Esoteric Knowledge and Spiritual Purification

30 Sep

You should know, dear wayfarer, that you will not be admitted to the Muhammadan School until your soul becomes purified by the bestowal of the All-Merciful. For “it is God Who purifies whomsoever He will” (Q Nisaʾ 4:49). Nonetheless, God has made it obligatory upon you to struggle against your lower self in order to acquire that luminous purity, whereupon the hidden knowledge that was once curtained from you becomes manifest. You should know, moreover, that this knowledge remains hidden from the one who has not arrived at it. Its initial manifestation, with respect to the one who turns his attention to God, is what we call “the beginning” [of the Path]. This manifestation begins for each disciple when the light begins to manifest itself [at initiation]. Each disciple thus has a beginning and an end. At the beginning, you see the light—which you had no previous knowledge of—as a shining star within the heaven of your heart. You then travel upon the Path of God until that star, which was your starting point, becomes your endpoint, whereupon you complete the circle of your station.

Since this starting point has multiple properties, each individual looks at it with a different gaze. Yet it remains one in itself, just as the divine names are surrounded by many properties, but their reality remains one. That is why affirming existence is intrinsic to the starting point, because the existence of the starting point is attached to the existence of the Real.

You should know, moreover, that every disclosure that takes place in existence, whether in the unseen realm or in the visible realm, comes from His name the Manifest (al-Ẓahir). As for the name the Non-Manifest (al-Baṭin), one cannot say that the Real disclosed Himself through His name the Non-Manifest. For a disclosure (tajalli) is a manifestation for the one who experiences the disclosure. The Non-Manifest therefore remains forever non-manifest, and what discloses itself to you is manifest with respect to you, and non-manifest with respect to others.

— Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi al-Karkari (qs) Afanin al-Sujud

More Teachings

Is the Path for Everyone? Yes — here’s why

Choose a Path for yourself. You can be an Adamic human being by virtue of the inblowing of the Spirit within you…or a bestial human being by virtue of the dominance of your bestial body, so that the Spirit’s influence weakens within you. You will then become ignorant of your reality, and you will not draw out the treasure that is buried within you.

The Path and the Name

The seeker must journey from the Haʾ of the Name back to the Alif, bearing in mind their differing levels. Entering unto the singular Alif is achieved through the attributes of the saint, not through those of the believer. Attaching to the elevation of the Alif enables the knower of God to taste the reality of servanthood.

God’s Light is Real — Not Metaphorical

When you strive against your lower self, the reality of this world becomes evident to you, you know that it is non-existent; that it has no existence except through God. Then God provides you with light, and through that light you come to know how close He is to you.

The Mantle of Divine Majesty

A mantle conceals the upper part, whereas a garment conceals the lower part. The higher part of the divine mantle is an allusion to Lordship (rububiyya). This mantle of Lordship comprises two sides: the outer side is the aspect of Lordship, and inner side is the pre-cosmic reality of the Cloud (al-ʿamaʾ).

Three Levels of Being within the Microcosm and Macrocosm

the sensorial human being is the one whose heart is stamped by the forms of the sense-objects. He is marked by a dominant love for the herebelow. Moreover, the spiritual human being is the one whose inward vision (basira) has opened up so that he perceives what lies beyond the sensorial realm.

Fasting the “White Days” of the Lunar Month

The Prophet (s) recommends fasting during these blessed days, and it is said that Ibrahim (s) fasted them as well. The early Arabs called these days the “White Days” (al-ayyam al-biḍ) because the moon is brightest during this period and it achieves its most complete perfection.

Finding a True Master

With manifold arguments and no shortage of nagging, my teachers, father, family, friends, and loved-ones, sought to hold me back from cutting my worldly ties and setting off alone in search of God and a true master; and in their efforts to do so they would attempt to clinch the matter with various rational and religious objections.

Why is the Divine Name the Mirror of the Spiritual Traveler?

The spiritual traveler’s journey through the Name, however, must begin at the last letter Haʾ, which we call the Haʾ of Divine Identity (haʾ al-huwiyya).

Knowledge of God Inspires Reverential Fear of God

Reflective thought that is devoid of the remembrance God (fikr duna dhikr) is a transgression. For true reflection only occurs in the wake of long periods of remembrance (dhikr tawil), once your time has been filled with the invocation.

“I am the Dot”

And this is the dot that is ascribed to the all-inclusive names and divine realities because it is through the basmala that God takes charge over the servant who has realized the station of servanthood and upon whom His names and attributes have become manifest in both his knowledge and his state.

Yousef Casewit

Esoteric Knowledge and Spiritual Purification

Pledging Allegiance to the People of God

Journeying through the Divine Name