What is the Rapturous Love of God?
Shoukat Ali asks: Assalamu Alaikum. Please explain what rapturous love is
and then give us the esoteric explanation of the divine beloveds.
People will really enjoy hearing your explanation of this.
The practical exhibition of rapturous love -
- rapturous love doesn't exist in this world.
When a person, through spirituality, reaches the Station of Mehmood in Alam-e-Balaa (the Higher Realms)
and he is able to see God through his subtlety of Ana there.
When he witnesses the divine splendour,
then the figure of God,
the body of God, it has so much charisma.
He is so charismatic [that when someone sees him], they feel like tearing apart their own body.
They want to gauge their own eyes out.
And they desire to simply be annihilated in the feet of their Lord.
That is how charismatic he is.
When this attraction develops in a person then the divine energy from God enters the person and grips the esoteric faculties.
It grips the esoteric faculties of a person.
And an intense bond of attraction -
an extremely intensified bond of attraction is formed which envelopes the person.
Meaning, some force from God will pull you and will always pull you.
It's like you have been anchored by that bond of attraction.
It pulls you towards God. There is a lot of charisma in it.
I cannot give any worldly example of this
but I can say a few words in order to explain it to you.
It is like somebody is famished and a plate of their favourite food served to them, they would pretty much leap at the food.
Right?
Or it is like when man is overcome with lust and a woman of his type comes in front of him
and in that moment, he is overcome with lust
he would leap at her.
So, there is a force that is pulling him.
There are some vibes that are pulling him.
And just like the song from the film Taal: I feel a pull in my chest
What is that pulling feeling?
It's what I am telling you about - that bond of attraction, the pulling feeling.
Like somebody is pulling you.
Somebody is pulling you, dragging you.
Now, that only happens when you go there [and see God].
When you reach that point then the special theophanies that emanate from God make you God's captive.
Thereafter, the attraction for God does not let you live in peace. You always think about God.
His Divine Eminence wrote about this in His poetry.
Rapturous love is that bond of attraction.
God's charisma is mighty.
It pulls a person towards God.
Do you understand what I am saying?
If such a charisma is developed in a friend of God from among human beings - a saint of God - such a person is known as Mashooq (Beloved).
Practically.
Otherwise, an Ashiq (divine lover) does not have this charisma; he is always weary.
A divine lover is always weary; he just wanders here and there.
A divine lover always cries [in God's love].
But a beloved of God is one in whom God instils the same divine charisma.
The charisma of God's rapturous love which is only felt in the Realm of Divine Oneness.
Now, why does God instil this divine charisma in his friend?
God is aware that not all human beings can reach that station
therefore, for those who seek God find that divine charisma in their Spiritual Guides.
The Spiritual Guide has the same divine charisma.
If a Spiritual Guide has this divine charisma [then he is like God for the disciple].
Sultan Haq Bahu said, 'Seeing the Spiritual Guide is like performing Hajj a hundred thousand times.'
But that bond of attraction is only felt up there.
Similarly, there is rapturous love of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
Until someone sees the soul of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), they cannot develop rapturous love for Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
It will not happen.
They may love the Prophet but rapturous love will not be established.
This is why in spirituality, there was a department of Ishq-e-Mizaji (Romantic Love) in the previous eras.
The Wehdat ul Wajood Spiritual Guides would check which of their disciples were destined for the path.
They would tell the chosen disciple to fall in love with a woman.
They were only allowed to love her, not anything else.
He would fall in love with her and then weep in separation from that woman
and when he would finally meet her, his love would intensify having seen her.
The one who wrote Heer was a saint, Wariz Shah.
Wariz Shah wrote 'Heer' because it was his spiritual lesson.
The lesson was to learn Romantic Love before developing rapturous love for God.
When a seeker learns Romantic Love - now, love is love, isn't it?
It's just like net-practise [for cricket] with the same ball and bat [used in the actual game].
The baller bowls and even gets bowled out and then we have to go and play in the actual cricket ground.
So consider Romantic Love to be like nets for the rapturous love for God
because the seekers then have to play a match with God on the very same field.
First, it is a woman and then it will be God.
But then a couple from Punjab called Mirza and Sahiba
but their love was tainted with lust.
They had relations.
There is no physical contact in Romantic Love.
There is no physical contact in Romantic Love; it is distant love.
Just like there is distant learning, long-distance learning,
similarly, [Romantic Love] is a long-distance love.
There is no physical contact in it.
If there is any physical contact it terminates the Romantic Love.
It is called Ishq-e-Romani.
And God's rapturous love is developed after one witnesses the divine splendour.
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