Take counsel with the company of the righteous:
note the Divine command given to the Prophet, "Consult them."*
The words their affair is a matter for consultation are for this purpose;
through consultation mistakes and errors occur less often.
Human intellects are luminous like lamps;
twenty lamps are brighter than one.
There may happen to be among them
one lamp aflame with spiritual light,
for the jealousy of God sometimes lowers veils,
mingling the lofty with the low.
He has said, "Travel" **
seek your fortune in the world and reap its benefits.
In all gatherings seek among minds
the kind of intellect found in the Prophet,
for the heritage of the Prophet is a consciousness
which perceives the unseen things before and after.
Amid the inward eyes, too, always be seeking that inner eye
which this Mathnawi has not the power to describe.
Hence the majestic Prophet has forbidden monasticism
and going to the mountains to live as a hermit,
in order that this kind of contact with the saints should not be lost;
for to be looked upon by them is a blessing,
an elixir of eternal life.
~ Mathnawi, Jelaluddin Rumi ~
translated by Camille and Kabir Helminski
. from Jewels of Remembrance .
note the Divine command given to the Prophet, "Consult them."*
The words their affair is a matter for consultation are for this purpose;
through consultation mistakes and errors occur less often.
Human intellects are luminous like lamps;
twenty lamps are brighter than one.
There may happen to be among them
one lamp aflame with spiritual light,
for the jealousy of God sometimes lowers veils,
mingling the lofty with the low.
He has said, "Travel" **
seek your fortune in the world and reap its benefits.
In all gatherings seek among minds
the kind of intellect found in the Prophet,
for the heritage of the Prophet is a consciousness
which perceives the unseen things before and after.
Amid the inward eyes, too, always be seeking that inner eye
which this Mathnawi has not the power to describe.
Hence the majestic Prophet has forbidden monasticism
and going to the mountains to live as a hermit,
in order that this kind of contact with the saints should not be lost;
for to be looked upon by them is a blessing,
an elixir of eternal life.
~ Mathnawi, Jelaluddin Rumi ~
translated by Camille and Kabir Helminski
. from Jewels of Remembrance .
* Quran: Surah Ash-Shura (Consultation), verse 42:38 *
** Quran: Surah Al-Ankabut (The Spider), verse 29:20 **
** Quran: Surah Al-Ankabut (The Spider), verse 29:20 **
10 comments:
Dear Sadiq,
Thank you very much for this.
Best wishes,
mo'in
I'm afraid that I do not understand the prohibition against monasticism and becoming a hermit. To become a monk is actually to join a community of believers dedicated to a life of worship, prayer and work, so that one can focus on the concerns of the Spirit and avoid the distractions of the surrounding culture. A hermit, in contrast, emphasizes the withdrawal from the world so that one may learn to conform one's mind to the guidance of Scripture and the Spirit of God who speaks in the stillness of the heart. Such devotion is commended in Christianity, and is not unknown to the history of Judaism (eg., the Essenes). How is it that Islam does not allow this? I confess my ignorance here: I thought that some Sufis lived a monastic lifestyle. Can you clarify this for me?
Thamk you, and God bless you...
Hi I'Chaim, I have a question...you said "become a monk is actually to join a community of believers dedicated to a life of worship, prayer and work"
Can you please define "Work"?
Ah these days, it's difficult to find those great saints... it's more like that when they see that you are "seeking" enough, they find you.
"When a man is busy in earnest,
he is unconscious of his pain.
I mention this insensibility to pain
so you may know how much the body resembles a garment.
Go, seek the one who wears it;
don't kiss a piece of cloth."
- Master Rumi
The choice of hermitage to monasticism depends from individual to individual, at the given point of time and circumstance.
I believe that monasticism was forbidden by the Prophet in Organized Mass Religion. I see no logic in that imbalanced pattern where the society gets easily thrown out of equilibrium.
