Divine Remembrance - Chapter VI: The Method or Procedure of dhikr
Chapter VI: The Method or Procedure of dhikr
Tags: Dhikr, Remembrance, Internal Senses, Hope, Humility, Love, Attention, Speed of Dhikr, Effacement
It is certain that nothing whether religious or worldly, external or internal, exoteric or esoteric, spiritual or physical, subjective or objective, can be accomplished without a method or procedure. Therefore, in this chapter, essential points and useful information are provided about Divine remembrance (dhikr) so that those who perform it may receive help from them.
Regularity in Dhikr
Natural law demands that in order to achieve an object, one has to undergo hardship regularly and without which there is no success. Thus, with respect to Divine remembrance the real and correct discipline is that there should be no disruption due to any reason. It must be practised at fixed times with punctuality and without avoiding any kind of difficulty, as God says: “And those who strive in Us, We surely guide them to Our paths, and verily God is with those who do good” (29:69). It is known to all, that God’s path, the true religion (din-i haqq), is one only. Therefore what is mentioned here: “We surely guide them to Our paths” means that although the path of God is one, it has many forms, such as faith, certainty, righteousness, fear of God, knowledge, good deed, sincerity, justice, beneficence, humility, love of God, obedience, patience, gratitude, worship, submission, contentment, etc. All these are such attributes of righteousness and faithfulness that each of them stands for some form of the right path, because they are all mutually bound and connected and in the depths of meaning they are all as one reality. It is for this reason that in different subjects of the Qur’an, the excellence of each of these attributes of faith has been described in such a way that the same attribute is everything. This is true, and there is wisdom in it, but internally all other attributes are also attached to it. This means that when mu’mins are accustomed to performing dhikr and spiritual exercise with devotion, God, through His infinite mercy, will grant them all the attributes of faith (mu’mini) and the spirituality and luminosity of all those attributes will be revealed to them. This is the meaning of God showing His paths.
Internal Senses (hawas-i batini)
The wise Qur’an in verse (2:18), censuring disbelief and rejection and their consequences, says: “They are deaf, dumb and blind and they do not return (to their origin)”. It is also said about them in verse (2:171): “They are deaf, dumb and blind and they do not have any intellect”. Thus in this command of God, where with respect to internal senses the despondency and deprivation of the infidels is mentioned, the attention of Muslims and mu’mins is drawn to the hope of (Divine) mercy, indicating that they are apart from the infidels in this command. It is because of this that they can perform Divine remembrance and worship with the heart’s tongue; they can listen to guidance with the heart’s ears and they can observe the Divine wonders with the heart’s eyes, the purpose of which is to acquire intellect, understanding, knowledge and wisdom, the purpose of which in turn is to return to God.
The Heart’s Ears
It is also necessary to recognize the heart’s ears in the initial stage of Divine remembrance. Novice dhakirs should therefore remain sitting calmly for some time in a place where there is no sound at all. Then they should carefully turn their attention towards the heart and mind and in addition to remaining silent with their tongue, they should not say anything in their heart. Whilst being silent internally and externally, all of sudden, unconsciously dispersed thoughts will begin to occur in their minds. These are the insinuations of the carnal soul, which are also called hadith-i nafsi. To hear these is not only a proof of the existence of the heart’s ears, but also indicates the fact that just as the voice of evil can occur in the heart, in the same way the voice of good can also occur in it.
Although the voice of the carnal soul is next to nothing, nonetheless it intrudes in this experiment of silence, which the heart’s ears heard in a state of extreme calm. These same insinuations of the carnal soul continue to obstruct during Divine remembrance and worship, hearing which mu’mins feel greatly perplexed and vexed. However, they should not be disappointed, for after advancing further the conversations of the intellect and [heavenly] love can also be heard in the same way.
The Heart’s Tongue
Prior to starting any exercise of remembrance of the heart (dhikr-i qalbi) it is essential to be aware of the heart’s tongue and its voice, because unless this is done, it is extremely difficult to perform Divine remembrance with the heart. Thus one way of understanding the state and reality of the heart’s voice or the conscience, is that the novices should continue to recite a small surah or a verse of the Qur’an, or any of God’s names in the heart for some time, restraining their (external) tongue. Simultaneously, they should continue to listen to the voice of the heart’s tongue with the heart’s ear. They will ascertain that whatever they were reciting in this experiment was not by the external tongue but rather by the internal tongue, that is, this was the voice of the heart’s tongue which they were hearing through the heart’s ears. This means that the heart too has a tongue, which is different from the external tongue and with which the heart’s remembrance is performed.
