THE UNCOVERING OF THE FOURTH VEIL: CONCERNING PURIFICATION FROM
FOULNESS.
After faith, the first thing incumbent on everyone is purification
(_ṭahárat_) and the performance of prayer, i.e. to cleanse the body from
filth and pollution, and to wash the three members,[146] and to wipe the
head with water as the law prescribes, or to use sand in the absence of
water or in severe illness. Purification is of two kinds: outward and
inward. Thus prayer requires purification of the body, and gnosis
requires purification of the heart. As, in the former case, the water
must be clean, so in the latter case unification must be pure and belief
undefiled. The Ṣúfís are always engaged in purification outwardly and in
unification inwardly. The Apostle said to one of his Companions: “Be
constant in ablution, that thy two guardian angels may love thee,” and
God hath said: “_God loves those who often repent and those who purify
themselves_” (Kor. ii, 222). And the Apostle used to say in his
invocations: “O God, purify my heart from hypocrisy.” Even consciousness
of the miraculous grace (_karámát_) vouchsafed to him he regarded as an
affirmation of other than God, for in unification it is hypocrisy
(_nifáq_) to affirm other than God. So long as a disciple’s eye is
obscured by a single atom of the miracles of the Shaykhs, from the
standpoint of perfection that atom is a potential veil (between him and
God). Hence Abú Yazíd said: “The hypocrisy of gnostics is better than
the sincerity of disciples,” i.e. that which is a “station” (_maqám_) to
the novice is a veil to the adept. The novice desires to gain miracles,
but the adept desires to gain the Giver of miracles. In short, the
affirmation of miracles, or of anything that involves the sight of other
than God, appears hypocrisy to the people of the Truth (the Ṣúfís).
Accordingly, what is noxious to the friends of God is a means of
deliverance for all sinners, and what is noxious to sinners is a means
of salvation for all infidels, because, if infidels knew, as sinners
know, that their sins are displeasing to God, they would all be saved
from infidelity; and if sinners knew, as the friends of God know, that
all their actions are defective, they would all be saved from sin and
purged of contamination. Therefore, outward and inward purification must
go together; e.g., when a man washes his hands he must wash his heart
clean of worldliness, and when he puts water in his mouth he must purify
his mouth from the mention of other than God, and when he washes his
face he must turn away from all familiar objects and turn towards God,
and when he wipes his head he must resign his affairs to God, and when
he washes his feet he must not form the intention of taking his stand on
anything except according to the command of God. Thus he will be doubly
purified. In all religious ordinances the external is combined with the
internal; e.g. in faith, the tongue’s profession with the heart’s
belief. The method of spiritual purification is to reflect and meditate
on the evil of this world and to perceive that it is false and fleeting,
and to make the heart empty of it. This result can be attained only by
much self-mortification (_mujáhadat_), and the most important act of
mortification is to observe the external rules of discipline (_ádáb-i
ẕáhir_) assiduously in all circumstances. It is related that Ibráhím
Khawwáṣ said: “I desire God to give me an everlasting life in this
world, in order that, while mankind are engrossed in the pleasures of
the world and forget God, I may observe the rules of religion amidst the
affliction of the world and remember God.” And it is related that Abú
Ṭáhir Ḥaramí lived forty years at Mecca, and went outside of the sacred
territory whenever he purified himself, because he would not pour the
water which he had used for that purpose on ground that God had called
His. When Ibráhím Khawwáṣ was ill of dysentery in the congregational
mosque at Rayy, he performed sixty complete ablutions in the course of a
day and night, and he died in the water. Abú `Alí Rúdbárí was for some
time afflicted with distracting thoughts (_waswás_) in purification.
“One day,” he said, “I went into the sea at dawn and stayed there till
sunrise. During that interval my mind was troubled. I cried out: ‘O God,
restore me to spiritual health!’ A voice answered from the sea: ‘Health
consists in knowledge.’” It is related that when Sufyán Thawrí was
dying, he purified himself sixty times for one prayer and said: “I shall
at least be clean when I leave this world.” They relate of Shiblí that
one day he purified himself with the intention of entering the mosque.
