Allah says in the Holy Quran
Meaning: But those who believe, love Allah the most. (2:165)
What is Divine love? It can be explained in simple words as:
- To sacrifice all the dear and favorite things, relations and wealth for Allah is called Divine love.
- To devote everything for the Beloved is called love.
- Love is the name of renouncing comfort and peace for the sake of the Beloved.
- To abandon luxury for the Beloved is called love.
- Prohibiting oneself from making claims is love.
- To negate desires is love.
- The sincere intention and the true seeking are called Divine love.
- Love is rapture, remedy is the vision of the Beloved.
- Love is to sacrifice yourself.
- Love means not to let the tongue complain, the mind object and the eye suspect.
- Love is submission and obedience.
- Love is slave hood.
- Love is forgetting oneself.
- The disgrace in love is dearer than the respect.
- In love’s diction, words like esteem and humiliation do not exist.
- Love is neither enhanced nor lessened by reward or punishment, respectively.
Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Hazrat Sultan Mohammad Najib-ul-Rehman Quotes about Divine Love
- A person loves several relations and things. For example, he loves Allah and the Holy Prophet, he loves his parents, spouse, children, siblings, friends, home, land, possessions, city, community, kith and kin, country, business and more. When there exists a love so profound that it eclipses all other affections, it is termed as ‘Ishq’ in Arabic. If such fervent or ardent love is for Allah then it is called Divine love. The blazing intensity of this love turns all the other loves into ashes and overpowers them. As stated by the Holy Prophet:
Meaning: None of you will have faith until he loves me more than his parents, children and all mankind. (Bukhari 15).
- Love for Allah cannot be attained without love for Prophet Mohammad. Those who do not love the Prophet, cannot love Allah. The Companions loved the Prophet, this is why they were granted the love of Allah.
Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jillani and Divine Love
Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani states in his booklet Ar-Risala tul-Ghausia:
I saw Allah. Then I asked, “O Lord! What is meant by love?” He replied, “O Ghawth al-Azam! Love Me, love for Me and I am Love Myself and liberate your inward and actions from everything other than Me. When you have recognized the exoteric love, it is essential for you to surpass the stages of ardent love because love is also a veil between the lover and the Beloved. Hence it is necessary for you to go beyond everything else other than Allah because everything other than Allah is a veil between the lover and the Beloved.”
Sultan Bahoo and Divine Love
The invocation with love takes high flight. A fly can never approach the heights attained by a falcon even if it tries hard and soars thousand times. Similarly an ascetic can never find Divine secrets even if he goes through hard ascetic discipline. The lesson of Divine love is not taught by any teacher in any institution because it is the grand Trust. The tradition of love is to be indifferent to the whole world. An ardent lover of Allah always seeks death before dying so that he spiritually reaches the station of no station as death of a lover means union with the Beloved. (Ain-ul-Faqr)
Divine love is like a skilful jeweller who checks the purity or impurity of gold. (Ain-ul Faqr)
In Punjabi Abyat He said
جَیں دل عشق خرید نہ کیتا، سو دِل درد نہ پَھٹی ھو
اُس دل تھیں پتھر چنگیرے، جو دِل غفلت اَٹی ھو
جَیں دل عشق حضور نہ منگیا، سو درگاہوں سَٹی ھو
ملیا دوست نہ اُنہاں بَاھُو، جنہاں چوڑ نہ کیتی تَڑَٹی ھو
Explanation: The soul which neither traded for the Divine love nor suffered from the pangs of pain is deprived of compassion. The rocks are better than such oblivious soul and damned is the inward that has not sought Divine presence. The union with Allah is not destined to those who do not sacrifice their household for the Reality.
Love is such a unique game which is played by the restless, eager and the true lovers of Allah by going beyond the boundaries of intellect, putting their lives and wealth at stake. If they prove the truth and sincerity of their passion, the presence in the Mohammadan Assembly and Divine vision are granted to them as Allah does not let anybody’s struggle go in vain. It must be understood that only love opens the door to Divine vision. Otherwise thousands of caravans of intellect have been ruined in trying to understand the quiddity of the Essence. Though Fakirs got the blessing of Divine vision and found the secrets of Allah through the path of love.