The
Lantern of Guidance
Chapter 3
Section 4
On Relationship Between The
Divine Ma’refat (Gnosis) & Ma’refat of The Nafs (Psyche)
Discussion
Join
Know that there is no Ma’refat
(Gnosis & Cognition) nobler than that of the Divine Ma’refat and
there is none more beneficial than that of human Ma’refat (Gnosis).
Exclusively the human Ma’refat (Gnosis) is the precondition for Divine
Ma’refat (Gnosis). As has been narrated in the Hadith (Prophetic
Narration), “The one who is cognizant
of his Nafs (Psyche)
is cognizant of his Lord”. (The word Allah was not used in the
hadith instead the word Rabb (Lord) was used that means Master or Owner
with a sense of administration & management e.g. head of a
household. The word Allah deals with the Divine Zhaat (Essence) and
this hadith is about the mastery and dealings of the Lord & the
man.)
If the word Nafs in this
Hadith (Prophetic Narration) carries the meaning of Zhaat (Essence) or
Haqiqat (Absolute Reality) then—Allah knows best—whoever sees his Zhaat
(Essence) & Haqiqat (Absolute Reality) with attributes of dominance
& ascendance governing all aspects & components of his Self,
and observes that all heavenly & evil militia and all Haqiqat
(Absolute Reality) of the/his physical & spiritual existence are
under the rule of his own Zhaat (Essence) within the Saghir’s (Minor’s
or this world’s) Realm, indeed similarly envisions the Absolute Divine
Zhaat (Essence) rules all aspects & components of all
beings—physical & spiritual existence, heavenly & evil beings,
human or Djin species—within the Kabir’s (Major) Realm. (In Sufi
literature there are different Realms, worlds or universes. The Saghir
(Minor) Realm is our physical world. The Kabir (Major) Realm is the
other universe where Allah reigns. Therefore if we can comprehend how
our Nafs commands our life and all the components and people that are
under its umbrella of influence in the minor world, then we have a
paradigm for how Allah commands in the Major world. Again note the word
‘paradigm’ meaning this observation of “our own Self in command” is
like a finger pointing towards the Lord.)
Therefore as the
segmented-Rooh (Soul) [1], the segmented-Qalb
(Heart), segmented-Nafs (Psyche)
and segmented-‘Aql (Intellect) are seen as under his Zhaat’s
(Essence’s) complete control, the Universal-Rooh (Soul) & the
Universal-Qalb (Heart) which constitute the Divine Throne (?), and
Universal-Nafs (Psyche)
& Universal-‘Aql (Intellect) under the complete control of the
Singleton Divine Zhaat (Essence), perpetually subjugated and contained.
Note that there is no Zhaat (Essence) of any beingness in the entire
cosmos that has such attribute i.e. the link to the Divine Ma’refat
(Gnosis), except the Zhaat (Essence) of the human being. In conclusion,
human Ma’refat (Gnosis) is a Dalil (Sign, Token, Evidence, Guide) for
the Divine Ma’refat (Gnosis).
If the word Nafs carries the
meaning “human psyche” then the above Hadith (Prophetic Narration) is
interpreted as follows—and Allah knows best—Man is cognizant of his own
Nafs (Psyche)
that demands 'ubudiyaat (Serfdom & Servitude) similar to his
cognizance of the Lord’s Rububiyat (Divinity). (Ceaselessly we want to
be loved, adored, respected, praised, our dissatisfaction to be feared
and in short you may say we want to be worshiped just like the Lord.
And isn’t this demand of our Nafs the source of all our sorrow and
distress?)
The reasoning is as follows:
Nafs (Psyche)
perpetually claims the false-godship (i.e. to be served), and assigns
falsely to his Self the Divine attributes that are exclusive only to
the Haqq (Absolute & True Reality, the Lord) beyond association to
any creature, and believes in his imagination that all these Divine
attributes are indeed exclusively his!? (Allah subjugates &
controls all objects in the universe; nothing moves or acts without Its
Divine Dictate and no one dares to oppose the regality of the Royal
Highness. Somehow we want the same godship i.e. to be obeyed and stay
in complete control. But looking at the list of the Divine Sifaat (Attributes)
we find some of those attributes in a minor way within us e.g. power,
mercy or generosity and therefore proper management of these attributes
can shed light on the cognition of the Divine.)