He heard a voice cry: “Thou hast washed thy outward self, but where is
thy inward purity?” He turned back and gave away all that he possessed,
and during a year he put on no more clothes than were necessary for
prayer. Then he came to Junayd, who said to him: “O Abú Bakr, that was a
very beneficial purification which you have performed; may God always
keep you purified!” After that, Shiblí engaged in continual
purification. When he was dying and could no longer purify himself, he
made a sign to one of his disciples that he should purify him. The
disciple did so, but forgot to let the water flow through his beard
(_takhlíl-i maḥásin_). Shiblí was unable to speak. He seized the
disciple’s hand and pointed to his beard, whereupon the rite was duly
performed. And it is also related of him that he said: “Whenever I have
neglected any rule of purification, some vain conceit has always arisen
in my heart.” And Abú Yazíd said: “Whenever a thought of this world
occurs to my mind, I perform a purification (_ṭaháratí_); and whenever a
thought of the next world occurs to me, I perform a complete ablution
(_ghuslí_),” because this world is non-eternal (_muḥdath_), and the
result of thinking of it is legal impurity (_ḥadath_), whereas the next
world is the place of absence and repose (_ghaybat ú árám_), and the
result of thinking of it is pollution (_janábat_): hence legal impurity
involves purification and pollution involves total ablution. One day
Shiblí purified himself. When he came to the door of the mosque a voice
whispered in his heart: “Art thou so pure that thou enterest My house
with this boldness?” He turned back, but the voice asked: “Dost thou
turn back from My door? Whither wilt thou go?” He uttered a loud cry.
The voice said: “Dost thou revile me?” He stood silent. The voice said:
“Dost thou pretend to endure My affliction?” Shiblí exclaimed: “O God, I
implore Thee to help me against Thyself.”
Footnote 146:
The face, hands, and feet.
The Ṣúfí Shaykhs have fully discussed the true meaning of purification,
and have commanded their disciples not to cease from purifying
themselves both outwardly and inwardly. He who would serve God must
purify himself outwardly with water, and he who would come nigh unto God
must purify himself inwardly with repentance. Now I will explain the
principles of repentance (_tawbat_) and its corollaries.
_Chapter concerning Repentance and its Corollaries._
You must know that repentance (_tawbat_) is the first station of
pilgrims on the way to the Truth, just as purification (_ṭahárat_) is
the first step of those who desire to serve God. Hence God hath said:
“_O believers, repent unto God with a sincere repentance_” (Kor. lxvi,
8). And the Apostle said, “There is nothing that God loves more than a
youth who repents”; and he also said, “He who repents of sin is even as
one who has no sin”; then he added, “When God loves a man, sin shall not
hurt him,” i.e. he will not become an infidel on account of sin, and his
faith will not be impaired. Etymologically _tawbat_ means “return”, and
_tawbat_ really involves the turning back from what God has forbidden
through fear of what He has commanded. The Apostle said: “Penitence is
the act of returning” (_al-nadam al-tawbat_). This saying comprises
three things which are involved in _tawbat_, namely, (1) remorse for
disobedience, (2) immediate abandonment of sin, and (3) determination
not to sin again. As repentance (_tawbat_) involves these three
conditions, so contrition (_nadámat_) may be due to three causes: (1)
fear of Divine chastisement and sorrow for evil actions, (2) desire of
Divine favour and certainty that it cannot be gained by evil conduct and
disobedience, (3) shame before God. In the first case the penitent is
_tá´ib_, in the second case he is _muníb_, in the third case he is
_awwáb_. Similarly, _tawbat_ has three stations, viz., _tawbat_, through
fear of Divine punishment; _inábat_, through desire of Divine reward;
and _awbat_, for the sake of keeping the Divine command. _Tawbat_ is the
station of the mass of believers, and implies repentance from great sins
(_kabírat_);[147] and _inábat_ is the station of the saints and
favourites of God (_awliyá ú muqarrabán_);[148] and _awbat_ is the
