of Nokounam Session 384
The Chapter of Determination in Manzil al-Sirn by Khwaja Abdullah Ansari holds a pivotal position as one of the foundational stages in mystical spiritual progression. This station, at its second degree namely, قصدٌ لا یلتقي سبباً إلا قطعه و لا یدع حائلاً إلا منعه و لا تحاملاً إلا سهله
introduces a potent form of determination that, by means of an illuminated heart and an obedient soul, removes both external and internal obstacles and renders hardships facile through enthusiasm and delight.
The lecture of session 384, delivered by Nokounam on 24 Farvardin 1391 (Islamic calendar), elucidates this degree with profound precision and critical insight. Determination in this rank resembles a torch that dispels the darkness of the lower self and guides the wayfarer towards the light of ultimate truth. This work regards the wayfarer as a traveller empowered by divine strength who overcomes obstacles and transforms hardships into a gentle breeze.
The lecture commences with the noble phrase Bismillhir-Ramnir-Ram
(In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful; translated by ), establishing a sanctified and spiritual ambience for engaging with the topic. The second degree of determination, defined as a strong resolve, is characterised by three prominent features: severing causes (external obstacles), preventing hindrances (internal obstacles), and facilitating hardships. This station liberates the wayfarer from carnal desires and directs them towards a sublime objective.
Within this lecture, determination is defined as purposeful intention and ultimate foresight, distinguished clearly from lust and carnal inclinations. The majority of human actions, which appear as determined acts, are in fact gratifications of base desires. For instance, acts of worship such as prayer and fasting, if performed with the motive of self-satisfaction or avoidance of blame, fall outside the category of true determination, reducing instead to mere self-gratification of the nafs. True determination is an act accompanied by pure intention and focus upon divine action, resembling a crystalline stream sourced from the spring of truth.
The lecture delineates determination in three degrees: the first degree (ultimate foresight), the second degree (removal of obstacles and facilitation of hardships), and the third degree (attainment of annihilation in the Divine). The second degree, the subject of this discourse, constitutes a strong resolve enabling the wayfarer to remove both external and internal impediments and render hardships easy. It functions metaphorically as a bridge leading the traveller from the narrow confines of carnal selfhood towards divine expansiveness.
The second degree is defined by the phrase لَا يَلْتَقِي سَبَبًا إِلَّا قَطَعَهُ
, signifying that the wayfarer severs every external cause (obstacle). These impediments include Satan, adversaries, and mundane troubles such as jinn, humans, and enmities. By the strength of determination, the wayfarer removes these obstacles from their path, akin to a warrior wielding the sword of truth to vanquish external foes.
The second characteristic is encapsulated in وَلَا يَدَعُ حَايِلًا إِلَّا مَنَعَهُ
, referring to the prevention of internal hindrances both luminous and dark barriers. These obstacles comprise desires, imaginations, doubts, and carnal suspicions. The wayfarer, with an illuminated heart, restrains these impediments and prevents their influence, much like a gardener uprooting pernicious weeds from the garden of existence.
The third feature, وَلَا تَحَامُلًا إِلَّا سَهَّلَهُ
, pertains to the facilitation of hardships. In this degree, the wayfarer embraces difficulties with eagerness and delight, rendering them diminutive and bearable. The lecture exemplifies this ease by recalling childhood endurance of cold and snow: How beautiful and refreshing is this snow!
This enthusiasm is akin to a breeze that transforms adversity into pleasure and an opportunity for growth.
The lecture emphasises that strong determination fortifies and illuminates the heart: لِيَقْوَى ٱلْقَلْبُ ٱلْمُنَوَّرُ بِنُورِ تَأْيِيدِ ٱلْحَقِّ وَتَوْفِيقِهِ
. This illuminated heart, by its attraction towards the Truth and divine facilitation, removes obstacles. It functions like a mirror reflecting the light of truth, liberating the wayfarer from the chains of the carnal self.
At this degree, the soul attains obedience to divine light by embodying the ethics of the heart: لِتَتَخَلَّقَ بِأَخْلَاقِ ٱلْقَلْبِ
. The commanding and rebellious nafs, ordinarily insubordinate, submits under the aegis of the illuminated heart and accompanies the light of truth. This transformation resembles the taming of a wild horse which, under the guidance of its riderthe heartadvances steadfastly on the path of truth.
The lecture invokes the sacred hadith مَنْ أَتَانِي مَشْيًا أَتَيْتُهُ هَرْوَلَةً
(Whoever comes to Me walking, I come to him running). This hadith exemplifies the reciprocal relationship between the wayfarer and the Divine, wherein the effort of the seeker invites divine attraction. Such attraction functions as a magnet drawing the illuminated heart towards ultimate truth.
External obstacles (causes) encompass Satan, adversaries, and mundane afflictions such as jinn, humans, and enmities. The lecture stresses that the wayfarer, through strong determination, severs these obstacles: لَا يَلْتَقِي سَبَبًا إِلَّا قَطَعَهُ
. This severance is a decisive act that removes external impediments from the spiritual path, much like a blade pruning wild branches from the tree of existence.
Internal obstacles (hindrances) comprise desires, imaginations, doubts, and suspicions of the self, which are restrained by وَلَا يَدَعُ حَايِلًا إِلَّا مَنَعَهُ
. Rooted within the nafs, these barriers are controlled by the illuminated heart and prevented from exerting influence. This prevention acts as a shield safeguarding the wayfarer from the onslaught of carnal imaginings.
