Mystics and Saints of Islam Part 13

If a man dives into the ocean of Deity what does he become?

As a drop which falls from the clouds into the sea."

Regarding pedantic theologians, he says:--

"Well I know these preachers who do not practise, Their memory stored with a hundred thousand traditions, While their mind is empty of ideas."

In 1639 the Emperor Shah-jehan came a second time to Kashmir, and took up his dwelling in the park called Zafer-abad, in a pavilion which commanded a delightful view of the lake. No sooner had he arrived than he sent for Mullah Shah, who came without delay. The Emperor received him with marked kindness and conversed long with him on subjects relating to the Sufi sciences.

This same year is remarkable for an event which had important results for Mullah Shah and his followers. The Prince Dara-Shikoh, who had saved Mullah Shah's life by his intervention, had always been marked by keen religious feeling, and often spent whole nights in prayer and meditation. He had often heard of the extraordinary powers of Mullah Shah, but had never had the opportunity of seeing him, as the sheikh still maintained his habits of retirement. Little by little, a feeling of irresistible curiosity took possession of the Prince; he determined to see the holy man who was so highly spoken of, and one night, accompanied by a single servant named Mujahid, he left his palace and directed his steps towards the dwelling of Mullah Shah. The latter had in his courtyard an ancient plane-tree, and was in the habit of sitting at the foot of it during the night, lost in meditation. Having arrived at the house, the prince ordered his servant to wait near the door, and entered the courtyard alone. Seeing the Sheikh seated at the foot of the tree, he stopped and remained standing till the master should speak to him. The latter knew very well who the new-comer was, and that little persuasion was needed to make him one of his disciples; but he made as though he did not see him. A long time pa.s.sed thus, till the Sheikh broke the silence by asking the Prince "Who art thou?" The Prince did not speak. Mullah Shah then said again, "Why dost thou not answer?

Speak, and tell thy name."

The Prince, filled with embarra.s.sment, replied, "My name is Dara-Shikoh." "Who is thy father?" "The Emperor Shah-jehan," "Why hast thou come to see me?" "Because I feel drawn towards G.o.d, and seek for a spiritual guide." On this Mullah Shah exclaimed sharply, "What are emperors and princes to me? Know that I am a man devoted to asceticism.

Is this hour of the night the time to come and trouble me? Go, and do not show thyself here a second time."

Deeply wounded by this reception, the Prince withdrew and re-entered his palace, where he spent the whole night weeping. But in spite of all his disappointment, he felt himself drawn the next night by an irresistible attraction towards the saint's dwelling, but the latter this time did not even condescend to speak to him. Mujahid, the servant who accompanied the Prince, became angry, and said to his master, "What miracles has this crabbed dervish shown you that you should come here every night and expose yourself to such indignities? Ordinary dervishes are cheerful folk, not uncivil and morose like this old man. For my own part, I set no great store by this asceticism, and the only thing that makes me uneasy is your putting faith in it." The Prince answered, "If Mullah Shah was an impostor, so far from treating me as he has done, he would, on the contrary, have prayed G.o.d to bring me to him. It is precisely his independent spirit and irritated manner which proves him to be an extraordinary man." That same night when Mujahid returned home, he was seized by fever and carried off in a few hours. Dara-Shikoh, when informed of this terrible event, was profoundly moved. He reproached himself bitterly for not having at once punished his servant's insolence, and considered the death of Mujahid as a divine punishment which menaced him also. He immediately sent for the Qazi Afzal, one of his most devoted friends, and told him of his anxiety. The latter was a friend of Akhund Mullah Muhammad Synd, a disciple of Mullah Shah, and at his instance the Sheikh consented to see the prince.

Dara-Shikoh could not pay his visit during the day, from fear of arousing public curiosity, but as soon as night fell, he presented himself before the Sheikh, whom this time he found seated in his cell.

Before crossing the threshold, the Prince saluted the holy man with profound respect, and the latter bade him enter and be seated. The cell was lighted by a single lamp, whose wick was smoking; in his eager desire to discern the venerable features of the Sheikh, the Prince dressed the wick with his own fingers. This simple action gained him the Sheikh's affection. At the end of some days he bade him to blindfold himself, then he concentrated his attention upon him in such a way that the invisible world was revealed to the view of the Prince, who felt his heart filled with joy.

