Doctrina de la Dirección General de los Registros y del Notariado

(yaa rah ̣-MAAN, yaa ra-ḤEEM)

The first two Names of Allah on the list of 99 are ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim. They also mean love, the divine love that is the essential quality within compassion and mercy, which is how these attributes are conventionally translated. Thus the phrase Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim invokes love three times.

We suggest as a simple translation of ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim, “compassionate love” and

“merciful love.” Such compassion involves the sense of beneficially connecting with all beings in the radiant manner of the sun. Mercy makes its loving connection with all beings in the reflective manner of the moon. The way we ordinarily understand compassion and mercy in English can lack depth of feeling, the depth of love that accompanies the beneficence expressed by these qualities.

Ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim both come from the same root, rahm (R-H-M), which means the womb of love. Variations of this root include rahim, which means womb, and rahma, which means love.

Rahim is sounded differently from the divine Name ar-Rahim (ra-HEEM). This metaphor of the womb of love allows us to sense both ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim. Reflect on how the mother’s love for the fetus in the womb is compassionate and merciful. It is embracing, nourishing, and unconditional.

Birth and death are both related to the central concept of rahm The word marhoom means “whom God has had mercy upon,” which is said for the dead. Rahmatu-llah ‘alayh means “May God have mercy upon him or her,” another prayer for the dead.

Remember that before birth we are all in this rahma. The rahma reaches from womb to womb. In the manner of a Sufi meditation, lie down and imagine yourself in the grave while feeling this earthly cycle of traveling from a womb of love to a womb of love. Murshid Samuel Lewis of San Francisco often shouted at his students, “Allah is your lover, not your jailer!” We can now see he was just saying, “Allah is Allah.”

Allah is this mercy and compassion embodying the endless love of the rahma. Ar-Rahman is called the gateway to all the other Names and also is called the inner self of God. It expresses the inherent love within the heart of Allah that must be there for Allah to be Allah.

Ar-Rahim expresses how intensely this infinite merciful love is poured into every being and thing, without exception. The chapter of the Qur’an devoted to Mary (Mariam) demonstrates these qualities to perfection. The context is pregnancy, and the soul of Jesus is the divine spirit.

Ar-Rahman has a masculine, sun-like quality and ar-Rahim has a feminine, moon-like quality.

Together they indicate the union, or holy communion, of the male and the female. When they are truly brought together in your practice, you are led to the transcendental yet all-inclusive divine love or rahma. This brings rahma into the organs that can perpetuate creation. Creation is intrinsically holy.

Recitation of Ya Rahman, Ya Rahim generates healing energy, not only for the heart but also for the organs of reproduction.

The qualities of ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim address the deepest wound in the human psyche, a wound formed as far back as your own experience in the womb, well before the ego developed. The wound is engendered by an experience of disconnection with God. In this wounded consciousness, you identify with a deficiency that you feel makes you unlovable. Such narcissistic self-identification leads to defensiveness, self-loathing, shame, hate, rejection, and a deep sense of being abandoned by God.

When you finally navigate your way to the bottom of this inner hole, or perceived deficiency, there is nothing that you can actually do. Every action you take generates a sense of alienation, of woundedness, and defiance. Only the grace that comes from the intervention of the deep loving mercy and loving compassion of the rahma can heal this primary wound and allow you to become fully connected with the source. This process is discussed in more detail in the section on Ya Ra’uf later in this chapter.

The quality of rahma is most tender and gentle and therefore does not arouse the defenses that the ego musters up to guard this most sensitive wounded place. Consequently, truly calling on Ya Rahman, Ya Rahim is everyone’s remedy. It will prepare the ground to allow for healing of our fundamental impression of deficiency of self, and we can then feel abundant and flowing with endless love.

Realizing and accepting the essence of ar-Rahman and ar-Rahim brings self-healing, as well as a healing of our relationships with others and the world. Invoking Ya Rahman allows us to become individuated entities and to embody divine love, and invoking Ya Rahim enables us to bring this divine love into all our human relationships.

Ya Barr

(yaa BARR)

Barr is perfect unconditional love. It is like the pure love that a mother has for her baby. Al-Barr can be described with synonyms such as merciful, compassionate, very benign, or good. But if we take it as being “good” we should understand it more in the Platonic sense of the Good, like a sun that is all-encompassing and complete in its essence.

Such goodness contains what are conventionally viewed as the opposites of good and bad. The Greek equivalent is agape. The all-merciful and womb-like love of God that is the meaning of ar-Rahman, is also the meaning of al-Barr. Associated meanings in the Name al-Barr are: gentleness toward parents and loved ones, kindness to strangers, and consideration of the circumstances that have shaped people as they are. Al-Barr is both inward and outward in its meaning. There is no distinction of sun and moon.

The root of the word al-Barr appears in the word birrah, which means a first fruit from a plant that bears sweet berries. Burrah means sweet through and through—inwardly and outwardly. This is a perfect love. A variation of the root of al-Barr, barra fi qawlihi, means to be true to your word, veracious, prudent, sound, and honest: if you say you will do something, you will do it. Your inner condition and your outward appearance never contradict each other. ‘Ibn ‘Arabi calls this one of the highest stations of the Saints. Perfect love is a seamless whole.

