The Sound of Gabriel's Wing's by Suhrawardi

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TreatiseII THE SOUND OF GABRIEL'S WING In the name ofGod,theCompassiondte, theMerciful. (1) It is proper to glorify the Self-Subsistent presence and no other. It is right to laud and magnify the Lord of Divine Might exceedingly. Praise be to the Holy One from whose identity, proceeds the identity ofall that can be named, and from whoJe being_.comes the being of all that will ever 6". Ho-ug" u.rd benedictions upon the soul ofour Lord, the ray ofwhose ight of prrrity shone upon the world and whose beams of revelatiin lit the horizons of the orient and occident, and upon his Companions and Helpers. (2). For the- last few days one of those people whose clarity of vision has been marred by the ophthaimia of fanaticism irad been speaking ignorant nonsense about teachers of pasl generations in order to exalt the position of the lords and masters of the Way., In the course of his tirades, in order to strengthen his violent objections, he derided the technical terms of the moderns. Having gone on at great length, he inte{ected an anecdote about Master abu-,Ali Fur-aii, -ho was asked why the Wearers of Blue3 call certain aor.rd. th" 'sound of Gabriel's wing., He replied, ,Most of the things your senses percelve come from the sound of Gabriel,s wing.'And to the one who had asked the question he said,,you are Jne ofthe sounds of Gabriel'swing.' This over-zealous scoffercried out in vain bigotry, 'What can these words mean? The only conclusion ls ttiat tt ey a.e tire ravings of a madman!, (3)- When his audacity reached such proportions, I set to work to bring him down a notch or two. Thiowing ihe mantle of reraliation over my shoulders and rolling uf the sleeves of forbearance, I sat back on the heels of shre-wdness and took to cursing and using vulgar language. .All right,, I said, ,I am g^orng to set you straight on the sound of Gabriel's wing. If you are a man and know anything of manliness, you"t better understand.' I have named this treatise THE SOUND OF GABRIEL'S WING. The Naration Begins (4) During the days when I had first emerged from the women's chambers and someofthe restrictions ofinfants had been lifted from me, one night as ajet-black gloom settled over the concave ofthe cobalt sphere and a darkness that was the right hand of non-existence's brother spread over the lower world, I was overcomeby a senseof despair resulting from the impact of a dream. Distressed, I took a candle and headed for the men's part ofour house,and there I wanderedthat night until the break of dawn. Afterwards I had a desire to enter my father's hhanaqah.n The khanaqah had two doors,one onto the city and one onto the field and orchard. I went and shut tightly the door to the city. After closing it I went to open the door to the field. When I looked I saw ten old men of beautiful countenance seated on a bench. I was so amazed by their magnificence and splendour and so staggered by the sight oftheir throne, their beauty, their white hair, their garments and trappings that I could not speak. (5) In utter amazement and total awe I put one foot in front of me and the other behind me. I said, 'Let me be bold and attain the felicity of meeting them, comewhat may.' I tip-toed forward and was about to greet the old man who was on the end of the bench when - I must admit in all fairness - he greeted me first in a most kindly-disposed manner and gave me such a warm, broad srnile that his teeth sparkled in the pupils of my eyes. Despite my perusal of his noble features, my initial dread of him remained as it had been. 'Please, sir,' I said, 'from which direction have my lords honoured us with their presence?' The old man who was on the end ofthe bench answered me, saying, 'We are a group of abstracted ones, come from the direction of Nakuja-abad." This meant nothing to me. 'In which clirne is that?' I asked. 'In the clime to which your index finger cannot point,' he said, and I realized that this old man was very knowledgeable. 'If you would be so kind,' I said, 'please tell rne where you spend most of your time.' 26

Transcript of The Sound of Gabriel's Wing's by Suhrawardi

Page 1: The Sound of Gabriel's Wing's by Suhrawardi

Treatise II

THE SOUND OF GABRIEL'S WINGIn the name ofGod, the Compassiondte, the Merciful.

