THE CONCEPTS OF FAQR AND FANA’
IN THE POETRYOF HAMZAH FANSURI
AND MUHAMMAD IQBAL
By: Abdul Hadi W.M.
Sufism developed in the 8th century A.D. It began as a simple religious movement, called zuhd or asceticism. However, in the 12th century A.D, it became a complex social movement and a science for the Islamic spiritual path (tariqa). In the 13th century A.D, particularly after the collapse of Baghdad Caliphate following the attack of the Mongols in 1256 A.D., Sufism beganto spread widely to every corner of the Islamic world including India and the Indonesian Archipelago. Beginning from that period to the early 19th century A.D., Sufism became a universal phenomenon in the Islamic world, and been very influential in almost all aspects of life of the umma, including its intellectual and literary activities. The important themes of the works of the Muslim writers have been concerned with living ideas among Sufi adepts.
Abu al-Wafa’ al-Taftazani (1985:4-5) states that the objective of Sufism is to improve man’s soul morally through the performance of spiritual exercises. Through these exercises, a man is able to realize the state of fana’, i.e., the elimination of bad desire in the essence of the High Being, and as a result, a man is immersed in the godly goals and religious life. By practicing Sufism, a man can also attain knowledge of God through the way of illumination, and not by reason. The result of practice is spiritual happiness and a firm belief in the Oneness of God. The experience of fana’ is followed by the experience of unity with God and mystical bliss. The way of Sufism is called the way of Love (‘isyq), that is, the seeking of truth of the One intuitively (qalbiah).
As for the faqr, poverty, it is a spiritual stage (maqam) reached by a man after fana’ , purification, in the essence of the Highest Being. A Sufi of the 10th century A.D., Ibn al-Jalla, for example, connects the condition of man’s soul with the awareness that he does not possess anything because everything belongs to God. Because of this awareness, he gives priority other people’s interests over his own despite the fact that he is suffering from hardship (Arberry, 1976:116). Or, as stated by ‘Ali ‘Uthman al-Hujwiri, a 10th century A.D. Sufi from Heart, Afghanistan, “a faqr is not a man who does not own livelihood, but a man whose character is devoid of bad desire and egocentric interest”. He also quotes syekh Ruwayn who asserts that the characteristic of a true faqr is that he is a man whose heart is protected from self-interest, whose soul is safeguarded from filth and who performs constantly religious obligation’ (Nicholson, 1982:35).
In this essay, I will discuss how the two concepts of faqr and fana’, are developed from one period to another and in different places by Sufi men of letters in accordance with different contexts, particularly in their prophetic poems. This is because the works of Sufi poets, like the works of literature in general, are not written in a vacuum, separate from their social and historical experiences. In fact, the works of Sufi poets are generally a spiritual interpretation of certain verses of the Qur’an, the result of which is then aesthetically transformed in poetic expressions. The interpretation of the Qur’anic verses is utilized to describe the human condition experienced by society in its period, including its comprehension of religious teachings (Abdul Hadi W.M, 1996:110-5).
The concept of faqr is taken from the Qur’an and considered an important religious idea because it deals with the position of man in the world, as it will be explained later. In Islamic Malay texts, the word faqr is even frequently used as an authorship marker, which is often interchangeably used with dagang, anak dagang, anak jamu, darwish, musafir, etc., which have more or less meaning as faqr.
Hamzah Fansuri and Muhammad Iqbal are two renowned Muslim poets who lived in different periods and places. Hamzah Fansuri lived in the 16th and 17th century A.D. in the Indonesian archipelago before European domination. Muhammad Iqbal, on the other hand, lived in the 20th century A.D, when European domination was increasingly felt in various spheres of life. In their poems, the themes concerning fana’ and faqr are found in great numbers. By comparing the works of these two poets, one can see similarities and differences on at least three points. Firstly, we can see how the same concepts can be interpreted in different historical and cultural contexts by broadening their philosophical meaning. Secondly, we can see that the interpretation of the same concept in different contexts in poem is very much influenced by the type of prosody and poetry chosen by a poet. And thirdly, their writings suggest that the spiritual concept sof Sufism contains broad and relevant messages of morality and humanity for all mankind.
Hamzah Fansuri
Hamzah Fansuri is a Sufi adept and a great Malay poet. He was born in Barus, a place situated on the west coast of North Sumatra, not far from the town of present day Sibolga. This place is identical with Fansur, an earlier Arabic name for that place.
He studied tasawuf in Qadiriya thariqat established by Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jailani, as it is cited in his poem saying that: “Hamzah nin `ilmunya zahir/Ustadhnya Shaykh `Abdu’l Qadir…” (Hamzah`s knowledge is clearly manifest/His teacher was Sheikh `Abdu`l-Qadir” (al-Attas 1970:11). His theological works have survived to the present day, as have numbers of his spiritual poems in Malay language, and three of his treatises on mysticism are: tasawuf– Sharab al-`Ashiqin (The Drink of Lovers), Asrar al-`Arifin (The Secrets of the Gnostics) and al-Muntahi (The Adept).
In his poems he clearly states that he came originally from Barus.For example :
Hamzah nin asalnya Fansuri
Mendapat wujud di tanah Shahr Nawi
Beroleh khilafat `ilmu yang `ali
Daripada `Abdu`l-Qadir Sayyid Jilani
Hamzah is originally of Fansur
He acquired his existence (as a Sufi) in the land of
Shahr Nawi
He achieved his lofty spiritual language
From `Abdu`l-Qadir Sayyid of Jilan
(Ibid)
His exact dates of birth and death are not known, but he is presumed to live between the middle of the 16th century and the 17th century A.D. For several centuries, his homeland Barus had been an important port in the western coast of Sumatra, which was frequented by foreign commercial ships. In its glorious day, this town was very prosperous and there were many educational institutions producing great ‘ulama’. When it was incorporated into the Aceh Sultanate in the end of 16th century A.D., this town deteriorated gradually. The central intellectual activity and the propagation of Islam then moved to the capital of the Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam. As the center of intellectual activities and international trade, Aceh has reached its peak of glory during the reigns of Sultan Alauddin Ri’ayat Syah whose title was Sayyid al-Mukammil (1589-1603) and Sultan Iskandar Muda (1607-1636) (Brakel 1969; al-Attas 1970:3-30; Braginsky 1975; Abdul Hadi W. M. 1995: 9-14).
