RUMI'S INFLUENCE ON MUSLIM PHILOSOPHERS

Here two examples will be given to illustrate the influence of Rumi. The first example is Ibrahim Hakki of Erzurum (d. 1780), the great Turkish Islamic scholar, and the second example is Muhammad Iqbal. To elaborate on this further, I will give exam­ples of Rumi's poems found in the Marifetname by Ibrahim Hakki. He was born in Hasankale near Erzurum in the eastern part of modem Turkey, was a great scholar and a famous Sufi, well-known and respected in Anatolia and even throughout the Islamic world. His book Marifetname, similar to an encyclopedia, is a work that encompasses diverse subjects and many areas: reli­gion, literature, Sufism, geography, history, cosmography, biolo­gy, fashion, and much, much more. There are also a great number of Turkish, Arabic, and Persian poems that could comprise an anthology of poetry. The author of the book himself is a great poet in addition to being a great scholar. He authored a divan (collection of poems) that contains his own poems. His poems that are cited in Marifetname come mainly from his Divan.

Ibrahim Hakki devoted himself to Rumi's poetry, memorized many couplets from the Mesnevi, identified with many poems he selected from Divan-i Kabir, translated them in verse into Turkish with much effort, joined his voice with that of Rumi, and with these divinely inspired poems that fragrance of faith and divine love, answered the spiritual needs and joys of millions of Muslim Turks. He made lovers of God shed tears, enraptured and excited them. Should we not call this great saint Ibrahim Hakki Mevlevi instead of only Ibrahim Hakki Erzurum!? Following are several examples that show how Ibrahim Hakki was influenced by Rumi. The first example:

When we start to fight the night we turn it upside down. We extract salt from the sea of night.

Those who see the truth of night will not want to sleep and run away from it. Pure and clean spirits "revive the night.

They will not steep, but spend the night in worship. They plead to God, The night is the tulle and veil of the unseen beloved, the beloved of spirit.

How can the day be equivalent to the night? In your view the night is like a dark pot since you have not tasted the sweet­ness of the dessert cooked in that pot and you have not under­stood the truth of the night.

The day is the time for material gains and profit, but the love of the night has a much different pleasure.

The night came and prevented me from trade and profit, it bound my hands, and I could not do anything.

Until dawn the foot of the night remained bound, too.

Ibrahim Hakki interpretes this poem in his own words:

This struggle with the night has been peace and war
The sea of die night has become a plane for us.
It does not want sleep and runs away from it
If this eye beholds the spectacle of the night.
Many with hearts full of holy light and many pure spirits
Have become servants of the Lord of the night.
The stopping place of the unseen beloved is the night
For the lover the day cannot equal the night.
The darkness of the night is a dark pot for the eye
If the tongue has not tasted the dessert of the night.
Although the venture of profit and business is during the day
Another happiness is the heart of the love of night.
When the night bound my hands from every task
Hakki revives the night by praising God till the morning.

The second example:

When the person who is a lover of God and has a strong desire (for God) in his heart goes to the door of the heart and the heart does not open its door to him, of course, there is a reason for this. Do not be sad that the door is not opened. Go, sit at the door and wait because that Beloved that conceals herself comes out either after midnight or right before dawn. The spirit that separates itself from even-thing and seeks only God is something that is rarely found and it is a wondrous spirit. The eye that sees a world other than his own is a possessor of the glance (sahib-i nazar). It has a pleasant nickname. Such a person becomes the closest friend of the spirit and never fears death. At the time of death he has a particular pleasure and indescribable joy If his foot hits a stone, a pearl falls into his hand. When his spirit comes up to his mouth (to leave the body), he meets it with a sweet-lipped person. Be silent! Do not reveal the secrets every­where. In the assembly of people who are not good-spirited there may be Abu Jahils present.

