Forty-Fifth Assembly (Khwan-Pur-Nemat)

Maulana Latifuddin said: In this connection it has been mentioned that, on the feast day, there are two angels at the door of every believer to lead him to the feast-day prayer. They go along with him, one bearing a standard in each hand while the other carries a mace. What does it mean to say one carries a standard in each hand, and the other, a mace? The Venerable Master replied: The mace is on account of the devils. On this day they are played sports of and driven off. There are standards in the hand of the other to proclaim the greatness and wonders of the believers, just as by showing someone's standard it is clear that he is a valiant warrior.

Qazi Ashrafuddin said: Here and there it is written that 'The reality of the existence of the Apostle is a ray of the Divine Light-to Whom be glory and exultation!' What is the meaning of this saying? He replied: By this ray they mean to say-but God knows best that the coming into existence of the Apostle is from the existent being of the pure essence of God: 'He is great and cannot be fragmented or diminished in any way, just as the appearance within a mirror corresponds with the outside world.

Here he again said: The existence of the world appeared from the being of the pure essence of God, so what is the reason for making this apply particularly to the Apostle? He replied: The coming into existence of the Apostle from the existent being of God occurs without intermediary; while the coming into existence of the world, although it occurs through the divine being, yet it is through the mediation of the Apostle, as I have explained. A religious scholar wrote that all creatures originated from human souls, and the origin of these human souls is the pure soul of the Apostle, Muhammad, as he said: 'The first creation of God is my soul. It is not fitting to compare this to the tradition about light and other similar ones

because His creation is like a genealogical tree and the Khwaja (i.e. Muhammad) is the fruit of that tree, and the tree is also genuinely from the seed of the fruit. Thus the first ray from the light of Unity is the light of Muhammad, as he said: 'I am from God, and believers are from me.'

Afterwards he added: One should not ponder such matters with one's intellect. It becomes clear in the world of ecstatic contemplation's

Later on he said: Men of understanding, known as the protagonists of unity, say that every particle of being that comes into existence is related to the existence of God in a similar fashion to the reflection in a mirror with the external form being reflected. This entire world which appears before us is like the reflection in a mirror which appears to exist but does not. This depends on the fact that real existence belongs to the Lord, who is self-existent. Other beings, however, even though they exist, do so through His creation.10 Of themselves they are, in fact, nothing. The glance of the mystics penetrates everywhere. It falls firstly on that nothingness. As is mentioned here and there, 'nothing else exists'. That also is noticed and, as is said, 'Everything except Him perishes.' On the Day of Resurrection, all will be made clear. For the mystics, however, this illumination is granted today. All of this is what is meant by their 'glance.

Maulana Latifuddin again enquired whether the saying, The sheikh vivifies and also causes death had come to his notice. He replied: No, I have not seen it anywhere, but I hear it from everyone. Moreover, if it is written somewhere, it could be explained.

Thereupon Maulana Latifuddin asked for the explanation. He replied: The explanation would be that 'vivification' and 'causing death' have this meaning. The former refers to praiseworthy, angelic qualities. He causes them to appear in him, while the latter refers to evil qualities, namely he causes the death of the evil qualities of the novice. 'Vivification' and 'causing death' have this meaning.

This can be put in another way. The essence of life and death is of several kinds, e.g. 'Faith is life, while infidelity is

death: respectful submission to God is life, whereas sin is death; knowledge is life, but ignorance is death.

Afterwards he said: There is a saying of Mansoor Hallaj¹¹ which has been preserved. It is quite formidable and runs thus: 'I am smaller than He in two respects. Even the hearing of this saying is something dreadful. The place where it is written contains no explanation concerning it but, in his books, which I have studied, an explanation is found. Now he has written in his own books that a Traveller makes progress at every breath and each moment and moves forward until he reaches the place where all the mystical meanings and words which are possible therein are acquired by him. He reaches the point where these two things remain, namely 'Our existence is from Him' and 'Our standing is in Him. When Mansoor Hallaj said 'I am smaller than He,' he was thinking of these two things-but God knows best!

Afterwards the Venerable Master said, with great astonishment: From this one can understand what perfection had been acquired by him! Apart from these two things that he does not exist by himself, nor does he stand by himself all other things are there. The only difference lies in these two things.

At this stage Maulana Latifuddin said: It is related that some dervishes had said about someone, 'Live' and he came to life: 'Die' and he died. What meaning does this bear? He replied: This bringing to life and causing death would be from God Almighty, but the miracle would apply in a special way to him through whom it was accomplished. The bringing to life and causing death, however, which applies particularly to the dervishes has a special meaning, as do all things with them.12

Afterwards he said: The interpretation of this couplet is also made in this fashion:

At each breath, Sufis celebrate two feasts: Spiders make strips of the flesh of flies.

In other words, at each breath the Traveller emerges from reprehensible habits and enters into praiseworthy ones. Thus

they celebrate one feast, as the emergence from reprehensible habits is an occasion of joy, while there is also happiness when praiseworthy ones are acquired. The interpretation of the following hemistich of Maulana Rum says the same thing:

Man is born but once, but I have often been born.

This means that, when he emerges from reprehensible habits a kind of birth occurs for him, because the birth of anything involves the emergence of another.

