In the Mystic Footsteps of Saints, VOLUME 1 (Shaykh Nazim, 153 pages, 7/10)
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ustice in this realm, as He Almighty has ordered
“Strive toward good actions.” We must mot believe that our Lord has destined evi for us.
We must surrender to His will, and we will attain inner peace, having the burden of the “worry for the morrow’ lifted from our shoulders. Whoever bcHeves that God is his Savior feels hinselt in the best of hands, and will not succumb to hopelessness. Look, as long as you are a conscientious parent, your daughter is not too concerned about where her next meal is going to come from, nor whether she will have a warm bed to sleep in tonight. And though as a good parent you may be taining her to take on responsibility, cequiting her to he of use in the kitchen or to make her own bed, everyting is in order because you are oversceing er efforts. In the same way our Lord provides us with all we need im our lives and the intelligence to use what He provides, overseeing our actions. We must, therefore, be at least as confident ahout our daily sustenance as that hetle girl.
This is the nature of our relationship with our Lord: He wills and we intend to follow His will. Ifwe are mad enough to oppose His will, that is our freedom of choice. Yes, He permits us, if we so desire, to declare in a boastful and obstinate way: “T'm going to do what | want.” But we are then only ke people who are on a ship, walking from bow to stern, thinking that we are advancing in the opposite direction of the ship's course.
The holy Quran says: “Fle is the One guiding everything in us proper divection.”” He. who understands this will never indulye in
saying, “Ef only.” One of the companions of the Prophet used to say: “] would rathet eat Aire than say ‘it only.” Whoever can Icave
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thar way of thinkang behind him has found safety i surrender, and should find a whole new horizon opening out in front of him, a horizon free of envy, doubt, tegret and worty.
Question. How can we decide ot be responsible for anything in our ves, when it is predestined whether we wil go right or ic ft?
Shayéh Navin Everything must be pre destined, but, as we are mankind, Allah Almighty’s most highly honored creatures, we have been honored, and tested with the grantiag of our own personal will We are not lke other creatures, behaving strictly according to imstinct, but have been honored with the ability to consciously decide what we will dex whether we will try to accord with what we know to be His command (which has been revealed to es through Fis holy books) or whether we try to rebel and po the destructive path.
As T said, we must always assume that our Lord has decreed the best for us, anc we must never, therefore, excusc ourselves, saying: “God willed me to do evil.” We have our own personal will, and we must do our best with it, but whatever the case may be, we never escape our destiny, but move through it.
The train comes to a fork in the tracks: one track leads to Germany and the other to Switzerland. The driver gives a signal as to which way be wants to go, and the switchman cooperates by putting bim on whichever track he desires. That is an honor for us as human betays, that we are not animals to be tied and carried.
The beget attitude is for us to say to our Lord: “Inspire me to do what is best.” For example, our brother offered tc take me for a tide in these mountains, Since he knows these mountains best ] will not tell him where to go, but will trust him to take me the most scenic route with the loveliest panorama. [ left my wil to his, and he is taking me and 7 rest that 1 should be pleased when I follow him. If [ were to exercise my will anc tell him where to go, Iam sure that we would be lost very soon. Le may ask me which of two sceme derives T prefer and describe theni, but he is not pom to drive me over a cliff.
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We are heavenly creatures bet Ged to earth, and to knew what our Lord desires of us we must develop wings. To know your Lord’s will you must cut yourself off from thoughts of this world, and, if only for one minute, put yourself in the presence of your Lord, and ask Fim to show you the right way to follow in any matter. He Almighty may show you a red of a green light, that pou may know whether to stop or to proceed.
You must address your Lord: “Oh my Lord, You are powerful enough to do evervthmy, while J am completcly powerless. You know everything and 1 know nothing. T am in doubt about such and such a matter facing me in my life. Oh my Lord, if it ts good for me open up the way to it, and if it is harmful please keep it from me. And Tam asking You, Oh my Lord, for a clear sign to guide me in this matter.”
But to do this you mmst be serious, and it must be a matter of real imporiinec; then, you must be genuinely confounded and open to guidance. You must take a shower and thea go to a silent place where you won't be disturbed, and ask your Lord for guidance. This is a method that anyone who is bewildered about his future course may use, and he should receive a clear signal in a dream or waking, There is only one condition: that you must not ask about anything that is already quite clearly indicated. If you come to a street that says “One Way” with an arrow pointing in the opposite direction, or a sion that says “Dead Elnd”, the signs are clear and there is no need to ask. There is no need to clarify what is already clear, but when you are confused ask your Lord and He will honor you with an answer.
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ay The Real Light of Faith
One gtandshaykh once related to me an meident from the First World War, when he was in the Dardanelles fighting for the Ottoman Khalifa. An Armenian sergeant who was employed in the service Of the Ottoinan Teupire, addzessed a fellow sergeant, a Muslim, sayings “Are you Muslim?” “OF course 1 am,” he answered. “Is it enough to declare that you are Muslim? T can also say that. Now, is there any difference between you and me?” The Muslim sergeant said, “I believe in the unity of God, in His prophets, His books, Fis angels, the Jrdgenent iDay and the rule of destiny.” The Armenian sergeant replied: “I may state my belief in all that you have stated. Now, what is the difference bepveen us”
Our grandshaykh used to comment about the ditficulties between Armenian people and Muslims, saying what a shame it was and what a tragic turn of events, caused by the actions of evil men.
