Kupwara: An abode of Sufi Saints-Khursheed Dar (Pohrupeth langate)

Kupwara is among those few districts of Jammu and Kashmir that are blessed in many ways. Apart from the sheer natural beauty that Kupwara district possesses, the district also has a rich heritage and culture. The diversity that this district possesses in the form of various tourist sites, pertaining to different facets of history, religion, and culture is phenomenal. One aspect of this diversity can be seen through a large number of Sufi shrines that are spread all over the district. One can spot a sufi shrine in almost every village of this district. Keeping in mind the large number of devotees that these shrines attract, I bring you this column on the famous Sufi Shrines in Kupwara.

• Shrine of Hazrat Zati Shah wali R.A

     One of the most sacred destinations in Kupwara, the shrine of Hazrat Zati Shah Wali (RA) holds a prominent place in the sufi culture of Kashmir; it is revered by people of all faiths. It was built in 16th century AD in a beautiful village called Muqam e Shahwali,Drugmulla. This village is at a distance of 5 kms from the southeastern direction of the district headquarters.The shrine of Hazrat Zati Shah Wali is a symbol of syncretic sufi culture of Kashmir. The shrine is co-located with Jamai masjid and includes tombs of saint’s sister and brother also. Every year, in the month of May, an Urs or annual fair is observed for three days which is attended by devotees from all faiths including Hindus and Sikhs.

•Shrine of Hazrat Shiekh Syed Abdul Wahab RA.

    This shrine is located at a village called Shahnagari which falls within the jurisdiction of Qalamabad Tehsil of district Kupwara J&K. Shahnagari was given the name by Hazrat Shiekh Syed Abdul Wahab after he settled in the village.
The Holy Shrine of Hazrat Shiekh Syed Wahab, having devotional linkage to Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jeelani r.a , is surrounded by thousands of Devdaar trees.There is huge rush of devotees round the year. If you want to see the cool sweet springs, the murmuring waters, and the waterfalls from the heights, there is hardly a better place than this in the valley.

•First underground cave Khankah of Kashmir

   This  historical and spiritual  site is located in the evergreen conifer woods of Shahnagari. Shahnagar means the city of kings in Kashmiri language. The 700 years old first underground seven room cave Khankah is just a few hundred meters away from the holy shrine of Hazrat Shiekh Syed Abdul Wahab (RA). From its internal structure and style of construction, it is clear that the dervishes used to meditate and had “chilla” there. There is also a spring at a short distance from the cave, which has now dried up. The approximate length of this cave is 30 ft., it’s 2.5 ft wide, and its height is 6 feet approximately. Although the cave is crumbling yet a corridor and 7 strange rooms can be seen.
The recent reopening of this underground cave-khankah is a reminder of harmony that is deep rooted in the Kashmiri civilization.

•Shrine of Hazrat Shiekh Ahmad Chogali RA.

Mulla Ahmad, better known as Sheikh Ahmad Chogali (RA), and reverentially as “Sheikh seab” was a sufi scholar and a saint of the Suhrawardiyya order. Owing to his command on Islamic literature, Hadith, Fiqah etc., he is known as – Mohiuddin al Arabi Thani. His shrine at Chogal, Handwara is visited by people of all faiths. Chogal village is located in Handwara Tehsil of Kupwara district in Jammu & Kashmir.The Shrine of Hazrat Sheikh Ahmad Chogali is one among the venerated sufi shrines of district Kupwara and witness huge rush of devotees round the year.

•Three  Religous entities at Trehgam

    Trehgam village of district Kupwara symbolises communal harmony and coexistence of different faiths.The three religious entities-400 years old shiv temple,The grand masque and the shrine of Hazrat Syed Ibraheem Bukhari RA stand in a row and in front of them is a famous pond.This pond is believed to be thousand year old and is the main source of drinking water for almost half a dozen villages. Sir walter lawrence mentions in his book “the valley of Kashmir. The pond of Trehgam indicates the utmost beauty of Kashmir.The foundation of the grand masjid near the Shiv temple was laid by Hazrat Syed Ibraheem Bukhari RA who is believed to have come form the middle east along with Mir syed Ali Hamadani RA vis Hindu Kash mountains. The shiv temple too is symbol of unity. Although no Kashmiri Pandith family lives in this village but many of them revisit their roots and offer puja in the shiv temple from time to time.

• Shrine of Hazrat Mohammad Amin  Owaisi RA

This iconic mystic was born around 1900 AD at Surgan (Drawa), near Sharda in Kishan Ganga valley. According to popular belief, Hazrat Mohammad Amin Owaisi was a steadfast Sufi and was associated with the Owasi Silsila of Sufism. The Owaisi Silsila was raised to its pinnacle of popularity in Kashmir by this towering mystic.He was like a star guiding so many. He may be considered as a Perfect Wali who created a large following, not just a crowd but highly disciplined and enlightened group to bring the people on the right path. Even today many true seekers are guided by his followers. traveled to various parts of the subcontinent and then finally resided in the area which is known today Kasheera .His shrine at Kasheera Kupwara is adorned not only by Muslims but Hindus as well.

•Hazrat Haji Bahram sb r .a

Hazrat  Haji Bahram sb was a  great sufi saint of Bonagome Langate  .He was one of the prominent disciples  of “Bab Ul Faqur” ,Baba Abdullah Gujriyali RA of Guzriyal Kupwara.His urs pak is celebrated on 23th January every year.His shrine at Bongom and wahipira langate is thronged by the devotees round the year.

•Hazrat ama saeb yaar. R.a

Shrine of Hazrat Ama saeb Yaroo Langate

This shrine is located at a village called Yaroo in Langate Tehsil of District Kupwara.Hazrat Amma Saeb RA was a towering mystic of his times.A number of karamaats are attributed with this mystic.Thousands of devotees pay visit to his shrine.

•Hazrat Jamal saeb r.a Pohrupeth.

The shrine of Hazrat Jamal saeb RA is at a village called pohrupeth.Pohrpeth is at a distance of 8 kmts from Handwara.Hazrat Jamal Saheb RA was a great saint of his time and his lineage continues even today. Many Sufi Silsilas or orders came to Kashmir but Jamal Saab’s lineage or silsila is unique and is not found else where in Kashmir. Thousands of devotees from all parts of Kashmir visit his shrine.

•Shrine of Hazrat Peer Khan wali RA

This shrine is located on Sopore Kupwara National high way at a place called Koh i watyeen ,Hazrat Pirkhanwali is believed to be a part of the missionary of Hazrat Mir syed Ali Hamadani RA.His shrine is visited by people of all faiths.

To be continued….
Khursheed Dar is a leading columnist and author of Kashmir.
khursheed.dar33@gmail.com

Author:- Khursheed Dar

© Article published in Greater kashmir

Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi of Kashmir: A Case Study of his literary and political contribution

