Sheikh Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi: 1165 - 1240 AD

'Mystic, philosopher, poet, sage, Muhammad b. 'Ali Ibn 'Arabi is one of the world's great spiritual teachers. Known as Muhyiddin (the Revivifier of Religion) and the Shaykh al-Akbar (the Greatest Master), he was born in 1165 AD into the Moorish culture of Andalusian Spain, the centre of an extraordinary flourishing and cross-fertilization of Jewish, Christian and Islamic thought, through which the major scientific and philosophical works of antiquity were transmitted to Northern Europe.' (excerpts taken from Ibn Arabi Society's website)

The Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society

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"The movement which is the existence

of the universe is the movement of love. "
Ibn 'Arabi, Fusûs al-Hikam

"It is He who is revealed in every face,

sought in every sign,

gazed upon by every eye,

worshipped in every object of worship,

and pursued in the unseen and the visible.

Not a single one of His creatures

can fail to find Him in its primordial

and original nature."
Ibn 'Arabi, Futûhât al-Makkiyya

"If the believer understood the meaning of the saying

'the colour of the water is the colour of the receptacle',

he would admit the validity of all beliefs

and he would recognise God

in every form and every object of faith."
Ibn 'Arabi, Fusûs al-Hikam

And this has to be my all time favourite of Ibn Arabi's works....
"O Marvel! a garden amidst the flames.

My heart has become capable of every form:

it is a pasture for gazelles

and a convent for Christian monks,

and a temple for idols and the pilgrim's Kaa'ba,

and the tables of the Torah

and the book of the Quran.

I follow the religion of Love:

whatever way Love's camels take,

that is my religion and my faith."
'Tarjuman al-Ashwaq'. Theosophical Publishing House, 1911. Poem XI.

'We are given a key to understanding, however, in the triple vision of the three great prophets of the Western world - for to Ibn 'Arabi these three bring the same message,the same essential religion of love. He considers all prophets and saints to be explainers of this primordial religion: There is no knowledge except that taken from God, for He alone is the Knower... the prophets, in spite of their great number and the long periods of time which separate them, had no disagreement in knowledge of God, since they took it from God. We are given a key to understanding, however, in the triple vision of the three great prophets of the Western world - for to Ibn 'Arabi these three bring the same message, the same essential religion of love. He considers all prophets and saints to be explainers of this primordial religion:
"There is no knowledge except that taken from God,

for He alone is the Knower...

the prophets, in spite of their great number

and the long periods of time which separate them,

had no disagreement in knowledge of God,

since they took it from God. "
'Futuhat al Makkiyah' II. 290. Trans. W. Chittick, 'The Sufi Path of Knowledge'.

"A thin veil separated me

and him in such a way

that I was able to see him

while he was unable to see me

and ignorant of my presence.

He was so absorbed that

he paid me no attention

and I said to myself

'He is not destined

to follow the same path as me'."
Futuhat I. 154. Trans. C. Addas, 'La Quete pour la Soufre Rouge'

"The Most Merciful looked down upon me

with a look of Benevolence and sent

Muhammad, Jesus, and Moses

to me while I slept.

Jesus encouraged me toward asceticism

and ridding myself of unnecessary belongings;

Moses gave me the 'disk of the sun'

and predicted that I would obtain 'ilm ladunnî

from among the sciences of the tawhîd;

and Muhammad commanded:

'Hang on to me, you will be safe!' "

Sheikh Qadir Jilani

Anything you call upon, is a god.

Anything you depend on, is your god.

Anything you fear, is your god.
Anyone you implore, is your god.

Look at yourself.

Your heart does not agree with your tongue

And your actions are in conflict with your words.

Say: "Allah u Akbar"

One thousand times in your heart

Before you say it even once with your tongue.

Are you not ashamed of yourself

To say "There is no god other than Allah,"

When in truth you worship one thousand deities besides Him.

Repent to Him from all your lies.

Thank You to My Beloved

by the Anomaly

18 May 2007 night time

Today

I finally passed the test

I finally learnt my lesson

I finally know

How to love myself.

To learn how to love yourself

You must first

Know who you are

You must know your value

and your worth

You must never let another person

determine your worth

and tell you who you are.

So I thank you,

my Master, my Guide,

my Beloved

for leading me to this path

to this knowledge

to this awareness.

To love yourself is to never allow anyone

to have control over your destiny

To never accept second best

To never be second best

Your soul belongs to Allah

Our Creator

Our Ultimate Love

Your life belongs to Allah

Never surrender your love and your life

to anyone else.

Know yourself and you will know Allah

Love yourself and you will love Allah

Love Allah and you will love yourself

It matters not which comes first

By the time you come to this realisation

You are nothing but a mirror

Reflecting

Allah's Beauty

Allah's Light

So learn to love yourself.

