Kashfol Asraar (Unearthing The Secrets)  


Al-Fatiha (The Opening)
Makki (Makkan Period i.e. the first 13 years of Divine Revelation in Makkah)
Chapter 1, 7 Verses


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Lingual Tafsir (Exegesis)

Bismi Allahi alrrahmani alrraheemi   
In the Name of Allah The Most Beneficent The Most Merciful 

Alhamdu lillahi rabbi alAAalameena     
The Praise For The Lord The Universes

Alrrahmani alrraheemi    
The Most Beneficent The Most Merciful

Maliki yawmi alddeeni  
The King Of The Day of Recompense

Iyyaka naAAbudu waiyyaka nastaAAeenu 
You We Worship And You We Ask For Help

Ihdina alssirata almustaqeema 
Guide Us To The Right Path

Sirata allatheena anAAamta AAalayhim ghayri almaghdoobi AAalayhim wala alddalleena  
The Way Of Those On whom You Have Bestowed Your Grace Not Of Those Who Earned Your Anger Nor Of Those Who Went Astray



Adabi (Moral & Ethical) & Irfani (Gnostic) Tafsir (Exegesis)

In The Name of Allah The Most Beneficent The Most Merciful: In The Name of The Resplendent Deity, In The Name of The Sublime & Effulgent Deity, In The Name of The Regal Deity the owner of the Molk (Dominion). In The Name (made up) of the Luminosity of the Ahadiat (Divine Oneness) the Effulgence of Samadiat (Absoluteness & Needlessness) and the Molk (Dominion) of ‘Uluhiyat (Divinity). (In ITs Name everything exists, functions, destroyed and resurrected)

ITs Resplendence & Beauty is Qadim (Time Immemorial & Preexistent); ITs Sublimity & Effulgence Karim (Distinguished & Munificent); ITs Molk (Dominion) ‘Azim (Grandiose & Exalted). 
   
ITs Resplendence Jalāl (Momentous & Glorious); ITs Sublimity & Effulgence Jamāl (Beautiful) and ITs Molk (Dominion) without Zawāl (Extinction & Cessation).

ITs Resplendence the heartthrob; ITs Sublimity & Effulgence evermore affectionate; ITs Molk (Dominion) without Fanā (Evanescence).

Facing You indeed all goodness is due to Your Exaltation (Jalāl)
Afar from You plagued with scantiness of Your Perfection (Kamāl)

Venus was vivified once heard Your acoustic (Samā’)
Sun burst into tears once beheld Your beauty (Jamāl)

ITs devotion & charity for Auliā (Divine Patricians & Nobles); ITs Serr (Secrets) entrusted to Chosen & Pure ones; ITs benevolent bestowal upon the loved ones.

ITs Name for the slaves; ITs Serr (Secrets) for ITs lovers; ITs bestowal for ITs yearners. 
 
Q: If it was not for ITs generous endowment, how could you be the Trustee for ITs Serr (Secrets)?

Q: If it was not for ITs benevolent bestowal, how could the slave ever find a way to reach IT?

Q: Could you ever have a place in ITs courtyard of Jalāl (Momentous Glory)?

Q: If you were not the Lucent Love of Azal (Sempiternity), how could you ever be cognizant of ITs Lam-Yazal (Eternity & Everlastingness)? (Lam-Yazal means (IT) Ceases Not! To exist)


The water & mud what courage for Your Love ever
Could they be in Sempiternity without Your Grace

The Love from Your essence O Lord! Your lovers’ faith
The remembrance of Your beauty the sorrower’s pain

(Water & mud refers to human being. How can some mud to be so close the Beloved Creator? Answer is that Beloved did something to that mud!)

Only with the Divine’s Name this world is salubrious, wholesome & good; As is ITs forgiveness for our end & judgment; And as is ITs meeting for Paradise. In this world if there was no Name or Message of the Lord what place is it for the subjects to live in? And if in the hereafter there were no Divine forgiveness & generosity the subjects would have suffered tremendously. In Paradise if there was no sight of ITs Divine Beauty, setting afire our hearts, what happiness there for Dervishes?

Lord we see because of You; Our life is due to Your Cognizance; Your Name nurtures & cultivates us; Our beatitude Your remembrance; Our boasting is about finding You; Drunken from the goblet of Your fervent love and we are the love’s prey caught in Your trap.

