The Sufi Path of Love (Shaykh Nazim, 15 sohbets, 90 pages, 5/8)
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ne! (He shows his tasbih) Sometimes this string is strong; sometimes it is very weak and quickly breaks. Therefore you must be careful. A silver one is stronger, you know? Then anyone who is with a Sheik, with a guide, the guide guards them. If not with a guide, they are often going to be lost.
We must be humble, as much as we are able, to be in agreement with a sheik, with a guide. The guide is the most important person throughout our lives because everyone must take a guide either on a good way or on a bad way. Everyone takes a guide. If a person does not take a guide on a good way, another guide is waiting for him, quickly taking him to a bad way. For bad ways there are so many guides; so many devils, dressed like men and taking them. Therefore, everyone is in need of a guide, but you must be careful to take a guide throughout your life for goodness, not for badness. Everyone knows that, for all people, this life is going to be either with good things or with bad things; everyone knows that. But so many times we are so weak in the hands of our egos, running after our nafs. When you run and make your ego or someone who is from devils as your guide, you quickly fall into dangerous, terrible places, hells. You must choose that way which is going to be suitable for you.
A strong guide guards his followers; they may be in the East, they may in the West. When Yusuf (alai) was in Egypt, his father Yaqub, was in Palestine or in the area around Damascus. When the wife of the ruler of Egypt called Yusuf to her bed, (The story of Joseph and the wife of Aziz is narrated in XII: 23-34), and he was ready for that, his father showed himself and said, “O Yusuf, guard yourself.” Yaqub (alai), could have been in the Far East, doesn’t matter, he could have been as far away as you can imagine. Nothing keeps back that power; distances never prevent that power from reaching. Awliya have miraculous powers like Prophets, but Prophets’ miracles are more perfect. Awliya do not have such power but they have the same attributes as Anbiya, Prophets; then that power goes through them, also. They may do miraculous things, and a true sheik may guard his Murids, whether they are in the Far East or in the Far West. They may send their spiritual power to every Murid so that they are not alone or solitary. When you remember him that remembrance makes your sheik’s spiritual power be ready with you, be present with you. That is a miraculous power which every true sheik has been given.
MURID : How can we make contact with our Sheik, not just for asking help but for being with him.
SHEIK: If a boy falls in love with a girl or a girl falls in love with a boy, they are occupied; they are always in contact with each other. If your have such love for your sheik, you may be in contact sometimes.
Some people are engaged by their Lord, Allah Almighty; they are the Anbiya, Prophets, and Awliya. Never does anyone get into their hearts except their Lord; they are always in contact. Some people are always engaged with the Prophet, p.b.u.h., some people with their Sheik.
Some people sometimes, maybe when they are in need, ask for their Sheik. According to your need, you may ask, you may be in contact. And it is so easy. When the remembrance of him comes upon you, you are in contact; no need for protocol. Quickly, when you think about your Sheik, he is with you; when you forget, you are far away. When you remember, he is with you, quickly. You must understand this point. Then it is going to be easier for our brothers and sisters to be in contact with their Sheik. Any time they may be in need, if reciting a Fateha and send it to the Prophet and their Grandsheik, it is alright.
-Being with your Guide
And in our time, people are using so many wrong methods. They do not understand, or they do not even know, what is the beginning and what is the end; from where they are beginning and to where they are reaching, as a blind person never understands where he is or where is going to be. And most important for a person throughout his life is a true guide. A true guide can be known when your soul is in peace and satisfaction with a person. That is the sign, the real sign; to feel peace and satisfaction with him in your heart. If you are still in doubt, hesitant, it means that something is wrong with that person and you must look for another. If your heart is not in peace with his method, you must not follow that way. There are so many ways. You must try for another one until you reach peace in your heart, so that it should be alright for you.
Then this is the way to attain peace, to die before dying. This means that when you find a guide, you must be with him. You must not carry about a different personality from his but must agree to be one with him, one unit. You can’t carry about another personality from your guide’s; you must melt your personality in his personality and you must appear as himself.
Then you will be all right.
Once a person came to a Grandsheik and knocked at his door. The Grandsheik asked, “Who is there?”
“Ibrahim,” the man said. “It is I.- I, I, I - always saying I.
“I?” the Grandsheik said. “My place is only for one, not for two. Go away.”
And that person went away. After one year he tried again, coming and knocking at the door. “Who is there?” the Grandsheik asked.
