Sufi Poetry of Hamzah Fansuri: The Ocean and the Waves

K.S. Chow

Introduction

According to Professor Al-Attas, the first Malay eminent  Malay Sufi who depicts the wisdom of Sufism through Malay poetry – the relationship between the world and God is Hamzah Fansuri . He hailed from the west coast of Northern Sumatra. He was believed to be living in the 16th century C.E.  The Sufi poetry composed by Sufi poet Hamazah Fansuri  depicts the Process or Perennial Theism based on Ibn ‘Arabī’s Sufi work of  ‘Seal of Wisdom’ (Fuṣūṣ al Ḥikam). Whoever is serious to apprehend the Process Thought of God is recommended to read the ‘Seal of Wisdom’. Whoever apprehends the ‘Seal of Wisdom’ will able comprehend Mahāyāna doctrine of Emptiness (‘Sūnyatā) and Dependent Co-arising (Pratītyasamutpāda). Emptiness or Dependent Co-arising is Process Thought. From Abhidhammic philosophy, Process Thought is the dynamic synthesis pf both physical and mental phenomena  (dhammas). Process Thought is Abhidhamic Theory of Elements (Dhammavāda). In the Process Theism, the knowledge of Monotheistic God is also Process Thought. Whitehead  was a great exponent of Process Philosophy. The Whitehead’s work of ‘Process and Reality’ is actually the western exposition of Process Thought.

Process or Perennial Theism is  compatible with the Process or Perennial Philosophy of the Ontology of dynamic becoming expounded  in Vedānta , Taoism , Buddhism,  Christianity and Neo-confucianism. Process or Perennial philosophy of Sufism  depicts the relationship between the phenomenal world and God (synonymous with Brahman , Tao, or Buddha ) in terms of the One in the many and the many in the One . Hamzah Fansuri’s Sufi wisdom was influenced by the renowned Sufi supreme master, Ibn ‘Arabī’s work of  ‘Fuṣūṣ al Ḥikam’. Ibn ‘Arabī is a great commentator on Sufism. His works have influenced both the Sufi scholars as well as  other religious scholars. He is celebrated in the sense that he has made the abstruse concept of God lucid and comprehensible to us. We need to read authoritative commentarial literature in order to comprehend the messages of Prophets and Tathāgatas .

Zen and Sufism

Thus, the Sufi Theosophy is parallel to the Mahāyāna Buddhist concept of Emptiness which is process and perennial philosophy of the ontology of dynamic becoming. In fact , the Mahāyāna concept of perfection of wisdom expounded as Chan or Zen is synonymous with the concept of al-Fanā (destruction of ego) in Sufism. In fact , the middle path of Emptiness of Emptiness (‘Sūnyata-‘sūnyatā) is synonymous with al-Fanā’ al-Fanā’  (destruction of destruction) realized by the Sufis.

Ocean and waves

Herewith I present  two of Sufi poems of Sufi Hamzah Fansuri for those contemplative readers who are ardent to seek  discernment of the Truth of God. The Truth of God is  the communal Truth of Unity or Non-duality promulgated  all esoteric religions  .

Mūtū qabla an tamūtū
Pada Lā ilāha illā Hū
Laut ombak sedia satu          
Itu lah ‘ārif dāim bertemu

 ‘Die before you die’
In ‘There is no God but He
Ocean and waves are eternally one
This is what the Gnostic constantly discovers

 Tuhan kita  itu seperti Baḥr al-‘Amīq
Ombaknya penuh pada sekalian ṭarīq
Laut and ombak keduanya rafīq
Akhirnya ke dalamnya jua ombaknya gharīq
                                
Our Lord is like a Fathomless Ocean
Whose waves are rolling in every direction
Ocean and waves are both intimate ,
At last to its depths the waves will sink

Source : The Ocean of Unity by Haji.Muhd. Bukhari Lubis, K.L

The ultimate Reality unveiled by the  aforementioned Sufi poetry mirrors the  two-fold Truth of the  relationship between the phenomenal world and God. The phenomenal world is metaphorically represented by the waves. God is metaphorically represented by the borderless Ocean. Originally, the waves and God are one and inseparable. Owing to the wind which metaphorically represents ignorance, the waves are churned up by the Ocean supported by the wind. The waves heave and ripple in all directions. The heaves and ripples of waves churned by the Ocean metaphorically represent the creative power of God creating the phenomenal world. The relationship between the world and God is synonymous wit Buddhist Theory of Two Truths (Satyadvayavāda). The Theory of Two Truths are the interpenetration between the conventional truth (saṃvṛti satya; vyavahāra satya) and ultimate Truth (paramārtha Satya).