Your redolent chains the trap for our hearts
Fragrance of Your breeze the enslaver of our hearts

In Your love since the certificate indeed named for our hearts
As if the entire universe dedicated to the happiness of our hearts

(Certificate is the certificate of marriage. It really means the Divine Edict stating that the Divine Love is for Mankind whether man wants or it not, feels it or not)

“Name” in Arabic is “Esem” but this word is derived from “Sima” which means sign or mark and its derivative “Wasam” means to brand, stamp or mark as in the hot iron branding the cattle. When the speaker says, “In The Name of Allah” indicates s/he is branded as a slave or property for Allah. (Prior to Prophet Mohammad people use to say “In The Name of so & so” either the name of an idol or a noble person as indication of subjugation and enslavement to them. They would do that in ceremonies like the slaughter of the animals and that is why Allah commanded in Koran that only ITs Mighty Names to be used commencing the slaughter of the animals or any other act e.g. reading Koran or the start of the prayers. To the Arab of that era that meant the establishment of the regality of Allah as the ruler and rejections of all others, which was a significant point of contention with the Prophet Peace Be Upon Him. Today we are not sensitive about these issues, since acts are commenced without mention of any names.)

The grandchild of the Prophet Mohammad, Redha May Allah Be Pleased With Him has said, “When the slave says “In The Name of Allah” means O Lord! I carry your hot iron-brand and I am so fortunate & pleased. However I scream about my Self, please the Benevolent One take me away from my Self since with you (finally) all my affairs will be correct & fine. Lord your Beingness lid the lamp of Ma’refat (Divine Gnosis) therefore do increase the amplitude of light within my heart.  Your witness to my sins increases my prayers & invocations, nearness to Your Divine Beingness has lit the lamp of my existence therefore my efforts are multiplied. Your Will caused my actions and therefore my Johd (Struggle & Effort) is increased. O Lord! What have I seen from my own Beingness? Except afflictions & toil! What have I gained from Your Beingness? Every endowment & fulfillment.”

The start of the Lord’s book commences with, “In The Name of Allah the Most Beneficent The Most Merciful” because all the meanings & concepts within this book can be categorized in three:

1.    Allah (The Singleton Deity): Identifier of the Jalāl (Momentous Glory) & Haiba (Affright & Awe)
2.    Rahmān (The Most Beneficent): Identifier of the Blessings & nurturing
3.    Rahim (The Most Merciful): Identifier of the Mercy & forgiveness

The other meaning is that the Prophet Mohammad was sent to a nation comprised of three groups:

1.    Polytheists who used the name Allah for Creator and this name & usage was common amongst them
2.    Jews who knew IT by the name Rahmān (The Most Beneficent) which was the name mentioned in their Torah
3.    Christians who knew IT by the name Rahim (The Most Merciful) which was the name mentioned in their Injil (Gospel)

Therefore the phrase for commencement is the composite of Allah, Rahmān & Rahim to indicate Beginning & Creation, Power & Nurturing, Mercy & Forgiveness or the Lord saying, “I created with power, nurturing with blessings, forgiving with mercy”.

Pir (Old Sage) of the Tariqat (The Path) i.e. Ansāri said, “O Lord! Your Name is our passport. Your Love is our dowry. Your Cognizance is our sanctuary. Your Grace is our affluence. O Lord! You are the shelter for the weak, guiding the Seekers on the Path and witness/acknowledgment for believers. Infinitely endeared is the one You seek & want!?

The praise for the Lord: Praise & Admiration for the affectionate Lord, the provider for all needs, Nonpareil in ITs name & reputation. The deity that is found without searching, is known without any cognition and loved without any glancing. The Omnipotent that resorts to no tricks (due to no concerns of efficiency). The Everlasting & The Eternal free of any transient states (has no discernable states nor transitions). ITs Molk (Dominion) safe from any destruction. ITs Essence & Attributes indeed sublime & lofty, Lam-Yazal (Evanesces not) & Lā-Yazāl (Ceases not, ceaselessly doing) and IT is described with the Sifat (Attribute) of Jalāl (Momentous Glory). The greatness of Koran has indeed acknowledged the weakness & helplessness of the slaves, ‘IT’ in Kamāl (Perfection) of Jalāl (Momentous Glory) & Qudus (Holiness & Sanctity) appointed the human being as ITs deputy upon the earth, IT celebrates ITs own Praise and taught ITs own praise & worship to Mankind, issued a fiat demanding to be praised & worshipped otherwise who could ever learn how to praise & worship IT?