Hamzah Fansuri lived at the time when the kingdom of Aceh Darussalam had become the center of a well-known international trade in Southeast Asia and the center of religious propagation and Islamic intellectual activities. However, as the kingdom began to taste quite high prosperity, material hedonism also started to be developed. Hamzah Fansuri was very concerned about this phenomenon, because in the history of Islam this sort of symptom was often the source of deviation from religious teachings and the cause of social decline as well. People were indeed fond of Sufism, but according to Hamzah Fansuri in his poems, people treated Sufism as a fashion and had understanding of its true nature. They also mixed it with the practice of Hindu Mysticism, especially Tantrism – a well-known sect of Hindu-Buddhist Mysticism and practiced a kind of Yoga called Pranayama (‘Breath-control Yoga’). Some elements of Shamanism were also frequently incorporated into Sufi practice. This tended to confuse the meaning of the doctrine of fana’ in Sufism with the doctrine of mokhsa in Hindu mysticism (al-Attas, 1971: 24).
Hamzah Fansuri’s Notion of Faqr
One of the Qur’anic ideas, which invited the attention of the Sufi writers, was the idea of faqr (poverty). The idea is important because it conveys the real and basic understanding of human position on earth. In classical Malay texts, the word faqr was often used simply to denote that the author was a Sufi.
Among the Qur’anic verses were referred to by Sufi poets were 36:15 and 2:268. In those two verses, the word faqr means ‘needy’ and ‘poor,’ or ‘having nothing’. Those two meanings are the characteristics of human being, while God has the opposite characteristic, namely He is The One who is Rich (ghani). God says: “O, human being, you are in need (fuqara’) to Allah, while Allah is The Rich and The Omniscient.” According to Ibn ‘Arabi, God is The Rich and hence independent from everything (ghani). In contrast, since human beings need Allah, they are dependent on Him. Thus, the word faqr means someone who is dependent on no one but Allah (ibid, 388-90). In the Qur’an, the word faqr has always been connected with the state of human soul which is always afraid of Satan who tempts man to commit bad things (such as being stingy so as to refuse to money for pious deeds) and afraid of not gaining God’s forgiveness or favor (Dar, 1997:61). A number of verses in the Holy Qur’an also state that too much love for the world constitutes a causal factor for bad deeds. The Sufi criticism towards materialism should be understood through this context, namely a concern to prevent the development of social abuses.
The word faqr is also used interchangeably in Malay with dagang, anak dagang, anak jamu, darwis, and musafir, which have more or less the same meaning. The term dagang (those who trade and become foreigners in a neighboring country), has the same meaning as destitution, it refers to a prophetic tradition: “Kun fi al-dunya ka’annaka gharib aw ‘abiru sabili wa ‘udda nafsahu min ashab al-qubur” (Be a foreigner in the world, or transit for a moment during your travel, and consider yourself as if you were in a graveyard). Fansuri, in his poem, writes:
Hadis ini daripada Nabi al-Habib
Qala kun fi al-dunya ka’annaka gharib
Barangsiapa da’im kepada dunia qarib
Manakan dapat menjadi habib
(Canto IX: 9)
This is tradition tracing back to the beloved Prophet
He spoke: ‘be in this world as if you were a stranger’
How could anyone, who is constantly attached to this world?
Be able to become one of God’s beloved?
The idea of “habib’ (one to whom Allah gives His love) in this poem contradicts the idea of the worldly love. Here the poet insists that a true dagang or faqr is the one who is close to God and free from worldly things. The word gharib itself, translated by Malay writers as dagang, means those who isolate themselves from this world (al-Attas, 1971: 8), i.e. the salik who considers himself a foreigner and traveller on earth, while his actual hometown is in the hereafter. As the highest level in suluk notion, faqr is related to the state of soul in which someone feels annihilated (fana’), which means that there is nothing left in his soul but love of or belief in Allah. A Sufi who has reached this stage is considered as fana’. The notion of fana’ has no relation with the notion of vanishing personality as claimed by many scholars, since it is only a vanishing of the lower soul or phenomenal personality, and its connections with the phenomenological realm. By removing the lower soul, the higher soul is better prepared to come control someone’s life. In this respect, Rumi mentions the spiritual journey of salik as “ journey from the lower soul to the higher one.” In his Mantiq al-Tayr, ‘Áttar writes, “after the lower soul is purified, they (the faqr) will get the light of God in a fresh soul.”