(1) It is proper to glorify the Self-Subsistent presence and noother. It is right to laud and magnify the Lord of Divine Mightexceedingly. Praise be to the Holy One from whose identity,proceeds the identity ofall that can be named, and from whoJebeing_.comes the being of all that will ever 6". Ho-ug" u.rdbenedictions upon the soul ofour Lord, the ray ofwhose ight ofprrrity shone upon the world and whose beams of revelatiin litthe horizons of the orient and occident, and upon hisCompanions and Helpers.(2). For the- last few days one of those people whose clarity ofvision has been marred by the ophthaimia of fanaticism iradbeen speaking ignorant nonsense about teachers of paslgenerations in order to exalt the position of the lords andmasters of the Way., In the course of his tirades, in order tostrengthen his violent objections, he derided the technicalterms of the moderns. Having gone on at great length, heinte{ected an anecdote about Master abu-,Ali Fur-aii,

-howas asked why the Wearers of Blue3 call certain aor.rd. th"'sound of Gabriel's wing., He replied, ,Most of the things yoursenses percelve come from the sound of Gabriel,s wing.'And tothe one who had asked the question he said,,you are Jne ofthesounds of Gabriel's wing.'

This over-zealous scoffer cried out in vain bigotry, 'What canthese words mean? The only conclusion ls ttiat tt ey a.e tireravings of a madman!,(3)- When his audacity reached such proportions, I set to workto bring him down a notch or two. Thiowing ihe mantle ofreraliation over my shoulders and rolling uf the sleeves offorbearance, I sat back on the heels of shre-wdness and took tocursing and using vulgar language. .All right,, I said, ,I amg^orng to set you straight on the sound of Gabriel's wing.If you are a man and know anything of manliness, you"tbetter understand.'

I have named this treatise THE SOUND OF GABRIEL'SWING.

The Naration Begins(4) During the days when I had first emerged from the women'schambers and some ofthe restrictions ofinfants had been liftedfrom me, one night as ajet-black gloom settled over the concaveofthe cobalt sphere and a darkness that was the right hand ofnon-existence's brother spread over the lower world, I wasovercome by a sense of despair resulting from the impact of adream. Distressed, I took a candle and headed for the men's partofour house, and there I wandered that night until the break ofdawn. Afterwards I had a desire to enter my father'shhanaqah.n

The khanaqah had two doors, one onto the city and one ontothe field and orchard. I went and shut tightly the door to thecity. After closing it I went to open the door to the field. When Ilooked I saw ten old men of beautiful countenance seated on abench. I was so amazed by their magnificence and splendourand so staggered by the sight oftheir throne, their beauty, theirwhite hair, their garments and trappings that I could notspeak.(5) In utter amazement and total awe I put one foot in front ofme and the other behind me. I said, 'Let me be bold and attainthe felicity of meeting them, come what may.' I tip-toed forwardand was about to greet the old man who was on the end of thebench when - I must admit in all fairness - he greeted me firstin a most kindly-disposed manner and gave me such a warm,broad srnile that his teeth sparkled in the pupils of my eyes.Despite my perusal of his noble features, my initial dread ofhim remained as it had been.

'Please, sir,' I said, 'from which direction have my lordshonoured us with their presence?'

The old man who was on the end ofthe bench answered me,saying, 'We are a group of abstracted ones, come from thedirection of Nakuja-abad."

This meant nothing to me. 'In which clirne is that?' I asked.'In the clime to which your index finger cannot point,' he said,

and I realized that this old man was very knowledgeable.'If you would be so kind,' I said, 'please tell rne where you

spend most of your time.'

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'Our job is tailoring,'he said.'We have all memorized God,sWord, and we are travellers.'

'Why do the elders seated above you keep silent?'I asked.'Because the likes ofyou are unworthy to approach them,,he

said. 'I serve as their tongue, for they will never deign toaddress the likes ofyou.'(6) In the courtyard I saw a basin with eleven layers. It had alittle water in it, and at the bottom ofthe water w;s a bir offinesand, around the edges of which a few animals were circlinq.The second level had many luminous buttons on it, after thefashion of the Maghrebi turban sashes worn by the sufis,whereas the first level had no button at all. On each of [theremaining seven ofl the upper nine levels ofthe basin a briehtbutton was fastened. With all ofthis, the basin was rounderthan a ball and had no opening. There was no crack or creviceon the surface. The eleven levels had no colour and were s<.rtranslucent that what was in their cavity was plainly visibleAlthough no hole could be made through the nine upper levels,one could easily pierce through the lowest level.(7) I asked the old man what this basin was.

