Following are some selected sayings of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman about Liqa-e-Elahi/ Deedar-e-Elahi. To read detail about his teachings and quotes please refer to his English and Urdu books.
Can Allah Almighty be Seen?
- The Arabic word لقا transliterated as ‘Liqa’ means vision or countenance. The use of this word in the Quranic verses also refers to Divine vision.
- Allah Almighty can be seen through Ism-e-Allah Zaat.
- The inciting innerself is the barrier in Liqa-e-Elahi.
When Allah Almighty replied, “You cannot see” (لَنْ تَرَانِیْ Lan Tara’ni) to Prophet Moses’s request of vision of Allah, He did not mean that no one can see Him. In fact, He addressed to Prophet Moses that; “You cannot bear the luminosity of My vision”. Prophet Moses fainted on observing the Divine light. His fainting is a witness to the fact that he saw something but could not bear it. The luminosity of Divine vision made him unconscious. Upon returning to senses he submitted, “I am the first Mumin (believer)”. A believer (Mumin) is the one who bears witness of Allah after seeing Him. This proves that Moses beheld Allah, it is just he could not bear the intensity of Divine light and lost conscious.
Benevolence of the Divine Vision
Reason of Man's Creation
The reason for creating man is the recognition and gnosis of Allah. Recognition is in fact Divine vision. This benevolence of Divine vision is specific for the Mystics and Fakirs.
How to Achieve Divine Vision?
No delight is better than the delight of the Divine vision. However, it can be attained only by the sight of the purified soul not by the light of the physical eyes.
In religious schools only the knowledge about Allah is gained through intellect. While in khanqah, Allah is recognized by beholding Him through ardent Divine love.
Divine Vision is the Greatest Inward Station
The vision of Allah is the greatest of all inward stations. It is attained by the contemplation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat and the guidance of the perfect spiritual guide. However, this is not considered as the ultimate station in the way of Faqr since there is duality in it as well. The extreme level of Faqr is that the seeker annihilates in the Divine Essence and becomes immortal with Him, only then he can be the Universal Divine Man.
What is Liqa-e-Elahi?
What is Journey to Divine Vision Like?
Significance of Divine Vision
- ‘Trust of Allah’, in fact means the sacred Divine Essence.
- One who finds Allah, finds eternal success. Inner peace lies only in the Divine vision.
- Seeking the path of righteousness (Sirat-e-Mustaqeem) means seeking Allah Almighty.
- The absolute worship is that which is performed while seeing Allah, does not matter what way is adopted to worship. The soul of devotions of Prophet Mohammad and his Companions was ‘ascension to Allah’, meaning worshipping Allah while seeing Him.
- The recognition and vision of Allah is gained by the Divine Soul (Rooh-e-Qudsi). It is the pure nature upon which every human being is born.
- No Fakir ever accepted kingship by trading the blessing of the Divine vision. Although the kings gave up their empire for the sake of vision of Allah.
- Hoo ( ھُو ; the Divine Essence) is unperceivable in the realm of non-manifestation but when It descends to the station of Oneness, it manifests in the Divine Form which is the same as that of the realm of non-manifestation.
- The Divine theophanies are different from the Divine Essence. The veil between common people and the Divine theophanies is that of darkness of innerself while the veil between the seeker of Allah and the Divine Essence is of theophanies.