The reason for the creation of all existence is human. The reason for human existence is the knowing of God. The trust that Allah indicates that man has taken on is also the knowing of God. The power to carry the burden of trust has been given to man. The more a person has a share of religion, the more the knowing of God he has. He who does not have a share of religion has no share of the knowledge of God.

From the marriage of soul and body, children of heart and self are born. The heart man stays with his spirit father, while the self daughter stays with his body mother. All praised spiritual and lofty attributes are in the heart, while all condemned attributes are in the self. In a hadith, our Prophet says: "Know well that there is a piece of meat in the human body. If this piece of meat is good, the whole body is good. If it is corrupted, the whole body is corrupted. That piece of meat is the heart.”

Our Prophet Hz. Muhammed (pbuh) is like a human heart according to other prophets. The heart is the essence of human existence. Because the place where the light of the soul emerges in a person is the heart. The heart is an organ in the human body. However, it has a feature that other human organs do not have. This is the life. Life reaches other organs with this vitalty in the heart. Blood vessels exit the heart and carry this elixir of life to all cells. Medical instruments cannot detect and see this elixir of life. Because this elixir of life belongs to the heavenly realm. The image of the heart is made of the essence of the material world. The vitality in the heart is obtained from the essence of the spirit realm. The vitality of the heart is made of a charm (pleasure, beauty) found in the human soul.

Thus, the heart became the summary of the two physical and spiritual realms and the knowing of God appeared in the heart. The following verse points to this: "Allah has written faith in their hearts" (Mujadela, 58/22). As all organs are dependent on the heart in terms of the knowing of God, all other prophets also refer to Hz. Muhammed (pbuh) in terms of prophethood. For this reason, our Prophet said: "If Moses (pbuh) and Jesus (pbuh) were alive, they would do nothing but follow me." For this reason, it was during the time of our Prophet that religion attained perfection.

The perfection of religion comes from the perfection of affection. “God will bring a society that He loves and that loves Him” (The Table, 5/54). The society in this verse ​​is this ummah. Our Prophet, who represents the heart in man, completed this perfection. He became “Habibullah/God's beloved” and the last of the prophets. For this reason, those who want to perfect their religion and reach the level of being loved (beloved) should put their head on the path of following him. This situation is described in the following verse: "(My Prophet) Say: If you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you." (Ali Imran, 3/31)

When Islam came as a religion representing the perfection of religion, other religions were cancelled. For this reason, the Prophet (pbuh) said: “Adam and the other prophets will be under my banner on the Day of Judgment. But there is no boast in that.” However, the shares of all beings in the world are from him, “(My Messenger!) We have sent you only as a mercy to the worlds” (The Prophet, 21/107). However, our Prophet said, "My existence is poverty, my wealth and pride is poverty”. Accordingly, our Prophet is not proud of his superiority, but of his poverty. The reason for this is that the way of our Prophet and those who follow him is the way of love and affection. This path can only be walked in absence. However, superiority, guidance, prophecy are all existence.

Necmeddin-i Dâye (ks) states the following in one of his poems:

It is such a path that no one but the lightest can walk,

If you haven't diminished, don't ever take that road.

Even if they kill you a hundred times on this road,

Do not demand retaliation for the blood spilled there.

 

The Heart of Man is Like the Throne (The Highest Heaven)

The human heart is at the level of the Throne according to the world. The Throne is the place where the attribute of the most merciful will appear in the great world. The heart, in the small world, is the place of manifestation of the spiritual attribute. The Throne is not aware of this occupation and does not have the ability to progress. But on the other hand, there is consciousness in the heart and it is suitable for progress.

One side of the throne is towards the realm of the heavens and the other side is towards the realm of bodies. Allah's help reaches the realm of bodies with the attribute of Rahman. When the work of the abudance of the attribute of Rahman wants to reach the realm of bodies, the object that accepts this is the Throne. This blessing reaches the objects in the amount of their abilities from the Throne. The universe continues to exist with the continuation of these blessings and the arrival of aids. If these revelations stop even for a moment, nothing can continue to exist.

