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The Maqam of Love
Excerpts from the Treatise of imam Qushayri
Allah ta'ala says: O you who believe! if any from among you turn back from his Faith, soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him (5.54)
Abu hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him said: "Whoever loves the meeting with Allah, Allah too, loves the meeting with him; and whoever hates the meeting with Allah, Allah too, hates the meeting with him."
Love is a honourable state that Allah attributed to his servants. He has also told about his love to the servants in the Qur'an. So Allah can be said to love a servant and a servant can also be said to love Allah.
The scholars say that the love of Allah means ones will to draw closer to Him and honour Him. As for Allah it is His Will to single out a servant with a particular gift. Love is more specific than Mercy. Whilst Allah's Will to grant someone rewards and bounties is called Mercy, Love is more specific than that, as it is His Will to single out a servant with nearness and with honourable states. This is called Love. The Will is one Attribute of Allah. It takes a specific name depending on what it is associated with. When Allah's Will is associated with punishment it is called Anger, when it is associated with any particular gift, it is called Mercy, and when it is associated with the specific gift of nearness, it is called Love.
The love of the servant for Allah is a subtle state that he experiences and it is difficult to articulate. It may drive him to be in awe of Him, to favour His Contentment [over ones desires], to be in constant need of Him, not to be satisfied with anything other than Him, and to feel His company through constant Dhikr of Him by one's heart.
There many definitions of Love. The Mashayikh said:
Love is the constant inclination of the bewildered heart.
Love is to favour the loved One over all other that accompany him (i.e. wealth, status, wives and children etc.).
Love is obeying the Beloved One openly and in secret.
Love is getting rid of ones bad character and affirming the Existence of the Beloved.
Love is to align one's heart with the will the Lord
Love is the fear of missing good courtesy whilst in state of servitude
Abu Yazid al-Bistami said: Love is to belittle anything you do and to praise the smallest gifts of your Beloved
Sahl Ibn Abdallah said: Love is embracing obedience and dissociating oneself from disobedience
Dilf Ashibli said: Love is to be jealous that someone like yourself claim the Love of Him
They said: Love is a fire in the heart that burns anything other than the will of the Beloved
They also said: Love is doing ones best to please the Beloved whatever He does to one.
Al-Junaid said: Any love that was driven by need will vanish as soon as the need is fulfilled.
Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak said: Anyone who has been given some love and who weren't given the same amount of fear let him know that he is being deceived.
They said that Allah revealed to Dawud peace be upon him that: I have forbidden my Love and the love of others to be together in one heart.
It has been reported that Abu Said Ahmad al-Kharaz said: I said to the Prophet sallaAllah alayhi wa sallam in a dream: O Messenger of Allah, I apologise to you because my Love to Allah has kept me away from your love. He sallaAllah alayhi wa sallam said: O blessed one whoever loves Allah loves me.
Unedited Free Translation.
Excerpts from the Treatise of imam Qushayri
Allah ta'ala says: O you who believe! if any from among you turn back from his Faith, soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him (5.54)
Abu hurayra reported that the Messenger of Allah peace and blessings be upon him said: "Whoever loves the meeting with Allah, Allah too, loves the meeting with him; and whoever hates the meeting with Allah, Allah too, hates the meeting with him."
Love is a honourable state that Allah attributed to his servants. He has also told about his love to the servants in the Qur'an. So Allah can be said to love a servant and a servant can also be said to love Allah.
The scholars say that the love of Allah means ones will to draw closer to Him and honour Him. As for Allah it is His Will to single out a servant with a particular gift. Love is more specific than Mercy. Whilst Allah's Will to grant someone rewards and bounties is called Mercy, Love is more specific than that, as it is His Will to single out a servant with nearness and with honourable states. This is called Love. The Will is one Attribute of Allah. It takes a specific name depending on what it is associated with. When Allah's Will is associated with punishment it is called Anger, when it is associated with any particular gift, it is called Mercy, and when it is associated with the specific gift of nearness, it is called Love.
The love of the servant for Allah is a subtle state that he experiences and it is difficult to articulate. It may drive him to be in awe of Him, to favour His Contentment [over ones desires], to be in constant need of Him, not to be satisfied with anything other than Him, and to feel His company through constant Dhikr of Him by one's heart.
There many definitions of Love. The Mashayikh said:
Love is the constant inclination of the bewildered heart.
Love is to favour the loved One over all other that accompany him (i.e. wealth, status, wives and children etc.).
Love is obeying the Beloved One openly and in secret.
Love is getting rid of ones bad character and affirming the Existence of the Beloved.
Love is to align one's heart with the will the Lord
Love is the fear of missing good courtesy whilst in state of servitude
Abu Yazid al-Bistami said: Love is to belittle anything you do and to praise the smallest gifts of your Beloved
Sahl Ibn Abdallah said: Love is embracing obedience and dissociating oneself from disobedience
Dilf Ashibli said: Love is to be jealous that someone like yourself claim the Love of Him
They said: Love is a fire in the heart that burns anything other than the will of the Beloved
They also said: Love is doing ones best to please the Beloved whatever He does to one.
Al-Junaid said: Any love that was driven by need will vanish as soon as the need is fulfilled.
Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak said: Anyone who has been given some love and who weren't given the same amount of fear let him know that he is being deceived.
They said that Allah revealed to Dawud peace be upon him that: I have forbidden my Love and the love of others to be together in one heart.
It has been reported that Abu Said Ahmad al-Kharaz said: I said to the Prophet sallaAllah alayhi wa sallam in a dream: O Messenger of Allah, I apologise to you because my Love to Allah has kept me away from your love. He sallaAllah alayhi wa sallam said: O blessed one whoever loves Allah loves me.
Unedited Free Translation.