The Intimate Discourses of Ibn Ata’illah 11 – Abdur Rahman’s Corner
Peace, one and all…
Intimate Discourse 11
My God, from the diversity of created things and the changes of states, I know that it is Your desire to make Yourself known to me in everything so that I will not ignore You in anything
Commentary
The changing circumstances and conditions occurring to man are numerous. Richness, poverty, health, sickness, respect, happiness, despondency, etc are among man’s changing conditions. When the servant reflects on the different conditions occurring to him, he will realise that Allah Most High is encouraging him to recognise Him. The servant should not be ignorant of recognising Allah in all things.
If the servant’s condition were static, undergoing no change, his cognisance of Allah would remain defective. If, for example, the servant’s state of health and wealth remained constant, his recognition of Allah would remain imperfect because Allah is also the eliminator of sickness and poverty, but the servant would be denied the appreciation of this latter reality. Similarly, if he remained perpetually in the state of sickness, the servant would have been deprived of cognisance of Allah as the bestower of health.
Reflections
In Surah al-Dhariyat, we find the following passage:
مَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
‘I created jinn and mankind only to worship Me’
(Quran 51:56)
The term ‘worship’ (‘ibada) is almost universally understood to mean ‘know’ (‘arafa). In other words, the purpose of our entire creation is to know our Creator. Our deepest purpose in life is to come into relationship with God, and to know Him, as much as our limited humanity can know divine infinity.
In this Discourse, Ibn Ata’illah brings us to the very centre of this realisation. The changing circumstances of our lives are designed to allow us to know God in every moment of our existence. We are being guided through the vicissitudes of life, with the eyes of our heart fixed firmly upon Allah.
As each moment reflects a new manifestation of divine qualities, so we are being taught to call on, to experience and to manifest all of the Divine Names of Allah (the Asma Allah al-Husna). Our hearts are being prepared to become living theatres of Divine Manifestation (tajalli). We are being shown how to recognise God. We are being taught ma’rifat Allah.
We are also being taught to use the Divine Names in our own lives. Each Divine Name is like a medicine, designed to help us overcome a specific spiritual malady. These names can be chanted, recited silently, meditated upon. All of these practices help us to see the Divine in all things, with the eyes of our heart.
In a recent sohbet (at the excellent Rumi’s Echoes WhatsApp group), we explored a story from Book 3 of the Masnavi serif, entitled the Master and the Servant.
In particular, the following couplets strike this one as significant:
For lovers, the beauty of the Beloved is the instructor,
Their lesson and book is His Face.
Silent they are, yet the cry of their repetition,
Echoes to their Beloved’s Throne.
Their lessons are chaos, whirling, and quake,
No supplementary topics or chapters or regress.
Masnavi 3:3848 – 3850
Lovers are always focused upon their Beloved, and so must we be if we wish to know God in all sincerity. Our inward gaze must remain fixed on Allah in every moment and circumstance. This is no easy thing, and so du’a and dhikr are a constant requirement. Silent dhikr, the true remembrance of the heart, is what echoes around God’s Throne. These truths can only be learned through diligent, lifelong dedication, at the hand of an experienced teacher. No amount of book-learning can lead us to the place of inward chaos, whirling and quake.
And our last prayer is in praise of God. Lord of all the worlds.
