47

Al-Wadûd

 

The Loving

The Beloved & The Constant in Love

 

Ya Wadud: O Loving1

 

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There is a Sufi school that believes that in the practice of the repetition of the name (wazifa2) that the sound, the resonance has a mantric quality that is most important, the meaning of the name or the concept of the meaning of the name for the Sufi being secondary. Another school from the lineage of Samuel Lewis said8:” There are those who say or maybe even believe that there is a "science" to the practice of Wazifa. I am not amongst that group. As I have observed these people for 34 plus years and have not seen any sign of their mastery of the Wazifa, nor seen any sign of the Wazifa's mastery of them.  As always I suggest ones surrender to The One Heart, and allowing Allah to take it from there8.”

 

Bawa Muhaiyaddeen5 said:”You must try to pronounce these words and intend their meaning correctly. God is the trustee, He is the law, He is the judge. Allah decides who is speaking these words correctly and who is not. Allah looks only at the qalb (The heart within the heart of man, the inner heart) of the one who is reciting; He does not look at the words being said. He looks only at the qalb. One who is learned will look at the letters, but Allah looks at the qalbs. For one who is not learned, it is his qalb which speaks. Allah looks at that clarity. Allah does not look to see if the letters are clear or if the pronunciation is clear. He looks only to see if the heart is clear”5.

 

“It is stated in scriptures that love can help overcome all limitations. The difference between theological religion and mysticism is that the theologian affirms, believes and strives while the mystic lives. He has no philosophy apart from the life itself. When one has an aspiring teacher, the heart becomes alive and also as the heart becomes more alive, one feels the presence of the teacher.”3

 

Concerning the meaning of Wadud, the theologians are in agreement to eliminate the concept of divine love or regarding the love of men for God, understand it as obeying, serving and wanting to exalt His name4. 

 

Wadud has many interpretations according to different perspectives. From a Sufi point of view, Wadud means The Loving5, 6, & 7. Bawa call it The Loving and The Affectionate5.

 

Ar-Râzî7 said that the action name wadd  is the origin of wadud, meaning love or affection (hubb). He distinguishes three aspects in the interpretation of this name:

 

  1. Al-wadûd has the meaning of al-wâdd, the Lover, the One Who loves His servants, as Allâh said: “whom He loves and who love Him…” (yuhibbuhum wa yuhibbûnahu) (Koran 5, 54)9, because Allah loves His servants, this is to say that He wants to bring them to the highest states of consciousness (les réalités les meilleures7). In this interpretation, love (wadd) is close to Compassion (rahma), this one demands in opposite to love, a weaker being who is the object of compassion.
  2. Al-wadûd is the One who bring beings to love the creation as it is said: ”Those who believe and do good deeds, for them the Beneficent will surely bring about love” (sa yaj’alu lahum-ur-rahmânu waddan) (Koran 19, 96)9. Allāh’s bringing about love for the righteous means that He loves them Himself and inspires love for them in the hearts of other people, while they also love Allāh as well as their fellow-beings (commentary in Koran 19,969). The righteous servants of God are opposed at first, but gradually their goodness prevails and they are loved and admired (commentary in Koran 19,969).
  3.  Al-wadûd has the meaning of al-mawdûd, the beloved. Allâh is beloved by His Saints because of the blessings that He bestows upon them.

 

As a possible relationship of love between men and God, there is already allusion to it with walī, that is interpreted in the meaning of muhibb. So when the Koran says that God is the walī of the believer: “Allāh is the Friend of those who believe – He brings them out of darkness into light.” (Koran 2, 257) and again “And Allāh is the Friend of the believers.” (Koran 3, 68)9, we should understand by this according to Qušayri and Rāzī that God loves them (yuhibbuhum). However, as we see in the study of walī, it is also a term with many meanings, often it is the equivalent of nāsir or nasīr (protector or governor) that is retained. Among the divine names, wadūd is one where the idea of love is expressed without doubts4.

 

In two passages in the Koran, God is qualified “And He is the Forgiving, the Loving.” (wa huwa l-ġafūru l-wadūdu) (Koran 85, 149) also translated as “And He alone is truly forgiving, all-embracing in his love.” (Al-Buruj 85:14, tr. Asad) and  “Surely my Lord is Merciful, Loving-kind.” (inna rabbī rahīmun wadūdun) (Koran 11, 909) or . Commentators said about it that wadūd comes from wudd as seen with Rāzī, this is an exact equivalent to hubb or mahabba. But this fa’ūl is susceptible of two different interpretations4:

 

  1. It can have the meaning of fā’il, like ġafūr, šakūr, synonyms of ġafir, šakir and sābir. Wadūd has then the meaning of wādd, this is to say muhibb. So this will mean that God loves those who believe, that God loves His friends4.
  2. From another view, wadūd would mean loved by those who believe, this is His servants who love Him4.

 

Azharī said that it was a God’s goodness (fadl) to love those who obey Him and for those to love Him because of His Goodness towards them4.

 

Hattābī gave a third meaning to understand wadūd in a causative manner, that God makes other creatures love the believers4.

 

In the first most common accepted meaning of wadūd, what is this “love” of God for His believers? Theologians take away from that “love” of God any idea of emotional love or human love. Theologians want to understand that as obedience to God or the will to obey Him, to exalt His name and to serve Him. On this point of view there is much difference between theologians and mystics who assimilate the love of God as passionate love (‘išq)10.

 

These interpretations brings to mind the expression often found in Sufism that God is love, lover and beloved. We will look at the meaning of wadūd as equivalent to ‘išq or ishk. Murshid Samuel Lewis has commented much on ishk.

 

In a bowl of Saki commentary, Samuel Lewis defines ishk or ‘išq as follows11:

 

“Ishk keeps the parts of the body together, unifies the mind, coordinates the body, mind and heart. Ishk brings joy and Ishk leads to peace. Ishk may be found in matter and yet out of matter. Without Ishk there could be no matter, yet the existence of Ishk is not dependent on matter. The spiritual life is the life in and of Ishk, in other words, of love. This is true herenow, heretofore and hereafter. The word *Logos* which appears in the New Testament is nothing but a variation of Ishk, only it includes in its meaning Sound, Breath and Intelligence. The best translation for Logos is Intelligence -- in Sufi terminology, Ilm.11”

 

In this bowl of Saki commentary Samuel Lewis continue to explain ishk in comparison to ilm12 as a commentary to Hazrat Inayat Khan “To love is one thing; to understand is another. One who loves is a devotee, but one who understands is a friend.12”

 

“This is the difference between Ishk and Ilm, that the devotee is intoxicated by the love and light of God, that one longs for nothing else, that one is bathed in the Universal Spirit; one is a devotee, sometimes a saint. But there is another stage: to be bathed in this ocean, to drink of the cosmic wine and not be drunk. This is sobriety, the fruit of which is Ilm -- the supreme knowledge or universal intelligence, possession of which makes one a sage.

 

The devotee, possessing Ishk, becomes nothing in the sight of God – he is non-existing in the Existent. But the sage, possessing Ilm, is as God in the sight of nothing -- he is Existent in the non-existent. *Fana* describes the devotee in Ishk, *Baka* the sage with Ilm. 12”

 

In the Sufi Ruhaniat International papers, reference to wadūd is only found in the list of the 99 beautiful names of God, but Ishk is largely commented on by Samuel Lewis.

 

In this commentary Samuel Lewis equates Ishk or ‘išq with God and so by inclusion with love and wadūd:

 

“When we look at this from the standpoint of the soul -- which is nothing but Ishk, nothing but God -- this Divine Life-Energy cannot touch matter. It is thrown back upon itself and impedes what is called its evolution. Strictly speaking, soul cannot evolve, cannot change, but it can experience life on the surface or in the depths. To be free it cannot be limited, and when the door to the exterior is closed, suffering naturally follows for the essence of joy is shut out.13”

 

In this commentary14 on Hazrat Inayat Khan: “Love has the power to open the door of eternal life.”, Samuel Lewis identifies Ishk as the supreme love and life itself:

 

“Because love is life -- they are not two, they are one. The only force in animal passion is the life-force, and this life-force leads to propagation of species. The transmutation of love from the sphere of procreation to creation is a transmutation of life-force, which may then be directed at will. Yet all usages of this life-force should be for the greatest satisfaction in order that beauty may increase and every deed becomes a work of art.

 

When one reaches this stage, one brings paradise to earth and one lives one's immortality. Immortality, being of the nature of the infinite, is therefore unqualified and knows no self. The true Atman, if the totality can so be called, is life, but life not in the sense that it is generally known. Rather it is Ishk, the Supreme Love which bonds everything in creation and yet is bound by nothing. 14”

 

In this commentary Samuel Lewis defines Ishk further15:

 

“This shows the operation of Ishk. The expansive effect of Ishk, altering coarser vibrations into finer ones, creates what is called spirit. Spirit and matter are one, but the force of Ishk is lessened as it is removed from its source, which is the Throne or Heart of God (*Arsh*). Through Ishk ice melts, flowers grow, animals gain strength and all power of man comes. So to conceive that "Allaho Akbar" has one effect and "Ishk Allah" has another is blindness, except that "Allaho Akbar" seems to touch the physical body quicker and the heart more slowly while "Ishk Allah" touches the heart more quickly and the physical body more slowly. But in the end they meet, the purpose is the same -- the spiritualization of the field of endeavor. When the Divine Breath and Divine Efflux touch a sphere, they bring life, love, power and inspiration, breaking all hardness of heart, mind or body15.”

 

Here Samuel Lewis equates Ishk with Divine Spirit16 in this commentary on Hazrat Inayat Khan: “Pleasure blocks, but pain clears the way to inspiration.”:

 

“Pleasure attaches value to limitations, to names and forms and personalities, while inspiration depends upon the efflux of the Divine Spirit -- in other words, Ishk. Pleasure always enhances the ego, and as pain restrains the nufs, it opens up the greatest possibilities for spiritual development.16”

 

In this commentary on: “It is the soul’s light which is the natural intelligence” by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Samuel Lewis defines Ishk as Intelligence, light and Oneness17:

 

“What is called *Nur* is the Universal Light which touches every part of the universe. Without this Light there would be no universe: it is the aspect of Ishk which we call Intelligence because it becomes the light of the Mind. Although Ishk is all light, it is Oneness: in it there is no Mind although there is *Buddha-citta*, the essence of Mind. By an accommodation in the Supreme the light produces forms, but these forms are made out of the vibrations of the light-self. Then the light appears within these forms and enables them to perceive phenomena.

 

It is, however, the soul which sees, whether through an individual – be that individual rock, plant, animal, man or planet -- or whether it be the sight of body, mind or heart. 17”

 

In this commentary “Sympathy is the root of religion; and so long as the spirit of sympathy is living in your heart, you have the light of religion. Hazrat Inayat Khan18”Samuel Lewis defines the equivalent of Ishk in other religions as karuna by the Buddhists and agape by the Christians:

 

“Religion is that which connects one with God. Therefore it is not mental, and not being mental there can be no theology or system of beliefs. When a mother suckles an infant there is no system of beliefs, there is not any intellectual enterprise. She loves it because she loves it, and this is very much simpler to explain than the love between God and the soul.
 
Now the feeling between mother and child, between God and soul which is called love, or *agape* by the Christians, *Ishk* by the Sufis and Muslims generally, *karuna* by the Buddhists and has other names elsewhere, is the great driving power in the Universe. This sympathy is the same force which appears as cohesion, adhesion and gravitation among the physical forces; this promotes all growth -- physical, mental or spiritual -- and is the principle behind many faculties which appear in the world of creation.
 
As it's essence is supermental, it can be appreciated – without being completely understood -- by mind. Nor is this necessary. Everyone can express sympathy or feel it from another; all that is therefore necessary is to perceive that that feeling and not any system of beliefs, is the fundamental root of real religion.18”
 
This is repeated in this commentary on: “The heart of every person, both good and bad, is the abode of God, and care should be taken never to wound anyone by word or act. Hazrat Inayat Khan”20 where Ishk is compared again to Karuna and Agape translated as selfless love.

 

“If there were no some good in the human heart, life in the physical body would be impossible because the blood would be carrying poison to every cell and muscle and gland. We even see some strange deaths called heart-failure or given other names which result from psychic poison impregnating the physical body.

 

Every harsh thought of man immediately affects two fluids: the vital fluid or energy called *prana* which flows in and out with the breath, and the Universal Life-Love Essence which holds the very earth together, which is the heart energy. The harsh thought through prana affects chiefly the mind of another, for it is directed toward such a one; but such also is the nature of prana, so also does the exhalation of the breath operate that it touches the mental body of each person in its course and whatsoever it gives to another it gives to oneself.

 

But the effect upon the heart-energy, which may be considered as the Universal Life-Force, is to strike every human being upon earth, even to affect others upon earth and those in the unseen. The proper use of this heart-energy is called *Ishk* by the Sufis, *Karuna* by the Buddhists and *Agape* in the New Testament, which can be translated as "selfless love."

 

There is a difference here in that thoughts affect chiefly the thinker and the thing or person concerned in the thought, whereas the feeling affects the whole cosmic body of Adam, Universal Man. In this, by our feelings and attitudes, we either raise or lower the whole humanity. So when Jesus Christ said, "Love ye one another, " when Mohammed taught in Koran that Allah created us from clots of blood, it was in reference to the fact -- the great truth of existence -- of the Universal Love-Energy.

 

The Master, the Saint, the Bodhisattva place their consciousness in this great stream, in this ocean of love, and by sending forth their thoughts of loving-kindness they benefit the whole humanity. When these thoughts are individualized they reach a few; otherwise they reach many. This is the reason for silence on the part of sages.20”

 
This commentary on:”To give sympathy is sovereignty, to desire it from others is captivity” by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Samuel Lewis defines Ishk Allah as the sympathy of God to His creation19:
 
“ISHK ALLAH. Sympathy is God Himself, there is no difference. When one gives out sympathy, one is expressing God; one has found God whether conscious of it or not. But when one desires it, one has not found it, the search is not complete.
 
This sympathy is the very root-force of the Universe and when one comes to the heart of it -- which is found even within the human heart -- all keys to all mysteries are found. There is no lost key to mysteries other than love and sympathy, and to look for anything mental or magical or evocative is lost effort. By removing the ego in love and sympathy, with love and sympathy the Golden Key becomes one's possession.19”
 

In this commentary on “Love alone is the fountain from which all virtues fall as drops of sparkling water – by Hazrat Inayat Khan” Samuel Lewis the outpouring life is Ishk21:

 

“Virtue is life itself as reflected in the moral nature of man. By moral nature is meant that which qualifies life, speech, thought, action.  This moral nature is connected with essence of mind, and this essence of mind (Citta) really belongs to heart.

 

 Every virtue is an outpouring of life -- that is to say, of Ishk as Ishk touches the surface. In the depths it is Ishk; on the surface it becomes the various moral qualities, or as Shakespeare has beautifully put it, "The Quality of mercy is not strained, it droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.21"

 

In this commentary Samuel Lewis explains Ishk as the movement of energy from the devotee to God through prayer that is a good example of the second aspect of wadūd as explained above by Gimaret, Hazrat Inayat Khan said: “It is according to the extent of our consciousness of prayer that our prayer reaches God.22”

 

“The average person dependent upon mind -- even though he be a devotee -- cannot pierce the mind-mesh. As soon as one views life from the aspect of the relative non-reality of personality, all life and love enter the prayer. Then prayer becomes Ishk and mounts to the throne of God.22”

 

The same concept of reaching upward towards God is to be found in this commentary on “Every wave of the sea, as it rises, seems to be stretching its hands upwards, as if to say, ‘Take me higher and higher.’ By Hazrat Inayat Khan”24:

 

“The waves of the sea are partly caused by the tides, which are themselves the result of gravitation, which in turn is an activity of Ishk in the physical sphere. This movement upward of the water, whether as wave or as vapor, is caused by the law that to find liberation one must become other than what one has been. So the water becomes the vapor and the vapor the cloud. Yet the nufs of water is such that the emancipation does not make water non-water.

 

So the emancipation of man does not make man other than man; he can become neither animal nor angel, though he behaves worse than animal or better than angel. There is a ceaseless striving in every form, and the seeking of

liberation is the seeking of God.24”

 

In this “Love is as the water of the Ganges; it is in itself a purification. By Hazrat Inayat Khan” Samuel Lewis call the quality of Ishk, the nature of love, so wadūd or the Sifat of God23:

 

“Heart heals heart. Heart may contract or expand. Its expansion is caused by Ishk; this brings healing and joy and this joy touches every corner of the Universe. The lover is as the sun which radiates energy everywhere. This cannot be explained; it is the nature of love, it is the quality of Ishk, it is the Sifat of God.23”

 

In this commentary on “The soul of all is one soul, and the truth is one truth, under whatever religion it is hidden. By Hazrat Inayat Khan” Samuel Lewis defines Ishk as love or wadūd24 as a binding and uniting force of the universe:

 

“Ishk (or love) unites one to another. One does not regard the fingers as having any reality apart from the body. So the life in one is that which unites one to another. Life is impossible without holding some relation to plant, animal or human. We are all interdependent, showing that the reality in us is greater than any conception we may hold. Without Ishk we would not be.

 

Yet Ishk is force not personality and it is not dependent upon personality. That person which is the source of Ishk is none other than God or Allah or Brahma or Darmakaya. This knowledge is vouchsafed to no one so long as that one is considered apart from all others.24”

 

In this advise to mureed, Samuel Lewis says to kept our heart in Ishk in commentary to Hazrat Inayat Khan “We should be careful to take away from ourselves any thorns that prick us in the personality of others.”25:

 

“The heart contains all notes, consequently it can harmonize with any other heart. When there is disharmony, it is a head condition; no matter how justified that disharmony, still it is related to nufs. God in the Supreme Essence contains all goodness and badness or none; that is to say God is the Perfection of quality, never its extension -- no matter how great the extension be. God is not multitudes, or largeness, but infinite, and this infinite qualification escapes comprehension of finite mind.

 

If the spiritual aspirant keeps the breath in Fikar, if the talib holds the heart in Ishk, it is impossible to be unfavorably affected by others. One is either united with all souls or not so united. This does not mean condescension to others. It means either change yourself to become harmonious to that person, or else -- with all the force at your command -- to drive the evil spirit out of the other and make them whole. The use of this power is not contrary to Ishk if it heals

another.25”

 

In this commentary Samuel Lewis speaks of the stages of the heart experienced by the mystics in commentary to “Love is unlimited, but it needs scope to expand and rise; without that scope life is unhappy. By Hazrat Inayat Khan”.26:

 

 “Involution is really involution of love or Ishk. Accommodation was made which produced mind. Through mind, soul would see, but mind also created thoughts which proved confusing. Love does not think, yet understands

thought. Love hampered by thought cannot rise and expand. Love, free from the bondage of self, can expand or contract without hindrance and without confusion. These stages of the heart are experienced by the mystics and form

the spiritual life.26”

 

In this commentary on love or wadūd Samuel Lewis says on “Enviable is the one who loveth and asketh no return. By Hazrat Inayat Khan” 27:

 

“It is only heart which can heal heart. When heart depends upon other than heart, heart has still to learn. The Sufi system of spiritual dependence upon a teacher is founded upon this principle, that when one's heart is not open, it can be awakened either by complete attunement with one whose heart is already opened or who is attuning himself to one whose heart is opened.

 

There is no asking or seeking in love -- or giving or taking. The natural condition of heart is this: that when it loves others it feeds itself and when it feeds itself it shares with all others. This explains the mysteries of the loaves and fishes of the Bible. Loaves are the Divine Knowledge and the fishes symbolize the breath. No matter how much the

Divine Knowledge is given away, it is not diminished; rather the more one shares with another, the more one benefits therefrom.27”

 

In this one “The plain truth is too simple for the seeker after complexity, who is looking for things he cannot understand. By Hazrat Inayat Khan” Samuel Lewis calls Ishk the great life force of the universe28:

 

“The emotional stir of things and the intoxication of the outer life are the great detriments. One who has become accustomed to them grows to love complexities. Now heart is not complex although heart may be considered as

*involved*. That is to say, one cannot by simple analysis find heart. Heart is simple but not analyzable. One cannot express the greater in terms of the smaller and still understand the greater. Man is an aggregate of cells, let

us say. Yet we can study physical cells forever and never discover man. This shows there is something missing in analysis. This something, every little child knows -- as well as a loving mother and a kind father, often quite

involuntarily -- for it is the very nature of life which causes them to feel this something. This is Ishk, the great life-force of the Universe which is tendered to every man through Divine Guidance.28”

 

Finally in commentary to “Love develops into harmony, and of harmony is born beauty. By Hazrat Inayat Khan” Samuel Lewis says that the opposite to Love is not hate but chaos29.

 

“If there were an opposite condition to Love, it would not be hate, but chaos. Hate is a force derived from love, concentrated through nufs. Chaos, on the other hand, is the opposite of all love. Allah, through Ishk, destroyed and destroys chaos, and the first sign of the absence of chaos is the music of life expressed in rhythms and harmonies. This is the cause of all vibrations, out of which all worlds were made.

 

Beauty is the natural result of harmony in that it uplifts the soul. The harmonies, melodies and rhythms of vibrations and forms are intoxicating. One can see in an instant the inspiration of an artist -- that one picture does not inspire and another does inspire the witness. Beauty in form, be it in nature or from the hands of man, is always compelling and uplifting.29”

 

Sheihk Nazim gave this lecture on the practice of ya Wadūd30:

“( Sheikh Nazim  led the assembly in calling on the  Holy  Name of Allah -  ya Wadud) – a Divine  Name signifying God’s all embracing Love.  (Pronounced Wadood, rhyming with food).   Then he spoke;

 There is nothing in all creation that the Creator, Allah Almighty, hates.  Indeed it is impossible to be hated by Allah and to be in existence; one absolutely precludes the other.   All creation appeared through His Divine Love.   He loved them and they appeared; therefore everything in existence carries its share of Divine Love in it.

  When I say “everything”, I mean everything from atoms and their parts – the very building- blocks of the universe – up to mankind.  Yes,   everything, even the smallest particles of matter, carry that Divine gift.  As you know, the electrons of atoms revolve around the nuclei, and at enormous velocity.  Someone told me that the famous scientist Albert Einstein once declared; “I have come to understand so much,   but what I have never been able to fathom is what power gives the electrons the energy to orbit nuclei at such a speed.  From where does such power come to them?”

We believe, and furthermore, have been granted certainty in our belief, that everything in existence has life, is living.  For the sake of everyday reckoning we classify certain things, such as rocks, as inanimate objects, and recognise life only in plants, animals and human beings.  But we believe that beyond these outward distinctions everything has life.  Therefore, atoms, and their electrons that turn around the nuclei with such speed as to baffle even the renowned   Mr Einstein, are, in reality, alive.  They are alive with the Divine Love Power that their Lord has granted them.  That’s what makes them spin at the speed of light.

 It is  for those who  have access to a  realm of knowledge  beyond  science  to say with certainty, that  it is Allah  Almighty, the  Lord of  the universe,  who  through      His  Holy  Name “Al Wadud”  ( the All-loving )  gives   His  Divine   Love  to everything  in the   universe. Those electrons, drunken with Divine Love, spin at such velocity around the nuclei.  That is how the influence of Divine Love is manifested by them.

Science can neither prove nor deny this explanation, as this phenomenon is beyond their realm, and they cannot as much as offer a theory.  But our hearts   may be content with this  explanation,   as each  and every one of us  may try it himself within himself;  for we  all have the   power  of that Divine   Love  in our  hearts  ready to be contacted.

There is no one word in western languages that gives the full meaning of   “Al Wadud”. And even explanations don’t do it   justice, even though the west claims its knowledge to be superior and looks down disdainfully on every religious experience.  And  this  Holy Name,  the meaning  of which  cannot  even be adequately expressed in advanced  western languages, is the  most  suitable  “Dhikr”,  the  most  suitable of all the Divine Names to repeat and  meditate  upon for people who see themselves as  superior beings and as  being  above  normal  standards.

“Love,”  it is  certainly  not a  concept that  western culture is  unfamiliar with, and    undoubtedly most  people lay claim to loving and being  loved,   to knowing the  meaning  of  love,   and to it being an  important  aspect of their  lives,  indeed the most important.   But the love we  refer  to in connection  with the Divine Name   “al  Wadud” is not the  physical transitory love that is rapidly   becoming  the  only meaning  of  love applicable to modern man;   the love that one may find in the zoo.  If you can’t imagine a love other that what is on the level of animals, then you belong in the zoo.

There is a real love, never changing, never dying love,   and then there is temporary animal love.  Both are in man through the wisdom of the Creator, but the permanent Love is the love given to man through the Divine Name “Al Wadud”.  To    realise  that love is the challenge and fulfilment of  human  existence -  to come in contact with those  love oceans,   for He has given   His  Divine   Love   to  His most    honoured  representatives in  creation, mankind.

You may   love a young lady for her youth, and when that youth departs you love her no more.   That is false love.    Sometimes we may have both kinds of love simultaneously,   but usually the physical overpowers the spiritual, so that it is never allowed to appear.   But to reach the ultimate goal of human life we are in need of permanent love,   and it is only the Lord of the universe who can grant it.

Therefore,  when we  say  “Ya Wadud” we are opening  ourselves  up  to that  Divine Love,   asking our  Lord to awaken that  Love that knows no limitation, that is eternal and extends to all  creation.

   I have been ordered to teach and advise people to call on our Lord, saying “Ya Wadud”, as this will enable the sincere to attain real love of their Lord Almighty and to love everything around themselves.    We must learn to love everything for the sake of the Love the Creator has for all His creation.  

And we are in utmost need to pray for such love, as, although it is the essence of all success in the way of spiritual purification, it has become almost extinct in our times.   Therefore, suffering, disturbances, struggle, crises and chaos are continually on the rise.

What passes for human love nowadays is indeed a very far cry from real human love.   Mostly people cling to it for two or three months then throw it away.  You are saying; “Oh my goddess”, and she is saying “Oh my god”, but look in again on them two or three months later and see what is left of that “true devotion” and “deep emotion.”   That is the greatest cause of wretchedness in our times.

 Because of this acute situation in our times we must, first and foremost, seek to awaken permanent love.   Practices, prayers and rules are of no use in this time without love.   For people whose hearts have not regained contact with such love, the ego easily attaches itself to practices and uses them as a means to pin empty titles onto itself. Leave every practice that serves your vanity and strive for permanent Love.

  Where shall we start?  Every person has a circle of friends, relations, acquaintances. Starting from those closest to us:  wives and husbands, parents and children, brothers and sisters, we must be generous in giving of our permanent love.   How can we consider a person who cannot make peace with those nearest to him as civilised?   If we could approach the level of permanent love that befits us the world’s courts would have to be closed down from a lack of suits:  no complaining, no divorce, no wretchedness, no struggle.

Giving of our permanent love is the most important practice for our time. No one can say”I am not in need of practising it, “neither the speaker nor the listeners. Don’t tell me that so-and–so is on such-and-such a level when he is tight-fisted with permanent love, withholding it even from those with whom he is most intimate.

 The lower self of man, the selfish ego, never wants to give permanent love except to himself.   I don’t believe that such petty self love is all we have been created for.  I believe that we have been created to love all creation.   Man  represents his Lord on  earth and has the  greatest  reservoir of Divine  Love within him;  he  can be a  great   means of expression for that  Divine  Love in this world.   Indeed a fountain of love that every creature may drink from.30”

 

In the “Bestowal of Blessings” Samuel Lewis31 in chapter 6 on Love says:

 

“One of the most difficult accomplishments in the spiritual life is to refrain from all manner of thought. Thought, no matter what be its nature, utilizes vital energy on the mental plane and causes some psychic loss. There is this loss whether the thought be good or bad, beneficial or harmful, to oneself or to another. For every thought, whatsoever be its nature, is necessarily connected with the ego with the exception that inspirations and intuitions come from the non-ego.

 

Right-mindfulness does not mean thinking good thoughts. One need not hold a thought of anybody or anything. When a man holds a thought about somebody whether he thinks good of that person or ill of him, there is psychic loss, there is a loss of vital energy. However, thinking good thoughts brings one close to the atmosphere of goodwill and attracts goodwill and thinking of evil brings illwill, so that one’s fate and fortune are affected thereby favorably or unfavorably. But right-mindfulness requires harmony with the universe; we live in an ocean of thought and we can swim in that ocean or walk above it. The heart-attitude with its concomitant faculties of life, love, light and inspiration produce the right-mindfulness and as the Hindu scriptures tell us, then we may “think of nothing at all,” yet our very breaths will bring the thoughts we need.

 

The Sufi does not think good thoughts, even of his enemies. Whenever thought is upon a person or thing there is a contraction and every contraction interferes with calmness. By lulling the devil to sleep, by not thinking disagreeable thoughts or thinking at all about disagreeable persons and events, one can enter an atmosphere of peace. A vain person thinks he can help others; a holy person would never harbor such a thought.

 

Jesus has said, “Love ye your enemies.” This is very different from saying, “Hold thoughts of goodness about them.” The more attention paid to these enemies, the greater the difficulty in maintaining one’s own peace of mind. There is psychic loss whether one holds thoughts of goodwill or of illwill; either kind of thought takes away the feeling of the Divine Presence.

 

Love expresses itself in feeling which may give rise to thought, and spiritual love includes the light of intelligence which often produces inspiration. So the mind benefits from the heart-attitude. To love an enemy or to love the enemy may be interpreted to mean, to love so much, to have such a deep feeling of love that all thoughts of any enemy, all thoughts or ideas of enmity will find no room in the consciousness. When the heart is immersed in the ocean of love, there is no longer thoughts of an enemy, there is no longer even thought of self.

 

Love and self-sacrifice become real when realized. Then man can rise above his false ego and his limitations. He may feel the Presence everywhere. He thus not only brings himself blessings, he becomes the very channel for the bestowing of blessings. And this is what is meant by the increase in life, by means of which life can become more abundant.

 

Sufism is a philosophy of broadness and it is in this spirit of broadness that it has been represented to humanity in a new age. It opens up the highway of realization though the learning of the Message, and for humanity it opens the way of the spreading of the Message that all may come into the folds of salvation. When a man fulfills his compact with God, he prepares himself for the greatest possible mission.

 

Some people pray very much, place great fidelity in God, say they trust in God, love God. They believe, perhaps, that God is all in all. Now if God be all in all, God must be the reality in man, must be the reality in every person, the reality in ourselves, in others and in all things - else God is not all in all. To make God an Ideal is a step forward; a greater step would be to make God the reality.31

 

Samuel Lewis comments further more on Love In the “Bestowal of Blessings”:

 

The beginning of exoteric as well as of esoteric religious feeling comes in repentance. The difference is that the exotericists depend much upon emotion, upon some state of mind while to the esotericist repentance means the melting of the heart. The ‘doing better’ of the esotericist then is not to choose to do some acts and refrain from others; it is doing acts in accordance with heart-feeling and thinking in harmony with heart feeling, so that the heart may become alive. It is this attitude which leads to broadness of vision, to a greater horizon and purer conception of self, a conception which includes something of the not-self in it. In other words, spiritual betterment is concerned with the love-aspect of life and blooms in deeds of beneficence; it is greater than morality. (page 9) 31

 

In Zat or Absolute Essence, there are no differentiated qualities. In Sifat, the opposite pole, we consider the qualities as existent without direct attention to or reference to Essence. This is merely an accommodation whereby the mind may obtain metaphysical knowledge. In consideration of the Zat of Allah there is the absolute perfection of love, harmony and beauty and all qualities and faculties. By an indifferent attitude of heart, maintaining equanimity and composure before a wicked person, one can aid in propelling the absorption of that wickedness, so to speak, in the Zat of Allah (God). (Page 13) 31

 

What is the greatest need of the world? This question may be answered in innumerable ways and yet a Sufi might say that the need is for more love and also for more life. Human beings, at least, with all their shortcomings, have come to recognize this need for love and both religion and science are trying to answer this great human craving. Yet neither religion nor science has come to feel the lack in life, a lack which may be evident after a little reflection, especially when we notice so much ill-health and imperfection of bodies and minds. And the metaphysical answer to this dilemma is that really these two needs are one, love is lacking and life is lacking, yet love and life being in essence one, there is only a single need. (Page 17) 31

 

The purpose of teachings given to the pupil in Sufism (Tassawuf) is to impress him deeply to the heart need, so that he strives for further cultivation of heart, which is to say, for a greater and greater cultivation of life; and this in turn opens the capacity for further expression. So there are these three stages in the manifestation of life as well as in the growth of the mureed. With such growth the mureed obtains one of the holiest of blessings: He feels the outflow of the love and life from God, through his teacher, into his very heart. (Page 18) 31

 

We read in the Christian Scriptures the question, “How can man love God Whom he has not seen when he does not love his brother whom he has seen?” He must express and demonstrate love to show that he has love, knows what love is. Many, ignoring this, conjure up their own forms of fana-fi-Rassoul and make before themselves a mental image or shadow around their picture or imagined conception of a real person. This is nothing but mental idolatry which leads to obsession, ignorance and even fanaticism. Then people with different views, become intolerant, hateful of one another and have brought about religious wars. For these reasons Sufism discourages the ordinary attempts at spirit communication. While Sufism proposes God-communication, it also says God is within man, and it is to become accustomed to the lesser light first that one is prepared for the greater light, lest, men having the experience of the greater light without first having had the lesser light, one become either blinded or intoxicated or both. God dwells within the human beings on earth; these are they who are the beloved ones of God, and these are

they also who need love and should receive love. The Sufis and Bodhisattvas, therefore, look down toward earth to extend love and compassion and solace to the earth-dwellers. There is no merit in bowing before idols, praising the dead, seeing virtue in departed saints, prophets or angels, talking about a transcendental God. The orthodox person may do those things, but the initiate sees life by proving life, by living life. (Page 39 – 40) 31

 

If a question be asked, “are there spiritual uses of magic,” it may be stated that there is a magical value in reverence and respect. We do not usually consider these qualities magical, but the highest and deepest magic is that which passes from heart to heart, which is connected with the universal love-fluid (ishk) and thus leads to holiness. A study of the origin of words shows that the ancients knew about the relation between these three things; sacredness, magic and holiness, and however much they may differ in our discriminatory studies, they are all based upon sympathy; in other words, upon heart. Holiness is therefore really the essence of magic and sacredness which belongs to life itself and which helps to increase livingness, the livingness which the collectivity is seeking. (Page 44) 31

 

From this view the different studies assist in the perfection of both forms of Baraka. To give purely, one must subdue the ego, and to receive purely one has to remove the ego also. If the bestower of Baraka is not pure in his intentions or is limited in ability, the pure receiver will receive the best that can be offered and no more. The final consummation of Baraka comes when there is closest attunement and rapport between giver and receiver, when, as Jesus Christ has said, “The twain become one.” This is always the ideal and is essential in the Bhakti development, for there is a station in Bhakti when the lover and beloved are one. We are apt to consider bhakti as negative and jnana yoga as positive and masculine, but the opposite may also be true. In bhakti all progress is due to oneself; there is a concentration of effort wherein will-power is transmuted into love on its own sphere. In jnana one is more dependent upon the teacher and therefore then the chela must be receptive; in other words, negative. In bhakti one passes from emptiness into fullness, while in jnana no particular attention is paid to any distinction between emptiness and fullness; ultimately the devotee of either path reaches the common goal. (Page 57) 31

 

