Muzaffer Ozak: The essence of God is love and the Sufi path is a path of love

BIOGRAPHY

Muzaffer Ozak Hz. was born in Istanbul in 1916. (d.1985)

Muzaffer Ozak (1916 - February 12, 1985) was one of the head sheikhs of the Halveti-Jerrahi order of Dervishes.

He was educated by a succession of wise and learned who instructed him in all branches of the Islamic tradition.
He became Muezzin and eventually Imam to many of the mosques of Istanbul.
He later retired from the office of Imam and preached the Friday prayers at a mosque near the famous Istanbul book market, where he owned a shop specializing in rare and antique books.
He was prolific author in the Turkish language.
For twenty years, he was the Sheikh of the Halveti-Jerrahi Order.

Extensive travels took him not only on Pilgrimage to Mecca (eleven times) and throughout the Middle East, but also to the Balkan countries, Western Europe and the United States of America where his deep love for the American people was expressed in his founding of branches of the Halveti-Jerrahi Order.

Love

Excerpts from “Love is the Wine”

The essence of God is love and the Sufi path is a path of love. It is very difficult to describe love in words. It is like trying to describe honey to someone who has never tasted or even seen honey, who doesn’t know what honey is.

Love is to see what is good and beautiful in everything. It is to learn from everything, to see the gifts of God and the generosity of God in everything, to see the gifts of God and the generosity of God in everything. It is to be thankful for all God’s bounties.

This is the first step on the road to the love of God. This is just a seed of love. In time, the seed will grow and become a tree and bear fruit. Then, whoever tastes of that fruit will know what real love is. It will be difficult for those who have tasted to tell of it to those who did not.

Love is a special pleasurable pain. Whoever has this in their heart will know the secret. They will see that everything is Truth, and that everything leads to Truth. There is nothing but Truth. In the realization of that they will be overcome. They will sink into the sea of Truth.

Whatever you taste of love, in whatever manner, in whatever degree — it is a tiny part of Divine Love. Love between men and women is also a part of that Divine Love. But sometimes the beloved becomes a curtain between love and realization of true love. One day that curtain will lift and then the real Beloved, the real goal will appear in all Divine glory.

What is important is to have this feeling of love in your heart in whatever form and shape. It is also important that you be loved. It is easier to love than to be the beloved. If you have been in love you will certainly reach the Beloved one day.

The gifts of God often come to you from the hands of other human beings, through God’s servants. And so, Divine love also expresses itself between human beings.

The sheikhs are the pourers of the wine and the dervish is the glass. Love is the wine. By the hand of the wine pourer, the glass — the dervish — is filled. This is the short way. Love could be offered to one by other hands. This is the short way.

BOOKS

Irşad
English: Irshad – Wisdom of a Sufi Master

Aşk Yolu Vuslat Tariki
English: The Unveiling of Love
Spanish: La Develación del Amor

Envar-ül-Kulub
English: Lights of the Hearts

Ziynet-ül-Kulub
English: Adornment of Hearts

Gülsar-i Arifan

Hazret-i Meryem (not published in Turkish)
English: Blessed Virgin Mary
German: Die gesegnete Jungfrau Maria im Islam
Spanish: Mariam

Sofiyye Sohbetleri (not published in Turkish)
English: Garden of Dervishes

Love is the Wine (edited by Robert Frager)
German: Der Wein der Sufis (zusammengestellt von Robert Frager)
(Title of first edition: Liebe ist der Wein)

Spanish: El Amor es el Vino (recompilado por R. Frager)

AUDIORECORDINGS

LP Halveti-Jerrahi-Dhikr
Journey To The Lord Of Power

CD Chant des Derviches de Turquie
La Cérémonie du Zikr
(5. Festival des Arts Traditionnels 1978, Rennes, France)

CD Garden of Paradise
Sufi Ceremony of Remembrance
(recorded April 5, 1983 in Istanbul, Turkey)

CD Reunion
Ceremonial Music of the Sufis
(recorded April 16, 1984 in New York City, USA)