The translation of this Ode in the verse of Ibrahim Hakki is as follows:

Whoever has joy and happiness on the inside
And keeps waiting at the door of the heart, he has a reason He waits at the door of the heart till his Beloved comes When the beloved comes, he shows respect; the spirit has good manners.
The spirit that is far from everything and has become a seeker of God
Has sacrificed himself for love; he has an amazing inclina­tion.
The gnostic that sees His face in everything
He became a possessor of the glance (sahib-i nazar); he has a pleasant nickname.
Whoever is a lover of God and is loyal in divine love
At the time of his death he has a festival.
If his foot touches the stone, a pearl enters his palm
Not to worry even if the spirit comes to the mouth, he has sugar lips.

O Hakki! Remain silent! Say your words in secret phrases Because there are many Abu Lahabs in the assembly of impure souls.

The third example:

When the address of "Come!" reaches the spirit from the Almighty Creator of this universe and all beings, the Possessor of Majesty and Beauty, how can the spirit not open its wings and fly? When the waves' sounds reach the ear of a fish that got separated from the crystal clear sea and ended up in a dry place, how can that fish not jump at once into the sea that is its real homeland? When the falcon hears the "Return!" command from the drum and its wooden mallet, how can it not leave hunting and return to the sultan? How poor, how evil and how astray is the person who cannot find and love such a pleasant, beautiful, friendly, life-granting Unique Being? O bird of spir­it! You have been cleansed of sins. You escaped the cage of your desires and ego. Your spiritual wings have spread. Come now and fly, fly to your real homeland from whence you came in the first place. Travel from the bitter water to the Water of Eternal Life. Move from the ranks of those who sit at the entrance and take your place at the head sofa of spiritual assembly O spirit, you go! Go so that we, too, may be able to attain the world of reunion from this world of separation. '

Translation of this Ode in Verse:

How can the bird of spirit fly when that Holiness of Majesty Addressing with elegance and justice saying "Come!" Why wouldn't the fish throw itself into the water When the sounds of the waves of the crystal sea come to its ear? Why wouldn't that falcon fly to its sultan and stop hunting When the drum and the wooden beetle give him the news:

"Return!"

Amazing sweetness has this love of the Life-Giver, Whoever is content without it is evil and astray. Fly at once and reach your master, O bird of spirit! Freed from this cage, may your wings and arms spread. Travel from this confusing soil, drink the Water of Eternal Life.

Find clarity of chest in your heart, sitting among the ranks of those who sit at the entrance is enough.

Give the world to the worldly people, O Hakki, come to the world of the heart.

Since that is world of separation and this is the world of reunion.

The second example is that of Muhammad Iqbal (d. 1938), who is one of the greatest geniuses of the East and was influenced very much by Rumi. He studied a long time in the biggest cultur­al centers of Europe, and after graduating from Cambridge University in England, he earned his doctoral degree in philoso­phy from the University of Munich in Germany. Iqbal is a great poet and a great philosopher, and great scholar and a great human being. There arc those who think that Pakistan deserved to be named Iqbalistan since this great patriot, who attained God's mercy without seeing Pakistan established, played an important role in the foundation of Pakistan. After gaining much knowledge of Islamic sciences in his country, during the time he stayed in Europe he got to know the greatest scientists of the West and ana­lyzed in depth the doctrines of the most famous philosophers. After having read the books of world famous philosophers, schol-ars, poets, and writers of both East and West, he chose Rumi as his guide by accepting his views on action and love.

Iqbal saw in Rumi the aspects that everybody could not see easily. From Rumi he understands that "The gate of God is a gate without an end. Wherever you reach on this path never say 'This is enough, ' don't stop, go further. " In one of his poems, Rumi also says: "Every day I need to set out on a new journey and cov­er new distances. " In these views, Iqbal found his own views. According to Iqbal, lite is not only to live and to exist but also to develop and attain perfection. It is even to surpass perfection. Life is composed of a constantly running flow, progression, and change. Human beings have come to the world to work and accomplish something. The value of human beings is measured by their work. The Holy Qur'an says: "For humankind there is nothing but what they do and earn. " Human beings are obliged to work and earn their living. Man has been created to worship. But this worship cannot be done by retreating to a lone corner and sitting there in idleness. It is achieved by working and ben­efiting one's self as well as one's relatives and nation.

