بسم الله الرحمان الرحيم
In the Name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The real meaning in the Sufi saying '' Die before death comes to you!'' is
that one should avoid falling into the trap of acquiring the bad traits which
stem from the negative pole and should, instead, escape from the whirlpool
of nature. However, the method for such realization does not mean to kill
the self (nafs) but to gain control over it. Rumi explains this point as follows :
If the water remains underneath the ship, it becomes a point of support.
However, if it fills the ship it will destroy it. One can exemplify the same
fact with the fire moving the ship. The fire in the boiler moves the ship.
But if this fire spreads into the deck then it will burn the ship.
A servant therefore becomes close to his Lord inasmuch as he stems the
effects of negative traits. The only way to achieve this is to steer one's love
towards Allah to the extent of the capacity of one's heart. Yet many dangers
lurk in directly steering one's love towards Allah. At one point the heart may
burn as if electrified with high voltage. This may destroy a person. The mani-
festation of Allah to the Prophet Musaعليه السلام is a good example of this.
Musaعليه السلام encountered the Kalam or speech attribute of Allah on Mount
Sinai. He lost his consciousness to great love because of the spiritual attractive-
ness of divine conversation beyond the perception of a human being without
letters or words. Then he fervently asked to see Allah. But Allah replied,'' You
cannot see Me!'' When he insisted, Allah told him to glance at the mountain :
the mountain was shattered by a shaft of light sent from Allah. After this terrify-
ing event, Musaعليه السلام fainted and asked for Allah's forgiveness.
As this incident shows, love requires gradation. Certain practices are needed
in order to develop one's ability to experience divine love. This requires gradual
training through embracing the spirituality of Allah's friends and moving away
from the authority of self. The heart can only increase its inborn ability to love
by this kind of training, and can thus be purified and freed from the grip of
negative traits. Only then can it gain the spiritual capacity to become a reflector
of divine love, like a polished mirror.
The love of mother, father, wife, husband and children, and material and spiritual
opportunities and other worldly favors are all Allah's kindness and favor to His
servants. But all these kinds of love should be a means to reach Allah. They are
only signposts in Allah's path. Our hearts should not be slaves to them, for those
who are in love with Absolute Beauty do not fall in love with fragments. Those
who do will be deprived of the whole. In other words, those who fall in love with
the world will be deprived of Allah's love. Rumi expresses this in the following
couplets :
Every conscious person who thinks of his or her end can easily understand that
it is the purpose of creation that one has to limit their indulgence in amusements
and temporary affection by directing his or her love towards Allah. Absolute
grace is the grace of Allah. All of the beauties we witness with admiration are
nothing but a reflection of His beauty.
The love between Leyla and Majnun is a magnificent example of this fact. If
Majnun's heart had remained devoted to Leyla, she would have become his idol.
However, Leyla only played a temporary role for Majnun and she fell from his
favour after elevating his heart to a level where its object became divine love.
Although Majnun had set off on his journey towards Leyla, he showed the power
to steer his heart towards Allah, not settle upon Leyla.
Love is accepted only as long as its aim is true. Such kind of love does not
become a mansion, absolute headquarter, and final destination for the heart if
it ends up with delusion and disappointment! Only free from such may the heart
continue its journey with the blessings acquired from these love like a fertile soil.
The danger here lies in turning towards those who are not fit to be loved. Worse
yet is to remain stuck on them. If Majnun had been smothered with his infatuation
with Leyla without moving past her, his love wound have been worthless. He would
have disappeared with finite love just like so many other Majnuns.
Continued in another post InshaAllah
The Secret in the Love for God
by Osman Nuri Topbas
In the Name of Allah,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
The real meaning in the Sufi saying '' Die before death comes to you!'' is
that one should avoid falling into the trap of acquiring the bad traits which
stem from the negative pole and should, instead, escape from the whirlpool
of nature. However, the method for such realization does not mean to kill
the self (nafs) but to gain control over it. Rumi explains this point as follows :
If the water remains underneath the ship, it becomes a point of support.
However, if it fills the ship it will destroy it. One can exemplify the same
fact with the fire moving the ship. The fire in the boiler moves the ship.
But if this fire spreads into the deck then it will burn the ship.
A servant therefore becomes close to his Lord inasmuch as he stems the
effects of negative traits. The only way to achieve this is to steer one's love
towards Allah to the extent of the capacity of one's heart. Yet many dangers
lurk in directly steering one's love towards Allah. At one point the heart may
burn as if electrified with high voltage. This may destroy a person. The mani-
festation of Allah to the Prophet Musaعليه السلام is a good example of this.
Musaعليه السلام encountered the Kalam or speech attribute of Allah on Mount
Sinai. He lost his consciousness to great love because of the spiritual attractive-
ness of divine conversation beyond the perception of a human being without
letters or words. Then he fervently asked to see Allah. But Allah replied,'' You
cannot see Me!'' When he insisted, Allah told him to glance at the mountain :
the mountain was shattered by a shaft of light sent from Allah. After this terrify-
ing event, Musaعليه السلام fainted and asked for Allah's forgiveness.
As this incident shows, love requires gradation. Certain practices are needed
in order to develop one's ability to experience divine love. This requires gradual
training through embracing the spirituality of Allah's friends and moving away
from the authority of self. The heart can only increase its inborn ability to love
by this kind of training, and can thus be purified and freed from the grip of
negative traits. Only then can it gain the spiritual capacity to become a reflector
of divine love, like a polished mirror.
The love of mother, father, wife, husband and children, and material and spiritual
opportunities and other worldly favors are all Allah's kindness and favor to His
servants. But all these kinds of love should be a means to reach Allah. They are
only signposts in Allah's path. Our hearts should not be slaves to them, for those
who are in love with Absolute Beauty do not fall in love with fragments. Those
who do will be deprived of the whole. In other words, those who fall in love with
the world will be deprived of Allah's love. Rumi expresses this in the following
couplets :
Those who fall in love with the world are like hunters who shoot at shadows ;
how could a shadow come into their possession?
One of the foolish people tried to catch a bird's shadow;
but even the bird on the branch was bewildered about this.
Every conscious person who thinks of his or her end can easily understand that
it is the purpose of creation that one has to limit their indulgence in amusements
and temporary affection by directing his or her love towards Allah. Absolute
grace is the grace of Allah. All of the beauties we witness with admiration are
nothing but a reflection of His beauty.
The love between Leyla and Majnun is a magnificent example of this fact. If
Majnun's heart had remained devoted to Leyla, she would have become his idol.
However, Leyla only played a temporary role for Majnun and she fell from his
favour after elevating his heart to a level where its object became divine love.
Although Majnun had set off on his journey towards Leyla, he showed the power
to steer his heart towards Allah, not settle upon Leyla.
Love is accepted only as long as its aim is true. Such kind of love does not
become a mansion, absolute headquarter, and final destination for the heart if
it ends up with delusion and disappointment! Only free from such may the heart
continue its journey with the blessings acquired from these love like a fertile soil.
The danger here lies in turning towards those who are not fit to be loved. Worse
yet is to remain stuck on them. If Majnun had been smothered with his infatuation
with Leyla without moving past her, his love wound have been worthless. He would
have disappeared with finite love just like so many other Majnuns.
Continued in another post InshaAllah
The Secret in the Love for God
by Osman Nuri Topbas
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