Muraqbah and Tafakkur (Meditation and Concentration)

Allama Iqbal’s beautiful verses

Allama Iqbal says:

1۔ فقرِ قراں اختلاطِ ذکر و فِکر

فِکر را کامل ندید یم جز ذکر

2۔ ذکر؟ ذوق و شوق را دادن ادب

کارِ جان است ایں نہ کارِ کام ولب

3۔ خیزد از وے شعلہ ہا ئے سینہ سوز

با مزاج تو نمی سازد ہنوز

The explanation of verses
(1) Faqr of the Quran is the mutual blend of invocation (dhikr / zikr) and reflection. Therefore I never found invocation accomplished without reflection.

Reflection means to do tafakkur within oneself and to recognize one’s soul. Whereas the invocation means the remembrance of Ism-e-Allah Zaat. When the seeker is attributed with both, he becomes the possessor of Faqr.

(2) What is invocation? It means to teach your passions and eagerness the ways and manners of Divine love and presence before Allah. Important to realize is that it is the job of the soul rather than that of throat and lips.

According to Allama Iqbal, invocation is not which is performed verbally by tongue and lips. Instead it is done by the soul and is the invocation of the Ism-e-Allah Zaat.

(3) By the invocation, the flame of Divine love is lit in the inner being which enlivens the soul. The fire of love, rising from the invocation of Allah, consumes everything other than Allah but you are not yet capable of such invocation. (Javid Nama)

Sayings of Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali

Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali stated:

Muraqbah and tafakkur mean to ponder over something to have its knowledge and understanding. The entire material and scientific progress where this world stands today is the result of reflection (tafakkur) of scientists upon the material things. This reflection is the base of every invention and discovery. Similarly, Allah invites man to do muraqbah within himself. He says

اَوَلَمْ یَتَفَکَّرُوْا فِیْ اَنْفُسِھِمْ

Meaning: Have they not meditated within themselves.

When a person does muraqbah within himself, he finds the secret mentioned in this Qudsi Hadith:

اَلْاِنْسَانُ سِرِّیْ وَ اَنَا سِرُّہٗ

Meaning: Man is My secret and I am his.

When a person becomes aware of this secret, Allah makes him His confidant. That is why, the Mystics always teach to drown into one’s inward, to peep within the closet of one’s body and to enter one’s inner.

Remember! Muraqbah is also a kind tafakkur. The initial stage of muraqbah is to do tafakkur on Ism-e-Allah Zaat with single minded calmness and closed eyes while the final muraqbah of the Mystics is viewing everything with open eyes. As it is said by Bayazid Bastami:

“I have been talking to Allah for forty years, people have been misunderstanding that I am talking to them.” (Sultan-ul-Faqr VI Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali-Life and Teachings)

An important note

Sultan Bahoo used many terms for reflection in his writings but all these terms actually refer to muraqbah and tafakkur.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MURAQBAH AND TAFAKKUR

Muraqbah is a form of tafakkur. The only difference between the two is that the former requires seclusion, closed eyes and to be attentive to a single point in the inner. When tafakkur matures in this way, the secret upon which the seeker is doing tafakkur unfolds by the Divinity. Although, seclusion or closed eyes are not required for tafakkur. The seeker is pondering over a single point every moment whether in solitude or in crowd or doing the worldly chores.

Allah Almighty gradually reveals upon him the hidden secrets of that matter. In this way, he views everything with his open eyes and gets aware of the Divine secrets. This level is superior to the closed eye muraqbah. It can also be stated as; tafakkur is the initial whereas muraqbah is the extreme stage. Muraqbah is in fact the tafakkur through which a person gains the knowledge of his soul. After gaining this knowledge, he finds the reality of his soul.

Faqr progresses through tafakkur. Only by tafakkur, the secrets of this path are gradually disclosed, that is why the seeker of Allah always remains occupied in tafakkur and every moment he reaches a new way station of closeness to Allah through reflection upon his spiritual self.

Muraqbah with closed eyes in seclusion

In muraqbah the state of absorption is apparently similar to that of a dream. Though during a dream there is no vigilance on one’s self but in muraqbah one remains vigilant and conscious. Therefore, muraqbah is more powerful and far more dominant than dream.

Actually muraqbah is the vigilant tafakkur with all the powers of mind i.e. thinking, imagining and examining, through which the seeker carefully keeps check over himself. During his muraqbah the seeker observes how Allah manifests both in the cosmos and within himself.

