⚠️ Previously in Part I
Having crossed the veil of Barzakh, the soul now begins its ascent, led by longing, remembrance, and love. This page follows the mystic‘s return to the Beloved.🪜 Chapter 1: The Ladder of Longing
فَفِرُّوا إِلَى اللَّهِ
“So flee to God.”
Qur’an 51:50
In the Sufi path, the ascent is not made by effort, it is drawn by longing.
Longing (shawq) is the magnetic pull between lover and Beloved. It is the ache that lifts the soul, not the strength of its wings.
Rūmī teaches: “You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?”
The Prophet‘s Night Journey (Isrā' wa-Miʿrāj) is more than history. It is a template, each of us ascends by the ladder of yearning, pulled higher by the gravity of love.
Each step, from ego to heart, from heart to spirit, from spirit to Essence, is scaled not by force, but by surrender. The more you long, the more you rise.
This is the paradox: longing is absence, but it is also the proof of proximity. You cannot ache for what you are not already bound to.
⚡ TL;DR The Ladder of Longing
- Shawq = Longing — The soul‘s ache for God is the energy of its ascent.
- Ascent Through Surrender — You rise by releasing, not by climbing.
- The Prophet‘s Miʿrāj as Template — Each soul follows the blueprint: from earth to throne, guided by longing.
- Absence is Proof of Proximity — You only ache for what already calls you home.
- Love as Gravity — The Beloved pulls the lover upward, step by step, through the veils.
the soul rises by the gravity of love,
drawn upward not by force,
but by ache.
🌀 Chapter 2: Dhikr and the Spiral Dance
أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ
“Surely, in the remembrance of God do hearts find rest.”
Qur’an 13:28
The Sufi remembers, not with the mind, but with the whole being.
Dhikr (remembrance) is the practice of chanting, whispering, or silently calling the Names of God. But more than a ritual, it is a spiral dance: the soul circling ever closer to its center.
Each Name is a facet of the Divine: Compassionate, Merciful, Mighty, Hidden, Manifest. As you turn these Names on your tongue, you turn the soul within, polishing, refining, awakening.
For the Mevlevi Sufis, this spiral takes physical form in the whirling dance. One hand raised to receive, one hand turned downward to give, the dervish spins, like the planets, like the atoms, like the heart.
“Don't look at your form; look at your essence. Don't look at the spinning; look at the One who spins.”
Rūmī
To whirl is to remember.
To remember is to spiral home.
⚡ TL;DR Dhikr and the Spiral
- Dhikr = Remembrance — The repeated invocation of God‘s Names awakens the soul.
- The Spiral Path — Every repetition draws you closer to the divine center.
- The Whirling Dervish — Movement mirrors cosmic truth, receiving, giving, turning, aligning.
- Beyond Form — True dhikr is not in words or motion, but in essence.
- Whirling = Remembering — The spiral leads the soul home to the Beloved.
🌸 Chapter 3: The Beloved‘s Face Behind the Veil
وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ رَمَىٰ
“You did not throw when you threw, but God threw.”
Qur’an 8:17
In the final turns of the spiral, the seeker senses a presence. The veils thin. The boundaries between self and Beloved dissolve.
Sufi poetry is thick with this paradox: You long for a face, but the face you seek is already gazing through your own eyes.
As Ibn ʿArabī writes: “He is the Seer, the Seen, and the Seeing.”
Everything you loved, feared, touched, or wept over, it was all the Beloved wearing veils.
“I went to the Kaaba, but I found Him in my own house. I searched for Him on the mount, but I saw Him in my own heart.”
Al-Hallāj
To reach the Beloved is not to travel miles.
It is to pierce the illusion of distance,
and see the One who has been closer than breath all along.
⚡ TL;DR The Beloved‘s Face
- The Veil Paradox — What you seek is what sees through you.
- Ibn ʿArabī‘s Vision — The Beloved is the Seer, the Seen, and the Seeing.
- Divine Nearness — You search far and wide, only to find the Face within your own being.
- Al-Hallāj‘s Cry — God is not found in places, but in the heart‘s unveiled sight.
- The Final Veil — Separation is the last illusion. The Beloved is already here.
The seeker meets the gaze
that was always already their own.
🌿 Chapter 4: The Union Hidden in Separation
هُوَ الْأَوَّلُ وَالْآخِرُ وَالظَّاهِرُ وَالْبَاطِنُ
“He is the First and the Last, the Outer and the Inner.”
Qur’an 57:3
Sufi mysticism teaches that separation is not a punishment, it is the hidden face of union.
Why do we long? Why do we ache? Why are we born into distance?
Because the Beloved hides within the veil of separation, pulling the soul forward through desire, refining it through absence, until it is worthy of reunion.
“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”
Rūmī
In truth, the veil is a mercy. Without longing, we would not rise. Without absence, we would not remember.
The Sufi way reveals: even in distance, even in heartbreak, even in loss, the Beloved is there, working secretly, stitching the soul‘s return.
⚡ TL;DR Union Hidden in Separation
- Separation as Mercy — Longing refines the soul; distance sharpens remembrance.
- Rūmī‘s Teaching — Your barriers to love are within; remove them, and union emerges.
- Absence Leads to Return — Every ache draws the soul closer to its origin.
- Veil as Teacher — Without the veil, we would not rise, we would stagnate.
- The Beloved‘s Secret Hand — Even in distance, the Beloved is guiding the return.
the distance sharpens longing,
the longing refines the soul,
and the Beloved waits within both.
🗣️ Where Is the Beloved Hiding in Your Life?
You have followed the fragrance of longing, walked through the desert of absence, and glimpsed the veiled face of the Beloved. Now we ask:
What longing do you carry, and where has the Beloved already been waiting inside that ache?
- What Names of God resonate most with your current longing?
- Have you felt moments where absence sharpened your remembrance?
- Where in your life does the Beloved hide behind the veil of separation?
- How do you practise remembrance (dhikr) — in words, actions, or silent being?
Share your reflections using #TheGnosticKey and tag @thegnostickey. Your ache may be the hidden doorway for another seeker.
🧠 Quiz
Can you see through the veil of Part II?
📖 Glossary
Terms for the Spiral of Love and Remembrance.
- Shawq
- Longing or yearning — the soul’s magnetic pull toward the Beloved, lifting it through spiritual stations.
- Dhikr
- Remembrance — the repeated invocation of God’s Names to awaken, purify, and draw the soul closer to the Divine.
- Whirling
- The Sufi spiral dance — a physical expression of the soul’s turning around the Divine Center, mirroring cosmic and spiritual truths.
- Veil
- The layers of separation or concealment that hide the Beloved’s face; in Sufi mysticism, the final veil is the illusion of distance.
- Beloved
- A name for God in Sufi poetry and mysticism, emphasising the intimate, passionate, and personal relationship between seeker and Divine.