“He [Moses عليه السلام] said: “My Lord-Sustainer, open my heart and make my affairs easy for me!” قَالَ رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي Qala rabbi ishrah li sadri wa-yassir li amri, Qur’an Surat Ta Ha 20:25-26

“I only created jinn and humans so they could worship Me” (Qur’an, Surat al-Dariyat 51:56) وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنْسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ wa-ma khalaqtu l-jiina wa-l-ins illa li-ya’buduni . One of the foremost authorities on Qur’anic commentary among the companions, Ibn ‘Abbas, was reported by his student Mujahid to have stated that “so they could worship Me” means “so they could know Me (li-ya’rifuni). (There is another isnad that includes Ibn Jurayj and stops at Mujahid and does not include Ibn ‘Abbas.) This report of Ibn ‘Abbas is part of the textual justification commonly given by Sufis to support their contention that the purpose of the creation is to gain direct experience of God (ma’rifa). Often it is cited together with the hadith qudsi, where God said, “I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be known, so I created creation in order to be known (li-yu’rafa).”

I’ve gotten permission from Dr. Alan Godlas (Abdul Haqq), who is a professor at the University of Georgia for Islamic and Sufi studies, to repost his Facebook postings on Islam and Sufism. All translations are done by Abdul Haqq Godlas unless otherwise noted.

In the Name of God, the Infinitely Compassionate, Infinitely Merciful. 1) The Infinitely Compassionate 2) bestowed knowledge of the Qur’an; 3) created humankind; 4) [and] bestowed knowledge of the explication. بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الرَّحْمَنُ (1) عَلَّمَ الْقُرْآنَ (2) خَلَقَ الْإِنْسَانَ (3) عَلَّمَهُ الْبَيَانَ
Bismillah ir-rahman ir-rahim. Ar-Rahman ‘allama l-Qur’an, khalaqa l-insan, ‘allamahu l-bayan. By the calligrapher Haytham Ghurab.

I’ve gotten permission from Dr. Alan Godlas (Abdul Haqq), who is a professor at the University of Georgia for Islamic and Sufi studies, to repost his Facebook postings on Islam and Sufism. All translations are done by Abdul Haqq Godlas unless otherwise noted.

What is the symbolic meaning of the letter “Kaf,” which is the first of the mysterious letters that occur at the beginning of Surat al-Maryam 19:1?

Ruzbihan al-Baqli (d. 606 AH/1209 CE), in his Qur’anic commentary, the Brides of Elucidation of the Truths of the Qur’an (‘Ara’is al-bayan), begins his commentary on “kaf” as follows: [By the “kaf”] God (subhanahu) informs that the “kaf” indicates that God’s pre-temporal, uncreated, and post-temporal eternal being has [always] been, as God’s (ta’ala) words state, “God was” (kana Allahu). In this is an allusion to the fact that the existence of God’s Being is prior to the existence of created existence (kawn al-kawn). [Also] the allusion of the Truth (al-haqiqa) is that by means of the “kaf” [God] informs [us] about the secret of the Uncreated [non-termporal] Realm (al-qidam). By means of it, God invites the gnostics to their unmanifest dimension (ghaybubiya) in the uninhabited regious of primordial existence (al-awwaliya) and to become drowned in the oceans of uncreatedness so that they may know [though experience] by means of pre-temporal and post-temporal eternity.

I’ve gotten permission from Dr. Alan Godlas (Abdul Haqq), who is a professor at the University of Georgia for Islamic and Sufi studies, to repost his Facebook postings on Islam and Sufism. All translations are done by Abdul Haqq Godlas unless otherwise noted.

