Al-Hikam Al-'ata'iyya: The Book of Wisdom-By Nuh Ha Mim Keller

The Book of Wisdom
al-Hikam al-`Ata'iyya
First Aphorism

TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY - Nuh Ha Mim Keller

Infinitude is the native land from whence Allah has brought the soul, then summoned it again upon the tongue of His messengers (Allah bless them and give them peace) from its exile. Traditional Islamic spirituality deals with answering this summons, lifting the heart from the narrowness of the self to the limitlessness of the knowledge and the love of the Divine.

People have spoken and written much about Sufism, as the discipline is known, but it is perhaps easiest understood in context, so I have thought to begin translating the aphorisms of the Egyptian Master Ibn `Ata' Illah's classic manual of spiritual development al-Hikam al `Ata'iyya or "Book of Wisdom" together with some commentary. He is writing raDiy-Allahu-anhu Allah may be well pleased with him) for those who have a tariqa or actual path or sheikh, yet his words may interest others. He says:

1. One of the signs of relying on deeds is loss of hope when there are missteps.

The book begins with this key aphorism because it is of the adab or "proper way" of traveling the spiritual path to focus upon tawhid of the "Divine Oneness," which in this context meaning to rely upon Allah, not on works, since
"Allah created you and that which you do." (Qur'an 37:96)

The method of spiritual path ascent is threefold, consisting of knowledge (`ilm), practice (`amal), and the resultant state (hal) bestowed by Allah.

Knowledge here means everything conveyed to us by the Prophet MHMD Allah bless him and give him peace), which is the content of the Sacred Law or shari`a. The practice of this knowledge, inwardly and outwardy, with heart and limbs, is the spiritual path or tariqa. The resultant state, Allah's drawing near to the heart that thus draws near to Him, is the dawning of the Divine Presence upon the soul, termed by Sufis "ultimate reality" or haqiqa.

Ibn `Ata' Illah, as a spiritual path guide, is concerned in this works with the second moment of this ascent, that of way and works, so he begins his book by letting the traveller know that the matter of one's spiritual path progress is in Allah's hands alone. Discouragement at the inevitable mistakes one makes in the path is a sign of relying on one's deeds rather than on Allah.

Works, whether prayer, or dhikr or "remembrance" of Allah, or jihad, or fasting do not bring one the desired end of the path, but are merely proper manners before the majesty of the Divine while on the path. Just as putting one's net in the sea does not produce fish, though one must keep it there so that if Allah sends fish they can be caught, so too, works are a net, and their spiritual path recompense is from Allah. Abu Hurayra raDiy-Allahu-anhu Allah may be well pleased with him) heard the Holy Prophet MHMD Allah bless him and give him peace) say: "None of you shall be saved by his works." A man said, "Not even yourself, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Not even myself, unless Allah covers me with a mercy from Him. But strive to be right." 1

Imam Nawawi comments:

The outward purport of these hadith [n: Muslim relates several] bears out the position of Islamic orthodoxy that no one deserves recompense or paradise for his acts of obedience. As for the words of Allah Most High "Enter paradise for that which you have done" (Q 16:32), and "That is paradise, which you have been bestowed for what you did before" (Q 7:43), and similar verses that indicate that paradise is entered by virtue of works, they do not contradict these hadiths. Rather the meaning of the verses is that entering of paradise is because of works, although divinely given success (tawfiq) to do the works, and seing guided to have sincerity in them, and their acceptability are the mercy of Allah Most High and His favour. 2

The true spiritual path path is one of gratitude. Abu Sulayman al-Darani used to say, "How can a sane man be proud of his works, when his works are but a gift from Allah and a blessing from Him that he must thank Him for." 3 And Abu Madyan says, "The crestfallenness of the sinner is better than the exulting of the obedient." 4

Ibn `Ata' Illah in this aphorism is apprising the traveller not to be veiled from the true path by his own high resolve. While irada or "will" is presupposed by the way, indeed the word murid or "disciple" is derived from it, the path sublimates it into its opppsite through tawhid , disclosing it to a mere cause, conjoined with the soul's ascent not out of logical necessity but out of Allah's pure largesse. For this reason some sheikhs term a traveller of the former spiritual vantage a murid or "desirer," and one of the latter a faqir or "needy." The prophet Moses (upon whom be blessings and peace) said when he reached the land of Midian,