“You, you.”
“If you say, You, now you may come in”
Therefore, the first condition for a person who is asking to reach real peace is that he must give himself, all that he is carrying, to put into his guide. His guide can take it and carry it. When you are going to be your guide that is the way to reach your destination.
There is an airplane. It may hold one hundred or two hundred or three hundred passengers, but when it flies you can see only one jet plane. You do not see five hundred persons inside; you can see only that it is a plane, flying. The plane takes all those people into itself, finished. Therefore, when you take a guide to your destination, you can be in him; you can give yourself, your selfhood. You must consider yourself as a drop. Then it reaches its ocean and no more drops - finished. You leave that drop and are going to be an ocean.
That is peace. When that drop falls into the ocean, can you take it out, can you find it? Finished; it is all ocean. Therefore, peace is not to be found without leaving your drop in that ocean. And your guide may be a lake or he may be a sea, but they run into oceans, also. That is important. When we say, “Die before you die,” this is the meaning of how we can die before the natural death. You give your personality to your guide; you throw your personality into your guide’s personality, and then you say, “I am no longer in existence,” finished.
When you look at your guide, you see yourself in him and when he looks at you, he looks at himself, and we - we reached our spiritual peace. You may find it during your short lifetime in this life. But if you do not use true, correct methods and you go wrong, you will always go far away from peace. Instead of running toward oceans, you will be running toward deserts.
-The Obeyed One
There are two types of Quran : “Quran un Nathik” and “Quran us Samith”. The Quran is something that speaks. It must speak and we must listen and obey it. If the Prophet (Sal) had not come the Quran would not have spoken. Almighty Allah first sent the Prophet (Sal) and then the Quran. The Quran was sent through the Prophet. The Prophet spoke. Therefore the written Quran is one thing and the speaking Quran is something else. If there is no speaking Quran then that Quran-i-Kareem shall give no benefit to the people. Therefore Almighty Allah first sent the Prophet (Sal) and then through him made revelation by sending Holy Quran to him. Then, the Prophet (Sal) spoke ? The speaking Quran is the Prophet (Sal). The Sahabas - Mea wa-arba ishreena alf - 120,000 of the Sahabas, all of them listened to this speaking Quran. Listened and obeyed. If only the Quran was sent who is to be obeyed.
The Prophet (Sal) is the representative of Man atha ahu faqad atha Allah, those that obey Rasoolullah obey Allah. He is the representative, representing Haqq. Therefore, the Sahabas listened to the speaking Quran and obeyed him. Before Islam the Sahabas were at the lowest of levels. From this level Rasoolullah (Sal) brought them up to the highest level. So much that no community either before or after shall reach to this level. It is impossible for any community to reach to the level of the Sahabas. Is this a fact or a falsehood? Rasoolullah did take them from the lowest of levels to the very highest level so much so that no community shall ever be able to match it. How was this possible? It was made possible by listening to the speaking Quran.
-The True Ones
There are some foolish people today who deny this point. They are a heedless people. They say that everyone should read Quran and Hadith and that it is enough. According to them there is no need to follow an Iman or to follow a Sheik. They follow only shaithan. If one
does not follow an Imam or a Sheik, who is he following? Everyone must follow someone; so in that case they love to follow shaithan. They are an ignorant people because they say that you must look to the Quran and the Hadith only. I am asking : Were the Sahabas looking to the Quran or were they looking to the Prophet, who was the actual speaking Quran? Were they not obeying him? Allah Almighty has made it very clear through the Holy Quran “Asta- eedu billah. Ya ayyu halla-zeena a?manuth thaqullaha wa koonoo ma’sadiqeen.” “O believers be fearful of Almighty Allah and be with the True ones (The Awliyas).
These foolish people say that the “True Ones” (The Awliyas) referred to here have all passed away. They say on the other hand that if these “True Ones” can be found today, then we must find them and be with them. Even the tombs of those True Ones are being destroyed by these people. They deny even them. “Koonu” means you must be “Ma’a-saadkeen” with the True Ones. Who are these True Ones?. Sadik ? means trustworthy and true ones. Who are they? Sadakoo ma a’tha Allahu ala rijalin - they are Rijhalun. They are a group of people from mankind. They are the ones who promised to Allah on the day of Promises “Yawmul ahd wal meezan, alasthu birabbikum qaaloo balaa.” They never changed their promises “You are our Lord and we are your servants. Only Your Servants”. They were the ones who did not change this promise to become servants of their egos, or servants of Dunya or servants of shaithan. They are the servants of Almighty Allah only. These are the ones whom Allah ordered people to be with. They are the trustworthy and True Ones. The Sahabas gathered around Rasoolullah and listened to him and obeyed him and reached the highest level of mankind.
