The 74th Lecture of Wisdom – Lecture of al-Hikam

 

 

74TH WISDOM LECTURE, AL-HIKAM

Bismillahirrahmaanirrahiim

Assalamualaikum wr. wb   

“An Arif is not a person who points to something, then he feels close to Allah. But a true Arif are those who do not see any clues in themselves, because their eyes and hearts have lost sight. There is only God."

The meaning of "wise people" in the wisdom above are servants who have known Allah closely. He has a special relationship with God. Arif people are special people and not the same as most people. When you first hear the word “Arif”, maybe what comes to your mind is an old man with a white beard, with gray hair. His appearance is simple, but exudes authority. That's a false imagination. In fact, their lives are normal, like most humans. There is nothing strange about their daily lifestyle. However, even though outwardly they seem normal, they are actually special. Their hearts are always tied to Allah.

We can emulate this type of people from the loyal companions of the Prophet. His life is always adrift with Allah and the Messenger of Allah. The Companion of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq once admitted this: "Every time I see people / objects, then what appears in my eyes is only Allah".

Imam Fakhruddin ar-Razi advised: "Make your outward activities with humans, but your inner heart remains attached to Allah".

In essence, all activities carried out by him are purely because of Allah. Not because of worldly elements, let alone human lust. Okay, now how about we discuss the condition of the Arif people? That the perfect "Arifin" characters are those who feel total emptiness. Don't feel yourself and everything around you. Their eyes, thoughts and feelings are gone. They were filled with divine light, which was impossible to describe in words.

When Arifin was hit by a disaster, for example, the first thing that came to their mind was "tawakkal". Vice versa. When they get an abundance of favors, then "gratitude" is their first feeling. "Alhamdulillah" was their first word. Happy/difficult, praise/curse, sustenance/disaster, rich/poor, or whatever circumstances, for Arifins the effect is the same. Tasteless...

Why is that? Because their main focus is Allah. Wealth, lust and worldly do not affect them at all. This kind of psychology is what the Arifins call the "Ladder of Love". A high level of eternal love, which ordinary people don't have. When the love for God begins to dominate, then their human nature disappears. People at this level usually don't feel at home. It's not at home because you want to quickly meet God directly. This condition is experienced by the Prophets, Apostles and Waliyullah.

Often strings of amazing words come out of his tongue at the most unexpected, even by common sense though. Before his death, for example, the Messenger of Allah said with a beaming face like this: "O Allah, I hope I can meet You soon, my Lord".

The words of the companions of Mu'adz bin Jabal were even more heartbreaking. At the time of death, he felt excruciating pain until he fainted. When he woke up, he even said this: "O Allah, quickly strangle me. You are omniscient, O Allah, if my heart loves You so much.”

Or the story of Sahabat 'Imran bin Hushain, who for 30 years lay limp in bed due to suffering from complete paralysis. When a friend cried because he couldn't bear to see his condition, 'Imran said: “Don't cry! I am happy with Allah's destiny"

Subhanallah... Really beautiful type of love like him-him. Even though we can't be like him and her, at least we are one strip below him. So, the point is to reach for the love of Allah with a lot of worship, dhikr and doing good. His intention was purely because he hoped for the pleasure of Allah.

If the people named from the beginning could do it, why can't we too? Reaching the level of "Arifin" is not difficult. If we try continuously, it is not impossible that we will also get to the highest level of the "Ladder of Love".

Wassalamualaikum wr. wb