I have said in a few posts now that in the West that we have sanitized love and fixated alot the personal fulfillment aspects of love. I felt this has been occurring since medieval times when the Troubadours brought back from the middle east many the beautiful ideals of dying for the beloved, but not so much that the earthly beloved was a temporal manifestation of th Divine Beloved.
To the Sufis love is the most powerful force in the world. The whole world came into existence out of love. In yesterday’s post on The unknown face of Rumi – Sufism and Spiritual Consumerism in the West 3 I copied these words
according to Rumi “lover pitch their tents in the desert of Non-Existence. The core o Sufism then is to discover one’s nonexistence in the face of something more convincingly real. And this conviction can be found through tasting (dhawq) and not through derivative knowledge of any kind.. But to taste requires a discipline and dedication not normally found in those who merely dabble in spirituality in order to enhance their own narcissism. No can such love be found by nominal religious who adhere to rigid forms of whatever kind.
To love is not to have an excessive desire for some things or for someone; it is a by-product of a deeper ‘remembrance of the heart’ (dhikr al-qalb). This remembrance is something that re-members fragmented human beings, by reconnecting them to their source and the source of one’s being
I thought to share some thought from Muzaffer Ozak about the love story of Joseph and Zulaikha the classic love story with a twist.
Some Words from Muzaffer Ozak
In the illustrious Sura Yusuf of the Noble Quran, related the tale of the fabulously beautiful wife of Potiphar of Egypt, and how she “smashed the bottle of shame and modesty” and sacrificed all her wealth, her property, her status, her honor, her good name, all her valuables amounting to seventy camel loads of gold, silver and diamonds and pearls and rubies, her palaces and her power. History records how she used to shower priceless jewels upon anyone who brought her news of Joseph, on him be peace, or said to her: “I saw Joseph!”. So great was her love for Joseph that she gave and gave until she had nothing left. Se would call Joseph’s name. She would see Joseph in the stars in the sky, and imagined his name inscribed on the son and the moon.
Zulayka was really enamored of God, Exalted is He. The Divine Truth had become manifest through Joseph. Fundamentally all loves relate and refer to the True Beloved, However the manifestations appear variously The lover witnesses the manifestations in is beloved. Thus he who is wise doesn’t stop at metaphorical love, but sooner or later attains to true love.
The Twist
Zulaikha therefore sacrificed her all for the sake of Joseph, and her youth and beauty at last restored by Divine Decree, she came to be united with the Joseph by whom she had been faithfully honored as soon as he saw her face. And yet when married to Joseph, she took to escaping from him. She would withdraw to desolate and lonely places there to worship her beloved God in solitude. When Joseph called her to bed, she would promise to come the next day, if it was night, the next night.
Joseph, would say to her: “Why do you run from me you are now my lawful wife. Once upon a time I used to run from you when you called me to your bed, for then you were unlawful to me. I excused myself from accepting your invitation for fear of disobedience to my Lord. But now at last you are my Lawful wife. Does one flee from one’s lawful spouse.
To this Zulaikha would reply “O Joseph the Truthful I used to love you before I came to know God, Exalted is He. But now it is no longer you I love. It seems you were the veil upon the one I really loved. Now I have rent that veil and discovered my Lord. Since I found God Exalted is He, and got to know Him, His love has conquered my heart. It has expelled from my heart all other loves. His love wants no love in its place, and nout but His love intoxicates me.”
Related articles
- What is Sufism? _|_ Sufism Today by Dr. Javad Nurbakhsh (mycaravanofdreams.com)
- From the Unveiling of Love by Muzaffer Ozak: Affection make a person forget (mycaravanofdreams.com)
- The unknown face of Rumi – Sufism and Spiritual Consumerism in the West 3 (mycaravanofdreams.com)
- The unknown face of Rumi – Sufism and Spiritual Consumerism in the West 2 (mycaravanofdreams.com)
- Obeidience and the Sincere Lover – Some words from Shaikh Muzaffer Ozal’s The Unveiling of Love (mycaravanofdreams.com)
- The unknown face of Rumi – Sufism and Spiritual Consumerism in the West (mycaravanofdreams.com)
- Ibn Arabi on Love. Follow up to The unknown face of Rumi – Sufism and Spiritual Consumerism in the West 3 (mycaravanofdreams.com)
- Sufism and Dream – A post from the Technology of the Heart and en from Love is a Fire by Llewellyn Vaughan Lee (mycaravanofdreams.com)
Thanks Dave – I love this story!