Chapter VI: Part IV (3)

“Verily Allah loves those who repent and those who purify themselves.”[86] Say “If you love Allah, then follow me. Allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and Allah is forgiving, merciful”.[87] We have said before that love means yearning towards a desired object and that beneficence and beauty, whether perceived or conceived, equally attract our hearts. But in using the word love for God, no such meaning is possible as it implies imperfection. God’s love towards men is the love of His own work. Someone read the following verse of the Quran: “He loves them and they love him” in front of Shaikh Abu Said of Mohanna, who interpreted it saying: “He loves Himself because he alone exists. Surely an author who likes himself; his love is limited to his self.” God’s love means the lifting the veil from the heart of His servant, so that he might gaze at Him. It also means drawing him close to Himself. Let us give an illustration. A king permits some of his slaves to approach his presence, not because he requires them but because the slaves possess or are acquiring certain qualities which are worthy of being displayed before the royal presence. This privilege, this lifting of the veil, brings us nearer to the conception of God’s love. But it must be remembered that approaching the divine presence should entirely exclude the idea of space, for then it would imply change in Him, which is absurd. Divine proximity means the attainment of godly virtues by abstaining from the promptings of the flesh and hence it implies approach from the point of view of quality and not of space. For example, two persons meet together either when both of them proceed towards each other or one is stationary and the other starts and approaches him. Again a pupil strives to come up to the level of his teacher’s knowledge who is resting in his elevated position. His uphill journey towards knowledge keeps him restless, and he climbs higher and higher till he catches a glimpse of the halo which surrounds his master’s countenance. The nature of divine proximity resembles this inward journey of the pupil; that is, the more a man acquires insight into the nature of things, and by subjugating his passions leads the life of righteousness, the nearer will he be coming to his lord. But it must be remembered that a pupil may equal his teacher, even be greater than he, but as regards divine proximity, no such equality is possible. God’s love means that which purifies the heart of his servant in a manner that he may be worthy of being admitted before his holy presence.

It may be asked: “How can we know that God loves a certain person?” My answer is that there are signs which bear testimony to it. The Prophet says: When God loves his servant, He sends tribulations, and when He loves him most he severs his connection from everything. Some one said to Jesus: “Why do you not buy a mule for yourself”? Jesus answered: “My God will not tolerate that I should concern myself with a mule”. Another saying of Mohammed is reported thus: When God loves any of His servants He sends tribulations, if he patiently bears them, he is favoured, and if he cheerfully faces them, he is singled out as chosen of God. Surely it is this joyous attitude of his mind whether evil befalls him or good, that is the chief sign of love. Such minds are providentially taken care of in their thoughts and deeds and in all their dealings with men. The veil is lifted and they live in wrapped communion.

As for the signs of a man’s love for God, let it be borne in mind that every body claims His love, but few really love Him. Beware of self-deception; verify your statement by introspection. Love is like a tree rooted in the ground sending its shoots above the starry heaven; its fruits are found in the heart, the tongue and the limbs of the lover—in fact his whole self is a witness to love just as smoke is a sure sign of fire burning.

Let us, then, trace the signs which are found in the true lover.

Death is a pleasure to him, for it removes the barrier of body and lets the fluttering soul free to soar and sing in the blissful abode of his beloved. Sufyan Thauri and Hafi used to say: “He who doubts dislikes death, because a friend will never dislike meeting a friend”.[88]

A certain Sufi asked a hermit whether he wished for death, but he gave no answer. Then the Sufi said to him: “Had you been a true hermit you would have liked death. The Quran says: If the future abode with Allah is especially for you to the exclusion of the people, then invoke death if you are truthful. They will never wish it on account of what their hands have sent on before, and Allah knows the unjust”.[89] The hermit replied: “But the Prophet says: ‘Do not wish for death’”. “Then you are suffering”, said the Sufi, “because acquiescence in divine decree is better than trying to escape it”.

It may be asked here: Can he who does not like death be God’s lover? Let us consider first the nature of his dislike. It is due to his attachment to the worldly objects, wife, children, and so forth, but it is possible that with this attachment, which no doubt comes in the way of his love of God there may be some inclination towards His love, because there are degrees of His love. Or it may be that his dislike is due to his feeling of unpreparedness in the path of love. He would like to love more so that he might be able to purify himself just as a lover hearing of his beloved’s arrival would like to be given some time for making preparations for a fitting reception. For these reasons if a devotee dislikes death, he can still be His lover, though of inferior type.

