In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
That which is on earth We have made as a glittering show for the earth,
in order that We may test them, as to which of
them are best in conduct * Verily what is on earth We shall make but
as dust and dry soil.1 * What is the life of this world
but play and amusement? 2
[This Word consists of two elevated Stations, and one brilliant Addendum.]
The All-Compassionate Creator, the Munificent Provider, the All-Wise
Maker made this world in the form of a festival and
celebration for the World of Spirits and spirit beings. Adorning it
with the wondrous embroideries of all His Names, He
clothes each spirit, great or small, elevated or lowly, in a body decked
out with senses, suitable to it and appropriate for
benefiting from the innumerable, various good things and bounties in
the festival; He gives each a corporeal being and sends
it to the spectacle once. And He divides the festival, which is most
extensive in regard to both time and space, into centuries,
years, seasons, and even days and their parts, and makes each an exalted
festival in the form of a parade for all the groups
of His creatures with spirits and for His plant and vegetable artefacts.
And especially the face of the earth in spring and
summer, it is a series of festivals for the groups of small beings
so glittering that it attracts and draws the gazes of the spirit
beings and angels and the dwellers of the heavens in the high levels
of the world. And for those who think and contemplate
it is a place for reflection so wonderful that the mind is powerless
to describe it. But in the face of the manifestations of the
Divine Names of Most Merciful and Giver of Life in this Divine feast
and Dominical festival, the Names of Subduer and
Dealer of Death appear with death and separation. And this is apparently
unconformable with the all-embracing Mercy of,
My Mercy encompasses all things.3
However, in reality there are several ways in which it is conformable, and one of these is as follows:
After each group of beings has completed its turn in the parade and
the desired results have been obtained from it, in a
compassionate way the Most Generous Maker and Compassionate Creator
makes most of them feel weariness and disgust
with the world, and bestows on them a desire for rest and a longing
to migrate to another world. And when they are to be
discharged from their duties of life, He awakens in their spirits a
compelling desire for their original home.
Moreover, it is not far from the infinite mercy of the Most Merciful
that, just as He bestows the rank of martyrdom on a
soldier who perishes on account of his duty while fighting, and rewards
a sheep slaughtered as a sacrifice by giving it an
eternal corporeal existence in the hereafter and the rank of being
a mount for its owner on the Bridge of Sirat like Buraq, so
too with other animals and beings with spirits who perish while performing
the Dominical duties peculiar to their natures and
in obeying the Divine commands, and who suffer severe distress, - it
is not unlikely that there should be for them in the
inexhaustible treasuries of His mercy a sort of spiritual reward and
kind of wage in accordance with their capacities. And
that they should not be unduly troubled at departing this world, indeed,
that they should be pleased. None knows the Unseen
save God.
However, although man, the noblest of beings with spirits and the one
who benefits most from the festivals with regard to
both quality and quantity, is captivated by the world and absorbed
in it, as a work of mercy, the Most Merciful gives him a
state of mind whereby he feels disgust at the world and a longing to
travel to the eternal realm. A person whose humanity is
not plunged in misguidance profits from that state of mind, and departs
with a tranquil heart. Now, by way of example, we
shall explain five of the aspects which produce that state of mind.
The First: By showing with the season of old age the stamp of transience
and decline on the beautiful and inviting things of
this world, and their bitter meaning, it makes a person feel disgust
at the world and causes him to seek a permanent beloved
in place of the transient.
The Second: Since ninety-nine per cent of all the friends to whom a
person is attached have departed this world and settled
in another, impelled by that heart-felt love it bestows on him a longing
for the place they have gone to, and makes him meet
death and the appointed hour with joy.
The Third: By means of certain things, it makes a person realize the
infinite weakness and impotence in man, and
understand how heavy are the burdens of life and responsibilities of
living, and awakens in him a serious wish for rest and a
sincere desire to go to another world.
The Fourth: Through the light of belief, it shows to the heart of a
believer that death is not being executed, but a change of
abode; that the grave is not the mouth of a dark well, but the door
to light-filled worlds; and that for all its glitter, the world is
like a prison in relation to the hereafter. For sure, to be released
from the prison of this world and enter the gardens of
Paradise, and pass from the troublesome turmoil of bodily life to the
world of rest and the arena where spirits soar, and to
slip free from the vexatious noise of creatures and go to the Presence
of the Most Merciful is a journey, indeed, a happiness,
to be desired with a thousand lives.