Both Rumi and Iqbal renounced the fatalism that had infil­trated Islam in later stages. The idea that one should not worry and leave one's concerns to God, that whatever is the judgment of the fate will come to be is not an Islamic belief. A human being's work and struggle may not lead one to success all the time. Human beings should not be discouraged by their failure, should not let themselves go, and become idle. They have to keep on trying and struggling. Therefore Rumi says: "To work with­out any gain is better than sleeping. " Iqbal also wrote: "Even if you produce something rarely, since it is the result of hard work it will be counted as a good deed even if it is a bad one. " In all his books Rumi refused fatalism and recommended conscious ini­tiative, work, struggle, and endeavor. In Rumi's books the wind of action and life always blows, it is not tranquilizing but awak­ening: "If the tree had mobility, if it could move from one place to another with its head and foot it would not have to suffer the chastisement of the saw and endure the wounds of the axe. "

Rumi constantly recommends action and struggle. In eight couplets of this poem Rumi says: "Don't stay idle. Travel from yourself to yourself. " This notion of traveling from one's self to one's self and seeking one's self in one's self forms the core of Iqbal's system of thought. According to Iqbal, the real purpose of life is for every human being to realize his self, to find himself in himself, using the power hidden in himself to serve the progress and advancement of the universe. The human being has to realize the Divine Entrustment in himself, rely on it, by its power achieve great things, and, as related in the Qur'an, he has to be God's vicegerent (khalifah] on earth. " Iqbal's view on life is the view of knowing one's self. Since he makes one aware of what is in one's self, he is called the "prophet of the religion of self. " Just as Abd al-Rahman Jami (d. 1492) says about Rumi: "He has a (holy) book but is not a prophet, " the poet Garami said regarding Iqbal: "He brought news to people as to what was in them, he served the duty of a prophet but he cannot be called a prophet. "The reason Iqbal devoted himself to Rumi and made him his spiritual guide was because Iqbal was able to relate to Rumi's thoughts and views and thus found himself in Rumi. Rumi advises one to discover what is in one's self and to fall in love with one's self. In the following verse he says: "O those who are unaware of the truth, I want to fall in love with my self. "

In another poem: "You are another version of the divine book. You are a mirror of the Beauty of God that created the universe. Whatever exists in the world, it is not outside of you. Whatever you ask for, ask for it in yourself, seek it in yourself. " Iqbal expresses the same thought in his poetry: "In your self there is an existence from God's existence. In your self there is a manifestation of God's manifestation, I do not know where this pearl that was obtained would have been found if his sea did not exist. " Rumi expresses the same view in one of his honorable couplets as follows: "Whatever pearl you see seek there is anoth­er pearl inside that pearl because all the atoms are saying: 'There is a treasure hidden in me. "' In another couplet Iqbal says: "Don't look left and right, look at yourself. Do not be sad that your skirt is empty. In your chest a full moon is hidden. "

How can one find one's self? How can one feel what is in one's self? How are we going to find the "I" which Yunus Emre describes as the " T inside me"? The famous Mevlevi poet, Esrar Dede, once said: "All the time I have been saying I, I, ' I have meant You. " Mansur al-Hallaj felt what was in himself, entered a state of ecstasy, lost control, and cried, "I am the Truth. " The great Sufi Sarraj said: "Since the real existence belongs to God, no one has the right to say T except for Him. " As a matter of fact, how can this mortal being who is doomed to perish, made up of skin, nerves, flesh, and bones say "I"? As commonly known, there are two "I"s in the human being. One is the "rah-mani I" (rahmani: attributed to God who is the Most Merciful), the other is the "satanic I, " or "nafsani I" (nafsani: sensual, malig­nant). The "nafsani I misleads one; it prevents one from finding the real "I" and attaining the truth. As Vizeli Kaygusuz says:

I found this path, this way, Nafs was a curtain, an obstacle for me. I read, understood, and came to know that Ego was a curtain, an obstacle for me.

