THE LOTE TREE OF THE EXTREME LIMIT
(SIDRATUL MUNTAHA)

By Muhammad Zuhri
(Translated By M. M. Medeiros)

Every religion has its own unique symbols for depicting compactly the spiritual experiences of its followers in their encounter with the reality of God. In the same way, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) handed down to us as a legacy certain distinctive symbols of the journey he underwent in response to the call of Allah. One of these is the Lote Tree of the Extreme Limit, which plays a major part in the momentous event we are commemorating at this moment.

A Symbol of Spiritual Attainment

In the original Arabic, the phrase "Lote Tree of the Extreme Limit" has the literal meaning of "the crown of a jujube tree." This tree symbolizes a kind of life which exists within the human self. Neither physical nor psychic, but spiritual, it is nevertheless referred to as a place—as the level or station of spirituality (maqam ruhaniyyah).

The treetop is very high; therefore, not everyone will be able to reach it safely. Besides that, it represents the extreme limit of human development. Syaikhul ‘Arif-Billah Muhammad bin ‘Abdul Jabbar An-Nifari called it the station of waqfah, or the terminal station, the place beyond which Allah’s servant can go no further, or, in other words the moment when a person finds himself between the Hands of God. The Holy Qur’an describes the closeness of the Prophet (pbuh) to his Creator in Surah 53, verse 9. The two bows can be understood as the two arcs of a circle caused by the descent of God and the ascent of His servant to meet Him.

Because the Lote Tree of the Extreme Limit is spiritual, there is no way the intellect can grasp its significance without first having itself undergone the same vine-like process of growth that brought the Prophet (pbuh) there—his Night Journey (Isra’) and Ascension (Mi’raj).

The Spiritual Journeys of the Prophet (pbuh)

The Night Journey and the Ascension are the Messenger’s (pbuh) spiritual journeys, the first horizontal and then continued by the second, the vertical one. This spatial aspect shows that he was really made by Allah to undertake these journeys in his physical body. In this context, "spiritual" means something unlike intellect and imagination, two faculties which can wander freely without the hindrance of the physical body. Iit means the essential aspect of the human being which can grow into maturity by means of its existential behavior.

The Horizontal Journey (Night Journey/Isra’)

At the moment when human nature had fallen into the Vale of Ignorance (jahiliah)—the dark night of the 27^th of the lunar month—the Holy Prophet (pbuh), at a time when he was not oriented toward his physical needs—night, spiritual—was made by Allah to move from the House of Inviolability/Baitul Haram (The Intellect/Aql, Law/Hukm, Knowledge/Ilm) to the House of Holiness/Baitul Muqaddas (The Heart/Qalb, Holiness, Gnosis/Ma’rifa) which holds the secret of humankind’s eternal life (which is to be blessed by all the creatures around one). As a result, the values which appeared in his consciousness at that time were not pragmatic values connected with the objects he was encountering, but spiritual values Allah was teaching him (the Divine Verses).

In the horizontal journey of the servant desiring to answer Allah’s call and to meet Him, he will inevitably encounter obstacles from his present House, the House of Inviolability, as he journeys to his House of Old, the House of Holiness, the true place of departure. This is because the intellect can orient itself only toward natural phenomena and natural causality, and tends to measure all things by such things, whereas on the journey the traveller will encounter all the matters in which he has been careless—or, in other words, the divine causality directly connected with God, such as all the many sins of which he has not yet repented and the many divinely bestowed joys for which he has not yet given thanks.

Compare this with the experience of the Prophet Moses (pbuh) when he retraced his steps (Q18:64) back to the junction of the two waters to be taught by Allah by being allowed to experience a deepening of his awareness of how meaningless, when one finds oneself face to face with Allah’s Command, is all intellectual understanding.

The Vertical Journey (Ascension/Mi’raj)

On his Ascension, according to Muslim’s Collection of Ahadith/Traditions of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) rose through seven heavens or levels of spiritual attainment, each one of which is symbolized by a meeting with one of the Messengers of Allah who had preceded him, as follows:

The vertical hierarchy from the Material through Life and Soul (nafs) to Intellect (‘aql) is what we name physical evolution, while that from Faith (Iman) through Islam (Prophethood) to Voluntary Generosity (Ihsan) we call spiritual evolution.

