A FRUIT OF THE PINE, CEDAR, JUNIPER, AND BLACK CYPRESS TREES IN THE UPLANDS OF BARLA

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

After receiving instruction, on high rocks the trees raise their heads to the Divine Throne.

Each, like Shahbaz Qalandar,NOTE stretches out a hundred hands to the Court of God, and assumes an imposing position of worship.

They make their small tassel-like twigs and branches dance, so both they and those that watch them express their fine pleasure and elevated delight.

They give voice as though touching the most sensitive strings and veins of the veils of love: “Ah! It is He!”

From it a meaning such as this comes to mind: they recall both the weeping caused by the pain of the fading of metaphorical loves, and a profoundly sorrowful moaning.

They make heard the melancholy songs of all lovers parted from their beloveds, like Sultan Mahmud.

They seem to have a duty of making the dead hear the pre-eternal songs and sorrowful voices, who no longer hear worldly voices and words.

The spirit understands from this that beings respond with glorification to the manifestation of the Glorious Maker’s Names; they perform a graceful chant.

The heart reads the mystery of Divine unity from these trees, each like an embodied sign, from the elevated word-order of this miraculousness. That is, there is so wonderful an order, art, and wisdom in the manner of their creation, that if all the causes in existence had the power to act and choose, and they gathered together, they could not imitate them.

The soul, on seeing them, sees the whole earth as revolving in a clamorous tumult of separation, and seeks enduring pleasure. It receives the meaning: “You will find it in abandoning worship of this world.”

The mind discovers from the chanting animals and trees and the vociferous plants and air, a most meaningful order of creation, embroidery of wisdom, and treasury of secrets.The desirous soul receives such pleasure from the murmuring air and whispering leaves that it forgets all metaphorical pleasures, and through abandoning these, which endow it with life, wants to die in the pleasure of reality.

The imagination sees that appointed angels have entered these trees like bodies, from whose branches hang many flutes. It is as though an Eternal Monarch has clothed the angels in the trees for a splendid parade accompanied with the sounds of a thousand flutes. Thus the trees show themselves to be not lifeless, unconscious bodies, but highly conscious and meaningful.

The flutes are pure and powerful as though issuing from a heavenly, exalted orchestra. The mind does not hear from them the sorrowful plaints of separation, that foremost Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi and all lovers hear, but dominical praise and laudation and grateful thanks offered to the Most Merciful One, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsistent.

Since the trees have all become bodies, their leaves have become tongues. At the touching of the breeze each recites over and over again: “It is He! It is He!” With the benedictions of their lives they proclaim their Maker to be Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent.

With the tongue of disposition they continuously declare “O God!”, and seek the necessities of their lives from Him, from the treasury of mercy. And through the tongue of their manifesting life from top to bottom, they recite His Name of “O Living One!”

NOTE:Shahbaz Qalandar was a famous hero who through the guidance of Shaykh Geylani took refuge at the Divine Court and rose to the degree of sainthood.

O Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent One! Through the Names of Ever-Living and Self-Subsistent, endow the heart of this wretched one with life, and bestow sound direction on his confused mind. Amen.

BEDİÜZZAMAN

A FRUIT OF THE PINE, CEDAR, JUNIPER, AND BLACK CYPRESS TREES IN THE UPLANDS OF BARLA

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

[While being a part of the Eleventh Letter, this has been included here on account of its ‘station’.]

One time during my captivity while gazing at the majestic and wonderful forms of the pine, cedar, and juniper trees on the mountain top, a gentle breeze was blowing. Transforming the scene into a magnificent, delightful, and clamorous display of dancing and a rapturous performance of praise and glorification, the enjoyment of watching it was transformed into instruction for my eyes and wisdom for my ears. I suddenly recalled the Kurdish lines of Ahmad al-Jizri, whose meaning is:

“Everyone has hastened to gaze at You and Your Beauty; they are acting coyly before Your Beauty.”

My heart wept as follows, expressing their instructive meanings. The meaning of the verses in Persian written at Tepelice in the mountains of Barla about the fruit of the pine, cedar, juniper, and black cypress trees is this:

Living creatures have appeared from everywhere on the face of the earth, Your art, to gaze on You.

From above and below they emerge like heralds, and call out.

The herald-like trees take pleasure at the beauty of Your embroideries, and they dance.

They are filled with joy at the perfection of Your art, and utter most beautiful sounds.

It is as if the sweetness of their own voices fills them with joy too, and makes them perform a delicate melody.