"My Lord, I am greatly needy of the good You've sent me down" (Qur'an 28:24)

This humble sincerity of slavehood, or we could say realism, enables the genuine spiritual traveller to benefit from both his good and his evil. He benefits from his good by not seeing it as from himself, for as Abu Bakr al-Wasiti says, "The closest of all things to Allah's loathing is beholding the self and its actions,"5 that is, because it contradicts tawhid for Allah says:

"Whatever blessing you have, is from Allah" (Qur'an 16:53)

And he benefits from his evil by his faith (iman) that it is evil, which is itself an act of obedience; and by repenting from it, which rejoices Allah Most High. Anas ibn Malik raDiy-Allahu-anhu Allah may be well pleased with him) relates from the Holy Prophet MHMD Allah bless him and give him peace) that he said:
Truly, Allah rejoices more at the atonement of His servant when he repents to Him than one of you would if he were on his riding camel in an empty tract of desert, and it got away from him with all his food and water on it, and he gave up all hope of finding it, so he came to a tree and laid down in its shade, having despaired of ever seeing it again. While lying there, he suddenly finds it standing beside him, and he seizes its halter, and overjoyed, cries, "O Allah, You are my slave, and I am your Lord," making a mistake out of sheer joy"
6 (Muslim, 4.2104: 2747).

The secret of true repentance ( tawba ) in the spiritual path is this divine rejoicing it is met with from Allah Most High. Abul Hasan al-Shadhili, the sheikh of Ibn 'Ata' Illah's own sheikh, used to daily pray to Allah: "And when we disobey You, show us even greater mercy than You do when we obey You" (Invocations, 27).

Ibn 'Ata' Illah made this the first aphorism of his Book of Wisdoms to apprise the traveller that when failings happen, there is also work to be done: to repent to Allah, to realize that Allah is generous, and to hope for the best from the spiritual path. The mark of relying on Allah is that one's hope is undiminished. The mark of relying on one's self is that it soars until there is a misstep, when it plummets along with its injured pride. Discouragement in the path is an incomprehension of the Divine Omnipotence, while certitude in the path and in one's Lord is of the adab of those who know Allah.

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APHORISM 4: Relieve yourself of planning: what Another has already done for you do not do yourself.

THE UNIVERSE and all it contains are the deed of a single Doer. If planning is not to veil the spiritual traveller, he must be aware of this tawhid, the Divine Reality behind the world of forms. To know it is to walk in light and not to is to walk in darkness. As a Sufi once told me: “Sit with those of this world, and you become a speck in its sea. Sit with those of Allah, and the world becomes a speck in your sea.” Mawlay al-‘Arabi al-Darqawi wrote in a letter to a disciple:

A certain person who was against us said to me [hypocritically] one day in the presence of some of the brethren (Allah be well pleased with them), “You are our lords and masters.” I told him: “I won’t hear this from you or another, or anyone else, unless Allah is my Lord and Master. As for when my ego is my lord and master, I won’t hear it or accept it.” And I said: “The moment at which Allah Most Glorious is my Lord and Master, then am I the lord and master of all existence despite itself, willing or unwilling. And the moment at which my ego is my lord and master, all existence is my lord and master despite myself, willing or unwilling. It is contemptuous towards me, disparages me, humiliates me, overrides me, ignores me, dismisses me, and does whatever else it wishes with me. So how should we care about your praise or blame, or that of anyone else? It is baseless.”1

Regardless of who appears to be in control, Allah is Master of reality, and knowing this facilitates everything, inwardly and outwardly, while “planning” without this knowledge is mere floundering. The heart of the person who must be in control—of his present, past, and future—is without the tawakkul or “trust in Allah” that is essential to living one’s faith in a real world. The “planning” one should relieve oneself of is that which makes one prey to the Devil, whom Allah tells us “has no power over those who truly believe, and place their whole trust in their Lord” (Qur’an 16:99). Hearts without trust in God have to listen to a lot of advertisements from hell.

