قندیل ہدایت

قندیل ہدایت — Page 422

422 of 1460 The Natural Philosophy Of AhleSunant Wal Jamaat www۔nafseislam۔com Apostle was referring to his bodily eyes whereas in saying the contrary he was referring to his spiritual eye۔Since 'A'isha was a formalist and Ibn 'Abbas a spiritualist, the Apostle spoke with each of them according to their insight۔Junayd said: "If God should say to me, 'Behold Me,' 1 should reply, 'I will not behold Thee,' because in love the eye is other (than God) and alien: the jealousy of otherness would prevent me from beholding Him۔Since in this world I was wont to behold Him without the mediation of the eye, how should I use such mediation in the next world?" "Truly, I envy mine eye the sight of Thee, And I close mine eye when I look on Thee۔Junayd was asked: "Do you wish to see God?" He said: "No۔" They asked why۔He answered: "When Moses wished, he did not see Him, and when Muhammad did not wish, he saw Him۔" Our wishing is the greatest of the veils that hinder us from seeing God, because in love the existence of self-will is disobedience, and disobedience is a veil۔When self-will vanishes in this world, contemplation is attained, and when contemplation is firmly established, there is no difference between this world and the next۔Abu Yazid says: "God has servants who would apostatize if they were veiled from Him in this world or in the next," i۔e۔He sustains them with perpetual contemplation and keeps them alive with the life of love; and when one who enjoys revelation is deprived of it, he necessarily becomes an apostate۔Dhu '1-Nun says: "One day, when I was journeying in Egypt, I saw some boys who were throwing stones at a young man۔I asked them what they wanted of him۔They said: 'He is mad۔' I asked how his madness showed itself, and they told me that he pretended to see God۔I turned to the young man and inquired whether he had really said this۔He answered: 'I say that if I should not see God for one moment, I should remain veiled and should 432 www۔nafseislam۔com