Hatem al-Haj – Manāzil as-Sa’irīn #73 – Chapter on Mystification
AI: Summary ©
The speakers in this conversation discuss the meaning of "monster" in the title of the book "monster," and how it relates to the spiritual station of the ship. They emphasize the importance of being fully conscious of the reality around oneself and avoiding confusion. The speakers also discuss the benefits of studying a book to understand the spirituality of the ship and how it can be used to address issues. They stress the importance of defying common sense and the natural law, avoiding common sense, and having a certain amount of certainty to avoid confusion and doubt. They also touch on the concept of "we gain" and how it can lead to "weeds and sadness" and "we gain." The segment emphasizes the importance of recognizing one's worth and value in the process of embarking on a journey, and the need for sustainable "outcomes" that are not just gains, but sustainable for everyone.
AI: Summary ©
To proceed
today and so now we will have the station of higher man, which means mystification.
And we'll go over the fact of masaba or chapter on prize money, which is a subak or
john
and then we will also go over the chapter on deposits for safekeeping, which is what Dr.
shierholz who addresses that idea
and this particular chapter of safekeeping,
which would be a loan for use or you know,
borrowing or loaning people for us
first the chapter on a man or the station of a man the station of mystification.
So, the station of man or mystification is one of the stations of the section of the state's number 68 it comes after the station of the house has
bewilderment, which was 67.
Like I said that last time and the station of a dash,
we will, we will have to look at this. We have to embrace our heritage and at the same time look at it critically.
Embrace it lovingly and examine it critically.
station of mystification Elia man
would have to basically quote an eye of the Quran, the beginning of the chapter and he quoted here,
Allah saying Ohara Musa saya Paulo
moussaka, Allah Almighty said, and Moses fell unconscious, and Moses fell unconscious.
Well,
why is he? Why does he start with this verse?
Allah says that this verse makes more sense and the station of infinite to be quoted in the station of infinite or annihilation, because her osika he fell unconscious.
Basically, when Allah subhanaw taala manifested Himself to the mountain, and the mountain was not able to bear moose also was not able to bear it. So he fell unconscious. How is this related to the station of higher man? And what is the lion? What does the man mean? Well, man, you know, it's not really mentioned in the Quran. And in this sense, it's not even mentioned in the sun. And that sense? What is mentioned in the program
was actually in any sort of genre, no sequel to the moon,
don't you see that they wander about in every Valley, which means that they're just aimless. This isn't describing the poets. And the surah of the poet's the chapter reports describing the majority of the poets, not all of the poets. There was an exception at the end of the chapter, the exception of the righteous ones. But in general, people are, you know, captive to styles and capitals to
sort of except in rhetoric, and so on. They don't pay much attention to meanings they don't pay much attention to concepts. And they chase after the
sort of these the verbal aesthetics of their speech frequently, what in the moon, they speak about everything, aimlessly, without purpose, and without coherence. They are not coherent or incoherent. So and then that's how it was mentioned in the Quran. How could this be praiseworthy also,
for Sherry butcher, but he Aleem would be the thirsty Canales
thirsty candles would be called the heme.
And they are the you know described as Aleem, because out of thirst, they wander around, you know, they're just they're moving aimlessly looking for water.
So that's how high a man has been mentioned in the Quran, how's it related to the chef wants to say now, it comes from the root, hammer,
and hammer, wood could mean several things, it could mean to wander around aimlessly,
which is how it was mentioned about the poet's it could mean to
it could mean to
be half conscious
semi-conscious
to basically be disconnected from the reality, to be numbed to the reality to the point where you are not fully conscious of the reality around you. So, again, the ship wants to say there is a spiritual experience that would numb you to the reality to the extent that you will not be fully conscious of your surroundings, for the for the conscience conscious of your sort of routine, mundane daily reality in this in this life.
Hammer also could mean
how am I be what that means? Or Hochberg means that he became enthralled by someone's love to the point of captivity, he was or she was enthralled by someone's love, to the point of captivity to the point of being numb to the world, you know, aside from this particular person.
So, are we starting to see or you know, some relevance,
you know, or you know, some relevance between him and the spiritual stations.