The Heart’s Eye
In connection with Divine remembrance, it is also necessary to search for and experience the existence of the heart’s eye and spiritual observations, because without the affirmation and recognition of the internal senses, let alone its progress the state of the denial of spirituality begins to take root. Thus the search for and experience of the heart’s eye should be made by the beginner dhakirs by sitting on the special seat of dhikr, free from care and thoughts, and for some time closing their eyes and then directing their attention towards the world of imagination (`alam-i khayal) (i.e., their inner world). They should then choose five of God’s names and conceive the writing of each one. That is, they should see the written forms of these names and read them. If they are illiterate, they should conceive that somebody is reading the holy Qur’an in front of them and they should try to see who that person is, what his clothes are like. Further, they should conceive some other people and see whether the face which they want to see comes in front of them. Or they should conceive some fruits or flowers, and so on. There is no doubt that they will be able to conceive many things in this way. That is, they will be able to bring whatever they want into their imagination and observe it spiritually. However, in the beginning the spiritual light and heart’s sight, or insight will be very dim, rather next to nothing. Anyhow from this is estimated that this is the preliminary form of seeing with the heart’s eye and which, if on the one hand proves the existence of the heart’s eye, on the other establishes the existence of the world of spirituality.
Dhikr and Fear of God
Divine remembrance (dhikr) becomes very easy if there is the due fear of God in the believing dhakirs’ heart. Fear of God is artificial as well as real. Artificial fear is what the dhakirs create according to their understanding, which is useful to some extent but is not lasting. The real fear of God is taqwa, i.e., lasting righteousness. If the dhakirs are righteous the miraculous state of God’s fear occurs to them from the beginning of Divine remembrance (dhikr-i Ilahi). In such a case, the question of the occurrence of numerous thoughts and of recurring discontinuity in the chain of dhikr do not arise at all, because Divine aid and help is hidden in this form of the real fear of God, by virtue of which the chain of dhikr continues smoothly and thoroughly in the strong grip of the heart’s tongue and ear.
When the mu’mins obey God in every thought and imagination and in every word and deed and accustom themselves to fear His disobedience, necessarily during the dhikr too, profiting from this state of fearing God, they can easily advance the chain of dhikr safely and soundly, as the Qur’an says: “Allah has revealed the best Word in the form of a Book, equivocal and repeated. (From its remembrance) do creep the skins of those who fear their Lord; then their skins and their hearts do soften to Allah’s dhikr” (39:23). If this ‘best Word’ is the Qur’an on one hand, on the other it is the Supreme Name (ism-i a`zam), while the ism-i a`zam is the spirituality and luminosity of the Qur’an itself. Every Supreme Name with respect to being a bearer of numerous realities and recognitions is equivocal (mutashabih) and is called “repeated” (mathani) because of repeating it in dhikr. The reason why only the skins of righteous people creep from its dhikr is that those billions of cellular souls which are asleep in their bodies have the capacity to wake up all of a sudden by the voice of Divine remembrance. This state is commonly called “goose-flesh”. However, for those who are not righteous no such state occurs to them, whereas their skins certainly do creep from worldly and material fear.
It is evident that the dhikr shines from righteousness and God’s fear, for by virtue of this the dhikr adheres to the heart’s tongue and starts moving smoothly and its echo in the heart’s ears is very melodious. For the true meaning of God’s fear is to always remain pure from the impurity of sins, and in remaining so the miracle of God’s fear guides the one who remembers.
Dhikr and Hope
One hidden power of believing dhakirs’ faith is they should have hope of Divine mercy and should not be disappointed, for despondency from God’s mercy is blasphemy. Just as there is betterment and excellence for the people of faith in God’s fear, so there is their well-being and success in hope for (His) mercy. Thus various Qur’anic verses imply that faithful servants (of God) should have hope and yearning in their heart for Divine mercy, and for which they should work hard.
Dhikr and Humility
The greatest wisdom of believing dhakirs is to create the state and attribute of humility in themselves, not only before and during dhikr, but also forever. For humility is the initial form of real love and its prelude. It is humility in which there is the guarantee of escaping from pride. It is humility without which, Divine help, guidance and mercy do not even come close. Therefore, it is necessary for the dhakir to adopt extreme seriousness and humility so that miraculous attraction and appeal in the voice of dhikr and light before the inner eye may be created.
Natural (Divine) law has always been such that it nullifies the person who considers himself something, and exalts and elevates the person who considers himself nothing. Thus, it should be known that the secret of the dhakir’s success is hidden in humility and submissiveness.
Dhikr and Love
Divine love alone is that stage and station of spirituality where the dhakirs can duly rid themselves of the numerous insinuations and false thoughts of the carnal soul, as indeed Divine love is such a fire which burns and consumes all thoughts and notions except Divine remembrance. True love is itself the original and practical form of Divine love, in which the true lover becomes the embodiment of dhikr from head to toe. Why not, whereas love is like a kind of extremely sweet pain of the heart and the participation of the entire body in any of its pain is but natural. For love is called that state of the heart and mind in which remembrance of the beloved and yearning for union is at its climax. It is obvious that it is that heart and mind, which govern and rule the external and internal [aspects] of the body. In short, at the stage of Divine love, in addition to the soul, the body also engages in it.
