The Four Gates and Forty Stations in the Alevi Faith

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This text is one of Seyit Derviş Tur Dede’s writings on the Alevi faith. For a general introduction, see: What is Alevism? Its faith, history and core values

THE FOUR GATES AND FORTY STATIONS IN THE ALEVI FAITH

What Does “Four Gates” Mean?

It means educating the untrained, uninformed human being step by step and thereby purifying him of bad habits and ignorance. It means making him a person of knowledge and wisdom (ilim and irfan), opening his inner eye (can gözü) and raising him to the degree of the insan-ı kâmil (the perfect human being). Its aim is to bring about a pure and transparent community. It is the sırat-ı müstakim (the straight path leading to God) founded by Muhammad Ali and ordered by Imam Jafar al-Sadiq (İmam Cafer-i Sadık). These are the erkân (rites) of the Alevi faith.

Their Brief, Essential Meanings in Alevi Terms

1. THE GATE OF ŞERİAT (the Law): the stage in which a person comes into the world, comes to know the universe and educates himself.
2. THE GATE OF TARİKAT (the Path): taking the ikrar (vow), being purified of evil, learning the path and its rites (yol and erkân) and becoming a talip (seeker, disciple).
3. THE GATE OF MARİFET (Gnosis): reforming the nefs (ego, lower self) (ıslah-ı nefs) and learning knowledge and wisdom.
4. THE GATE OF HAKİKAT (Truth): knowing God (Hakk) in one’s own essence, being initiated into all the mysteries, educating others and guiding them (irşad).

If we were to describe it in today’s Turkish, we could give the example: Şeriat is primary school, Tarikat middle school, Marifet high school and “Hakikat university”. I recommend that those who wish to know more read my book entitled ERKÂNNAME.

In our path and rites, which we call the Four Gates and Forty Stations, each gate therefore has its own services. And each gate has ten stations (makam). Now, whoever tries in this account to explain all four gates together – whether it be I, another scholar or a knowledgeable dede – cannot explain them in their essence in one programme within one or two hours. For each gate has ten stations. That is why, in a single programme, each gate can only be explained in its outward (zâhirî) aspect that everyone can understand, in its basic common points. The inner (bâtınî) mystical essence cannot be explained in outward terms. An example! One station of the Gate of Şeriat states the following: “To believe that worship is the path (miraç, ascension) between the Creator and the created.” There you are – if we tried to examine the statement of this sentence alone, one would have to write a book about it. That is why, in the rites of the Alevi Islamic faith, only the basic common knowledge that serves the community in its outward aspect is taught. The inner mystical science of the Alevi Islamic faith is discussed in intimate conversation (hasbihal), in the world of contemplation, only with erenler (perfected ones) who have trained themselves at the first level. In this programme I shall present a general analysis of what one ought to know.

The Prophet Muhammad said: “I have not come to abolish the religions that came before me, but to complete them.” He describes the prophets who have come and gone as messengers of a single religion that recognises the oneness of Allah. The Prophet Muhammad somewhat broadened and applied the religious teaching they had proclaimed. This was called şeriat. In the şeriat there are four stages:

1. Having faith (iman).
2. Worshipping (ibadet).
3. Ukubat: abiding by what Allah has laid down (the sacred and moral values).
4. Applying and doing these (ictihad).

A person guided by a pir (spiritual master), once he begins to know himself, acts by consulting his inner feelings and by reflecting. Such people strive to fulfil and apply the four stages at the Gate of Şeriat. Although at certain stages thinking and acting in this way may be perceived as if it were a psychological problem, on the contrary it is a maturity which shows that these individuals give importance to themselves, to their surroundings and to other individuals. It is what our path and rites foresee. Such behaviour belongs to an individual who keeps his nefs under self-control, who does not approach every negative event he encounters from the side of the harm it may cause, but reduces the potential harm to a minimum and finds a healthy solution – an individual who lets self-control prevail in his nefs.

He will meet what comes from God (Hakk) with patience. Almighty Allah says: “Leave behind the nefs, the great enemy, and then come.” The believer should see himself as the place upon which God looks. Thus Almighty Allah has said on this matter: “Do you not know that Allah sees everything?” Worship as if you saw Allah; even if you do not see Him, He sees you and also knows the intention in your heart. We should know well that Almighty Allah sees and watches over every movement, every posture, every word, every action of His servant and the things he thinks and plans within. Allah is the light of the earth and the heavens. Its meaning! By the heavens, hearts are meant. By the earth, minds are meant. That is, it encompasses the human frame. We should know that Allah’s will, power and knowledge encompass all His servants. Therefore the servant must step out of his own will, his own power and his own knowledge so that he may attain the station of surrender (teslim).