But at the end of the day, you wants to be semi conscious, and you wants to be
numb to the reality.
We will we the benefit of studying a book like this, the benefit of studying books cover to cover and not and others has been my way of teaching.
For a very long time, I like to just cover things cover to cover
so that we don't skip over anything. So that we address everything and we are have balanced exposure to our heritage. So that we do have the ability to examine something of this nature that we may have otherwise skip, like, you know, if I if I were to pick stations, I would pick the wakulla Sabra, you know, it would pick reliance and patience and love the exact code remembrance the fact called reflection, there are many stations that I would have picked, but not necessarily man. But you know, going over a book cover to cover with force us basically to address all the stations that the shipments and this is part of our heritage, we have to understand that and we have to see where
they're coming from.
And do it also in a in a very balanced, fair, loving but critical manner. So, it will help us you know, going over a situation like this, where a man to be honest, is not a virtue to be intended in and of itself. It is obvious that you do not want to be semi conscious. And it is obvious not because it is common sense, although it is common sense. And we will come back and say why it is important not to defy common sense, or in other words, natural belief.
But it is obvious because anyone who had adequate exposure to the Sierra of the Prophet sallallahu Sallam and has
Sahaba understands that we're not talking about a generation of semi conscious people disconnected from the reality and disengaged from the universal order. No, we're not they were not they seem to have been fully conscious of the reality and connected to it, at the same time fully established in their spirituality,
there was no conflict for them, it was seamless, being fully established in their spirituality, fully focused on the purpose of their creation, fully focused on the service of their Creator and at the same time, fully connected to the reality aware of the reality engaging the reality properly or appropriately
within the laws within the natural law, you know, you know, using the basically the natural law
while relying on Allah subhanaw taala and understanding that the natural law is but his creation and he is able to suspend whenever he wants,
okay. So,
it is not a virtue in and of itself, and we are saying this, not only because it's common sense that it is not a virtual though it is common sense, but it is because our examination of the history of the prophet SAW sort of in the companions, that they were not semi conscious, they were fully conscious of the reality.
But, so, what is it now, and why would this you have mentioned it,
the pi m says, it is could be of our
current sums that you encounter an incident of currents, an incident that occurs not a built in part of the road path to a loss of anata it is not built in meaning that not everyone encounters
and, and it is not a bridge to another station, that is a necessary, basically unnecessary step to another station or unnecessary move to another station. It is not, it's not necessary to ascend to other stations. It's not like part of the euro stairway or an integral part of the past that you have to go through you have to cross to get somewhere else. But it is an incidental occurrence. That could happen to some people who have walked the path before you. And if you see that it happened to them, you want to be
forgiving. You want to be understanding, certainly forgiving understanding stops, where stops where we're with clear cut, you know, do the last one ah bounds of Allah subhanaw taala it's not like you're going to understand how someone can understand the validity or the righteousness
of violating the bounds of Allah subhanaw taala No, you know, but, if someone did, like make an utterance or say something, do do something, and they are otherwise there otherwise being consistent, comply and righteous and so on, you may forgive them for this utterance or for this particular incident incident
without basically justifying the act itself or the other ends itself. So it is helpful to know that it is helpful to basically go over a concept like this because the shape is a a compliant safe you know, compliant, meaning I'm just very sort of possessed with Sharia compliance thing in finance. So
no other the safe is a Sharia compliant see
his entire life that was his you know, and that was his legacy.
And it is it's it's also important to hear to reflect on why did someone like Mr. heartless and puppy and like a Sunni Mahatma
alpha p, why did he choose the explain this book write a commentary on the on this book and not come up with his own, he could have come up with his own. He was competent enough.
You know, particularly in this area, I mean he's, you know, famous competent in fact and Hadith and many other areas as well. But he was particularly competent in this area to come up with a work of his own, on his own. But he chose
this, which tells you of the status of Allah, and the value of this work. And within this work, we have this station and chef is talking to us about how a man is talking about about being subconscious, that numb to the reality. And we have to understand where he's coming from, and we have to be,
we have to be we have to be loving, when we
do our own analysis, or critical analysis of parts of our,
to us who are parts of our heritage.