Therefore we too have been ordered to look and search for a “True One” (The Saints). It is an order from Almighty Allah. The entire nation of the Prophet (umma) they should have a “True one” to be their Khalifa. But they have lost it now. Wherever we may be, we must search and look for such a “True One”. Don’t say that you can never find them. - No! We can always find one. If a person asks Khidr Alaihi Salaam, “Thalabna wajadna” it is impossible for a person to ask and not to meet one. It is Almighty Allah’s Divine Attribute.
If a person asks for something with sincerity and seriousness, he must achieve it. As you are Ceylonese people, you know about gems. The miners keep digging till they find, they do not say that it is impossible to find. They keep on digging till they find the gems.
Almighty Allah likewise teaches you. If you are asking to find precious stones and working for it and then finding it, then likewise “there are also precious servants of mine” says Allah, if you ask sincerely you may find them. Don’t say: “No”, I am asking. I know that this is Sri Lanka, or Malaysia or India. Perhaps you may say : we shall never find. Even if these precious ones are all gone from this area then it must be that they shall be at Mecca within the Kaaba and at Medina at the Rawla Sheriff. It must be.
I ask so many people what do you find in Mecca and Medina? They say they have kissed the black stone on several occasion. Then I ask them whether apart from the stone and the buildings they have nt” met any beloved ones of Allah, (Saints). Did you ever look or search for them. They said :”no, only the Kaaba and the black stone, then we were involved in buying and selling goods, we did nothing else.” This Umma is forgetting to ask from the Saints. Therefore all the Saints are now hiding themselves. They say (the Saints) that the Umma of today do not value the Saints anymore. So they have escaped and are hiding themselves, and the Umma ends up loosing them. They never ask from the Saints and then troubles begin to rain on them. This is the punishment from Almighty Allah because they are not asking from the good ones, the ones that Almighty Allah ordered us to be with, instead
they keep company with the bad ones. When people get together with these “bad ones” curses fall upon them. On the other hand when they are with the “good ones” blessings rain on them. Therefore it is very important for you and for the entire Islamic world to look and search for the Saints. Where are they ?They must search for them. If they are pleased with them, then Allah Almighty and Rasoolullah (Sal) are pleased with them. If Almighty Allah and Rasoolullah (Sal) are pleased with them, always mercy and blessings will pour on them.
Today people are fearful. What are they fearing. If Almighty Allah does not give them permission nobody can be able to do anything. If He gives permission then no one can prevent them (the Saints) from coming to you. Therefore this is a punishment because we are not with the Saints. Some foolish people are attacking Saints and trying to put them down.
Therefore those who do this to them, have curses coming on them. “Ala inna awliya Allahi la khawfun alaihim walahum yahzanoon.” Allah Almighty in the Holy Quran praises the Saints when he says “In the Saints, there is no fear, in them now or in the future, and they will not be sad forever.” It means that it is also for those who are with the Saints that they also shall have no fear or sadness. The companions of the Prophet, (Sal), said that when they were fearful, the Prophet, (Sal), was a shelter for them. Those who were far away came running to the Prophet, (Sal) to feel safety with him. Al the Saints are the inheritors of the Prophet (Sal).
When you are going to be with them, physically or spiritually you are sheltered by them. If you can’t find them physically, let your spiritual body search for them and be with them. If at anytime you feel fear, run to them with your spiritual being. They should send a shelter and also confidence to you. May Allah Almighty forgive us and our attenders here. Your hearts are very suitable hearts. Therefore may blessings come on you. I feel confident and refreshed through my heart as you are here with me. May Allah Almighty make it continuous and forever. May He bless you and your ancestors.
-The Rope of Allah Almighty
Allah Almighty says : Fala Tamootunna illah Wa Antum Muslimoon. Allah Almighty orders: “Oh people, Oh Believers, you believe, but through your heart you may lose your faith and your wrong actions will make Iman to leave you and make belief to leave you and make you not to die in Islam. You must be very careful not to lose your Iman by your speech, by your actions or by your intentions or by your opinions. Bad opinions lead you to bad intentions. Bad intentions lead you to bad actions and bad actions lead you to loose your faith and your Iman”. “Fala Tamootunna Illa Wa Antum Muslimoon.”
