Ibn Ata' Illah: There are illuminations that are allowed to arrive; and then there are illuminations that are allowed to enter.
Shurnubi: This means that the illuminations that come to the heart from the treasures of the unseen, i.e. divine secrets and lordly mysteries, are divided into two types: (1) illuminations that are allowed to reach the outside of the heart only, so that one sees alongside them one's soul, one's Lord, one's worldly life and one's hereafter; and (2) illuminations that are allowed to enter into the heart's core, so that the servant loves nothing else in that moment but his Master, and does nothing but what his Lord loves and approves.
Ibn Ata' Illah: It may be that illuminations come to you and find your heart enveloped in the images of created things, so that they turn back and return whence they came.
Shurnubi: That is: O murid, it may be that divine illuminations come to you, but find your heart enveloped in the images of things of this world like possessions, children and so on. So the illuminations go back to where they came from, because they are too holy to enter a heart that is sullied with other things. The author then explains that the heart must be emptied, saying:
Ibn Ata' Illah: Empty your heart of other things, and it will be filled with mystical knowledge and secrets.
Shurnubi: That is: O murid, if you wish for illuminations to enter your heart, and for mysteries and secrets to be revealed to you from your Lord, then empty your heart of the images of other things, and it will be filled with mystical knowledge and secrets.
Shurnubi: This means that the illuminations that come to the heart from the treasures of the unseen, i.e. divine secrets and lordly mysteries, are divided into two types: (1) illuminations that are allowed to reach the outside of the heart only, so that one sees alongside them one's soul, one's Lord, one's worldly life and one's hereafter; and (2) illuminations that are allowed to enter into the heart's core, so that the servant loves nothing else in that moment but his Master, and does nothing but what his Lord loves and approves.
Ibn Ata' Illah: It may be that illuminations come to you and find your heart enveloped in the images of created things, so that they turn back and return whence they came.
Shurnubi: That is: O murid, it may be that divine illuminations come to you, but find your heart enveloped in the images of things of this world like possessions, children and so on. So the illuminations go back to where they came from, because they are too holy to enter a heart that is sullied with other things. The author then explains that the heart must be emptied, saying:
Ibn Ata' Illah: Empty your heart of other things, and it will be filled with mystical knowledge and secrets.
Shurnubi: That is: O murid, if you wish for illuminations to enter your heart, and for mysteries and secrets to be revealed to you from your Lord, then empty your heart of the images of other things, and it will be filled with mystical knowledge and secrets.
الله