station of the prophets and apostles.[149] _Tawbat_ is to return from
great sins to obedience; _inábat_ is to return from minor sins to love;
and _awbat_ is to return from one’s self to God. Repentance (_tawbat_)
has its origin in the stern prohibitions of God and in the heart’s being
aroused from the slumber of heedlessness. When a man considers his evil
conduct and abominable deeds he seeks deliverance therefrom, and God
makes it easy for him to repent and leads him back to the sweetness of
obedience. According to the opinion of orthodox Moslems and all the Ṣúfí
Shaykhs, a man who has repented of one sin may continue to commit other
sins and nevertheless receive Divine recompense for having abstained
from that one sin; and it may be that through the blessing of that
recompense he will abstain from other sins. But the Bahshamí[150] sect
of the Mu`tazilites hold that no one can properly be called repentant
unless he avoids all great sins, a doctrine which is absurd, because a
man is not punished for the sins that he does not commit, but if he
renounces a certain kind of sin he has no fear of being punished for
sins of that particular kind: consequently, he is repentant. Similarly,
if he performs some religious duties and neglects others, he will be
rewarded for those which he performed and will be punished for those
which he neglected. Moreover, if anyone should have repented of a sin
which he has not the means of committing at the moment, he is repentant,
because through that past repentance he has gained contrition
(_nadámat_), which is a fundamental part of repentance (_tawbat_), and
at the moment he has turned his back on that kind of sin and is resolved
not to commit it again, even though he should have the power and means
of doing so at some future time. As regards the nature and property of
repentance, the Ṣúfí Shaykhs hold diverse opinions. Sahl b. `Abdalláh
(al-Tustarí) and others believe that repentance consists in not
forgetting your sins, but always regretting them, so that, although you
have many good works to your credit, you will not be pleased with
yourself on that account; since remorse for an evil action is superior
to good works, and one who never forgets his sins will never become
conceited. Junayd and others take the opposite view, that repentance
consists in forgetting the sin. They argue that the penitent is a lover
of God, and the lover of God is in contemplation of God, and in
contemplation it is wrong to remember sin, for remembrance of sin is a
veil between God and those who contemplate Him. This controversy goes
back to the difference of opinion concerning mortification (_mujáhadat_)
and contemplation (_musháhadat_), which has been discussed in my account
of the doctrine of the Sahlís. Those who hold the penitent to be
self-dependent regard his forgetfulness of sin as heedlessness, while
those who hold that he is dependent on God deem his remembrance of sin
to be polytheism. Moses, while his attributes were subsistent, said, “_I
repent towards Thee_” (Kor. vii, 140), but the Apostle, while his
attributes were annihilated, said, “I cannot tell Thy praise.” Inasmuch
as it behoves the penitent not to remember his own selfhood, how should
he remember his sin? Indeed, remembrance of sin is a sin, for sin is an
occasion of turning away from God, and so is the remembrance of it or
the forgetting of it, since both remembrance and forgetfulness are
connected with one’s self. Junayd says: “I have read many books, but I
have never found anything so instructive as this verse:—
‘_Idhá qultu má adhnabtu qálat mujíbat^{an}
ḥayátuka dhanb^{un} lá yuqásu bihi dhanbu._’
When I say: ‘What is my sin?’ she says in reply:
‘Thy existence is a sin with which no other sin can be compared.’“
In short, repentance is a Divine strengthening and sin is a corporeal
act: when contrition (_nadámat_) enters the heart the body has no means
of expelling it; and as in the beginning no human act can expel
repentance, so in the end no human act can maintain it. God hath said:
”_And He turned_ (tába) _unto him_ (Adam), _for He is the Disposer
towards repentance_ (al—tawwáb), _the Merciful_” (Kor. ii, 35). The
Koran contains many texts to the same effect, which are too well known
to require citation.
