The manifestation of the Divine Being or the Divine Essence

This is a direct manifestation of the Divine Essence beyond all terms of quality and quantity. It is thought about without considering any of His Essential Qualities and Attributes. This manifestation occurs in the realm of acts through the mediation of Divine Attributes and Names. Not only can we not know what this mediation really is like or how it occurs, neither has anyone ever been honored with the perception of the manifestation of the Divine Essence. Those who follow the way of the Master of creation, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be the most perfect blessings and peace, and make their spiritual journeying under the light of the Religion he brought, always behave like our master Abu Bakr, who said: “Perception of the Divine Essence is admission of our incapacity to perceive Him.” They have tried to extinguish the fire of their wonder in the face of such subtle and transcendent matters by thinking as follows:

Perception of transcendent matters 

Is not a matter for our incapable reason, 

For these scales cannot weigh up such great load. Ziya Pasha [1]

Like other subtle matters that concern the Divine Being, the manifestation of the Divine Essence is so incomprehensible that the words uttered and articles written about it only add to its imperceptibility. What follows is one of them, which was written by Yazicizade, the author of Muhammediye [2]:

Since His Image was engraved in my heart, 

It has obliterated whatever there was of His Names and Attributes. 

I am completely drowned in the ocean of His Oneness, 

If only I could take some pearls from this ocean of union.

Muhyi’d-Din ibn al-‘Arabi spoke more astonishing words to be able to clarify what is impossible to clarify:

When the all-embracing Light (His universal manifestations of Oneness) entirely revealed Itself to me,

I began to observe Him in every face. (He reflects his own impression.)

Whoever goes and enters that glorious Ka’ba,

Can turn in all directions to face Him.

Every observation outside the framework of the perception of our incapacity adds greater astonishment to our wonder and increases our feelings of being awestruck.

The manifestation of Divine Essential Qualities

This is the manifestation that is beyond all veils; it is considered to be the origin of the Divine Attributes that are derived from the Essence of the Divine Being. This manifestation—God knows best—is the origin or source of the capacities and potential of creatures. As declared in, Every (moment of every) day, He is in a new manifestation (55:29), the Almighty Divine Being has limitless manifestations, observable or unobservable, universal or particular, which pertain to His Majesty or Grace. Only a few among the profound scholars of truth can perceive these manifestations to some extent. If we do not strictly follow the all-illuminating way of the most perfect Guide, upon him be the greatest of blessings and the most comprehensive peace, concerning the manifestation of both the Divine Essence and Divine Essential Qualities, it is inevitable that we will fall into confusion, even into deviation or misguidance. It is in such confusion and deviation, caused by the lack of guide, that lie the delirious utterances and statements we encounter in the history of thought. A leading figure in the school of Sufism severely warns those who cannot perceive that they are only mirrors reflecting Divine gifts and blessings and therefore they display affectation. He says:

He supposes the spirit to be the Divine Being Himself; 

“I am the Truth,” echoes in his utterances. 

Whoever utters, “I am the Truth,” without being a Mansur, 

Becomes an unbeliever in God in spirit and body.

The manifestation of Divine Attributes

This means that any of God Almighty’s Attributes manifests Itself in the heart of an initiate. Such an illumination in a heart that is capable of receiving or reflecting it—whether we regard that heart to be a mirror or receptacle—is a great favor. One who has almost reached the final point of spiritual journeying and has been honored with this favor rises to the point of being a polished mirror for the Divine lights, mysteries, and blessings that transcend the limits of his or her own nature, and becomes a receiver and transmitter of the lights belonging to Divine Attributes. Such a one begins feeling, seeing, and hearing differently, and displays many other differences. If, for example, the Attribute of Hearing manifests Itself in a human being to the fullness of their capacity, like the Prophet Solomon, upon him be peace, he or she can hear the voices or sounds of many things and beings, decipher many secrets, and build relationships with them within the bounds of their world. Actually, an initiate whose horizon has been illuminated through the manifestations of the Ultimate Truth begins to see what is unseen, to hear what is unheard, and— provided this favor continues—lives beyond the limits of his nature, achieving transcendent accomplishments. Yazicizade Muhammed Efendi portrays such a hero of manifestation as follows:

Your Graceful Face has appeared again from

the Castle of Majesty; 

Being a lover, I again find myself sighing

because of the Eternal Wine; 

The veil from my eyes has been lifted again, 

And from my heart the veil of ignorance — 

The All-Beloved has once more called me with a transcendental call.

The manifestation of Divine Names

This manifestation, which denotes that initiates discover the meanings and works of some of God’s Names in their hearts, is an intermediate post where talented initiates who have gone beyond the manifestation of Divine acts without encountering any problems in the journeying temporarily halt toward the horizon of the manifestation of Divine Attributes. Initiates stop by this post temporarily, perfect their equipment through Divine gifts, and go on toward another horizon where they will be honored with new favors. If such talented ones, whose hearts have flourished through the manifestation of some of the Divine Names, ask God for something by the grace of the Name on Which the procurement of that thing depends, just at the moment they feel the effusions of these Names in their spirit, certainly God answers their appeal purely out of His Grace. Asking is from us, while answering and giving are from Him:

When God manifests Himself with His favor, 

He makes everything easy; 

He creates the means for attainment, and grants it instantly.

Whatever we are trying to present concerning all the types of manifestation is pure grace beyond all human means; it can be assessed at its true worth through the criteria of an appreciative heart and comprehended by those who have sufficient knowledge of the heart and its states. Only those with an aware heart can understand whatever is asked about this matter and know the answer to be given. A man of deep spirituality, whose identity is unknown, says:

My tongue is silent about it; 

It is something beyond expression. 

O saintly one, this is a spiritual state, so 

Only those aware of the states of a heart can understand it.

The manifestation of Divine Works

This expression denotes that whatever is and takes place in the corporeal realm is a work of Divine Power. In its most complete and perfect fashion, this manifestation shows itself on the human face. Humans are the most comprehensive mirrors that reflect the All-Merciful, All-Compassionate One.

The manifestation of Divine Acts

This expression is used to mean that initiates are aware of some of the Divine acts in their hearts. This is a significant Divine favor. However, it is a reality that those who cannot strictly follow the rules of the Shari’a and the Sunna of the Master of creation, upon him be peace and blessings, in their spiritual journeying may deviate at this point. Those who act as mirrors for Divine acts can fall into the error of falsely attributing to themselves some Divine acts or disposals that they feel are taking place dependent upon their own will and choice. This is nothing less than loss in the place of gain, and this may cause eternal ruin if such people do not immediately turn to follow the Prophetic way in all of their acts and feelings.

Initiates must attribute to God whatever attainment they are favored with and whatever gift comes as a reward for that attainment. Without ever abandoning self-supervision or self-criticism, they must ascribe to themselves nothing more than being a mirror which God uses to reflect some of His acts, works, Names or Attributes. They must not attempt to lay claim to anything with which God has favored them, and they must know that when they see themselves as real agents of such extraordinary blessings, one of the following two results will occur:

1. All the gifts or blessings will cease to come.

2. The gifts or blessings will cause a gradual slide to perdition.

Either of these two results means falling far from the source of the effusions. For this reason, initiates must choose modesty and nothingness in the face of the Eternal One and attribute to Him all their attainments. In this respect, the words of Gawsi are very beautiful:

You do not manifest Yourself while I am appearing on the screen; 

My non-existence is the condition for Your manifestation of existence.

In addition to the Divine manifestations of Essence, the Essential Qualities, Attributes, Names, works, and acts, Sufis speak of the manifestation of Divine Grace and the manifestation of Divine Majesty.

The manifestation of Divine Grace

This denotes God’s particular manifestations of grace, favoring, care, compassion, and so forth, on an individual thing, being, group or community.

The manifestation of Divine Majesty

This is regarded as the most comprehensive and greatest manifestation of the Divine Proper Name— Allah (God)—and it is used to express the Necessarily-Existent Being’s all-inclusive manifestations of grandeur, glory, and being the All-Overwhelming and All-Compelling.

The first of these two types of manifestations is connected with the Divine Name the All-Compassionate (ar-Rahim), and the other is connected with the Name the All-Merciful (ar-Rahman).

Some Sufis consider “manifestation” only as Divine effusions that appear in the hearts of believers and focus on such lights of the Unseen in the name of “manifestation.” The manifestation which they regard as being the emergence of the lights of the Unseen develops according to the capacity of each person; and in the most talented ones, it shows itself perfectly in a way that indicates the essence and source of everything. All of the human beings’ inner senses are fed with these lights and al-latifa ar-Rabbaniya (the spiritual intellect) is transformed into a “house of God” with them; sir (the faculty of the secret—the spiritual faculty that is more subtle than the heart) becomes a point of observation of some transcendental truths, while khafiy (the faculty that is more subtle than the “secret”) becomes a bay of private meeting, and akhfa (the most subtle faculty) becomes a place of union. We could give more information about these faculties, but it is better to stop here.

O God! Make us of those of Your servants who pursue sincerity, and whom You have favored with sincerity and purity of intention, and who have achieved piety and righteousness, and abstinence from all forbidden things, great or small, and whom You have made near to You. And may God’s peace and blessings be upon our master, Muhammad and his Family, and Companions, all of them.

Notes

1. Ziya Pasha (1825–1880) was one of the influential political and literary figures of nineteenth-century Ottoman Turkey. He published Hurriya (Freedom) newspaper   

2. Yazicizade Muhammed Efendi (d. 1451). One of the important Sufi and literary figures in the fifteenth-century Ottoman Turkey. He lived in Gallipoli. Muhammediye, which is about the life and excellencies of the Prophet Muhammad, is his most famous work.

Schimmel’s orientation toward the East was preceded not by an academic choice but by a striking encounter experienced at an early age. This event occurred during a period when she was unable to attend school due to a kidney infection she suffered at the age of seven. Family members and friends brought her various books to read, one of which was a fairy tale titled Padmanaba and Hasan. In this story, a Hindu sage teaches the secrets of supreme wisdom to a Muslim youth in Damascus and asks him to guide him to a marvelous realm located at the bottom of a deep well. There lay the tomb of the world’s greatest Emir, and inscribed beneath it were the words: “People are asleep; they awaken when they die” [2]. According to Schimmel, this sentence became a turning point that determined the course of her life. She would learn only ten years later that the saying was attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib, Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law (peace be upon him) [3]. Yet this childhood intuition—however subjective—opened a gateway that led her to encounter the tradition of Islamic wisdom.

A life of learning

Schimmel was born on April 7, 1922, in Erfurt, Germany. Her childhood passed within a family nurtured by affection and compassion. Her father, Paul, had an interest in philosophical and mystical subjects, while her mother, Anna, was an avid reader. Demonstrating scholarly aptitude beyond her age, Schimmel’s favorite pastime as a child was arranging words in alphabetical order.

After learning French and English in high school, she studied Persian, followed by Ottoman Turkish and modern Turkish. When she decided to learn Arabic at the age of fifteen, she encountered Dr. Hans Ellenberg, a scholar deeply knowledgeable about Islamic culture and devoted to the East. Ellenberg required her not only to learn Arabic but also to read extensively in history, literature, and religion. Thrilled at having found what she was searching for, she read three books a week from the very first lesson. During this period, Schimmel skipped two grades and completed high school at the age of sixteen. [4]

At a time when her extraordinary talents were leading her from one success to another, all high school students were summoned to Berlin for compulsory service due to the impending outbreak of World War II. Students in medicine and the natural sciences were exempt, prompting her to enroll in physics and chemistry at university. Meanwhile, she continued taking courses in Islamic art history from Ernst Kühnel and Arabic from Walther Björkman. Recognizing her exceptional talent in Islamic arts, Kühnel encouraged her to pursue a doctorate and promised to take her on as an assistant upon completion [5].