The "sensual I" acts like a curtain for us. Rumi says: "As long as you remain in yourself, they will not give you way to you from you. They will not let you find your real existence. But once you take your ego under your feet and efface your self, they will not let you out of their sight. And if furthermore you can save yourself from desiring the bounties of this world and the hereafter, they start to point at you with their fingers as a com­plete human being. " Rumi expresses this truth in another poem as follows: "As long as your existence is with you, do not sit comfortable because you are still worshipping idols. Let's sup­pose that you tried and managed to crush the idol of presump­tion (i. e., not having complete knowledge and guessing). But thinking highly of yourself and having pride because you crushed that idol becomes yet another 'uncrushed' idol for you. "

The ego that Rumi is talking about in these lines is the cor­poral ego. The fact that a person who crushes the idol of pre­sumption thinks of himself highly shows that he has yet to attain truly yaqin(certainty; complete faith). According to Rumi, a human being will attain the truth as soon as he realizes his own value and finds the real "rahmani I": "If I had known my own value and my own greatness properly, I would have pulled my skirt away from the dust, soil, and worldly dirt and, being lighter spiritually and cleansed from sins, I would rise to the heavens and put my head over the ninth heaven. " As Rumi expresses in this quatrain, by knowing oneself and one's value, a person can get to know the Divine Entrustment inside, i. e., the "rahmani I. "

Iqbal explains the rahmani ego, whose existence was related in the Qur'anic verse: "He is with you wherever you may be, " in the following couplet: "There is a beloved hidden in your heart. If you want to see it, come and let me show it to you. " Rumi mentions the same truth in one of his couplets: "There is someone hidden here, do not think of yourself as alone. " In another couplet: "We have come to know that we are more than this body. Beyond this body we live with God. " How are we supposed to find the hidden beloved, the rahmani ego that both Rumi and Iqbal talk about? After a person has developed his char­acter and raised it to perfection, after he has become an ideal model whom people would point to with admiration., after he has found himself, he will foot the presence of God with God's grace.

When the atomic ego is merged with the universal ego, will it lose itself there? According to Iqbal the drop that will fall into the ocean will not be lost but still will make its existence felt in the ocean. To attain God is not for the ego to be effaced in God's existence, i. e., to attain the level of fana fillah as conceived by other Sufis. According to Iqbal, it is to find God in one's self, in one's heart. The holy light of God joins the individual's candle instead of putting it out. Thus, man attains perfection by finding himself in the presence of God. The following couplet by Iqbal is of interest: "If you want to see and sense God dearly, try to see yourself even clearer. " Here Iqbal is referring to a Prophetic Tradition. Elsewhere he says: "In the sight of a religious man, the person who denies God is a unbeliever. But in my sight, the per-son who denies himself and what is in himself is even more of a unbeliever. " According to Iqbal, one becomes more of a unbe­liever with the denial of the ego that is closer to him. Is God not closer to us than ourselves? The Qur'anic verse; "We are closer to him (man) than his jugular vein" expresses this truth.

What difference is there between the realization of ego and the realization of God? Here Iqbal emphasizes the importance of realizing the ego that is in us. He maintains that the realization of God is possible only after the realization of the ego. When one becomes absorbed in one's self by what the elders call tafassuh al-daruni, an inner checking, or concentrating all one's attention on a point, he establishes a connection between himself and God who is the Supreme Being. And when he feels and thinks that he is in His presence and seen by Him, he begins to experience the joy of worshipping. Iqbal says: "The servant's worship is through his turning his eye to God. His living is with feeling the Divine Entrustment in him and seeing himself without curtain. " One approaches God when one prays, performs daily prayers,pleads to God, concentrates all his attention on one point, gives charity, and does good deeds ordered by God. At such a moment, the person becomes unified with God without losing his own existence and personality and transcends the dimensions of time and space. A supplication that is offered not with com­pulsion but one that comes from the bottom of the heart makes one closer to God so that one finds God in one's self and one's self in God. In this kind of worship, self-absorption, searching, and finding one's self, Iqbal sees God and the servant as two beings standing next to each other. While keeping in mind the difference of "God-ness" and "servant-hood, "between the Creator and the creature, he maintains the existence of both.

