In the Mystic Footsteps of Saints, VOLUME 1 (Shaykh Nazim, 153 pages, 2/10)
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His servants gifts from His divine knowledge, beauty, mercy, wisdom, power and penetrating will endlessly. As He said, He wants to make Fmself known.
And even though the succession of prophethood has spiraled to a climax, first with the advent of Jesus Cluist, and thea with the mission of the seal of prophets, Muhammad (peace be upon them all), whose duty it was to establish divine Light throughout the woeld in a unified, universal way not possible in the earlier stages of the development of mankind, don’t think that access to divine kuowledge is cut off. Never! The prophets of God have always been the leaders of spiritually dhimined people on earth, those who have been given the task of puiding mitiates and mankend at large. Every one of them brought spiritual energy to this world, evergy that dich got leave this realm when they did, but remained as a beacon of light through the obscurity of this life. This light is not, as if were unembodied, but incorporated in at least one spiritual heir in every period of lruman history.
Ifa person seeks truth, Allah will lead him to such a beacon, to a meeting with an inberitor of a prophet, whose particular guidance qualities suit his potentialiies. These inheritors are connected spiritually with the prophets whom they represent and, consequently, when you meet them and are prepared to recerve the transmission, you may receive a “photocopy” in your spieitual body
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and establish direct contact with that propher — you will be invited to his assembly.
Once Moses was on Mount Sinai conversing with his Lord and addeessed Lim, saying “Ob my Lord, have any of your servants been honored with such intimate chscourse as [ have?” Phe Lord replied: “Oh Moses, have a look around you.” Moses looked around and saw the whole valley filled with Moseses, all with long beards and staffs, looking at him as ke looked back at them in amazement, There the Lord addressed him: “Oh Moses, this 5 only a selection: there are more, but 1 only show you this small group to give you an idea of what power I have sent through you to the world.” He is Almighty Allah, cettainly it is no great thing for Mim to grant those who stnacerely want to be ke Moses, and follow in his footsteps, a spiritual power that emanates from Allah but comes to them through Moses.
During the aight journey of the Prophet Muhammad and his ascension to the seven heavens, the Angel Gabriel accompanied him part of the way, through the seven heavens, but at a certain point stayed back in awe of the tadiance of the divine countenance, fearing to approach further lest he burn. The hely Prophet then ventured on alone and was shown by his Lord a huge pathermy of people, also identical to himself, and the Lord told him:
“Phese are the sainis of yaur nation and ary serwantt: And no ane Bnoms ihe avaies of the Lord except blin, Whose steps in your foutsteps will partake of your bona and loli.”
Therefore, a grandshaykh sitting with his murids must be a means for those murids to attain Hght from the Prophet whom that gtandshaykh represents. Tt is impossible for a grandshaykh to leave even the weakest of his murids without a share of that power, so thar be should attain to the same degree and honor as his grandshaykh,
We have waded mto an ocean of deep and secret knowledge, and as it is secret we are bemg signaled back to shore by the “lifegnard” lest we all drown. Mystic Footsteps
xg Seek Your Sustenance
The holy Prophet advised his nation to work for a hving, though our stay in this woeld is only temporary. He advises us to seek out Gur sustenance, mot to wait for it to find us. Tt is best for us to work for our ivelihood, to engage ourselves in any type of work that does not transgress the Law, ag the most tasteful of food is that earned with one’s own hands. For man to seek his sustenance within the bounds of the divine Law is most pleasing to out Lord, ancl is also couducive to good menial and physical health. So whoever is able bodied must work. Don't argue that, since the sustenance of every creature ts already destined for him you need neither pursue it nor avoid i -- these are the excuses of laxy people ~ and Alish does mor favor laziness. As long as you are in this world there mrast be some work that you can do with sour hands.
King Solomon, who was both a prophet and a divinely Ordained Monarch was granted by his Lord opulence far beyond the imagination of even the richest man of our time, for Allah Almighty pranted him knowledge of the exact location of all the treasures tn the earth, and also empowered him over armies of finn who not only guarded those treasures but would bring up any of them upon command. Solomon was also granted the power 16 discourse with the animals, and they toa were his servants.
Even such a magnificent emperor as Solomon never in his life ate food except the proceeds from the sale of baskets he himself wore, Can we find such scrapulousness anywhere? King Solomon set an example for all of his subjects, and people of all time by not
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using the wealth of the nation for his pers sonal needs. Bur nowadays, on the contrary, the povernment is expected to supply everyone’s needs, so that many people, other than those who are truly handicapped or in need, unashamedly take goveroment handouts and demand that they be increased. Don’: be unemployed! Perhaps you can cheat the government, but you can’t deceive Allah; and He Almighty punished such peeple in this life by making that money a cause of discontent for them. Neo “barakah” comes fron unearned money, and the result of such a life will be both phrsical and mental illness. Therefore, if you value your health and your sanity, eat from the work of your hands!