Earlier on in the history of the Ottoman Empire, Armenian Christians were living with Muslims side by side, and they koew Islam as we know at, only that they were keeping their faith through Christianity,
Then our grandshavkh came and said to the Armenian serzeans “Oh my fiend, are you sincerely seeking an auswer to your question? [f so, ther Tray explain the difference berween lip service and reality. When a person states his belief in God, His prophets, His revelations, His angels, the Judgment Day and destiny with real sincerity of heart, nothing will block the penetration Of his vision to the heart of all things. If he looks down at earth he will not be prevented fromm seeing what lies beneath it. If be looks up at the heavens, the distances should not hinder bim
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from seeing che seven heavens. He who sees with the light of faith should, when he turns to the East, see all the way to the Far Ease, and likewise in any ditection, When he turns toward Mecca in his prayers he should sce the house of God before his very eyes. Then the Armenian sergeant said: “Yes, that is the faidh 1am seeking,” and he kissed Grandshaykh’s hands, and conmypleted his faith by adding sincere intention to bis verbal affirmation of faith. If a person ts granted) real farth — nether distance nor darkness nor huge mountains can block his view — his ight penetrates.
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*g Fulfilling Our God Given Potential: The Story of Sunbul Effendi
Sunbul Effendi was 9 grandshaykh who lved in Constantinople around four hundred years ago. He had many murids: some were old and had been with him for many years, but there was one young murid who had only recently jomed the shaykh, and it was apparent to everyone that the shaykh favored this young man over all of them and intended to groom him as his successor.
‘This situation awakence envy in the hearts of some of the old amers, [fot for envy there would be no hell, Haivy is a fre, bur no one sees its flames but saints: and they see it jump from one heart to another and cover the whole world. Only very few people are safe from these flames, flames that make the world a bell.
Seabul Effendi could perceive the envy of their hearts, though they were very careful to conceal it, even from themselves, and he knew that it was necessary for him to show them why he was piving special attention to the young muricd, and why he was the most suited to be the shaykh’s successor. So he asked one of the older murids, “T want to ask you a hypothetical question. OF course it is impossible that such a thing could ever be, but if you were the Lord of this workd, and bad the reins of divine power in your hands, what would you do, what decrees would you issue?” “Well, of course such a thing i is impossible, glorified be God! However, if you ask me to imagine this strictly hypothetically, T would, if T could, put an end to all public manifestations of iadecency. P would close every cabaret, every bar, and even every coffee house as
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coffee houses are the soil in which the seed of evil is planted, to be transplanted at a later ume into bars.” The shaykh said: “That is very proper, commendable actions no doubt.”
Then he asked another old timer what he would do if he were so empowered. He said: “I would make sure that every Muslim woman covers herself properly and behaves modestly. | would not tolerate a single har showing from beneath their scarves. Everything would be put ia order, and | would make my poimt clear by ining the streets with sword and baton carryime enforcers of the law.” “Oh my son,” said the shaykh, “vou are a very important person.”
Then he asked the young murid what he would do were he empowered to tile the world from on high. “Oh my Master, if | were in that position T would have everything continue upon the course that it is presently on. T would never intervene to alter the forces of destiny.” Then the shavkh said: “My son, you have supplied the correct answer.”
‘The understanding of that young murid reflected wisdom, for the wise know that it is God's purpose to allow both good and evil to flounsh. Otherwise, how would good people prove their goodness? [f there were no temptation people would not have to choose to resist ft or succumb to it. In such a case human beings would forfeit tae one thing that distinguishes them from the rest of Grod’s creatures, and a great honor that has been bestowed upon us.
God has established a balance in this life, a balance between good and evil, faith and unbelief, obedience and rebellion. If the world were suddenly filled with obedient peopie that balance would be thrown off center. Que Lord has given us free will to choose this way or that, and it is in the exercising of that will that we fulfill our potential. Nothing pleases Allah more than repentance, than from the pull of the lower
cxercising our willpower to tare awa self, Without willpower we are but beasts of the field. So, if uot for evil we would not have access to our highest potential. Because the young murid had understoed that both good and evil are necessary,
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and are both the wall of God, hig vision was more penetrating than that of the others. This made him eligible for the station of deputy, and qualified him to train future mutids. He who surtenders to God’s will and sees se bchind all events has gained perfect vision.
We are not pleased with the actions of evildoers, and we must try as best we can to set wrongs aright, But we nrust see everything wath the eve of wisdom and be as patient as we can in the face of people’s bad actions, understanding that the Lord has allowed them to follow their own bad ampulses into folly. We must not hate them, but hope that the wrongness of their actions might become upparent to them through the workings of the conscience and mind that Allah has bestowed upon each and every human being. He is “the Turner of Hearts” anid in ig His wisdom to accomplish this turning of hearts through the granting of freedom to His servants, not by force. But this freedom carries responsibilities, as i the crcl, it will make us answerable for our actions, and He will ask: Did T net pive you a mind and a conscience with which to distinguish between right and wrong? Did 1 create you as dumb animals? Why dic you not use the gifts 1 pave you, remaining instead unthinking slaves of your egos?