In communities that keep such a philosophy and faith alive within them, injustice and violence are at their lowest. We see this in our time socially in the Alevi community and in the rites of its faith. Let us now turn to the systems of self-control in the Alevi faith and its rites. Each pir by his own pir, and each talip by his pir – keeping what happens in the office of guidance (irşad) under constant scrutiny is a requirement of our faith. Creating a pure and transparent community through this system of self-control is one of the values foreseen by our path and rites. In the Alevi faith, the system of “El ele, el Hakka” (“hand in hand, the hand to God”) is a system of self-control. It is the path that leads to the world of unity.

The Alevi faith is the mystical thought and the mystical (tasavvufi) path of the religion of Islam. This path is walked with love. It is a path of the heart. It is the path of believing and embracing faith without doubt. To be able to walk this path, one must take the hand (el almak) of a pir. The pir to whom you surrender must be one of the erenler who knows this path and these rites well and possesses the qualities of a pir. It is this pir who trains a person through the 4 Gates and 40 Stations in order, stage by stage, “cooking” him to maturity, and directs him towards the essence (öz). The aim is to become the “insan-ı kâmil”. To arrive at the world of unity. To become one with God (Hak’la Hak olmak). In the language of mysticism this is called the station of “vahdet-i vücut” (the unity of being).

In Alevism the concept of Allah is the greatest love for the universe. To love all that is created means to love Allah. As Yunus (Emre) said: “I love the created for the sake of the Creator.”

This Beloved is exalted, creative, constructive; all goodness and all beauty are in Him. In the Alevi “amentü” (creed) there is no evil; there is goodness. “Hayrı min Allahu teâlâ” (goodness belongs to Almighty Allah). No evil comes from that exalted Beloved. This great love of God is a power in proportion to the capacity of each person’s heart, mind and understanding.

The physical body of the human being is a part of the universe. In the human being there is a spiritual structure that governs the physical body. The union of these two entities makes the human being human. There is also a heart (kalp) that keeps the physical body alive. Within the heart there is the gönül (the inner heart, the soul’s seat). And within the gönül there is a particle, a light (nur), of God. By serving the gönül, the soul strives to reach the essence of the most sacred truth. To reach the goal, through worship and prayers in the sense of niyaz (humble supplication) and entreaty that the created should offer to the Creator, one seeks to unite with God in the heart of the insan-ı kâmil, which is the dwelling place of God. The only entity at the core of the universe that does not change and remains as it is, is the soul (ruh). That is, that energy of God, the unchanging sacred power, is what gives the universe its true form, unity and order. Ever since humanity has existed, this psychological state of the soul has led human beings to believe in and worship something.

When we look at history, medieval scholars such as Democritus, Lucretius and Epicurus say the following: “The human being has created the whole universe within his own essence. Human beings are bound in exactly the same way to all the laws, rules and conditions to which the universe is bound.” This view was adopted by all scholars in the Middle Ages. In mysticism it was expressed thus: “Âlem-i Ekber (the Great Universe) or Âlem-i Kübra (the Great Universe)” is the human being. “Âlem-i Asgar” (the Small Universe) is the world. For however large the physical structure of the world may be, it has been explored. Although the physical body of the human being is small, his psychological, spiritual structure is so great and so vast that it has not yet been explored.

From the thoughts of these scholars it now becomes clear that all the kinds of being that exist in the universe were not created out of nothing. Even though they speak of a Logos (spirit) that does not change from the essence of being, establishes the general order and gives commands, it is known that the energy that is the “soul” (ruh) governs the human body. Even if we consider it under the concept of God, we are again confronted with a concept of the soul. Let us see what the noble Qur’an says about this:

Surah Sad, verses 71–72: “Your Lord said to the angels: I shall create from clay a halife (vicegerent, the human being) for Myself. When I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My spirit, fall down in prostration before him.”

With this verse it is now proven that in the human being too there is a particle of the spirit of Allah, which completes human existence. That is why, ever since humanity has existed, whatever the reason, wherever its own strength ends it has needed a spiritual power in which to trust, which to worship and in which to believe. This psychological soul in the human being always strives to form a relationship with the original being from which it came, and keeps alive at every moment the feeling of union with it. The inclination born of this longing and desire of the soul is this: it has felt the need to worship with a feeling that is beyond reason and beyond knowledge – a feeling that arises when the heartfelt state of soul that strives to draw near to the great and mighty Allah, who has no partner and no equal, and to win His pleasure, is reflected in certain actions.