The Fifth: Through making known the knowledge of reality which is in
the Qur'an and the world's true nature through the
light of reality, it explains to a person who listens to the Qur'an
that love for the world and attachment to it are quite
meaningless. That is to say, it says the following to man, and proves
it:
"The world is a book of the Eternally Besought One. Its letters and
words point not to themselves but to the essence,
attributes and Names of another. In which case, learn its meaning and
obtain it, and leave its decorations, and go!..
"The world is also a tillage; sow and reap your crop, and preserve it. Throw away the chaff, and give it no importance!...
"The world is also a collection of mirrors which continuously pass on
one after the other; so know the One Who is manifest
in them, see His lights, understand the manifestations of the Names
which appear in them, and love the One they signify.
Cease your attachment for the fragments of glass which are doomed to
be broken and perish!...
"The world is also a travelling place of trade. So do your commerce
and come; do not chase in vain the caravans which flee
from you and pay you no attention. Do not weary yourself for nothing!...
"The world is also a temporary exhibition. So look at it and take lessons.
Pay attention, not to its apparent, ugly face, but to
its hidden, beautiful face which looks to the Eternal All-Beauteous
One. Go for a pleasant and beneficial promenade, then
return, and at the disappearance of scenes displaying fine views and
showing beautiful things, do not weep like a silly child,
and do not be anxious!...
"The world is also a guest-house. So eat and drink within the limits
permitted by the Generous Host Who made it, and offer
thanks. Act and behave within the bounds of His law. Then leave it
without looking behind you, and go. Do not interfere in it
in a delirious or officious manner. Do not busy yourself for nothing
with things which part from you and do not concern you.
Do not attach yourself to passing things and drown!.."
This Fifth Aspect shows the secrets in the world's inner face through
apparent truths like these, and greatly lightens the
parting from it. Indeed, to those who are aware it makes parting desirable
for them, and shows that there is a trace of
Mercy in everything and every aspect of it. And so, just as the Qur'an
indicates these Five Aspects, so too its verses point to
other particular aspects.
Woe to that person who has no share of these five Aspects!...
The Second Station
of the Seventeenth Word4
Cry not out at misfortune, O wretch, come, trust in God!
For know that crying out compounds the misfortune and is a great error.
* * *
Find misfortune's Sender, and know it is a gift within gift, and pleasure.
So leave crying out and offer thanks; like the nightingale, smile through your tears!
* * *
If you find Him not, know the world is all pain within pain, transience and loss.
So why lament at a small misfortune while upon you is a worldful of woe?
Come trust in God!
* * *
Trust in God! Laugh in misfortune's face; it too will laugh.
As it laughs, it will diminish; it will be changed and transformed.
* * *
Know, O arrogant one, happiness in this world is in abandoning it.
To know God is enough. Abandon the world; all things will be for you.
* * *
To be arrogant is total loss; whatever you do, all things will be against you.
So both states demand abandoning the world here.
* * *
Abandoning the world is to regard it as God's property, with His permission,
in His Name...
If you want to do trade, it is in making this fleeting life eternal.
* * *
If you seek yourself, it is both rotten and without foundation.
If you seek the world outside, the stamp of ephemerality is upon it.
* * *
That means there is no value in taking it; the goods in this market are all rotten.
So pass on... the sound goods are all lined up beyond it....
A FRUIT OF THE BLACK MULBERRY
[The Old Said spoke this with the tongue of the New Said
under the blessed mulberry tree.]
The one I'm addressing isn't Ziya Pa_a, it's those enamoured of Europe.
The one speaking isn't my soul, it's my heart in the name of the students of the Qur'an.
* * *
The previous words are all truth; beware, don't lose course, don't exceed their bounds!
Don't heed the ideas of Europe and deviate, or they'll make you regret it!
* * *
You see the most enlightened of them, in brilliance their standard-bearer,
Exclaim in bewilderment: Of whom, to whom can I complain?
* * *
The Qur'an says, and I say too - I won't hold back:
I lodge my complaint with Him. I'm not confused, like you.
