#Fakhr al-Din Iraqi

[majestativa]

Now that You’ve made a home in my heart, I’m seeking Your Trace in every space.

— FAKHR AL-DIN IRAQI ⚜️ Love’s Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition, transl. by David Fideler & Sabrineh Fideler, (2010)

[loneberry]

--Fakhruddin Iraqi, from Divine Flashes

[eyeoftheheart]

Sheikh Fakhr al-Din 'Iraqi, with disciples, Khorasan school, circa 1580

Fakhruddin 'Iraqi's variation of the shahada (testimony of faith):

“la ilaha illa ishq – There is no God but Love.”

Lama’at (Divine Flashes)

[tasmiq]

Jumu'ah Sohbet: 19 April 2024

Post-Ramadan, the question on everyone's minds, who have surrendered to loving Allah, is how to retain the powerful frequency of this past month? These were some powerful motivations to keep trying to retain our purview of Allahistan.

#1. We were reminded of a sudur (innermost self) resounding truth generated by our beloved Shaykh Taner. He said:

"Make your goal to love Allah. Surrender to that. The biggest action is love. The biggest being is love. The shortest distance to Allah is love. The biggest asset that burns all incompleteness is love."

As a self-deprecating being, who always contends with one's incompleteness. That is usually after one's nafs (ego or lower-self) succumbs to Nafs al-Lawwama (self-critical soul). It is only the concept of Allah as Al-Wadūd (the most Loving) as in Sufism that reshapes one's incompleteness. Shukran Ya Allah (Divine gratitude) for the insight of our sudur.

#2. During our bi-monthly learning circle, Shaykh Nishaat then reflected on the notion of surrender as beautifully delved into in Shaykh Taner's book, "The Sun Will Rise in the West". Shaykh Nishaat reflected that we must conscientiously surrender. We must do it knowingly and lovingly through our respective sulook (a spiritual path to reach Allah through clear intuition). Again, Sufism's rich and deep emphasis on the love of Allah.

"The traveler on this path is called a salik. At special moments the beginner experiences complete absorption in the remembrance of God and a detachment from all mundane thoughts"

As an accident survivor who was led to surrender many aspects of one's being which strengthened one's nafs... I have gained so much more from my wilful detachment, which confuses those who knew me in my pre-accident life. However, not only am I being taught to be alone with myself, but to reciprocate and recognise Al-Wadūd (the most Loving) who is the Creator of all that I know, Al-Khaliq.

#3. One of the richest blessings of belonging to a Tariqa (spiritual school) is that we never tire of seeking and sharing our spiritual insights. We learned from a Persian Sufi Poet by the name of Fakhr al-Din 'Iraqi, who reflected on humanity's worldly characters:

"They look, they see, but do not comprehend.

They take no pleasure in the View,

For to enjoy it one must know

through the Truth of Certainty

What he is seeing,

through Whom, and why."

It explained beautifully the nature of my surrender because I have been experiencing taqwa (God-consciousness) through the ability to see Allah's actions. What began as early as the sprinkling flowers overhead your Abbu and I, our never-before encounter of a leaping dolphin by the sea, to my current everyday moments that pass by as miracles! The taqwa of one's heart, which is an almost indescribable but palpable reality, has been a self-transformative process.

#4. Khalifa Rubina shared that Sayyidatuna Ummu Salama RA said:

"The most beloved actions to Nabee ﷺ were those good actions that are done consistently/regularly, although they are simple/easy actions."

Therefore, Anne getting us to reflect on taqwa in Ramadan was a perfect intervention. It got us to enact with a focus on Allah, but equally by connecting with the frequency of Ramadan to perform our devotions consistently. I was left with eternal gratitude for our Tariqa for simplifying our connection to Allah, where I have connected the deepest with our holy Qur'an:

Shukran Ya Allah!