Sultan Abdul Hamid, the last Khalifah of the Ottoman Limpire, was a great personality of lis ume. Be virtue of his great stamina and charisma he was able to noi only hoid together the crumbling cmpite, but to actually effect a kind of revival of spirit throughout the vast teal. He was the last ruler to be mentioned in sermons all across the Muslim Wold, and he was the last keeper of the holy relics of the Prophet that are in Istanbul
In the midst of all the affairs of his empire that needed his attending to, he found time to engage in a craft and eat from the proceeds of that work. Not only this, but he never ascended his throne to attend to court unal he had recited his Naqshbandi exercises and read a portion of the Quran and also of the prayer beok “Dalal ul Khairat”) as well as praying the vo sets of supererogatory prayers of the early rnorning. It is enough of a testimony to his strength to mention that he sat on the throne for thirty three years ina time when most kings could not manage to cetain theis power for even ten years because of the many intigues and the growing chaos of the umes. The magnitude of his majesty was such that Katser Withelm TI once said: “I have met many monarchs and culers in my life and have found them all te be my mfetiors, or at best my equals, but when | entered the presence of Abdul Hamid 1 began to tremble.”
The holy Prophet once said: “You must work for your henest rovision as if you ate going to remain in. this world forever, and 3 Rong
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for the afterlife as if you will die tomorrow.” Now why would the Prophet, whose mission it was to call to eternal life, suggest that we work as if we will abways be in this world? Because when hope for the life of the world is abandoned man will dic. Hope for the future of this world and for our position in it is accessary for our being able to devote ourselves to our duties in this life. Besides this, the holy Prophet declared that man’s good deeds live on after bim in this world, through the benefit that future generations derive from them.
Aad with regard to the afterlife, the holy Prophet was reminding us that we will cross that barrier, and it could be tomortow, ot ever today: So, should we not be prepared? In ordet to put the matter in perspective, the holy Prophet also said: “Oh people, you must consider how long you may remain ia this world and work for it in accordance with the length of your stay; and you must consider as well how long you will be in the Lfe of the hereafter atid strive for it accordingly. ” "This saying may seem to contradict the previous one, for if you balance the time you will spend in this world against the ame you will spend in the heteafter, it wil be nothing. Each of our Prophet’s savings is perfect: therefore, for those who would abandon their worldly duties, he has urped then to oppose this tendency by thinking of this world as eternal, so that they may give value to theic duties. And for those. who would pussuc this world exclusively, the second measure: the ume spent here against the time there, so that they may seek what is tn fact eternal
sayyidioa Ali related fom the wisdom he gained from the Prophet, that exaggeration on the one had, and the total abandoument, on the other, of any aspect of life is a sign of ignorance. Therefore, in this matter of balance between different aspects of effort we have been urged to seck equilibrium, And our Nagshbandi predecessors recommend the following division of out day: eight hours for prayer and devotions and eight hours for secking cur sustenance, (and time devoted to our familics may be considered as devotion, as Allah has ordered us to attend ta them). Following such guidelines, even people with heavy tesponsibilities
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may find time for both work anel prayer, like King Solomon ard Sultan Abdul Hamid.
(uestion What shall ] do in my work situation where I am surrounded by people who are really devils, and are always teying to drag me down to ther level? Shall | be very short with them, reject their familiarity and just go about my business?
Séayéh Nagin There is ac wisdom in pointing out people's faults to them directly, aor in behaving in such a way that your disapproval becomes very obvious. AZ you may do is to make some very generalized statements at an appropriate time without coming too close to directly attacking their actions or ideas, for there is nothing that the ego hates more than being blamed or accused,
ALE souls have wings, but the wings of sinners are broken, and they cannot fly until their wings heal, and that takes time. Meanwhile, they do not seck nests in high places ~ on roofs, mountains or trees — but crawl into the basement. Because they are imprisoned by their egos they remain in that dark surrounding, never seeing the ight of day, only knowing artificial ight.
They may in time emerge from that dark basement, but if you make them anery with you they will becormc even more stubborn, Allah Almuphty warned the holy Prophet of the consequences of such an attitude when He said:
“had paw were short tempered, severe and bard hearted they would flee avn you,”
This verse indicates that only through exemplary tolerance and kindness can any imptession be made on ill mannered and badhy educated people.
lt ig not Allah Aloughty’s way to puntsh people, not even tyrants, until a divine messenger has been sent to them, to offer them a better way than the way of tyranny on which they tread. The door to repentance and just dealing iy open to everyone, and tt wae the duty of the prophets and their inheritors to beckon all
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towards thar door; all che more so the tyrants, as their bad actions may adversely affect millions of people or the whole world!
The very word “Pharaoh” has become synonymous with “trrant.” Our Lord teaches us the proper way of trying to turn a tyrant away from his tyranny, when He ordered Moses and Aaron, peace be upon them to:
“Ge wnte Pharaob and sheak to him smoothly and politely, thal perhabs he wtay be guided”
Only later, when Pharaoh’s intransigence became apparent, was Moses ordered to threaten him with divine wrath and to bring dows divine tetribution upoa Pharaoh's people.
According to this divine wisdom, i is wrong for a believer to confront anyone with bad manners and derision. We have not been ordered to be quarrelsome and scowling, cursing and swearing
peaple.