* * *
I cry out to the True God; I don't slip away, like you.
I shout my cause from the ground to the skies; I don't flee, like you.
* * *
For all the Qur'an's cause is light upon light; I don't renege, like you.
In the Qur'an is truth and wisdom; I'll prove it. I count as nothing hostile philosophy.
* * *
In the Criterion are diamond truths; I take them to myself, not sell them, like you.
I journey from creation to Creator; I don't lose the way, like you.
* * *
I pass over thorny paths, I don't tread on them, like you.
From the earth to the Throne, I offer thanks; I don't neglect it, like you.
* * *
I look on death and the appointed hour as a friend; I am not frightened, like you.
I'll enter the grave smiling, not trembling, like you.
* * *
I don't see it as a monster's mouth, a beast's lair, descending to nothingness,
like you.
It joins me with my friends; I'm not vexed at the grave, like you.
* * *
It's the door of Mercy, gate of Light, portal of Truth; I am not discomforted by it;
I won't retreat.
Saying: In the Name of God, I'll knock on it.5 I'll not look behind me nor feel terror.
* * *
Saying: All Praise be to God!, I'll lay down and find ease. I'll suffer no trouble
nor remain solitary.
Saying, God is Most Great!, I'll hear the Call to the Resurrection and rise up,6
I won't hang back from the Great Gathering, or the Mighty Mosque.
* * *
I'll feel no distress, thanks to Divine favour, the Qur'an's light,
and the effulgence of belief;
Not stopping, I'll hasten, fly, to the shade of the Most Merciful's Throne.
God willing, I won't go astray, like you.
A SUPPLICATION WHICH OCCURRED
TO ME IN PERSIAN
[That is, since this supplication occurred to my heart in Persian, it
was written in that language.7 It was first included in my
published work, Hubab.]
O my Sustainer! Heedlessly not trusting in You but in my own power and
will, I cast an eye over 'the six aspects' searching
for a cure for my ills. Alas, I could find no cure for them, and I
understood it was being said to me: "Are your ills not
sufficient as cure for you?"
Indeed, in heedlessness I looked to past time on my right to find solace,
but I saw that yesterday appeared in the form of my
father's grave and past time as the huge grave of all my forbears.
It filled me with horror rather than consolation.(*)
(*) Belief shows that horrific vast grave to be a familiar and enlightened meeting and a gathering of friends.
Then I looked to the future on the left. I could find no cure. Rather,
tomorrow appeared in the form of my grave and the
future as the vast grave of my contemporaries and the forthcoming generations;
it afforded not a feeling of familiarity, but
one of fright.(*)
(*) Belief and the peace of belief shows that terrible huge grave to
be a feast of the Most Merciful in delightful palaces of
bliss.
Since no good appeared from the left either, I looked at the present
day, and I saw that it resembled a bier. It was bearing
my desperately struggling corpse.(*)
(*) Belief shows the bier to be a place of trade and a glittering guest-house.
Thus, I could find no cure from this aspect either, so I raised my head
and looked at the top of the tree of my life. I saw that
its single fruit was my corpse; it was looking at me from the tree
top.(*)
(*) Belief shows the tree's fruit to be not the corpse, but the worn
out home of my spirit, which will manifest eternal life and
is destined for everlasting happiness, from which it has departed in
order to travel among the stars.
Despairing of that aspect too, I lowered my head. I looked and saw that
the dust of my bones underfoot had mixed with the
dust of my first creation. It afforded no cure, but added further pain
to my ills.(*)
(*) Belief shows the dust to be the door leading to Mercy and a curtain before the halls of Paradise.
I turned away from that too and looked behind me. I saw a transient
world without foundation revolving and departing in the
valleys of nothingness and darkness of non-existence. It was no salve
for my ills, it rather added the poison of horror and
fright.(*)
(*) Belief shows the world revolving in darkness to be missives of the
Eternally Besought One and pages of Divine
inscriptions, which, having completed their duties and expressed their
meanings, have left their results in existence in their
place.
Since I could see no good in that either, I switched my gaze to my front,
before me. I saw that the door of the grave stood
open at the end of my road, and the highway leading to eternity beyond
it struck my gaze from afar.(*)
(*) Since belief shows the door of the grave to lead onto the world
of light and the road to lead to eternal happiness, it was
both a salve for my ills, and a cure.
