19:1 Kāf Hāʾ Yāʾ ʿAyn Ṣād
Hearing these letters is a warmth that the Real pours into the hearts of His friends. When they drink it, they seek; when they seek, they rejoice; when they rejoice, they fly; when they fly, they arrive; when they arrive, they depart; when they depart, they join; when they join, they acquire. Then their intellects are drowned in His gentleness, and their hearts absorbed by His unveiling. Listening to the disconnected letters at the beginning of the surahs and verses is a blessing poured into the cup of joy and placed in the goblet of closeness that is given by the majesty of the unity with the attribute of self-sufficiency to His friends. When the friends of the Real drink this blessing of closeness from the cup of Holiness in the garden of gentleness, they rejoice. When they rejoice, they seek. They break the cage of being and fly on the wings of passion to the horizon of the Unseen, reaching the Kaaba of the union. When they reach it, they reach themselves, their intellects drowned in gentleness, their hearts consumed by unveiling. The breeze of the Beginningless blows from the side of proximity. They lose themselves and find Him.
The Pir of the Tariqah said, “For a long time I was seeking Him and finding myself. Now I seek myself and find Him. O Remembered in the proofs, O Reminder of closeness! Since You are present, of what use is this seeking? O God, I seek the Found. I say to the Seen, ‘What do I have, what should I seek, when will I see, what should I say?’ I am entranced by this seeking, I am seized by this speaking. O You who are before each day and separate from everyone! In this celebration, a thousand minstrels are not enough for me.”
Kāf Hāʾ Yāʾ ʿAyn Ṣād. This is the Real’s laudation of Himself. With these letters, He reminds His creatures of His names and attributes and He praises Himself.
Kāf: He is saying, “I am the Great [kabīr], I am the Generous [karīm].” The Great is an allusion to the majesty and greatness of the Unity, the Generous is an allusion to the beauty and generosity of self-sufficiency. The recognizers are in the unveiling of majesty, the lovers in the contemplation of beauty. When you look at His majesty, you see livers in the midst of blood. When you look at His beauty, you see the comfort of sorrowful hearts. The first is a universe-burning fire, the second a world-brightening light. The first plunder the hearts, the second comforts the spirits.
The Pir of the Tariqah said, “His name is my provision, speech the adornment of the tongue, reports the plundering of the heart, face-to-face vision the repose of the spirit. When the foundation of love was laid, it was laid on this basis: at first the spirit’s peril, at last, everlasting joy. At first wailing, lament, and weeping, at last solace, seclusion, and happiness.” Wait, O chevalier, until this flood reaches the ocean and the goods reach the buyer. The cloud of kindness will begin to weep, and the rose will start to smile. The call of generosity will come from the exalted presence of the Possessor of Majesty: “My servants, My bondsmen, My travelers, My friends, ‘I pay attention to the burdens carried for My sake’: I saw the suffering that reached you, I heard those laments of yours.” The Prophet said, “Eyes will be filled with gazing on His face, and He will speak to them as a man speaks with his sitting companion.”
Hāʾ: “I am God, the Guide [hādī]: I am God, the road-shower, the heart-opener, the truth adorner. It is I who made the tree of guidance and recognition grow in the garden of your heart, it is I who made the breeze of purity and limpidness blow in the meadow of your breast, it is I who made the sun of felicity shine from the sphere of your desire, it is I who made the long road simple and easy for you, it is I who caressed you in the Beginningless before the rushing and running of deeds, it is I who took care of your work without you, it is I who released your heart from the two realms of being for Me.” We would not have been guided had God not guided us [7:43].
Kharaqānī said, “He clings to you—you do not cling to Him.” He has set up the pavilion of generosity, spread the carpet of blessings, and given the call: “Respond to God’s caller! [46:31].
That great man said, “I was walking in the desert and saw someone with one leg, hopping because of the overpowering force of his ecstasy. I said, ‘Where to?’ He said, ‘The people’s duty to God is to visit the House’ [3:97]. I said, ‘That fervor will bring suffering.’ “When I reached Mecca, I saw that he had reached it before me. I said, ‘How did you arrive before me?’ He said, ‘Don’t you know that you came with the self-exertion of acquisition, and I came by the attractions of the Unseen? How can what comes by acquisition ever reach what comes from the Unseen?’
Yāʾ. According to Rabīʿ Anas, the meaning is “O [yā] He who protects and is not protected against [23:88].” O Lord, You protect all, but none protects You! You have proof against all, but none has proof against You. All are under Your security, but You are under no one’s security. All are subjugated and You are the subjugator. All are compelled and You are the compeller. All are acted upon and You are the enactor. Exalted is the one You protect, majestic is Your laudation, and there is no god other than You!
ʿAyn: He is saying, “‘I am the Exalted [ʿazīz], I am the High [ʿalī].’ It is I who am potent against every contender, not resembling any being, standing through My own attributes. I am great beyond all that intelligence shows, I am pure beyond all on which fancy falls.” He is solitary, and thoughts are misguided in describing Him; He is unique, and eyesights are dulled by His Essence. All things have traces bearing witness that He is the exalted, the compeller. He is enduring without disappearance, solitary without a companion, knower of all that is in minds and secret cores, turner of the turning wheel, creator of night and day, subjugator, strong, exalted, and compeller.
Ṣād: He is saying, “I am the Truthful [ṣādiq], I am the Form-giver [muṣawwir]. I am the Lord who is true in speech, true in a decree, true in work. I am the painter of faces, the adorner of beauties.” God says, “And He formed you, so He made your forms beautiful” [40:64]. He brought the one hundred thousand marvels, wonders, and artifacts into the realm of being—from the concealment of nonexistence into the world of existence—but He did not deliver this address to any existent thing or bestow this eminence on any created thing, only this handful of dust: “So He made your forms beautiful.” This is so you may know that the dust-dwellers are those caressed by gentleness and pulled up by compassion. They are the narcissus of the meadow of munificence, the cypress of the garden of existence, the jewel-box of the pearls of wisdom, the light in the pupil of the world of power, the blossoms of the garden of creativity. They are the peerless creation, and He is the peerless Creator. About Himself, He said, “the most beautiful of creators” [23:14], and concerning them, He said, “in the most beautiful stature” [95:4].