When I took the path in the early 1980s from Sheikh ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri, he seemed so old and frail that I kept wondering, “What if he passes away before I finish my spiritual journey?” At every illness—and he had a few—my heart would feel a chill, and I would hear misgivings and suggestions, grounded, as most infernal thoughts are, in some points of fact.

I had arrived in Jordan more than seven years after the death of Sheikh Muhammad Sa‘id al-Kurdi, the last great spiritual guide there. Many disciples I met and talked to had only known him for four years, some for only two years, before he died. Since the days of Sheikh al-‘Alawi of Algeria at the first of the century, the sheikhs of our tariqa had used the khalwa or solitary retreat to train disciples. One of the main reasons I sought out Sheikh ‘Abd al-Rahman in Damascus was that Sheikh al-Kurdi had not authorized anyone else in it.

In the course of my first year with the sheikh, I asked about the khalwa, and he explained that his and Sheikh al- Kurdi’s sheikh, Muhammad al-Hashimi, had used the rooms in the Qalbaqjiyya Zawiya near the Nuriyya Mosque in the Old City. At present, he told me—in the wake of a massacre of scores of ‘Alawite cadets in Aleppo imputed to the Ikhwan Muslimin (Muslim Brotherhood), and the government’s own massacre of thousands of citizens in Hama—the ‘Alawite regime had sent its security forces to clean up the Old City around the Hamidiyya, a warren of resistance. The police had entered the zawiya and placed red wax seals upon almost every door in the place, under the direst threats for breaking them. The khalwa was effectively closed.

Around the same time, at a moment when Syrian troops were massed on the northern borders of Jordan for its allegedly giving asylum to members of the Ikhwan, one of our brothers in Jordan decided to give a mawlid celebration of the Prophet’s birthday (Allah bless him and give him peace). He phoned the sheikh in Damascus, inviting him down by saying, “The brothers (al-ikhwan) would love to see you.” The call was overheard by security in Damascus, and the infelicitous word resulted in repeated interrogations for the sheikh and final cancellation of his passport. For the next seven years he could not come to Jordan.

As the khalwa receded into the distance, my thoughts went on and on about the sheikh’s condition and age. I put my fears before him one afternoon, and he looked at me levelly and said, “Sidi, if I didn’t think I could finish with you, I wouldn’t have begun.” Eventually, other rooms were found in Damascus for the khalwa, and ultimately the sheikh did pass on—but more than two decades later. Looking back, I realized that Allah had been teaching me something about tawakkul: that too much desire for control puts one under the Devil’s control; and that planning does not benefit the traveller when it concerns the warid, or “that which is from God,” but only when it concerns the wird, or “that which is from one to God,” one’s spiritual works.

The wird includes not only one’s five daily prayers, dhikr, fasting, night vigil prayer (tahajjud), going to the mosque, and being with those who uplift one—all of which are praiseworthy to plan—but indeed anything that is intended for Allah, whether learning Sacred Knowledge to worship, saving money for hajj, raising funds for disaster relief, supporting oneself and family by honest work, or even the food, sleep, and exercise needed to fulfill the rights of Allah, others, or oneself that are incumbent upon one. Accomplishing all of these is praiseworthy, and to plan and carry them out for the sake of Allah benefits the spiritual traveller. Planning is blameworthy when it concerns the warid or that which is from Allah, such as mystical experiences, spiritual stations, and tawfiq or “divinely given success” in anything, worldly or unworldly. Abul Hasan al-Shadhili once said:

A friend and I took to a cave, seeking to reach Allah, and we would say, “Tomorrow we shall be illumined, or the day after tomorrow.” A man passed by who inspired awe, and we said, “Who are you?” and he replied, “The slave of the King (‘Abd al-Malik),” and we realized he was one of the saints of Allah. He said: “How is someone who says, ‘Tomorrow I shall be illumined, or the day after tomorrow’?—Neither sainthood nor success! O self, why not worship Allah for the sake of Allah?”We then understood from whence we had been taken, and we repented and asked Allah’s forgiveness; and then illumination came.2