Footnote 147:
Cf. Kor. lxvi, 8.
Footnote 148:
Cf. Kor. l, 32.
Footnote 149:
Cf. Kor. xxxviii, 44.
Footnote 150:
Text, قهشميان. See Shahristání, Haarbrücker’s translation, i, 80.
Repentance is of three kinds: (1) from what is wrong to what is right,
(2) from what is right to what is more right, (3) from selfhood to God.
The first kind is the repentance of ordinary men; the second kind is the
repentance of the elect; and the third kind of repentance belongs to the
degree of Divine love (_maḥabbat_). As regards the elect, it is
impossible that they should repent of sin. Do not you perceive that all
the world feel regret for having lost the vision of God? Moses desired
that vision and repented (Kor. vii, 140), because he asked for it with
his own volition (_ikhtiyár_), for in love personal volition is a taint.
The people thought he had renounced the vision of God, but what he
really renounced was his personal volition. As regards those who love
God, they repent not only of the imperfection of a station below the
station to which they have attained, but also of being conscious of any
“station” or “state” whatsoever.
SECTION.
Repentance does not necessarily continue after the resolution not to
return to sin has been duly made. A penitent who in those circumstances
returns to sin has in principle earned the Divine reward for repentance.
Many novices of this sect (the Ṣúfís) have repented and gone back to
wickedness and then once more, in consequence of an admonition, have
returned to God. A certain Shaykh relates that he repented seventy times
and went back to sin on every occasion, until at the seventy-first time
he became steadfast. And Abú `Amr b. Nujayd[151] tells the following
story: “As a novice, I repented in the assembly-room of Abú `Uthmán Ḥírí
and persevered in my repentance for some while. Then I fell into sin and
left the society of that spiritual director, and whenever I saw him from
afar my remorse caused me to flee from his sight. One day I met him
unexpectedly. He said to me: ‘O son, do not associate with your enemies
unless you are sinless (_ma`ṣúm_), for an enemy will see your faults and
rejoice. If you must sin, come to us, that we may bear your affliction.’
On hearing his words, I felt surfeited with sin and my repentance was
established.” A certain man, having repented of sin, returned to it and
then repented once more. “How will it be,” he said, “if I now turn to
God?” A heavenly voice answered, saying: “Thou didst obey Me and I
recompensed thee, then thou didst abandon Me and I showed indulgence
towards thee; and if thou wilt return to Me, I will receive thee.”
Footnote 151:
_Nafaḥát_, No. 281.
SECTION.
Dhu ´l-Nún the Egyptian says: “Ordinary men repent of their sins, but
the elect repent of their heedlessness,” because ordinary men shall be
questioned concerning their outward behaviour, but the elect shall be
questioned concerning the real nature of their conduct. Heedlessness,
which to ordinary men is a pleasure, is a veil to the elect. Abú Ḥafṣ
Ḥaddád says: “Man has no part in repentance, because repentance is from
God to Man, not from Man to God.” According to this saying, repentance
is not acquired by Man, but is one of God’s gifts, a doctrine which is
closely akin to that of Junayd. Abu ´l-Ḥasan Búshanjí says: “When you
feel no delight in remembering a sin, that is repentance,” because the
recollection of a sin is accompanied either by regret or by desire: one
who regrets that he has committed a sin is repentant, whereas one who
desires to commit a sin is a sinner. The actual sin is not so evil as
the desire of it, for the act is momentary, but the desire is perpetual.
Dhu ´l-Nún the Egyptian says: “There are two kinds of repentance, the
repentance of return (_tawbat al-inábat_) and the repentance of shame
(_tawbat al-istiḥyá_): the former is repentance through fear of Divine
punishment, the latter is repentance through shame of Divine clemency.”
The repentance of fear is caused by revelation of God’s majesty, while
the repentance of shame is caused by vision of God’s beauty. Those who
feel shame are intoxicated, and those who feel fear are sober.