| 51 - Sobriety/Intoxication - Part Two |
According to the author
of Sufism - A Short Introduction, "intoxication is associated with
expansion, hope, and intimacy with God. It is the human response to the divine names that
declare God’s compassion, love, kindness, beauty, gentleness, and concern."
Intoxication is not a
"human response" to certain Divine Names. The Divine Names are present
everywhere and always, but the vast majority of people never experience spiritual
intoxication, so intoxication cannot be a human response to such a Presence.
To varying degrees, and
on different levels, human beings have a potential for experiencing Divine Names. When God
tears away a certain veil, then, the aforementioned potential is activated.
The individual does not
respond to the tearing away of the veil with a condition of intoxication. Intoxication is
inherent in the removal of the veil, for, in effect, the removal of a veil is just another
way of talking about the opening of a certain dimension of fitra or primordial spiritual
capacity - an opening which is infused with a sense of ecstasy and intoxication as human
potential is engaged by Divine possibility.
The author’s
foregoing assertion is also misleading when it restricts "intimacy with God"
only to jamali qualities such as "compassion, love, kindness, beauty, gentleness, and
concern". When an individual is engaged by Divinity through jalali qualities such as
majesty, justice, constraint, rigor, and so on, the relationship is still one of intimacy
although this form of closeness may be more difficult to bear.
In fact, an individual
cannot be said to be fully realized until she or he has encountered and/or been embraced
by all the Divine Names. Intimacy entails accepting Divinity in all modalities of
manifestation and not just those which may appeal to this or that dimension of the
individual.
The author attempts to
contrast the nature of sobriety with intoxication by asserting that: "sobriety
allows for a clear differentiation between God and the world and a calm and careful
discernment between right and wrong, beautiful and ugly. It correlates with the absolute
distinction between Creator and creatures and is associated with wonderment, awe,
contraction, and fear. It is the human response to divine names that designate God’s
majesty, glory, splendor, magnificence, might, wrath, and vengeance." Aside from the
already established point concerning the misleading character of the author’s use of
the phrase "human response" - whether in relation to jamali or jalali qualities
- there are a number of additional points which need to be made with respect to the above
noted quote.
First of all, the adab of
sobriety does not so much allow "for a clear differentiation between God and the
world", as much as sobriety is rooted in an understanding that understands the
‘rights’ of different manifestations of Divinity. Those expressions of Divine
Names and Attributes which appear through this or that locus of worldly manifestation have
certain rights associated with their existence, just as those expressions of Divine Names
and Attributes which appear through this or that locus of spiritual manifestation have
certain rights associated with their being.
Intoxication is the adab
of unveiling. Sobriety is also the adab of unveiling.
In fact, the
understanding which comes through the intoxication of unveiling helps inform the
understanding of sobriety so that the latter is imbued with a sacred respect for the
Presence of Divine manifestation - a respect which only could arise through the
intoxication of unveiling. Similarly, the understanding of sobriety helps inform the
condition of intoxication so that the latter is experienced and enjoyed, but not permitted
to spill over into outward conduct - at least, in any discernible manner.
Sobriety does not consist
in "a calm and careful discernment between right and wrong, beautiful and ugly."
Sobriety is not an act of ratiocination in which certain conclusions are deduced from
starting premises.
Sobriety is a condition
of spiritual insight into various dimensions of truth, beauty, justice, balance, and rigor
with the express purpose of reconciling the ecstatic sacredness of unveiling with the
‘rights’ which are inherent in that same unveiling. This is not a matter of
distinguishing between ‘right and wrong, beautiful and ugly’ but of grasping the
nature of the reality which defines the context out of which intoxication and unveiling
arise, as well as acting in accordance with one’s knowledge of the relationship among
different modalities of Divine manifestation.
Furthermore, the
perception of something as ‘ugly’ is not so much an instance of discernment as
it is an admission of ignorance. Everything which is in creation serves the purpose of
Divinity and, therefore, cannot be anything but expressions of goodness and beauty.
To judge something as
ugly is to do so from a perspective which fails to understand how that which is being
judged fits into the Divine scheme of things. Ugliness is not part of the adab of
intoxication, nor is it part of the adab of sobriety.
The author of Sufism
- A Short Introduction claims that sobriety is "associated with wonderment,
awe, contraction, and fear". There are several problems inherent in his claim.
For instance, although
those who are in a condition of sobriety have a deep, abiding, essential sense of respect
and sacredness concerning all things Divine, the ‘fear’ which is experienced is
not so much directed toward God as it is a reflection of the individual’s recognition
that human beings have a capacity for transgression, and, consequently, the person of
sobriety is worried about his or her own vulnerability to the sort of carelessness and
heedlessness which could result in a fall from spiritual Grace. - just as happened with
Iblis despite having been raised up by God to not only associate with the angels but to
teach them as well. People of sobriety fear their own capacity to become alienated from
Divine guidance.
