Hikam Ibn Ata Illah: Recent Episodes
Ustaz Anwar Hussain
The Book of Wisdom (Kitab al-hikam) is a masterpiece of Islamic spiritual literature by the renowned Sufi saint and sage of the 13th century AD, Ahmed Ibn Ata Allah Al-Iskandari (d. 1309), third master of the tariqa Shadhiliyya.
"إن لم تُحْسِن ظنَّكَ به لأجل حُسنِ وصْفِه، فَاحَسِّن ظنَّك بهِ لأجل معاملته معك.. فهل عَوَّدَكَ إلاَّ حسناً؟"
20
Hardly does the intention of the initiate
want to stop at what has been revealed to him,
than the voices of Reality call out to him:
“&at which you are looking for is still ahead of you.”
And hardly to the exterior aspects of created beings
display their charms,
than their inner realities call out to him:
“We are only a trial, so disbelieve not.”
18
Your postponement of deeds till the time when you are free
is one of the frivolities of the ego.
19
Do not request Him to get you out of a state
so as to make use of you in a different one;
for, were He to desire so, He could make use of you
as you are, without taking you out!
17
He who wishes that there appear, at a given moment,
other than what God has manifested in it,
has not left ignorance behind at all
16
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One who manifests everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him
since He is the one who is manifest through everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One who is manifest in everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the Manifest to everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He was the Manifest before the existence of anything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is more manifest than anything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One alongside of whom there is nothing?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is nearer to you than anything else?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since, were it not for Him,
the existence of everything would not have been manifest?
It is a marvel how Being has manifested in nonbeing,
and how the contingent has been established
alongside of Him who possesses the attribute of Eternity!
16
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One who manifests everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him
since He is the one who is manifest through everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One who is manifest in everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the Manifest to everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He was the Manifest before the existence of anything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is more manifest than anything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One alongside of whom there is nothing?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is nearer to you than anything else?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since, were it not for Him,
the existence of everything would not have been manifest?
It is a marvel how Being has manifested in nonbeing,
and how the contingent has been established
alongside of Him who possesses the attribute of Eternity!
16
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One who manifests everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him
since He is the one who is manifest through everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One who is manifest in everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the Manifest to everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He was the Manifest before the existence of anything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is more manifest than anything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One alongside of whom there is nothing?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is nearer to you than anything else?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since, were it not for Him,
the existence of everything would not have been manifest?
It is a marvel how Being has manifested in nonbeing,
and how the contingent has been established
alongside of Him who possesses the attribute of Eternity!
16
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One who manifests everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him
since He is the one who is manifest through everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One who is manifest in everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the Manifest to everything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He was the Manifest before the existence of anything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is more manifest than anything?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is the One alongside of whom there is nothing?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since He is nearer to you than anything else?
How can it be conceived that something veils Him,
since, were it not for Him,
the existence of everything would not have been manifest?
It is a marvel how Being has manifested in nonbeing,
and how the contingent has been established
alongside of Him who possesses the attribute of Eternity!
15
&at which shows you the existence of His Omnipotence
Is that He veiled you from Himself
By what has no existence alongside of Him.
14
&e Cosmos is all darkness.
It is illumined only by the manifestation of God in it.
oever sees the Cosmos and does not contemplate Him
in it or by it or before it or after it is in need of light
and is veiled from the sun of gnosis
by the clouds of created things.
15
&at which shows you the existence of His Omnipotence
Is that He veiled you from Himself
By what has no existence alongside of Him.