In response the trees have started dancing and are seeking ecstasy.

It is through these works of Divine mercy that all the living creatures receive instruction in the glorification and prayer particular to each.

BEDİÜZZAMAN

SEVENTEENTH WORD - SECOND STATION

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

[Twenty-five years ago in Ramadan after the Afternoon Prayer, I read Shaykh ‘Abd al-Qadir Geylani’s composition in verse about the Most Beautiful Names. I felt a desire to write a supplication with the Divine Names, and at that time only this much was written. I wanted to write a supplication similar to that of my holy master, but, alas! I have no ability to write poetry and it remained deficient. Nevertheless, the supplication was added to the Thirty-Third Letter of the Thirty-Third Word, known as the Thirty-Three Windows, then was included here on account of its ‘station’.]

He is the Enduring One

The Wise Judge of affairs, we are under His decree;

He is the Just Arbiter; His are the heavens and the earth.

The One Knowing of the secrets and hidden matters in His dominions;

He is the All-Powerful, Self-Subsistent; His is all from the Throne to the ground.

The Perceiver of the fine points and embroideries in His art;

He is the Creator, the Loving One; His is the beauty and the splendour.

The Glorious One Whose attributes are reflected in the mirrors in His creation;

He is the Lord, the Most Holy; His is the might and the grandeur.

The Originator of creatures; we form the embroideries of His art;

He is the Constant, the Enduring One; His is the dominion and eternity.

The Munificent Bestower of gifts; we are the caravan of His guests;

He is the Provider, the Sufficer; His is the praise and laudation.

The Beauteous Granter of gifts; We are the weavings of His knowledge;

He is the Creator, the Faithful; His is the munificence, the giving.

The Hearer of plaints and supplications in His creation;

He is the Merciful, the Healer; His are the thanks and the praise.

The Pardoner of the faults and sins of His servants;

He is the Oft Forgiving, the Compassionate; His is forgiveness and acceptance.

O my soul!

Together with my heart, weep and cry, and say:

I am ephemeral; I do not want one such as that.

I am impotent; I do not want one such as that.

I have surrendered my spirit to Most Merciful; I do not want another.

I want one, but I want an eternal friend.

I am a mere speck, but I want an eternal sun.

I am nothing, but nothing, yet I want these beings, all of them.

BEDİÜZZAMAN

THE SECOND TABLE

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

[The Table indicating the reality of the world of the people of guidance, those with easy hearts.]

Then the heedlessness passed, - And I saw the light of truth clearly.

Existence became the proof of God; - See, life is the mirror of God.

The mind became the key to treasuries. - See, transience is the door to permanence.

The spark of perfection died, - But, behold the Sun of Beauty!

Separation became true union; - See, pain is pure pleasure.

Life became pure action; - See, eternity is pure life.

Darkness became the container of light; - See, there is true life in death.

All things became familiar; - See, all sounds are the mentioning of God.

All the atoms in existence - - See, each recites God’s praises

and extols Him.
I found poverty to be a treasury of
wealth; - See, in impotence is perfect strength.

If you find God, - See, all things are yours.
If you are the slave of the Owner of
All Things, - See, His property is yours.

If you are arrogant and claim to
own yourself, - See, it is trial and tribulation without end;

Experience its boundless torment; - See, it is a calamity most crushing.

If you are a true slave of God, - See, it is a limitless pleasure and ease.

Taste its uncountable rewards, - Experience its infinite happiness...

BEDİÜZZAMAN

THE FIRST TABLE

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

[The Table depicting the reality of the world of the heedless.]

Don’t call me to the world; - I came, and saw it was transitory.

Heedlessness was a veil; - I saw the light of truth was concealed.

All the beings in existence, - I saw were ephemeral, harmful.

If you say, being, I dressed in it; - Alas! It was non-being; I suffered much!

If you say, life, I tasted it; - I saw it was torment upon torment.

The mind became pure torture; - I saw permanence to be tribulation.

Life became pure whim; - I saw attainment to be pure loss.

Deeds became pure hypocrisy; - I saw hopes to be pure pain.

Union became parting itself; - I saw the cure to be the ill.

These lights became darkness; - I saw these friends to be orphans.

These voices became announcements
of death; - I saw the living to be dead.

Knowledge was transformed into fancy; - I saw in science a thousand ailments.

Pleasure became pure pain; - I saw existence to be compounded
non-existence.

If you say the Beloved, I found him; - Alas! On separation I suffered
grievous pain.