Abstract– Kashmir since the establishment of Muslim rule had
remained an important Centre of Sufism. It acquired fame as
Raeshwar (valley of Rishis). Among the sufi saints of Medieval
Kashmir, Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi occupies an important place. He
was a man of international repute for his learning, scholarship
and piety. The present paper throws a brief light on the life and
times of Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi and his literary contribution and
apart from that the paper discusses in detail the role of sufis
particularly Shaikh’s role in the Mughal conquest of Kashmir.
Index Terms– Conquest, Kashmir, Learning, Mughal, Poet,
Shaikh, Sufism,I. INTRODUCTION
he history of Sufism in Kashmir is spread over a long period
of time starting from Bulbul Shah to the Sufi poets of
modern age. Kashmir is known as Reshwaer (Valley of Rishis).
Sufi saints had always been the inspiring people of Kashmir by
their subtle mystical insights. Among the well-known sufi saints
of Kashmir, Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi has been the distinguished
figure not only among his contemporaries but among all the Sufis
of his age. He was displayed with the accomplishments of
learning and the perfect qualities which distinguished him as a
pious man.1 Modern scholars call him ‘Shaikh-ul-Islam.’2 He
was a man of international reputation for his piety, scholarship
and learning. He had occupied an important place in the history
of Kashmir and during the time Akbar he was given the title
‘Haji Sani’.3
Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi was the most prominent Sufi saints of
sixteenth century belonging to the Kubarwiya order.4 The
Kubarwiya order had its remarkable influence on the different
aspects of the life of Kashmiris. People in the various walks of
life used to practice Sufi-value system including sama as
ascribed by this famous order and work for the betterment of
humanity irrespective of any consideration. haikh Yaqub Sarfi belonged to the Ganai family of
Kashmir. He was born in 928 A.H/ 1521 A.D in Srinagar.P4F5P His
father’s name was Shaikh Hassan GanaiP5F6P who belonged to the
Asami clan. The Asami clan traces its descent from Asim, A son
of Caliph Umar (PBUH) and it was because of this he was also
called as Asmi.P6F7P
زا سفاد عاسم کہ آں نيک خو
بده ابن فاروق اعظم نِکو
گنائی لقب داشت ابن عاصمی
محرمی
ِ
کشاده خدايش در
ِ گنائی است دانا بہ عرف ديار
بہ عثمان گنائی شداد يار غار
و کشمير مثلش کسے بر نخواست
زو صفش مقصر فہوم رسا است
Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi studied under Mulla Aini who came to
Kashmir from Sialkot and the later breathed here the last and is
buried in the graveyard of Shaikh Bahauddin Ganjbaksh. Mulla
Aini was the pupil of the great Mulla Abdur Rahman jami (Jam
is a place in Herat). Mulla Aini, on seeing the intelligence and
scholarly qualities of Shaikh and power to acquire the knowledge
prophesied that Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi would rise to the place of
Jami due to his literary imminence and will acquire the fame as
‘Jami Sani’ (second jami).P7F8P About which Shaikh Yaqub has
himself given a clue in one of his verseP8F9P
بعد خسرو بود جامی بلبل باغ سخن
کيست جز صرفی کنوں آں مرغ خوشخواں راعوض
After Mulla Aini, Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi studied under Mulla
Basir Khan Khandbhavani.P9F10P Thereafter Sarfi Travelled
throughout the world to quench his thirst for acquiring
knowledge. He visited the places like Sialkot, Lahore, Kabul,
Samarqand, Mashhad, Mecca, Medina etc.P10F11
Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi became the spiritual successor of the
great master Shaikh Hussain of Khawarizm and acquired honour by performing the pilgrimages to the two great holy places of
Islam (Mecca and Medina) twice in his life.12 He received from
Shaikh Ibn Hajar a license to give instructions in the traditions of
Muhammad (PBUH) and clad in the robes of a Shaikh. He
travelled much and visited most of the Shaikhs of Arabia and
Persia and profited much by his intercourse with them and
received the authority to assume prerogatives of a religious
teacher and spiritual guide and as such he had many disciples
both in Hindustan and Kashmir.13 Shaikh also got benefited by
his intercourse with the famous sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chasti of
Fatehpur Sikri. They both spent a lot of time together during the
time of Hajj which was the last Hajj of Shaikh Salim Chasti.
They both exchanged the views of their respective orders. Sheikh
Salim taught him the teachings of Chasti order and learnt from
him the teachings of Kubarwiya order.14 Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi was
also well versed with the writings of Ibn-ul-Arabi.
Apart from worldly knowledge, Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi was deeply
interested in the spiritual knowledge and for this; he spent a lot of
time in the Khankah of Mir Syed Ali Hamdani in Srinagar.P14F15P In
the Khankah, Mir Syed Ali Hamdani appeared in his dream and
asked him to go to Khawarizm and visit Makhdoom Ali Shaikh
Kamaluddin Hussain Khawarizmi. After this Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi
left for Khawarizm via Sialkot, Lahore and Kabul and presented
himself before Sheikh Khawarizmi. Sheikh Khawarizm was one
of the great sufi saints of Kubarwiya order. He received Sheikh
Yaqub Sarfi with great respect and assigned him the work to
bring wood for the langarkhana of Khankah.P15F16P After some time
Sheikh Khawarizmi gave him the permission to return back to
Kashmir and perform the religious duties and was asked to look
after his parents.P16F17P After some time he revisited Khawarizm for
the second time and from there he went to Meshhad, Khotan,
Mecca and Medina. From Mecca, he received sannad and the
necessary license to give instructions in the traditions of Hadith
from Sheikh ibn Hajjar Makki who was a renowned Sheikh and
the great teacher of Hadith.P17F18P Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi also visited
many of the cities of Hindustan like Ahmedabad, Surat etc.
where he met many of the sufi saints and obtained spiritual
knowledge from them about which he wrote.P18F19P
احمد آباد و بہر گوشہ نگارے ديگر نتواں يافت بايں حسن ديارے ديگر
کارايں خلق ہمہ عاشقی و معشوقی است کس دريں شہر نديدم بکارے ديگر
گرچہ ايں شہر پرازما ہو شان است ولے جز ابوالفتح نخواہيم نگارے ديگر
گرچہ فارغ از يا ريم آں بے پروا حاہ ل کہ شوم مائيل يارے ديگر
It is necessary to mention that apart from Sheikh Salim,
many other Sufis of Hindustan were closely associated with Sarfi
and foremost among them are Sheikh Ahmad Sirhindi also
known as Mujaddid Alfi Sani (reformer of the second
millennium). He studied the traditions of Prophet and Tafsir and
also the teachings of Kubarwiya order from Sheikh Yaqub
Sarfi.P19F20
Shaikh was a great sufi of his age. At the age of just seven,
Shaikh memorized the whole Quran.P20F21P Abul Fazl also considers
him as the greatest authority on religious mattersP21F22P He was also a
great poet of his age. He himself writes in his Diwan that he was
just eight years of age when he started writing poetry in
Persian.P22F23P
چودر سال ہشتم نہاد دم قدم
زطبعم رواں گشت شعر عجم
Abul Fazl praised him and says that he was well aquanted
with all branches of poetry.P23F24P He wrote with the pen name of
“Sarfi”P24F25P Mulla Abdul Qadir Badauni who was a close associate
of Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi praised him and says that he was among
the great personalities of the age. He was illustrious and relied
upon as an authority on all brancehes of learning which are
treated of in Arabic, such as Quranic commentaries, the
traditions of Prophet and Sufism. He was an authorized religious
leader.P25F26P When Sarfi departed from Lahore to Kashmir, He wrote
a letter to Badauni from the other side of the river Ravi in which
Sheikh writes, “I hope you will not entirely efface the memory of
me from the margin of your heart and that you will adopt the
graceful habit of remembering the absent. If you should have any
need of Kashmiri paper for rough notes and drafts, I hope that
you will inform me of the fact so that I may send you from
Kashmir, the rough copy of my commentaries, the writing of
which can be washed from the paper with water so completely
that no traces of ink will remain, as you yourself have seen.”P26F27P
On reaching Kashmir, Sheikh wrote another letter to Badauni
which was his last letter to him. In this letter Sheikh wrote, “I
hope that whenever you sit in Nawab Faizi’s apartment of
fragrant grass (khas khana) on the floor, with its matting cooler
than the breezes of Kashmir, in the midday heat of summer,
drinking the water which, though originally warm, has been
cooled with ice and listening to sublime talk and witty
conversation, you will think of me, the captive of the hardships
of disappointment.”P27F28
It is an established fact that Kashmir has never been able to
produce a man, a religious scholar, a sufi saint or a poet who can
equal the place of Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi in History. He possessed a
vast worldly and spiritual knowledge and it was because of this
he is famous as ‘Jami al Kalimat Souri wal Masnavi’.P28F29P
Although, he was not involved in worldly pleasures, yet the
rulers and their nobles had respect for him. They used to listen to
his advises and practice over it.P29F30P Humaiyun and Akbar had a
wonderful belief on him and conferred distinction on him by
dmitting him to the honour of their society, regarded him with
gracious favour, so that he was held in high estimation and much
honoured. He was generous and open handed beyond anything
that can be imagined of his contemporaries.31
The number of literary works by Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi is not
known and neither all of them are available. Some of the famous
works include- Sawati-ul-Ilham (it is an Arabic taqriz/
introduction to Faizi’s Tafsir-ul-Quran), completed a Khamsa,32
Manasik-i-Hajj,33 Sharah-Sahih al Bukhari34, Kunz-al-Jawahir,
Risala e Azkar.35 Apart from that Sheikh Yaqub Safri is also
credited with a number of works like Diwan-i-Sarfi36, Treatises
on the art of composing engimas and also Quatrains (Rubaiyat)
on the mysticism of sufi with a Tafsir/commentary37
Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi occupied an important place in the
political history of Kashmir. He was the pivotal figure behind the
Mughal conquest of Kashmir. In 1557, when Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi
was thirty-five, the Shah Miri dynasty was overthrown by the
Chaks. The Chaks traced their origins to Baltistan. Being from
outside Kashmir, they were not particularly concerned about the
welfare of the people of Kashmir. The Chak rulers persecuted the
Sunni subjects. This caused several Sunni scholars to leave
Kashmir and seek shelter elsewhere.38 As an important Sunni
leader and scholar, Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi is said to have been a
thorn in the Sultan’s flesh, and therefore, a conspiracy was
plotted to have him killed. When the Shaikh heard about the
conspiracy, he left Kashmir, and went on a long journey that took
him to Samarqand, Iran and then finally to the holy cities of
Mecca and Medina, where he spent several months in the
company of accomplished Islamic scholars, studying various
Quranic commentaries (tafasir) and the Traditions of the Prophet
(hadith). When he finally returned to Kashmir, the political
situation was grim, with the Sunnis labouring under considerable
oppression under Chak rule. Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi tried his best to
normalize the situation but that was never possible under those
circumstances. A royal decree was issued ordering that Azan/
callto prayer should be offered in shia manner and the name of
Hazrat Ali should be mentioned. Qazi Musa was killed for not
mentioning the name of Hazrat Ali in the callto prayer (azan) and
his body was tied to the tail of an elephant and dragged through
the streets of Srinagar. This provoked the Sunnis of the town,
who rose up in protest. In order to put an end to the persecution
of the Sunnis, Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi and a group of his companions
Baba Daud Khaki, Baba Ismail Anchari and Baba Mehdi
Suharwardi went to the court of the Mughal Emperor Akbar at
Agra, requesting him to send an army to Kashmir and overthrow
the Chak rule.39 In their audience with Akbar, Shaikh Yaqub
Sarfi and his companions insisted that after Akbar took over the
administration of Kashmir, he should ensure full freedom of
religion to all its people; That there should be no interference
with local commerce and trade; That no Kashmiri should be
enslaved; That the practice of beggar or compulsory labour be
abolished and that those who had been associated with the Chak
regime should be divested of their powers.40 Akbar gave his
consent to these conditions, and then dispatched an army under
Mirza Shah Rukh against Chak ruler, in December 1585.41
Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi himself accompanied this army. 42 The
Mughal invasion was more a reaction in anger than a seriously
thought-out plan, neither the season was suitable nor was the
internal conditions suitable for launching such an attack. The
leaders of the army had urge to wait for some months till the
roads are cleared of snow and should enter Kashmir through
Bhimber which was relatively a better route but Akber in haste
ordered them to march through the Pakhli route.43 The Chaks
fought valiantly and defeated the Mughals. Then, in 1586, Akbar
sent a larger army to Kashmir, under Mirza Qasim Khan, which
inflicted a decisive defeat on the Chaks, and Yaqub Shah Chak
was forced to flee to Kishtwar, where he died in 1592. In this
way, the last independent Kashmiri dynasty came to an end, and
Kashmir was made a part of the Mughal Empire.
With the Mughal takeover of Kashmir, some Sunnis are said to
have launched stern reprisals against the Shi’as. Shaikh Yaqub
Sarfi is said to have bitterly protested against this, and is credited
with having made efforts to restore peace and communal
harmony.
II. CONCLUSION
Sheikh Yaqub Sarfi occupies a place of prominence in the
history of Medieval Kashmir. He had acquired international
reputation for his learning, scholarship and piety. He was
displayed with the accomplishments of learning and perfect
qualities that distinguish him as the greatest sufi of his age. He
was the greatest authority of religious matters. He traveled
throughout the world to quench his thirst for knowledge. He was
the author of many sublime and beautiful works including
Khamsa, Commentaries of Quran and Hadith, Treatises,
Quatrains etc. He devoted his life to normalize the sectarian
tensions between the Shias and Sunnis of Kashmir. When the
situation was out of control he himself along with his
companions went to the court of Akbar and assured him of
necessary support for the invasion of Kashmir and when Akbar
dispatched the army Shaikh accompanied and guided them.
Above all Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi was a man for which Kashmir
feels proud. Though he did not left behind his successor because
his only son ‘Muhammad Yousuf’ died in infancy, yet Shaikh
had Khalifas/disciples throughout India and Kashmir like Mir
Muhammad Khalifa, Shah Qasim Hakkani, Arif Billah,
Habibullah Naushahri44 etc. He died at the age of seventy- five in
1594 AD, in Srinagar. The tomb of Shaik Yaqub Sarfi attracts
visitors and is known as Ziyarat-i-Ishan.
from:- Sameer Ahmad Sofi
Research Scholar, CAS, Department of History, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Volume 6, Issue 2, February 2016

