ASRAR ul-ANSAR MYSTICISM

`Uruj and Nuzul, rise and fall, is the underlying principle of the whole being. The spring and the autumn, day and night, sunrise and sunset, the waxing and waning of the moon, all convey to us that there is no rise without a fall, nor fall without a rise, and rise and fall are both necessary in life. Man, being a world within himself, all the rises and falls that take place in nature take place in him also. And in man's whole being his life is his breath; and as upon his breath depends his life, so upon the rise and fall of his breath depends his rise and fall in life; and the rise and fall of his life has an influence on all his affairs in life.

The mystic, therefore, sees the rise and fall in every affair of himself and of another by merely consulting the rise and fall of his breath -- in other words, of his life. No one has ever mastered the rise and fall except some rare souls who have risen above it. Although there is a purpose in rise and a purpose in fall, still, no one would willingly prefer a fall to a rise.

Therefore, he is the master mind who controls the rise in everything and thereby is able to retard the fall; and this can be done by setting the activity into rhythm and thus occupying in rise the desired portion of time. For instance, if a person were told that he would have fifty years continuous victory until he reached the summit of the Himalaya, and after he had arrived there, then his fall would commence and would last another fifty years, would control his activity that he may reach there in one hundred years, that his life may not see the face of the fall. This is the manner in which all things are accomplished by the Sufis in the world.

There are three different forces which differ from each other in the grade of their power, and each has its peculiar characteristic. With the musical idea we see that the accent may be called Jelal, and the weak accent, which is not an accent but the balance of accent, is Jemal; and when one rhythm is finished, the last, strongest and most intense accent, where the conductor makes a final pause, is Kemal. Man's life is set in the law of rhythm.

The inhaling and exhaling of the breath is in rhythm. It is just like moving the pendulum in the clock. And as the clock goes wrong when the pendulum loses its rhythm, so man's constitution, physical and mental, goes wrong when the rhythm of the breath is disturbed. It does not only cause illness or disorder in one's physical constitution, but it also upsets thoughts and feelings. Success depends upon the fitness of a person's mind and body; therefore, the secret of man's rise and fall lies in the order and disorder in the rhythm of his breath.

Every thought, speech, and action shows one of these three grades of power. Jelal represents power, Jemal represents beauty, and Kemal represents perfection. The secret of perfection is assimilation, although sometimes it seems as destruction. But when a seer looks at the destruction of this life of illusion, he sees behind it a life vaster and greater, hidden. All things constructive are accomplished by either one of these two forces, Jelal or Jemal. For some things, the power of Jelal is too intense; therefore, it destroys them instead of helping them. In some things the power of Jemal is too feeble to accomplish them. But when Jelal and Jemal forces are applied properly, there is always a successful issue in all constructive things in life.

Life, in the sense in which we use the word, is the consciousness of existence, and the unconscious existence we call death, not being able to consciously perceive existence. Therefore, according to the word "life" that we have in use, life is caused by activity. The activity of our mind and body depends upon the activity of our breath. The activity of the breath has two aspects, `Uruj, inhaling, and Nuzul, exhaling. This goes on in rhythm and upon its regularity depends the health of mind and body.

When exhaling, the mind and body expel the refuse, the undesirable vibrations and gases; when inhaling, the mind and body draw from the sphere strength and power. Of course, those who know how to utilize the undesirable vibrations and gases that come out when exhaling are the alchemists of life -- they can turn iron into gold. Their breath becomes the River Ganges; it heals them and all upon whom it falls. It is just like producing electric light from rubbish. The seer makes a habit of perceiving instantly his breath and its motion, and from this he perceives the knowledge of past, present, and future of any question that is asked him.

The first lesson in the mystery of the breath is to perceive the breath so that we could distinguish whether it is Jelal, Jemal, or Kemal. A person cannot learn it intellectually, for intellectual knowledge will not give perception of these three. This perception can be attained by three achievements: one, the development of the breath; the second, the rhythm of the breath; the third, the clearness of the breath. If the breath is not clear, if its rhythm is not right, if the breath is undeveloped, in other words, insignificant, it is impossible to distinguish it.

By the practice of Fikr and Qasab, in due course of time these three different achievements show their result in the perception of the breath, and when one can perceive the breath, then he can manage to keep healthy in body and mind, and can avoid and even destroy all pains and troubles. Besides this, a great many mysteries are disclosed by the perception of the breath.

The breath distinctly flowing through the right nostril is Jelal, through the left is Jemal, through both, Kemal. Kemal is perceived two ways -- the elementary stage and the perfect state. When Jelal begins to turn into Jemal or when Jemal begins to turn into Jelal, it first takes an elementary stage of Kemal in order to become a distinct Jelal or Jemal, but the perfect state of Kemal is when both nostrils inhale and exhale together.

The use of `Uruj and Nuzul in action and thought makes a great difference in man's life. The action that is suitable to be done during the time of `Uruj is unsuitable during the time of Nuzul. At the interval of one moment, a person can turn a success into a failure and failure to success.

There are certain actions that one can accomplish successfully by the influence of `Uruj, such as understanding, receiving knowledge of a secret in another person's heart, winning the affection of another person. All these things and many others which can be acquired by response are suitable to be obtained during the time of `Uruj. Then there are such things as teaching, singing, lecturing, giving, scolding, blessing, healing, suggesting, and all actions of expressive nature that are best accomplished during the influence of Nuzul.

`Uruj and Nuzul are as a swing of nature, which moves from north to south and south to north, and if one knows the secret of this, he can bring things of the north to the south and things of the south to the north, and may be benefited by both `Uruj and Nuzul.

