Hierarchy of Saints Series, Vol 16
Secrets of the Two Oceans
Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Kabbani
29 August 2010 Fenton Zawiya, Michigan
Fajr Ramadan Series 2010
Allahumma salli 'ala Sayyidina Muhammad hatta yarda Sayyidina Muhammad.
A`oodhu billahi min ash-Shaytaani 'r-rajeem. Bismillahi 'r-Rahmaani 'r-Raheem.
Nawaytu 'l-arba`een, nawaytu 'l-`itikaaf, nawaytu 'l-khalwah, nawaytu 'l-`uzlah,
nawaytu 'r-riyaadah, nawaytu 's-sulook, lillahi ta`ala fee haadha 'l-masjid.
Ati`ullaha wa ati`u 'r-Rasoola wa ooli 'l-amri minkum. Obey Allah, obey the Prophet, and obey those in authority among you. (4:59)
Madad, yaa Sayyidee. As we said in the previous session, Allah (swt) manifests Himself to all prophets through His Beautiful Names. Allah (swt) gave every prophet a way to carry and dress in a different Name of His Beautiful Names, and the Prophet (s) is the one that is Khatm al-Anbiya, the Seal of Messengers. Allah (swt) is manifesting Himself on him through the Name that encompasses all Beautiful Names and Attributes, "Allah," which is ismu 'dh-Dhaat. That carries a lot of knowledge to Prophet (s), and under it comes all the different Beautiful Names and Attributes.
How many letters are in "Allah"? Four? Five? Alif, lam, lam, ha. Four is where Allah (swt) gave the Prophet (s) authority to reach. The heart is of five different spiritual levels, but physically the heart is comprised of four chambers. Every chamber represents one of these letters. "Alif" is the first letter of "Allah." It represents the secret of "alif " and goes in one chamber. The secret of the next letter, "lam," goes in another chamber, then "lam" in another chamber, then "ha" in another chamber. That has been given. The heart has five spiritual levels. The lowest is "Maqaam al-Qalb," and the whole of dunya affairs is there. The second level is "the Level of the Secret", given to all prophets and all awliya inherited from that maqaam. That is why awliyaullah who inherited from different tariqahs are in the second level, "the Secret". So the second and third levels merged together. Who wants to come to the Prophet (s) must come through that second level, which is the door of Sayyidina `Ali (r). If you want to enter the Secret, pass by Sayyidina `Ali (r), and there is no other way. And the third level is Sirr as-Sirr, "the Secret of the Secret." There you enter the Name, "Allah". There are two kinds of dhikr of laa ilaha illa-Llah: ithbaat wa nafiy, "to affirm and to deny." You affirm "There is no god save Allah," and you deny everything that is other than Allah.
Then you are ready to make dhikr with ismu 'dh-Dhaat, the Name that encompasses all Names: "Allah." That is the dhikr Prophet (s) taught Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r), and those who took from him are people of the Naqshbandi Tariqah. The two oceans of Sayyidina `Ali and Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (r) merge, maraj al-bahryan, in Sayyidina Jafar as-Siddiq (r). Then that takes you to the fourth level, Akhfaa, "the Hidden," which is exclusively for Prophet (s); no one else can enter there. Laa shareek lahu, in that position there is no associate with Prophet (s) in his servanthood. The fifth level, Maqaam al-Khafaa, "the Absolute Hidden," is exclusively for Allah. The `Amaa al-Kaamil is completely veiled and no one can see anything in that level.
So with these four letters of the Name "Allah," the secret goes into the four chambers of the heart. And as you open it, chamber after chamber you will see what cannot be seen, you will hear what cannot be heard (the hadith of Prophet about the Station of Moral Excellence).
When you say "Allah," you are describing the Essence of Allah. With the alif, you understand it means "the Creator." When you take the alif off, "Allah" becomes "lillah", lam-lam-ha, which means, "what belongs to God." It is no longer His Name, but describes what belongs to Him; the Name is gone. What belongs to Him? Everything. But whatever belongs to Him, He gave to you; He is not in need of anything He created, and He gave it to Sayyidina Muhammad (s). Allah (swt) is not in need and He created what belongs to Him. So we are subject to Him, not only humans, but everything that is created. People's thinking is limited, so you cannot expand it to see what belongs to Him. This example will show us what belongs to Him, and this is one of the descriptions of al-Insaan al-Kaamil, "the Perfect Man," (Prophet Muhammad) who receives all kinds of manifestations.