He should prefer, both inwardly and outwardly, God’s pleasure to his desires. For he who follows the dictates of his desires is no true lover, for the true lover’s will is his beloved’s. But human nature is so constituted that such selfless beings are very rare. Patients would like to be cured but they often eat things which are injurious to their health. Similarly, a person would like to love God but very often follows his own impulses. Naaman was a sinner, who being repeatedly excused by the Prophet was at last flogged. While he was being flogged a certain person cursed him for his iniquity. “Do not curse him”, said he “he has a regard for God and his apostle”.

Experience tells us that he who loves loves the things connected with his beloved. Therefore another sure sign of God’s love is the love of his creatures who are created by and are dependent on him; for he who loves an author or poet, will he not love his work or poem? But this stage is reached when the lover’s heart is immersed in love and the more he is absorbed in Him, the more will he love His creatures, so much so that even the objects which hurt him will not be disliked by him—in fact the problem of evil is transcended in his love for him.

It may be objected here that it follows that he loves the evil-doers and sinners. But a deep insight into the nature of such love shows that he loves them as creatures of God, but at the same time hates their actions which are contrary to the command of his beloved. If this point is lost sight of, people are apt to be misguided in their love or hatred of His creatures. If they show their love towards any sinner, let it be in pure compassion, and not any sense of taking the sin lightly. Similarly their hatred should proceed from the consciousness of His stern law and justice and not from ruthless bigotry.

In one of the Hadisi-Qudsi[90] God has said: “My saints are those who cry like a child for my love, who remember me like a fearless lion at the sight of iniquities”.

A reverent attitude of mind is another sign of his love. Some hold that fear is opposed to love, but the truth is that just as the conception of beauty generates love, the knowledge of his sublime majesty produces the feeling of awe in us. Lovers meet with fears which are unknown to others.[91] There is the fear of being disregarded. There is fear of the veil being drawn down. There is the fear of their being turned away. When the Sura Hud was revealed, in which the awful doom of the wicked nations is narrated,: “Away with Samood, away with Midian,” the Prophet heaved a sigh and said: “This Sura has turned me into an old man.” He who loves His nearness will feel acutely the fear of being way from Him. There is another fear of remaining at a particular stage and not rising higher, for the ascending degrees of His nearness are infinite. A true lover is always trying to draw nearer and nearer to Him. “A thin veil covers my heart,” says the Prophet, “then I ask for His forgiveness seventy times in day and night.”[92] This means that the Prophet was always ascending the scales of his nearness, asking for His forgiveness at every stage which was found lower than the next one.

There is another fear of over confidence which slackens the efforts and mars progress. Hope with fear should be the guide of love. Some Sufis say that he who worships God without fear is liable to err and fall; he who worships him with fear turns gloomy and is cast off, but he who lovingly worships him with hope and fear is admitted by him and favoured. Therefore lovers should fear him and those who fear him should love him. Even excess of his love contains an inkling of fear: it is like salt in food. For human nature cannot bear the white heat of His love, if it is not chastened and tempered by the fear of the Lord.

Keeping love secret and giving no publicity to it is another sign of His love. For love is the beloved’s secret: it should not be revealed nor openly professed. However, if he is over-powered by the force of his love, and unwittingly and without the least dissimulation his secret is out, he is not to be blamed. Some Sufis say: He who is very often pointing towards Him is far from Him, because he feigns and makes a show of his love of Him. Zunnun[93] of Egypt once went to pay a visit to one of his brother Sufis, who was in distress, and who used to talk of his love openly. “He who feels the severity of pain inflicted by Him,” said Zunnun, “is no lover.” “He who finds no pleasure in such pain,” returned the Sufi, “is no lover.” “True,” replied Zunnun, “but I say to you that he who trumpets his love of Him is no lover.” The Sufi felt the force of Zunnun’s words and fell down prostrate before God and repented and did not talk again of his love.

It may be objected: Divine love is the highest stage, it would be better to manifest it, where is the harm? No doubt love is good and if of itself it is evident, there is no harm, but those who give themselves trouble to make it known are blameable. Let our hearts speak, let our deeds proclaim it, but not our tongue. Nay, he should always aim at making it evident before his beloved. The gospel says: “Take heed that ye do not give your alms before men to be seen: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore, when thou doest thine alms do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have the glory of men. Verily I say unto you they have their reward. But when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth. That thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. Moreover when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head and wash thy face, that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”[94]

The essence of religion is love; some signs of which have been enumerated above. The love of God may be of two kinds. Some love him for his bounties, others for his perfect beauty irrespective of bounties. The former love increases according to the bounties received, but the latter love is the direct result of the contemplation of his perfect attributes and is constant even in tribulations. “These are His favoured few,” says Junaid of Baghdad.[95] But there are many who pose as his lovers and with much talk of his love lack the signs of true love. They are deluded by the devil, slaves of their passions, seeking a hollow reputation, shameless hypocrites who try to deceive the omniscient Lord their creator. They are all enemies of God, whether they are revered as divines or Sufis. Sahl of Taster who used to address everyone as “Friend”, was once asked by a person the reason of his doing so, as all men could not be his friends. Sahl whispered in his ear saying: “He will either be a believer or a hypocrite; if he is a believer, he is God’s friend; if a hypocrite, the devil’s friend.”