The notion of faqr alluded by Hamzah Fansuri does not imply a call to reject the world in a positive way according to Islamic teachings, and it does not mean a call for the reader to avoid worldly matters, as it can be seen in his poem:
Rasul Allah itulah tiada berlawan
Meninggalkan ta‘am sungguhpun makan
‘Uzlat dan tunggal di dalam kawan
Olehnya duduk waktu berjalan
(Canto VIII: 7)
The Messenger of Allah the incomparable one
Went without food while yet partaking of it
He practiced retreat and seclusion while along his companions
Just as he was seated while walking
Hamzah Fansuri chooses the Prophet Muhammad as a model of true faqr. By disagreeing with worldly affairs, such as meals and being involved in society, he gives priority to spiritual values (avoiding greed and seclusion). In the verse “Olehnya duduk waktu berjalan” the poet asserts that the prophet had a strong belief in God and zuhd (not being concerned with worldly things), in spite of his worldly activities. In another poem, Hamzah Fansuri relates poverty to the attitude of avoiding worldly matters as well as to willingness to sacrifice oneself- in favor of religion. He says:
Dunia nin jangan kau taruh-taruh
Supaya hampir mahbub yang jauh
Indah sekali akan galuh-galuh
Ke dalam api pergi berlabuh
Hamzah miskin hina dan karam
Bermain mata dengan Rabbul alam
Selamnya sangat terlalu dalam
Seperti mayat sudah tertanam
(Canto XIV: 12-3)
Do not set great store by this world
So as to draw near to the remote Beloved
Mark the firefly
Which rushes into the fire
Hamzah poor and lowly, destitute though he be
Makes eyes at Lord of the Universe
He plunges into the deepest depth
And is at it were a corpse committed to the earth
The spirit of self-sacrifice arising from f a deep love of God is parallel with galuh-galuh, being brave enough to jump into fire. In this respect, poverty means a willingness for self-sacrifice, hence the word fana’ should be interpreted as recklessly and utterly disregarding worldly affairs. Furthermore, the fana’ of a faqr in his love to God is analogous to sinking into the ocean of reality, like a buried corpse, meaning that he is no longer interested in anything surrounding him. It does not mean that the poet teaches passiveness. What the poet really wants to say is how important haqq al- yaqin is. Hamzah Fansuri also proposes the prophet Isma‘il as an example of true faqr:
Hamzah miskin orang ‘uryani
Seperti Ismail jadi qurbani
Bukannya ‘Ajami lagi ‘Arabi
Nentiasa wasil dengan Yang Baqi
(Canto XXII: 13)
Hamzah is poor and naked
A sacrifice, just as Ismail
Neither Persian nor Arab
Yet in constant union with the Eternal One
Literally “‘Uryani” means naked. Its spiritual meaning is faqr, i.e. one who has pure desire tfor sacrifice. In this poem Fansuri asserts that true faqr is someone who has truly. reached his own real being As a spiritual creation, the human being has no relation with race and nationality. In yet another poem, Fansuri relates the state of a faqr’s soul to an individual who has strong belief and piety, that he will be able to reach the state of tauhid.
Fauq al-markab yogya kau jalis
Sauhmu da’im baikkan habis
Rubing syariat yogya kau labis
Supaya jangan markabmu palis
Jika hendak engkau menjeling sawang
Ingat-ingat akan hujung karang
Jabat kemudi jangan kau mamang
Supaya betul ke bandar kau datang
Anak muallim tahu akan jalan
Da’im berjalan di laut nyaman
Markabmu tiada berpapan
Olehnya itu tiada berlawan
(Canto XXIII: 9-11)
A faqr (or anak dagang, Malay) is a religious teacher (an educated man) who knows the way to reach tauhid (monotheism). Here the poet states that a faqr has a high rank not because of his blind belief or piety, but because of his braveness and high intellectual capability. Fansuri has explicated the spiritual and intellectual capacity of a faqr in the following poems:
Ilmu’l- yaqin nama ilmumya
Ainu’l- yaqin hasil tahunya
Haqqu’l-yaqin akan lakunya
Muhammad nabi asal gurunya
Syariat akan tirainya
Tarikat akan bidainya
Hakikat akan ripainya
Makrifat yang wasil akan isainya
(Canto XXVI: 10-11)
Firm knowledge is the name of its knowledge
Leading to unwavering certitude
Absolute certainty is its nature
Primarily the prophet Muhammad is its teacher
The sacred Law is its curtain
The Path its blind
Reality its stake
Uniting gnosis its content
The words ilmu, tahu and guru denote that the road of Sufism lies in deep knowledge, i.e. knowledge of the essence of tauhid (Makrifat yang wasil akan isainya), while its realization in daily life is haqq al- yaqin. The term Faqr in Fansuri poet also relates to the spirit of jihad (struggle against worldly desire and evil), as well as to a freedom of expression based on wisdom and true knowledge about the expressed things:
Hamzah Fansuri anak dagang
Da’im bersuhbat dengan hulubalang
Penuh dan pepak tahu berperang
Barang kerjanya jangan dilarang
(Canto XIX: 13)
Hamzah Fansuri though a stranger
Is always on friendly terms with the hulubalang
With the art of warfare he is fully conversant
Do not veto anything he does
The word hulubalang refers to Al-Hallaj (Mansur Al-Hallaj), who sacrificed himself in defending his belief. This can be seen, for example, in the following verses of poem, “Aqadkan Mansur yang hulubalang …” and ”Hamzah Fansuri anak dagang/Melenyapkan dirinya tiada sayang/Jika berenang tiada berbatang/Jika berlabuh pada tempat tiada berkarang.”
The following quotation of Fansuri’s complete poem would explicate the idea of faqr. The poem will show that the notion of fana’ has no relation with self-vanishing, termed by Iqbal as khudi (the real self), since it is the incidental-self which is destroyed, i.e. the self which relates to temporary desire, called by Fansuri the zilal self, the self which is only a shadow.
