(Divine Providence Series)
October 23, 2014
Then the angels supplicate Allaah, saying,
“O Thou that hearest prayer and relievest pain,
Thy faithful servant is bowing down before Thee
And knows of none on whom to rely save Thee;
Thou bestowest favors on the helpless.
Every suppliant obtains one’s wishes from Thee.”
Allaah makes answer, “The delay in granting prayer
Is intended to benefit, not to harm.
That pressing need draws one from negligence to Me;
Yea, drags one by the hair into My courts.
If I at once remove that need that one will go away,
And will be destroyed in idle sports.
Though wailing with heartfelt cry of ‘O Aider!’
Bid that one to wail on with broken heart and contrite breast.
That voice sounds sweet in My ears,
And those wailing and cries of ‘O Beloved!’
In this way by supplication and lamentation
That one prevails with Me altogether.”
It is on account of their sweet voices
That choice parrots and nightingales are jailed in cages.
Ugly owls and crows are never jailed in cages;
Such a thing was never heard of in history.
The disappointments of the pious, be sure,
Are appointed for this wise purpose.
(adapted from Masnavi i Ma’navi,
translated by E.H. Whinfield, p. 472 - 473)
***
Even when one surrenders into a sincere reliance upon the Beloved and engages practices that remove the veils concealing the heart’s light, there may still be a delay in receiving certain aspects or the fullness of Divine Providence. The above poem presents a way to deal with this.
This way includes prayer, but not prayer as many conceive in modern terms. In Islam, there are three main practices included in what we call prayer. The first is salaat, the traditional prayer in which words and postures are prescribed. These are performed at least five times a day and are geared toward honoring the Beloved. The second is dua, which are petitionary prayers: where one petitions requests to the Beloved. Traditionally, these prayers are performed on behalf of others to avoid the slippery slope of one’s prayers becoming self-centered and selfish. It was common that a person in need would seek others, particularly pious people, to make dua on one’s behalf. In extraordinary circumstances, it was acceptable that one would make dua for one’s own needs or simply prostrate before the Beloved (who already knows what we need before we ask). The third practice is zikr, acts of remembrance of the Beloved. These can include chanting, meditation, and recitation of the Qur’aan. The intent of these acts is to remove the veils of (ego-based) forgetfulness so that, with continued practice, one comes to rest in an unending, effortless state of remembrance of the Beloved. In fact, all three types of prayer look to contribute to a person resting in this state.
With this said, the purpose of ‘ Thy faithful servant is bowing down before Thee’ is to turn our attention to the Beloved, to remember the Beloved. The need and what one is praying for is but a means to facilitate this remembrance. Yet it is something that even the angels take notice of. Beyond bringing these prayers to the Beloved, the angels entreat for the fulfillment of the prayers: “Thou bestowest favors on the helpless. / Every suppliant obtains one’s wishes from Thee. ” The prayer of the faithful servant is brought into harmony with the perfect obedience of the angels, who in their own way make dua (petition) for our needs. We should not be forgetful of the angels who, in humility and perfect piety, serve us in so many unnoticed ways.
Responding to the petition of the angels, the Beloved reveals: The delay in granting prayer / Is intended to benefit, not to harm. The reason is simple and direct: That pressing need draws one from negligence to Me. Contemplating this point calls for an unyielding, introspective honesty. With such honesty, most of us will see that we don’t look to the Beloved with the same consistency and intensity when things are going well. Our minds settle into a satisfaction that is often lazy, careless, and takes so much for granted. We don’t pray or engage other elements of spiritual practice with the same focus and intent -– most of us get real casual when things are well. But when we’re in need, in pain, in the midst of struggle: we look to the Beloved and engage our spiritual practice with fervor, not a blatant or subtle negligence.
If we maintain the same (or dare I say deeper) strength of spiritual focus in good times as we do when going through challenges, there is no reason to delay fulfillment of prayer -- except in very limited circumstances. But we don’t maintain such focus, and the danger of this decreased focus is so threatening the Beloved drags one by the hair into My courts. Without “the need” to keep us focused, there is a real danger we will be destroyed in idle sports. These sports are not just worldly and pleasure-based pursuits; they can include hypocrisy, shallowness in spirituality, reduction of spiritual matters to concepts and ideas, or anything else that falls short of arriving at Nearness to the Beloved.
When we pray or engage spiritual practice or service, do we do so wailing with [a] heartfelt cry? Do we wail on with broken heart and contrite breast, with a yearning that sounds sweet to the Beloved? It is not necessary to be in need to give such wails: the depth of appreciation, sincerity, humility, and complete reliance on the Beloved can also utter forth such wails. Yet if we don’t embody such wails through these virtues, the Beloved may use need to place and keep us in a state of doing such. When we regularly and continually wail in such a manner, the veils of separation are dissolved, so that the faithful servant prevails with Me altogether in Nearness. The disappointments of the pious, be sure, / Are appointed for this wise purpose. The same may not necessarily be true regarding the disappointments of the impious. But a challenge of arriving at Nearness through hardships is that when the hardships pass or diminish, we forgetfully turn away from that which brought us to Nearness and return to the ways of veils and separation.
It is on account of their sweet voices / That choice parrots and nightingales are jailed in cages. It is for the beauty of our wailing when in need that the Beloved sometimes delays fulfilling the needs of faithful servants. The Beloved rarely does such with the unfaithful: Ugly owls and crows are never jailed in cages -- but there may be other reasons such persons remain in need, hardship, and struggle. So the faithful should not view being “jailed” as a negative, instead as an indication of the Beloved’s favor toward us.
Yet, there is an even sweeter voice for which the Beloved will free choice parrots and nightingales from their temporary cages. It’s not the sound of relief when their needs are fulfilled. Rather it is the perfection of virtues such as unconditional appreciation, ever-deepening humility, unending gratitude -- even for trying challenges and hardships. When these qualities become our every-moment prayer, the Beloved withholds nothing we need since the Beloved finds this voice more beautiful than the most beautiful yearning wails. The prophets and saints living unendingly in this voice, and even portents of creation marvel at their beauty. If a person embodies these qualities, very rarely will the Beloved delay fulfillment of one’s prayers: and if so, usually to purify one of (mental) impediments to these qualities. Once purified, the fulfillment often manifests quickly.
Sincere surrender to the Will of the Beloved unfolds the perfection of these virtues within us, where we release even the smallest preference to allow the whole of life to be in complete harmony with the Beloved. To unfold however the Beloved wills or allows, whether pleasant or not. Therein is Nearness. And in Nearness awaits the invitation to the greatest treasure of Divine Providence: Oneness with the Beloved.
When Allaah loves people It afflicts them. If they
endure with fortitude, It chooses them. If they are
grateful, It elects them. ... The wise and complete
servant is grateful [even] for harsh treatment, both
publicly and in private, for with the voice of gratitude
comes the inspiration to give more. Even if Allaah
sends them to the lowest reaches of Hell, through
gratitude Allaah’s purpose is advanced.
(adapted from Fihi Ma Fihi, trans.
by A.J. Arberry, p. 325) ˜ ˜ ˜