We should know very well that religious thought is the first of humanity’s oldest forms of behaviour. Yet the relationship with the Creator is not a matter of a science, a language or a behaviour. It is the reflection in actions of a heart, a feeling, a state of contemplation. It is felt without being explained; it is experienced without being seen or shown.

Here is the concept of Allah! He encompasses all similar virtues such as goodness, truthfulness, equality and freedom; He is reached through love; and it is again He with whose essence one seeks to unite at the gate of “Ram and Rahim” (mercy and compassion). He is the source of all the forces that brought the universe into being. Love here is not a goal. It is a means that gives strength to humanity and leads to the Beloved. The goal is solely to reach that exalted Being.

What matters most is that this never-fading sun of love should once rise in our heart. It is the sun that never sets. The heart in which this sun rises becomes initiated into all the mysteries of God. The eye of the heart opens. The person becomes insan-ı kâmil. That person is the longed-for human being.

In the Alevi faith, Allah, Muhammad and Ali are one light (nur). It is the highest point humanity wishes to reach. In mysticism there is a concept known briefly as “Küntü Kenz”: “I was a hidden treasure; I wished to be known.” And in the Qur’an, Surah Al Imran, verse 47: Mary said: “O my Lord, how can I have a child when no human being has touched me?” Allah says: “So it is, but Allah creates what He wills. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it: Be!, and it is.”

In the Alevi faith this threefold unity is called the “Assembly of the First Souls” (İlk Ruhlar Meclisi). At the head of this assembly sits Imam Ali. That exalted Being, who was a hidden treasure, created the human being in order to be known. He gave him of His own spirit and showed His existence in the human being. It is evident that in this universe there are the Creator and the created. The created are divided into three: plants, animals and human beings. The physical structure, that is the bodies, of these three different created beings is in turn made of the elements existing in the universe called air, water, heat and earth. In mysticism this is called “anasır-ı erbaa” (the four elements).

With the soul He gave in the assembly of “Elest” (the primordial covenant of souls), He brought the anasır-ı erbaa to life. The cycle in which these souls pass from plant to animal and from animal to human being describes the cycle of descent from God. In mysticism this is called “kavs-i nüzul” (the arc of descent). The real test of the souls begins after they have entered the human body. Depending on the good and evil the soul has done while it remained in the human body, it will either enter the human body that is the longed-for halife (vicegerent) of Almighty Allah, or it will enter another, lowly (“esfel”) form. The soul’s cycle of return to God is called “kavs-i huruç” (the arc of ascent). The greatest value and effort of the Alevi faith is that the soul, after entering the human body, should pass the test in the best possible way.

FOR EVERYTHING THAT EXISTS IN THE UNIVERSE IS THE REFLECTION OF ALL THE MYSTERIES OF THAT ONE WHOLE AND THE MIRROR OF HIS BEAUTY (CEMAL) – AND THIS IS THE VERY POWER WE CALL “ALLAH”.

On this the noble Qur’an gives very clear messages: verse 44 of Surah al-Isra, verse 41 of Surah an-Nur, verses 13–15 of Surah ar-Rad, verse 1 of Surah al-Hashr: “The movements and actions of all beings in the universe are, without exception, prayer,” it says. That is, there is a magnificent poem of prayer that extends from inanimate things to plants, from plants to animals, from animals to human beings and from human beings to Allah: “Everything in the earth and in the heavens, without exception, remembers and glorifies Him with praise. But you do not understand their remembrance and are not aware of it,” says the Qur’an.

“Constant remembrance” means never letting the love of Allah leave one’s heart nor His name leave one’s tongue. Hearts find peace only in the remembrance of Allah. He says: remember Allah in the morning, at noon, in the evening, at all times. On this, verse 191 of Surah Al Imran in the noble Qur’an says: “They remember Allah standing, sitting and lying on their sides.” Another verse says: “Remember Allah always – lying down, sitting, standing, running and on your mount.” It is evident that in the worship of zikir (remembrance of God) there is no fixed time, place or rule. It requires only devotion with faith free of doubt.

