Fourth Discussion

[NOTE: The Ten Matters of this Fourth Discussion are not connected with each other in the same way that the Four Discussions of this Twenty-Sixth Letter are not connected. In that case, no connection should be sought. In whatever way it came, it was written in that way. It is part of a letter to his important student, consisting of the answers to five or six of his questions.]

The First:

Secondly: In your letter, you mention that about the explanation and tafsir of the phrase

رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ1

it was said, “There are eighteen thousand ‘âlams.” You ask the hikmah of this number.

My brother, at the moment, I do not know the hikmah of that number, but I can say this much: the phrases of Al-Qur’an Al-Hakîm are not restricted to a single meaning; rather, they possess universal meanings that comprise a meaning for each of those levels since they address all the levels of mankind. The meanings which are expounded in tafsirs are the particular meanings of that universal law. Each mufassir and each ‘ârif mention one part of those universal meanings. Based on either his kashf, his proofs, or his path, he prefers one of those meanings. Here, in this âyah too, they uncovered a meaning corresponding to that number.

For example, in the phrase, مَرَجَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ يَلْتَقِيَانِ بَيْنَهُمَا بَرْزَخٌ لاَ يَبْغِيَانِ2, which the people of walâyah significantly recite and repeat in their awrâd, there are particular meanings, such as from the sea of Rubûbiyyah and the sea of ‘ubûdiyyah within the spheres of wujûb and imkân3, to the seas of the world and the âkhirah, the seas of al-‘âlam al-ghayb and al-‘âlam ash-shahâdah, to the oceans of the North, South, East and West, to the Adriatic and the Persian Gulf, to the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Bosphorus, where the marjân fish4 lives, to the Mediterranean, the Red Sea and Suez Canal, to the freshwater and saltwater seas, to the separated seas of freshwater under the soil layer and the merged saltwater seas over it, and to the small seas called the great rivers, such as the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates and the salty great seas into which they flow. All of these may be intended or meant and may be the literal and metaphorical meanings of the âyah.

In the same way, اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ5 contains numerous haqiqahs. Ahl al-kashf and haqiqah declare those haqiqahs differently according to their kashf.

Personally, I understand that there are thousands of ‘âlams in the samâwât. Some of the stars may each be an ‘âlam. On the earth, too, each species of creature is an ‘âlam. Each human being even is a small ‘âlam. As for the term, رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ 6 it means that every ‘âlam is administered and governed directly through the rubûbiyyah of Janâb-i Haqq and is under Its tarbiyyah.

Thirdly: Ar-Rasûl Al-Akram Alayhissalâtu Wassalâm decreed,

اِذَۤا اَرَادَ اللهُ بِقَوْمٍ خَيْرًا اَبْصَرَهُمْ بِعُيُوبِ اَنْفُسِهِم7

 And in Al-Qur'an Al-Hakîm, Hazrat Yûsuf ‘Alayhissalâm said,

وَمَۤا اُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِى اِنَّ النَّفْسَ لاَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّۤوءِ8

Yes, one who is pleased with his nafs and relies on his nafs is unfortunate. One who sees the fault of his nafs is fortunate. So, you are fortunate! However, it sometimes happens that nafs al-ammarah transforms into nafs al-lawwamah or nafs al-mutmainnah, but it hands over its weapons and equipment to the nerves. As for the nerves and veins, they continue to fulfil the duty of nafs al-ammarah until the end of life. Even though nafs al-ammarah has long died, its works are still visible. There have been many great awliyâ and asfiyâ that they have complained about their nafs al-ammarah while their nafs were at the rank of nafs al-mutmainnah. They have complained about and cried for the sickness of the heart while their hearts were completely sound and illumined. Thus, what afflicts these personages is not nafs al-ammarah, but the duty of nafs al-ammarah, which has been handed over to the nerves. The sickness is not of the heart but the imagination.

My ‘âzîz brother, InshâAllah, what is attacking you is not your nafs nor the sickness of your heart; it is a state — as we said — that has been handed over to the nerves for the continuation of jihâd, which is a necessity of being human and results in constant progress.

***