Whenever out gtandshaykh would teceive government officials, secret police or people who had come to his assembly to toy and find fault, in order to oppose him, he, of course, could casily read their secret intentions. He abways treated such people with special kindness, showing them extraordinary tespect and deference. ‘The result was that they would feel ashamed of their previous jasincere intentions and go away with a good feeling about Grandshaykh, resolving to treat him respectiully from then on. Gur grandshaykh’s wife used to warn us: “If you see Grandshaykh making a preat fuss over a visitor, beware of ¢hat person?”
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® Male and Female in Unity Oceans
Thete are so many books in this shop that [ pet drunk just looking at thera, and these are just books on esoteric tapics — we were even begin to talk about the vastness of human knowledge that inercases by leaps and bounds every day. The subject dealt with by the books in this shop can be called the “essence of knowledge” — wisdom. Knowledge may be arrived at through the process of experimentauion and observation: i is the understanding of the observable. Knowledge ts the fruit of thought, but wisdom is a grant from the Divine Presence imparted through contact with saints: wisdom imparts unto one the power to traverse the seven levels of heavenly knowledge.
Ewen if you were to read all the books in this shop, dow’t magine that you would progress even one step towards those heavenly stations. No, all that will happen to the reader of ail the books in this shop is that he will become fed up with esoteric subjects ~ like me ~ 1 have read too many books, and now J am ted up and can’t even look at books. ‘Phe key is only found in meeting a person who may impart wisdom to you, may help you arrive at your private station in the Divine Presence. Without the help of a guide you may catch a glimpse of something spiritual, chen buch your back on it ~ like someone who gocs to the movies, sees the show and then goes back to where he came from.
Book knowledge often merely serves to make people proud. We seck the sort of knowledge that may serve to make us humble, as proud people will eventually be debased and humble people elevated spiritually. Proud people are banished from the Divine Presence, whereas humble people are invited. Satan was puffed up
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with pride in his knowledge, and was exiled frorn the Divine Presence, but Adam humbled) himself and was drawn near. Therefore, we have devoted our efforts to seeking knowledge of the heart, knowledge which serves us as a means for artiving at our destinations
The approach of our arrival will be signaled by a profound inner peace — as the soul loves to swim in that deep ocean of deme knowledge, fust as a ship is partial to deep water. Your minds have Limits bur not your hearts, for they are receptacics of endless capacity; but you must open your hearts to this knowledge, as nothing may pass through what is closed.
Aah loves the brokenhearted. You are coveting a little water in a clay jug, but when you break it that water rejoins the lake from whence it came. Cur egos try to prevent that reunion, and always object to any suggestion of the need to seck reunion. The main putpose of spiritual exercises in any tradition, east or West, 1s to enable us to overcome the objections put forward by our egos, so that we may pursue our journey to Unity Oceans.
The ego objects to losing its individuality in Unity Oceans, but the urge to pursue that quest is planted deeply wrhin our nature; indeed, itis the compelling force behind the greatest of the epo’s drives — sexuality. Sexuality is the expression of the need to attain unity, A man icels the uced to unite with a woman, and vice vetsa,
bodily and emotionally, and what a strong urge this is! But even this is only a reflection of ihe drive to attain unity with the divine, a reflection easily observable by every human being, whereas observation of the origin of this urge is comprehensible only to the elect. Allah Almighty created the two sexes with this overpowering need for each other, and made if impossible for one to feel whole without the presence of the other, Indeed the very physical structure of males and females is a sign that cach naust seek unity — and all of our souls, be we male or female, are secking to merge with the Unity Oceans of Allah. It is that auraction that makes people so intent upon the opposite sex, though perhaps they don’t understand it in such a way.
az Shaykh Nazim Adil Al Hagqani
Te is from that burning need for the divine that our fiend here has retreated from worldly life, He is tving to break that jug and attain the endless beauty of that unity. All the beauty contained in nature ~ people, animals, plants and mincrals ~ is not cven a dtop m the Ocean of that absolute beauty. Phe 2 galaxies are swimming in His Power Oceans. Oh man, your soul is an endless source of secrets that no ene can fathom but the Creator. What docs it all mean? It means that all the sources gushing from your heart are streaming towards divine oceans.
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*g At a Mountain Retreat
(Guestions Since our arrival at this ectreat 1 have been pondertayg on the fact that in all spirtteal traditions throughout the world and along the course of history, seekers of truth have sought solitude high up in mouttain tanges, thus removing themselves from the soqiety Of men. Why is this necessary?
Shaka Nasi: Mountains are closer to the sky — so if anything is sent down we may catch # first! Those people are waiting down by the lake to get it, but the one who climbs the mountain will surely intercept it!
Now all of you have retreated to this mountain, and though the surroundings are beautiful, no doubt, none of you have come here for a picnic; your inferitions are more serious than char We know what vour secret intentions are m coming here, even if you, yourselves, are perliaps unable to clearly know or express what your purposes ate. We know that only your hearts’ yearning for their heavenly destinations has brought you here.
