Life Increasing Light

Hz. Mevlana and similar great thinkers and Sufis are great spiritual suns that illuminate our world with their meanings. We, on the other hand, are like tiny specks that emerge with the light reflected from them. Of course, it is inconceivable that a tiny speck can adequately perceive a great divine sun and express it in the most accurate way. For this reason, some lovers of the Truth have spent their entire lives trying to understand the Prophet Mevlana and to explain what they understand to the people to the extent of their understanding, and have spent their lives on this path. One of such very valuable personalities is our late Mesnevihan Sertarik Şefik Can Hoca, who is one of the noble personalities raised in our century with his studies on Hz. Mevlana and his works and his very sincere love and affection.

(1909-2005) This distinguished person who devoted his ninety-six years of fruitful and fruitful life to Hz.Mevlana and Masnavi; Throughout his whole life, he endeavored to understand Hz.Mevlana in the most accurate way; He always said with a heartfelt plea: "Learn the Prophet Mevlana not from left and right, but from the Prophet himself. He is hidden in his works." Our teacher Şefik Can, with his infinite divine love in his heart, with his vast experience of ninety-six years; By saying that Hz. Mevlana is hidden in his works, he invited us to read those exceptional works, which are a unique spiritual heritage for the whole human world, more carefully, to understand what we read, and to strive to live what we understand.

For this reason, I would like to present some couplets from Divan-ı Kebir and Masnavi, trying to see in his works the true source of the divine light that covers the whole universe and the wisdom in tolerance and human love, which is one of the greatest characteristics of Hz.Mevlânâ.

The Prophet Mawlana, who said that Allah Almighty sent Prophet Muhammad and his successors, the great guardians, to this world as a mercy, said the following in Divân-ı Kebir as a clear manifestation of the fact that he himself is a great divine mercy:

"We are the cure for all troubles, the remedy for the helpless. We are the Zulfikar of Hazrat Ali in battle. We are not giving the glad tidings of tawhid like Ahmad. We started talking in the cradle as a child like Jesus Christ. "1

"We are like the sun in this world. We have come to give life to everyone, to be useful and beneficial to the whole human world.

We have come to be a friend to those whose hearts have been broken and who have fallen into sorrow, to share their sorrows and griefs.

We have come to this world to bring those who are despised, those who fall to the ground, those who are trampled underfoot, to the garden of roses, to bring them joy.

We are not the property of a few like gold. We are like oceans, we are like mines; we are the property of everyone in this world. "2

As it is clearly understood from these Divân-ı Kebir couplets, Hz. Mevlana said; "We are not the property of a few people like gold. We are the property of everyone", he very clearly stated that he could never be limited to a certain nation, religion and sect.

Hz. Mevlana, who said that we are like the sun in this world, aimed to live with the spirit of tawhid and embraced all created beings with great affection without any discrimination, with the motto "man is the most honored of all created beings", which Muslims emphasize sensitively.

In Masnavi Sharif: A thousand times shame on the one who sees nothing but shame, defects and shortcomings in people. How can a pure soul coming from the realm of the unseen see shame, flaws and deficiencies in its brothers and sisters coming from the same place?

Shame and imperfection appear as shame and imperfection to those who know nothing. But there are some things that you see as shame and defect, but they are not shame and defect with Allah Almighty.

To us, blasphemy may be a calamity, but to Allah Almighty, it has a wisdom and a secret.

Do not call anyone an infidel, and do not belittle anyone because of his faith, for you do not know how a person will breathe his last breath.3

To us, infidelity may be a disaster, but even it has a wisdom and a secret with Allah Almighty. In another Masnavi couplet, the Prophet Mevlana says, "Do not belittle anyone because of their faith, you do not know how a person will breathe his last breath: "O Allah, only you are worthy to condemn your servants, to see in them faults, defects, and shortcomings; for you alone are the only one who is faultless, perfect, and complete, O Lord. "4

Saying "You are the only one who is flawless and complete, O Lord", Hz. Mevlana preferred to see himself in that mirror and correct himself in accordance with the hadith that man is the mirror of man, instead of seeing flaws and defects in people in line with these thoughts.

