Ibn Ajiba on the Spiritual Virtues (6)

Love, Witnessing & Intellective Vision, and Gnosis

13 – Love is the permanent inclination of the fervent heart. This inclination is first manifested in the body in the form of servitude – this is the station of the pious; then secondly in the yearning heart in the form of purification and adornment – this is the station of the initiatic spiritual wayfarers; then thirdly in the spirit and the pure secret (sirr) in the form of spiritual firmness – this is the station of the gnostics. Thus the beginning of love is its manifestation in servitude; the middle of it is its manifestation in gratitude and fervour; and the end of it is its manifestation in tranquillity and sobriety, in the station of gnosis. Thus people are divided into three groups: the folk of servitude, the folk of spiritual states (ahwal), and the folk of spiritual stations (maqamat). Its beginning is wayfaring and servitude, its middle is attraction and extinction, and its end is sobriety and subsistence.

14 – Witnessing (mushahada) means to see the Subtle Essence in its manifested and coagulated forms; it is a question of the coagulation of subtle substance. And when love ascends higher, and the coagulated lights become subtle once more, this is intellective vision (mu’ayana)*; it is a question of the return of the coagulation to its subtle state. Thus intellective vision is more penetrating and complete than witnessing. The upshot of this is that the Essence cannot be seen unless Its subtle mysteries are coagulated into manifestations, for the subtle cannot be perceived as long as it is subtle. To see these manifestations in their coagulated form is called ‘witnessing’; and to return them back to their subtle origin by immersing them in the Ocean of Oneness is called ‘intellective vision’. Others say that mushahada and mu’ayana are simply synonyms.

15 – Gnosis (ma’rifa) means that witnessing becomes firm and perpetual; it is the permanent witnessing of the fervent heart. One sees nothing but one's Lord, and turns to none but Him, all the while maintaining justice and keeping to the formalities of the Sacred Law.


*Translator’s note: Sidi Ibn Ajiba is making the distinction here between the gnostic’s recognition of visible things as manifestation of the Real, which he calls mushahada, and the gnostic’s direct vision of subtle realities, which he calls mu’ayana. The term ‘intellective vision’ seems appropriate for describing this latter vision, which takes place via the vehicle of the ‘eye of the heart’ directly, without outward supports.

Ibn Ajiba on the Spiritual Virtues (5)

Contentment & Resignation, Vigilance, Self-Reckoning

10 – Contentment (rida) means to meet misfortunes with a smiling face; or it means the happiness the heart feels as fate unfolds; or it means to forgo one’s own free choice and leave things to God’s plan and decree; or it means the expansion of the breast and the absence of any resentment for what comes to one from the One Invincible God.

Resignation (taslim) means to leave all planning and free choice by being still and tranquil as fate unfolds. Thus it is like contentment in essence, except that contentment is greater than it. It is said that the time for contentment is when things actually happen, whilst the time for resignation is before they happen. In this sense, resignation is the same as spiritual abandonment (tafwid). Its beginning is patience and effort; its middle is outward tranquillity despite feelings of resentment and unhappiness; its end is joy and peace without any resentment. The first is for ordinary people, the second for the elite, and the third for the elite of the elite. Even the first stage is not always possible for everyone, because of the human weakness that they, being human, cannot be free of; and thus they are forgiven if they fall short of it.

11 – Vigilance (muraqaba) means constant awareness that God is watching one; or it means to fulfil the rights of God both secretly and openly, without indulging any doubts or delusions, and with complete sincerity. This is the root of all that is good. Vigilance leads to beatitude and determines its power: the more powerful one’s vigilance is, the more powerful the beatific vision he experiences later on will be. Exoterists are vigilant by protecting their bodies from sin; esoterists are vigilant by protecting their hearts from indulging in vain thoughts; the elite of the esoterists are vigilant by protecting their innermost secret from inclining to anything but God.

12 – Self-Reckoning (muhasaba) means to censure oneself from wasting one’s breath and time on anything but obedience to God. It takes place at the end of the day, just as forming one’s spiritual intention (musharata) takes place at the start of the day. One says to oneself at the start of the day: ‘This is a new day, and it will bear witness against you; strive to fill it with that which draws you nearer to God. Had you died yesterday, you would have missed out on the goodness you have a chance to win today.’ One says the same thing as the night approaches, and reckons it when it passes. One continues to do this until he becomes firm in the Presence, whereupon his time becomes unified; this is to drown in the witnessing of the Divine, so that there is no longer anyone to reckon or to chastise. Thus forming one’s spiritual intention comes first, and reckoning oneself comes last; and vigilance must be constant, as long as one walks the path – and when one arrives, there is no longer any reckoning, nor any intention.

*

الصوفي لم يُخْلَق

Life and Death, Tears and Laughter

Remember that when you were born, you were crying while all around you were laughing.
Die in such a way that, though all around you cry, you shall laugh.

-Mawlana Rumi.

Moulay Arabi and the Kittens

Moulay 'Arabi al-Darqawi was walking along one day through the streets of Fes with a disciple of his, when they came across a pair of kittens playing in a doorway.

'Look at these kittens, master', said the disciple, 'and how they love each other unconditionally and purely. If only the fuqara could be that way!'

'Indeed,' said Moulay 'Arabi. 'Let us see.' He went over to a nearby butcher and asked for a sliver of meat, which the butcher gave him. He returned with it to the kittens and threw the scrap of meat down to them. Immediately they began to fight and scratch and yowl, each one trying to claim the meat for itself.

'Thus it is with the fuqara', said Moulay 'Arabi.

Ibn Ajiba on the Salat ‘ala an-Nabi

The blessing (salat) which God sends upon His Beloved is His love and affection for him, and His drawing him nigh and electing him; and the peace (salam) He sends him is a salutation and generous ennoblement, and an expression of utmost kindness and favour.

In the invocation of blessings upon the Messenger of God (upon whom be blessings and peace), people are divided into three groups:


First there are those who send blessings upon his human form; these are the people of rational arguments and proofs. They envisage him in their hearts as they invoke blessings upon him, and as they invoke more and more (with presence of mind), the noble image becomes firmer and firmer in their hearts. Thus they see him often in their dreams; and perhaps his noble spirit might take the form of his blessed body so that they see him in a waking state.

Then there are those who invoke blessings upon his illuminating spirit; these are the people of witnessing who travel the spiritual path. They invoke blessings upon his light which flows down from the Realm of Domination (al-Jabarut), and they witness him most of the time, as long as they have presence of mind and vision.

Then there are those who invoke blessings upon his primordial light, which is the light of all lights; these are the people of spiritual firmness and mastery, they of direct witnessing and vision. The Prophet (upon whom be blessings and peace) never leaves them for a moment, which is why Sheikh Abu Abbas [al-Mursi], God be pleased with him, said: ‘Were the Messenger of God (upon whom be blessings and peace) to leave me for the blinking of an eye, I would no longer count myself a Muslim.’ In saying this he was alluding to his own firmness and mastery in the Presence, and his having come back to the station of subsistence (al-baqa) wherein one witnesses the Intermediary. Such people’s thoughts roam through the World of Dominion (al-Malakut), and their spirits are connected to the World of Domination (al-Jabarut), and in them is synthesised all that is lacking in others, as the Prophet (upon whom be blessings and peace) said: ‘All prey is in the belly of the wild donkey’; for the wild donkey is the fattest of all hunted animals, so that whoever catches one is as fortunate as he would be to catch them all. And the poet said:

It is not beyond God in the least
To combine all worlds in one man.

(From al-Futuhat al-Ilahiyyah.)