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Book of Healing - Qur'anic Healing - Divine Remembrance - Supreme Elixir

Divine Remembrance - Supreme Elixir

Tags: Divine Remembrance, Elixir, Blessing, Barakat, Suratur-Rahman, Ulu'l-albab

1. The blessed and wisdom-filled remembrance of God, the Exalted, is the elixir or the chemistry of spirituality. That is, in the sense of elixir, it implies the ancient conventional alchemical meaning of transmuting base metal into gold or silver, and in the sense of chemistry, the products of modern practical science. Elixir also means panacea, which is instantaneously effective and healing; it removes every disease and by taking it once, man never falls sick. Certainly, both these meanings are found in the most perfect sense in Divine remembrance, because it has elevated many men from the dust of humiliation and made them precious pearls in the heights of intellect and wisdom. And he who selects it as the remedy of soul, from among all the things of the world, remains protected and safe from all kinds of internal and spiritual diseases.

2. Just as through the science of chemistry, a thing is brought into existence from the compounds of different things, similarly, through remembrance and worship and knowledge and practice, a wise sufi can bring a revolution in his personal world by awakening all the dormant faculties in it. In this revolution, the real force which sets it into motion, from moment to moment, is the remembrance of God. The reason for this, as mentioned earlier, is that every heart has two ears: In one, the angel says something and in the other, whispers the devil. But, owing to the abundance of Divine remembrance, when the angel uninterruptedly gets the opportunity to speak and due to which the devil becomes disappointed, then as a result, the sufi starts to get a permanent victory over himself. Since the angel is the unbounded treasure of Divine favour, therefore, the greater and longer the remembrance, the more fruitful becomes the favour of the angel.

3. There are many levels of the high and low pitch of voice: It can be louder and louder, as well as more and more hidden (20:7). Thus, whatever may be its level, the voice of dhikr-u bandagi and knowledge and wisdom and the voice of the physical angel (6:9) or non-physical angel is medicine, healing and health for the human heart. Contrary to this, the voice of the devil, whether from mankind or jinn (6:112) is sickness for it. Therefore, every wise Muslim keeps his heart immersed in the echo of Divine remembrance, by which the whispering of the devil is stopped on the one hand, and on the other (God willing), the angel casts a luminous word in his heart, which is called ilqa'. Ilham (91:8) or tawfiq-u ta'yid too, is like this (58:22). However, the pre-requisite for this is taqwa, as it ought to be practised.

4. Since Divine remembrance is among the additional prayers (nawafil) therefore, it is extremely necessary to mention the supreme purpose of it here, so that those who want its everlasting wealth may be sure of its blessed and sacred results and fruits. Thus, it is said in Bukhari, VIII, 336-37: "My servant always seeks My closeness through additional prayers until I love him. When I love him, I become his ear with which he hears, and I become his eye with which he sees and I become his hand with which he grasps and I become his foot by which he walks". This law of God is always in force and the practical models of this supreme bliss are the Prophets and awliya' and this is an invitation for every Muslim to follow their practice. Note that the above-mentioned noble hadith is an explanation of the Light verse (24:35), that the light of God is an unfathomable ocean, in which the heavens and the earth and all that they contain are immersed. Thus, when a dhakir or salik advances step by step and stage by stage, towards the special proximity of God, the light of guidance shines upon him, whereby his external and internal senses become illumined and start to work extraordinarily. Thus, such fortunate people enter among the friends of God and all this is attained through the supreme elixir of Divine remembrance.

5. Among the wisdom-filled subjects of the glorious Qur'an, one is "barakat (blessing)", which consists of thirty two noble verses, which you should study with great pleasure and eagerness. Now, in order to understand spiritual blessings, it would be appropriate to think about the means of material blessings. In order to do so, let us take the example of a mountain (41:10) and rain water (50:9), which according to the Qur'an are blessed (mubarak) from the material point of view and whose blessings always continue. Similarly, we will briefly mention here three of the blessed spiritual things: the wise Qur'an (38:29), the Supreme Name of God, the Exalted (55:78), and the holy Prophet, the seal of Prophets (25:1; 11:73; 19:31). There cannot be any doubt for a Muslim that the highly exalted rank of the holy Prophet is the fountainhead of endless grace and blessings in many senses. Thus these three blessed and sacred things are linked and united with one another, not only in the relation of blessing, but also in many other relations. Therefore, one has to be sure that, through the light of remembrance, the realities and gnoses of the Qur'an and hadith become clear and as a result, the remaining ethical, ideological, spiritual and intellectual diseases of every pious dhakir are removed. This is the reason that, throughout the wise Qur'an, it is commanded to remember God and His remembrance is praised in many ways. In particular, at the end of Suratur-Rahman the bride and unique mirror of the beauty and majesty of the world of the Qur'an, whose quintessence is the verse: "Blessed be the name of your Lord, Majestic, Gracious" (55:78). This means that the bounties of God, which are mentioned in the entire Qur'an in detail, are summarised in Suratur-Rahman, and the source and centre of all the blessings and bounties mentioned here, is the last verse whose purport is the Supreme Name of God, the Exalted, which is the means of His remembrance.