We must iry to understand that we are pirsuing a goal, and ascertain the direction of that goal and the reasons for our undertaking the journey. Then we must discover the best route leading to that goal. Tf a person wants to travel to Bern, for example, bur just sets off oa any toad in any direction, he is surely wasting his effort.
We are all pursuing our individual courses, but we are fortunate to have gathered on this huge mountain, for it is a sign that your sense Of purpose is strong, that the louping in your hearts is appearing through active endeavor towards your goals.
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You have come here to receive light. If you felt yourselves to be bathing inwardly in light, what nced would there have been for you to come here? Once Moses was traveling at night, when in the distance he saw a burning bush. He said to his wife: “Behold, a fire in the distance! 7 wall go ahead and gather some embers, that we may have Hght and warm ourselves thereby.” Moses was attracted to that burning bush — and, unwittingly, to a meeting with his Lord ~ because he was in cold and dark surroundings, and thus he was in need of seeking warnith and light. If they had already been basking in the warmth of a campfire, he would never have pursued embers,
Similarly, he who feels himself in need of ight comes to such a mountain retreat as this. But, just as Moses intended to get embers and bring thers to his family that they might benefit fron the warmth and Hght, so must we take a light from here to our people to banish darkness from their hearts. This is our goal, but firstly, we must also banish coldness from our hearts, and from between them, ag in our times there is a tertble frigidity between the hearts of people, creeping out from the coldness of their individual hearts.
So, df is important that when you retreat to such a refuge as this, you are not totally alone, but with fellow seckers from every part of Europe, and thereby have an opportunity to tram yourselves with each other, so that you may return to your respective communities capable of generating warmth of heart to those people as well, to take what you have recetved on the mountain down with you to the valley, and share if with even one of those people to whom climbing a mountain might never occur.
There is no benefit in any of you remaining here indefinitely: eather you may derive full benefit from betng here between three and forty days. Forty days is the terrn of completion, now and through ‘the course of history. Therefore, many of the prophets, among them one of the highest ranking of the prophets, Moses, have been ordered to retreat for forty days. Moses was ordered ta be alone on Mount Sinai for that term, and after the conrpletion of that term he was granted divine light and given commandments to
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be transmitted to his people, ag well as a mission of truth to
Pharaoh and his people.
Laght your candic here, and then light others’ candles. You must be ambassadors of light, goodness and contentment in God. In this way vou may fulfill your truc purpose — God’s purpose for your lmves — and reach your destinations, otherwise you may lose yourself like a wanderer in a vast desert with no compass and ne map. Keep these words with you wherever you go and they should show you your way.
Moses received light, wisdom and guidance, then the Lord ordered him to, “Go unto Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Give this light to him and to his nation, to bring them out of darkness.” And the Virgin Mary brought Jesus into the world and cated for him uaGl he was ready to give his ight to his people — she never tried to keep him for herself. You naust also be for others: that is the best and highest of ways. He who ts only for himself ts greedy.
We aust try to be for others more than for ourselves. It is acceptable if we live for ourselves as well as for others, bur it is the lowest acceptable level. ‘To sacrifice ourselves for others is the highest level, the level of all the prophets.
Ifnet for our eros, such self sacrifice would be easy, we would all be angelic: but as we are all in the possession of our egos rather than. being the possessors of our egos, we need to come here to train ourselves in the way of fighting the ego. Don’t underestimate the scale of that battle, for indeed, fighting a whole nation single handedly is an easier task. Your determination to really strive for such a goal will certainly be tested, and it is a good sign that you have come fo such a place as this. But if you try to stay here, to declare all out war on the ego, the ego will defeat yor. Your egos have thousands of tricks and traps, therefore, it is too dangerous to try to fight & continvously no, you must struggle, then rest. Even soldiers in the front Hnes niust sleep and alse be relieved or they will become exhausted and easily overcome.
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Now, it ig not amportant that 1 pive you spiritual exercises to practice during your retreat. LE] do, they may be difficult for you to practice. We have other ways of transmitting spiritual power from heart to heart, and as long as IT am permitted to be here, not a moment will be devoid of its effect. We have been authorized by Grand Masters, and he who stands under their umbrella reaches his destination safely.
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§ Allah’s Dye: Essence and Attributes
Cestion OF the theories of Sigmund Freud many have by now been disproven and discarded, but through my experience as a pay chiateist L have come to believe thar at icast one basic theory is true: that, based upott out experience as a child, anid based upoti Of CONNECHON tO Ot parents, we Internalme these experiences and later tend to see everything in the world in that perspective. For example, if a child has been beaten excessively by his father, he grows up seeing everything around him as potential dangerous, so he is ahvays living in fear that people may “strike” him as his father did. On the other hand, someone who had an overindulgent, loving mother may be predisposed to seeing the world at large as loving and indulgent, and therefore may have problems facing up to the realities of adulthood. I have confirmed these theories in my own work, and as far as I can tell they bear our m reality on the psychological, not necessarily the spiritual level.