Looking at the whole universe with the light of tawhid, Hz.Mevlânâ embraced the whole universe with a high tolerance, loving the creature because of the creator. Hz.Mevlânâ's tolerance of people, his love and respect for them without any discrimination is never an empty humanism.

Our Prophet Mevlana, who said that when love was distributed in this world, nine tenths of it was distributed to me and the remaining one was distributed to all the lovers who have come and will come; With such an unlimited divine love, due to his universal love that covers the whole human world; For eight hundred years, every society from various religions and thoughts has tried to understand and explain him to the extent of their own comprehension.

In 2002, the Masnavi, recognized by the Norwegian Nobel Institute as one of the most important works of all time, has been translated into many world languages, and Mevlana has become one of the most important personalities mentioned both in our country and abroad.

In spite of all this, it is often mentioned that the spiritual values that Hz. Mevlana emphasized with sensitivity are not sufficiently understood even after eight hundred years, and that they have been removed from their origin at a great speed and have remained in the form, and that the values in question have reached the stage of being destroyed today.

While I agree with the idea that the Prophet Mevlana has not been sufficiently understood even after centuries, I cannot agree with the idea that the spiritual values he stood for have been or will be destroyed over time.

Because not understanding Hazrat Mevlana means not understanding our Prophet and the Holy Qur'an. To understand the Prophet and the Holy Qur'an is to be aware of our duties of servitude to Allah Almighty.

To be outside of this divine consciousness, to be incapable of realizing it, cannot be thought of as the destruction of the spiritual values that neither Hz. Mevlânâ nor Mevlânâ believed in, nor as the emptying of those values.

In the foreword of the Masnavi, the Prophet Mevlana, who reveals himself and all the spiritual values he believes in the clearest way in his works, said the following:

The Masnavi contains truths that have descended to the heart from the Lord of the worlds. Indeed, the Masnavi is a book inspired by the Lord of the worlds. Falsehood cannot pass before it, nor can Allah protect it after it.5

The protection of the Masnavi by Allah Almighty means the protection of its spiritual values. We would like the whole human world to benefit from this spiritual treasure at the highest level. However, we cannot expect everyone to realize and embrace these high truths. Eight hundred years ago, Hz. Mevlana clearly stated in all his works that people could not understand him and would have difficulty understanding him. The first eighteen couplets of the Masnavi are the best example of this.

Also in a Divan-e-Kabir" couplet: Poetry is the dress of my words, everyone is interested in the dress, but unfortunately no one knows about the beauty inside the dress.

In another Divan-i Kebir couplet: Before the quarrel and noise of Hallj-i Mansur's witty Ene-l Haqq saying was in this world, we were saying Ene-l Haqq in Baghdad, the world of the soul 6

"Khallaç-i Mansur said Ene-l Haqq, but the people could not understand the truth, so they drove him to the gallows. If Khallaç were alive now, because of the greatness of my words and my secrets, Khallaç would drag me to the gallows. 7

It should be quite natural that we cannot adequately understand and comprehend the secrets of knowledge that even Hallç'ı Mansur would have difficulty understanding.

Despite all that has been said, I do not think it is impossible or very difficult to understand the Prophet Mevlana or to see the beauty in the poems as he himself put it.

Because, in all of his works, he has expressed from time to time that it is very difficult to understand him, but he has also repeatedly shown us the ways to be understood in the clearest way.

You have to admit that the most accurate expression of a person can only come from him or herself.

Hz. Mevlânâ, especially in his Divan-ı Kebir couplets, frequently mentioned himself as a material and spiritual whole and guided us to approach his existence, which is a divine sanctuary, in the most correct way.

The important thing is to read his works with a clean heart, very carefully and repeatedly if necessary, without forgetting that he said, "I am the slave of the Qur'an. I am the soil of the ground on which the Prophet Muhammad treads" and to read his works with a pure heart, very carefully, over and over again if necessary.

