Fwd: I am ecstatic delight

[Guest guest]

Ruminations, Ibrahim Gamard <gmrd@r...> wrote:

Dear Ruminators,

 

Came across these two extraordinary quotes from Rumi the other

night,

on the same page of Aflaki's hagiography, and wanted to share them:

 

------------------

 

And he also said: " All the prophets and the Friends of God said

nothing about the true reality of God Most High and they did not

establish anything firmly, and I, on the basis of the secret of the

light

of the Mohammadan soul-- blessings and peace be upon him-- I say:

God is entirely ecstatic delight (dhowq) and: 'Whoever has not

experienced delight does not know.' And I am that ecstatic delight and

I am wholly immersed in that delight, whereas the delight of mankind

is the opposite of that delight because : 'Faith is entirely ecstatic

delight

and passion.' " At that he let out a shout and began performing the

samaa`. [ " Shams al-Dîn AHmad-e Aflâkî: The Feats of the Knowers of

God (Manâqeb al-`ârefîn), " translated from the Persian by John O'Kane,

Brill, 2002, p. 128]

 

wa bâz farmûd ke: " kâffa-yé anbiyâ' wa awliyâ' dar Haqq-é Haqîqat-é

bârî-yé ta`âlà hêch na-goft-and wa bar chêzê qarâr na-dâd-and. wa man

az sirr-é nûr-é jân-é muHammadî -- `alay-hi 'S-Salawatu wa 's-salâm

mê-gôy-am: khodâ hamagî Zawq-ast. wa 'man lam yadhuq lam yadri.'

wa man ân dhawq-am, wa dar ân dhawq ba-kullî gharq-am. wa dhawq-é

`âlamiy-ân `aks-é ân dhawq-ast, ke 'al-îmânu kullu-hu dhawq-un wa

shawq-un.' " hamânâ ke na`ra'ê be-zad wa ba-samâ` shurû` kard. [Aflâkî,

" manâqibu 'l-`ârifîn, " p. 185]

 

Likewise, he also said: " I am not this body in which I am seen by

the

gaze of the lovers (`aasheqaan). Rather I am the ecstatic delight

(dhowq)

and the joy which arises within the disciple's interior from our

words and

our name. By God, By God, when you receive 'that moment' (aan dam)

and you witness that ecstatic delight in your own soul, snatch the

advantage of it and give thanks, for I am that. " [ " Shams al-Dîn AHmad-

e

Aflâkî: The Feats of the Knowers of God (Manâqeb al-`ârefîn), "

translated from the Persian by John O'Kane, Brill, 2002, p. 128]

 

ham-chon-ân farmûd ke: man în jism nêst-am ke dar naZar-é `âshiq-ân

manZûr gashta-am. balke man ân Zawq-am wa ân khôshî ke dar bâTin-é

murîd az kalâm-é mâ wa az nâm-é mâ sar-zan-ad. allâh allâh, chûn ân

dam-râ dar yâb-î wa ân Zawq-râ dar jian-é khwod mushâhida kon-î

ghanîmat mê-dâr wa shukr-hâ mê-gozâr ke man ân-am. " [Aflâkî,

" manâqibu 'l-`ârifîn, " p. 185]

 

COMMENTS

Aflaki died 80 years after Rumi. Aflaki's spiritual master, Rumi's

grandson, asked Aflaki to record all the stories known about Rumi, his

predecessors, and his successors.

Dhawq (pronounced in Persian, " Zawq " ) is an Arabic word meaning

" taste, " " delight, " " pleasure. " The quoted Arabic saying is usually

translated, " He who doesn't taste, doesn't know. " Here the word means

" ecstatic taste, " " ecstatic delight, " " direct experience of the

Divine. "

Samâ` is an Arabic word meaning " audition, " " listening. " It

refers to

ecstatic movements which can lead to dance. Rumi would initiate a

group

samâ` with his disciples whenever he went into an ecstatic state of

consciousness (such as when he recited or composed an ecstatic poem or

verse, or uttered an ecstatic insight), and there were often singers

[qawwâliy-ân] and musicians [muTrib-ân] available to keep the group

active in the samâ` for many hours, sometimes until the pre-dawn

prayer

was announced from the minarets. Sometimes a samâ` would be offered

by a prominent person who would provide delicious deserts and

sweetened

water for the samâ` participants [samâ`-zan-ân].

 

---------------

 

Ibrahim

--- End forwarded message ---