'The first layer,' he said, 'whose body is greater than any ofthe other levels, was arranged and put together by the old manwho is seated at the highest level. The second was done bv thesecond one. the third by the third, and so on down to me. Thesenine comrades and companions produced the nine layers bytheir own labour and handicraft. The two bottom levels, alongwith the bit of water and sand, were produced by me. Sincetheir foundation is stronger, their handiwork cannot be rent orpierced, but what I have made can be.,(8)'What is the relation between these elders and vou?, Iasked.

'The elder who has his carpet in the highest place is themaster teacher and tutor of the second elder, who sits besidehim. He has signed the second elder's order of investiture, thesecond has signed the third's, the third rhe fourth's. and so ondown to me. The ninth elder signed my order of investiture,gave me my mantle of office and instructed me.,(9) 'Do you have children and property and things like that?, Iasked.

'We have never had spouses,' he said, ,but each one ofus has ason. Each ofus also has a mill and we have appointed our sons

to supervise the mills. We have never looked at the mills sincewe built them, but our sons maintain them in good runningorder by keeping one eye on the mill and the other on theirfathers. My mill consists of four levels, and my sons are toonumerous for even the cleverest to calculate. Every time Iacquire a few more children, I send them to my mill and chargethem with running the establishment for a stipulated time.When their time is up they come to me and never part from meagain. Other children I have acquired since go there, and soforth. Since my mill is a dismal place and fraught with dangersand pitfalls, none of my children who has served his time andleft there is ever inclined to return. The other elders have butone son each, and he is responsible for the mill and is constantlyoccupied with his work. Each oftheir sons is stronger than all ofmy children, and my mill and sons are aided by their mills andsons.'(10)'How is your constant regeneration accomplished?' Iasked.

'My state is never altered,'he said,'and I have no spouse, butI do have an Abyssinian slave-girl. I never look at her or make amovement, but she is placed at the centre ofthe mills and hergaze is fixed on the mill and the turning ofthe centre-post. Asthe stones revolve, the turning appears in the pupils of hereyes. Whenever, in the course of a revolution, her gaze fallsupon me in direct opposition, a child by me comes to be in herwomb, without any movement or change occurring in me.'

'How is this opposition ofher gaze to you given form?'I asked.'What I mean by these words is no more than a compatibility

and receptivity,' he said.'How is it that you descended into this Alcnogoft,'I asked the

old man, 'since you claim never to move or change?''Naive child,'he said, 'the sun is always in its sphere. Yet, il a

blind man cannot feel or perceive the sun's attitude, his lack ofsensation does not mean that the sun does not exist or that it isstanding st i l l in i ts place. I f the bl ind man's handicap isremoved, he has no right to chide the sun for not existing in theworld prior to that or for not shining on him before, because itwas always constant in its motion. The change will have beenhis, not the sun's. Likewise, we have always been on this bench:the fact that you did not see us does not mean that we were nothere, nor does it mean that we have changed or moved. The

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change has been in you.'(11) 'Do you worship God?' I asked.

'No,' he said, 'our total absorption in the act of witnessingexistence (shuhnd\ leaves us no leisure for worship. If we wereto worship, it would not be by the tongue but by a limb thatknows no movement.'(12) 'Teach me tailoring,'I said.

_ -He smiled and said,'Goodness! This cannot be done by the

likes ofyou. This knowledge is not possible for your species, forour tailoring cannot be translated into act. Nonetheless. voucan.be taught enough of the science of tailoring thai if yourfrock or cloak needs patching you can do it., And that muci hetaught me.(13) 'Teach me God's Word,, I said.

