"Al-Haqq ravished me" (Jadhb): Emir Abd el Kader

Mawqif 7

Al-Haqq ravished me away from my (illusory) Self and brought me closer to my real (Self); the disappearance of the earth has led to the disappearance of the heavens (1). The All and its parts have become one. The vertical and the horizontal have been annihilated (2). The supererogatory works have given way to the obligatory works (3) and all colors have returned to the pure primordial whiteness (4).

The voyage has reached its term and anything other than Hu has ceased to exist. Attributions, considerations and relations having been abolished, the original state has been reestablished:
" Today I have lowered your lineage and raised My lineage (5) ".

The words of al-Hallaj were said to me, with the difference that he himself had uttered them while in my case, they were uttered for me. Those words whose meaning is understood and accepted only by those who deserve them; those words which are misunderstood and rejected by those in whom ignorance prevails.

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(1) The earth and the heavens represent respectively the Manifest Universe ('Alam al-Shahada) and the Hidden Universe ('Alam al-Ghayb) to which correspond microscopically, the world of the flesh and that of the spirit. Their disappearance here is a consequence of their resorption into the Principle.

(2) This use of technical language was first seen in Hallaj : verticality:refers to the spiritual world that of the pure concepts and divine commandments; horizontality: refers to the physical world of the creation.
The annihilation of the geometrical dimensions refers to the return to the Initial Point.

(3) The annihilation of the supererogatory acts refers to the extinction of the individual will and its identification with the Divine Will in the thought of Ibn'Arabi.

(4) Symbolically, the colors are due to an artificial tainting (insibagh) of the original white Light.

(5) Hadith Qudsi reported by Ibn 'Arabi in "The Ringstones of Wisdom" (Fusus al-Hikam) and discussed at length in the Chapter : "Ringstone of Prophet Hud".
Our relationship to al-Haqq is closer than any other relationship because it is the relationship to our most intimate self. All other relationships disappear in presence of Allah (swt), Surat al- Mu'minoon: 23: 101: " For when the trumpet is blown, that day there shall be no kinship any more between them, neither shall they question each other."
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This is from the book of "Mawaqif"  ( Spiritual halts/Pauses ) of Emir Abd al-Kader on the description of the state of being ravished (Majdhub)

I have used the French translation of the " Ecrits Spirituels" of M. Chodkiewicz (including the footnotes) and the English translation of "The Ringstones of Wisdom" of Caner Dagli which is highly readable and contains excellent glosses.

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

Shaykh Ahmad al Rifai : Himma (Spiritual Aspiration)

Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem.

"You are bound to die"

Brothers,

The secret of the Absolute Reality ( Haqiqa) is apparent, the banner of Divine Knowledge
(Ma'arifat) is raised and the door to the Divine Nexus(Wasl) is open. It is only that, you have become veiled from the vision (Ru'yat) of these noble values through your love of this world
(al-dunya) and your forgetfulness of death.

How amazing it is that, one who knows that he will die (one day) should forget death! How amazing it is that, one who knows that he will be leaving al-dunya should throw himself on it and spend his days loving it! How amazing it is that, one who knows that he will return to Allah should deviate from Him and turn towards anOther.!

By Allah ! this heedlessness of yours is a grave matter! There is no transformation or strength except through Allah the High, the Almighty !
( La Hawla wa la quwata illa bi-llahi al'alii al-azeem) .

Lies attract you, in the gardens of ignorance you meander and in matters of earnings you invent artful machinations, all the while you feel safe from (future) penalties as if you never read :
"Did ye then think that We had created you in jest, and that ye would not be brought back to Us (for account)?" ( Surat al- Mu'minoon 23 :115)
and you never heard :
"I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me. No provisions do I require of them, nor do I require that they should feed Me." ( Surat al-Dharyat 51:56-57).

He has guaranteed your provision yet you busy (yourselves) with its devices; while He has NOT guaranteed anyone of you Al-Jannah (Paradise), yet you act as if you were given the glad tidings thereof.

You have lost precious moments with fun and forgetfulness and passed the days with heedlessness and disobedience. Your jokes are the jokes of those who are assured they will have no (future) regrets and your fun is the fun of those who have not heard of the Day of Resurrection. It is as if you never looked at the graves and never got an instructive example from their
dwellers.
Where are your fathers and your ancestors who passed before you?
Where are those who have accumulated more possessions than you have ? And those who carried more ignorance than you do ?
Do you disbelieve in Allah? Or is it arrogance that you display towards Allah ?

Brothers,

Whosoever knows that his Self will be annihilated and knows that Allah alone is Everlasting, turns his Self away from al-Dunya. Allah Almighty has stated: " But unto him who stood in fear of his Sustainer's Presence, and held back his inner Self from base desires, Paradise will truly be the abode!"
( Surat al-Nazi'aat 79: 40-41).
He spoke to His Prophet ...and said: "Yet, verily, You are bound to die, [O Muhammad,] and, verily, they, too, are bound to die" ( Surat al-Zummar 39: 30).

Gather then your spiritual aspiration (Himma) in order to reach the lofty ranks of those who have preceded you, so that you do not fall under His statement :"Yet they were succeeded by generations [of people] who lost all [thought of prayer and followed [but] their own lusts; and these will, in time, meet with utter disillusion " ( Surat Maryam 19:59).

Knock on the Noble door with the hand of poverty and necessity, and approach Him from the door of humbleness and subservience; for there is no escape from my and your move towards the dwelling of the Afterlife and there is no way out of my descent and yours in the revolving graves.

" Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! And anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil, shall see it" ( Surat al-Zalzalat 99:7-8).

And the one who shall be saved will be the one who dealt with Allah with his God-consciousness (Taqwa) and feared Him while still in this life.

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From "al-Burhan Al-Mu'ayyid" (The Supportive Evidence)