January 29, 2015
Life can show the most wonderful things, but behind all of them lies a trap should we forget the Source of this wonder. Allaah has devised this plan so that we will learn not to claim, out of arrogance and vanity, these ideas and plans as our own.
If everything were in truth as it appears to be, Muhammad (p.b.u.h.), endowed as he was with a vision so penetrating, so illuminated, would never have cried,
“Lord, show me things as they are.
You show a thing as fair, and in reality it is ugly.
You show a thing as ugly, and in truth it is beautiful.
Show us everything just as it is,
So that we will not fall into the snare.”
Now, your judgement, however good and luminous it may be, is certainly not better than the Prophet’s judgement. So do not put your trust in every idea and every notion, but only in Allaah and Its wisdom.
(adapted from Fihi Ma Fihi,
translated by A. J. Arberry, p. 11)
* * *
The purpose of this life lays not in this life, but beyond it. To even attempt to describe this in words does not suffice. But if in every instance of life we remember to look beyond the captivating appearance and manifestation of life unfolding, to allow the Source (or at least remembrance of the Source) to have Its rightful place in our lives, we will avoid the delusion that entraps so many of us. Can we truly remember, as Jalaal ud-Diin Rumi attests, that Allaah has devised this plan for how life is playing out, to the smallest and seemingly insignificant detail? Can we avoid laying any claim to it, whether as assigning credit or blame to ourselves or others? Or even grasping what is fortunate or seeking to avoid what we (from the ego) desire to not be part of “our life?” This calls for a deeper humility than we often realize. And sometimes a humility we cannot humble ourselves to but must be humbled to through whatever means the Beloved utilizes.
When we talk about the Beloved’s plan, we should not look at this in the ego-centric way we look at “our” plans. Often self-based plans are linearly contrived by the limits of our minds, namely what we can conceive. And the goals we seek are often pursued through exerting effort to effect (dare I say manipulate) desired outcomes. The Beloved’s plan doesn’t operate in this manner: it is fluid and without compulsion. In this manner, the Beloved sets our life in a flow toward certain opportunities of destiny. If we are in harmony with the Beloved’s plan, we will open to and embrace these opportunities; if we are in disharmony with this plan, we may not only reject them but contrive delusions out of nothingness that make it seem we are taking our lives in a direction other than where our life is being guided to. The next blog post will explore this topic in more depth.
As we move to the second paragraph of the selected text, some context may be helpful. Islam holds that Muhammad, peace be upon him, is the Seal of the Prophets. Most Muslims regard this to mean he is the last prophet (some say of humanity, some say of the Abrahamic line); yet this “last” doesn’t mean just a place in a numerical order. It includes a completion of the prophetic revelation through the prophecy of Muhammad: that with what was revealed through him, the expanse of prophetic revelation is complete. Masters and saints come after Muhammad to rephrase and remind people of things already stated through the prophetic lineage: Jalaal ud-Diin Rumi doesn’t profess to say anything that hasn’t already been conveyed by the prophets. In fact, many prophets also rephrased and reiterated some of the same essential points of divine revelation to serve the people of their time. But whereas some prophets came to reveal something not previously expressed to a larger communal or human consciousness, after the Seal of Muhammad’s servitude, there is nothing new to be added to the prophetic book of revelation. It is not that everything was revealed through Muhammad alone, but what was “newly” revealed through him combined with what was revealed through other prophets encompasses the full range of divine revelation to humans on earth. Sufis hold that to realize the fullness of this statement requires looking beyond the surface of the prophet’s lives, teachings, and what was revealed through them, but also at the deeper (heart-based) levels of these.
Let me stress that we are talking about the full range of divine revelation to humans on earth, not the full range of divine revelation which exceeds what can be presented on earth. Tradition holds that the rare of the rare