being unlikely, whereas it is possible that the Sayyid had envisioned a correct manner for the practice of the same passages.
Fourth, anyone who studies this treatise will find in it a uniformity of context and prose, written in an engaging and graceful style. There is no difference in this regard between the last part‑including even the three aforementioned fragments (twenty‑second, twenty‑third, and twenty fourth) and the rest of its contents, and it is evident that the entire treatise, from beginning to end, has been ordered, arranged and written by a single hand. This is not contrary to what we shall mention in the footnotes on this book, that some of its passages are found verbatim in the writings of earlier scholars, for the citing of statements that are in agreement with the writer's views and taste from earlier books has been something customary among writers and compilers from among eminent scholars and authorities. As to the ascription of the treatise to Sayyid ibn Tawus, may God be pleased with him, it is very improbable, because, firstly Ibn Tawus was a scholar of the 7th/12th century and a resident of Hillah and by origin an Arabic‑speaking sayyid, and consequently he could not have written Persian prose and that too in a style characteristic of recent centuries. Also, it is obvious from the style and character of this treatise that it is not a translation but an original work of prose. Besides, anyone who is familiar with the works of Ibn Tawus knows that the spiritual approach of Ibn Tawus was one that consisted of muraqabah, muhasabah, fasting, and supplication, and the character of wayfaring described in this book is quite different from the spirituality of Ibn Tawus.
From that which has been said it may be concluded that the authenticity of its ascription to Bahr al‑`Ulum is highly and strongly probable, though God knows best. This is true especially in view of the states of that marhum, who possessed a station of inner purity and an inner light and partook considerably of occult matters and mysteries.
It is stated in the A`yan al‑Shi`ah, part 48, p. 166:
Until today the belief of the generality of the people about him is that he was one of those who possessed exclusive divine secrets and partook of divine grace, occult knowledge and miraculous qualities. Among things that cannot be doubted is that he was marked by a tendency like that of the Sufis and gnostics which manifested itself in his asceticism, devotions and itinerancy.
In any case, after copying for myself the entire treatise from the manuscript belonging to Ayatullah Allamah Tabatabai, may his shadow endure forever, for a long time I used to read it repeatedly and benefit from it. Then I decided to write a brief gloss upon it clarifying some of its difficulties and mentioning the sources of the traditions and poetic verses cited in it. I thank God, the Exalted and the Blessed, for His favour in enabling me to carry out this difficult task to the extent of my capacity. I implore the learned and perspicacious readers to overlook any mistakes that they may come across and to remember me, in life and after death, in their salubrious supplications.
As to the biographical account of Bahr al‑`Ulum and description of the high degrees of perfection of that unique figure of his era and a rare personage of all times, it is beyond the range of the flight of this nondescript's thoughts and beyond the capacity of this destitute's pen.
What can I say concerning someone who was such that the shaykh of the fuqaha' and the mujtahids, Shaykh Ja'far Kashif al‑Ghita' would wipe the dust off his shoes with the lose end (hanak) of his turban (`ammamah) and who was such that the erudite researcher and the profound legist and possessor of outer and inner perfections, Mirza Abu al‑Qasim Jilani Qummi, once when he chanced to be present in one of his greatly enriching sessions during a pilgrimage to the Holy Shrines, asked him in the presence of a group of people: "May my father and mother be your ransom, what have you done that you have attained such a station!?" What shall I say concerning someone about whom there is no doubt that he had repeated and recurrent meetings with the Imam of the Age, Hujjat ibn al‑Hasan al‑Askari, may our spirits be his ransom, and this is regarded as a definite fact by eminent scholars or rather by all residents of Najaf Ashraf, and it can even be inferred from some statements of certain personages that the possibility was perpetually available to him of meeting that sublime Wali of the realm of contingency? And what shall I say about someone whom the Imam of the Age, that possessor of the station of greatest wilayah, took into his own arms?!
However, for the sake of the barakah and blessing of his remembrance, we will cite verbatim his biographical account given by Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Khunsari, who was his contemporary.
The veritable sayyid and the pillar of trust, our master Sayyid Mahdi, son of Sayyid Murtada, son of Sayyid Muhammad, Hasani Husayni Tabatabai Najafi-may God grant him a long life and may He make everlasting his high station and the barakah and blessings that flow out from his being‑is a leader and imam the like of whom time has not offered to the world. A grand prince of great will and goals, a high‑flying spirit whose like the mother of time has been unable to bear for ages, he has been the sire of the scholars of eminence and the master of the learned of Islam, the most erudite figure of his era and the unique personage of his times.
Should he open a discussion about a rational topic, it would appear to you as if it were the Shaykh al‑Raris (Ibn Sina) that was speaking or a Socrates, a Plato or an Aristotle. And were he to discuss a scriptural (manqul)topic, you would say that it was a veritable `allamah in law and jurisprudence. One would not see him debate with anyone in the art of kalam without being prompted to swear, `By God, it is ‘Alam al‑Huda!' And were you to hear him while he is expounding the Noble Qur'an you would forget all that you had in your mind and you would imagine that it is as if he were the one on whom God had sent down the Qur'an! His noble birthplace is Karbala' Mu`alla and he was born on the night of Friday in the month of Shawwal al‑Mukarram 1155 H. [November‑December 1742] and according to the numerological value of the letters of the alphabet the date of his auspicious birth is represented by this phrase:
[Al‑Mahdi was born to help al‑Haqq]
He studied for a short time under his father, who was a pious scholar and a good and virtuous man, and also studied under a number of other teachers including Shaykh Yusuf Bahrani. Thereafter he went on to attend the lectures of our teacher the Allamah Aqa Muhammad Baqir Wahid Behbahani, may God grant them long lives. After that he went to Najaf Ashraf and took up residence there. His auspicious and blessed house is at the present time the cynosure, resort and sanctuary of eminent scholars and masters of the arts from among the learned.
After our teacher Allamah Wahid, Bahr al‑`Ulum‑may their station be perpetually high‑is the leading religious personality of Iraq and the absolute chief and guardian of the learned. The scholars of Iraq have all turned towards him and made him their resort, and the eminent from among outstanding scholars study under him. Bahr al‑`Ulum is like the ka`bah of Iraq, for the benefit of whose company people come from long distances, and he is a shoreless ocean. Moreover, he has displayed manifestly miraculous qualities which are not concealed from anyone and when a large group of Jews witnessed his miracles and proofs, all of them entered the fold of Islam and embraced Shi`ism. This episode with its clarity and vividness is so widely known that its fame has reached every ear and penetrated to every corner of the world.
To appreciate the greatness and splendour of this great man from whom such Divine signs have become manifest, it is enough to know that on the night of his auspicious birth his father, who was in the Hijaz at the time, saw in a dream that our Master Hadrat Rida, may the best of benedictions and Peace be upon him and his fathers and descendants, had sent him a candle through Isma’il ibn Bazi to be lit on the roof of his house and the light and radiance of that candle spread through the sky in such a manner that there was no visible end to it.
On meeting him and coming face‑to face with him when one's eyes fall on him one is immersed in a world of wonder and says to oneself, "This man is not a mortal!"
The things that we have mentioned are facts which have been mentioned in the Muntha al‑maqal concerning this sign of excellence and this true scholar, a personality whom God has confirmed with a variety of arts of perfection, granting him, rather, the gift of lawful magic and endowing him with an intoxication free from error in solving problems and resolving difficult issues and in devastating false ideas and demolishing during debates the notions of formidable scholarly figures of the era.
For his nobility and excellence throughout the world and in all it comers it is sufficient that no one has ever been awarded the appellation Bahr al‑ `Ulum, which means the `ocean of sciences.'
This was a brief biographical sketch of that paragon of knowledge and ma`rifah given by the Rawdat al jannat.
O Lord, forgive us and our brothers who have gone forth before us and do not make‑our hearts harbour any rancour against those who have faith. Our Lord, indeed You are most kind and merciful. And all Praise belongs to God, firstly and lastly, and our last cry is `All Praise is for Allah, the Lord of all beings.' Written by the mortal hand by this servant, hopeful of Divine mercy:
al‑Sayyid Muhmmad al‑Husayn al‑Husayni al‑Tehrani
23 Rabi` al‑Awwal 1393 H./[April 1973]
# Part 1:
On the Characteristics of the Number Forty in the Development of Human Potentialities
Risaleh‑ye Sayr wa Suluk
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All praise and eulogies belong to the Mainspring of Being. And may benedictions be upon him who stands in the stations of epiphany [1] and upon his Progeny, the Trustees [2] of the Worshipped One.
O fellow travellers of the realm of felicity and purity! O comrades on the oath of sincerity and fidelity!
Wait! I perceive a fire on the mountain side. Perchance I will bring you a brand or a faggot from it, that haply you may warm yourselves. [3]
It has been narrated with several chains of authorities from the Master of the Apostles and the Guides of the Godward oaths (that he said):
Whoever dedicates himself to God for forty days, will find springs of wisdom sprout out of his heart and flow on his tongue. [4]
The wordings of the narrations differ but their meaning is the same.
We have seen clearly [through direct experience] and known through the statements [of the sages] that this noble instance from among the instances pertaining to numbers has a particular significance and a special effectiveness in the development of inner potentialities and the perfection of enduring qualities and in covering the stages and traversing the phases [of wayfaring]. [5]
Though the stages on the way are manifold, but every stage has a goal. And though the phases should be innumerable, with every phase that you enter you pass across a world.
The fashioning of the clay (tinat)of Adam, the father of mankind, was completed in forty mornings:
And I fashioned Adam's clay with My Hands in forty days. [6]
In this number [of days] he crossed a world from among the worlds of potentiality, and, according to a tradition, his body lay for forty years between Makkah and Madinah and the rains of divine mercy poured upon him so that in this number [of days] he became capable of receiving the Holy Spirit. [7]
The duration of the promised meeting (miqat)of Moses, may Peace be upon him, was completed in forty nights, and his people were delivered from their wanderings after forty years.
The Seal of the Prophets (s) rose for service after forty years and was dressed in the robes of prophethood.
The period of the journey through the realm of this world, from the first manifestation of potentiality to the end of its completion in this world is forty years, as it has been narrated that the human being's intellect attains maturity in forty years, everyone according to his capacity. [8] He grows from the outset of his entry into this world until the age of thirty years, and thereafter for ten years his body is remains in a halted condition. And at forty years [9] he completes his journey through the world of nature (tabi`at)[10] and commences the journey towards the world of the Hereafter. Thereat every day and every year he is engaged in packing up to make the departure from this world. His strength diminishes year after year, and his eyesight and hearing are on decrease. The corporal faculties are on decline and the body in a process of wasting away, for the period of his journey and sojourn in this world is over in forty years.
And it is for this reason that it has been said:
One who reaches forty years and does not take up a staff has surely disobeyed.
That is because the staff is a sign of a traveller and it is desirable for the traveller to carry a staff. And when forty years are over, it is the time for journey, and the taking up of the staff signifies preparation for the journey of the Hereafter and collecting oneself for departure (and whoever does not carry a staff is neglectful of the impending journey). Similarly, the body attains maturity at this age and so also do the ranks of felicity or wretchedness. And for this reason it is mentioned in hadith that Satan strokes a face that does not achieve salvation by the age of forty years, and says:
May my father and mother be ransomed for the face that shall never prosper. [11]
And adds, "Your name has been enlisted in the register of my troops." And that which is stated in a tradition, that one who assists a blind man for forty steps becomes worthy of entering paradise, it literally means someone who lacks eyesight, and its interpretation (ta'wil) is someone who is blind due to the lack of inner sight, because the blind man lacking eyesight does not reach actuality from potentiality after completing forty steps, though he may come near it, and if left to himself he would return to his earlier state And the completion of spiritual excellence (ihsan)and the attainment of guidance is realized on completion of forty [steps] and in this respect results in worthiness for paradise.
Similarly, it has been mentioned in a hadith that everyone's neighbourhood extends until forty houses in the four directions, [12] and beyond that number it is as if they belong to separate worlds. Its interpretation, in respect of neighbourhood and affinity, pertains to the faculties [13] (quwa) which are those of Imagination (wahmiyyah), Appetite (shahwiyyah), and Anger (ghadabiyyah), [14]and whoever does not draw away forty stages from the stages of these faculties has not left their worlds and is still in their neighbourhood.
Hence if the neighbourhood and vicinity relate to the faculty of the corporeal (mulki) intellect, they describe for one another their circumstance:
O neighbour, we are strangers here, And every stranger has a kindred in another.
And if the neighbourhood should be one of the satanic, predatory and bestial faculty of Appetite, they address one another with this song:
Neighbour!
Calamities come down,
Yet I shall stand ground as long as
mountains (reading Asib for `ashib)stand. [15]
In fine, the property of the number forty in manifesting actuality and developing capacity and potentiality and in the attainment of enduring habit (malikah) is something which has been clearly stated in the verses of the scripture and the traditions and tested by the experience of the people of esoteric knowledge and secrets. That is the reason why the noble tradition informs us about the attainment of the marks of sincerity (khulus)at this stage, as it is the source of the spring of gnosis and wisdom. And there is no doubt that every fortunate person who resolves to traverse these forty stages will find the mainspring of gnosis gush forth from the ground of his heart after he has developed the capacity of khulus to the point of actuality.
These forty stages belong to the world of khulus and ikhlas and the destination and end of these stages is a world above the world of the mukhlasin, [a world described by the Prophet in the words]:
I spend the night with my Lord, and He feeds me and gives me to drink. [16]
As the Divine the food and drink [mentioned here] are the higher teachings (ma`arij)and the infinite true sciences.
And that is why the feast given to the Seal of the Prophets (s) on the night of the Ascent (mi`raj)has been described as "milk and rice," [17] for milk in this world stands for the true sciences in the realm of immateriality, and that is why milk seen in dreams is interpreted as knowledge.
The wayfarer of these stages reaches his destination when his journey takes place in the world of khulus, not that he obtains khulus in these stages. For that which has been said is:
Whoever dedicates himself to God for forty days . . . .
Hence, in these forty stages, the stage of khulus must have been reached already. Therefore the world of khulus is the beginning of these stages, not that the door of gnosis is opened to everyone who practices austerities for forty days or that he may obtain khulus in forty days. Hence the traveller in the world of this hadith cannot do without certain things: [18]
First: A non‑detailed, overall knowledge of the destination, which is the world of manifestation of the springs of wisdom. For so long as one does not have any notion of the destination, one cannot make any effort to seek it.
Second: Entry into the world of khulus and its gnosis.
Third: Journey through the forty stages of this world.
Four: Traversing the several worlds that precede the world of khulus, so that he may enter the world of khulus after having traversed them.
Notes:
[1].
Indeed he saw him another time, by the Lote‑Tree of the Boundary.(53:13)
then he approached and drew closer, two‑bows'‑length away or nearer.(53:8)
And We bring thee as a witness over these. (4:41)
[2]. See al‑Ziyarat al jami'ah:
By the right of Him who made you trustees of His secret and appointed you guardians over His creation.
[3]. This sentence does not occur with such a wording in the Glorious Qur'an. However, in three places in the Glorious Qur’an there are passages with a similar wording:
Hast thou received the story of Moses? When he saw afire, and said to his household, 'Tarry you here; I observe a fire. Perhaps I shall bring you a brand front it, or I shall find at the fire guidance.'(20:10)
When Moses said to his household, I observe afire, and will bring you news from it, or I will bring you a flaming brand, that haply you may warm yourselves.'(27:7)
So when Moses had completed the term and departed with his household, he observed on the side of the Mount a fire. He said to his household, 'Tarry you here; I observe a fire. Perhaps I shall bring you new from it, or fagot from the fire, that haply you may warm yourselves.'(28:29)
As can be seen, this passage does not occur in any of the three Qur’anic verses mentioned above, although it bears a correct sense. Perhaps the author, may God elevate his station, did not intend to give a 'citation from the Qur'an but wanted to compose a sentence in his own fine style by drawing on all the three verses with some additions.
[4]. Narrations concerning the emergence of wisdom from the heart and upon the tongue are recorded in three Shi`i sources of hadith, firstly in 'Uyun akhbar al‑Rida ('a), p. 258, secondly, in 'Uddat al‑da'i, p. 170, thirdly, in Usul al‑Kafi, vol. 2, p. 16. It has been reproduced in the Biharal‑anwar from 'Uddat al‑da’i (vol. 15, juz' 2, p. 85) and again from the 'Uddah (ibid., p. 87) and al‑Kafi (p. 85). The 'Uyun narrates the tradition with its isnad from Darim ibn. Qabisah ibn Nahshal ibn Majma'al‑Nahshali al‑San`ani at Surra Man Ra'a: (Samarra'):
He said: "Narrated to us Ali ibn Musa al‑Rida, from his father, from his grandfather, from Muhammad ibn Ali, from his father, from Jabir ibn Abd Allah, from ‘Ali, that he said: `The Messenger of Allah (s)said: "A servant does not dedicate himself to God for forty days without springs of wisdom flowing from his heart on his tongue." "'
However, the wording mentioned in the Bihar, and also Safinat al‑Bihar, is:
As to the narration of Uddat al‑da'i, it is cited as a mursal tradition (i.e. a tradition without a connected chain of authorities) from the Messenger of Allah (s) that he said:
Whoever dedicates [himself] to God for forty days, God makes springs of wisdom flow from his heart on his tongue.
As for the narration of al‑Kafi, it is given with an isnad from Ibn `Uyaynah, from al‑Sindi from Abu ja`far (`a) that he said:
A servant does not foster pure faith in God for forty days... (or he said) A servant does not refine his remembrance of God for forty days without God making him detached toward the world and granting him the vision to see its ills and their remedies and establishing wisdom in his heart and making his tongue speak with it...
As can be seen, though the wording is different the meaning is the same. As to the books of the Sunnis (Ammah), it is mentioned in the Jhya'al‑ ‘ulm, vol. 4, p. 322:
The Messenger of Allah said: `No servant performs his works purely for God's sake for forty days without the springs of wisdom emerging from his heart on his tongue.
On page 191 the following is mentioned in the gloss:
Should one who renounce the world for forty days and perform worship therein with complete dedication, God will make springs of wisdom flow from his heart on his tongue.
In the Awarif al‑ma`arif printed on the margins of Ihya' al‑'ulum, vol. 2, p. 256, it is mentioned:
A statement of the Messenger of Allah: `Whoever dedicates [himself] to God for forty days, God makes springs of wisdom flow from his heart on his tongue.'
[5]. Manazil is plural of manzil (lit. stopping place), which is a place where the travellers halt to relax, and as the halt for resting is made mostly after four parasangs, the distance of four parasangs (which is the same as the barid)is called a manzil.
