absolutely – Fountain Magazine

Faqr and Ghina (Poverty and Richness)

Louima Cunningham — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

For Sufis, poverty means that an initiate claims possession of nothing and is freed from all kinds of attachment toward worldly things, and that one feels total neediness and destitution before God in one’s relationship with Him, which is based on servanthood and the fact that God is the Sole Object of Worship. It is not poverty as understood by ordinary people, nor does it mean begging from people, displaying one’s privations.

The Sufi way of poverty involves severing relationships with all that is other than the Eternally Besought-of-All, and depending only on Him to meet one’s needs. For this reason, the more detached one is from whatever is worldly and temporary and the more annihilated one is in depending on the Divine Attributes and Essence, the more one has attained poverty and can repeat the saying of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings: Poverty is my pride.^[1]

As stated in a blessed saying, when poverty becomes a dimension of faith and submission, one no longer depends on the help, will, and power of that which is not God. Even if such a person has enough wealth to fill the whole world, as the world is subject to decay and exhaustion, one does not depend upon it, but rather turns to God with all of one’s strength and feeling, conscious of his or her essential poverty and helplessness. How beautiful is the following couplet of Nabi, a seventeenth-century Ottoman poet:

Do not look on poverty with contempt, O Nabi!
Poverty is the mirror where independence of others is reflected.

Rumi made another fine observation about poverty:

Poverty is the essence and all else is form;
poverty is a remedy and all else the disease.
The whole world consists in vanity and conceit;
but poverty is the real core and meaning of existence.

Even if a person cannot discern his or her essential weakness and poverty with the light of belief, it is a reality that he or she is weak, poor, and needy. God Almighty declares: O humankind! You are all poor before God and in absolute need of Him, whereas He is the All-Wealthy and Self-Sufficient, the All-Praiseworthy (35:15). As absolutely everybody needs His act of choice, will, and decree to come into existence, His Self-Subsistent and All-Subsisting Existence is also needed at every moment to survive.

An individual’s poverty and neediness before the Almighty is not a means of humiliation; rather, one’s increased awareness of one’s poverty engenders higher degrees of dignity, for such awareness before the Absolutely Wealthy One is richness itself.

The believer becomes aware of his or her non-dependence on others, and acquires the consciousness of independence to the extent that one feels in his or her conscience that God is the sole source of power and wealth. His help is sought, and it is therefore to Him that one turns. Even if such a person is materially poor, he or she feels no need for anything or anyone else.

The believer is convinced that whatever or whoever exists, including himself or herself, essentially belongs to the Almighty, for all elements of creation are only shadows of the shadow of His absolutely independent Existence. This degree of conviction of God’s Unity is called annihilation in God, two steps ahead of which is subsistence with God. Concerning this, Hayali, another Ottoman poet of the seventeenth-century, says:

Hayali, cover your naked body with the shawl of poverty;
This is their pride, they know not of satin or silk.

Poverty is the goal of saints, the (natural) state of purified scholars, and the most manifest sign of love of God. The Almighty has placed poverty in the hearts of His friends so that those hearts may prosper through it. Poverty is a key of light to open the eye of the heart to the inexhaustible treasuries of God. One who has this key is the richest person in the world, for poverty is the door to richness. Those who pass through this door reach in their conscience the infinite treasuries of the Owner of all property and discover that poverty is identical with the real richness. For this reason we can say, as Junayd al-Baghdadi did:

Richness is no more than the final, perfect degree of poverty.^[2]

When one is perfectly conscious of one’s essential poverty before God and one’s absolute dependence on Him, one is absolutely rich, for such a person no longer feels any need. This is what must be meant by the famous saying: The real richness is the richness of the heart. When one has attained this degree of richness, it is as if he or she has found a credit card that is valid everywhere. One who has such mysterious capital can be considered neither poor nor powerless. This is what is described in the following lines:

His is power, by which we are powerful.
We are well-known by His Name or fame.
We go beyond peaks and continue our way;
we overcome all difficulties with ease.
We possess nothing worldly, but are absolutely rich,
and are dignified and respectable with His Dignity.
We follow the way of reflection, so
whatever exists is a source of the knowledge of God for us.^[3]

^[1] al-‘Ajluni, Kashfu’l-Khafa’, 2:87.

^[2] al-Qushayri, ar-Risala, 273.

^[3] M. Fethullah Gülen, Kırık Mızrap (Broken Plectrum), 38–39.

