SUFISM IS THE ESSENCE OF ISLAM

SUFISM IS THE ESSENCE OF ISLAM 

THE SUFI SAINTS ARE THE HEIRS 

OF THE PROPHETS.

SHEIK ABDUL QADIR AL JILANI QS 

MANS RETURN HOME TO THE 

ORIGINAL SOURCE.

Man is considered from two points of view:

his material being and his spiritual being.

In the appearance of material being everyone is more or less equal.

Therefore in this respect,one may apply to humanity general laws.

In his spiritual being,hidden behind his appearance,each person is different.

Therefore special private laws apply to him.

Man in accordance with general laws,by following certain steps can return to his origin.

To take these steps,he follows the evident ordinances of our religion as a guide;

following them,he advances.

Rising from level to level he may reach the stage of the spiritual path,passing into the realm of wisdom.That is a very high state.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) praises this state,saying,

"There is a state in which all and everything is gathered and it is the divine wisdom."

To reach that level,one first has to abondon false appearances and the hypocrisy of doing things so that others might see or hear.

Then one must set for oneself three goals.

These three goals are actually three paradises.

The first is called Ma'wa the paradise of the security home.That is the earthly paradise.

The second is called Na' im the garden of the delight of Allah's grace upon His creatures,which is the paradise within the angelic realm.

The third is called Firdaws,the heavenly paradise.That is the paradise in the realm of the unity of the casual mind,home of the souls,of the divine Names and attributes.

These are the rewards,the beauties of Allah which the material man will taste in his efforts

  in the three successive stages of knowledge:

efforts in following the religious precepts 

(Sharia);efforts in eliminating the multiplicity in himself,fighting the cause of this multiplicity which his ego,in order to reach the state of unity and come close to his Creator (tariqa);

and finally,in his efforts to reach the state of divine wisdom (marifa) whereby he will come to know his Lord.

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) at the conclusion of the previously mentioned tradition.

"There is a state in which all and everything is gathered and it is the divine wisdom",says:

"With it one learns the truth,which gathers within itself all causes and all good.

Then one must act upon this truth.

One must also know falsehood and act upon it,abandoning all of it"

And he says,

"O Lord show us the truth and make it our lot to follow it,and teach us that which is false and make it easy for us to avoid it"And,

"He who knows his self and opposes its wrong desires truly,comes to know his Lord,and follows His wishes."

These are general rules which apply to the material being of man.

Then there is the spiritual being of man,or the spiritual man,who is called the pure man.

His goal is total closeness to Allah.

The only way to this end is knowledge of truth

(haqiqa).

In the first created realm of the absolute being of oneness,this knowledge is called Unity.

One may hope to reach the goal of this path in this worldly life..In that state there is no difference between being awake and being asleep,since in sleep the soul may find occasion to escape to its true home,the realm of the souls,and come back and bring news.

This we call the true dream.

This event can be partial,as in the case of dreams;it can also be total,as in the case of the Ascension of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Allah Most High confirms this:

"Allah takes mens souls at the time of their death,and those that die not,during their sleep.

Then He withholds those on whom He has passed the decree of death,and sends the others back till an appointed term.

Surely there are signs in this for people who reflect."(Sura Zumar 42).

The Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) confirms this,

"The sleep of the wise is more worthy than the worship of the ignorant."

The wise are the Prophets and Saints who have aquired the knowledge of truth that has no letters,no sound.

That knowledge is received through the continuous repetition of the divine Name of Unity with the secret tongue.

The wise are the Prophets and Saints whose core is turned into divine light by the light of unity.

Allah Most High speaks through His 

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and says,

"Man is My secret and I am his secret.

The inner knowledge of the spiritual essence 

(ilm al batin) is a secret of My secrets.

Only I put this into the heart of My good servant,and none may know his state other than Me."

and

"I am as My servant knows Me.When he seeks Me and remembers Me,I am with him.

If he seeks me inwardly,I seek him with My Essence.If he remembers and mentions Me in good company,I remember and declare him as My good servant in better company."

In all that is said here,the only way to satisfy one's wish is meditation-that means of knowledge which the common man uses so seldom.

Yet the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said,

"A moments reflection is worth more than a year of worship."

"A moments reflection is worth more than seventy years of worship."

"A moments reflection is worth more than a thousand years of worship."

The value of every action is hidden in the essence of truth.

The act of a moments meditation here appears to have three different values:

Whoever contemplates an affair and seeks its cause finds that each of its parts has many parts of its own,and finds that each of these is the cause of many other things.

This is a contemplation that is worth a years worship.

Whoever contemplates his devotions and seeks the cause and reason and comes to know it,his meditation is worth seventy years of worship.

Whoever contemplates the divine wisdom with a strong wish to know Allah Most High,his meditation is worth a thousand years of worship,for this is the true knowledge.

True knowledge is the state of unity.

The wise lover unites with the Beloved.

From this material realm,flying with spiritual wings he soars to the realm of attainment,for the devout walk to Paradise while the wise fly to realms close to their Lord.

Lovers have eyes in their hearts 

They see while others are staring blind

Such wings they have not of flesh and blood

They fly towards angels their Lord to find!

The flight occurs in the inner world of the wise

(The Prophet's and Saints).

They receive the honour of being called 

Perfect Men,the beloved ones of Allah Most High,His intimates,His brides.

The Sufi Saint Bayazid al Bistami,may Allah Most High sanctify his secret says,

"The holders of wisdom are the brides of Allah Most High."

Other Sufi Saints as well describe them by saying that those who come close to Allah Most High become the brides of Allah Most High.

Only the loving possessors of brides know them intimately.

These wise servants who become intimates of Allah Most High, though beautiful are covered by the appearance of ordinary men.

Allah Most High speaks through His 

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) saying,

"My intimates are hidden under my domes.

None can recognise them but Me."

The domes under which Allah Most High hides His friends are their undistinguished,ordinary appearances.

When one looks at a bride covered by her wedding veil,what can one see but the veil?

Yahya ibn Muadh al Razi may Allah Most High sanctity his secret,says,

"The beloved of Allah Most High are the perfume of Allah Most High upon this world,

but only the true sincere believers have noses to smell them."

They smell that beautiful perfume,they follow that smell.

That perfume creates a yearning in their hearts for their Lord.

Each in his own way increases his pace,his efforts,his devotion.

The degree of his yearning,his wish and the speed of his pace are in proportion to his lightness,to his having shed the weight of his worldly self 

For the more one takes off the coarse clothing of this world,the more one feels the warmth of one's Creator and the closer to the surface inner being comes.

Closeness to the truth is in relation to the amount of false materially one has thrown away.

In giving away one's multiple aspects one comes closer to the only truth.

The intimate of Allah Most High is he who has brought himself to nothingness.

Only then can he see the existence of the truth.

There is no will left in him to choose.

There is no 'I' left other than the only existence which is the truth.

Although all manner of miracles have come through him to prove his state,he has nothing to do with them.

In his state there is no disclosure of secrets,because divulging the secret of divinity is infidelity.