You must take care and not be guided by our own opinion. There is no “own opinion” for Muslims - Muslims who surrender to Allah Almighty and to Rasoolullah (Sal) should not say: This is my opinion or that is my opinion because this is the twentieth century, and even if it is the one hundred and twentieth century you must try only to follow and not to have opinions. Don’t think that A-immatil arbathil the four Imams, gave their own opinions, No, Never. They always gave their decisions after looking at the Quran and Hadees. Therefore wrong opinions lead people to wrong intentions, wrong intentions lead them to wrong actions, wrong actions harm Islam and destroys Islam. When they destroy Islam, they lose their faith and Iman as well. Therefore Allah Almighty orders: Wa’thasimu bi Hablullahi Jami’ah.
Don’t say this is my opinion, or that is my opinion, come altogether in unity. “Wathasiu bi Hablullahi Jami’’ah”. Allah Almighty says “Hablullah”.
Hablullah means Rope - Rope of Allah Almighty. What is that Rope? Have you seen that Rope? What is that Rope? Hablullah. Quran: “Hablullahi Ummati”. Rasoolullah (Sal) said,
“Quran Hablullahi Ummati.” Quran-e-Karim” is that Rope or the unbreakable Rope of Allah Almighty. Then there are also two Qurans. Perhaps you have never heard about the two Qurans? There are two Qurans - one is the silent Quran and the other the speaking Quran.
The Prophet (Sal) is the speaking Quran. The Sahaba, were with the speaking Quran. They were not only reciting the silent Quran but they were understanding from the speaking Quran wa’thasimu bi-Hablullahi Jami’ah.
What is that Quran? It is the Rasool (Sal) who is Hablullahi Ummati and you must understand this point well. Please don’t aspire to reach the level of Rasoolullah (Sal) because no Prophet ever inherited any money or property. Their only inheritance was Meeraz (revelations) and nothing else. The Prophet (Sal) inherited the Holy Quran and the Holy knowledge that was revealed. He left that Meraaz (revelations) to His Sahaba and to the hearts of his Sahaba. Therefore Prophet (Sal) was given that inheritance by Allah Almighty, who in turn gave it to the hearts of the Sahaba. Particularly Prophet (Sal) said that “Allah Almighty poured through my heart and then I poured it to the heart of Abu Bakr (Ral). As Prophet (Sal) was the speaking Quran to the Sahaba, the Sahaba were connected to him with this unbreakable rope.
After the Prophet (Sal) the Umma was with the Sahaba, and after the Sahaba, who carried it? Who carries that Divine trust which is revealed from heart to heart? Who are they? What is the Speaking Quran and who is making mankind connected with that Rope. After the lifetime of Prophet (Sal) who connected the Speaking Quran to the True Umma? Not the Umma, we see today of people who think that anyone who reads a translation of the Holy Quran is an authority on Islam. That is the way they think. It is their opinion. They don’t ask the Speaking Quran or care to search for them and to be with them. That is our power. Islam’s power is to be connected with holy people because Allah Almighty has promised that - If you get connected with Hablullahi Ummathi, that is with such people who belong to the Heavens, with such Holy people who are the Friends of Allah and who are close to Him and His Rasool (Sal) and they are the Saints. If you are not with them “Wala Tafarraqu”, you would be separated. It is such a sad separation that it is a punishment in itself. This is a punishment for the Ummah and what is happening to the Ummah nowadays is only a punishment because you are not getting connected with the inheritors of the Prophet (Sal) and because everyone is claiming that they know in accordance with their opinions.
The End
8-Come Again and Again Whoever you are:
From this Dergah of Splendour None is ever turned away
Today, as I was praying, an important point appeared in the mirror of my heart, a subject that needs to be addressed. What is the position of every single person towards the rest of humanity and the rest of creation in general? Each person, each being, is by nature self- centered, though constantly interacting with others in his surroundings.
Everybody divides his fellow beings into distinct categories: those having more in common with himself and others more in opposition - and the less in common the more critical the question becomes. So as a follower of a certain religion, you must ask yourself, what your attitude towards members of other religions will be. As a man, what kind of attitude do you have towards women, or as a woman towards men? As an elderly person towards the young, or as a youth, towards the elderly? As a wealthy person towards the poor, or as a poor man towards the wealthy? As a literate person towards the illiterate? What is your attitude, as a human being, towards animals, plants, inanimate objects, everything in existence?