Sidang fakir empunya kata
Tuhanmu zahir terlalu nyata
Jika sungguh engkau bermata
Lihatlah dirimu rata-rata
Kenal dirimu hai anak jamu
Jangan lupa akan diri kamu
Ilmu hakekat yogya kau ramu
Supaya terkenal ali adamu
Jika terkenal dirimu bapai
Elokmu itu tiada berbagai
Hamba dan Tuhan da’im berdamai
Memandang diri jangan kau lalai
Kenal dirimu hai anak dagang
Menafikan diri jangan kau sayang
Suluh isbat yogya kau pasang
Supaya dapat mudah kau datang
Dengarkan hai anak ratu
Ombak dan air asalnya satu
Seperti manikam muhit dan batu
Inilah tamsil engkau dan ratu
Jika terdengar olehmu firman
Pada Taurat Injil Zabur dan Furqan
Wa huwa ma’akum pada ayat Qur’an
Bikulli syay`in muhit ma`nanya `iyan
Syari’at Muhammad ambilkan suluh
Ilmu hakikat yogya kau pertubuh
Nafsumu itu yogya kau bunuh
Mangkanya dapat sekalian dosamu luruh
Adamu itu yogya kau serang
Supaya dapat negeri yang henang
Seperti Ali tatkala perang
Melepaskan duldul tiada berkekang
Hamzah miskin orang ‘uryani
Seperti Ismail jadi kurbani
Bukannya ‘ajami lagi ‘arabi
Nantiasa wasil dengan yang Baqi
(Canto XXI: XXI)
The parliament of faqrs proclaim
Your Lord is most clearly manifest
If you really have eyes to see
Then look upon your spiritual self
O son of the stranger, know the essence of your self
Do not be unmindful of the essence of your self
Science of gnosis you must understand
This is the way to know your loftiness being
If you know the essence of yourself, O father
Truly your beauty is without compare
Servant and his Lord there is a constant bond
Do not be unmindful to see the essence of yourself
Know yourself, o son o the stranger
Do not regret denying yourself
Keep light the torch of affirmation (to the One)
So that you readily come to His Presence
Listen to me, o son of Sultan
He wave abd the water are one in substance
Like the jewel mounted a stone
This is the meaning of the relationship between you and the
King
If you have heard the revelation from God
It is contained in the Torah, the Bible, the Psalm and the
Furqan
‘He is always with you,’ the Qur’an says
‘Encompassing everything,’ the meaning is most manifest
Let the Law of Muhammad be your lamp
Let the science of gnosis be your coat
Let mortify your lower self
So that you may get rid of it altogether
Fight your own lower being
Lest you gain the abode of peace
Just as ‘Ali when in battle
Released Duldul, his steed, unbridle
Hamzah is poor and naked
Like Isma‘il be a sacrifice
He is neither Persian non-Arab
Yet in constant union with the Eternal One
The expressions of intellectual and physical denial such as we meet in the lines “Hapuskan akal dan rasamu/lenyapkan badan dan nyawamu”, Destroy your mind and feelings, your body and soul, are quite easy to be misinterpret, due to our habit of interpreting something literally, while the symbolic expression of a poet should be interpreted symbolically, through hermeneutical principles. Suggestive meaning (isharah) is explored in hermeneutical analysis, not merely connotative (majazi) or denotative meaning (zahir or referential). Hence, what has been intended by the poet in the above quoted poem is the vanishing or integrating of the self into a deep belief in The One, by which one can see the beauty of the true self.
The Search for Fana
Hamzah Fansuri criticizes the yoga practices of the Yoga Pranayama adopted by followers of some Sufi orders (tariqa) as follows:
Oleh riyadat tubuhnya
Hendak melihat serupa budak
Menghela nafas ke dalam otak
Supaya minyaknya jangan orak
Ilmu Allah jangan kaugantung
Di paru-paru di balik jantung
Tinggalkan jalan yang lancing
Mangkanya dapat jauhar kaukandung
Jika kaudapat haqiqat liqa’
Di ubun-ubun jangan menyembah diya’
Karena Tuhan kita itu tiada rida’
Akan ilmu cahaya dan ilmu riya’
(Doorenbos 1933:42-3)
The exercises destroys their bodies
As they try to see the appearance of homunculus
Drawing their breath into the brain
Lest their fluids congeal
Do not suspend knowledge of God
In your lungs behind the heart
Forsake the false way
So as to obtain the true gem!
If you want to experience the real mystical
encounter
Then do not worship a glow in your fontanel
For our Lord does not take pleasure
In the lore of the light nor in ostentation
In the practices of the Yoga Pranayama, a glow is believed to be concentrated in the navel and is then called ‘geni rahasya’ (the secret fire). Through breath-control and mental concentration the glow is led through the spine, till it reaches the brain, the seat of Mrta. Affected by the glow, the Mrta begins to radiate, its beams appear on the front of the head in as beads of sweat. These are called the Supreme Teacher, which is one of the names of Siva (Brakel 1969).
In this poem, Hamzah Fansuri writes as follows:
Aho segala kita yang menjadi faqr
Jangan bersuhbat dengan raja dan Amir
Karena Rasul Allah Bashir dan Nadhir
Melarangkan kita saghir dan kabir
Rasul Allah itu daripada Rabbul Alamin
Membawa ayat “Inna Allaha Yuhibbu’l-Mutawakkilin”
Yogya diketahui oleh semua salikin
Supaya masuk ke dalam kandang ashiqin
Rezekimu mawjud dalam maklumat
Lagi belum lahir Ard wa al-Samawat
Jika lagi engkau muhtaj ke rumah makhluqat
Manakan dapat beroleh ‘ali al-darajat
Dalil ini dibawa Imam al-Muttaqin
Yakni, “Fatawakkalu in-kuntum Mu’minin.”
Jika tawakkalmu kepada arham al-rahimin
Mangka dapat ke dalam kaum al-sabirin
Perbuatan maksiat daim kau cari
Tiada kau takut akan jadi ‘asi
Rezekimu haram lagi engkau zani
Manakan sampai engkau pada ilahi
(Canto XI: 1-6)
Oh all you that have taken the vow of poverty
Do not befriend Princes and Rulers
For the Messenger of God, bringer of joyful tidings and
warnings
Has forbidden this to both the small and the great among us
From the Lord of the worlds the Messenger of God
Conveyed this verse: ‘God loves those who trust Him’
All travellers on the mystic path should keep this in mind
So as to join the fold of lovers’
Your sustenance was already fixed in God’s knowledge
Before heaven and earth were created
If you can not do without the early tabernacle
How can you come by a high rank?
The leader of those who fear God has conveyed his verse:
‘Put your trust in Allah if you are believers’
If your trust is put in the Most Merciful
You will be able to join the host of those who patiently endure
‘Ali the father of Hasan, in whom God may find pleasure
Said, ‘It suffices to place one’s trust in God’
But do not violate the indications of the Qur’an
So that you may enter the Garden of Recourse
If you always prone to sin
And no afraid of being a sinner
If your means of livelihood are unlawful and you’re guilty of
fornication
How then can you attain to God?