Marahil is plural of marhalah which is a day's journey, and that consists of two manzils or two bands. The author, may God's merry be upon him, has likened the worlds to marahil so that the covering of one marhalah and entry into another consists of passage through one world and entry into another, and he has likened the stages within the worlds to manazil so that covering a manzil and reaching another manzil is like arriving at a stage.
[6]. Ihya'al‑'ulam, vol. 4, p. 238 cites the following tradition of the Messenger of God (s)
Verily, God leavened Adam's clay with His two Hands for forty days.
The Mirsad al‑ibad, p. 38, and Risaleh ye 'ishq, p. 83, cite the following tradition:
I leavened the day of Adam for forty days with My Hands.
In the Awarif al‑ma'arif, printed on the margins of Ihya'al‑'ulum, vol. 2, p. 260, it is stated:
. . . so He fashioned him from clay and leavened his clay for forty days, so as to remove with a forty‑day leavening forty veils that conceal the Divine Presence. Every veil is a property impressed in him wherewith he is afforded to foster his worldly interests, but which separates him from the Divine Presence and the abodes of Divine Proximity.
[7]. This is referred to in the following verses:
And when we appointed with Moses forty nights.(2:51)
….. so the appointed time of his Lord was forty nights.(7:142)
Said He: 'Then it shall be forbidden them for forty years, they shall wander in the earth.(5:26)
[8]. As stated by God, the Exalted, in 46:15:
Until, when he is fully grown, and reaches forty years, he says, "O my Lord, dispose me that I may be thankful for Thy blessing wherewith .Thou hast blessed me . . . .
Accordingly, the maximum power of the intellect is at the age of forty years, and the common notion that the human being's intellect grows at forty is erroneous. This misconception arises because after this age man acquires greater experience and his judgement is more often correct due to this accumulated experience; however, its accuracy is due to greater experience and not due to the actual power of the intellect, so if supposedly one had this experience at forty years one would make that accurate rational judgement at that time, that is, at the age of forty.
[9]. In the second part of Usul al‑Kafi, p. 455, the following marfu` tradition, without a continuous chain of authorities, is cited from Hadrat Abu Jafar ('a):
When a man enters his fortieth year, it is said to him, "Now be careful, because (henceforth) you will not have any excuse.
[10]. The following traditions are reported in Saduq's al‑Khisal, p. 545, from Imam Sadiq (‘a):
Verily, a man has an amplitude [of freedom] until forty years; but when he reaches forty, God, the Almighty and Glorious, reveals to His angels, "Verily, I have made My servant come of age, so now be strict and severe with him and record and write down his every action, whether it is a minor one or a major one, and whether his works are abundant or sparse."
When a servant reaches thirty‑three he comes of age, and when he reaches forty years, he attains to his ultimate maturity. Hence as he enters forty‑one his powers are on decline, and it is befitting for one at fifty to consider himself like someone in his death throes.
In Jami' al‑akhbar, fas 76, p. 140, it is reported from the Prophet (s) that he said:
Persons of fifty years are like a field ready for harvest.
And Safinat al‑Bihar, p. 504, cites the following narration:
When a man reaches forty years without penitence, Iblis strokes his face and says, "May my father and mother by your ransom, a face that will not prosper!"
There are many traditions which mention the number forty, such as the one recorded in the Bihar, vol. 14, p. 512:
Verily, if one recites the Surat al‑Hamd forty times on water and pours it on someone suffering from fever, God shall cure him.
And in al‑Kafi, vol. 6, p. 401, there is a tradition from Hadrat Baqir ('a)that he said:
The prayers of someone who drinks wine are not reckoned as such for forty days.
The Jami' al‑akhbar, fasl 109, p. 171, narrates the following tradition from the Messenger of God (s)
For forty days and nights, God, the Exalted, does not accept the prayers and fasts of someone who backbites a Muslim man or woman unless that person pardons him.
In the Bihar, vol. 13, p. 245, the following sentence occurs in a noble message (tawqi) [of the Imam of the Age]:
For forty days the earth complains to God on account of the urine of the uncircumcised man (that falls on the ground.)
In al‑Khisal, p. 538, al‑Saduq narrates with his continuous chain of authorities:
When a believer dies and forty men from among the believers attend his funeral and say, "O God, we know nothing about him except goodness, and You know him better than we do." God, the Exalted and the Blessed, says, "Your testimony suffices Me, and I forgive him what I know of things that you do not know.
And in 'Uddat al‑da'i, p. 128, "bab du`a li al‑ikhwan wa iltimasihi minhum," the following tradition is reported on the authority of Ibn Abi `Umayr from Hisham ibn Salim from Abu Abd Allah ('a):
If someone brings forward forty believers and makes a prayer, his supplication is answered.
In Bihar al‑anwar, vol. 18, p. 204, "kitab al‑jana'iz," there is a section (bab) entitled "bab shahadat arba'ina li al‑mayyit," where the following tradition is cited from 'Uddat al‑da'i from Hadrat Sadiq ('a):
There was a devout person amongst the Children of Israel about whom God had informed David ('a) that he was hypocritical in his piety When he died, David ('a) did not attend his funeral. Then forty persons from the Israelites stood up and said, "O God, we know nothing about him except goodness and You know him better than we do, so forgive him." When his body had been washed, another forty came forward and said, "O God, we know nothing about him except goodness and You know him better than we do, so forgive him." When he was laid in his grave another forty stood up and said, "O God, we know nothing about him except goodness and You know him better than we do, so forgive him." Then God, the Exalted, revealed to David ('a), "What kept you from making prayer over him?" David ('a) said, "That which You had told me." Thereat God revealed to him, "Verily, a group of people bore witness (in his favour). I accepted their witness as sufficient and I forgave him what I knew and that which they did not know"
And in 'Uddat al‑da'i p. 201, the following remedy is suggested for the removal of illness and disease:
Thirdly (one should recite), "Bismillah al‑rahman al‑rahim. Al‑hamdu lillahi rabb al‑'alamin. Hasbunallah wa ni'm al‑wakil, tabarak Allahu ahsan al‑khaliqin. La hawla wa la quwwata ilia billah al‑'ali al‑'azim." He should recite this forty times in a supplication following the dawn prayer and then stroke the sick person. Whatever be his affliction, especially if it were an open wound it will be cured with the permission of God. This (formula) has been tried and cure has been obtained through it.
Again in `Uddat al‑da'i, p. 94, it is stated:
. . . and one who prays for forty of his brothers, mentioning their names and the names of their fathers. And one who has a ring in his hand studded with turquoise or carnelian . . . .
In Bihar al‑anwar, vol. 14, p. 551, it is stated on the authority of the Shahid:
The remedy of fever by pouring water (on the sick person) has been narrated; but if that is difficult let him put his hand in cold water. For one who has severe pain al‑Hamd should be recited forty times over a pail of water which is put on the sick person who is made to sit up, assisted by the helper with his hand, and told to pray, whereat he will be cured.
And in the Iqbal al‑a'mal, p. 589, it is stated [by Ibn Tawus]: "I have narrated a tradition with my isnad from Abu Ja`far al‑Tusi, my grandfather, which he has narrated with his isnad from our master, al‑Hasan ibn A1i al‑Askari, may God's blessings be upon him, that he said:
The signs of a believer are five: performing fifty‑one rak'ahs of prayer, making the ziyarah of arba'in, wearing a ring in the right hand, placing the forehead on dust [during prostration], and saying "Bismillah al‑rahman al‑rahim" aloud.
In al‑Khisal, p. 541, it is narrated from Hadrat Amir al‑Mu'minin ('a)that he said:
The Messenger of Allah said: "One who preserves for the sake of my ummah forty traditions relating to their religious needs, God shall raise him as a learned scholar on the Day of Resurrection.
In Bihar al‑anwar, vol. 5, p. 43, a tradition is cited from An ibn Ibrahim's Tafsir, from Hadrat Sadiq ('a)that he said:
. . . so for forty days Adam remained in prostration, weeping for the loss of paradise.
And in Ikmal al‑Din, p. 13, it is narrated from Hadrat Abu ja'far (`a) that he said:
Adam wept for Abel for forty nights.
On page 86 it cites a tradition of Hadrat Sadiq ('a)from Ali ibn Ibrahim's Tafsir that he said [concerning Noah's flood]:
So for forty days water continued to pour from the heaven and to stream out from the earth.
Baydawi in his commentary on the verse “Until, he is fully grown. . . " (46:15)says:
His mature age is that after which there is no further growth, and that is from thirty to forty years; for it is then that the intellect becomes perfect. And it has been narrated that there has been no prophet whose ministry did not start at forty, which is the time when body and mind attain maturity.
In al‑Khisal, p. 539it is narrated from Hadrat Baqir ( `a) that he said:
Between the two words God, Almighty and Glorious, gave a forty year respite to Pharaoh . . . . Then God seized him for the punishment of the world and the Hereafter . . . . And there passed forty years from the time when God, Almighty and Glorious, said to Moses and Aaron, "Indeed, I have answered your prayer" until the time when God drowned him. . . Gabriel said, "I pleaded with my Lord strongly in the matter of Pharaoh and I said, `O Lord, do You leave him while he says, "I am your supreme lord"? He said, "He is only saying it. He is also a creature like you."
Then in an explanation of this tradition Majlisi, may God's mercy ‑be upon him, says:
Perhaps that which is meant here by `the two words' is the statement of God, the Exalted, "I have answered your prayer," and His drowning Pharaoh (in the sea) or the utterance of Pharaoh "I do not know that you have any god except I" and his saying, ”I am your supreme lord.”
In Bihar al‑anwar, vol. 5, p. 433, there is a report that a group of Jews came to Abu Talib and said:
"O Abu Talib, your nephew claims to receive communications from the heavens and we will him certain questions. Should he answer them we would know that he is truthful and if he does not we would know that he is a liar." Abu Talib said, `Ask him whatever you wish." So they asked him concerning three matters. The Messenger of Allah (s) said to them,"I will inform you tomorrow," and he did not say "God willing." Therefore, revelation (wahy) was withheld from him for forty days, as a result of which the Prophet (s) was distressed and his Companions who had believed in him fell into doubt.
Bihar al‑anwar, vol. 6, p. 117, cites a tradition from the book 'Udad by Shaykh Radi al‑Din Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Mutahhar al‑Hilli, brother of Allamah Hilli, concerning the birth of Hadrat Fatimah where it is said:
When Gabriel descended m his mightiest form, he opened his wings until they extended from the east to the west. Then he called, "O Muhammad, the Highest and the Supreme gives you salam and He commands you to refrain from Khadijah for forty days .... That was hard upon the Prophet (s) for he loved her tenderly Then for forty days the Prophet (s) would fast during the days and spent the nights in worship.
With this end our citations from narrations mentioning the word arba'in (forty).
[11]. This tradition is cited in Safinat al‑bihar, vol. 1, p. 504; in Ihya'al‑'ulum, vol. 3, p. 25 it is cited as follows:
When a man reaches forty years without ever repenting, Satan strokes his face with his hand and says, "May my father be your ransom, it is the face of one who will not prosper!"
[12]. There are four narrations related to this tradition cited in Wasa'il al‑Shi'ah, "kitab al‑hajj." "ahkam al‑`ishrah," bab 90. The first of them is from Kulayni who reports with his isnad from Hadrat Baqir ('a)that he said:
The limits of neighbourhood extend to forty houses in every direction, to the front, to the rear, to the right, and to the left.
The second one is also one narrated by al‑Kulayni with his isnad from Hadrat Sadiq:
The Messenger of Allah (s) said, "All the forty houses to the front and the rear, to the left and to the right are neighbours."
The third one is from Shaykh Saduq in Ma'ani al‑akhbar, narrated with isnad from Hadrat Sadiq ('a):
Mu'awiyah ibn Ammar asked the Hadrat, "May I be made your ransom, what are the limits of neighbourhood?" He replied, " Forty house in every direction."
The fourth one is from 'Uqbah ibn Khalid from Hadrat Sadiq ('a)from his ancestors:
The Commander of the Faithful ('a) said, "The holy precincts (harim) of a mosque extend up to forty houses, and neighbourhood extends up to forty houses in the four directions."
[13]. What is meant by the author is that man is captive to the fourfold powers (quwa)of the intellect ('aql), imagination (wahm), anger (ghadab)and appetite (shahwah), and until he distances himself from them to the extent of forty stages he would not attain to the station of annihilation (fana)in God. Withdrawal from one stage of appetite, for instance, does not liberate man from that stage completely, because the reality of that stage of appetite is still latent in him, and so long as he does not recede forty stages from the first stage its effects do not disappear completely. Accordingly, if we suppose the domain of appetite, for instance, to consist of several stages, man is liberated from one of its stages only when he has emancipated himself from all its forty stages, otherwise mere departure from one stage does not liberate him from it, and it is possible that some accident may bring him back to the first stage. The same applies to the domains of the intellect, anger, and imagination. Accordingly, one is truly liberated from the first stage of anger only when he has departed from its fortieth stage, and one is liberated from the fifth stage of the intellect only when he has departed from its fortieth stage, and so on and so forth. Hence for liberation from any of the stages one must leave all the forty stages in order to achieve complete emancipation from that stage.
However, there is a difference between the malakuti power of the intellect and the other three powers, as the intellect is a guide and in conflict with the other three powers. The other three powers are in perpetual conflict with the intellect. Hence, from among the forty stages of the intellect, every two stages the distance between which is less than forty are sympathetic neighbours, as they are strangers in the world of nature and victims of the powers of Appetite, Anger and Imagination, and every stranger is sympathetic towards another stranger. But each of neighbourly stages belonging to the other three powers, as they find themselves to be under the attack of the forces of the‑intellect, collaborate to put up resistance and conspire together not to yield in the face of difficulties and to bear consecutive hardships with fortitude.
[14]. It is probable that the power of the intellect has been omitted here due to a slip of the pen.
[15]. According to Jami' al‑shawahid, these verses are by Imr' al‑Qays al‑Kindi in which he addresses a dead woman:
That was when he was at Naqrah (?), where he saw a grave and inquired about it. He was told that it was the grave of a stranger, a woman. Thereupon he said:
O neighbour of ours, calamities descend,
And yet I stand firm like the mount of Asib.
O neighbour of ours, we are strangers here,
And every stranger has a kindred in a stranger.
So should you join us, there is a kinship between us,
And should you desert us, then a stranger is after all a stranger.
Then the Jami' al‑shawahid remarks that khutub is plural of khatb (calamity or mishap) and tanub is in the sense of descending. Muqim means `steadfast' in bearing hardships and al‑Asib is the name of a mountain. Accordingly, the correct word is Asib as mentioned in some manuscripts, and 'ashib is apparently incorrect, for it means a ground covered with grass.
[16]. In Man la yahduruh al faqih, vol 2, p. 111, "bab al‑siyam," it is narrated from Mu'awiyah ibn Ammar that he said:
I asked (the Imam) concerning fasting during the days of Tashriq. He replied, "The Apostle of Allah (s) only forbade fasting on these days at Mina, but there is no impediment to fasting at other places. The Apostle of Allah (s) forbade unbroken fasting, while he himself would fast continually. When asked about it he said, `I am not like any of you. I am continually near my Lord who feeds me and gives me to drink."'
The same tradition has been cited in Mahajjat al‑bayda' from Man la yahduruh al faqih. In marhum Sayyid Ali Khan's Sharh al‑Sahifah al‑Sajjadiyyah, as cited in Talkhis al‑Riyad, vol. 1, p. 37, the word is abitu (instead of azillu)and the Prophet is cited as having said:
This was from the viewpoint of Shi`i traditions. However, in the narrations of the Ahl al‑Sunnah the expression 'inda rabbi does not occur, but in some of them the wording has abitu and in some others azillu.
As to the first type, there is a tradition narrated in al‑Bukhari's Sahih, "kitab al‑tamanna," vol. 4, p. 251, with isnad from Abu Hurayrah that he said:
The Apostle of Allah (s) forbade connecting one fast with another, so they said to him, "Indeed you connect your fasts." He replied, "Which one of you is like me. Indeed at nights my Lord feeds me and He gives me to drink."
In Muslim's ,Sahih, "kitab al‑siyam," vol. 3, p. 133, there are two traditions narrated with isnad from Abu Salamah ibn Abd al‑Rahman, from Abu Hurayrah, and another from Abu Zur`ah from Abu Hurayrah, from the Messenger of God with a wording exactly as cited from Bukhari. Malik in Muwatta', "kitab al‑siyam," p. 280, narrates with his isnad from Araj, from Abu Hurayrah that:
The Apostle of Allah (s) said, "Refrain from connecting your fasts! Refrain from connecting your fasts!" They said to him, "O Apostle of Allah, indeed you fast on without breaking your fast." He said, "I am not like you. At nights my Lord feeds me and He gives me to drink."
As to the second version, the following tradition is narrated in Bukhari's Sahih, "kitab al-tamanna”, vol 4 p 251 with isnad from Anas:
The Prophet fasted on without breaking his fast at the end of the month and some of the people also did that. When the Prophet (s) heard about it he said, "Had the month been made longer for me I would have fasted on without breaking the fast so that those who plunge in these matters would leave oft' their plunging. Indeed I am not like you. I am continuously fed by my Lord and given to drink.
There is another tradition narrated in "kitab al‑sawm," vol. 1, p. 329 with isnad from Abd Allah ibn `Umar:
In Muslim's,Sahih, "kitab al‑siyam," p. 134, the tradition is cited with the wording:
On the same page of this book, as well as in Muwatta', "kitab al‑sawm," p. 280, it is narrated that the Messenger of God said:
[17]. That which is mentioned in the traditions is `milk' and I have not seen the expression `milk and rice' in any narration. When I asked my teacher Allamah Tabatabai about it, he said that he too had not come across any such tradition although he had made a search to find it.
[18]. That is, journey through the worlds preceding khulus, the world of khulus, then the fourfold stages of the world of khulus, and the world of manifestation of the springs of wisdom.
# Part 2
An Overview of the Destination
As to the knowledge of the destination referred to in the statement:
. . . springs of wisdom emerge from his heart,
we may say that the destination is the world of eternal life, which in other words is called `subsistence through the Worshipped One' (baqa' be ma`bud), and the emergence of the springs of wisdom, which are the true sciences, refers to it. Because the true sciences and the true teachings are the nourishment of sacred souls which they receive from their Lord and is the Divine nourishment for eternal life.
Rather, they are alive, nourished near their Lord,
and attainment to this world implies encompassment of all the degrees of unlimited perfection, including attainment of complete immateriality to the extent of one's contingent potentiality, because corporeality and eternal life do not go together and matter and corporeality‑belong to the world of contingency and every continent is subject to destruction: [19]
Every thing is fated to perish save His Face.