The same is true for the human heart. In the heart, there are both physical and spiritual realms. Blessing which reaches the heart from the soul, is divided here and reaches every limb. Each limb gets its share of its own amount. If the help of this inspiration coming from the heart is to be cut off, the body becomes inoperable and loses its life. If there is a blockage in one of the vessels where the efflux of blessing reaches the organs, that organ loses its mobility as there will be an interruption in the efflux flow.

Accordingly, it is understood that the heart in the small world is as the Throne in the big world. But there is a difference between them. The heart has a consciousness in accepting the blessing that comes to it from the soul. But there is no such consciousness in the Throne. The blessing of the soul reaches the heart as an adjective and endows the heart with life, knowledge and intelligence. Thus, the heart realizes with them. However, the enlightenment that reaches the Throne is not with the attribute, but with power and action. Things that are the work of action and power in the Throne reach beings and ensure that they remain to survive. However, the attributes of God, such as life and knowledge, do not appear here.

 

Heart's Mirror

The wise man’s heart is a mirror. The heart is the veil between the soul and the nafs (self). Therefore, the mirror of the heart has two sides. The meaning of two sides is the soul and the nafs. Everything that is found in detail in the universe, the biggest realm, is also found in human in summary form. When the heart of the human being, who is a small realm, is polished and illuminated with light, it becomes a mirror to the universe. Thus, everything that exists in detail in the universe, is revealed in it. Because through polish and enlightenment, the carrying volume and power of the heart are expanded. Thus, the effect of being small is eliminated. For this reason, the ratio of the heart to human is like the ratio of human to the universe in terms of detail and summary. When the small heart is polished and the darkness in it is removed, everything seen in a person is also seen in the heart as a mirror.

The heart is both narrow and wide, simple and vast, less and more. These features are not found in anything but in the heart. Nothing else has ever been created that has so many relations with its creator. Interesting signs about his Creator, which are not seen in other creatures, are seen in him. Therefore, in a sacred hadith, Allah Almighty says: "My earth and my sky do not contain Me, but the heart of My believing servant does."

The universe is the biggest mirror in which Allah's attributes are seen. However, no matter how many and detailed the contents are, they have no relationship with Allah. What is worthy of a relationship with Allah is the heart that is narrow and wide, simple and widespread, few and many. For this reason, when a perfect wise reaches this hard-to-reach station, he becomes the heart of all realms and manifestations. So he reached the Velayet-i Muhammediye and was honored with Mustafa's invitation. The course of obtaining this difficult blessing is achieved by completing the attraction paths in detail and step by step. Thus, the authorities of absence and perpetuity are gradually exceeded. This is only possible by following the way of Muhammad (pbuh). Allah's loving and choosing His servant is not dependent on any condition or reason. Allah does what He wills and gives whatever judgment He wills. “Allah chooses whom He wills with His mercy (He gives His mercy to whom He wills). God is the possessor of great bounty.” (Baqara, 2/105)

 

Purification of the Heart

Another feature of the heart is its ability to be purified through the Sufi path. The heart is purified by being trained and reaches perfection by turning to God and becomes a place where all divine attributes are manifested. Those who have purified and disciplined their hearts and attained perfection by following the Prophet (pbuh) dive into the light of God's Celal (glory) and Cemal (beauty) many times in the morning and evening and can endure these lights. However, when the great world came into contact with these lights, it was burned and pulled to pieces.

There is a copy of the heart in the form of a piece of meat. This piece of meat is also found in other creatures and animals. However, the human heart has a separate spiritual soul, which is not found in the hearts of animals. This soul is from the rank of pleasure, which is from the light of love. This soul is not found in every human being. Therefore, “There is indeed a lesson in this for the one who has a heart.” (Qaf, 50/37) was commanded. Whoever has this soul has become friends with Allah. This is the soul of the soul of our heart. Although every person has a soul that gives life to him in his heart, it may not be the soul of his soul that gives him the love of Allah. This is the true heart that is meant in the verse.

The heart has straightness and crookedness. The truth of the heart is that it is in purity, and if it is crooked, it is in blur. The purity of the heart is the feeling of being at peace, and the blurring of the heart is the feeling of sickness and infirmity.