Wisdom dictates the following of the way thar leads to perfection. The capacity for following such a way is a devine pift, Not pursuing it means falling short of our potential, and that is a shame unc a dishonor for us.
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*g The Final Limit
Lask ety Lord to help me to be just and te uphold justice. This is whet our Lord asked of mankind from the time of the frst man, Adama, up to our time, and it is what will be asked of man until the Last Day. A person who stands for justice is called “Haqqani”, and that ttle is the essential basis of all other honorable ranks in the Divine Presence.
“Phe day when trath will benefit the tritifal”
Tt means gothing to Allah that you were known to this life as 4 Muslim, Christian, Jew or Buddhist, but He wall be concerned with whether you deserved the ttle of Haqqani. Those who have been Haqqani in this life are transformed; their very essence adopts divine atttibutcs so that they become “Rabhant’? of beings whe pertain to the Lord intimately. it is about these people thar Allah Almighty says in a holy hadith:
Ob Ady servant, be abedient io Me and i will make you Rabbani; then yon false) will say to a thine “be” and xo mill it be.
When one reaches the level of Rabbani, God dresses him in His own attributes and makes him deputy. Then He grants him willpower that is not your own, but His. But the way to attain the station of Rabbani leads through the station of Haqqani, ard whoever intends sincerely to be Haqqani will receive guidance from Fim.
What is the nature of the statlon of Rabbani? For those in that station the ocean may be as a puddle, and even the whole world may be a crumb im ther hauds. Abdel Wahhab ash Shaarani, a
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preat Sufi of Egypt, said thar some men of God see the world as a candice and some s¢e it as an atom. A man of God will first be shown the nature of the universe and all of its creatures, then he will learn about the Lord Almighty. Thereiore, on his night journey the holy Prophet was shown the whole universe and only thereafter was invited to leave it and enter the realm of absobate truth. He left
everything, including his self, and entered the Divine Presence - but only after he had been shown everything abort the world did
he enter Unity Oceans.
He entered Unity Oceans but he was ordered back to the world to invite all nations to follow him to the Divine Presence. Those who beed his call to ascend to the seven heavens ate two separate groups. ‘The first prowp consisis of those who may potentially attain the station of Gabriel. When Gabriel was leading the holy Prophet in his ascension, he stopped ata certain potnt, for feat of being annihilated in the divine. That station represents the hiphest attainment possible through the aaind. The second group contains those who are prepared to sacrifice everything, even themselves, to attain absolute Unity Oceans. Their station is absolute unity, Ahadiyya, while the station of those who fad to throw off the yoke of mind, form and relativity is the station of Gabriel, the station of awareness of unity, Wahadiyya. The station of Wahadivya is in Unity Oceans, but it is a “substation.” It is, however, the uttermost limit for all but the fewest of seckers.
The way to the station of Ahadiyya, of absolute unity, is one of total inner renunciation of all hopes of being something, Some of our brothers have asked me ta open up to them the doors of divine attraction, Jadhbah. It is a kind of a power, but it is not my job to chsperse power, lut to take i away, that you might be empty handed and thus candidates for the station of Absolute Unity.
If an unprepared person were to receive spiritual power, he would only wreak destruction upon himself and others. A Little boy may admire the large horses the police ride, but if we were to mount him on such a horse, do you think that he would be able to control tf Sometimes a father may put his small son on his lap
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while He drives down 4 quiet street, and let him steer, but do you think that the father is really letting him drrve?
Only those who have subdued their egos may be given any power. A rocket is got launched until all of its systems have been checked many times over — and the flight of each soul to its heavenly destination is much more inyportant than launching a rocket, so don’t imagine that grandshaykhs empower their murids easily.
Once, Ubaydullah al Alirari called one of his murids and said: “Ob Abdullah, go climb that mountain and wait there for me, ] am coming after you.” The murid clenbed the ouountain and began to wait. The morning passed, then the afternoon, The sun set and still there was no sign of the shaykh. The next day the dervish waited patiently, but still the shaykh did not come. But his orders were clear, so he waited: a week, 4 month, a year, five yeats, seven years. He survived on that mountain as a beast wonld survive. In the summer he fed honself with berries and in the winter from the bark of trees. When he prayed the birds would alight on bis shoulders and at night when he chanted his dhikr the animals would gather around him ina circle.
‘There he waited for seven years without any news from his prandshaykh. But the grandshay kh had originally recerved the order to send that murid to the mountain from the holy Prophet, and he was awaiting the order to go up after him. When the order arnved the shaykh went up to the iurid’s perch in the blink of an eye and said to him. “Oh my son, why have you been waiting here so long? J told vou that I was coming, so wi chen E didn’t come w hy didn’t you come and see what had happened to me? | could have died of been hurt, F could have been lost on the mountain: so why didn’t you search for mer” The murid answered: “Oh my Master, 1 was ordered to wait for you, not to look for you. You ordered me to wait here until you came and, as the saylng goes, “Whatever a noble person promuses, that he will fulfill’, so what about you, Oh most noble of mankind! Is it possible for pou to promise somethmg and then fail to fulfill i? J would have watted here for vou even until
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the Last Day. A dog will wait for you af you tell hin: ta, so how shall 1 be less Joyal and obedient? Besides, it was not too difficult for me to wait here ~ at least you catne before T died, when you could have left me until that time too, [relied on your word, not on my mind’s judement, as [ know that you are caring for me.” The murid had understood that his shaykh was not really scolding him for staying there but was testing him by repeating the same arpuments and objections that his ego had brought forwards when the shaykh had not appeared when expected.