Maulana Latifuddin said: In this connection it has been mentioned that, on the feast day, there are two angels at the door of every believer to lead him to the feast-day prayer. They go along with him, one bearing a standard in each hand while the other carries a mace. What does it mean to say one carries a standard in each hand, and the other, a mace? The Venerable Master replied: The mace is on account of the devils. On this day they are played sports of and driven off. There are standards in the hand of the other to proclaim the greatness and wonders of the believers, just as by showing someone's standard it is clear that he is a valiant warrior.

Qazi Ashrafuddin said: Here and there it is written that 'The reality of the existence of the Apostle is a ray of the Divine Light-to Whom be glory and exultation!' What is the meaning of this saying? He replied: By this ray they mean to say-but God knows best that the coming into existence of the Apostle is from the existent being of the pure essence of God: 'He is great and cannot be fragmented or diminished in any way, just as the appearance within a mirror corresponds with the outside world.

Here he again said: The existence of the world appeared from the being of the pure essence of God, so what is the reason for making this apply particularly to the Apostle? He replied: The coming into existence of the Apostle from the existent being of God occurs without intermediary; while the coming into existence of the world, although it occurs through the divine being, yet it is through the mediation of the Apostle, as I have explained. A religious scholar wrote that all creatures originated from human souls, and the origin of these human souls is the pure soul of the Apostle, Muhammad, as he said: 'The first creation of God is my soul. It is not fitting to compare this to the tradition about light and other similar ones

because His creation is like a genealogical tree and the Khwaja (i.e. Muhammad) is the fruit of that tree, and the tree is also genuinely from the seed of the fruit. Thus the first ray from the light of Unity is the light of Muhammad, as he said: 'I am from God, and believers are from me.'

Afterwards he added: One should not ponder such matters with one's intellect. It becomes clear in the world of ecstatic contemplation's

Later on he said: Men of understanding, known as the protagonists of unity, say that every particle of being that comes into existence is related to the existence of God in a similar fashion to the reflection in a mirror with the external form being reflected. This entire world which appears before us is like the reflection in a mirror which appears to exist but does not. This depends on the fact that real existence belongs to the Lord, who is self-existent. Other beings, however, even though they exist, do so through His creation.10 Of themselves they are, in fact, nothing. The glance of the mystics penetrates everywhere. It falls firstly on that nothingness. As is mentioned here and there, 'nothing else exists'. That also is noticed and, as is said, 'Everything except Him perishes.' On the Day of Resurrection, all will be made clear. For the mystics, however, this illumination is granted today. All of this is what is meant by their 'glance.

Maulana Latifuddin again enquired whether the saying, The sheikh vivifies and also causes death had come to his notice. He replied: No, I have not seen it anywhere, but I hear it from everyone. Moreover, if it is written somewhere, it could be explained.

Thereupon Maulana Latifuddin asked for the explanation. He replied: The explanation would be that 'vivification' and 'causing death' have this meaning. The former refers to praiseworthy, angelic qualities. He causes them to appear in him, while the latter refers to evil qualities, namely he causes the death of the evil qualities of the novice. 'Vivification' and 'causing death' have this meaning.

This can be put in another way. The essence of life and death is of several kinds, e.g. 'Faith is life, while infidelity is

death: respectful submission to God is life, whereas sin is death; knowledge is life, but ignorance is death.

Afterwards he said: There is a saying of Mansoor Hallaj¹¹ which has been preserved. It is quite formidable and runs thus: 'I am smaller than He in two respects. Even the hearing of this saying is something dreadful. The place where it is written contains no explanation concerning it but, in his books, which I have studied, an explanation is found. Now he has written in his own books that a Traveller makes progress at every breath and each moment and moves forward until he reaches the place where all the mystical meanings and words which are possible therein are acquired by him. He reaches the point where these two things remain, namely 'Our existence is from Him' and 'Our standing is in Him. When Mansoor Hallaj said 'I am smaller than He,' he was thinking of these two things-but God knows best!

Afterwards the Venerable Master said, with great astonishment: From this one can understand what perfection had been acquired by him! Apart from these two things that he does not exist by himself, nor does he stand by himself all other things are there. The only difference lies in these two things.

At this stage Maulana Latifuddin said: It is related that some dervishes had said about someone, 'Live' and he came to life: 'Die' and he died. What meaning does this bear? He replied: This bringing to life and causing death would be from God Almighty, but the miracle would apply in a special way to him through whom it was accomplished. The bringing to life and causing death, however, which applies particularly to the dervishes has a special meaning, as do all things with them.12

Afterwards he said: The interpretation of this couplet is also made in this fashion:

At each breath, Sufis celebrate two feasts: Spiders make strips of the flesh of flies.

In other words, at each breath the Traveller emerges from reprehensible habits and enters into praiseworthy ones. Thus

they celebrate one feast, as the emergence from reprehensible habits is an occasion of joy, while there is also happiness when praiseworthy ones are acquired. The interpretation of the following hemistich of Maulana Rum says the same thing:

Man is born but once, but I have often been born.

This means that, when he emerges from reprehensible habits a kind of birth occurs for him, because the birth of anything involves the emergence of another.