Written by Fethullah Gülen. Posted in Key Concepts in the Practice of Sufism-1.

Firar and I'tisam (Fleeing and Taking Shelter)

Firar, which literally means to run away from something, is used in Sufism to denote the journey from the created to the Creator, sheltering from the "shadow" in the "original," [1] and renouncing the "drop" to plunge into the "ocean." [2] Further, it means discontent with the piece of glass (in which the Sun is reflected) and thus turning to the "Sun," [3] thereby escaping the confinement of self-adoration to "melt away" in the rays of the Truth. The verse flee to God (51:50), which points to a believer's journeying in heart and in spirit, refers to this action of the heart, the spiritual intellect.

The more distant people are from the suffocating atmosphere of corporeality and the carnal dimension, the nearer they are to God, and the more respect they have for themselves. Let us hear from Prophet Moses, upon him be peace, a loyal devotee at the door of the Truth, how one fleeing to and taking shelter in God is rewarded: Then I fled from you [Pharaoh] when I feared you, and my Lord has granted to me the power of judging (justly and distinguishing between truth and falsehood, and right and wrong) and has made me one of His Messengers (26:21). Prophet Moses states that the way to spiritual pleasure and meeting with God and Divine vicegerency and nearness passes through fleeing.

Ordinary people flee to take refuge in God's forgiveness and favor from life's tumults and sin's ugliness. They repeat or consider the meaning of: My Lord, forgive and have compassion, for You are the Best of the Compassionate (23:118). They seek God's shelter in total sincerity, saying: I take refuge with You from the evil of what I have done. [4]

Those distinguished by their piety and nearness to God flee from their own defective qualities to Divine Attributes, from feeling with their outward senses to discerning and observing with the heart, from ceremonial worship to its innermost dimension, and from carnal feelings to spiritual sensations. This is referred to in: O God, I take refuge with Your approval from Your wrath, and with Your forgiveness from Your chastisement. [5]

The most advanced in knowledge and love of God and in piety flee from Attributes to Divine Being or Essence, and from the Truth to the Truth Himself. They say: I take refuge with You from You, and are always in awe of God.

All who flee seek shelter and protection. As consciousness of fleeing is proportionate to the spiritual profundity of the one fleeing, the quality of the destination reached varies according to the degree of the seeker's awareness. Members of the first group end in knowledge of God. They remember God in everything they see and mention Him, cherish desires and imagine things impossible for them to realize, and finally come to rest at sensing the reality of: We have not been able to know You as knowing You requires, O Known One. They always feel and repeat in ecstasy:

Beings are in pursuit of knowledge of You, And those who attempt to describe You are unable to do so.

Accept our repentance, for we are human beings Unable to know You as knowing You requires.

Members of the second group sail every day for a new ocean of knowledge of God, and spend their lives in ever renewed radiations of Divine manifestation. However, they cannot be saved from the obstacles blocking them from the final station, where their overflowing spirit will subside. With their eyes fixed on the steps of the stairway leading to higher and higher ranks, they fly upward from one rank to another; however, they also tremble with the fear that they might descend. Members of the third group, freed from the tides of the state (see the chapter: Hal and Maqam) and drowned in amazement (see the chapter: Dahsha and Hayra), are so intoxicated with the "wine coming from the source of everything" that even the Trumpet of Israfil cannot cause them to recover from that stupor. Only one who has reached this rank can describe the profundity of their thoughts and feelings. Rumi says:

Those illusions are traps for saints, whereas in reality
They are the reflections of those with radiant faces in the garden of God.

The "garden of God" signifies the manifestation of Divine Unity the manifestations of one, many, or all Divine Names throughout the universe. "Those with radiant faces" denotes the Divine Names and Attributes focused on a single thing or being. So, the meaning of the couplet is this: The traps in which saints are caught are manifestations of Divine Names and Attributes. These manifestations consist of illusions in the view of those blind to Divine truths. In the words of Sari Abdullah Efendi, the hearts of the Prophets and saints are mirrors that reflect the Names and Attributes of God. God also manifests His Names and Attributes as the Lord Ruler, Sustainer, and Master of the universe, making it a garden with the ever renewed beauties and charms that enrapture the Prophet and the saints.

[1] Sufis view the creation as a shadow of the original, the meaning, the origin, in the Knowledge of God.
[2] Sufis consider everything in the world as no more than a drop, even a mirage, taken from an ocean. Material existence and pleasures are regarded as having the meaning and worth of a drop, while the other world and spiritual pleasures coming from Divine knowledge and love correspond to the ocean.
[3] The piece of glass signifies Divine manifestations in the world, while the Sun signifies God, the Origin of these manifestations.
[4] Al-Tirmidhi, "Dawa'at," 15; Abu 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Shu'ayb al-Nasa'i, "Isti'adha," in Sunan al-Nasa'i, 8 vols. (Beirut, 1930), 57.
[5] Muslim, "Salat," 222.

Oct 1992, Vol 14, Issue 165

Created on 17 September 2001.