Kitab al-Ma’ârif the Skills of Soul Rapture a Disclosure of Wisdom for our Time Sultan Valad 1226-1312 Son of Jalal ad-Din Rumi 2 Table of Contents Introduction – 5 Introduction Sultan Valad - 9 Action - 12 Friends of God - 15 Essence and Form - 26 The Man of God - 46 Soul - 50 Creation - 60 Spring, Paradise, Hell - 69 Victory - 72 Master and Disciple - 75 Die Before You Die - 83 The Caliph of God - 94 Heart - 101 Inner Meaning - 107 Know Yourself - 112 Justice - 124 Like Attracts Like - 130 Veils of the Worldly Means - 133 Humility - 139 Judgment - 149 You Are What You Seek - 157 Touchstone - 173 The Alchemy of Mercy – 180 Scholars - 185 Inner being – 189 Thoughts - 194 Microcosm and Macrocosm - 198 3 On Recognizing the Master - 201 The Container and the Contained - 207 Service - 209 Knowledge - 211 Visions - 213 Impiety and Faith - 218 Poems of Sultan Valad – 227 The Eternal Spring - 237 4 - Introduction Sultan Valad (1226-1312) was the son of Jalal ad-Din Rumi. Jalal ad-Din Rumi was born in Balkh in Khorasan in 1207. Rumi was himself the son of an eminent teacher, Baha-ud-Din Valad, who was also called “the Sultan of the scholars”. It is in his memory that his grandson, Sultan Valad, was also called Baha-ud-Din. In 1219, Rumi’s father had to flee from Khorasan because of the Mongol invasion. The family ended up settling down in Anatolia, at Konya, capital of the Seljuk Empire. This is where Jalal ad-Din Rumi succeeded to his father as the head of a theology college. He taught there until his death in 1273. Jalāl ad-Dīn Rumi composed a considerable work, which includes the Mathnawi, the Diwan of Shams of Tabriz, Ruba’iyat, and Fihi-ma-fihi. Fihi-ma-fihi is a series of conversations of Rumi with his disciples and friends that was collected by Sultan Valad. This book was originally called Maarif, which literally translates as Gnosis of better The Skill of Soul’s Rapture. It is a Persian prose work in a style approaching the spoken language and containing accounts of Sulṭān Walad's thoughts and words. It is composed of lectures given to his students explaining and reflecting his father’s material. The tone and material is very much like his father’s material collected in Fihi-ma-fihi, but Maarif is less spontaneous, more elaborate, more explicit and less dense. Its form is less diversified as it includes only a few interlocutors, discussions and questions. It is obvious that, in Kitab al-Maarif, Sultan Valad reflected on his father’s teaching and expanded on what he thought to be especially important. It is also interesting to note that Maarif was also the title of the book by Sultan Valad’s grandfather - who was his namesake. This book was recently 5 translated into English under the title The Drowned Book: Ecstatic and Earthy Reflections of Bahauddin, the Father of Rumi by Coleman Barks and John Moyne. Nobody was able to transmit the essence of Rumi’s teaching better than Sultan Valad. He was not only Rumi’s elder son; he was also his dearest confidant. From six years old he would attend Rumi’s meetings with disciples. When people desired a favor from Rumi, they would ask Sultan Valad to be their intercessor. In his various writings and lectures, Valad ciphered many of cryptic symbols of his father’s behavior, actions, hints and indications. He also explained many of his father’s mysteries. This was carried out throughout his life in the forms of prose, poetry and discourses for his disciples. Valad was also familiar with Shams Tabrizi (Rumi’s beloved mentor) and used to associate with him regularly. It is said that one day Rumi was speaking to his visitors about Moses’ stick. According to the Koran, the stick swallowed up the creations of the Pharaoh’s magicians, while the length of the stick neither augmented nor decreased by a single atom. Rumi asked, “How could I explain this incomparable parable so people can understand it?” And, turning toward Sultan Valad, he asked him to comment on the verse. Sultan Valad bowed and said, “This parable is like a man who has an extremely big palace that is in complete darkness. Suddenly, someone brings a torch and its presence lights up the palace. The torch neither diminishes nor augments, but the darkness disappears.” Rumi congratulated him and said he was delighted with the answer. Once Rumi told his son, “O Bahâ-ud-Dîn, my coming into this world happened to prepare yours; for all the words I say are discourses, but you, you are my action.” 