These seven evolutionary phases, passed through successfully by the Holy Prophet (pbuh) in his Ascension, reveal how his personality was formed so as to enable him physically and spiritually to represent his universe. As the subjectivity (spiritual power) of that universe, he was cast into individuality upon the Lote Tree of the Extreme Limit, where he had no one to address but Allah. There he found that the second-person pronoun for God is "Thou," and Allah was pleased to address him in return as "thou." (See Q1:5, Q68:4, and Q5:67.)

From this passage from the Holy Qur’an, it is possible to judge how great is the presence of a speaking companion of Allah:

"And Allah would not chastise them while thou wast among them, nor would Allah chastise them while they seek forgiveness." (Q8:33)

In the seventh heaven, when the Prophet (pbuh) was about to return to the existential universe, Gabriel offered the him four glasses, one containing water, one milk, one wine, and one honey. They symbolize what he received during his Ascension. He chose the milk, symbolizing his future role as a Witness in the midst of the flock he would lead in revolution. His descent was not essential in nature. Instead he chose the existential policy of employing the most effective means of teaching his flock—offering himself as a good example for all human beings to follow. He remained a Conceptor (one of the Prophets/Nabiyyin: honey) and at the same time a Dynamizator (one of the Truthful/Siddiqin: wine), even as he appeared as a Motivator (one of the Faithful/Shuhada: milk) before his flock (the Righteous/Salihin: water) taking the role of their Facilitator.

The Symbols and their Environment (A Map of Heaven)

Concerning the Rivers of Heaven:

Q2:25 "And give good news to those who believe and do good deeds that for them are Gardens in which rivers flow. Whenever they are given a portion of the fruit thereof, they will say: This is what was given to us before, and they are given the like of it. And for them therein are pure companions, and therein they will abide."

Q5:119 "Allah will say: This is a day when their truth will profit the truthful ones. For them are Gardens wherein flow rivers abiding therein for ever. Allah is well pleased with them, and they are well pleased with Allah. That is the mighty achievement."

Q57:12 "On that day thou wilt see the faithful men and the faithful women, their light gleaming before them and on their right hand. Good news for you this day! Gardens wherein rivers flow, to abide therein.! That is the grand achievement."

Q85:11 "Those who believe and do good, theirs are Gardens wherein flow rivers. That is the great achievement."

Concerning water, milk, wine, and honey as symbols of God’s provision (rizq) for humankind

Water is necessary to life. Milk (a substance somewhere between blood and bodily waste) is a symbol of a situation favorable to growth. Wine, as a beverage made from the fruit of the vine, symbolizes the creative process come to fruition, while honey, produced by bees for the sake of the coming generation, symbolizes a social structure conducive to the survival of the species: "And thy Lord revealed to the bee: Make hives in the mountains and in the trees and in what they build. Then eat of all the fruits and walk in the ways of thy Lord submissively. There comes forth of their bellies a beverage of many hues in which there is healing for men. Therein is surely a sign for a people who reflect." (Q16:68-69)

Concerning the Four Environments Within a Believing Society

"And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger, they are with those upon whom Allah has bestowed favors from among the prophets and the truthful and the faithful and the righteous, and a goodly company are they!" (Q4:69)

The Wisdom of the Chosen One

We can begin to appreciate how momentous an event in the history of God’s vice-regency on Earth was the discovery of Allah’s Thou-ness by the way this teaching further clarifies our service by revealing whom we address as thou or take as dialogue-partners in our world. In other words, we have already met God in those whom we address as thou. This becomes possible whenever we succeed in discerning the family relationship between the True Thou, Allah, and those whom we address as thou—for the dialogue partner of the creature should be the Creator Himself. However, we shall never succeed in this until we become conscious that behind every creature is Allah’s Command, and this divine Command is what we ought to be able to see whenever we enter into dialogue with any citizen of the universe.

"Surely His is the creation and the command. Blessed is Allah, the Lord of the worlds." (Q7:54)

"Whithersoever ye turn, there is Allah’s countenance." (Q2:115)

"So whoever hopeth for the meeting with his Lord, he should do good deeds, and make none sharer of the worship due unto his Lord." (Q18:110)

"‘O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed me not.’

"He will say: ‘O Lord, and how should I feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds?’