I would like to present here only two of the hundreds of couplets of the Prophet Mevlana that will shed light on the subject:

"In order to see us, to hear us, to understand us, wash your face and eyes from dirt, first get clean and get rid of dirt. For a dirty person can never see us, hear us, understand us. "8

Of course, this cleanliness that Mevlana talks about is not washing our hands and face with soap and water. It is cleanliness of state, cleanliness of behavior, cleanliness of heart.

In the Divan-i Kebir he says, "Wash your face and eyes and be clean before you can understand us"; in another Masnavi he says "O blind one, drink my water with your right hand, drink it with your right hand so that your eyes may be opened, otherwise you cannot see me or understand my words with this blindness. What do I mean by the right hand that I have mentioned here? It is the right good conception, that is, the good thought. "9

As you can understand, the blindness mentioned in these couplets is the blindness of the heart's eye. If we can pay as much attention to being right-thinking and good-minded as we do to eating with our right hand, as the Sunnah of the Prophet, I think many things will take care of themselves.

The nineteenth couplet, which follows the first eighteen couplets of the Masnavi, commands to be free. Of course, this is not a coincidence. Because it is never possible for a person who is bound by various chains of nafsani feelings and thoughts to understand the Prophet Mevlana.

Therefore, the first step to understand the Prophet Mevlana is to strive to be free. The only thing to do for this is to respect not only human beings, but also flowers, insects, even stones and soil, all of which are part of a whole, and all beings in the universe in line with their purpose of creation. To strive to develop feelings of love and friendship among people without discriminating between race, religion, color, age or gender. In the light of all the values that make human beings human, to achieve individual soul freedom by getting rid of various personal ambitions, selfishness and egos that can harm both ourselves and our environment.

A person who achieves personal spiritual freedom will never be incapable of spiritual realization and understanding, as well as being a part of social peace, love and friendship, which is the main goal.

The ways of understanding the Masnavi, which descended to the earth in the form of letters and words from the treasury of divine mercy with the command of Allah Almighty, and the ways of benefiting from it are explained by our Prophet Mevlana himself in the Masnavi Sharif as follows:

"Do you think that you can benefit from the Masnavi only by reading it, or only by listening to it? In order to benefit from the Masnavi, one must first have faith, then follow its advice, and most importantly, live the Masnavi. Do you think that high truths, divine wisdoms, hidden secrets can easily enter your ears and come to your mind? Even if you hear these wisdoms, even if you hear these truths, they will seem like a fairy tale to you, you will not be able to see the delicious insides of the grains that appear as shells."
As it is understood; in order to understand the Masnavi and to benefit from it, we must first have a strong faith, and then we must definitely put what we read into practice and live it. If these few sentences can be sufficiently understood in our hearts, the problem is solved. The important thing here is to be aware of our helplessness and to endeavor to read, understand and live the Masnavi with good faith to the extent of our comprehension. Doesn't Allah Almighty say, "Do what you know and I will teach you what you don't know"?

After the thousands of couplets he expressed in his works, HZ.MEVLANNÂ has shed light on all our material and spiritual lives with his will that he left us as the last word.

"I tell you to fear Allah in secret and in public.

I want you to eat less

Get less sleep

Say less

To abstain from sins

That you continue fasting and praying

I want you to always avoid lust.

To endure the torment and suffering of the people

Keep away from associating with the commoners and debauchees

I bequeath you to be with the righteous people who are the owners of mercy

The most useful of people is the one who benefits others.

And the best of words is succinct.

Praise belongs to Allah alone.

Peace be upon the people of Tawhid.

Dibnotes

Can Şefik Divân-ı Kebirclt.2.no 755
Can Şefik Divân-ı Kebirclt.2.no 842
Can Şefik Mesnevi clt.1. no 1995
Can Şefik Mesneviclt.1. no 3908:
Mesnevi Preface
Can Şefik Divân-ı Kebirclt.1.418
Can Şefik Divân-ı Kebirclt.2.694
Can Şefik Divân-ı Kebir clt.2. 742.
Can Şefik Mesneviclt.2. no 1120