بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
و الصلاة و السلام على أشرف المرسلين
و على اله و اصحابه أجمعين

Ibn’Ata Allah al-Iskandariy says:

The Lights are the mount of hearts and Secrets

The Light is a divine effluvium which the True projects into the heart of the one whom He Loves from among His servants, by the hand of one of His Awliya, which thus takes him out from the darkness of carelessness and free him from the yoke of the Tawghut of the nafs, which defeat him from the chains of his illusions and freed him from the prison of his passions. He then makes him ride the mount of gnosis, by which the disciple will fly to the worlds of Malakoûte and Jabaroûte. He will raise him to the heavens of the Spirit and make him taste the flavor of the fana. The dove of his spirit will then fly towards the Throne of the Merciful, he will enjoy at his ease the Paradise of Proximity and the gardens of gnosis and love. The one whose state is such, he is the true contemplator (chahid, which is generally translated as “martyr”): the one whose contemplation takes place on the path of the Name “Allah” The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ says:

“When your brothers from Uhud were touched (by death), Allah placed their spirits in a green bird that drinks from the rivers of Paradise, eats its fruit, and rests near golden candles hanging in the shadow of the Throne. When they saw that their food, drink and resting places were good, they said, “Who will let our brothers know that we are alive in Paradise, and that we receive our subsistence, that they may not skimp in the struggle, and that they do not abdicate in the war? Allâh ﷻ said, “I will let them know.” And it was then that Allah brought down: “And do not consider that those who died in the way of Allah are dead.”” [1]

Ibn ‘Ajibah – may Allah be pleased with him – said: “The mount (matiya) designates the camel equipped so that it can be mounted, the heart (qalb) refers to the reality of perception of the deep senses, Secret (sirr) refers to the reality of perception of theophanies. The Secret is more refined and purer than the heart, although both are names given to the spirit (roûh). If the spirit is made dark by acts of disobedience, sins, carnal passions and defects, then it is called ego (nafs).If he withdraws firmly and in a determined way from these things, he is called intellect (‘aql). If it oscillates between carelessness and the divine Presence, it is called the heart (qalb). If it is calm and tranquil with respect to the characteristics of human nature, it is called spirit (roûh). And finally, if it is purified from all superficial physical consideration, it is called Secret (sirr), because in returning to its origin it became a Secret of the Secrets of Allah: the Secret of the Jabaroûte. When Allah ﷻ wants to bring His servant to His Sanctified Presence and carry him to the state of intimacy, He provides him in Lights flows which are in the image of a mount that He loads of His Support. The servant is then appeased by the breeze of the guidance, surrounded by the attention of divine auspices, and his soul flies from the worlds of the human condition to the world of spirits, becoming a Secret of the Secrets of Allah ” [2].


[1] Sunan Abou Dâwoûd, Kitâb al-Jihâd, bâb fi fadl al-chahâda.
[2] Iqâdh al-himam, page 129.