Accepting this academic plan, Schimmel devoted herself entirely to the East. Under the encouragement of her mentor Richard Hartmann, she completed her doctoral dissertation entitled The Status of Scholars under the Mamluks and the Problem of Relations between the Turkish-Speaking Military Class and the Muslim Elite at the age of nineteen [6].

In October 1940, eager to go beyond her readings, she asked her mentor Hans Heinrich Schaeder whether he would recommend reading Rumi’s Masnavi. Schaeder instead suggested reading the Dīvān-i Kabīr through Reynold Nicholson’s translation. Schimmel would later describe the profound impact of this work as follows: “When I picked up the Dīvān, I felt as though struck by lightning. The harmony of the poems swept me away; although I was unfamiliar with Persian meter and rhetoric at the time, I could understand the texts directly. As I read, the poems seemed to translate themselves into German. Since photocopying did not exist, I copied Nicholson’s entire book by hand, including the footnotes” [7]. This experience explains why she gravitated toward understanding Islam primarily through Sufism.

After completing her doctorate, Schimmel worked as a translator at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During this time, World War II ended with the victory of the United States, and she was sent to Marburg, where she was detained for five and a half months. There, she further developed her habilitation thesis prepared earlier in Berlin and completed The Social and Cultural Roles of Soldiers, Emirs, and Sultans in the Mamluk State. She submitted this work to Marburg University in 1946, thereby earning her second habilitation [8].

She was subsequently appointed to a vacant position in Arabic philology, where she taught Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Islamic arts, and the history of Islamic literature. She also attended the lectures of Heiler, the only scholar in the faculty advocating mysticism, and under his supervision completed her third doctoral dissertation on The Concept of Mystical Love in Islam [9].

“Who could resist the allure of the Süleymaniye?”

Schimmel’s period in Turkey represented not merely a phase of academic research but also a direct engagement with Islam as it was “lived.” She first came to Istanbul in 1952 to examine manuscript collections and met figures such as Abdülkadir Gölpınarlı, Nihat Sami Banarlı, and Yahya Kemal. Her friendship with Samiha Ayverdi was so close that she addressed her as “sister.” Reflecting on the joy she felt while examining the calligraphy and tilework of mosques and historical sites, she later remarked: “The finest thing I did here was to visit the mosques; who could resist the allure of the Süleymaniye, rising like a crown over Istanbul?” [10] This statement reveals that her presence in Turkey was not merely an academic obligation but a conscious and heartfelt choice.

A year later, she traveled to Ankara, where she encountered other prominent figures. For Schimmel, Ankara’s primary significance lay in her appointment to the newly established Faculty of Theology—the first of its kind in Turkey. She later recounted that there were several reasons why she was appointed to the job: It was in Ankara where she delivered her first lecture in Turkish; she was being regarded as sympathetic to Islam; and she had recently earned a second doctorate in the history of religions in Marburg. All these factors made her an ideal candidate for the vacant chair of History of Religions at the Faculty of Theology. “When I received the offer to begin work on November 1, 1954,” Schimmel says, “I accepted with pleasure, believing that I had found an ideal opportunity to live in a country I deeply loved while gaining knowledge about Islam.” [11]

Having completed her third doctorate on Mystical Love in Islam, Schimmel felt compelled to visit Rumi. She made her first visit in 1952 and was invited to the Shab-i Arus ceremonies in 1954. As elsewhere, she formed lasting friendships there. What gave her the greatest joy during these visits was witnessing the sincerity of Anatolian women and customs previously unfamiliar to her.

During her stay in Turkey, Schimmel traveled extensively across Anatolian cities such as Kayseri, Konya, Sivas, and Hatay. She also frequently visited other parts of the Islamic world, including Tunisia, Iran, Riyadh, India, Egypt, and Pakistan. Her particular affection for Pakistan, inspired by her admiration for Muhammad Iqbal, was something she believed originated from the tale Padmanaba and Hasan.

Pakistan became her second homeland. She first visited the country in 1958, which she described as “the place where my destiny was shaped.” She was deeply moved by the shrines she encountered there and remarked: “…I loved my Sindh and visited many villages and sacred sites. I befriended singers and musicians who played and sang for me on moonlit boats. I never tired of listening when they performed old melodies accompanied by double flutes and various percussion instruments” [12].

Prejudice and exclusion in European academia

Though it was difficult to leave Anatolia, Schimmel left Turkey in the autumn of 1959 with a warm farewell. Upon returning to Marburg, however, she was met with a cold atmosphere and was not reinstated to her former position. The reason lay in the intolerance of colleagues who could not accept a female professor of international renown who approached Islam, its culture, and Muslims without prejudice [13]. Bias and resentment now stood before her like the Great Wall of China.

During this period, her mentor Heiler asked for her assistance in organizing a congress in Marburg, which occupied her for a year. Nonetheless, unemployment weighed heavily on her, leading her to briefly consider emigrating to Pakistan. Around that time, the President of Pakistan, whom she had met in Karachi, visited Bonn and requested a meeting. At that meeting, Prof. Otto Spies, dean of the Oriental Institute and a Turkologist, offered her a professorship. Thus began her Bonn years, lasting from May 1, 1961, to 1967. There she taught Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, as well as the history of religions, Sufism, and Islamic history. She was like a fertile land yielding three harvests in a single season. Despite her heavy workload she also served as editor of the Arabic journal Fikrun wa Fan (Thought and Science) and contributed articles to it [14].

American years and global impact

By the mid-1960s, Schimmel had become a leading authority in the history of religions. She was invited to the 1965 Congress of the History of Religions in Claremont, California, where Harvard University offered her a chair to teach Indo-Muslim culture. Although she had long awaited such recognition from her own university, male administrative dominance had prevented it. Thus, she moved to the United States and spent twenty-five years at Harvard University introducing Islam to Western students through its poetry, symbolism, and mystical language. Her studies on Rumi, Yunus Emre, and Muhammad Iqbal, in particular, had a broad impact. Yet in America—what she called the “ghurbat al-gharbiyya” (Western exile) of her soul, borrowing from Suhrawardi—she carried the voice of the East to the West until her retirement [15].

The autumn of her life

A life that bore fruit in every season could hardly be confined to quiet retirement. During what she called the autumn of her life, Schimmel published three-five books annually, bringing her total output to over one hundred works. Among these, And Muhammad Is His Messenger is especially significant for its profound portrayal of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). She prefaced the book with the words of Sir Kishan Prasad Shad (Kishen Pershad) (d. 1943), the Hindu Prime Minister of Hyderabad state:  

Be I infidel or true believer

God alone knows, what I am!

But I know: I am the Prophet’s servant,

Who Medina’s ruler is.

“Poets like him” Schimmel writes “want to leave their native country and leave their garden like a disturbed nightingale” and ask God “to lift the veil of separation” between them and the beloved Prophet [16].

Additionally, after reviewing a doctoral dissertation on Fethullah Gülen, she stated: “I was deeply impressed by what I read and heard. This movement represents a beautiful aspect of engagement with the modern world… If these ideals are properly introduced and implemented, they would greatly benefit Turkey, the Turkish people living here, and humanity as a whole. Humanity should come to know Fethullah Gülen and his ideals. His idea of tolerance and “accepting everyone as they are” is extremely important” [17].

Alongside her prolific writings, numerous awards crowned the autumn of her life. Although she was awarded the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 1995, some envious critics—unable to challenge the scholarly merit of her works—criticized the institution for honoring her. Among them was even one of her former students, Gernot Rotter.

In her later years, Schimmel received numerous international awards not only for academic excellence but also for poetry and literature: Rückert Prize, Germany (1965), Grand Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1989), Order of Merit of the Republic of Turkey 1996, and many more. One of her latest works was Morgenland und Abendland. Mein west-östliches Leben (East and West: My Life in the East and the West) [18].

By the age of eighty, Schimmel’s physical body was ready to bid farewell. Having devoted her life to studying the intricacies of Islam—particularly its mystical tradition—she mastered Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Pashto, Sindhi, Gujarati, Marathi, Kashmiri, Bengali, Sanskrit, Czech, Hebrew, Ancient Greek, Latin, Italian, Russian, Spanish, Dutch, French, and English. She passed away on January 26, 2003. On her gravestone, she requested that the phrase which had shaped her life since childhood—“People are asleep; they awaken when they die” [19]—be inscribed in both German and Arabic.

References

1. Annemarie Schimmel, Morgenland und Abendland: Mein west-östliches Leben (München: C.H. Beck, 2002), 12–15.

2. Damla Çeliktaban “Ölüm Bir Uykudan Uyanmaktır”, K dergi, S. 131, (2009), p. 17.

3. İsmail b. Muhammed el-Aclûnî, Keşfü’l-Hafâ ve Müzîlü’l-İlbâs, c. 1 (Beirut: Dâru’l-Kütübi’l-İlmiyye, 1988), 413.

4. Senail Özkan, “Zümrüt Hayallere Adanmış Bir Ömür”, İslâm Araştırmaları Der., S. 9, (2003), p. 154

5. Ibid. p. 154.

6. Ömer Faruk Altıntaş, “Bereketli Bir Ömrün Kısacık Hikâyesi; Annemarie Schimmel”, ehlibeytalimleri.com. 21.09.2022.

7. Schimmel, Morgenland und Abendland: Mein west-östliches Leben (München: C.H. Beck, 2002), 49-50.

8. Schimmel, “Social and Cultural Roles of Soldiers, Emirs and Sultans in the Mamluk Empire,” (dissertation), Marburg University, 1946, 45–78.

9. Semanur Bal, “Annemarie Schimmel’in Tasavvuf Anlayışında Türkiye’de Geçirdiği Dönemin Rolü,” Istanbul: Üsküdar Üniversitesi Tasavvuf Araştırmaları Enstitüsü, 2019, p. 67.

10. Cengiz Batuk, “Türkiye’de Dinler Tarihi Çalışmalarının Tarihsel Seyri”, Dinbilimleri Akademik Araştırma Dergisi, C. IX, S. 1, (2009), pp. 82-83.

11. Mustafa Kara, “Doğudan Batıya, Batıdan Doğuya Bakan Bir Alim Prof. Dr. Annemarie Schimmel”, Tasavvuf: İlmî ve Akademik Araştırma Dergisi, Vol. IV, Number. 11, (2003), p. 498.  

12. Ethem Cebecioğlu, “Bir Akademisyen Olarak Annemarie Schimmel,” Tasavvuf: İlmî ve Akademik Araştırma Dergisi, Vol. IV, p. 11 (2003), pp. 583-58.

13. Özkan, “Zümrüt Hayallere Adanmış Bir Ömür,” İslâm Araştırmaları Der., Number 9, (2003), p. 154.

14. Ibid.

15. Schimmel, And Muhammad Is His Messenger, The University of North Carolina Press, 1985, p. 192.

16. Ibid.

17. Aymaz, Abdullah. “Annemarie Schimmel,” Çağlayan, Sep. 2020.

18. Altıntaş, 21.09.2022.

19. Altıntaş, 21.09.2022.



Some of the philosophers use the terms “effusion” and “manifestation” identically and mean “emanation” by both. That is, according to them—God forbid such an assertion!—existence has emanated from God, and what is meant by “effusion” or “manifestation” is that emanation.