BEDİÜZZAMAN

A SUPPLICATION WHICH OCCURRED TO ME IN PERSIAN

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Among beings there is no work which is not a most meaningful embodied word and does not cause to be read numerous of the Glorious Maker’s Names. Since beings are words, words of power, read their meanings and place them in your heart. Fearlessly cast words without meaning onto the winds of transience. Do not concern yourself looking behind them, needlessly occupying yourself.

Since the chain of thought of the worldly mind, which worships externals and whose capital consists of ‘objective’ knowledge, leads to nothingness and non-existence, it cries out despairingly in its bewilderment and frustration. It seeks a true path leading to reality. Since the spirit has withdrawn from ‘those that set’ and the ephemeral, and the heart has given up its metaphorical beloveds, and the conscience too has turned its face from transitory beings, you too, my wretched soul, attract the assistance of I love not those that set, like Abraham, and be saved.

See how well Mawlana Jami expressed it, whose nature was kneaded with love and who was intoxicated with the cup of love:

Yaki khwah(1) Yaki khwan(2) Yaki ju(3) Yaki bin(4) Yaki dan(5) Yaki gu(6)

That is,

1. Want only One; the rest are not worth wanting.
2. Call One; the others will not come to your assistance.
3. Seek One; the rest are not worth it.
4. See One; the others are not seen all the time; they hide themselves behind the veil of ephemerality.
5. Know One; knowledge other than that which assists knowledge of Him is without benefit.
6. Say One; words not concerning Him may be considered meaningless.

Yes, Jami, you spoke the truth absolutely. The True Beloved, the True Sought One, the True Desired One, the True Object of Worship is He alone...

For, in a mighty circle for the mentioning of the Divine Names, this world together with all its beings and their different tongues and various songs declares, There is no god but God; together they testify to Divine unity. And binding the wound caused by I love not those that set, point to an Undying Beloved in place of all the metaphorical beloveds, attachment to whom has been severed.

BEDİÜZZAMAN

A SUPPLICATION WHICH OCCURRED TO ME IN PERSIAN

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Meetings followed immediately by separation are not worth sorrow and grief, they are not worthy of being longed for. For just as the passing of pleasure is pain, imagining the passing of pleasure is also a pain. The works of all the metaphorical lovers, that is, the works of poetry on love, are all cries at the pain arising from imagining this passing. If you were to constrain the spirit of all the works of poetry, from each would flow these grievous cries.

Thus, it is due to the pain and tribulations of those meetings stained with transitoriness, those sorrowful, metaphorical loves, that my heart weeps and cries through the weeping of, I love not those that set.

If you want permanence in this transitory world, permanence comes from transitoriness. Find transience with regard to your evil-commanding soul so that you may be enduring.

Divest yourself of bad morals, the basis of the worship of this world. Be transitory! Sacrifice your goods and property in the way of the True Beloved. See the ends of beings, which point to non-existence, for the way leading to permanence in this world starts from transitoriness.

The human mind, which plunges into causes, is bewildered at the upheavals of the passing of the world, and laments despairingly. While the conscience, which desires true existence, severs the connection with metaphorical beloveds and transient beings through crying like Abraham, I love not those that set, and it binds itself to the Truly Existent One, and Eternal Beloved.

O my ignorant soul! Know that the world and its beings are certainly ephemeral, but you may find a way leading to permanence in each ephemeral thing, and may see two flashes, two mysteries, of the manifestations of the Undying Beloved’s Beauty.

Yes, it is within the bounty that the bestowal is to be seen and the favour of the Most Merciful perceived. If you pass from bounty to bestowal, you will find the Bestower. Also, each work of the Eternally Besought One makes known the All-Glorious Maker’s Names like a missive. If you pass from the decoration to the meaning, you will find the One signified by way of His Names. Since you can find the kernel, the essence, of these ephemeral beings, obtain it. Then without pity you can throw away their meaningless shells and externals onto the flood of ephemerality.

BEDİÜZZAMAN

A SUPPLICATION WHICH OCCURRED TO ME IN PERSIAN

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

But when it set, he said: “I love not those that set.“Qur’an, 6:76

It made me weep, the verse I love not those that set, which was uttered by Abraham (Peace be upon him), and announces the universe’s passing and death.

The eyes of my heart wept at it, pouring out bitter tear-drops. Each tear-drop was sorely sad as the eyes of my heart wept. The verse causes others to weep, and as though weeps itself. The following lines in Persian are my tear-drops, they are a sort of commentary of some words present within the Divine Word of God’s Wise One, the Prophet Muhammad.

