Read Ebook: The Kashf al-mahjúb: The oldest Persian treatise on Súfiism by Hujviri Ali Ibn Usman Nicholson Reynold Alleyne Translator

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ANSWER.

The person questioned, `Al? b. `Uthm?n al-Jull?b? al-Hujw?r?--may God have mercy on him!--says:--

High and low alike are content with empty professions: blind conformity has taken the place of spiritual enthusiasm. The vulgar say, "We know God," and the elect, satisfied if they feel in their hearts a longing for the next world, say, "This desire is vision and ardent love." Everyone makes pretensions, none attains to reality. The disciples, neglecting their ascetic practices, indulge in idle thoughts, which they call "contemplation".

Footnote 18:

An electuary used as a remedy for paralysis of the tongue or mouth.

Footnote 19:

Footnote 20:

Mutanabb?, ed. by Dieterici, p. 662, l. 4 from foot.

SECTION.

Know that I have found this universe an abode of Divine mysteries, which are deposited in created things. Substances accidents, elements, bodies, forms, and properties--all these are veils of Divine mysteries. From the standpoint of Unification it is polytheism to assert that any such veils exist, but in this world everything is veiled, by its being, from Unification, and the spirit is held captive by admixture and association with phenomenal being. Hence the intellect can hardly comprehend those Divine mysteries, and the spirit can but dimly perceive the marvels of nearness to God. Man, enamoured of his gross environment, remains sunk in ignorance and apathy, making no attempt to cast off the veil that has fallen upon him. Blind to the beauty of Oneness, he turns away from God to seek the vanities of this world and allows his appetites to domineer over his reason, notwithstanding that the animal soul, which the Koran describes as "commanding to evil" , is the greatest of all veils between God and Man.

Now I will begin and explain to you, fully and lucidly, what you wish to know concerning the "stations" and the "veils", and I will interpret the expressions of the technicologists , and add thereto some sayings of the Shaykhs and anecdotes about them, in order that your object may be accomplished and that any learned doctors of law or others who look into this work may recognize that the Path of ??fiism has a firm root and a fruitful branch, since all the ??f? Shaykhs have been possessed of knowledge and have encouraged their disciples to acquire knowledge and to persevere in doing so. They have never been addicted to frivolity and levity. Many of them have composed treatises on the method of ??fiism which clearly prove that their minds were filled with divine thoughts.

Footnote 21:

The period within which a woman, who has been divorced or whose husband has died, may not marry again.

Footnote 22:

The point to which a Moslem turns his face when worshipping, viz. the Ka`ba.

SECTION.

Knowledge is of two kinds: Divine and Human. The latter is worthless in comparison with the former, because God's knowledge is an attribute of Himself, subsisting in Him, whose attributes are infinite; whereas our knowledge is an attribute of ourselves, subsisting in us, whose attributes are finite. Knowledge has been defined as "comprehension and investigation of the object known", but the best definition of it is this: "A quality whereby the ignorant are made wise." God's knowledge is that by which He knows all things existent and non-existent: He does not share it with Man: it is not capable of division nor separable from Himself. The proof of it lies in the disposition of His actions , since action demands knowledge in the agent as an indispensable condition. The Divine knowledge penetrates what is hidden and comprehends what is manifest. It behoves the seeker to Contemplate God in every act, knowing that God sees him and all that he does.

??tim al-A?amm said: "I have chosen four things to know, and have discarded all the knowledge in the world besides." He was asked: "What are they?" "One," he answered, "is this: I know that my daily bread is apportioned to me, and will neither be increased nor diminished; consequently I have ceased to seek to augment it. Secondly, I know that I owe to God a debt which no other person can pay instead of me; therefore I am occupied with paying it. Thirdly, I know that there is one pursuing me from whom I cannot escape; accordingly I have prepared myself to meet him. Fourthly, I know that God is observing me; therefore I am ashamed to do what I ought not."

SECTION.

The object of human knowledge should be to know God and His Commandments. Knowledge of "time" , and of all outward and inward circumstances of which the due effect depends on "time", is incumbent upon everyone. This is of two sorts: primary and secondary. The external division of the primary class consists in making the Moslem's profession of faith, the internal division consists in the attainment of true cognition. The external division of the secondary class consists in the practice of devotion, the internal division consists in rendering one's intention sincere. The outward and inward aspects cannot be divorced. The exoteric aspect of Truth without the esoteric is hypocrisy, and the esoteric without the exoteric is heresy. So, with regard to the Law, mere formality is defective, while mere spirituality is vain.

