This letter, written for
’Abd-ul-Qâdir Enbâlî, provides information on Fanâ and Baqâ:
I offer my hamd (praise and gratitude) to
Allâhu ta’âlâ, who is the Rabb of
all beings, of the entire creation. I send my salât and
benedictions for the Sayyid, the highest of Prophets ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ
’alaihi wa sallam’!
According to the understanding of this faqîr, (i.e. the blessed scholar and Walî Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa
sirruh’,) the haqîqats, the real essences of creatures are the images and appearances in the ’ilm-i-ilâhî of the adams and of the names and attributes. These
images have been reflected on the adams, appearing on them. [Adam means non-existent.] All sorts of vice and imperfection originate from adams. These adams are
like what philosophers call ‘heyûlâ (matter)’. And the images being reflected on them are like what philosophers call ‘sûrats (images)’. Adams are distinguished
from one another by the images reflected on them. Combination of these reflections with the adams is comparable to the images’ establishing themselves on
matter. Similarly, the reflections’ being different from one another is consequent upon their combining with the adams. Their combination is dissimilar to
attributes’ combining with names. Rather, it is like the images’ combining with matter. It is by means of the images that matter becomes known. When the ‘sâlik’
pays tawajjuh (turns and focuses his attention) towards Jenâb-i-Haqq (Allâhu ta’âlâ) by way of dhikr and murâqaba, and thereby atains a perpetual turning away from all other beings,
these images of the Names and Attributes of Allâhu ta’âlâ, which exist in a level of knowledge, gain an ever-increasing concreteness. They begin to get the
better of their compeers, the adams. Eventually a state is attained wherein the adams, which are, so to speak, are the origins of these reflections, i.e.
matter, begin to be covered up, to evanesce. In other words, the sâlik sees them no more. For, the mirror has to disappear. This state is called the grade of Fanâ and is extremely
valuable. If the sâlik who has become Fânî, (i.e. who has attained the grade of
Fanâ,) is blessed also with (the grade of) Baqâ and henceforth made to descend
back to this world, his own adam will be like a tight garment protecting his
body in his view. So impressively has he been separated from his own adam that
he will know it as a separate garment, a self-standing being separate from him.
The fact, however, is that the adam has not left him. When he says, “I,” about
himself, he means the adam as well. Only, it has been relegated from the status
of ‘essential’ or ‘original’ or ‘basic’ down to the status of ‘dependent’. In
fact, it has been demoted from its former state of an entity with whose
existence the reflections used to sustain down to a dependent being whose
existence can survive only with the reflections. This faqîr -the blessed Walî
means
himself- remained in this grade for years on end. I saw
my own adam as something separate from me, like a coat of hair. Eventually, the
Divine Grace and Kindness of Allâhu ta’âlâ came to my rescue, so that the already beaten adam melted away
for good and all. Its appearance, which was dependent on the reflections, was
completely gone. It, so to speak, melted into its origin, the true adam.
Likewise, plaster of Paris is made into shape in moulds. When the plaster
becomes hard enough to retain its shape the moulds are broken, so that the
plaster remains in the desired shape without the support of the moulds. In our
case as well, the reflections that have been existent owing to the adam realize
that in actual fact they exist on their own or, rather, owing to their own
origins. When the sâlik in this state says, “I,”
he sees
only the reflections and their origins. It is as if he has no connections with
his adam itself. At this grade the haqîqa (true essence) of fanâ is attained.
The former fanâ was, sort of, an image of this fanâ. If from that grade he is
brought to the grade of ‘Baqâ’ and thence made to descend back to the world,
the adam, which had been a part from him at one time and which had been
triumphant and dominant before parting with him, is brought back; and they are
made compeers again. Yet now it is separate from him and will not join in when
he says, “I.” For some useful reasons it remains in a
state like that of an externally worn coat made of hair. The adam is back now,
but the reflections of the names and attributes no longer need it. In fact, it
is owing to them that the adam stays. As a matter of fact, that has been the
case also with the former baqâ. When it is the case with the former baqâ, then
a fortiori it should be the case with this true baqâ, and certainly with a more
immaculate and perfect version. Clothes will have a certain effect on a person
wearing them. Warm clothes will make you feel warm, and clothes that are cold
will make you cold. Likewise, this adam has an effect analogical to that of
clothes. Its effect is felt throughout the body. It is sensed, however, that all
the effect is of external origin and that no such effect is felt internally.
And so are the evils and imperfections that originate from this adam; they come
from abroad and afterwards. They do not originate from the sâlik, and it is
like an adjective accompanying another adjective. Neither the adjective nor
matter itself is perpetual. People who occupy this grade are identical with
others in being human and they evince the same human attributes. However, their
attributes come from without, not from themselves. Others’ attributes, in
contrast, originate from within
-241-
themselves. There is a considerable difference between them.
When ignorant people observe that these great people have the same attributes
as theirs (in appearance), which is the case even with Prophets ‘alaihim-us-salâm’,
they fall into the fallacy of assuming that those great people are no different
from themselves, deny them, and oppose them, consequently depriving themselves
of the benefits they would reap from those magnificent people. As a matter of
fact the sixth âyat-i-kerîma of Teghâbun Sûra, which purports, “... Shall (mere) human
beings direct us?” they said. So they rejected (The Message) and became
deniers. ...” and the seventh âyat-i-kerîma of Furqân Sûra, which purports, “And they said: “What sort
of an apostle is this, who eats food and walks through the streets? ...,” exemplify the fallacy
of such people. I can see in myself none of the attributes of the adam, which, as a Kindness and Favour from
Allâhu ta’âlâ, first thoroughly separated and receded (from me) and thereafter drew back (near me). May infinite gratitude be to
Allâhu ta’âlâ!
Reflections of the
attributes of adam on man concomitant with its contiguity to man are analogous
to a person’s looking crimson on account of a crimson garment he wears. Shallow
people will overlook the crimson garment and marvel at the crimson person. A
Persian couplet translated into English:
He who
listens to you as a bedtime story
Will benefit only what is in the story!
If
you penetrate the essence of the matter,
The further on you listen to it the
better.
Water
of the Nile, limpid as it was,
Looked
like blood to the poor gypsy’s eyes.
For
Ummat of Mûsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’
The
blessed Nile was not blood; pure water it was.
Yâ Rabbî! After Thou
hast guided us to the right path, please do protect us from slipping! Spinkle
on us, too, from Thine Rahmat that hath no end! Thou, alone, is the Owner of
Compassion and Kindness! We send our salâm (salutations, greetings, and best
wishes) to those who follow the right path!