What “Ishq” is in Sufism is “Hubb” in the Qur’an!
By Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam
8 April
2024
Ishq-e-Haqiqi (Divine Love) is the Sufi
Interpretation of the Broader Qur’anic Notion of “Hubb-e-ilahi”
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In the
Indian subcontinent, the word Ishq in the pop culture and Urdu and
Punjabi literature has been much misconstrued. The meaning of Ishq has
been borrowed from the medieval Arabic poetry, in which it was extensively used
for something melancholic and romantic and sometimes complete madness and
craziness for a human being. For instance—going by the authentic Arabic
lexicon, Lisan Al-Arab, “Ishq is an excessive Hubb, an
abundance of it to the extent of excess. It says: Abu Al-Abbas Ahmed bin Yahya
was asked about the distinction between Ishq and Hubb and was
questioned: Which one is better? He said: Hubb because Ishq is
replete with madness. Ibn Faris, the eminent Arabic philologist and
lexicographer said: "Ishq" is an adoration of someone
particularly a female, to the extent of being
excessive in her love in complete blindness from realising her flaws.
However,
all this in Sufism is called “Ishq e Majazi”, the state of love which is
always a pseudo-love and is meant to end in abandonment or desolation, as it is
a material love and not an eternal affair. The mystical understanding of Ishq
in Sufism is that it is a deeper state of love, and it is indeed the excess of
it, the full indulgence in it, not for material love, but rather for real and
esoteric love (Ishq e Haqiqi).
The Arabic
word “Hubb” which entails the vast meanings of affinity, longing and
love, has been used in the Qur’an for the same meaning that Ishq
connotes in Sufism. In fact, the Arabic-origin term “Ishq” is the
ultimate and highest culmination of Hubb which leads to
self-annihilating surrender and complete submission to the Will of the Beloved
Divine. Thus, viewed from this perspective, Islam in the sense of “submission
to the will of Allah“ is all about unconditional and infinite divine love for
the sake of Allah in which there’s no space for hatred or prejudice for anyone.
This has been systematically expounded in the famous Hadith e Jibril
which is also called “Ummul Ahadith” (The Mother of All Hadiths) in
which Ihsan (spirituality or mystical Islam) has been rendered as the
utmost perfection of Imaan and Islam.
However,
the holy Qur’an only uses the Arabic term “Hubb” but not the word “Ishq”
famously known in Urdu poetry and Persian literature to denote the divine love.
In many of its verses which talk about love for Allah including the
below-mentioned two pieces of long verses, the Qur’anic term of “Hubb-e-ilahi”
has deep connotations. Let us take a cursory look at them as follows:
(1) قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ
اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Translation:
Say, [O Prophet pbuh], "If you should love Allah, then follow me, [so]
Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Moat Forgiving and
Most Merciful. (3:31)
(2) وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓاْ أَشَدُّ حُبًّا لِّلَّهِ
Translation:
“And the (true) believers are those who love Allah more than anyone or
anything else…..” (02: 165)
In both the
above crucial places, the Arabic term “Hubb” not “Ishq” has been
used in the Qur’an. Hence, the greatest Sufi mystic and propounder of Wahdat ul
Wajud (Unity of the Being) Sheikh e Akbar Muhaiyudden Ibn ul Arabi and later
his Arabic-speaking adherents among the Sufis frequently used “Hubb” in
his footsteps. For instance—Ibn ul Arabi compiled an anthology of his poetry on
the Divine Love (Ishq-e-Ilahi) and named it “The Translation/Translator
of the Desires (ترجمان الأشواق ). In this book, Sheikh e Akbar makes use of the Qur’anic term
“Hubb” in an unconventional way which goes against the mainstream
hermeneutical theological tradition of Islam. He expands the meaning of “Hubb”
to the Unconditional Love and thus incorporating the elements of “Ishq”
in it. Look at the following Arabic couplet attributed to him:
أدين بدين الحب أنَّى
توجهتْ ركائبه، فالحب ديني وإيماني
Translation:
I follow them the Religion of Love. Wherever its caravan goes, that’s my law,
there’s my faith)
However,
the Persian-speaking Sufi poets and philosophers especially Maula e Rum
Jalaluddin Rumi and many others who adopted his school of Sufi mysticism in the
Indian subcontinent in Persian and Urdu poetry have employed the romantic term
“Ishq” for myriad reasons and their interpretations of Ishq. For
instance—Sultan ul Ashiqin Hazrat Sakhi Sultan Muhammad Najeebur Rahman q.s
writes in his book “Shamsul Fuqara” in an explanation of the above Qur’anic
verse: “Hubb is the hallmark of a true believer, but Ishq is the
beginning and the source of all creations. When the souls were created by the
Light of the Prophet (Noor Mohammadi), Ishq e Ilahi was ingrained
in the human souls as an integral part.” He then refers to the prophetic
tradition where he is reported to have said:
لا
يؤمن أحدكم حتى أكون أحب إليه إلى آخره
One can’t
be a believer unless s/he loves the Prophet more than everyone. Sakhi Sultan
further says: Hubb or Muhabbat can occur with anyone but Ishq is
not possible except for Allah. When Hubb intensifies, it turns into Ishq,
which is only for Allah. It is this Ishq e Haqiqi which makes you
restless and you willingly bear and enjoy all pain and sufferings unless you
achieve the union or merger with the divine. Jalaluddin Rumi R.A beautifully
elucidates it:
عشق آں شعلہ است کہ
جوں بر فروخت
ہر کہ جز معشوق باشد
جملہ سوخت
Translation:
‘Ishq’ is such a flame of desire that when it intensifies, it sets
everything ablaze except the Beloved.
Here I’m
reminded of an Urdu couplet, unmindful of the poet who said it (perhaps Jigar
Muradabadi):
عشق معشوق، عشق عاشق
ہے
یعنی خود آپ ہی میں
گم ہے عشق
Ishq
Mashuq, Ishq Ashiq Hai
Yani
Khud Aap Hi Mein Gum Hai Ishq
It denotes
that Allah is Himself Ishq (Love), Ashiq (Lover) and Ma’ashooq (The
Beloved). Thus, He is actually immersed in Himself. Now contrast the above Urdu
couplet with the following Arabic couplet which has a historical significance:
هذا
حبيب الله مات في حب الله
Translation:
He was a Habib ul Allah (The Beloved of Allah) who died in the love, Hubb
of Allah.
The context
of this couplet is that someone said it when the greatest Sufi saint of Indian
Subcontinent Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti R.A passed away. This makes it
patently clear and easier to understand that “Hubb Fil-Lah” leads to “Fana
fil-Lah (Immersion and self-annihilation in the Divine) and “Baqa bil-Lah”
(immortal existence with the Divine) which is the ultimate reality of Ishq-e-ilahi
in Sufism beautifully embodied by the Divine Lovers like Mansoor Hallaj in
Iraq and Sarmad Kashani (more popularly known as Sarmad Shaheed) in India. They
truly attained the Union with the One in an abundance of Divine Love.
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A Regular Columnist with Newageislam.com, Ghulam
Rasool Dehlvi is an Indo-Islamic scholar and English-Arabic-Urdu writer with a
background in a leading Sufi Islamic seminary in India.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-spiritualism/ishq-sufism-hubb-quran/d/132099