references:-
1 Abdul Qadir Badauni, Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, Vol. III (tr. W.
Haig), Patna, 1973, p. 200.
2 Peerzada Muhammad Tayyab Hussain Kashmiri, Auliya e
Kashmir, Nazir Publishers, Lahore, 1988, p. 38
3 Auliya e Kashmir, op. cit., p. 38
4 A.Q.Rafiqi, Sufism in Kashmir from the Fourteenth to the
sixteenth Century, Bharatiya Publishing House, Delhi, 1984, p.
114
5Khawaja M. Azam Diddamari, Wakiat-i-Kashmir (Urdu
translation by Hameed Yazdani), Srinagar, 1998, p. 224
6The literal meaning of Ganai is learned man, His family was
since centuries well learned and that is why they came to be
known as Ganai, for details, see, Shaikh Yaqub Sarfi, Dewan-iSarfi, With an introduction by Mir Habibullah Kamli,
S.P.College Library, Srinagar, (1387 A.H), p. 2.
7 Ibid
8Diddamari, op. cit., p. 224; Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p.3;
9
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 3
10Diddamari, op. cit., p. 224; Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p.3;
11
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p.3; G.M.D Sufi, Kashir : Being A
History of Kashmir from Earliest Times to Our Own, p. 360
12 Diddamari, op. cit., p. 224
13 Badauni, Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, III volumes, Vol. III,
(translated and edited by Sir W. Haig), Academica Asiatica,
Patna, 1973, p. 200
14
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 4.
15
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 4.
16 Diddamari, op. cit., p. 224; Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit.,p. 4.
17 Diddamari, op. cit, p. 225
18 For details see, Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 4.
19 Ibid, p. 5.
20
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 5
21 Ibid, p. 3; Diddamari, op. cit., p. 224
22 Abul Fazl, op. cit., Ain –i-Akbari, III Volumes, Vol. I, (tr.
Blochman), Low Price Publications, Calcutta, 2011, p. 191
23
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 3
24 Ain-i-Akbari, vol,I, op. cit., p. 651
25 Badauni, op. cit., p. 200
26 Ibid
27 Badauni, Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, p. 202.
28 Ibid, p. 203
29
Dewan-i-Sarfi, op. cit., p. 6.
30 Ibid
31 Badauni, op. cit., p. 201.
32 Khamsa is a series of five Masnavis also known as Panj-Gunj
which includes Masalik ul Akhyar, Wamiq-i-Uzra, LailaMajnun, Makhaz un Nabi and Muqamat Murshid. These five
works were written in imitation of Khamsa-i-Nizami Jami),
See Badauni, Muntakhab-ut-Tawarikh, p. 200 n., Diddamari,
op. cit.,p. 226.
33 Manasik-i-Hajj, It is written in Arabic prose and explains the
rules and regulations of the pilgrimage.
34 It is a Persian commentary in prose on the Sahih-al-Bukhari of
Muhammad bin Ismail Bukhari.
35 This work is devoted to the importance of the Zikr and to the
legality of Zikr-i-Jahr.
36 It is a collection of Ghazals and Ruba’iyat
37 For details see Dewan-i-Sarfi, p. 6
38 Diddamari, op. cit., p. 225
39 Auliya-e-Kashmir, op. cit., p. 39; see also P.N.K.Bamzai, A
History of Kashmir: Political, Social and Cultural, Delhi,
1962, p. 346
40 P.N.K.Bamzai, Op. Cit., 353
41 Abul Fazl, Ain-i-Akbari, Vol. I, (Blochman), op. cit., p. 479.
42 Abul Fazl. Akbarnama, vol. III, (tr. H. Beveridge), Low price
Publications, delhi, 1939, p. 715
43 Abul Fazl. Akbarnama, vol. III, op. cit., pp. 722-23

