What Abdul Qadir did not tell us about Surrender
The great Sufi Abd'l Qadir Gilani taught utter, complete and uncompromising annihilation of limited self into the Divine Perfection. This annihilation is catalyzed buy those times when we feel we are being crucified or shattered by the pain of life. Abd'l Qadir says about these times we should become 'like a dead body in the hands of the body washer', or 'like a polo ball under the mallet of the polo rider'. So God the Exalted will not be with you unless all your desires and your will are smashed. And when they are smashed and nothing is left in you and you are fit for nothing but Him, God will create you afresh and will give you a new will-power wherewith to will. (Futuh al-Ghaib, 6th Discourse, pg 28).
So then at the other end of these "dark nights" he says we will come out "reborn".
This is the degree of 'non-self', of surrender he advocates. Here one becomes the hollow reed and our every action is divine action, not self-action. Here you become established in God's action and God's purpose without their being any movement in you or through you in God's creation unless it be with God's order and action and command. (Futuh al-Ghaib, 17th Discourse, pg. 59)
So this is a surrender of Crucifixion and Resurrection; of a shattering of that which doggedly maintains a false perception of realty and the resulting rebirth of perception within the perfection of Allah.
La Illah Illa Lahu is the practice to bring about this surrender without the pain of annihilation, which we leave to life itself. This is the practice to die before we die and be reborn now.
“There can be no rebirth without a dark night of the soul, a total annihilation of all that you believed in and thought that you were.” “One is never so strong as when one is broken.” Hazrat Inayat Khan
So, Behind this annihilation of the limited self is the force Love, Lover and Beloved.
When Ahad, the only Being, became conscious of his Wahdat, only existence, through His own consciousness, then His predisposition of love made Him project Himself to establish His dual aspect, that He might be able to love." - Hazrat Inayat Khan
This force of Love can also shatter that part of our self that maintains an erroneous, limited self-centered perception of life.
"The condition of God and His true lover is that either the Beloved lives or the lover, not both." - Hazrat Inayat Khan
When we finally find and surrender to that Great Love, beyond the steps of personal Love, the force of Unity it contains utterly overwhelms us and we see through the eyes of love that everything is our self. This Love carries us beyond all fear, prejudice and hatred, in this state of surrender to Love our actions are divine action! This Love is already within our heart and soul waiting for us when we surrender to the beloved.
The true lovers can no longer perceive either the scent or the color of their own selves. They have no interest in anything other than the Beloved. Their heart is attached neither to throne nor crown. Greed and lust have packed their bags and left their street... They no longer take themselves into account, and live only for love. They leave the raw and turn to the ripe, abandoning completely the abode of the self. Jami, Essential Sufism
Ishq Allah Mabood Lillah is the practice to bring about this surrender of oneself as the Lover into the Divine Beloved. Other divine qualities that are embodied in this loving surrender are: Ya Wadud - Ya Wahid (The One Beloved in all things) - it is this unity and love which allowed Jesus to say: 'forgive them lord for they know not what they do."
Another beautiful practice in the spirit of Love is given by Pir Zia as follows:
ya Habib, ya Mahbub, ya Muqallab al Qulub ("O Lover, O Beloved, O Transformer of Hearts").
The great Sufi Abd'l Qadir Gilani taught utter, complete and uncompromising annihilation of limited self into the Divine Perfection. This annihilation is catalyzed buy those times when we feel we are being crucified or shattered by the pain of life. Abd'l Qadir says about these times we should become 'like a dead body in the hands of the body washer', or 'like a polo ball under the mallet of the polo rider'. So God the Exalted will not be with you unless all your desires and your will are smashed. And when they are smashed and nothing is left in you and you are fit for nothing but Him, God will create you afresh and will give you a new will-power wherewith to will. (Futuh al-Ghaib, 6th Discourse, pg 28).
So then at the other end of these "dark nights" he says we will come out "reborn".
This is the degree of 'non-self', of surrender he advocates. Here one becomes the hollow reed and our every action is divine action, not self-action. Here you become established in God's action and God's purpose without their being any movement in you or through you in God's creation unless it be with God's order and action and command. (Futuh al-Ghaib, 17th Discourse, pg. 59)
So this is a surrender of Crucifixion and Resurrection; of a shattering of that which doggedly maintains a false perception of realty and the resulting rebirth of perception within the perfection of Allah.
La Illah Illa Lahu is the practice to bring about this surrender without the pain of annihilation, which we leave to life itself. This is the practice to die before we die and be reborn now.
“There can be no rebirth without a dark night of the soul, a total annihilation of all that you believed in and thought that you were.” “One is never so strong as when one is broken.” Hazrat Inayat Khan
What Abd'l Qadir did not tell us [in the Futuh al'Ghaib] is the Divine Love that also comes with complete surrender in the Divine.
So, Behind this annihilation of the limited self is the force Love, Lover and Beloved.
When Ahad, the only Being, became conscious of his Wahdat, only existence, through His own consciousness, then His predisposition of love made Him project Himself to establish His dual aspect, that He might be able to love." - Hazrat Inayat Khan
This force of Love can also shatter that part of our self that maintains an erroneous, limited self-centered perception of life.
"The condition of God and His true lover is that either the Beloved lives or the lover, not both." - Hazrat Inayat Khan
When we finally find and surrender to that Great Love, beyond the steps of personal Love, the force of Unity it contains utterly overwhelms us and we see through the eyes of love that everything is our self. This Love carries us beyond all fear, prejudice and hatred, in this state of surrender to Love our actions are divine action! This Love is already within our heart and soul waiting for us when we surrender to the beloved.
The true lovers can no longer perceive either the scent or the color of their own selves. They have no interest in anything other than the Beloved. Their heart is attached neither to throne nor crown. Greed and lust have packed their bags and left their street... They no longer take themselves into account, and live only for love. They leave the raw and turn to the ripe, abandoning completely the abode of the self. Jami, Essential Sufism
Ishq Allah Mabood Lillah is the practice to bring about this surrender of oneself as the Lover into the Divine Beloved. Other divine qualities that are embodied in this loving surrender are: Ya Wadud - Ya Wahid (The One Beloved in all things) - it is this unity and love which allowed Jesus to say: 'forgive them lord for they know not what they do."
Another beautiful practice in the spirit of Love is given by Pir Zia as follows:
ya Habib, ya Mahbub, ya Muqallab al Qulub ("O Lover, O Beloved, O Transformer of Hearts").
Love sees the beloved and nothing else.
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| The Full Moon of Love is Empty yet Full |