Shaye Nasins While it is tre that the ctfects of one’s chidhood environment may leave their amprmt on the adult personality, the inborn personality is stronger all. A rose may be plant
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His servants gifts from His divine knowledge, beauty, mercy, wisdom, power and penetrating will endlessly. As He said, He wants to make Fmself known.
And even though the succession of prophethood has spiraled to a climax, first with the advent of Jesus Cluist, and thea with the mission of the seal of prophets, Muhammad (peace be upon them all), whose duty it was to establish divine Light throughout the woeld in a unified, universal way not possible in the earlier stages of the development of mankind, don’t think that access to divine kuowledge is cut off. Never! The prophets of God have always been the leaders of spiritually dhimined people on earth, those who have been given the task of puiding mitiates and mankend at large. Every one of them brought spiritual energy to this world, evergy that dich got leave this realm when they did, but remained as a beacon of light through the obscurity of this life. This light is not, as if were unembodied, but incorporated in at least one spiritual heir in every period of lruman history.
Ifa person seeks truth, Allah will lead him to such a beacon, to a meeting with an inberitor of a prophet, whose particular guidance qualities suit his potentialiies. These inheritors are connected spiritually with the prophets whom they represent and, consequently, when you meet them and are prepared to recerve the transmission, you may receive a “photocopy” in your spieitual body
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and establish direct contact with that propher — you will be invited to his assembly.
Once Moses was on Mount Sinai conversing with his Lord and addeessed Lim, saying “Ob my Lord, have any of your servants been honored with such intimate chscourse as [ have?” Phe Lord replied: “Oh Moses, have a look around you.” Moses looked around and saw the whole valley filled with Moseses, all with long beards and staffs, looking at him as ke looked back at them in amazement, There the Lord addressed him: “Oh Moses, this 5 only a selection: there are more, but 1 only show you this small group to give you an idea of what power I have sent through you to the world.” He is Almighty Allah, cettainly it is no great thing for Mim to grant those who stnacerely want to be ke Moses, and follow in his footsteps, a spiritual power that emanates from Allah but comes to them through Moses.
During the aight journey of the Prophet Muhammad and his ascension to the seven heavens, the Angel Gabriel accompanied him part of the way, through the seven heavens, but at a certain point stayed back in awe of the tadiance of the divine countenance, fearing to approach further lest he burn. The hely Prophet then ventured on alone and was shown by his Lord a huge pathermy of people, also identical to himself, and the Lord told him:
“Phese are the sainis of yaur nation and ary serwantt: And no ane Bnoms ihe avaies of the Lord except blin, Whose steps in your foutsteps will partake of your bona and loli.”
Therefore, a grandshaykh sitting with his murids must be a means for those murids to attain Hght from the Prophet whom that gtandshaykh represents. Tt is impossible for a grandshaykh to leave even the weakest of his murids without a share of that power, so thar be should attain to the same degree and honor as his grandshaykh,
We have waded mto an ocean of deep and secret knowledge, and as it is secret we are bemg signaled back to shore by the “lifegnard” lest we all drown. Mystic Footsteps
xg Seek Your Sustenance
The holy Prophet advised his nation to work for a hving, though our stay in this woeld is only temporary. He advises us to seek out Gur sustenance, mot to wait for it to find us. Tt is best for us to work for our ivelihood, to engage ourselves in any type of work that does not transgress the Law, ag the most tasteful of food is that earned with one’s own hands. For man to seek his sustenance within the bounds of the divine Law is most pleasing to out Lord, ancl is also couducive to good menial and physical health. So whoever is able bodied must work. Don't argue that, since the sustenance of every creature ts already destined for him you need neither pursue it nor avoid i -- these are the excuses of laxy people ~ and Alish does mor favor laziness. As long as you are in this world there mrast be some work that you can do with sour hands.
King Solomon, who was both a prophet and a divinely Ordained Monarch was granted by his Lord opulence far beyond the imagination of even the richest man of our time, for Allah Almighty pranted him knowledge of the exact location of all the treasures tn the earth, and also empowered him over armies of finn who not only guarded those treasures but would bring up any of them upon command. Solomon was also granted the power 16 discourse with the animals, and they toa were his servants.
Even such a magnificent emperor as Solomon never in his life ate food except the proceeds from the sale of baskets he himself wore, Can we find such scrapulousness anywhere? King Solomon set an example for all of his subjects, and people of all time by not
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using the wealth of the nation for his pers sonal needs. Bur nowadays, on the contrary, the povernment is expected to supply everyone’s needs, so that many people, other than those who are truly handicapped or in need, unashamedly take goveroment handouts and demand that they be increased. Don’: be unemployed! Perhaps you can cheat the government, but you can’t deceive Allah; and He Almighty punished such peeple in this life by making that money a cause of discontent for them. Neo “barakah” comes fron unearned money, and the result of such a life will be both phrsical and mental illness. Therefore, if you value your health and your sanity, eat from the work of your hands!
