Voices of Islam (92 page)

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Voices of the Spirit

blood, the cessation of which separates life and death. But as to this other heart—meaning the inside of a thing, its truth, its central core, and its essence—there are fi levels that Sufi speak about regarding this matter. They have spoken of the heart, the spirit, the secret, the hidden, and the most hidden. These five levels are like circles within circles, each circle higher and narrower than the one before. Meaning that if there are 1000 human beings at the level of the heart, at the level of the spirit there are eight hundred, at the level of the secret six hundred, the hidden two hundred, at the level of the most hidden one hundred—and what is beyond this fewer than one hundred. These levels form a pyramidal shape. The heart is a level among the levels, and not a piece of flesh. But there is a relation of sorts between the heart as a piece of flesh and the heart as a level. This relation is not perceived or sensed. It is not possible to touch, see, or experience it through the five senses. And yet, we feel the level of the heart near the breast, below it, and to the left. We feel it in a place lower than or under the part of the body that is the physical heart.

SF: How does one enter this heart?

SAJ: The way leading to the heart is remembrance, repetition of the Names of Allah (
dhikr
) and contemplation (
fikr
). Just as a human being feels that thinking takes place in the head (
Shaykh ‘Ali places his hand on his head
) and does not feel that his hand is thinking, so he feels near the heart the unveiling of the secrets and lights in the five realms. There are five realms which the human being experiences. The world of
al-mulk,
this is the visible world experienced by the five senses; the world of
al- malakut,
this comprises the creatures and creation that man cannot see and cannot arrive at through his five senses, like the angels,
jinn,
hell, and heaven. Together,
al-mulk
and
al-malakut
are the world, which is what is other than Allah. Beyond this are three worlds at the divine level; the world of beauty, the world of majesty, and that of com- pleteness. They are also referred to as ‘‘what is above the throne’’ and is what is meant by His saying ‘‘
Al-Rahman ala’l-arsh istawa.
’’ What is above the throne is Allah in His Beauty, Completeness, and Splendor. What is beneath the throne is what is referred to as the carpet. There is a throne and there is a carpet. The aforementioned five levels—the heart, the spirit, the secret, the hidden, and the most hidden—are levels among the levels of lights and secrets in the world of
mulk
and
mala- kut,
the world beneath the throne, and through which man ascends to the positions of the throne. Above the throne there are fi other levels—heart, spirit, secret, hidden, and most hidden—resembling these five, reflected like a mirror, five facing this way and five that way (
Shaykh ‘Ali demonstrates with his open palms, one palm toward the

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127

listener, one palm toward himself
). Beyond this are three other worlds which are totally obscure, meaning that we absolutely cannot compre- hend them, whether with our thought, our minds, our practice of
dhikr,
or our sensory perception. For Allah in His Glory is beyond comprehension.

SF: And so what is the heart?

SAJ: The heart is a level among the levels of piety on the way to Allah, the lights and secrets of which are manifested in a part of the body, the form of which is a pump that pumps blood in the body. In this area, not in the part of the body itself but around it, man feels something of the revelation of secrets, disclosures, and lights.

SF: Where is the heart?

SAJ: It is in man. It is a level among levels of the spirit, meaning a circle of the circles of the spirit. Above it is also the sprit; it is a level in which the spirit fi s and comprehends itself. And then there is what is secret. At this level man understands that he is nothing and that Allah is the foundation of all things. In this stage man might lose his way and believe himself to be Allah, and believe himself to be nothing because Allah has totally taken him over and therefore is him. After this he ascends to the hidden and knows that he is one thing and Allah is another. That he is mortal and Allah is permanent and that there is a difference between the creature and the Creator. Then he is elevated beyond this and knows that he is a manifestation among the manifesta- tions of the Beneficent, and that the attributes of Allah are all reflected in him through ability, will, and knowledge. This is the station of the most hidden. The first of all these endless levels is the heart, the instrument of contemplation (
fi
) and
dhikr
(remembrance by repetition). Allah is eternal, but I perish. I have a beginning and He has no beginning. I need Him but He does not need me, and so a feeling comes from my heart. This is the station of the hidden.

SF: Does the heart have thoughts? Does it have emotions, feelings? Is the spirit, as the philosopher and mystic al-Ghazali (d. 1111
CE
) says, a subtle body originating in the cavity of the physical heart, which spreads through the body via the arteries, just as a light from a lantern fills a room?

SAJ: The hidden which we have talked about is a level of the levels that reside in the heart. This heart is a container, a vessel, and these levels of which the first is also called the heart are another thing. Then

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Voices of the Spirit

there is the spirit, the secret, the hidden, and the most hidden—all reside in the heart as a vessel. For the spiritual world has a connection to the physical world, but in reality this material which includes heart, spirit, secret, hidden, and most hidden is composed of gradations of the spirit. It is not the pump, but its locus is the pump, just as water is contained in a glass. The pump is the locus of the spiritual of which al-Ghazali speaks. So the question is: Does this spiritual entity which is inside the pump have emotions, feelings? Yes, it has emotions. These emotions have been the subject of Sufi thinking and are seen as ten levels. These emotions include a feeling called repentance, which is when man feels the need to turn away from what is not Allah, as if his preoccupation with the universe is a sin on his part from which he wants to turn away, an ugly feeling.There are ten stations and a section called states. A station is an unchangeable emotion, and the states are passing emotions that come and go. Man ascends from one station to the next and does not return to a lower station. If a man does return to a lower station, it is a major catastrophe, like returning from faith to unbelief. The states come and go. The Sufi have given them names such as depressed, happy, union, and separation. The reply then to this question is: The spiritual heart does have emotions and these emotions are of two kinds, unmovable and passing.