The Intimate Prayer of Ibrahim Ibn Ad’ham

I have left men utterly, out of love for you, And orphaned my children, that I might behold You Though, You dismemebered me for love’s sake limb by limb, Yet would my heart yearn for none besides You Overlook the faults of a weakling who is come to You If he has disobeyed You, O Vigilant Master, Yet he has never bowed down to another besides You, O Lord, Your ill-obeying slave has come to you, Admitting his sins, though he has prayed to You Should You forgive, it well befits You, And if You reject, who should show mercy besides You?
Source :-
http://healing-hearts-blog.com/

Al-Ḥikam—Sufi Aphorisms of IBN ʿATA ALLAH AL-ISKANDARI

1

One of the signs of relying on one’s own deeds

is the loss of hope when a downfall occurs.

2

Your desire for isolation,

even though God has put you in the world to gain a living,

is a hidden passion.

And your desire to gain a living in the world,

even though God has put you in isolation

is a comedown from lofty aspiration.

3

Antecedent intentions (sawābiq al-himam)

cannot pierce the walls of predestined Decrees.

4

Rest yourself from self-direction,

for what Someone Else has carried out on your behalf

you must not yourself undertake to do it.

5

Your striving for what has already been guaranteed to you,

and your remissness in what is demanded of you

are signs of the blurring of your intellect.

6

If in spite of intense supplication,

there is delay in the timing of the Gift,

let that not be the cause for your despairing.

For He has guaranteed you a response

in what He chooses for you,

not in what you choose for yourself,

and at the time He desires, not the time you desire.

7

If what was promised does not occur,

even though the time for its occurrence had been fixed,

then that must not make you doubt the promise.

Otherwise your intellect will be obscured

and the light of your innermost heart extinguished.

8 If He opens a

door for you, thereby making Himself known,

pay no need if your deeds do not measure up to this.

For, in truth, He has not opened it for you but out of

a desire to make Himself known to you.

Do you not know that He is the one who presented

the knowledge of Himself to you, whereas you are the one

who presented Him with deeds? #at a difference between

what He brings to you and what you present to Him!

9

Actions differ

because the inspirations of the states of being differ.

10

Actions are lifeless forms,

but the presence of an inner reality of sincerity (sirr al-ikhlāṣ) within them

is what endows them with life-giving Spirit.

11

Bury your existence in the earth of obscurity,

for whatever sprouts forth,

without having first been buried,

flowers imperfectly.

12

Nothing benefits the heart more than a spiritual retreat

wherein it enters the domain of meditation (maydān fikra).

13

How can the heart be illumined

while the forms of creatures are reflected in its mirror?

Or how can it journey to God

while shackled by its passions?

Or how can it desire to enter the Presence of God

while it has not yet purified itself

of the stain of forgetfulness?

Or how can it understand the subtle points of mysteries

while it has not yet repented of its offences?

14

The Cosmos is all darkness.

It is illumined only by the manifestation of God in it.

whoever sees the Cosmos and does not contemplate Him

in it or by it or before it or after it is in need of light

and is veiled from the sun of gnosis

by the clouds of created things.

15That which shows you the existence of His Omnipotence

Is that He veiled you from Himself

By what has no existence alongside of Him.

16

How can it be conceived that something veils Him,

since He is the One who manifests everything?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him

since He is the one who is manifest through everything?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him,

since He is the One who is manifest in everything?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him,

since He is the Manifest to everything?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him,

since He was the Manifest before the existence of anything?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him,

since He is more manifest than anything?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him,

since He is the One alongside of whom there is nothing?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him,

since He is nearer to you than anything else?

How can it be conceived that something veils Him,

since, were it not for Him,

the existence of everything would not have been manifest?

It is a marvel how Being has manifested in nonbeing,

and how the contingent has been established

alongside of Him who possesses the attribute of Eternity!

17

He who wishes that there appear, at a given moment,

other than what God has manifested in it,

has not left ignorance behind at all!

18

Your postponement of deeds till the time when you are free

is one of the frivolities of the ego.

19

Do not request Him to get you out of a state

so as to make use of you in a different one;

for, were He to desire so, He could make use of you

as you are, without taking you out!

20

Hardly does the intention of the initiate

want to stop at what has been revealed to him,

than the voices of Reality call out to him:

“That which you are looking for is still ahead of you.”

And hardly to the exterior aspects of created beings

display their charms,

than their inner realities call out to him:

“We are only a trial, so disbelieve not.”

21

Your requesting Him is suspecting Him.

Your seeking Him is due to your absence from Him.

Your seeking someone else is because of your

immodesty toward Him. Your requesting someone else

is on account of your distance from Him.

22

Not a breath do you expire

but a Decree of Destiny makes it go forth.

23

Do not look forward to being free of alterities,1

for that is indeed what cuts you off from vigilant attention to

Him in that very state He has assigned to you.

24

So long as you are in the world,

be not surprised at the existence of sorrows.

For, truly, it manifests nothing but what is in keeping

with its character or its inevitable nature.

25

No search pursued with the help of your Lord

remains at a standstill,

but any search pursued by yourself

will not be fruitful.

26

Among the signs of success at the end

is the turning to God at the beginning.

27

He who is illumined at the beginning

is illumined at the end.

28

whatatever is deposited in the invisible world

of innermost hearts

is manifested in the visible world

of phenomena.

29

What a difference between one who proceeds from God

in his argumentation

and one who proceeds inferentially to Him!

He who has Him as his starting-point knows the Real

as It is,

and proves any matter by reference to the

Being of its Origin.

But inferential argumentation

comes from the absence of union with Him.

Otherwise, when was it that he became absent

that one has to proceed inferentially to Him?

Or when was it that He became distant

that created things themselves will unite us to Him?

30

Those who are united with Him:

“Let him who has abundance spent out of his abundance.”

Those who are voyaging toward Him:

“And whoever has his means of subsistence straitened….”

31

Those who are voyaging to Him

are guided by the lights of their orientation,

whereas those who are united to Him

have the lights of face-to-face confrontation.

The former belong to their lights,

whereas the lights belong to the latter,

for they belong to God and to nothing apart from Him.

“Say: Allah! &en leave them prattling in their vain talk.”

32

Your being on the lookout for the vices hidden within you

is better than your being on the lookout for the

invisible realities veiled from you.

33

The Real is not veiled from you.

Rather, it is you who are veiled from seeing It;

for, were anything to veil It,

then that which veils It would cover It.

But if there were a covering to It,

then that would be a limitation to Its Being:

Every limitation to anything has power over it.

