An Important
Question
You say, "Love is not
voluntary. And, as a con- sequence of innate need, I love delicious
foods and fruits. I love my father, mother and children, my
wife, and my friends and companions. I love the prophets and
the saints. And I love my life and my youth, the spring, beautiful
things and the world. How may I not love these things? So how
should I rather give all this love to Allah Almighty's Essence,
Attributes and Names? What does this mean?
The Answer: Listen to four 'Points.
FIRST POINT
Indeed, love is not voluntary
but by means of the will love's face may turn from one object
of love to another. For example, when a beloved displays some
ugliness or shows that he is a veil or mirror to another beloved,
who is truly worthy of love, then love's face may be turned
from the metaphorical to the true beloved.
SECOND POINT
We do not tell you not
to love the things you enumerated, but rather to love them for
Allah Al- mighty's sake and in the name of His love. For example,
to love delicious foods and luscious fruits as being the bounty
of Allah Almighty, the All- Merciful and Compassionate One,
is to love His Names of All-Merciful and Bestower of Bounties,
and, moreover, takes on the meaning of thanks. This love is
to seek gain contentedly within the sphere of the licit, which
shows that it is not only for the sake of the instinctual soul
but is in the name of the All-Merciful One. It is to eat thought-fully
and with gratitude.
Furthermore, love and respect
for parents, when for the sake of the wisdom and mercy that
compassionately fitted you out and caused them to bring you
up with tender care, pertain to Allah Almighty's love. The sign
that this love, respect and compassion are for Allah's sake
is that when they are old and are of no more use to you and
bring you only trouble and difficulty, you are even more loving,
kind and compassionate towards them. The verse,
'Should one of them, or both, attain
to old age in your care, never say to them a word of contempt,* Qur'an 17:23.
summons children to respect
and be kind to their parents in five degrees, and demonstrates
how important are the rights of parents in the eyes of the Qur'an,
and how ugly ingratitude towards them.
A father desires only
his son, and no one else, to be much better than himself, however,
the son can- not claim any rights over his father in return
for this. That is to say, there is no inherent cause for dispute
between parents and child. This is because dispute arises from
envy and jealousy and there is nothing of this in the father
towards his son. Or it arises from abuse of rights and the son
has no rights that he can claim against his father. If he considers
his father to be unjust, he may not rebel against him. That
is to say, one who does rebel against his father and cause him
pain is a monster, a corrupted human being.
And, to love and protect
children with perfect compassion and tenderness because they
are gifts of the All-Compassionate and Generous One once again
pertains to Allah. The sign indicating that that love is for
Almighty Allah's sake is patience and thankfulness should they
die, rather than crying out in despair. It is to say, "He was
a lovable little being created and owned by my Creator, Who
entrusted him to my supervision. Now that His wisdom requires
it to be thus, He has taken him from me, taken him to a better
place. If I had one apparent share in that little creature,
a thousand true shares be- longed to his Creator." It is to
submit saying, "All authority is with Allah."
And as for friends and
acquaintances, if they are friends of Allah Almighty by reason
of their belief and good works, according to the meaning of
'love for Allah's sake', that love, too, pertains to Allah.
Furthermore, love and
cherish your wife as a companionable and gracious gift of divine
mercy. But do not fasten your love to her physical beauty, which
swiftly fades. Rather, woman's most attractive and agreeable
beauty is the fineness of character that accompanies the delicacy
and refinement peculiar to her. And as for her most precious
and sweet beauty, it is her earnest, sincere, sublime and luminous
compassion. Thus beautiful tenderness and fineness of character
continues and increases until the end of her days. Moreover,
that weak and delicate creature's rights of respect will be
protected by that love. Otherwise, when her superficial beauty
fades the poor woman will lose her rights, even when she most
needs them.
And to love the prophets
and saints as Allah Almighty's most esteemed bondsmen is to
do so for the sake and in the name of Allah Almighty, and from
that point of view it pertains to Him.
And to love and preserve
life as most precious wealth and capital that will gain eternal
life, and a comprehensive treasury yielding eternal perfections,
which Almighty Allah has given to you and to all humanity, and
to employ it in His service, is, once again, in one respect,
love that pertains to the True Object of Worship.
Also, to admire, love
and put to proper use the grace and beauty of youth as being
a fine, sweet and beautiful bounty of Almighty Allah is a sort
of licit and thankful love.
And to love the spring
thoughtfully as being the page of the subtlest and most beautiful
inscriptions of Almighty Allah's luminous Names and the most
finely adorned and glittering exhibition of the All- Wise Maker's
antique art is to love His Names.
And to love this world
as being the tillage for the hereafter, as a mirror of the Divine
Names and a missive of Allah Almighty, and as a temporary guest
house, on condition that the evil-commanding soul does not interfere,
is to do so for Allah Almighty's sake.