Just as the human body has five senses, the heart has five senses. The heart perceives the whole unseen realm, the kingdom and the spirit with them. With the eye of the heart, he sees things in the unseen world. The heart hears the words of the people of the unseen and the truth with its ear. With the smell of the heart, it smells the unseen realm. With the taste of the heart, the pleasure of affection and the taste of faith are experienced. The equivalent of the sense of touch in the human body is the mind in the heart. With this mind, the heart receives the useful things of all beings. In some verses, "the reasoning of the heart" is mentioned.

The salvation of man depends on the soundness and health of these five senses of the heart. If these feelings are not sound, this person's heart will be broken and his body will be destroyed. In this sense, the following verse is stated in the Qur'an: "On that day, the only thing that will benefit a person will be a pure heart that he submits to Allah." (Shuara, 26/89)

Whoever has a diseased heart, for him there is torment. This situation is expressed in the following verse: “Many are the jinns and men We have made for Hell. They have hearts wherewith they understand not, eyes wherewith they see not, any ears wherewith they hear not” (The Heights, 7/179). Also, “They are deaf, dumb, blind. That's why they can't think." (Baqara, 2/171), “But the truth is that the eyes are not blind, but the hearts inside the breasts are blind.” (Hajj, 22/46) was commanded.

The philosophers did not consider it necessary to follow with the prophets and thought that they could cure some heart diseases with their minds, and thus they were wrong. For them, the mind is everything. Therefore, they did not feel obliged to obey the prophet. However, they did not know that beyond the mind, there are instruments such as the genuine heart, secret, spirit and hidden that are thousands of times more honorable for man than the mind. The mind cannot comprehend these tools and their training cannot be done with the mind. Even the mind is far from comprehending itself. There is a need for a doctor who has the right to treat people with diseases in their hearts with the laws of Sharia and show the truth. For, the eyes of foresight of these people of heresy are bound by the bond of indifference. For this reason, they are deprived of the shari'ah feature sent to the prophets. This is why they look at the Prophet with a cynical and contemptuous eye. These people are proud of their idleness, liking the view of their minds.

Tariqa sheikhs start by not changing one's morals, but by purging their heart. When the purification of the heart takes place, its ability to receive God's blessings increases. Receiving God's blessings changes many bad attributes of the soul. It is not possible to achieve these changes and improvements with a lifetime of struggle and prohibition. The first condition for the purification of the heart is to leave the world, to be isolated from the forms, to stay away from the people, to abandon the love of office and property that one naturally desires. This means that a person removes everything outside of God and everything he loves.

In this way, the heart brings it to the truth with dhikr and worship and with its trust in Allah. He reaches his health and purity. In this position, the heart becomes the place of manifestation of all the attributes of God. Attributes of God are of two kinds, namely grief and grace. As the manifestation of these two attributes, the heart is subject to the dispositions and changes that result from the appearance of these two attributes. This situation is expressed in the following hadith of our Prophet: "The heart of a believer is between the fingers of Rahman, He turns it in any direction He wants." The reason why merciful is pointed out here is that the heart is the place of attribute of the merciful. Since the heart is a vehicle for two realms consisting of the kingdom and the bodies, one side looks at the realm of the kingdom and the other side looks at the realm of bodies. While the face that faces the kingdom of heaven receives the inspiration of the light of the mind, the face that looks at the world of bodies conveys the works of the light that originates from the angelic things and the reasonable things to the self and body.

Islamic scholar Ibrahim Hakki (ks) from Erzurum writes in his book "Marifetname":

“The people of Allah have said: Allah looks at the heart of man. Purifying the heart from anything other than Allah is superior to any form of worship. The heart is the place to stand in front of Allah. The heart is the sultan of the body, the house of Allah. The heart is where divine knowing of God is written. The heart is the source of the human soul and a name for it. The heart is the source of faith, the station of knowing and understanding Allah. The heart is a mosque in need of repair. The heart of a believer is the place where the veins of knowing and loving Allah gather. If the heart is at ease, the senses are also joyful and healthy. The kiblah of a pure heart is Allah, and its custom is to submit to destiny.