Thus, rather than receiving consolation and a feeling of familiarity,
I felt only horror and fear at these six aspects. And apart
from the faculty of will I had nothing in my hand with which to withstand
them and act in the face of them.(*)
(*) Belief gives a document for relying on an infinite power in place
of the power of choice, which is like the smallest
indivisible particle; indeed, belief itself is a document.
But the human weapon called the faculty of will both lacks power and
its range is short. And it is inaccurate. It cannot
create, and apart from acquiring, can do nothing.(*)
(*) Belief causes the faculty of will to be employed in God's name,
and makes it sufficient before everything it may face.
Like when a soldier employs his insignificant strength on account of
the state, he can perform deeds thousands of times
greater than his own strength...
It can neither penetrate the past nor discern the future, and in regard
to my hopes and fears concerning these, was of no
benefit.(*)
(*) Belief takes its reins from the hand of the animal body and hands
them over to the heart and the spirit, and may
therefore penetrate the past and the future. For the sphere of life
of the heart and spirit is broad.
The arena of the faculty of will is brief present time and the passing present instant.
Thus, despite all my needs and weakness, want and poverty, and my wretched
state due to the horrors and terrors arising
from the six aspects, desires stretching to eternity and hopes spreading
through eternity had been written clearly on the page
of my being by the Pen of Power, and included in my nature.
Indeed, whatever there is in the world, there are samples of it in my
being. I am connected to all of them. I am caused to
work, and I work, for them.
The sphere of need is as great and extensive as the eye reaches.
In fact, wherever the imagination goes, the sphere of need extends that
far. There is need there too. Rather, whatever man
does not have, he is in need of. That which he does not have, he needs.
And what he does not have is endless.
Whereas the extent of his power is as narrow and short as his short arm reaches.
That means my want and needs are as much as the world.
Whereas my capital is something insignificant like an indivisible particle.
So, what is the faculty of will which is worth twopence in relation
to the needs that extend to the world and can only be
obtained with millions of liras? They cannot be bought with it, and
cannot be gained by it. In which case, one has to search
for another solution.
And the solution is this: to forego one's own will and leave matters
to the Divine Will; to give up one's own power and
strength, and seeking refuge in the Power and strength of Almighty
God, to adhere to the reality of trust in Him. "O my
Sustainer! Since the way to be saved is this, I forego my own will
in Your way, and I give up my egotism.
"So that Your grace may take my hand out of compassion for my impotence
and weakness, and Your mercy may take pity
on my want and need and be a support for me, and open its door for
me."
Yes, whoever finds the boundless sea of Mercy, surely does not rely
on his own will and choice, which is like a mirage; he
does not abandon Mercy and have recourse to his will.
Alas! We have been deceived. We supposed the life of this world to be
constant, and so have lost everything. Yes, this
passing life is but a sleep; it passes like a dream. This unsound life
too flies like the wind, and departs.
Arrogant man, who relies on himself and supposes he will live for ever,
is doomed to die. He passes swiftly. The world, too,
man's house, falls into the darkness of non-existence. Hopes do not
last, while pains endure in the spirit.
Since the reality is this, come, O my wretched soul, which longs for
and desires life, is enamoured of the world and afflicted
with endless hopes and pains! Awake and come to your senses! Just as
the firefly relies on its own miniscule light and
remains in the boundless darkness of the night; and since it does not
rely on itself, the honey bee finds the sun of daytime,
and observes all its friends, the flowers, gilded with the sunlight,
so too, if you rely on yourself and your being and your
egoism, you will be like the firefly. Whereas if you sacrifice your
transient being in the way of the Creator Who gave it to
you, you will find an unending light of being. Sacrifice it, for your
being is a trust given to you for safekeeping.
Moreover, it is His property, and it is He Who bestowed it. So do not
scorn it, sacrifice it unhesitatingly. Sacrifice it so that it
will be made permanent. For negation of a negation is an affirmation.
That is, if non-being is not, there is being. If non-being
is negated, existence comes into being.
The All-Generous Creator buys His own property from you, and gives you
a high price like Paradise in return. Also, He
looks after that property well for you, and increases its value. And
He will return it to you in both enduring and perfect form.