The face of every thing is the aspect with which it is faced by others and with which it is manifested and revealed for them. Hence the face of everyone is his manifestation (mazhar). Therefore, destruction and dissolution are necessary for every thing except the manifestations of Divine Attributes or Names. There have been many perfect (kummal) souls who, though they got a scent of the sciences and the ma`arif, but did not partake of a single drop of the spring of wisdom, and the spring of wisdom refers to the source of all graces and the fountainhead of all excellences.
Hence among the sublime ranks (maratib)of this world is manifestation (mazhariyyat)of, the Divine lights which are beyond destruction and dissolution in accordance with the explicit text of the Qur’an. [20]
And among its ranks is total encompassment of the Divine realms (`awalim‑a ilahiyyah) to the extent of the [the individual's] contingent potentialities, as wisdom is true knowledge free from any uncertainty and doubt, and its attainment does not occur without total encompassment (ihateh ye kulliyyeh). The result of this encompassment is the knowledge of the past and the future and power of dispensation over the matters (mawadd) of the universe, as that which envelopes possesses ultimate domination over that which is enveloped, accompanying everyone and ‑being present everywhere, excepting that from which one is prevented due to occupation with the management of bodily functions.
Attainment to the totality of these ranks takes place after release from the management of the body, and all the other degrees of the graces of this world are boundless and unlimited and their description impossible.
Notes:
[19]. This explanation does not relate to the previous sentence but to the statement made earlier that the Divine nourishment is for the sacred souls and for eternal life. What is meant is that the body perishes but His Face, which is His manifestation, is enduring. Hence if the human soul in its journey should attain to the manifestations of the Divine Names and Attributes and become a manifestation of the Divine lights, it would partake of life near its Lord. Its nourishment is the same as the true sciences and teachings, which it will receive. It should be known that the realization of immateriality (tajarrud) is to the extent of one's contingent capacity (isti'dad‑e imkani). That is, should the wayfarer enter the world of lahut and attain annihilation (fana')in all the Divine Names, including even the Name ahad (the One) and obtain baqa' after fana', which is the same as life in the Worshipped One (baqa' bi al‑ma'bud), nevertheless, his soul will not attain to total immateriality in all respects, even riddance from contingent capacity, although in this state its knowledge is Divine knowledge and it accompanies every being and is aware of the past and the future. However, its rudimentary attachment to the management of the body prevents it from attaining to complete immateriality lying beyond the horizon of contingency. Hence it is seen that the relation of his soul to his body is different from its relation to the other existents and after death when the soul becomes completely detached from the body and is relieved totally from the management, of the body it will attain to complete immateriality associated with the world of lahut.
Shaykh Wali Allah Dehlawi says in his Hama`at: "It has been brought to the knowledge of this destitute that the severance of the soul's attachment to the body takes place five hundred years after death." And Muhy al‑Din states in several places that the wayfarer's unchanging essence ('ayn‑e thabit) will survive even after baqi' bi al‑ma`bud. This is not contrary to man's being the greatest of Divine Names (ism‑e a`zam)because among all existents, including even angels, it is man who is the greatest Name. However, he covers all the stages with his body and it is only the stage of attainment of complete and total immateriality‑ including even riddance from the unchanging essence and the traces of contingency‑that is obtained by him after death.
[20]. In the noble verse
Every thing is to perish except his face (wajhahu),(28:88)
whether we take the pronoun hu as referring to God or to `thing', the meaning is the same, which in the first case means that all existents perish except the Face of God, which is the same as the Divine Names with which He manifests Himself in the existents, and in the second sense it means the imperishability of the face of things which is also their aspect by which they manifest God. Also in the noble verse:
All that is upon it is perishable, and abiding is the Face of thy Lord, possessing glory and majesty. (55:27)
it can be seen that glory and majesty are attributed to the `Face' not to the `Lord,' as the phrase dhu al‑jaliil wa al‑ikram is in the nominative case (raf’). Accordingly, it means that the Face of God, which are His Names and Attributes, possesses glory and majesty and is not subject to destruction or perishment and wherever you turn, there is the Face of God.(2:115).
--
Risaleh ye Sayr wa Suluk: A Treatise on Wayfaring
by - Bahr al Ulum
The original in Persian, entitled Risaleh ye sayr was suluk mansub be Bahr 'Ulum, Allamah Ayatullah al-'Uzma Sayyid Mahdi ibn Sayyid Murtada al‑Tabataba'i al-Najafi, ridwan Allah 'alayh (Tehran: Intisharat-e Hikmat, 1360 H. Sh./1402 H.), has been introduced and annotated by Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tehrani, qudissa sirruh.
Introduction
Part 1: Number Forty
Part 2: An Overview of the Destination
# Introduction
During the days of my studies at the holy centre of religious studies at Qum, this nondescript came across the manuscript of a treatise whose title was Tuhfat al‑muluk fi al‑sayr wa al‑suluk, ascribed to our master, al‑Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al‑ `Ulum. This copy belonged to marhum Hujjat al‑Islam Hajj Shaykh Abbas Tehrani, and as I found it very absorbing I borrowed it from him to make a copy of my own, which I wrote in the year 1366 H. [1947]. This copy contained many errors, to the extent that it did not make any sense in some places. Accordingly I wanted to find an error‑free copy of it and to edit it. When I arrived for studies in Najaf Ashraf I found a copy of it with Hadrat Hujjat al‑Islam Ayatullah Hajj Shaykh Abbas Hatif Quchani, may his blessings be perpetual, and I borrowed it from him. But that copy was also full of errors and was not useful except for some corrections in a few cases. On my return from Najaf Ashraf in the year 1376 [1956), once in a meeting with my honoured teacher Hadrat Allamah Tabatabai, may his shadow endure forever, he said, "I have a fine copy of it which I have written myself." He added, "When I was engaged in studies at Tabriz I came across a manuscript and made a copy from it. When I went to Najaf Ashraf I found a similar copy with our teacher marhum Ayatullah Hajj Mirza Ali Aqa Qadi, may God be pleased with him. That copy was also full of errors and later I found out that he also had copied from the same manuscript from which my copy was made and both of them were from one manuscript. The copy possessed by marhum Qadi was written in an unsavoury hand as if written by a child in his early days at school. Hence one could see many errors in it. But afterwards I found a very good copy of it in a very graceful handwriting and written on an excellent kind of paper marked with lines in the possession of my teacher in mathematics and astronomy, marhum Sayyid Abu al‑Qasim Khunsari. I took it from him for making a copy which was made in the year 1354 H. [1935], and the date of the manuscript from which my copy was made was 90 years older."
I asked him to lend me his manuscript, which he did with utmost generosity which was characteristic of him, and from it I made the present copy Accordingly, this copy is free of errors and reliable. This was an account of the textual background of the accuracy of this manuscript.
As to the authenticity of its ascription to marhum Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al‑`Ulum, may God be pleased with him, this nondescript himself has heard marhum Ayatullah Aqa Mirza Sayyid Abd al‑Hadi Shlrazi, may God be pleased with him, say, “It is highly probable that this treatise, excepting its last parts, belongs to Bahr al‑'Ulum and are in his own hand."
And I have also heard marhum Allamah Ayatullah Shaykh Aqa Buzurg Tehrani say "I also believe this treatise, excepting its last parts, to be by the pen of marhum Bahr al‑`Ulum." However, in his book al‑Dhari `ah, vol. 12, p. 285, he has written:
Risalah fi al‑sayr wa al‑suluk, in Persian, in two thousand lines, is attributed to our master Bahr al‑`Ulum ibn Murtada al‑Tabatabai al‑Burujerdi al‑Najafi (died in 1212/[1797]). But its authenticity is doubtful and a copy of it exists at Bahr al‑`Ulum's house at Najaf... I have seen another manuscript of it, with additions and expanded expressions and phrases, bearing the title "Tuhfat al‑muluk fi al‑sayr wa al‑suluk" ….. The Risalah fi al‑sayr wa al‑suluk, the Arabic translation of this treatise, has been mentioned on page 282.
On page 282 he writes:
Risalah fi al‑sayr wa al‑suluk is Arabic translation of the Persian [treatise] on sayr wa suluk ascribed to our master, Bahr al‑`Ulum. It was translated into Arabic by Shaykh Abu al‑Majd Muhammad Rida al‑Isfahani on the request of Sayyid Husayn ibn Mu`iz al‑Din Muhammad al‑Mahdi al‑Qazwini al‑Hilli, at his home in Najaf at "al‑Barrani” in the course of several nights, after the fifth hour of the night. Abu al‑Majd states that Bahr al‑`Ulum wrote it at Kirmanshah . . . . I say: The ascription of the last half of it to him, may God have merry upon him, is doubtful, because it is according to the taste of the Sufis. Hence if it is established that it is by him that would be true of only the first half of it, as will be mentioned on page 284.
Marhum Allamah Sayyid Muhsin Amin Jabal‑`Amili in Ayan al‑Shi `ah, part 48, p. 170, states, "Bahr al‑`Ulum has written a treatise in Persian concerning the gnosis (ma’rifah)of God, the Exalted. But the author of Tatimmah Amal al‑Amil has categorically denied its ascription to Bahr al‑`Ulum."
Thereafter marhum Amin says, "Among things that are found in that treatise is the necessity of picturing one's teacher (murshid)in the mind while pronouncing the words "iyyaka na `budu wa iyyaka nasta`in." Another relates to the invocation of spiritual assistance from the planet Mercury and its citation of a quatrain (ruba `i) composed on this theme."
However, he has committed an error in this regard, because, firstly, in no place in this treatise is there any mention of the necessity of picturing one's murshid in the mind while reciting the words "iyyaka na budu wa iyyaka nasta`in."
Secondly, the invocation of spiritual assistance from Mercury‑as will be mentioned later on‑does not form a part of Bahr al‑Ulum's treatise but is by the copyist, who mentions it in the course of his own biographical account added at the end of the treatise and it has nothing whatsoever to do with the treatise itself. But the view of our teacher Allamah Tabatabai is as follows: "Some have said that this treatise belongs to Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al‑'Ulum Khurasani. But this is very improbable. Shaykh Ismail Mahallati, who was one of those who claimed to represent the Imam of the Age (ahl‑e da`wat), considered the whole of this treatise to be from marhum Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al‑`Ulum Najafi, excepting the twenty‑second, twenty‑third and twenty‑fourth items which relate to thought control (nafy khawatir), chanting (wird), and contemplation (fikr). The copy possessed by Shaykh Isma'il Mahallati did not contain these three items and his copy was a complete one from which these three items had been excluded." Allamah Tabatabai added, "Some consider it to be translation of a treatise by marhum Sayyid ibn Tawus and they believe that the Arabic original‑which is not presently extant‑bore the title "Risalah fi al‑sayr wa al‑suluk li Ibn Tawus," and I too have seem it in the title of the manuscript that I had borrowed from marhum Aqa Sayyid Abu al‑Qasim Khunsari. However, our great teacher, the sign of God, marhum Hajj Mirza Ali Aqa Qadi, may God be pleased with him, considered this treatise definitely and undoubtedly in its entirety to be by marhum Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al‑`Ulum."
One day this nondescript said to my teacher Allamah Tabatabai, may his shadow be enduring, "Although this nondescript has read many books on ethics, wayfaring and gnosis, I have not found any of them to be so comprehensive, inclusive, firm, well‑founded on the principles and useful as this treatise despite its brevity and conciseness which is such that one can put it in one's pocket and use it while travelling." He was surprised at my words and he said, "I have heard similar words from marhum Qadi, may God be pleased with him. He used to say, A book with its purity and richness of content has not been written on the subject of `irfan." Hadrat Ayatullah Aqa Hajj Shaykh Abbas Quchani, who is the successor (wasi)of marhum Qadi, says, "Marhum Qadi had a great respect for this treatise, but he would repeatedly say, `I do not permit anyone to carry out the awrad and adhkar mentioned in this treatise."' In any case, from the indications cited here it can be inferred that apparently all of this treatise is by Bahr al‑`Ulum and for following reasons.
First, as mentioned above in the citation from al‑Dhari`ah, the erudite and critical scholar, legist, theologian and jurisprudent marhum Shaykh Muhammad Rida Isfahani, author of the book Wiqayat al‑adhhan wa naqd falsafah Darwin, may God's mercy be upon him, considered it to be by Bahr al‑`Ulum and he also specified Kirmanshah as the place where it was written.
Second, marhum Qadi, may God be pleased with him, who was an authority on the subject and a versatile scholar of esoteric and exoteric sciences and a master of ethics and ma`arif (the esoteric sciences), considered it to be by marhum Bahr al‑`Ulum, and the witness of such a scholar and great authority in the realm of ma`arif is not something which can be overlooked.
Third, those who have denied Bahr al‑`Ulum's authorship of its last part have no grounds except their own impression of unlikelihood and it is evident that one cannot exclude any part from a book merely for its being unlikely, whereas it is possible that the Sayyid had envisioned a correct manner for the practice of the same passages.
Fourth, anyone who studies this treatise will find in it a uniformity of context and prose, written in an engaging and graceful style. There is no difference in this regard between the last part‑including even the three aforementioned fragments (twenty‑second, twenty‑third, and twenty fourth) and the rest of its contents, and it is evident that the entire treatise, from beginning to end, has been ordered, arranged and written by a single hand. This is not contrary to what we shall mention in the footnotes on this book, that some of its passages are found verbatim in the writings of earlier scholars, for the citing of statements that are in agreement with the writer's views and taste from earlier books has been something customary among writers and compilers from among eminent scholars and authorities. As to the ascription of the treatise to Sayyid ibn Tawus, may God be pleased with him, it is very improbable, because, firstly Ibn Tawus was a scholar of the 7th/12th century and a resident of Hillah and by origin an Arabic‑speaking sayyid, and consequently he could not have written Persian prose and that too in a style characteristic of recent centuries. Also, it is obvious from the style and character of this treatise that it is not a translation but an original work of prose. Besides, anyone who is familiar with the works of Ibn Tawus knows that the spiritual approach of Ibn Tawus was one that consisted of muraqabah, muhasabah, fasting, and supplication, and the character of wayfaring described in this book is quite different from the spirituality of Ibn Tawus.
From that which has been said it may be concluded that the authenticity of its ascription to Bahr al‑`Ulum is highly and strongly probable, though God knows best. This is true especially in view of the states of that marhum, who possessed a station of inner purity and an inner light and partook considerably of occult matters and mysteries.
It is stated in the A`yan al‑Shi`ah, part 48, p. 166:
Until today the belief of the generality of the people about him is that he was one of those who possessed exclusive divine secrets and partook of divine grace, occult knowledge and miraculous qualities. Among things that cannot be doubted is that he was marked by a tendency like that of the Sufis and gnostics which manifested itself in his asceticism, devotions and itinerancy.
In any case, after copying for myself the entire treatise from the manuscript belonging to Ayatullah Allamah Tabatabai, may his shadow endure forever, for a long time I used to read it repeatedly and benefit from it. Then I decided to write a brief gloss upon it clarifying some of its difficulties and mentioning the sources of the traditions and poetic verses cited in it. I thank God, the Exalted and the Blessed, for His favour in enabling me to carry out this difficult task to the extent of my capacity. I implore the learned and perspicacious readers to overlook any mistakes that they may come across and to remember me, in life and after death, in their salubrious supplications.
As to the biographical account of Bahr al‑`Ulum and description of the high degrees of perfection of that unique figure of his era and a rare personage of all times, it is beyond the range of the flight of this nondescript's thoughts and beyond the capacity of this destitute's pen.
What can I say concerning someone who was such that the shaykh of the fuqaha' and the mujtahids, Shaykh Ja'far Kashif al‑Ghita' would wipe the dust off his shoes with the lose end (hanak) of his turban (`ammamah) and who was such that the erudite researcher and the profound legist and possessor of outer and inner perfections, Mirza Abu al‑Qasim Jilani Qummi, once when he chanced to be present in one of his greatly enriching sessions during a pilgrimage to the Holy Shrines, asked him in the presence of a group of people: "May my father and mother be your ransom, what have you done that you have attained such a station!?" What shall I say concerning someone about whom there is no doubt that he had repeated and recurrent meetings with the Imam of the Age, Hujjat ibn al‑Hasan al‑Askari, may our spirits be his ransom, and this is regarded as a definite fact by eminent scholars or rather by all residents of Najaf Ashraf, and it can even be inferred from some statements of certain personages that the possibility was perpetually available to him of meeting that sublime Wali of the realm of contingency? And what shall I say about someone whom the Imam of the Age, that possessor of the station of greatest wilayah, took into his own arms?!
However, for the sake of the barakah and blessing of his remembrance, we will cite verbatim his biographical account given by Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Baqir Khunsari, who was his contemporary.
The veritable sayyid and the pillar of trust, our master Sayyid Mahdi, son of Sayyid Murtada, son of Sayyid Muhammad, Hasani Husayni Tabatabai Najafi-may God grant him a long life and may He make everlasting his high station and the barakah and blessings that flow out from his being‑is a leader and imam the like of whom time has not offered to the world. A grand prince of great will and goals, a high‑flying spirit whose like the mother of time has been unable to bear for ages, he has been the sire of the scholars of eminence and the master of the learned of Islam, the most erudite figure of his era and the unique personage of his times.
Should he open a discussion about a rational topic, it would appear to you as if it were the Shaykh al‑Raris (Ibn Sina) that was speaking or a Socrates, a Plato or an Aristotle. And were he to discuss a scriptural (manqul)topic, you would say that it was a veritable `allamah in law and jurisprudence. One would not see him debate with anyone in the art of kalam without being prompted to swear, `By God, it is ‘Alam al‑Huda!' And were you to hear him while he is expounding the Noble Qur'an you would forget all that you had in your mind and you would imagine that it is as if he were the one on whom God had sent down the Qur'an! His noble birthplace is Karbala' Mu`alla and he was born on the night of Friday in the month of Shawwal al‑Mukarram 1155 H. [November‑December 1742] and according to the numerological value of the letters of the alphabet the date of his auspicious birth is represented by this phrase:
[Al‑Mahdi was born to help al‑Haqq]
He studied for a short time under his father, who was a pious scholar and a good and virtuous man, and also studied under a number of other teachers including Shaykh Yusuf Bahrani. Thereafter he went on to attend the lectures of our teacher the Allamah Aqa Muhammad Baqir Wahid Behbahani, may God grant them long lives. After that he went to Najaf Ashraf and took up residence there. His auspicious and blessed house is at the present time the cynosure, resort and sanctuary of eminent scholars and masters of the arts from among the learned.