The Holy Prophet, Muhammad, upon whom be peace, gave guidance to mankind in this matter when he said: “My Lord has taught me to show respect to all, to maintain a high level of good manners, and my Lord has perfected His teaching’. Now we need to know what those best manners are, and how they help us to show respect to all creatures in accordance with their respective levels, for, while Allah Almighty has made all creatures worthy of respect, He has especially honored mankind. We are invited to realize the full potential of that honor by perfecting our relations with all that surrounds us.
This perfection calls for a balance in our relations, along with the perception of the differences between beings and an ability to adjust our behavior according to those distinctions. This is because Allah’s creatures, most especially men, are not factory productions, mass produced and cut out of the same mould.
Each person has his own unique form, characteristics and capabilities - you can’t find two exactly identical people even identical twins may differ drastically in character. Everyone carries something distinct, and we must observe these varying and distinguishing marks, that thereby we may receive Divine Wisdom, and marvel at the Power of our Lord, for who else could create such diversity? Whether you look around you at your fellow men, or at the stars in the sky, you will know, by their infinite variations that only Allah could have created the universe.
Human beings, the “Crown of Creation”, are candidates for the honourable rank of “Deputy of Allah on Earth”. We are beings who have been endowed with the potential for uncovering a great secret within ourselves. If in heedlessness we do not strive for it, it will remain deeply hidden within ourselves. What is the great secret within man that he must discover to attain this rank? It is to understand that you are a manifestation of one of our Lord’s endless Divine Attributes.
Each person manifests a distinct attribute, no matter how many billions of people appear and disappear from this Earth, each one manifests a unique aspect of the Divine Reality. Each Divine Attribute is distinct, and, when fully unveiled, equally Divine. Therefore, our Lord is oblivious to our outward forms but is always mindful of the states of our hearts, as the heart of each man is a throne from among the endless thrones of Allah Almighty. That heart is not the organ in or chests, it is only represented by it as a figure of speech. In your real heart, your
“heart of hearts”, there is a throne and He Almighty appears on that throne through a distinct attribute that manifests in you, and nowhere else in creation.
Therefore, you must respect everyone in existence, as, in reality, that respect is the respect for your Lord within him. That is the way our Prophet treated people, the way taught by real Islam: a deviance from this “Way of best manners” is a dangerous innovation (bid’a) of high degree. The respect that we must show towards our fellow human beings is such that, should a baby be born, take three breaths and die, we must name him, wash his body and pray over him the funeral prayer; and if there is no one else to perform those rites, even the Sultan himself is required to do so, and even if it be that baby is born to the lowest class of his subjects.
And what if the living or the dead be of another religion or without religion, do we show them less respect? One day the Holy Prophet (sal) was sitting with his companions when a funeral procession passed by. The Holy Prophet (sal) stood up in a sign of respect to that departed soul. One of the companions said: “Oh Messenger of Allah, that is the body of one of the heathens. Are you showing respect to such people?” It was a sign of bad manners for that companion to say this, and he immediately regretted it.
Does the Prophet (sal) not know whether that dead person and those of the procession are Muslims or idol-worshippers? If not, how can he be a Prophet? But as the companions were at different levels of understanding and manners, building gradually towards perfection, the Prophet Muhammad (sal) was always patient with those who showed such a challenging attitude; he explained his actions to that companion according to the level of his understanding - which was the common level.
How difficult for the common believer, whose human feelings are caught in the ebb and flow of daily events to understand how the Prophet gave this respect for people who were actively engaged in oppressing the Muslims - killing and boycotting them, and generally showing abominable qualities! How difficult for the common people to make a distinction between people’s bad actions and the Divine Realities hidden and veiled, yet present and untouched, in their heart of hearts, and in this way to understand why you must not hate your enemies! Such understanding makes a person eligible to receive Divine Secrets, and a category of knowledge the Holy Prophet (sal) was instructed to reveal only to initiates.