'It is unlikely that you could learn much of God's Word whileyou are in this city, but I will instruct you in as much aspossible.' Quickly he took my tablet and taught me a strangealphabet by means of which I would be ubl" to l"u.r, .iychapter I wanted. 'Without comprehension ofthis alphabet.' hLsaid.-'no one can acquire the mysteries of Cod's Word as theysholld be. Anyone who is acquainted with the workings ofthisalphabet will obtain eminence and stamina.,

After that I learned the science of alphabetical numerology.When I had mastered it I filled my tablet with as much of i'lieCreator's Word as was feasible for my mind and ability. Moremiraculous things appeared to me than could ever be

""t dorrn

in words. Whenever an unexpected problem arose I presented itto.the old man and through his exposition the problem wassolved. Once the 'blowing of the spirit, hafth-i r;h) was beingd.rscy-ss_eda The old man implied that it was acquired througithe Holy Spirit.(14) A question arose on the aspect of relativity (.wajh-imundsabet). In answer he showed how everything that joesinto the four corners of the lower world comes about fromGabriel's wing. I asked him to qualify this proposition. He said,'God has several Great Words. They are luminous from theSplendour ofhis August Face, and some are higher than others.The first light is the Highest Word, than which there is nonegreater. Its relation in light and brilliance to the other words islike the relation ofthe sun to the stars. This is what the prophetmeant when he said, "Even if the face of the Sun were

uncovered, it would fall short of lthe brilliance ofl God." Fromthe rays ofthis word another word lcomes to be], and so on untilthe perfect number is reached. These words are theIncoherents.(15) 'The last of these words is Gabriel, and the spirits ofhuman beings are from this last word, as the Prophet said in along narrative on human nature, "God sends an angel whoblows the spirit into it." In the Divine Word it is said:

It is he who hath made everything which he hath created exceedinggood; and first created man of clay and afterwards made hisposterity ofan extract ofdespicable water; and then formed him intoproper shape, and breathed ofhis spirit into him. (Koran, 32:7-9)

Concerning Mary it is said: "We sent our spirit unto her"(Koran, 19:17), and this is the word Gabriel. Jesus was called"God's spirit" and also the "word":

Verily Christ Jesus, the son of Mary, is the apostle of God, and hisWord, which he conveyed into Mary, and a spirit proceeding fromhim. (Koran, 4:171)

Since he was called both "word" and "spirit" and since mankindis all of one species, anyone who has a spirit has a word,although both names stand for one reality by being so closelyinterconnected.(16)'From the last Great Word there come more lesser wordsthan can be counted, as is alluded to in the Divine Book:

If whatever trees are in the earth were pens, and he should after thatswell the sea into seven seas of ink, the words of God would not beexhausted. (Koran, 31:27)

And:

Ifthe sea were ink to write the words of my Lord, verily the sea wouldfail before the words ofmy Lord would fail. (Koran, 18:110)

These are all created from the rays ofthe Great Word that is thefirst one of the great class, as is said in the Torah: "I createdfrom my light the spirits of those who long." This light is theHoly Spirit. What is told about Sulayman Tamimi amounts tothe same thing: when someone called him a sorcerer, he said, "Iam not a sorcerer but rather one of God's words."(17) 'God has intermediate words also. The Great Words arethose that are called "those who precede, and those who govern

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alfairs" (Koran, 79:rt-5) in the Divine Book. .,Those whoprecede" are Great Words, and "those who govern affairs,, arethe angels that move the spheres, the intermediate words. ..Werange ourselves in order" (Koran, 3?:165) is an allusion to theGreat Words; "we celebrate the divine praise,, (Koran, 82:166)ie an allusion to the intermediate words. For tlxis reason thosewho "range themselves in order" always precede in theGlorious Koran, as "those who rank themselves in ord.er andthose who drive forward and dispel',. (Koran, BT:1-2) This is tooprofound to be discussed here. ..Word,, in the Koran hasanother, secret meaning, as in *when the Lord tried Abrahamby certain words" (Koran, 2:124), which will be explained inanother place.'(18) 'Tell me of Gabriel's wing,' I said.