In short: Love this world and the
creatures in it as pointing to a meaning beyond themselves,
like a word. Do not love them just for themselves. Say, "How
beautifully they have been made." Do not say, "How beautiful
they are." Do not give any opportunity to other loves to enter
into your inner heart because the inner heart is the mirror
of the Eternally Besought One and pertains only to Him. Say,
"Oh Allah, grant us love
for You, and love for that will draw us closer to You."
Thus, if in this form,
all the loves that you have enumerated will give a pain-free
pleasure, and, in one respect, an unending union. Moreover,
they will increase love of Allah. They are licit loves. And
are, furthermore a sort of gratitude which is pure pleasure,
and thought, which is pure love.
For example, if a mighty
king12 were to bestow an apple
on you, there would be two loves for that apple and two pleasures
in it. The first of these is that the apple would be loved because
it is an apple, and there would be a pleasure peculiar to and
to the extent of the apple. This love does not concern the king.
On the contrary, the man who puts the apple to his mouth and
eats it in the King's presence loves the apple itself and his
own soul rather than the king. It sometimes happens that the
king is not pleased with that love which nourishes the instinctual
soul; in fact, he detests it. Moreover, the pleasure that the
apple gives is very limited and passes quickly. After the apple
is eaten it is gone, only regret remains.
As for the second love,
it is for the royal favor that is demonstrated by means of the
apple. One who holds the apple precious as if it were the sample
and embodiment of a royal favor shows that he loves his king.
Moreover, the pleasure in that fruit, which is a sort of container
for the favor, is such that it is far greater than the pleasure
obtained from a thousand apples. This pleasure, then, is the
essence of thankfulness. This love is a respectful love for
the king.
In exactly the same way,
if all bounties and fruits are loved for themselves, if they
are thoughtlessly delighted in only for the material pleasures
that they yield, that love is merely love of self. Also, those
pleasures are transient and bring pain. But, if they are loved
as favors proceeding from Almighty Allah's mercy and as fruits
of His munificence, and if pleasure is obtained from them with
good appetite by appreciating the degree of kindness in that
munificence and favor, then it has both the meaning of gratitude
and is a pain-free pleasure.
·
THIRD POINT
There are levels in the
love for Allah Almighty's Names. As we explained above, sometimes
the Names are loved with a love for finely made objects. Sometimes
they are loved as being titles of the divine perfections. Sometimes,
man is needy and desirous of the Names by reason of the comprehensiveness
of his true nature together with his having endless needs. It
is through those needs that he loves.
For example, if someone
was to come forward and do a kindness to all your relations,
and the poor, the weak and the needy, for all of whom you feel
sympathy although you are powerless to meet their need for help,
how that person's favor granting title and generous name would
please you, how you would love that person through that title.
So, too, think only of
Allah Almighty's Names of All-Merciful and Compassionate. They
make happy all the believing fathers and forefathers, relations
and friends whom you love and feel sympathy for, in this world
by means of all kinds of bounties, and in Paradise by means
of all kinds of delights. They cause happiness by showing you
in eternal bliss to them, and them in eternal bliss to you.
So, how deserving of being loved is the Name of All-Merciful
and the title of All - Compassionate. And you can see for yourself
just how needy of those two Names is the human spirit. And you
can understand just how appropriate is the phrase, 'Praise be
to Allah for His mercifulness and His compassionateness.'
You are connected to the
world and as a result are afflicted by its wretchedness, so
if you consider carefully, you may understand just how needy
and desirous is your spirit for the Name of All-Wise and for
the title of Nurturer. For the Owner of those Names orders,
regulates and sustains with perfect wisdom the world, which
is like a sort of house for you, and the creatures within it,
which are its familiar furniture and lovable decorations.
And you are altogether
connected to other human beings and grieve when they die. So,
if you consider carefully, you may understand just how needy
is your spirit for the Names of Inheritor and Resurrector, and
for the titles Eternal, All-Generous, Giver of Life, and Munificent.
For the Owner of these Names saves human beings at the time
of their death from the darkness of non-existence and establishes
them in a far finer place than this world.
Thus, since man's nature
is exalted and his disposition comprehensive, he is, by his
very nature, needy with thousands of different sorts of needs
for the innumerable Divine Names, each of which has many degrees.
Intensified need is longing. Intensified longing is love. And
intensified love is passion. As the spirit is perfected, the
degrees of love unfold according to the degrees of the Names.
Furthermore, since the Names are the titles and manifestations
of the One of Glory, love of them will be transformed into love
of the divine essence.
Now, just as an example,
we shall explain one of the innumerable degrees of the Names
of All-Just, All-Wise, Truth, and All-Merciful. If you wish
to see the Names of All-Merciful and Compassionate, and Truth
within wisdom and justice to the utmost extent, consider the
following comparison.
Let us suppose there is
an army in which there are four hundred different sections.
