The Ocean and the Waves (On Sufis and Other Mystics)

Bismillaah ar-Rahmaan ar-Raheem


My dear sister Dima has shared a beautiful truth on her blog, showing
"the difference between the Ocean and a wave":

In the Name of Allaah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful.

"And call not with Allaah any other god;

there is no god but He,

every thing is perishable but He;

His is the judgment,

and to Him you shall be brought back."

(Al-Qur'an al-Karim 28: 89)

=======

Here, I would like to add some humble explanation to this truth.

The above verses are profoundly correct (essentially correct on all levels
of being) no matter how simple the casing may look. Allaah Ta'ala as
the Primary Existence (al-Wajib al-Wujud al-Mutlaq) is beyond any need
of particular forms. In His own Absolute Oneness, He is Being (Wujud).
With respect to creation, He is Haqq al-Maujud (the Essence-Truth of
everything there is; though evil is actually another story: it was brought from
pure non-existence as a test).

The perceptual image of the Sea, the Waves, and the Salinity
as One does reflect the particular Oneness of gradations and
the taste of the Oneness of existence, however it is only "sensory",
it does not reveal the essential "texture" of the Absolute Oneness of
Allaah Ta'ala since it is but a manifest form ("shape") not the
Reality (Zaat) itself. This is the point at which Sufis (Muslim
Mystics) differ from mystics of the oriental religions. For example,
in Buddhism, in conformity with some people's thoughts, their
"transcendental" realization is "that which is Whole cannot exist
without that which is Particular (and vice versa)". Thus, due to the
supposedly inherent divergence of the infinite particular forms permeating
the "Spaces of Being", there is no need for the Buddhist to perceive the
Absolute Being (Sunyata, Emptiness) as having a True Self. Also, in
their view, the world of forms was not created and will never end.
It's an endless cycle of appearance and disappearance...

But Sufis, dear beloveds, are different. They realize this cannot be so.

The Peak of Divine Wisdom (al-Hikmah al-Ilahiyyah) whom the Sufis seek,
is that Wujud (Allaah, al-Haqq), Who alone contains existences and
non-existences (and can therefore bring (create) something from
absolute nothingness), has a Self (or "Face", that which reveals
itself as the convergence of all of His Names (Asma) and Attributes
(Sifaat)) that, although indescribable, is symbolized by Essentially
Loving, Essentially Compassionate (ar-Rahmaan, ar-Raheem). This is
Infinity embracing Itself (as an act of Primordial Love beyond
necessity) whose Mystery is Sealed in the "Mim" of Muhammad, the
Perfect Man (al-Insan al-Kamil). In Islaam, one-sided (sensory)
perception is not enough. Something is called certain (true, haqq) if
and only if it bears transcendental logic as a pattern and if this
logic is woven with the threads of Love. That is why, Sufis do not see
things through mere "windows"; they see the Dawn in its full glory
(infinite potential). They see things through the Eye of al-Haqq. And
they, ultimately, see none other than the Face (Wajh) of Allaah as
described in the Holy Qur'an:

"...wherever you turn, there is the Face of Allaah." (2: 115)

May Allaah Ta'ala raise us all to the Reality of His Nur, the First Intellect,
Nur Muhammad shalla Allaahu alaihi wa ahli baitihi wa sallam.

Thank you dear Dima, for the beautiful page and for bringing this to
our attention.

Ishq,

Dani