Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 419
24 September 1905 419 the name of the state when the external and internal senses are suspended from their routine functions due to the cloudiness of the consciousness that prevails over the mind. Thus, when the dream requires suspension of the senses, then the knowledge, discrimination, and observation that a person obtains through the senses does not survive in the dream due to the suspension of the senses, because when the senses are suspended due to the dominance of clouded con- sciousness, then this function is inevitably impaired. Then, on account of this impairment, the person cannot know whether he is dreaming or he is awake. But there is another state that the arb a b-e- t alab [devout seekers] and a sha b-e-sul u k [spiritual way- farers] sometimes get to enjoy and savour, and that is that due to constant meditation, concentration, overwhelming passion and dominance of love, a state of dullness of senses comes over them, which is not due to the fogginess dominating the mind, but is only caused by predominance of the dhikr [remembrance of God] and shuh u d [vision of God]. In this state, since the impairment of senses is very mini- mal, in this respect, the person is aware how awake he is and is not in a dream state. Moreover, he retains awareness about his location and all its details; that is, he continues to recognize the house where he is. He even hears people’s voices and sees the entire house with his own eyes. There is only a slight degree of unconsciousness due to a hidden influence. What a person perceives in the dream state as his wakefulness in his dream, that knowledge is not through the senses, but the source of this knowledge is only the soul. The second question of yours is whether the knowledge of God remains or not in ِ ل َا ص ِ َو ْ ل ُ ا ۃ َ ی َا ھ َـ ن َ و ِّ ج ََوَا م ْ ل ُ ا ۃ َ ی َا ُغ ْ ی ِ ْن ْ ع َ ا َتم ا ِ آء َ ْن َ ِف ِ ل َا ص ِ َو ْ ل ُ ا ۃ َ ی َا ھ َـ ن َ و ِّ ج ََوَا م ْ ل ُ ا ۃ َ ی َا ُغ ْ ی ِ ْن ْ ع َ ا َتم ا ِ آء َ ْن َ ِف [ fan a’i - i-attum a‘n i gh a yatuhul-maw a jji wa nah a yatul-wi sa l ]. First of all, it should be understood that َتم ا ِ ء ا ِفْن َتم ا ِ ء ا ِفْن [ fan a’i -i-attum — complete self annihilation] is not the name of ٍ ل َا ص ِ و ُ ن ْ ی َ ع ٍ ل َا ص ِ و ُ ن ْ ی َ ع [‘ a i nu