Page 34 - Chapter
Three: "As noted earlier, the Sufis commonly called this direct knowledge of
God ‘unveiling’. Partly because unveiling often takes the form of a visionary,
imagistic knowledge, they made frequent use of poetry to express their teachings about
God, the world and the human soul. Many of them felt that poetry was the ideal medium for
expressing the truths of the most intimate and mysterious relationship that human beings
can achieve with God, that is, loving Him and being loved by Him."
Commentary:
Although unveiling may, ‘sometimes’, assume the form of "visionary,
imagistic knowledge", the author has not put forth any evidence which would
substantiate his claim that unveiling "often takes" such a form. In fact, on the
basis of those Sufi shaykhs who have written anything - and this constitutes a very small
portion of the Sufi community of knowers (which the author acknowledged earlier in his
book) - there is little reason to suppose that such spiritual conditions as fana, baqa,
gnosis, intoxication, and/or love - all of which involve unveiling - are either a function
of images or necessarily must entail images of one sort or another - although, from time
to time, there may be imagery associated with such spiritual conditions that serve as loci
of manifestation through which different kinds of knowledge may be given expression in
conjunction with that condition.
Ultimately, the mystical
path is ineffable. This means that, for the part, spiritual realization cannot be reduced
to concepts, language, images, or some combination thereof.
If some individuals chose
poetry to communicate certain facets of the Sufi Path, this is not necessarily because
poetry is "the ideal medium for expressing the truths of the most intimate and
mysterious relationship that human beings can achieve with God". In fact, poetry is
language, and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is reported to have said:
"Whoever knows Allah curbs one’s tongue from speaking about Allah, since this
kind of knowledge cannot be contained in speech", and, therefore, words -
irrespective of whether they are prose or poetry - cannot express "the
truths of the most intimate relationship that human beings can achieve with God.".
Poetry is a language of
metaphor and simile. One uses poetry to allude, to point, to suggest, to remind, and to
establish a verbal, rhythmical resonance in relation to some aspect of experience.
The symbols of poetry are
access routes to realms of experience too vast to be contained in words. So, a poet does
the next best thing - if one can’t recreate the experience, then, at least provide
something which offers a metaphorical reflection - however fleeting and inadequate - of
those facets of experience to which one is seeking to draw the attention of others.
Furthermore, in many -
and, perhaps, most instances - individuals did not choose poetry because they considered
it an ideal medium for expressing truths which, in fact, could not be expressed through
language - and the poets knew this as well as anyone. Indeed, individuals did not choose
mystical poetry as much as, in a very important sense, such poetry chose those
individuals.
Rumi, for example, did
not write the Mathnawi. He was the locus of manifestation through which the Mathnawi
was given expression, and the same sort of thing could be said with respect to all of the
other, great, Sufi poets.
Mystical poetry consists
of so many postcards from the land of the ineffable. Just as a postcard is not the reality
which it seeks to depict, so too, mystical poetry is not the reality from whence it arises
- although, like a postcard, poetry provides a limited sense of this or that point of
reference.
In the quote, on which
the previous Commentary (61) was based, the author was trying to maintain
that ‘taqwa’ was the "highest human attribute in God’s eyes".
Now, the author is claiming that loving, and being loved by, God is "the most
intimate and mysterious relationship that human beings can achieve with God".
In point of fact, neither
of the author’s foregoing contentions are quite correct. The Qur’an indicates
that: "God embraces all things in Mercy and Knowledge," (40:7) and, therefore,
both taqwa and love are embraced ‘in Mercy and Knowledge’.
Love and taqwa - each in
its own way - give modulated expression to both Mercy and Knowledge. As a previously cited
Hadith Qudsi indicates: "I [God] was a Hidden Treasure and wished [or desired or
longed or loved] to be known." The desire or wish to be known was an expression of
Mercy, and the Mercy was an expression of knowledge concerning the nature of the Hidden
Treasure.
Love and taqwa are
important constituents of the process of worship, and worship is the purpose for which
human beings and jinn have been created by Divinity. Moreover, worship is embraced by both
Mercy and Knowledge.
The Qur’an says:
"We have not sent you (Muhammad) except as a mercy to all the worlds." (21:107)
And, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was instructed to say: "This is my way.
I call to God upon insight - I and whoever follows after me." (12:108) - again, Mercy
and Knowledge.
Elsewhere in the
Qur’an, God says: "We raise by grades of Mercy whom We will, and over every lord
of knowledge, there is one more knowing." (12:76) ‘All things are embraced in
Mercy and Knowledge’.
The Prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) is reported to have said: "The hearts of all of the children of
Adam (peace be upon him) are like a single heart between the two fingers of the
All-Merciful, and the All-Merciful twists this heart in whatever way is willed." Yet,
this willing is not arbitrary, for it is done in accordance with the purpose of Creation
which desires that the Hidden Treasure comes to be known to whatever extent the underlying
Devine wish permits.
The heart of mankind is a
major battleground in the struggle between guidance and mis-guidance - two fingers of the
All-Merciful. Furthermore, Allah’s Mercy is such that Divinity "never changes
the Grace which has been bestowed on any people until they first change that which is
their hearts, and this is because Allah is Hearer, Knower." (8:53) But, Allah also
reminds us: "O My slaves who have transgressed against their own souls! Do not
despair of the Mercy of Allah who forgives all sins." (39:53)
Human beings have been
constructed with the potential to know whatever portions of the Hidden Treasure that God
wishes. Knowledge of God is at the heart of fitra - that is, our primordial capacity for
knowing Divinity - and we require God’s Mercy to realize the possibilities inherent
in that capacity.
Consequently, the
‘highest human attribute’ is our capacity for Divine knowledge. Taqwa and love
are both species of such knowledge, but spiritual knowledge extends far beyond taqwa and
love.
In addition, the most
intimate and mysterious relationship which a human being can achieve with Divinity is to
fully realize that one is immersed in the embrace of the All-merciful. Once again, taqwa
and love each constitutes a locus of manifestation which gives expression to one’s
realization of the Presence of the All-merciful, and each of those qualities does so in
its own characteristic way, but the embrace of the All-Merciful is far more encompassing
than taqwa and love.
|