Abu Turab Nakshabi has composed some verses describing the signs of love. Their translation is as follows:

Do not profess your love. Hearken to me: These are the signs of his love. The bitterness of tribulations is sweet to him, he is happy for he believes that everything proceeds from him; for praise or censure he cares not, the will of his beloved is his will. While his heart is burning with love his countenance is radiant with joy. He guards the secret of love with all his might, and no thought save of his beloved enters into his mind. Yahya bin Maaz Razi[96] adds some lines: “Another sign is that he is up and ready like a diver at the bank of a river; He sighs and sheds tears in the gloom of night, and day and night he appears as if fighting for the sacred cause of his love. He entrusts his whole self to his love and gladly acquiescing abides in his love.”[97]

“RIZA” OR JOYOUS SUBMISSION TO HIS WILL[98]

Riza is the quintessence of love and is one of the highest stages of the favoured few. But some doubt its existence, saying, How can man be joyous for what is against his own will. He may submit to God’s will, but it does not follow that he also shares the feeling of joy. We shall discuss the nature of Riza and prove its existence.

Let us first turn to the Quran and the Hadis. “Allah has promised to the believing man and the believing women gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and goodly dwellings in gardens of perpetual abode and best of all is Allah’s goodly pleasure—that is the grand achievement”.[99] In this passage God’s pleasure (Rizwan) is described as best of all blessings. In another passage this blessing is also bestowed on those who joyfully submit to his will, “Allah is well pleased with them and they are well pleased with him; that is for him who fears his Lord.”[100] “Who fear the beneficent God in secret and come with a penitent heart, enter it in peace that is the day of abiding. They have therein what they wish _and with us is more yet_.” Some commentators while commenting on the words in italics say that three gifts will be given in paradise: (i) a rare gift of which “no soul knows (in this world) what is hidden for them of that which will refresh the eyes”.[101] (ii) The salutation as mentioned in the Quran: “Peace (Salam) a word from the merciful Lord”.[102] (iii) His goodly grace and pleasure as mentioned in “wa Rizwanumminallahi akbar” (and best of all is Allah’s goodly pleasure).

The Prophet once asked some of his companions to point out the signs of the faith which they professed. “O apostle of God,” said the companions, “we are patient in tribulations, grateful in felicity and pleased with what is ordained”. “Ye are Muslims” said the Prophet. Again the Prophet said: “Ye who are poor be pleased with what God has put you in and then you shall have your reward”.

Let us discuss the nature of Riza. Those who deny the existence of Riza, saying that man can be patient in sufferings but joyous submission to His will is not possible, really deny the existence of love and its all-absorbing nature. A lover always loves his beloved’s actions. Now this love of actions is of two kinds: (1) Redemption from the experience of pain caused in mental or physical suffering.

Experience shows that many warriors while enraged do not feel the pain of their wounds, and know it only when they see blood gushing from them. Even when a man is engaged in some action which absorbs his attention, the pain of a thorn pricking him will not be felt. If then in such cases—and there are many such—pain is not felt, will it not be possible that a devotee who is absorbed in him does not feel pain, which in his belief is inflicted by his beloved?

Or (2) although pain is felt, he would desire it just as a patient who feels the pain caused by the surgeon’s lancet is glad to be operated upon and is pleased with the surgeon’s action. Similarly he who firmly believes that tribulations are like God-sent curatives will be pleased with them and be thankful to God. Anyone who ponders over the nature of the above mentioned kinds and then in the light of them reads the lives and the sayings of the lovers of God, will, I believe, be convinced of the existence of Riza.

Saint Basher, son of Harith, narrates the story: In the Sharkia Lane of Baghdad, I saw a man who received a thousand stripes, but did not cry in his agony. He was then sent to prison and I followed him. “Why have you been punished so mercilessly?” I asked. “Because they have found out the secret of my love”. “But why were you so strangely quiet while you were punished so severely”, I asked in astonishment. “Because”, answered the poor fellow with a sigh, “She was looking at me from her balcony”. “Oh that you might see the true Beloved”, I murmured. Hearing this, his colour at once changed, and with a loud cry he fell dead.