Why is it important, like I said, to not defy common sense and natural belief.
Common sense in the sense of common sense, not in the Aristotelian sense, but common sense is like everybody's
the things that come naturally to mind,
that you cannot really resist, they just come naturally, concepts, beliefs, thoughts, convictions that come naturally to mind, and you cannot resist, because when you defy common sense, you lose a love audience. When you defy common sense, you become irrelevant, just like the philosophers that have made themselves irrelevant by insisting out of what sort of
intellectual luxury or for the philosopher's may be egoism, or, you know, showing showing off their intellectual sort of
superiority. They be they made themselves irrelevant, like when you when someone, for instance, denies the existence of matter.
You know, when an idealist Berkeley, for instance, denies the existence of matter.
The simplest answer to this, someone said, you know, not another philosopher said, Give him a glass of arson and tell him drinking,
you know,
or, or, you know,
or what is cyanide or something.
And, they will say that they will refuse,
but, so, their belief is unsustainable, it's unsustainable, even by themselves. So, when some one denies time, the concept of time,
then they will need to remove from their own vocabulary of words, they should not be using words like before, after those words, they have to remove from the vocabulary is this sustainable, you know, like for you as an individual is it is not sustainable. That's why Hume said, Be a philosopher, but be a man, although he himself had his own issues. But he, but that makes perfect sense. You know, be a philosopher, but BMS, like the normal like, you know, don't defy natural belief don't defy common sense, because it will not
basically get you anywhere. The same, you know, applies in this sort of thing, a philosophical approach to this gear.
denying the obvious
is not good.
It is not superior.
Sometimes it could help. Sort of like, like a like a violin shake. Sometimes it It helps because it violently shakes you when someone denies the existence of the creation.
Well, you can't deny the existence of the creation. You can't deny your own existence. You are here. You're obviously here.
But Someone may say that it would force US forces
Think about it
and they say why are they doing this
and maybe like, like everything Mayor Amala was forced to come up with an explanation sort of like a valid explanation for the concept of finance and highlight important things. Basically, the conform your your well conforming to the divine with
your shoot of the Divine or beholding of the Divine not being distracted by your shoot of the creations or your your your recognition and feeling of the creation does not numb you to or does not detract or distract you from beholding the divine as another concept.
The concept eventually concepts that will serve you serve what your devotion you know, the serve concept of devotion to Allah subhanaw taala feeling your insignificance in comparison to a loss of
feeling your you know, your contingency in comparison to a lot of your insignificance and you have a beginning and so on and so forth. But, eventually, to deny our own existence is problematic, you know, because if you really take it to heart and really deny the existence of the creation, you deny email and cough
is if there is none but the creator there is really no room for movement and caffeine here and the So, it will not only become defiant to not or not only become sort of repulsive to natural belief, and not only lose you the audience, who are going to think what is he saying where is he What is he talking about, but it will also lead you know, whoever believes you and whoever follows you sort of strictly it may lead them to deviation, it may lead them to deviation, as we have seen among the people who actually believed in the concept of funnel all the way
many of them had fallen in to deviation and into Mormonism, which is completely foreign. modernism
hasn't the philosophical modernism which is completely foreign to Islam.
Okay, Shere Khan then
jacobin says at Hammonds, he had to have 100 tamasic tadoba now hire Allahu Akbar to the woman who ended up calling Nazi men at the hash war. The Salafi,
mystification is the loss of composure out of wonderment or puzzlement, it is more enduring than it does bewilderment and more describable by its experiencer. And I checked this out, it's a word experiencer is a word
and it is of three levels. So, it has to happen at the mass of Damascus composure is that happen on a domestic domestic is basically loss of composure, that Japan how higher out of wonderment or bewilderment, how out of wonderment or puzzlement, it is more enduring than it does basically you have sustained the damage, but if you have something to sustain, that becomes a milder
and more consistent. So that has is a is a shock. Instantaneous shock, had a spiritual occurrence. You're shocked by a certain spiritual occurrence, a certain cash a certain something that happened to you an encounter a feeling, an experience that took place that causes you to be surprised to the point of shock, which causes you bewilderment, but it is not sustainable. It is transient and it goes away. But it is intense when it happens. Because it is intense and it is short. You're even not able to describe it. You don't have the ability to describe your condition when you were one
This happens. But he says that, hey, a man is someone who has been under this effect
of wonderment and puzzlement by spiritual experiences or occurrences, sustainable effect that now
his curve has become more stable, milder, and he's able to describe his condition or her condition, but they are still in this phase of wonderment and puzzlement, semi-conscious numb to the reality.