There are three kinds of hearts: one waits for what is given, one waits for Allah's approval, and one waits for Him. The heart of the unbeliever is connected to the world, and the heart of the wise to Allah. May your heart be with God, let your body be with the people. People will fall from the eyes of those whose heart is filled with the love of God. The heart of man bears the attributes of God: Mercy, Justice, Grant… Since the heart of a believer carries every meaning and view of God with God's attributes and names, the flavor of the dough of love is superior to all material pleasures and bounties of the world.

The people of Allah said: Fasting of the stomach is avoiding eating and drinking, fasting of the tongue is avoiding unnecessary talk, fasting of the heart is avoiding thoughts, dreams and delusions. A heart that is purified from other than Allah and is filled with His love. He who finds the true ends the people. The body perceives the visible with its sense organs and the invisible world in the heart. The heart's eye sees the unseen (invisible) world, its ears hear its words, its nose smells its scent, its taste tastes its flavor, and thus it is immersed in the flavor of divine love. This state of the heart depends on the avoidance of the body organs from bad and harmful things. The heart that carries nothing but the love of Allah is the Throne and the Most Merciful. He is the sultan of the world, he is the heart of a wise and perfect man.”

Thoughts and recollections come to the mind and arise in the heart in two ways:

1) Directly from Allah without any instruments. These are born out of thinking and worship. It leads to goodness and guidance.

2) By angel, devil, nature. The one who comes with angel also brings goodness. But the delusion from the devil is hesitant and evil. If it comes from nature, it tends to self and lust. And this state is weakened only by the dhikr of Allah.

Thoughts and memories that come to the heart and come to the mind are good if they comply with the Shari'ah. When it is presented to the nafs, if the nafs is afraid of it for fear of truth, it is good, if its inclination is severe, it is evil.

 

Diseases and Protection of the Heart

The heart is the home of apprehension and worry, the place where mind and self collide. In order for the knowledge and love of Allah to reside in the heart, it is necessary to protect it from the delusions and desires of the self. Because good and bad memories flow into the heart every moment. To protect the heart, it should be open to the good ones and closed to the bad ones. In this way, guidance is gained and eternal peace is reached.

We can collect the diseases of the heart in four types: long-aspirations, hasteness, jealousy  and arrogance. These are the mother of sorrows to the mind and to the calamities that harm the heart. In order to get rid of these disasters, the soul must be equipped with the following virtues: Reduce your ambitions, do your work without haste, do not envy anyone, be humble towards the people and invite them to the right path.

God's mercy encompasses everything. One aspect of His mercy is that He creates the heart of His servant with mercy and makes it wider than His mercy. Because God is in the heart of the believer. As a matter of fact, the following is stated in a holy hadith: "The earth and sky could not fit Me, but the heart of My believing servant did."

Allah the Exalted has created hearts as rational, "Do they not have hearts by which they reason?" (Hajj, 22/46). The reason for this is that the servant can understand the divine address through his heart. While the mercy of Allah surrounds everything, the heart of the servant surrounds Him. Because God has said that He loves to be known. The requirement of love is to be known. For this purpose, Allah created the world, made known to them, and they also knew Himself. Accordingly, the creatures did not know Him by their own thoughts, but by His introducing Himself. This situation is “a sign for one who has a heart, listens and witnesses” (Qaf, 50/37).

Allah has made the heart of the servant His home. Because He made it the place of His knowing. The heart is the place of knowledge - not theoretical knowledge. By protecting the heart, Allah has protected it from being a place where someone else settles. Because He is jealous that there is a place other than His Lord will enter. Thus, it encompasses everything in the heart of the servant, because everything is God. In this case, the heart fits God. Therefore, whoever knows God in terms of His truth has learned everything. But he who knows anything is not considered to know God. You cannot know God with theoretical/theoretical thoughts. Knowing Allah is only possible through His declaration. Only a believer accepts Allah's message. An unbeliever does not accept Allah's message. Such a person may consider the given knowledge of God impossible. For this reason, they deny our Prophet and do not accept the revelation. These people impose the will of Allah. They are those who do not hear the divine address.