Creations

The creation of waves by the Ocean due to the wind metaphorically represents the creation of the phenomenal world. The phenomenal world  is created  by the premordial potentialities and consequence nature of God existing immanently in  all creatures. God does not create a created existent from sheer nothingness (creation ex nihilo). It is by the existence of God that created existents (necessary existents) are created from the unity of contigent beings .  Buddhistly put, all created existents  refer to all conditioned phenomena. A conditioned phenomenon is the unity of its parts.  God’s creative power originates from the Truth of unity of existence of contigent beings .

The unity of contigent beings is synonymous with the unity of contigent conditions (causes or conditions; Sans.:hetu-pratyayas) through the natural Law of Dependent Co-arising (Sans. Pratityasamutpada; Ara. : Waḥ̣dat al Wujūd). Sufi doctrine of Waḥdat al Wujūd and Mahāyānist Buddhist concept of Pratītyasamutpāda are synonymous in terms of Unity or Non-duality. Sufi’s Ibn ‘Arabī posited that it is the unity of existence (waḥdat al wujūd) of contigent beings that the universe is created.  God is defined as the Unity of Existence. From the Buddhist perspective, it is Emptiness that the world is created . Thus, Emptiness equals God in terms of Process Thought.  Hamzah Fansuri is the first and greatest Malay exponent of Ibn ‘Arabī’s doctrine of  Waḥdat al Wujūd. He diffused the doctrine through his Sufi poetry.

Profound Truth

God , the Truth (Ḥaqq) of the Unity of Existence, is metaphorically like the profound depth of the ocean which can not  be fathomed by ordinary people. But all religious saints discover the communal Truth that God and the phenomenal world including Man are originally one. Being originally in unity with God, the ordinary worldlings perversely tend to alienate from God , the Unity of Existence . The alienation breaks the Unity of  Existence or the Mould of God. This is the origin of human suffering.

Sin

Christians describe human separation or alienation from the God as the sin. Sin is the evil action of shattering original Unity of Existence. A simple analogy to explain the concept of sin is thus : When a criminal blasted open a newly constructed premise and took away whatever were not given, the offender (sinful one) had committed to two criminal acts. Firstly, he had destroyed the completeness or the unity of the  premise structure. Secondly, he had committed the crime of theft – taking what is not given. Buddhistly explained , this criminal had first destroyed the  Law of Dependent Co-arisen Unity of the necessary existent of the premise. Secondly, he had transgressed the second Buddhist Precept of refraining from the act of theft.  Theistically put, firstly,  the criminal had figured the Face of God . Secondly, he had stolen what belongs legitimately  to the God. Everything in this world is God and belongs to God. This Truth  of God ‘s sole proprietorship mirrors the Insubstantiality (Anattā) of everything in the phenomenal world. As every man or every phenomenon is non-existent (empty) ultimately, man posseses nothing in this world ultimately.

That everything belongs to God should be understood thus: God is the unity of contigent beings. Every contigent being does not exist autonomously . The contigent beings only exist because of unity of parts. The parts belong to Unity. Unity of existence (waḥ̣dat al Wujūd) is God.  Therefore, all parts belong to the unity or the whole. The unity or the whole is the existence of God. Therefore , everything belongs to God. Human beings , money, power wealth and everything belong to God as a human being ultimately does not exist in isolation from God  but in unity with God. The non-dual relationship between the  world and God  is to be discerned as such. Man and God relationship should be apprehended thus. A wave is always  part of the Ocean. The wave always belongs to the Ocean . The Ocean owns the wave. The wave should not claim any private  ownership. Self-identity does not exist autonomously.  It is never separable from the ocean.  Such discernment of Truth leads to human salvation . Human beings  and their assets belong to God. But the ignorant worldlings do not perceive this relationship with God. They become alienated and sinful. They create troubles for themselves as well as for the society or the world.

The core of Heart Sutra’s exposition is thus : Form is Emptiness ; Emptiness is Form. Form is the wave and Emptiness is the Ocean. Form is the phenomena ; Emptiness is the Unity. Unity is God. Thus, Emptiness equals God. Thus, Buddhism and Monotheism are philosophically and perennially  reconciled.

Unreal but Pragmatic

At this critical point of understanding the fact that God is the sole proprietorship of everything. Please do not be disheartened. Conventionally, one’s legal possessions, such as one’s house , car, husband or wife  and so forth  still belong to oneself. Please feel at ease to create or earn economic wealth righteously  for the sake of one’s own family’s well-being and for the sake of growth of national GDP (Gross Domestic Product). GDP is the top priority of any nation as it benefits the whole citizentry of the whole nation. When economic wealth is expanded righteously , the wealth expansion is known as the concrescence or growth of God. The concrescence or growth of God constitutes the diverge accomplishments in the world. Secularity and spirituality are intimately connected.