To understand what belongs to Allah, Sayyidina Jibreel asked, "Yaa Rabbee! Can I see Your Kingdom?"
"Yes, why not? No problem." Allah (swt) loves His servants. "If you want, I will show you. I gave you 600 power engines, turbines, 600 wings."
When he came to Prophet (s), Jibreel (a) used two wings. He came from his place beyond the universe, a heavenly Kingdom, with two wings in less than one second. When Allah (swt) orders it, it appears. Don't be surprised; that is Allah! Physicists have calculated the smallest fraction of a second; they found at 10-minus-22 of a second, time disappears and only energy remains. So in that fraction of time, energy moves so fast. That is why he was there immediately in front of Prophet (s).
So he said, "Yaa Rabbee! Show me Your Kingdom."
"I will show you. Why? You don't believe?"
"It's not that, but it is to make my heart content."
وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِي كَيْفَ تُحْيِـي الْمَوْتَى قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن قَالَ بَلَى وَلَـكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِي قَالَ فَخُذْ أَرْبَعَةً مِّنَ الطَّيْرِ فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ ثُمَّ اجْعَلْ عَلَى كُلِّ جَبَلٍ مِّنْهُنَّ جُزْءًا ثُمَّ ادْعُهُنَّ يَأْتِينَكَ سَعْيًا وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ اللّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
Wa idh qaala ibraaheemu rabbee arinee kayfa tuhyee al-mawta qaala awalam tu'min qaala balaa wa laakin li-yatma'inna qalbee qaala fa-khudh arba`atan mina at-tayri fasurhunna ilayka thumma ij`al `ala kulli jabalin minhunna juz'an thumma 'd`uhunna yateenaka sa`yan wa`alam anna Allaha `azeezun hakeem.
Behold! Abraham said: "My Lord! Show me how Thou givest life to the dead." He said: "Dost thou not then believe?" He said: "Yea! but to satisfy My own undertaking." He said: "Take four birds; Tame them to turn to thee; put a portion of them on every hill and call to them: They will come to thee (Flying) with speed. Then know that Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise." (al-Baqara, 2:260)
Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) said, "O Allah! Show me how You create."
"Why do you want to know that?"
"How do You create?"
The anbiya want to teach us, so they ask, but Prophet Muhammad (s) never asked.
So Allah (swt) said, "You don't believe I can create?"
Sayyidina Ibrahim (a) was afraid now; how he had asked that question?! But he could not take it back. It is like on a computer when you write a text message or email, you press "send" and after you send it, it is gone. In the past you would write a letter, but before you sent it, it would take time and you might change your mind about what you wrote. But on the computer you send it, and you cannot bring it back. So be careful what you write. And be careful with Facebook! It is the worst thing, teaching people bad character. Allah (swt) and Prophet (s) and awliya are not happy with Facebook. Close your Facebook! (Mawlana Shaykh speaks to people in the assembly.) Do you have Facebook? (Of course.)
So Allah (swt) said, awalam tu'min, "Do you not believe?"
Ibrahim answered, "No, it is not that, but I am asking so my heart will be content."
"What Ibrahim? Your heart is not content?"
He said, "Show me how You create, as I want my heart to be content."
Sayyidina Muhammad (s) never asked, because his heart is always content.
Allah (swt) said, "Okay, you are My khalifah on Earth, so I will show you. Take a bird, cut it into pieces and put them on four hills and then call those pieces. They will come together and they will come running to you!"