Footnote 23:

The Knowledge of the Truth has three pillars--

Knowledge of the Essence and Unity of God. Knowledge of the Attributes of God. Knowledge of the Actions and Wisdom of God.

The Knowledge of the Law also has three pillars--

The Koran. The Sunna. The Consensus of the Moslem community.

Knowledge of the Divine Essence involves recognition, on the part of one who is reasonable and has reached puberty, that God exists externally by His essence, that He is infinite and not bounded by space, that His essence is not the cause of evil, that none of His creatures is like unto Him, that He has neither wife nor child, and that He is the Creator and Sustainer of all that your imagination and intellect can conceive.

Knowledge of the Divine Attributes requires you to know that God has attributes existing in Himself, which are not He nor a part of Him, but exist in Him and subsist by Him, e.g. Knowledge, Power, Life, Will, Hearing, Sight, Speech, etc.

Knowledge of the Divine Actions is your knowledge that God is the Creator of mankind and of all their actions, that He brought the non-existent universe into being, that He predestines good and evil and creates all that is beneficial and injurious.

Knowledge of the Law involves your knowing that God has sent us Apostles with miracles of an extraordinary nature; that our Apostle, Mu?ammad , is a true Messenger, who performed many miracles, and that whatever he has told us concerning the Unseen and the Visible is entirely true.

SECTION.

There is a sect of heretics called Sophists , who believe that nothing can be known and that knowledge itself does not exist. I say to them: "You think that nothing can be known; is your opinion correct or not?" If they answer "It is correct", they thereby affirm the reality of knowledge; and if they reply "It is not correct", then to argue against an avowedly incorrect assertion is absurd. The same doctrine is held by a sect of heretics who are connected with ??fiism. They say that, inasmuch as nothing is knowable, their negation of knowledge is more perfect than the affirmation of it. This statement proceeds from their folly and stupidity. The negation of knowledge must be the result either of knowledge or of ignorance. Now it is impossible for knowledge to deny knowledge; therefore knowledge cannot be denied except by ignorance, which is nearly akin to infidelity and falsehood; for there is no connexion between ignorance and truth. The doctrine in question is opposed to that of all the ??f? Shaykhs, but is commonly attributed to the ??f?s in general by people who have heard it and embraced it. I commit them to God, with Whom it rests whether they shall continue in their error. If religion takes hold of them, they will behave more discreetly and will not misjudge the Friends of God in this way and will look more anxiously to what concerns themselves. Although some heretics claim to be ??f?s in order to conceal their own foulness under the beauty of others, why should it be supposed that all ??fis are like these pretenders, and that it is right to treat them all with disdain and contumely? An individual who wished to pass for learned and orthodox, but really was devoid of knowledge and religion, once said to me in the course of debate: "There are twelve heretical sects, and one of them flourishes amongst those who profess ??fiism" . I replied: "If one sect belongs to us, eleven belong to you; and the ??f?s can protect themselves from one better than you can from eleven." All this heresy springs from the corruption and degeneracy of the times, but God has always kept His Saints hidden from the multitude and apart from the ungodly. Well said that eminent spiritual guide, `Al? b. Bund?r al-?ayraf?: "The depravity of men's hearts is in proportion to the depravity of the age."

Now in the following section I will cite some sayings of the ??f?s as an admonition to those sceptics towards whom God is favourably inclined.

Footnote 24:

A famous ??f? of N?sh?p?r, who died in 359 A.H. .

SECTION.

Footnote 25:

Also a native of N?sh?p?r. He died in 328 A.H. .

Lack of positive religion and of morality arises from heedlessness . Well said that great master, Ya?y? b. Mu`?dh al-R?z?: "Avoid the society of three classes of men--heedless savants, hypocritical Koran-readers, and ignorant pretenders to ??fiism." The heedless savants are they who have set their hearts on worldly gain and paid court to governors and tyrants, and have been seduced by their own cleverness to spend their time in subtle disputations, and have attacked the leading authorities on religion. The hypocritical Koran-readers are they who praise whatever is done in accordance with their desire, even if it is bad, and blame whatever they dislike, even if it is good: they seek to ingratiate themselves with the people by acting hypocritically. The ignorant pretenders to ??fiism are they who have never associated with a spiritual director , nor learned discipline from a shaykh, but without any experience have thrown themselves among the people, and have donned a blue mantle , and have trodden the path of unrestraint.