“And He is the Omnipotent, above His servants.”

34

Among the attributes of your human nature,

draw away

from every one that is incompatible with your servanthood,

so that you may be responsive to the call of God

and near His Presence.

35

The source

of every disobedience, indifference, and passion

is self-satisfaction.

The source

of every obedience, vigilance, and virtue

is dissatisfaction with one’s self.

It is better for you to keep company with an ignorant man

dissatisfied with himself

than to keep company with a learned man

satisfied with himself.

For what knowledge is there in a self-satisfied scholar?

And what ignorance is there in an unlearned man

dissatisfied with himself?

36

The ray of light of the intellect

makes you witness His nearness to you.

The eye of the intellect

makes you witness your nonbeing as due to His Being.

The Truth of the intellect

makes you witness His Being,

not your nonbeing, nor your being.

37

“God was, and there was nothing with Him,

and He is now as He was.”

38

Let not the intention of your aspiration shift

to what is other than He,

for one’s hopes cannot outstrip the Generous.

39

Appeal to no one but Him to relieve you of a pressing need

that He Himself has brought upon you.

For how can someone else remove what He has imposed?

And how can he who is unable to free himself

of a pressing need

free someone else of one?

40

If you have not improved your thinking of Him

because of His ineffable nature,

improve it because of His treatment of you.

For has He accustomed you to anything but what is good?

And has He conferred upon you anything but His favours?

41

How astonishing is he who flees from what is inescapable

and searches for what is evanescent!

“For surely it is not the eyes that are blind,

but blind are the hearts which are in the chests.”

42

Travel not from creature to creature,

otherwise you will be like a donkey at the mill:

Roundabout he turns, his goal the same as his departure.

Rather, go from creatures to the Creator:

“And that the final end is unto thy Lord.”

Consider the Prophet’s words

(God bless him and grant him peace!):

“Therefore, he whose flight is for God and His Messenger,

then his flight is for God and His Messenger;

and he whose flight is for worldly gain

or marriage with a woman

then his flight is for that which he flees to.”

So understand his words (upon him peace!)

and ponder this matter, if you can.

And peace on you!

43

Do not keep company

with anyone whose state does not inspire you

and whose speech does not lead you

to God.

44

You might be in a bad state; then,

associating with one who is in a worse state,

you see virtue in yourself.

45

No deed arising from a renouncing heart is small,

and no deed arising from an avaricious heart is fruitful.

46

Good works

are the result of good states.

Good states

arise from the stations wherein abide

those who have spiritual realisation.

47

Do not abandon the Invocation

because you do not feel the Presence of God therein.

For your forgetfulness of the Invocation of Him

is worse than your forgetfulness in the Invocation of Him.

Perhaps He will take you from an Invocation with

forgetfulness

to one with vigilance, and from one with vigilance

to one with the Presence of God, and from one with the

Presence of God

to one wherein everything but the Invoked is absent.

“And that is not difficult for God.”

48

A sign of the heart’s death

is the absence of sadness

over the acts of obedience you have neglected

and the abandonment of regret

over the mistakes you have made.

49

Let no sin reach such proportions in your eyes

that it cuts you off from having a good opinion of God

for, indeed, whoever knows his Lord

considers his sin as paltry next to His generosity.

50

There is no minor sin when His justice confronts you;

and there is no major sin when His grace confronts you.

51

No deed is more fruitful for the heart

than the one you are not aware of

and which is deemed paltry by you.

52

He only made an inspiration come upon you

so that you would go to him.

53

He made an inspiration come upon you

so as to get you out of the grip of alterities

and free you from bondage to created things.

54

He made an inspiration come upon you

so as to take you out of the prison of your existence

into the unlimited space of your contemplation.

55

Lights are the riding-mounts of hearts

and of their innermost centres.

56

Light is the army of the heart,

just as darkness is the army of the soul.

So when God wishes to come to the help of His servant,

He furnishes him with armies of lights

and cuts off from him the reinforcements

of darkness and alterities.

57

Insight (kashf) belongs to Light,

discernment (ḥukm) to the intellect (baṣīra),

and both progression and retrogression belong to the heart.

58

Let not obedience make you joyous

because it comes from you;

but rather, be joyous over it

because it comes from God to you.

“Say: In the grace of God and in His mercy,

in that they should rejoice.

It is better than that which they hoard.”

59

He prevents those who are voyaging to Him

from witnessing their deeds

and those who are united with Him

from contemplating their states.

He does that for the voyagers because

they have not realised sincerity toward God in those works;

and He does that for those united with Him because

He makes them absent from contemplating those states

by contemplating Him.

60

Were it not for the seeds of ambitious desire,

the branches of disgrace would not be lofty.

61

Nothing leads you so much like suspicion (wahm).

62

In your despairing, you are a free man;

but in your coveting, you are a slave.

63

Whoever does not draw near to God

as a result of the caresses of love

is shackled to Him with the chains of misfortune.

64

Whoever is not thankful for graces

runs the risk of losing them;

and whoever is thankful,

fetters them with their own cords.

65

Be fearful lest the existence of His generosity toward you

and the persistence of your bad behaviour toward Him

not lead you step by step to ruin.

“We shall lead them to ruin step by step

from whence they know not.”

66

It is ignorance on the part of the novice to act improperly,

and then, his punishment having been delayed,

to say, “If this had been improper conduct,

He would have shut off help and imposed exile.”

Help could be withdrawn from him

without his being aware of it,

if only by blocking its increase.

And it could be that you are made to abide at a distance

without your knowing it,

if only by His leaving you to do as you like.

67

If you see a servant

whom God has made to abide in the recitation of litanies (awrād)

and prolonged His help therein,

do not disdain what his Lord has given him

on the score that you do not detect the signs of gnostics on him

nor the splendour of God’s lovers.

For had there been no inspiration,

there would have been no litany (wird).

68

God makes some people remain in the service of Him,

and He singles out others to love Him.

“All do we aid—these as well as those—out

of the bounty of thy Lord,

and the bounty of thy Lord is not limited.”

69

It is rare that divine inspirations come except suddenly,

and this, so that they be protected

from servants’ claiming them

by virtue of the existence of receptivity on their part.

70

Infer the presence of ignorance

in anyone whom you see answering all that he is asked

or giving expression to all that he witnesses

or mentioning all that he knows.

71

He made the Hereafter an abode

to reward his believing servants

only because this world cannot contain

what He wishes to bestow upon them

and because He deemed their worth too high

to reward them in a world without permanence.

72

Whoever finds the fruit of his deeds coming quickly

has proof of the fact of acceptance.

73

If you want to know your standing with Him,

look at the state He has put you in now.

74

When He gives you obedience,

making you unaware of it because of Him,

then know that He has showered you liberally with His

graces both inwardly and outwardly

75

The best that you can seek from Him

is that which He seeks from you.

76

One of the signs of delusion

is sadness over the loss of obedience

coupled with an absence of resolve to bring it back to life.

77

The gnostic is not one who,

when making a symbolic allusion,

finds God nearer to himself than his symbolic allusion.

Rather, the gnostic is the one who,

because of his self-extinction in His Being

and self-absorption in contemplating Him,

has no symbolic allusion.

78

Hope goes hand in hand with deeds;

otherwise, it is just wishful thinking.

79

That which the gnostics seek from God

is sincerity in servanthood

and performance of the rights of Lordship.

80

He expanded you so as not to keep you in contraction;

He contracted you so as not to keep you in expansion;

and He took you out of both

so that you not belong to anything apart from Him.

81

It is more dreadful for gnostics

to be expanded than to be contracted,

for only a few

can stay within the limits of proper conduct in expansion.

82

Through the existence of joy

the soul gets its share in expansion

but there is no share for the soul in contraction

83

Sometimes He gives while depriving you,

and sometimes He deprives you in giving.

84

When he opens up your understanding of deprivation,

deprivation becomes the same as giving.

