WAKENING ASPIRATION (Iqâdh Al-Himam):
COMMENTARY ON THE HIKAM
by Ibn 'Ajiba
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CHAPTER EIGHT
It is very rare that divine warids come
in other than a sudden flash.
That protects them -
because the slaves cannot lay claim to them
because they are ready for them.
Al-Qushayri said, "A warid designates praiseworthy thoughts which come to the hearts on which the slave has no bearing. Waridat are more general than khawatir because khawatir are particular to a type of instruction or what contains that meaning. Waridat can be waridat of joy, waridat of sorrow, waridat of contraction, waridat of expansion and other such things. It is close to the state." Shaykh 'Abdu'l-Qadir al-Jilani was asked about the attributes of divine waridat and shaytanic impulses and replied, "The divine warid does not come through claim and is not removed by a cause. It does not come in one form nor at the same time. Shaytanic impulses are generally different to that."
What is meant here is a particular type. It refers to the divine breezes which blow on the hearts and spirits or secrets and make hearts withdraw into the Presence of the Knower of the Unseen worlds, and the spirits and secrets into the Jabarut of the Almighty Compeller. So they become light-headed out of joy and happiness and dance out of yearning and rapture. When the spirits are moved by yearning for the encounter, the forms dance, O you who are ignorant of the meaning!
It is very rare that these divine warids come other in a sudden flash because they are not obtained by earning. They are an opening granted by the Generous Giver, If they had been obtained by effort and striving, the slaves and ascetics would have laid claim to them by the obligation of predisposition and preparation. Then they would have been acquisitions. States and waridat are gifts. "But Allah selects for His mercy whomever He wills. Allah's favour is truly vast." (2:105)
He (Zarruq?) said, "There are three aspects to the wisdom of its coming all of a sudden. One is so that it is recognised that it is a gift from Allah. The second is that it is properly valued and there is immense joy in it. The third is jealousy for it and feeling that it is precious because what is from the 'Aziz (Almighty, Precious) is precious."
Then these divine waridat and special gifts are secrets which come from the Generous, All-Forgiving, which He only gives to the people of protection and trust, not to the people of disclosure and treachery, as the author indicates:
When you see someone answering all he is asked,
and mentioning all he knows
and interpreting all he sees
- that proves that he is an ignorant man.
The aspect of his ignorance in answering all that he is asked is that his state would demand that he has encompassing knowledges whereas the Almighty says, "You have only been given a little knowledge" (17:85) i.e. what ignorance is greater than for someone to oppose the words of Allah? It also contains pretension and the Almighty says, "Say: 'I do not ask you for any wage for it, nor am I a man of false pretensions.'" (38:86) The Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, said, "I and those who are godfearing in My community are free of pretension." The pretentious person is not lacking in artifice and adornment.
Part of his ignorance of Allah is shown by the fact that if he had truly known Him, His knowledge would be enough for him and he would recognise his true value. We read in a report, "Whoever recognises his worth lives."
One of them was asked about useful knowledge and said, "It is that you recognise your worth and do not exceed your level." One of those who have achieved realisation said, "When a scholar says, 'I do not know,' you have dealt him a mortal blow." He said in al-Ihya', "When one of the righteous Salaf was asked a question, he would sent the asker to someone else and the second person would send him to another, and that would continue until he came back to the first. When one of them was asked about a question, he would tell the asker, 'Take it to the Qadi and place it on his neck.'" Malik was asked about 32 questions and answered three and said about the rest, 'I do not know.' The asker asked him, 'What do I say to people?' He said, 'Tell them that Malik said, 'I do not know.'"
To answer every question is ignorant and haram since the asker may be opinionated and not deserve an answer. The question which he asked may not be proper for him because he will not understand it nor be capable of its knowledge and that may lead to confusion or denial." The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Do not give wisdom to other than its people so that you wrong it, and do not deny it to its people so that you wrong them." A poet said about that:
I will conceal my knowledge from who are ignorant as much as
possible and not cast precious pearls before beasts.
If Allah the All-Generous decrees by His kindness
that I meet those worthy of knowledge and wisdom,
I will spread my knowledges and benefit from their knowledge.
Otherwise it remains stored and concealed with me.
Anyone who gives knowledge to the ignorant wastes it
and anyone who denies it to those who deserve it has done wrong.
'Ali spoke to people according to what they understood. Do you want for Allah and His Messenger to be denied? It was said to al-Junayd, "Two men ask you the same question and you give this one a different answer to the one you give to that one." He said, "The answer is according to the capacity of the asker." The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "We are commanded to speak to people according to their intellects." When a man asked a question of one of the scholars and he did not answer him, the man said, "Do you not know that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, 'Anyone who conceals useful knowledge will be bridled on the Day of Rising with a bridle of fire?"' The scholar told him, "Put down the bridle and go. If someone comes who is entitled to it and I conceal it, then bridle me."
