The Alif

THE ALIF

It comes first, from the right side, in the Great Name, standing on its own before the two ‘Lambs’, until the ‘Ha’ rolls its back over towards the Lams and points back towards the single Alif. The secret of the Alif is that all the letters come from it, and yet it is not itself a letter. Just as all creation comes from Allah, and yet He is not creation. From all the letters come words, and from these words come meanings and forms. All the letters are from the Alif, and all the names are from the Alif. Even the Great Name begins with the Alif. All the attributes are from the essences of the names, and all the essences and attributes of the names are from the Great Name.

The ‘Alif’ is one the Great Name and the ‘Lams’ are a pair. The whole of creation is in pairs. As Allah said,

And everything We have created in pairs

in order that you may reflect.

The Lams are this world and everything in it. The ‘Ha’ is on the left, and it is the human self. The Lams are the world of two-ness and opposites. You are the Ha, and you are joined to the LAms, and the Lams exist in you. The Ha bends its back towards the Alif because it contains the Alif within it, such is the creation of the human being.

Within each human self is contained the ‘Alif of Islam’. This Alif was in existence within the soul before it came into the body, and before it was joined together to this world of Lams. As Allah said,

‘Am I not your Lord?’ They said, ‘Yes’.

So the self contains the Alif of Islam, and it was originally in a state of submission. Only when it became joined to the world of two -ness did its trial begin. As Allah said,

We have created man of the best nature,

and then we return him to the lowest of low.

This ‘best nature’ is man’s original form from before he was connected to this world of duality, multiplicity and trials. When he succumbs to the multiplicity and the trials, then he turns away from the oneness of the Alif and the oneness of Allah, leaves the Alif of submission and worship, and becomes the ‘lowest of low’. If he holds onto the Alif of Islam, then Allah strengthens him with the ‘Alif of Iman’. Then he fits the description of the next ayat of Allah,

Except those who have Iman and do good actions.

They submit, and by that submission they are raised up by Allah into the fold of those who believe.

Without the Alif of Iman, the Alif of Islam dries up and becomes withered, without life, like a dried up flower. Although Islam is before Iman, Iman is also before Islam. To voice Islam first is outward, and to believe with Iman first is inward. Islam is the outer expression of the Iman. It is the Islam that is dormant and needs awakening, because the souls voiced it before their Lord. But, even before this voicing of Islam by the souls, when they said, ‘Yes’, was the ’Alif of Ihsan. The Alif of Ihsan is from the world of non-existence, pre-form and pre-soul. It is from the Vast sea of light and power of Allah, from which we come and to which we must return. The Alif of Ihsan is to worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you do not seeHim, then know that He sees you.

You are the Ha, which is attached to the Lams, but He is also the Ha from His Name ‘Huwa’, He. When you realise the three Alifs, which we have mentioned, Islam, Iman and Ihsan, then your Ha becomes lost in the Lams and you smash them together. Then, because you were a Ha, which was attached to the Lams, when the Lams become smashed, then you too become smashed, and you too disappear, and all that is left is the Alif.

This is the truth of the Ha of the self, and the truth of the duality of the world of Lams. This is Ihsan, and this is the Alif. This is what we start with, and this is what we finish with. The man of Ihsan only seems the Alif of Allah. He takes everything back to its original source. He himself becomes the source to the source. His heart contains and holds onto the Malif of Allah, and his limbs obey, and his actions are governed by this Alif. His heart is his ‘kaaba’, because in it is the house of his Lord. Like the House of Allah in Mekka, all the mosques were built because of it and facing towards it. So his heart is like that, all his limbs and actions are because of it, connected to it and facing it. The kaaba is the center of the world, and the heart is the center of the world of his body, and the mosques are his limbs and actions which are all over it and which spring from it. It is like his actions are the people in the mosques all praying to their Lord. He is at peace with himself, He has won the battle with himself. He has read the page of his life and has turned it over. He has read between the lines and has realised the trueness and oneness of his Lord. His Lord is one and his ‘ummat’ is one and his within this oneness of his Lord.