The same saint tells another story: “While I was a student of Sufiism I went to Jazirai Abbadan,[103] where I saw a blind epileptic leper, lying on the ground while worms were eating his flesh. I sat by his side and placed his head on my lap and spoke gently to him. When he came to his senses, he spoke: ‘Who is this stranger who comes between me and my Lord. Even if each and every limb is severed from my body, I will love Him.’ That scene of Riza, says the saint, I shall never forget; it is a life-long lesson for me.”

It is said that Christ once saw a blind forlorn leper who was praying: “Blessed art thou, O Lord, who hast saved me from such maladies which have overtaken many of us”. “Art thou not in misery” asked Christ, “Tell me which is that malady which has not overtaken thee”. “Thank God”, cried the leper, “I am not like him who does not know God”. “You are right”, said Christ, “Give me your hand”. And the breath of Christ instantly healed the leper, and he became one of his followers.

The Prophet’s companion Said bin Wakas,[104] lost his eyesight in old age, and resigning his post returned to Mecca. People flocked to him for blessing as he was known to be one whose prayers were always heard. Says Abdullah bin Said: “I was then a mere boy; I too went to pay my respects to the venerable Said. He spake kindly to me and blessed me. Then I said: ‘Uncle, how is it that you who are praying for everybody would not pray for the restoration of your eyesight?’ ‘My son’, answered Said with a smile, ‘to be pleased with His sweet will is better than eyesight’”.

Some people went to see Shibli[105] at Maristan, where he was imprisoned. “Who are you?” asked the saint. “Friends”, they all replied with one voice. Hearing this Shibli fetched some stones and began to throw them at them, and they all fled calling him a madman. “What’s this”, exclaimed Shibli, “You call yourselves my friends but if you are sincere, bear patiently what ye receive from me,” and then he sang: “His love has turned my brain. Have you ever seen a lover who is not intoxicated with love!”

These narratives point out that Riza or joyous submission to God’s will is possible and is one of the highest stages to which the souls of true devotees could aspire. People believe in eccentricities of Cupid’s votaries but give no ear to the ecstasies of the true lovers of God. Perhaps they have no eyes to look at the manifestation of His beauty; no ears to listen to the music of His love, no heart to gaze at and enjoy His sweet presence. Perhaps they are proud of their learning and think too much of their good deeds but they have no idea of humble and broken hearts.

A certain nobleman of Bustam, comely in appearance and lordly in bearing, used to attend the sermons of saint Bayazid of Bustam.[106] One day he said to the saint: “For thirty years I have been keeping fasts waking for the whole night and offering my prayers, but still I do not find in me the animating force of what you teach, although I believe in it and cherish love for you.” “Thirty years”: ejaculated the saint: “Why for three hundred years if you do as you have done till now you will not have a bit of it.” “How is that?” asked the astonished nobleman. “Because” answered the saint “the veil of your egotism has fallen heavily on your mind’s eye”. The chief then asked the saint to tell him of some remedy, but he declined saying that the chief would not like to take it. “But do tell me”, entreated the nobleman, “And I will try my best to follow your kind advice”. “Listen then”, calmly answered the saint, “This very moment go to the barber, get your head and beard shaven, take off this apparel, and gird your loins with a piece of blanket; gather children round you and tell them that whosoever gives you a slap with the hand will get a walnut; pass through the throngs in all the bazars, followed by those children and then show yourself to your intimate friends”.

“Subhan Allah” exclaimed the chief, “Do you say that to me”. “Hold thy tongue”, retorted the saint, “thy Subhan Allah is blasphemy.” “How is that”, asked the chief. “Because,” replied the saint, “you uttered Subhan Allah not for any reverence for the Holy Being but out of respect for your own vain self”. “Well”, said the chief, “tell me some other remedy, please”. “Try this remedy first”, continued the saint. “I cannot do so,” rejoined the chief. “There you are”, spoke the saint finally, “Did I not tell you that you would not like the remedy.”

Our egoistic tendencies impede the progress of our souls towards higher virtues, and hence some of us go the length of denying the possibility of their existence. Let the lives of the true lovers of God be our guide.

FOOTNOTES

[1] D. B. Macdonald: _Muslim Theology_ London 1903. p. 215. This book gives the best account of Al Ghazzali’s work yet available in English.

[2] ibid. p. 240.

[3] Quoted in E. G. Browne: _Literary History of Persia_ 1903. Vol. I. p. 294.

[4] ibid. p. 293.

[5] I. Goldzieher: _Vorlesungen uber den Islam_ Leipzig 1910. p. 185. See translation in the Indian Philosophical Review by the present writer: Vol. 1. pp. 260-6.