The meeting of the mortal human being with God who is eternal and infinite is far away from the suspicions of incarna-tionism (hulul) and unification (ittihad. It is not the finite ego's losing itself in the infinite Ego. According to Iqbal, this is the entering of infinite Ego into the heart of the finite ego. It is liv­ing this following Divine Tradition:

"I do not fit into earth and heavens, but I fit into the heart of my believing servant who loves Me. " This is not an atom get­ting lost in the infinity, but it is the coming together of two beings that love each other. The spiritual union with the Beloved cannot be described. God says: "I sit next to the one who remembers me. " But this state cannot be explained with logic or intelligence. A gnostic of God describes this indescribable state as follows: "Every night before dawn we go to the neighborhood of the Beloved. We hide this going even from ourselves because we are strangers even to ourselves. In his neighborhood both the mind and the soul become tough curtains which come in between. They will not show us the Beloved. Therefore, when we go to the Beloved we leave behind both the mind and the soul. " When describing this state Iqbal says: "I know neither myself nor Him but I know that I am submerged in His love. "

This union is far from the stain of the incarnation (hulul] doctrine. What Rumi expresses as: "Unity (tawhid) is not incarnation. It is the effacement of your ego, your escaping from the corporal ego and finding the rahmani ego. " Iqbal expresses this as follows: "Our union is a union in a state of separation. The resolution of this knot is not possible without glance. The pearl is submerged in the sea but the sea water is not the water of the pearl. " To find the ego that Rumi, Yunus Emre, and Iqbal talk about is not something that anybody can achieve. It is what the Perfect Human Being can achieve.

According to Iqbal, if one really becomes a lover of God, he overcomes all obstacles on the path that leads to the "I. " The greatest obstacle on the path of God, the path that leads to "I" is fear. Fear is the opposite of love and is an attribute that harms religion and faith. If one fears someone other than God, he com­mits a form of shirk (associating partners with God). Even fear­ing God is not reconcilable with the love that is felt toward Him. The following line of Yahya Kemal, a well known Turkish poet, is an echo of Iqbal's feeling: "He does not feel ashamed of him­self, and he is ashamed of others. " Those who are not ashamed of the "I" in themselves and are ashamed of those around them and want to avoid others' criticism are not enviable people. Rumi expresses the same truth in one of his poems as follows: "If you are the lover of love and seek for love, take the sharp dagger and cut the throat of shame. Know that shame is a big obstacle for those who walk on the path of God. This word is sincere advice. Take it with joy. "

According to Iqbal, the shortest path to "I" is love. For the traveler to God, a love that never ends, one that deepens and increases at every moment is necessary. In Iqbal's view, as is in Rumi's, love is a key that opens every door. To develop the "I" love is a foremost prerequisite. The lover is not lost in the sea of love. On the contrary, the lover finds himself in the sea of love and gains strength. With the ability to love that God has grant­ed to humanity, humanity will attain its horizon of humanity. According to Iqbal's view, man has been exiled to the world due to a grain of wheat. A sip that he will take in this world from the wine of divine love will take him back where he came from. He values love so much that he says: "If a Muslim is not a lover of God, he is a unbeliever. " Iqbal believes that the "I" that exists in the human being as the Divine Entrustment gains strength with love:

