the lectures of Nekounam , Session Forty-Eight The Chapter of Awakening Part Three.
The chapter of Awakening, as a grand portal on the path of mystical progression, guides the seeker from the darkness of heedlessness to the light of awareness. The forty-eighth lesson from the book Manzil al-Sirn, authored by Khwajah Abdullah Ansari, focuses intently on this chapter to provide a precise and profound explication of the concept of awakening, distinguishing it from opposing notions such as sleep, drowsiness, and lethargy, as well as delineating its threefold characteristics.
Awakening, regarded as the key to unlocking the doors of mystical progression, constitutes the initial chapter of the spiritual journey, without which no spiritual movement is conceivable: عالَم يقظه اولين باب سلوك است و در باب سلوك بيدارى اصل راه است. The sleeping or heedless individual is akin to a traveller slumbering in heedlessness, unaware of his destination. Awakening is the sudden awareness of the reality of existence and liberation from heedlessness, propelling the seeker from passivity to spiritual activity.
Key Point: Awakening, as the point of inception for the path, serves as the gateway to spiritual awareness, guiding the seeker from heedlessness towards knowledge and mystical practice.
The term Awakening derives from the root yaq, signifying vigilance and attention, and in mysticism it refers to spiritual awareness and release from heedlessness: يقظه يعنى انتباه و توجّه. Unlike the conventional meaning of physical arousal from sleep (intibh min al-nawm), Awakening in the mystical path connotes existential attention to the Divine Truth. This distinction elevates Awakening from a sensory phenomenon to an ontological category, as if the seeker awakes from the sleep of heedlessness into the light of gnosis.
Awakening stands in contrast to concepts such as nawm (sleep), nas (mental lethargy), sanah (sluggishness), and ruqd (a state between sleep and death): در مقابل يقظه چند عنوان داريم كه عبارتند از: سنه، نعاس، رقود، نائم و نوم. These concepts denote varying degrees of heedlessness and passivity, which function as chains restraining the seekers progress on the path of Truth. Nas represents a state between sleep and wakefulness, accompanied by drowsiness and lethargy, whereas sanah indicates dullness and sluggishness of awareness.
Ruqd is a more complex state than sleep, neither complete sleep nor wakefulness: رقود به معناى خواب نيست بلكه يعنى الاستراحة على حالة النوم. This state resembles a heavy shadow cast between life and death, accompanied by profound heedlessness. Ruqd may co-occur with apparent wakefulness, but lacks true awareness, as if the individual lies in heedlessness, ignorant of the reality of existence.
The Holy Quran depicts ruqd in the narrative of the Companions of the Cave (Ashb al-Kahf): وَتَحْسَبُهُمْ أَيْقَاظًا وَهُمْ رُقُودٌ (al-Kahf: 18, trans. Foladvand: And you would have thought them awake, while they were asleep). This verse introduces ruqd as a state apparently resembling wakefulness, yet in essence signifying deep heedlessness. The Companions of the Cave, with open eyes and visible movements, were in a state of ruqd, as if their spiritual life had been eclipsed.
Key Point: Ruqd is a state intermediate between sleep and death, accompanied by profound heedlessness, and symbolises spiritual disconnection as portrayed in the story of the Companions of the Cave.
The Quran attributes two qualities to the sleeper (rqid): revulsion (ashmizz) and terror (rub): لَوِ اطَّلَعْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ لَوَلَّيْتَ مِنْهُمْ فِرَارًا وَلَمُلِئْتَ مِنْهُمْ رُعْبًا (al-Kahf: 18, trans. Foladvand: If you had looked upon them, you would have turned away in flight and been filled with terror of them). Revulsion is a non-fearful disgust evoked by witnessing the sleeper, whereas terror denotes a fearfulness emerging from profound heedlessness.
A close analysis of the verse reveals that flight due to revulsion precedes terror: لو اطلعت... فرارًا ... و لملئت منهم رعبًا. This sequence manifests the Qurans scientific precision in delineating psychological and spiritual states. Revulsion is the immediate response to perceiving the sleepers heedlessness, while terror is a deeper fear elicited by confrontation with this state. This distinction presents ruqd as a condition not only distressing to the individual but also troubling to others.
Key Point: Revulsion and terror are two Quranic attributes of ruqd, engendering disgust and fear when confronted with profound heedlessness of the sleeper.
Beyond the narrative of the Companions of the Cave, ruqd prevails in the modern world: اينكه قبلا گفتيم اين مربوط به اصحاب كهف نيست و مربوط به اهل دنياست. Those immersed in profound heedlessness are identified by the dual characteristics of revulsion and terror. This state, akin to a spiritual malaise, is observable among many who appear awake but are in essence oblivious to the Divine Reality.
