There are three sorts of remembrance: The remembrance of habit, the remembrance of calculation, and the remembrance of companionship. The remembrance of habit has no worth, for it is the secret core’s heedlessness. The remembrance of calculation has no adornment, for its goal is seeking the wage. The remembrance of companionship is a deposit, for the tongue of him who remembers is a loan in the midst.
2:203 And remember God in certain numbered days, but if someone hastens on after two days, no sin shall be upon him.
The remembrance of the fearful is from dread of being cut off, the remembrance of the hopeful is from wishing to find what they seek, and the remembrance of the lovers is from the tenderness of burning. The fearful heard the call of the threat with the ear of fear and clung to supplication.
The hopeful heard the call of the promise with the ear of hope and clung to laudation. The lovers heard the call beforehand with the ear of love and did not mix with pretexts. The remembrance of the Beginningless reached the recognizers and they fled from effort to their lot.
And remember God in certain numbered days, but if someone hastens on after two days… . This is the attribute of the end of the ritual and the final acts of the hajj. Now let us offer comprehensive words comprising all the waymarks and rituals along with allusions and subtle points.
Know that there are two sanctuaries: the outward sanctuary and the inward sanctuary. The outward sanctuary surrounds the Kaaba, and the inward sanctuary surrounds the heart of the faithful. In the midst of the outward sanctuary is the Kaaba, the kiblah of the faithful, and in the midst of the inner sanctuary is a Kaaba that is the target of the All-Merciful’s gaze.
The former is the goal of the pilgrims, and the latter the locus of lights, so he is upon a light from his Lord [39:22]. The former is free from the hands of evil-doers and unbelievers, and the latter is free from seeing and thinking about others.
If some article is found in the outward sanctuary, it is left there so that its owner may appear and find it. If some article is found in the inward sanctuary, there is no way to go after it, for it is nothing but God’s secret. God has a secret in every heart, and no one has access to that secret. He says, “I have deposited it in the heart of My servants whom I love.” Do not search for My secret! Anyone who searches for My secret throws himself into the whirlpool of trial. What business does the servant have with the secret of Lordhood? How can what was not and then come to have access to Him who always was and always will be? This knowledge is the Real’s secret, and these men are the possessors of secrets. What business has the watchman with entering the king’s court? Before that outer Kaaba is a man-eating desert, and before this inner Kaaba is the desert of grief and sorrow.”
A world is wandering in the desert of passion for You—who will be given access to the Kaaba of Your acceptance? [DS 210]
The former Kaaba is the kiblah of practice, the latter Kaaba the kiblah of contemplation. The former yields unveiling, the latter demands face-to-face vision. The former is the threshold of exaltedness and tremendousness, the latter the gateway to gentleness and joyful expansiveness.
In visiting the former Kaaba one has the loin-cloth and mantle that are well-known. In visiting the latter Kaaba, one has the loin-cloth of solitariness and the mantle of disengagement. The ritual consecration of the former is “Here I am!” on the tongue. The ritual consecration of the latter is disowning the two worlds.
The recompense for that hajj is houris, palaces, and the bliss and ease of paradise and the recompense for this hajj is being put under the dome of jealousy on the carpet of exaltedness, the throne of proximity, and the cushion of closeness—His attributes unveiled and His Essence witnessed, sometimes in the majesty of unveiling and sometimes in the gentleness of contemplation, in a seat of truthfulness, at an Omnipotent King [54:55].
