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The Hajj (Continued)Concerning the veils separating the created from the Creator, the Prophet says: 'Faith and faithlessness exist at a place beyond Allah's Throne. They are veils separating the Lord from the view of His servants. One is black and the other white.' Then the head of the holy spirit is shaved of all the material attributes. Reciting the eighth divine Name, Wahhab—the Donor of All, without limits, without conditions - he enters the sacred area of the Essence. There he recites the ninth Name—Fattah, the Opener of all that is closed. Entering the place of assiduousness where he stays in retreat close to Allah, in intimacy with Him and away from everything else, he recites the tenth Name, Wahid—Allah the One Who has no equal, none like Him. There he begins to see the manifestation of Allah's attribute Samad, the Source. He sees the beginning of this inexhaustible treasure. It is a sight without form or shape, resembling nothing. Then the last circumambulation starts: seven circuits during which he recites the last six Names and adds the eleventh Name, Ahad—the Unique One, the Only One. Then he drinks from the hand of the intimacy of Allah. And their Lord makes them drink a pure drink. (Qur'an 76:21) The cup in which this drink is offered is the twelfth divine Name, Samad—the Source, the Satisfier of all needs, the Sole Recourse. In drinking from this Source one sees all the veils lifting from the eternal face. One looks upon It with the light coming from It. That world has no likeness, no shape, no form. It is indescribable, unassociable, that world 'which no eyes have seen, no ears have heard its description, that no man's heart remembers'. The words of Allah are not heard by sound nor seen as the written word. The delight that no man's heart can taste is the delight in seeing the truth of Allah Most High, and hearing Him speak. After the Pilgrimage all wrong turns into right. During the Pilgrimage all that is unlawful is transformed into lawful things, and all this is within the now attained unity, which is continuous. Allah says: He who repents and believes and does righteous deeds, for him Allah will change his evil deeds to good. (Qur'an 25:70) Then that pilgrim will be freed of all actions that are from himself and freed from all fear and grief. Allah says: Now surely the friends of Allah, they have no fear, nor do they grieve. (Qur'an 10:62) Finally the farewell circumambulation is performed with the recitation of all the divine Names. Then the pilgrim returns home, to the home of his origin, that holy land where Allah created man in the best and most beautiful pattern. In returning he recites the twelfth divine Name, Samad, the Source, the treasure from which the needs of all creation are satisfied. That is the world of Allah's proximity, that is where the home of the inner pilgrim is, and that is where he returns. This is all that can be explained, as much as the tongue can say and the mind grasp. Beyond this no news can be given, for beyond is the unperceivable, inconceivable, indescribable. As the Prophet says, 'There is a knowledge that stays intact like buried treasure. None can know it and none can find it except those who are given the divine knowledge.' But when they hear of the existence of such knowledge, the sincere do not deny it. The man of ordinary knowledge gathers what he gathers from the surface. The one who possesses divine wisdom draws from the depths. The wisdom of the wise is the very secret of Allah Most High. None knows what He knows other than He himself Allah says: And they encompass nothing of His knowledge except What He pleases. His knowledge extends over the heavens and the earth and the preservation of both tire Him not. (Qur'an 2:255) Those blessed ones with whom He shares His knowledge are His prophets and His beloved ones who strive to come close to Him. He knows the secret and what is yet more hidden. (Qur'an 20:7) Allah, there is no god but He, His are the Most Beautiful Names. (Qur'an 20:8) And Allah knows best. The Secret of Secrets
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