The arif (wise man) has wings of fear, prayer, muhabbat and passion. The one who flies with the wings of fear cannot be free of escaping, the one who flies with the wings of prayer cannot be free of desire, the one who flies with the wings of muhabbat cannot be free of joy, the one who flies with the wings of passion cannot be free of excitement. Allah Teala expresses their qualities in the Qur’an as; ‘…You see that tears fall from their eyes because of al-Haqq whom they have recognized as already known…’(the Qur’an, Al Maida 83)
‘They are the ones whom neither trading nor give-and-take can keep from reciting Allah…’ (the Qur’an, Al Nur 37)
For this reason, the action of the arif belongs only to Allah. His tongue is used for dhikr, his nafs is patient in the face of difficulties. His heart silently talks to Him in each moment. His thought flies off to high realms. One moment he thinks of the blessings of his Rabb, one moment he roams around the circle of divinity. All the while, the arif becomes the slave when he is free and free when he is the slave. Poor when he is rich and rich when he is poor…
Now, the arif becomes endowed with every expression possible; Present, wise, dignified, mysterious, intimate, praiseworthy, expressive, quiet, accepted, fearful, aware, lost, crying, laughing… There is sadness in his joy, and joy in his sadness. In his every state there is passion mixed with misery and misery mixed with passion. His fear is mixed with hope, his hope mixed with fear. His fear does not kill his hope, his hope does not erase his fear. While he lives among the people with his material body and nafs, his heart is with Allah. The relationship of his nafs with people does not harm the connection of his heart with Allah. He is dignified and miserable, poor and wealthy…
As Hz. Bayezid-i Bistami said in one prayer;
‘My Rabb! Whenever I say that my chains will finally be broken, its nails sink in deeper and stronger…’
While these words fell from the lips of Bayezid, tears fell from his eyes.
Not everyone who shows signs of devotion is devoted. This is also true for those who show signs of passion, foolishness, madness, heroism or ignorance.
They asked Rabia Hatun(ra); ‘What is the sign that the state of the arif has reached maturity?’ She replied;
‘That he is burning with the love of his Rabb. The sign of this burning is that he is only satisfied with the Blesser rather than just the blessings, with the Creator rather than just the created. He is immersed in the sea of joy of communion, his heart finds peace only with Him, having surrendered all his will to Him. The arif does not get troubled by the hardship and difficulty born from his awareness of Allah. He knows that Allah is closer than anything to him. He knows that He is more compassionate than anything and anyone to him, that He is greater and superior than anything; that there is none other than Allah Teala behind everything.’ Then, she recited the poem;
You dissolve everything without leaving anything behind.
You even dissolve the reason that caused the Beloved to be lost.
When the arif is able to discern the inspiration of the spirit from the inspiration of the nafs, the worldly desires from the divine desires and the lower purposes from divine purposes, he achieves marifat. The person who has been blessed with success on the path of wisdom, has the liability to protect the borders of loyalty and commitment of being a qull, to perform the requirements of being a qull. One can only find this path by protecting the essence of being a qull. Then, he does the dhikr of al Haqq, he does the dhikr of the dhikr of al-Haqq. Then, he feels grateful to al-Haqq, he even feels grateful for his feeling grateful. In the end, he is with his nafs without his nafs. He is with his soul without his soul, he is with the halk without being one of the halk.
Each arif commands his nafs at the degree of his marifat, and comprehends the ultimacy and greatness of Allah at the degree of his command of his nafs. He serves his Rabb at the degree of his marifat, he attains the secret of the rububiyyat (divinity) of Allah at the degree of his service. He inclines towards Allah at the degree of his marifat, he is bestowed with His ihsan (blessings) and grace at the degree of his inclination towards Him. He turns over his actions to Allah to the degree of his marifat, he comprehends His power at the degree of his trust and dependence on Him. The arif’s comprehension of the ownership and the reign of Allah is only possible with his taking refuge in al-Haqq at the degree of his marifat.
Arif is the one who has these qualities in himself.