(Divine Providence Series)
November 6, 2014
The poet, Urwa ibn Adhina, wrote, “I know well the way Allaah provides our daily bread. What use is there in running about here and there with no purpose? Truly, when I forget about money, food, clothing and the desires of lust, my daily portion comes to me. But when I run after those desires, they only bring me pain and wear me out. If I sit where I belong, with patience, my needs are fulfilled without pain and distress. For truly, my daily supply is also seeking me and tugging at me. When it cannot pull me it comes to me, just as when I cannot attract it I go after it.”
(adapted from Fihi Ma Fihi,
translated by A.J. Arberry, p. 331)
***
The above text describes an ideal approach to Divine Providence. Yet we should be honest and wise to not attempt to live an ideal we are not ready to uphold. With that said, it can helpful to explore components of this ideal as we open toward the depth of surrender that allows us to effortlessly live this ideal.
The opening words of the Urwa present nothing new: “I know well the way Allaah provides our daily bread.” There is a prescribed way in which Divine Providence unfolds and we would be wise to honor this way if we wish to open to the fullness of such Providence. As I’ve stated repeatedly on this blog, the Sufi way, the Muslim way, the way of every spiritual tradition I’ve studied begins with a code of ethics. In traditional Islam, this is the sharii’ah: the Divine Law revealed which, when adhered to, brings one to the station of piety and righteousness.
This is the good soil in which the seeds of mysticism take root and deepen as well as sprout stems that elevate to flower and bestow good fruit. This means living the whole of our lives through a code of ethics, not having a code of ethics in a larger scope of life that may or may not adhere to them. When we submit to the way of ethics, the Beloved unfailingly provides our daily bread.
But what is this daily bread? Jalaal ud-Diin Rumi acknowledges two types of daily bread, both which are part of Divine Providence. The first being worldly bread, which he describes as:
Bread in reality is not the cause of life, but Allaah has
made it appear to be the cause of life and strength.
After all, bread has no human life of itself, so how
can it create strength? If it had any life at all, it
would have kept itself alive. ( Fihi p. 353)
Jalaal ud-Diin even goes on to say that worldly bread “does not have the spirit to withhold itself from those who are not worthy.” ( Fihi p. 213) In this vein, mystics don’t regard this bread as valuable although it is necessary to sustain the life of the body. And even the Beloved allows this bread to end up in the hands of those who live completely selfish and impious lives.
But “The bread of revelation is very different from this worldly bread... Divine bread is a living wisdom and a living blessing.” ( Fihi p. 213 – 214) Unlike worldly bread, it is not as freely shared as Jalaal ud-Diin Rumi warns:
As long as you desire nothing else, it comes towards
you and becomes your food. But should your desire
fail, you will not be able to eat it, even by force. It
hides behind the veil and will not show you its face.
( Fihi p. 214)
Note that a just a single desire is enough to impede Divine Providence from bringing Itself to us. Urwa reaffirms this when he states:
Truly, when I forget about money, food, clothing and
the desires of lust, my daily portion comes to me. But
when I run after those desires, they only bring me pain
and wear me out.
We should not overlook the daily component of daily bread: that the Beloved usually provides the providence for today this day -- not yesterday, last week, last year, etc. This calls for a genuine living in the present moment, a stark contrast to a desire-based approach which uses past pleasures to set us off in pursuit of (future) pleasures we’re not presently experiencing.
The story of the Children of Israel moving through the desert after leaving Egypt powerfully illustrates the daily bread approach. The Beloved’s instructions were clear: each day, except the for Sabbath, the Beloved rained down manna from the heavens. The people were to go out each morning after the dew settled and collect enough for just that day before the sun grew hot and melted the manna away. This was to test the people’s obedience: a call to fit their lives into the commands of the Beloved. Any extra manna the people tried to save became full of maggots and began to smell by the next morning. For six days out of every week this was the way Allaah provides our daily bread. For those who surrender to this way, this is the usual way Divine Providence unfolds: provided in the morning of the “day” it is needed, and it is to be used that “day” before it is turned over to something else (such as the maggots). The worldly bread turned over to others is more accessible to use whereas the divine bread turned over to others can only be accessed by those in harmony with the Beloved’s way. The excess manna also began to rot and smell. I remember one teacher who said how the smell speaks to the stench that derives from the ego holding on to more than what is needed: how having too much often breeds the stench of selfishness, greed, arrogance, and other ego-based qualities.
On the sixth day, the day prior to the Sabbath, the Beloved instructed the people to collect enough for two days. It was only on this day that the manna saved did not become full of maggots and began to smell. For those who surrender to the way of Divine Providence, there will occasionally be “days” when today’s and tomorrow’s provision is to be gathered; but even then, we should only collect what will be needed -– not store a long-standing savings when the Beloved regularly provides each day our daily provision.
I should also add that the daily provision should not be seen as a license to be wasteful or gluttonous. Remember, the instructions to the people were to take what they need for that day’s allowance -- not more although more was available.
Some may question how are we to decipher what is our daily bread, how much to take, and when we should collect two day’s worth of provision? The truth is that we don’t have to figure these things out. It is usually our desires and perceived needs that formulate such questions as well as keep us in endless pursuit and continuing suffering. Instead, as Urwa states:
If I sit where I belong, with patience, my needs are
fulfilled without pain and distress. For truly, my daily
supply is also seeking me and tugging at me. When it
cannot pull me it comes to me, just as when I cannot
attract it I go after it.
Continuous unbroken obedience to the commands of the Beloved -– beginning with uncompromising ethics -- unfailingly seats us where we belong. This sitting is not just a passive motionlessness of body. Jalaal ud-Diin Rumi states: “‘Sitting’ means to sit detached from this world while being absorbed in the affairs of the world to come” ( Fihi p. 331) -- or absorbed in the Will of the Beloved. When we are truly detached our daily bread comes to us in the appropriate portion: whether as today’s provision or today’s and tomorrow’s share. As stated in a previous blog post, sometimes Divine Providence comes as a duty to perform; if we perform the Will of the Beloved in a detached manner, although our body and mind may be moving and engaged, in such performance we are still sitting.
This post only begins to speak to an ideal approach to Divine Providence. For those who are ready and sincere to embrace such an approach, the invitation is here; for the rest, we can consider incorporating elements of this approach into how we live. I would never encourage anyone to jump from a self-effort based approach to this ideal; instead I was taught to move toward an ideal step-by-step without regressing. For example, I would never encourage anyone to navigate this society without some personal savings given this society lets people suffer unnecessarily (hunger, homelessness, etc.) by not providing a sufficient safety net that ancient societies maintained. But as a person surrenders more deeply to the way Allaah provides our daily bread, such a person may be ready to completely abandon having any personal savings.
The danger in seeking to live an ideal prematurely is that this exposes our unperceived worldly attachments and creates tension and stress in our lives, which usually manifest as suffering and pains. Part of If I sit where I belong, with patience, means being where we are in our progression toward an ideal -- and to not only sit there patiently but also progress patiently. This calls for a sincerity and honesty that indicates when it is time to progress, even when such proves to be challenging. We would be wise to acknowledge what we are truly ready to embrace as part of an ideal approach to Divine Providence.
This post concludes the Divine Providence Series. But as I trust the topics covered will come up again, when they do I will address them in future posts.