Dara-Shikoh had a sister, the Princess Fatimah, to whom he was deeply attached. As soon as he had become a disciple of Mullah Shah and his heart had been opened to the intuition of the spiritual world, he hastened to inform his sister. This news made such an impression on the mind of the Princess that she wrote to the Sheikh several letters full of humility and devotion. He read them all, but made no reply for more than a month, till he was convinced that Fatimah was animated by an invincible resolution. At last he accorded his sympathy to her also, and admitted her to the circle of the initiates. The Princess persevered ardently in these mystical studies, and received the instructions of her spiritual guide by correspondence. She attained to such perfection that she arrived at intuitive knowledge of G.o.d and union with Him. Although the Sheikh was full of affection for all his disciples, he had a particular regard for her, and was in the habit of saying that "she had attained to such an extraordinary degree of knowledge that she was fit to be his successor."

Mullah Shah was now old and infirm; he had pa.s.sed several winters at Lah.o.r.e, surrounded by the care and attention of his friends and pupils.

In the year 1655 A.D., the Emperor wrote to him to invite him to pa.s.s the winter with him at Shahjahanabad, his ordinary residence, but the Sheikh was beginning to suffer from weakness of the eyes, and did not feel strong enough to undertake the journey. For some years he remained in Kashmir, and would often say, "The theosophist ought to profit by length of life. My life is approaching its end; let us then enjoy our stay in Kashmir, and not leave it."

In A.D. 1658 Aurangzeb, Dara-Shikoh's younger brother, seized on the person of his father the Emperor Shah-jehan, whom he kept in confinement for the rest of his life, and had Dara a.s.sa.s.sinated in prison. Aurangzeb was a bigoted Muhammadan, and his accession to the throne threatened to have serious consequences for Mullah Shah. As soon as he had a.s.sumed the reins of government, the clerical party began to represent to him that Mullah Shah taught doctrines contrary to revealed religion. There were not wanting witnesses on the other side, but the Emperor, on hearing the complaints against Mullah Shah, sent an order to the governor of Kashmir to send him to the capital. The governor pleaded for a delay on account of Mullah Shah's advanced age and weakness till he was strong enough to make the journey. A year thus pa.s.sed by; some verses which Mullah Shah composed in honour of Aurangzeb made a favourable impression on the Emperor, and the Princess Fatimah having interceded on behalf of her old teacher, Aurangzeb revoked his first order, and merely enjoined him to take up his residence at Lah.o.r.e as soon as possible.

It was not till 1660 A.D. that Mullah Shah could obey this order; he left Kashmir at the beginning of winter and came to Lah.o.r.e, where he continued to live a retired life, only granting interviews to a few chosen disciples. But when from time to time he had an access of mystical emotion he would speak of union with G.o.d without any reserve, in a loud voice, and without noticing who was present. One of his friends said to him one day, "We live in a strange time, and people are disquieted by your discourses on this matter; it would be more prudent to expound your doctrines with a little more reserve." The Sheikh answered him, "Up to the present I have never been afraid for my life; books containing such doctrine are known to all, and everyone has read them. What precautions, then, at my time of life, ought I to observe? I cannot abandon or change my habits of thinking and speaking now."

Some of his other sayings reported at this time show that he had already a presentiment of his approaching death. Kabil Khan, one of his friends, said to him one day, "Formerly our sovereign Aurangzeb loved to listen to discourses on the subject of mysticism, and I have often had the honour of reading before him pa.s.sages from the Masnavi of Jalaluddin Rumi.[64] The Emperor was often so touched by them that he shed tears; certainly when he comes to Lah.o.r.e he will wish to see you." "No,"

replied Mullah Shah; "we shall never see him:

'The night is great with child, see what it will bring forth.'"

