The master's gift, the disciple's receptivity
Contents
The Kitab al-Ibriz, or ‘the book of pure gold’, recounts the spiritual teaching and the biography of the Moroccan spiritual master ’Abd al-’Aziz al-Dabbagh. This work, written by Ibn Mubarak al-Lamti, one of the disciples of the great seventeenth-century Sufi, gives precious light on the deep meaning of Muslim esotericism and the profound reality of initiation in Islam through Sufism.
Reading this work, which I had the good fortune to translate, sheds light on the foundations and the mystery of the relation of deep love that develops between a disciple and his spiritual guide. It is a matter neither of idolatry nor of friendship in the common sense, but of what draws the seeker of truth towards the Absolute, through a human being who has returned to the source of all things.
The spiritual guide is indeed a realised being, as is perceived in this quotation through the proofs of a knowledge come from the heart:
‘Know that our shaykh is extraordinary and that his case is out of the ordinary. The likes of him have no need of miraculous demonstrations, because he himself, in his entirety, is a miracle. He pours forth sciences that would wear out the spiritual stallions, and in doing so he gives demonstrations in keeping with reason and tradition, though he was illiterate, did not know the Qur’an by heart and could not be described as someone who applied himself to any science whatsoever. Never was he seen in a study session, in his youth or in adulthood.’
The shaykh’s mission is also to bring the disciple to the degree of sincerity; his deep knowledge of human nature and his own experience of spiritual wayfaring irrigate the teaching he dispenses to his disciples:
‘When I met our shaykh, my heart was preoccupied with the things of this lower world, such as ploughing, trade and other things of that kind. To such a point that I was in a state of sorrow and weariness. The lower world was the goal, and the other no more than a dream. I was among those to whom God had granted some knowledge; I was preparing to join the community of notaries, or to follow the path of the magistracy. God showed me mercy when I met the shaykh. He purified my heart through the shaykh’s blessing and the efficacy of his method. When I met him and placed myself in his hands, and he saw what deep ill was in me, he ordered me to sell the plough oxen I possessed and to do such and such with them. He mentioned for me something that is not contrary to lawful toil, when in truth he wanted to erase it from my heart. God! how judicious that guide was! and how good his method! He would move me away from any bad state without my being aware of it, until I found myself in a better state and the bad first step appeared plainly with its darkness. Such was this great master’s habit with me and with all the disciples. If he finds you in a bad state, he does not tell you outright to leave that thing, nor does he rebuke you for it, nor threaten you should you not leave it, for perhaps the soul would refuse and be driven to disobedience; but he is compassionate towards you and comforts you in your state in a certain manner. Then he initiates you little by little, until you find yourself in a new state and abhor, with happiness and joy, your former state. When he ordered me to sell the oxen, I remained so for a few days, and God washed my heart of the love of farming; more than that, I came to detest it. He then ordered me to sell all the books I possessed, and to do with them something my heart would love and my soul rejoice in. After that, I knew covetousness of people and envied what they possessed. Then he raised me to the point where I no longer observed in people either good or ill, still less coveted them.’
Thus the spiritual guide’s education is very different from a learning through reason. It is an accompaniment moved by a heart-to-heart relation, which brings about a turning of the soul back upon itself, a return to oneself that allows one to perceive the contours of the ego and its mechanisms.
Does initiation still exist?
In His infinite mercy, there will never be an era during which God deprives men of a possibility of return towards Him, and hence of initiation. A doctor of the Law asked the shaykh whether it was true that spiritual initiation no longer existed. He formulated his question thus:
‘It has been reported that Shaykh Zarruq said that spiritual initiation, in its conventional content, no longer exists, and that only initiation through the inner breath and the ecstatic state (hal) remains. Does this apply only to his era, or is it valid until the descent of our lord Jesus? If you say it has been interrupted, tell us why; and if you affirm that it still exists, who is the master deserving of being given the aspirant’s spirit, so that he may act according to his will?’
Shaykh ’Abd al-’Aziz al-Dabbagh replied that the aim of spiritual initiation is the purification of the being and its deliverance from its frivolities, so that it may contain God’s secrets.
This can only be done by ridding it of darknesses, and by removing from its direction the bonds of vanity. In the case of the believers of Islam’s three best centuries, the purification of the being came directly from God, without intermediary, at the origin of its nature.
Thus, during the first three centuries, spiritual initiation was not necessary. The master would meet his aspirant, the heir of his secret, speak into his ear, and the aspirant would know illumination with that alone, for beings were pure and reasons clear, thirsting for fulfilment.
Later on, the master’s efforts and his intervention became necessary in order to eliminate the darknesses from the aspirant’s body. This began after the three best centuries, for reasons became attached to this lower world; and the master who possesses inner vision, seeing that his aspirant’s reason, the heir of his secret, was attached to the false and to the satisfaction of passions, could prescribe retreat for him, spiritual recollection, so that he cut himself off from falsehoods, which are counted among the dead.
Indeed, if the aspirant attains that purity, that clarity, his being becomes capable of containing the secret: this is what the masters expect of spiritual initiation.
Things remained so until truth became mixed with falsehood, and light with darkness. The people of falsehood then began to educate those who came to them, putting them into retreats and initiating them into the divine names, animated by bad intentions and designs contrary to the truth.
To this they added initiation into magical formulae and dubious practices belonging to charlatanism, which lead to incurring the wrath of God Most High and His stratagems. This grew in the times experienced by Shaykh Zarruq and his masters; it seemed necessary to them to advise people to renounce that initiation, in which the number of falsifiers had become too great. Their words amounted to counsel and warning: they did not want to break definitively with true spiritual initiation.
As for which master deserves to be given the aspirant’s spirit so that he may act according to his will, it is the one who knows the spiritual states of the Prophet and has been gratified by God with perfect faith and pure knowledge. His love is recommended and frequenting him is profitable, for he unites the servant and his Lord.
Love, source of the relation
The life-giving source of this master-to-disciple relation is unquestionably love. But what makes the difference is indeed the degree of the disciple’s love for his guide:
‘Were it not for the purity of the disciple’s being, the clarity of his reason, his soul’s acceptance of the good and the love that draws him, the master could do nothing. If it were the master’s love that was profitable, all those who became his pupils would arrive, and would attain what the men have attained.’
If there are few authentic educating masters in our time, true disciples are rarer still, such is the darkening of our world. It is difficult to become a disciple. That is why, in these times of obscuration, the living path has adapted.
Ordeals are no longer required, the world is already an ordeal, and the mere fact of setting out in quest is a form of sincerity that will have to grow firm through the practice of invocation. To this master who gives ceaselessly, one must know how to bring determination, patience, assiduity, unfailing doggedness.
Thus the guide watches over each disciple’s wayfaring. He watches over the blossoming of the state of discipleship, an indispensable prerequisite for receiving the lights of the secret:
‘I watch over the wayfaring of each disciple. I know what is inside him and outside him, but I cover it and protect him until he progresses and travels from one degree to another’ (Sidi Hamza al-Qadiri al-Boutchichi).
Zakia Zouanat
Further reading
- Finding a Sufi master in France: how to approach a path in practice
- The state of discipleship
- The spiritual guide on the Sufi path