Muraqbah is the name of a special spiritual state under which the inner of man is guarded. The purpose of every muraqbah is to keep check that anything other than Allah might not find room in the seeker’s inward. Through muraqbah , the seeker gets rid of all the sensual and evil thoughts which may distract him from his way to the vision and closeness of Allah. It is that special source which takes the seeker to Allah saving him from being depraved. Such a muraqbah is called observation of Divinity.

Real muraqbah in words of Sultan Bahoo

Real muraqbah grants gnosis of Allah and takes the seeker to the level of a Mystic blessing him with the Divine light. He becomes a friend of Allah and then Allah is pleased with him and he is pleased with Allah according to the verse:

رَضِیَ اللّٰہُ عَنۡہُمۡ وَ رَضُوۡا عَنۡہُ ؕ

Meaning: Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. (Al-Baiyyinah 8)

Allah says to him:

ارۡجِعِیۡۤ اِلٰی رَبِّکِ رَاضِیَۃً مَّرۡضِیَّۃً ﴿ۚ۲۸﴾ فَادۡخُلِیۡ فِیۡ عِبٰدِیۡ ﴿ۙ۲۹﴾ وَ ادۡخُلِیۡ جَنَّتِیۡ ﴿٪۳۰﴾

Meaning: Return to your Lord in such a state that He is pleased with you and you are pleased with Him. (He will say to you) So, join My (perfect) servants. And enter the paradise (of My nearness and vision). (Al-Fajr 28-30)

Muraqbah acquaints the seeker with the Divine secret. The proficient of muraqbah remains in dreaming state while awakening and remains vigilant while sleeping. He beholds nothing except Allah in his muraqbah . Such high leveled muraqbah is conferred only upon the true lovers of Allah who wish nothing but the gnosis, vision and love of Allah and presence of the Mohammadan Assembly. (Shams-ul-Arifeen)

Muraqbah is to prevent everything to enter the inward other than Allah

Sultan Bahoo said:

Muraqbah means to guard the inward and prevent everything that is other than Allah to enter the inward such as the evil and satanic distractions and diseases, worries of the world and the worldly desires. (Shams-ul-Arifeen)

Muraqbah reveals spiritual secrets

During muraqbah , the spiritual secrets reveal themselves upon the meditator. Therefore he witnesses Divine light and is blessed by the vision of Allah. Then this vision of the Divine Essence and theophanies never end even for a moment. Whether apparently he talks to people or remains busy in the worldly affairs, he ever possesses the eternal Divine presence in his inward.

Muraqbah leads to the level of ‘death before dying’

Sultan Bahoo stated:

Muraqbah is the love for Allah which leads to the level of absorption in the Eternally Alive Entity and to the everlasting levels of ‘death before dying’. It grants the seeker the observation of the states of Divine presence and takes him to the highest level of spiritual journey where he is blessed with the secret of Divine secrets and is honoured with presence of the Mohammadan Assembly (Ain-ul-Faqr)

When muraqbah becomes so strong that one does not need to close his eyes

The method of muraqbah is to be engaged in the invocation and tafakkur with closed eyes. It must be the inward invocation and can be of any of the Divine names or holy verses as well as the contemplation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat. By this manner of invocation, the powers of tafakkur and contemplation gradually become so strong that the meditator does not need to close his eyes.

Kinds of Muraqbah

Sultan Bahoo said in this context:

Muraqbah can be of various kinds; the muraqbah of invocation and reflection, muraqbah of the Divine presence, muraqbah of annihilation in the spiritual guide (Murshid / Shaikh), muraqbah of annihilation in Allah, muraqbah of annihilation in Hoo ( ھُو ), muraqbah of annihilation in Faqr, muraqbah of annihilation in Prophet Mohammad, muraqbah of annihilation of innerself, muraqbah of annihilation in the ninety nine beautiful names of Allah. (Ain-ul-Faqr)

Method of Muraqbah

Sultan Bahoo stated the method of muraqbah as;

According to the spiritual researches, the muraqbah in which the illusions created by the false, evil and worldly thoughts and the incidents of the immortal world do not interrupt and which is perfectly accurate because of invocation, reflection and the glorification of Allah, is that the seeker should become attentive to his spiritual self and contemplate Ism-e-Allah Zaat, then he should start his muraqbah and recite the following three times each;

What one should recite?

Bismillah Al-Rehman Al-Raheem

بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ

Meaning: In the name of Allah the most Merciful the most Beneficent.

Blessings and salutation on the Holy Prophet (Darud)
The Ayat-al-Kursi(255th verse of 2nd sura)
Salamun qaulam mir’r Rab-e-Raheem

سَلٰمٌ ۟ قَوۡلًا مِّنۡ رَّبٍّ رَّحِیۡمٍ

Meaning: Peace, a word from the Merciful Lord (verse 58 of 36th sura).