Allah (swt) is the Creator. So when Jibreel (a) asked, "Can I see Your Kingdom, yaa Rabbee?" Allah (swt) said, "Okay", since Jibreel (a) also wanted contentment, to see how big this universe is. And Allah (swt) ordered him to use his 600 wings, not to use two wings. Through this universe, he was appearing in less than a moment with two wings. What do you think about him using those 600 wings, or turbines? Allah (swt) knows what they are, these heavenly wings, or turbines, to move in space, able to see Allah's Kingdom. By that order he was moving. Imagine how much he could move and see in one moment! Can we calculate that, to see how big is Allah's Kingdom? No. Allah's Kingdom is not this Earth, according to the hadith:
لو كانت الدنيا تزن عند الله جناح بعوضة ما سقي الكافر منها شربة ماء
lawkaanat ad-dunya tazin`indallahi janaaha ba`ooda maa saqaa kaafir minha shurbatu maai.
If this dunya weighed the wing of a mosquito...
It means, "In Allah's Sight, the value of this world is less than the wing of a mosquito."
And Jibreel moved, moved, moved by Allah's order until he became exhausted. Do angels get exhausted? No. So why did he? Because this Kingdom was beyond his power, beyond his 600 wings. He told Allah, “This Kingdom is so big it is beyond me! Is there still more?"
"Yaa Jibreel, what do you mean, 'still more'? You didn’t move around a corner yet!"
He moved non-stop for 70,000 years and he got tired. That is why human beings get tired after they grow old. If Jibreel (s) didn't get tired, then human beings would not get tired and you would have long life; that reflection came on this Creation.
And he said, "Is there still more?"
"What you did is nothing, not even an epsilon."
He was so small and it was 70,000 years! And what he saw in that moving was indescribable, with no beginning and no end. It was straight and flat, and we can call it an ocean, full of very small white crystals. Like when you go to the beach and you see white sand, to us there is no beginning and no end and you cannot count how many crystals of sand there are. Sayyidina Jibreel (a), through his power, was not moving around a corner after 70,000 years of flying, and he saw transparent white crystals without end. They cannot be described, and they were where he was. And in the middle of this was a tree and on it was one green bird that went down, took one crystal in his beak, went up the tree, slowly ate it and swallowed it. And then again went down, picked up another crystal, went up the tree, ate it, and swallowed it, and repeated that again and again.
Jibreel said, "Yaa Rabbee. I didn’t see anything except this ocean of crystals."
And Allah (swt) said, "Yaa Jibreel, every dharrah, atom, of that crystal is a universe by itself." If Allah (swt) can make the Earth go through the eye of a needle without making the needle bigger or making the Earth smaller, can’t Allah then make each crystal a universe?
He said, “So what is that bird?"
"Yaa Jibreel, that bird is My beloved, who is ordered to go down and pick up one crystal and swallow it. As soon as it is swallowed, that is an indication that he is khaleefatullah in that mulk and Malakoot, in Earth and Heaven. And as soon as he takes that crystal, that universe is created within him, not outside of him."
So that is why all prophets, from Adam (a) until the Day of Judgment, come to Prophet (s) for shafaa` on Judgment Day. They are within him, so how will Allah (swt) send anyone to Hellfire when they are within Prophet (s)?
وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ فِيكُمْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ
W `allamoo anna feekum rasoolullah.
And know that Prophet is within you. (al-Hujuraat 49:7)
Since he is within you, you are within him. And every time he swallows one crystal, that is one Creation, and Prophet (s) is Allah’s representative for that Creation, as Muhammad (s) is His Messenger. That is the Perfect Human Being, al-insaan al-kaamil.
وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ
Wa laqad karamna Bani Adam,
We have honored the Children of Adam. (17:70)
That means no Creation is honored more than human beings. Even angels are not honored as human beings are honored. All that is because of Sayyidina Muhammad (s), who is encompassing all the heavenly and Godly levels. And he is the one who overtakes all the souls of human beings in him. Allah (swt) gave him that authority to reach anyone. Previously, the idea of reaching anyone was not understood, but now it is easy to understand through technology. You can reach anyone, you can send an email to anyone. If a server can reach thousands and thousands through networking, can’t Prophet (s) have a heavenly server to connect with all of humanity? But what do you need to do? You need to reply. If you don't reply, you are the loser. He is ready; his heart is open but you have to go there.