After our teacher Allamah Wahid, Bahr al‑`Ulum‑may their station be perpetually high‑is the leading religious personality of Iraq and the absolute chief and guardian of the learned. The scholars of Iraq have all turned towards him and made him their resort, and the eminent from among outstanding scholars study under him. Bahr al‑`Ulum is like the ka`bah of Iraq, for the benefit of whose company people come from long distances, and he is a shoreless ocean. Moreover, he has displayed manifestly miraculous qualities which are not concealed from anyone and when a large group of Jews witnessed his miracles and proofs, all of them entered the fold of Islam and embraced Shi`ism. This episode with its clarity and vividness is so widely known that its fame has reached every ear and penetrated to every corner of the world.
To appreciate the greatness and splendour of this great man from whom such Divine signs have become manifest, it is enough to know that on the night of his auspicious birth his father, who was in the Hijaz at the time, saw in a dream that our Master Hadrat Rida, may the best of benedictions and Peace be upon him and his fathers and descendants, had sent him a candle through Isma’il ibn Bazi to be lit on the roof of his house and the light and radiance of that candle spread through the sky in such a manner that there was no visible end to it.
On meeting him and coming face‑to face with him when one's eyes fall on him one is immersed in a world of wonder and says to oneself, "This man is not a mortal!"
The things that we have mentioned are facts which have been mentioned in the Muntha al‑maqal concerning this sign of excellence and this true scholar, a personality whom God has confirmed with a variety of arts of perfection, granting him, rather, the gift of lawful magic and endowing him with an intoxication free from error in solving problems and resolving difficult issues and in devastating false ideas and demolishing during debates the notions of formidable scholarly figures of the era.
For his nobility and excellence throughout the world and in all it comers it is sufficient that no one has ever been awarded the appellation Bahr al‑ `Ulum, which means the `ocean of sciences.'
This was a brief biographical sketch of that paragon of knowledge and ma`rifah given by the Rawdat al jannat.
O Lord, forgive us and our brothers who have gone forth before us and do not make‑our hearts harbour any rancour against those who have faith. Our Lord, indeed You are most kind and merciful. And all Praise belongs to God, firstly and lastly, and our last cry is `All Praise is for Allah, the Lord of all beings.' Written by the mortal hand by this servant, hopeful of Divine mercy:
al‑Sayyid Muhmmad al‑Husayn al‑Husayni al‑Tehrani
23 Rabi` al‑Awwal 1393 H./[April 1973]
# Part 1:
On the Characteristics of the Number Forty in the Development of Human Potentialities
Risaleh‑ye Sayr wa Suluk
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. All praise and eulogies belong to the Mainspring of Being. And may benedictions be upon him who stands in the stations of epiphany [1] and upon his Progeny, the Trustees [2] of the Worshipped One.
O fellow travellers of the realm of felicity and purity! O comrades on the oath of sincerity and fidelity!
Wait! I perceive a fire on the mountain side. Perchance I will bring you a brand or a faggot from it, that haply you may warm yourselves. [3]
It has been narrated with several chains of authorities from the Master of the Apostles and the Guides of the Godward oaths (that he said):
Whoever dedicates himself to God for forty days, will find springs of wisdom sprout out of his heart and flow on his tongue. [4]
The wordings of the narrations differ but their meaning is the same.
We have seen clearly [through direct experience] and known through the statements [of the sages] that this noble instance from among the instances pertaining to numbers has a particular significance and a special effectiveness in the development of inner potentialities and the perfection of enduring qualities and in covering the stages and traversing the phases [of wayfaring]. [5]
Though the stages on the way are manifold, but every stage has a goal. And though the phases should be innumerable, with every phase that you enter you pass across a world.
The fashioning of the clay (tinat)of Adam, the father of mankind, was completed in forty mornings:
And I fashioned Adam's clay with My Hands in forty days. [6]
In this number [of days] he crossed a world from among the worlds of potentiality, and, according to a tradition, his body lay for forty years between Makkah and Madinah and the rains of divine mercy poured upon him so that in this number [of days] he became capable of receiving the Holy Spirit. [7]
The duration of the promised meeting (miqat)of Moses, may Peace be upon him, was completed in forty nights, and his people were delivered from their wanderings after forty years.
The Seal of the Prophets (s) rose for service after forty years and was dressed in the robes of prophethood.
The period of the journey through the realm of this world, from the first manifestation of potentiality to the end of its completion in this world is forty years, as it has been narrated that the human being's intellect attains maturity in forty years, everyone according to his capacity. [8] He grows from the outset of his entry into this world until the age of thirty years, and thereafter for ten years his body is remains in a halted condition. And at forty years [9] he completes his journey through the world of nature (tabi`at)[10] and commences the journey towards the world of the Hereafter. Thereat every day and every year he is engaged in packing up to make the departure from this world. His strength diminishes year after year, and his eyesight and hearing are on decrease. The corporal faculties are on decline and the body in a process of wasting away, for the period of his journey and sojourn in this world is over in forty years.
And it is for this reason that it has been said:
One who reaches forty years and does not take up a staff has surely disobeyed.
That is because the staff is a sign of a traveller and it is desirable for the traveller to carry a staff. And when forty years are over, it is the time for journey, and the taking up of the staff signifies preparation for the journey of the Hereafter and collecting oneself for departure (and whoever does not carry a staff is neglectful of the impending journey). Similarly, the body attains maturity at this age and so also do the ranks of felicity or wretchedness. And for this reason it is mentioned in hadith that Satan strokes a face that does not achieve salvation by the age of forty years, and says:
May my father and mother be ransomed for the face that shall never prosper. [11]
And adds, "Your name has been enlisted in the register of my troops." And that which is stated in a tradition, that one who assists a blind man for forty steps becomes worthy of entering paradise, it literally means someone who lacks eyesight, and its interpretation (ta'wil) is someone who is blind due to the lack of inner sight, because the blind man lacking eyesight does not reach actuality from potentiality after completing forty steps, though he may come near it, and if left to himself he would return to his earlier state And the completion of spiritual excellence (ihsan)and the attainment of guidance is realized on completion of forty [steps] and in this respect results in worthiness for paradise.
Similarly, it has been mentioned in a hadith that everyone's neighbourhood extends until forty houses in the four directions, [12] and beyond that number it is as if they belong to separate worlds. Its interpretation, in respect of neighbourhood and affinity, pertains to the faculties [13] (quwa) which are those of Imagination (wahmiyyah), Appetite (shahwiyyah), and Anger (ghadabiyyah), [14]and whoever does not draw away forty stages from the stages of these faculties has not left their worlds and is still in their neighbourhood.
Hence if the neighbourhood and vicinity relate to the faculty of the corporeal (mulki) intellect, they describe for one another their circumstance:
O neighbour, we are strangers here, And every stranger has a kindred in another.
And if the neighbourhood should be one of the satanic, predatory and bestial faculty of Appetite, they address one another with this song:
Neighbour!
Calamities come down,
Yet I shall stand ground as long as
mountains (reading Asib for `ashib)stand. [15]
In fine, the property of the number forty in manifesting actuality and developing capacity and potentiality and in the attainment of enduring habit (malikah) is something which has been clearly stated in the verses of the scripture and the traditions and tested by the experience of the people of esoteric knowledge and secrets. That is the reason why the noble tradition informs us about the attainment of the marks of sincerity (khulus)at this stage, as it is the source of the spring of gnosis and wisdom. And there is no doubt that every fortunate person who resolves to traverse these forty stages will find the mainspring of gnosis gush forth from the ground of his heart after he has developed the capacity of khulus to the point of actuality.
These forty stages belong to the world of khulus and ikhlas and the destination and end of these stages is a world above the world of the mukhlasin, [a world described by the Prophet in the words]:
I spend the night with my Lord, and He feeds me and gives me to drink. [16]
As the Divine the food and drink [mentioned here] are the higher teachings (ma`arij)and the infinite true sciences.
And that is why the feast given to the Seal of the Prophets (s) on the night of the Ascent (mi`raj)has been described as "milk and rice," [17] for milk in this world stands for the true sciences in the realm of immateriality, and that is why milk seen in dreams is interpreted as knowledge.
The wayfarer of these stages reaches his destination when his journey takes place in the world of khulus, not that he obtains khulus in these stages. For that which has been said is:
Whoever dedicates himself to God for forty days . . . .
Hence, in these forty stages, the stage of khulus must have been reached already. Therefore the world of khulus is the beginning of these stages, not that the door of gnosis is opened to everyone who practices austerities for forty days or that he may obtain khulus in forty days. Hence the traveller in the world of this hadith cannot do without certain things: [18]
First: A non‑detailed, overall knowledge of the destination, which is the world of manifestation of the springs of wisdom. For so long as one does not have any notion of the destination, one cannot make any effort to seek it.
Second: Entry into the world of khulus and its gnosis.
Third: Journey through the forty stages of this world.
Four: Traversing the several worlds that precede the world of khulus, so that he may enter the world of khulus after having traversed them.
Notes:
[1].
Indeed he saw him another time, by the Lote‑Tree of the Boundary.(53:13)
then he approached and drew closer, two‑bows'‑length away or nearer.(53:8)
And We bring thee as a witness over these. (4:41)
[2]. See al‑Ziyarat al jami'ah:
By the right of Him who made you trustees of His secret and appointed you guardians over His creation.
[3]. This sentence does not occur with such a wording in the Glorious Qur'an. However, in three places in the Glorious Qur’an there are passages with a similar wording:
Hast thou received the story of Moses? When he saw afire, and said to his household, 'Tarry you here; I observe a fire. Perhaps I shall bring you a brand front it, or I shall find at the fire guidance.'(20:10)
When Moses said to his household, I observe afire, and will bring you news from it, or I will bring you a flaming brand, that haply you may warm yourselves.'(27:7)
So when Moses had completed the term and departed with his household, he observed on the side of the Mount a fire. He said to his household, 'Tarry you here; I observe a fire. Perhaps I shall bring you new from it, or fagot from the fire, that haply you may warm yourselves.'(28:29)
As can be seen, this passage does not occur in any of the three Qur’anic verses mentioned above, although it bears a correct sense. Perhaps the author, may God elevate his station, did not intend to give a 'citation from the Qur'an but wanted to compose a sentence in his own fine style by drawing on all the three verses with some additions.
[4]. Narrations concerning the emergence of wisdom from the heart and upon the tongue are recorded in three Shi`i sources of hadith, firstly in 'Uyun akhbar al‑Rida ('a), p. 258, secondly, in 'Uddat al‑da'i, p. 170, thirdly, in Usul al‑Kafi, vol. 2, p. 16. It has been reproduced in the Biharal‑anwar from 'Uddat al‑da’i (vol. 15, juz' 2, p. 85) and again from the 'Uddah (ibid., p. 87) and al‑Kafi (p. 85). The 'Uyun narrates the tradition with its isnad from Darim ibn. Qabisah ibn Nahshal ibn Majma'al‑Nahshali al‑San`ani at Surra Man Ra'a: (Samarra'):
He said: "Narrated to us Ali ibn Musa al‑Rida, from his father, from his grandfather, from Muhammad ibn Ali, from his father, from Jabir ibn Abd Allah, from ‘Ali, that he said: `The Messenger of Allah (s)said: "A servant does not dedicate himself to God for forty days without springs of wisdom flowing from his heart on his tongue." "'
However, the wording mentioned in the Bihar, and also Safinat al‑Bihar, is:
As to the narration of Uddat al‑da'i, it is cited as a mursal tradition (i.e. a tradition without a connected chain of authorities) from the Messenger of Allah (s) that he said:
Whoever dedicates [himself] to God for forty days, God makes springs of wisdom flow from his heart on his tongue.
As for the narration of al‑Kafi, it is given with an isnad from Ibn `Uyaynah, from al‑Sindi from Abu ja`far (`a) that he said:
A servant does not foster pure faith in God for forty days... (or he said) A servant does not refine his remembrance of God for forty days without God making him detached toward the world and granting him the vision to see its ills and their remedies and establishing wisdom in his heart and making his tongue speak with it...
As can be seen, though the wording is different the meaning is the same. As to the books of the Sunnis (Ammah), it is mentioned in the Jhya'al‑ ‘ulm, vol. 4, p. 322:
The Messenger of Allah said: `No servant performs his works purely for God's sake for forty days without the springs of wisdom emerging from his heart on his tongue.
On page 191 the following is mentioned in the gloss:
Should one who renounce the world for forty days and perform worship therein with complete dedication, God will make springs of wisdom flow from his heart on his tongue.
In the Awarif al‑ma`arif printed on the margins of Ihya' al‑'ulum, vol. 2, p. 256, it is mentioned:
A statement of the Messenger of Allah: `Whoever dedicates [himself] to God for forty days, God makes springs of wisdom flow from his heart on his tongue.'
[5]. Manazil is plural of manzil (lit. stopping place), which is a place where the travellers halt to relax, and as the halt for resting is made mostly after four parasangs, the distance of four parasangs (which is the same as the barid)is called a manzil.
Marahil is plural of marhalah which is a day's journey, and that consists of two manzils or two bands. The author, may God's merry be upon him, has likened the worlds to marahil so that the covering of one marhalah and entry into another consists of passage through one world and entry into another, and he has likened the stages within the worlds to manazil so that covering a manzil and reaching another manzil is like arriving at a stage.
[6]. Ihya'al‑'ulam, vol. 4, p. 238 cites the following tradition of the Messenger of God (s)
Verily, God leavened Adam's clay with His two Hands for forty days.
The Mirsad al‑ibad, p. 38, and Risaleh ye 'ishq, p. 83, cite the following tradition:
I leavened the day of Adam for forty days with My Hands.
In the Awarif al‑ma'arif, printed on the margins of Ihya'al‑'ulum, vol. 2, p. 260, it is stated:
. . . so He fashioned him from clay and leavened his clay for forty days, so as to remove with a forty‑day leavening forty veils that conceal the Divine Presence. Every veil is a property impressed in him wherewith he is afforded to foster his worldly interests, but which separates him from the Divine Presence and the abodes of Divine Proximity.
[7]. This is referred to in the following verses:
And when we appointed with Moses forty nights.(2:51)
….. so the appointed time of his Lord was forty nights.(7:142)
Said He: 'Then it shall be forbidden them for forty years, they shall wander in the earth.(5:26)
[8]. As stated by God, the Exalted, in 46:15:
Until, when he is fully grown, and reaches forty years, he says, "O my Lord, dispose me that I may be thankful for Thy blessing wherewith .Thou hast blessed me . . . .
Accordingly, the maximum power of the intellect is at the age of forty years, and the common notion that the human being's intellect grows at forty is erroneous. This misconception arises because after this age man acquires greater experience and his judgement is more often correct due to this accumulated experience; however, its accuracy is due to greater experience and not due to the actual power of the intellect, so if supposedly one had this experience at forty years one would make that accurate rational judgement at that time, that is, at the age of forty.
[9]. In the second part of Usul al‑Kafi, p. 455, the following marfu` tradition, without a continuous chain of authorities, is cited from Hadrat Abu Jafar ('a):
When a man enters his fortieth year, it is said to him, "Now be careful, because (henceforth) you will not have any excuse.
[10]. The following traditions are reported in Saduq's al‑Khisal, p. 545, from Imam Sadiq (‘a):
Verily, a man has an amplitude [of freedom] until forty years; but when he reaches forty, God, the Almighty and Glorious, reveals to His angels, "Verily, I have made My servant come of age, so now be strict and severe with him and record and write down his every action, whether it is a minor one or a major one, and whether his works are abundant or sparse."
When a servant reaches thirty‑three he comes of age, and when he reaches forty years, he attains to his ultimate maturity. Hence as he enters forty‑one his powers are on decline, and it is befitting for one at fifty to consider himself like someone in his death throes.
In Jami' al‑akhbar, fas 76, p. 140, it is reported from the Prophet (s) that he said:
Persons of fifty years are like a field ready for harvest.
And Safinat al‑Bihar, p. 504, cites the following narration:
When a man reaches forty years without penitence, Iblis strokes his face and says, "May my father and mother by your ransom, a face that will not prosper!"
There are many traditions which mention the number forty, such as the one recorded in the Bihar, vol. 14, p. 512:
Verily, if one recites the Surat al‑Hamd forty times on water and pours it on someone suffering from fever, God shall cure him.
And in al‑Kafi, vol. 6, p. 401, there is a tradition from Hadrat Baqir ('a)that he said:
The prayers of someone who drinks wine are not reckoned as such for forty days.
The Jami' al‑akhbar, fasl 109, p. 171, narrates the following tradition from the Messenger of God (s)
For forty days and nights, God, the Exalted, does not accept the prayers and fasts of someone who backbites a Muslim man or woman unless that person pardons him.
In the Bihar, vol. 13, p. 245, the following sentence occurs in a noble message (tawqi) [of the Imam of the Age]:
For forty days the earth complains to God on account of the urine of the uncircumcised man (that falls on the ground.)
In al‑Khisal, p. 538, al‑Saduq narrates with his continuous chain of authorities:
When a believer dies and forty men from among the believers attend his funeral and say, "O God, we know nothing about him except goodness, and You know him better than we do." God, the Exalted and the Blessed, says, "Your testimony suffices Me, and I forgive him what I know of things that you do not know.
And in 'Uddat al‑da'i, p. 128, "bab du`a li al‑ikhwan wa iltimasihi minhum," the following tradition is reported on the authority of Ibn Abi `Umayr from Hisham ibn Salim from Abu Abd Allah ('a):
If someone brings forward forty believers and makes a prayer, his supplication is answered.
In Bihar al‑anwar, vol. 18, p. 204, "kitab al‑jana'iz," there is a section (bab) entitled "bab shahadat arba'ina li al‑mayyit," where the following tradition is cited from 'Uddat al‑da'i from Hadrat Sadiq ('a):
There was a devout person amongst the Children of Israel about whom God had informed David ('a) that he was hypocritical in his piety When he died, David ('a) did not attend his funeral. Then forty persons from the Israelites stood up and said, "O God, we know nothing about him except goodness and You know him better than we do, so forgive him." When his body had been washed, another forty came forward and said, "O God, we know nothing about him except goodness and You know him better than we do, so forgive him." When he was laid in his grave another forty stood up and said, "O God, we know nothing about him except goodness and You know him better than we do, so forgive him." Then God, the Exalted, revealed to David ('a), "What kept you from making prayer over him?" David ('a) said, "That which You had told me." Thereat God revealed to him, "Verily, a group of people bore witness (in his favour). I accepted their witness as sufficient and I forgave him what I knew and that which they did not know"
And in 'Uddat al‑da'i p. 201, the following remedy is suggested for the removal of illness and disease:
Thirdly (one should recite), "Bismillah al‑rahman al‑rahim. Al‑hamdu lillahi rabb al‑'alamin. Hasbunallah wa ni'm al‑wakil, tabarak Allahu ahsan al‑khaliqin. La hawla wa la quwwata ilia billah al‑'ali al‑'azim." He should recite this forty times in a supplication following the dawn prayer and then stroke the sick person. Whatever be his affliction, especially if it were an open wound it will be cured with the permission of God. This (formula) has been tried and cure has been obtained through it.