The four Quls(The four Quls consist of 109, 112, 113 and 114 suras of Quran)
Sura Al-Fatiha(the opening chapter of the Quran)
The creed of glorification (the third kalma)
Subhan Allahi wal Hamdullilahi wa la illaha ilAllahoo waAllahoo Akbar wa la Hawla wa la Quwwata illa billah-al’alii-al Azeem

سُبْحٰانَ اللّٰہِ وَ الْحَمْدُ لِلّٰہِ وَ لَآ اِلٰہَ اِلَّا اللّٰہُ وَ اللّٰہُ اَکْبَرُ ؕ وَ لَاحَوْلَ وَ لَا قُوَّۃَ اِلَّا بِاللّٰہِ الْعَلِیِّ الْعَظِیْمِ

Meaning: Glory be to Allah and all praise is for Allah and there is none worthy of worship but Allah, Allah is the greatest. There is no might or any power except with Allah, the Exalted, the Great

The Islamic creed (the first kalma: Kalimah Tayyibah)

La illaha ilAllahoo Mohammad-ur-Rasoolullah

لا الہ الا اﷲ محمد رسول ﷲ

Meaning: None is worthy of worship except Allah and Mohammad is His Messenger.

Then he should focus his eyes on Ism-e-Allah Zaat and Ism-e-Mohammad. After this, while keeping his eyes closed, he should make a wish to reach in the assembly of the Prophets and Saints and find the spiritual knowledge of ‘none but Allah’ ( الا ﷲ ). Definitely the perfect spiritual guide would take him to the Assembly in his sacred company. (Majalisa-tul-Nabi-Khurd)

Muraqbah increases love for Allah

When a seeker starts gaining the knowledge of , the love of Allah increases in his inward. This love opens the way to seven Divine assemblies and he meets souls of all the Prophets from Prophet Adam till the last Prophet Mohammad. This is the initial blessing which one receives by having the knowledge of muraqbah with true belief.

The muraqbah of Ism-e-Allah Zaat takes the meditator to the station of no station where he observes the Divine Essence. The fools who hold their breath while doing invocation and tafakkur and consider it muraqbah , do not know the value of real muraqbah . They are ignorant like animals and remain perplexed. Real muraqbah is like death. When a seeker enters the state of muraqbah by the contemplation and attention of Ism-e-Allah Zaat, he observes different phases of death, as; seizure of the soul, condition of the grave, cross examination by the Munkar and Nakeer, accountability on the doomsday. Then he crosses the Sirat bridge safely and enters the heaven, there he watches the houris and castles of paradise and is blessed with the vision of Allah. Such muraqbah blesses the meditator with Divine union at the level of truth of certainty. (Shams-ul-Arifeen)

Four levels of muraqbah

Sultan Bahoo said:

There are four levels of muraqbah related with four stations. Muraqbah of the seeker who is at the level of sharia and follows its rules and practices devotions. This muraqbah is of the physical world. Whatever he sees in muraqbah is just limited to this physical world.

Second is the muraqbah of the seeker who is at the level of realm of angels (alam al-malakut), he is a man of recitals and spiritual practices through which he gains purity like the angels and gets attributed with the angelic qualities. Whatever he sees in his muraqbah relates to the realm of angels.

Third is the muraqbah of the seekers who have reached the realm of power (alam al-jabrut). They are the men of invocation of Allah. Whatever they observe in their muraqbah relates to the realm of power. Here they behold angel Gabriel.

Fourth is the muraqbah of the seekers who have approached the realm of Divinity (alam al-LaHoot), they are the men of gnosis, whatever they see in their muraqbah is related with the realm of Divinity. Fifth is the muraqbah of Divine presence and absorption in the state of annihilation in Allah, this muraqbah is related to the station of Lordliness. Here the seeker beholds nothing except Allah and Oneness. At this level the seeker views a new grandeur of Allah every day according to the verse;

کُلَّ یَوۡمٍ ھُوَ فِیۡ شَاۡنٍ۔

Meaning: Every moment His glory manifests anew. (Ar-Rahman 29) (Ain-ul-Faqr)

He dives into the ocean of Divinity and find pearls

Sultan Bahoo further said:

If the seeker becomes unconscious of himself during the muraqbah and drowns in the state of annihilation, and if on coming out of the state of muraqbah he forgets everything that he had seen during the muraqbah in a moment then it shows that whatever he saw was from the Divinity and exactly the Essence. That seeker is at the level of a crazy lover who is unconscious of himself and his state is like that of a moth in fire. This is the middle level of muraqbah . As the seeker has not yet found the blessing of union of Allah. He is imperfect yet and detached to the Reality, that is why he is perplexed. Real muraqbah is that in which the seeker dives into the ocean of Divinity like an expert diver and brings out pearls. (Ain-ul-Faqr)

