“How do you ever expect for your heart to become polished like a mirror without putting up with the pain of polish?” —Rumi
RUMI was also a well-known theologian and a scholar. He says, “I am slave of the Quran. I am dust on the path of Muhammad (PBUH).” The bulk of his poetry is about the inner teachings of Quran. He was weary of the Theologians, who politicize religion. He tells us to open our hearts as when the heart opens up; it can begin to hear the bird song in the egg. He asks us how the birds know how to make a nest, the spiders a web and the bees collect nectar. This inner knowing according to Rumi is a gift from divinity and it can happen to us. Quran says, “This book of blessings, We have sent down to you, so that you may meditate on its science and people of insight might take it to heart.” Rumi says, ”Our understanding of the holy book is dependent on our consciousness. A bee and a wasp drink from the same flower, one produces nectar and the other produces sting. We should reflect our state of consciousness, before we approach Quran.” Rumi advises us to avoid unnecessary debates about religious beliefs. “If someone criticizes your religion or holy book, know that it is not the book, that is bruised, but your ego. If your holy book is as beautiful and spacious like the sky and if someone spits on the sky, it doesn’t pollute the sky, but the spit will fall back on him.”
Islam has three principles and five pillars. First principle of Islam is Islam. It means surrender in peace. Quran tells us surrender your attachments to your ego, so that you bring a heart which is pure to God. A verse in Quran says, “Indeed my prayers, my sacrifice, my living and my dying is all for You my Sustainer.” Rumi says,” You will never understand this until you become a seeker, because you are immersed in a hypnotic trance of living a mundane life struggling to survive or thrive. There are two veils standing in the way of my becoming a seeker, the veils of health and wealth. When you have health / wealth and emotional security, all this talk of opening up to God and being of service to His creation is not only irrelevant, but also inconvenient, until we face a crisis, death of a loved one or drastic change in circumstances. Then you wake up and ask deeper questions, ‘what am I doing here, where did I come from and where will I go when I die.’ You need help greater than human personality and you repeat, “My prayers, my sacrifice, my living and dying is all for You my Sustainer.” Quran says, when you reach that stage you begin a divine exchange allowing more and more divine attributes of love compassion, forgiveness, generosity to enter in your life and letting go all ego traits e.g. pride, greed, jealousy, anger and hatred etc.
Second principle of Islam is Faith. The mystic say to have authentic faith ‘move from borrowed certainty to an inner knowing.’ Quran says there are three stages of faith, First is hearsay almulyaqan, second is ayanulyaqan witnessing of life experiences, the third is haqulyaqan. Rumi gives the analogy of a moth and a burning candle. The moth is told about the flame(hearsay)starts exploring, sees the flame and finally comes closer and feels the warmth, the glow of presence and that’s real faith haqulyaqan. Rabindernath Tagore says, “Faith is the bird that sings in the dark knowing that dawn is coming.” Quran says, “Its God who unfolds His grace, sends down the rain when humankind has lost all hopes.” Rumi advises, “Never lose hope even if the whole world turns against you, keep your eyes on that Friend, be conscious of God, remain hopeful particularly at the time of affliction. Continue your spiritual practices and be of service to God’s creation.” “Be in attendance at the divine court, be a lamp, a life boat or a ladder to others. “ Quran tells us, “That’s when God will provide to you means that you cannot even imagine, even if you don’t get what you want, you will still feel an inner peace (sakina).
Third principle of Islam is Ehsani.e. making yourself beautiful by transforming your ego from a commanding master to a personal assistant and purifying your heart from negative thoughts. Quran tells us, “God will not change the condition of the people until they change what is there in their hearts.”Mirza Ghalib says, “Your face is unclean and you are obsessed in cleaning the mirror.” You have to do the inner inconvenient work. Rumi tells us, “The ego is like a flame of a candle, you need the flame to find your way in the dark, but once you come in the land of radiant sun, the radiance of the sun dims the light of the candle. The flame exists, but it is annihilated. Marry your soul, the wedding is the way, every day every hour make effort to align with your soul. The Prophet said, “Every day I am enlightening my soul or diminishing my soul by the choices I am making.” Quran tells us, when you have negative evil thoughts and engage in negative actions, you rust your heart and the Prophet said, “For every rust there is polish and the polish for the rust of the heart is remembrance of God.” Can I use God’s solvents to polish my heart? Yes I can and these are patience, love, compassion, generosity and gratitude. When I polish my heart and take it to Allah, it will reflect His sublime face like a clean shiny mirror. Extracts from Jamal Rahman Author of ‘The Fragrance of Faith.’ —To be continued
—The writer is author of various books based in Rawalpindi.