‘That murid attained the same level of reliance upon his shaykh and through his shaykh on the Peophet and ultimately on his Lord, that Abraham attained in reliance on his Lord. When Abraham was thrown im the fire by Nanarod, the angel Gabricl came and asked him: “Are you in need of help?” “1 am in need of my Lord’s help, not yours, * replied Abraham. Then Gabriel said: “ Then ask your Lord for help.” “There is no need for me to ask, for He sces me, looks after me and knows well where 7 am and of what I am in need,”
‘That murtid was on exactly the same level of trust to bis shavkh. He knew that his grandshaykh was not a blind person, and therefore, he must be aware of his condition. ‘This is why he answered his shaykh’s querics by saymg: “Oh my shaykh, T have no doubt that you are keeping me within the scope of your spiritual vision, so why should | apply my mind and will when | have given the reins of my will to you, trusting that you will guide me to my Lord’s pleasure. | am in your hands like a dead bocy in the hands of those whe wash # befote burial.”
Then thete appeared a flock of wild doves as an escort for a very large preen bird, a bird that appears to rourids who have success fully completed their seclusion. ‘That is a sign that the murid is ready to be escorted to the presence of the holy Prophet and the grandshay khs of his assetnbly. The holy Prophet ordered Ubaydullah: “Now I have witnessed that your murid is absolutely in control of his ego, you may give him his powers.”
The powers received at this point are six:
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1. Hagiqat al Jadhbah (The Seeret of Attraction)
2. Hacigat ul Fayd (The Secret of Emanation, or Outpouring) 3. Hagigat ut Tawassul (The Secret of Connection)
4. Hagigat ut Tawayuh (The Secret of Alignment}
5. Hugigat ul Irshad (The Secret of Guidance)
6. Haqiqat ut Tayy (The Secret of Folding Space}
(nul the holy Prophet appears to the grandshaykh and takes upon himself responsibility for the murid, no powers are piven. But at that time the floodgates are thrown open.
In our way we must never claim to know anything or to be unything, because dissolution in Unity Oceans requires the abandonment of all pretentiousness. Most people, on the contrary, spend their life energy on futile attempts to grasp something in their hands. However, when they open theis hands to see what they have, they reslize that chey never cuught it, or even if they did, it flies away as soon as they open their hands. Even seekers of truth sometimes attempt a “catch” by treing to reach a spiritual station for the sake of their egos. In this case seekers have not completely renounced self aggrandizement, but in accordance with theit level they may attain pood in this hfe and the next, but not that ultimate station of Ahadiyya. Only he who abandons the covetousness of this life and the neat will be given pleasure that ao ome can imagine.
A murid becomes eligible for these powers when he becomes tree of his ego’s tyranny, When they are granted he is a free man, forever free of the limitations of time and space. ‘Time and space ate the illusions which now bind us. When we are free they are at our cormmand.
The Pawer of Attraction is the power which enabled the sandy advisor of King Sclomon to bring the throne of the Queen of Sheba to Jerusalem from Yemen in the time tt takes for an eve to blink, or less. (Quran, Chapter 34) This is the power chat enables one to draw anything to himself Inanimate objects are the casiest, people the most difficult.
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The Power of Pexanation or QOutpouring is the power to be the means for the transfer of the experience of the Divine Presence to the murid. Te is all embracing light that overflows the brim of the vessel, The holy Prophet ts the vessel 19 which these divine favors are poured and, as they are without end, they flow from his heart to the hearts of saints and from theirs to those of murids.
The Power of Connector 1s the power to connect at all times to this chain of transmission of divine power and favors. For saints it is the inumate knowledpe of the prophet’s realities and those of the chain of shavkhs leading to him. For those who are yet aspiring to that station it is the daily invocation of the names of those grandshaykhs leading up to the holy Prophet. In our time, the time when the advent of Lmam al Mahdi is anricipared, many moze people will have access to this power than ever before.
The Power af Adgament enables the shaykh to turn his heart towards the hearts of his murids at any given time, and to turn their hearts towards their destinations. If he can’t do this then it is meaningless to say that he is a shaykh. The first step is in his turning the heart of the murid towards his own; after this # will be possible to turn it onwards.
The Power of Guidsnee is the power to lead one on his way to his destination once he has been turned toward the direchon through the Power of Aligoment. Mor example, if you arrive at Heathrow Airport i is not enough, you must be lead or given directions to arive at your specific destination in London. Therefore, being turned im the direction is only the first step, the door of the maze; you aust be helped on through it.