Do not accept a tarnished gift

For you are worthy of something better

Do not accept love in half measures

For you are worth

Much, much, much more than that

Do not accept insincere friendships

for they are worth nothing and you are priceless.

It is better to be alone

than to be with those

who do not know how to value you.

It is better to stay away from those

who do not know how to appreciate your worth.

They are not worth a single tear in your eye.

Finally I learnt and practised all this.

I have passed the test.

Thank you thank you thank you

My Love

for leading me here.

My chains are broken

I am finally released.

I finally know:

how to live

how to love

My burdens are gone

I am ready to live

I am ready to love another

How can you love another

when you do not know how to love yourself?

How can you value others

when you do not value yourself?

And today I have proven it

I love myself

I value myself

Thank you my Love.

The poetry above was inspired after going through a tough period for the past 2 weeks. I had come to realise that 2 people whom I am very fond of, whom I trust, whom I regarded as my friends have betrayed my trust and are not sincere to me. I struggled with myself - do I ignore it, accept them as they are and accept the half measures they mete out insincerely?

Then I realised - there is a difference between accepting people as they are and the treatment they show you. Accepting them as they are means not judging them and letting them be who they are and allowing them to find their own way. Eventually, we hope they will get there. But we don't have to suffer in their ignorance and accept their treatment.

So I stepped out of this circle of their ignorance and contempt.

What a release that was. To not be stuck in this vicious circle. I thought I would be upset and distraught over this. But all I felt was a sense of emptiness. I was worried. I thought I must be numb. But its night time now and I still don't feel anything. Just a sense of relief that I don't have to think about this anymore. I don't have to get upset over their behaviour anymore.

Then I realised - I finally liearnt my lesson which God was trying to teach me since 2000. I learnt to love myself.

So thank you God for this revelation, for this gift. It took me seven years of pain to learn. Seven years of joy. Seven verses in the Fatihah - The Heart of the Koran.

Hafiz

I Have Come Into This World to See This

I have come into this world to see this:

the sword drop from men's hands even at the height

of the arc of their anger

because we have finally realised there is just one flesh to wound

and it is His - the Christ's, our

Beloved's.

I have come into this world to see this:

all creatures hold hands as we pass through

this miraculous existence we share on the way

to an even greater being of soul,

a being of just ecstatic light, forever entwined and at play

with Him.

I have come into this world to hear this:

every song the earth has sung since it was conceived in

the Divine's womb and began spinning from

His wish,

every song by wing, fin and hoof,

every song by hill and and field and tree and woman and child,

every song of stream and rock,

every song of tool and lyre and flute,

every song of gold and emerald

and fire,

every song the heart should cry with magnificent dignity

to know itself as

God;

for all other knowledge will leave us again in want and aching -

only imbibing the glorious Sun

will complete us.

I have come into the world to experience this:

men so true to love

they would rather die before speaking

an unkind

word,

men so true their lives are His covenant -

the promise of

hope.

I have come into this world to see this:

the sword drop from men's hands

even at the height of

their arc of

rage

because we have finally realised

there is just one flesh

we can wound.

More from Hafiz .....

I have learned so much

from God

that I can no longer call myself

a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew.

The Truth has shared so much of Itself with me

that I can no longer call myself

a man, a woman, an angel, or even a pure soul,

Love has befriended Hafiz,

It has turned to ash and freed me

Of every concept and image

my mind has ever known.

The Thoroughbred

by the Anomaly

Only a King knows how to appreciate a thoroughbred

Only a King knows how to treasure it

Holding it high above all else

Only a King can appreciate

the thoroughbred's

lineage

elegance

beauty

spirit.

A King knows

not to compare a thoroughbred

with a farm animal

A King has no need for a farm animal

What would a King do with a stable full of farm animals?

Likewise, do not give a peasant a thoroughbred

He has neither the capacity nor the depth to appreciate true beauty

For a peasant knows only how to appreciate a farm animal

He cannot place a yoke on a thoroughbred to till his land

The thoroughbred can die under these hardened conditions

Be very careful with the thoroughbred

Place it in the wrong hands and it will wither and die

The peasant only deserves a farm animal

For that is the only thing he knows how to value.

Sufi Wisdom: Shaykh Abd Qadir Al Jilani

"The Prophet said "Gabriel once came to me and said: "The Lord of Truth has instructed me to tell you:'Pardon those who do you wrong. Maintain a connection with those who would cut you off. Give to those who deprive you. Reflect on the blessings of Allah, on His handiwork and His ways of managing His creation.

If you suffer unjust treatment, do not act unjustly. If you are praised, do not feel too pleased about it. If you are criticised, do not feel too depressed. If you are accused of telling lies, do not get angry. If you are betrayed, do not betray another."