85

Outwardly, creatures are an illusion;

but, inwardly, they are an admonition.

Thus, the soul looks at the illusory exterior

while the heart looks at the admonitory interior.

86

If you want a glory that does not vanish,

then do not glory in a glory that vanishes.

87

The real journey

is when the world’s dimensions are rolled away from you

so that you see the Hereafter closer to you than yourself.

88

A gift from man is deprivation;

but deprivation from God is beneficence.

89

Our Lord is far above the servant dealing with

Him in cash, and His repaying him in credit.

90

It is reward enough for worship that He has

accepted you as worthy of it

91

Reward enough for workers is what He disclosed

unto their hearts in His worship, and that which

He shows them of His kindliness.

92

Whoever worships Him for something they hope

from Him, or obeys Him to keep chastisement from

coming to themselves, has not given His attributes

their due.

93

when He gives to you He shows you His kindness

and when He denies you He is showing you

irresistible power.

So in both He is disclosing Himself to you, and

drawing nigh with His loving kindness unto you.

94

Deprivation hurts you

only because of your incomprehension of God in it.

95

Sometimes He opens the door of obedience for you,

but not the door of acceptance;

or sometimes He condemns you to sin,

and it turns out to be a cause for union with God.

96

A disobedience that bequeaths humiliation and extreme need

is better than an obedience that bequeaths

self-infatuation and pride.

97

There are two graces that no being can do without

and that are necessary for every creature:

the grace of existence, and the grace of sustenance.

98

He bestowed His grace upon you,

first, through giving you existence,

and, second, through uninterrupted sustenance.

99

Your indigence belongs to you essentially,

for accidents do not abolish essential indigence:

The trials that arrive in this world

are but reminders to you of what you ignore of indigence.

100

Your best moment

is the one wherein you witness your actual indigence

and, through it,

reach the reality of your lowliness.

101

whenever He alienates you from His creatures,

realise that He wants to open for you

the door of intimacy with Him.

102

Whenever He releases your tongue to ask,

know that He wants to give to you.

103

The duress of the gnostic never departs,

and he finds no rest in anything but God.

104

He has illumined outward appearances

with the lights of His created vestiges;

And illumined inmost hearts

with the lights of His attributes.

This is why the lights of created vestiges set at night,

but the lights of hearts and inmost souls never set.

And why it has been said:

the daytime sun goes down at night,

But the sun of gnostic hearts never goes down.”

105

Let the pain of tribulation be lightened for you by knowing

that it is He Most Glorious who is making trial of you;

For Him from whom you are faced with the blows of fate

is He who has accustomed you to His choosing well.

106

whoever thinks His loving kindness is ever separated

from His ordaining fate,

does so out of shortsightedness.

107

It is not to be feared that the paths will confuse you,

but only that whims will defeat you.

108

Glorious beyond ken is He who has veiled the secret of electhood

in the appearance of humanness, and who is manifest through the

mightiness of Lordship in the very showing of one’s slavehood.

109

Take not your Lord to task that what you seek

is slow in coming; but take yourself to task

that your manners are slow in coming.

110

whenever He makes you obedient outwardly to His command

and bestows you surrender inwardly to His irresistible power,

He has shown you largesse beyond thanking.

111

Not everyone truly of the elect has yet been freed of shortcomings.

112

Only the ignorant man scorns the recitation of litany.

Inspiration is to be found in the Hereafter,

while the litany vanishes with the vanishing of this world;

but it its more fitting to be occupied with something

for which there is no substitute.

The litany is what He seeks from you;

the inspiration is what you seek from Him.

what comparison is there

between what He seeks from you and what you seek from Him?

113

The arrival of sustenance

is in accordance with receptivity,

while the raying-out of lights

is in accordance with the purity of the innermost being.

114

when the forgetful man gets up in the morning,

he reflects on what he is going to do,

whereas the intelligent man sees what God is doing with him.

115

The devotees and ascetics are alienated from everything

only because of their absence from God in everything.

Had they contemplated Him in everything,

they would not have been alienated from anything.

116

He commanded you in this world

to reflect upon His creations;

but in the Hereafter

He will reveal to you the perfection of His Essence.

117

when He knew that you would not renounce Him,

He made you contemplate that which issues from Him.

118

Since God knows the occurrence of weariness on your part,

He has varied the acts of obedience for you; and since

He knows of the occurrence of impulsiveness in you,

He has limited them to specific times, so that

your concern be with the performance of ritual prayer,

not with the existence of the ritual prayer

Not everyone who prays performs well.

119

Ritual prayer is a purification for hearts

and an opening-up of the door of the invisible domains.

120

Ritual prayer is the place of intimate conversations

and a mine of reciprocal acts of purity

wherein the regions of the innermost being are expanded

and the rising gleams of light shine forth.

He knows of the existence of weakness in you,

so He made the number of ritual prayers small;

and He knew of your need of His grace,

so He multiplied their fruitful results.

121

when you seek recompense for a deed,

the reality of sincerity in it is demanded of you in return.

As for the insincere,

the feeling of security from chastisement suffices him.

122

Do not seek recompense for a deed whose doer was not you.

It suffices you as recompense for the deed that He accepts it.

123

when He wants to show His grace to you,

He creates states in you and attributes them to you.

124

where He to make you go back to yourself,

there would be no end to the reasons for blaming you;

and were He to manifest His beneficence toward you,

there would be no end to the reasons for praising you.

125

Cling to the attributes of His Lordship

and realise the attributes of your servanthood!

126

He has prohibited you from claiming for yourself,

among the qualities of created beings,

that which does not belong to you;

so would He permit you to lay claim to His Attribute,

He who is the Lord of the Universe?

127

How can the laws of nature be ruptured for you

so that miracles result,

while you, for your part,

have yet to rupture your bad habits?

128

The point at issue is not the fact of searching;

rather, the point at issue is that

you be provisioned with virtuous conduct.

129

Nothing pleads on your behalf like extreme need,

nor does anything speed gifts to you quicker

than lowliness and want.

130

If you were to be united with Him

only after the extinction of your vices

and the effacement of your pretensions,

you would never be united with Him!

Instead, when He wants to unite you to Himself,

He covers your attribute with His Attribute

and hides your quality with His Quality.

And thus He unites you to Himself

by virtue of what comes from Him to you,

not by virtue of what goes from you to Him.

131

Were it not for the kindliness of His veiling,

no deed would be worthy of acceptance.

132

You are more in need of His forbearance when you obey

Him than you are when you disobey Him.

133

Veiling is of two kinds:

veiling of disobedience, and veiling in it.

Common people seek God’s veiling

in disobedience

out of the fear of falling in rank among mankind.

The elect seek the veiling of disobedience

out of the fear of falling from the sight of God,

the True King.

134

whoever honours you honours only the beauty of

His veil in you. &erefore, praise is to Him who

veiled you, not to the one who honoured and thanked you.

135

No one is a friend of yours

except the one who, while knowing your defects is your

companion,

and that is only your generous Master.

The best one to have as a friend

is He who does not seek you out

for the sake of something coming from you to Him.

136

Were the light of certitude to shine,

you would see the Hereafter so near

that you could not move toward it,

and you would see that the eclipse of extinction

had come over the beauties of the world.

137

It is not the existence of any being alongside of Him

that veils you from God,

for nothing is alongside of Him.

Rather, what veils you from Him

is the illusion of a being alongside of Him.

138

Had it not been for His manifestation in created beings,

eyesight would not have perceived them.

Had His Qualities been manifested,

His created beings would have disappeared.

139

He manifests everything

because He is the Interior,

and He conceals the existence of everything

because He is the Exterior.

140

He has permitted you to reflect

on what is in created beings,

but He has not allowed you to stop at the selfsame creatures.

“Say: Behold what is in the heavens and the earth.”

Thus, with His words, “Behold what is in the heaven.”

He has opened up the door of instruction for you.

But He did not say, “Behold the heavens.”

so as not to lead you to the mere existence of bodies.

