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Emerald Hills of the Heart EMERALD HILLS OF THE HEART Key Concepts in the Practice of Sufism 2 EMERALD HILLS OF THE HEART Key Concepts in the Practice of Sufism 2 M. Fethullah Gülen Translated by Ali Ünal New Jersey Copyright © 2011 by Tughra Books Copyright © 2011 by Işık Yayınları 14 13 12 11 3 4 5 6 First published 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the Publisher. Published by Tughra Books 345 Clifton Ave., Clifton, NJ, 07011, USA www.tughrabooks.com For other titles by Gülen http://fgulen.org Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data for the first edition: Gulen, M. Fethullah (Muhammed Fethullah), [Kalbin zümrüt tepelerinde. English] Key concepts in the practice of Sufism / M. Fethullah Gulen. [Virginia] : Fountain, 2000. Includes index. ISBN 1-932099-23-9 1. Sufism - - Doctrines. I. Title. BP189.3 .G8413 2000 297.4 - - dc21 00-008011 ISBN (paperback): 978-1-932099-75-1 ISBN (hardcover): 978-1-932099-77-5 Printed by Çaðlayan A.Þ. Izmir, Turkey Ta ble of Con tents A Voice of Compassion and Love ..............................................vii Su fism and Its Or i gin .................................................................xv The Heart and Some of Its Dy nam ics ..........................................1 Ri ya da (Aus ter i ty) ........................................................................ 3 Hur ri ya (Free dom) ....................................................................... 6 I’thar (Altruism) ........................................................................ 10 Ad ab (Man ner li ness) .................................................................. 13 ‘Ilm (Knowl edge) ....................................................................... 18 Hik ma (Wis dom) ....................................................................... 26 Fir a sa (Dis cern ment) ................................................................ 31 Wajd and Ta wa jud (Ec sta sy and Will ful Rap ture) ..................... 35 Dah sha and Hay man (Amaze ment and Stu por) ........................ 39 Barq (Light ning) ........................................................................ 44 Zawq and ‘At ash (Pleas ure and Thirst) ...................................... 47 Qal aq (Pas sion) .......................................................................... 52 Ghay ra (En deav or) .................................................................... 56 Walaya (Saint hood) .................................................................... 60 Sir (Se cret) ................................................................................. 66 Ghur ba (Sep a ra tion) .................................................................. 70 Ight ir ab (Dou bled Sep a ra tion) ................................................... 76 Is tigh raq (Im mer sion) ................................................................ 79 Ghay ba (Ab sence) ..................................................................... 85 Waqt (Time) ............................................................................... 88 Sa fa (Pu ri ty) ............................................................................... 93 Sur ur (Re joic ing) ....................................................................... 98 Emerald Hills of the Heart Vol. 2 Tal win and Tam kin (Col or ing and Self-Pos ses sion) ................. 103 Mu kashafa (Dis clo sure) ........................................................... 108 Mus ha ha da (Ob ser va tion) ....................................................... 112 Ta ja lli (Man i fes ta tion) ............................................................. 115 Hay ah (Life) .............................................................................121 Sakr and Sahw (In tox i ca tion and So bri e ty) ............................. 125 Fasl and Wasl (Part ing and Re un ion) ...................................... 131 Ma‘ri fa (Knowl edge of God) ...................................................135 Fa na fi’llah (An ni hi la tion in God) .......................................... 145 Baqa bi’llah (Sub sist ence by God) .......................................... 156 Tah qiq (Ver i fi ca tion) ................................................................ 161 Tal bis (Self-Con ceal ment) ....................................................... 166 Wu jud (Find ing and Ex is tence) ................................................171 Taj rid (Iso la tion) ...................................................................... 191 Ta frid (In di vid u al i ty) ................................................................ 194 Jam‘ (Ab sorp tion) ................................................................... 