Others among them rightly attribute effusion to the Divine Will and Decree, but place several intermediaries of creative effect between God’s initial origination of things and events and their coming into existence.

Still others restrict themselves to the external existence of things and events, and conclude that—God forbid such a conclusion!—the aforementioned Divine effusions occur naturally and necessarily. That is, according to them, God naturally and indispensably originates things and events. Thus, they ignore the absolute freedom of the Divine Will in doing or not doing something.

Others conceive of the Divine Being only as the First Cause, without personal existence, and claim that everything and event emanates from this Being in a certain order.

Still others attribute the initial effusion or, in their terminology, emanation, to an Intellect, which they call the First Intellect, and they talk about a trinity: (1) the Intellect itself, (2) the Intellect’s thought of an initial cause, (3) a second Intellect’s emanation from this thought.

Yet others think of many Intellects (the Ten Intellects), from the first one to the supposed spirits of realms or spheres of existence, and thereafter to the Active Intellect. They also insert a Soul among those Intellects.

All such assertions by philosophers imply a random guessing at the Unseen, and they are impossible to reconcile with the essence of the Religion. Furthermore, they are of no practical use for true or sound knowledge and faith, knowledge of God, or spiritual pleasures.

Even though some Muslim thinkers have, now and then, busied themselves with such matters, neither these philosophies nor similar trends of thought have made any contribution to Sufi life or experience, which is another way of expressing the Islamic life of the heart and spirit. More than that, they have muddied some simple minds, damaged the spirit of some principles of faith, and caused several trends of falsehood to emerge.

We also come across some Sufi guides who are reported to have written or talked about emanations from God and His self manifestation as a visible Being. I think that either such contorted ideas have been inserted into their works by others, or they themselves have approached the matter from a different viewpoint in relation to the Divine Oneness and Will and have lapsed into seeing such approaches as harmless. For neither the Qur’an nor the Sunna contain such considerations, nor did the scholars of the earliest times make any mention of them. For this reason, such philosophical approaches to creation can only represent some contaminated information that has found its way into our religious heritage from the legacies of earlier traditions.

As Bediuzzaman Said Nursi points out, the false doctrine of “only one entity emanates from one entity” lies in the essence of such trends of thought. They regard the All-Independent, absolutely Powerful Lord of the worlds to be in need of some powerless means or intermediaries, and present material or immaterial causes, which are in fact veils before the acts of His Lordship, as if His partners. To explain further, these approaches accept the existence of an Intellect besides God, an Intellect which emanated from Him, and they consider God to be inactive—God forbid such conceptions!—ascribing His dominion over all parts and dimensions of existence and all His acts to different means and causes. This is impossible for any believer in God to accept.

As the explanations of the Qur’an and the Sunna concerning creation are so clear as to cause no misunderstandings, so too are the views and conclusions of true Muslim thinkers and scholars regarding this matter so obvious that they make no way for such misconceptions. According to the Qur’anic way of thinking, or the Islamic viewpoint, whatever exists—with all its punctuation, letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, and parts—has been created by the All-Sublime Creator, and receives from Him whatever it needs to subsist; and all that exists is under the control, direction and disposal of His Will and Power at every second of its life, without excluding the partial, free will of conscious, responsible beings. The creation and direction of all the visible and invisible realms of existence belong to God, Who is the sole Source of all gifts and blessings that reach every existent thing and being. With the exception of some misunderstandings that arise from certain ambiguous expressions, all the explanations concerning this matter agree upon this cardinal truth. Sound minds have thought so, sound senses have received the same sensations, and the order, harmony, and instances of wisdom in existence have always expressed it.

Everyone who is able to observe carefully will feel and see that everything—from the multicolored faces of flowers, which send smiles to passers-by, to the swaying of trees in the manner of brides, from the frightening roars of thunderbolts to the delicate, penetrating songs of birds and insects echoing in our souls, from light, heat, gravity, electricity, and chemical processes to biological activities, from humans’ observable potential and abilities to their feelings and conscious, spiritual activities—all indicate and bear witness to the Existence of God and His absolute dominion over all things and events. Everyone will feel and see this truth and quiver in awe.

If humans can evaluate the sounds and scenes which come to their ears and touch their eyes by passing through the sensitive filters of the conscience—the sounds and scenes from the terrifying roars of the seas to the enchanting howls of the forests, from the contemplative silence of bays and coves to the awe-inspiring stature of mountains, from the flirtatious gestures of multicolored flowers to the loving kindness of birds and insects, from the world that is a book to study, an exhibition to watch, a palace to visit, and a field to sow and harvest, to humans, who are honored with abilities, to numerous subtle purposes for and instances of wisdom in the existence of all these things—then they will be able to feel and understand that all these have originated from the Sacred and Most Sacred Source of effusion through the Knowledge and Will of God, and go into raptures at the knowledge of the love of God and yearn for Him and for the spiritual pleasures that invade their spirits.

In short, whether spiritual or material, animate or inanimate, large or small, every existent thing or being has come into existence through an effusion from God and continues to exist through constant manifestations that originate in Him, thus pursuing a fixed goal. Coming into existence from non-existence depends on a certain effusion and manifestation, and taking care of everything or being that has been sent into existence is dependent upon another, different effusion and manifestation. Furthermore, the opening of ways to belief, knowledge of God, and love by means of the Prophets is the result of another gift of effusion—while it is yet another gift of effusion that the same truths brought by the Prophets are presented by saints, verifying, saintly scholars, and true guides to the level of comprehension of every age according to changing time and conditions. It is also another, particular effusive gift that all the means and possibilities down to the slightest ones are used to form a pool of mysteries and enable everyone to benefit from them.

The Creator has boundless gifts that come in effusion,

And in every effusion is a different manifestation.

Whatever we see is a mystery throughout,

Every mystery is clearer than the other for those who are aware of it.

Our Lord! Grant us mercy from Your Presence and arrange for us in our affairs what is right and good!  Our Lord! Grant us a way out and salvation in our affairs!  Bestow your blessings and peace on our master, Muhammad, and on his Family, and Companions, all of them!

Fayd literally means the effusion of blessings, profusion, abundance, and increase. Giving existence to something and equipping it with all the particularities and necessities of being existent, and favoring a person with inspirations and spiritual gifts to deepen him or her spiritually are also included in the meaning of fayd, but these aspects belong only to God as the Lord of all creation.

The term fayd is also used in some noun phrases with a wide range of meanings as a modified noun. For example, God’s all-holy manifestations of origination without anything preceding them to be imitated, His creation, generation and causing things to grow, the granting of life and death, and providing, are all called “effusions of creation”; the inspirations coming from God, the Ultimate Truth are known as “Divine effusions” or “spiritual effusions of the Lord”; a person’s being favored with Divine gifts according to his capacity is termed “effusions of capacity”; the spiritual pleasures coming from knowledge and love of God are “effusions of worship”; heart-felt care and concern in the degree of love and yearning are “effusions of love.” Everything with which all existence is favored—from the blessings in the initial determination of natures and forms during the phases of creation to the blessings manifested as the laws of the operation of the universe and the lives of beings, and thereafter to the Revelations, inspirations, and sensations that have been sent to human beings—all are effusions of different wavelengths.

Every existent thing or being is created through the profuse manifestations of His Light as a pure blessing, as based on His eternal Will and in accordance with the determinations of His Knowledge. Every existent thing or being is given a particular, perfect form, a particular nature, a particular capacity, and the necessary equipment. During the existential course, existence is endowed with the miracle of life and with a tendency to journey toward metaphysical dimensions that will secure it new gifts. Those endowed with consciousness and free will have been shown the beginning, the end, and the goal of existence through death and the life to follow it, and reminded of what they need the most by being provided materially and spiritually. Through all these vital gifts that have been accorded to existent things and beings and which come in different wavelengths of Divine manifestation, a new door has been left ajar toward the Hidden Treasure [1].

The first signal of the existence of things and events came from the Most Sacred Effusion, or the most sacred initial manifestation of the Divine Being. Through the Sacred Effusion, or God’s sacred manifestation of His Attributes, the archetypes of existence, whose coming into existence was willed, were given the signal of being clothed in external existence, and the course of coming into external existence began for the archetypes that were endowed with the possibility of existence. Then, every would-be-existent thing and being started the journeying of existence with the potential with which it had been endowed, in the expectation of new effusions to develop.

The Most Sacred Effusion, which serves as a veil before the Honor and Grandeur of the Real Agent or Originator of existence, is the manifestation of the essences of all the creatures in Divine Knowledge as archetypes or that these essences are given each a particular nature and/or identity. This appearance of these realities in Divine Knowledge, or the initial growth of existential essences, occurred in accordance with the potential appointed for each being in eternity. Thus, with the exception of the unusual, miraculous disposals of Divine Power, each being is restricted in the potential that has been accorded on it. The poet, Beligh [2], says:

The effects of Divine effusions differ according to the capacities of every being;
A pearl-oyster receives pearls from the rain of April, but a snake, poison.

The Sacred Effusion has been considered to be the manifestation of the Divine Will and Power that appoints everything and being of archetypal existence as a particular form and external existence. We can explain the matter more clearly as follows:

The contingent essences, or the essences of contingencies, are reflected upon the “ideal” lines, pages, and booklets of existence through the Most Sacred Effusion. They are clothed in external existence through the Sacred Effusion and take on the forms of the letters, words, sentences, and books of the Tablet of Confirmation and Effacement [3], being elevated to the rank of serving as mirrors to the Eternal All-Observer.

The difference between these two effusions can also be clarified as follows: The initial manifestation, which causes the realities in the Divine Knowledge to be determined or appointed as archetypes with the potentials particular to each, is the Most Sacred Effusion; the second manifestation, which serves as a veil before the acts of the All-Originator in giving external existence to each archetypal essence according to its original potentials or capacities, is called the Sacred Effusion. According to the Sufis, just as the essential realities or the essential existence of future things and beings in Divine Knowledge is different from their external existences, so also do the sources of these two sorts of existence and the realms of the manifestations responsible for each differ from each other. Thus, while the Most Sacred Effusion manifests itself in the essential realities or pure essences in the Divine Knowledge, the Sacred Effusion acts on the archetypes, with their natures and forms to come forth into external existence.

Notes

1. The term “the Hidden Treasure” is used for God as based on a hadith qudsi, the Prophetic saying inspired in him directly from God Himself: “I was a Hidden Treasure; I willed to be known and created the universe.”
2. Muhammed Emin Beligh (d. 1760) was an Ottoman poet who was born in Greece and lived in Istanbul and Greece. He lived a poor life and wrote a Diwan, collection of poems.
3. The origins, sources, and seeds from which God Almighty shapes things and/or beings with perfect order and art show that they are arranged according to a “book of principles” contained in Divine Knowledge. The seeds contain the plans and programs of beings or things that will come into existence. To give a more concrete example, a seed contains or even constitutes the plan and program according to which a tree may be formed and, furthermore, is a miniature embodiment of the Divine principles that cause the tree to come into existence and determine this plan and program. The archetypal plan and program of the Tree of Creation as a whole, which spreads its branches through the past and future and into the World of the Unseen, is called the “Manifest Record,” and the Divine principles that determine this plan and program constitute what the Qur’an calls the “Supreme Preserved Tablet” that is contained in Divine Knowledge.

The life history of, for example, a plant or tree from its germination under soil until it yields fruit is the developed form of its seed, and this complete life history with all its cycles is summed up in its fruit, rather in each seed in its fruits. We call this active life history of a living thing or being its “Destiny Practical” or “Manifest Book.” With everything and event in it, the universe has its own “universal” Destiny Practical, which is the “universal” Manifest Book. The “Manifest Record,” which is written by Divine Knowledge, relates to the origins of things or beings, while the “Manifest Book” relates to their entire life histories and is a notebook written by the Divine Power.

