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“Nothing I say can explain to you divine love, yet all of creation cannot seem to stop talking about it.” RUMI
Although your sins can veil your heart from fully witnessing God, nothing you do can change how God sees you. Your sins and scars can never remove God’s presence from your heart, because regardless of who you are or who you have been, God’s mercy will always encompass you. Your value is not defined by worldly labels, because although God created this world for you, He says, “I created you for Myself” (20:41).
“Enlightenment is when a wave realizes it is the ocean.” THICH NHAT HANH, ZEN MASTER
In essence, God is telling us that everything seen and unseen in existence comes from a single origin. Just as the iron in your blood was made from the fusion of stars and your bones carry the dust of galaxies beyond, you were not only made in Heaven, you were made from the heavens. You are not merely living in the universe, you are living as a part of this universe.
The human being is the microcosm of the macrocosm, the bridge between Heaven and Earth, both with a mortal body and an everlasting spirit, both inclined to goodness and inclined to evil (91:7-10). It is the dual nature of man that allows for him to be the perfect receptacle of God’s qualities, which is why Allah has chosen us to be His representatives of love upon this Earth. Even though the angels are in constant worship and witnessing of God, their perfection and lack of free will prevents them from experiencing the entirety of God’s qualities. After all, how can you experience forgiveness if you never make a mistake? “If you did not sin Allah would replace you with people who would sin and they would seek the forgiveness of Allah and He would forgive them.”1 PROPHET MUHAMMAD
This is why many mystics have said that our goal on Earth is not to summit a metaphysical mountain of spirituality, but rather to return to our original childlike state of fitra and purity. Rumi describes the importance of blossoming our innate faith and manifesting our purpose on Earth through the following metaphor: “One thing must not be forgotten. Forget all else, but remember this, and you’ll have no regrets. Remember and be concerned with everything else, but ignore this one thing, and you’ll have done nothing. It is just as if a king had sent you to another country to carry out a specified task. You go and perform a hundred other tasks, but if you have not performed that particular task, it is as though you have done nothing at all.” RUMI
that tempts us toward the lower qualities of the ego such as envy, lust, greed, and jealousy, showing us the places we need to polish and purify. It is in experiencing distance from Allah that we begin to see the priceless blessing of divine proximity. Although the Shaytan has his place in creation, it is important to remember that the Shaytan is an evil liar, so we should not take his existence lightly.
Notice how the Shaytan said that he will ambush us on “the straight path.” Just as a thief only robs a house with expensive goods, the Shaytan comes strongest after those who are on the spiritual path and have fostered a sense of faith. Another commentary on the verse suggests that when the Shaytan says he will come from “behind” us it means he will delude us regarding our divine origin, suggesting we are nothing but an accidental creation of a Godless universe. This can also suggest that he will pull us away from the present moment, into a past we cannot change, by fanning the flames of regret and inciting us with feelings of despair. When the Shaytan says he will come from “before” us this implies that he will delude us regarding the Day of Judgment, attempting to convince us that there will be no accountability in the future for our actions, both good and bad.
Our gratitude does not make God more generous; rather, our gratitude makes us more receptive to receiving all that God continuously gives to us. Being in a state of gratitude is remembering that God loved us before we ever loved Him. When we are grateful we are vibrating at a higher frequency, with more clarity and more awareness of our innate alignment with Allah.
As the Qur’an clearly states, “Man can have nothing but what he strives for” (53:39).
AI Summary
Secrets of Divine Love by A. Helwa presents key insights from the Sufism tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
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Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.
This entry was generated from Readwise highlights. Expand with additional context as appropriate.