O the One who deserves ITs own Divine Praise and offers Divine gratitude for ITs own generosity & munificence, the human slave due to the innate nature of his essence can never serve You properly & deservedly, and his mind humiliated recognizing Your blessings & bestowals, and if left to his own devices never deserves any rewards from You. ('IT' is Divinely Beautiful & Majestic and 'IT' is the One seeing ITself and 'IT' is the one praising ITself and we are merely entangled within the act of praises and think we are praising IT. IT is the one offering blessings & munificence and IT is the one appreciating such bestowals and we are merely entangled in between thinking we are offering gratitude to IT. IT deserves great deeds and IT offers ITself great deeds and we are merely entangled in between thinking we are doing great deeds for ITs sake.)

O Benevolent One! I am ailing with a pain that only You are its cure. I am the slave to that praise which You deserve. What do you I know about You? Since You already know everything. You are what You have told the universe about (i.e. we can not find out anything about You unless You told us).

Know that Hamd (Praise) is either upon seeing the blessing or upon seeing the blesser! Upon seeing the blessing: Putting ITs obeisance to work and the lasso of ITs gratitude around the waist, so that today increases the blessings and tomorrow delivers you to the Paradise. Upon seeing the blesser: This is the (thirsting) tongue of a brave man’s Halaa (Momentary States of the Heart) served with the wine of Shawq (Anxious Yearning) and this man accompanied with shame to meet the blesser to Fanā (Evanesce) his Self. He heard about the Al-Haqq (Absolute & True Reality), saw the lamp of cognizance, heard the acceptance of the Divine Lotf (Grace), found the anticipation of friendship & love and reached the loving of Lam-Yazal (Evanesces Not!).

This brave man at first saw a trace of the Divine and lost his heart, then gained his braveness & confidence then saw the Beloved that conquered his heart.

Pir (Old Sage) of the Tariqat (Path) i.e. Ansāri said, “United in my mind are this world and the world after, and the mind loves the loving but now… I have no idea who this Beloved is?”

I have an eye brim-filled with the face of my Beloved
I love to see as long as within the eye is my Beloved
 
Not fair to distinguish between the eye and my Beloved
Either IT is the eye or the eye is none but my Beloved

The Lord (Sustainer & Nurturer) of The Universes: The Lord the Divine Nurturer of the entire universe, endued some with affluence and endued others with the spiritual wealth, one his body was blessed and the other his heart was blessed by being friend and close companion to the blesser of all blessings. Those who ceaselessly strive hard to serve IT are profiteers of the blessings. With insatiable desire & greed, yearning for seeing IT is the attributes of the brave righteous men and the triumphant is the slave that 'IT' BEHOLDS him:

Your portrait the viewing pleasure for all
Towards you lay the paths that were for all
    
O Venus and the moon so brilliant for all
Your beauty snatched what was there for all

The Most Beneficent The Most Merciful: Truly Rahmān (Beneficent One) eased the path for audacious expectations to receive blessings, but Rahim (Merciful One) kindled the candle of Loving upon the path of the lovers, the audacious takes for granted the blessings and expects castles and virgins of the Paradise but the lover drown in the lights of the ocean of perception:

That day when I grab hold of nearness to You
About the Paradise ashamed I am facing You

(We desire for heavenly riches but when we finally behold the Divine Beauty we are ashamed desiring the Paradise because in comparison to that Beloved’s Beauty Eden is nothing.)

Rahmān (Beneficent One) is the Divine One granting success to ITs striving seeker, Rahim (Merciful One) the Divine One granting the conscious soul the trueness of the perception, first is the Morid (Seeker of the Divine) and the second the Morād (Sought after by The Divine). Morid (Seeker) walked towards the lamp of success and reached the perception, Morād (Sought after) walked towards the candle of trueness enlightened by the Divine Observation. Since the seeker nears IT only by losing the Self and thus becoming cognizant of IT. IT is not absent from those who directly walk towards IT (Qāsid), nor those who ask for IT (Tālib) and nor those who are seeking IT (Morid).

Have mercy upon the hearts and come out of the veils
How can there be any judges to judge You in fairness?

(Asking the Divine Beloved to come to view and why should IT not? There should be no fear of any judges to misjudge ITs beauty as the Sublime above all else!?)