Through the dictates of the Manifest Record, that is, through the decree and instruction of the Divine Knowledge and Destiny, the Divine Power uses atoms to create or manifest the chain of beings, each link of which is His sign, on the metaphorical page of time, which is called the “Tablet of Effacement and Confirmation.” Thus, atoms are set to move so that beings may be transferred from the World of the Unseen to the material, visible world, from (the Realm of) Knowledge to the (Realm of) Power.

The “Tablet of Effacement and Confirmation” is the tablet on which events and things or/and beings are inscribed and then removed or effaced according to the dictates of the Supreme Preserved Tablet contained in Divine Eternal Knowledge. Therefore, it displays continuous change. The Tablet of Effacement and Confirmation constitutes the essence of time. Time, a mighty river which flows through existence, has its essence in the Divine Power’s inscription of beings and in the “ink” It uses. Similarly, God also has archetypal principles for human earthly life, all of which are called the “Mother of the Book.” He lays down these principles as commandments or laws during human history as suited to the particular needs of the time and the people concerned. For this reason, every age or appointed term has its own Revelation and laws. God sent them down with succeeding Messengers in a way that culminated in the Qur’an as the final form of the Divine Message.

A very important principle to uphold is to view everything in a positive light, as long as it does not contradict the spirit of faith. It is also essential to evaluate such efforts fairly and, wherever possible, express appreciation and support. Even in cases where events could be interpreted negatively, one should strive uncover reasonable explanations and draw out constructive meaning.

When faced with unpleasant attitudes or behaviors, it is often wiser to respond with patience and tolerance. Minor issues need not be magnified, nor differences turned into sources of conflict. Rather than rekindling old disputes or creating new ones, choosing calm over confrontation helps open the door to understanding. Such an approach—refraining from hostility and leaning instead toward empathy—can lay the foundation for reconciliation and mutual respect across social divides. In societies marked by deep scars from long-standing resentments and hostilities, nurturing love and goodwill becomes an essential endeavor. And for those who hope to cultivate a culture of compassion and tolerance, the task often begins with seeking new paths forward.

Thanks be to God, the fruits of such efforts begin to appear even in a short time. Problems that cannot be resolved through force or fury slowly start to unravel through love. People who once feel pressured or coerced into submission no longer reject invitations to meet on common ground. Even the rusted locks on hearts that harshness can never open begin to yield to gentleness.

After all, human beings—created in the best of forms and inherently drawn to perfection—cannot remain indifferent to sincere acts of goodness. Throughout history and even today, efforts rooted in love and tolerance have always been worthy and noble pursuits in the eyes of humanity.

Who could possibly take offense at those who follow the path of Mawlana Jalal al-Din Rumi, Haci Bektas Veli, Ahmed Yesevi, or Yunus Emre—figures who open their hearts to all, with no distinction between Muslim or non-Muslim, embracing others simply because they are human? To embrace everyone purely on the basis of shared humanity, to open one’s heart without discrimination, to demonstrate that the essence of existence is rooted in love, to affirm that the religion is for compassion—what harm could there possibly be in any of this?

If these values were considered noble and praiseworthy in the past—as they continue to be seen today—why, then, do some people now feel uneasy or disturbed by them?

There are those who hold Rumi in the highest esteem, who constantly quote Yunus Emre, who speak admiringly of Yesevi, and who take pride in the legacy of Haci Bektas. Yet strangely, when individuals today embody that same spirit and strive to keep it alive across the globe, they are met with accusations and stigmatization. Why? Because the issue is not what is being done—it’s who is doing it.

Since the figures of the past are no longer a threat, there’s no risk in praising them. But when it comes to contemporaries—people who are alive and active today—the standards begin to shift. No matter how admirable the actions may be, if they are carried out by those with a different worldview, that’s when anxieties and paranoia take over.

Those who echo the ideals voiced by Rumi, Yesevi, or Yunus—those who strive to cultivate an atmosphere of love and tolerance in society—are suddenly viewed as dangerous or subversive. Certain vested interests fear that such spiritually grounded individuals may gradually gain influence; that the moral weight, sincerity, and public resonance they carry might place those in power in a morally uncomfortable position; and that, in time, these same power holders may feel compelled—by circumstance rather than coercion—to sit down and engage in genuine dialogue with them.

Had these paranoid minds lived during the time of Rumi, they would have tried to silence him—or even exile him. And if Rumi were alive today, gathering around him a growing circle of admirers, and if people began responding to his call with sincerity—he too would be labeled a threat. Plans would be drawn up in dark corners on how to silence his voice.

Those same malicious voices who now hurl slanders and insults at anyone they label an opponent would no doubt have said similar things about Ahmed Yesevi. They would scheme to undermine the influence of Yunus Emre, who draws people through the love and warmth he spreads. They would brand Haci Bektas Veli a “traitor” and throw him into prison.

Why? Because they cannot tolerate the presence of a will beyond their own, or any form of influence, moral authority, or persuasive appeal that does not stem from their own sphere of control. Sadly, the militaristic mindset of past eras continues today—under new names and disguises—still crushing anyone who refuses to toe their line or follow their roadmap.

In the face of such irrationality and inconsistency, it is only natural for one’s inner strength to be shaken at times. In moments like these, questions may arise about whether the efforts being made—or the dedication shown by those walking a similar path—are truly right and meaningful.

In such moments, a person may find themselves asking, “Am I doing something wrong? Why is there such strong opposition to these efforts?”

Yet, in truth, nothing is amiss. What is being carried out today reflects—almost down to the smallest detail—the very path that Rumi once walked. Today’s Rumis—souls devoted to the Divine, sincere and selfless in their service—continue along that same line, conveying that same message to humanity in a renewed form.

Yet some people refuse to consider the beauty of what is being done. Instead, they focus entirely on who is doing it. Because in their minds, they have already placed these individuals in a box—passed judgment on them, labeled them as “the other,” and branded them as “bad.”

As a result, any good deed carried out by such individuals is automatically deemed bad—not because of the deed itself, but because of who performed it. The reasoning becomes painfully shallow: “If they are the ones doing it, then it must be wrong.”

Even if they were to guide people toward paradise, shield them from the fire, awaken faith in their hearts, help the seeds of eternal bliss bloom within their souls, and bring peace and contentment to the world—they would still be condemned. Their actions would still be misjudged, and they would still be declared guilty.

Because, from the very beginning, the decision had already been made: “We see these people as the other, and so whatever they do must be wrong.” That, in truth, is the heart of the matter.

None of this should discourage anyone or diminish one’s inner strength. On the contrary, good efforts must continue—and even grow—by being multiplied. Those engaged in such work understand their own path and responsibilities, and it is not for anyone to dictate their course. But this much can be said: in times like these, panic is never the right response.

Panic is merely a reflection of the opposing side—their state of mind, their anxieties, their fears. Those who lash out are often the ones most gripped by insecurity. For this reason, what is needed is not panic, but steady, thoughtful resolve. When people devote themselves to serving others—whether ten thousand go out into the world this year to share compassion and inspiration with those in need, and perhaps one hundred thousand do so the next—the true goal is to let such goodness grow. Service, when multiplied, becomes a force that expands naturally and powerfully, reaching more hearts and transforming more lives. In places where hostility is met with walls and offensives, the most powerful response is to take steps inspired by love, dialogue, human embrace, and positive action—steps so sincere and unexpected that negativity cannot reach them. By the time adversaries attempt to catch up, all they encounter is the dust left behind by those advancing through goodwill.

In such moments, it becomes far more difficult for opposition to interfere with or obstruct what is being accomplished. Their efforts collapse under the weight of their own paranoia; they flail within the whirlpool of panic they themselves have created and stumble when confronted with the beauty being brought into existence.

As hearts are drawn toward sincerity and as the reasonableness of compassionate work gathers people together, those who are unsettled by such light—like souls who shrink from brightness—may, in time, become consumed by their own hatred.

Yet it is essential to remember that the aim is never to provoke, enrage, or harm anyone. A spirit rooted in mercy does not respond to curses, seek revenge, or wish misfortune upon others. Even if someone, overwhelmed by paranoia or resentment, were to fall into personal ruin, there is no joy to be found in such an outcome.

There was a moment in my own life that revealed just how easily the heart can be tested. Someone who had caused great harm and acted with deep hostility spoke in such a way that, for an instant, a harsh thought arose within me—a fleeting wish for divine punishment in response to the injustice being endured. At first glance, such a reaction might seem understandable. Throughout history, even revered spiritual figures like Muhammad Bahauddin Naqshband, Imam Ghazali, and Bediuzzaman Said Nursi sometimes sought relief by appealing to divine justice when faced with persistent cruelty or oppression. But for me, the thought was only momentary. As soon as I paused to reflect, my eyes filled with tears. I found myself saying, “No, my Lord—how could I wish punishment upon anyone, even those who act with hostility or seek to discredit sincere efforts with slander and falsehood? Such a wish is too heavy to utter. If You choose to act, let it be through guidance. Let their encounter be not with ruin, but with truth, clarity, and transformation.”

Let the whole world hear this: this must be the state of the heart. One should not wish for anyone to perish in paranoia, anger, restlessness, or inner suffering. Such thoughts have no place in a heart that seeks what is right.

Our sole prayer is this: that God may grant all people fairness and sound judgment. May He allow them to see the truth as it is, in accordance with its full value and dignity. Rather than spending their time in bitterness, stubbornness, and exclusion, may they embrace the good that is being done and allow it to find a place in their hearts.

This path has always been carried by a generous spirit. Whenever someone offers even a small act of kindness, that goodness is cherished and uplifted. The aim is simple: to win hearts and to seek God’s pleasure by helping build a world shaped by peace and harmony. There is no other agenda. Those who manufacture conflict as though it were real only reveal themselves as the true source of unrest.

The great spiritual figures of the past—Rumi, Yesevi, and others—left behind a legacy of expansive love for humanity. Anyone who strives to follow their example will feel their heart drawn toward compassion rather than hostility. Hatred, vengeance, and rage belong to another way of being—one that leads only to division and sorrow. The commitment here is different: never to see another person as “the other,” and even when seen that way by others, to keep one’s arms open.

Even if someone were to approach with hostility or harm in hand, the response must remain: “Come, dear friend—there is still a place for you in my heart.”

May God grant the strength to remain firm upon this path and the ability to carry these good efforts forward in ever-growing measure. Amen.

“Nobles” is a title used for the “fortys,” or some among the “fortys” included in the “men of the Unseen.” According to verifying Sufi scholars, these are the heroes of altruism who have completed their ascension toward God by going down among the people to guide and spiritually educate them. They think of nothing other than guiding people to God; they encourage hearts always to do good, and they erect spiritual barriers before evils. They try to confront possible misfortunes through prayers and supplications and they are ready to sacrifice themselves for the good of people or to prevent disasters. Their hearts always beat with feelings of self-sacrifice, compassion, and tender care for others. Since they have dedicated their lives to the happiness of others, they live a life overburdened with the troubles of others and sigh for them. Even if there are times when they feel happy at the news of others’ happiness, they are always sorrowful because of what they have witnessed or heard concerning the sufferings of people. In respect of their mission, they are heirs to the Prophets.