Therefore, to guide that companion in the general direction of this reality while not revealing to him that which he could not comprehend, the Holy Prophet (sal) told him: “Yes, these are unbelievers, but you must know that each one has Angels accompanying him, recording his good and bad deeds, and the Angel of Death, Azrail, is accompanying the dead man as well: I am standing out of respect for those Angels”. In this way the Holy Prophet instructed all Muslims to show respect to all people living and dead, no matter how terrible their actions might be.
Mevlana Jalauddin Rumi, an Islamic Saint known throughout East and West (and the author of the epic Sufi poem, the Mathnawi) was once crossing a marketplace when a priest passed by and bowed his head in respect. Mevlana returned this gesture, bowing even lower, from the waist. The people asked him: “How is
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ne! (He shows his tasbih) Sometimes this string is strong; sometimes it is very weak and quickly breaks. Therefore you must be careful. A silver one is stronger, you know? Then anyone who is with a Sheik, with a guide, the guide guards them. If not with a guide, they are often going to be lost.
We must be humble, as much as we are able, to be in agreement with a sheik, with a guide. The guide is the most important person throughout our lives because everyone must take a guide either on a good way or on a bad way. Everyone takes a guide. If a person does not take a guide on a good way, another guide is waiting for him, quickly taking him to a bad way. For bad ways there are so many guides; so many devils, dressed like men and taking them. Therefore, everyone is in need of a guide, but you must be careful to take a guide throughout your life for goodness, not for badness. Everyone knows that, for all people, this life is going to be either with good things or with bad things; everyone knows that. But so many times we are so weak in the hands of our egos, running after our nafs. When you run and make your ego or someone who is from devils as your guide, you quickly fall into dangerous, terrible places, hells. You must choose that way which is going to be suitable for you.
A strong guide guards his followers; they may be in the East, they may in the West. When Yusuf (alai) was in Egypt, his father Yaqub, was in Palestine or in the area around Damascus. When the wife of the ruler of Egypt called Yusuf to her bed, (The story of Joseph and the wife of Aziz is narrated in XII: 23-34), and he was ready for that, his father showed himself and said, “O Yusuf, guard yourself.” Yaqub (alai), could have been in the Far East, doesn’t matter, he could have been as far away as you can imagine. Nothing keeps back that power; distances never prevent that power from reaching. Awliya have miraculous powers like Prophets, but Prophets’ miracles are more perfect. Awliya do not have such power but they have the same attributes as Anbiya, Prophets; then that power goes through them, also. They may do miraculous things, and a true sheik may guard his Murids, whether they are in the Far East or in the Far West. They may send their spiritual power to every Murid so that they are not alone or solitary. When you remember him that remembrance makes your sheik’s spiritual power be ready with you, be present with you. That is a miraculous power which every true sheik has been given.
MURID : How can we make contact with our Sheik, not just for asking help but for being with him.
SHEIK: If a boy falls in love with a girl or a girl falls in love with a boy, they are occupied; they are always in contact with each other. If your have such love for your sheik, you may be in contact sometimes.
Some people are engaged by their Lord, Allah Almighty; they are the Anbiya, Prophets, and Awliya. Never does anyone get into their hearts except their Lord; they are always in contact. Some people are always engaged with the Prophet, p.b.u.h., some people with their Sheik.
Some people sometimes, maybe when they are in need, ask for their Sheik. According to your need, you may ask, you may be in contact. And it is so easy. When the remembrance of him comes upon you, you are in contact; no need for protocol. Quickly, when you think about your Sheik, he is with you; when you forget, you are far away. When you remember, he is with you, quickly. You must understand this point. Then it is going to be easier for our brothers and sisters to be in contact with their Sheik. Any time they may be in need, if reciting a Fateha and send it to the Prophet and their Grandsheik, it is alright.
-Being with your Guide
And in our time, people are using so many wrong methods. They do not understand, or they do not even know, what is the beginning and what is the end; from where they are beginning and to where they are reaching, as a blind person never understands where he is or where is going to be. And most important for a person throughout his life is a true guide. A true guide can be known when your soul is in peace and satisfaction with a person. That is the sign, the real sign; to feel peace and satisfaction with him in your heart. If you are still in doubt, hesitant, it means that something is wrong with that person and you must look for another. If your heart is not in peace with his method, you must not follow that way. There are so many ways. You must try for another one until you reach peace in your heart, so that it should be alright for you.
Then this is the way to attain peace, to die before dying. This means that when you find a guide, you must be with him. You must not carry about a different personality from his but must agree to be one with him, one unit. You can’t carry about another personality from your guide’s; you must melt your personality in his personality and you must appear as himself.