[6] Op. cit. pp. 238-40.

[7] From Al Munqidh min ad’-Dalal.

[8] _Gazali._ Paris 1902. pp. 44-45.

[9] See the English translation of the Guide by Friedländer; _The Guide to the Perplexed_, London, especially pp. 225 ff. Al Ghazzali’s works were so widely studied that it is hardly possible to suppose that Maimonides was not influenced by them. The influence may have been direct, as Maimonides was not only a student in Spain but also physician in the court of Saladin in Alexandria. Indirectly the influence may have come through the Jewish poet Yehuda Halevi.

[10] op. cit. p. 179.

[11] This list is taken from _A Chronological List of Muslim Works on Religion and Philosophy_ which has been for a short time in preparation at the Seminar for the Comparative Study of Religions, Baroda, by Professor J. ur Rehman of Hyderabad, and Professor F. S. Gilani of Surat, Fellows of the Seminar. The list has been compared with that of Shibli in his Urdu life of Ghazali (Cawnpore 1902) whose classification is followed with slight modification.

[12] _Ihya_ III. 1.

[13] This word is used both for _Rasul_ and _Nabi_, but the Muslim notion of _Rasul_ differs from that of _Nabi_. Malachi was a prophet (_Nabi_), but Moses was more than a prophet (_Rasul_). Thus in _St. Matthew_ XI. 9 we have: “But wherefore went ye out? to see a prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet”.

[14] Abuhuraira’s report given in Bokhari and Muslim.

[15] Reported by Abuhuraira in Ahmad’s _Masnav_. Egypt 1300 A. H.

[16] _Quran_ XXXIII. 72.

[17] _Quran_ XVII. 85.

[18] _Ihya_ IV. 5.

[19] It is interesting to note here the following passage from a modern European author: “If we form a conception of a Perfect or Infinite Mind it is in this sense that we must speak of such a mind as free. To speak of choice between alternatives is to suggest that another than the best might be chosen and this would be inconsistent with the idea of perfection.

A finite mind, limited in knowledge and power and distracted by desires other than the will to goodness, may yet have a partial measure of self-determination which is complete only in the infinite. It is incompletely determined by forces external to itself. And if it stand—as it does stand—between the realm of nature and the realm of goodness, conscious of the good and yet beset by many temptations to fall to a lower level, then the relative independence or partial spontaneity of such a mind may be exhibited in the power to direct its own path toward the goal of goodness or to allow it to lapse into evil. Its freedom will be neither complete independence of external determination nor complete agreement with the ideal of goodness; but it will exclude total subordination to the forces beyond itself, and it will give opportunity for choosing and serving the good. In spite of its restrictions human activity will be recognized as possessing a core of spontaneity”. W. R. Sorley: _Moral Values and the Idea of God_. Cambridge 1918 pp. 446-7.

[20] Ghazzali here anticipated Hume. “Seven hundred years before Hume, Ghazzali cut the bond of causality with the edge of his dialectic”. _Journal of the American Oriental Society_ vol. XX. 103.

[21] _Quran_ XLIV. 38, 39.

[22] _Quran_ XXXII. 11.

[23] _Quran_ XXXIX. 42.

[24] _Quran_ LVI. 63.

[25] _Quran_ LXXX. 25-7.

[26] _Quran_ IX. 14.

[27] _Quran_ VIII. 17. This passage refers to the battle of Badr, the first battle of the Prophet. The Muslims slew the enemy but it is affirmed that really they did not slay, but it was Allah who slew them; the meaning apparently being that Allah’s hand was working in the battle, which is also clear from the fact that three hundred Muslims mostly raw and equipped with neither horses nor sufficient arms, prevailed against a thousand of the most renowned warriors who had come to crush the growing power of Islam. “And Thou didst not smite when thou didst smite”. Ghazzali points out that negation and affirmation for one and the same action throw new light on the nature of causation. Negation affirms God as the efficient and real cause; affirmation establishes man’s free-will faithfully executing divine order.

Whose branches are ever shaken by the wind,
And whose fruit is showered on the sleeper’s heads.
Fatalism means sleeping amidst highwaymen.
Can a cock who crows too soon expect peace?
If ye cavil at and accept not God’s hints,
Though ye count yourselves men, see, ye are women.
The quantum of reason ye possessed is lost,
And the head whose reason has fled is a till.
Inasmuch as the unthankful are despicable,
They are at last cast into the fiery pit.
If ye really have trust in God, exert yourselves,
And strive in constant reliance on the Almighty.