The Power of “Palding Space’ is the power to travel at will anywhere in th
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ustice in this realm, as He Almighty has ordered
“Strive toward good actions.” We must mot believe that our Lord has destined evi for us.
We must surrender to His will, and we will attain inner peace, having the burden of the “worry for the morrow’ lifted from our shoulders. Whoever bcHeves that God is his Savior feels hinselt in the best of hands, and will not succumb to hopelessness. Look, as long as you are a conscientious parent, your daughter is not too concerned about where her next meal is going to come from, nor whether she will have a warm bed to sleep in tonight. And though as a good parent you may be taining her to take on responsibility, cequiting her to he of use in the kitchen or to make her own bed, everyting is in order because you are oversceing er efforts. In the same way our Lord provides us with all we need im our lives and the intelligence to use what He provides, overseeing our actions. We must, therefore, be at least as confident ahout our daily sustenance as that hetle girl.
This is the nature of our relationship with our Lord: He wills and we intend to follow His will. Ifwe are mad enough to oppose His will, that is our freedom of choice. Yes, He permits us, if we so desire, to declare in a boastful and obstinate way: “T'm going to do what | want.” But we are then only ke people who are on a ship, walking from bow to stern, thinking that we are advancing in the opposite direction of the ship's course.
The holy Quran says: “Fle is the One guiding everything in us proper divection.”” He. who understands this will never indulye in
saying, “Ef only.” One of the companions of the Prophet used to say: “] would rathet eat Aire than say ‘it only.” Whoever can Icave
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thar way of thinkang behind him has found safety i surrender, and should find a whole new horizon opening out in front of him, a horizon free of envy, doubt, tegret and worty.
Question. How can we decide ot be responsible for anything in our ves, when it is predestined whether we wil go right or ic ft?
Shayéh Navin Everything must be pre destined, but, as we are mankind, Allah Almighty’s most highly honored creatures, we have been honored, and tested with the grantiag of our own personal will We are not lke other creatures, behaving strictly according to imstinct, but have been honored with the ability to consciously decide what we will dex whether we will try to accord with what we know to be His command (which has been revealed to es through Fis holy books) or whether we try to rebel and po the destructive path.
As T said, we must always assume that our Lord has decreed the best for us, anc we must never, therefore, excusc ourselves, saying: “God willed me to do evil.” We have our own personal will, and we must do our best with it, but whatever the case may be, we never escape our destiny, but move through it.
The train comes to a fork in the tracks: one track leads to Germany and the other to Switzerland. The driver gives a signal as to which way be wants to go, and the switchman cooperates by putting bim on whichever track he desires. That is an honor for us as human betays, that we are not animals to be tied and carried.
The beget attitude is for us to say to our Lord: “Inspire me to do what is best.” For example, our brother offered tc take me for a tide in these mountains, Since he knows these mountains best ] will not tell him where to go, but will trust him to take me the most scenic route with the loveliest panorama. [ left my wil to his, and he is taking me and 7 rest that 1 should be pleased when I follow him. If [ were to exercise my will anc tell him where to go, Iam sure that we would be lost very soon. Le may ask me which of two sceme derives T prefer and describe theni, but he is not pom to drive me over a cliff.
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We are heavenly creatures bet Ged to earth, and to knew what our Lord desires of us we must develop wings. To know your Lord’s will you must cut yourself off from thoughts of this world, and, if only for one minute, put yourself in the presence of your Lord, and ask Fim to show you the right way to follow in any matter. He Almighty may show you a red of a green light, that pou may know whether to stop or to proceed.
You must address your Lord: “Oh my Lord, You are powerful enough to do evervthmy, while J am completcly powerless. You know everything and 1 know nothing. T am in doubt about such and such a matter facing me in my life. Oh my Lord, if it ts good for me open up the way to it, and if it is harmful please keep it from me. And Tam asking You, Oh my Lord, for a clear sign to guide me in this matter.”
But to do this you mmst be serious, and it must be a matter of real imporiinec; then, you must be genuinely confounded and open to guidance. You must take a shower and thea go to a silent place where you won't be disturbed, and ask your Lord for guidance. This is a method that anyone who is bewildered about his future course may use, and he should receive a clear signal in a dream or waking, There is only one condition: that you must not ask about anything that is already quite clearly indicated. If you come to a street that says “One Way” with an arrow pointing in the opposite direction, or a sion that says “Dead Elnd”, the signs are clear and there is no need to ask. There is no need to clarify what is already clear, but when you are confused ask your Lord and He will honor you with an answer.
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ay The Real Light of Faith
One gtandshaykh once related to me an meident from the First World War, when he was in the Dardanelles fighting for the Ottoman Khalifa. An Armenian sergeant who was employed in the service Of the Ottoinan Teupire, addzessed a fellow sergeant, a Muslim, sayings “Are you Muslim?” “OF course 1 am,” he answered. “Is it enough to declare that you are Muslim? T can also say that. Now, is there any difference between you and me?” The Muslim sergeant said, “I believe in the unity of God, in His prophets, His books, Fis angels, the Jrdgenent iDay and the rule of destiny.” The Armenian sergeant replied: “I may state my belief in all that you have stated. Now, what is the difference bepveen us”
Our grandshaykh used to comment about the ditficulties between Armenian people and Muslims, saying what a shame it was and what a tragic turn of events, caused by the actions of evil men.