And so, O my soul! Do not wait! Do this trade which is profitable in
five respects, and be saved from five losses; make a
fivefold profit all at once.
* * *
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
But when it set, he said: "I love not those that set." 8
The verse, I love not those that set, which was uttered by Abraham (Upon
whom be peace), and announces the universe's
passing and death, made me weep.
The eyes of my heart wept for it, and poured bitter tear-drops. And
like the eyes of the heart wept, each tear-drop was as
bitterly sad. It causes others to weep, and as though weeps itself.
And the tear-drops are the following lines in Persian.
Thus, those tears are a sort of commentary of some words present within
the Divine Word of God's Wise One, the Prophet
Muhammed.
A beloved who is hidden through setting is not beautiful, for those
doomed to decline cannot be truly beautiful. They may not
loved with the heart, which is created for eternal love and is the
mirror of the Eternally Besought One, and should not be
loved with it.
A desired one who is doomed to be lost on setting; such a one is not
worthy of the heart's attachment, the mind's
preoccupation. He may not be the object of desires. He is not worthy
of being regretted with the sorrow and grief that
follows. So why should the heart worship such a one and be bound to
him?
One sought who is lost in ephemerality; I do not want such a one. For
I am ephemeral, I do not want one who is thus. What
should I do?
A worshipped one who is buried in death; I shall not call him, I shall
not seek refuge with him. For I am infinitely needy and
impotent. One who is impotent can find no cure for my boundless ills.
He can spread no salve on my eternal wounds. How
can one who cannot save himself from death be an object of worship?
Indeed, the reason, which is obsessed with externals, cries out despairingly
at seeing the deaths of the things it worships in
the universe, and the spirit, which seeks for an eternal beloved, utters
the cry: I love not those that set.
I do not want separation, I do not desire separation, I cannot abide seperation...
Meetings followed immediately by separation are not worth sorrow and
grief, they are not worthy of being longed for. For
just as the passing of pleasure is pain, imagining the passing of pleasure
is also a pain. The works of all the metaphorical
lovers, that is, the works of poetry on love, are all cries at the
pain arising from imagining this passing. If you were to
constrain the spirit of all the works of poetry, from each would flow
these grievous cries.
Thus, it is due to the pain and tribulations of those meetings stained
with transitoriness, those sorrowful, metaphorical loves,
that my heart weeps and cries through the weeping of, I love not those
that set.
If you want permanence in this transitory world, permanence comes from
transitoriness. Find permanence with regard to
the evil-commanding soul, so that you may be enduring.
Divest yourself of bad morals, the basis of the worship of this world.
Be transitory! Sacrifice your goods and property in the
way of the True Beloved. See the ends of beings, which point to non-existence,
for the way leading to permanence in this
world starts from transitoriness.
The human mind, which plunges into causes, is bewildered at the upheavals
of the passing of the world, and laments
despairingly. While the conscience, which desires true existence, severs
the connection with metaphorical beloveds and
transient beings through crying like Abraham, I love not those that
set, and it binds itself to the Truly Existent One, and
Eternal Beloved.
O my ignorant soul! Know that the world and its beings are certainly
ephemeral, but you may find a way leading to
permanence in each ephemeral thing, and may see two flashes, two mysteries,
of the manifestations of the Undying
Beloved's Beauty.
Yes, it is within the bounty that the bestowal is to be seen and the
favour of the Most Merciful perceived. If you pass from
bounty to bestowal, you will find the Bestower. Also, each work of
the Eternally Besought One makes known the
All-Glorious Maker's Names like a missive. If you pass from the decoration
to the meaning, you will find the One signified
by way of His Names. Since you can find the kernel, the essence, of
these ephemeral beings, obtain it. Then without pity
you can throw away their meaningless shells and externals on the flood
of ephemerality.
Indeed, among beings there is no work which is not a most meaningful
embodied word and does not cause to be read
numerous of the Glorious Maker's Names. Since beings are words, words
of Power, read their meanings and place them in
your heart. Fearlessly cast words without meaning on the winds of transience.
Do not concern yourself looking behind them,
needlessly occupying yourself.