"He will say: ‘Did you not know that My servant So-and-so asked you for food and you fed him not? Did you not know that had you fed him you surely would have found your reward with me?’" (Sacred Tradition)

This is the wisdom He taught His Prophet at the Lote Tree of the Extreme Limit and which in turn the Holy Prophet taught his flock in the form of the ritual prayer (salat) that would become for every Muslim the experience of ascension.

The Perspective of Ritual Prayer (Salat)

Ritual prayer involves three aspects of qibla (the direction in which a Muslim turns when worshipping): Vertical, Horizontal, and Structural.

The Vertical Qibla
(Hadrat al-A’la/Divine Presence, Ilaahin-naas/The God of Mankind)

Ritual prayer means facing God, the One, the Almighty, the Indescribably Perfect, humbly, attentively and in a state of ritual purity. In this prayer we raise up God’s Greatness, Glory, and Praiseworthiness, and at the same time we not only implant within ourselves the motivation for our servanthood but also beg Him for abundant Mercy and Guidance. We do this as if we could see and be seen by Him. It is at this time that a new life grows within us, the life called spiritual.

The Horizontal Qibla
(Hadrat al-Jam/Presence of All-Comprehensiveness; Malikin-naas/The King of Mankind)

Ritual prayer is a kind of temporal divine service which opens with the raising of the hands and the recitation of "God is most great," an expression that brings the worshipper into a state of consecration. Ritual prayer finishes with the salutation of peace, which is the horizontal directing of this temporal process. As the worshipper says the word "peace," his gaze is turned first to the right and then to the left to signify that the temporal process is over and to express the effectiveness of the action in the spatial realm. The word "peace" is the end of the temporal process and the start of the spatial one in which we are chosen by the Prophet (pbuh) to engage in interpersonal communication and do good deeds in our social setting. This is because, with its intent to spread well-being and the mercy and blessings of Allah to the left and the right of us from the place on earth where we are facing Him, the salutation of peace, is clearly the horizontal direction we face in our ritual prayer or, in other words, in carrying out the mission of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to be "a mercy to the nations." (Q21:107)

The Structural Qibla
(Hadrat ur-Rabbani/Lordly Presence; Rabbin-naas/The Lord of Mankind)

In our ritual prayer, we are required to face the Ka’abah, the structure said to have been the home of the Prophet Adam (pbuh) and later to have been restored and used as a home by the Prophet Abraham and family (pbut). The Ka’bah is located within an area for prayerful prostration called the Masjid-il Haram, where, since before recorded history, it has always been forbidden to hunt God’s creatures, and where people of all nations, races, skin colors, cultures, language groups, and social as well as economic levels gather to perform the religious obligation of Pilgrimage with no distinction as to duties and responsibilities. What message God has been sending us all this time should be clear from the fact that each time we perform the ritual prayer we are required to face the Ka’bah.

It would not be too hasty for us to conclude that the structural direction we must face in prayer is intended to create a universal cultural structure enabling this tiny globe we inhabit to become a mosque, a sacred house in which the entire human family can, first, freely bow in prayer with backs horizontal, parallel to the earth, thus becoming integrated into"a mercy to all nations," and, second, with all killing forbidden, freely kneel upright, evolving spiritually.

A Symbol of the Highest Wisdom of the Chosen One

As a result of his obedience to God’s invitation to ascend to Prophethood, the highest level possible, and then to descend and carry out his noble mission, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) gained and expressed great wisdom, but undoubtedly of all that wisdom of his the highest and noblest was the policy "to live always before Allah as the representative of the human race and to live always before the human race as the representative of Allah."

That policy is the reason he is called the prayer leader (imam) facing in two directions: one towards the House of Holiness/Baitul Muqaddas (The Heart/Qalb, Holiness, Gnosis/Ma’rifa) when standing as an individual before Allah and the other towards the House of Inviolability/Baitul Haram (The Intellect/Aql, Law/Hukm, Knowledge/Ilm) when standing in his dual role before Allah as an individual representing his flock and before his flock as Allah’s earthly viceregent.

In addition to that, he was able to pass down this wise policy to his flock, and to this day it remains the Crown of the Jujube Tree, the Lote Tree of the Extreme Limit, for it is the very inner content of our Ritual Prayer.

Al-hamdu li-llahi Rabbi-l‘alamin! (Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.)

Wallahu a’lam bis-sawab. (Only Allah knows the real truth of it.)

Pati, 13 October 1999

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