The King of the Day of Din (Recompense): This is the Ishārat (Paradigm hinting) at the continuance of the Molk (Dominion) of the Ahadiyat (Divine Oneness) and the Baqā (Everlastingness) of the Omnipotent Ilāhiyat (Divinity). Indeed every Molk (Dominion) shall end some day and Zawāl (Cease) except the Divine Molk (Dominion) that shall never end or Zawāl (Cease). In this world and the world after, no one or nothing is out of the reign of ITs Molk (Dominion) and no king ever has any kingdom similar to ITs!

Today 'IT' is the “The Lord of The Universes” and tomorrow IT is the “The King of the Day of Recompense”. In both worlds the Divine Molk (Dominion) has no associates to help in ruling nor has needs of any kind, independent & needless! So where is the slave’s authority? (Since there is no need for authority) And if there is no authority then there is no command.

The word Din in this verse means to account for or to reward i.e. IT says I am the King and the auditor of the slaves’ accounts so no one can find out about their faults & shortcomings to cause them any shame!? Though the recompense is the sign of subjugation & power yet the account is veiled as a bestowal of benevolence & honor. Allah intends to be generous right after IT subjugates and indeed this is the Divine Sunnah (Tradition) i.e. if Allah Almighty hits hard almost immediately would heal with ITs generosity.

 Pir (Old Sage) of Tariqat (Path) i.e. Ansāri said, “Tomorrow when facing my account (on the Day of Judgment) if I have a voice these are the few words I would say to my Lord: My Lord please look upon three things that I have 1) My prostration that never yearned for anyone else 2) Acknowledgment that whatever You said I accepted as truth 3) Once the breeze of Your benevolence blew upon my heart, my love wanted no one other than You:

Other than serving You have no other intent
Without You I wish not to inhale a breath

You we (only) worship and You we (only) ask for help: This is the Ishārat (Paradigm to hint) at two foundations for the righteous people: First adorning the Nafs (Psyche) with the Ibāda (Worship) free of menpleasing and obeisance free of hypocrisy, second the cleansing the Nafs (Psyche) from the Shirk (Polytheism), corruption and placing trust on other than Allah. Adorning means to do what is due in Shariah (Divine Law) and cleansing means to avoid what is forbidden in Shariah (Divine Law).

You we worship: This is the absolute & unconditional Tawhid (Divine Oneness) that is due deservedly for our Singular Lord, the Singleton Deity Nonpareil Nonesuch One.

You we ask for help: This is the Ishārat (Paradigm hinting) at a particular Ma’refat (Gnosis) i.e. to be cognizant of the unique beingness of the Glorious Haqq (Absolute & True Reality) followed by the cognizance of ITs Omnipotence & Omniscience. Indeed Tawhid (Divine Oneness) is the foundation of Islam and Ma’refat (Divine Gnosis) the foundation of Imān (Faith). To find the way is first by beholding the Divine Management of the Creator and second by beholding ITs Hekmah (Firm Wisdom).

Pir (Old Sage) of the Tariqat (Path) i.e. Ansāri has said, “Is here that the ‘Aref (Divine Cognoscente) finds his ‘seeking’ and not seeking to find!? And finds Sabab (causes & instruments) from the meanings not meanings from the Sabab, finds obeisance from Ikhlās (sincerity & purity) not Ikhlās from obeisance and finally the sinner finds sin amongst the suffering not suffering amongst the sins!? (Wow! Dervish seeks the path and that is wrong!? Dervish must seek what he is given by ‘IT’ and not seeking to find something imaginary he desires or cooked up. If ‘IT’ showed the way or showed him the destination or gave him someone to guide him then he follows what he was given. IT gives you a meaning then you must use this meaning to find instruments & causes that would fulfill the content of this meaning, not looking around what is available and attempt to find some meaning in them, in and of themselves they have no meanings. No matter how much you worship and no matter how much you do charitable deeds no sincerity comes to you, instead find your worships & charitable acts within the sincerity IT already bestowed upon you. For example if IT gave you sincerity to work with orphans and needy children then find your obeisance & worship with them, but to be the CEO of a charitable organization shall bring you nothing since IT did not give you sincerity as an executive. Finally the sinful act of stealing in and of itself has no suffering within! You can just go and remove an object without permission and no harm comes to you. The suffering of that sin was already upon the thief e.g. envious of what other people had or inability to be content or work hard to acquire provisions. The torment and suffering of the sins are prior to the act of the sinning not the other way around. So look carefully where you are suffering, torments inflicted upon you by your Self or by others and indeed that sufferance shall bring you sins.)

