River of Guidance Library

Class One Notes

"There is no benefit on recitation without contemplation; there is no benefit in worship without comprehension." Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophets spiritual successor.

Dhūl-Nūn al-Mi rī ṣ (d. 859) Coined the word Ma’rifa (the direct knowing of God)

Sahl al-Tustari (d. 896 A.D), student of Dhūl-Nūn, about 300 years after the

Prophet, commented on the Mohammadan Light, Adam, and the progeny of Adam

Tustari’s Qur’anic Commentary Free Download

“The first thing Allah created was the light of your Prophet from His light . . . and when Allah wished to create creation, he divided that Light . . . into everything else” Hadith

“All life is the divine light and the whole creation is made of that light, which is the light of God, has its evidence in all forms of creation” Hazrat Inayat Khan

“His very Essence is the light. God is the Light” Ibn al Arabi

Exploring the mirror of the subtle heart

“We must assiduously scrub the rust from the heart!” Mevalana

Mujahada

“Those who strive to the utmost for Our sake, we will guide them into Our ways.”Qur’an

“When the followers of Islam won the final war with the Prophet, he called them, together and said, “Now that we have won the lessor jihad it is time to take up arms to fight the greater jihad, which will be fought on the battlefield of the heart.” Hadith

Mushahadah is a falling away of the veil. Through mushahadah the Sufi either sees things as a self-evident witness to the Oneness of the Real or witnesses the Real in things themselves.

“Lord allow me to see things as they Really are” Du’a of the Prophet

" I was a Hidden Treasure; I loved to be known, so I created the creation in order to be known." Hadith

“We will show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is a Witness over all things? Lo, they are in doubt about the meeting with their Lord. Surely, He encompasses all things.” Qur’an

“And God's is the place-of-shining-forth and the place-of-darkening: so, wherever you all turn around, then there is the Face of God.” Qu’ran

Dhawq (tasting the divine) is direct, first-hand experience. Being present to what is present in the mirror of the subtle heart.

Sharb (drinking the divine)

Allowing what is present to penetrate and deeply inform your being.

Uns (divine intimacy) Removing the veils - Divine Essence

Tasting Bismillah, an example of Dhawq (tasting, developing with clarity and nuance the divine palette is given by ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī d. 1166)

Bismillah is a treasure for those who remember, a mighty resource for the strong, a protective talisman for the weak, a radiant light for lovers, and a joyful delight for those who are filled with yearning. Bismillah is the consolation of our spiritual natures. Bismillah is the salvation of our bodily forms. Bismillah is the light that illuminates our breasts. Bismillah is the organizing principle that regulates our affairs... Bismillah is the lamp of those who reach their destination. Bismillah is that what satisfies the needs of ardent lovers...Bismillah is a phrase that brings a pleasant sensation to the mouth.”

Recite - Bismillah (Taste, Drink)

Rahman describes the source of all creation, that radiates endless nourishment and flow of blessings to all sentient beings. As Ibn Al Arabi noted, through His breath of Mercy (nafas ar Rahman) He manifested creation. As Rahman is an extension of “rahma” (womb), it can be considered as the divine womb that holds you in your genesis.

Rahim describes that which emerges in response to the loving and attentive actions and behavior of the divine recipient. This is a covenant the Divine One made to each of us.

"If a person takes a step toward Me, I will take ten steps toward him or her. If a person comes to Me walking, I will go to him or her running.” Hadith

Remembrance

“There are different levels of remembrance, and each has different ways. Some are expressed outwardly with audible voice, some felt inwardly, silently, from the center of the heart. At the beginning one should declare in words what one remembers. Then stage by stage the remembrance spreads throughout one’s being—descending to the heart, then rising to the soul; then still further it reaches the realm of the secrets; further to the hidden; to the most hidden of the hidden. How far the remembrance penetrates, the level it reaches, depends solely on the extent to which Allah in His bounty has guided one.” ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī

Lah ana’ illa la anta

Lah ana’ illa la anta’ ya Allah

“One day some friends-of-God saw Rabi‘a running along with fire in one hand and water in the other. “Lady of the next world, where are you going and what does this mean?” Rabi‘a replied: “I am going to burn paradise and douse hell-fire, so that both veils may be lifted from those on the quest and they will become sincere of purpose.

God’s servants will learn to see him without hope for reward or fear of punishment. As it is now, if you took away hope for reward and fear of punishment, no one would worship or obey.” Attar

Spiritual practice is not a transactional process.