Again in `Uddat al‑da'i, p. 94, it is stated:
. . . and one who prays for forty of his brothers, mentioning their names and the names of their fathers. And one who has a ring in his hand studded with turquoise or carnelian . . . .
In Bihar al‑anwar, vol. 14, p. 551, it is stated on the authority of the Shahid:
The remedy of fever by pouring water (on the sick person) has been narrated; but if that is difficult let him put his hand in cold water. For one who has severe pain al‑Hamd should be recited forty times over a pail of water which is put on the sick person who is made to sit up, assisted by the helper with his hand, and told to pray, whereat he will be cured.
And in the Iqbal al‑a'mal, p. 589, it is stated [by Ibn Tawus]: "I have narrated a tradition with my isnad from Abu Ja`far al‑Tusi, my grandfather, which he has narrated with his isnad from our master, al‑Hasan ibn A1i al‑Askari, may God's blessings be upon him, that he said:
The signs of a believer are five: performing fifty‑one rak'ahs of prayer, making the ziyarah of arba'in, wearing a ring in the right hand, placing the forehead on dust [during prostration], and saying "Bismillah al‑rahman al‑rahim" aloud.
In al‑Khisal, p. 541, it is narrated from Hadrat Amir al‑Mu'minin ('a)that he said:
The Messenger of Allah said: "One who preserves for the sake of my ummah forty traditions relating to their religious needs, God shall raise him as a learned scholar on the Day of Resurrection.
In Bihar al‑anwar, vol. 5, p. 43, a tradition is cited from An ibn Ibrahim's Tafsir, from Hadrat Sadiq ('a)that he said:
. . . so for forty days Adam remained in prostration, weeping for the loss of paradise.
And in Ikmal al‑Din, p. 13, it is narrated from Hadrat Abu ja'far (`a) that he said:
Adam wept for Abel for forty nights.
On page 86 it cites a tradition of Hadrat Sadiq ('a)from Ali ibn Ibrahim's Tafsir that he said [concerning Noah's flood]:
So for forty days water continued to pour from the heaven and to stream out from the earth.
Baydawi in his commentary on the verse “Until, he is fully grown. . . " (46:15)says:
His mature age is that after which there is no further growth, and that is from thirty to forty years; for it is then that the intellect becomes perfect. And it has been narrated that there has been no prophet whose ministry did not start at forty, which is the time when body and mind attain maturity.
In al‑Khisal, p. 539it is narrated from Hadrat Baqir ( `a) that he said:
Between the two words God, Almighty and Glorious, gave a forty year respite to Pharaoh . . . . Then God seized him for the punishment of the world and the Hereafter . . . . And there passed forty years from the time when God, Almighty and Glorious, said to Moses and Aaron, "Indeed, I have answered your prayer" until the time when God drowned him. . . Gabriel said, "I pleaded with my Lord strongly in the matter of Pharaoh and I said, `O Lord, do You leave him while he says, "I am your supreme lord"? He said, "He is only saying it. He is also a creature like you."
Then in an explanation of this tradition Majlisi, may God's mercy ‑be upon him, says:
Perhaps that which is meant here by `the two words' is the statement of God, the Exalted, "I have answered your prayer," and His drowning Pharaoh (in the sea) or the utterance of Pharaoh "I do not know that you have any god except I" and his saying, ”I am your supreme lord.”
In Bihar al‑anwar, vol. 5, p. 433, there is a report that a group of Jews came to Abu Talib and said:
"O Abu Talib, your nephew claims to receive communications from the heavens and we will him certain questions. Should he answer them we would know that he is truthful and if he does not we would know that he is a liar." Abu Talib said, `Ask him whatever you wish." So they asked him concerning three matters. The Messenger of Allah (s) said to them,"I will inform you tomorrow," and he did not say "God willing." Therefore, revelation (wahy) was withheld from him for forty days, as a result of which the Prophet (s) was distressed and his Companions who had believed in him fell into doubt.
Bihar al‑anwar, vol. 6, p. 117, cites a tradition from the book 'Udad by Shaykh Radi al‑Din Ali ibn Yusuf ibn Mutahhar al‑Hilli, brother of Allamah Hilli, concerning the birth of Hadrat Fatimah where it is said:
When Gabriel descended m his mightiest form, he opened his wings until they extended from the east to the west. Then he called, "O Muhammad, the Highest and the Supreme gives you salam and He commands you to refrain from Khadijah for forty days .... That was hard upon the Prophet (s) for he loved her tenderly Then for forty days the Prophet (s) would fast during the days and spent the nights in worship.
With this end our citations from narrations mentioning the word arba'in (forty).
[11]. This tradition is cited in Safinat al‑bihar, vol. 1, p. 504; in Ihya'al‑'ulum, vol. 3, p. 25 it is cited as follows:
When a man reaches forty years without ever repenting, Satan strokes his face with his hand and says, "May my father be your ransom, it is the face of one who will not prosper!"
[12]. There are four narrations related to this tradition cited in Wasa'il al‑Shi'ah, "kitab al‑hajj." "ahkam al‑`ishrah," bab 90. The first of them is from Kulayni who reports with his isnad from Hadrat Baqir ('a)that he said:
The limits of neighbourhood extend to forty houses in every direction, to the front, to the rear, to the right, and to the left.
The second one is also one narrated by al‑Kulayni with his isnad from Hadrat Sadiq:
The Messenger of Allah (s) said, "All the forty houses to the front and the rear, to the left and to the right are neighbours."
The third one is from Shaykh Saduq in Ma'ani al‑akhbar, narrated with isnad from Hadrat Sadiq ('a):
Mu'awiyah ibn Ammar asked the Hadrat, "May I be made your ransom, what are the limits of neighbourhood?" He replied, " Forty house in every direction."
The fourth one is from 'Uqbah ibn Khalid from Hadrat Sadiq ('a)from his ancestors:
The Commander of the Faithful ('a) said, "The holy precincts (harim) of a mosque extend up to forty houses, and neighbourhood extends up to forty houses in the four directions."
[13]. What is meant by the author is that man is captive to the fourfold powers (quwa)of the intellect ('aql), imagination (wahm), anger (ghadab)and appetite (shahwah), and until he distances himself from them to the extent of forty stages he would not attain to the station of annihilation (fana)in God. Withdrawal from one stage of appetite, for instance, does not liberate man from that stage completely, because the reality of that stage of appetite is still latent in him, and so long as he does not recede forty stages from the first stage its effects do not disappear completely. Accordingly, if we suppose the domain of appetite, for instance, to consist of several stages, man is liberated from one of its stages only when he has emancipated himself from all its forty stages, otherwise mere departure from one stage does not liberate him from it, and it is possible that some accident may bring him back to the first stage. The same applies to the domains of the intellect, anger, and imagination. Accordingly, one is truly liberated from the first stage of anger only when he has departed from its fortieth stage, and one is liberated from the fifth stage of the intellect only when he has departed from its fortieth stage, and so on and so forth. Hence for liberation from any of the stages one must leave all the forty stages in order to achieve complete emancipation from that stage.
However, there is a difference between the malakuti power of the intellect and the other three powers, as the intellect is a guide and in conflict with the other three powers. The other three powers are in perpetual conflict with the intellect. Hence, from among the forty stages of the intellect, every two stages the distance between which is less than forty are sympathetic neighbours, as they are strangers in the world of nature and victims of the powers of Appetite, Anger and Imagination, and every stranger is sympathetic towards another stranger. But each of neighbourly stages belonging to the other three powers, as they find themselves to be under the attack of the forces of the‑intellect, collaborate to put up resistance and conspire together not to yield in the face of difficulties and to bear consecutive hardships with fortitude.
[14]. It is probable that the power of the intellect has been omitted here due to a slip of the pen.
[15]. According to Jami' al‑shawahid, these verses are by Imr' al‑Qays al‑Kindi in which he addresses a dead woman:
That was when he was at Naqrah (?), where he saw a grave and inquired about it. He was told that it was the grave of a stranger, a woman. Thereupon he said:
O neighbour of ours, calamities descend,
And yet I stand firm like the mount of Asib.
O neighbour of ours, we are strangers here,
And every stranger has a kindred in a stranger.
So should you join us, there is a kinship between us,
And should you desert us, then a stranger is after all a stranger.
Then the Jami' al‑shawahid remarks that khutub is plural of khatb (calamity or mishap) and tanub is in the sense of descending. Muqim means `steadfast' in bearing hardships and al‑Asib is the name of a mountain. Accordingly, the correct word is Asib as mentioned in some manuscripts, and 'ashib is apparently incorrect, for it means a ground covered with grass.
[16]. In Man la yahduruh al faqih, vol 2, p. 111, "bab al‑siyam," it is narrated from Mu'awiyah ibn Ammar that he said:
I asked (the Imam) concerning fasting during the days of Tashriq. He replied, "The Apostle of Allah (s) only forbade fasting on these days at Mina, but there is no impediment to fasting at other places. The Apostle of Allah (s) forbade unbroken fasting, while he himself would fast continually. When asked about it he said, `I am not like any of you. I am continually near my Lord who feeds me and gives me to drink."'
The same tradition has been cited in Mahajjat al‑bayda' from Man la yahduruh al faqih. In marhum Sayyid Ali Khan's Sharh al‑Sahifah al‑Sajjadiyyah, as cited in Talkhis al‑Riyad, vol. 1, p. 37, the word is abitu (instead of azillu)and the Prophet is cited as having said:
This was from the viewpoint of Shi`i traditions. However, in the narrations of the Ahl al‑Sunnah the expression 'inda rabbi does not occur, but in some of them the wording has abitu and in some others azillu.
As to the first type, there is a tradition narrated in al‑Bukhari's Sahih, "kitab al‑tamanna," vol. 4, p. 251, with isnad from Abu Hurayrah that he said:
The Apostle of Allah (s) forbade connecting one fast with another, so they said to him, "Indeed you connect your fasts." He replied, "Which one of you is like me. Indeed at nights my Lord feeds me and He gives me to drink."
In Muslim's ,Sahih, "kitab al‑siyam," vol. 3, p. 133, there are two traditions narrated with isnad from Abu Salamah ibn Abd al‑Rahman, from Abu Hurayrah, and another from Abu Zur`ah from Abu Hurayrah, from the Messenger of God with a wording exactly as cited from Bukhari. Malik in Muwatta', "kitab al‑siyam," p. 280, narrates with his isnad from Araj, from Abu Hurayrah that:
The Apostle of Allah (s) said, "Refrain from connecting your fasts! Refrain from connecting your fasts!" They said to him, "O Apostle of Allah, indeed you fast on without breaking your fast." He said, "I am not like you. At nights my Lord feeds me and He gives me to drink."
As to the second version, the following tradition is narrated in Bukhari's Sahih, "kitab al-tamanna”, vol 4 p 251 with isnad from Anas:
The Prophet fasted on without breaking his fast at the end of the month and some of the people also did that. When the Prophet (s) heard about it he said, "Had the month been made longer for me I would have fasted on without breaking the fast so that those who plunge in these matters would leave oft' their plunging. Indeed I am not like you. I am continuously fed by my Lord and given to drink.
There is another tradition narrated in "kitab al‑sawm," vol. 1, p. 329 with isnad from Abd Allah ibn `Umar:
In Muslim's,Sahih, "kitab al‑siyam," p. 134, the tradition is cited with the wording:
On the same page of this book, as well as in Muwatta', "kitab al‑sawm," p. 280, it is narrated that the Messenger of God said:
[17]. That which is mentioned in the traditions is `milk' and I have not seen the expression `milk and rice' in any narration. When I asked my teacher Allamah Tabatabai about it, he said that he too had not come across any such tradition although he had made a search to find it.
[18]. That is, journey through the worlds preceding khulus, the world of khulus, then the fourfold stages of the world of khulus, and the world of manifestation of the springs of wisdom.
# Part 2
An Overview of the Destination
As to the knowledge of the destination referred to in the statement:
. . . springs of wisdom emerge from his heart,
we may say that the destination is the world of eternal life, which in other words is called `subsistence through the Worshipped One' (baqa' be ma`bud), and the emergence of the springs of wisdom, which are the true sciences, refers to it. Because the true sciences and the true teachings are the nourishment of sacred souls which they receive from their Lord and is the Divine nourishment for eternal life.
Rather, they are alive, nourished near their Lord,
and attainment to this world implies encompassment of all the degrees of unlimited perfection, including attainment of complete immateriality to the extent of one's contingent potentiality, because corporeality and eternal life do not go together and matter and corporeality‑belong to the world of contingency and every continent is subject to destruction: [19]
Every thing is fated to perish save His Face.
The face of every thing is the aspect with which it is faced by others and with which it is manifested and revealed for them. Hence the face of everyone is his manifestation (mazhar). Therefore, destruction and dissolution are necessary for every thing except the manifestations of Divine Attributes or Names. There have been many perfect (kummal) souls who, though they got a scent of the sciences and the ma`arif, but did not partake of a single drop of the spring of wisdom, and the spring of wisdom refers to the source of all graces and the fountainhead of all excellences.
Hence among the sublime ranks (maratib)of this world is manifestation (mazhariyyat)of, the Divine lights which are beyond destruction and dissolution in accordance with the explicit text of the Qur’an. [20]
And among its ranks is total encompassment of the Divine realms (`awalim‑a ilahiyyah) to the extent of the [the individual's] contingent potentialities, as wisdom is true knowledge free from any uncertainty and doubt, and its attainment does not occur without total encompassment (ihateh ye kulliyyeh). The result of this encompassment is the knowledge of the past and the future and power of dispensation over the matters (mawadd) of the universe, as that which envelopes possesses ultimate domination over that which is enveloped, accompanying everyone and ‑being present everywhere, excepting that from which one is prevented due to occupation with the management of bodily functions.
Attainment to the totality of these ranks takes place after release from the management of the body, and all the other degrees of the graces of this world are boundless and unlimited and their description impossible.
Notes:
[19]. This explanation does not relate to the previous sentence but to the statement made earlier that the Divine nourishment is for the sacred souls and for eternal life. What is meant is that the body perishes but His Face, which is His manifestation, is enduring. Hence if the human soul in its journey should attain to the manifestations of the Divine Names and Attributes and become a manifestation of the Divine lights, it would partake of life near its Lord. Its nourishment is the same as the true sciences and teachings, which it will receive. It should be known that the realization of immateriality (tajarrud) is to the extent of one's contingent capacity (isti'dad‑e imkani). That is, should the wayfarer enter the world of lahut and attain annihilation (fana')in all the Divine Names, including even the Name ahad (the One) and obtain baqa' after fana', which is the same as life in the Worshipped One (baqa' bi al‑ma'bud), nevertheless, his soul will not attain to total immateriality in all respects, even riddance from contingent capacity, although in this state its knowledge is Divine knowledge and it accompanies every being and is aware of the past and the future. However, its rudimentary attachment to the management of the body prevents it from attaining to complete immateriality lying beyond the horizon of contingency. Hence it is seen that the relation of his soul to his body is different from its relation to the other existents and after death when the soul becomes completely detached from the body and is relieved totally from the management, of the body it will attain to complete immateriality associated with the world of lahut.
Shaykh Wali Allah Dehlawi says in his Hama`at: "It has been brought to the knowledge of this destitute that the severance of the soul's attachment to the body takes place five hundred years after death." And Muhy al‑Din states in several places that the wayfarer's unchanging essence ('ayn‑e thabit) will survive even after baqi' bi al‑ma`bud. This is not contrary to man's being the greatest of Divine Names (ism‑e a`zam)because among all existents, including even angels, it is man who is the greatest Name. However, he covers all the stages with his body and it is only the stage of attainment of complete and total immateriality‑ including even riddance from the unchanging essence and the traces of contingency‑that is obtained by him after death.
[20]. In the noble verse
Every thing is to perish except his face (wajhahu),(28:88)
whether we take the pronoun hu as referring to God or to `thing', the meaning is the same, which in the first case means that all existents perish except the Face of God, which is the same as the Divine Names with which He manifests Himself in the existents, and in the second sense it means the imperishability of the face of things which is also their aspect by which they manifest God. Also in the noble verse:
All that is upon it is perishable, and abiding is the Face of thy Lord, possessing glory and majesty. (55:27)
it can be seen that glory and majesty are attributed to the `Face' not to the `Lord,' as the phrase dhu al‑jaliil wa al‑ikram is in the nominative case (raf’). Accordingly, it means that the Face of God, which are His Names and Attributes, possesses glory and majesty and is not subject to destruction or perishment and wherever you turn, there is the Face of God.(2:115).
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Najmaldin Kubra
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Adab al-Suluk: A Treatise on Spiritual Wayfaring
by : Shaykh Najm al-Din Kubra
The Persian translation by Husayn Muhyi al-Din Qumshehi was published in Jawidan Khirad (Sophia Perennis, The Bulletin of the Islamic Iranian Academy of Philosophy), Vol. IV, No. 2, Autumn 1981, pp. 16-26. `Ali Baqirshahi, who has translated this tract from the excellent Persian translation into English, is a Ph. D. student at the Department of Philosophy, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India.
The Persian Translator's Introduction
Shaykh Najm al‑Din Kubra is one of the leading shaykhs of the Sufi path (Tariqah). His name is Ahmad, his title is "al‑Tammat al-Kubra" and his birthplace was Khwarazm. His fruitful life lasted nearly seventy‑eight years. It is said that he died in 618/1221.
In his youth he set out for travelling. In Egypt he joined the circle of Shaykh Ruzbahan Misri and attended his lectures and sermons. The teacher, impressed by the intelligence and purity of heart of his disciple, loved him as his own son and later married his daughter to him. After some time the young farer of the Sufi path (salik) resumed his journey and benefited from the leading shaykh of every city. When he returned to Egypt, Ruzbahan found that he had become a perfect man who knew the secret of spiritual wayfaring (suluk) and had learned the rules and ways of the various stages of love (Ishq)and that he was capable of teaching and guiding others. Therefore, he advised him to return to his native place, Khiyuk, situated in Khwarazm, and engage in guiding the seekers of the path and disseminate Sufi teachings.