There is a point of light whose name is "Divine Ego" that is a spark of life beyond our body that is nothing but a fistful of soil. Love saves the "I that is in us from mortality. It makes it live­lier, more burning, and brighter. When his ore catches flame and flares up with love, the hidden possibilities in his heart develop and rise. His creation catches fire from low. It learns to enlight-en the world with love. Love is not afraid of the sword or the dagger because the essence of love is different from the four ele-ments. It is not of water, wind, or soil. The rocks cannot with-stand the glance of love- they fall into pieces. The lover of God eventually becomes God from head to toe. Learn how to love and be a lover. Seek a beloved for yourself, ask for an eye that cries like Noah and a heart that is patient like Job, From a fist-ful of soil, alchemy comes out. Put your head to the door of a "perfect man. " Like Rumi, light up the light of the heart, awak-en its candle. Spread the tire of Tabriz to Anatolia.

Let us take a few examples of the poetry of Rumi, who spread the fire of love in Iqbal's heart seven centuries later and thus not only spread the fire of love to Anatolia but also to Pakistan. In these lines we can see clearly the influence of Rumi on Iqbal:Love makes the dead bread wine of the soul, it makes the mor-tal soul immortal.Because of love, bitterness becomes sweet. Because of love, copper becomes gold. Because of love, turbid wine becomes clear Because of love, troubles become the remedy. Because of love, the dead come to life. Because of love, the king becomes a slave Know that the revolution of the heavens is due to the waves of love. If it were not for love, the world would freeze and stand still. "became even lower than a dog. I have not seen a dog that bows before another dog. " According to Iqbal, requesting something from someone weakens the T: "Your T falls into pieces when you present your need to someone and ask for something. Then in the tree of the Mount Sinai of the T light does not manifest. How happy is that thirsty person that who is under the burning sun and does not request a glass of water even from Khidr. "

In Iqbal's view, those brave people who develop their humane attributes with love and faith will find a way to the T. These for­tunate people are cleansed of all vices and flaws since they are lovers of God. Rumi expresses the same truth: "Whosoever's dress has been torn due to love is cleansed from ambition, flaws, and vices. O our love that is so pleasant to feel, live long! O the doctor of all illnesses of ours!" The person who is cleansed with love and attained perfection finds God in himself by finding himself in him­self and finding what is in himself. From that time on the person who found God should not raise his voice while praying and intoning and call out to far places. In a couplet from the Mesnevi, Rumi says: "O God, when you are closer to me than my jugular vein, how can I call out to you saying 'O, O' because the address of 'O' is used for those who are at a distance. "' The atomic, Rahmani ego is not separate from the universal God. As one gnos­tic put it, "Men of God are not God but they are not far away from God either. " Another poet says, "I am not talking of a reunion with the Beloved since I have never been away from the Beloved. "

But Iqbal maintains that by feeling the Rahmani ego, the Rahmani atom that is in human beings, it becomes easy to find a way to the whole. This state cannot be explained with logic, this is matter of feeling and sensing. In a quatrain Rumi says: "Man reaches such a place, such a rank that without his materi­al eyes he can see the Friend at every moment. " One cannot imagine a greater spiritual joy in the world than feeling what is in one's self. How beautiful Rumi explains this spiritual state: "If you find yourself close to the Beloved for one moment, in that moment you will have obtained your share from life. Do not let that moment pass by because such a happy moment can­not always be experienced. "

Iqbal discovered in Rumi's books aspects that paralleled his spirit, inclinations, and beliefs. There is a constant activity motion, and dynamism in Rumi. In Rumi exists the notion of dis­covering the Divine Entrustment, the Rahmani ego in one's self and falling in love with it. Iqbal became fascinated with these views. He also thoroughly embraced Rumi's understanding of insan al-kamil (perfect human being). Rumi was a lover of God. He says: "Leave the negation and start the word with affirmation. To negate the existence of something is to affirm its existence. Iqbal took Rumi as a spiritual guide to himself. "I gained respect because of the blessings of Rumi. 1 received a share of his light and warmth. My night has become day due to his star. " In another quatrain he says: "In Rumi there is a sorrow, a burning that is not strange to us. His union talks of going beyond the sep­arations. One feels the beauty of love in his reed and receives a share, a blessing from the Greatness of God. "