But Monastic behavior due to individual temperament is indeed an exercise of one's own true freedom.
Anel C. Sarasan
To renounce life by withdrawing from the world in monasteries, caves, forests is for me an escapism. Renunciates used to believe that material world is a distraction from the spiritual. However, spiritual world is not something far way, something different from this world. Material and spiritual are one, from the One and are like two sides of one coin. There is no need to live this world in order to discover the spiritual. Even if you become a renunciate and start living a monastic and isolated life, you still may continue carrying the material world and the longing for it all along with you, wherever you go – in the caves, in the mountains.
To see the spiritual world you can even now, in your day to day life. For such an unveiling you need to have the right eyes or as Rumi says it: “the inward eyes”, which will unveil to you “the inner eye”, the non discribable. To acquire this inner eye you need to develop “the heritage of the Prophet - a consciousness which perceives the unseen things before and after”, you need to become conscious, aware about each single moment of your life. It is not by escaping from your usual life and hiding high in the mountains that you can develop this consciousness, but by living your life here and now utterly alert, watchful, aware.
When Rumi says:
“Hence the majestic Prophet has forbidden monasticism
and going to the mountains to live as a hermit,
in order that this kind of contact with the saints should not be lost;
for to be looked upon by them is a blessing,
an elixir of eternal life.”,
He says that for the enlightened ones, for the beings who have already attained the ultimate submission to Allah, there is no need to enclose themselves in monasteries and isolation. Such luminous beings have to remain amongst others, to counsel them, to share with them their godly realization and divine wisdom.
"Love 's only aim is to be attracted to the Beloved! But haply leave may be given me hereafter to tell those mysteries so far as they can be told, in a discourse more closely approximating to the facts than these faint indications of those abstruse matters.
Mysteries are not communicable, save to those who know. Mystery in the ear of infidels is no mystery. Nevertheless, this is a call to you from God. It matters not to Him whether ye accept or reject it. Noah repeated his call for nine hundred years,
but his people only increased in rebellion. Never did he draw back from admonishing them, never did he retire into the cave of silence.
He said, "At the barking and howling of the dogs no caravan ever turned back in its road. Nor does the full moon on a bright night cease shining because of the howling of dogs on earth. The moon sheds her light, and the dogs howl. Everyone acts according to his nature. To each one his office is allotted by the divine decree, and he acts agreeably to his nature."
Art thou thirsting for the Ocean of spirituality? Disport [to carry oneself away] thyself on this island of the Mathnawi! Disport thyself so long as thou seest every moment spiritual verities revealed in this Mathnawi. When the wind blows the grass off the water, the water then shows forth its own purity. Behold the bright and fresh sprays of coral, and the princely fruits growing in the water of life!" - Rumi, Mathnawi, prologue of book 6
So, when the Mathnawi is purged of letters and words, it drops all these, and appears as the sea of Unity. Then speaker and hearer and spoken words all three give up the ghost in that consummation. Bread-giver and bread-eater and bread itself
are purified of their forms and turn to dust, but their essences in each of these three grades are distinguished, as in those states, so eternally. [
"and when one stops 'pattern seeking' one becomes open to 'something else'" - exactly so, James.
And when one knows truth, one simply knows it, there is no "how", no "why", no "Way" - one simply knows. Or to say it in other words - one becomes the Truth speaking through him.
That is why Rumi says: "Mysteries are not communicable, save to those who know". And those who know they do not follow any way; they are not followers. They simply know. Their knowing has a depth, it is from another realm. To understand an enlightened being like Rumi, you have to be from his level, to live in his realm.
Dear all,
Such lovely comments. Thank you so much for contributing with your sharing.
Thanks I'Chaim for your question. I would love to share some of my inspirations why there is no priesthood nor monasticism in Islam.
Aliya and James and Anel have already hinted some of the wisdom behind it. Also question by Shabana provide also useful insight into the matter.
Wish you all the best.
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