.. 'Gabriel has two wings,'he replied. ,The right wing is purelight, the totality of which is an abstraction of the relationbetween his being and God. The left wing has traces ofdarkness, like the dark spots on the surface of the moon thairesemble peacock's feet. That is a sigrr that his being has oneside-to-ward not-being. Ifyou look at the relation ofhis being toGod's being, it has the attribute of His being. When you look atthe realization of his essence (istihqd.q-i dhdt), it \s therealization of non-existence and a concomitant to possibleexistence Qazim-i sluayad.-brid). Theee two intrinsic meaningsstand on the level oftwo wings: the relation to God on the rigitand the- mental positing of the realization (i,tibdr-i istihqaq, iathe soul on the left, as God says: ,,he maketh the angelJ hismessengers, furnished with two, and three, and four pairs ofwings". {Koran,35:1) The two are mentioned first because 2 isthe closest of all numbers to l, then 3, then 4. Thus, having twowings is nobler than having three or four. The harmonics olthisin the sciences of realities and apocalypses is more than mostcan understand.(19) 'When a ray falls from the Holy Spirit, it is the type ofword called a lesser word. Don't you see that God has said: ,,Hemade the word of those who believed not to be abased, and theword of God was exalted'? (Koran, 9:40) Even the infidels havewords because they have souls, but their words are mixed with80und.

'From his left wing, which has a bit of darkness on it. ashadow falls. The world of vainglory is from that, as the

Prophet said, "God created creation in darkness and thensprinkled some of his Light on them." The words "createdcreation in darkness" refer to the blackness ofthe lelt wing, andthe words "then sprinkled some of his Light on them" refer tothe ray of the right wing. In the Glorious Book God says: "Hehath ordained the darkness and the light". (Koran, 6:l) Thedarknees connected to the words "hath ordained" is the world ofvainglory, and the "light ' that comes after the darkness is theray of the right wing, because every ray that falls into thevainglorious world comes out ofhis Light.

'Then he sprinkled some ofhis light on them," and "unto himascendeth the good words". (Koran, 35:11) This light too is fromthat ray. The words "a parable representing a good word"(Koran, 14:24) mean that the leeser word is iuminous. If thislesser word did not exist, how would anyone be able to ascend tothe presence of God? An indication of the fact that the '\rord"and "spirit" both have the same meaning lies in the texts "untohim ascendeth the good words" (Koran, 35:11) and "the angelsascend unto him, and the spirit'. (Koran, 70:4) Both areretuming "unto him," i.e., to God.

'The "soul at rest" means the same thing, as in the text"return unto thy Inrd, O soul at rest, well pleased, wellpleasing". (Koran, 89:28)

'Therefore the vainglorious rflorld of sound and shadow isGabriel's wing, that is, his left wing, while enlightened soulsare from hi8 right wing. From the right wing are the realitiesthat are cast into the conscous mind (kha,wd.tir6) (ae in the text"in the hearts of these hath God written faith, and he hathstrengthened them with his spirit" [Koran, 58:22]), the holyproclamation (as in the text "now hast thou verified the vision;thus do we reward the righteous" [Koran, 37:105]), and otherthings. The Wrath, the Awful Cry and the events fofthe LastDayl are fforn the left wing.'?(20) I asked the old man, 'What form does Gabriel's winghave?'

'My untutored one,' he said, 'don't you know that all these aresymbols? If taken at face value, all the Incoherents producenothing.'

'Ie there no word in close proximity to night and day?' I asked.'My unenlightened one,'he replied, 'don't you know that the

words ascend to God's Dresence. as He has said. "Unto him

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ascendeth the good words"? "In God's pres€nce there is neitherday nor night."8In the presence ofthe Diyine there is no [serial]time.'

'What is ttre city God has spoken of in the worde ,,O Lord,bring us forth from this city. whose inhabitants are wicked,'?i(Koran, 4:75)

'That is the world of vainglory, which ie the dominion of thelesser word. The lesser word too is a city unto itselfbecau€ Godhae said:

This is a part ofthe historiee ofthe citiee, which we relat€ unto thee. Ofthem there are some standing, and others which are utterlydemoliehed. (Koran, 1 1: 100)

'That which is standing is the Word, and that which isdemolished is the temple of the Word, which is perishable.An1'thing that is untouched by time is untouched by place, andwhat is outside of thes€ t$'o are God's Greater and LesserWords.'(21) Then, as day was breaking in my father'a khanaqah, theouter door was closed and the door to the city was opened. Asmerchants began to paes by, the group of old men disappearedfrom before my eyes. In my perplexity and regret at the loss oftheir company I sighed and moaned. But it was ofno use.

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