Shaykh Najm al‑Din left for Khwarazm along with his wife and children and set up a hospice (khaniqah)and founded the Dhahabiyyah and Qurbaniyyah and other Sufi orders. He trained many disciples who themselves later became saints (wali)and teachers (murshid), like Majd al‑Din Baghdadi, Shaykh `Attar, Sa’d al‑Din Hamawi and Najm al‑Din Razi. As to the date of his death, his biographers are unanimous that the Shaykh was martyred, along with his disciples, on the tenth of Jamadi al‑'Awwal 618/1221, while defending his city against the attack of the Mongols.
Among the eight works attributed to him by historians, there is one exegesis of the Qur'an, of which not even a single copy has been found. Another is a small treatise in Persian under the title of Fi adab al‑salikin ("The Rules of the Wayfarers") which exists in the Asian Museum. The present tract is the translation of one of the Shaykh's treatises in Arabic entitled Adab al‑suluk ila Hadrat Malik al‑Muluk, which consists of two sections. One is a spiritual journey towards God (Haqq)through removal of the veils of negligence and the veils of distance and darkness. The other is a physical journey in the vast earth of God. Out of these two journeys, here we have translated the one related to esoteric wayfaring, on the basis of a manuscript in the. Central Library of the Tehran University. I dedicate this work to those steeped in mysticism and intoxicated by the wine of Tawhid.
It is hoped that this brief work will invoke interest among researchers so that they are inspired to translate other works of the great Shaykh as well as to do research on his life.
Husayn Muhyi al‑Din Qumshehi
# Adab al-Suluk
He is the Truth.
All praise and gratitude is due to God, the Wise and the Merciful; the God Who enables His slaves to travel through the horizons (afaq)so that they may observe the wonders of His Might and Wisdom and discover the proofs of His Majesty, as well as the signs of His Grace and Mercy in all directions and corners of the world; the God Who makes the (satanic) selves of ‑ the wayfarers to die and makes manifest the hidden secret of their inner selves, and brings what is concealed to light through the hardships of journey, the taking of risks, and the separation from home and children and the avoidance of association with others (than Allah) and shunning all except Allah, the Master of the Kingdom (Malik al‑Mulk). May God's peace and praise be upon the chief of mankind and the noblest of the human species, Muhammad al‑Mustafa, his pure Family, his Companions and his Ummah. Therefore, surrender yourself totally to Hadrat‑e Haqq (The Truth, i.e. God).
O slave of Allah! Know that you are a wayfarer (salik)seeking your Lord and ultimately one day you would meet Him, as said in a tradition: Whoever hopes to meet God should know that the time of the meeting will come. And you should know that God, the Exalted, by leis perfect Might and Wisdom has destined two journeys for the Children of Adam. One of them is involuntary (qahri), and the other one is voluntary (ikhtiyari).
As to the involuntary journey, the starting point is the father's loins (sulb); the second stage is the mother's womb; the third stage is the physical world; and the fourth stage is that of the grave, which is either a garden out of the gardens of paradise or is a pit out of the pits of hell. The fifth stage is the Day of Resurrection, which is equal to fifty thousand years of this world. After that stage you will reach your eternal home and attain the real abode ‑ that is, the abode of peace (dar al‑salam)and the paradise of security and peace, in case you are among the felicitous and the friends of the Haqq; or your home will be the abode of fire and torture, if, God forbid, you should be among the wretched and the enemies of the Haqq, as Allah has said: "On the Day of Resurrection a group will be in paradise and a group in hell." Every breath that you take is a step towards the stage of death. Every day of your life is equal to a parsang. Each month is like a stage (marhalah)and each year like a station (manzil). Your journey is like the movement of the sun and the moon ‑ yet you are oblivious of this journey and movement ‑ and in your ignorance and forgetfulness you have failed to make ready and equip yourself properly for the station (manzil)of the grave and the onward journey to the station of the Day of Resurrection and your eternal and real home.
But the voluntary journey is of two kinds: one is the journey of the souls and the hearts toward the Almighty and All‑powerful King of the world. The second is a physical journey (safar jismani)in the earth of God. We will devote a separate chapter to each one of these two journeys, so that you receive the required guidance for attaining their goals and are guided in preparing the means, in opening the gates, and in learning the principles (adab), which will be your companion and assistant in matters relating to every good and piety, and so that it assists the people of love (`ishq)and yearning during their journey, and serve insha' Allah ta’ala, for the compiler as a provision for the Day of Resurrection vis‑a‑vis his Lord (Mawla).
O Lord, open the gates of Your grace and mercy to us! O Lord, Who art Bounteous and Magnanimous!
# Chapter 1
Regarding the Spiritual Journey Towards the Glorious Lord and the Significance of This Journey.
O slave of God, know that God, the Exalted, created man only in order to enable his heart or spirit to make the journey towards Him and to attain communion with Him, and to observe His Glory and Beauty, which is the ultimate end of all purposes and goals and the end of all bounties and gifts. The world and whatsoever in it, as well as the other world and whatsoever is in it, have been created for the same purpose. The advent of the prophets and messengers and the revelation of the Qur'an and the other scriptures ‑ all are meant to fulfil the same purpose. As God says:
And I did not create the jinn and the human kind except that they should serve (or worship)Me. (51:56)
Ibn `Abbas (May God be pleased with him) said that here li ya'budun (that they may serve Me) means li ya`rifun (that they may know Me). That is, all have been created in order to know Me. According to a sacred tradition (hadith qudsi), God has said:
I was a hidden treasure; then I wished to become known. Then I created the creation, so that I may be known.
But as to the meaning of this journey, know that man's heart is confronted with veils, obstacles and great distances (of separation from God).
There are also for it degrees, stages and stations of proximity to God. If one does not overcome the hurdles of the path, one cannot attain any degree of proximity to God.
The Sacred Lord (Hadrat al‑Quds)will not be revealed until and unless he tears away the veils of the self (hujubal‑nafs). So the first veil, which is the cause of separation from the Almighty Lord (Hadrat al‑`Izzah)is ignorance regarding Him, ascribing of partners to the One (shirk), and doubt in His attributes of Glory and Perfection. All this amounts to the negation (kufr)to God, the Exalted, which is the greatest and the darkest of all veils, as God has said:
Surely Allah does not forgive that partners should be ascribed to Him. (4: 48, 116)
Se it is essential for the seeker of God to change the darkness of ignorance of his heart into illumination by means of the light of knowledge, to attain the light of certainty (yaqin)by removing the darkness of doubt, to reach Tawhid by coming out of the darkness of polytheism, and to attain the light of faith by freeing himself from the perplexity of negation. Otherwise his body and soul will remain in eternal darkness and damnation in the lowest levels of hell, which God has ordained for the unbelievers, infidels and the enemies of God.
The second stage on the path of attaining proximity to God is that of obedience (ta'ah)and servitude (`ubudiyyah)to Him, for God has commanded: O mankind, worship your' God! Moreover, the Prophet (S) has narrated from the Exalted Authority that He has said:
Those who seek nearness to Me do not succeed in attaining their goal except in proportion to their fulfilment of all that I have made obligatory for them. My servant always seeks nearness to Me by means of the nawafil (supererogatory acts of worship) until he attains to My love for him.
Hence, whoever really knows his Master (Mawla)must obey Him, and whoever has discovered his Lord must worship Him; otherwise he will remain in the darkness of sins at the levels of blasphemy, for sin is one of the stages of remoteness (bu`d)from God and obedience is a means to His nearness.
The third of the stages of nearness is good conduct. Therefore, it is for the seeker of Haqq to transform his unworthy conduct into a praiseworthy one, because every praiseworthy conduct is considered to be a means of nearness to the Lord. As every moral vice is a step in the direction away from Him and which incites His displeasure, the true seeker is obliged to turn himself from the darkness of pride to the light of humility, from the meanness of jealousy to the virtue of affection and compassion, from the baseness of stinginess to the loftiness of magnanimity, from the dark abyss of ingratitude to the bright heights of gratitude, from the darkness of hypocrisy to the light of sincerity, from the desert of attachment to superficial beauty and riches of the corporeal world to the garden of love and reliance upon the Lord of the heavens and the earth, from the darkness of (false sense of) security (and unawareness) to the light of the fear of God, from the obscurity of despair (and distrust) to the light of hope and trust, from the shadows of wrath and anger to the light of patience and tolerance, from the darkness of impatience and anxiety while facing adversity and calamity to the light of patience and unconditional surrender to the bitterness of fate, from the darkness of negligence to the light of awareness and remembrance, from the darkness of perplexity and waywardness to the light of resignation and humility, from the darkness of dependence on worldly means to the light of submission to the will of the Lord of all lords, and from the darkness of slavery of lust and sensuality to the light of obedience to the exalted Creator. Thus, this journey is one of the most important journeys, and it is obligatory for all the seekers of Divine nearness, and the seekers of the. highest felicity and the eternal abode in the Hereafter, to perform this journey.
The fourth stage of the spiritual journey is that of the journey through the Beautiful Names (al‑'asma' al‑husna)and the Exalted Attributes (sifat)of Haqq. For when a seeker purifies his inner being (batin)of the causes of distance (from God) and refines and polishes his heart with the etiquettes of nearness, he will be worthy of proceeding towards the Master of the Kingdom, the effect of God's love and His grace having manifested itself in him. At this stage, there is a difference in the ranks of the awliya' and asfiya' (the elect). Abu `Abd Allah Muhammad ibn `Ali al‑Tirmidhi said: "God, Exalted and Glorious, taught His Names to His slaves, and every Name pertains to a particular (spiritual) domain (iqlim)and for every domain there is an authority (sultan). And every domain has its assembly, discourse, gifts and rewards that are bestowed upon the people of that iqlim. And He has assigned special stations to the hearts of the elect. It may happen that a wali stays in the first iqlim, for out of God's Names he knows only the name pertaining to that iqlim. It often happens that one of the awliya' has a station in the second, third, and fourth iqlim at the same time. Hence, whenever he turns towards a particular iqlim, the Name of that iqlim is conferred upon him, so that he reaches the stage of the wali who partakes of all the Names. He is the one who is benefited by all the Names and he is the chief of the awliya’."Al‑Tirmidhi says further: "That which the common people partake of the Divine Names is their faith in these Names. As to those who are in the Middle position (ashab al‑yamin), as well as the common awliya’, their share of the Divine Names depends on the opening of their hearts (sharh‑e sadr)to these Names and the light that shines in them by means of the knowledge (ma`rifah) of the Divine Attributes. Everybody enjoys according to his capacity and the measure of spiritual light that his heart possesses. But the benefit that the elect among the awliya’ ‑ who are totally ridden of the garb of earthly attachments and clad in a new spiritual attire ‑ enjoy, comprises of direct observation of Divine Attributes, and reception of their light within their hearts. From what our Shaykh (God's mercy be upon him) has mentioned, it appears that every wali enjoys a station specially assigned to him, which he does not surpass, and this station is accorded to him by God in accordance with his ability and capacity and the degree decreed for him by God. Hence when his heart attains to that known station, his mystical wayfaring reaches its destination and his journey culminates. In this journey there is no question of moving from one place to another; neither does it refer to a wayfarer's movement in space nor that of the destination sought. For God, the Exalted, is closer to a person than his own jugular vein. Here, by `journey' is meant the removal of the veils that obstruct the vision of the heart and the light of Divine Attributes from shining in the wayfarer's heart. This is the same journey for which man has been created.
# Chapter 2
On the Outward Principles of This Journey
You should know that this journey of the heart towards God requires observance of certain rules (adab), some of which are related to the outward (zahir)and certain others to the inward (batin).
The first principle relating to the outward is that the wayfarer should give up material possessions and means and detach himself from worldly engagements. He should not have any engagement except the service of his Master and obedience to Him and His remembrance. [1] God, the Exalted, has said:
Remember the Name of thy Lord, and devote thyself unto Him very devotedly. (73:8)
The second principle consists of seclusion and detachment from people, especially from everyone who hinders one from approaching God. And God has said to the Prophet (S): "Keep away from them and avoid those who call upon everything other than God."
The third principle is that the wayfarer (salik) should protect the seven organs of his body from what is abominable to his Master, God. They are as follows: The eyes should be shut from looking at what is prohibited and is not beneficial for one; the ears should not listen to slander, vilification and obscene words, and the like; the tongue is to be protected from the same kind of errors and the lips should be sealed from speaking what is devoid of benefit. And some `urafa' have said, one's speech should be in remembrance of God, one's silence should be an effort to contemplate, one's looking at things should be for deriving a lesson. The salikshould also protect his belly from unlawful and suspect things, and in the case of lawful things also he should not consume greedily, lustfully in a state of being oblivious of God; rather, while eating food he should be awake and aware of God's presence. In the same way, he should protect his feet and hands as well as his sexual organs from what is unlawful and abominable.
The fourth principle is that salikshould oppose his carnal self (nafs), that is, fight against its urges in desiring good food, good drink, good clothing, sensuous acts, and possessing a good mount for riding, etc. This is the jihad akbar (the higher struggle) about which the Prophet (S), the supreme leader of mankind, said: "You have returned from jihad asghar (the minor jihad)to the jihad akbar (the major jihad)."
And this jihad is more important and its fruits are more comprehensive than fighting against infidels (kuffar), for infidels, in war, seek wealth and are subject to the urges of their carnal self (nafs)which lead them to their everlasting perdition and eternal privation. According to the `urafa', subordination to the nafs is just like throwing firewood into flames, and the seeker (talib)and the salik, in order to get rid of his nafs, should extinguish that fire in himself.
The fifth principle is that the salikshould seek out an aware, perfect and wise shaykh in order to guide him on the path of attaining perfection so that he may attain to Haqq; for the seeker is like a patient who is surrounded by various maladies and evils and afflicted by numerous diseases and ailments. The salikis unaware of them, and even if he is aware, he does not know how to cure his nafs. So he has no option but to seek out a compassionate and friendly physician who can diagnose his diseases and help him to recover and overcome his maladies. In other words, the salik is like a traveller in a perilous and dreadful desert, who has no choice but to find a guide in order to be led to his destination.
The sixth principle is that the salikshould not busy himself with a medley of supplications, remembrances (adhkar, pl. of dhikr)supererogatory prayers (nawafil)and different kinds of practices, but should devote to a single form of dhikr and perform all the obligatory prayers and prescribed forms of worships (fara'id wa sunan). Only then he should immerse himself into the remembrance of God. It is said that dhikr is the key to the hidden world (`alam al‑ghayb)and the lamp of the inner world. Without a key one cannot enter a house and without a lamp a dark house is not illuminated. Hence the salikshould remember God in the way a lover remembers his beloved, and the remembrance must never leave him. Then he must so much persevere in dhikr that dhikr gets attached to him, not leaving his heart empty of dhikr even for a moment. When he continues in this dhikr, it is transformed from human dhikr into celestial and holy (qudsi) dhikr. `Human dhikr' is that which is done with the help of sounds, letters and numbers, while the dhikr qudsi is that which is free from numbers, letters and sounds. After this stage, the dhakir (doer of dhikr)loses his identity and is submerged within the object dhikr. He becomes unaware of his dhikr as well as his own being. There are many degrees of dhikr, some which are superior to the others, which are hard to begin; but gradually hardship and labour disappears and dhikr becomes the nature and habit of the salik.
The seventh principle is to keep constant fast, for this act signifies opposition to and suppression of the carnal self, which is the root cause of all veils, the ground of separation and remoteness from Haqq. If a salikreduces his food gradually, it is permissible. This is the way which has been followed by some Sufi masters (mashayikh). It is also proper if one adopts a middle path, i.e. observes moderation. Muhammad (S) said: "Keep your self (nafs)in a sound state, because it is what carries you about (markub); you should be kind to it and take care of it." The Prophet (S) further said: "Whoever makes his faith extremely austere for himself, his nafs overwhelms him and subordinates him." If it happens that the salikhas to break his non‑obligatory (mustahabb)fast in order to please his guest or at the signal of his spiritual guide (murad), he should not let the self enjoy to its full, but take food in minimum quantity and eat lesser than he is used to eat on the days when he keeps fast, so that he may deprive his nafs from two pleasures (one is the breaking of fast and the other is the pleasure of taking food to the heart's satisfaction). Moreover, he should not always take bread along with stew (but be content with bread only), for this practice is considered abominable by Sufi masters (mashayikh), particularly if stew is prepared with meat.
The eighth principle is taking care of bodily cleanness, for such cleanness is the weapon of a believer and it evokes inner enlightenment. The Prophet (S) said: Wudu’ (ablution) performed on wudu’ shall be as light upon light on the Judgement's Day."
The ninth principle is to keep vigil in nights. This practice is considered to be one of the most important acts of the salik. In the praise of the virtuous (abrar), God, the Exalted, says:
They used to sleep but little of night ....(51:17)
It means that they sleep little at night, and the night is the time of supplication for the awliya’and the pure.
The tenth principle for the salik is that he should strive his best to get lawful (halal)means of livelihood. God, the Exalted, has said:
Eat of the good things We have provided you... (2:172)
And the Prophet (S) said: "After the obligatory duties, it is obligatory to seek lawful livelihood"; that is, after the duty of faith it is the most obligatory of one's obligations. The lawful earning makes the inner being (batin)illuminated, and unlawful earning darkens the heart. The `urafa' have said: Whoever is nourished by lawfully earned things for forty days, God will illuminate his heart. In case the absolutely lawful is not available due to the prevailing dubious character of that which is earned, he should eat that which is less susceptible to doubt, and that too is to be taken according to one's minimum necessity and not to one's need and satiation. If the seeker acts with negligence in this regard, he will not be in a position to benefit from the fruits of the tree of `irfan. The author of the treatise (may God have mercy upon him) says, a disciple (murid) should not, even in the days of hardship and need, take even a grain of sesame that is doubtful, to say nothing of taking such a thing during normal and easier circumstances. The root cause of corruption of the world's people is their carelessness regarding this matter, as well as their lack of abstinence from unlawful and doubtful food. The Messenger of God (S) said: "The criteria of religion are piety and fear of God, and faith is corrupted because of greediness."
Here end the outward rules prescribed for the salik. There are also many inward rules followed by the people of the spiritual path (tariqah ).
Notes:
[1]. It does not mean that the wayfarer should not get involved in any social activity, but that he should live in such a way that whatever he does should be for the sake of God, and whatever pursuit or service he chooses should be a means to attaining Divine nearness. In this state, all one's acts and pursuits, though they appear to be worldly are in reality for the Hereafter, that is the world which is ‑superior to this world.
What is `the world' except the forgetfulness of God.
It is not family, possessions, wife and children.
# Chapter 3
On the Inward Rules of This Journey
First is keeping watch over the self (nafs). That is, the salikshould always keep vigil over his heart. He should not neglect it even for a moment; for otherwise he would succumb to his carnal desires and Satanic temptations. He should consider himself as being watched by God, as He has said:
...Surely Allah has been a watcher over you (4:1).