(Translation by E. Whinfield. _Masnavi._
2nd ed. 1898. Bk. I, pp. 19-20.)

[28] _Quran_ XCV. 4-6. Whether man is by nature good or bad is a question which has vexed great thinkers from ancient times. Various answers have been suggested, which are summed up in three distinct theories:

1. Evil is innate. Education simply muzzles the brute in man. Civilisation is mere veneering process. This cynical view of human nature is the religion of despair.

2. Man is neither good nor bad. Mind is a _tabula rasa_. Good or bad actions leave their impression. Thorns and roses are alike gathered by it.

3. Good and evil are mixed up in man. He has an angelic as well as a satanic nature. The development of this double nature depends on the force of external circumstances and surrounding influences. Good and evil are like two seeds: whichever is sown and taken care of will grow into a tree.

The Quranic expression: “we created man in the best make” emphasises the purity of his nature. He is born with good and for good, but has to preserve and to develop his goodness to his full capacity in the struggle of life. He has but one seed which is good if it grows and bears fruit it is called goodness; if it be crushed or nipped in the bud it is called evil. Evil, therefore has no separate entity in him, it is simply a negative which will lose his soul and reduce him to the lower depths.

[29] It is interesting to note a parallel passage from the _Masnavi_ of Jal al uddin Rumi, who was born in 1207 A.D. ninety-seven years after the death of Al Ghazzali:

When a master places a spade in the hand of a slave,
The slave knows his meaning without being told
Like this spade, our hands are our Master’s hints to us;
Yea, if ye consider, they are his directions to us
When ye have taken to heart His hints,
Ye will shape your life in reliance on their direction;
Wherefore these hints disclose His intent,
Take the burden from you, and appoint your work,
He that hears it make it hearable by you.
He too is able to make it within your ability.
Accept his command and you will be able to execute it
Seek union with Him, and you will find yourselves united.
Exertion is giving thanks for God’s blessings;
Think ye that your fatalism gives such thanks;
Giving thanks for blessings increases blessings
But fatalism snatches those blessings from your hands
Your fatalism is to sleep on the road; sleep not
Till ye behold the gates of the King’s palace.
Ah! sleep not, unreflecting fatalists,
Till ye have reached that fruit-laden Tree of Life.

E. Whinfield, trs, _Masnavi_.

[30] _St. Matthew_ XIV. 55-31. “And in the fourth watch of the night he came unto them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled saying, It is an apparition and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying: Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said: Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee upon the water. And Peter went down from the boat and walked upon the waters to come to Jesus. But when he saw the wind he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried, saying,: Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and took hold of him and said unto him: O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”

[31] Comp. _Quran_ XLII. 11: Nothing is like a likeness of Him. He is the hearing, the seeing.

[32] Comp. _Genesis_ I. 27.

[33] _Exodus_ III. 14.

[34] _Quran_ XX. 12. It is generally supposed that Moses was ordered to take off his “leather shoes” out of respect for the sacred place. But Razi in his Commentary calls it an idiom and says that the Arabs used the word Na’al (shoe) for wife and family. The command to put off the shoes is therefore a metaphorical expression for making the heart vacant from care of family. See _Tafsir-i-Razi_ vol. VI. 19. Stamboul edition.

[35] _Quran_ XXXIX. 97. The full text runs: And they have not honoured Allah with the honour due to him: and the whole earth shall be in his grip on the day of resurrection and the heavens rolled up in his right hand; glory be to him and may he be exalted above what they associate with him.

[36] Ghazzali has dealt with the question fully in his work entitled ‘Iljamal awam’. He says that every object has four stages of existence. To use a figure: “Fire” is (1) written on paper: (2) pronounced as Fire (3) burns; and (4) is perceived by the mind to be inflammable. The first two are purely conventional but have an educational value. Similarly the anthropomorphism of the passages of the Scriptures should be studied in the light of the above stages.

[37] _Quran_ XXIX. 69.

[38] See Section vi of this book.

[39] _Ihya_ III. 9.

[40] _Quran_ IV. 172.

[41] _Quran_ XXV. 7, 8; 21.

[42] _Quran_ XLIII. 31. “And they say: why was not this Quran revealed to a man of importance in the two towns.” (Mecca and Taif).

[43] _Quran_ XVIII. 28.

[44] Ibn Abbas.

[45] Trimizi: Abu Huraira’s report.

[46] Comp. _Matt_ VI. 24 “No man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon”.

[47] _Matt_ V. 3.

[48] _Quran_ XVIII. 32-46.

[49] _Ihya_ 115; IV. 7.

[50] _Quran_ III. 102.