Earlier on in the history of the Ottoman Empire, Armenian Christians were living with Muslims side by side, and they koew Islam as we know at, only that they were keeping their faith through Christianity,
Then our grandshavkh came and said to the Armenian serzeans “Oh my fiend, are you sincerely seeking an auswer to your question? [f so, ther Tray explain the difference berween lip service and reality. When a person states his belief in God, His prophets, His revelations, His angels, the Judgment Day and destiny with real sincerity of heart, nothing will block the penetration Of his vision to the heart of all things. If he looks down at earth he will not be prevented fromm seeing what lies beneath it. If be looks up at the heavens, the distances should not hinder bim
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from seeing che seven heavens. He who sees with the light of faith should, when he turns to the East, see all the way to the Far Ease, and likewise in any ditection, When he turns toward Mecca in his prayers he should sce the house of God before his very eyes. Then the Armenian sergeant said: “Yes, that is the faidh 1am seeking,” and he kissed Grandshaykh’s hands, and conmypleted his faith by adding sincere intention to bis verbal affirmation of faith. If a person ts granted) real farth — nether distance nor darkness nor huge mountains can block his view — his ight penetrates.
8g Mystic Footsteps
*g Fulfilling Our God Given Potential: The Story of Sunbul Effendi
Sunbul Effendi was 9 grandshaykh who lved in Constantinople around four hundred years ago. He had many murids: some were old and had been with him for many years, but there was one young murid who had only recently jomed the shaykh, and it was apparent to everyone that the shaykh favored this young man over all of them and intended to groom him as his successor.
‘This situation awakence envy in the hearts of some of the old amers, [fot for envy there would be no hell, Haivy is a fre, bur no one sees its flames but saints: and they see it jump from one heart to another and cover the whole world. Only very few people are safe from these flames, flames that make the world a bell.
Seabul Effendi could perceive the envy of their hearts, though they were very careful to conceal it, even from themselves, and he knew that it was necessary for him to show them why he was piving special attention to the young muricd, and why he was the most suited to be the shaykh’s successor. So he asked one of the older murids, “T want to ask you a hypothetical question. OF course it is impossible that such a thing could ever be, but if you were the Lord of this workd, and bad the reins of divine power in your hands, what would you do, what decrees would you issue?” “Well, of course such a thing i is impossible, glorified be God! However, if you ask me to imagine this strictly hypothetically, T would, if T could, put an end to all public manifestations of iadecency. P would close every cabaret, every bar, and even every coffee house as
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coffee houses are the soil in which the seed of evil is planted, to be transplanted at a later ume into bars.” The shaykh said: “That is very proper, commendable actions no doubt.”
Then he asked another old timer what he would do if he were so empowered. He said: “I would make sure that every Muslim woman covers herself properly and behaves modestly. | would not tolerate a single har showing from beneath their scarves. Everything would be put ia order, and | would make my poimt clear by ining the streets with sword and baton carryime enforcers of the law.” “Oh my son,” said the shaykh, “vou are a very important person.”
Then he asked the young murid what he would do were he empowered to tile the world from on high. “Oh my Master, if | were in that position T would have everything continue upon the course that it is presently on. T would never intervene to alter the forces of destiny.” Then the shavkh said: “My son, you have supplied the correct answer.”
‘The understanding of that young murid reflected wisdom, for the wise know that it is God's purpose to allow both good and evil to flounsh. Otherwise, how would good people prove their goodness? [f there were no temptation people would not have to choose to resist ft or succumb to it. In such a case human beings would forfeit tae one thing that distinguishes them from the rest of Grod’s creatures, and a great honor that has been bestowed upon us.
God has established a balance in this life, a balance between good and evil, faith and unbelief, obedience and rebellion. If the world were suddenly filled with obedient peopie that balance would be thrown off center. Que Lord has given us free will to choose this way or that, and it is in the exercising of that will that we fulfill our potential. Nothing pleases Allah more than repentance, than from the pull of the lower
cxercising our willpower to tare awa self, Without willpower we are but beasts of the field. So, if uot for evil we would not have access to our highest potential. Because the young murid had understoed that both good and evil are necessary,
Gi Mystic Footsteps
and are both the wall of God, hig vision was more penetrating than that of the others. This made him eligible for the station of deputy, and qualified him to train future mutids. He who surtenders to God’s will and sees se bchind all events has gained perfect vision.
We are not pleased with the actions of evildoers, and we must try as best we can to set wrongs aright, But we nrust see everything wath the eve of wisdom and be as patient as we can in the face of people’s bad actions, understanding that the Lord has allowed them to follow their own bad ampulses into folly. We must not hate them, but hope that the wrongness of their actions might become upparent to them through the workings of the conscience and mind that Allah has bestowed upon each and every human being. He is “the Turner of Hearts” anid in ig His wisdom to accomplish this turning of hearts through the granting of freedom to His servants, not by force. But this freedom carries responsibilities, as i the crcl, it will make us answerable for our actions, and He will ask: Did T net pive you a mind and a conscience with which to distinguish between right and wrong? Did 1 create you as dumb animals? Why dic you not use the gifts 1 pave you, remaining instead unthinking slaves of your egos?