Since the chain of thought of the worldly mind, which worships externals
and whose capital consists of 'objective'
knowledge, leads to nothingness and non-existence, it cries out despairingly
in its bewilderment and frustration. It seeks a
true path leading to reality. Since the spirit has withdrawn from 'those
that set' and the ephemeral, and the heart has given
up its metaphorical beloveds, and the conscience too has turned its
face from transitory beings, you too, my wretched soul,
attract the assistance of I love not those that set, like Abraham,
and be saved.
See how well Mevlana Jamî expressed it, whose nature was kneaded
with love and who was intoxicated with the cup of
love:
(6)ÈuÖvJ_ (5)Ê«ÏvJ_ (4)5_vJ_ (3)Èu_ÇvJ_ (2)Ê«u__«u_
That is,
1. Want only One; the rest are not worth wanting.
2. Call One; the others will not come to your assistance.
3. Seek One; the rest are not worth it.
4. See One; the others are not seen all the time; they hide themselves behind the veil of ephemerality.
5. Know One; knowledge other than that which assists knowledge of Him is without benefit.
6. Say One; words not concerning Him may be considered meaningless.
Yes, Jamî, you spoke the truth absolutely. The True Beloved, the
True Sought One, the True Desired One, the True Object
of Worship is He alone...
For, in a mighty circle for the mentioning of the Divine Names, this
world together with all its beings and their different
tongues and various songs declares, There is no god but God; together
they testify to Divine Unity. And binding the wound
caused by I love not those that set, point to an Undying Beloved in
place of all the metaphorical beloveds, attachment to
whom has been severed.
* * *
[About twenty-five years ago on Yû?a Tepesi (the Hill of Joshua)
above the Istanbul Bosphorus, at a time I had decided to
give up the world, a number of important friends came to me in order
to call me back to the world and my former position. I
told them to leave me till the following morning so that I could seek
guidance. That morning the following two Tables were
imparted to my heart. They resemble poetry, but they are not. I have
not changed them for the sake of that blessed memory,
and they have been kept as they occurred to me. They were added to
the Twenty-Third Word, and now have been included
here on account of their 'station'.]
THE FIRST TABLE
[The Table depicting the reality of the world of the heedless.]
Don't call me to the world; - I came, and saw it was bad.
Heedlessness was a veil; - I saw the light of truth was concealed.
All the beings in existence, - I saw were ephemeral, harmful.
If you say, being, I dressed in it; - Alas! It was non-being; I suffered much!
If you say, life, I tasted it; - I saw it was torment upon torment.
The mind became pure torture; - I saw permanence to be tribulation.
Life became pure whim; - I saw attainment to be pure loss.
Deeds became pure hypocrisy; - I saw hopes to be pure pain.
Union became parting itself; - I saw the cure to be the ill.
These lights became darkness; - I saw these friends to be orphans.
These voices became announcements
of death; - I saw the living to be dead.
Knowledge was transformed into fancy; - I saw in science a thousand ailments.
Pleasure became pure pain; - I saw existence to be compounded
non-existence.
If you say the Beloved, I found him; - Alas! On separation I suffered
grievous pain.
* * *
THE SECOND TABLE
[The Table indicating the reality of the world of
the people of guidance, those with easy hearts.]
Then the heedlessness passed, - And I saw clearly the light of truth.
Existence became the proof of God; - See, life is the mirror of God.
The mind became the key to treasuries. - See, transience is the door to permanence.
The spark of perfection died, - But, see the Sun of Beauty.
Separation became true union; - See, pain is pure pleasure.
Life became pure action; - See, eternity is pure life.
Darkness became the container of light; - See, there is true life in death.
All things became familiar; - See, all sounds are the mentioning of God.
All the atoms in existence - - See, each recites God's praises
and extols Him.
I found poverty to be a treasury of
wealth; - See, in impotence is perfect strength.
If you find God, - See, all things are yours.
If you are the slave of the Owner of
All Things, - See, His property is yours.
If you are arrogant and claim to
own yourself, - See, it is trial and tribulation without end;
Experience its boundless torment; - See, it is a calamity most crushing.
If you are a true slave of God, - See, it is a limitless pleasure and ease.
Taste its uncountable rewards, - Experience its infinite happiness...