Nukaba (The Custodians)

Nukaba are the saints who are always together with people, correcting their faults, and guiding all toward good with mildness and kindness. Although the term is used for those in the Sufi Orders of Rifai [1] and Badawi [2] who have completed their spiritual journeying and have begun the mission of guiding people to God, according to the verifying Sufi scholars they are the purified souls whose spiritual profundity and discovery transcend their scope of learning and sight and who always observe the spiritual domain or realm of existence; by God’s leave, they are able to penetrate the hearts of people and what occurs to them. They carry out the duty of some sort of translation between the physical and metaphysical realms, interpreting existence in accordance with their capacity and in consideration of the understanding levels of their audience, and persistently try to find ways to God through everything. In their view, the universe is a meaningful book which contains messages within messages, with all its parts making up the words, sentences, and paragraphs. In these ever-wakeful souls and truth-voicing tongues, the truth expressed herein shows itself:

The universe is a supreme book of God throughout,
whatever letter you study, you see its meaning is God.

Awtad (The Pillars)

Awtad are the four “men of God” who are so close to one another that one cannot do without the other. They make their spiritual journeying and carry out their duties under the shadow of the missions of Enoch, Elijah, Jesus, and Khadr, upon them and our Prophet be peace. According to the particular mission of each, they have the titles ‘Abdu’l-Hayy (The Servant of the All-Living), ‘Abdu’l-‘Alim (The Servant of the All-Knowing), ‘Abdu’l-Murid (The Servant of the All-Willing), and ‘Abdu’l-Qadir (The Servant of the All-Powerful), and they reflect the spiritual content of Prophets Adam, Abraham, Jesus, and Muhammad, upon them be peace and blessings, or represent the reflections of their truths. Their connection with God is through the lenses of the Archangels Gabriel, Michael [3], Israfil [4], and ‘Azrail [5], upon them be peace. They each correspond to a pillar of the Ka‘ba, which signifies the door or stairway to that station.

Muhyi’d-Din ibnu’l-‘Arabi is of the opinion that the pillars are the seven saints who carry out their duties according to a hierarchy that exists among them.

Some call all the saints of God—including the nobles, custodians, and pillars—the “men of God” in the sense that they are heroes of the truth with certain spiritual power. Their most distinguishing attributes are their deep reverence for God and their feeling of awe before Him; being overwhelmed by the manifestations of the All-Merciful; arousing God’s existence and omnipresence in the minds of those who see them; sobriety and dignity coming from their constant awareness of God’s company; being deeply ashamed of certain ordinary human acts and states—even though they are not religiously forbidden; being aware of God in everything in a different wave of sensation; self-forgetfulness when they are aware of God; continuous self-supervision and attributing to Him whatever gifts and blessings they are favored with; and remaining unknown by others. With respect to their being unknown, they are called “the men of the Unseen” or “the army of God.” In one of his poems, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror [6] refers to those men who are endowed with a sacred spiritual power and asks for their prayers in carrying out the duty of serving God’s Word.

With respect to these men’s being able to make the Divine mysteries felt in the hearts of others, they are called “the men of conquest”; because of their being unknown or being known only by a few, they are known as “the men of the Unseen.” In regard to their generally living in ecstasy, they are called “the men of power,” and because they approach everyone with gentleness and tolerance and return evil done to them with good, they are “the men of kindness.”

Ghawth (The Helper or the Means of Divine Help)

Signifying help, coming to the aid of others, and giving spiritual help, the term ghawth is used by the Sufis to denote saints of the highest rank.

A person who has attained this rank has been honored with a particular Divine favor and, by God’s leave, hurries to the aid of those in difficulties. Those who do not have this capacity cannot be regarded as ghawth; any poles (qutb) who cannot be mirrors to reflect Divine help to others are not called ghawth.

One who combines the spiritual status of being a ghawth with the rank of being a qutb is called al-ghawthu’l-a‘zam (the greatest helper), and if the one who has been primarily favored with the rank of being a qutb is also honored with being a ghawth, he is called al-qutbu’l-a‘zam (the greatest pole). Each of these titles has aspects particular to itself.

Since those honored with these exalted ranks represent the shadow of Haqiqa Muhammadiya (the Truth of Muhammad) [7], they are in the company of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, with respect to being mirrors to certain Divine truths. Because of this, they have a reflective part in the holy Prophet’s universal mission of being a mirror to God, which is expressed by Süleyman Çelebi as follows:

(God said to the Prophet): I have made your essence a mirror to Me,
and inscribed your name together with Mine.

The status described by Haqani in, “The Ultimate Truth has made him a mirror to Him / He has made him a mirror to His peerless Being,” primarily and with all its comprehensiveness, belongs to the master of creation, upon him be peace and blessings, who is the greatest of the perfect or universal men [8]. Each of the other perfect or universal men has a relative, particular part in this great honor.

The Sufis maintain that in every century there is a helper or means of Divine help (ghawth) who is the leader of all the contemporary men of God, the door among people to the attainment of Divine assistance, the moderator of the spiritual realm or domain of existence, and the pivot of Divine gifts and blessings. If a helper is also a pole, his title is the greatest pole, and his rank is the status of the greatest pole.

Such a hero of spirituality who is honored with this rank has such capacities that not only ordinary people like us, but also those who have reached the final point of spiritual journeying are unable to perceive them. This rank is the most comprehensive mirror to the Divine Names, the essence of existence, and the greatest focus of the Truth of Muhammad. By virtue of this distinction, and by God’s leave, such a one is an authority entitled to represent the implementation of the Divine decrees under the leadership and protection of Haqiqa Ahmadiya (the Truth of Ahmad) [9] and in the light of the Lamp of Muhammad [10], upon him be peace and blessings.

The scholarly people of sainthood mention the names of such great saints as ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani [11], Abu’l-Hasan al-Harakani [12], Shaykh al-Harrani [13], and Imam Rabbani [14], as those who have attained this rank in the history of Islam. These personages, who have combined the rank of being a pole with that of being a helper, are mentioned with the titles of “the greatest pole,” or “the greatest helper.” As they represent the status of being the greatest pole, they are also called “the pole of the poles.”

With respect to being the representatives of spiritual perfection, they are also regarded as the true heirs to the duties of Prophethood and the special, most distinguished representatives of succession to Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. It is undeniable that the purification of the carnal soul, refinement of the heart, and spiritual struggle all have an important part in the attainment of this rank. However, it should also be borne in mind that this rank is a special gift of God which He accords to whomever He wills. God Himself declares: That is God’s grace. He grants it to whom He wills. Surely God is of tremendous grace (62:4).

This elevated rank has sometimes been represented by a single individual, sometimes by a collective personality formed around God’s good pleasure through a sincere brother/sisterhood, and selfless unity and solidarity, or, quite possibly, by a community of Muslims which serves the true faith and the Qur’an purely for God’s sake.

Qutb (The Pole)

Qutb is the title of one who is the focus of the views of the earth and heaven’s inhabitants, the perfect vicegerent of God, the Ultimate Truth, the heir of the master of creation, upon him be peace and blessings, and the perfect, universal man who always exists among humankind.

After the pride of humanity, Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, this rank was represented by the first four Rightly-Guided Caliphs in order of succession, who were true successors to the duties of Prophethood. They were followed by the greatest scholars or the founders of Islamic Schools of Law, who had the capacity to deduce new laws from the Qur’an and the Sunna, the greatest saints, and the saintly scholars.

Together with the rank of helper, the rank of pole is also the greatest of spiritual ranks. While a helper is primarily distinguished by coming to the aid of others who are immured in difficulties, a pole may also be favored with the rank of helper and become a source of spiritual radiance and a reflector of God’s gifts. Being heir to the Truth of Muhammad, a pole represents a reflection of the master of creation, upon him be peace and blessings, under his guardianship in the age where he lives, and is a successor to him in his duties as a spiritual master.

By virtue of the special gifts with which he is honored, and by virtue of having been equipped with a special capacity in accordance with his duty, a pole is, like the North Star, a singular, chosen one upon whom the views of all the inhabitants of the earth and heavens are focused. This mysterious power station, which is always open to the metaphysical realms, has effects on the human outer and inner faculties that resemble the spirit’s control of the body. This power of penetration comes from this person’s knowledge of God; this knowledge of God originates in God’s Knowledge, Which in turn is an Attribute of the Divine Essence. With respect to his own essence, or when left to his own devices, a pole is like a drop of water—but a drop that contains the entire reflection of the sun by virtue of God’s favors upon him. Such a one is nothing but an atom, but that atom reflects all of the heavens. For in their essential nature, poles are nothing—they are zero—but they are equipped with such essential values and qualities that they reflect eternity.

With one of their eyes always scanning the physical dimension of existence, poles constantly observe the realms beyond with the other eye, in unceasing pursuit of the radiance of recognition or knowledge of God. They weave the spiritual lacework of existence with the silky threads of wisdom that pour into their hearts and

give them to those around them. Like the sun, they always give off light and illuminate all that is around them. And like a surging ocean, they bubble over from within and diffuse life into hearts.

Since poles have fully developed their innate capacities, they are heroes of extraordinary performance. They are perfect persons whose hearts are mirrors to the Archangel Israfil, and whose power of speech mirrors Gabriel, and whose power of attraction mirrors Michael, and whose power of repelling mirrors ‘Azrail. By virtue of this, they are each, in one respect, a focus of creation as a mirror to all realms, vicegerents of God in their age, special students and representatives of the Truth of Muhammad, rays of the first manifestation of existence beyond time, and luminous, transparent means for the conduction of Divine mysteries to all hearts. Being heirs to the Prophet, they establish new rules to acquire and deepen in knowledge of God and the Religion. The Shi‘a attribute this rank only to ‘Ali and the eleven Imams who descended from him through the Prophet’s beloved daughter, Fatima, and the last of whom is the Mahdi [15]; this is a restriction. God may accord this honor to whomever He wills among His servants who have been endowed with the necessary capacity and He may make Himself known through them.

The Sufi scholarly saints mention two types of pole, one being “the pole of guidance” and the other being “the pole of existence.” The “pole of guidance” represents the spirit of Prophethood as the owner of the greater rank of pole, while the “pole of existence” stands for the inner dimension of the Seal of Prophethood with the title of the Seal of Sainthood. The scholars who have expert knowledge of the matter hold the opinion that although in the same period there may be more than one pole of guidance, there can only be one pole of existence. The axis of whichever great angel honored with special nearness to God or whichever illustrated Prophet he journeys around, or the rug-seat of whichever saint he occupies, the Pole of existence always turns toward the light of the existence of the Pole of Prophethood, upon him be peace and blessings, and toward his spiritual assistance.

Although there are Sufi scholars who mention some people as the Poles of existence who have existed since the Prophet Adam, upon him be peace, this view has not received much acceptance. The majority of the experts in this matter agree that in every age the Pole of existence is mentioned with the title of ‘Abdullah (the

Servant of God) and ‘Abdu’l-Jami‘ (the Servant of the One Who Has All Excellences in the Infinite Degree).

All the information given so far is based on the spiritual discovery and observation of some talented saints. For this reason, more or less space can always be assigned to the subject. There may even be those who say different things on this matter. God knows best. Therefore, what I should finally do is to entreat God Almighty,

saying: “Our Lord, take us not to task if we forget or make mistakes! Our Lord, forgive us, then, our sins, and blot out from us our evil deeds, and take us to You in death, in the company of the truly godly and virtuous.”

O God! Show us truth as being true and enable us to follow it, and show us falsehood as falsehood and enable us to refrain from it. And bestow blessings and peace on the sole owner of the subtle essence and meaning of being Muhammad, the sun of the heavens of mysteries, the object of all lights, the pivot of the Divine Majesty, and the axis of the sphere of the Divine Grace and Beauty, and on his Family and Companions, the stars of guidance and the springs of assistance.