Reflections on The Existence and Unity of The Creater

Louima Cunningham — Thu, 01 Jan 1998 00:00:00 +0000

Creatures come into existence easily and, although of various kinds and species, resemble one another in many ways. They are spread out on the earth with perfect order and display a perfect proportionateness and equipment. As this demonstrates on a broad scale the necessity of an All-Wise Maker’s existence and His Unity and the perfection of His Power, the creation of innumerable, different well-composed compound beings out of simple lifeless elements also testifies, to the number of those beings, to the necessity of that All-Wise Maker’s existence and points to His Unity, and those beings show as a whole the perfection of His Power and His Unity in a most brilliant way.

Also, there is an infinite degree of differentiation and compounding within infinite profusion. For example, while seeds and roots exist under earth in extremely confused position, they are amazingly distinguished in growth, and like the particles of food entering the body in confusion being separated and shared out among organs and tissues with perfect measure and wisdom, the particles going into trees in confusion are distinguished and distributed among leaves, flowers and fruits. This shows the necessity of the existence of that absolutely Wise, Knowing and Powerful One and His Unity and the perfection of His Power. Also, it demonstrates the grandeur and perfection of His Lordship that, making the world of particles into a boundless, vast field, He sows and harvests it every moment with perfect wisdom and obtains fresh crops of different worlds from it, and causes those unconscious, powerless and ignorant particles to perform innumerable, systematic functions just as if they were extremely learned, conscious and capable.

Thus a large window is opened onto knowledge of God through these four ways, and they display the All-Wise Maker to the mind on a large scale.

Now you unhappy, heedless one! If you do not want to see Him in this way and recognize Him, free yourself of your reason so as to become like an animal and be saved!

The testimony of all the Prophets, upon them be peace, who are those with luminous spirits among mankind, based on their manifest and evident miracles, the testimony of all the saints, who are those distinguished with their illumined hearts, relying on their wonder-making and spiritual discoveries, and the testimony of all the purified scholars, who with their enlightened minds rely on their researches and quests for truth, to tie necessary existence and Unity of One, the Creator of all things, and the perfection of His Power, form a truly vast and enlightening window, through which the position of His Lordship shows itself continually.

O you helpless denier! Who do you rely on so that you do not heed those people? Or, by closing your eyes in the daytime, do you imagine the world to be in darkness?

The worship performed by all beings in the universe evidently demonstrates an Absolutely- Worshipped One. Those who penetrate the world of spirits and the inner dimension of things and meet with the angels and spirit beings, testify that all spirit beings and angels worship an Eternally- Worshipped One in perfect obedience, and all living beings are observed to be performing duties in perfect order in a manner resembling worship, and all inanimate things evidently render services with perfect submission in a like manner. As all this shows the necessary existence and Unity of a True Object of Worship, so too the true knowledge of all gnostics, which bears the weight of consensus, and the fruitful thanks of all the thankful, and the blessed recitations of all those who recite God’s Names, and the praises, which cause the increase of Divine bounties, of all those who praise God, and the pronouncements and descriptions of Divine Unity, based on decisive proofs, of all those who believe in it, and the true love of all lovers of God, and the true will and desires of all those who seek Him, and the earnest searching and inclinations of all those who turn to Him, all demonstrate the necessary existence and Unity of that Eternally-Worshipped One, the One Who is Recognized, Mentioned, Praised, One Beloved, Desired and Sought, and the perfection of His Lordship.

Also, the acceptable worship and supplications of perfected people, and the spiritual radiance, visions and illuminations resulting from them, again demonstrate the necessary existence and Unity of that Everlasting and Eternally-Worshipped One and the perfection of His Lordship.

Thus these three aspects open up a broad, light-giving window onto Divine Unity.

And He sends down water from the heaven and brings forth with it crops and fruits as provision for you, and He has made subject to you the ships so that they sail through the sea by His command, and He has made the rivers subject to you; and He has made subject to you the sun and the moon, both pursuing their courses, and He has made subject to you the night and the day; and He gives you of all that you ask Him. If you were to count God’s bounties, you could not enumerate them.