#5. This week, I had also learned from Shaykh Nishaat to be more gentle with human frailty just as I treat with wonderment; the human quest for truth, irrespective of the religion that they come from. A few months ago, Buddhism was tainted for me after learning about the cases of sexual abuse by its leaders upon its students in Buddhist schools set up in Europe. Advisor to former US President Nixon, who at some point converted to Islam, Dr Robert Dickson Crane on meeting two Buddhists asked them to describe the essential teachings of their faith in 5 minutes, which they not only did in just 2 minutes but their response was synchronous to the essence of Islam, Subhana'Allah (Divine glory)! The monks said:

"First, we have Hinayana Buddhism, which teaches one to avoid addiction to the material world. Once one has made some progress in this, one is ready for Mahayana Buddhism, at which level one is aware of the nameless, because naming automatically prescribes and limits the limitless. Some Christians use the word "God." Once one is aware at this level, one's great desire is to bring compassionate justice to everyone and everything in the world."

Through Sufism in Islam, one learns detachment to the material world by constantly going against one's nafs. As in Sufism, we are made to journey through levels of our spiritual growth in surrender of our nafs. We are made to become aware of the "nameless" referred to as "God" in Christianity, but where in Islam is identified by more than 99 Divine names! Once you are at this level, the Buddhist monks said, you are compelled to bring compassionate justice to everyone and everything in the world. Just as our role model, who was the last Prophet to mankind, Prophet Muhammad SAW did and continues to do, to this day!

In conclusion, the desire to retain the Ramadan frequency is set into our consciousness through connection to taqwa. May Allah continue to guide us to His truth with ease:

Ya Hadi Ya Haq Ya Latif

[fleursetrebellion]

You got it!

So, obvious one to start, Plato's dialogues discussing his theory of forms (I like Symposium best though admittedly it doesn't describe the theory of forms very explicitly). BUT assuming you already have had enough of him, Plotinus imo is much more of a true hermeticist than him and his six Enneads (recorded by his student Porphyry) are like imo the best original work of hermeticism that's still around. He was also a Hellenistic Egyptian like Hermes Tresmegistus, so it's not surprising.

Going back a little more original, there ARE some supposed recordings of the Emerald Tablet, written by Hermes Tresmegistus himself? But its origins are like... debatable. It was recorded by Apollonius of Tyana supposedly from a literal emerald tablet he found in a tomb held by a corpse on a golden throne? And like there's a translation by the alchemist Ibn Umayl, and others, but all of the translations seem to have more or less than others? It IS thought that this comes from some real earlier text though, and it's interest even if the "emerald tablet" stuff is bs.

Getting into the Islamic stuff, Ibn Arabi is probably the person I'd start with? Though admittedly his work is pretty esoteric and hard to read. I've found it more useful to read commentaries on his work. But his stuff on Wahdat al-Wujud (unity of existence) is really interesting and there's a million commentaries on it. But he's sort of establishing the idea of the Hermetic arrangement of the Nous emanating and refracting through the Hypostases in an Islamic context by understanding the Nous as God. And he does some commentary and expansion on the work of another guy, Ibn Sina, who is arguably much more foundational but admittedly I haven't read any of his work.

In that line, the poet Fakhr al-Din Iraqi is excellent. I recommend Divine Flashes. He talks about existence/experience in terms of love in a way that imo calls back to Plato's Symposium in a lot of interesting ways. Also his poetry is just... good as poetry.

Besides that the philosopher Surawardi wrote a book called Partaw Nama, sometimes called the Book of Radiance, where he talks about Wujud (the sort of essence of existence) in terms of gradations and configurations of light emanating out from God and refracted through the Hypostases like lenses. To me this is like the ultimate bridge between epistemology and natural philosophy, because he's getting dangerously close to the idea of tying emanationism to modern-style theories of matter.

Following that thread, my absolute favorite pre-modern philosopher, Mulla Sadra's book al-Hikmat al-Arshiyyah (The Wisdom of the Throne) is an absolute banger. He ties together Surawardi and Ibn Arabi, he talks about the fluidity of nature and identity, he even mirrors the hermetic journey/great work in his books The Four Journeys of the Intellect. My man does not miss.

There's also a ton of good writing about Mulla Sadra, and Ibn Arabi, etc, and talks about them as well. I've really liked some of the talks from folks at the Ibn Arabi Society.