[51] Tibrani and Abu Daud.

[52] Muslim.

[53] Bokhari and Muslim.

[54] _Quran_ XVIII. 5.

[55] Nasai and Bokhari.

[56] Adu Mansur.

[57] Rumi has beautifully described this story of Nasuh in _Masnavi_ Bk. V.

[58] _Ihya_ IV. 6.

[59] Bukhari and Muslim.

[60] _Quran_ LXXVI. 1-3.

[61] Ghazzali’s remark should not be confounded with either egoistic or universalistic hedonism. See his remark on the affinity of souls (pages 95 ff).

[62] Muslim.

[63] From uncanonical sayings of Christ.

[64] _Quran_ XXXVIII. 71, 72.

[65] See Bukhari _Haddis Qudsi_.

[66] Al Ghazzali condemns all such expressions which are called by Cardinal Newman “eccentricities of the saints.” He is aware of their liability to abuse and points out their error in a manner which six hundred years later took the form of Bishop Butler’s dictum that reason cannot abdicate its right of judging obvious improprieties in religious doctrines and persons. “Ibn Allah”, (Son of God) refers to the orthodox Christian view of Jesus. “Anal Haq” (I am the truth, i.e. God) refers to the expression of Husain bin Mansur al Hallaj, who in 309 A.D. was crucified in Bagdad for his blasphemy. The poet Hafiz says of him: “Jurmash an bud ki asrar huwaida bikard.” (His crime was that he revealed the secrets.)

[67] _St Matthew_ XXII 35-57. “And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him,: Master, which is the great commandment in the law? And he said unto him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” In the above passage the law referred to is _Deuteronomy_ VI. 5, where instead of mind, the word might is used.

[68] Daran, a village near Damascus, where he died in 215 A.H.

[69] A famous Muslim woman saint of Basrah, considered to be an authority on Sufiism. She died in 801 A. D.

[70] _Quran_ LVII. 20 and III. 14-16.

[71] Compare Descartes’: _Cogito ergo sum_.

[72] Compare _Quran_ XXIV. 35. “Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth: a likeness of his light is a pillar on which is a lamp, the lamp is in a glass (and) the glass is as it were a brightly shining star lit from a blessed olive tree, neither eastern nor western, the oil whereof almost gives light though fire touches it not (heads daffor.) Allah guides to his light whom he pleases, and Allah sets forth parables for men and Allah is cogniscant of all things.” Al Ghazzali has written a separate treatise called _Mishkat ul Anwar_ dealing exhaustively with the above passage. An excellent summary of his views is given by Razi in his Commentary, vol. VI. 393-408. (Stamboul edition). In the above parable Islam is represented as a likeness of the divine light, a light placed high on a pillar so as to illumine the whole world, a light guarded by being placed in a glass so that no puff of wind can put it out, a light so resplendent that the glass itself in which it is placed is as a brilliant star. Just as a fig tree stands for a symbol of Judaism (see _St. Matthew_ XXI. 19) the olive stands for Islam, which must give light to both the East and the West, and does not specifically belong to either one of them.

The doctrine of _Fana_ is misunderstood by many Western scholars. Tennyson puts it:

“That each, who seems a separate whole,
Should move his rounds and fusing all
The skirts of self again, should fall
Remerging in the general soul,
Is faith as vague as all unsweet.”

(_In Memoriam_ XLVII.)

Ghazzali’s vivid description is neither vague nor unsweet. To him _Fana_ is “a prayer of rapture”. “In that state man is effaced from self, so that he is conscious neither of his body nor of outward things, nor of inward feelings. He is rapt from all these, journeying first to his Lord and then in his Lord, and if the thought that he is effaced from self occurs to him, that is a defect. The highest state is to be effaced from effacement”. E. Whinfield: _Masnavi_, Introduction p. xxxvii.

[73] _Ihya_ IV. 5.

[74] Usually _Fana_ is translated as “annihilation,” but Al Ghazzali here means what is implied in the statement: “To live, move, and have our being in Him”.

[75]

“And thou shalt one day, if found worthy, so defined
See thy God face to face, as thou dost now.”

Byron _Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage_. CLV.

[76] _Quran_ XXIX. 65-66.

[77] _Quran_ XVIII. 109. Compare Jalal-ud-Din Rumi:—

Air, earth, water, and fire are God’s servants.
To us they seem lifeless, but to God living.
In God’s presence fire ever waits to do its service,
Like a submissive lover with no will of its own.
When you strike steel on flint fire leaps forth;
But ’tis by God’s command it thus steps forth.
Strike not together the flint and steel of wrong,
For the pair will generate more, like man and woman.
The flint and steel are themselves causes, yet
Look higher for the First Cause, O righteous man!
For that Cause precedes this second cause.
How can a cause exist of itself without precedent cause?
That Cause makes this cause operative,
And again helpless and inoperative.
That Cause, which is a guiding light to the prophets,
That, I say, is higher than these second causes,
Man’s minds recognise these second causes,
But only prophets perceive the action of the First Cause.

