Peace, one and all…
Sohbet, or spiritual conversation and fellowship, is an essential part of Mevlevi practice. As such, I wanted to share the text of a recent sohbet. It comes in two parts. The first part includes the text itself. The second part includes a short exploration of how and why these readings came.
May the hearts of the lovers be opened.
Sohbet Text
اللَّهُمَّ ارْزُقْنِي حُبَّكَ وَحُبَّ مَنْ يُحِبُّكَ وَالْعَمَلَ الَّذِي يُقَرِّبُنِي إِلَى حُبِّكَ
Allahumma arzuqni hubbaka wa hubba man yuhibbuka wal-‘amal alladhi yuqarribuni ila hubbika.
O Allah! Grant me Your love, the love of those who love You, and actions that will bring
me closer to Your love.
‘A dervish is someone who makes a practice of humility, service, friendship, loyalty, and
patience’ Kabir Dede, In The House of Remembering
‘May it be love’ (aşk olsun) ; ‘to give love’ (aşk vermek); ‘to receive love’ (aşk almak). Mevlevis
have the view that everything is reached through ecstasy (cezbe) and love (aşk). The
proverb ‘Aşk olmayınca meşk olmaz’ (‘Without love, there is no practice’) is a guide for a
Mevlevi in everything he or she does … during a visit, a Mevlevi may say, ‘We visited a
certain person; they gave love and we received love” Mevlevi Adab and Customs, p.3
‘When Mevlevis simultaneously kiss each other’s hands it is called görüşmek … In this way,
regardless of temporary things such as age, status, and knowledge, two souls have
celebrated each other’. Mevlevi Adab and Customs, 18-19
‘While engaged in sema’, Mevlana came up to Hace Nefiseddin, held him by the collar and
asked, ‘What will you say if they ask you, ‘Why does he (Mevlana) keep rolling up the
sleeves of his ferece?’
Nefiseddin asnwered, ‘Whatever Hudavendigar (Mevlana) says’.
Mevlana continued, ‘The universe is a great khaneqah. In this khaneqah, the real shaykh is
God. All the prophets, all the attained ones and prominent people of the ummah are like
visiting Sufis. When a Sufi comes to the khaneqah, he sees the person whose sleeves are
rolled up and knows that this is the one who serves in the khaneqah, and so learns about
the manners and traditions of the khaneqah from that one. In this universe, we are the
servants of God and the lovers of God, too’.
He then recited a hadith, ‘The master of a community is the one who serves that
community’.
Quoted in Mevlevi Adab and Customs, 81
Reflections: ‘Without Love, there is no practice’
Our path is often described as the madhab-i ishq, the Way of Love, in which we gradually let go of our pretensions and our projections, our cleverness and our selfishness. We are called let go of an imagined, metaphorical love (or ishq-i majazi) and journey towards real love (ishq-i haqiqi). May we all find our way there. May we all find our way home.
Almost 10 years ago now, my wife and I were blessed to attend a mehfil-i sema, to celebrate the urs of her Pir. It was a beautiful gathering, for all sorts of reasons, not least of which was the welcome this one received. What struck this one most, however, was a clear sense of the love in which this gathering unfolded. The qawwali music drew many people into a hal, and as each person allowed that moment to embrace them, others clasped hands around them to ensure their safety, and to allow them a space in which to go deeply into their private moment with Allah. Others took a small gift of money to the presiding shaykh, offering their gift with obvious long-felt devotion. When this one felt drawn to offer a gift, a beautiful and palpable sense of acceptance flowed between our hearts. You are welcome. You are accepted in God’s court. You are loved. It was healing and transformative, because I hadn’t realised how much it was needed until it arrived! Allah!
Returning to our weekly zikrs, this one became ever-more clearly aware that the love and acceptance offered there was also freely available here. Although the mehfil and our weekly Mevlevi zikr differ in form, they both offer the same opportunity to give and receive love. In particular, over the years, this one has found that the zikr has loosened so many inward knots that it is clear that it is the real place of healing. There have been so many moments of deeply cherished intimacy, small pearls of beauty, that it would be a struggle to express how they have impacted this heart.
After the zikr and the concluding prayer, there is a moment where we face the one leading our remembrance. Each person is seen individually, celebrated individually. This heart has felt the same love, the same acceptance and the same opening to transformation as that on offer at that blessed mehfil. What this one has learned is this: love is not a concept to be debated, it is a reality to be experienced. Moreover, it can be experienced everywhere, all at once, to the extent that we can be present and open to it.
This is the background, then, to this evening’s sharing, that love can be felt, love can be seen and love can be participated in. Right here. Right now. This is why the opening prayer of love feels so appropriate, especially when this is, by all accounts, a recommended prayer for beloved Rajab: Allah is al-Fattah, the Opener, and the Giver of Love. And a dervish, as Kabir Dede makes clear, is someone who practises that love, that building of presence, that offering of devotion. Indeed, that is what we do here, every week.
This one was really struck by the descriptions of practice from Mevlevi Adab and Customs. Not only are they beautiful, they are also practical. They offer us opportunities to deepen, to give, show and thus become love. We are offered a new way of ‘seeing with’ or görüşmek. We can see each other, see with each other and celebrate each other. Allah!
The last passage, drawn from Aflaki’s Manaqib al-Arifin, has helped deepen this realisation. Love is work. I have to roll up the sleeves of our ferece, I have to get my hands dirty as it were. Even during the sema itself, Mevlana is able to convey this moment of deep teaching. The work of love isn’t always pretty, it doesn’t always look smart, doesn’t always wear the ‘right’ clothes, so let go of all such pretensions. Seeing the world as a khaneqah means opening this heart to seeing each moment as a lesson.
This passage has really drawn this one’s attention to practice, to the small, beautiful practices of our Way. Each action can become an offering, an opening. If love is work, working towards that love is also love: ‘In this universe, we are the servants of God and the lovers of God, too’, as Mevlana says.
Finally, this passage has refocused my heart’s attention on service, and on striving to internalise the guidance offered by our teachers. This one is called to renewed attention to detail, to focus on those things which help us build presence together, those things which help us foster the growth of community, of a shared way. To that end, this heart is left holding a number of questions, some of which can be expressed, some of which, as yet, cannot:
Is my service real? What are the motivations behind each new action? What serves that purpose, and what hinders it?
May this heart be opened to deep listening, to true seeing and to devoted service.
Dem-i Hazret-i Mevlana…
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