Sultan Abdul Hamid, the last Khalifah of the Ottoman Limpire, was a great personality of lis ume. Be virtue of his great stamina and charisma he was able to noi only hoid together the crumbling cmpite, but to actually effect a kind of revival of spirit throughout the vast teal. He was the last ruler to be mentioned in sermons all across the Muslim Wold, and he was the last keeper of the holy relics of the Prophet that are in Istanbul
In the midst of all the affairs of his empire that needed his attending to, he found time to engage in a craft and eat from the proceeds of that work. Not only this, but he never ascended his throne to attend to court unal he had recited his Naqshbandi exercises and read a portion of the Quran and also of the prayer beok “Dalal ul Khairat”) as well as praying the vo sets of supererogatory prayers of the early rnorning. It is enough of a testimony to his strength to mention that he sat on the throne for thirty three years ina time when most kings could not manage to cetain theis power for even ten years because of the many intigues and the growing chaos of the umes. The magnitude of his majesty was such that Katser Withelm TI once said: “I have met many monarchs and culers in my life and have found them all te be my mfetiors, or at best my equals, but when | entered the presence of Abdul Hamid 1 began to tremble.”
The holy Prophet once said: “You must work for your henest rovision as if you ate going to remain in. this world forever, and 3 Rong
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oF
for the afterlife as if you will die tomorrow.” Now why would the Prophet, whose mission it was to call to eternal life, suggest that we work as if we will abways be in this world? Because when hope for the life of the world is abandoned man will dic. Hope for the future of this world and for our position in it is accessary for our being able to devote ourselves to our duties in this life. Besides this, the holy Prophet declared that man’s good deeds live on after bim in this world, through the benefit that future generations derive from them.
Aad with regard to the afterlife, the holy Prophet was reminding us that we will cross that barrier, and it could be tomortow, ot ever today: So, should we not be prepared? In ordet to put the matter in perspective, the holy Prophet also said: “Oh people, you must consider how long you may remain ia this world and work for it in accordance with the length of your stay; and you must consider as well how long you will be in the Lfe of the hereafter atid strive for it accordingly. ” "This saying may seem to contradict the previous one, for if you balance the time you will spend in this world against the ame you will spend in the heteafter, it wil be nothing. Each of our Prophet’s savings is perfect: therefore, for those who would abandon their worldly duties, he has urped then to oppose this tendency by thinking of this world as eternal, so that they may give value to theic duties. And for those. who would pussuc this world exclusively, the second measure: the ume spent here against the time there, so that they may seek what is tn fact eternal
sayyidioa Ali related fom the wisdom he gained from the Prophet, that exaggeration on the one had, and the total abandoument, on the other, of any aspect of life is a sign of ignorance. Therefore, in this matter of balance between different aspects of effort we have been urged to seck equilibrium, And our Nagshbandi predecessors recommend the following division of out day: eight hours for prayer and devotions and eight hours for secking cur sustenance, (and time devoted to our familics may be considered as devotion, as Allah has ordered us to attend ta them). Following such guidelines, even people with heavy tesponsibilities
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may find time for both work anel prayer, like King Solomon ard Sultan Abdul Hamid.
(uestion What shall ] do in my work situation where I am surrounded by people who are really devils, and are always teying to drag me down to ther level? Shall | be very short with them, reject their familiarity and just go about my business?
Séayéh Nagin There is ac wisdom in pointing out people's faults to them directly, aor in behaving in such a way that your disapproval becomes very obvious. AZ you may do is to make some very generalized statements at an appropriate time without coming too close to directly attacking their actions or ideas, for there is nothing that the ego hates more than being blamed or accused,
ALE souls have wings, but the wings of sinners are broken, and they cannot fly until their wings heal, and that takes time. Meanwhile, they do not seck nests in high places ~ on roofs, mountains or trees — but crawl into the basement. Because they are imprisoned by their egos they remain in that dark surrounding, never seeing the ight of day, only knowing artificial ight.
They may in time emerge from that dark basement, but if you make them anery with you they will becormc even more stubborn, Allah Almuphty warned the holy Prophet of the consequences of such an attitude when He said:
“had paw were short tempered, severe and bard hearted they would flee avn you,”
This verse indicates that only through exemplary tolerance and kindness can any imptession be made on ill mannered and badhy educated people.
lt ig not Allah Aloughty’s way to puntsh people, not even tyrants, until a divine messenger has been sent to them, to offer them a better way than the way of tyranny on which they tread. The door to repentance and just dealing iy open to everyone, and tt wae the duty of the prophets and their inheritors to beckon all
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towards thar door; all che more so the tyrants, as their bad actions may adversely affect millions of people or the whole world!
The very word “Pharaoh” has become synonymous with “trrant.” Our Lord teaches us the proper way of trying to turn a tyrant away from his tyranny, when He ordered Moses and Aaron, peace be upon them to:
“Ge wnte Pharaob and sheak to him smoothly and politely, thal perhabs he wtay be guided”
Only later, when Pharaoh’s intransigence became apparent, was Moses ordered to threaten him with divine wrath and to bring dows divine tetribution upoa Pharaoh's people.
According to this divine wisdom, i is wrong for a believer to confront anyone with bad manners and derision. We have not been ordered to be quarrelsome and scowling, cursing and swearing
peaple.
