Their Soul is Bathed in that Harmony

“When further development is undertaken, these feelings are intensified and when fully developed, they are known as divine love or ‘agape’.

The love itself has the character of an overwhelming bliss that gives a sense of all-pervading peace that obliterates ordinary human consciousness, to bring about a change in everyday experiencing where analysing by the mind ceases and the desire to compare one thing with another withers away. In this state everything encountered is seen in terms of complete equality, but the seeing is intensified so that greater clarity is conveyed in the contemplation than is experienced in the daily intellectual operation of the mind.

The Sufis, like all mystics, know that there is no such thing as truth in the way that humans seek ultimate information by using their reasoning powers. Sufis know from experience that love is the ultimate cohesive force in the universe. When they experience the ecstatic harmony I have been trying to describe, their soul is bathed in that harmony to such an extent that all else is extinguished, to the point where there is no room for anything else to enter upon or to disturb the blessed inner peace being experienced in that state of harmony. The mystic knows that the light, that is the light of the universe, has penetrated to enlighten in the soul; and in penetrating, the light within has become the same as the light responsible for the existence of the universe outside.

In the Holy Quran, in Surat an-Nur, a description of this light is given in a beautiful poetic analogy. The meaning of this analogy was transmitted by the Prophet Muhammad (saws) to his first caliph, Abu Bakr, and to his cousin, Ali, the fourth caliph. This transmission is received in an unbroken line of succession by means of a living spiritual pedigree and every Sheikh, in all the orders, conveys its meaning by a variety of methods embodying both old and new techniques.”

Sheikh Abdullah Sirr Dan al-Jamal.
20^th century  Naqshbandi Shaykh.