The lecture critiques the commentators interpretation that equates manaah (prevention) with rafah (removal). Prevention implies the concealment and restraint of an obstacle within the soul, whereas removal entails the complete elimination of the obstacle and belongs to the third degree of determination. Khwaja Abdullah Ansari, with mystical subtlety, assigns manaah appropriately to the second degree, while the commentator hastily elevates it to rafah. This critique acts as a polish refining the diamond of truth by excising impurities caused by erroneous interpretation.
The lecture elucidates the facilitation of hardships through the maxim Wala Tahamulan Illa Sahhalahu (وَلَا تَحَامُلًا إِلَّا سَهَّلَهُ). At this station, the seeker, inspired by zeal and delight in the rank of benevolence, renders hardships diminutive and bearable. Personal recollections of enduring cold and snow during childhood vividly illustrate this ease: How beautiful these snows are. This fervour resembles a flame that melts the ice of difficulties and paves the path of spiritual progression.
The lecture emphasises that pleasure in worship is indicative of its self-referential (nafsani) nature: Pleasure is characteristic of nafsani worship. Heartfelt worship, by contrast, leads not to pleasure but to annihilation in the Divine Reality. Nafsani worship burns like a fire ignited by desire, whereas heartfelt worship shines like a light that is dissolved in the divine truth.
By recounting childhood memories such as enduring cold and snow along the route from Qom to Tehran, the lecture demonstrates how the seeker, through facilitation (sahla), makes hardships pleasurable: How refreshing these snows are. These examples manifest the practical application of facilitation in daily life, akin to an artist who, with the brush of zeal, transforms the canvas of hardship into a beautiful painting.
The lecture critiques worship performed with a rigid body: People pray four rakahs with a rigid body; clearly, He does not delight in this. A rigid body impedes both pleasure and concentration during worship, akin to hardened soil where the seed of worship fails to sprout. The calls to prayer (adhn), iqmah, and subsequent supplications are recommended to soften the body and prepare the spirit.
Adhn, iqmah, and the post-prayer supplications serve as preludes and complements to worship, softening the body and spirit in readiness. The lecture regards worship without these preliminaries as ineffective, comparable to an athlete exercising without warming up and thus risking injury.
The lecture stresses the necessity of companionship with a spiritual guide during the journey: If one proceeds without a guide, difficulties arise. The guide regulates the worship regimen, preserving the seeker from excess and neglect, thereby achieving balance. This companionship is akin to a guide who rescues a traveller from straying in the spiritual path.
Worship devoid of a guide risks excess or invalidity. The lecture warns against overindulgence in practices such as excessive repetition of invocations: Recite the dhikr sixteen thousand times and one goes mad. This caution functions as an alarm preventing the seeker from falling into the abyss of extremism.
The lecture critiques the commentators (al-Kshn) interpretation that equates manah (مَنَعَهُ) with rafah (رَفَعَهُ). Manah signifies restraining and concealing the obstacle within the self, whereas rafah implies its complete removal, corresponding to the third stage of qasd (intention). Khwajah Abdullh Ansr, with mystical precision, assigns manah to the second station; however, the commentator errs by elevating it to rafah through an incorrect derivation. This critique functions as a scale separating truth from error.
The lecture venerates Khwajah Abdullh Ansr as the quintessence of mysticism, lauding his meticulous distinction between manah and rafah. Conversely, the commentator (al-Kshn) is criticised for reliance on al-Tilmsn and imprecision in derivation. Khwajah shines like a stellar luminary in the firmament of mysticism, illuminating the seekers path with the light of truth.
The lecture divides worship into three levels: nafsani (characterised by pleasure), heartfelt (with moderate intention), and sublime (annihilation in the Divine). Nafsani worship involves pleasure and attachment to the self, whereas heartfelt worship, enlivened by a luminous heart, advances towards annihilation in the Divine Reality. This distinction resembles steps leading the seeker from the lowest stages to the pinnacles of truth.
The lecture regards the highest station of worship as annihilation in the Divine, wherein the seeker attains unity through the verse Indeed, my prayer, my sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds (Surah Al-Anm, 6:162). This station is like the shadows dissolution in sunlight, where the seeker is liberated from selfhood and remains in the Divine Reality.
The lecture recounts childhood memories such as enduring cold and snow on the journey from Qom to Tehran, illustrating the facilitation of hardships: How refreshing these snows are. These reminiscences signify the seekers capacity to transmute difficulties into opportunities for growth, akin to an alchemist who, with zeal, transforms the stone of hardship into the jewel of delight.
The lecture illustrates the guides role in nurturing the seeker with the example of a grocer who appeared simple but was in fact a mystic. This guide, through subtle instruction, cultivated the seekers spiritual existence like a gardener who tenderly nurtures a sapling until fruition.
The second station of intention is a potent intention, characterised by a luminous heart and obedient self, which cuts external obstacles (asbb), restrains internal impediments (aw'il), and facilitates hardships with zeal and delight. This intention liberates the seeker from nafsani bonds and guides them toward Divine proximity, like a pure stream flowing into the ocean of truth.
The chapter of intention in Manzil al-Sirn introduces in its second station a powerful intention that, through a luminous heart and submissive self, eliminates external and internal impediments, and facilitates hardships with zeal and delight. The lecture, by critiquing the commentators interpretations and emphasising Khwajah Abdullh Ansrs precision, elucidates this station as a bridge toward Divine truth. Worship at this station progresses from nafsani pleasure toward annihilation in the Divine, uniting the seeker with the Truth. The intention here is likened to a bird that, with wings of zeal and light, soars in the sky of truth.
Supervised by Sdiq Khdami
