Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Third Fascicle

48 — SECOND VOLUME, 8th LETTER
This letter, written to Khân-i khânân ’Abdurrahîm, explains
the îmân through the ghayb of the Khawâs, i.e., of the
distinguished, that of the ignorant, and that of those men of
Tasawwuf, who are between these two, and compares them:
Hamd be to Allâhu ta’âlâ. Salâm to those slaves of His chosen
and loved by Him! A Persian line in English:
No matter whatsoever, it is sweeter to talk about the beloved!
It is purported in the hundred and eighty-sixth âyat of Baqara
Sûra: “My slaves ask you about Me. I am so close to them!” and in
the seventh âyat of Mujâdala Sûra: “When three men talk secretly,
Allâhu ta’âlâ becomes the fourth. When five people talk secretly
Allah becomes the sixth. Also, when they are fewer or greater
Allâhu ta’âlâ is together with them, no matter where they are.”
Allah’s being close and together is bîchûn, as He Himself is. That
is, the case is not as we know or understand it. How it is cannot be
understood. Men, who can understand through the sense organs
and with the help of mind, cannot understand things that cannot be
sensed or thought through mind. Allâhu ta’âlâ is far from
everything which comes to our mind, thought and comprehension
when said “close and together” and from all the things which the
Awliyâ perceive through kashf and shuhûd. He is never like any of
them. To consider Allâhu ta’âlâ to be like one of the
abovementioned images causes one to deviate into the corrupt and
eccentric way called Mujassima, which is one of the seventy-two
heretical groups. We believe in the fact that Allâhu ta’âlâ is close
to us and together with us. But we cannot comprehend how this
closeness and togetherness is. The grade which the greatest Islamic
savants can reach in this world is to believe in Allâhu ta’âlâ’s
Person and His Attributes through ghayb, that is, without knowing
how they are. Translation of a Persian couplet:
When told, “Alastu...,” those who were vigilant said,
“He exists,” and they said no more.
The îmân through the ghayb, which is held by a few beloved,
distinguished and exalted scholars, is unlike the îmân of the
ignorant through the ghayb. The ignorant have attained the
honour of îmân through the ghayb by hearing from others and
through deduction. The distinguished have believed by realizing
the existence of the ghayb by means of Allâhu ta’âlâ’s veils of
– 248 –