As for the aspect of his ignorance in interpreting all the karamat he witnesses, the stations he reaches and the lights and secrets he tastes, these matters are inner tastes and sovereign secrets, and only their masters understand them. To mention them to those who do not understand or taste them is ignorance of their value. They are trusts and one of the secrets of the King. It is not lawful to divulge the King's secrets. Anyone who divulges it is a traitor and merits exile and punishment and is not fit to be trusted afterwards. So concealment of secrets is the business of the good and revealing secrets is the business of the evil. They said, "The hearts of the free are the graves of secrets." A poet says:
Only someone trustworthy conceals the secret.
The secret is concealed with the best of people
There is little point in divulging them for their benefit is inward. The benefit of these states and divine waridat are that they obliterate the sensory and manifest the meaning or obliterate doubt and strengthen certainty. When they are divulged, their action is weak and their result is weak. All good lies in concealing. The hadith says, "Seek help in fulfilling your needs by concealing them," or words to that effect.
One of the matters in states which must be concealed is breaking the normal patterns of the self. If this happens to someone, he must not disclose it to someone else. The self has a machination in that because it loves being mentioned with strength and courage. So whenever he kills part of it, it is revived immediately. This also decreases sincerity and entails showing-off, which is a cause for destruction. We seek refuge with Allah!
As for the aspect of his ignorance in mentioning all that he knows of realities, knowledge and gnosis, that is because it is ignorance of their worth and making light of them. If they had truly been lofty and precious in his eyes, he would not have divulged them to others since the owner of treasure does not divulge it. Otherwise it will be stripped from him immediately. See what Shaykh al-Majdhub said:
Dig a hole for your secret and level it seventy fathoms deep.
Leave creatures complaining until the Day of Rising.
Since Allah says, "Do not give the simple-minded their property," (4:5) what is the case with knowledge which is a hidden pearl? The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Part of knowledge is hidden and is only recognised by the people of knowledge. If they were to display it, those people who are deluded by Allah would deny it." Abu Hurayra, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "I retained two bags of knowledge from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. One of them I have disseminated among people. If I were to disseminate the other, this throat of mine would be cut." How excellent is what Zayd al-'Abidin said!:
O Lord, if I divulge a jewel of knowledge,
I will be told, 'You are one of those who worship idols!'
And Muslim men would consider my blood lawful,
seeing the beauty I bring them as ugly.
I will conceal the gems of my knowledge so that
someone ignorant does not see the truth and denounce us.
Ar-Ruzebadhi said, "This knowledge of ours is indication, and when it becomes expression, it is hidden." Imam al-Ghazali said, "The realities can harm some people just as the dung beetle is harmed by rose and musk."
It is allowed for the skilled gnostic to convey the realities in the presence of those who do not know them by using fine expressions, subtle indications and fine weaving so that the listener does not take anything from that. Al-Junayd conveyed the realities in the presence of witnesses and that was mentioned to him and he said, "Some knowledge is too guarded to be taken by other than its people, and our knowledge is protected from other being taken by other than its people." Allah knows best.
Then answering all one is asked, interpreting all that one sees, and mentioning that all one does obliges going to creatures, and esteeming and honouring them in this abode because if anyone shows his prerogative, he must be served. Part of the business of the common is to esteem the one with a miracle and so he plucks the fruit of his knowledge and action in this passing abode and misses the degrees of the siddiqin in that abiding abode. So he is commanded to conceal it and be content with Allah's knowledge and that the repayment is stored up for him until the Day in which he will meet Allah. He calls attention to that:
He made the Next World the place where He will reward His believing slaves
because this world is not vast enough
to hold what He wants to give them
and because He thinks too much of them to reward them
in a dimension which lacks any permanence.
There is no doubt that Allah branded this abode the Abode of Delusion and judged that there be ruin and destruction in it. It is a base, low vanishing ephemeral abode. That is why it is called "dunya" , ether because of its nearness or its baseness. It is constricted in time and place. The Next World is called as the Abode of Abiding the place of the manifestation of lights and the unveiling of secrets, the place of the Vision and delight, constant bliss and joy, the place of witnessing lovers and the lifting of the veil. Its bliss is constant and will always exist and abide.