Guide us to the straight path: This verse is the essence of Ibādah (Servitude, Serfdom & Worship) and the core of the obeisance. Since the believers’ invocations, moaning and sorrow are seeking the straightness upon the Din (Way of the Path) as they cry to their Lord, “Lord show us the path and place us upon that way and then gravitate us through this way towards Yourself.”  Therefore showing the path is through the Divine Manifestations of the signs, the way is the gradation of going step-by-step and the gravitation is ITs Will to want the slave closer to ITself. Believers, in this verse, want all these three i.e. manifestation of the path, the way and the gravitation since not everyone that saw the path went to it, and not everyone that walked on the path reached the final destination. There are so many that heard but did not see, so many that saw but did not recognize and so many that recognized but did not find:

The old worshipers that could not mount a mule indeed so many
The folk from the tavern that mount a male lion indeed so many

The way of those on whom You have bestowed Your grace: Some said this is the way of the “Companions of the Cave”: “O Lord, let our path be traveled without ourselves, as You generously decreed for the brave men of the Cave and showered them with Your blessings. You told them to enter the cave and sleep well; You preferred their sleep to that of the people’s worship (for several hundred years!). O Lord bestow upon us such blessing and generosity, let our affair reach its completeness without ourselves present since whatsoever we do is a punishable crime against ourselves and what You do for us the honor & greatness in both worlds.”

Pir (Old Sage) of the Tariqat (Path) i.e. Ansāri said, “O Lord we can not complete our affair without You, we have no courage to be with You since as soon as we suspect reaching You the Hayrat (Bewilderment) pushes us back! Lord where can we go for a day when You are all our affairs and we are nil! And up until finding that day likens the smoldering between the flames and smoke. If we find that day what a gain! Otherwise we prefer to hear our nonbeing than that of our existence.

Bestowed Your grace: Islam & Sunnah (Prophetic Tradition) were packaged together so the two would not scatter (or be confused) since the slaves have no endurance in the religion. Therefore Islam is not without Sunnah (Prophet Tradition) and whatever way is without Sunnah (Prophetic Tradition) is definitely not the true religion. As was confirmed by the Prophet peace be upon him, “Good words are based upon good thoughts and the two are based upon good intentions and the three are in concordance with the Sunnah (Prophetic Tradition).” (The bestowed grace was the coupling of the Sunnah (Prophetic Tradition) with the religion of Islam. Because Mankind is weak and they would not be able to adhere to a pure religion of dogma, beliefs and worships but they indeed would be able to carry traditions e.g. Hajj or dietary or hygienic traditions and etc. These traditions would keep the religion strong in spite of the followers’ weakness. And indeed this Sunnah (Prophetic Tradition) was the grace bestowed upon the followers of Islam.)

Not of those who earned Your Anger nor of those who went astray: O Lord do not place us amongst those whom You left them to their own, those tired under the blade of the Hajrān (Abandonment) and tied to the peg of denial. Yes! How could a torn rope carry a load? What good is an effort spent on un-necessities? Living like strangers, today fell off the path and mistook the wrong way as the straight path, and these are the people that their struggles & efforts wasted and all the way they thought they were doing good, “Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they thought that they were acquiring good by their works” (Koran [18:104]).


Latifah (Subtlety)

The Surah (Chapter) Fātiha (The Opening) is believed to be the key to the paradise. Since there are eight gates for Paradise and this chapter has eight sections, unless you study & ponder upon these sections and do believe in them the gates shall not be opened for you. These gates are as follows:

1.    The Praise (Hamd), Remembrance of the Divine Essence.
2.    The Beneficent One (Rahmān), Remembrance of Divine Sifat (Attributes)
3.    “You we (only) worship”, Remembrance of Divine Deeds & Actions
4.    “You we (only) ask for help”, Remembrance of returning to the Lord
5.    “Guide us”, Remembrance of cleansing of the Nafs (Psyche)
6.    “The straight path”, Remembrance of adorning the Nafs (Psyche) with goodness
7.    “The path of those”, Remembrance of those befriending the Divine
8.    “Not those who earned Your anger”, Remembrance of those estranged and the Lord dissatisfied with them.

Each one of these eight knowledge(s) is a gate opening into the Paradise. Therefore the one that reads this Surah (Chapter) with Ikhlās (Sincerity) the eight gates of Paradise shall be wide open for him. Today the gardens of ‘Irfān (Divine Gnosis) tomorrow the Gardens of Eden close to Ar-Rahmān (The Most Beneficent)…

End.


© 2004-2002,  Dara O. Shayda