In the Islamic Sufi tradition, it is said,
"Qualify yourself with the qualities of God." Compiled from classical
Arabic and Turkish texts of Al-Ghazali, Ibn Arabi, Djili, and Abdul Qadir Jilani,
among others, these are the divine attributes by which God manifests Himself in the world and by which He completes the spiritual life of
man.
In this volume, Tosun Bayrak, a shaykh of the
Jerrahi order based in Istanbul, explains how to use these Names for the
transformation of the soul--"to see that the human being is the microcosm
of the macrocosm where God's attributes are reflected." Sheikh Tosun
describes the barrier, "they know the Name, but not the Named." How
can one come to love God--without knowing Him? The Sheikh answers that we do so
through knowing His Divine Qualities in our own selves. "To assume the
angelic character which is innate but hidden in the human being, we have to
choose from Divine Attributes as we can, and try to live our daily lives
according to them. Then, God willing, this effort will help our imitation become
real."
The Name and the Named presents these attributes which
combine in various proportions to create the universe we see before us, but
these names are all contained in the Name, or word Allah. Therefore, when one
repeats this Name, one participates in stating the entire manifested creation.
Also included are the 201 traditional names or qualities of the Prophet
Muhammad.
Other interpreted and compiled works by Sheikh Tosun
Bayrak include The Way of The Sufi Chivalry (Kitab al-Futtuwah by Ibn al-Husayn
al-Sulami), Inner Traditions International; The Most Beautiful Names and
Inspirations on the Path of Blame by Sheikh Badruddin of Simawna, Threshold
Books; The Secret of Secrets: Hadrat 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, The Islamic Texts Society; Divine
Governance of the Human Kingdom (At-Tadbirat al-ilahiyyah fi islah al-mamlakat
al-insaniyyah by Ibn 'Arabi) and The Shape of Light (Hayakal Al-Nur by Suhrawardi).
William C. Chittick is Professor of Comparative
Studies at State University of New York, Stony Brook. He has published numerous
books, among them, Imaginal Worlds: Ibn al-'Arabi and the Problem of Religious
Diversity; Faith and Practice of Islam: Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts; The
Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-'Arabi's Metaphysics of Imagination; The Sufi
Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi; and A Shi'ite Anthology, all
published by SUNY Press.
Cover: Calligraphy from the shrine in Fez
of the great Moroccan saint Moulay Idris, taken from a photo by Haajar
Gouverneur. It says "Allah," the word in Arabic for the Name
of God.