Whenever out gtandshaykh would teceive government officials, secret police or people who had come to his assembly to toy and find fault, in order to oppose him, he, of course, could casily read their secret intentions. He abways treated such people with special kindness, showing them extraordinary tespect and deference. ‘The result was that they would feel ashamed of their previous jasincere intentions and go away with a good feeling about Grandshaykh, resolving to treat him respectiully from then on. Gur grandshaykh’s wife used to warn us: “If you see Grandshaykh making a preat fuss over a visitor, beware of ¢hat person?”
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® Male and Female in Unity Oceans
Thete are so many books in this shop that [ pet drunk just looking at thera, and these are just books on esoteric tapics — we were even begin to talk about the vastness of human knowledge that inercases by leaps and bounds every day. The subject dealt with by the books in this shop can be called the “essence of knowledge” — wisdom. Knowledge may be arrived at through the process of experimentauion and observation: i is the understanding of the observable. Knowledge ts the fruit of thought, but wisdom is a grant from the Divine Presence imparted through contact with saints: wisdom imparts unto one the power to traverse the seven levels of heavenly knowledge.
Ewen if you were to read all the books in this shop, dow’t magine that you would progress even one step towards those heavenly stations. No, all that will happen to the reader of ail the books in this shop is that he will become fed up with esoteric subjects ~ like me ~ 1 have read too many books, and now J am ted up and can’t even look at books. ‘Phe key is only found in meeting a person who may impart wisdom to you, may help you arrive at your private station in the Divine Presence. Without the help of a guide you may catch a glimpse of something spiritual, chen buch your back on it ~ like someone who gocs to the movies, sees the show and then goes back to where he came from.
Book knowledge often merely serves to make people proud. We seck the sort of knowledge that may serve to make us humble, as proud people will eventually be debased and humble people elevated spiritually. Proud people are banished from the Divine Presence, whereas humble people are invited. Satan was puffed up
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with pride in his knowledge, and was exiled frorn the Divine Presence, but Adam humbled) himself and was drawn near. Therefore, we have devoted our efforts to seeking knowledge of the heart, knowledge which serves us as a means for artiving at our destinations
The approach of our arrival will be signaled by a profound inner peace — as the soul loves to swim in that deep ocean of deme knowledge, fust as a ship is partial to deep water. Your minds have Limits bur not your hearts, for they are receptacics of endless capacity; but you must open your hearts to this knowledge, as nothing may pass through what is closed.
Aah loves the brokenhearted. You are coveting a little water in a clay jug, but when you break it that water rejoins the lake from whence it came. Cur egos try to prevent that reunion, and always object to any suggestion of the need to seck reunion. The main putpose of spiritual exercises in any tradition, east or West, 1s to enable us to overcome the objections put forward by our egos, so that we may pursue our journey to Unity Oceans.
The ego objects to losing its individuality in Unity Oceans, but the urge to pursue that quest is planted deeply wrhin our nature; indeed, itis the compelling force behind the greatest of the epo’s drives — sexuality. Sexuality is the expression of the need to attain unity, A man icels the uced to unite with a woman, and vice vetsa,
bodily and emotionally, and what a strong urge this is! But even this is only a reflection of ihe drive to attain unity with the divine, a reflection easily observable by every human being, whereas observation of the origin of this urge is comprehensible only to the elect. Allah Almighty created the two sexes with this overpowering need for each other, and made if impossible for one to feel whole without the presence of the other, Indeed the very physical structure of males and females is a sign that cach naust seek unity — and all of our souls, be we male or female, are secking to merge with the Unity Oceans of Allah. It is that auraction that makes people so intent upon the opposite sex, though perhaps they don’t understand it in such a way.
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Te is from that burning need for the divine that our fiend here has retreated from worldly life, He is tving to break that jug and attain the endless beauty of that unity. All the beauty contained in nature ~ people, animals, plants and mincrals ~ is not cven a dtop m the Ocean of that absolute beauty. Phe 2 galaxies are swimming in His Power Oceans. Oh man, your soul is an endless source of secrets that no ene can fathom but the Creator. What docs it all mean? It means that all the sources gushing from your heart are streaming towards divine oceans.
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*g At a Mountain Retreat
(Guestions Since our arrival at this ectreat 1 have been pondertayg on the fact that in all spirtteal traditions throughout the world and along the course of history, seekers of truth have sought solitude high up in mouttain tanges, thus removing themselves from the soqiety Of men. Why is this necessary?
Shaka Nasi: Mountains are closer to the sky — so if anything is sent down we may catch # first! Those people are waiting down by the lake to get it, but the one who climbs the mountain will surely intercept it!
Now all of you have retreated to this mountain, and though the surroundings are beautiful, no doubt, none of you have come here for a picnic; your inferitions are more serious than char We know what vour secret intentions are m coming here, even if you, yourselves, are perliaps unable to clearly know or express what your purposes ate. We know that only your hearts’ yearning for their heavenly destinations has brought you here.