The above poem cannot be regarded as an appeal to escapism. The poet calls on his readers not to have relation with tyrannical kings who have obtained their wealth illegally. In any period of time there would be a group of people, including ‘ulama’, who entrust their life to the kings and amir, and even are willing to be beggars in the front of palace gate. In another poem, he says:
Berahimu da’im akan orang kaya
Manakan dapat tiada berbahaya
‘Ajib sekali akan hati saya
Hendak berdakap dengan Mulia Raya
Tiada kau tahu akan karmamu
Terlalu ghurur dengan hartamu
Nafsu dan syahwat da’im sertamu
Asyik dan mabuk bukan kerjamu
(Canto XIV: 8-9)
All along your heart goes out to the high-placed
Then how would you not incur danger?
Most wonderful to the heart of the servant
Is the prospect of embracing the Exalted One?
Unaware of the evil you will be cursed with
Infatuated by your property
And with self and lust for your steady companions
It is not given to you to grow enraptured with love
The poem can be understood better through its historical context. In the closing years of 16th century, the rich people in Aceh Darussalam Kingdom became a strong elite and had great influence in politics. In the face of the opportunity to leadsuch a glamorous life, spiritual life and religion declined. It was for this group of people the poem was delivered, as the poet says:
Sayangnya insan terlalu bebal
Disangkanya dunia lagi kan kekal
Nyaman matanya tidur di bantal
Akan salahnya itu tiada ia menyesal
Pada dunia jangan kau amin
Lenyap pergi seperti angin
Kuntu Kanzan tempat yang batin
Disana da’im yogya kau sakin
Lemak manis terlalu nyaman
Oleh nafsumu engkau tertawan
Sakarat al-mawt sukarnya jalan
Lenyap disana berkawan-kawan
(Canto XIII: 3-5)
What a pity that man is most stupid
He is under the delusion that this world will last forever
So he soundly sleeps on his pillow
Without ever regretting his faults
Do not put your trust in this world
It will vanish, moving past like the wind
The concealed state ‘I was a hidden treasure’
That should be your lasting abode
The fat and the sweet (of this world) are most tasty
You are the captive of your own lusts
But the hard way of the agony of death
One goes without companions
Their Islam was not a true Islam, or practiced seriously, but Islam by name only (al-Attas 1970: 24). Hamzah Fansuri says:
Iqrarnya tiada ditasdiqkannya
Karena tiada dengan sebaiknya
Their verbal profession of faith is not accompanied by belief
Because they do so not with a pure intention
It is difficult for truly religious persons to cooperate with this group in building genuine Islamic teachings and in establishing a strong Muslim society, until they consciously want to do so. Indeed, such people will destroy true faith and community as Fansuri states:
Berahimu da’im akan orang kaya
Manakan dapat tiada berbahaya
(Canto: XIV: 8)
All along your heart goes out to the rich man
Then how would you not incur danger?
Muhammad Iqbal
Muhammad Iqbal (1873-1938) is a famous poet philosopher from Indo-Pakistan. Due to his vocal encouragment of in his poems of the awakening of Eastern countries, he has received the title of “Penyair Kebangkitan Bangsa Timur (a Poet of Eastern States Awakening) ” (Ali Khamene`i 1989). His knowledge on philosophy and Islamic cultures were as wide as his knowledge on philosophy and Western cultures.
Iqbal was born in Sialkot, Punjab region, on April 1873. He received his early education in his home town and moved to Lahore for his religious studies, Arabic, Persia and English languages. In Lahore he enrolled as a student of Oriental College , eventually achieving a Master of Arts (MA) degree. Here for the first time for Iqbal met Western modern thought. After graduating, he began to teach Arabic language, to compose poetry and to write articles on social and economic issues. He wrote his poems in Persia and Urdu. The influences of Sufi literatures and England Romanticism were strong in his early poems. In 1905 Iqbal left India to study law in University of Cambridge, England. Still preferring to study philosophy he move d to the University of Munich, Germany in 1907. At that time, he was extremely impressed by Nietzsche’s works. A year later, in 1908 he was awarded his PhD degree for his thesis entitled The Development of Metaphysics in Persia (Hafeez Malik 1971).
After returning from Europe, Iqbal was extremely active in writing poetry and essays on philosophy. His monumental work on philosophy, other than his PhD thesis, of degree is entitled The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam.Nevertheless, almost all the thoughtof Iqbal is also expressed through his Sufis poetry. Among his books of poems, the most important are Asrar-I Khudi (The Secret of Self), Rumuz-I Bekhudi (Rahasia Peniadaan Diri), Payam-I Mashriq (The Message from the East), Zabur-I Ajam (The Persian Psalms), Bal-I Jibril (Wings of Gabriel), Javid-namah (The Book of Eternity), Pas Chih Bayad Kard Ay Aqwam-I Sharg, and Armaghan-I Hijaz (Hadiah dari Hejaz),.
Iqbal was born and lived in more than a century after the fall of Mughal Kingdom fighting British colonization. Since then the power of England colonial in India had not only not been defeated but it had severely impacted on India and most especially Moslems who were enforced to face the politics of discrimination. The British policy of divide et impera was intended to destroy the identity of the various Indian cultures (Hamid Irfani 1976:49-50). This had implications for the whole of the of socio-cultural, political and religious life of Moslem people. Consequently, many of the religious practices of Moslems had become disoriented. This included the worshiping of wali (great ulama) and development of a narrow understanding of religions that encouraged Moslems to be anti-Western.. Many tariqat experts propounded the escapist avoidance of social activities. In Iqbal’s opinion, these conditions had to be resisted by Islamic reformers in the 20th century in order to revival the true spirit of Islam.
