Niffari : A secret sharing ( Munajat)

The Divine Attributes Al-Aleem (The All-Knowing) and Al-Qadeer (The All-Powerful) occur together in 3 verses of the Qur'an only:

Surat al Nahl 16:70

It is Allah who creates you and takes your souls at death; and of you there are some who are sent back to a feeble age, so that they know nothing after having known (much): for Allah is All-Knowing, All-Powerful.

 وَٱللَّهُ خَلَقَكُمْ ثُمَّ يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ وَمِنكُم مَّن يُرَدُّ إِلَىٰ أَرْذَلِ ٱلْعُمُرِ لِكَيْ لاَ يَعْلَمَ بَعْدَ عِلْمٍ شَيْئاً إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ قَدِيرٌ 

Surat Fatir 35:44

 Do they not travel through the earth, and see what was the End of those before them,- though they were superior to them in strength? Nor is Allah to be frustrated by anything whatever in the heavens or on earth: for He is All-Knowing. All-Powerful.

أَوَلَمْ يَسِيرُواْ فِي ٱلأَرْضِ فَيَنظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ وَكَانُوۤاْ أَشَدَّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ لِيُعْجِزَهُ مِن شَيْءٍ فِي ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَلاَ فِي ٱلأَرْضِ إِنَّهُ كَانَ عَلِيماً قَدِيراً

Surat al Shura 42:50

Or He bestows both males and females, and He leaves barren whom He will: for He is All-Knowing, All Powerful.

 أَوْ يُزَوِّجُهُمْ ذُكْرَاناً وَإِنَاثاً وَيَجْعَلُ مَن يَشَآءُ عَقِيماً إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ قَدِيرٌ 

Niffari : A secret sharing
My God,
The references of every thing return to its meaning and its meaning has perceived the powerlessness of that thing. For the truth of every thing is ignorance for that thing: the thing is unable to know its own truth; and the meaning of every thing is mightier than its knowledge, which thus cannot perceive its meaning.


My God,
You are at the origin of every thing, You return it to what You will so that it becomes as You wish it to be; You execute on it what You wish and it becomes as You wish it. Its owner cannot protect it for he does not own it beyond You its Owner; nor does anyone own it beyond You so that You would be prevented access to it.


My God,
When each thing is powerless to know its own self, and powerless to perceive what harms it and what benefits it, how much more powerless is it to have knowledge of You and even more powerless to perceive any thing without You.


Source: The Book of The Speech and the Silence ( Kitab al NuTtq wal Ssamt)

Niffari: Mystic crying...

Islamic Museum of Art
Al-Dawha, Qatar

 ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ ٱلْعِلْمَ مِن قَبْلِهِ إِذَا يُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ يَخِرُّونَ لِلأَذْقَانِ سُجَّداً *

.........Those who were given knowledge in pre-eternity, when it is recited to them, fall down on their faces in humble prostration, And they say: 'Glory to our Lord Sustainer! Truly has the promise of our Lord been fulfilled!'They fall down on their faces in tears, and it increases their awed humility.

Niffari

All crying is attached to a meaning that provokes it; this meaning ends in turn in a destination that is the aim of the crying; within this aim resides Joy.

The one who cries does so as long as that Joy is in his knowledge but not in his realization. As soon as he reaches and realizes the Joy, he stops crying.

The book of Speech and of silence ( Kitab al Natq wal Samt)

Niffari: Mawqif al-Bahr ( Pause at the Sea) & Surat Hud 11:41

{ وَقَالَ ٱرْكَبُواْ فِيهَا بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ مَجْريٰهَا وَمُرْسَاهَا إِنَّ رَبِّي لَغَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ }

" And he said : "Embark therein. In the name of Allah is its run and its anchoring. Indeed my Sustainer is incessantly and comprehensively forgiving and merciful". " Surat Hud : 11:41"

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The Stop-over or Pause is a step between two stations of the Path according to Ibn 'Arabi.

This Mawqif is considered to be addressed to those in the beginning of Suluk (walk on the Path). It concerns primarily the central issue of maintaining a correct Intention on the Path and what the Salik encounters of the fruits of his attempts. The Sea is understood to be what the Salek must cross and within which he must travel during his walk on the Path.

موقف البحر

أوقفني في البحر فرأيت المراكب تغرق والألواح تسلم، ثم غرقت الألواح، وقال لي لا يسلم من ركب.

وقال لي خاطر من ألقى نفسه ولم يركب.

وقال لي هلك من ركب وما خاطر.

وقال لي في المخاطرة جزء من النجاة، وجاء الموج ورفع ما تحته وساح على الساحل.

وقال لي ظاهر البحر ضوء لا يبلغ، وقعرة ظلمه لا تمكن، وبينهما حيتان لا تستأمن.

وقال لي لا تركب البحر فأحجبك بالآلة، ولا تلق نفسك فيه فأحجبك به.

وقال لي في البحر حدود أيها يقلك.

وقال لي إذا وهبت نفسك للبحر فغرقت فيه كنت كدابة من دوابه.

وقال لي غششتك إن دللتك على سواي.

وقال لي إن هلكت في سواي كنت لما هلكت فيه.

وقال لي الدنيا لمن صرفته عنها وصرفتها عنه، والآخرة لمن أقبلت بها إليه وأقبلت به علي.

Stop-over at the Sea

He stopped me at the Sea:

I saw the vessels sink and the planks remain afloat; eventually, the planks did also sink.

He said to me:

"He who rides (a vessel) is not safe. He who throws himself [in the sea] and does not ride a vessel is taking a risk. He who rides and does not take a risk will reach perdition"

He said to me:

"A part of Salvation lies in the taking of risk. The waves come, lift what lies underneath them and spread it and themselves openly on the shore".

He said to me:

" The surface of the Sea is Luminosity the source of which cannot be reached; the bottom of the Sea is Darkness, indomitable. Between Luminosity and Darkness live the beasts of the sea which cannot be trusted/with whom there is no safety"

He said to me:

" Do not ride (a vessel) in the sea, I would then veil you from Me through its instrument/mean, and do not throw yourself in the sea, I would then veil you from Me through the sea itself."

He said to me:

" If you give yourself to the sea and drown in it then you are nothing but another one of the beasts of the sea."

He said to me:

" I would be cheating you if I were ever to direct you/show you evidence for other than Me."

He said to me:

" If you reach perdition in the pursuit of other than Me, you will be delivered to what you reached perdition for"

He said to me:

" This world ( al-Dunyah) belongs to the one whom I distracted from it; the afterworld (al-Akhira) belongs to the one I approached through it and brought him to Myself"

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Further reading: 

1. Sharh Mawaqef al Niffari ( Explanation of the Pauses of Niffari) by al 'Aref billah al-Tilmasani (d. 690 H)

2. Tajrid al-Tawhid Lil Niffari (Divestment in the Tawhid of Niffari) Dr. Jamal Ahmad Marzuqi