The Prophet (S) said:
God watches your heart and acts
not your apparent behaviour and worldly belongings.
Second is the expression of humility, poverty and abasement before the Lord of the world. Ba Yazid (may Allah hallow his mighty soul) said that a voice (sarush)called me from within and said: "O Ba Yazid! There are many servants in Our service. So if you seek Us, bring humility and neediness." Ba Yazid further said: "You know for certain that you are in a crying need of your Lord at every hour on many counts; so you are needful of His guiding light as well as His merciful glance, guidance and His sustenance at every moment. And, also, you are in need of Him at the time of death so that the light of Islam and its knowledge are kept intact in your heart. In the grave, too, you are in need of Him so that you successfully answer the questions asked by Nakir and Munkar (names of two angels). It is He Who will be your friend in the terrors of the grave. The greatest of all of your needs is your dependence on Him in the Day of Judgement, the day of regret and remorse, so that God, the Exalted, may make your face luminous, conceal your blemishes (with His mercy) and enhance the weight and worth of your good works in His balance (mizan), that He may facilitate the clearance of your account and put the book of your deeds in your right hand, that He may keep you firm on the Path (shat)and save you from hell‑fire and lead you towards paradise. His highest generosity and the most excellent favour is to bless you with His beatific vision." These are your essential needs with regard to your Master in this world and the other world. Hence your expression of poverty and humility before God should be according to your real poverty and need.
The third principle is repentance (tawbah)and penitence (inabah)before God, in all conditions of hardship and affluence, comfort and calamity. Referring to the Prophet Sulayman (A), God said: "He was a good servant, because he was penitent." God said the same thing about the Prophet Ayyub (A), for Sulayman (A) saw his Benefactor in His bounties (ni'mah)and Ayyub (A) saw the One who tries in His trials. Neither did the bounties enjoyed by the former blur his vision of the Provider, nor the hardship and tribulations of the latter veil his sight from seeing the hand of their Sender. In both the cases, they attributed all that happened to the Lord.
The fourth principle is surrender (taslim)to the command of God, the Exalted. Taslim means to surrender to God both with the heart and the body, both of which are under His ownership. To surrender a property to its owner is an essential condition (of submission). The owner has the right to control his property and dispose it in any way He deems proper. It is up to Him whether He honours or disgraces His slave, breathes life in him or kills him, causes sickness or bestows health on him, makes him rich or poor. Hence it is required of a saliknot to raise any objection against His will. He should not complain overtly or covertly, for the protest against the real owner is absurd and violation of all norms. Complaint against the lord by someone who claims to be his slave and lover is a shortcoming in one's love, servitude and devotion.
The fifth principle is rida (acquiescence), i.e. accepting Divine dispensations without questioning though they be bitter. The common believers take recourse in patience (sabr)when a calamity befalls. But the state of the elect in a similar situation is that of rida. The difference between sabr and rida is that the patient person (sabir), by virtue of his faith, faces calamity with forbearance; his faith remains unshaken and he does not get disturbed in times of calamity; he will not deviate from the path of servitude, howsoever great and unbearable the calamity should be but his heart resents the calamity. But the acquiescent person (radi) is the one whose heart is always in the state of acquiescence and happiness. Calamity and affluence do not affect him, for whatever he receives (from God), he considers it as a gift from a friend. He enjoys hardships inflicted upon him by his Beloved and Friend with the same pleasure as others enjoy favours. [2]
The sixth principle is permanent grief (huzn). The Prophet (S) said: "God loves every grieving heart." Regarding the Prophet's attributes it is said that he was always in the state of contemplation and grief. According to the `urafa', every heart which is devoid of grief is nothing but clay. How can a believer manage to be cheerful while he does not know what was written by the pen of pre‑eternity about his fate, whether it is felicity or wretchedness. Also, he is unaware of his end, for he does not know what he will earn tomorrow (in the way of virtue or vice). He does not know whether his obedience will be accepted by God or not, and whether his sins will be pardoned or not. Shaykh Abu al‑Hasan al‑Kharqani was among the people of grief. One day he was asked the reason of the grief of the great mystics. He replied that the reason is that they want to knot/ God as He deserves to be known. But that is impossible. For no one can know God as He deserves to be known.
The seventh principle is to have :good faith (husn al‑zann)in God, the Exalted. And He said in a sacred tradition (hadith qudsi):
I treat My servant in accordance with his opinion of Me,
so let him have whatever opinion he has.
Therefore, it is necessary for a servant of God to have good faith in God or a favourable opinion of Him. This state is reached as a result of discerning the Attributes of Beauty of God, comprising generosity, mercifulness, magnanimity, and the vastness of His forgiveness. Whoever mistrusts God or has an unfavourable opinion of his Lord and loses hope in His mercy. He considers his vices and sins bigger than the capacity of God's generosity and mercy. This amounts to ascribing defect and shortcoming to God.
The eighth rule is that one should not consider oneself out of reach of God's devising (makr). As God has said:
Are they then secure from Allah's scheme? None deem himself secure from Allah's scheme save the losers. (7:99)
Further He has said:
The erudite among His bondmen only fear Allah .... (35:28)
This fear and awe is produced in one who contemplates God's attributes of magnificence and wrath. For, in the same way as God is attributed with the qualities of generosity and mercifulness, He is attributed with wrathfulness and power as well. God, the Exalted, has said:
Surely I shall fill the hell with the firm and mankind together. (11:119)
It is said in a tradition that God, the Exalted, will say to Adam (A): "Arise and throw them into the hell‑fire!" Adam will ask: "How many?" The reply would be: "Nine‑hundred‑and‑ninety out of every thousand". Then how can a slave with his burden of sins avoid being fearsome of Divine wrath and might after having been aware of it?
The ninth principle is love (mahabbah). In this regard God has said
...He loves them, and they love Him... (5:54)
Love is the essence of all stations (maqamat)and virtues (karamat)by means of which the slave of God progresses toward the Lord of the heaven and the earth, and by virtue of which he will attain to the higher degrees of the journey (suluk). Love is the fruit of the knowledge of the Beautiful Names of God. No one possesses beauty (which is his own) in the world except God. Whatever beauty and perfection is seen in the creatures is, in fact, a particle of the sun of His beauty, a drop from the oceans of His perfection. If you consider beauty and perfection to be confined to material forms and worldly things, know that you are imprisoned within the world of (corporeal) form and are deprived of observing the reality. For, the real beauty and rational perfection are found in the essence of a being that possesses power and life, has the attributes of generosity, benevolence, forbearance, and is devoid of any shortcoming and defect. It is due to this reason that the generous, the noble, and the wise are loved by all. Similarly, the warrior and the courageous are loved due to their might, and the learned and the pious are respected due to their honesty and purity. You know that each one of these attributes of glory and beauty are inherent in the Divine Essence, which possesses them infinitely and eternally. But beings other than God possess a beauty and perfection that is limited, reckonable, accidental, finite and mortal. Even such attributes are borrowed from the Divine ocean of bounty and beneficence. Hence, none except God deserves to ‑be loved in the real sense, for every form of beauty (jamal)is derived from Him. So everyone who loves something other than God is surely blind to the beauty of God.
The tenth principle is to give up reliance on one's will (mashi'ah)and freedom (ikhtiyar)and to take up trust in the Omnipotent Lord of the world. God has said:
Allah coins a similitude: (On the one hand) a slave who has control of nothing, and (on the other hand) one on whom We have bestowed a fair provision from Us, and he spends them secretly and openly. Are. they equal? .... (16:75)
So a slave has nothing to do with freedom, for freedom suits those who are free. And the `urafa' have said, if a seeker has a single desire, it means that his vision is obstructed by veils. They have also said that this (desire) is the greatest of veils. Hence even the desire of union with God is the darkest of all veils. So when even the desire of proximity to God is considered to be the greatest veil, what is to be said about the condition of one who is plunged in sensual desires and mundane enticements? Thus it is essential for a seeker to be like the corpse in the hands of the bathers (ghussal), so that he may attain communion with Haqq. Every desire takes one away from God.
The above‑mentioned principles are most important for inner perfection (batin)with which a salikshould adorn his self (nafs)in order to be admitted‑into the proximity of God. Otherwise his sincerity and aspiration will be deemed false; his love will be merely a false claim; though he may consider himself as a wayfarer towards God, in reality he is plunged in the dungeons of sensuality.
Notes:
[2]. Imam `Ali (A), in a famous sermon named Khutbat Hammam, describing the qualities of the pious says:
...They are as happy in the face of calamity
as others are in the state of comfort.
--
Adab al-Suluk: A Treatise on Spiritual Wayfaring
by : Shaykh Najm al-Din Kubra
The Persian translation by Husayn Muhyi al-Din Qumshehi was published in Jawidan Khirad (Sophia Perennis, The Bulletin of the Islamic Iranian Academy of Philosophy), Vol. IV, No. 2, Autumn 1981, pp. 16-26. `Ali Baqirshahi, who has translated this tract from the excellent Persian translation into English, is a Ph. D. student at the Department of Philosophy, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India.
The Persian Translator's Introduction
Shaykh Najm al‑Din Kubra is one of the leading shaykhs of the Sufi path (Tariqah). His name is Ahmad, his title is "al‑Tammat al-Kubra" and his birthplace was Khwarazm. His fruitful life lasted nearly seventy‑eight years. It is said that he died in 618/1221.
In his youth he set out for travelling. In Egypt he joined the circle of Shaykh Ruzbahan Misri and attended his lectures and sermons. The teacher, impressed by the intelligence and purity of heart of his disciple, loved him as his own son and later married his daughter to him. After some time the young farer of the Sufi path (salik) resumed his journey and benefited from the leading shaykh of every city. When he returned to Egypt, Ruzbahan found that he had become a perfect man who knew the secret of spiritual wayfaring (suluk) and had learned the rules and ways of the various stages of love (Ishq)and that he was capable of teaching and guiding others. Therefore, he advised him to return to his native place, Khiyuk, situated in Khwarazm, and engage in guiding the seekers of the path and disseminate Sufi teachings.
Shaykh Najm al‑Din left for Khwarazm along with his wife and children and set up a hospice (khaniqah)and founded the Dhahabiyyah and Qurbaniyyah and other Sufi orders. He trained many disciples who themselves later became saints (wali)and teachers (murshid), like Majd al‑Din Baghdadi, Shaykh `Attar, Sa’d al‑Din Hamawi and Najm al‑Din Razi. As to the date of his death, his biographers are unanimous that the Shaykh was martyred, along with his disciples, on the tenth of Jamadi al‑'Awwal 618/1221, while defending his city against the attack of the Mongols.
Among the eight works attributed to him by historians, there is one exegesis of the Qur'an, of which not even a single copy has been found. Another is a small treatise in Persian under the title of Fi adab al‑salikin ("The Rules of the Wayfarers") which exists in the Asian Museum. The present tract is the translation of one of the Shaykh's treatises in Arabic entitled Adab al‑suluk ila Hadrat Malik al‑Muluk, which consists of two sections. One is a spiritual journey towards God (Haqq)through removal of the veils of negligence and the veils of distance and darkness. The other is a physical journey in the vast earth of God. Out of these two journeys, here we have translated the one related to esoteric wayfaring, on the basis of a manuscript in the. Central Library of the Tehran University. I dedicate this work to those steeped in mysticism and intoxicated by the wine of Tawhid.
It is hoped that this brief work will invoke interest among researchers so that they are inspired to translate other works of the great Shaykh as well as to do research on his life.
Husayn Muhyi al‑Din Qumshehi
# Adab al-Suluk
He is the Truth.
All praise and gratitude is due to God, the Wise and the Merciful; the God Who enables His slaves to travel through the horizons (afaq)so that they may observe the wonders of His Might and Wisdom and discover the proofs of His Majesty, as well as the signs of His Grace and Mercy in all directions and corners of the world; the God Who makes the (satanic) selves of ‑ the wayfarers to die and makes manifest the hidden secret of their inner selves, and brings what is concealed to light through the hardships of journey, the taking of risks, and the separation from home and children and the avoidance of association with others (than Allah) and shunning all except Allah, the Master of the Kingdom (Malik al‑Mulk). May God's peace and praise be upon the chief of mankind and the noblest of the human species, Muhammad al‑Mustafa, his pure Family, his Companions and his Ummah. Therefore, surrender yourself totally to Hadrat‑e Haqq (The Truth, i.e. God).
O slave of Allah! Know that you are a wayfarer (salik)seeking your Lord and ultimately one day you would meet Him, as said in a tradition: Whoever hopes to meet God should know that the time of the meeting will come. And you should know that God, the Exalted, by leis perfect Might and Wisdom has destined two journeys for the Children of Adam. One of them is involuntary (qahri), and the other one is voluntary (ikhtiyari).
As to the involuntary journey, the starting point is the father's loins (sulb); the second stage is the mother's womb; the third stage is the physical world; and the fourth stage is that of the grave, which is either a garden out of the gardens of paradise or is a pit out of the pits of hell. The fifth stage is the Day of Resurrection, which is equal to fifty thousand years of this world. After that stage you will reach your eternal home and attain the real abode ‑ that is, the abode of peace (dar al‑salam)and the paradise of security and peace, in case you are among the felicitous and the friends of the Haqq; or your home will be the abode of fire and torture, if, God forbid, you should be among the wretched and the enemies of the Haqq, as Allah has said: "On the Day of Resurrection a group will be in paradise and a group in hell." Every breath that you take is a step towards the stage of death. Every day of your life is equal to a parsang. Each month is like a stage (marhalah)and each year like a station (manzil). Your journey is like the movement of the sun and the moon ‑ yet you are oblivious of this journey and movement ‑ and in your ignorance and forgetfulness you have failed to make ready and equip yourself properly for the station (manzil)of the grave and the onward journey to the station of the Day of Resurrection and your eternal and real home.
But the voluntary journey is of two kinds: one is the journey of the souls and the hearts toward the Almighty and All‑powerful King of the world. The second is a physical journey (safar jismani)in the earth of God. We will devote a separate chapter to each one of these two journeys, so that you receive the required guidance for attaining their goals and are guided in preparing the means, in opening the gates, and in learning the principles (adab), which will be your companion and assistant in matters relating to every good and piety, and so that it assists the people of love (`ishq)and yearning during their journey, and serve insha' Allah ta’ala, for the compiler as a provision for the Day of Resurrection vis‑a‑vis his Lord (Mawla).
O Lord, open the gates of Your grace and mercy to us! O Lord, Who art Bounteous and Magnanimous!
# Chapter 1
Regarding the Spiritual Journey Towards the Glorious Lord and the Significance of This Journey.
O slave of God, know that God, the Exalted, created man only in order to enable his heart or spirit to make the journey towards Him and to attain communion with Him, and to observe His Glory and Beauty, which is the ultimate end of all purposes and goals and the end of all bounties and gifts. The world and whatsoever in it, as well as the other world and whatsoever is in it, have been created for the same purpose. The advent of the prophets and messengers and the revelation of the Qur'an and the other scriptures ‑ all are meant to fulfil the same purpose. As God says:
And I did not create the jinn and the human kind except that they should serve (or worship)Me. (51:56)
Ibn `Abbas (May God be pleased with him) said that here li ya'budun (that they may serve Me) means li ya`rifun (that they may know Me). That is, all have been created in order to know Me. According to a sacred tradition (hadith qudsi), God has said:
I was a hidden treasure; then I wished to become known. Then I created the creation, so that I may be known.
But as to the meaning of this journey, know that man's heart is confronted with veils, obstacles and great distances (of separation from God).
There are also for it degrees, stages and stations of proximity to God. If one does not overcome the hurdles of the path, one cannot attain any degree of proximity to God.
The Sacred Lord (Hadrat al‑Quds)will not be revealed until and unless he tears away the veils of the self (hujubal‑nafs). So the first veil, which is the cause of separation from the Almighty Lord (Hadrat al‑`Izzah)is ignorance regarding Him, ascribing of partners to the One (shirk), and doubt in His attributes of Glory and Perfection. All this amounts to the negation (kufr)to God, the Exalted, which is the greatest and the darkest of all veils, as God has said:
Surely Allah does not forgive that partners should be ascribed to Him. (4: 48, 116)
Se it is essential for the seeker of God to change the darkness of ignorance of his heart into illumination by means of the light of knowledge, to attain the light of certainty (yaqin)by removing the darkness of doubt, to reach Tawhid by coming out of the darkness of polytheism, and to attain the light of faith by freeing himself from the perplexity of negation. Otherwise his body and soul will remain in eternal darkness and damnation in the lowest levels of hell, which God has ordained for the unbelievers, infidels and the enemies of God.
The second stage on the path of attaining proximity to God is that of obedience (ta'ah)and servitude (`ubudiyyah)to Him, for God has commanded: O mankind, worship your' God! Moreover, the Prophet (S) has narrated from the Exalted Authority that He has said:
Those who seek nearness to Me do not succeed in attaining their goal except in proportion to their fulfilment of all that I have made obligatory for them. My servant always seeks nearness to Me by means of the nawafil (supererogatory acts of worship) until he attains to My love for him.
Hence, whoever really knows his Master (Mawla)must obey Him, and whoever has discovered his Lord must worship Him; otherwise he will remain in the darkness of sins at the levels of blasphemy, for sin is one of the stages of remoteness (bu`d)from God and obedience is a means to His nearness.
The third of the stages of nearness is good conduct. Therefore, it is for the seeker of Haqq to transform his unworthy conduct into a praiseworthy one, because every praiseworthy conduct is considered to be a means of nearness to the Lord. As every moral vice is a step in the direction away from Him and which incites His displeasure, the true seeker is obliged to turn himself from the darkness of pride to the light of humility, from the meanness of jealousy to the virtue of affection and compassion, from the baseness of stinginess to the loftiness of magnanimity, from the dark abyss of ingratitude to the bright heights of gratitude, from the darkness of hypocrisy to the light of sincerity, from the desert of attachment to superficial beauty and riches of the corporeal world to the garden of love and reliance upon the Lord of the heavens and the earth, from the darkness of (false sense of) security (and unawareness) to the light of the fear of God, from the obscurity of despair (and distrust) to the light of hope and trust, from the shadows of wrath and anger to the light of patience and tolerance, from the darkness of impatience and anxiety while facing adversity and calamity to the light of patience and unconditional surrender to the bitterness of fate, from the darkness of negligence to the light of awareness and remembrance, from the darkness of perplexity and waywardness to the light of resignation and humility, from the darkness of dependence on worldly means to the light of submission to the will of the Lord of all lords, and from the darkness of slavery of lust and sensuality to the light of obedience to the exalted Creator. Thus, this journey is one of the most important journeys, and it is obligatory for all the seekers of Divine nearness, and the seekers of the. highest felicity and the eternal abode in the Hereafter, to perform this journey.