Notes

• Sayyid Ahmad ar-Rifai (1119–1183), the founder of the Rifai Order, and one of the greatest Sufi masters in the history of Islam, was born and lived in southern Iraq. He also had profound knowledge of Islamic religious sciences, including especially jurisprudence and Hadith. (Tr.)
• Sayyid Ahmad al-Badawi (1200–1276) was one of the most outstanding Sufi masters, to whom the Badawi Order is attributed. He was born in Morocco. When he was six years old, his family emigrated to Makka. He spent the greatest part of his life in Tanta, Egypt. He was also well-versed in Islamic sciences. (Tr.)
• Michael is the Archangel who supervises the earth with its grass, plants, and animals, and represents or presents to God their glorifications and praises of Him. (Tr.)
• Israfil is one of the four Archangels. He will blow the Trumpet just before the end of the universe and for the resurrection of the dead. (Tr.)
• ‘Azrail is the Archangel charged with taking the souls of human beings. He is the angel of death. (Tr.)
• Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror (1432–1481) was the seventh Ottoman Sultan, and conquered Istanbul. (Tr.)
• Haqiqa Muhammadiya (the Truth of Muhammad): This term is essential to Sufism. It may be translated as the “reality of Muhammad” as God’s Messenger, the most beloved of God, the best example for all creation to follow, the embodiment of Divine Mercy, and the living Qur’an or embodiment of the Qur’anic way of life. (Tr.)
• For a detailed analysis of the perfect or universal Man, see M. Fethullah Gülen, Emerald Hills of the Heart – Key Concepts in the Practice of Sufism, Tughra Books, NJ, 2004, Vol., 2, pp. 289–302. (Tr.)
• Haqiqa Ahmadiya ( the Truth of Ahmad) is the term used to designate the reality or the essence or the truth represented by the personality of Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, before his coming to the world and after his departure from the world. In one respect, it signifies the unparalleled sainthood of Prophet Muhammad. (Tr.)
• The Lamp of Muhammad signifies the light of Muhammad’s Messengership or the light of Islam or the way of Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings. (Tr.)
• ‘Abdu’l-Qadir al-Jilani (d. 1166): One of the most celebrated Sufi masters. A student of jurisprudence and Hadith, he became known as “the pole” of his age and the “the greatest means of Divine help.” Among his well-known books are Kitabu’l-Ghunyah, Futuhu’l-Ghayb, and Al-Fathu’r-Rabbani. (Tr.)
• ‘Ali ibn Ahmad Abu’l-Hasan al-Harakani (963–1033) is one of the most celebrated saints. He was born and lived in Harakan near Bastam in Iran. He lived as a poor farmer. He was martyred in fighting in Kars, a city in the farthest northeastern Turkey, and was buried there. (Tr.)
• Shakyh Hayat ibn Qays al-Harrani (d. 1185), is one of the most outstanding saints in the history of Islam. He was born in Baghdad and lived in Harran near Urfa, in southeastern Turkey. (Tr.)
• Imam Rabbani, Ahmad Faruq al-Sarhandi (d. 1624): The “reviver of the second millennium.” Born in Sarhand (India) and well-versed in Islamic sciences, he removed many corrupt elements from Sufism. He taught Shah Alamgir or Awrangzeb (d. 1707), who had a committee of scholars prepare the most comprehensive compendium of Hanafi Law. His work Maktubat (The Letters) is very famous and widely known throughout the Muslim world. (Tr.)
• The Mahdi, literally meaning one who guides to truth, is the title of the blessed person whose coming toward the end of time to re-establish the truth of Islam and justice on the earth was promised by God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings. (Tr.)

Muqarrabun are higher in rank than the godly, virtuous ones due to their special nearness to God. This exalted title is also used for the most distinguished ones among the Prophets and angels. These blessed ones that are favored with God’s special nearness are guides on the way to God, distinguished “lions” in the quarter of the truth, mythical birds who continue their journeying at the peaks, guests who have completed the most important part of the journeying and who have resolved to remain steadfast where they are, God’s confidants in His “private lodge” who, by virtue of the truths they observe as the gifts of the horizon they have reached, have closed their eyes to fleeting things in respect of their worldly aspects. They are cavalrymen who have defeated the soldiers of carnal desires and caprices with their armies of love and yearning; they are heroes of knowledge of God who have subjected their carnal life to their heart and spirit; they are those who, by having left behind the deserts of mortality to reach the gardens of subsistence by and with God, have found utmost peace and satisfaction; they are heroes of observation and spiritual discovery who have reached the horizon of having a vision of God through God Himself; they are lovers who have appropriated the love of God as the most manifest dimension of their nature; and they are loved ones who are intoxicated with the pleasure of feeling that God loves them. Finally, they are heroes who have been perfectly favored with the compliment that God loves them and they love Him (5:54). We see and experience the true color of existence through the lens of their knowledge of God and observe the metaphysical dimension of things with the lights they shed over the face of existence.

Although some reports have been circulated among the saints concerning the number of the muqarrabun, it is not possible to say that an exact number has been agreed upon. According to some reports, the muqarrabun consist of three hundred good ones, forty substitutes, four pillars, and two leaders. According to some other reports, they consist of a spiritual pole and four thousand saints. Whatever their number is, all of these heroes of nearness to God are the noblest servants of the Ultimate Truth and they share the same spiritual profundity of the angels.

Accepting the view that the muqarrabun are composed of four thousand saints, some Sufis classify these distinguished servants of God according to their ranks as follows:

Three hundred of them are akhyar (the good ones who pursue good in whatever they do and say); forty of them are abdal or budala (the substitutes, charged with the administration of spiritual life and acting as veils in the reflection of the Divine Majesty and Grandeur); seven of them are abrar (godly, virtuous ones who have been able to make righteous deeds and sincerity a deep dimension of their nature); and there are others called by different titles.

Still others make another classification of those favored with special nearness to God, the number of which is unknown. They mention four awtad (pillars), and nujaba (the nobles, in the sense of being distinguished in the sight of God), and nukaba (the custodians, who care for people and the management of their affairs), and, superior to all those mentioned, ghawth (the helper or the means of Divine help), and qutb (the pole). Some Sufi scholars call all of those rijalu’l-ghayb (the men of the Unseen).

Abdal (The Substitutes)

Substitutes are those pure, honest saints who help people with their affairs without being seen and who function as veils in the reflection of Divine Acts. Before the Ottomans, the Iranians called them “the straightforward,” “easygoing ones,” “people of light,” or “Sufis.” Then, this term (abdal) became a name for a spiritual order. Under the Ottomans, some men who were famous for their heroic courage and fearlessness came to be called “substitutes.” In dervish lodges, the term has always been used to describe the “men of the Unseen.”

According to Sufis, substitutes are saints who avoid fame and who are unknown among people. They always hasten to do good and to help others. They are of two groups. The first group is composed of the saints who have been freed from all evil qualities and equipped with excellence and virtuousness, who resist all kinds of vices and wrongs, and who try to prevent these. The second group consists of those saints who have a particular mission and number three hundred, forty, and seven; they are also referred to by these numbers. Their numbers are not important; what is important is their place and rank in God’s sight and the duties they perform.

When one of the substitutes dies, another one from the sub-group takes his place. When one of them leaves his place for a duty, either that one sends his double or astral body to perform the duty, or that one departs to perform the duty and leaves his double or astral body behind in his place. (We should remind ourselves here that the idea of a human double or astral body is a matter frequently discussed in parapsychology.)

Some consider the pillars, the two leaders, and the pole as a superior group, separate from the substitutes: they see the latter as people of a certain spiritual state, while the former are viewed as people of a certain spiritual station. They regard the latter as travelers to God and the former as travelers in and from God.

Those who maintain that there are always seven substitutes say that they each reside in a different clime or realm, observe and acclaim the Divine Acts, and respond to God Almighty with praise and thanks as conscious representatives of the activities of unconscious beings. These seven saints have particular stations, and they are mentioned with the titles they have been given according to their station.

• The first substitute represents the reflection or projection of Prophet Abraham’s heart, and is called by the title, ‘Abdu’l-Hayy (the Servant of the All-Living).
• The second has the particular attributes of Prophet Moses’ heart, and is called by the title, ‘Abdu’l-‘Alim (the Servant of the All-Knowing).
• The third is a mirror of Prophet Aaron’s heart, and the special name of this one is ‘Abdu’l-Murid (the Servant of the All-Willing).
• The fourth reflects the attributes of Prophet Idris (Enoch)’s heart, and is mentioned with the title ‘Abdu’l-Qadir (the Servant of the All-Powerful).
• The fifth has a connection with the heart of Prophet Joseph, and is known by the title ‘Abdu’l-Qahir (the Servant of the All-Overwhelming).
• The sixth is bound to the content of Prophet Jesus’ heart and called by the title ‘Abdu’s-Sami‘ (the Servant of the All-Hearing).
• The seventh follows the heart of Prophet Adam, and is known with the title, ‘Abdu’l-Basir (the Servant of the All-Seeing).

None of these opinions or considerations is based on the Qur’an or the Sunna, but each has its source in the spiritual discoveries of some saints of discovery and is open to interpretation. For this reason, we are not obliged to accept these opinions or considerations as being absolutely true. Nevertheless, whatever their duties, titles, or positions are, and whatever blessings God favors them with, all of the saints are those who have certain degrees of knowledge of God, who are supported by God, and who, with their refined hearts and purified souls, are open to certain Divine mysteries.

Still another consideration concerning the place and duties of the saints known as substitutes is as follows:

Three hundred of them represent the reflection of Prophet Adam’s heart and are mirrors to it, forty of them have a connection with Prophet Moses’ heart, seven are affiliated with Prophet Abraham, five with the bosom of Archangel Gabriel, three with Archangel Michael, and one from among them, who is the greatest among them and represents the greatest sainthood, is affiliated with the greatest of all beings, Prophet Muhammad, upon him be perfect blessings and peace. When the last one dies, the one who is superior to all others takes his place, and when somebody from among them dies, that position is filled by another one from another group. Like the number of substitutes, the opinions about their residences and titles vary considerably.

There are nearly twenty reports from the Prophet concerning the existence of such a group of saints among the men of the Unseen [1].

According to these reports, because of their value in His sight, God Almighty sends rain, helps the believers against their enemies, and removes calamities from them. The substitutes are like a center of gravity for the earth; God employs them as a spiritual means of keeping the earth on its axis and provides for others out of their high place with Him. They forgive the wrong which people do to them; they return evil with good; and they continuously follow the path to Paradise through mildness, forbearance, and generosity. They attach special importance to the soundness and purity of their hearts and they always wish good for Muslims. They have no worldly ambitions, and they avoid quarrelling even with their enemies. They always shun exaggeration in their speech, and they represent the middle way in speech. They avoid religious innovations, and they do not go to extremes in their worship. Of whatever rank they are, they never like or approve of themselves. Resignation to whatever misfortune comes to them from God, utmost care about not committing any action that is religiously forbidden, a deep reverence for and obedience to God Almighty, and never cursing anyone—all these are mentioned among the foremost attributes of the Substitutes.

Some commentators on Hadith such as Ibn Taymiyya [2] and Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya regard all those reports as fabricated and reject them. Imam Suyuti [3], another commentator, considers that since the hadiths support one another, as a whole, they may be considered as sound as the Prophetic Traditions that have been reported through many reliable chains of transmission. Hafiz Sahawi [4], following a moderate or middle way, notes that all those reports are weak in reliability and therefore open to criticism. In view of these different considerations, I leave the truth of the matter to God, saying: “God knows best.”