199 Farq (Dis tin guish ing) .............................................................. 206 Ta whid (Uni ty) .......................................................................... 210 Yaq a da (Wake ful ness) .............................................................. 223 Mu ja ha da (Striv ing) ................................................................. 226 Che la (Suf fer ing) ..................................................................... 230 Soh ba and Mus a ha ba (Con ver sa tion and Com mun ion) .......... 238 Sayr u Su luk (Jour ney ing and In i ti a tion) ................................. 244 Der vish ..................................................................................... 263 Sa lik (In i ti ate) ........................................................................... 270 An oth er Way of Jour ney ing and In i ti a tion ............................... 276 The Dis tance betweenTwo Bows or Nearer .............................287 The Uni ver sal Man .................................................................. 289 Bibliography ............................................................................ 303 In dex ........................................................................................ 307 A Voice of Compassion and Love nown for his sim ple and aus tere life style, Muhammed Fet hul lah Gülen, af fec tion ate ly called Hod jae fen di, is a K schol ar of re mark a ble pro por tions. He was born in Er zu- rum, east ern Tur key, in 1941. Up on grad u a tion from di vin i ty school, he ob tained his li cense to preach and teach. His so cial re form ef forts, be gun dur ing the 1960s, have made him one of Tur key’s most well-known and re spect ed pub lic fig ures. His tire- less ded i ca tion to solv ing so cial prob lems and sat is fy ing spir it u al needs have gained him nu mer ous read ers and lis ten ers through out the world. Though sim ple in out ward ap pear ance, he is orig i nal in thought and ac tion. He em bra ces all hu man i ty, and is deep ly averse to un be lief, in jus tice, and de vi a tion. His be lief and feel- ings are pro found, and his ideas and ap proach to prob lems are both wise and ra tion al. A liv ing mod el of love, ar dor, and feel- ing, he is ex traor di na ri ly bal anced in his thoughts, acts, and treat ment of mat ters. He is ac knowl edged, ei ther tac it ly or ex plic it ly, by many in tel lec tu als and schol ars both in Turkey and abroad as one of the most se ri ous and im por tant think ers and writers, and among the wis est ac tiv ists of the twen ti eth and twenty-first cen tu ries’ Muslim world or even the whole world. But such ac co lades do not de ter him from striv ing to be no more than a hum ble ser vant of God and a friend to all. “De sire for fame is the same as show and os ten ta tion, a poi son ous hon ey, that ex tin guish es the heart’s spir it u al live li ness” is one of the gold en rules he fol lows. Gülen has spent his adult life voic ing the cries and la ments, as well as the be lief and as pi ra tions, of Mus lims in par tic u lar, and of hu man i ty in gen er al. He is able to bear his own sor rows, viii Emerald Hills of the Heart Vol. 2 but those of oth ers crush him. He feels each blow de liv ered to hu man i ty as de liv ered first to his own heart. He feels him self so deep ly and in ward ly con nect ed to cre a tion that he once said: “When ev er I see a leaf fall from its branch in au tumn, I feel as much pain as if my arm had been am pu tat ed.” Fet hul lah Gülen and His Mis sion Gülen completed his ed u ca tion and began teaching in Ed irne in 1958. He was also ac tive in re li gious and so cial serv i ces. Aft- er do ing his mil i tary serv ice and teach ing for some time more in Ed irne, he was trans ferred to Iz mir, which proved to be a turn- ing-point in his life. It was dur ing this time that his to tal ded i ca- tion to re li gious life and his in ter est in the gen er al hu man con di- tion be came ap par ent. While in Iz mir, he be gan to trav el from city to city to speak on sub jects ran ging from Dar win ism to so cial jus tice in Is lam, and to vis it pla ces where peo ple gath ered to con vey his mes sage. Ap plaud the good for their good ness; ap pre ci ate those who have be liev ing hearts; be kind to the be liev ers. Ap proach un be liev ers so gen tly that their en vy and ha tred melt away; like a Mes si ah, re vive peo ple with your breath. Gülen dreamed of a gen er a tion that would com bine in tel lec - tu al “en light en ment” with pure spir it u al i ty, wis dom, and con tin- u ous ac tiv ism. Be ing no ta bly knowl edge a ble in re li gious
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