The fourth stage of the spiritual journey is that of the journey through the Beautiful Names (al‑'asma' al‑husna)and the Exalted Attributes (sifat)of Haqq. For when a seeker purifies his inner being (batin)of the causes of distance (from God) and refines and polishes his heart with the etiquettes of nearness, he will be worthy of proceeding towards the Master of the Kingdom, the effect of God's love and His grace having manifested itself in him. At this stage, there is a difference in the ranks of the awliya' and asfiya' (the elect). Abu `Abd Allah Muhammad ibn `Ali al‑Tirmidhi said: "God, Exalted and Glorious, taught His Names to His slaves, and every Name pertains to a particular (spiritual) domain (iqlim)and for every domain there is an authority (sultan). And every domain has its assembly, discourse, gifts and rewards that are bestowed upon the people of that iqlim. And He has assigned special stations to the hearts of the elect. It may happen that a wali stays in the first iqlim, for out of God's Names he knows only the name pertaining to that iqlim. It often happens that one of the awliya' has a station in the second, third, and fourth iqlim at the same time. Hence, whenever he turns towards a particular iqlim, the Name of that iqlim is conferred upon him, so that he reaches the stage of the wali who partakes of all the Names. He is the one who is benefited by all the Names and he is the chief of the awliya’."Al‑Tirmidhi says further: "That which the common people partake of the Divine Names is their faith in these Names. As to those who are in the Middle position (ashab al‑yamin), as well as the common awliya’, their share of the Divine Names depends on the opening of their hearts (sharh‑e sadr)to these Names and the light that shines in them by means of the knowledge (ma`rifah) of the Divine Attributes. Everybody enjoys according to his capacity and the measure of spiritual light that his heart possesses. But the benefit that the elect among the awliya’ ‑ who are totally ridden of the garb of earthly attachments and clad in a new spiritual attire ‑ enjoy, comprises of direct observation of Divine Attributes, and reception of their light within their hearts. From what our Shaykh (God's mercy be upon him) has mentioned, it appears that every wali enjoys a station specially assigned to him, which he does not surpass, and this station is accorded to him by God in accordance with his ability and capacity and the degree decreed for him by God. Hence when his heart attains to that known station, his mystical wayfaring reaches its destination and his journey culminates. In this journey there is no question of moving from one place to another; neither does it refer to a wayfarer's movement in space nor that of the destination sought. For God, the Exalted, is closer to a person than his own jugular vein. Here, by `journey' is meant the removal of the veils that obstruct the vision of the heart and the light of Divine Attributes from shining in the wayfarer's heart. This is the same journey for which man has been created.
# Chapter 2
On the Outward Principles of This Journey
You should know that this journey of the heart towards God requires observance of certain rules (adab), some of which are related to the outward (zahir)and certain others to the inward (batin).
The first principle relating to the outward is that the wayfarer should give up material possessions and means and detach himself from worldly engagements. He should not have any engagement except the service of his Master and obedience to Him and His remembrance. [1] God, the Exalted, has said:
Remember the Name of thy Lord, and devote thyself unto Him very devotedly. (73:8)
The second principle consists of seclusion and detachment from people, especially from everyone who hinders one from approaching God. And God has said to the Prophet (S): "Keep away from them and avoid those who call upon everything other than God."
The third principle is that the wayfarer (salik) should protect the seven organs of his body from what is abominable to his Master, God. They are as follows: The eyes should be shut from looking at what is prohibited and is not beneficial for one; the ears should not listen to slander, vilification and obscene words, and the like; the tongue is to be protected from the same kind of errors and the lips should be sealed from speaking what is devoid of benefit. And some `urafa' have said, one's speech should be in remembrance of God, one's silence should be an effort to contemplate, one's looking at things should be for deriving a lesson. The salikshould also protect his belly from unlawful and suspect things, and in the case of lawful things also he should not consume greedily, lustfully in a state of being oblivious of God; rather, while eating food he should be awake and aware of God's presence. In the same way, he should protect his feet and hands as well as his sexual organs from what is unlawful and abominable.
The fourth principle is that salikshould oppose his carnal self (nafs), that is, fight against its urges in desiring good food, good drink, good clothing, sensuous acts, and possessing a good mount for riding, etc. This is the jihad akbar (the higher struggle) about which the Prophet (S), the supreme leader of mankind, said: "You have returned from jihad asghar (the minor jihad)to the jihad akbar (the major jihad)."
And this jihad is more important and its fruits are more comprehensive than fighting against infidels (kuffar), for infidels, in war, seek wealth and are subject to the urges of their carnal self (nafs)which lead them to their everlasting perdition and eternal privation. According to the `urafa', subordination to the nafs is just like throwing firewood into flames, and the seeker (talib)and the salik, in order to get rid of his nafs, should extinguish that fire in himself.
The fifth principle is that the salikshould seek out an aware, perfect and wise shaykh in order to guide him on the path of attaining perfection so that he may attain to Haqq; for the seeker is like a patient who is surrounded by various maladies and evils and afflicted by numerous diseases and ailments. The salikis unaware of them, and even if he is aware, he does not know how to cure his nafs. So he has no option but to seek out a compassionate and friendly physician who can diagnose his diseases and help him to recover and overcome his maladies. In other words, the salik is like a traveller in a perilous and dreadful desert, who has no choice but to find a guide in order to be led to his destination.
The sixth principle is that the salikshould not busy himself with a medley of supplications, remembrances (adhkar, pl. of dhikr)supererogatory prayers (nawafil)and different kinds of practices, but should devote to a single form of dhikr and perform all the obligatory prayers and prescribed forms of worships (fara'id wa sunan). Only then he should immerse himself into the remembrance of God. It is said that dhikr is the key to the hidden world (`alam al‑ghayb)and the lamp of the inner world. Without a key one cannot enter a house and without a lamp a dark house is not illuminated. Hence the salikshould remember God in the way a lover remembers his beloved, and the remembrance must never leave him. Then he must so much persevere in dhikr that dhikr gets attached to him, not leaving his heart empty of dhikr even for a moment. When he continues in this dhikr, it is transformed from human dhikr into celestial and holy (qudsi) dhikr. `Human dhikr' is that which is done with the help of sounds, letters and numbers, while the dhikr qudsi is that which is free from numbers, letters and sounds. After this stage, the dhakir (doer of dhikr)loses his identity and is submerged within the object dhikr. He becomes unaware of his dhikr as well as his own being. There are many degrees of dhikr, some which are superior to the others, which are hard to begin; but gradually hardship and labour disappears and dhikr becomes the nature and habit of the salik.
The seventh principle is to keep constant fast, for this act signifies opposition to and suppression of the carnal self, which is the root cause of all veils, the ground of separation and remoteness from Haqq. If a salikreduces his food gradually, it is permissible. This is the way which has been followed by some Sufi masters (mashayikh). It is also proper if one adopts a middle path, i.e. observes moderation. Muhammad (S) said: "Keep your self (nafs)in a sound state, because it is what carries you about (markub); you should be kind to it and take care of it." The Prophet (S) further said: "Whoever makes his faith extremely austere for himself, his nafs overwhelms him and subordinates him." If it happens that the salikhas to break his non‑obligatory (mustahabb)fast in order to please his guest or at the signal of his spiritual guide (murad), he should not let the self enjoy to its full, but take food in minimum quantity and eat lesser than he is used to eat on the days when he keeps fast, so that he may deprive his nafs from two pleasures (one is the breaking of fast and the other is the pleasure of taking food to the heart's satisfaction). Moreover, he should not always take bread along with stew (but be content with bread only), for this practice is considered abominable by Sufi masters (mashayikh), particularly if stew is prepared with meat.
The eighth principle is taking care of bodily cleanness, for such cleanness is the weapon of a believer and it evokes inner enlightenment. The Prophet (S) said: Wudu’ (ablution) performed on wudu’ shall be as light upon light on the Judgement's Day."
The ninth principle is to keep vigil in nights. This practice is considered to be one of the most important acts of the salik. In the praise of the virtuous (abrar), God, the Exalted, says:
They used to sleep but little of night ....(51:17)
It means that they sleep little at night, and the night is the time of supplication for the awliya’and the pure.
The tenth principle for the salik is that he should strive his best to get lawful (halal)means of livelihood. God, the Exalted, has said:
Eat of the good things We have provided you... (2:172)
And the Prophet (S) said: "After the obligatory duties, it is obligatory to seek lawful livelihood"; that is, after the duty of faith it is the most obligatory of one's obligations. The lawful earning makes the inner being (batin)illuminated, and unlawful earning darkens the heart. The `urafa' have said: Whoever is nourished by lawfully earned things for forty days, God will illuminate his heart. In case the absolutely lawful is not available due to the prevailing dubious character of that which is earned, he should eat that which is less susceptible to doubt, and that too is to be taken according to one's minimum necessity and not to one's need and satiation. If the seeker acts with negligence in this regard, he will not be in a position to benefit from the fruits of the tree of `irfan. The author of the treatise (may God have mercy upon him) says, a disciple (murid) should not, even in the days of hardship and need, take even a grain of sesame that is doubtful, to say nothing of taking such a thing during normal and easier circumstances. The root cause of corruption of the world's people is their carelessness regarding this matter, as well as their lack of abstinence from unlawful and doubtful food. The Messenger of God (S) said: "The criteria of religion are piety and fear of God, and faith is corrupted because of greediness."
Here end the outward rules prescribed for the salik. There are also many inward rules followed by the people of the spiritual path (tariqah ).
Notes:
[1]. It does not mean that the wayfarer should not get involved in any social activity, but that he should live in such a way that whatever he does should be for the sake of God, and whatever pursuit or service he chooses should be a means to attaining Divine nearness. In this state, all one's acts and pursuits, though they appear to be worldly are in reality for the Hereafter, that is the world which is ‑superior to this world.
What is `the world' except the forgetfulness of God.
It is not family, possessions, wife and children.
# Chapter 3
On the Inward Rules of This Journey
First is keeping watch over the self (nafs). That is, the salikshould always keep vigil over his heart. He should not neglect it even for a moment; for otherwise he would succumb to his carnal desires and Satanic temptations. He should consider himself as being watched by God, as He has said:
...Surely Allah has been a watcher over you (4:1).
The Prophet (S) said:
God watches your heart and acts
not your apparent behaviour and worldly belongings.
Second is the expression of humility, poverty and abasement before the Lord of the world. Ba Yazid (may Allah hallow his mighty soul) said that a voice (sarush)called me from within and said: "O Ba Yazid! There are many servants in Our service. So if you seek Us, bring humility and neediness." Ba Yazid further said: "You know for certain that you are in a crying need of your Lord at every hour on many counts; so you are needful of His guiding light as well as His merciful glance, guidance and His sustenance at every moment. And, also, you are in need of Him at the time of death so that the light of Islam and its knowledge are kept intact in your heart. In the grave, too, you are in need of Him so that you successfully answer the questions asked by Nakir and Munkar (names of two angels). It is He Who will be your friend in the terrors of the grave. The greatest of all of your needs is your dependence on Him in the Day of Judgement, the day of regret and remorse, so that God, the Exalted, may make your face luminous, conceal your blemishes (with His mercy) and enhance the weight and worth of your good works in His balance (mizan), that He may facilitate the clearance of your account and put the book of your deeds in your right hand, that He may keep you firm on the Path (shat)and save you from hell‑fire and lead you towards paradise. His highest generosity and the most excellent favour is to bless you with His beatific vision." These are your essential needs with regard to your Master in this world and the other world. Hence your expression of poverty and humility before God should be according to your real poverty and need.
The third principle is repentance (tawbah)and penitence (inabah)before God, in all conditions of hardship and affluence, comfort and calamity. Referring to the Prophet Sulayman (A), God said: "He was a good servant, because he was penitent." God said the same thing about the Prophet Ayyub (A), for Sulayman (A) saw his Benefactor in His bounties (ni'mah)and Ayyub (A) saw the One who tries in His trials. Neither did the bounties enjoyed by the former blur his vision of the Provider, nor the hardship and tribulations of the latter veil his sight from seeing the hand of their Sender. In both the cases, they attributed all that happened to the Lord.
The fourth principle is surrender (taslim)to the command of God, the Exalted. Taslim means to surrender to God both with the heart and the body, both of which are under His ownership. To surrender a property to its owner is an essential condition (of submission). The owner has the right to control his property and dispose it in any way He deems proper. It is up to Him whether He honours or disgraces His slave, breathes life in him or kills him, causes sickness or bestows health on him, makes him rich or poor. Hence it is required of a saliknot to raise any objection against His will. He should not complain overtly or covertly, for the protest against the real owner is absurd and violation of all norms. Complaint against the lord by someone who claims to be his slave and lover is a shortcoming in one's love, servitude and devotion.
The fifth principle is rida (acquiescence), i.e. accepting Divine dispensations without questioning though they be bitter. The common believers take recourse in patience (sabr)when a calamity befalls. But the state of the elect in a similar situation is that of rida. The difference between sabr and rida is that the patient person (sabir), by virtue of his faith, faces calamity with forbearance; his faith remains unshaken and he does not get disturbed in times of calamity; he will not deviate from the path of servitude, howsoever great and unbearable the calamity should be but his heart resents the calamity. But the acquiescent person (radi) is the one whose heart is always in the state of acquiescence and happiness. Calamity and affluence do not affect him, for whatever he receives (from God), he considers it as a gift from a friend. He enjoys hardships inflicted upon him by his Beloved and Friend with the same pleasure as others enjoy favours. [2]
The sixth principle is permanent grief (huzn). The Prophet (S) said: "God loves every grieving heart." Regarding the Prophet's attributes it is said that he was always in the state of contemplation and grief. According to the `urafa', every heart which is devoid of grief is nothing but clay. How can a believer manage to be cheerful while he does not know what was written by the pen of pre‑eternity about his fate, whether it is felicity or wretchedness. Also, he is unaware of his end, for he does not know what he will earn tomorrow (in the way of virtue or vice). He does not know whether his obedience will be accepted by God or not, and whether his sins will be pardoned or not. Shaykh Abu al‑Hasan al‑Kharqani was among the people of grief. One day he was asked the reason of the grief of the great mystics. He replied that the reason is that they want to knot/ God as He deserves to be known. But that is impossible. For no one can know God as He deserves to be known.
The seventh principle is to have :good faith (husn al‑zann)in God, the Exalted. And He said in a sacred tradition (hadith qudsi):
I treat My servant in accordance with his opinion of Me,
so let him have whatever opinion he has.
Therefore, it is necessary for a servant of God to have good faith in God or a favourable opinion of Him. This state is reached as a result of discerning the Attributes of Beauty of God, comprising generosity, mercifulness, magnanimity, and the vastness of His forgiveness. Whoever mistrusts God or has an unfavourable opinion of his Lord and loses hope in His mercy. He considers his vices and sins bigger than the capacity of God's generosity and mercy. This amounts to ascribing defect and shortcoming to God.
The eighth rule is that one should not consider oneself out of reach of God's devising (makr). As God has said:
Are they then secure from Allah's scheme? None deem himself secure from Allah's scheme save the losers. (7:99)
Further He has said:
The erudite among His bondmen only fear Allah .... (35:28)
This fear and awe is produced in one who contemplates God's attributes of magnificence and wrath. For, in the same way as God is attributed with the qualities of generosity and mercifulness, He is attributed with wrathfulness and power as well. God, the Exalted, has said:
Surely I shall fill the hell with the firm and mankind together. (11:119)
It is said in a tradition that God, the Exalted, will say to Adam (A): "Arise and throw them into the hell‑fire!" Adam will ask: "How many?" The reply would be: "Nine‑hundred‑and‑ninety out of every thousand". Then how can a slave with his burden of sins avoid being fearsome of Divine wrath and might after having been aware of it?
The ninth principle is love (mahabbah). In this regard God has said
...He loves them, and they love Him... (5:54)
Love is the essence of all stations (maqamat)and virtues (karamat)by means of which the slave of God progresses toward the Lord of the heaven and the earth, and by virtue of which he will attain to the higher degrees of the journey (suluk). Love is the fruit of the knowledge of the Beautiful Names of God. No one possesses beauty (which is his own) in the world except God. Whatever beauty and perfection is seen in the creatures is, in fact, a particle of the sun of His beauty, a drop from the oceans of His perfection. If you consider beauty and perfection to be confined to material forms and worldly things, know that you are imprisoned within the world of (corporeal) form and are deprived of observing the reality. For, the real beauty and rational perfection are found in the essence of a being that possesses power and life, has the attributes of generosity, benevolence, forbearance, and is devoid of any shortcoming and defect. It is due to this reason that the generous, the noble, and the wise are loved by all. Similarly, the warrior and the courageous are loved due to their might, and the learned and the pious are respected due to their honesty and purity. You know that each one of these attributes of glory and beauty are inherent in the Divine Essence, which possesses them infinitely and eternally. But beings other than God possess a beauty and perfection that is limited, reckonable, accidental, finite and mortal. Even such attributes are borrowed from the Divine ocean of bounty and beneficence. Hence, none except God deserves to ‑be loved in the real sense, for every form of beauty (jamal)is derived from Him. So everyone who loves something other than God is surely blind to the beauty of God.
The tenth principle is to give up reliance on one's will (mashi'ah)and freedom (ikhtiyar)and to take up trust in the Omnipotent Lord of the world. God has said:
Allah coins a similitude: (On the one hand) a slave who has control of nothing, and (on the other hand) one on whom We have bestowed a fair provision from Us, and he spends them secretly and openly. Are. they equal? .... (16:75)
So a slave has nothing to do with freedom, for freedom suits those who are free. And the `urafa' have said, if a seeker has a single desire, it means that his vision is obstructed by veils. They have also said that this (desire) is the greatest of veils. Hence even the desire of union with God is the darkest of all veils. So when even the desire of proximity to God is considered to be the greatest veil, what is to be said about the condition of one who is plunged in sensual desires and mundane enticements? Thus it is essential for a seeker to be like the corpse in the hands of the bathers (ghussal), so that he may attain communion with Haqq. Every desire takes one away from God.
The above‑mentioned principles are most important for inner perfection (batin)with which a salikshould adorn his self (nafs)in order to be admitted‑into the proximity of God. Otherwise his sincerity and aspiration will be deemed false; his love will be merely a false claim; though he may consider himself as a wayfarer towards God, in reality he is plunged in the dungeons of sensuality.
Notes:
[2]. Imam `Ali (A), in a famous sermon named Khutbat Hammam, describing the qualities of the pious says:
...They are as happy in the face of calamity
as others are in the state of comfort.
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