The original Arabic term translated as substitutes is abdal, which is the plural of badal. The term badal has another plural form: budala. This term is used by the Sufis for seven important figures among the “men of the Unseen.” They can change places with unusual speed and can be present in many different places at the same moment. It is not clear whether this occurs by the separation of their double or astral bodies from their original bodies so that they can be manifested in many places at the same time, or by their unusually speedy movement and because they are able to be present in many places, one after the other, within a short time. It sometimes happens that the substitutes are not aware of this mysterious transportation. The author of Futuhatu’l-Makkiyya (“The Makkan Conquests”), Muhyi’d-Din ibnu’l-‘Arabi, considers that the substitutes (budala) observe the Acts of God Almighty in each of the seven climes. They both observe the Acts of the All-Glorified and appear to be curtains for their reflections, acclaiming them. They receive their spiritual training as Uwaysu’l-Qarani [5] did, that is, without being trained by a spiritual master.

Notes

1. As for further reference, see Ahmad ibn Hanbal, al-Musnad, 1:112, 5:322; at-Tabarani, al-Mu‘jamu’l-Kabir, 10:181, 18:65; al-Munawi, Faydu’l-Kadir, 3:167–170. (Tr.)
2. Taqiyyu’d-Din Ahmad ibn Taymiyya (1263–1328): A very famous Muslim scholar who was born in Harran in southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border. As a member of the Hanbali School of Law, he defended “return to the Qur’an and the Sunna,” being very critical of new developments in thought within Islam over centuries. (Tr.)
3. ‘Abdu’r-Rahman ibn Kamal Jalalu’d-Din as-Suyuti (1445–1505): The mujtahid imam, one of the foremost hadith masters, jurist, Sufi, philologist, and historian. He authored works in virtually every Islamic science. He lived in Egypt. (Tr.)
4. Hafiz Muhammad Shamsu’d-Din as-Sahawi (d. 1498): A great muhaddith, who lived in Egypt. He was a student of Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani. His famous work is Maqasidu’l-Hasana. (Tr.)
5. Uways ibn Amir al-Qarni or al-Qarani (d. 657): He was born in Yemen. Toward the end of his life, he left for Kufa, in modern-day Iraq. He was one of most outstanding figures of the generation succeeding the Companions. Some regard him as the greatest Muslim saint of the first Islamic century. (Tr.)

Literally meaning a master, an owner, a helper, a loyal one, or a guardian, a waliyy is one who is devoted to God with all their emotions and one who is taken by Him as a close friend. Such an attainment is called wilaya (God’s friendship or sainthood), and the greatest rank in wilaya is called qutbiya (being a spiritual pole).

Perfect sainthood consists of servants being annihilated with respect to the carnal dimension of their existence and gaining a new, ever-young, and active existence on the horizon of God’s nearness through their knowledge of God, love of God, vision of God, and discovery of the Divine mysteries. In the sight of such heroes of spirituality, who have reached the peak where the sun never sets, autumns turn into springs, and annihilation turns into permanent existence, everything is annihilated in God; everything begins and ends with Him, rises and sets with Him, and attains existence through the lights of His Existence. Those favored with such a vision experience existence in a different mood and fashion according to their capacity of perceiving of everything as dependent on Him and observe that every event takes place dependent on the Truth of truths, Whom they find in their hearts as a “Hidden Treasure.” Unceasingly thrilling at the lights they observe glittering in the countenances of the mornings and evenings, the depths of the ever-bright heavens, the multi-colored beauties of the seasons that come and go with ever-renewed scenes, the awful appearances of the vast seas and oceans, the flowing of rivers toward the seas with a deep yearning for union, the joyful cries of birds and insects, and the bleating of sheep and lambs, they are overawed by the meanings that pour into their hearts from Him. All the shapes and forms on the horizon of their vision disappear and they find themselves boiling with reflection and pleasure as if they see, feel, and experience Him alone.

Such heroes of spirituality no longer feel zeal, but rather a deep yearning to reach Him, and no longer feel attraction but rather are attracted by Him toward Him. They are completely freed from any kind of heedlessness, with the result that the light of the Ultimate Truth shows itself everywhere. Reason and the spirit are now hand-in-hand and the whole of existence becomes a book to read. All false candles are extinguished, one after another, and it is as if the stars have come down from the heavens to illuminate the entire world. The world with all its worldliness vanishes and is rebuilt with a new design that belongs to the realms beyond. All veils of darkness are rent apart and lights burst forth through the fissures. Everything becomes a friend and a companion to such a hero of spirituality, and the heart finds in everything whatever it looks for, thus being saved from all kinds of loneliness.

God Almighty never abandons initiates who have attained such a degree of God’s friendship to their carnal soul, not even for the twinkling of an eye. Since they are always turned to the horizon of obtaining God’s approval and good pleasure with all their being, God protects and preserves them with His infinite grace and care. There is no longer any grief or worry; they constantly receive welcome from all corners of existence and they feel spiritual joy in their hearts. As if living in the gardens of Paradise, within the protective walls of, Know well that the friends (saintly servants) of God—they will have no fear, nor will they grieve (10:62), far away from the carnal veils of darkness and surrounded by the lights of the All-Merciful—but without ever falling into heedlessness toward the fear and awe of God which they always feel in the depths of their being—they continuously receive promissory messages from the realms beyond and return them with good, righteous deeds.

Although what is primarily meant by God’s friends is all the believers, as opposed to the enemies of God—for this is what the Qur’an also means by this term—the Sufis give other significant meanings to it. According to them, a friend of God is a person of truth who, through various forms of self-struggle, such as austerity, has transcended the carnal dimension of his or her existence and reached the level of the life of the heart and spirit, thus obtaining God’s special nearness. Friends of God have annihilated themselves with respect to their carnal existence, and attained permanence with a new meaning and thus they are favored with God’s particular blessings and compliments. They have found whatever they would find and they have been saved from all kinds of pursuits. Without ever aspiring after anything perishable, they say, “Let others have whatever is worldly—God, only, is sufficient for me,” and they demand whatever they demand only for God’s sake. I think Nabi [1] meant this by the following:

Do God’s friends ever stoop to possessing anything worldly?
Do they ever endure the burden of people?

Since friends of God always have God as their sole object, and they expect from Him whatever they expect, and thus continuously receive God’s favors, it is inconceivable that they should turn to others for their needs or aspirations.

Although all of God’s friends are people of deep spirituality, they differ in disposition and temperament, in their relative degree of attainment, and in their duties and missions. This is why they are mentioned with different titles such as the godly, virtuous ones, those near-stationed to God, substitutes, pillars, nobles, custodians, leaders, helpers or means of help, and poles.

With whatever title they are called, all of them have—according to the capacity of each—common praiseworthy qualities such as truthfulness, honesty, trustworthiness, sincerity and purity of intention, piety, righteousness, abstinence, asceticism, love, mild- ness and forbearance, modesty, humility, repentance, penitence, contrition, fear, and reverence. And with the exception of a few extreme “ecstatics” among them, all of them act within the bounds of the principles mentioned.

Abrar (The Godly, Virtuous Ones)

The Abrar are the good, virtuous ones who strive to reach God through austerity and moral straightforwardness; they are people of honesty and righteousness, loyal servants of the Ultimate Truth who live a life very carefully in keeping with the ordinances of the Shari‘a. Some of the godly, virtuous ones who are extremely sincere and faithful in their relationship with the Ultimate Truth are bent on the attainment of personal perfection. Although they pursue God’s approval and good pleasure in all of their attempts and actions, they nevertheless aim at their own perfection and seclude themselves from people in pursuit of spiritual gifts and favors to such an extent that they travel from immersion to amazement, and from amazement to utmost astonishment in the waves of the gifts of the “oceans” where they feel that everything has been lost in the Divine Existence. Those who see them think that they are lunatics and mock them. Because of this, and in consideration of how deep they are in their relationship with God, they cannot act as guides for others; the reservations they cause to arise in the minds of others impede this.

There are others among the godly, virtuous ones who always follow the light of the lamp of Prophethood, and therefore act in a balanced way. They plan and put into practice all of their intentions and attempts under the guidance of the Divine Revelation, the heart, and reason. They comprehend and interpret religious matters correctly and without causing any misunderstandings. They always preserve the balance in their observations of the physical and metaphysical realms, or the physical and metaphysical dimensions of things; they correct their intuitions and perceptions in the state of ecstasy and rapture according to the fundamentals of the Religion, and they present their inferences and deductions within this perspective. They see the world from the point of view of Prophethood and, although they always avoid setting their hearts on it, they pay necessary attention to it as it is the place of observation of Divine beauties, the manifestation of the Divine Names, and the arable field of the afterlife. In whatever they do, they aim at God’s approval and good pleasure, and eternal happiness, striving with a Prophetical determination to make each second, minute, and hour of their lives into ears of corn that bear seven, seventy, and even seven hundred grains. They actually represent godliness and righteousness and set good examples for people to follow. Wherever they are, they remind people of God, and acting as if an indicator, they cause people to turn to Him in devotion. In short, they are those who are always occupied with good, virtuous deeds; who always dream of godliness and righteousness; who always follow the Creator, the Ultimate Truth, in whatever they do; and who care about the created.

Note

YusufNabi(1642–1712):Oneofthemostwell-knownOttomanpoetsoftheseventeenth century. He was born in Urfa, southeastern Turkey, and emigrated to Istanbulwhen he was twenty-four. He lived in Istanbul and Aleppo. He usually wrote didactic poems where he criticized certain vices in society and which contained moral lessons. (Tr.)

What is meant by ‘ilm ladun, or the special knowledge from God’s Presence, is knowledge of the Unseen or knowledge of mysteries, or knowledge which God imparts into one’s heart and the truths occurring to it. Primarily included is the knowledge of all the Prophets and Messengers, as well as the knowledge of saints, purified saintly scholars, virtuous and godly ones, and those especially favored with God’s nearness. It is the knowledge which God has imparted into their hearts by way of Revelation or inspiration, and therefore it is considered to be some sort of special knowledge from God’s Presence. Particularly the knowledge of God’s Messenger, the Sultan of ‘ilm ladun, upon him be peace and blessings, whether it relates to the Unseen “absolute” or the Unseen “restricted,” is included in this consideration of special knowledge from God’s Presence. Süleyman Çelebi expresses this in the following couplet:

That one who has come is the Sultan of ‘ilm ladun,
That one who has come is the source of the knowledge of Divine Oneness.

That “unique one” of time and space is the perfect treasurer of this knowledge of secrets, and the greatest of those who have drunk out of this pool of special knowledge. Neither the other Prophets, nor the Messengers, nor the saints were favored with special knowledge to the same degree as that of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.

The knowledge which a saint claims to have received from God’s Presence specially may sometimes be incompatible with the decrees of Shari’a. For this reason, those who do not correct any such knowledge or spiritual discovery according to the basic rules or the fundamentals of the Religion may err and cause their followers to err. However, those others who have established their spiritual discoveries and inspirations on the ground of the basic rules of the Religion always see the physical and metaphysical dimension of existence together at the same time, observe this world and the others like the two faces of a single entity, and offer their students sweet “waters” of Divine gifts from the physical and metaphysical worlds.

