True Nourishment
This contrast [between Ramadhaan and Eid] is assumed and imagined. It is not a haqeeqi [true] contrast. Thus, the Muhaqqiqeen regard hunger, which is the gist of Ramadhaan, to be nourishment which is the gist of Eid. This is because hunger in moderation which is acquired in Ramadhaan produces Nooraaniyat [spiritual light/exuberance] through which peace of mind, perfect concentration and a feeling of being close to and with Allah Ta’ala are achieved in Zikr. And this is true nourishment.
This is borne out in the following couplet:
| وَكُلُّ شَرَابٍ دُوْنَه كَسَرَاب |
وَذِكْرُكَ لِلْمُشْتَاقِ خَيْرُ شَرَابٍ |
O Beloved! Your remembrance is the best nourishment
Any drink other than that is like desert water—an illusion
The effect of this nourishment even appears on their physical bodies. Henceو the bodies of the Zaakireen [those who engage in Zikr] remain fresh and sprightly. This is accepted and visually perceived to the extent that it is generally said in regard to a pious person who eats less: “What does he eat? His stomach is filled with Noor from Allah.”
If you do not understand this then try it out for a few days and you will see. It is for this reason that Rasulullah (Sallallahu alaihi wasallam) says:
اَلْمُؤْمِنُ يَأْكُلُ فِيْ مِعًى وَاحِدَةٍ وَالْكَافِرُ فِيْ سَبْعَةِ اَمْعَاءٍ
“A Mu’min fills one intestine when he eats and a kaafir fills seven intestines.”
A distinct reason for this is that nourishment, truly speaking, is not food. It is the Rooh [soul/spirit] by virtue of which the body is strengthened. Hence, nourishment which is deficient in chyme[1] does not form Rooh. [In fact, one feels lethargic after such food.] Thus, strength is not derived from it. On the other hand, through Zikrullah, characteristically, more Rooh [soul, life] is produced. And the more Rooh (soul/life) is formed the stronger the disposition (tabi’at).
How much must I explain this? Try it out and see. Buzrugs have therefore said:
اَلْجُوْعُ طَعَامُ الصِّدِّيْقِيْنَ
“Hunger is the nourishment of the Siddeeqeen.”
It is not far-fetched for one opposite to be a cause for another opposite. Examples of this can be found in perceivable [tangible] objects (hissiyyaat). Look at heat [i.e. internal bodily heat] which primarily produces hunger and look at ice. In spite of ice being characteristically cold, however, through closure of the pores it creates heat which brings about hunger. Ice is externally cold, but effectively hot. Thus, we learn that an entity has an external and a reality. With regard to its reality it [the entity] can unite with its opposite.
(Awdul Eid)
[1] Hakim G.M. Chishti writes in his The Traditional Healer, p.41: “Humans preserve their lives through nourishment, which they obtain through eating. The digestive processes are applied unconsciously until the food is assimilated into blood, which then carries various other biochemical components to sites in the body, and these are manufactured into tissue, flesh, organs and other body parts. Digestion means, then, that nourishment is changed inside the body by natural heat (cooked) until it actually becomes a part of the body or is eliminated…
Food that enters the mouth first comes into contact with enzymes, which create a type of heat. The food is chewed and masticated with the teeth—another form of heat, friction from grinding. The food is then swallowed into the stomach, where hydrochloric acid (an intense heat) breaks down the solids into a semi-fluid mass called chyme—the essence of the food.
The stomach sends this chyme via the small intestine (where additional enzymes create added heat and processing) to the site of the liver. At the liver, the finest parts are made into blood, and valuable nutrient components are carried out into the general system to participate in various chemical events that transform them into the myriad forms of the body.”