And the darkness of this false
claim can never be taken away unless by the effulgence of the Divine
Rays of Tajalli (Manifestation) e.g. “And
say: "Truth has (now) arrived, and Falsehood perished” (Koran
[17:81]) or the call, “The light is
made manifest and thus void is the fake & the false”
(Hadith?). (Dervish you are not going to understand the meaning of
these attributes within you and you will never comprehend why & how
you are reacting to them. Until such time when the rays of the Divine
Manifestation hits you, the falsehood vanishes the fake thoughts and
edicts that you passed about your Self made null & void, and you
are left with a peculiar sense of cognition as follows.)
In other words, once the Haqq
(Absolute & True Reality) manifests one of Its Divine attributes
upon the human Nafs (Psyche),
the allegations of possessing that attribute which was placed upon the
Nafs (Psyche)
by the Nafs shall arise, and the human Zhaat’s (Essence’s) attributes
e.g. submission, humility, humbleness, incapacity, lowliness and
poverty shall confess to the crime of ignorance. (What was your
arrogant & pompous edicts of yesterday when you declared yourself
the most powerful in charge of this and that, after the Divine Rays
shine upon you, dervish you accuse your past Self as a defendant in
your own court prepared for the true judgment. Dervish then you are
truly humbled and anxiously awaiting the sentencing as follows.)
For example if the Divine
Sifat (Attribute)
of Azim (Power & Might) is made manifest to the human Nafs (Psyche),
the allegation of false attribution of power to the man shall arise,
and the human Sifat (Attribute)
of humility shall appear. Or if the Divine Sifat (Attribute)
of Ezzat (Honor & Pride) is made manifest to the human Nafs (Psyche),
the allegation of false attribution of honor & pride to the man
shall arise, and the human Sifat (Attribute) of lowliness shall appear.
Or if the Divine Sifat (Attribute) of Molk (Regality & Royalty) is
made manifest to the human Nafs (Psyche),
the allegation of false attribution of regality & royalty to the
man shall arise, and the human Sifat (Attribute) of submissiveness
& humbleness shall appear. Or if the Divine Sifat (Attribute)
of Qudra (Capacity & Potency) is made manifest to the human Nafs (Psyche),
the allegation of false attribution of capacity & potency to the
man shall arise, and the human Sifat (Attribute)
of incapacity & surrender shall appear. And the above can be
deduced from the prayer of the Prophet peace be upon him, “Praise to the One whom all things are in
humility compared to Its Azima (Power & Might); Praise to the One
whom all things are lowly compared to Its Ezzat (Honor & Pride);
Praise to the One whom all things are in submission to Its Molk
(Regality & Royalty); Praise to the One whom all things are in
surrender to Its Qudra (Capacity & Potency)”.
And because of the above
argument, given all the Sifaat (Attributes)
that are truly found within the Nafs (Psyche),
if the ‘Aref (Divine Cognoscente) made cognizant of a particular Sifat
(Attribute) within his Nafs (Psyche),
comprehends that the said human Sifat (Attribute)
originated from a Divine Sifat (Attribute).
And if he does not comprehend the Sifat (Attribute)
this way, and from the knowledge-form cannot reach the experience-form
(i.e. true cognition of that particular Sifat (Attribute)
via actual experience thus relating the Sifat (Attribute)
to the Divine) therefore he did not truly understand & comprehend
that Sifat (Attribute).
(Dervish the book can tell you that your attribute of mercy is a minor
derivative of the Divine Attribute of Rahma (Mercy). But this
book-knowledge is not Ma’refat (Divine Gnosis), it is just surface
knowledge of things. But if truly you could study your book of life,
sift through the incidents and understand that particular attribute
within the actual events and if you are able to find a link between
those incidents involving the particular attribute and the Divine
Attributes then you have gained a Ma’refat (Divine Gnosis). As is
depicted by an example as follows.)