It may be asked how love, which is just a state of mind and heart, can affect, compel and subjugate the entire body? The answer is that human beings’ anger is also a mere mental state, but they fly into a passion because of it and start shivering. Similarly, when they suffer from the extreme feeling of shame among people, all of a sudden their faces become pale and owing to shame they tremble and perspire, dripping with sweat. If they are happy, their faces shine with happiness, and if sad, they shrink, being dejected. All these are nothing but states of the mind and heart. However, the main point as we mentioned above, is that the entire body of a human being is ruled or governed by the heart and mind. In other words, the human body is under the influence of the animal soul, the animal soul under that of the rational soul, and the rational soul is affected by the intellect. This proves that the waves (currents) of the conscious state which occur within the heart and mind of human beings run through their entire body. Thus at the stage of love, the way the state of the body of the lover dhakir changes by virtue of realisation (consciousness) of Divine love, and the way the lover becomes the embodiment of dhikr from head to toe, is a reality. Thus, a mu’min should have recourse to true love in all the difficulties of dhikr. Its permanent method is that the true love should be given paramount importance among the manners and conditions of Divine remembrance (dhikr-i Ilahi) and among all attributes of righteousness and faithfulness.
Dhikr and Attention
Regarding attention towards dhikr we have already explained some important points previously. Yet, some more necessary points are going to be explained here as well. As mentioned earlier, there are three special powers of the heart – ear, tongue and eye – and without these three powers of the heart it is difficult to give complete attention towards dhikr. Thus, by putting pressure on the heart’s tongue one should continue the dhikr, continue to listen to the dhikr with full attention and compel the heart’s eye to continue gazing at the spiritual writing of the dhikr; and the eye should not neglect this duty even for a second. This is paying perfect attention towards dhikr. Now in this very state, through the exercise of will-power, you should create more and more the state of humility in your heart. That is, you must continue to weep and pray in the innermost of your heart before God, that may His miraculous spiritual help embrace you so that the attention of the three powers may last towards dhikr, and the clouds of negligence and oblivion disperse. Thus, by the continual exercise of this practice you should remain hopeful and not be despondent about success in it.
Speed of Dhikr
Here a very important question arises about the speed of dhikr. What should be the speed of the heart’s dhikr? Can it be measured? This is such an important question that no wise dhakir can afford to neglect it. Thus, it should be understood that according to an allusion in the surah Luqman the speed of dhikr should be moderate, i.e., neither too fast nor too slow, as that of travellers walking to a destination with a moderate speed. However, when the travellers face a danger on the way, such as the possibility of robbers, rain, the falling of stones from mountains, being chased by a powerful enemy or if the darkness of night is approaching, they have to necessarily walk fast. The same applies to a traveller along the path of spirituality. If the chain of dhikr discontinues, or if thoughts of various types occur, or if there is drowsiness or laziness, or if there is the domination of Satan and of the carnal soul, the speed of dhikr should be increased, pressing down upon the temperament through will power. An estimate of this speed is that if the ism-i a`zam consists of four letters, it should be repeated approximately ten thousand times in one hour. This means that in three minutes forty five seconds such a name should be repeated approximately six hundred and twenty five times. This is an estimate for a quadriliteral word only.
Chain of Dhikr
To perform the dhikr of the heart at the fixed time with due importance, it has to be connected and consecutive, and for which the correct pronunciation [of the Word of dhikr] is very necessary. Its correct pronunciation is possible if it is continually recited with the heart’s tongue with full attention and strong grip, and is listened to with the heart’s ear. However, if the word is not pronounced properly and is not listened to with total and perfect attention by the heart’s ear, the chain of dhikr becomes discontinuous. For instance, in external speech the tongue slips only when the grip of the speaker is loosened over his attention. That is, speech and conversation become incoherent when any of the speaking and hearing powers become lazy. It is only the hearing faculty that detects a slip has occurred in the speech, or such and such words were not pronounced properly.
Thus it is the duty of the heart’s tongue and ear to keep the chain of dhikr continuous and to protect (guard) it from the lapses of forgetting it from moment to moment. That is, the tongue should pronounce each link, i.e., word of the chain of dhikr clearly, and the ear should continue to listen to it with great attention. In fact, attention should be paid to it even with the eye of the heart, so that there should not be any discontinuity in the chain of Divine remembrance.
If mu’mins’ chain of dhikr of the heart discontinues again and again despite the efforts made, the reason for this is either ignorance or a sin has been committed. Therefore, they should cure both diseases. That is, along with repentance and righteousness, they should also obtain the necessary knowledge pertaining to dhikr, so that they may succeed in making their dhikr connected and consecutive.
Dhikr and Effacement
When real mu’mins start to perform dhikr properly after accomplishing all related manners, a state of unrelatedness occurs in their mind, that is, neither the state of dream nor that of wakefulness, rather it is the state of effacement, which is also called selflessness. In this state everything – external as well internal – is effaced from the mind and consciousness of the dhakirs, except the dhikr, which remains and continues. In this state the dhakirs also forget themselves altogether. They do not even know where they sit nor which place it is, whether it is home or outside. They do not feel whether their body exists or has vanished, or whether it is lost. If such a state pervades the beginners, they should be sure that they are progressing in spirituality. If not, it should be understood that this failure is due to their own deficiencies and mistakes and not due to any other reason.
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