abhar_2

The Lovers’ Daffodil

Chapter 2

The Prefatory Remarks

Know O questioner that for ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) there are introductions & stages, the beginning is the Iraadat (Willful Élan) whereupon there is Khedmah (Service & Attendance), next Mowaafeqat (Concordance with the Divine Will) and finally Redha (Consent & Assent with the Divine Will). ‘Ishq’s reality is Mahab-bat (Divine Love) and this comes from two separate directions: Ma’shooq’s (Beloved’s) Benefaction or Ma’shooq’s Perception (by lover). First direction is ‘Aam (Universal & Broad) and the other Khaas (Specific to the individual). (Beloved is benefactor for all regardless of their belief or form/genus of creation but allows to be perceived by chosen very few)

Once love attains perfection it is called Shawq (Anxious Yearning) and when love reaches the overwhelming reality of Istesraaq (Complete Immersion & Inundation) it is named ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love). And once ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) is reached there are consequences which INSHALLAH (By Allah’s Might) we will talk about.

For ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) there are 5 types:

Divine ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) which is the loftiest rank, with the exception of people of Moshahedah (Divine Perception), Tawhid (Divine Oneness) and Haqiqat (Truth & Reality) not available to anyone else.
‘Aqli (Intellectual) ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) from the realm of Mokashafaat (Uncovering Secrets) of Malakoot (Divine Sovereignty & Royalty) and this reaches the people of Ma’refat (Divine Noesis). [1]
Rohaani (Spiritual or Religious) ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love)
Natural ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) which is for ‘Aam (Broad & Universal) i.e. people in general.
Carnal ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) for vile & lowbred.

According to this categorization INSHALLAH (By Allah’s Might) we will explicate each.

So far as the vile & lowbred folk are concerned e.g. substance abusers, the sinners, the corrupt, immoral and others like them, it is all nothing but the impact & effect of the desires & lusts originating from their Nafs (Psyche) which is Ammarah (inciting to evil) and thus exciting & steering the arousal. Eventually it could reach to the brinks of carnal intensity—which is fundamentally a covetous part of the nature of Fitrah (Innate Creation & Design)—but after Sohbat (Befriending & Companionship) with the Beloved and exposure to Its affection, the person for a moment might forsake the flares of lusts caused by the Nafs (Psyche) which Ammarah (incites to evil) roaming the realm of the ‘Aql (Intellect) and Shariah (Divine Law) or may desert Divine Commandments and again fall back upon the immorality.

The Natural ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) is concerned with four components: [2]

Top: Universal Nafs (Psyche) (which is a form of spirit all things have in common)
Bottom: Seductive Nafs (Psyche) (makes others to fall in love with it)
Right: Rational Nafs (Psyche) (Psyche which resides in perfection above soul & heart)
Left: Enticer to Evil Nafs (Psyche) (makes the person commit evil)

If one moves towards the Rationality and Spirituality (Top-Right quadrant) indeed praiseworthy, else approaching the desires & natural instincts a blameworthy station and guides towards the fire of hell. In this world burns in the fire of carnal lusts and in the world-after smolders in the fire of flesh.

In contrast the Rohaani (Spiritual or Religious) ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) is attributed only to specific people. Their physical forms as well as the meaning deep within, sanctified by the purification of the soul—cleansed within the realm of ‘Aqli (Intellectual Sentience)—consequently their faces their outermost manifestation congruous & harmonious with their hearts. If they gaze upon any Hosn (Beauty, Perfection, Loveliness…), upon its ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) reach the brinks of Istesraaq (Complete Immersion & Inundation). And that is as long as flaring with the Johd (Struggle & Strive) setting afire the evil of the innate human nature, Flames of lusts bent like an aging posture by the gusts of Nafs’s (Psyche’s) Sar-Sar (Violent Icy Gale). This ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) bonds with the people of Mar’refat (Divine Noesis) likened to a ladder stretched to the realm of Malakoot (Divine Sovereignty & Royalty). Doubtless this form of ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) is commendable and highly prized in the Mazhab (Religion) of Love.