We must iry to understand that we are pirsuing a goal, and ascertain the direction of that goal and the reasons for our undertaking the journey. Then we must discover the best route leading to that goal. Tf a person wants to travel to Bern, for example, bur just sets off oa any toad in any direction, he is surely wasting his effort.
We are all pursuing our individual courses, but we are fortunate to have gathered on this huge mountain, for it is a sign that your sense Of purpose is strong, that the louping in your hearts is appearing through active endeavor towards your goals.
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You have come here to receive light. If you felt yourselves to be bathing inwardly in light, what nced would there have been for you to come here? Once Moses was traveling at night, when in the distance he saw a burning bush. He said to his wife: “Behold, a fire in the distance! 7 wall go ahead and gather some embers, that we may have Hght and warm ourselves thereby.” Moses was attracted to that burning bush — and, unwittingly, to a meeting with his Lord ~ because he was in cold and dark surroundings, and thus he was in need of seeking warnith and light. If they had already been basking in the warmth of a campfire, he would never have pursued embers,
Similarly, he who feels himself in need of ight comes to such a mountain retreat as this. But, just as Moses intended to get embers and bring thers to his family that they might benefit fron the warmth and Hght, so must we take a light from here to our people to banish darkness from their hearts. This is our goal, but firstly, we must also banish coldness from our hearts, and from between them, ag in our times there is a tertble frigidity between the hearts of people, creeping out from the coldness of their individual hearts.
So, df is important that when you retreat to such a refuge as this, you are not totally alone, but with fellow seckers from every part of Europe, and thereby have an opportunity to tram yourselves with each other, so that you may return to your respective communities capable of generating warmth of heart to those people as well, to take what you have recetved on the mountain down with you to the valley, and share if with even one of those people to whom climbing a mountain might never occur.
There is no benefit in any of you remaining here indefinitely: eather you may derive full benefit from betng here between three and forty days. Forty days is the terrn of completion, now and through ‘the course of history. Therefore, many of the prophets, among them one of the highest ranking of the prophets, Moses, have been ordered to retreat for forty days. Moses was ordered ta be alone on Mount Sinai for that term, and after the conrpletion of that term he was granted divine light and given commandments to
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be transmitted to his people, ag well as a mission of truth to
Pharaoh and his people.
Laght your candic here, and then light others’ candles. You must be ambassadors of light, goodness and contentment in God. In this way vou may fulfill your truc purpose — God’s purpose for your lmves — and reach your destinations, otherwise you may lose yourself like a wanderer in a vast desert with no compass and ne map. Keep these words with you wherever you go and they should show you your way.
Moses received light, wisdom and guidance, then the Lord ordered him to, “Go unto Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Give this light to him and to his nation, to bring them out of darkness.” And the Virgin Mary brought Jesus into the world and cated for him uaGl he was ready to give his ight to his people — she never tried to keep him for herself. You naust also be for others: that is the best and highest of ways. He who ts only for himself ts greedy.
We aust try to be for others more than for ourselves. It is acceptable if we live for ourselves as well as for others, bur it is the lowest acceptable level. ‘To sacrifice ourselves for others is the highest level, the level of all the prophets.
Ifnet for our eros, such self sacrifice would be easy, we would all be angelic: but as we are all in the possession of our egos rather than. being the possessors of our egos, we need to come here to train ourselves in the way of fighting the ego. Don’t underestimate the scale of that battle, for indeed, fighting a whole nation single handedly is an easier task. Your determination to really strive for such a goal will certainly be tested, and it is a good sign that you have come fo such a place as this. But if you try to stay here, to declare all out war on the ego, the ego will defeat yor. Your egos have thousands of tricks and traps, therefore, it is too dangerous to try to fight & continvously no, you must struggle, then rest. Even soldiers in the front Hnes niust sleep and alse be relieved or they will become exhausted and easily overcome.
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Now, it ig not amportant that 1 pive you spiritual exercises to practice during your retreat. LE] do, they may be difficult for you to practice. We have other ways of transmitting spiritual power from heart to heart, and as long as IT am permitted to be here, not a moment will be devoid of its effect. We have been authorized by Grand Masters, and he who stands under their umbrella reaches his destination safely.
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§ Allah’s Dye: Essence and Attributes
Cestion OF the theories of Sigmund Freud many have by now been disproven and discarded, but through my experience as a pay chiateist L have come to believe thar at icast one basic theory is true: that, based upott out experience as a child, anid based upoti Of CONNECHON tO Ot parents, we Internalme these experiences and later tend to see everything in the world in that perspective. For example, if a child has been beaten excessively by his father, he grows up seeing everything around him as potential dangerous, so he is ahvays living in fear that people may “strike” him as his father did. On the other hand, someone who had an overindulgent, loving mother may be predisposed to seeing the world at large as loving and indulgent, and therefore may have problems facing up to the realities of adulthood. I have confirmed these theories in my own work, and as far as I can tell they bear our m reality on the psychological, not necessarily the spiritual level.
Shaye Nasins While it is tre that the ctfects of one’s chidhood environment may leave their amprmt on the adult personality, the inborn personality is stronger all. A rose may be plant
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