The saints of God, owing to their insight and gnosis, possess the ability to discern the sleepers: اولياء خدا راقدين را مىشناسند. Ordinary people, due to their own heedlessness, are incapable of recognising this state; however, the saints, like the torchbearers of the path of Truth, distinguish heedlessness from true awakening.
Khjeh Abdullh Ansr defines اليقظة يعنى القومةُ للهi.e., Yaqah as rising for God. However, this definition has been subject to critique because qawmah (rising) is a stage subsequent to yaqah and cannot be equated with it. Yaqah constitutes the initial awareness that prepares the seeker for qawmah, akin to awakening being the spark that ignites the flame of rising.
Instead of a direct definition, Khjeh elucidates yaqah via its attendant effects and prerequisites: فعبر خواجه عنها از يقظه بلوازمها. This method resembles defining Hajj by reference to Arafah, rendering the concept comprehensible through its tangible outcomes and signs. The effects of yaqah function as a mirror reflecting its reality for the spiritual wayfarer.
فقال اليقظة هى ثلاثة اشياءYaqah possesses three fundamental attributes, delineating the gradual process of awareness:
مرتبهى اول خودش چهار مرتبه مىشود و در نهايت به دوازده مرتبه مىرسد. Yaqah comprises three principal ranks, the first of which subdivides into four sub-ranks, culminating in a total of twelve levels. This hierarchical framework functions as a ladder, leading the seeker from initial awareness to profound theistic knowledge.
The recognition of divine favour deters the seeker from any claim of entitlement: هيچ وقت در شناخت نعمتهاى الهىطلبى نداشته باشيد. Blessings are the fruits of Gods boundless grace, not the seekers deserving. This perspective acts as a gentle breeze that eradicates self-conceit from the seekers heart, directing them to surrender before the divine will.
Human attention is classified into four ranks: nafs (related to the lower self), qalb (heartful), rn (spiritual), and aql (intellectual): توجّه انسان يا نفسى است يا قلبى و يا روحى و در نهايت عقلانى است. Intellectual attention, with its far-reaching scope, plays a pivotal role in divine knowledge, whereas heartfelt attention holds paramount significance in spiritual perfection. These layers, like existential strata, deepen the seekers consciousness along the spiritual path.
The heart and brain serve as two centres of human knowledge: انسان دو موضع معرفت دارد، مغز و انديشه در برد كوتاه فرماندهى دارند و قلب در بردهاى بلند فرماندهى مىكند. The heart governs profound and long-term cognitions, while the brain directs shorter-range understanding. Harmony between these faculties is indispensable for spiritual soundness, except when the lower self (nafs ammrah) disrupts this equilibrium.
Inner senses (mashir) in yaqah encompass attentions at the levels of nafs, qalb, urq (vascular), and aab (nervous): مشاعر به حالات مختلف و به خصوصيات مختلف توجهات نفسى، قلبى، عروقى، و اعصابى گفت مىشود. These attentions render yaqah a multifaceted process engaging all dimensions of human existence.
The Divine saints (awliy) maintain yaqah even in states of sleep: اولياء خدا ... در ظرف نوم هم، يقظه را دارند و توجهاتشان باقى است. This characteristic denotes their exalted station, whereby their soul remains immune to lethargy and disengagement, perpetually connected to the Divine.
The aim of yaqah transcends the seekers deliverance from heedlessness; it entails engendering a state that neither provokes hatred nor fear in others: مؤمن، مسلم بايد بيدار شود كه دل ديگران را به هم نزند، ديگران از او ترس نداشته باشند. This goal transforms yaqah into a social and ethical responsibility, whereby the awakened seeker becomes a gentle breeze of tranquility towards others.
The chapter on yaqah, as a gateway to mystical progression, guides the seeker from heedlessness to profound awareness. The forty-eighth lesson of Manzil al-Sirn precisely defines yaqah as the inception of spiritual cognition and a prerequisite for the knowledge of Divine unity (tawd). The distinction of yaqah from its counter-conceptssleep, drowsiness, slumber, and deep sleepis elucidated alongside a Qurnic analysis of deep sleep in the narrative of the People of the Cave (Ab al-Kahf). Deep sleep, characterised by disgust and fear, represents a near-death state prevalent even in the contemporary world, discernible only by Divine saints. The three characteristics of yaqah portray a gradual awareness process leading the seeker towards tawd. The critique of the traditional definition and emphasis on defining yaqah via its effects underscore the lessons scientific rigor. The gradations of attention (nafs, qalb, rn, aql) and the respective roles of heart and brain render yaqah a multidimensional spiritual phenomenon.
