The worship of the Saints and the Gnostics

 

The worship of the Saints and the Gnostics

 

The saints try to gain the closeness of Almighty Allah through worship and spiritual exercises of the self.  Hadhrat Shaykh Ul Islam Imam Muhammad Anwaarullah Farooqui (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) writes about this:

 

There are three aims of worship and spiritual exercises.

 

The first is to remove everything other than Allah Most High from the path to Him.

 

The second is to make the Base Self (Nafs Ammaara) obey the Contented Self (Nafs Mutaminna) so that the faculties of intellect and understanding are turned away from base things to divine things.

 

The third is to make the Sirr (Lit. the Secret) refined, so that one is aware and gets intimations all the time.

 

The first objective is helped through asceticism (Zuhd), as when something ceases to exist altogether, the path becomes clear.

 

The second objective is helped through worship which is along with reflection, religious poetry (Sama’a) in a beautiful voice which uses the faculties of the Self and grants acceptance to it….

 

What helps the third objective is subtle reflection and pure love as the attributes of the virtual beloved guide one towards the Ultimate Beloved – provided there is no lust in it. 

 

          When the intention and worship reach a certain stage then one starts receiving illuminations from the spiritual realm.  The way one sees thunder in the sky, and it is so exquisite that one faints.  They call it the Time (the state which overwhelms a person is that person’s Time).  At that time a state like ecstasy develops.  Then when this state dissipates, a kind of sorrow takes its place. 

 

After this, the more the worship and spiritual exercises, the more these states sweep over that person, one after the other.  Then the state of this person progresses and the illuminations occur frequently even without worship so much so that whatever this person sees it reminds him (or her) of the Lord Almighty.  If he is reminded of something of the spiritual realm, he faints and it seems that this person sees the Lord Almighty in everything.

 

Inspirations and illuminations occur so abundantly that this person doesn’t have any peace or succor which betrays his state to the onlookers as well.  After this when worship and spiritual exercises are increased even further then that person can hide his state, which others cannot see.

 

Then the worship and spiritual exercises take the seeker to such a station that tranquility (Taskeen) becomes the Time of that person and that person is endeared to the fits of fainting and the illuminations become radiant like the meteors and the seeker gains the cognizance of the stations (Maqaam), which remain steadfast.  The seeker also begins to understand that this is an ongoing company (Suhbah) which gives him happiness.  Then when the seeker turns away from this state, he walks around regretful and disappointed.

 

Perhaps the inward states affect him so much.  However, when he becomes strong in those subtleties, then his inward states are rarely expressed.  So much so that those who see him consider him present while he is absent.  They consider him at rest, while he is traveling.

 

Perhaps until this level he gains the subtleties infrequently, but gradually his state becomes so that he can gain them whenever he wants to.

 

Then he passes beyond that stage as well.  There, he does not require intent and wish….everything makes him rise from this world of lies and falsehood to the realm of truth.  He remains in this world and heedless people surround him, but they don’t know where he actually is.

 

Imam Razi (May Allah shower His Mercy on him) has written in the interpretation of this that the Sufi scholars say:

 

I haven’t seen anything but that I have seen Allah Most High after it.

 

Then when they progress further, they say:

 

We have glimpsed the Lord Almighty along with every thing.

 

When they progress further, they say:

 

We have seen the illuminations of the Lord Almighty before every thing.

 

When they progress even further, they see nothing but Allah Most High.  [End of quote]

 

When the mortification and spiritual exercises end and the Gnostic (A’arif) reaches his (or her) objective, then his Sirr is like a polished mirror, on which the pleasures and blessings of the spiritual realm rain.  Then the Gnostic is very happy with his Self.  That’s why that effect is predominant in the Gnostic.  He sees his Self and he sees His Lord.

 

Then he disappears even from his Self and he sees only the Lord Almighty.  Even if he gets a thought of his self, it is only from the viewpoint that he is seeing the Lord Almighty.  It is not that he sees the adornment of the Self and at other times, sees the Lord Almighty.  Thus, in this station the Gnostic has absolute closeness.

 

[Excerpted from Maqasid Ul Islam, Vol. 7]