Worship is performed in two ways. The first is the worship of zikir; the second is the worship of prostration (secde, niyaz), which is a person’s reckoning with himself. It is judging oneself. It is self-criticism. The worship of prostration is surrender to Allah with one’s whole being. Just as it is performed collectively in the cemevis on Friday evenings (Cuma akşamları), all cans (fellow believers) who hold the Alevi faith should, in the evening before going to bed – for forgiveness of the mistakes they have made that day knowingly or unknowingly, and for the reward of the good they have done – perform a worship of two prostrations and then go to bed.

As for the worship of zikir, the meaning of the word zikir is: the lover (âşık) letting the beloved (maşuk) pass through his heart, the one who loves often remembering the beloved. The lover feels delight and joy whenever he recalls the beloved. He wishes to be remembered always. When the one who loves often remembers the beloved, speaks of her, recalls her and remembers her, his heart is eased. The trust of the remembered one in the one who loves grows; his soul spreads its wings towards the beloved. In that moment everything is forgotten; only the image of the beloved comes alive in the heart. He strives to reach the beloved he longs for.

The daily occupation of the friends of Allah has become zikrullah (the remembrance of Allah). That Surah al-Ahzab says “O you who believe, remember Allah often and glorify Him morning and evening” emphasises that the nourishment of faith is the remembrance of Allah. That the heart becomes a mirror of the divine manifestations (tecelli), and that the veils – the obstacles between Allah and the servant – are lifted, comes about through zikir performed from the heart. “Modern psychology has not yet unravelled the miracle produced by tevhid (affirming God’s oneness) and contemplation.” The Qur’an says the following, Surah Qaf, verse 16: “We are nearer to the human being than his jugular vein.” And as verse 152 of Surah al-Baqara says: “Remember Me, and I shall remember you.” The sense and meaning of these verses: “Zikir performed far from every taint, believing, with the love of the heart, increases God’s mercy towards His servant. In this way Allah offers His servant mercy and forgiveness. He adorns the servant’s heart with love and affection. The servant now attains the awareness of preferring the Creator to the created.”

1. Varın kâinata aşkın âleme
   Sığmaz ki kudretin levhu kaleme
   Nurun ziya vermiş cümle âleme
   Laa ilahe ilallahım gel yetiş
   Your being is in the universe, in the world of love,
   Your might fits on no tablet and beneath no pen,
   Your light has given its radiance to all the world –
   Lâ ilâhe illallah (there is no god but Allah), my God, come to my aid!
2. Ol âdem’i halk eyledi nihanda
   Ona lutf eyledin gizli pünhanda
   Benim tek ümidim sensin cihanda
   Laa ilahe ilallahım gel yetiş
   You created Adam in the hidden realm,
   You bestowed Your grace on him in secret,
   My only hope in this world is You –
   Lâ ilâhe illallah, my God, come to my aid!
3. Emredip İsrafil suru çalmadan
   Ruhlar son bulup da cisim olmadan
   Ezrail de can almaya gelmeden
   Laa ilahe ilallahım gel yetiş
   Before You command and İsrafil (Israfil) sounds the trumpet,
   Before the souls come to an end and become bodies,
   Before Azrail (the angel of death) comes to take the soul –
   Lâ ilâhe illallah, my God, come to my aid!
4. Ol sekiz cihanda tuba ekmeden
   Şavkı rahmetinde Kevser akmadan
   Bu ruh henuz bu bedenden çıkmadan
   Laa ilahe ilallahım gel yetiş
   Before the Tuba tree is planted in those eight worlds (paradises),
   Before the Kevser (the spring of paradise) flows in the radiance of Your mercy,
   Before this soul has yet left this body –
   Lâ ilâhe illallah, my God, come to my aid!
5. Kün deyip de yarattığın evrende
   Ruh bedenden uçup sana gelmeden
   Huzuru makamından sorgulanmadan
   Laa ilahe ilallahım gel yetiş
   In the universe You created by saying “Kün” (“Be!”),
   Before the soul flies from the body to You,
   Before it is questioned before Your presence –
   Lâ ilâhe illallah, my God, come to my aid!
6. Gel Dönem zikredelim ulu hudayı
   Arayanlar bulur yüce mevlayı
   Ben senden isterim derde devayı
   Laa ilahe ilallahım gel yetiş
   Come, turning (to Him), let us remember the great Lord,
   Those who seek will find the exalted Mevla (Lord),
   From You I ask the remedy for my pain –
   Lâ ilâhe illallah, my God, come to my aid!

Translated from the Turkish original by Seyit Derviş Tur.