6 The text of the original Maarif is taken from the Persian collection by Najib Mayel Heravi, who compared, collected, and compiled five different editions of the book. The version that we used is the smallest in size of the 5 editions, and has the most in common with all of the other versions. The French and Spanish translations have also been used in the preparation of the present edition. Every effort has been made to preserve, in its unattainable form, the teaching that it contains. In Sufism, ma'rifa describes the mystical intuitive knowledge of spiritual truth, or better the skill of soul “rapture”achieved through ecstatic experiences, rather than revealed or rationally acquired. A seeker of ma'rifa is called 'arif', the one who "knows". In one of the earliest accounts of the Maqamat-l arba'in ("forty stations") in Sufism, sufi master Abu Said ibn Abi'l-Khayr ma'rifa lists as the 25th station: "By all creatures of the two worlds, and through all people, they see Allah, and there is no accusation of their perception. " Marifat is one of the 'four doors' of Sufism: Sharia: legal path. Tariqa: methodical-esoteric path. Ma'rifa: soul rapture, mystical knowledge, consciousness. Haqiqa: mystical truth / truth. A metaphor for explaining the meaning of ma'rifa is to collect the pearl. Shari'a is the boat; tariqa is represented by the rowing of the pearlman; haqiqa is the pearl; and ma'rifa is the ability to see the difference between real and false pearls. 7 8 - Introduction of Sultan Valad Bismillah ir Rahman ir Rahim In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All the Prophets and Saints are known and distinguished by virtue of the miracles and prodigies that they perform. The Sages and the Seekers of Truth say that God has bestowed a specific grace upon each one of them. What He has granted to one, He has not granted to another. He has given to each a different dominion, a separate world. My grandfather used to say that each Prophet was capable of performing any miracle, and that they possessed all powers. But God conceded to each one an Attribute according to the needs of the moment to satisfy a specific need or desire. For instance, a sage may know medicine, astronomy and other sciences: but when he treats a patient, we cannot affirm that he only knows the art of medicine. According to the circumstances he will show one aspect of his knowledge that he has mastered. Or, if a person who is concurrently an expert goldsmith, cobbler and tailor is sewing garments, we cannot say that he only knows that specific craft. Or still, if a river powers a water-mill, a sensible person would not say that it is the only function of the river; it is capable of many other things such as washing clothes, refreshing, 9 turning gardens green again, and contributing to the growth of plants and flowers. But in that specific instance, it is necessary to move the wheel of the mill; and in a garden or field it could be seen to provide other services. Therefore, each Prophet is capable of accomplishing any miracle, but he performs miracles and prodigies according to the needs of his people. The prophets are manifestations and instruments of God. They are extinguished and annihilated in Him. Through them God shows everything. Therefore, how is it possible to assert that God is not capable of doing everything? God is the active principle; the Prophets are like a pen in the hand of the writer. Each mark that the pen draws is, in fact, written by the writer. They are like the bow and the arrow. It is not the bow that shoots the arrow, but the archer. That is why God, the Most High, has said: “When you slew, it was not you who slew, but God.” God is literally saying: “Mohammad, that arrow that you shot, it is Us who shot it not you. Everything you do is by the commandment and mandate of God. What then is your role? Since it is Us who Act and everything is done through Our Desire and Will, he who fights and struggles against you, fights and struggles against Us; he who follows you and acts upon your commands and manifests friendship and love for you, has done those things toward Us.” 10 11 - Action Someone said, “The most important is action; words are not important.” I said, “I too would like to find someone who knows what action is and can see, so that I can show him action.” Now, you like words. One can converse with you since you are not a man of action. How could you comprehend what action is? As action you only understand prayers, fasting, reading spiritual texts, pilgrimage, alms, meditation, and devotion. But all these are not action.