Iqbal’s works on philosophy and literature were intended to understand more deeply the development of Moslem society in his time and to open the way of reconstructions of Islamic thought in order to be able to face a new period. Hamid Irfani (1976:50) has said that:
“Iqbal composed some of the most heart moving poems beseeching the Muslim to return to Allah and His Prophet. He attributed the decline and degradation if the Muslims to tha fact that they had given up the path of the Prophet of Islam. He condemned the pseudo-Sufi whose teachings had destroyed the urge to active and purposeful living”.
For Iqbal, both as a poet and Muslim philosopher, religion is of utmost importance in the life of an individual. It is only religion which gives full expression to the whole complex of problems connected with man. As far as Iqbal’s insistence on a reformulation of religious doctrines is concerned, one has to keep in mind (1) the inherent scope within the teachings of Islam for reinterpretation, and its realistic, dynamic and forward-looking approach toward life, and (2) the actual predicament of the Muslim community in the twentieth century –its backwardness in technological, economic, political and intellectual fields – in the wake of dazzling progress made by the West. Iqbal could ill-afford to side with retrogressive forces operating in the form of ritualism obscurantism and fanaticism. His main aim was the renaissance of the dormant Muslim community by countering the forces of decadence and not merely indulging in abstract, academic discussion (Asif Iqbal Khan 1977:3-4).
A few representative lines of one of Iqbal’s poems are quoted here from Payam-I Mashriq to give an idea of the overall picture of the Muslim World after the first World War (1914-18):
The Arab has lost his way in the desert
His breath has lost the fire of faith in the unity of
God
The Egyptians have fallen into whirlpool of the
Nile
The elephant like stout Turanians have grown
weak of nerves
The Ottoman Turks are caught in the clutches of
Times
And the East and the West is red with their blood
Love has lost the tradition of Salman al-Farsi
The land of Iran is there but the great Iranian is not
there
(Hamid Irfani 1976:52)
The title given by Ali Khammane’i to Iqbal, a Poet of Eastern States Awakening, is correct because firstly, in his poems he frequently appeals to the Eastern peoples, particularly Muslims, to awaken from slavery not only political and economically, but also intellectually and culturally. The Eastern peoples have to wake up from their sleep and rebuild their collapsing civilization in accordance with their own aspiration, and not those of any Western paradigm. In his philosophical and poetic ideas, Iqbal combines the Sufi ideas of `Attar, Rumi, Abdul Karim al-Jili and Jami, particularly about the idea of the perfect man (al-insan al-kamil), love (`ishq) and the self (khudi) with the teaching of European philosophers such as Hegel, Nietzsche, Bergson, Whitehead, ets.
Further, the most important idea in Iqbal’s poems is the reconstruction of khudi. Khudi (Self) for Iqbal is a self-determined free personal causality. As he says in Bal-I-Jibril “Everything is looking for self-expression/Every atom is dying for greatness/Without self-expression this life is no life/By the perfection of his individuality man becomes like God” (Asif Iqbal Khan 1977:23). In The Reconstruction (108) he also says that khudi “shares in the life and freedom of the Ultimate Self who by permitting the emergence of a finite self. Capable of private initiative, He has limited this freedom of His own free will.” As Iqbal further says in a poem in Payam-I Mashriq:
When enslaved, life is reduced to a small rivulet
In freedom, it is like the boundless ocean
Iqbal’s Notion of Faqr
The contemporary approach to sufi ideas, and especially faqr and true-self (khudi according to Iqbal), can easily be found in Iqbal’s poems, because he is a prominent Muslim poet whose poems are inspired by Sufi literatures The interpretation of the notion of faqr and its explanation in the modern way can be found in most of Iqbal’s poems, as they frequently deal with khudi and love (‘isyq). A faqr person is often regarded similar to “a strong person” due to his deep love to The One, and “an independent man,” i.e. independent from nothing but Allah. This can be seen apparently in his poem entitled Faqr, written in his anthology Pas Cih Bayad Kard ay aqwam-I Sharq (What should Eastern people do) and in his first poems of his anthology entitled Asrar-i khudi (The Secrets of Self).
As in Iqbal’s other poems, the main purpose of the two poems is to awake the consciousness of the readers (Muslims) to the strength and hidden suitability of Islamic teachings with regard to Muslim culture, neglected too long by Muslims and their leaders. In addition to his criticism to various deviations from correct religious teachings and the carelessness of elite and educated Muslims towards the backwardness of Muslim society, Iqbal shows us how to interpret actual Islamic ideas on human life. Furthermore, Iqbal tries to correct misinterpretations resulting in the backwardness of Muslim thought and invalid understanding of Islamic teachings. Sayid Ali Khamane’i (1989) states, “Iqbal was very disappointed to see Muslim society loosing their khudi (personality), either in their humanity or Islamic attitudes. Iqbal notices that spiritual destitution and materialism are the big jeopardy for Muslims, which could endanger their existence in the history of humanity. Iqbal was eager to see Muslim society to be able to stand strongly on their own feet that is their own ideal and worldview.”
Since a Muslim’s worldview and ideals should be based on tawhid, it is only tawhid, a deep belief in Oneness of God, which can elevate the dignity and superiority of man on earth. Furthermore, it is through tawhid that man can conduct himself as the deputy of God (khalifah) on earth, while still being His servant.
Through faith in tawhid the individual transcends the earthly
And through tawhid the community gains might
What is a millat (community) o believer in tawhid?
It is to cast one common look from thousands of eye
When a community becomes intoxicated with faith
It gains power and might
(Irfani, 1976: 81 – 2)
For Iqbal, to be a true khalifah on earth, a Muslim should be able to transcend himself, i.e. to build up high ideals as well as to make great effort sto reach this unity. He writes:
Man is the deputy of God on earth,
And o’er the elements his rule is fixed;
On earth thy narrowness receives breath
Thy toil takes on fair shape. Ride thou the wind,
Put bridle on that swift-paced dromedary.