A beloved who is hidden through setting is not beautiful, for those doomed to decline cannot be truly beautiful. They may not loved with the heart, which is created for eternal love and is the mirror of the Eternally Besought One, and should not be loved with it.

A desired one who is doomed to be lost on setting; such a one is not worthy of the heart’s attachment, the mind’s preoccupation. He may not be the object of desires. He is not worthy of being regretted with the sorrow and grief that follows. So why should the heart worship such a one and be bound to him?

One sought who is lost in ephemerality; I do not want such a one. For I am ephemeral, I do not want one who is thus. What should I do?

A worshipped one who is buried in death; I shall not call him, I shall not seek refuge with him. For I am infinitely needy and impotent. One who is impotent can find no cure for my boundless ills. He can spread no salve on my eternal wounds. How can one who cannot save himself from death be an object of worship?

Indeed, the reason, which is obsessed with externals, cries out despairingly at seeing the deaths of the things it worships in the universe, and the spirit, which seeks for an eternal beloved, utters the cry: I love not those that set.

I do not want separation, I do not desire separation, I cannot abide separation...

BEDİÜZZAMAN

A SUPPLICATION WHICH OCCURRED TO ME IN PERSIAN

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

The arena of the faculty of will is brief present time and the passing present instant.

Thus, despite all my needs and weakness, want and poverty, and my wretched state induced by the horrors and terrors arising from the six aspects, clearly written on the page of my being by the pen of power, and included in my nature, were desires stretching to eternity and hopes spreading through eternity.

Indeed, whatever there is in the world, there are samples of it in my being. I am connected to everything. It is for them that I am caused to work.

The sphere of need stretches as far as the eye can see.

In fact, wherever the imagination goes, the sphere of need extends that far. There is need there too. Whatever man lacks, he is in need of. That which he does not have, he needs. And what he lacks is endless.

But then the extent of his power extends only as far as his short arm reaches. That means my want and needs are as great as the world. Whereas my capital is as infinitesimal as an indivisible particle.

So, of what use is the faculty of will, worth twopence in relation to my needs which encompass the world and can only be obtained for millions of liras? They cannot be bought with it, and cannot be gained by it. In which case, one has to search for another solution.

The solution is this: to forego one’s own will and leave matters to the Divine will; to give up one’s own power and strength, and seeking refuge in the power and strength of Almighty God, to adhere to true reliance on Him.

“O my Sustainer! Since the way to be saved is this, I forego my own will in Your way, and I give up my egotism. Then Your grace may take me by the hand out of compassion for my impotence and weakness, and Your mercy may take pity on my need and indigence and be a support for me, and open its door for me.”

Yes, whoever finds the boundless sea of mercy, surely does not rely on his own mirage-like will and choice, which is like a mirage; he does not abandon mercy and have recourse to his will.

Alas! We have been deceived. We supposed the life of this world to be constant, and so have lost everything. Yes, this passing life is but a sleep; it passes like a dream. This frail life flies like the wind, and departs.

Arrogant man, who relies on himself and supposes he will live for ever, is doomed to die. He passes swiftly. The world, too, man’s house, tumbles into the darkness of non-existence. Hopes do not last, while pains endure in the spirit.

Since the reality is this, come, my wretched soul, which yearns for life, is enamoured of the world and afflicted with endless hopes and pains! Awake and come to your senses! As the fire-fly relies on its own miniscule light and remains in the boundless darkness of the night, and since it does not rely on itself, the honey-bee finds the sun of daytime, and observes all its friends, the flowers, gilded with the sunlight; if you rely on yourself and your being and your ego, you will resemble the fire-fly. Whereas if you sacrifice your transient being in the way of the Creator Who gave it to you, you will find an unending light of existence. So sacrifice it! For your being is a trust given to you for safekeeping.

Moreover, it is His property, and it is He Who bestowed it. So do not scorn it, sacrifice it unhesitatingly. Sacrifice it so that it will be made permanent. For negation of a negation is an affirmation. That is, if non-being is not, there is being. If non-being is negated, existence comes into being.

The All-Generous Creator buys His own property from you, and gives you the high price of Paradise in return. Also, He looks after that property well for you, and increases its value. And He will return it to you in both enduring and perfect form. O my soul! Do not delay! Do this trade which is profitable in five respects, and be saved from five losses; make a fivefold profit all at once!

BEDİÜZZAMAN