In addition, sobriety is
not a condition of "constriction". The author is confusing spiritual contraction
with the restraints that are part of the adab of sobriety and which set up boundaries of
demarcation which should not be transgressed.
Spiritual contraction
exists when Divinity imposes a set of conditions on an individual which are designed to
corral that person within an existential space dominated by difficulty, hardship,
privation, rigor, problems, and challenges. Contraction paves the way for, God willing,
eventual expansion, and the former is part of the alchemical tempering process forging
spiritual character.
People of sobriety are
not necessarily in a condition of spiritual contraction - although they could be. However,
sobriety is not a function of spiritual contraction, nor is contraction automatically
inherent in the condition of sobriety.
In fact, for the most
part, sobriety constitutes a condition of expansion. This is so because not only is
intoxication present in those who are observing the adab of sobriety, but the adab, as
well as its observance, are both gifts of God which reflect the individual’s being
drawn closer to fulfilment of life’s purpose, and being drawn closer in this way is
an expression of spiritual expansion, not contraction.
Ironically, in some
cases, intoxication actually can give expression to a condition of spiritual contraction.
For example, on occasion, an individual may become so enamored with a certain condition of
intoxication that he or she becomes stuck in such a condition and, as a result, spiritual
progress is arrested.
The Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) is reported to have said: "Hell is veiled in delights, and Heaven
is veiled in hardships and miseries." Similarly, sometimes, spiritual contraction is
veiled in intoxication, and expansion is veiled in sobriety.
According to the author
of Sufism - A Short Introduction: "If perceiving God’s aloofness
allows for a clear understanding of the difference between servant and Lord, seeing His
nearness blinds the discerning powers of reason. Neither standpoint is complete in itself.
The vision of things as they truly are demands a balance between seeing God distant and
finding Him near, or between rational understanding and imaginal unveiling." There
are a number of mistakes of understanding inherent in the foregoing quote.
First of all, the jalali
qualities of Divinity such as majesty, justice, wrath, rigor, independence, transcendence,
incomparability, and so on, are not expressions of Divine "aloofness". In fact,
precisely the opposite is the case.
Jalal qualities are not
somewhere else. They are all here and now, but they are present in a way that we cannot
comprehend or penetrate - except to whatever extent Allah wishes.
For instance, the
independence of Divinity refers to, among other things, the fact God is not in need of
anything from Creation. God does not need our prayers, or worship, or love or service.
If, and when, by the
Grace of God, an individual comes to realize something of the nature of Divine
independence, this realization has a profound impact on modulating the manner in which an
individual pursues the purpose of life. God doesn’t need us, but we need God, and
whatever we do is to our benefit or harm and cannot enhance, or detract from, Divinity in
any way. As the Qur’an indicates: "O people, you are the poor toward God, and
God is the Independent, the Praiseworthy." (35:15)
The Names and Attributes
of Divinity give expression to those aspects of the Hidden Treasure which are disclosed in
manifest form. Every facet of manifestation is shaped, colored, oriented, directed and
sustained by the collective contributions of the Names and Attributes in accordance with
the Divine Himma or aspiration through which Creation was brought into existence.
Where is the aloofness in
any of this? If a Name or Attribute were not intended to impact on manifest existence -
especially in relation to humankind and jinn, the Name or Attribute would not be at all,
for all Names and Attributes mark the presence of Divinity in Creation according to the
modality inherent in a given Name or Attribute that serves the Purpose of Creation.
Contrary to the
contention of the author of Sufism - A Short Introduction,
"nearness" does not blind "the discerning powers of reason." Nearness
expands and informs the "discerning powers of reason."
A faculty of reason
unsupported by the understanding which a realization of ‘nearness’ to Divinity
brings, is but a dim reflection of what reason can and should be. Reason cannot function
properly in the absence of ‘nearness’, for reason becomes dogmatic, rigid,
inflexible, narrow, and adrift when it is not nurtured by ‘nearness’.
The author continues on
by saying: "The vision of things as they truly are demands a balance between seeing
God distant and finding Him near, or between rational understanding and imaginal
unveiling." In reality, although spiritual balance is of fundamental importance to
being opened up to ‘things as they truly are’, such balance has nothing to do
with "seeing God distant and finding Him near" or being "between rational
understanding and imaginal unveiling".
Both intoxication and
sobriety are expressions of a realization of nearness. Both kinds of ‘nearness’
are rooted in imaginal unveiling, and the spiritual understanding which arises out of each
of these varieties of imaginal unveiling is the source of balance to which the author
alludes in his quote - a balance that involves an optimization of rational functioning
(because it is informed by imaginal unveiling) that does not permit reasoning to stray
beyond its province of expertise.
Consequently, true
rational understanding is a by-product of spiritual balance rather than a component of
such balance. Furthermore, true spiritual balance involves seeing God’s nearness
through qualities of jamal, as well as, jalal, and there can be no proper balance without
the realized nearness of both sets of Divine qualities.
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