Shaykh Qadir Al Jilani on the Sufis: "In your case, you belong to the group consisting of those who love Allah both through involuntary compulsion and through a process of free choice.

If only you would leave the company of the unbelievers and the hypocrites today, and stay away from them tomorrow. If only you would get up and walk away from meetings held by those who idolise their fellow creatures and material means, and who quarrel with the Lord of Truth. Do not meddle with the treasuries of worldly kings, and do not pry into their secrets.

If a person does not acknowledge his own worth, the decrees of destiny will teach him to acknoledge his own worth. To recognise your own worth is better than refusing to acknowledge you own worth, because an ignorant person is someone who knows neither his own worth nor the worth of other people."

"You must dedicate your hearts entirely to Him. You must turn to Him in humble entreaty, and beg Him to supply you with everything you need. You must apply to Him for all your urgent requirements. You have no other place to turn. You have no other door by which to enter. All other doors have been locked shut. You must spend time alone with Him in lonely places. You must talk to Him and speak to Him directly with the tongues of your faith.

As soon as the other members of your family have all gone to sleep, and the sounds and voices of your fellow creatures have fallen silent, you should cleanse yourself by performing the ritual ablution, then lower your forehead to the ground. While you are in humble posture, you should repent, beg pardon, confess your sins, implore your Lord to grant His gracious favour, and ask Him to supply your needs. You should also complain to Him about any problems that are causing a feeling of tightness in your breast. He is your Lord, not any other, and He is your god, not any other.

You must not run away on account of the arrows of His afflictions. He has treated all your predecessors in the same way, exposing them to pain and suffering, making them experience difficulty and hardship as well as ease and comfort, so that they might acknowledge Him and be grateful to Him, so that they might learn to be patient with Him and entrust themselves to His care.

Punishments are for common folk, while acts of atonement are for the truly devout believers, and spiritual degrees are for the righteous of true conviction, the triumphant champions of truth.

The Prophet has told us: "Of all people, we Prophets are the ones most sorely afflicted. Then those who resemble us most closely, and so on down the scale."

When the true believer is afflicted, he bears his affliction with patience. He keeps it well hidden from his fellow creatures and does not complain to them. This is why the Prophet has told us: "the believer wears his cheerfulness on his face, while his sadness stays inside his heart."

That is to say, he greets other people with a cheerful expression, so that they will not notice what is in his heart.

True believers hide the treasures of their inner beings. They act in accordance with the natural disposition of their hearts. Sadness is the natural disposition of our lower selves. Sadness is a cloud that showers the heart with drops of wisdom and secret knowledge. Why will you not be patient in bearing sadness and broken-heartedness, when Allah has said in one of His utterances: "I am with those whose hearts are broken on My account."

Whenever their hearts are broken because of remoteness [from Him], along comes the mender of nearness to mend them. Whenever they are alienated from their fellow creatures, along comes intimate friendship with Allah to put them at their ease. Whenever they become estranged from their fellow creatures, they discover intimate friendship in the nearness of Allah. Whenever their sadness lasts for a long time in this world, their happiness is of long duration in the hereafter.

The Prophet would often experience prolonged bouts of sadness, and he was always given to contemplation. He would seem to be listening carefully, as if to an invisible speaker who was talking to him, or to someone calling out to him from the unseen. His executors, his representatives, his deputies and his heirs are likewise notable for the long duration of their sadness and the constancy of their contemplation. How could they fail to follow the example he set by his actions, when they are standing in his stead, feeding people with his food and quenching their thirst with his drink, using his horses for transport, and wielding his swords and his spears in battle?

The people of the Lord have inherited the situation of the Prophets and their position in the scheme of things, though not their personal names and titles, nor the special attributes and peculiar virtues with which they never fall short. It may therefore happen that one of them begins to play his role at a very early age, while in the case of another, his true role does not become apparent until the latter part of his life. Transformations are brought about through the presence of such an individual, for he is the friend of Allah in the knowledge of Allah.

The Tomb of Shaykh Qadir Al Jilani

(which was hit by US bombings in Iraq)

Of the ignorant people, the Shaykh said:

"You do not recognise the true condition of the people of the Lord, and you do not acknowledge the truth of what they have to say. Your involvement with worldly creatures is an obstacle that prevents you from getting to know them. Your love of prestige in this world, and the ambitious pursuit of political leadership, these are obstacles that prevent you from getting to know them. If you had been genuinely interested in trying to find them, you would have recognised them by now, and you would have derived complete satisfaction from what they had to tell you. You do not spend any time in the company of people who put their knowledge into practice. You are not like those who drink what they have to offer, here in my presence, so you do not experience the effect of that kind of wine."