That is why Allah Almighty made it the place for the repayment of His believing slaves and a seat of truthfulness for the Prophets and Siddiqin. He is not pleased to repay them in an abode which lacks any permanence which has a limited time and place and is a place of impurities, others, abasement and humiliation because it is limited and not vast enough to hold what He wants to give them, i.e. it is not vast enough for the honour the Almighty desires to give them in time and place because the least of the people of the Garden possesses the equivalent of the entire world ten times over, so what is the case with the lofty one? The Almighty says, "No self knows the delight that is hidden away for it in recompense for what it used to do." (32:17) The Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, said, "Allah Almighty has prepared for His righteous slaves what no eye has seen nor ear heard and what has not occurred to the heart of a mortal."
It is because Allah thinks too much of His believing slaves and those brought near to repay them in an abode which lacks any permanence. Its prosperity is a ruin and its existence is a mirage. In one report, "If this world had been made of gold, it would vanish. If the Next World would made of clay, it would remain. The intelligent person is the one who chooses what abides over what does not abide." And the opposite is true. The Next World is gold which will abide and this world is like china which will vanish. None chooses it except the one for whom Allah has judged wretchedness, distress,
In another hadith, "The happy one is the one who chooses that which abides and whose bliss abides over that which banishes and whose punishment will not end. He is given what he advanced which is now in his hand to replace it for the one who is fortunate, The one who is wretched is the one who amasses and hoards it.
Abu Ayyub al-Ansari said, "I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "Adorn yourselves with obedience and wear it as the armour of fear. Make the Next World for yourselves and your striving for what will last for you. Know that you are travelling from what is little to Allah. Here all that will help you are righteous actions which you have sent ahead or an excellent reward which is your repayment. You go to what you have sent ahead and you are repaid for what you advanced. Therefore do not let the finery of this world which is base deceive you about the lofty ranks of the Gardens. It will be as if the armour is removed and doubt removed, and every person will meet what will last for him and recognised his home and final destiny."
Then repayment in that abode is for action in this abode, provided that it is accepted. Its acceptance is invisible, but it still has signs by which it is known here. He indicates this:
If you find the fruit of your deeds quickly,
that is a proof of your acceptance!
The fruit of deeds is the pleasure of obedience, the sweetness of intimate conversation, the familiarity of the heart with watchfulness, and the joy of the ruh in direct witnessing and the secret in direct speaking. "All the people knew their drinking place." (2:60) The evidence for the existence of this fruit is energy in rising to the actions, delight in them, continuing with them and increased support in them. It is the sign of the descent of guidance into the heart. The Almighty says, "He augments those who are guided by giving them further guidance." (19:76) Al-Busiri said in his poem in hamza:
When guidance alights in a heart,
the limbs are busy with worship.
When we see someone increasing in actions and rising in states, we know that he has found the fruit of his actions. It is good news for him that they are accepted. When we see someone stops acting or his states decrease, then we fear that his actions are not accepted. Another fruit of action is alienation from creation and people and intimacy with the True King. Other fruits of action include being content with Allah's knowledge and having no need of other than Him. Shaykh Zarruq added, "A good life, effective words and negation of sorrow by joy in the favour."
The evidence for the first is found in the words of the Almighty, "Anyone who acts rightly, male or female, being a believer, We will give them a good life." (16:97) It is contentment. It is said that it is pleasure and submission. In fact, it is gnosis. The evidence for the second, which is effective words, is found in the words of the Almighty, "Allah has promised those of you who believe and do right actions that He will make them successors in the land," (24:55) and the effectiveness and implementation of the Word is the khalifate. He also says, "We made them leaders, guiding by Our command" (21:73) because of their steadfastness. The evidence for the first, which is negation of sorrow, is experienced in himself because the sweetness of action makes him forget sorrow and grief because they resemble the blessings of the Garden. The Almighty says about the people of the Garden, "Praise be to Allah who has removed all sadness from us!" (35:34) Allah knows best.
One should be on guard against stopping with the sweetness of obedience. It is a deadly poison. When he mentions the criteria of actions, he mentions the criteria of the Men. You could say, when he mentions the criteria of the accepted action in relation to the rejected action, he mentions the criteria of the beloved doer in relation to the one turned away. He says:
If you want to learn your value with Him
look where He has put you.
Allah, by His wisdom, has divided His creation into categories: wretched and happy. He divided those who are happy into two portions: the people of nearness and the people of distance, or the people of the right and those who brought near, who are the forerunners.
If you want to learn whether you are one of the people of wretchedness or the people of happiness, look at your heart. If you affirm the existence of your Lord and unify Him in His kingdom and obey the one who acquainted you with Him – His Messenger, peace be upon – then you are one of those for whom the best has been decreed. If you deny or doubt your Lord, or associate others with Him in your creed and do not obey the one who acquainted you with Him, then you one of the people of wretchedness.
