Love of Allah

The love of Allah is something which is mentioned many times in the Holy Qur'an. But how to acquire it is something which is on the minds of every true seeker of Truth.

The Promised Messiah (as) has written such a beautiful discourse on how we can attain his love that it does not do justice to paraphrase or shorten it. I have reproduced it below...

The degrees of nearness to God and love of God from the point of view of spiritual rank are of three types. The lowest degree, and even that is very high, is that the fire of Divine love should warm the heart possibly to such a degree that the warmed heart might acquire the qualities of fire, but that it should lack the brightness of the fire. When the flame of God's love falls upon this degree of love the warmth generated by that flame in the soul is described as contentment and satisfaction and is sometimes named an angel.

The second degree of love is where the fire of Divine love, which is generated by the union of two loves, warms the heart to such a degree that it produces a brightness which is not inflammatory. It is described as Ruh-ul-Qudus—the Holy Spirit.

The third degree of love is where a burning flame of Divine love falls on the eager ribbon of human love and sets it afire and, assuming control of all its particles, makes it a complete and perfect manifestation of itself. In this condition the fire of Divine love not only bestows a brightness upon the human heart, but simultaneously the whole being is set on fire and its flames illumine the surroundings like the bright day, and no darkness is left and the whole of the being is converted into fire with all its full qualities. This condition which is created by the union of the two loves like a laming fire is known as Ruhul-Amin, the Spirit of Security,for it bestows security against every darkness and is free from every opaqueness. It is also called the strong faculty, for it is the most powerful revelation, stronger than which cannot be imagined. It is also called the high horizon, inasmuch as it is the manifestation of the highest form of revelation. It is also described as: He saw what he saw; for an appreciation of this condition is beyond the imagination or thinking of the whole of creation. This condition has been bestowed upon only one human being who is the perfect man with whom the whole human system has come to an end and the circle of human capacities has been perfected. In truth, he is the highest point of the extended line of God's creation which is the ultimate of all grades of exaltation.

Divine Wisdom having started the creation from the lowest point carried it to this highest point, the name of which is Muhammad [peace and blessings of Allah be on him] and the meaning of which is greatly praised, that is to say, the manifestation of perfect excellencies. As by his nature the station of this Prophet was at the highest, so externally also he was bestowed revelation and love at the highest level...

[Taudih-e-Maram, RuhaniKhaza’in, Vol. 3, pp. 62-64]

May God enable each of us to strive to attain and promote these beautiful excellencies and paths of divine love. May Allah enable us to fully understand the significance of running to Allah in times when the world is running away, amin.