The mutual helping and solidarity of beings in the universe and the fact that they respond to one another’s call for assistance show that all creatures are trained by a single Instructor, are administered by a single Director, are at the disposal of a single Disposer, and are the servants of a single Master. For through a universal law of mutual helping, the sun cooks the things necessary for the lives of living beings on the earth by the command of the Lord, and the moon acts as a calendar, and light, air, water and sustenance hasten to the assistance of animate beings, and plants hasten to the assistance of animals, and animals and plants together hasten to the assistance of human beings, and even the members of the body hasten to the assistance of one another, and the particles of provision hasten to the assistance of the cells of the body. This most wise and generous mutual assistance among those unconscious beings, and their responding to one another’s needs and their supporting one another under a law of munificence and grace, a law of compassion and care and a principle of mercy, demonstrate, clearly and evidently, that they are the servants, officers, and creatures of a unique One of Unity, a peerless, Eternally- Besought-of-All, an Absolutely Powerful, Absolutely Knowledgeable, Absolutely Merciful and Compassionate, Absolutely Generous and Munificent, Necessarly-Existent One. So, 0 you who are bankrupt of good reasoning and sound judgement because of materialistic philosophy and scientism! How do you respond in the face of this mighty window? Can chance have a hand in this?

Reflections on the Existence and Unity of the Creator

The Fountain — Tue, 01 Jul 1997 00:00:00 +0000

Thus a large window is opened onto knowledge of God through these four ways, and they display the All-Wise Maker to the mind on a large scale.

Now you unhappy, heedless one! If you do not want to see Him in this way and recognize Him, free yourself of your reason so as to become like an animal and be saved!

The testimony of all the Prophets, upon them be peace, who are those with luminous spirits among mankind, based on their manifest and evident miracles, the testimony of all the saints, who are those distinguished with their illumined hearts, relying on their wonder-making and spiritual discoveries, and the testimony of all the purified scholars, who with their enlightened minds rely on their researches and quests for truth, to the necessary existence and Unity of One, the Creator of all things, and the perfection of His Power, form a truly vast and enlightening window, through which the position of His Lordship shows itself continually.

O you helpless denier! Who do you rely on so that you do not heed those people? Or, by closing your eyes in the daytime, do you imagine the world to be in darkness?

Thus these three aspects open up a broad, light-giving window onto Divine Unity.

On The Existence Of The Creator

Louima Cunningham — Sun, 01 Oct 1995 00:00:00 +0000

In this world, many kinds and colours and varieties of beauty are exhibited. Looking closely, we see that all things, and in particular all living beings, are in a movement to satisfy their recurrent needs and wishes; we see that whatever they need and desire reaches them in unexpected ways at most proper times and from places which it is impossible for themselves to reach.

For example, the cells of a body are supplied with the sustenance they need without willful questing; the young of living creatures are nourished with an extraordinarily wonderful food first in their mothers’ wombs and then after their birth. It is impossible for either to obtain the least of their needs through their own power and faculties. Consider your own case: with respect to your inner and external senses and organs, what innumerable needs you have, none of which you can provide by yourself although they are indispensable to your life.

Who created the sun and hung it above you as a source of light and colour and warmth? Can you give existence to a single flower, which you need to satisfy your sense of smell? Do you have any part in the creation of a single molecule of air, which is so vital for you? Who established the relation between your body and senses and the world around you? You see that human intervention in the natural world can destroy the ecological balance in it so as to make it lethal to you, even though human beings are the most conscious and knowledgeable of creatures.

Have you ever pondered how much a single apple really costs? For an apple to come into being is it not absolutely necessary to have the harmonious and justly proportioned collaboration of the sun (the source of heat and light), of the air, of moisture, of soil, with the seed of the apple tree? Seeing that you-even though you are one of the most powerful and knowledgeable of creatures-are unable to create even a particle of earth, a molecule of air, a beam of light and a tiny seed, do you not also see, and see clearly, that concepts like chance, necessity or ‘natural causes’, to which people import creativity, although these are altogether lacking in consciousness or power or knowledge or free will, cannot really be the originators of those things?

Also, you see that everything is interconnected to everything in the universe; all things are interrelated to a single thing, which is, in turn, interrelated to all things. The whole of the universe needs every single part of it for its existence; the deformation of a single cell in your body can lead to the death of the whole body. So, are all of these factors not enough to explain the existence and Unity of One, Who is absolutely Knowledgeable and absolutely Powerful. Who created the whole of the universe, as well as each tiny particle in it? Who created each single cell of our body, as well as the whole of it?

Thus, the provision of your needs and the needs of all creature indicates a most Compassionate, All-Generous and Sustaining One, Who directs each thing to a final point of perfection particular to itself. How else can you explain all these acts, each and all fully realized, of innumerable purposive consequences within an infinite compassion and miraculous orderliness? Is your need to understand satisfied by appeals to blind and deaf nature, to unconscious forces, aimless chance, lifeless causes?