Dabble thy fingers in the mountain’s blood;
Draw up the lustrous waters of the pearl
From ocean’s bottom; in this single field
A hundred worlds are hidden, countless suns
Veiled in these dancing motes. This glittering ray
Shall bring the vision the invisible,
Disclose in comprehended mysteries.
(Arberry, 1964: 383)
It is in accordance with this t concern that Iqbal tries to interpret the idea of faqr. In his poem entitled “Faqr” Iqbal says:
Oh, slaves of material things, what is faqr?
A penetrating insight and a living heart
Faqr is to sit in judgment over one’s own work
And to envelop oneself round the words there is no deity
Faqr is conquering Khaibar and living on barley meal
Kings and nobles are tried to its saddle-straps
Faqr is ardor, ecstasy and submission to the will of God
It belongs really to Mustafa; we are only its trustees
(Dar 1977: 47-8)
For Iqbal, faqr is similar to an outstanding human being and has two main complementary characteristics i.e., intellectual awareness and an endless living heart. B.A Dar (ibid, 47) refers the “deep intellectual awareness” found in a person with mature soul and high intellectual rank, while “living hearts” refers to a high spiritual affirmation. Those two main characteristics are also the characteristics of the Prophet Muhammad. In his poem entitled “Address to the World-Illuminating Sun” (Pas Chih Bayard Kard, 12-4) Iqbal describes the faqr as raushan damir, i.e. a person who knows the essence of everything, or those whose hearthas been illuminated, making him able to view the essence of everything (Abdul Hadi 1987). Iqbal praises Jalaluddin Rumi (1207-1273), as being a Persian Sufi who taught the importance of love (‘ishq) as a means for reaching Divine knowledge (makrifat), and an example of raushan damir.
Another example of an important faqr in Islamic history is Sayyidina Ali whose faqr quality was shown during the battle to take over the hill of Khaibar from the Jews. In writing this poem Iqbal refers to the occupation of the land of Palestinians. by the nation of Israel The victory of Sayyidina Ali, according to Iqbal, came not because of economic prosperity, but it was due to his spiritual power and deep belief (haqq al-yaqin) in Almighty Allah. Through this previous example, Iqbal tries to give a broader meaning to the idea of faqr , describing its aspects as including maturity of spirit, strong individual love (‘ishq) or deep belief towards God (haqq al-yaqin), high intellectual ability and spiritual yearning. By relating the spirit of faqr to Saiyidina ‘Ali, Iqbal also tried to include the idea of jihad and self-sacrifice as part of the idea of faqr. Iqbal’s description of a strong faqr ‘s burning love towards God and tawhid is based on the Prophet Muhamad.
For Iqbal, there is no connection between faqr and poverty as many people claim. A faqr is a tenacious person who does not involve with worldly matters. Iqbal says:
If you wish to gain faqr, don’t complain of poverty
Well-being depends on one’s attitude and not on
rank and wealth
Truthfulness, sincerity, submissiveness, ardor and
sympathy --
These are needed and not gold or silver, nor red
and yellow coins.
O living man, avoid these kings and nobles (Kai
kawus)
Walk on your own self (khudi) and not around
palaces
…
Rebuild these nine heavens and refashion this
world according to
Thy own desire
When he gets annihilated in God’s will
The man of faith become God’s decree
(B. A. Dar 1977:31)
Let us note that distinction betweem a freeman (hurr) and a slave (`abd) in Iqbal’s poems refers to the Qur`an (2:178). The word hurr and `abd was used by the Qur’an to designate the ideal type of man in relation to God. Iqbal used these words for the first time in Asrar-i Khudi. (pp 82 ff) dealing with the two characteristics types of people, i.e. the slave and the freeman. The slave is a type of people who iare devoted to the pursuit of material ends and employ reason as an exclusive method of aproach. As such, these people are confined within the net of space and time and their vision, therefore, does not rise higher than mornings and nights which weave their shrouds round their bodies. They are subject to the inexorable law of fate, and are contentedly happy with the old repetitive phenomena of life.
The freeman, i.e. the faqr, on the other hand, does not allow the nigts and days to put limitations on the flights of his ambitions. When he bursts forth from the shell of the dust and acquires ‘a heart’ (qalb) – the symbol of the spiritual realm, he becomes the ruler of the universe. He is a creator par excellence on this earth, and ever expands his spiritual dimensions by singing new songs, creating new things, and enlightening the hearts and minds of people around him. Therefore, it is not surprising that Iqbal equates a faqr with a free and creative person, as is stated in the following poem:
I will unravel to you a point brought as pearl
So that you may distinguish between a slave and
free man
The slave is essentially repetitive
His acts are bereft of originality
The free man is always noisy in original creation
His bowstring is vibrant with new melodies
He naturally cannot tolerate repetition
His path is not like the circle traced by a compass
(Asif Iqbal Khan 1977:31)
Iqbal puts forward all of these ideas because he saw Muslims in that period, particularly in South Asia, being dominated by the lack of self-confidence. They also did not realise that Islam, both as religion and culture, possessed a hidden potential, which could help the umma free itself from backwardness if religion was studied honestly and utilized efficiently. This dire condition was due to the absence of a model of a true faqr among the umma. i.e.,
The Muslim of this land has lost all hope in him
For a long time he has not seen a true man of God
Hence he has grown skeptical about the strength
of his faith
And has started waylaying his own caravan
For three centuries the Ummah has been wretched
and helpless
It lives on without an inner (spiritual) fire and
ecstasy (junon)
(B.A. Dar 1977:55)
Iqbal lived in a period when Muslims were weak and ignorant, due to the absence of credible leaders. Neither did the religious leaders (‘ulama) or political leaders (‘umara) pay any attention to the negative condition of society. The leaders and Muslim intellectuals were much more dependent on the British colonial masters, so it was not uncommon that ulamas were working in favor of British interests. Iqbal longed for a faqr like the Prophet who would be able to change Muslims into other men and change their being from glass into jewel, i.e. a faqr whose equipment derived from the Holy Qur’an (Dar, ibid, p. 49).
