Universe – A Divine Mystery
Ali Hujwary has said, “I have found this universe an abode of Divine mysteries, which are deposited in the created things. Substances, accidents, elements, bodies, forms, and properties are veils of Divine mysteries.” From the standpoint of Unification (tawhid), it is polytheism to assert that any such veils exist, but in this world, everything is veiled by its being from Unification, and the spirit is held captive by admixture and association with phenomenal being. Hence, the intellect can hardly comprehend those Divine mysteries, and the spirits can but dimly perceive the marvels of nearness to God. Man, enamored of his gross environment, remains sunk in ignorance and apathy, not attempting to cast off the veil that has fallen upon him. Blind to the beauty of Oneness, he turns away from God to seek the vanities of this world and allows his appetites to domineer over his reason, notwithstanding that animal soul, which the Qur’an (7: 53) describes as “commanding to evil” (ammarat bi `l su), is the greatest of all veils between God and Man (p.8-9).
Kashf al-Mahjub: The Revelation of The Mystery
I call this book “The Revelation of The Mystery” (p .3) because my object was that the book’s title should proclaim its contents to persons of insight. You must know that all humankind is veiled from the subtlety of spiritual truth except God’s saints and His chosen friends, and in as much as this book is an elucidation of the Way of Truth, and an explanation of Mystical sayings, and an uplifting of the veil of mortality, no other title is appropriate to it. Essentially unveiling (kashf) is the destruction of the veiled object, just as the veil destroys revelation (makashafat) and just as, for instance, one who is near cannot bear to be near; or as an animal, which is generated from vinegar dies when it falls into any other substances, while those animals which are generated from other substances perish if they are put in vinegar (p. 4-5).
The spiritual path is hard to travel except for those created for that purpose. Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) has said: “Everyone finds easy that for which he was created.”
Veils
A man is veiled from the truth by his essence (dhat), so that, in his view, truth and falsehood are the same. Therefore, the veil of the essence, covering “rayni” is never removed. Rayn is synonymous with khatm (sealing) and tab (imprinting). Thus God hath said: “By no means: but their deeds have spread a covering (rana) over their hearts (Qur’an: 83: 14). He had made sense of its manifest and said, Verily it is all one to the unbelievers whether thou warnest them or no; they will not believe (Qur’an: 2:5); then he explains the cause thereof, saying: “God hath sealed up their hearts”(Qur’an: 2:6).
There are two veils
- The veil of covering (hijab -e-rayni), which can never be removed,
- The veil of clouding (hijab-e- ghayui), which is quickly removed.
A man is also veiled from the truth by his attributes (sifat), such as his nature and heart continually seeking the truth and fleeing falsehood. The veil of attributes, which is that of “clouding” (ghayni), may be removed at times, for essence does not admit to alteration, but the alteration of attributes is possible.
Rayn and ghayn. Junayd said: Al-rayn min jumlat al watnat wa `l ghayn min jumlat al-khatrat,’ ‘Rayn belongs to the class of abiding things and ghayn to transient things. Watan is permanent, and khatar is adventitious. E.g., it is impossible to make a mirror out of stone, though many Sufi Shayks have given subtle hints on the subject of polishers assembling to try their skills on it. A rusty mirror can be made bright by polishing; darkness is innate in the stone, and brightness is inherent in the mirror; since the essence is permanent, the temporary attribute does not endure.
Ali Hajveri says: Accordingly, I’ve composed this book for polishers of hearts which are infected by the veil of “clouding” but in which the substance of light of the truth is existent, so that the veil may be lifted from them by the blessing of reading it, and that they mind find their way to spiritual reality. Those whose being is compounded by denial of truth and perpetration of falsehood will never find their way, and this book will be useless. (p. 5)