The ‘Aqli (Intellectual) ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love), emanating from ‘Aql Koll (Primordial Intellect) [2], adjacent to Rational Nafs (Psyche) appeared within the realm of Malakoot (Divine Sovereignty & Royalty) by the luminosity of the Divine Omnipotence, therefore upon this commences the Divine ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love).

Divine ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) the acme of loftiness, the infinitely afar desired destination, has beginning and end, arises not except from the perception of Divine Sublimity & Beauty.

The affection that has left the blight of the nature away, focused & devoted to the Mahab-bat (Divine Love), a final destination known amongst the Mankind called Ma’refat (Divine Noesis) by scholars, nothing but a love directly caused by the actions of the Creator—Praiseworthy & Sublime—and by no volition of any human will.

Once the Creator wishes to guide a person to the realm of Qayb (Transcendental Unseen & Absence), shall subject him to the innovations of Fitrah (Innate Design & Creation) and Divine Artistry of Its powers, to behold with the eye of the heart the truth with certainty along the personalized path of his own essence, ebullient with beatitude.

However to travel from the Haqq (Absolute Truth & Reality) to Divine Beauty (beheld by the heart) the person is indebted to repay by his actions (fee for this travel). To climb upon the roof of Qayb’s (Transcendental Unseen & Absence) house other than the ladder of (human) actions nothing else avails. Since in the beginning all lovers must follow (by actions) after their perceptions. Except in very rare occasions where the Tawhid (Divine Oneness) allows the person to have Divine Perception without any perception or interaction with Mohdath (Nascent, Transient & Temporal World).

Think not this ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) has anything to do with the natural lusts and desires, on the contrary enrooted from the Rohaani (Spiritual or Religion) Fitrah (Innate Design & Creation), within the realm of mortal & physical universe roaming by means of (righteous) actions and Divine Perception.

And even if—seeking refuge to Allah—an influence from the human nature i.e. lusts & desires appears, the principles of ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) subsist upon its own laws (unaffected) and indestructible by any external factor. If the Nafs (Psyche) is Ammarah (inciting to evil) within the market of desires, the dust from the steps of ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) extinguishes such flares of lusts and forsooth this ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love) has roots within the Shariah (Divine Law) and ‘Aql (Intellect).

End.

[1] ‘Aql in both colloquial Farsi and Arabic means mind or intelligence. But in original Sufi text has number of meanings each pertaining to a separate form of Intellect. In general ‘Aql is an Essence independent of the Beingness & Actions, a fundamental building block of the universe. In Western thought, it is the design & intelligence, which envelops all things in the cosmos independent of the type of the object and what it does.

‘Aql Koll (Universal or Primordial Intellect) is the first form of Divine contact or interface with the universe. Or the first form or Primordial Divine Light that shone upon the universe. This is a term from the Ishraaq (Islamic Philosophy of Illuminism) or the Neoplatonism. There are many Divine Lights that shine upon the universe or humans and some feed the others to shine and the very first light is the Koll or Universal/Primordial, which shines upon everything.

The Primordial Divine Light is not in need of any darkness, since darkness is a Created Being, this light is lucent without any existing darkness!

[2] These are from the ancient Sufi psychological text and unfortunately I do not have all of them so best I could do, was to extract from dictionaries what the terms mean. Universal Nafs (Psyche) is what is common in all creation and deals with some form of relationship with the Creator. Rational Nafs is the perfection of human soul & heart into a fantastic spiritual psyche. These two Nafs constitute the relationship with the Beloved Creator or the ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love).

Ammarah (Enticer to Evil) Nafs (Psyche) is what within us that falls in love with evil things and people. Seductive Nafs is our ability to make people fall in love with us. These two constitute the worldly ‘Ishq (Unrestrained Love).

Behroozan is telling us that man struggles in the four quadrants of these four directions and obviously the more he pushes the top-right the closer he is to fall in love with Beloved: