Monday, January 25, 2010

Tathir, Tanwir, Ta‘mir.

The daily wird of the various branches of the Shadhili tariqa is generally composed of a certain number of repetitions of three formulas: the petition for forgiveness, the sending of prayers upon the Prophet, and the testimony of the Oneness of God; that is, to say Astaghfiru’llah, Allahumma salli ‘ala sayyidina Muhammad, and La ilaha illa ‘Llah or some variant thereof. Some years ago Sheikh Haddad in Fes explained to me that these three formulas perform respectively the functions of tathir, tanwir and ta‘mir; that is, ‘purification, illumination, and saturation.’

To understand this, we must first ask what it is that is being purified, illuminated and saturated or filled. The answer is the heart, which the faqir seeks to turn into a ‘house for God’.

In order for the house to be fit for God to live in, it must first be emptied of all other occupants, since ‘He hath no partner’ and ‘God hath not given a man two hearts in his breast.’ The house must be emptied of ‘all that is other than God’ (ma siwa Allah) and cleansed of all its idols as the Kaaba was cleansed after the conquest of Mecca. To ask forgiveness of God means to ask God to perform this cleansing for us or aid us to perform it, since we are too weak to do it on our own.

Once the house is clean it must be lit, since no one likes to live in a dark house. We illuminate our hearts by invoking prayers and blessings upon the Prophet; after having emptied the house of all that is ‘other than God’, we fill it with a light which, although not God, is not ‘other than God’ either: ‘He took a piece of His Light and said unto it, Be Muhammad!’ And again: ‘There hath come unto you from God a light.’ When someone asked the sheikh to elaborate on this, I remember, he simply asked one of us to turn on the light in the room in which we were sitting, and once it was done he said no more.

Once the house is clean and lit, it is ready to be occupied: the faqir invites God into his heart by invoking His Oneness. In principal it would be enough to do this only once; but since we are prone to bad housekeeping and allow our hearts to be cluttered up again and again with foreign objects and impure artificial lights, we repeat over and again the process of purifying, lighting and filling.

The hadith says: ‘The believer’s heart is the Throne of the Most Merciful.’ Or again: ‘My heaven containeth Me not, nor My earth; yet the heart of my faithful servant doth contain Me.’


10 comments:

aqlesorkh said...

great blog btw. Sometime ago I read some about Moulay Abd as-Salam's maqam at Jabal al-Alam here. I'm off to Morocco shortly to make the ziyara from Marrakesh northwards, any advice on getting there?

Khalid Williams said...

Go to Qasr al-Kebir on the train and get a grand taxi from there, or I think there's a CTM coach that runs from Marrakesh to Chaouen, which is very close, and you can get a grand taxi from there, too.

Marcos Margarit said...

as-salam alaikum
Incredible I have not heard of this nice blog before. And also a wonderfull work of translation. I'll keep an eye to see what do you have there and if there is something I can translate into spanish.
It have been two years since we don't go to Marroco and to see Sidi Said. I ask God to allow us to return soon and meet each other again.
salam
Nuruddin

Khalid Williams said...

Barak Allah fik Sidi, it would be nice to see you again.

Unknown said...

"[W]e fill it with a light which, although not God, is not ‘other than God’ either."

al-salam alaykum,

I apologize for being superficial, but can you please explain this statement? What is the distinction between "not God" and "other than God?" Is "not 'other than God'" all of creation or only the Prophet (on him be God's blessings and peace)?

Khalid Williams said...

I think the quotations which come after these words in the original post explain this.

Darga-e-Gaffaria qadiria, Kamalapuram, Kadapa, A.P, India-516289 said...

Assalamualikum

this is the first time i am visiting the blog.
Excellent explanation of TATHEER, TANVEER AND TA'MIR.
jazakallahu khairan.
I request you to post very often.
Coz your ideas will be benificial to us.

with salams
sahebju

Darga-e-Gaffaria qadiria, Kamalapuram, Kadapa, A.P, India-516289 said...

Assalamualikum

this is the first time i am visiting the blog.
Excellent explanation of TATHEER, TANVEER AND TA'MIR.
jazakallahu khairan.
I request you to post very often.
Coz your ideas will be benificial to us.

with salams
sahebju

Said Bak said...

As-salamu 'alaykum,

I just love this blog. May Allah reward you. Sidi Khalid, I am interested in the Darqawiyya/'Alawiyya of Morocco, could you send me an email as I have some questions for you? My email is said.bak AT gmail DOT com :)

Baraka Allahu fik.

And how many are doing dhikr at night, like the lion when it roars? - Sharaab Al-Arifin said...

Assalaam Alaykum Ya Sidi,

May Allah reward you abundantly for the effort put into this blog and for this particular post.

I've recently entered the shadhili tareeqah and SubhanAllah this post has been very informative and uplifting.

May Allah ease all your affairs and grant you success in this world and in the aakhira, ameen.

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