E. Whinfield: _Masnavi_, 2nd ed. 1898. p. 16.

[78] _Ihya_ IV. 6.

[79] _Quran_ V. 54.

[80] _Quran_ II. 165.

[81] Bukhari and Muslim.

[82] _Quran_ IX. 24.

[83] Tirmizi.

[84] Abu Naim.

[85] Tirmizi.

[86] _Quran_ II. 222. Repentance is the first step towards God. Comp. _St. Matthew_ III. 2.

[87] _Quran_ III. 30. Keeping God’s commandments revealed through his holy prophets constitutes love of Him. Comp. _St. John._ XV. 10 “If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love; even as I keep my Father’s commandments and abide in his love”.

[88] A Sufi of great renown: died at Baghdad in 840 A.D.

[89] _Quran_ II. 94-95.

[90] Hadisi Qudsi is that kind of tradition in which God is himself reported to speak.

[91] Comp:

Let knowledge grow from more to more,
But more of reverence in us dwell;
That mind and soul, according well,
May make one music as before,
But vaster. We are fools and slight;
We mock thee when we do not fear;
But help Thy foolish ones to bear,
Help Thy vain worlds to bear, thy light.

Tennyson.

[92] See Bukhari.

[93] Called the “father of Sufiism”. He founded a sect of Sufis in Egypt. He died in 860 A.D.

[94] St. Matthew VI. 1-4; 16-18.

[95] A celebrated Sufi called Syed Uttaifa (chief of the sect). He died at Baghdad in 911 A.D.

[96] A theologian and Sufi of Ray in Persia. He died in 871 A.D.

[97] Comp:

Good shepherd, tell this youth what ’tis to love.
It is to be all made of sighs and tears;
It is to be all made of faith and service;
It is to be all made of fantasy,
All made of passion and all made of wishes;
All adoration, duty, and observance,
All humbleness, all patience and impatience,
All purity, all trial, all observance.

Shakespeare: As you like it. _Act_ V.

[98] _Ihya_ IV. 6.

[99] _Quran_ IX. 72.

[100] _Quran_ XCVIII. 8.

[101] _Quran_ XXXII. 17.

[102] _Quran_ XXXVI. 58.

[103] In Tigris.

[104] He conquered Persia in the time of the Khalifa Omar.

[105] The Arabs address elders in this way.

[106] One of the most renowned of the early Sufis. His grandfather was a Magian who accepted Islam. He was born in 777 A. D. and died at a great age in 878 A. D.

_Some Preliminary Announcements_

_of_

THE GAEKWAD STUDIES

IN

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

_Edited by_

ALBAN G. WIDGERY M.A.,

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THE GAEKWAD STUDIES IN RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

_First issues:_

Personality and Atonement. By the Editor.

Human Needs and The Justification of Religious Beliefs. By the Editor.

The Heart of the Bhagavatgita. By Lingesha Mahabhagavat.

Zoroastrian Ethics. By M. A. Buch.

Kant and Sankaracharya. Prof. C. G. Bhate, Poona.

Selections from Al-Ghassali. By Professor Syed Nawab Ali.

The Doctrine of Karma. A Volume of Essays by various writers.

Immortality and Other Essays. By the Editor.

The Comparative Study of Religions. By the Editor.

A Buddhist Bibliography. By various scholars.

A Chronology and Bibliography of Muslim Literature on Religion and Philosophy. By Professor M. Jamil ur Rehman and F. S. Gilani, M. A.

Some Modern Religious Movements. By various writers.

Jesus. By the Editor.

Goods and Bads: Outlines of a Philosophy of Life. By the Editor.

HUMAN NEEDS AND THE JUSTIFICATION OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS

_The Burney Prize Essay Cambridge 1909_

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PERSONALITY AND ATONEMENT

_Essays in the Philosophy of Religion._

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THE CONFUTATION OF ATHEISM

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This short treatise which comes down from the sixth Imam, Hazrat Imam Jafar-us-Sadak, should prove of great interest to all Muslims. It will attract others also by the beauty of its style and the remarkable likeness it bears to the arguments of Bishop Butler in his _Analogy of Religion_.

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ZOROASTRIAN ETHICS

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CONTENTS

Introduction.
Bibliography.