It is important to note in Iqbal’s idea that a faqr is an active individual who leads the ummah tirelessly and painstakingly. His attitude of being uninterested in the worldly life does not mean avoiding worldly affairs. Rather, it is due to a consciousness of the bad conditions of society, which encourage him to make changes and strive for modernization. While criticizing Muslim leaders and ulama’ who were dependent on the government and kings, Iqbal insisted that a true faqr has a sense of freedom from everything but God. A similar thought can also be seen in Fansuri’s poems.. Like Fansuri, Iqbal also distinguished between the true faqr and the one who does not follow Qur’anic teachings. Iqbal says:
The Qur’anic faqr is a critical examination of Existence
It is not mere rebeck playing, intoxication, dancing and
singing.
What is a believer’s faqr? It is conquering of dimension,
The slaves acquire attributes of the Lord through it.
The faqr of unbeliever is flight to the wilderness,
The faqr of a believer makes land and sea tremble;
Life for the former is solitude in caves and mountains,
Life for the latter flows from a glorious death;
The former is seeking God through renunciation of flesh,
The latter is whetting one’s khudi on the stone of God,
The former is killing and burning out of khudi.
(Ibid, 53)
A similar critiques of those t faqr who liked to hurt their own bodies in order to reach a high level of spirituality can also be found in Fansuri’s poems. For example:
Sidang talib ke dalam hutan
Pergi ‘uzlat berbulan-bulan
Dari muda datang berhuban
Tiada bertemu dengan Tuhan
Oleh riyadat tubuhnya rusak
Hendak melihat serupa budak
Menghela nafas kedalam otak
Supaya minyaknya jangan orak
Companies of seekers into the wilderness
Go forth for month in seclusions
Until the young turn white-haired –
Still they do not meet with God!
The exercises destroy thair bodies
So they try to the eye the appearance of a homunculus
Drawing their breath into the brain
Lest their fluids congeal
(Canto XXIII: 1 - 2)
Moreover, Hamzah Fansuri states in his poem:
Ilmu Allah jangan kau gantung
Di paru-paru di balik jantung
Tinggalkan jalan yang lancung
Mangkanya dapat jauhar kau kandung
Do not suspend knowledge of God
In your lungs behind the heart
Forsake the false way
So as to obtain the true gem!
(Canto XXIII: 5)
For both Hamzah Fansuri and Iqbal, the true concept of faqr involves two points. First, the faqr is characterised by his liberation from materialism and hedonism, as well as the state of his heart that fully worshipsGod (‘ubudiya) and nothing else but God. In the Asrar-i Khudi Iqbal calls the freeman abduhu (God slave), an anti thesis of ‘the slave of material things’. Second, , their concept of faqr relates to the idea of purity thadkiya al nafs, and self purification, that is being purified from the worldly needs make which make humans slaver of material things (also see al-Hujwiri in Kasf al-Mahjub, ed. Nicholson 1982:60-61). The practices of self mutilation done by artificial Sufis, as both Iqbal and Hamzah Fansuri said, only showed that their objectives were worldly, and not truly concerned either with the state of their soul or with self purification.
Conclusions
On the basis of the above discussion, it can be concluded that there are similarities in the way that the two poets in giving meaning to the concepts of fana’ and faqr. For both Hamzah Fansuri and Muhammad Iqbal a true Sufi is one who is free from worldly needs and individual desires as he struggles to integrate himself with the teaching of tawhid. A faqr will reach a truly fana’ condition when all of his activities in the world are not motivated by egocentric and worldly interests. Instead his life will be fully devoted to the spiritual life.
The only difference between these two scholars and poets was that Iqbal gave these teachings a contemporary interpretation and wrapped them into a modern rhetoric, and he voiced his critiques through the modern printed word. Furthermore, Iqbal broadened the idea of faqr, making it relevant not only to religious and Sufi thoughts, but also to social and political thoughts. This difference can be understood by the fact that the two poets lived in different periods and divergent Muslim societies . Because of this, their criticisms of deviant Sufistic and religious teachings as well as their consciousness towards materialism and hedonism arise from their very different social settings.
References
Abdul Hadi W. M. (1995). Estetika Sastera Sufistik: Kajian Hermeneutik Terhadap Karya-karya Shaykh Hamzah Fansuri. Tesis Ph. D. Universiti Sains Malaysia.
----------------- (1995). Hamzah Fansuri: Risalah Tasawuf dan Puisi-puisinya. Jakarta: Mizan.
al-Attas, Syed M. Naquib (1970). The Mysticism of Hamzah Fansuri. Kuala Lumpur: University Malay Press.
----------------------------- (1971). Concluding Postscript to the Origin of the Malay Sha`ir. Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.
Ali Khamene’i, Sayyid (1989). “Penyair: Pemikir Kebangkitan Dunia Islam”. Jurnal Ulumul Qur’an. No. 3/Th. I.
Asif Iqbal Khan (1977). Some Aspects of Iqbal’s Thought. Lahore: Islamic Book Service.
`Attar, Fariduddin (1983). Musyawarah Burung. Terjemahan Hartoyo Andangdjaja from the text of C. S. Nott. Jakarta: Pustaka Jaya.
Brakel, L. F. (1969). ??????
Dar, A. A. (1977). 'What Should then be Done O' People of the East’
English Rendering of Iqbal's Pas Chih Bayad Kard Ay Aqwam-i Sharq'. Lahore Iqbal Academy Pakistan. Edisi Bahasa Indonesia: Abdul Hadi W.M. Sajak-sajak Iqbal "Pesan Kepada Bangsa-bangsa Timur" Bandung: Mizan,
1985.
Hamid Irfani (1977). The Sayings of Rumi and Iqbal.
Muhammad Iqbal (1986). 'Shikwa and Jawab-i Shikwa’ Complaint and Answer. Trans. from the Urdu with an introduction by Kushwant Singh. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