One must strive to do works for Allah with true sincerity, while the fruits of these works are sent by Allah, and one should free the heart of turning to them and looking at them, because they are “what Another has already done for you,” and hence a matter of trust in God (tawakkul). As Mustafa al-‘Arusi once said: “The one with real trust is he who sees Allah in the outward forms of causes and effects, doing and choosing everything that those veiled from Him ascribe to them. He thus consigns the matter to Him in charge of the matter, and is well pleased with Him to rely on.”3

Trust in God is an exacting spiritual perspective. Without it, there may be false confidence in one’s own striving, while with it, human weakness may try to excuse its own fecklessness, as Ibn ‘Ata’ Illah apprises travellers by saying:


APHORISM 5: Your striving for what is ensured to you and neglect of what is sought from you show the blindness of your spiritual insight.

The journey to the Real described in these aphorisms is the path of wilaya or “friendship with Allah.” To travel it, the wali or friend must realize that Allah is his wali, his all powerful patron and helping friend, who says:

Allah is the protecting friend (wali) of those who believe, bringing them out of darknesses into the light (Qur’an 2:257).

This is “what is ensured” to the disciple in the mystic path, and is what Allah has destined for him from beginningless eternity, and what he must know and be absolutely certain of. The friend (wali) of Allah must know the favor of Allah and not place his hope in anything besides. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) said:

Allah Most High says: “I shall be to My servant as he thinks I shall be. I am with him when he makes remembrance (dhikr) of Me. If he remembers Me to himself, I remember him to Myself, and if he mentions Me to an assembly, I mention him to an assembly better than they. If he draws nearer to Me by a span, I draw nearer to him by a cubit, and if he draws nearer to Me by a cubit, I draw nearer to him by a fathom. If he comes to Me walking, I come to him running.”4

The sign that God wants one is that one wants God; just as the sign of His drawing nearer to one is that one is drawing nearer to Him. Abu Bakr al-Warraq used to forbid his disciples to journey or travel, saying, “The key to every spiritual blessing is patience in the place where you first aspire, until you truly desire. When you truly desire, the beginnings of blessedness have appeared in you.”? To become such a person, the disciple must spend all he has, like a runner who does not catch his second wind until he has used up his first. True desire (irada) to do “what is sought” from one is the mark of the kind of person Allah calls My servant in the above hadith.

Desire means taking a serious look at oneself, turning one’s back on what Allah detests, and walking away from it. Speaking badly of someone absent, for example, which Allah has likened to “eating the flesh of one’s dead brother” (Qur’an 49:12)—no matter how witty, chic, or entertaining in the eyes of friends—is hated by God. Imam Nawawi tells us, moreover, that “just as it is unlawful to speak of a person’s failings to someone else, so too it is unlawful (haram) to speak to oneself of them and think badly of him.”? How many of one’s thoughts are about others’ failings? If one takes a step forward in the spiritual path with dhikr and prayer, and two steps backward by slandering others, how soon will one reach the goal? Desire means adding these up.

Desire also means loving what God loves, and He loves a heart alive with His remembrance. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) has said, “Truly, this world and all it contains are accursed, except for the remembrance (dhikr) of Allah, that which He loves, and someone who has Sacred Knowledge or someone learning it.”? For Sufis dhikr is the main stanchion of the spiritual path, its way, aim, and method. Ibn al-‘Arabi advises:

Be diligent in the remembrance of Allah, secretly and openly, to yourselves and with others, for Allah has said, “Remember Me and I will remember you” (Qur’an 2:152), making remembrance from Allah the consequence of remembrance from the servant.8

Dhikr has tremendous power. Those who travel to the hajj, for example, and constantly make the dhikr that is sunna in motion, at rest, and in all the rites, find their whole reality changed. Few ever forget the hajj, but for those able to continue in their certitude after they return home, it is an axial experience. In this sense the spiritual path is a permanent pilgrimage. All of these matters are sought from the traveller.

