Peace, one and all…
I wanted to share the text of a profound recent sohbet, that took place online at Rumi’s Rose Garden. I hope to share some reflections on it, as Allah wills.
Section 1: Fihi ma Fihi, 3
The Parvana sent a message in which he said, “Night and day my heart and soul have been at your service, but I have not been able to attend you because of my preoccupation with Mongol affairs.”
[The Master responded:] “These also are works of God inasmuch as they have to do with the safety and security of Islamdom. You have sacrificed your all, both materially and physically, to give a few Muslims the inner tranquility to occupy themselves with acts of devotion in security. Therefore, this too is a good work. Inasmuch as God has inclined you to such good works, your excessive zeal is a sign of His favor. Conversely, when there is a slackening off in this inclination it is a sign of disfavor. God would not wish such a critical good work to be executed by means of a person unless that person is worthy of reward and exalted station. It is like a warm bathhouse, the heat of which comes from a stove. God provides the means for heating, like straw, kindling, dung, and so forth. In external form these things may appear mean and ugly, but they are nonetheless divine favors with regard to their purpose. When the bath is heated by these things people benefit from it.
At this point some friends arrived, but the master apologized, saying, “If I do not rise for you or speak to you to inquire after your condition, it is out of respect for you. The measure of respect for a thing is determined by the propriety of the occasion. During prayer it is not fitting to inquire after one’s father or brother or to bow to them. Not to acknowledge one’s friends and relatives while one is at prayer is the essence of courtesy and respect because, if one does not disjoin oneself from total absorption in an act of devotion and does not become distracted by them, they will not deserve reproach or punishment. This, then, is the essence of attentiveness and courtesy, since one will have been on guard against something on account of which they would have to suffer.”
Someone asked, “Is there any way to approach God other than prayer?”
The answer is more prayer. However, prayer does not exist only in outward form: that is just the “shell” of prayer because it has a beginning and an end. Anything that has a beginning and an end is a “shell.” The proclamation of God’s greatness is the beginning of the prayer and the greeting of peace is its end. Likewise, there is more to the pronouncement of faith than what is said with the tongue because it too has a beginning and an end. Anything that can be vocalized and has a beginning and an end is a “form,” a “shell”; its “soul,” however, is unqualifiable and infinite, without beginning and without end. Anyway, prayer as we know it was formulated by the prophets. Now the Prophet, who formalized prayer, says, “I have a ‘time’ with God during which there is room for neither message-bearing prophet nor angel near in station to God to share with me’.
We know then that the “soul” of prayer is not only its external form but also a state of total absorption and unconsciousness during which all these external forms, for which there is no room, remain outside. In that state there is not room even for Gabriel, who is purely conceptual.’
Section 2: Ghazal 844 Divan-i Kebir
What if, for a moment, you set your thoughts aside?
What if you plunged like a fish into Our ocean?
If thoughts don’t let you sleep, become like the Companions of the Cave.
What if you became a sacred light, beyond selfhood and space?
You are but a wisp of straw, and We are the Amber of prosperity.
What if you flew from the haystack towards the Amber?
A hundred times, you swore: “This time, I shall be dust.”
What if, just once, you kept your promise?
You’re but a hidden gem, veiled in earth and mud.
What if you washed the mud from your face, O beautiful one?
You’re the heir of that king—Gabriel fell prostrate before you.
What if you reclaimed your father’s kingdom, O destitute one?
O you who count the Friends of God as separate from God —
What if you held them in high esteem?
You are a part, lost from the whole; You’re like an arm severed from the body.
What if, from this moment on, you no longer separated yourself from Us?
What if you humbled yourself, devoid of arrogance and greed,
Then lifted your head to the Court of the Almighty?
Drink the wine of Remembrance to free yourself of all thoughts.
What if you did not turn your back in battle, O Murtaza?
Enough! You’re like a mountain—seek mines of gold within it!
What if you did not use the mountain merely to echo your own voice?
Ghazal No. 844
Translated by Seyed Meghdad Tabataba’i
Ancillary texts
On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him), who said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: Allah (mighty and sublime be He) said: Whosoever shows enmity to someone devoted to Me, I shall be at war with him. My servant draws not near to Me with anything more loved by Me than the religious duties I have enjoined upon him, and My servant continues to draw near to Me with supererogatory works so that I shall love him. When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he strikes and his foot with which he walks. Were he to ask [something] of Me, I would surely give it to him, and were he to ask Me for refuge, I would surely grant him it. I do not hesitate about anything as much as I hesitate about [seizing] the soul of My faithful servant: he hates death and I hate hurting him’
Sahih Bukhari, Hadith 25, 40 Hadith Qudsi
Reflections
One of the key points mentioned in our sohbet was that God’s Friends (the Awliya Allah) are the true qibla. The purified soul, abiding in Allah, is the true prayer direction, in the sense that the Wali teaches us by word, deed and more importantly, state. We learn deeply about inward orientation from merely being in the presence of God’s beloved friends.
Another key point was that the purpose of prayer as an outward act is to lead us to continuous, ever-unfolding prayer. That is, du’a and the ritual prayer (salat) are to help generate in us a state of continual presence with God, of an unending communion with Hu. As such, this sohbet really connects with Julian of Norwich’s beautiful explorations of sin and prayer.
This sohbet has also helped me to understand the hadith qudsi above. In the past, it wasn’t clear to my heart how mention of God’s beloved friends connected with the path to God. As this sohbet unfolded it became clear that the connection is because the Awliya are our true, inward qibla. The Wali shows us how to achieve the love and union with Allah described so beautifully in this hadith.
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