Wisdom dictates the following of the way thar leads to perfection. The capacity for following such a way is a devine pift, Not pursuing it means falling short of our potential, and that is a shame unc a dishonor for us.
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*g The Final Limit
Lask ety Lord to help me to be just and te uphold justice. This is whet our Lord asked of mankind from the time of the frst man, Adama, up to our time, and it is what will be asked of man until the Last Day. A person who stands for justice is called “Haqqani”, and that ttle is the essential basis of all other honorable ranks in the Divine Presence.
“Phe day when trath will benefit the tritifal”
Tt means gothing to Allah that you were known to this life as 4 Muslim, Christian, Jew or Buddhist, but He wall be concerned with whether you deserved the ttle of Haqqani. Those who have been Haqqani in this life are transformed; their very essence adopts divine atttibutcs so that they become “Rabhant’? of beings whe pertain to the Lord intimately. it is about these people thar Allah Almighty says in a holy hadith:
Ob Ady servant, be abedient io Me and i will make you Rabbani; then yon false) will say to a thine “be” and xo mill it be.
When one reaches the level of Rabbani, God dresses him in His own attributes and makes him deputy. Then He grants him willpower that is not your own, but His. But the way to attain the station of Rabbani leads through the station of Haqqani, ard whoever intends sincerely to be Haqqani will receive guidance from Fim.
What is the nature of the statlon of Rabbani? For those in that station the ocean may be as a puddle, and even the whole world may be a crumb im ther hauds. Abdel Wahhab ash Shaarani, a
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preat Sufi of Egypt, said thar some men of God see the world as a candice and some s¢e it as an atom. A man of God will first be shown the nature of the universe and all of its creatures, then he will learn about the Lord Almighty. Thereiore, on his night journey the holy Prophet was shown the whole universe and only thereafter was invited to leave it and enter the realm of absobate truth. He left
everything, including his self, and entered the Divine Presence - but only after he had been shown everything abort the world did
he enter Unity Oceans.
He entered Unity Oceans but he was ordered back to the world to invite all nations to follow him to the Divine Presence. Those who beed his call to ascend to the seven heavens ate two separate groups. ‘The first prowp consisis of those who may potentially attain the station of Gabriel. When Gabriel was leading the holy Prophet in his ascension, he stopped ata certain potnt, for feat of being annihilated in the divine. That station represents the hiphest attainment possible through the aaind. The second group contains those who are prepared to sacrifice everything, even themselves, to attain absolute Unity Oceans. Their station is absolute unity, Ahadiyya, while the station of those who fad to throw off the yoke of mind, form and relativity is the station of Gabriel, the station of awareness of unity, Wahadiyya. The station of Wahadivya is in Unity Oceans, but it is a “substation.” It is, however, the uttermost limit for all but the fewest of seckers.
The way to the station of Ahadiyya, of absolute unity, is one of total inner renunciation of all hopes of being something, Some of our brothers have asked me ta open up to them the doors of divine attraction, Jadhbah. It is a kind of a power, but it is not my job to chsperse power, lut to take i away, that you might be empty handed and thus candidates for the station of Absolute Unity.
If an unprepared person were to receive spiritual power, he would only wreak destruction upon himself and others. A Little boy may admire the large horses the police ride, but if we were to mount him on such a horse, do you think that he would be able to control tf Sometimes a father may put his small son on his lap
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while He drives down 4 quiet street, and let him steer, but do you think that the father is really letting him drrve?
Only those who have subdued their egos may be given any power. A rocket is got launched until all of its systems have been checked many times over — and the flight of each soul to its heavenly destination is much more inyportant than launching a rocket, so don’t imagine that grandshaykhs empower their murids easily.
Once, Ubaydullah al Alirari called one of his murids and said: “Ob Abdullah, go climb that mountain and wait there for me, ] am coming after you.” The murid clenbed the ouountain and began to wait. The morning passed, then the afternoon, The sun set and still there was no sign of the shaykh. The next day the dervish waited patiently, but still the shaykh did not come. But his orders were clear, so he waited: a week, 4 month, a year, five yeats, seven years. He survived on that mountain as a beast wonld survive. In the summer he fed honself with berries and in the winter from the bark of trees. When he prayed the birds would alight on bis shoulders and at night when he chanted his dhikr the animals would gather around him ina circle.
‘There he waited for seven years without any news from his prandshaykh. But the grandshay kh had originally recerved the order to send that murid to the mountain from the holy Prophet, and he was awaiting the order to go up after him. When the order arnved the shaykh went up to the iurid’s perch in the blink of an eye and said to him. “Oh my son, why have you been waiting here so long? J told vou that I was coming, so wi chen E didn’t come w hy didn’t you come and see what had happened to me? | could have died of been hurt, F could have been lost on the mountain: so why didn’t you search for mer” The murid answered: “Oh my Master, 1 was ordered to wait for you, not to look for you. You ordered me to wait here until you came and, as the saylng goes, “Whatever a noble person promuses, that he will fulfill’, so what about you, Oh most noble of mankind! Is it possible for pou to promise somethmg and then fail to fulfill i? J would have watted here for vou even until
$5 Mystic Footsteps
the Last Day. A dog will wait for you af you tell hin: ta, so how shall 1 be less Joyal and obedient? Besides, it was not too difficult for me to wait here ~ at least you catne before T died, when you could have left me until that time too, [relied on your word, not on my mind’s judement, as [ know that you are caring for me.” The murid had understood that his shaykh was not really scolding him for staying there but was testing him by repeating the same arpuments and objections that his ego had brought forwards when the shaykh had not appeared when expected.