To summarize, desire means change, first by takhliya or “ridding oneself ” of the acts, motives, and states unacceptable to Allah; then tahliya or “adorning oneself ” with good traits such as sincerity (ikhlas), trust (tawakkul), remembrance of Allah, and finally the ma‘rifa or knowledge of the Divine with which Allah remembers the person of dhikr who perseveres in these. To rely on one’s own efforts to bring about what Allah has already decided is “your striving for what is ensured to you,” while not to change oneself is the “neglect of what is sought from you.” Both are blindness in the way of wilaya.

MMV © N. Keller

NOTES
1 Rasa’il Mawlay al-‘Arabi al-Darqawi. Abu Dhabi: 1420/1999. 98.
2Ibn ‘Ata’ Illah. Lata’if al-minan fi manaqib Abi al-‘Abbas al-Mursi wa
shaykhihi Abi al-Hasan. Cairo: 1406/1986. 101.
3 Nata’ij al-afkar, Cairo: 1290/1873, I. 61–62.
4 Sahih al-Bukhari. Cairo: 1313/1895. 9.147–48: 7405.
5 ‘Arusi, Nata’ij al-afkar, I.166.
6 Al-Adhkar. Beirut: 1425/2005. 555.
7 A well-authenticated (hasan) hadith related in Sunan al-Tirmidhi.
Beirut: n.d. 4.561: 2322.
8 Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya. Cairo:1329/1911. 4.446.


NUH KELLER is a writer and translator who lives in Jordan. He took the Shadhili tariqa in 1982 in Damascus from Sheikh ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri and was authorized by him in 1996.

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The Book of Wisdom: Hikam No.2
By Nuh Ha Mim Keller



Infinitude is the native land from whence Allah has brought the soul, then summoned it again upon the tongue of His messengers (Allah bless them and give them peace) from its exile. Traditional Islamic spirituality deals with answering this summons, lifting the heart from the narrowness of the self to the limitlessness of the knowledge and love of the Divine

People have spoken and written much about Sufism, as the discipline is known, but it is perhaps easiest understood in context. The article below is the second in a series written for Islamica that seeks to directly explore the Sufi way by translating the aphorisms of the Egyptian master Ibn ‘Ata’ Illah’s classic manual of spiritual development al- Hikam al-‘Ata’iyya [The aphorisms of ‘Ata’], together with some commentary. He is writing (Allah be well pleased with him) for those who have a tariqa or actual path and a sheikh, yet his words may prove of interest to others. He says:

Your wish to be apart from the world when Allah keeps you in it is but from hidden desire, while your wish to be in it when Allah keeps you apart from it is a fall from high purpose.

When one sets out on a journey, it is natural to look for the shortest way, and this aphorism warns the mystic traveller from taking a wrong turn, as many disciples do, by wishful thinking. The Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) once said, “[Saying] ‘if only’ opens the Devil’s work,” and longing for new and different circumstances, unless the present ones are clearly morally reprehensible, can be a veil from knowing Allah in whatever state He has placed one. Because Allah knows our interests better than we do and is keener for them than we are, masters tend to let disciples change their situation in life only when Allah unmistakably creates an alternative that is superior or plainly unavoidable. Ibn ‘Ata’ Illah had such an experience with his own sheikh, Abul ‘Abbas al- Mursi, which he described in the words

I used to hear students say, “Whoever keeps the company of sheikhs never attains much in the outward sciences,” and it weighed upon me not to be able to attain Sacred Learning, and weighed upon me not to be able to keep the company of the sheikh (Allah be well pleased with him). So I went to the sheikh, and found him eating meat with vinegar, and I said to myself, “If only the sheikh would give me a bite with his own hand.” I had barely finished the thought when he put the morsel he had in his hand into my mouth, and then said: “When we keep the company of a merchant, we don’t tell him, ‘Leave your business and come,’ or tell an artisan, ‘Leave your craft and come,’ or tell a student, ‘Leave your studies and come.’ Rather, we confirm each wherever Allah has put him, and whatever is meant by Allah to reach them at our hands will reach them. The Companions were with the Messenger of Allah (Allah bless him and give him peace) and he never said to a merchant, ‘Leave your business,’ or to an artisan, ‘Leave your work,’ but rather, he had them remain at their livelihoods, and commanded them to have godfearingness in them.” (Lata’if al-minan,125).