And the uniforms that each section prefers are different, the
provisions that please them, the weapons they will carry with
ease and the medicines to cure their particular ills are all
different. And, furthermore, rather than being separated into
squads and companies, they are all intermingled.
If the peerless and single
king, then, out of perfect compassion and solicitude, wonderful
power, miraculous all-embracing knowledge and extraordinary
justice and wisdom, without confusing or forgetting any of them
were himself, in person, without helper, to give all of them
their completely different though appropriate uniforms, provisions,
medicines and weapons, would you not see what a powerful, solicitous,
just and generous personage that king is. Because, if there
were individuals from ten nations in one battalion, it would
be extremely difficult to clothe and equip them all differently.
Whatever people they were from they would of necessity have
to be fitted out in the same way. So, too, if you wish to see the
manifestation of the Names of Truth and All-Merciful and Compassionate
within the justice and wisdom of Allah Almighty, look at the
plant and animal armies comprising four hundred thousand magnificent
nations with their tents pitched on the face of the earth in
spring time. For those groups and sections are all one within
the other. And the uniform of each one is different, and the
pro- visions, weapons, way of life, drill and demobilization
are all different. Furthermore, they do not have the power to
provide for those needs and the tongues to ask for those wishes.
So, watch and see the titles of Truth, All-Merciful, Provider,
Compassionate and Generous together with order and equilibrium
within the sphere of wisdom and justice. See how, without confusing,
obscuring or forgetting any of them, He sustains, regulates
and administers them all.
Could another hand, therefore,
interfere in a matter performed with such amazing and all-encompassing
order and balance? What, apart from the One Who is Single and
Unique, Absolutely Wise, and Powerful over all things, could
even stretch out its hand towards this art, this organizing,
this sustaining, this administering? What cause could interfere?
·
FOURTH POINT
You ask, "So long as they
are in the form that the Qur'an commands, what are the results
and benefits of all my different and various loves? That is,
my love for food, myself, my wife, parents and children, my
friends, the saints, the prophets, beautiful things, the spring
and this world?"
The Answer: It would be necessary
to write a thick book in order to explain all the results. For
now only one or two results will be briefly alluded to. Firstly,
the immediate results in this world will be explained, then
those that will become apparent in the hereafter will be mentioned.
As was explained above, loves such as those of the people of
neglect and those attached to this world, that are for the sake
of the evil-commanding soul, bring many tribulations, and much
pain and suffering in this world. While the ease, pleasures
and enjoyment they bring are little and few. For example, compassion
becomes a painful calamity on account of impotence. Love becomes
a calamitous misfortune on account of separation. Pleasure becomes
a poisoned cup on account of its transience. And in the hereafter,
because they were not for Allah Almighty's sake, they will either
be without benefit or will be torment. (If they were illicit.)
Question: How might Love for the
prophets and saints be without benefit?
The Answer: In the same way that
the love of the Christians for Jesus (upon whom be peace), and
the heretics for Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) remain
without benefit. If that love is in the form that the Qur'an
directs, for Allah Almighty's sake and in the name of the All-Merciful
One's love, then it has favorable results both in this world
and in the hereafter.
Now, to return to our
subject, the results in this world of your love for delicious
foods and luscious fruits will be that they are a pain free
bounty and a pleasure that is the essence of gratitude.
Your love of your instinctual
soul. The result will be pity
it, to train it, and to prevent harmful desires. Then the soul
will not ride you, it will not make you a prisoner of its desires,
rather, you will ride it. You will drive your soul, not to whims
and fancies, but to right guidance.
Your love for your wife. Since it will be built
on her being a mine of tenderness,a gift of compassion and on
her fineness of character, if you have sincere love and affection
for her, she, too, will have earnest love and respect for you.
As the two of you approach old age these sentiments will increase,
you will pass your life happily. But if it is otherwise, if
it is love of a pretty face and for the sake of the instinctual
soul, then that love will be quickly destroyed and so too will
be good relations.
Your love for your father
and mother. Since it will be for
Allah Almighty's sake, it will be both worship and the older
they grow the more your love and respect for them will increase.
If you earnestly desire and pray, with the noblest of sentiments
and most manly zeal, that they will live far into old age, and
even kiss their hands with sincere respect and say, "Let me
gain even more reward on their account", it will obtain for
you a most elevated pleasure of the spirit. But if it is otherwise,
and for the sake of the soul and this world, when they grow
old and approach the time of becoming a burden for you, if you
show them, with the most base and despicable sentiment, that
they are a nuisance and then wish for the deaths of those respected
people, who were the cause of your life, it will be savage and
grievous pain for the spirit.
