What does it mean for a human to love God?

QUESTION 3. We very frequently say that we love Allah. Human love involves attachment sacrifice and longing. What does it actually mean for a human to love God whom we cannot see? 'Everyone journey is towards his perfection. Everyone proximity is according to his State' – Attar. This Mystical Love is the fundamental aspect of Sufism, the true nature of the Creator is love, the true nature of existence is love and the taste or glimpse of that mind-blowing beauty ravishes the heart and burns up everything other than God. Rumi says, 'No lover would seek union, if the beloved was not seeking him. When the lightning bolt of love for the friend has shot into the heart, know that there is also love in that heart.' Hasan-Al-Basryee asked Rabia, 'If I renounce everything and turn towards God, will God turn towards me. She said, 'Never. First God turns towards you and then you turn towards God.' Annmarie Schimmel says as the initiative comes from God, you cannot deny it.' Qur'an says, 'Then He turned towards them so that they might repent.'Surah At-Tawbah (9:118). Ibn'Arabi believes, 'The movement of the world from non-existence to existence is in reality the movement of love manifesting itself.' He considers love to be the absolute center of everything, the very life force that holds all things together. It is believed to have been the primary motivating factor for the creation of the Universe and it serves as an important vehicle to traverse the vast distance between mankind and God.' Ibn'Arabi loves another Hadithi, 'I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be known so I created this world both visible and invisible.' It is as if the desire of love bubbled up inside God's own heart, turning and churning, until even God could not restrain that desire anymore. God doesn't want to be known discursively, merely rationally in the cool and distant intellect, but wants to be tasted and felt in our bones. The knowledge spoken of here is something more intimate, immediate and more primal. It is an ocean that has no limits. Open any page or 'Surah' of the Qur'an you will see the names of God loving, compassionate, forgiving, caring, generous, just, truthful, protector, kind and merciful. The qualities that God wants us to develop and the qualities, which the Qur'an describes God are synonymous. Creation therefore is a manifestation through which the divine names and attributes are known (Tajalayat).The human being is a mirror through which these are reflected. If we want a connection with the Infinite and want His light to show us the way in this world and hereafter, we have to grow in these qualities. If you think nothing matters, when you are in love with another human being, wait until you are in love with God. Wait until you cry and cry and then it pulls you back to God and pulls you back to truth. It is a magnet, even if you try to run away from it you cannot. It works and Sufis know about it. This is what is put in the heart of wayfarer, the burning passionate crazy desire for the beloved. The mystics speak to God in intimate whispers and prayers overflowing with radical love called 'Munajat' (confidential talk). Love of God is above the love of Paradise or even salvation from hellfire and the relationship, which they seek with God, doesnot await the Judgment Day. We are told that we will meet God face to face in the Hereafter. These mystics are boldly impatient. They want to see the face of God here and now. People ask Kharaqani a simple Shepard 'What would you like from everything that is in heaven and earth. His answer is, 'I would love to have one breath with God, where God's breath is my breath and my breath is God's breath. These are the same mystics, who never miss a prayer and the prayer for them is a way to achieve heavenly bliss and to have their own 'Meh'raj'(Ascension). In our time the people are cut off from the reality of the divine, do not feel the divine presence in their heart and when they start to feel the pain of separation, they try to anesthetize the pain. It is this pain, which Rumi honors with such great depths. It is a gift given only to few. Rumi says, 'The heart always loves and in every circumstances and situation the true heart is drunk on the beloved, occupied only on adoration of Him. I said to my heart (mind speaking to the heart) saying, 'How my heart can you be so crazy to severe from the service of the One Who blesses you. My heart replied to the mind, it is you who are mad to see me wrongly. I am always in His service, it's you that stray.' Rumi tells us how he got there. He says, 'First He pampered me with hundred favors. Then He melted with fires of sorrow. Then He sealed me with seal of love. I became Him. Then he threw me out of myself.' The relationship with God becomes dynamic and Ayan-ul-Qazat, when he is interpreting the Meh'rajsays, 'God just wanted to be close to the Prophet. Actually it was God yearning for Muhammad (PBUH).' That is why Sufis say, 'The very essence of God is love.' Major General (R) Muhammad Tahir addressed North Hills Book Club Meeting in Pittsburg Pennsylvania USA on 13 Sept 26. The questions and the answers given will be appended every Friday. —The writer is author of seven books including three on Spiritualty, 'The Islamic Spirituality and Mysticism-The Path and Destination, 'The Philosophy of Rumi and its relevance in the Present Times,' 'Longing for Transcendent-Teachings from Islamic mystical Traditions.' ([email protected])