The distance of the Sufi path is a return to its own beginning: to the basic practice of living in this world according to the Qur’an and wont of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace), though with a unitive breadth of vision unknown before travelling the path. The Sufi sees the ultimate implications of what for others are but ordinary things, seeing everything as existing through Allah; in that specific sense, “seeing Him in everything.” This is not as unlikely as it may appear, for Allah is the Creator of everything, and since deeds reveal rather than conceal their doer, it is impossible in the eyes of the Sufis that creation, as the act of Allah, should conceal Him. Rather, it manifests Him, as Allah Himself says,

“He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden” (Qur’an 57:3).

Allah Most High is one, without any associate in His entity, His attributes, His rulings, or His actions. His purpose in creating the worlds is as a sign (ayah) to manifest His absolute Oneness to those who can see it.

“We shall show them Our signs, in the horizons and in themselves, until it is plain to them that it is the Truth” (Qur’an 41:53).

What veils man from God, for the Sufis, is the attachment of the ego to its desires, together with its instrumental relations for fulfilling them and the cognitive categories with which it sifts and strains the great sea of being to allow these relations to arise as phenomena. The veil between oneself and Allah is thus not created things, but the ego itself, whose plainest attribute is the will, the familiar “I want this, I want that,” of one’s own heroic narrative. The stages of the journey to Allah are not marked by road signs, but by changes in the traveller himself, and the tendency to externalize these, particularly with wishful thinking about oneself and one’s journey, can be part of the veil. The way that is a way of reality and not of mere talk is the way of iman or “faith” and taqwa or “godfearingness,” and all mystical stations and states are but part of the ascending continuum of these two qualities, by which Allah has defined wilaya or “sanctity” in the Qur’an by saying:

“Verily the friends (awliya’) of Allah, no fear shall be upon them, nor shall they grieve; those who have true faith and godfearingness. Great good tidings are theirs in this life and the life to come. There is no changing the words of Allah: that is the supreme triumph” (Qur’an 10:62-64).

One takes a path and a sheikh in order to ensure that these happen. In turn, though sheikhs typically use three practices to bring about change in disciples—–namely dhikr, the “invocation of Allah,” mudhakara, the “spiritual teaching,” and jihad al-nafs, or “striving against the ego”—–it is the rough and tumble of life, the amount of light that remains in the heart when events befall that darken others, that discloses and consolidates one’s attainment in the Sufi path. Your wish to be apart from the world when Allah keeps you in it is but from hidden desire, because one’s spiritual provender can only come from Allah, and upon His terms, and it is He who is keeping one in the world, and He knows best what one needs to reach Him. And your wish to be in it when Allah keeps you apart from it is a fall from high purpose, because when He keeps one apart from the world, one has more control over one’s moments and hours and days, and Allah has given them to one as a test of one’s high purpose in drawing nearer to Him, not chasing what He has caused to leave one. The two parts of the aphorism also distinguish for the traveller between shahwa khafiyya or “hidden desire,” a lust for gratification and results; and between himma ‘aliyya or “high purpose,” meaning spiritual resolve or aspiration. Shahwa finds frustration or disappointment when thwarted because it is directed to created things; himma does not know frustration or despair because it is directed to Allah, who is omnipotent and all-generous, even if His intimate and subtle knowledge of us entails that He gives when it is best, not when merely when we wish. Shahwa or “desire” is an ingrate, whether satisfied or unsatisfied; while himma is gratitude itself.