Your love for your children. As for love for those
lovable, friendly creatures whom Allah Almighty entrusts to
your supervision and upbringing, it will be a most happy love,
a most happy bounty. Neither shall you suffer too much pain
at their misfortunes, nor shall you cry out with despair at
their deaths. As was stated above you will say, "Since their
Creator is both All-Wise and Compassionate, as far as they are
concerned, that death is happiness". Moreover, concerning your-self,
you will think of the mercifulness of the One Who gave them
to you and you will be saved from the pain of separation.
Your love for your friends. Since it is for Allah's
sake, because separation from those friends, and even their
deaths, will not be an obstacle to your conversing and your
brotherhood, you will benefit from that immaterial love and
relation of the spirit. And the pleasure of meeting will be
permanent. If it is not for the sake of Allah, the pleasure
of one day's meeting will result in the pain of a hundred days'
separation.13 Your love for the prophets
and saints. Since the intermediate
realm, which seems to the people of neglect to be a dark, lonely
and desolate place, appears to you as a stopping place illuminated
by the presence of those luminous beings, the fact that you
will go there will not induce terror and fright, but, on the
contrary, an inclination towards it and a feeling of longing;
it will not drive away the pleasure of worldly life.
But if it is otherwise,
if love for the prophets and saints is of the same sort as the
love of the subscribers to modern culture for their idols and
heroes, on thinking of the death and disappearance of those
perfect human beings and of their rotting in that mighty grave
known as the past, it will add one more sorrow to lives that
are already painful. That is to say, each will say to himself,
"I, too, will end up in the grave, which rots even such perfect
men".
Whereas, when they are
seen from the first point of view, they are thought of with
complete ease of mind, for they have discarded the clothes of
their bodies in the past and now their dwelling place is the
intermediate realm, which is the waiting-room for the future.
And the graveyard will be seen as having a familiarity and friendliness.
Your love for beautiful
things. Since it is for the sake
of the One Who fashioned them, it will be in the manner of,
"How beautifully they have been made". This love is pleasurable
thought and it causes the gaze of beauty worshipping delight
to see the more elevated and holy and thousand times more beautiful
treasures of the degrees of Allah's beauty. This love opens
up a way to these treasures because it transfers the eye from
those beautiful works to the beauty of the divine actions. And
it opens a way from them to the beauty of the Names, and from
them to the beauty of the attributes, and from them to the One
of Glory's peerless beauty; it opens a way to the heart. Thus,
if this love is in this form, it is both pleasurable, and it
is worship, and it is thought.
Your love of youth. Since you have loved
it as a beautiful bounty of Allah Almighty, you have, of course,
done so in worship, you have not drowned it in dissipation and
destroyed it. Since this is the case, the worship you have gained
during your youth is the undying fruit of that transient state.
As you grow older, because you will have obtained the enduring
fruits that are the positive aspect of youth, you will have
been saved from its harm and excesses. Also, in old age you
will see that you have achieved success in performing more worship,
and so will be more worthy to receive divine mercy. Unlike the
people of neglect, you will not feel sadness for the pleasures
of youth that lasted five or ten years, then wail for fifty
years, "Alas, my youth has fled!" Neither will you be like one
of them who said,
"If only my youth would return one
day, I would tell it of the woes old age has brought me."
Your love for finely adorned
exhibitions like the spring. Since it is in the form
of contemplating divine artistry, when the spring ends the pleasure
of the spectacle does not fade. For the meanings that the spring
delivers, like a gilded missive, may be contemplated all the
time. Both your imagination and time are like films in the cinema,
they both cause the pleasure of that contemplation to continue
for you, and they renew the spring's meanings and beauties.
Your love, therefore, cannot be temporary and full of regret
and pain. Rather, it will be full of pleasure and enjoyment.
Your love of this world. Since it is in the name
of Allah Almighty, the formidable creatures of this world will
be like familiar friends for you. Since you love it as the tillage
for the hereafter, you will be able to find in everything capital
or a fruit that will produce benefits in the hereafter. Neither
will its disasters frighten you, nor will its transience and
ephemerality trouble you. You will pass your sojourn in this
guest-house with the greatest of ease. But should you love it
as the people of neglect do, then as we have said to you a hundred
times, you will drown and perish in a fruitless love, condemned
to a depressing, crushing and suffocating transitoriness.
Thus we have shown only
one subtle point out of hundreds from each of the loves you
enumerated, when they are in the form that the Qur'an directs.
And we have indicated one hundredth of the harm they cause if
they are not in this way. Now, if you want to hear and understand
the results of these loves in the eternal realm, in the world
of the hereafter, the results to which the All-Wise Qur'an points
with its clear and distinct verses, then we shall show briefly
by means of an Introduction and nine Indications the results
and one hundredth of the benefits of those various licit loves
in the world of the hereafter.
12
Once
two tribal chiefs entered the presence of a king. They were in
exactly the same situation as is described here.
13
One second's meeting for Allah's sake is a year. Whereas, if it
is for the sake of this world, a year is a second.