When applied to life in the world, those who live in this way are called muhsin, people of a perfected station of realization. They are also called siddiq or ‘abrar, people of perfect love, true Sufis. A famous oral tradition about the Prophet Muhammad is his saying that what would be a good deed for a pious believer would be a defect in the ‘abrar. Another way to look at the perfection embodied in this sacred Name is faultless action, burra al-’amal. It is to be free from errors and faultless, and we are especially enjoined to be sure to give others food and to be sweet in speech.

The last associated meaning of al-Barr has to do with location. It manifests in the birr, which means in the mind, heart, and soul. One is serene in all these aspects of one’s being. With this serenity or equanimity one is able to accept without reaction what is perceived as a blessing or a nonblessing.

If we call birr “good,” then we are saying it is every variety of goodness. In the dictionary we find a synonym for al-Barr, ‘altaf, subtle love, as in al-Latif.

There is a hadith that deliberately plays with the ambiguities in the word, because birr (mind, heart, and soul) also means goodness, and barr also means the dryness of the earth. The tradition says that when you can’t find water to do your ablutions in, wash yourselves with the dust of the earth, for she (the earth) is a barr to you.

Al-Barr, through all these variations, can be seen to be an example of a perfect quality, one that is kamal. What is usually translated in the opening chapter of the Qur’an as “the straight path,” siraat-ul mustaqeem,²¹ could just as easily be translated “the pathway of balance.” It brings harmony. The secret (sirr) is perfection or completeness (birr). This kamal quality balances the extremes of power (jalal) and beauty (jamal).

The heart is the treasure house of all the divine Names. It is the perfect container created in the essence of all human beings in God’s creation of the prototype of humanity, Adam. This has to do with al-Barr. One Name does not dominate or predominate over the others at any given moment. There is perfect balance.

What allows for the completeness of the Names in manifestation is al-Barr, or perfection. The perfected human being, al-’insaan kaamil, is thus seen as the complete mirror of all the Names. In fact, the very word for human being, al-’insaan, comes from ‘uns, which means intimacy. So the very essence of the human being is intimacy or nearness with Allah. Invocation of Ya Barr is a general tonic that helps humanity awaken to this intimacy.

Ya Halim

(yaa h ̣a-LEEM)

Al-Halim is tender love. The sound code in the Arabic language informs us al-Halim means God is manifesting tender love everywhere without exception. There is no place we cannot find it. This quality of al-Halim is manifest in the totality of existence.

We like to begin our inquiry with some of the physical meanings of a word. We do this by examining various forms the root of the word takes that are quite concrete. One such physical meaning is found in the word halama, which means to attain puberty. Halama means to fill something like an animal water skin with water. The connection between puberty and filling a skin is to grow big breasts with tender nipples. The tenderness is physical, and we could say a maturing of this kind of nurturing love brings tenderness.

Tenderness is a physical feeling, but it is also an emotional feeling. Al-Halim is so tender. It is mild, meek, and gentle. The connection between a young girl and this tenderness would be shyness, withdrawal, and dreaminess. What a way to talk! We are offering a metaphor of God as a young girl, withdrawn, shy, and dreamy.

Forms of the root of al-Halim (H-L-M), hulm and ‘ahlam, are categories in dream interpretation.

These terms refer to a sexual fantasy dream, and, in the case of men, actually refer to a wet dream. So the Name al-Halim suggests a quality that, in a sense, may be shy and withdrawn, but that also includes active imagination in the manner of dreams. Dream interpretation is an important subject in the inner life.

It is God who dreams us and we who dream God. Round things like soap bubbles are created and burst. ‘Ibn ‘Arabi calls this khalq jadeed and says that in every moment there is a new creation.

Between the breaths, everything is wiped out and then recreated. Khalq jadeed matches up nicely with ancient Hindu teachings. It is moment-to-moment, each breath a creation and dissolution. Allah is the bubble blower creating these ‘aalameen, as in the phrase from the first surah of the Qur’an, Al-hamdu li-llahi rabb-il-’aalameen.²² ‘Aalameen means God is dreaming all the possible Universes.

One of the sacred Hadith has Allah saying, “I am as my servant imagines me to be.” Such imagining is creative imagination. And what allows us to dream Allah is the manifestation of al-Halim. This one’s soul and restrain one’s temperament on the occasion of such excitement.

This allows for introducing a delay into our instinct of payback or revenge toward the perceived evildoer. Al-Halim is the opposite of hastiness or quick temper. Consequently, by offering such restraint, it is an antidote for an-nafs ul-’ammaarah, the ego state of just blowing up and flying off the handle. Mastery of al-Halim means gaining the ability to maintain a calm over the condition of the soul.

