The Intimate Discourses of Ibn Ata’illah 14 – Abdur Rahman’s Corner
Peace, one and all…
Intimate Discourse 14
‘My God, Your penetrating decision and Your conquering will have left no speech
to the articulate nor any state to him who has a state’
Commentary
Allah’s command operates in everything and His will dominates all things. Thus a man who gives discourses on higher spiritual realities should not labor under any deception of him being a great researcher and a man of subtle knowledge. He should not be vain on account of his eloquence in elaborating on such matters. Allah’s command and will can snatch away whatever the man of knowledge thinks he knows. Such episodes have already transpired.
Also, a man of spiritual rank should be vain because of his rank of elevation. Ranks of spiritual elevation are divine bounties which Allah Most High is fully capable of snatching away. There were many men of such ranks who were demoted and had their loftiness snatched away. Thus no one should repose confidence in his excellences.
Reflections
In our last discourse Ibn Ata’illah explored human pretension in the face of divine reality. In this discourse, our focus moves to speech and state. The state ‘we’ possess and ‘our’ personal eloquence are two key areas where we feel an unhelpful sense of ownership most strongly. How easy it is for us to think that we truly understand a topic and that we can discuss all of its subtleties! In truth, however, Allah alone is al-Alim (the All-Knowing). Whenever we learn something, it doesn’t become ours thereby, it is a gift we receive from the Divine. If our knowledge is a gift, so to is our ability to convey that reality. Our ability to speak comes to us from the Divine as a gift, and one that can be taken away when we fall into pride. In all truth, all speech is His and our every passing state is His generous gift, brought forth merely to help us on our way. Our Lord’s gifts are subtle and perfectly weighted, so as to effect change on every layer of us, in ways we cannot fully discern.
Likewise, God is the Owner of all states, of every inward and outward moment, of every vantage point and of every experience. They all belong to Hu and return to Hu. As Hu wills, we are called to share in them from time to time. Therefore we are called to gratitude. O my Allah! Let me be grateful for each experience, remembering that all things return to You. O Allah! Grant me gratitude, and allow it to bring me to You who are the Giver!
More deeply, this passage calls us to directly taste and thus begin to live in, our innate poverty, our essential emptiness. This helps cleanse our hearts of vanity and pride, and begins to free us of our very selves.
O my heart, don’t be distracted by fancy words and sublime states: they come from your Lord and will return to Him. O Allah! Forgive me for confusing the gift with the Beautiful Giver! Cleanse my wayward self and fix my heart upon You alone, in each moment and circumstance!
And our last prayer is in praise of God, Lord of all the words.