If you find that you are one of the people of happiness and want to know whether you are one of the people of nearness or the people of distance, then look. If you are one of those who finds evidence for Him in His secondary effects, then you are one of the people of distance among the people of the right. If you are one of those finds evidence for others by Him, then you are one of the people of nearness among those who are brought near.
Then if you know that you are one of the people of the right hand and want to learn your value with Him and whether you are one of the honoured or one of the abased, look. If you obey His commands, avoid His prohibitions and hasten to please Him and love His awliya' and beloveds, then you are one of the honoured and esteemed. If you are disdain His commands, are easy about His prohibitions, lax in obeying Him, violate His sanctity, and are hostile to His awliya', then you, by Allah, then you are one of those condemned, deprived and out cast unless you are taken in hand by the concern of the Lord of the worlds.
If you realise that you are one of the people of nearness and you have reached the station of witnessing by which you are directed to others, you do not see other than Him. If you affirm the means (wâsita), confirm wisdom and give everything with a due its due, then you are one of the perfect ones who are brought near. If you deny wisdom and withdraw from the means, then you are attracted (madhjub) and overcome. So you are deficient in this place. When you become sober, you will fall unless your hand is taken by a shaykh who has arrived or a perfect gnostic.
There is another criterion by which you will recognise where you are in nearness and distance. If you find a teaching shaykh whose lights Allah unveils to you and acquaints you with the special qualities of his secrets, then you are absolutely one of the people of nearness by action or potential by the words of the Shaykh: "Glory be to the One who made the guide to His awliya' the guide to Himself, and He only allows them to be reached by those He makes to make reach Him." If you do not find a teaching shaykh and are deluded by the words of someone who says that they do not exist, then you are definitely one of the people of the right among the common Muslims. This is the usual case, and the aberrant case has no judgement. Allah knows best.
In a hadith, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, "Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, says, 'I am Allah. There is no god but Me. I created good and evil, so bliss to the one whom I created for good and at whose hands I make good occur. Woe to the one whom I created for evil and at whose hands I made evil occur." In another hadith, "Whoever wants to know where he is with Allah should look where Allah is with him." In one variant, "Whoever wants to know his position with Allah should look at the position of Allah is in his heart." Allah puts the slave where the slave puts Him in himself. Allah Almighty says, "As for him who gives out and has taqwa and confirms the Good, We will pave his way to the Ease." (92:5-7) Allah knows best.
Then he mentioned another criterion by which the near and rich thankful rich are known. He said:
When He provides you with obedience and having no need of other than Him,
know that He has bestowed His outward and inward blessings on you.
Obedience outwardly consists of following the rules of the Shari'a and having no other need inwardly occurs when the reality is witnessed. When you have both obedience in your limbs and are free of other than Him inwardly, He has given you a full measure, i.e. perfected you and granted you inward and outward blessings. These are the marks of the gnostics who are brought near, wealthy by Allah and poor in relation to other than Him. They have no need of other than the One that he worshipped so that they do not see their worship. The One they know distracts them from their knowledge and the One who puts them right distracts them from their own righteousness.
Shaykh Abu'l-Hasan said in his Hizb al-Kabir: "We ask You for poverty from what is other than You and wealth by You so that we witness only You." Those are the ones who are rich in Allah and absent in Him from other than Him. Their worship is by Allah, for Allah, and from Allah, showing thankfulness for the blessing and fulfilling the duties of wisdom. In a hadith, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is reported to have said, "The slaves who are most beloved of Allah are the hidden wealthy godfearing ones," or words to that effect. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said in another hadith, "Wealth does not consist in having a lot of goods. Wealth consists in the wealth (independence) of the self."
That is wealth in Allah, and this is the real blessing. The outward blessing is the adornment of the limbs by the Shari'a and the inward blessing is the shining of the secrets by the reality. It is said that the outward blessings are sufficiency and well-being, and the inward blessings are guidance and gnosis. It is said that the outward blessing is the body having rest from opposition to His commands and the inward is safety from contending with His judgements. The reality of the blessing is that it is something which does not oblige pain and is not followed by regret. It is said that the greatest blessing is to stop seeing the nafs. It is said that the blessing is what connects you to the realities and purifies you of attachments to creatures. Success is by Allah.
This is the end of Chapter Eight. To sum up, it is to identify adab with divine waridat because they are special gifts. Anyone who desires the help of their light must conceal their secrets. Their reward must be deferred to the abode which will abide. It is at that time that his sincerity will be confirmed and his selection manifested, and then he will taste the sweetness of obedience and faith and his value with the King and Judge will be immense. He withdraws in Him from other than Him and so He gives him His full favour. When He makes him wealthy in Him, He makes him have no need of seeking. If you must seek, then seek from Him what He seeks from you, as he indicates in Chapter Nine