141

The Universe is permanent through His making it

permanent,

and it is annihilated by the Unity of His Essence.

142

People praise you for what they suppose is in you;

but you must blame your soul for what you know is in it.

143

when the believer is praised,

he is ashamed before God that he should be lauded

for an attribute he does not see in himself.

144

&e most ignorant of all people

is the one who abandons the certitude he has

for an opinion people have.

145

when He lets praise of you burst forth,

and you are not worthy of it,

praise Him for what He is worthy of.

146

when ascetics are praised, they are contracted,

for they witness the praise as coming from mankind;

but when gnostics are praised, they are expanded,

for they witness the praise as coming from the True King.

147

If when given something, the giving expands you,

and if when deprived of something,

the deprivation contracts you,

then take that as proof of your immaturity

and the insincerity of your servanthood.

148

when a sin is committed by you do not let it

make you despair of attaining uprightness with your Lord,

for that one may the last ever destined for you to commit.

149

when you want Him to open you the door of hope,

behold what is from Him to you.

And if you want Him to open you the door of fear,

behold what is from you to Him.

150

He often benefits you in the night of distress,

what you have not benefited

in the dawning of the daytime of elation:

You know not which of them is nearer in benefit to you.

151

The horizons whence illuminations ascend are hearts and souls.

152

A light is reposited in hearts that is maintained by the light

coming from the treasuries of the unseen.

153

There is a light by which He shows you His effects,

and a light by which He shows you

His Attributes.

154

Hearts sometimes halt with lights, just as selves are veiled

by the opacity of things besides Him.

155

He has veiled the lights of inward souls

with the coarseness of outward appearances

out of reverence for them;

lest they be made low and common by being divulged,

or be called on aloud by the tongue of fame.

156

Glory be to Him who does not guide to His friends

except whom He wills.

And He does not make any one reach His friends

except he whom He wishes to make reach Him.

157

Perhaps, He let you see the unseen metaphysical world

but veiled you from seeing the

secrets of His servants.

158

Whoever sees the secrets of the servants

and does not try to imitate divine mercy, his seeing such

is a trial for him and a reason for misfortune to befall him.

159

&e portion of the lower self in acts of disobedience

is plain and known while its

portion in acts of worship is hidden and secret.

And treating a hidden [disease] is difficult.

160

Perhaps showing off in good works has entered upon you

from where people do not see you.

161

Your wanting people to know your specialness

is a proof for your lack of truthfulness in

your slavehood.

162

Vanish from sight the eyes of people on you

with the eye of God on you. And be absent from their coming

towards you by seeing God approaching you.

163

Whoever knows the Truth witnesses Him in everything.

Whoever is annihilated in

Him is absent from everything.

And whoever loves Him does not prefer anything over

Him.

164

The Truth is only veiled from you

due to

His being extremely close.

165

He is only veiled [from you] due to His being too obvious

and He is hidden from physical sight

due to the tremendous light [of His Entity].

166

Do not suppose your supplication will cause Him to give

lest your understanding suffer.

Rather, supplicate to Him to show your slavehood

and to fulfil the rights of His lordship.

167

How can your later supplication be a cause

for His predestined giving?

168

A pre-eternal command is high above needing an external cause.

169

His special concern for you is not due to anything you have done.

Where were you when His special concern and care

took charge of you? &ere was no sincerity in

actions in His pre-eternity nor the presence of spiritual states.

At that time, there was

only mere benevolence and great gifts

170

He knew that His slaves would want to know

whom His special concern is for. So He said,

“He chooses for His mercy whom He wills” [Qur’an 2:105].

But He knew if He left them at that they would leave

performing actions depending only on the preeternal command.

So He said, “Indeed the mercy of God is closer to those

who act excellently.” [Qur’an 7:56]

171

On His volition depends everything

and His volition depends on nothing.

172

Sometimes manners dictate for them to leave supplication

relying on His pre-decided division and due to them

being busy with His remembrance.

173

Only he who can forget is reminded and only he

who can neglect is told to be attentive.

174

Times of need are the celebration days of the disciple.

175

Perhaps, you gain benefits in times of need

which you do not gain in fasting and prayer.

176

Having [hard pressed] needs is the domain for divine gifts.

177

If you want divine gifts, rectify your feeling of need.

“Charity is only for the poor”. [Qur’an 9:60]

178

Become realised in your attributes and

He will strengthen you with His:

Realise your humility and

He will strengthen you with His pride.

Realise your incapability and

He will strengthen you with His ability.

Realise your weakness and

He will strengthen you with His power.

179

Perhaps a person who has not obtained constant rectitude

[in beliefs, actions, and states] may be given miracles.

180

The sign that the Truth has established you

in a state is that it is always present and

you are able to reap its fruits.

181

Whoever instructs gaining strength from his good deeds

is silenced by bad deeds.

Whoever instructs gaining strength from God’s goodness

is not silenced by misdeeds.

182

The spiritual lights of the wise men travel faster

than their words wherever the light

falls, there understanding is reached.

183

Every statement spoken has a covering

describing the heart of the one uttering.

184

Whoever has permission to instruct,

his explanations are understood by the ears of

people and his allusions appear to them lofty.

185

Perhaps spoken higher realities

appear with a loss of light if you do not have

permission to express them.

186

Their explanations are from sudden overflowing states

or for guiding a disciple.

The former happens to the beginners

and the later is for the well-established and realised.

187

Spiritual instruction is nourishment for the listeners.

And you will not get except that

which you [are ready] to imbibe.

188

Sometimes the beginner describes a station of which he only

has had a small taste and sometimes the advanced describes it

after having in it realisation. And only the one

with insight can distinguish.

189

The traveler should not speak about his spiritual experiences

since that will decrease their effect on his heart

and detract from his truthfulness with His Lord in them.

190

Do not stretch your hand to take something from people unless

you see that the Giver through them is your Master.

And in such a state, take what is in agreement with

[external] knowledge.

191

The knower of God often is shy from asking his Master

to relieve His need sufficing himself with His will.

So, why would he not be shy from

asking His creation for his needs.

192

When you are confused about two matters,

follow the one harder for the lower self.

For only the rightful duty seems hard for it.

193

Among the signs of following one’s desires

is speeding towards mandūb acts of worship

while being lazy about wājib acts of worship.

194

He tied down wājib acts to specific times so that

you would not be deprived [of their reward] from procrastination.

And He expanded your free time so that some choice

[in performing actions] would remain for you.

195

He knew that [most of ]His slaves are not self-motivated

in seeking Him; so, He obligated for them obedience to Him.

He pushed them towards Him with the chains of obligation.

Your Lord is amused by a people

who are pushed to Paradise in chains.

196

He has obligated you to serve Him but in doing so

He has only obligated you to enter His Paradise.

197

Whoever finds it impossible that God will save Him

from his lusts and take him out of his heedlessness

has declared divine power impotent.

“And God is able over all things.” [Qur’an 18:45]

198

Perhaps He engulfed you in darkness

[after being in light] so that you recognise

the tremendous blessing He has given you.

199

Whoever does not recognise blessings in their presence

is reminded of them in their absence.

200

Do not let showers of blessings stun you away from

being thankful for them as that will lower your rank.

201

Lust engrained in the heart is a disease hard to cure.

202

Lusts are not driven from the heart

except by terrifying fear or restless longing.

203

Just like He does not like an action done

for others along with Him,

He does not like a heart with others in it along with Him.

The insincere action, He does not accept.

The insincere heart, He does not approach.

204

Some light is granted permission to reach

and some light is granted permission to enter.

205

Sometimes spiritual light descends but finds

the heart filled with images of physical things

and thus goes back to where it came.

206

Empty your heart of others and He will fill it

with divine knowledges and secrets.

207

Do not find slow His giving

but find slow your approaching [Him].

208

Duties assigned to specific times can be made up for

when missed but the rights of the moments of time

cannot be made up for if missed.