6. Although apparently Divine remembrance is of universal beneficence, yet due to its subtleties, its beneficence in reality is special. An example of which, in the purports of the last two verses of Suratul-A`raf, is as follows:

  1. God must be remembered in the depth of the heart, namely the soul, with utmost humility and great fear. If this humility is real, that is, it is deep in the recesses of the heart or is the result of serene and serious giryah-u zari, then it is the germicidal medicine of spirituality, by using which all false thoughts are killed. Fear of God is that preventive medicine, which protects the heart from such germs.
  2. If this dhikr is special and is most hidden (`arif), then its pronunciation should be performed morning and evening, without loud voice (jahr). That is, it should be more hidden than hidden, so that the tongue of heart may be so intensely and constantly engrossed in it, that the whisperings of the devil may not be able to touch it.
  3. In addition to these two times, it is also commanded to remember God at other times, for there are countless benefits in abundant remembrance (3:40; 33:21). One special benefit is that, through it, the state of tenderness, humility and fear of God is created in the heart and continues to remain in it. And this is a good preparation for the remembrance of heart (dhikr-i qalbi), otherwise it is very difficult.
  4. Angels and awliya' become His intimate friends. They are always absorbed and engrossed in His worship and they do not have even a particle of pride; they purify God abundantly and prostrate to Him with the utmost humility.

7. Both in this world and in the world of religion, only those people become successful, exalted, triumphant, who in true sense, possess intellect and wisdom. But the rank of intellect is as difficult to attain as it is high. Why not? After all, the intellect is the most exalted and excellent and most valuable and precious of all things and all bounties. And it is the peace and paradise of it which is the greatest paradise. Thus, there are many subjects in the different words of the wise Qur'an related to the intellect. One extremely interesting subject is "ulu'l-albab (those who possess intellect)", which consists of only sixteen verses. It will be extremely necessary to earnestly see in these verses, with what glory God has praised the people of intellect. What are their virtues? What is their way of living? And what is the main or key secret by acting upon which, people can be counted among the people of wisdom? So let us now examine two such luminous verses which contain the elixir or the secret of how, like the transmutation of the base metal into gold or silver, a Muslim with good intention can include himself in the group of the people of wisdom, through this Qur'anic alchemy. These wisdom-filled verses are: "Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and (in) the alternation of night and day, there are signs for the people of intellect, who remember God standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect upon the creation of the heavens and the earth: Our Lord You have not created this for vanity. Purified are You! Guard us against the chastisement of the Fire" (3:190-191). In this heavenly teaching, you see that intellect and wisdom, thinking and reflection, deduction of results, recognition of God, salvation from Hell-fire and attainment of Paradise, are all the fruit of such a remembrance of God, which according to the above-mentioned verse, continues in every position of sitting and standing. Thus, Divine remembrance is certainly the supreme elixir.

8. Why does the state of the human heart continue to change again and again? How can spiritual diseases be controlled? In order to know this, as has already been mentioned, it is necessary to know that, near the human heart, there are two companions appointed for him: one is the angel and the other is the devil. It is obvious that as a result of Divine remembrance, the angel gets a chance to act, and contrary to it, from its negligence, the devil. As it is said in verse (43:36): "And whoso blinds himself to the remembrance of the Beneficent, to him We assign a devil who becomes his comrade (in every breath)". The other side of this Divine law is that, whoso remembers God, for him is assigned an angel, so that there should not be any defect in the beauties of Divine justice and equity, that He has sent down, not only disease, but also its medicine.

9. When a true sufi becomes enriched with the everlasting and eternal wealth of the results and fruits of the remembrance of God and tastes the spiritual death before the physical death, or in other words, he annihilates himself in the Perfect Master (murshid-i kamil), then in the Prophet and finally in God, then in spiritual letters it is written in his record of deeds (zabur = book of deeds) that the earth will be inherited by the righteous servants of God (21:105).

20 Jumada II, 1406/2nd March, 1986.

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