And one last one before I leave Islamic texts, more or less a grimoire, and it's.... okay it's hard to recommend this one? This is considered to be an EXTREMELY cursed and evil book in the Islamic world, like people worry they could be cursed just by owning or reading it. Though tbh I don't find its contents to be that scary? It's mostly basic grimoire stuff, and its author was pretty pious in his own right and wrote it only for higher-ups in the church to have for informational purposes. A lot of it is also stuff that was not considered to be sorcery so much as a kind of theosophy (ie, originating from God). The book is called the Shams al-Ma'arif.

There are ALSO some Christian sources. Like the so-called "Gnostic" stuff in the Nag Hammadi library are a good example. (Maybe better described as Sethian than Gnostic) They're pretty much buckwild start to finish if you grew up Christian, but also imo they don't necessarily add much to the conversation? That said, they're super fun so maybe worth reading about anyway. And in a way you can kind of see the influence they either had on, or got from, later Kabbalists.

Similarly, Christians like Meister Eckhart have a really Ibn Arabi-like approach to theology which is kinda rad and generally hermetic in nature but doesn't add much.

Anyway speaking of Kabbalists one of the most iconic texts is Livre des figures hiéroglyphiques (Heiroglyphical Figures), which claims to be written by the scribe Nicolas Flamel but almost definitely wasn't. It describes a mostly bs account of Flamel's life and describes all kinds of alchemical theory from that. It's kinda silly, as a lot of alchemical texts from the Renaissance are, but it's also interesting in the way that the emerald tablet is.

And next up in the list of dubious Kabbalists (I haven't gotten into many of the credible Kabbalists yet, so not many recs there, sorry) the next one is one you probably know: Hegel! That guy is often described in purely secular terms, but his actual beliefs and writing are deeply mystical and hermetic. His stuff about dialectics plays heavily on works like Fakhr al-Din Iraqi's poetry. And he references Kabbalah and emenationism like a ton. So yeah, Phenomenology of Spirit.

Warning at this point about people to be careful of when you approach Hermeticism, there's a bunch of guys who obsess over Jung and his extensions of Platonism. Guys like John Vervaeke, and hilarious, also Jordan Peterson in Maps of Meaning. Those guys suck and imo missed the last like 2000 years of philosophy. So just like... be careful of that kind of person lol.

Anyway one last one because it's my favorite modern philosopher who I think has something interesting to say about Plato's Theory of Forms, which is Jacques Derrida in Of Grammatology. Imo if you want to talk about hermeticism as a serious worldview in a modern context that's like required. BUT also tbh, hermeticism is like also just cool and the history is fun and alchemy is cool. So idk, it doesn't need to be that serious.

Finally, some other stuff. A lot of this stuff I got into only after getting it summarized by people in YouTube videos or blog posts. So if you want that sort of thing, I recommend the YouTube channels Esoterica with Dr Justin Sledge, Lets Talk Religion with Filip Holm, and Religion for Breakfast with Dr Andrew M. Henry. Though of course, that always comes with a caveat, that these sorts of religious studies guys have a tendency to intellectualize stuff so it's helpful to do some reading from people who actually participate in the thing they're talking about. That said I've found them to be extremely respectful and honest of the things they're teaching.

hermeticism...

[natrieli]

Whomever you love, to whatever you turn your face, it is [God] – although you may not know it … Loving other than [God] is not improper but rather impossible. Because whatever we love, we love for either its beauty or its goodness, and both of these cannot be other than [God].

Fakhr al-Din ‘Iraqi, Persian mystic and poet

[forsoothsayer]

Three Poems by Fakhr-al-Din Iraqi

The first step in love             is losing your head. After the petty ego,                         you then give up your life                                      and bear the calamity. With this behind you, proceed:            polish the ego's rust                    from the mirror                                of your self.

-

Beloved, I sought you              here and there asked for news of you              from all I met; then I saw you through myself              and found we were identical. Now I blush to think I ever              searched for signs of you... If you lose yourself              on this path you will know in certainty:              He is you, you are He.