To benefit from changes in life, spiritual travellers must be with Allah, not their own story line. When a young woman marries, for example, she suddenly finds herself not only with another ego in the house to live with, but within a short space, that the comparative ease and calm of her younger days have been swept away by the sheer work needed to keep up and think of everything in a real home. When she has her first baby, she must manage for another life even more dependent on her personal sacrifices. By the second, third, or fourth child, her days and nights belong almost entirely to others. Whether she has a spiritual path or not, such a mother can seldom resist a glance at the past, when there were more prayers, more meanings, more spiritual company, and more serenity. When Allah opens her understanding, she will see that she is engaged in one of the highest forms of worship, that of producing new believers who love and worship Allah. She is effectively worshipping Allah for as many lifetimes she has children, for the reward of every spiritual work her children do will be hers, without this diminishing anything of their own rewards: every ablution, every prayer, every Ramadan, every hajj, and even the works her children will in turn pass on to their offspring, and, so on till the end of time. Even if her children do not turn out as she wishes, she shall be requited in paradise forever according to her intention in raising them, which was that they should be godly. Aside from the tremendous reward, within the path itself it is noticeable that many of those who benefit most from the khalwa or “solitary retreat of dhikr” are women who have raised children. With only a little daily dhikr and worship over the years, but much toil and sacrifice for others, they surpass many a younger person who has had more free time, effort, and “spiritual works.” What they find is greater because their state with Allah is greater; namely, the awe, hope, and love of the Divine they have realized by years of sincerity to Him.

To summarize, the traveller who is grateful to Allah for everything cannot be veiled from Allah by anything, whether living in the world or doing without it, and it is such a person who most benefits from the spiritual path. Abu Yazid al-Bustami was once asked, “Can the servant reach Him in a single moment?” and he replied, “He can, though he is returned with profit and benefit in the measure of his journey.”

IBN ‘ATA’ILLAH was a scholar of Maliki jurisprudence, Arabic grammar, hadith, Qur’anic exegesis, and fundamentals of law and faith, who became the second successor of the great mystic Abul Hasan al-Shadhili in Egypt after his own sheikh, Shadhili’s disciple Abul ‘Abbas al-Mursi (may Allah be well pleased with them). Originally from Alexandria, Ibn ‘Ata’ Illah moved to Cairo, where he gained a large following, gave lectures at al-Azhar Mosque that were well attended, and wrote his Hikam and other enduring works which attest to his pro-found mastery of the mystic way and knowledge of Allah Most High. He died in Cairo in 709/1309

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The Book of Wisdom
al-Hikam al-`Ata'iyya
First Aphorism

TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY - Nuh Ha Mim Keller

Infinitude is the native land from whence Allah has brought the soul, then summoned it again upon the tongue of His messengers (Allah bless them and give them peace) from its exile. Traditional Islamic spirituality deals with answering this summons, lifting the heart from the narrowness of the self to the limitlessness of the knowledge and the love of the Divine.

People have spoken and written much about Sufism, as the discipline is known, but it is perhaps easiest understood in context, so I have thought to begin translating the aphorisms of the Egyptian Master Ibn `Ata' Illah's classic manual of spiritual development al-Hikam al `Ata'iyya or "Book of Wisdom" together with some commentary. He is writing raDiy-Allahu-anhu Allah may be well pleased with him) for those who have a tariqa or actual path or sheikh, yet his words may interest others. He says:

1. One of the signs of relying on deeds is loss of hope when there are missteps.

The book begins with this key aphorism because it is of the adab or "proper way" of travelling the spiritual path path to focus upon tawhid of the "Divine Oneness," which in this context meaning to rely upon Allah, not on works, since
"Allah created you and that which you do." (Qur'an 37:96)

The method of spiritual path ascent is threefold, consisting of knowledge (`ilm), practice (`amal), and the resultant state (hal) bestowed by Allah.

Knowledge here means everything conveyed to us by the Prophet MHMD Allah bless him and give him peace), which is the content of the Sacred Law or shari`a. The practice of this knowledge, inwardly and outwardy, with heart and limbs, is the spiritual path path or tariqa. The resultant state, Allah's drawing near to the heart that thus draws near to Him, is the dawning of the Divine Presence upon the soul, termed by Sufis "ultimate reality" or haqiqa.

Ibn `Ata' Illah, as a spiritual path guide, is concerned in this works with the second moment of this ascent, that of way and works, so he begins his book by letting the traveller know that the matter of one's spiritual path progress is in Allah's hands alone. Discouragement at the inevitable mistakes one makes in the path is a sign of relying on one's deeds rather than on Allah.