Dhannun Al-Masri was asked,
“How did you get to know your Lord?” replied, “I came to know It each
time when I was about to commit a wrongdoing by remembering the Divine
Jalaal (Momentous Glory) & Divine Azima (Power & Might) and
suddenly the Sifat (Attribute) of Hayaa (Shame & Diffidence)
appeared, thus I became ashamed & timid facing It and finally
dropped the wrongdoing”. Therefore Dhannun observed Hayaa (Shame
& Diffidence) as the impact of the Divine Sifaat (Attributes)
of Jalaal (Momentous Glory) & Azima (Power & Might), a Dalil
(Sign, Token, Evidence, Guide) towards Qorb (Divine Nearness) & Orf
(Divine Gnosis). (Note that Dhannun’s observation of his state was not
a 100% proof of anything. Instead this observation is a finger pointing
towards the Divine Attributes.)
And this form of finding
Ma’refat (Divine Gnosis) is fundamentally correct and no mistakes can
deviate this method, because this form of obtaining Orf (Divine Gnosis)
is solely based upon Zauq (Perceptivity, Personal Experience &
Responsiveness) & Halaa (Momentary State
of the Heart) and not obtained through knowledge or imagination. It
benefited from the Kashf (Unearthing Secrets) & ‘Iyān (Observance
& Eyewitness) and not from data, knowledge, sayings or reasoning.
In a different direction, if
there is a Sifat (Attribute) within the Nafs (Psyche)
that also has a Divine counterpart, would be an indicative of the
nature of the Divine Perception of that person. For example, if the
person within his Nafs (Psyche)
finds the attribute of Redha (Contentment), he can conclude that the
Lord is also is contented with him as well. And the verse, “Allah well pleased with them, and they
with ‘It’” (Koran [98:8]) is Ishaarat (Hint) towards this
example. Again if within his Nafs (Psyche)
finds the Sifat (Attribute)
of Mahab-bat (Divine
Love), he is certain that Lord’s Love has been antecedent to his
love. And the verse, “a people whom
‘It’ will love as they will love ‘It’” (Koran [5:54]) is
Ishaarat (Hint) towards this meaning. And if within his Nafs (Psyche)
finds Shawq (Anxious Yearning), he knows that the yearning is
reciprocal, “Indeed is prolonged the
Shawq (Anxious Yearning) of the righteous folk to meet Me (i.e. Allah)
and I am deeply anxious to meet them (in return)” (Hadith). And
if within his Nafs (Psyche)
finds Dhikr (Remembrance) of the Lord, it means the Lord remembers him
as well, “Then do ye remember Me; I
will remember you” (Koran [2:152]). And this Dhikr (Divine
Remembrance) that has been mentioned in the Koran, (human remembrance)
though may be late or not worthy of the Lord, the Lord’s Remembrance of
the slaves has been antecedent to theirs. Since if the Lord did not
remember the slave first, the slave would have never succeeded in
remembering the Lord. The present Dhikr (Divine Remembrance) of the
slave shall bring him rewards (i.e. achieved) and the previous Dhikr
i.e. Allah’s remembrance of him, an undisputed Divine gift.
In general whoever wants to
know his status with the Lord, should first study the status of the
Lord within his Self i.e. how he is feeling about the Lord and
extrapolate from there. As has been mentioned in the Hadith (Prophetic
Narration),”Whoever likes to know his
status with Allah should observe Allah’s status within his own since
Allah hosts within for the slave what the salve hosts within his Nafs (Psyche)
for Allah”.
End.
[1] There
are two words that often are seen in the Sufi manuscripts perhaps more
on the philosophical side, Kulli that means universal or aggregate and
Juz’i that means a minor portion or segment of something larger. So
what exists in the other universe i.e. the Azal (Sempiternity) are all
Kulli and what exists in our Mohdath (Transient & Temporal) world
are all Juz’i meaning a minor slice or segment from another universe.
So segmented-Soul means there is an aggregate universal Soul in the
other universe but we are given each a segment in this world for some
period of time.
©
2004-2002, Dara O. Shayda
