Niffari - Stand at the throne
Ivan M. Granger July 31st, 2009
Stand at the throne (from The Standing Of the Presence Chamber and the Letter)
by Niffari (Muhammad ibn al-Hasan an-Niffari)
English version by Michael A. Sells
He said to me:
Stand at the throne.
I saw the sanctuary.
No gaze attained it.
No cares entered it.
In it I saw the doors of every reality.
I saw the doors on fire.
In the fire was a sanctuary.
Nothing could enter it but the sincere act.
When it entered, it came to the door.
When it came to the door, it stood for the reckoning
I saw the reckoning
single out what was for the face of God
from what was for the other-than-him.
I saw the reward was other-than-him.
I saw that the act, sincere in him and for him alone,
raised from the door to the highest plane of vision.
When it was raised, there was written upon the door:
“It has passed the reckoning.”
Eat from my hand,
Drink from my hand
Or you will not be equal to my obedience.
If you do not obey me on my account,
You will not be equal to my worship.
If you cast off your fault
you will cast off your ignorance.
If you recall your fault
you will forget your lord.
In the garden
is everything thought can bear
and behind it more.
— from Early Islamic Mysticism: Sufi, Quran, Miraj, Poetic and Theological Writings (Classics of Western Spirituality), by Michael A. Sells
/ Photo by red twolips /
There is so much to explore in this “standing” that I leave it with you to contemplate. Just a few of my own thoughts…
Nothing could enter it but the sincere act.
Love that.
I saw the reckoning
single out what was for the face of God
from what was for the other-than-him.
The day of reckoning, Judgment Day, is when we are sifted to discover what in us is a pure reflection of the face of God from that which is “other-than-him.” But Niffari sees that even the “reward” is “other-than-him.” He seems to be reminding us that to truly pass the “reckoning,” we must seek the Eternal not for the sake of a promised heavenly reward, but for the Eternal alone.
I saw that the act, sincere in him and for him alone,
raised from the door to the highest plane of vision.
When it was raised, there was written upon the door:
“It has passed the reckoning.”
A sacred puzzle: The reward is not the reward; God is the reward.
Eat from my hand,
Drink from my hand
Or you will not be equal to my obedience.
This is a statement of inner mystical initiation. Depth here to explore…
If you cast off your fault
you will cast off your ignorance.
If you recall your fault
you will forget your lord.
I love these lines too. A reminder to us that obsessing on faults, imperfections, or sins keeps us cut off from the Divine. The proper approach is not to linger on one’s personal or spiritual failures; that simply strengthens the illusory walls between the individual awareness and the Eternal. No, one must see those “faults” clearly, and seeing them clearly no longer cling to them, allowing them to simply fall away without self-condemnation.
We define ourselves by our faults, and create spiritual separation through self-condemnation. When we let them simply fall, the walls we imagined separating ourselves from the Eternal show themselves to have never been. “Ignorance” finally disappears and we see we have all along been standing in the presence of the Divine.
In the garden
is everything thought can bear
and behind it more.
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Niffari (Muhammad ibn al-Hasan an-Niffari)
Egypt (? - 965) Timeline |
Little is known about the life of Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Jabbar ibn al-Hasan an-Niffari. He is often considered to be an early Sufi, though his name does not formally appear in any of the Sufi lineage charts. I found one source that stated Niffari was from Mesopotamia (the broad region that makes up modern day Iraq and Iran), but he wrote in Arabic not Persian and he died in Egypt, so I question this…
Niffari’s Book of Standings (Kitab al-Mawaqif) is a fascinating collection of visionary poems. The “standings” referred to in the book has a rather subtle meaning in that each poem or chapter refers to a unique way in which he is made to stand by God. By this, Niffari seems to be suggesting that he is made to be present, straight, alive in the Real.
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This is a most fascinating poem. Our journey to and
within this world is but a dream - that all things, including our self is not truly fine anymore, but dark,
scary and unsafe. We feel like a practicing tightrope
walker without a net beneath us, everythings’s unsafe!
But we are, as Niffari says, each asked to stop momentarily, along the way, from time to time, and to STAND BY GOD.
We are lovingly asked to be present, accountable
and then so very beautifully safe and alive as we
stand at the foot of the Throne of God and HER PERFECT
LOVE! Oh, there’s so much brilliant Light here
where this “standing” is. ” ONLY HEAVEN IS REAL”
says The Holy One to us. God’s is A LOVE SO ABSOLUTELY PURE OF INTENT! And in that case,
everyone who lives is Holy, indeed! That’s God’s truth
where Heaven and Earth is full of God’s glory.
How holy you must be, Ivan!
This is naked, sheer, like the photograph depicted with it. Pure, simple clean, stark and yet full of strength and compassion. A lot is often lost in translation, but this is poetry after all and at the risk of ‘adding something’ may i share my reading of this meaning of ’standing’. I read this as ’standing before God’ in an attitude of complete servanthood and at the same time as standing ‘for God’ . Only in this former standing can the latter standing be said to take place. The word Sincerity stands out - literally, it is this that everything stands on. Standing for the Truth in utter sincerity as fully and constantly as one can in all things - i.e. with the best integrity. Fine words yes, but we are asked to take courage and walk this tightrope that maryann mentions -the dark night of the soul. The call to us in this is to see ‘ no other’,
‘Am I not your Lord?’ and the answer? - Yes, Indeed!’
In the garden where I live
there is a secret place;
with peace its only flower
And Love its only sun.
Much Love
Jim Atwell