Okay, and he said it is of three levels. And I'm not going to repeat you know, what we just went over the condition of the Sahaba, the state of the Sahaba
the first generation was superior
first station, or the first level of man donnager Buddha nanpi shamy Allah Al Baraka lot in Costa Rica. mamora has
his country he was a fellow Ottoman zealot he was at the meta first level is mystification that results from beholding the initial flashes of gentleness upon embarking on the journey, while being observant of one's speakable status, inferior ranking, and worthless value.
You know how worthless you are and sometimes it is good, you know, sometimes it is good to recognize your worthlessness and your despicable status. It is good for us to recognize our despicable status, inferior ranking and worthlessness, particularly when you start when you embark on this journey, because once you embark on this journey, and you see a lot of people have heedlessness around you, that have not embarked on the journey, and you're just taking your very first few steps on the journey, you feel distinguished, you feel you belong to a different class. Right?
A lot of people feel that way. Once you start practicing, and you've taken a few steps, and your heart is still full of snakes and scorpions and, you know, rodents of different and predators and stuff. You've not done any work yet, like you know, or significant work. But you have just started embarking on the path to Allah subhanaw taala. And all of a sudden you feel that because you have done a few things, a few modifications to your daily routine to your lifestyle, to your external appearance,
that you are different from the rest of the people and you belong to a different category.
At this time, that reminder to be observant of your despicable status, your inferior hanging, and worthless value.
But he says when you're this observant of this,
and you experience the gentleness the flashes of gentleness, you know, this gentleness could be favorites from Allah subhanaw taala, various favorites from Allah.
Various favorites from Allah that are not limited to material favors, certainly would these would not be your primary focus. Material favors are not the primary focus. But some people appreciate material favors. And the they are particularly grateful for material favors versus a material favors but he's meaning all favors gentleness, the flashes of gentleness from Allah subhanaw taala.
But those flashes of gentleness could be in the form of greater certainty. opening the doors to you for to acquire greater certainty, greater knowledge, deeper knowledge,
better faith, better connection with your Lord, better relationships with people around you, you find that the people have become more
sort of loving view. If you're doing the right things, you know,
and these are favors. So you are basically watching the vagaries of a last minute observing your own sort of
worthlessness.
The result of the two, the result of the two coming to you, you're watching of the favorites of Allah because you've just embarked on the path and then you're starting to see those those favors and experienced them. The result of these two would be a state of higher man, first level of hangman. This is you become so
intrigued by this so focused on this or so surprised by it, there is an element of surprise and bewilderment here because you don't know you don't deserve it, you don't know why it's coming to you or why you are having those encounters.
So it results in a state of man where you start to become a little bit this this is it from your reality, none, none to the reality.
Like people would say he's a world of his own, he is in a world of his own. He has an order of his own, like your family do, you know, like has his own sort of bubble numb to the surroundings around the state of Hemet. It's you know, you could think of, you know,
someone who's in love, by intense love and Thrall men, they're just in a state of higher men.
That also is called high man.
You know, whatever is happening around them, they're not particularly observant of it, don't respond to it, they're less responsive, as if they are semi conscious.
Then the chef said what data to send here hire man on fee but time points out that the result of these things happening is there are a lot of other results that are superior to higher man and and intended for themselves. Such as chakra gratefulness, such as in the love of Allah subhanaw taala such as the Waldo humbleness such as Reliance thorkild Allah live things are coming from him without your you know being duty deserved, then you give you the water. So, your observation of the two will result in many other stations you know that are superior to higher man and they are intended in themselves and they are an integral part of the road. So you do need to go through them to get
anywhere on the road to a loss.