Paradise,
even more beauty,
more love,
more truth,
more ecstasy,
more justice,
more joy,
more blessedness,
more peace,
even more
than you can ever imagine!
Go for it,
now!
Deep down,
lurking,
surging,
beneath every desire
you have ever pursued,
you have always hungered
to be filled,
to be bathed,
every fiber
ever cell of your being
saturated with Paradise!
You who are God’s
lowly
poor
servant,
you deserve nothing;
yet you do deserve Paradise!
Set the bar that high,
and higher still!
Reach for it,
now!
Since now
is the only time
you can choose
to reach for it!
But beware!
After the flood
of honeymoon bliss and awe
will come
the demons
of disappointments
heartaches,
and broken trusts
of unmet yearnings past!
“Never again
will I open my heart
to such suffering,”
you said.
And so you
resigned yourself,
you settled,
you contented yourself
with a shack
in the middle of the desert
of your life.
No running water of love
only a few drops
here and there,
enough to get by;
but at least
the gaping wounds
were shut!
So many days went by,
so many years!
But now, your shack
scheduled for bulldozing,
perhaps today,
perhaps next month,
next year.
Do you remember
the nightingale?
Can you still hear its song?
You are no longer
the lost bleeding child
you once were,
alone, with just
the shards of your
shattered dreams
slicing through your heart.
Now you can see
that where what once
were only fragments of glass
ripped flesh
crimson corpuscles
and shrieks knifing through the darkness
has always been
your Beloved’s
all-inclusive face,
has always been
your Beloved’s touch and embrace!
So if you remember
even a note
of the nightingale’s melody,
if you can still
taste the fragrance
of the rose
and the jasmine,
let them rekindle
the longing!
You are of age now,
you can come into this tavern,
the door is open wide!
You know
you can sit at a well-worn corner
of the bar,
and sip
one drop, one ache, at a time.
You know,
there is nothing here,
but your Beloved,
inviting you
to this ancient tango,
inviting you
to Paradise!

An aching heart,
if only people knew,
is the secret
to all the love
and beauty
and goodness
that can ever be imagined.

I’ve gotten permission from Dr. Alan Godlas (Abdul Haqq), who is a professor at the University of Georgia for Islamic and Sufi studies, to repost his Facebook postings on Islam and Sufism. All translations are done by Abdul Haqq Godlas unless otherwise noted.

“Those who patiently persevere are bestowed their reward without any limitations” (Qur’an al-Zumur 39:10) Innama yuwaffa as-sabirun ajrahum bi-ghayri hisab.
 

I’ve gotten permission from Dr. Alan Godlas (Abdul Haqq), who is a professor at the University of Georgia for Islamic and Sufi studies, to repost his Facebook postings on Islam and Sufism. All translations are done by Abdul Haqq Godlas unless otherwise noted.

On one of the walls of the Eski Cami (old mosque) in Edirne, Turkey: The Prophet (pbuh) said, “My intercession is [especially] for those who commit grave sins among my people.” شفاعتي لأهل الكبائر من أمتي Photograph by Syed Salman Chishty

I’ve gotten permission from Dr. Alan Godlas (Abdul Haqq), who is a professor at the University of Georgia for Islamic and Sufi studies, to repost his Facebook postings on Islam and Sufism. All translations are done by Abdul Haqq Godlas unless otherwise noted.

This is the maqam (the earthly station) of the pole** of the gnostics and the treasure of those who arrive, Shaykh Hasan Saza’i (may His exalted secret be sanctified), the perfect gnostic and spiritual guide (murshid) of the Tariqa (Sufi order) of Ibrahim al-Gulsheni. The comrade of [earthly] remains, Ahmet Efendi built [this] blessed shrine in 1153 AH. (This photograph was taken by Syed Salman Chishty in Edirne, Turkey.) **Note that this term “pole” (qutb) [as in North pole, is the central axis around which the saints and legions of spiritual seekers revolve.] هذا مقام قطب العارفين ذخر الواصلين الشيخ حسن سزائى قدس سره العالي العارف الكامل المرشد في طريقة إبراهيم الگلشني وبنى تربته المتبركة صاحب الآثار احمد افندى

I’ve gotten permission from Dr. Alan Godlas (Abdul Haqq), who is a professor at the University of Georgia for Islamic and Sufi studies, to repost his Facebook postings on Islam and Sufism. All translations are done by Abdul Haqq Godlas unless otherwise noted.

“You are the One Whom we worship; and You are the One from Whom we seek assistance.” (Qur’an: Surat al-Fatiha) Iyyaka na’budu wa iyyaka nasta’in

I’ve gotten permission from Dr. Alan Godlas (Abdul Haqq), who is a professor at the University of Georgia for Islamic and Sufi studies, to repost his Facebook postings on Islam and Sufism. All translations are done by Abdul Haqq Godlas unless otherwise noted.