-

How long will you stick with the monastery's worshipful habits?             For the prisoner of habit, obedience and self-denial are but disbelief. As long as you cannot jump free of your own embrace,             your worship is bound to a temple of devilish idols. Pawn your soul at the tavern to buy one sip             but do not try to trade on piety – the coin is debased. How long will you stand dry-lipped on the shore of desire?             Hurl yourself –now!– into the infinite sea that the traceless ocean may wash away all trace             and the shark of ecstasy swallow you in one bite.

[cyberhideoutpatrol]

"Beloved, i sought You here and there, asked for news of You from all i met. Then i saw You through myself, and found we were identical. Now i blush to think i ever searched signs of You. By day i praised You, but never knew it; By night i slept with You without realising it, Desiring myself to be myself; But no i was You and i never knew it."

Fakhr al Din Iraqi

[basicsofislam]

THE DIMENTIONS OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD’S (saw) PROPHETHOOD : The Ethos Created by the Messenger.Part1

It is difficult for us to understand Prophet Muhammad fully. As we tend to compartmentalize the universe, life, and humanity itself, we have no unitary vision. However, Prophet Muhammad perfectly combined a philosopher’s intellect, a commander valor, a scientist’s genius, a sage’s wisdom, a statesman’s insight and administrative ability, a Sufi master’s spiritual profundity, and a scholar’s knowledge in his own person. 

Philosophers produce students, not followers; social or revolutionary leaders make followers, not complete people; Sufi masters make “lords of submission,” not active fighters or intellectuals. But in Prophet Muhammad we find the characteristics of a philosopher, a revolutionary leader, a warrior and statesman, and a Sufi master. His school is one of the intellect and thought, revolution, submission and discipline, and goodness, beauty, ecstasy, and movement.

Prophet Muhammad transformed crude, ignorant, savage, and obstinate desert Arabs into an army of skilled fighters, a community of sincere devotees of a sublime cause, a society of gentleness and compassion, an assembly of sainthood, and a host of intellectuals and scholars. Nowhere else do we see such fervor and ardor combined with gentleness, kindness, sincerity, and compassion. This is a characteristic unique to the Muslim community, one that has been visible since its earliest days.

The “Garden” of Muhammad.

Islam, the school of Prophet Muhammad, has been a “garden” rich in every kind of “flower.” 

Like cascading water, God has brought forth from it such majestic people as Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, ‘Ali, ‘Umar ibn Abd al-‘Aziz, Mahdi al-‘Abbasi, Harun al-Rashid, Alp Arslan, Mehmed the Conqueror, Selim, and Sulayman. These were not only statesmen of the highest caliber and invincible commanders, but also men of profound spirituality, deep knowledge, oration, and literature.

The blessed, pure climate of the Messenger produced invincible generals. 

Among the first generation we see such military geniuses as Khalid, Sa’d ibn Abi Waqqas, Abu ‘Ubayda, Shurahbil ibn Hasana, and A’la al-Khadrami. They were succeeded by such brilliant generals as Tariq ibn Ziyad and ‘Uqba ibn Nafi, both of whom combined military genius with human tenderness and religious conviction and devotion.

When ‘Uqba, the conqueror of North Africa, reached the Atlantic Ocean, 2,000 miles away from Arabia, he cried out: 

“And now, God, take my soul! If this sea didn’t stretch out before me, I would convey Your holy Name across it to other lands!” 

We can hardly imagine Alexander the “Great” thinking such thoughts as he set out for Persia. Yet as conquerors, the two men achieved comparable feats. ‘Uqba’s idealism and his “possibility” with respect to the Divine Will would be transmuted into irresistible action in this world. Alexander’s empire crashed after his death; the lands ‘Uqba conquered still retain Islam as their dominant worldview, creed, and life-style 14 centuries later, despite attempts to change this reality.

Tariq was a victorious commander, not only when he defeated the 90,000-man Spanish army with a handful of self-sacrificing, valiant men, but also when he stood before the king’s treasure and said:

 “Be careful, Tariq! You were a slave yesterday. Today you are a victorious commander. And tomorrow you will be under the earth.” 