SF: What closes the heart?

SAJ: According to the Sufi the heart has two doors: a door to creation, and a door to Truth, therefore to Allah. There is also what is earned and what is given. By his nature man’s heart is open to creation. He needs food, drink, clothing, a dwelling place, a companion, company, and he needs to live in the world according to its laws. This is the door of creation. It is in the nature of man that this door be open. When
dhikr
is achieved, it opens the other door, the door of Truth, and this happens in three stages. In the first, the door of Truth is closed. In the second, it opens, but the door of creation closes from the intensity of
dhikr,
as if
dhikr
is a wind closing the door of creation and opening the door of Truth. In the third, the door of creation also opens, and the heart has two open doors. The fourth case is when both doors are closed and this is what is called madness. This is someone who is neither into worship nor into the world—that is, he knows nothing at all. He has exited from the circle of responsibility. As to the fi

case—wherein the door of creation is opened, blocking the door to Truth—that is from lack of
dhikr
and from man’s nature. So what opens and what closes? This is the answer. The door of creation opens naturally, and the door of Truth is opened by
dhikr
and
fikr.
The door of Truth opens little by little until it is wide open. An important issue

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to bring up here is that of what is earned and what is given. We can open the door through
dhikr,
but the door can also be opened by Allah without
dhikr.
The Sufis speak of a person who is a seeker and another who is sought. There is one who is on the way and one who is attracted. All these terms lead to the same meaning, namely that there is some- thing man can do that leads to his heart being opened, and there is also a gift from Allah that opens the heart and has nothing to do with the person’s effort. The Prophet used to say: ‘‘
Allahumma,
let there be in my heart light, and in my hearing light, and in my seeing light, in my hands light, to my right light, to my left light, and let me be light.’’

SF: Moses threw the staff and it became a snake. He was commanded to pick up the snake. He did and it again became a staff. Then he was told to place his hand on his heart. When he removed it the Name of Allah was written in light on the palm of his hand. Can metaphysical light be transformed into light perceived by the senses?

SAJ: All spiritual things can be transformed into things of a sensory nature. On the Day of Judgment death comes in the form of a ram. Death here is a concept but it becomes materialized. There are two kinds of secrets and two kinds of lights. We spoke of the realm of
al- mulk
and the realm of
al-malakut,
circles of the creation. In each there are secrets and lights. The secrets of
al-mulk
are of the senses. Meaning the benefits of medicinal plants and the laws of building and engineer- ing, of mathematics, and of hydrology—all these are secrets that man discovers every day in the realm of
al-mulk.
There are also sensory lights: electricity, the sun, moon, stars, lasers, and so on. There are also lights and secrets of
al-malakut
—lights and secrets that are nonsensory. But anything from the realm of
al-malakut
can enter the realm of
mulk,
can be transformed into something perceived by the senses. Creation is composed of two sections:
al-mulk,
which is perceived by the five senses, and
al-malakut.
That realm which may be sensed by the fi

senses is what we are in now. In
al-malakut
it is the spirit ascending the circles which is the perceiver and not the senses.

SF: There is a saying of the Prophet Muhammad: ‘‘All things have a polish. The polish of the heart is the Remembrance of God.’’ What rusts the heart?

SAJ: In the Qur’an there are descriptions of what ails the heart. There is the layer of scum on stagnant water, the cover, the locks, veils, pride, and so on, many qualities. These qualities can be removed through faith, others by repetition of the Names of Allah, and others by contem- plation. The Sufis link this to the seven levels of the self (
al-nafs
):

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Voices of the Spirit

domineering, censorious, inspiring, tranquil, contented, pleasing, and pure. They have linked these to the Beautiful Names of Allah and to the gradations of man’s attempt to remove rust or scum. Seven Names used are as follows:
la illah illa Allah, Allah, Hu, Al-Hayy, Al-Qayyum, Al-Haqq,
and
Al-Qahhar.
There is some disagreement about this as some Sufi choose
Al-Aziz, Al-Wahid, Al-Wadud, Al-Wahab, Al-Basit,
and
Al-Muhaymin.
There are various formulas given by a sheikh as to the manner and frequency of the repetition of the Names. The invocation of the Names of Allah satisfies the heart and opens the door of Truth.

NOTE

This chapter first appeared in
Parabola,
26:4, winter 2001, 24–29. It is reproduced in this volume with the permission of the editors of
Parabola.
It has been updated to reflect Shaykh ‘Ali Jum‘a’s appointment as Mufti of Egypt.

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