The Birds of Divine Love
The disciple who stands at the Station of the Lam of Contraction (maqam lam al-qabḍ) must learn to recoil entirely into the spirituality of the mediator (al-wasiṭa). The mediator’s spirit flows through him, shining its lights upon his limbs and its secrets upon his spirit. This contraction (qabḍ) means that you are taken by death in the presence of love. We call it the Lam of Contraction because the souls of the passionate lovers of God contract before the presence of His pre-eternal beauty. They glisten like birds, basking in the gardens of the gnostic sciences, and delighting in the tender fruits of its celestial realities.
Pass away in your love for the mediator by finding repose under his commands. As one report says: “die before you die.” For the deceased victims of the Lam of Contraction are martyrs (shuhadaʾ). They witness (shahidu) the beauty, splendor, and magnificence of the innermost secrets of the Path. They witness the lights that God deposited in their treasuries.
So set the bird of your innermost secret free from the “neck” (ʿunuq) of your oath of allegiance so that it may roam in its gardens. God says: “And [for] every man We have fastened his omen [lit. bird] upon his neck.” (Q Israʾ 17:13).
According to an authentic hadith narrated on the authority of Masruq:
We asked ʿAbdullah about the Qurʾanic verse: “And do not deem those slain for the sake of God to be dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, provided for” (Q al ʿImran 3:169). He said: ‘We asked the holy Prophet (s) about meaning of this verse, and he responded that ‘the souls [of the martyrs] live within bodies of green birds. They lay nests inside lamps that are suspended from the divine throne. They roam freely in the Garden, and then nestle in these lamps. Their Lord once looked upon them and asked: ‘Do you desire anything?’ They said: ‘What more could we desire given that we roam freely in the Garden?’ He repeated the same question to them three times, and when they saw that they would continue to be asked that question, they said: ‘O Lord, we wish for our spirits to be returned to our bodies so that we may be slain for Your sake once more.’ And when God saw that they had no need, they were left [to their heavenly joy].” (Muslim, sahih, K.al-Imara, 1887).
Become a martyr of divine love within the Lam of Contraction. Extinguish yourself in passionate affection for God, so that the bird of your essential identity may open up to the gardens of the gnostic sciences, and so that your spirit may soar with the green birds of the divine names to the lamps of divine proximity, and so that you may enjoy the favor of intimate converse with the Lord of the Worlds.
Shaykh Mohamed Faouzi Al Karkari (Kaf al-astar)