Yavuz Selim, an Ottoman Sultan who regarded the world as too small for two rulers, was truly victorious when he crowned some kings and dethroned others, and also when he silently entered Istanbul at bedtime, after conquering Syria and Egypt, to avoid the people’s enthusiastic welcome. He also was victorious when he ordered that the robe soiled by his teacher’s horse be placed over his coffin because of its sanctity—it had been “soiled” by the horse of a scholar.

During the rapid conquests after the Prophet, many conquered people were distributed among the Muslim families. 

Those emancipated slaves eventually became the foremost religious scholars: Hasan ibn Hasan al-Basri (Basra); ‘Ata ibn Rabah, Mujahid, Sa’id ibn Jubayr, and Sulayman ibn Yasar (Makka); Zayd ibn Aslam, Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, and Nafi’ ibn Abi Nujayh (Madina); ‘Alqama ibn Qays al-Nakha’i, Aswad ibn Yazid, Hammad, and Abu Hanifa Nu’man ibn Thabit (Kufa); Tawus and ibn Munabbih (Yemen); ‘Ata ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Khorasani (Khorasan); and Maqhul (Damascus). They all opened as splendid, sweet-smelling flowers in the garden of Muhammad. They established the Islamic legal code and brought up thousands of jurists, who wrote and complied volumes that are still valued as legal references.

One of these jurists, Imam Abu Hanifa, founded the Hanafi legal school, which has hundreds of millions of followers today. He brought up such great scholars as Imam Abu Yusuf, Imam Zufar, and Imam Muhammad Hasan al-Shaybani, who taught Imam Muhammed Idris al-Shafi’i. The notes Abu Hanifa dictated to Imam al-Shaybani were expounded centuries later by Imam Sarakhsi (the “Sun of Imams”) in the 30-volume work Al-Mabsut. Imam Shafi’i, who established the methodological principles of Islamic law, is regarded as reviver or renewer (mujaddid) of religious sciences. However, when his students told Imam Sarakhsi that Imam Shafi’i had memorized 300 fascicles of the Prophetic Traditions, the latter answered: 

“He had the zakat (one-fortieth) of the Traditions in my memory.’

Imam Shafi’i, Abu Hanifa, Imam Malik, or Ahmad ibn Hanbal, and so many others, were brought up in the school of Prophet Muhammad.

And then there are such Qur’anic interpreters as Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Ibn Kathir, Imam Suyuti, Allama Hamdi Yazir, and Sayyid Qutb. In addition, there are such famous hadith collectors as Imam Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ibn Ma’ja, Nasa’i, Ibn Hanbal, Bayhaqi, Darimi, Daraqutni, Sayf al-Din al-Iraqi, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, and many others. 

They are all ever-shining stars in the luminous sky of Islamic sciences. All received their light from Prophet Muhammad.

[emergingpakistan]

Who Blew Up Mosul's Al-Nuri Mosque?

Tradition holds that [Nurettin Zengin] (Nur ad-Din Zangi) the Turkish Atabeg built the mosque in 1172–1173 during the Abbasid Caliphate, shortly before his death.  According to the chronicle of Ibn al-Athir, after Nur ad-Din took control of Mosul he ordered his nephew Fakhr al-Din to build the mosque:

 Minaret 

The mosque was well known for its leaning minaret, known as al-Hadba’ ("the hunchback"). Grattan Geary, a 19th-century traveler, described the minaret's appearance: It is several feet out of the perpendicular, though it starts fair from the ground, and at the top, before putting on its gallery and dome, it regains an erect posture. Its attitude is that of a man bowing.

By June 2017, the Battle of Mosul had progressed to the stage that ISIL-controlled territory in Mosul was limited to the Old City area, which included the mosque. On 21 June 2017, Iraqi government forces reported that the mosque had been blown up by ISIS forces and the blast was indicative of bombs being deliberately placed to bring it down. ISIL's propaganda ministry Amaq claimed an airstrike by the United States is responsible for the destruction, but this claim does not appear to be substantiated by any information.

[majestativa]

Polish the ego’s rust from the mirror of your self.

— FAKHR AL-DIN IRAQI ⚜️ Love’s Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition, transl. by David Fideler & Sabrineh Fideler, (2010)