Sheikh Ibn Arabi (RA)
lived during the sixth and seventh Hijiri. At that time, Ibn Rushd was a well
renowned scholar, Ibn Rushd had translated the teachings of Aristotle and was a
good friend of Hazrat Ibn Arabi’s (RA) father. He had heard about Sheikh Ibn
Arabi (RA) and was very interested in meeting him. Sheikh Akbar Mohiudding Ibn
Arabi (RA) narrated their meeting as follows:
“When I entered the
house, Ibn Rushd excitedly said, ‘Yes!’ I also said ‘yes’ in reply. He was very
happy as he believed that I understood exactly what he meant. I became aware of
his habitual happiness and then said ‘no’ as well. Ibn Rushd’s facial
expression changed. It looked like he had been thinking about something for a
while and was now in doubt about it. He asked me, ‘What solution have you found
through revelation?’ I replied, ‘Yes and no. the self runs away from its origin
between ‘yes’ and ‘no’, and their necks are removed from their body.’ Listening
to this, Ibn Rushd became pale. He understood the mechanism that I had pointed
out to him and began to shiver as he praised the Lord, saying , ‘There is
neither might, nor power (except God).’
Later, I wanted to see
him again With the blessing of the Lord, he came before me in the world of the
unseen where there was a veil of light between him and myself. I was able to
see him through the veil, but he was unable to see me. He was not even aware
that I was aware as he was so engrossed in his contemplation.’
Ibn Rush passed away in
Morocco. His body was transferred to Cordoba where his grave can be found.
*******
The great Sufi
scientist Huzoor Qalandar Baba Auliya said: “It is the very same ‘real being’,
the self from which there is no separation from God, and it is the first step
towards cognizing Him. If the ‘self’ is deprived of the congnition of God, it
considers itself separate from God. There are many stages of the self becoming consumed with the attributes of God.
The first step is Belief. There are verses about belief
in the opening of the Holy Quran stating that there is no room for doubt in the
great book. The book provides guidance to those who embrace piety for the sake
of God i.e. those who wish to avoid evil, those willing to follow the path of
good deeds, and those whose heart has the inclination to follow the path.
They are those that
believe in the unseen. The law states, that one must believe in the unseen in
order to be introduced to it. Those people who wish to understand life and the
universe and wish to solve its mysteries, but are naïve and believe the
explanations givenby the ‘intellectuals’, cannot understand the truth of life
and the universe. The story between Hazrat Ibn Arabi (RA) and Ibn Rush is a
good example of this. The intellect was represented by the first ‘yes’, whereas
the truth of life was hidden in the ‘yes and no’.
Nasma (divine light)
encloses every single thing in the universe. Even the smallest particle in the
universe is based on two types positive and negative.
The Nasma is the
balance between these two. In other words, Nasma is the name given to the base
rays (or waves) of movement, that are responsible for the formation of any
being. These lines are spread around us in space in such a way that there is no
distance between them, but they are not merged as one either. These lines also
act as a base for the formation of physical objects.”
****
There are more than 250
writings of Sheikh Ibn Arabi (RA) of which ‘Fusus-al-Hikam’ and ‘Futuhat-al-Makkiyyah’
are well known to the public. He has said, ‘My intention was not the same as
other writers. Some of the things I wrote were because they were an order from
God, and It was such that I felt that I was about to burn without writing it,
so I would keep myself busy with it. The reason for some of the things I wrote
were because they were revealed to me in dreams.’
Sheikh Ibn Arabi (RA)
passed away on 22nd Rabi-ul-Akhir 638 Hijri in Damascus. The tomb is
at the side of mount Qasioun. The writer of ‘Hafh-al-Tyyab’ visited the tomb in
1037 Hiri. He has written, ‘I visited Sheikh Ibn Arabi (RA) grave and repeatedly received blessings. I
also observed divine lights whilst I was there.”
****
Sayings of Sheikh Ibn
Arabi (RA)
“The process of
congnising God is such that you should first know yourself. Whoever completely
understand their self, will cognize God.”
“Every object in the
universe is alive – it speaks and sees. Stones and plants praise God, but the
average person cannot hear their praise. However, those who have been bestowed
with the ability to ‘listen’ from God, can easily hear the praise of the
creations.”
“In the same way God
has saints, Satan too has his representatives. God has send his revelations to
his prophets and Satan has inspired his own representatives. The difference is
that the revelations form God motivate people to do well; whereas satanic
temptations can only do evil.”
“O speaker! Your speech
should match the standard of your listener. You should have the ability to know
the hidden doubts and confusions of others and yourself. Be aware of those who
present the teachings of scholars by distorting it.”
“Be modest when you
desire to adopt something, as in any business, both extremes are liable to
condemnation.”
“Every knowledgeable
person holds knowledge as per their capacity”
“A distance is a veil.
Closeness too is a veil. God is closer than our jugular vein, so what is the
point of seventy thousand veils?”
“No one can reach the
heights of knowledge unless they completely follow the message of God and act
according to the teachings of the messenger of God (PBUH), and also respects
the teachings of all prophets with all of their heart.”
“Rose and thorn, sorrow
and gladness are linked together.”
The End
From Qalandar Shaoor Digest By Khawaja Shams Uddin Azeemi
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