The great scholar and great poet Iqbal, who knew the great­est poets, writers, scholars, scientists and philosophers of the East and the West, read their books, and was familiar with their ideas and feelings, found himself in Rumi. Rumi became a mir­ror to him. As seen in the examples presented above, in all his books, Iqbal expresses the love and admiration he feels toward Rumi at every occasion: "Rumi turned the soil into an elixir. He has in me, who is as valuable as dust, many, many manifestations. It was as if a particle from the desert soil set on a journey to obtain the light of the sun. I am a wave. I settled in his sea in order to obtain a bright pearl. Rumi, who is not separate from God, has manifested himself to me. It was that Rumi who com­posed a Qur'an in the Persian language. He told me: 'O bewil­dered lover! Take a sip from the pure wine of divine love.

In all his books beginning with the Asrar-i Khudi (Secrets of the Ego) to his last book that was published after his death, Armaghan-i Hijaz, Muhammad Iqbal has taken Rumi as his spiritual guide, and he was inspired by him. In Javidname, which is accepted as his masterpiece, Iqbal calls Rumi's spirit by reciting one of his odes, and in Rumi's company he ascends to the heavens on a spiritual journey. In the Divine Comedy, the Italian poet Dante (d. 1231) has taken the famous Latin poet Virgil as his guide on the imaginary journey that he takes to the underworld to find his beloved. Together with him he visited hell, purgatory, and paradise. In his spiritual ascension to the heavens, Iqbal took his beloved Rumi as guide, and with his blessings they ascended to the Divine Presence. In his master­piece, after passing through many levels with Rumi, they even­tually arrive at the seventh gate, the highest level of paradise. In paradise, they meet and speak mainly with the Eastern scholars, poets, and rulers. Iqbal's soul cannot find peace even in paradise. He does not listen even to the sweet words of the beauti­ful houris. No one can prevent him from going into the pres­ence of God. The spiritual ascension of Iqbal, the lover of God, ends in the presence of God.

Iqbal asks Rumi a question and with the inspiration he gets from Rumi, he answers it from the tongue of Rumi: "Once again I asked: "What is it like to walk to God? How can one crush the mountain of water and earth?'" The poet asks how Rumi's words are going to be realized. How can the density of this body that is composed of water and earth be eliminated? How can one reach the spiritual world from the physical world? The Commander and the Creator is outside of the physical and spir­itual worlds. We are stuck in the web of the world. How can a relationship be possible between God, who creates everything and commands every happening, and the human being, who is created and is now a prisoner in the web of the world? He said: "If the sultan (power) comes to your hand, you readily can crush the heavens. ' Here, the word 'sultan refers to the Qur'anic verse: "O community of humans and demons! I dare you to transcend the boundaries of the earth and the heavens if you can, which without a power you cannot. If the divine sultan or power is granted to a person, in that moment he can perform extraordi­nary things that defy logic. At that time, this body, a hill of clay, will not interfere with the ascension into the heavens.

Be aware that this universe is naked and removes the dust of the dimensions from your skirts! If man realizes his ego in the Divine Light, in his view this universe will be saved from the dimensions of time and space; that is, he will be free from the laws of physics and enter the timelessness and spacelessness of the Divine Order. If the human being does not join the power of this Divine sultan, he is not above animals and insects. He dies like animals before attaining real humanity and cannot obtain everlast­ing life. O good man, you came to this world with four directions from the path of birth. You can exit it again with the path of birth and you can eliminate your bonds yourself. But this second birth is not from water and clay. Only a possessor of heart knows it. In his book Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam, Iqbal bases his notion of the second birth on the Qur'anic verse: "Say: Travel on the earth and observe how He brought creation into being. Then God will create a later creation (resurrection in the here­after) because God is Omnipotent. " In this verse, Iqbal reads the word akhirah (hereafter) as akhir (another). Thus, he translates it as: "He will give another birth.

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