In Surat al-Kahf, the holy Qur’an mentions a distinguished servant of God favored with special knowledge from God’s Presence, one who God’s Messenger said was called Khadr [1]. It says: And they found (there) one of Our servants to whom We had granted a mercy as a grace from Us and taught special knowledge from Our Presence (18:65). According to the Sufi scholars, the knowledge which God taught Khadr was special knowledge from His Presence. Despite being one of the five greatest Prophets and a perfect guide in Divine truths, the Prophet Moses, upon him be peace, desired to fully comprehend the special knowledge from God’s Presence by following Khadr to learn a particular aspect of it. Sahih al-Bukhari records a saying of our Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, which points to the difference between the Prophetic knowledge of Divine truths and some aspects of special knowledge from God’s Presence: “Khadr said to Moses: ‘O Moses! I have some sort of knowledge from God, which you do not know, and you have some other sort of knowledge which I do not know'” [2].

The special knowledge discussed is a special favor from God to certain people; others—even though they may be more knowledgeable in different subjects—lag behind these people in respect to special knowledge from God’s Presence. It is true that in order to be favored with this knowledge, one should have the ability and merit to receive it and enjoy particular nearness to God; but it is primarily a special favor of God to His servants whom He has chosen. For this reason, it cannot be acquired through study, research, or other similar ways. That is God’s grace; He grants it to whom He wills. Surely God is of tremendous grace (62:4). So, this is a special manifestation of God’s grace.

It should be pointed out that although such knowledge is extremely attractive, enchanting, and desirable, and although it is related to certain Divine mysteries, the knowledge of the Religion and Divine truths with which the Prophets were favored is much more elevated than this knowledge; the knowledge of the Prophets is objective, applicable to everybody, and secures the worldly and otherworldly happiness of people. We can explain the difference between these two kinds of knowledge as follows:

Moses’s knowledge was the knowledge of the Shari’a, which was absolutely necessary for everybody regarding their happiness in both worlds and was therefore taught to order people’s worldly life and secure their happiness in the Hereafter, while Khadr’s knowledge was a special favor to know some aspects of the Unseen and certain Divine mysteries. Moses’ knowledge related to the rules and judgment by which public order and security could be realized, while Khadr’s consisted of some special gifts relating to the metaphysical dimension of life and existence. This second kind of knowledge has also been called “special knowledge that is purely from God’s Presence,” “the knowledge of truth,” and “the knowledge of the inner dimensions of existence.” It is a significant source by which one can realize the Divine mysteries. In this respect it is said:

O teacher of religious sciences,
pay no attention to the knowledge of what people say.
Instead, search for the secrets of the Ultimate Truth
In the special knowledge from His Presence.

Although there is some sort of connection between this knowledge and personal efforts to obtain it, such knowledge cannot be obtained through mere study or efforts, for this knowledge occurs in pure hearts as a Divine gift in the form of a sacred power. It comes directly from God’s Presence through the ways of spiritual discovery and inspiration. However, as inspirations coming to the heart manifest themselves in the hearts to varying degrees, so those who cannot continue their spiritual journeying under the guardianship of the Master of creation, upon him be the perfect blessings and peace, may be the target of some suggestions of Satan.

Revelation (wahy) came to the Prophets and it is absolutely beyond all doubt. However, inspiration (ilham) occurs to saints and it is a broad channel for the manifestations of God’s Knowledge. If an inspiration manifests itself in the heart of a human being as a Divine gift beyond his or her willpower, this is called an “occurrence.” Satan may mix some things with an occurrence. An occurrence that is certain to have come from God without any interference from Satan can be regarded as special knowledge from God’s Presence. The firmest sign of an occurrence having originated in God’s Knowledge is its conformity with the Qur’an and the Sunna. It is highly possible that any occurrences which are not in conformity with these two primary foundations or basic sources of the Religion are whisperings or suggestions of Satan or of the human carnal soul. Since occurrences in which Satan and the human carnal soul have interfered bear Satanic and carnal elements, an initiate who has been driven to such an area of deception should immediately turn to God Almighty and regulate his or her state according to the basic rules of Shari’a.

The Sufi leaders call the meanings coming from God’s Presence and which echo in the heart “occurrences from the Ultimate Truth,” while those known to come from the angels are called “occurrences from the angels,” and the “sparks” which come from Satan and the carnal soul and invade the spirit are known as ” carnal or Satanic suggestions.” To differentiate between these occurrences one must depend on the criteria established by the fundamentals of the Religion and the elevated Sunna of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings. We should also point out that although these occurrences can be differentiated through the basic rules of the Shari’a, some others may come as a result of, or lead to, certain secret Satanic goals or ambitions even though they appear to be in conformity with the fundamentals of the Religion. For this reason, only those people who are well-versed in this field can establish the true differentiation.

Since the suggestions of the carnal soul and Satan are outside the sphere of “special knowledge from God’s Presence,” we will not go into details about them here.

O God! Show us the truth as the truth and enable us to observe it; show us falsehood as falsehood and enable us to avoid it. And bestow Your blessings and peace upon our master, Muhammad, and on his Family and Companions.

References

• al-Bukhari, “‘Ilm” 44; Muslim, “Fadail” 170.
• al-Bukhari, “‘Ilm” 44.

Literally meaning retreating to a place that is quiet and preferring solitude, halwa(t) is used by the Sufis to mean initiates removing themselves from people to dedicate all of their time to worshipping God, and feeling God’s constant company in whatever they experience and in whatever state they find themselves in. It also denotes restricting one’s powers of sight and hearing to “seeing” and “hearing” only God, confiding in only Him, and devoting oneself exclusively to Him.

What is fundamental for halwa(t) (privacy) is that one should purify one’s spirit, cleanse one’s soul, and turn one’s heart and conscience to God exclusively to attain His constant company. As a result of this degree of turning to God and the attainment of His company, a traveler to the Ultimate Truth is supported with certain Divine gifts and favored with breezes of inspiration. It may even occur that they converse with God beyond all terms of quality and quantity—which is called “mutual whispering” by the Sufis. These are all Divine rewards that come in return for one’s sincerity and exertion; therefore, expecting and demanding these is a show of bad manners. Thus, worshipping God and exerting oneself on His way in order to be able to receive such rewards represents deviation from the basic aim of servanthood to God and amounts to losing while on the way to winning. The perfected souls feel alarmed even over the coming of such rewards without expectations or demands, trembling with the fear that they have come to lead themselves to perdition, and they themselves are consuming the everlasting fruits of the afterlife in this fleeting world. Therefore, they supplicate to God, saying:

O God, grant those gifts to those who ask for them;Please show me only the way to Your vision (in the Hereafter).

In this way they emphasize their utmost devotion to God without expecting anything in return except for His approval of them as His servants and His good pleasure.

All that we have tried to express so far to describe privacy is what the true travelers on the Sufi way have meant by it. However, some Sufi leaders have narrowed its frame and deal with it as being related to retreating to lodges where initiates undergo willful suffering; during this time, an initiate tries to become accustomed to speaking little, eating little, sleeping little, and remaining alone. This point has already been explained under the headings of Halwat and ‘Uzlat (Privacy and Seclusion) and Chila (Suffering) in the first and second volumes of this book respectively. The Sufi scholars who approach the matter from this narrow perspective have stressed its universality, mentioning that every religion and every spiritual system gives place to privacy, even if they differ in some secondary matters. They have considered as privacy the Prophet Moses’ ten years of residence in Midian and his forty days of stay on Mount Sinai, as well as the Children of Israel’s wandering in the Sinai desert for forty years, and the Virgin Mary’s retreat which is mentioned in the Qur’anic verse, We made the Son of Mary and his mother a miraculous sign (of Our Lordship and Power), and We provided for them refuge on a lofty ground of comfort and security with a (water) spring (23:50), and, finally, God’s Messenger’s seclusion in the cave of Hira for the purpose of worship. They attach great importance to privacy in the name of spiritual purification. Even if it could be said that all of the events mentioned above do not provide some substantial religious ground for privacy, the importance of privacy serving the heart cannot be denied. The heart is regarded as the “House of God” and in this way can be purified of various attachments to things other than God, being refined and brightened so that it can receive Divine manifestations.

Privacy is important—not in remaining away from people, but as being a means for a “conversation with the All-Beloved” in the house of the heart. From this perspective, we can consider privacy to be a dimension of the spiritual journeying on the way to God and a step toward attaining His company.

Privacy, which initiates try to accomplish through cycles of forty days of suffering, in fact, serves to enable them to achieve refinement toward the purification of the heart, spirit, consciousness, and feelings so that they can turn back among people (jalwat) in order to guide them.

Privacy is a way essential to Sufism through which initiates can be refined of the carnal dimension of their nature and discover themselves in the depths of their humanity. Through privacy initiates can also clearly perceive the final purpose of their existence and experience God’s particular manifestations of His favors on them through the lens of the helplessness, poverty, and the neediness essential to their very nature. Thus, they turn to God with all of their faculties, in the full conviction of His being the sole source of real power, wealth, knowledge, and all accomplishments.

Privacy does not only consist of constant seclusion from people, as one who went to extremes in solitude said:

Brothers, my comfort lies in privacy— For to whomever I have become a friend, They publicized my faults and spread my humiliations around. During my entire life, I have not been able to find one— One who has been truly faithful. For this reason, I have found comfort in privacy.

Although privacy is in appearance a retreat from people, in truth it is a process of being equipped with the necessities of guidance in order to live in people’s company.

At the beginning of journeying, those who intend such privacy withdraw to a secluded place, for example, remaining in a mosque for the purpose of worship. They eat little, drink little, sleep little, speak little, and are occupied with the remembrance of God. They never abandon reflection or self-supervision. When they have reached the final point of perfection they return among people and set out to serve them as one from among them. They attain non- existence in regards to their carnal existence and egotism and acquire an ever-active existence through the lights of the Divine existence. In the concepts, thoughts, and speeches of one who has reached this point, the self no longer exists; rather the truth and the Ultimate Truth exist. For this reason, such a person may say, “I no longer exist within me; I am no longer conscious of my existence.” In his Diwan Kabir, Jalalu’d-Din ar-Rumi describes this feeling of non-existence as follows:

We have been favored with a mystery,
a journeying on the way to the Ultimate Truth.
We rejoice in our non-existence.
So, come and let us remain in our non-existence.
The doors were closed to us before,
but when we were saved from ourselves,
all the doors were opened.
Our hearts have been filled with peace and satisfaction
because we have remained freed from ourselves on this way.
The All-Beautiful Beloved,
Who kept Himself concealed from us,
Has stroked our face in our non-existence.
We have died for His sake and, in turn,
He has saved us from ourselves.

Jalwa(t) (company) denotes that initiates are freed from self-centeredness or anything that feeds their egos and—having been equipped with God’s qualities or way of acting and being polished mirrors to His Names—dedicate themselves to service in God’s cause with whatever they have, caring about the eternal happiness of others during their whole life. Another approach to company is that after initiates are freed from relative values that are peculiar to themselves, they then devote their intellect, logic, reasoning, and tongue to the service of humanity in the light of the lamp of Prophethood.

A person who attained company illuminates some of the features of those who have attained it as follows:

Those who have attained company polish spirits;
they are those followed by people.
They have three distinguishing marks:
Purity of the soul, refinement of the heart, and a polished spirit.
They are mirrors to the manifestations of the Divine Names.

Whether one prefers privacy or company, the true attainment is servanthood to God, perfectly fulfilling whatever this servanthood requires, and sincere self-exertion to make others know and love Him.

O God! Show us the truth as the truth and enable us to observe it, and show us falsehood as falsehood and enable us to avoid it. And bestow Your blessings and peace upon our master, Muhammad, and on his Family and Companions.