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LOVE
FOR THE OPPOSITE SEX, WHICH IS CALLED FIGURATIVE LOVE BY MUSLIM SAINTS
AND SCHOLARS, IS SOMETIMES OBSERVED TO CHANGE INTO LOVE FOR THE CREATOR,
THAT IS, INTO THE REAL LOVE. IS IT ALSO POSSIBLE THAT THE LOVE OF THE
WORLD, WHICH EXISTS IN MOST PEOPLE, CAN CHANGE INTO THE LOVE OF GOD?
The world has two
faces; one is mortal and transient, the other is a mirror where the
Divine Names are manifested, and a field sown with the seeds for the
next life. If its lover is able to turn away from its transient face to
the other, then his love of the world can change into the love of God.
There is one more condition for this that he should not take his own
particular, small and perishable world for the whole vast, outer world.
If like the misguided people, he forgets himself, he is immersed in the
external world and falls in love with it, he will drown in the bog of
nature worship-unless a hand miraculously comes to his aid.
In order to
understand this truth, consider this analogy:
Suppose there are
four of us in a room with four walls on each of which there is a full
length mirror. At least five rooms will then appear, one real and common
to all four people, and ‘private’ rooms reflected in each of our
mirrors. Each of us can change the shape, appearance and colour of his
private room by manipulating his own mirror. We can turn it into green
or red, for example, by painting the mirror, and we can give it
different shapes. As for the shared real room, we cannot change it so
easily. Although both rooms, private and common, are almost identical in
appearance, their disposition and manageability is quite different. You
can destroy your reflected, private room with a finger, whereas you
cannot even move a stone of the shared real one.
Likewise, the
world is a decorated station. The life of each person is a full length
mirror. In this station, each of us has a private world, the pillar, the
center or gate of which is his life. Our private world can also be
compared to a page, on which our deeds are being written down with the
pen of our life. We love our private world but we inevitably come to the
realization that this world is built around our life. Therefore, it is,
like our life, transient, unstable and perishable. What we should then
do is to give our heart to the manifestations of the Divine Names, not
to the perishable things. Besides, we should know that our private world
has been assigned to us as a field so that we may sow in it seeds to
grow into our Paradise, and accordingly, we should love it for the sake
of the fruits which we will be able to harvest in the other world. If we
can do this, that is to say, if we are able to devote our love to the
fruits of our deeds and the Divine manifestations, then love for the
world will change into love for God. Otherwise, as stated in the verse,
Be not as those who forgot God, and so He caused them to forget
themselves; those they are the ungodly2, it is possible for people to
become drowned in their private world, because, by forgetting themselves
and the temporary nature of that private world, they abandon themselves
to living this worldly life as if they and it would last forever.
Such a love for
the transient face of the world is the source of endless pains and
torments, since it gives rise to a pathetic compassion and despairing
tender-heartedness. A sensitive lover feels pity for all beings and,
accordingly, his feelings are always wounded by the perishing of all
beautiful, mortal creatures. As he cannot do anything for them, he
suffers much in hopelessness. On the other hand, the one who has found
God will discover a remedy for the ailments that are caused by his
feelings of compassion and tender-heartedness. Since he has perceived
that the souls of the living things, for whose perishing he feels such
pity, are mirrors where the permanent Names of a Permanent Being are
constantly reflected, his tender-heartedness changes into an accepting
joy and ease of mind. He sees that, behind all the beautiful but mortal,
perishable creatures, a pure grace and a sacred beauty are permanently
manifested through their delicate workmanship, ornamentation, all the
wonder with which they are favored and illumined. He thereby understands
how death and perishing are in reality a process of renewal to refresh
and augment the beauty and pleasures, and to display the Divine artistry
observed in the universe. As a result, his pleasure in and appreciation
of all kinds of Divine manifestations increases, as does ardor.
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