In 1661 he had an attack of fever which lasted about fifteen days. That year fever became epidemic at Lah.o.r.e, and on the 11th of the month of Safar Mullah Shah had another attack, which carried him off on the night of the 15th of the same month. He was buried in a plot of ground which he had already acquired for the purpose. The Princess Fatimah bought the surrounding land, and erected a shrine of red stone over his tomb. The foregoing sketch of Mullah Shah gives a general view of oriental spiritualism as it prevailed two and a half centuries ago over a great part of Asia. The first point worthy of notice in it is the immense popularity of mystical ideas at that time, and the wide influence which they exercised over all minds. Round Mullah Shah gathered persons of every condition; poor peasants as well as princes were seized with the same enthusiasm for his doctrines; the same ascetic training produced the same results in the most varying temperaments. The Master seems to have exercised a kind of magnetic influence over his neophytes. He fixes his gaze upon them for a longer or shorter time, till their inward senses open and render them capable of seeing the wonders of the spiritual world. All the accounts are unanimous in this respect, and they carry such a stamp of sincerity that their veracity is indisputable. We are then obliged to admit that at this period many minds shared a predisposition to religious ecstacy and enthusiasm.

Under the apparent stagnation of the East, there is continually going on a collision between two opposing forces--the official hierarchy of the Ulema, conservative to the core, and mysticism in its early phases, pietistic and enthusiastic, but gradually tending to scepticism, and finally to pantheism and the negation of all positive religion. The Mussalman hierarchy, which in its own interests desired to maintain the prestige of dogma and of the revealed law, combatted this tendency to mysticism, but, as we have seen, without success. The orthodox mullahs made fruitless efforts to obtain the condemnation of Mullah Shah, who had on his side the members of the imperial family of Delhi and the Emperor himself, all more or less imbued with mystical ideas.

The biography of Mullah Shah also throws a great deal of light on the fundamental ideas of oriental mysticism. They spring from a pantheistic philosophy in many respects, startlingly resembling those of modern times. Mullah Shah often insists that individual existence counts for nothing, and that nothing in reality exists outside of G.o.d, the Absolute Being; every particular life dissolves in this universal unity, life and death are mere changes in the form of existence. The individual is only in some way a part of the Infinite Being who fills the universe; a particle which has been momentarily detached therefrom, only to return thither. To know oneself is therefore the equivalent of knowing G.o.d. But in order to acquire this knowledge the pupil must submit to long and painful self-discipline; he must pa.s.s through all the tests of the severest asceticism; only after he has thus prepared himself will the spiritual master open his heart and render him capable of perceiving the mysteries of the spiritual world.

But this great secret must not be divulged; it is only permissable to speak of it to the initiate, as Mullah Shah says, in the following verses:--

We must say that only One exists, Though such a saying excite astonishment; The universe is He, though we must not say so openly, Such doctrines must be kept secret.

This Eastern Pantheism does not lack a certain grandeur, but it has also a dangerous side, and tends to atheism and materialism. Of this some instances occur in the life of Mullah Shah. The pa.s.sage from pantheism to epicureanism is not a long one. If the human soul only possesses a transient individuality, and after death is merged like a drop in the ocean of divinity, why, many will argue, not have done with asceticism for good, and enjoy the pleasures of existence as long as possible during the little while our individuality endures? Thus Omar Khayyam says:--

Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend, Before we too into the dust descend, Dust into dust, and under dust to lie, Sans wine, sans song, sans singer, and--sans end.

It is precisely this dangerous side of oriental philosophy which has unhappily attained a much greater development and an incomparably more complete success than the elevated moral systems of the chief theosophists of Persia. A mocking cynicism has been, up to modern times, a common characteristic of the great majority of Sufis and dervishes.

The dangerous consequences of theosophical ideas and of oriental spiritualism in general became at an early date so apparent that Ghazzali, although a fervent partisan of Sufism, did not hesitate to avow that if these doctrines were generally accepted society would necessarily fall into a state of anarchy.

In face of the wild aberrations caused by Sufism, we should not grudge all the greater credit to the few distinguished men who, although adherents of Sufism and dominated by its doctrines, kept their characters clear of stain. In spite of their conviction that there was no individual life after death, these men spent their lives in mortification of the senses and in abstinence, and often braved death with a truly Roman stoicism.

Such shining characters are not of frequent occurrence in oriental history; but certainly Mullah Shah is one and Prince Dara-Shikoh another. In a path strewn with pitfalls he kept a name without stain and without reproach, thanks to the austere moral principles instilled into him by his master. He faced death with calm resignation, and knew how to die as a prince and as a philosopher.