He said what dadada to Sania hi Amanda when people are to me and where the end of the horiba Heaney.
avi
man on fetal optimum words at
the second level isn't mystification by the battering of the waves of ascertainment.
mystification by the battering of the waves of ascertainment, the waves of ascertainment, he means here by the heat is your year, the development of your natural belief or the experience of belief, as well as the development of the evidential evidence of this belief. We have the two sort of beliefs and
they're recognized in our heritage, they have been recognized by our scholars. And also
people in general recognize that the mechanism there are different mechanisms of belief. One of them is natural belief, the experience of belief and as part of the natural belief, when you experience face the key, then you taste that you experience and then you have more certainty, the out of experience, not just mere intellectual conviction. And then the evidential is the belief when you think, when sort of you reflect on the various arguments for the existence of a loss of errata the veracity of the message, the truthfulness, of the profits of the lobbyists and the miracles of the prophecies. you reflect on the various arguments for all of this. These are all a mirage. These are
all the waves of Tapi the waves of ascertainment ascertainment
You're face ascertainment of your connection with Allah subhanaw taala. And you're being, you know, bothered by them from the left and the right, they cause you a state of higher man as well. Because when you become so certain when you when you when you're and when you It's like when someone is, is pursuing,
like
any goal, any great objective and they reach it they could have, they could be under the influence of this excitement under the influence of this excitement when when you're been working on an experiment for 20 years in your lab. And you finally you succeed.
That state that you will be in, you're under the influence of that excitement now.
So he's talking about a magic packet, the battling of the waves of ascertainment, like I said, this is experience your experience of faith and your evidentialist face growing, and you're getting sort of like
many doors opening at the same time. And then you you become so excited, so enthralled by this, that you are becoming a state of higher man.
The stakes are
so high a man with a lotta mamacita he is mystification by the battering and I use the mystification because mystification in the dictionary, they say that it is more sort of like it's sort of like greater than and more enduring than bewilderment, and we use the bewilderment for a dash for the station of a dash so mystification as a chef that is more enduring than at the house or bewilderment.
He is a man on the totem amazake kind of woody Bara Hina
mystification by the battering of the waves of ascertainment upon the manifestation of its proves what also lies AB the successive pneus of its wonders. Well, yeah, he unwary he the appearance of its lights with the appearance of its lights, but I mean, but he is the before
the hajah is during and the lights is the after if is what comes after you so before during after, but he and Anwar you know the Bara he was showing a evidences proofs that will
increase your certainty. I have this excessiveness to also the larger of the success of newness of the wonders of that certainty.
They are coming to you successively without interruption successively without interruption and then the Anwari the appearance of its lights. Now that you have this it basically lets your way or enlightens your heart and lightens your mind.
And that is when you have this mystification or
mystification.
The very word that we try to basically walk away from the very word that we are trying to say that Sufism does not have to entail mysticism.
You know, and what we're after is the Sufism of sobriety versus intoxication of subsistence versus annihilation of purity the Sufism that is about simplicity, and clarity, not ambiguity or complexity. The Sufism that will point out to you that the filth in your heart that will enable you to do deep cleaning of the crevices of your heart, the subtle, the corners, the fissures, the crevices, that you are unaware of that have left fills, you need to go there and do deep cleaning. I point out to you, your lack of certainty, it will question your it will make you question yourself question yourself
sincerity, your devotion.
That is the Sufism that we're after. Not ambiguity or complexity, or intellectual
excellence per se, or theme, philosophical excellence per se.
But the practical one that will get you closer to Allah subhanaw taala and enable you to do the important work of the deep cleaning of your heart purification, deep cleaning of the heart without this heritage without exposure to this heritage, you will not be aware fully aware of
your problems. And you're not you will not be fully aware of the different stations that you should aspire to.
