LETTER 15: UNION WITH GOD

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate!

Brother Shamsuddin, may God Almighty grant you the blessing of union with Him! Realize that union with the Lord is not of the same kind as when your body is joined to another, nor your accidents with others, or your substance with your body, or knowledge with the thing known, or willing with the thing willed. God Almighty is more exalted than that! (ref. to Q17:4, 43). This word union occurs in the Law and public discourse and is also well known among the Sufis. It means being joined to the Lord. What does it mean to be joined to the Lord? It means that, for the sake of God, one is cut off from what is in any way base. Being closely united would mean becoming lost in the very depths of God! To this corresponds a great freedom from preoccupation with things other than God. On the other hand, to the extent that a person becomes free from preoccupation with God, to the same extent he becomes separated from Him.

One can learn from this saying of Harisa: Surely I see the throne of my Master. It so happened that, to the extent that Harisa was not united to this world, he was closely united to the Hidden One. Muhammad the Chosen One was detached from both worlds in order to be intimately united with God. If his secret leaked out, he would say, I take refuge in You from You! When he said these words, it was clear that nothing remained in his secret thoughts that was other than God.

Separation from this world restores union with God. Again, there is the saying of Abdullah ibn Umar. As he was performing the circumambulation of the Kaaba, he said: I was lost in the vision of the Lord in that place. This means that his personality was lost in the Law, while his secret thoughts were immersed in the Truth. Absorption in the Law is superseded by absorption in the Truth. A person is no longer aware of either house or greeting. So engrossed does he become in God that he hears no greeting, and his veneration of the Lord of the house reaches such a stage that there remains no memory of even the house! This is the sense of I see God Himself in that house! But when the person who had greeted him and not been vouchsafed a reply came, he was full of complaints and reproaches against him. When Umar came to the place, he said nothing. This became an argument in favor of the claim made by Abdullah, since the Master of Jurisprudence argue that when it is necessary to speak, no reply becomes the reply. In short, every spiritually endowed person arrives at the point of return to the Lord. Surely the ultimate point of return is to your Lord (Q53:42). In the beginning, the first covenant was Am I not your Lord? (Q7:171). Just as spiritual nature was prepared for a lump of clay, so on the pinnacle of human nature was showered the leaven of everything leavened! God created the universe in darkness, but then sprinkled his light upon it. One gulp from the cup of Am I not gives so much pleasure to his palate that throughout his entire lifetime it can never be erased from his soul. Indeed, his life consists of that delight and the desire of that Light is like the center and treasure of his own being. He is not inclined toward this world and is unable, even for a moment, to abandon that wine!

Your lovers have been intoxicated from eternity.

They have come, their heads swaying with Am I not?

Imbibing this wine and savoring its fragrance,

They become spiritual sots due to Am I not?

Those people are like moths sacrificing their lives out of love-for the yoke of yearning for God himself has fallen upon their necks in the covenant of Am I not? Here, many feathers and wings strain after Him. The veils of the beauty of the glorious Candle are shed, so that whoever comes even a hand's breadth toward Me, toward him do I advance a yard takes him by the hand! From the many stirrings of a heart, yearning for God Himself is like a rope between the two worlds, for it draws a person to the very edge of union and says, How far could one reach with these weak wings and feathers? You have drawn aside the veils of My beauty, but you cannot fly in the atmosphere of My divine substance with these paltry wings and feathers! Those required there are earned on the battlefield by those people who struggle on Our behalf (Q29:69). As the Quran goes on to promise, Certainly I shall show them the way! Wings and feathers of another hue shall I bestow upon you by scattering my own illuminations God guides by His own light whomsoever He wishes (Q24:35).

If the most exalted of angels, jinn, and men were gathered together, they could not confer on a single slave the enjoyment of the illumination of the Lord God, nor even enough desire for Him to enable a slave to venture a few footsteps upon the Divine Expanse. Undoubtedly this is a better desire than any concerned with creatures, and a form of slavery that is really a liberation from slavery and from oneself. Such people have the habit of directing all their desires toward the Divine World. One breath of theirs is equivalent to all the affairs of both worlds. The following verse hints at the intensity of their renunciation:

In one breath the Sufis celebrate two feasts, While spiders tear flies to pieces!

At every moment a Sufi die, only to obtain a new form of existence, coming further under the control of the desire of self-effacement and absorption in God. From that effacement one goes for a different type of stroll in the Divine World, under the influence of a strong yearning. God effaces or establishes whatever He pleases (Q11:39). At every step absorption and affirmation are obtained, so that the Sufi celebrates two feasts there: one that of absorption, and the other a feast of affirmation. At this stage, it is fitting that he should be called the Spirit of God or the Word of God; such a title will become like a robe that fits him perfectly.

O brother, this work is scarcely compatible with having the sash of lordship tied to one's turban! For when that beloved one, Adam, came to heaven, he looked around and said: These itching feet of mine cannot remain in the bonds of a stirrup. And this head of mine, filled with the effects of love, cannot bear the weight of the crown. I have been given an erect stature, that I may stand upright and alone, just like the letter alif. Causes and effects are fit only for the fire. He said Here am I to love and bade adieu to the eight heavens. While he was passing through heaven, along with his crown and robe of honor, Adam was in the rank of those near to God. When he entered upon the Way of seeking, he was not aware of things that still lay concealed. Hence it has been said:

Do you know the precondition for entering a tavern?

First lay aside your crown, your belt, and your turban!

Every particle of the being of Adam raised this primeval slogan of love:

I will sorely try your heart with the anguish of love;

Even today I shall demand your very life's blood!