Then you will be all right.
Once a person came to a Grandsheik and knocked at his door. The Grandsheik asked, “Who is there?”
“Ibrahim,” the man said. “It is I.- I, I, I - always saying I.
“I?” the Grandsheik said. “My place is only for one, not for two. Go away.”
And that person went away. After one year he tried again, coming and knocking at the door. “Who is there?” the Grandsheik asked.
“You, you.”
“If you say, You, now you may come in”
Therefore, the first condition for a person who is asking to reach real peace is that he must give himself, all that he is carrying, to put into his guide. His guide can take it and carry it. When you are going to be your guide that is the way to reach your destination.
There is an airplane. It may hold one hundred or two hundred or three hundred passengers, but when it flies you can see only one jet plane. You do not see five hundred persons inside; you can see only that it is a plane, flying. The plane takes all those people into itself, finished. Therefore, when you take a guide to your destination, you can be in him; you can give yourself, your selfhood. You must consider yourself as a drop. Then it reaches its ocean and no more drops - finished. You leave that drop and are going to be an ocean.
That is peace. When that drop falls into the ocean, can you take it out, can you find it? Finished; it is all ocean. Therefore, peace is not to be found without leaving your drop in that ocean. And your guide may be a lake or he may be a sea, but they run into oceans, also. That is important. When we say, “Die before you die,” this is the meaning of how we can die before the natural death. You give your personality to your guide; you throw your personality into your guide’s personality, and then you say, “I am no longer in existence,” finished.
When you look at your guide, you see yourself in him and when he looks at you, he looks at himself, and we - we reached our spiritual peace. You may find it during your short lifetime in this life. But if you do not use true, correct methods and you go wrong, you will always go far away from peace. Instead of running toward oceans, you will be running toward deserts.
-The Obeyed One
There are two types of Quran : “Quran un Nathik” and “Quran us Samith”. The Quran is something that speaks. It must speak and we must listen and obey it. If the Prophet (Sal) had not come the Quran would not have spoken. Almighty Allah first sent the Prophet (Sal) and then the Quran. The Quran was sent through the Prophet. The Prophet spoke. Therefore the written Quran is one thing and the speaking Quran is something else. If there is no speaking Quran then that Quran-i-Kareem shall give no benefit to the people. Therefore Almighty Allah first sent the Prophet (Sal) and then through him made revelation by sending Holy Quran to him. Then, the Prophet (Sal) spoke ? The speaking Quran is the Prophet (Sal). The Sahabas - Mea wa-arba ishreena alf - 120,000 of the Sahabas, all of them listened to this speaking Quran. Listened and obeyed. If only the Quran was sent who is to be obeyed.
The Prophet (Sal) is the representative of Man atha ahu faqad atha Allah, those that obey Rasoolullah obey Allah. He is the representative, representing Haqq. Therefore, the Sahabas listened to the speaking Quran and obeyed him. Before Islam the Sahabas were at the lowest of levels. From this level Rasoolullah (Sal) brought them up to the highest level. So much that no community either before or after shall reach to this level. It is impossible for any community to reach to the level of the Sahabas. Is this a fact or a falsehood? Rasoolullah did take them from the lowest of levels to the very highest level so much so that no community shall ever be able to match it. How was this possible? It was made possible by listening to the speaking Quran.
-The True Ones
There are some foolish people today who deny this point. They are a heedless people. They say that everyone should read Quran and Hadith and that it is enough. According to them there is no need to follow an Iman or to follow a Sheik. They follow only shaithan. If one
does not follow an Imam or a Sheik, who is he following? Everyone must follow someone; so in that case they love to follow shaithan. They are an ignorant people because they say that you must look to the Quran and the Hadith only. I am asking : Were the Sahabas looking to the Quran or were they looking to the Prophet, who was the actual speaking Quran? Were they not obeying him? Allah Almighty has made it very clear through the Holy Quran “Asta- eedu billah. Ya ayyu halla-zeena a?manuth thaqullaha wa koonoo ma’sadiqeen.” “O believers be fearful of Almighty Allah and be with the True ones (The Awliyas).
