Tasawwuf and Character Building
SECTION 2
CHAPTER 14
ISM -e ZAHIR wal BATIN
MEDITATION OF THE DIVINE NAMES
THE MANIFEST AND THE HIDDEN
After the circles of love, the meditation of the Divine Names, The Manifest, The Hidden is taught. The following four names of ALLAH,or the four Divine qualities are like the basic pillars of knowledge and cognition. Awwalo Wal Akhiro Waz Zahiro Wal Batin (The First, The Last, The Manifest and The Hidden). The words repeated during the meditation are the same: Howal Awwalo Wal Akhiro Waz Zahiro Wal Batin. (He is The First, The Last, The Manifest and The Hidden). (57:2).
Think about your own self. You have a beginning, you have an end, you have an outward appearance and an inner self. Not only you but the whole universe and everything in it has a beginning and an end, an outward appearance and an inner self But the fact that ALLAH is the Beginning means ALLAH is the First before anything or anyone and the fact of His being the End means there is no one after Him. We cannot establish any limits for Him to be the First or the Last as ALLAH is beyond any limits. He is always and shall always be.
The Divine quality of being ‘The Manifest’ means, that ALLAH is Over-Powering and is Predominant over everything and this quality proves His Greatness and Magnificence. ‘The Hidden’ means the closeness ALLAH has with each and everything. He is closer than their very self. His being the first proves that He was always there and His being the last proves His immortality. The Divine Name of ‘The Manifest’ shows His Greatness and Magnificence and the Divine Name ‘The Hidden’ proves His closeness to everything in the universe.
When the devotee meditates upon these two Divine Names of ALLAH ,‘The First and the Last’. The truth unfolds before him that everything is dependent upon ALLAH for its creation, and for its existence. Every creation has an end and will only live for a limited time and is not worth loving. When the devotee meditates upon the Divine Names of ‘The Manifest and the Hidden’ this fact reveals itself that the existence of everything proves the greatness of the Creator. From a small grain of sand to the burning sun, everything proves the fact that there is someone who has created all this. He is responsible for its existence and one day everything will face an end according to His Will. He is so hidden that no one can reach the truth. The great scholars of Islam state that these four Divine Names are the main pillars of spiritual knowledge and Divine closeness. The Sufis consider the names ‘The Manifest and the Hidden’ as strong wings with which the devotee can achieve strength for his flight towards the closeness of ALLAH.
The result of this meditation is that the devotee does not involve himself with material pleasures, but, moves forward on the path where he can achieve the love of ALLAH. A feeling of sincerity develops within him, and he cannot be deceived by outward appearances anymore. Self pride and self praise also start to vanish gradually. He feels that there is someone censoring within him. There is a secret monitor within him, so close that every move he makes, every desire that is born in his heart, every thought that enters his heart is being censored. The result is, his whole life changes in a way that whatever he does, he does for ALLAH’s pleasure. To achieve the love of ALLAH and His closeness becomes his goal in life. Therefore, his very existence becomes a blessing for the environment he lives in.
The illuminated circles of love which the devotee had felt earlier surrounding his latifa Nafs now illuminate his entire body. He feels the light illuminating his outward body, as well as his innerself and be feels totally absorbed in the Divine Light. Hadhrat Mujaddid Sarhandi (RUA) has elaborated upon the names ‘The Hidden and the Manifest’. He says:
The meditation of the name ‘The Hidden’ is a meditation about the concealed, and the meditation of the name ‘The Manifest’ is of the qualities without actually taking into consideration the Embodiment, whereas ‘The Hidden’ too is amongst the Divine Names, but its meditation involves bearing in mind the presence of an Embodiment. This Name is like a shield, which is amongst the many veils between the creation and the Creator. The word‘learning’ does not involve an embodiment but the adjective ‘learned’ involves someone who has knowledge, therefore the meditation of the word ‘learning’ is the meditation of ‘The Manifest’ and the meditation of the word ‘learned is the meditation of ‘The Hidden’. The relation of all the Divine Names and Attributes may be understood by this example.