In the Name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Ădăb
al-Sulŭk:
A
Treatise on Spiritual Wayfaring
By Shaykh Najm
al-din Kubra (qs)
*
* IV * *
The fourth stage of the spiritual journey is that of the
journey through the Beautiful Names ( al-'asma al-husna ) and the
Exalted Attributes 'sifat ' of Haqq. For when a seeker purifies
his inner being ( bătin ) of the causes of distance (from God ) and refines
and polishes his heart with the etiquette's of nearness, he will be worthy of
proceeding towards the Master of the Kingdom, the effect of God's love and His
grace having manifested itself in him. At this stage, there is a difference in
the ranks of the awliya and asfiya' ( the elect ). Aba 'Abd
Allah Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Tirmidha said: "God, Exalted and Glorious,
taught His Names to His slaves, and every Name pertains to a particular
(spiritual ) domain ( iqlim ) and for every domain there is an authority
( sultan ). And every domain has its assembly, discourse, gifts and
rewards that are bestowed upon the people of that iqlim. And He has
assigned special stations to the hearts of the elect. It may happen that a wali
stays in the first iqlim, for out of God's Names he knows only the
pertaining to that iqlim. It often happens that one of the awliya'
has a station in the second, third and fourth iqlim at the same time.
Hence, whenever he turns towards a particular iqlim, the Name of that iqlim
is conferred upon him, so that he reaches the stage of the wali who
partakes of all the Names. He is the one who is benefited by all the Names and
he is the chief of the awliya'. " Al-Tirmidhi says further:
"That which the common people partake of the Divine Names is their faith
in these Names. As to those who are in the Middle position ( ashab al-yaman
), as well as the common awliya their share of the Divine Names depends
on the opening of their hearts (sharh-e sadr ) to these Names and the
light that shines in them by means of the knowledge ( ma'rifah ) of the
Divine Attributes. Everybody enjoys according to his capacity and the measure
of spiritual light that his heart possesses. But the benefit that the elect
among the awliya' - who are totally ridden of the garb of earthly
attachments and clad in a new spiritual attire - enjoy, comprises of direct
observation of Divine Attributes, and reception of their light within their
hearts. From what our Shayk ( God's mercy be upon him ) has mentioned,
it appears that every wali enjoys a station specially assigned to him,
which he does not surpass, and this station is accorded to him by God in
accordance with his ability and capacity and the degree decreed for him by God.
Hence when his heart attains to that known station, his mystical wayfaring
reaches its destination and his journey culminates. In this journey there is no
question of moving from one place to another; neither does it refer to a
wayfarer's movement in space nor that of the destination sought. For God, the
Exalted, meant the removal of the veils that obstruct the vision of the heart
and the light of Divine Attributes from shining in the wayfarer's heart. This
is the same journey for which man has been created.