NOTE.--Prince Dara-Shikoh has left a curious fragment of spiritual autobiography in his preface to a Persian translation of the Upanishads or chapters from the Vedas which he had caused to be translated from Sanskrit. It is indeed strange to see this son of a Muhammadan Emperor ranking these selections from the Vedas above the Koran, the Pentateuch, Psalms and Gospels, all of which he says he had read. The Preface runs as follows:--

"When Dara-Shikoh, the resigned worshipper of G.o.d, visited Kashmir in the year of the Hegira 1050 (A.D. 1640), by the blessing of the Most High he met with Mullah Shah, the chief of the learned, the teacher of teachers, versed in the subtleties of "Tauhid" (Unity); may he be joined with G.o.d!

"As that prince already relished the pleasure of seeing the learning of each sect, had perused various treaties of the Sufi philosophers, and even composed some himself, the thirst of exploring the doctrine of the Unity (which is a boundless ocean) daily increased, and his mind attained a degree of acuteness and subtlety which would have been impossible without the immediate a.s.sistance and favour of the Divine will. Now the sacred Koran, being frequently obscure, and few at this day being found capable of explaining it, he determined to read all inspired works; that the word of G.o.d might furnish a commentary on itself, and what is concisely expressed in one book might be elucidated by a reference to others; the abridged being the more diffuse. With this view he perused the Pentateuch, the Gospels and the Psalms, but the unity of G.o.d was obscurely and enigmatically expressed in these works; nor did he derive more instruction from the simple translations of hired linguists.

"He next desired to ascertain how it happened that in Hindustan the Unity of G.o.d is the frequent theme of discourse, and that the ancient philosophers of India neither denied nor objected to the doctrine of the Divine Unity, but on the contrary held it as an axiom. Unlike the ignorant race of the present day who set up for philosophers, though they have fallen into the track of bloodshed and infidelity, denying the attributes and unity of G.o.d, and contradicting the proofs of that doctrine derived from the Koran and authentic traditions; these may be considered as banditti on the path of G.o.d.

"In the cause of this inquiry it was discovered that amongst the Hindus, four inspired books were held peculiarly sacred, viz.: the Rig Veda, the Jajur Veda, the Sam Veda and Atharva Veda, which had descended from the skies to the prophets of those times, of whom Adam (purified by G.o.d; may blessings attend him!) was the chief, containing rules and precepts; and this doctrine (viz.: the Unity of G.o.d) is clearly expressed in those books. As the object of this explorer of truth (Dara-Shikoh) was not the acquisition of languages, whether Arabic, Syriac or Sanskrit, but the proofs of the Unity of the Supreme Being, he determined that the Upanishads (which might be considered as a treasure of Unitarianism) should be translated into Persian without adding or expunging, and without bias or partiality, but correctly and literally that it might appear what mysteries are contained in those books which the Hindus so carefully conceal from Moslems.

"As the city of Benares, which is the seat of Hindu science, was a dependency of this explorer of truth (Dara-Shikoh), having a.s.sembled the Pundits and Sanyasis who are the expounders of the Vedas and Upanishads, he caused a translation to be made of the latter into Persian. This was completed in the year of the Hegira, 1067, A.D., 1656. Every difficulty was elucidated by this ancient compilation, which, without doubt, is the first of inspired works, the fountain of truth, the Sea of the Unity; not only consentaneous with the Koran, but a commentary on it."

[61] Founded by Abdul Qadir Gilani.

[62] According to the reported saying of Muhammad, "He who knows himself, knows G.o.d."

[63] Chapter 5.

[64] The great mystic poet of Persia (A.D. 1207-1272).

APPENDIX I

MOHAMMEDAN CONVERSIONS

By Mohammedan Conversion is not here meant conversion from Christianity to Mohammedanism, or _vice versa_, but those spiritual crises which take place _within_ Mohammedanism, as within Christianity, by which the soul is stung as with a regenerating shudder to use George Eliot's phrase, to rise from a notional to a real belief in G.o.d. Mohammedan theologians are as aware of this distinction as Christian ones. Thus Al Ghazzali, in his _Revival of the Religious Sciences_, is very sarcastic on the indulgence in the common expletive, "We take refuge in G.o.d," by Mohammedans without attaching any real meaning to it. He says: "If you see a lion coming towards you, and there is a fort close by, you do not stand exclaiming, 'I take refuge in this fort!' but you get into it. Similarly, when you hear of the wrath to come, do not merely _say_, 'I take refuge in G.o.d,'

but take refuge in Him."