Muraqbah of Ism-e-Allah Zaat the best and superior

Sultan Bahoo expressed about muraqbah in his book Shams-ul-Arifeen that it is in fact observing the Divine Self and knowing the Divine secrets. He calls the muraqbah of Ism-e-Allah Zaat as the best and the most superior. It is only through this muraqbah that the seeker reaches the realm of Divinity which is the station of no station and finds the blessing of Miraj and vision of Allah.

Where the muraqbah of Ism-e-Allah Zaat takes

Sultan Bahoo elaborated:

When a true seeker beholds Ism-e-Allah in his muraqbah , the Ism-e-Allah takes him to the Divine Essence. He observes the Essence within himself and drowns in the muraqbah in such a way that he neither remembers invocation, reflection or even breathing nor pleasure, sorrow, hunger and the desires of innerself, neither he remembers the Essence or His closeness and farness nor the destiny, greed or wishes. Hence, what does he remember and where has he reached? He only remembers love and passion. When a lover approaches this stage, all his objectives fulfils. Further he finds it forbidden to invoke and reflect. Whatever he observes is very special. (Ain-ul-Faqr)

A true Fakir is ashamed of following levels

If a person enters heaven during his dream or muraqbah and eats heavenly food, drinks from the canal of heaven and views the houris and castles of the heaven, then he does not need to drink or eat ever in his life again. His thirst and hunger are satiated forever. He never sleeps for his whole life even if he appears to be sleeping and stays in a single ablution throughout his life. Moreover he finds blessing with such Divine favour to worship Allah that he is always absorbed in prostrating Him and becomes stronger and healthier day by day. He eats merely to show people so that his reality remains hidden from them. It saves him from criticism. For him, winter and summer are the same and he does not enjoy any weather. Though, this level is still an inferior level possessed by an unaccomplished Dervish.

The true Fakir is ashamed to stay at this level because it is far away from the Mohammadan Faqr and belongs to the appetites of innerself. (Kaleed-ul-Tauheed Kalan)

What is the final level?

The final level is that the seeker finds the blessing of Divine vision during his dream or muraqbah which he cannot explain in words or exemplify with anything. Such fire is ablaze in the existence of the seeker due to the gnosis of Divine Oneness, invocation and contemplation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat and the Divine love that he keeps worshipping Allah and admonishing his innerself (an-nafs) day and night due to their majestic effects. Hence, he covers himself in sharia, follows it perfectly and recites:

تَفَکَّرُوْا فِیْ نِعْمَآئِہٖ وَ لَا تَفَکَّرُوْا فِیْ ذَاتِہٖ

Meaning: Do taffakkur upon His blessings, not upon His Essence. (Kaleed-ul-Tauheed Kalan)

What the letters of tafakkur mean?

Sultan Bahoo stated about tafakkur:

The Arabic word for tafakkur is tafakkur which contains four letter. They are ت (T), ف (F), ک (K), ر (R). Letter ت (T) refers to Tark which means renunciation of lust. Whereas letter ف (F) is fana of the inciting innerself and the letter ک (K) stands for Karamat that is the miracle of soul. Moreover the letter ر (R) represents Raz-e-Haq which means the secret of Truth. The tafakkur by which one is not able to renounce the sensual appetites and the innerself does not annihilate is not tafakkur. Moreover which tafakkur cannot illustrate the miracle of soul and the secret of truth is not tafakkur.

The recognition of the man of tafakkur is that he do tafakkur about his Lord through Ism-e-Allah Zaat. Then by its the grace no sin is committed by him. Moreover he always remains firm on the straight path. Another sign of such man is that he always remains engrossed in the invocation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat. Due to this his inner being liberates of hypocrisy and he purifies spiritually.

Further identity of the man of tafakkur is that he omits all the features of other than Allah by getting engrossed in the invocation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat. To become a seeker of Allah is very difficult job. (Mehak ul Faqr Kalan)

Trial through tafakkur

When the spiritual guide grants the tafakkur of contemplation and invocation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat to the seeker of Allah the seeker surrenders and submits giving up his own will. When accessories and adornments of both the worlds and paradise are brought to him in the muraqbah of dream like tafakkur, he considers the Divine lights of Ism-e-Allah Zaat which come across during the involvement with Allah as the best and takes both the worlds as inferior to them. Here the non-creation Divine light of Ism-e-Allah Zaat attracts the created man towards itself with such a grace that he never returns to other than Allah. Snatching all his authority makes him subservient to the true Authority.