Jesus also said, “Resist not evil” or “Resist not the evil person,” - either translation of which is acceptable. Our duty is to increase baraka, and that increase becomes a natural self-protection. People who practice non-resistance may be good people, but they do not increase life or livingness, they do not see God, El-Hayy. The initiate makes God the center of his universe and of his being and does not eschew any portion of life, as all come from God. The evils that he avoids may be those of wasteful living, of needless dissipation of vital energy, of misuse of the love and power and magnetism that God has given him - these things he always guards against. For the rest he has the spiritual freedom, so he treads as far as possible the path of affirmation, and removes himself from the path of negation except when in the silence. (Page 58) 31

 

The Christian Scripture states, “Love ye your enemies.” The initiate says, “Allah is All in All and Allah being all, when you have an enemy you are at that moment separated from Allah.” Therefore, it becomes your duty to reunite with Allah, and repeat His Holy Name, cultivating all the love that is possible in your heart and mind and being. 31

 

In Fana-fi-Sheik Samuel Lewis comments on love32:

 

Sufism has been called the mysticism of divine love and yet by definition Sufism means divine wisdom. The two must be in equilibrium. Many people use the word ‘love’ as if the more positive person should become negative to others. This is not love; this is pampering. True love always guides. True love removes the obstacles set up by the ego. If a disciple is lacking in love the teacher does not correct him outwardly but gives some concentration. For example, in the first year’s work the symbols of the heart and dove are part of the regular curriculum. 32

 

Bhakti Yoga is based on heart-love. It does not contain practices or disciplines based on the imagination. Heart-feeling is not only supreme, it becomes the all-in-all. In true Bhakti there is nothing but Love but it may have many levels. 32

 

Different religions have verbalized and emphasized differently about man’s approach to and mergence in God, with God. The Sufi devotee experiences the love and then expresses the love. This becomes real, this becomes actual. There is a traditional hymn, “Beautiful words of life.” But the words are the shadows, the derivatives of light. Words all come from darkness even when their expressions are derived from marvelous experiences of awakening. Therefore some Zen teachers decry any form of wording and in one sense, at least, they are correct. And when one does express in words alone, he reaches the ears of another, but when he expresses with his being, he reaches the

heart of another. 32

 

Lovers of God, immersed in love, often do not know how much power is pouring through them. They may be unaware of it and the more unaware, often the greater the power. For just as in electricity there is resistance owing to the nafs of the conducting (or non-conducting) materials, so there is resistance to the divine efflux and effulgence from the nafs and only from the nafs. The soul does not resist. 32

 

 

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1. Mureeds’ Manual of the Sufi Ruhaniat International.

2. For proper pronunciation see http://www.iberr.co.za/attawwab.htm or Pir Zia Inayat Khan on tape: the 99 names of God, Sacred Spirit Music, 5 Abode Road, New Lebanon, NY 12125.

3. Fana-fi-Sheikh by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti, Sufi Ruhaniat International, Page 11.

4. See: Les noms divins en Islam, Daniel Gimaret, exégèse lexicographique et théologique, 1988, Editions du cerf. Page 425-6.

5. Asma’ul Husna, the 99 Beautiful Names of Allah, M.R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen

6. Ninety-nine names of Allah, Shems Friedlander with al-Hajj Shaikb Muzaffereddin. 1978.

7. Ar-Râzî, traité sur les noms divins, by Maurice Gloton, Editions Al Bouraq.

8. Murshid Sauluddin Barodofsky, Sufi Ruhaniat International and Hakim in the Dervish Healing Order. Email Fri 12/6/2002

9. The Holy Quor’ān, Arabic Text with English Translation and Commentary by Maulana Muhammad Ali, New 2002 edition, Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha’at Islam Lahore Inc. USA, Ohio, USA.

10. Anawati-Gardet, Mystique musulmane, 161-162 et 103, n. 19 see #4 above.

11. Bowl of Saki for July 25 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

12. Bowl of Saki for July 29 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

13. Bowl of Saki for July 31 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

14. Bowl of Saki for September 17 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

15. Bowl of Saki for July 23 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

16. Bowl of Saki for September 4 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

17. Bowl of Saki for November 20 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

18. Bowl of Saki for April 2 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

19. Bowl of Saki for April 4 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

20. Bowl of Saki for July 16 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

21. Bowl of Saki for October 8 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

22. Bowl of Saki for November 25 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

23. Bowl of Saki for December 25 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

24. Bowl of Saki for December 27 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

25. Bowl of Saki for July 17 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

26. Bowl of Saki by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

27. Bowl of Saki for December 5 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

28. Bowl of Saki for December 19 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

29. Bowl of Saki for December 13 by Hazrat Inayat Khan, Commentary by Hazrat Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

30. The Power of Love a talk by  Sheikh Nazim  1984/5 Abridged from “Mercy  Oceans of the  Heart”(also partially  reprinted in “On the Bridge to Eternity”.  http://www.uksufi.co.uk/The%20Power%20of%20Love.htm

31. THE BESTOWAL OF BLESSING, by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis, Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti(One Who is Drawn to God by Grace), Sufi Ruhaniat International papers.

32. Fana-fi-Sheikh by Murshid Samuel L. Lewis (Sufi Ahmed Murad Chisti)

 

 

 

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