Works, whether prayer, or dhikr or "remembrance" of Allah, or jihad, or fasting do not bring one the desired end of the path, but are merely proper manners before the majesty of the Divine while on the path. Just as putting one's net in the sea does not produce fish, though one must keep it there so that if Allah sends fish they can be caught, so too, works are a net, and their spiritual path recompense is from Allah. Abu Hurayra raDiy-Allahu-anhu Allah may be well pleased with him) heard the Holy Prophet MHMD Allah bless him and give him peace) say: "None of you shall be saved by his works." A man said, "Not even yourself, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Not even myself, unless Allah covers me with a mercy from Him. But strive to be right." 1

Imam Nawawi comments:

The outward purport of these hadith [n: Muslim relates several] bears out the position of Islamic orthodoxy that no one deserves recompense or paradise for his acts of obedience. As for the words of Allah Most High "Enter paradise for that which you have done" (Q 16:32), and "That is paradise, which you have been bestowed for what you did before" (Q 7:43), and similar verses that indicate that paradise is entered by virtue of works, they do not contradict these hadiths. Rather the meaning of the verses is that entering of paradise is because of works, although divinely given success (tawfiq) to do the works, and seing guided to have sincerity in them, and their acceptability are the mercy of Allah Most High and His favour. 2

The true spiritual path path is one of gratitude. Abu Sulayman al-Darani used to say, "How can a sane man be proud of his works, when his works are but a gift from Allah and a blessing from Him that he must thank Him for." 3 And Abu Madyan says, "The crestfallenness of the sinner is better than the exulting of the obedient." 4

Ibn `Ata' Illah in this aphorism is apprising the traveller not to be veiled from the true path by his own high resolve. While irada or "will" is presupposed by the way, indeed the word murid or "disciple" is derived from it, the path sublimates it into its opppsite through tawhid , disclosing it to a mere cause, conjoined with the soul's ascent not out of logical necessity but out of Allah's pure largesse. For this reason some sheikhs term a traveller of the former spiritual vantage a murid or "desirer," and one of the latter a faqir or "needy." The prophet Moses (upon whom be blessings and peace) said when he reached the land of Midian,

"My Lord, I am greatly needy of the good You've sent me down" (Qur'an 28:24)

This humble sincerity of slavehood, or we could say realism, enables the genuine spiritual traveller to benefit from both his good and his evil. He benefits from his good by not seeing it as from himself, for as Abu Bakr al-Wasiti says, "The closest of all things to Allah's loathing is beholding the self and its actions,"5 that is, because it contradicts tawhid for Allah says:

"Whatever blessing you have, is from Allah" (Qur'an 16:53)

And he benefits from his evil by his faith (iman) that it is evil, which is itself an act of obedience; and by repenting from it, which rejoices Allah Most High. Anas ibn Malik raDiy-Allahu-anhu Allah may be well pleased with him) relates from the Holy Prophet MHMD Allah bless him and give him peace) that he said:
Truly, Allah rejoices more at the atonement of His servant when he repents to Him than one of you would if he were on his riding camel in an empty tract of desert, and it got away from him with all his food and water on it, and he gave up all hope of finding it, so he came to a tree and laid down in its shade, having despaired of ever seeing it again. While lying there, he suddenly finds it standing beside him, and he seizes its halter, and overjoyed, cries, "O Allah, You are my slave, and I am your Lord," making a mistake out of sheer joy"
6 (Muslim, 4.2104: 2747).

The secret of true repentance ( tawba ) in the spiritual path is this divine rejoicing it is met with from Allah Most High. Abul Hasan al-Shadhili, the sheikh of Ibn 'Ata' Illah's own sheikh, used to daily pray to Allah: "And when we disobey You, show us even greater mercy than You do when we obey You" (Invocations, 27).

Ibn 'Ata' Illah made this the first aphorism of his Book of Wisdoms to apprise the traveller that when failings happen, there is also work to be done: to repent to Allah, to realize that Allah is generous, and to hope for the best from the spiritual path. The mark of relying on Allah is that one's hope is undiminished. The mark of relying on one's self is that it soars until there is a misstep, when it plummets along with its injured pride. Discouragement in the path is an incomprehension of the Divine Omnipotence, while certitude in the path and in one's Lord is of the adab of those who know Allah.