Huwa al-jami` lil ... juziyya. He is "the One that Contains." "Al-Jami`" accumulates, collects, contains all of the maraatib al-ilahiyya, all the Godly stations Allah (swt) gave him. Every Godly station in the Heavens, in the angelic world, he has already grasped it, overtaken it and encompassed it. He already took power over it and it is under his command, not only the Godly stations but kawniyya also. Whatever is in this universe is under him and, not only that, all brains, min al-`uqool. That means in every brain there is a chip that is smaller than a lentil, filled with intelligence. It means that chip is connected to him, to that server. Wa 'n-nufoos, the selves, all people's selves are in his hands, al-kulliyya wa 'l-juzi'yyah, all of it, even the smallest particle of it. That is why he is khalifatullah.
إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً
Innee ja`ilun fi 'l-ardi khaleefah.
"I will create a vicegerent on earth." (al-Baqara 2:30)
wa maratubee ... al-wujoood. This means that under him is all Creation until there will be no more creation. It is impossible, as there is creation all the time, because Allah is the Creator, "al-Khaliq," at every time. So every moment there is creation which is under the control of Prophet (s). This level is called, al-Martabat al-`Amiyya, "the Level of Blindness," not in the meaning of physical blindness, but meaning that the only one who can reach that level and see it is Prophet (s); anyone else is blind and cannot see it. Wa li-dhaalika saar khalifatullah. For that reason he became a khaleefah, representative, of Allah (swt). That is why from the beginning Allah (swt) put his name with His Own, Laa ilaaha illa-Llah Muhammadun Rasoolullah.
There is no other who was raised as the Prophet (s) was, and that is why he has control over the heart. When we say "Allah," alif represents the Name of the Essence which no one can know. Qul huw Allah. "Say, the One (Who was unknown) is Named 'Allah'." If you take away the alif, it represents all that belongs to Him, lillah. If you take the next lam it is lahu; that means no one can share anything with Him. You cannot say, "I am partner." Everything lahu, you cannot touch it. And if you take next lam it is huw, the Absolute Unknown. Those four letters have been given to Prophet (s), who represents ismullah al-`Azham.
And as Sayyidina Abu Hanifa (r) said, "That Name, "Allah," is given to Prophet (s) and with it you can say to a thing, koon fayakoon, "'Be!' and it will be." (36:82)
According to Grandshaykh (q), That Name has been given to Prophet (s) in the beginning of every surah. So that is why he has given me this notebook of his shaykh, Shaykh Sharafuddin (q), written in very beautiful calligraphy that I copied by hand, as there were no copying machines at that time. It contains the first verses of each surah, so if you read these first verses of each chapter, you are passing by Allah's Greatest Name but you don't know what it is. That is why it is recommended to read it. We can write it and pass it to people. Sometimes it is one verse (awail as-suur) and sometimes it is two. So that has been given to Prophet (s).
Sayyidi Ahmad al-Faruqi al-Sirhindi (q) said that on the journey of seekers in our Way, the Naqshbandi Order, if one as-salik, seeker in our way, will not be busy with dunya, worldly matters, we will order him and we will make him busy with the heavenly world. He said, matta lam yatatahr as-saalik fee tariqatina fee sair al-mushtaghalaat ... "When the seeker in our tariqah is not busy with dunya matters, we will make him busy with heavenly matters." It means, stop running after dunya because dunya makes you a slave to it, and you must make dunya a slave for you. The awliya give everything to Allah (swt); they have no privacy and their life is "hacked"; everyone can enter and see what they are doing. So Shaykh Ahmad al-Faruqi said, "If they are not busy in dunya work we will give them heavenly work by making them nushghilahum bi wuqoof al-qalbi, "always alert in their heart," preparing them to enter the Divine Prsence through what we teach them, through at-tawajjuh. This is how to prepare themselves, to direct themselves to enter the reality of the human soul's secret, ar-rooh al-insaani. The human rooh is not only the soul, but the inner soul of the soul. "We will show them how they can begin their journey within their own self."