The wise man  sees everything in God. In this respect, God is an envelope that encompasses everything. Because everything except Allah is included in Time. Whoever sees something has seen it in God. He has seen the emergence of that thing from God. So God is the home of all beings, because He means existence. The heart of the servant is the house of God. Because the heart has fit God into it. However, it is the heart of the believer that is in question, not someone else's. Since wise man’s heart can fit God, he can fit everything. Because there is nothing but God. Therefore, the form of everything that exists is in the heart of the wise man, that is, in the heart of the servant who fits God.

Protection of the heart is the most important problem. God sees your heart and knows what's inside. The following is stated in a hadith: "Allah does not look at your face or body, but at your heart and intentions." Therefore, the most important command of religion is to cleanse the heart. Because the heart is a chief. If it is clean, all the organs connected to it will also be clean. The heart is the house of knowing Allah, of pure faith, of happiness in this world and in the hereafter, of knowledge and wisdom. It is necessary to protect and cleanse this house from ignorance, delusions, bad thoughts, sorrows and lustful passions. Only in this way can he be safe from disasters and sorrows, and will be filled with miracles and love of Allah.

The name of Allah is a fire that burns and wipes away all the evil in the hearts of those who repeat it. Allah is the Ism-i Azam (The biggest Name of Allah). It is the sum of all adjectives. This name destroys delusions, extinguishes minds, is the helper of the caller, a means of approaching Him. God knows His servant. It is closer to him than a blood vessel. Whoever loves Allah forgets anything other than Allah. Those who go to the way of Allah will find Him quickly. One who clings to His rope is quickly saved, and those who are under His protection are protected.

 

Knowing the Eye of the Heart

Allah Almighty says: "They are those who believe and whose hearts are satisfied with the remembrance of Allah" (The Thunder, 13/28). So this dhikr satisfies them. "Be careful! By remembering Allah, hearts are calmed” (The Thunder, 13/28). Hearts that remember Him with Him are satisfied because they are believers. It is impossible to stay in a certain state. Because the image of God does not allow for narrowing. Its expansion and opening take place through metamorphosis. God differs only in the truths of the possible things. They have no end. Therefore, there is no end to God's change and transformation from state to state. He is at work every moment.

Ibn Arabi (ks) states the following in his book Fütûhât-ı Mekkiyye:

“The eye is a tool, and what is seen is perceived by the power of seeing. The power of seeing is truth, and you see through God. He who sees something knows it, and when he knows it, he finds peace in it. Since man constantly sees metamorphosis, his knowledge is also continuous. Because of this, he becomes satisfied and finds peace. The one who sees the metamorphosis looks at the traces of his Lord in his heart, in the positions where he has placed him or in the matters that he has given him and attracted his attention outside of himself. Every breath that has this authority is in a new knowledge. While he is in a continuous creation, others are veiled from that creation. Allah ordered the Prophet to say: "My God! Increase my knowledge” (Taha, 20/114). That is, remove the confusion and ambiguity that has come between me and reality due to the renewal of creation. Otherwise, this situation takes place in existence and causes me to miss many good things that I am not aware of. Curtain means similarity and resemblance. If this were not so, “re-creation” would not seem ambiguous to anyone; whereas re-creation takes place in the realm with every breath and every work. Those who are aware of this continuous renewal in the realm are those who accept that the realm is renewed at each time unit.”

The eye of the heart sees the outward, the inward, the first and the last state of God in the states of the realm. Even if the names are multiplied, the one named is the only one.

Ibn Arabi states the following about this mysterious subject in his book Fütûhât-ı Mekkiyye:

“When Allah has determined a place for me, that place is for Him. I hear with Him, I see with Him, my heart fits Him. When He sets me a place, He settles there, and I place Him there. He hides me from His creatures with His identity. He is outward, and I hide under His cover. When He hears by means He hears with me and sees with me. I hear with Him, I see with Him. He is with me in supererogatory, because He is the original, I am the addition; because I am the outward appearance of the image. I am in Him with the binding duty. He hears with me, He sees with me.”

On this subject, Ibn Arabi says the following poem:

If God has an ear, the person is the God who hears, not the servant.

If God has an eye, the person is the God who sees, not the servant.

Transfiguration changes, but eye one,

It's worth the effort for a job like this.

 

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Wisdom and Secrets of the Heart

Publication Date :  30.06.2021

El Hûb - The Love