Peace, one and all…
Here is the text and reflection of a recent sohbet at our weekly Mevlevi zikr.
Text
Remember, and resonate with the highest truth.
‘Why do the Bektashi respond to prayers by saying, ‘Allah, Allah’ rather than ‘Amin’?’
‘Because we want to respond with the very best thing we know’
Response to a Question during a Bektashi zikr
Four letters in which my heart is absorbed,
And into which all my thoughts and concerns have disappeared:
Alif, by which creation was assembled (ta’allaf) by design,
Lam, to signal the way of self-reproach (malama),
Another lam to add to the meanings,
Then a ha through which I love (uhim) and comprehend.
attributed to al-Hallaj
One special distinction of the Name is that it is perfect in its letters, complete in its meaning, unique in its mysteries and singular in its quality. Firstly, it is Allah; if the initial alif is removed, it leaves lam-lam-ha, which spells lillah, ‘to God’. If the first lam is then removed, this leaves lam-ha, which spells lahu, ‘to Him’. Finally, if the second lam is removed, this leaves the letter ha, which signifies the third person pronoun hu, ‘He’. Thus, every letter of the Name has a complete meaning and a perfect distinction, and its meaning does not change. When the letters are separated, no benefit is lost, nor any wisdom removed, and each successive word has a wondrous and marvellous meaning of its own…
Ibn Ata’illah, The Pure Intention: On Knowledge of the Unique Name, p. 17
Know that remembrance (dhikr) is to move away from heedlessness and forgetfulness by means of the permanent presence of the heart and by faithful repetition of the tongue. The vision of the Master causes the remembrance to flow on the tongue of the servant. It has also been said that remembrance is to exit the sphere of heedlessness for the space of witnessing through fear, ardent love, overwhelming yearning and submission to God. The reality of remembrance is to be fixed solely on the Remembered without being conscious of one’s own witnessing, but only of His; thus one sees the Real, by the Real, and God is the Invoker and the Invoked…
Ibn Ata’illah, The Pure Intention, p. 68
The invocation of the Name, then, is better than any other form of worship, and is closer to intimate discourse (munajat). A hadith tells us that God Almighty says, ‘I am the Companion of one who remembers Me’.
Ibn Ata’illah, The Pure Intention, p. 61
Reflection
In preparing for our sohbet this evening, it felt appropriate to start with Kabir Dede’s monthly theme: ‘Remember, and resonate with the highest truth’.
The questions that arose within were direct and personal: what is the highest truth? What is my highest truth? What do I value most? What do I prize above all things?
A kind of twofold answer emerged from within: Allah and love. This was puzzling at first. How can my highest truth be two things? Reflecting more deeply, and in light of our beautiful tradition of giving and receiving love (aşk vermek & aşk almak), it became clear that it is practically impossible for this one to separate the ‘two’. When I look towards Allah, it becomes clear that every moment of love, every act of kindness, every difficulty to overcome, has emerged from Hu. When I look towards love, it is clear that it arises first in the Divine, and that each person is a unique theatre for manifesting Allah’s love in this world, here and now. Thus, Allah’s love has been the one constant in each moment and circumstance of my life. And praise be to God, who maketh it so.
Febraury’s theme also reminded this heart of a beautiful moment at a Bektashi zikr, a few years ago. The zikr itself was wonderful, and after it had been brought to rest, the Dede held a space for questions. One of those present asked something profound:
‘Why do the Bektashi respond to prayers by saying, ‘Allah, Allah’ rather than ‘Amin’?’
‘Because we want to respond with the very best thing we know’
This was such a beautiful answer that it quite took this one’s breath away. What better thing could there be to say, other than ‘Allah’? If Allah (and Hu’s love) is the highest truth, then ‘Allah’ is also the best response. Allah, Allah. Allah, Allah!
In an episode related in Rumi and His Friends, Hz. Mevlana remarked that our most characteristic zikr is also that very best thing, commenting that we are the Allahiyan. As such, over the last few months, this one has been strongly drawn to explore this Most Beautiful of Names more fully. A wonderful aid in that exploration has been Ibn Ata’illah’s book, The Pure Intention: On Knowledge of the Unique Name. It has been such a treasure-trove of insight and wisdom. One of the deepest discussions in this book concerns the meaning of the word Allah itself.
Broadly speaking, it seems that there are two main approaches. The first sees Allah as deriving from Al-ilah, or ‘The (only) God’. Those who follow this understanding offer possible derivations for Ilah. Some have suggested it might derive from aliha, yaʾlahu, ilāhatan, with the same meaning as ‘to worship’. Allah is thus, the ‘One Worshipped’ (see The Divine Names, by Afif al-Din Tilimsani, p.5). Others have suggested the word might derive from the root waliha, which ‘…combines the vast concepts of total love and being passionately beyond all the constraints of mind. Combining these, we get the meaning “to fall madly in love, to utterly dissolve in an insane yearning…’ (Physicians of the Heart, p.24).
The second broad approach, which is the one Ibn Ata’illah holds to, sees the word Allah as being unique in Itself, the Unique Name of God. Both approaches have their merits, both emerge from deep knowledge and reflection, and so, this heart feels, there is no need for this one to take a particular position. Rather, both point to Allah as being the unique loving Source, in much the same way as the answer that came to heart about Allah and love: experience exists to help us taste Truth, not merely to describe it academically.
Another profound insight from Ibn Ata’illah’s book is the way in which spiritual masters have used the letters of the Divine Name as a means of deep spiritual reflection. Al-Hallaj’s poem is a beautiful example. His understanding of each letter’s significance offers us a starting point for our own contemplations. Allah is the One Who designed things this way, and made self-reproach, or the jihad al-nafs, so central to growth. We travel through these seas until we see and become love, until our everyday selves dissolve.
The passage about the Arabic letters of the Name was also deeply profound. Each letter has meaning, and as we remove each letter, more intimate truths emerge, until we reach Hu. I cannot help but relate this to our Mevlevi zikr, where we start with the purification of Astaghfirullah, then move through la ilaha illa Allah, the engine of our transformation, then through Allah, Allah, where we can so beautifully dissolve, before arriving at Bismillah Ya Hu!, where we drown, as the Drink Sent Down has it. In other words, the very letters of Allah’s Name lay open the path to self-purification, self-transcendence and self-effacement. The more I can open to this path, the more deeply this heart will be able to perceive these truths.
The last two passages from The Pure Intention emphasise practice. Is it possible to resonate fully without engaging, without doing something? We have been created for ibadah, for worship, for service, for gnosis, which seems to mean that we cannot attain deeper knowing without participation, without getting involved. Furthermore, we are not left to ourselves, Allah becomes the Companion of the one who remembers Him!
O You Who are Infinite Mercy,
Infinite Loving-kindness,
Infinite Giving,
Infinite Liberation,
Infinite Knowing,
The Infinite Answer to Every Question,
Open our hearts and eyes,
Loosen our tongues and hands in Your Service,
Be our Deepest Friend,
Our Highest Truth
Dem-i Hazret-i Mevlana…
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