Peace!

In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate!

Brother Shamsuddin, may God Almighty grant you the blessing of union with Him! Realize that union with the Lord is not of the same kind as when your body is joined to another, nor your accidents with others, or your substance with your body, or knowledge with the thing known, or willing with the thing willed. God Almighty is more exalted than that! (ref. to Q17:4, 43). This word union occurs in the Law and public discourse and is also well known among the Sufis. It means being joined to the Lord. What does it mean to be joined to the Lord? It means that, for the sake of God, one is cut off from what is in any way base. Being closely united would mean becoming lost in the very depths of God! To this corresponds a great freedom from preoccupation with things other than God. On the other hand, to the extent that a person becomes free from preoccupation with God, to the same extent he becomes separated from Him.

One can learn from this saying of Harisa: Surely I see the throne of my Master. It so happened that, to the extent that Harisa was not united to this world, he was closely united to the Hidden One. Muhammad the Chosen One was detached from both worlds in order to be intimately united with God. If his secret leaked out, he would say, I take refuge in You from You! When he said these words, it was clear that nothing remained in his secret thoughts that was other than God.

Separation from this world restores union with God. Again, there is the saying of Abdullah ibn Umar. As he was performing the circumambulation of the Kaaba, he said: I was lost in the vision of the Lord in that place. This means that his personality was lost in the Law, while his secret thoughts were immersed in the Truth. Absorption in the Law is superseded by absorption in the Truth. A person is no longer aware of either house or greeting. So engrossed does he become in God that he hears no greeting, and his veneration of the Lord of the house reaches such a stage that there remains no memory of even the house! This is the sense of I see God Himself in that house! But when the person who had greeted him and not been vouchsafed a reply came, he was full of complaints and reproaches against him. When Umar came to the place, he said nothing. This became an argument in favor of the claim made by Abdullah, since the Master of Jurisprudence argue that when it is necessary to speak, no reply becomes the reply. In short, every spiritually endowed person arrives at the point of return to the Lord. Surely the ultimate point of return is to your Lord (Q53:42). In the beginning, the first covenant was Am I not your Lord? (Q7:171). Just as spiritual nature was prepared for a lump of clay, so on the pinnacle of human nature was showered the leaven of everything leavened! God created the universe in darkness, but then sprinkled his light upon it. One gulp from the cup of Am I not gives so much pleasure to his palate that throughout his entire lifetime it can never be erased from his soul. Indeed, his life consists of that delight and the desire of that Light is like the center and treasure of his own being. He is not inclined toward this world and is unable, even for a moment, to abandon that wine!

Your lovers have been intoxicated from eternity.

They have come, their heads swaying with Am I not?

Imbibing this wine and savoring its fragrance,

They become spiritual sots due to Am I not?

Those people are like moths sacrificing their lives out of love-for the yoke of yearning for God himself has fallen upon their necks in the covenant of Am I not? Here, many feathers and wings strain after Him. The veils of the beauty of the glorious Candle are shed, so that whoever comes even a hand's breadth toward Me, toward him do I advance a yard takes him by the hand! From the many stirrings of a heart, yearning for God Himself is like a rope between the two worlds, for it draws a person to the very edge of union and says, How far could one reach with these weak wings and feathers? You have drawn aside the veils of My beauty, but you cannot fly in the atmosphere of My divine substance with these paltry wings and feathers! Those required there are earned on the battlefield by those people who struggle on Our behalf (Q29:69). As the Quran goes on to promise, Certainly I shall show them the way! Wings and feathers of another hue shall I bestow upon you by scattering my own illuminations God guides by His own light whomsoever He wishes (Q24:35).

If the most exalted of angels, jinn, and men were gathered together, they could not confer on a single slave the enjoyment of the illumination of the Lord God, nor even enough desire for Him to enable a slave to venture a few footsteps upon the Divine Expanse. Undoubtedly this is a better desire than any concerned with creatures, and a form of slavery that is really a liberation from slavery and from oneself. Such people have the habit of directing all their desires toward the Divine World. One breath of theirs is equivalent to all the affairs of both worlds. The following verse hints at the intensity of their renunciation:

In one breath the Sufis celebrate two feasts, While spiders tear flies to pieces!

At every moment a Sufi die, only to obtain a new form of existence, coming further under the control of the desire of self-effacement and absorption in God. From that effacement one goes for a different type of stroll in the Divine World, under the influence of a strong yearning. God effaces or establishes whatever He pleases (Q11:39). At every step absorption and affirmation are obtained, so that the Sufi celebrates two feasts there: one that of absorption, and the other a feast of affirmation. At this stage, it is fitting that he should be called the Spirit of God or the Word of God; such a title will become like a robe that fits him perfectly.

O brother, this work is scarcely compatible with having the sash of lordship tied to one's turban! For when that beloved one, Adam, came to heaven, he looked around and said: These itching feet of mine cannot remain in the bonds of a stirrup. And this head of mine, filled with the effects of love, cannot bear the weight of the crown. I have been given an erect stature, that I may stand upright and alone, just like the letter alif. Causes and effects are fit only for the fire. He said Here am I to love and bade adieu to the eight heavens. While he was passing through heaven, along with his crown and robe of honor, Adam was in the rank of those near to God. When he entered upon the Way of seeking, he was not aware of things that still lay concealed. Hence it has been said:

Do you know the precondition for entering a tavern?

First lay aside your crown, your belt, and your turban!

Every particle of the being of Adam raised this primeval slogan of love:

I will sorely try your heart with the anguish of love;

Even today I shall demand your very life's blood!

Peace!