* * *
[Twenty-five years ago in Ramadan after the Afternoon Prayer, I read
Shaykh Geylanî's composition in verse of the Most
Beautiful Names. I felt a desire to write a supplication with the Divine
Names, and at that time only this much was written. I
wanted to write a supplication similar to that of my holy master. But,
alas! I have no ability to write poetry and it remained
deficient. Nevertheless, the supplication was added to the Thirty-Third
Letter of the Thirty-Third Word, known as the
Thirty-Three Windows, then was included here on account of its 'station'.]
He is the Eternal One
The Wise Judge of affairs, we are under His decree;
He is the Just Arbiter; His are the heavens and the earth.
The One Knowing of the secrets and hidden matters in His dominions;
He is the All-Powerful, the Self-Subsistent; His is the Throne and the ground.
The Perceiver of the fine points and embroideries in His art;
He is the Creator, the Loving One; His is the beauty and the splendour.
The Glorious One Whose attributes are reflected in the mirrors in His creation;
He is the Lord, the Most Holy; His is the might and the grandeur.
The Originator of creatures; we form the embroideries of His art;
He is the Constant, the Eternal One; His is the dominion and eternity.
The Munificent Bestower of gifts; we are the caravan of His guests;
He is the Provider, the Sufficer; His is the praise and laudation.
The Beauteous Granter of gifts; We are the weavings of His knowledge;
He is the Creator, the Faithful; His is the munificence, the giving.
The Hearer of plaints and supplications in His creation;
He is the Merciful, the Healer; His is the thanks and the praise.
The Pardoner of the faults and sins of His servants;
He is the Oft Forgiving, the Compassionate; His is forgiveness and acceptance.
O my soul! Together with my heart, weep and cry, and say:
"I am ephemeral; I do not want one such as that.
"I am impotent; I do not want one such as that.
"I have surrendered my spirit to Most Merciful; I do not want another.
"I want one, but I want an eternal friend.
"I am a mere speck, but I want an eternal sun.
"I am nothing, but nothing, but I want these beings, all of them."
* * *
A FRUIT OF THE PINE, CEDAR, JUNIPER,
AND BLACK CYPRESS TREES
IN THE UPLANDS OF BARLA
[While being a part of the Eleventh Letter, this has
been included here on account of its 'station'.]
One time during my captivity while gazing at the majestic and wonderful
forms of the pine, cedar, and juniper trees on the
mountain top, a gentle breeze was blowing. Transforming the scene into
a magnificent, delightful, and clamorous display of
dancing and a rapturous performance of praise and glorification, the
enjoyment of watching it became instruction for the
eyes and wisdom for the ears. I suddenly recalled the Kurdish lines
of Ahmed-i Jizrî, whose meaning is:
"Everyone has hastened to gaze at You and Your Beauty; they are acting coyly before Your Beauty."
My heart wept as follows, expressing their instructive meanings. The
meaning of the verses in Persian written at Tepelice in
the mountains of Barla about the fruit of the pine, cedar, juniper,
and black cypress trees is this:
The living creatures have all appeared from everywhere on the face of the earth, Your art, to gaze on You.
From above and below they emerge like heralds, and cry out.
The herald-like trees take pleasure at the beauty of Your embroideries, and they dance.
They are filled with joy at the perfection of Your art, and utter most beautiful sounds.
It is as if the sweetness of their own voices fills them with joy too, and makes them perform a delicate melody.
And as a consequence these trees have started dancing and are seeking ecstasy.
It is through these works of Divine Mercy that all the living creatures
receive instruction in the glorification and prayer
particular to each of them.
After receiving instruction, on high rocks the trees raise their heads to the Divine Throne.
Each, like Shahbaz-i Kalender,10 stretches out a hundred hands to the
Court of God, and takes up an imposing position of
worship.
They make their small tassel-like twigs and branches dance, so both
they and those that watch them express their fine
pleasure and elevated delight.
They give voice as though touching the most sensitive strings and veins of the veils of love: "Ah! It is He!"
From it a meaning such as this comes to mind: they recall both the weeping
caused by the pain of the fading of metaphorical
loves, and a profoundly sorrowful moaning.
They make heard the melancholy songs of all lovers parted from their beloveds, like Sultan Mahmud.
They seem to have a duty of making the dead hear the pre-eternal songs
and sorrowful voices, who no longer hear worldly
voices and words.