Doctors today are mostly spies of the human body, where there is a sickness. They write what this one has and they make a big file about your health. Awliya are spies of the heart and doctors are spies of the body. This is especially true with the MRI today, when they put you in something like a coffin. You have to remember death, when you will be confined in a box. Awliyaullah have an MRI machine. Is there a more advanced machine? Not yet. Awliyaullah have a more advanced machine for what they detect, the rooh al-insaani, the soul of the soul. The doctors go through your whole body to eliminate all that is not needed, and similarly, to receive these beautiful manifestations of Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes, you have to go through the heart, wuqoof qalbee.
It is through that wuqoof, not through beads or anything. When they see you are not interested in dunya life they put you directly on that journey. The qalb is the door of the inner soul, of the human soul. Li anna r-rooh al-inasaani ... yatasarraf al ... bi waasitat al-qalb. At the beginning, that inner soul of the human soul is inside the body. The rooh is in the prison of the body, the cage, but its life is connected through the heart. If the heart stops pumping, finished. So the heart is the controller of the inner soul, to keep it. When the heart is able to expand and the door is opened, it will set free your inner soul. When the inner soul of the soul is freed, then the soul is able to move everywhere within your self and it comes to know the inner self. That is why Prophet (s) said:
Man `arafa nafsahu faqad `arafa Rabbahu.
Who knows his Self knows his Lord.
So what do you know about yourself? Only your mistakes? No, Allah (swt) doesn't care about that! He wants to show you His mercy, and to show you Sayyidina Muhammad (s) is in everyone's heart and body. He wants to show you His Light in you!
اللَّهُ نُورُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ
Allah is the Light of the Heavens and Earth. (an-Noor, 24:35)
Allah (swt) said to Prophet (s) directly in a Hadeeth Qudsee:
ما وسعني أرضي ولا سمائي ولكن وسعني قلب عبدي
Ma wasi`anee ardee wa laa samaa'ee wa laakin wasi`anee qalbee `abdee al-mu'min.
My Earth did not contain Me, nor My Heavens, but the heart of My believing servant contained Me.
It means Allah (swt) is the heart of the noor that is in every person. Allah's Light shines in you. So you, O ignorant one, you dumb one! Do you think Allah's Light is not in you? They are there, waiting for it to be given. Allah (swt) doesn't look at dirtiness, but He looks at everything jameelah, beautiful. That is why He said:
وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ
wa laqad karamanaa bani adam
We have honored the sons of Adam; (17:70)
"We have honored human beings with anwaarullah, Allah's Lights." Everyone has different lights and he is known by these lights to Prophet (s), and not one resembles the other light, no way. So imagine what endless oceans of light have been dressed on human beings, the Perfect Creation. And at that time, Allah (swt) wants you to know, He will see that 'abd and He will see the light of his soul and the perfection of his self, because this is the work that Prophet (s) is assigning:
man `arifa nafsahu faqad `arifa rabbah.
That is why Allah (swt) is assigning helpers in your soul, to help you know yourself and your divine lights. The saying is not, "To know the badness of yourself, then you know your Lord." No, you must know the lights of your Lord inside you, then you know your reality in the Divine Presence. Everyone has a reality in the Divine Presence. You are connected with that reality, and this here is a copy of reality that is there. That came on the Day of Promises when Allah (swt) asked, "Am I not your Lord?" and everyone said, "Yes You are, yaa Rabbee!" Even Iblees knows his Lord, but he is cursed.
At that time you will know the reality and then you will be guided to maa`rifatullah through these lights, to know about your Creator and what you can carry, what you can take. Wa yukaashif asraarihi wa asmaa'ihi ta`ala, "He will discover Allah's Beautiful Names and Attributes in everything around him." He will know every secret of every tree, every herb and in everything that is created in humans or animal or nature, and will be able to know what every atom has been created for and what is its tasbeeh. That's why he says, man kashafa `anhu anwaar nafsihi yankhashif `anhu asraara rabbih. "Who discovers or uncovers the light of his self will uncover the light of his Lord's secret."
We will stop here and continue tomorrow, inshaa Allah.
Wa min Allahi 't-tawfeeq, bi hurmati 'l-habeeb, bi hurmati 'l-Fatihah.