In every moment, God has on you a new right

and important matter. How will you discharge

a previous right when you are busy

discharging God’s current right?

209

What has passed of your life cannot be replaced

and what you have used well cannot be priced.

210

You do not love something except that you become its slave

and He does not love that you be a slave to other than Him.

211

Your obedience does not benefit Him

and your disobedience does not harm Him.

He has only ordered you to do this and prohibited you

from doing that for your own gain.

212

His might is not increased by him who approaches

and His might is not decreased by him who turns away.

213

You reach God by reaching knowledge of Him;

otherwise, our Lord is high above that something

be connected to Him or He be connected to something.

214

Your closeness to Him is by your seeing His closeness to you.

Otherwise, where are you that you would be close to Him.

215

Higher realities dawn upon you at once

and after your have received them, they are explained:

When We recite, follow the recitation. Then, We will explain

[the meaning]. [Qur’an 75:18-19]

216

When divine spiritual experiences come over you,

they destroy your habits: Indeed

when kings enter cities, they ruin them. [Qur’an 27:34]

217

Spiritual experiences come from the presence of the Subjugator.

For this reason, they do not collide with anything except

they knock it out: Rather, we hurl the truth at falsehood;

so, it knocks it out until falsehood vanishes. [Qur’an 21:18]

218

How can the Truth veil Himself with something

when He is apparent in that thing and

He is [also independently] present and existent.

219

Do not despair of the acceptance of an act which you perform

without feeling His presence.

Many a time He accepts an act whose fruit you do not taste now.

Do not give purity value to a spiritual experience whose fruit

you do not yet know.The benefit from rain clouds

is not the rain but the fruits [which grow thereafter].

221

Do not wish that a spiritual experience had remained [with you]

after it has already spread its lights and placed its secrets.

You have in God independence from everything

but nothing can make you free of need from Him.

222

Your wanting something (other than Him) to remain

[when it is departing] is a proof

that you are not present with Him.

And your feeling sad for losing other than Him is a

proof that you have not reached Him.

223

Pleasure even if manifest in many forms is only through

viewing His closeness. Pain even if manifest in many forms

is only through being veiled from Him. The cause for

pain is the presence of the veil. The perfecting of pleasure is

by viewing His noble Countenance.

224

What the hearts find of sadness and depression

is from their being denied the vision [of Him].

225

From the perfecting of His blessing on you is that

He give you that which suffices and

prevents you from that which will cause you to transgress.

226

Let the things that make you happy be fewer and

the things that make you sad will be fewer.

227

If you wish not to be abandoned,

do not seek protection from things that do not last.

228

If the beginning entices you, the ending repulses you.

If the external invites you, the internal bars you.

229

He has only made the world a place of others and a mine

for troubles so that you would not love it.

230

He knew that you would not accept mere advice;

so, He made you taste its [bitter] taste

to ease your separation from it.

231

Useful knowledge is that whose light rays spread in the chest

and tear away the veil from the heart.

232

The best knowledge

is that which is accompanied by godfearingness.

233

If knowledge is accompanied by godfearingness,

it is for your favour; else, it is to your detriment.

234

When you are pained by people turning away from you

or directing blame towards you, suffice yourself

with God’s knowledge of you. If you are not satisfied with

His knowing of you, then your not being satisfied with His

knowing is a greater misfortune than people hurting you.

235

He only made injury flow from their hands onto you so that

you would not find rest in them. He wants to push you away

from everything so that nothing busies you away from Him.

236

When you know that the devil does not forget about you,

do not forget about Him in whose Hand is your forelock.

237

He only made the devil an enemy so that he would drive you

towards Him. And He made your lower self move you

[to do bad] so that your approaching and repenting

to Him would never cease.

238

Whoever asserts that he is humble is in reality arrogant

— as humbleness is a high state.

And if you assert for yourself a high state, you are arrogant.

239

The humble person does not see himself above what he does

but sees himself below what he does.

240

Real humbleness issues forth from witnessing

His Tremendousness and lofty attributes.

241

You cannot leave [your] attributes without seeing [His] attributes.

242

The believer is busied by the praise of God from being

regardful of himself. And he is busied by the rights of God

from remembering his selfish shares.

243

The true lover is not he who hopes for compensation

or seeks his own aim from his beloved.

Rather, the lover spends himself on his beloved.

The lover is not he who expects his beloved to spend on him.

244

If it were not for the battlefields of the lower selves,

there would be no travel for the travellers on the Path

since there is no distance between you and Him

that your journey would shorten

and there is no separation between you and Him

that your reaching Him would eliminate.

245

He placed you in the middle realm between His physical world

and metaphysical one to inform you of the loftiness

of your rank among His creatures.

You are a gem enclosed by the shells of created forms.

246

The cosmos is large in respect to your body

but is not large in respect to your soul.

247

He who lives in the physical world locked out

of the unseen world is imprisoned by his surroundings

and encircled by the frame of his body.

248

You are with created things as long as you

do not witness the Creator.

When you witness Him, created things are with you.

249

It is not necessary that specialness entails

one has no rough human characteristics.

Specialness is like the light of the sun filling the horizon,

whereas the horizon has no light in itself.

Sometimes He takes away the trait of specialness from you

and makes you return to your rough human limits.

Thus, the light of day is not from you and does

not belong to you; rather, it is merely being put over you.

250

His actions point to His names. His names point to His attributes.

His attributes point to His Entity since it is impossible

for an attribute to be existent all by itself.

Subjects of divine attraction have His Entity revealed to them.

Then, He makes them see His attributes.

Then, He makes them return to deep understanding of His names.

Then, He makes them see His actions.

Those traveling the Path under a teacher

experience these things in the reverse order.

The place where the second group ends up is where

the first group started.

And the place where the second group starts is where

the first group ends.

But, each experiences the stages slightly differently.

So, perhaps the two groups may meet on the Path,

these going up and those going down.

251

The lights of the heart and innermost beings

are only fully perceived in the unseen

metaphysical world similar to how the light of the sky

is only seen in the physical world.

252

Finding fruits of one’s worship in this life

is a glad tiding of the reward in the next life.

253

How can you ask for a reward for

the action He has bestowed on you?

How can you request reward for

the truthfulness He has given you?

254

For some, their spiritual lights precede their remembrances.

For others, their remembrances precede their spiritual lights.

For others yet, their remembrances and

spiritual lights occur together.

Still others have no spiritual lights nor any

remembrances—and we seek refuge with God from that.

255

Some people perform dhikr to gain an illumined heart.

Other people gain an illumined

heart and as result perform dhikr.

For others, dhikr and illumination are simultaneous;

this last group has dhikr which guides

and lights which are followed.

256

True dhikr on the outside is only from the vision of God’s Entity

and contemplation on the inside.

257

He made you witness before He asked you give witness.

Thus externally, one speaks of His divinity

and in one’s heart and innermost being,

one realises His all-encompassing oneness.

258

He has given you three gifts: (1) He has let you remember Him;

if it were not for His bounty, you would not be worthy

to engage in His remembrance, (2) He made you mentioned

along with Him as He has affirmed your relation to Him,

and (3) He made you remembered by Him and thus

He has perfected His blessing on you.

259

Sometimes a long life is fruitless.

And sometimes a short life is extremely fruitful.

260

Whoever is blessed in his age, he is able to reap much

from the blessing of God in a very short time.

So much so, that one cannot explain [the immensity]

nor even allude to it.

261

A sign of abandonment is that you become free from things

that busy but still do not turn towards Him,

and that your barriers

become fewer but still do not travel to Him.

262

Contemplation is the journey of the heart through other than God.

263

Contemplation is the lamp of the heart.

When it goes away, there is no light for it.

264

Contemplation is of two types:

(1) contemplation of belief and faith and

(2) contemplation of witnessing and seeing.

&e first is for those who are apt to learn lessons

[from what they see] and the second is for those

that experience the vision [of God]

and have insight.