Question 1. “You chose the word longing rather than searching, discovering or understanding the Transcendent. What is within the human being that longs for something beyond ourselves?” The Sufis believe in ‘Mazbe Ashiq,’ which can be translated as path of love. Even before his coming to the temporal world, the love of God for man is expressed in the Qur’anic injunction, “He loves them and they love Him.” Surah Al-Mai’dah (5:54) and this is a life of beauty, ecstasy and eternal bliss.”Longing is the movement of the seeker and Transcendent is the Reality towards which the movement ultimately points.A Sufi is always deeply immersed in his longing for God. In essence, this journey can be described as one of separation back to union. Ahmad Ghazali says, “I am He, who is my love and He who is my love is I. If thou seest me, thou seest Him. If thou seest Him, thou seest us both.”
The Primordial Covenant mentioned in Qur’an Surah Al-Araf (7:172) in which God asks humanity, “Alastu bi Rabbikum. Qalu Bala Shahidna.” Am I not your Lord? They said, ”Yes indeed we bear witness.” This light of God shines in the heart of every individual only some people mired in the crisis of the world forget. This light of God present in every individual is what makes one long for Transcendent. Qur’an says, “I am the creator of the light in which believers are illumined. It is God, who opens and seals the hearts of men.” Surah An-Nur (24:35).
Mevlana Rumi gives the example of the Reed flute. Ney has asorrowful mourning sound, because it is separated from its source, the riverbed. It says, “Ever since I parted from the Reed bed, my lament has caused men and women to moan. It is only to a bosom torn by separation, that I can unfold the pain of love and desire. We are in a state of existentialist separation feeling cut off and alone, because we are away from home. The sense of fragility and anxiety will exist until we go back to our source and achieve union with Him.”
The Sufis cherish this loneliness. Ibn ‘Arabi the great Sufi master says, “Oh Lord nourish me not with love, but with the desire and longing for love.” It is incredibly sweet, as much as it is incredibly painful. Longing is the secret side of love, maybe the dark side. You wake up to the incredible pain that the soul is separate from God, not a metaphysical concept, but something in your own heart. That is why Sufis say,” Keep away from the lane of love. Do not come near. A bit of bliss, a bit of divine intoxication, that is easy, it is given away like candies to the children in the marketplace, but love and longing is for grownups. It means undertaking the journey through the stages of the path, the journey from separation back to union. Sufis say, “Give me the pain of love. Keep the joy of love for others, for me the pain of love is enough.” You don’t know who God is, you don’t even care where God is, you just want Him.
Rumi says, “If you are in love, join the congregation. If you still have a mind then stay away. If you are pressed for home and parched by fire, I will take you to a secret stream I know. You can drink and satisfy your desire. And if your eyes can’t see what’s hidden there, just bring your thirst to serve your Messiah.” The human love affair is a pond compared to an ocean, “I will cry to thee and cry to Thee till the milk of Thy loving kindness boils over,” says a Sufi. Rumi says, “Don’t look for water, be thirsty.” You do not have to look for,or search for God on this path; you just have to long for divine love, how can a frog really search an ocean?
Abu Said a great Sufi said, “His absence is the knife that cuts your throat. Let no one glimpse the bloodstains on your coat. Weep but in weeping let no listener hear, burn, but in burning let no smoke appear.” “You don’t want to talk about it. What can you say? My heart doesn’t belong to me. It is full of this unspeakable pain and there is no cure for it. They say it will take me to God, but who knows, what is God anyway, so you long and you long and you long.” Someone came to a Sufi master and said I have a terrible pain in my heart and I have come to you so that it can go away. She replied, “It will get worse, that’s what we do here, we work with longing.”
If you love God, it is to be in love with the essence of life. The whole universe is turning toward the source to be taken back to divine unity, to be one with God. Every atom is longing for God and is making a journey back to God. His light and presence gives energy and moves everything. The fragrance of divine union is the inspiration, as this is what God Himself has promised. “O man you have been toiling to your Lord. It is a painful toil, but you shall meet Him.”Surah Al-Inshiqaq (84:6). The writer addressed North Hills Book Club Meeting in Pittsburg Pennsylvania US on 13 Sept 26. The questions and the answers given will be appended every Friday.
—The writer is author of six books including “Islamic Spirituality and Mysticism, the Path and destination’ & ‘The Philosophy of Rumi and its relevance in the Present Times.