اٰمَنَّا وَ صَدَقْنَا

Meaning: We admit and endorse it.

The man who declines this is the denier of the Oneness of the Lord. (Mehak-ul-Faqr Kalan)

Nor fear nor grieve

Tafakkur is the outcome of the Saints’ inculcation. The form of tafakkur is like the Divine light of Ism-e-Allah Zaat. When the Saints die their form of faith comes out of their bodies and offers their own funeral prayer along with the people. Apart from the Mystics and Saints nobody knows that form of faith. The pure soul having such a form of faith has no fear of accountability of the doomsday. Allah says:

اَلَاۤ اِنَّ اَوۡلِیَآءَ اللّٰہِ لَا خَوۡفٌ عَلَیۡہِمۡ وَ لَا ہُمۡ یَحۡزَنُوۡنَ ﴿ۚۖ۶۲﴾

Meaning: Beware! Verily, the friends of Allah will not have any fear, nor will they grieve. (Yunus 62) (Mehak-ul-Faqr Kalan)

Worship Allah and not reward of heaven or fear of hell

The Holy Prophet always remained engrossed in muraqbah and was ever blessed with Miraj in the form of celestial light. This spiritual state of the Prophet is popular among the creation of Allah. Do not suspect on these wonders of the unseen world as it is the result of the path of Prophet Mohammad. Whoever suspects them would be a pagan. May Allah save me from this!

The person who does not believe in the faith and its form which is the Divine light of Ism-e-Allah Zaat only destroys his faith and he is a hypocrite and faithless. Another interpretation of tafakkur is that when a meditator gets attentive to the extreme tafakkur of engrossment of the annihilation in Allah he achieves the levels of immortality accompanying Ism-e-Allah Zaat and by his grace both the worlds remain safe. That is why one day Rabia of Basra was going with a bowl of water on one hand and the embers of fire in the other. The people asked her about it. She replied, “I want to burn the heaven with fire and extinguish the hell with water as these have engaged people with themselves and nobody pays attention towards Allah.”

Tafakkur is that stage of the seeker of Allah about which the Holy Prophet said, “The tafakkur of a moment is better than the worship of both the worlds.” (Mahak-ul-Faqr Kalan)

Extreme tafakkur is hard

To attain the extreme tafakkur is a very arduous toil. Therefore, to travel the path of tafakkur hold the hand of such a spiritual guide who is the perfect Fakir. (Mahak-ul-Faqr Kalan)

Which tafakkur is better than devotion of both the worlds

According to Sultan Bahoo:

Believe it, when the true seeker and the perfect Fakir spiritual guide who is the man of authority, join together truthfully, the spiritual guide grants the seeker the contemplation and authority over the entire earth from east to west and all the humans, blesses him with the presence of the Mohammadan Assembly and ennobles him with high levels of gnosis and Faqr. Do not consider it strange or wrong as the esoteric blessings are not cannot be gained without the man of esoteric self. However, the seeker ought to be truthful. This is the particular tafakkur and authority which is better than the devotion of both the worlds, as the Holy Prophet said;

تَفَکَّرُ السَّاعَۃِ خَیْرٌ مِّنْ عِبَادَۃِ الثَّقَلَیْنِ

Meaning: Tafakkur for a moment is better than the worships of both the worlds. (Kaleed ul Tauheed Kalan)

Eternal invocation and perfect tafakkur

When the possessor of contemplation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat finds the blessing of the presence of Mohammadan Assembly by the contemplation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat and Islamic creed and starts the muraqbah with closed eyes, he holds the sword of contemplation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat in his hands and slays all the major and minor sins of his whole life with it. He also kills his inciting innerself, Satan, devilish whispers, depraving obsessions, evil thoughts, rather all his enemies on the earth with this sword. The Holy Prophet said, “Tafakkur for a moment is better than the worships of both the worlds”.

The Holy Prophet has declared the eternal invocation (of Ism-e-Allah Zaat) and its perfect tafakkur and muraqbah as the collection of all the pious deeds according to the holy verses:

اِنَّ الۡحَسَنٰتِ یُذۡہِبۡنَ السَّیِّاٰتِ ؕ ذٰلِکَ ذِکۡرٰی لِلذّٰکِرِیۡنَ ﴿۱۱۴﴾ۚ

Meaning: Surely, good actions erase the evil ones. This (reward) is for the true invokers of invocation. (Hud:114) (Kaleed-ul-Tauheed Kalan)