As you clean your heart and you purify yourself, and you treat your illnesses
Okay, then the sheikh said what data to Sansa Hey Amanda Andrew poo Fei and Peter mamaia not so tiny as rock feva Harold cash
in third level is mystification that occurs upon a local or final Paden dissolving into his antecedents
or more if not Soltani, as well beholding the sovereignty of eternity, while a lot of feedback and cash from drowning in the ocean of disclosure. So, the first level like the CFO was the first level is for what the Marine, the seeker the second level is for what the traveler the advanced one, who has covered some distance on the path to a lot the third level, second intermediate, third level as for what she keeps this for, for now, you know, or you could say, and
based on our take on this issue, this is for the final station of subsistence for with Viola. So, here he gives this for the station of fun and then he says, I will qualify enough credit that I imagine that we will have this numbness, this would be semi conscious, and so on, that you would have
been semi conscious of the reality that you're fully conscious and aware of God the Creator, semi conscious of the reality
he says, coffee is dissolving into his antecedents. KVM is what it means, what hold
it means what all data means, what
data when it comes to Allah subhanaw taala when I when we say khadim, in reference to Allah subhanaw taala it was would not mean all, it would refer to the anterior ness of Allah, because all the means what all means that they were there a long time ago. So they weren't around a long time ago. So someone is older than us, someone is antecedent to you, someone is anterior to you temporarily anterior, temporal, anterior Uranus, they came before you. So when we say a khadeem, in the absolute sense or pay them in the absolute sense, it means what the absolute anterior, temporal anterior ness of Allah subhanaw taala, the absolute antecedents of a loss,
he said it will work to fool them, which means here to dissolve, dissolve into the antecedents.
His antecedents
the thing that we have talked about many times before this concept of go back a little bit, you know, 100 years ago, you should be respectful of your elders 100 years ago, none of you those elders were around 200 years ago,
what about 2000 years ago? That was even before the Prophet was on the companions? What about 5000 years ago, that was even before Ibrahim Ali said that?
We can say before no for years, we can give a time to that. But you know,
whatever number you give, there have been a certain number that you could give any say before that. It's not even knowing no Adam, no heavens, no Earth, and you go back, and then there was there was nothing else and that you
into that meaning you dissolve into it, you recognize
your contingency,
your your recognize that you are disposable.
Like really was before you
There is nothing wrong with this world was functioning, everything was fine before your Creator. And even after you die, he will continue to run,
everything will be fine. So contingent You're so disposable, and that makes you dissolve into the unnecessary being a loss of hanada into his interior illness into his antecedents. Then the shave to add to it. He said, why not Soltani as an beholding the sovereignty of creator entity beholding the sovereignty so foreign sovereignty as a pre eternity. So eternity has two words in Arabic, has that inhabited, as an eternity without beginning? habit is eternity without and
so that is why we use pre eternity for Asan. Because if we use eternity, what would come to mind is abit. immortality, eternity as it relates to the future. So eternity without end. But what about the beginning, eternity without beginning?
We so we use pre eternity for that. So why and so planning and as I'll be holding the sovereignty of eternity.
That's the same concept, the like the first one, but when you when you try in meaning to behold, with your own eyes, or the eyes of your heart, the the pre existence of a loss of 100
loans there before the existence all of the existence was here.
Which will make you recognize the sovereignty of Allah subhanaw taala. And it will make you basically put everyone else in their place, including yourself,
and what is their place in this station?
Nothing because the safe is talking here about the station of annihilation, he wants to do nothing.
So then when he recorded cash and drowning in the ocean of disclosure, a lot of the buffer cache drowning in the ocean of disclosure, and why is it drowning because when you are when when you behold that sovereignty of eternity, dissolve into the antecedents, the temporal anterior ness of a loss upon our toddler recognize your worthlessness, your nothingness,
then you drown into this, this, these disclosures.
But then eventually,
even if you go through finance as a as a phase, eventually, you want to recognize the law created, you're here for a purpose. And you want to maintain your awareness, your consciousness, full, fully conscious,
to fulfill that purpose,
to actualize you know the purpose of your creation, because he told you I'm not productive, generally insanely opportune. So do you want to be conscious to fulfill that purpose? Yes.
to actualize that objective of your creation, yes. Whether or not you went through this pheno or feeling fear, feeling of banishment, complete nothingness, which we said is not
in in the fullest sense that the Shaykh
talks about, it is not required for you to reach the higher station of subsisting for Allah by Allah with Allah.
Hopefully, you have not become bewildered
but we can have we can talk about this more
Later and so laughter the second session in our q&a session,
which will be very short today because we have a function next door and so many other stuff later
today