The spirit understands from this that beings respond with glorification
to the manifestation of the Glorious Maker's Names;
they perform a graceful chant.
And the heart reads the mystery of Divine Unity from these trees, each
like an embodied sign, from the elevated word-order
of this miraculousness. That is, there is so wonderful an order, art,
and wisdom in the manner of their creation, that if all the
causes in existence had the power to act and choose, and they gathered
together, they could not imitate them.
And the soul, on seeing them, sees the whole face of the earth as revolving
in a clamorous tumult of separation, and seeks
enduring pleasure. It receives the meaning: "You will find it in abandoning
worship of this world."
And the mind discovers from the chanting animals and trees and the vociferous
plants and air, a most meaningful order of
creation, embroidery of wisdom, and treasury of secrets.
And the desirous soul receives such pleasure from the murmuring air
and whispering leaves that it forgets all metaphorical
pleasure, and through abandoning these, which give it its life, wants
to die in the pleasure of reality.
And the imagination sees that appointed angels have entered these trees
like bodies, from whose branches hang many
flutes. It is as though an Eternal Monarch has clothed the angels in
the trees for a splendid parade with the sounds of a
thousand flutes. Thus the trees show themselves to be not lifeless,
unconscious bodies, but most conscious and meaningful.
And the flutes are pure and powerful as though issuing from a heavenly,
exalted orchestra. The mind does not hear from
them the sorrowful plaints of separation, that foremost Mevlana Jelaleddin
Rumi and all lovers hear, but Dominical praise
and laudation and grateful thanks offered to the Most Merciful One,
the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent.
Since the trees have all become bodies, all their leaves have become
tongues. And at the touching of the breeze each recites
over and over again: "It is He! It is He!" Through the benedictions
of their lives they proclaim their Maker to be Ever-Living
and Self-Subsistent.
With the tongue of disposition they continuously declare: "O God!",
and seek the necessities of their lives from Him, from the
treasury of Mercy. And through the tongue of their manifesting life
from top to bottom, they recite His Name of, "O Living
One!"
O Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One! Through the Names of Ever-Living
and Self-Subsistent, endow the heart of this
wretched one with life, and bestow sound direction on his confused
mind. Amen.
* * *
[One time at night in a high spot on Çamda?? (the Pine Mountain)
near Barla I was looking at the face of the heavens when
the following lines suddenly occurred to me. With the imagination I
heard the speaking of the stars through the tongue of
disposition, and that is how they were written. Since I do not know
the rules of versification, they were not written
accordingly, but as they occurred to me. The piece is taken from the
Fourth Letter, and the last part of the First Stopping
Place of the Thirty-Second Word.]
THE UTTERANCE OF THE STARS
Then listen to the stars, listen to their harmonious address!
See what wisdom has emblazed on the decree of its light!
* * *
Altogether they start to speak with the tongue of truth,
They address the majesty of the All-Powerful One of Glory's sovereignty:
* * *
We are each of us light-scattering proofs of the existence of our Maker;
We are witnesses both to His Unity and His Power;
* * *
We are subtle miracles gilding the face of the skies
For the angels to make excursions on;
* * *
We are the innumerable attentive eyes of the heavens
That watch the earth, that study Paradise;11
* * *
We are the innumerable exquisite fruits that the hand of wisdom of the Beauteous One of Glory has fastened
To the celestial portion of the tree of creation, to all the branches of the Milky Way;
* * *
For the inhabitants of the heavens, we are each of us a travelling mosque,
a spinning house, a lofty home,
Each is an illumining lamp, a mighty ship, an aeroplane;
* * *
We are each of us a miracle of power of the All-Powerful One of Perfection, The All-Wise One of Glory;
Each a wonder of His creative art, a rarity of His wisdom, a marvel of
His creation, a world of light;
* * *
We demonstrated to mankind innumerable proofs, we made them hear with these innumerable tongues of ours;
But their accursed unseeing, unbelieving eyes did not see our faces,
they did not hear our words; and we are signs that
speak the truth;
* * *
Our stamp is one; our seal is one; we are mastered by our Sustainer;
We glorify Him through our subjugation;
We recite His Names; we are each of us in ecstasy, a member of the
mighty circle of the Milky Way.
* * *