However, the legal ownership of human possessions or assets are denied in order to unveil the ultimate Truth of  the sole proprietorship of  God. The objective is divine or noble: It is to annihilate one’s self centric ego or any sense of individualism  in order to consummate one’s spiritual journey – salvation. Salvation consummates one’s wisdom and virtue so that we earn, utilize and protect our legal wealth without attachment and aversion. Without attachment and aversion, one is liberated from greed, hatred and delusion. This is pragmatic value of liberation or salvation.

Real and Unreal

There is only one Truth which is God. Anything other than God is unreal. All contigent beings or conditions are unreal. Only Unity of existence is real. The Unity of existence is God. Therefore, the phenomenal world comprising variable contigent beings or phenomena  is unreal and illusory ultimately. Of course, phenomena are actual entities conventionally. Mundane living is related to actual entities . However, dealing with actual entities without religious wisdom plunge human beings into a pit. The current finanancial and ecocrisis are concrete examples.  The ordinary worldlings worship the phenomenal world of  actual entities , that is the world of materialism without grasping or clinging . Worship of materialism with grasping or clinging is idolatrous. Idolatry is alienation from God. Utilizing the material world of actual entities without grasping or clinging is religious wisdom of liberation. Grasping or clinging is the naughty play of self-centric ego – the enemy of mankind.

God is to be worshipped by all because only the existence of God  or Emptiness is real. Any existence other than God is imaginary or fabricated. Anattā synonymous Emptiness denoting dependently co-arisen Unity, is God . Therefore, it is evident that the esoteric Truth of Buddhism and Monotheism is identical. Sufism vindicates Buddhism; Buddhism vindicates Sufism. Thus, esoterically or thesophically, Buddhism and Sufism can be reconciled and bridged.

Western process or perennial philosophy endorses the identity of the Ontology between  Buddhism and Sufism. Vedānta of Hinduism confirms the communal Truth of Unity of Non-duality. Process Theism of eastern Christianity verifies the process or perennial philosophy of the ontology of dynamic process becoming. Buddhism advocates the ontology of dynamic process becoming and rejects private ownership as this is not I; this is not mine; this does not  belong to me. Anattā rejecting private ownership is synonymous with God.

Death of Ego

The Monotheistical view of world-God relationship is parallel to the relationship between the conventional truth (saṃvrti satya) and Ultimate Truth (paramārtha Satya)  expounded in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The Buddhist supreme masters or patriarchs admonished their disciples to annihilate the erroneously imposed self-centric ego to give birth to the universal Self. Universal Self is  the original Nature of all human beings. The death of the self-centric ego in this present life connotes that one dies before one dies. The universal Self (Dharmadhātu) is the  Buddha-nature. Theistically put , this original Nature or Buddha-nature  dwelling in the inner Heart of Man is  designated as Godhead. The original Nature is empty of self-centric ego. The annihilation of self-centric ego  leads to moral perfection supported by wisdom of insight into the ultimate Reality. The ultimate Reality is God or Buddha. Knowledge  of God or Buddha perfects human beings  wisely and morally.

The effort of salvation is consummated when one’s ego-self  dies in the present life. A saved monotheist is thus said  to be born of God. Salvation must occur before one dies not after one has died.  Correspondingly, the liberated Buddhist is adept at directing and empowering his or her sensual activities with the Buddha-mind before he dies in the present life. The Buddha-mind is the pure, infinite consciousness of a self-redeemed person – the saved religious believer or practioner.

Conclusion

‘There is no God but He’ should be appropriately interpreted as ‘ There is no other ultimate Reality except God’. This interpretation is universally interpreted as ‘ Only God is real and anything other than God, which is the phenomenal world, is falsely imagined and unreal’. Though the phenomenal world is unreal , it is not separated from the Truth of God. In other words, while the Truth or Reality of God is acknowledged, the unreality of the phenomenal world is not rejected. The phenomenal world has intercommunicative and interactive  value. Man and man  can only intercommunicate and interact through conceptual  designations of phenomenal world.   The phenomenal world is impermanent, insubstantial and mutable. However, they are pragmatic and utilitarian in bridging  human social intercourses and fostering love. The God is synonymous with the Brahman, Tao, Buddha and Allah. God  is eternal, infinite and immutable.

All religious saints of all religious denominations discover the same Truth of  dependently co-arisen Unity or Non-duality between the world and God or between the conventional truth and the ultimate Truth .The beauty of Sufism  is that it promotes and fosters the universality of religions like what Vedānta of Hinduism does.