December 17, 2015
The “Wedding Day” of Jalaal ud-Diin Rumi
Iisa (a.s.) was asked, “What is the most difficult thing in this world and the next?” He said, “The wrath of Allaah.” They asked, “And what can save us from that?” He answered, “Master your own wrath and anger towards others.”
When the mind wants to complain, do the opposite -- give thanks. Exaggerate the matter to such a degree that you find within yourself a Love of what repels you. Pretending thankfulness is a way of seeking the Love of Allaah.
(adapted from Fihi Ma Fihi,
translated by A.J. Arberry, p. 424)
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The Prophet Iisa (a.s.), more commonly known as Jesus, is one of the most beloved prophets in Islam. Among Muslims, especially Sufis, he is revered for the wondrous embodiment of Love that continues to emanate through his time on earth. Many also look to the prophecies of his coming return as a time in which Love will rule this earth again: that the present state of immense suffering and conflict throughout the world will come to an end.
Many Sufis turn to Iisa when looking to deepen the presence of Love in their own lives. The above text gives a simple yet powerful means to open to this. We often underestimate the potency of simple means, but examining the lives of prophets and saints reveals that “mastery” of Love is often realized through such means. And many don’t realize the far reaching impact anger has upon our ability to be a vessel for Love.
First, it may be helpful to have some parameters about what is meant by Love. A lot of times when we talk about Love we’re not really talking about Love itself but how Love manifests through phenomena of creation. Even the mention of Love in the opening text refers to Love not as something we do but something realized within: find within yourself a Love of what repels you. Many mystics acknowledge that Love is beyond definition; some say the Absolute is Love, which certainly cannot be defined. In this regard, to be a vessel of Love doesn’t entail performing acts of Love; rather removing obstacles to this Inner Reality that already is. Once these are removed, Love effortlessly flows within us and through us; and, when appropriate, moves us to action.
Most, if not all, of the barriers to this flow of Love lay in our individual identity, which most of us live through the ego. Thus, we may see why Jalaal ud-Diin Rumi says: “Your task is not to seek for Love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” To this I would add the barriers we allow others to build within us through social conditioning and influence (the company we keep imprints certain qualities upon our minds). I remember the words of a teacher who spoke in the same vein. He said, and I’m paraphrasing, there is nothing I can teach you about Love -- this you already “know” deep within, you just need to remember this knowing. But I can teach you how to realize and address the many ways you are impeding Love from flowing through you. He stated that the most common impediment is fear, but anger is a close second.
One of the dangers of anger is that it unfailingly leads one to the wrath of Allaah. We should not view such wrath and anger in human terms: so often a person becomes angry because of something someone does or is perceived as doing, with the basis of this mental anger being rooted in the individual (often the ego-based) identity. Our modern concepts of anger tend to be extreme: the threshold for our standard of anger begins with physically or verbally attacking a person, or have the strong desire to do so. In ancient times, for the mind to be just slightly disturbed and turned in the direction of harm was considered anger -- even if such disturbance never expanded to become the desire to attack (i.e. disturb) someone else. Wrath was considered a more intense anger, often at such a level that is very difficult to control. But this speaks to human anger, not what is traditionally meant by the wrath of Allaah.
In examining the wrath of Allaah, it is important to remember the Absolute is unaffected by our actions: it feels what we all feel yet remains (in) a Peace (Salaam) that cannot be disturbed. Even as It implores us to fulfill the divine purpose of life, which