This transformation of a notional into a real belief has proved the crisis in the lives of many of the saints and mystics of Islam, without, as far as it appears, any contact on their part with Christianity. Thus, Ibn Khalliqan, in his great Biographical Dictionary, tells of Al-Fudail, a celebrated highwayman, who, one night, while he was on his way to an immoral a.s.signation, was arrested by the voice of a Koran-reader chanting the verse, "Is not the time yet come unto those who believe, that their hearts should humbly submit to the admonition of G.o.d?" On this he exclaimed, "O Lord! that time is come." He then went away from that place, and the approach of night induced him to repair for shelter to a ruined edifice. He there found a band of travellers, one of whom said to the others, "Let us set out"; but another answered, "Let us rather wait till daylight, for Al-Fudail is on the road, and will stop us." Al-Fudail then turned his heart to G.o.d, and a.s.sured them that they had nothing to fear. For the rest of his life he lived as an ascetic, and ranked among the greatest saints. One of his recorded sayings is, "If the world with all it contains were offered to me, even on the condition of my not being taken to account for it, I would shun it as you would shun a carrion, lest it should defile your clothes."

Another striking "conversion" is that of Ibrahim Ben Adham, Prince of Khora.s.san. He was pa.s.sionately addicted to the chase, and one day when so employed heard a voice behind him exclaiming, "O Ibrahim, thou wast not born for this." At first he took it for a delusion of Satan, but on hearing the same words p.r.o.nounced more loudly exclaimed, "It is the Lord who speaks; His servant will obey." Immediately he desisted from his amus.e.m.e.nt, and, changing clothes with an attendant, bade adieu to Khora.s.san, took the road towards Syria, and from thenceforth devoted himself entirely to a life of piety and labour.

A third example is that of Ghazzali himself, who, in his work _The Deliverance from Error_, has left one of the very few specimens of Eastern religious autobiography, and one bearing a certain resemblance to Newman's _Apologia_. He was professor of theology at the University of Bagdad in the eleventh century. In his autobiography he says: "Reflecting upon my situation, I found myself bound to this world by a thousand ties; temptations a.s.sailed me on all sides. I then examined my actions. The best were those relating to instruction and education; and even there I saw myself given up to unimportant sciences, all useless in another world. Reflecting on the aim of my teaching, I found it was not pure in the sight of the Lord. I saw that all my efforts were directed towards the acquisition of glory to myself." After this, as he was one day about to lecture, his tongue refused utterance; he was dumb. He looked upon this as a visitation from G.o.d, and was deeply afflicted at it. He became seriously ill, and the physicians said his recovery was hopeless unless he could shake off his depression. "Then," he continues, "feeling my helplessness, I had recourse to G.o.d, as one who has no other recourse in his distress. He compa.s.sionated me as He compa.s.sionates the unhappy who invoke Him. My heart no longer made any resistance, but willingly renounced the glories and the pleasures of this world."

We may close this short list with the name of the Sufi poet, Ferid-eddin-Attar. He was a druggist by trade, and one day was startled by one of the half-mad fakirs, who swarm in Oriental cities, pensively gazing at him while his eyes slowly filled with tears. Ferid-eddin angrily ordered him to go about his business. "Sir," replied the fakir, "that is easily done; for my baggage is light. But would it not be wise for you to commence preparations for your journey?" The words struck home, Ferid-eddin abandoned his business, and devoted the rest of his life to meditation and collecting the sayings of the wise.

These four cases, the highwayman, the prince, the theologian, the poet, are sufficient to show that the Recognition (anagnorisis) and Revolution (peripeteia), to use Aristotle's phrase, which turns life from a chaotic dream into a well-ordered drama, of which G.o.d is the Protagonist, may receive as signal though not as frequent ill.u.s.tration in the territory of Islam as in that of Christianity. They also serve to ill.u.s.trate Professor W. James' thesis in his Gifford Lectures, that "conversion,"

whether Christian or extra-Christian, is a psychological fact, and not a mere emotional illusion.