Lesson Eighteen
 
 
The lover was in harmony with ‘Being’ and ‘Nonbeing’ but not yet seen the face of the Beloved when suddenly the soothing song of ‘Be’ awakened him from the Nonbeing’s asleep [1]. And upon hearing that song his Wajd (Divine Consciousness) [2] appeared and from this Wajd a Wojood (Being) came to be and the beatitude of a song humming in his head:
 
The love, fervent passion within us
                        Has thrown
Our life, upon the shrubs of madness
                        Has thrown
 
And some poet versed: “Often the ears love before the eyes!”
 
Although I have never seen You with these eyes
Loving the unseen same as the one I have seen oft
 
Love conquers! Thus motions the stillness of the Zahir (surface manifest) and Baaten (deep innate essence) with the song of: “Indeed the lover embarks upon the pilgrimage of his wants” choreographed into spiritual movements and dances. And until the end of all infinities neither that song ceases nor that dance stops since what is sought after indeed infinite in nature. And here the lover whispers:
 
The moment my eyes opened saw that resplendent Face of Yours
The moment my ears heard listened to that splendid song of Yours
 
Indeed the lover tirelessly moving along with the spiritual dance although on the surface he is move-less, Koran [27:88]:
 
“Thou seest the mountains and thinkest them firmly fixed: but they shall pass away as the clouds pass away: (such is) the artistry of Allah...”
 
(This verse was revealed about the conditions of the day of resurrection)
 
 
How could he be still? Since very particle in the cosmos is motioned by It! Every particle is a Kalaam (Divine Epithet) and each Kalaam an Isem (Name) and each Name from a language and each language for conversations and each conversation heard/listened to by a lover and if you observe carefully: The speaker and the listener are the same One! (i.e. the Beloved) Since the spoken words are like birds flying from God migrating back to God. Jonaid was arguing with Shebly, “Secrets that we quietly discussed in private chambers you are making public” and he replied, “I care not! I said and I heard is there anyone (or any other lover) other than ‘I’ in either worlds [3]?” :
 
That aroma of the musk that you smell
As if the hyacinth effused thourgh the tresses
 
Like the moans of the nightingale for flowers
Flower’s words but from the nightingale heard
 
(Women used perfume their hair with musk and others, hence the tresses)


End.
 
 

 
 
[1] “To ‘It’ is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: When ‘It’ decreeth a matter, ‘It’ saith to it: "Be," and it is.” (Koran [2:117]) The secrets of primordial creation is unveiled in Koran that the Creator issues a verbose epithet, which is translated immediately, unconditionally, and precisely into a creation. Therefore Sufis came up with imagery of songs of creation or nightingale singing such and such to indicate the epithetical nature of Beloved’s creative due process. And they used beautiful descriptions and objects like songs or nightingale to indicate that the creation process was indeed splendid and beautiful.

[2] For the meaning of Wajd please click here.
 
[3] When a lover falls in love with Beloved this love affair is exclusive! The lover so drown in this love so drunken by Its nectar that under no circumstances can ever sense, suspect or even think of anyone other than the Beloved. And more than oft the lover even forgets his own self! Shebly can be misread he does not say he is the only one in both worlds or he is the God. He says a lover in front of Beloved all he sees and hears is Beloved and at best he sees himself as a lover and no other person close by. So he hears and he talks and there was no one responding in either universe either than Beloved!
 
Beloved converses with Beloved and we are entangled in between thinking foolishly we are hearing and talking to others!?


Background: Photo by Erol Erkmen.

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