Love - the Presence of Two

‘He loves them, and they love Him’ Qur’an

“Love is the origin of the lover and the Beloved, these two grow out of Love . . . and each of them is in need of the other.” Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi

Recite Ziker of Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi: ‘La ilaha illa'l-'ishq’

Closing Practice

Du’a given by Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan

“Pour upon us thy love and Thy light”

Class 2 Review:

Self-clarifying Breath

Mirror of the Subtle Heart

View notes and download PDF

Class #2 Practices: Intoning Hu, circling the Heart, Hu into the heart

Class #2 Practices: Recitation of Sura al-Ikhlas, Huwa ’llahu Ahad (Sincerity, Refinement)

Dhawq (tasting the divine) is direct, first-hand experience. being present to what is prsent in the mirror of the subtle heart.

Sharb (drinking the divine) Allowing what is present to penetrate and deeply inform your being.

Tasting Bismillah, an example of Dhawq (tasting, developing with clarity and nuance the divine palette is given by ‘Abd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī (d. 1166)

Bismillah is a treasure for those who remember, a mighty resource for the strong, a protective talisman for the weak, a radiant light for lovers, and a joyful delight for those who are filled with yearning.

Bismillah is the consolation of our spiritual natures. Bismillah is the salvation of our bodily forms.

Bismillah is the light that illuminates our breasts. Bismillah is the organizing principle that regulates our affairs...

Bismillah is the lamp of those who reach their destination. Bismillah is that what satisfies the needs of ardent lovers...

Bismillah is a phrase that brings a pleasant sensation to the mouth.”

Recite - Bismillah (Taste, Drink)

Rahman describes the source of all creation, that radiates endless nourishment and flow of blessings to all sentient beings. As Ibn Al Arabi noted, through God’s breath of Mercy (nafas ar Rahman) He manifested creation. As Rahman is an extension of “rahma” (womb), it can be considered as the divine womb that holds you in your genesis.

Rahim describes that which emerges in response to the loving and attentive actions and behavior of the divine recipient. This is a covenant the Divine One made to each of us.

“If you take one step toward Me, I will take ten toward you. If you walk toward Me, I will run toward you.” Hadith

Recite – La illaha illa ‘llah hu

There are not many Gods, only Allah, the Absolute

Uns

“There are two levels of divine knowledge. One is to know Allah’s attributes and manifestations and the other is to know Allah’s Essence.” ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī

“The vision of Allah is of two kinds: one is seeing the manifestation of Allah’s attribute of Perfect Beauty directly in the hereafter, and the other is seeing the manifestation of the divine attributes reflected upon the clear mirror of the pure heart, in this life, in this world. In such a case the vision appears as the manifestation of light emanating from the Perfect Beauty of Allah and is seen by the eye of the essence of the heart.”

“Allah describes the vision seen by the eye of the heart: “The heart did not deny what it saw.” (Qur’an)”

“Allah describes the blessed olive tree, the tree of unity, as being neither of the East nor of the West. In other words, it has neither a beginning nor an end, and the light of which it is the source has no rising or setting. It is eternal in the past and never-ending in the future. Both Allah’s Essence and

His attributes are everexistent because His attributes’ light are generated from His Essence. Both the manifestation of His Essence and the manifestation of His attributes are dependent on His Essence.

True worship can only be performed when the veils hiding the heart are lifted so that that eternal light shines upon it. It is only then that the heart is enlightened by the divine light. It is only then that the soul sees the truth through that celestial niche.” ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī

Commentary – Himayat

The mirror of the subtle heart is a luminous faculty of inner perception. We call it a “mirror” as it reflects that which emerges within it in response to our recitation of divine names, zikr, or prayer. That said, what emerges within it is a distortion of the Reality of what it reflects because the mirror’s functionality to clearly represent this Reality is distorted by the “veils” still layered upon it as well as by the perception of the one looking which is distorted by the level (maqam)of his/her consciousness.

“And the perfection of believing in His Oneness is to regard Him as Pure, and the perfection of His purity is to deny Him attributes.” Hazrat ‘Alī

Recite: Allah Hu

(God is The Absolute)

Keys to the Divine Treasury Class 3 notes

“I was a hidden treasure and loved to be known” Hadith

"There is no benefit on recitation without contemplation; there is no benefit in worship without comprehension" (Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Prophets spiritual successor)

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