Ab? Yaz?d Bis??m? says: "I strove in the spiritual combat for thirty years, and I found nothing harder to me than knowledge and its pursuit." It is more easy for human nature to walk on fire than to follow the road of knowledge, and an ignorant heart will more readily cross the Bridge a thousand times than learn a single piece of knowledge; and the wicked man would rather pitch his tent in Hell than put one item of knowledge into practice. Accordingly you must learn knowledge and seek perfection therein. The perfection of human knowledge is ignorance of Divine knowledge. You must know enough to know that you do not know. That is to say, human knowledge is alone possible to Man, and humanity is the greatest barrier that separates him from Divinity. As the poet says:--

"True perception is to despair of attaining perception, But not to advance on the paths of the virtuous is polytheism."

He who will not learn and perseveres in his ignorance is a polytheist, but to the learner, when his knowledge becomes perfect, the reality is revealed, and he perceives that his knowledge is no more than inability to know what his end shall be, since realities are not affected by the names bestowed upon them.

Footnote 26:

Kor. ii, 274.

God, therefore, has exalted Poverty and has made it a special distinction of the poor, who have renounced all things external and internal, and have turned entirely to the Causer; whose poverty has become their pride, so that they lamented its going and rejoiced at its coming, and embraced it and deemed all else contemptible.

The Prophet said: "Poverty is glorious to those who are worthy of it." Its glory consists in this, that the poor man's body is divinely preserved from base and sinful acts, and his heart from evil and contaminating thoughts, because his outward parts are absorbed in the manifest blessings of God, while his inward parts are protected by invisible grace, so that his body is spiritual and his heart divine . Then no relation subsists between him and mankind: this world and the next weigh less than a gnat's wing in the scales of his poverty: he is not contained in the two worlds for a single moment.

SECTION.

Footnote 27:

The Shaykhs who prefer wealth to poverty do not use the term "wealth" in its popular sense. What they intend is not "acquisition of a benefit" but "acquisition of the Benefactor"; to gain union is a different thing from gaining forgetfulness . Shaykh Ab? Sa`?d--God have mercy on him!--says: "Poverty is wealth in God" , i.e. everlasting revelation of the Truth. I answer to this, that revelation implies the possibility of a veil ; therefore, if the person who enjoys revelation is veiled from revelation by the attribute of wealth, he either becomes in need of revelation or he does not; if he does not, the conclusion is absurd, and if he does, need is incompatible with wealth; therefore that term cannot stand. Besides, no one has "wealth in God" unless his attributes are permanent and his object is invariable; wealth cannot coincide with the subsistence of an object or with the affirmation of the attributes of human nature, inasmuch as the essential characteristics of mortality and phenomenal being are need and indigence. One whose attributes still survive is not rich, and one whose attributes are annihilated is not entitled to any name whatever. Therefore "the rich man is he who is enriched by God" , because the term "rich in God" refers to the agent , whereas the term "enriched by God" denotes the person acted upon ; the former is self-subsistent, but the latter subsists through the agent; accordingly self-subsistence is an attribute of human nature, while subsistence through God involves the annihilation of attributes. I, then, who am `Al? b. `Uthm?n al-Jull?b?, assert that true wealth is incompatible with the survival of any attribute, since human attributes have already been shown to be defective and subject to decay; nor, again, does wealth consist in the annihilation of these attributes, because a name cannot be given to an attribute that no longer exists, and he whose attributes are annihilated cannot be called either "poor" or "rich"; therefore the attribute of wealth is not transferable from God to Man, and the attribute of poverty is not transferable from Man to God.

Footnote 28:

All the ??f? Shaykhs and most of the vulgar prefer poverty to wealth for the reason that the Koran and the Sunna expressly declare it to be superior, and herein the majority of Moslems are agreed. I find, among the anecdotes which I have read, that on one occasion this question was discussed by Junayd and Ibn `A??. The latter maintained the superiority of the rich. He argued that at the Resurrection they would be called to account for their wealth, and that such an account entails the hearing of the Divine Word, without any mediation, in the form of reproach : and reproach is addressed by the Beloved to the lover. Junayd answered: "If He will call the rich to account, He will ask the poor for their excuse; and asking an excuse is better than calling to account." This is a very subtle point. In true love excuse is "otherness" and reproach is contrary to unity . Lovers regard both these things as a blemish, because excuse is made for some disobedience to the command of the Beloved and reproach is made on the same score; but both are impossible in true love, for then neither does the Beloved require an expiation from the lover nor does the lover neglect to perform the will of the Beloved.

Footnote 29:

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