There is a related word halamah, which is a small tick that digs into the skin and torments an animal. The negative earthy meanings associated in some way with words formed from the roots of

the divine Names give us clues to areas of application of the Names for healing human conditions of dis-ease. So if we experience something like being tormented by that tick, we bring in al-Halim.

Invocation of Ya Halim allows us to maintain calmness. Al-Halim should not be thought of as simply calmness itself; it is more like calming down. It is the ability to maintain calm in the midst of emotional upheaval.

Hulm is connected in its meaning with the word sakeenah (shekinah in Hebrew). Sakeenah is called an indwelling emptiness. It appears in the Qur’an: “Inner peace descends like rain upon the hearts of those who are agitated.”²³ This phrase is often recited in the bayat or initiation pledge that is made in joining a Sufi order. The word bayat, or initiation, comes from an incident under a tree when the companions of the Prophet thought they were going to die. The sakeenah came down at the moment of bayat.

One of the most famous hadith is about when there is a ring or a circle, a halak—for example, a circle of people who are doing dhikr. It is said that there is a ring of angels, wing to wing. Some people can see this. From on high, the sakeenah flows down upon them and into the hearts of the people in the circle.

One of the companions asked if even somebody who comes to do something like borrow a cup of milk gets the sakeenah from God. Prophet Muhammad said even those persons who had no idea what they were doing in the circle receive the sakeenah. Al-Halim sends the hulm down, or you might say al-Halim allows us to let this quality in.

There is another way to look at al-Halim that is found in the Qur’an. Halim is the tender love that can forgive. It is the love that always forgives, or can forgive anything. In this way it is like al-Ghafur and al-Ghaffar. Forgiveness cannot be fully experienced until we feel sympathy and tenderness.

We must empty out all the revenge, all the anger, and allow love to come in, which is perfect peace.

It is a kind of flowing out. What flows out is very forgiving and loving. But it must be very strong too.

It must be a strong power of love because it can forgive anything, and it can forgive everything all the time.

Abraham (Ibrahim) manifested this kind of forgiveness, and he did it time and again in his life. He is called Khaleel-ul-allah. It means a friend that you hug, a bosom buddy. Abraham had this kind of relationship with Allah. It was intimate in an almost physical way. Abraham is also called Halim.

In the Qur’an we have, ‘inna ‘Ibraaheema la-’awwaahun haleem [Halim] ‘awwaahun muneeb.²⁴ In this context, it would mean turning away from anger and toward al-Halim, turning away from continuously letting go and forgiving after, for example, an argument with his polytheistic father.²⁵

This “Ah” is the closest to expressing what al-Halim is giving him. He prays for his father, who is rejecting him and kicking him out of the family. He could have instead had a big argument and a battle of wills. The verse ends with the phrase, ‘inna ‘Ibraaheema la-haleemun ‘awwaahun muneeb. In his worst moments, he could still say Ah. That’s what al-Halim did for him. It expresses forgiveness that is specific, but he didn’t say, “I forgive you, Father.” He said, “Ah.” It is tender and loving. Instead of beating the polytheists over the head with invective, he just said, “Ah.”

It is always a challenge for us to be halim because, in the midst of frustration and anger, the last thing that generally comes to us is al-Halim. However, we might find that in the midst of such

upheaval there is a dark place we may go that is like dark matter in physics. Dark matter is the basic ingredient from which creation can take place. In this place, we can create.

But most often we create our own nightmare. We recreate our continual dream, and it perpetuates our false self and our alienation. We can either create this dream, which is the mess we usually make, or we can release our attachments and wait for divine guidance. It is possible for us to find the way to wait in this dark place and receive grace and guidance.

Then creation can happen in the direction of evolution rather than in the direction of self-serving.

Al-Halim is the place where true dreams can arise, and the dreams here really are visions. They are full of inspiration and guidance. Then the creation that flows from them will be meaningful. It will be evolutionary, and it will have a feeling of salvation.

Seen in this psychological context, al-Halim has to do with salvation rather than what we might call enlightenment or revelation. Salvation comes through grace, not through work. And for grace to happen, you have to reach that place that feels like the greatest sigh of relief, like Abraham’s “Ah.”

Even though in one sense you may be broken, you know yourself as unbreakable even in the midst of suffering.

You release and wait on the divine to come and touch you. In this place one might say, “Humanity could not break me, even though my relationship with the world disconnected me from the divine. Yet I am broken because I am disconnected from the divine.” When you reach that state of deep surrender, a certain yearning and longing happens such that you feel “Now I turn to You. Where are You? I cannot cross this ocean of darkness to reach You. Only through Your grace can I be transformed, can I be touched.”

When you reach that state there is nowhere to go. There is nothing but patience, calmness, sakeenah, and the potential of the dream. The potential for hulm, the potential for the activation of al-Halim is in that state. The dream in that domain is not like the dream we have in our conceptual mind.

When you reach that state there is nowhere to go. There is nothing but patience, calmness, sakeenah, and the potential of the dream. The potential for hulm, the potential for the activation of al-Halim is in that state. The dream in that domain is not like the dream we have in our conceptual mind.