The practice of the breath has been the basis of all mystical cults throughout the world. The first unseen factor that can be found in man's being, which can be witnessed every moment, is the breath. This itself shows that the inner being of man -- mind, soul, or spirit -- is linked with the body by the connection of the breath; and to touch any plane of existence within, the breath has been the only channel through which the mystics in all ages have worked.

They say contagious diseases can be passed from one person to another, because they feel the existence of a disease as a physical thing; but if man knew that thoughts and feelings are conveyed and partaken, consciously or unconsciously, by the channel of the breath, one would know how much undesirable substance could be gathered and accumulated in the mind and in the spirit if one were not careful to guard against it. The practice of Fikr, by the Sufi, is taught to purify the breath and balance it, by the practice of respiration and by keeping the rhythm.

There has been so much said about the breath, and enough could never be said about it. The mystic is at a loss to explain what breath is, as a scientist is helpless to give the explanation of electricity, though both will try their best to make it intelligible to their students. And, as electricity when controlled can be utilized for a great many useful purposes, so still greater purposes and important purposes can be accomplished by the control of the breath.

Qasab is the first practice given for the control of the breath; and once man has mastered Qasab, he can produce the desired effect upon his mind and body, which is so very difficult for the average person to do.

It is noticed in the East that the Sufis, without losing a moment, know about the success and failure of a certain thing. The mystical manner of knowing this is to understand the question; and all things that rise, progress, and that can be attracted should be considered to be successful when they are spoken of at the moment when your breath is on the way to `Uruj.

If a mother is telling about her child being intelligent, you must know that he will rise in life. If a businessman says, "I have just started my trade. Do you think I shall prosper?" you must know that he will. If a person says, "Shall I get money that I am expecting?" or if a thought comes to you, "Shall I win the friendship of the person I like?" or if a person says, "Shall I get more customers than my next-door rival?" you may say, "Yes." But if one says, "Shall I win the war?" you will say "No." If he says, "Shall I spread out my business throughout the world?" you will say "No." All such things of the opposite nature to what I have said before clash with the nature of `Uruj.

The knower of this must be very prompt and quick to notice his breath. If he paused for even the least fraction of a moment, he will be confused. In this lies the skill of the knower, though a still greater complexity is in knowing the nature of things that are in harmony or inharmony with the breath.

As `Uruj signifies success and failure in certain things, so Nuzul represents success and failure in certain things also. Nuzul is the exhaling of the breath. During the time of Nuzul, anything of the nature of spreading or expressing or dispensing or scattering or expelling that comes to your mind or is spoken by another will have success. For instance, if a person says, "I want to get rid of that servant," "I want to tell him plainly about it," "I want to give my patent publicity, " it will meet with success.

But things of the nature of rising, attracting, collecting, gaining fame or position, all these will meet with failure. For instance, a person says, "Shall I collect wealth?" or he says, "Shall I draw people closer to my thought?" or someone says, "Shall I rise in this line?" then the answer will be "No," for the nature of `Uruj, which means inhaling, helps these things, and Nuzul destroys them, but brings success in another line.

It is plain to the understanding that there is a power in man which helps him in the accomplishment of his affairs in life, besides the effort of his body and mind. For many times, a physical or mental effort, instead of accomplishing work, spoils it. Sometimes more energy brings success and less energy fails to attain it; and sometimes more energy spoils a thing which less energy builds up.

A field marshal commanding his army with a loud, vigorous voice gives the soldiers strength and courage and controls them better, and less energy in his voice would make their hearts fall; but if a husband talking to his wife used the same energy, he could not keep peace -- the home would be broken up in one day. This shows a clear picture of how life can be managed. There are affairs which want more energy, and there are others which want less; and when man does not know it, he spoils the affair, disappointing himself and others.

The breath is the inner power, a hidden power which controls all man's activities, and every activity of mind and body is directed by the breath. When the breath has full energy in it, it is Jelal, and in everything man does there is the influence of Jelal. When there is less energy in the breath, it is Jemal, and it has its influence on the affairs of life. Affairs that need more energy cannot be accomplished when the breath is Jemal, and those which need less energy are spoiled when the breath is Jelal. Kemal spoils all actions, for this is the condition of the breath when the two powers, Jelal and Jemal, are in conflict.

This takes place when Jelal is turning into Jemal, or Jemal is turning into Jelal; and the wise have advised to keep from working at this time, physically or mentally, and to think of God, because one breath is absorbed in the other and thinking of God means the absorption of the limited self in the Unlimited Life.

It is like swimming with the tide. If you did under the influence of Jelal the work that suits Jelal, and under the influence of Jemal that which suits Jemal, and under the influence of Kemal what suits Kemal, life would become much easier and better worth living.

When, by the spiritual practices, one has developed so that he can perceive distinctly in his breath Jelal, Jemal, and Kemal, and when there remains no doubt, he is then able to know what will become of things and affairs by consulting his breath. If anybody asks him about anything, if he happens to think of any affair, and a question comes to his mind, "What will be the result of this affair?" he can get an answer by immediately consulting his breath, both for himself and for another.

You may ask me a question, "What is it that connects a person's affair with his breath?" and you may ask me with still greater astonishment, what a person's breath has to do with another person's affair; and you would wonder still more, thinking, "How could you know the affair of another person who is at a distance by consulting your breath?" When answering these questions, I will say in the first case that breath being life, all affairs concerning yourself are related to it, since they are related to your life.

In the second question, about the affair of another, it naturally [*words missing in original*] when your breath is stronger, this being the secret of all influence. It is for this reason that one can know the affair of another. In answering the third question, I will say that, as it is one life which is all-pervading, when you are conscious of that, your breath and your life is all over and you can know about everybody's affair, about its failure and success as much as you can know about your own.