‘That murid attained the same level of reliance upon his shaykh and through his shaykh on the Peophet and ultimately on his Lord, that Abraham attained in reliance on his Lord. When Abraham was thrown im the fire by Nanarod, the angel Gabricl came and asked him: “Are you in need of help?” “1 am in need of my Lord’s help, not yours, * replied Abraham. Then Gabriel said: “ Then ask your Lord for help.” “There is no need for me to ask, for He sces me, looks after me and knows well where 7 am and of what I am in need,”
‘That murtid was on exactly the same level of trust to bis shavkh. He knew that his grandshaykh was not a blind person, and therefore, he must be aware of his condition. ‘This is why he answered his shaykh’s querics by saymg: “Oh my shaykh, T have no doubt that you are keeping me within the scope of your spiritual vision, so why should | apply my mind and will when | have given the reins of my will to you, trusting that you will guide me to my Lord’s pleasure. | am in your hands like a dead bocy in the hands of those whe wash # befote burial.”
Then thete appeared a flock of wild doves as an escort for a very large preen bird, a bird that appears to rourids who have success fully completed their seclusion. ‘That is a sign that the murid is ready to be escorted to the presence of the holy Prophet and the grandshay khs of his assetnbly. The holy Prophet ordered Ubaydullah: “Now I have witnessed that your murid is absolutely in control of his ego, you may give him his powers.”
The powers received at this point are six:
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1. Hagiqat al Jadhbah (The Seeret of Attraction)
2. Hacigat ul Fayd (The Secret of Emanation, or Outpouring) 3. Hagigat ut Tawassul (The Secret of Connection)
4. Hagigat ut Tawayuh (The Secret of Alignment}
5. Hugigat ul Irshad (The Secret of Guidance)
6. Haqiqat ut Tayy (The Secret of Folding Space}
(nul the holy Prophet appears to the grandshaykh and takes upon himself responsibility for the murid, no powers are piven. But at that time the floodgates are thrown open.
In our way we must never claim to know anything or to be unything, because dissolution in Unity Oceans requires the abandonment of all pretentiousness. Most people, on the contrary, spend their life energy on futile attempts to grasp something in their hands. However, when they open theis hands to see what they have, they reslize that chey never cuught it, or even if they did, it flies away as soon as they open their hands. Even seekers of truth sometimes attempt a “catch” by treing to reach a spiritual station for the sake of their egos. In this case seekers have not completely renounced self aggrandizement, but in accordance with theit level they may attain pood in this hfe and the next, but not that ultimate station of Ahadiyya. Only he who abandons the covetousness of this life and the neat will be given pleasure that ao ome can imagine.
A murid becomes eligible for these powers when he becomes tree of his ego’s tyranny, When they are granted he is a free man, forever free of the limitations of time and space. ‘Time and space ate the illusions which now bind us. When we are free they are at our cormmand.
The Pawer of Attraction is the power which enabled the sandy advisor of King Sclomon to bring the throne of the Queen of Sheba to Jerusalem from Yemen in the time tt takes for an eve to blink, or less. (Quran, Chapter 34) This is the power chat enables one to draw anything to himself Inanimate objects are the casiest, people the most difficult.
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The Power of Pexanation or QOutpouring is the power to be the means for the transfer of the experience of the Divine Presence to the murid. Te is all embracing light that overflows the brim of the vessel, The holy Prophet ts the vessel 19 which these divine favors are poured and, as they are without end, they flow from his heart to the hearts of saints and from theirs to those of murids.
The Power of Connector 1s the power to connect at all times to this chain of transmission of divine power and favors. For saints it is the inumate knowledpe of the prophet’s realities and those of the chain of shavkhs leading to him. For those who are yet aspiring to that station it is the daily invocation of the names of those grandshaykhs leading up to the holy Prophet. In our time, the time when the advent of Lmam al Mahdi is anricipared, many moze people will have access to this power than ever before.
The Power af Adgament enables the shaykh to turn his heart towards the hearts of his murids at any given time, and to turn their hearts towards their destinations. If he can’t do this then it is meaningless to say that he is a shaykh. The first step is in his turning the heart of the murid towards his own; after this # will be possible to turn it onwards.
The Power of Guidsnee is the power to lead one on his way to his destination once he has been turned toward the direchon through the Power of Aligoment. Mor example, if you arrive at Heathrow Airport i is not enough, you must be lead or given directions to arive at your specific destination in London. Therefore, being turned im the direction is only the first step, the door of the maze; you aust be helped on through it.
The Power of “Palding Space’ is the power to travel at will anywhere in th
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