These foolish people say that the “True Ones” (The Awliyas) referred to here have all passed away. They say on the other hand that if these “True Ones” can be found today, then we must find them and be with them. Even the tombs of those True Ones are being destroyed by these people. They deny even them. “Koonu” means you must be “Ma’a-saadkeen” with the True Ones. Who are these True Ones?. Sadik ? means trustworthy and true ones. Who are they? Sadakoo ma a’tha Allahu ala rijalin - they are Rijhalun. They are a group of people from mankind. They are the ones who promised to Allah on the day of Promises “Yawmul ahd wal meezan, alasthu birabbikum qaaloo balaa.” They never changed their promises “You are our Lord and we are your servants. Only Your Servants”. They were the ones who did not change this promise to become servants of their egos, or servants of Dunya or servants of shaithan. They are the servants of Almighty Allah only. These are the ones whom Allah ordered people to be with. They are the trustworthy and True Ones. The Sahabas gathered around Rasoolullah and listened to him and obeyed him and reached the highest level of mankind.
Therefore we too have been ordered to look and search for a “True One” (The Saints). It is an order from Almighty Allah. The entire nation of the Prophet (umma) they should have a “True one” to be their Khalifa. But they have lost it now. Wherever we may be, we must search and look for such a “True One”. Don’t say that you can never find them. - No! We can always find one. If a person asks Khidr Alaihi Salaam, “Thalabna wajadna” it is impossible for a person to ask and not to meet one. It is Almighty Allah’s Divine Attribute.
If a person asks for something with sincerity and seriousness, he must achieve it. As you are Ceylonese people, you know about gems. The miners keep digging till they find, they do not say that it is impossible to find. They keep on digging till they find the gems.
Almighty Allah likewise teaches you. If you are asking to find precious stones and working for it and then finding it, then likewise “there are also precious servants of mine” says Allah, if you ask sincerely you may find them. Don’t say: “No”, I am asking. I know that this is Sri Lanka, or Malaysia or India. Perhaps you may say : we shall never find. Even if these precious ones are all gone from this area then it must be that they shall be at Mecca within the Kaaba and at Medina at the Rawla Sheriff. It must be.
I ask so many people what do you find in Mecca and Medina? They say they have kissed the black stone on several occasion. Then I ask them whether apart from the stone and the buildings they have nt” met any beloved ones of Allah, (Saints). Did you ever look or search for them. They said :”no, only the Kaaba and the black stone, then we were involved in buying and selling goods, we did nothing else.” This Umma is forgetting to ask from the Saints. Therefore all the Saints are now hiding themselves. They say (the Saints) that the Umma of today do not value the Saints anymore. So they have escaped and are hiding themselves, and the Umma ends up loosing them. They never ask from the Saints and then troubles begin to rain on them. This is the punishment from Almighty Allah because they are not asking from the good ones, the ones that Almighty Allah ordered us to be with, instead
they keep company with the bad ones. When people get together with these “bad ones” curses fall upon them. On the other hand when they are with the “good ones” blessings rain on them. Therefore it is very important for you and for the entire Islamic world to look and search for the Saints. Where are they ?They must search for them. If they are pleased with them, then Allah Almighty and Rasoolullah (Sal) are pleased with them. If Almighty Allah and Rasoolullah (Sal) are pleased with them, always mercy and blessings will pour on them.
Today people are fearful. What are they fearing. If Almighty Allah does not give them permission nobody can be able to do anything. If He gives permission then no one can prevent them (the Saints) from coming to you. Therefore this is a punishment because we are not with the Saints. Some foolish people are attacking Saints and trying to put them down.
Therefore those who do this to them, have curses coming on them. “Ala inna awliya Allahi la khawfun alaihim walahum yahzanoon.” Allah Almighty in the Holy Quran praises the Saints when he says “In the Saints, there is no fear, in them now or in the future, and they will not be sad forever.” It means that it is also for those who are with the Saints that they also shall have no fear or sadness. The companions of the Prophet, (Sal), said that when they were fearful, the Prophet, (Sal), was a shelter for them. Those who were far away came running to the Prophet, (Sal) to feel safety with him. Al the Saints are the inheritors of the Prophet (Sal).
When you are going to be with them, physically or spiritually you are sheltered by them. If you can’t find them physically, let your spiritual body search for them and be with them. If at anytime you feel fear, run to them with your spiritual being. They should send a shelter and also confidence to you. May Allah Almighty forgive us and our attenders here. Your hearts are very suitable hearts. Therefore may blessings come on you. I feel confident and refreshed through my heart as you are here with me. May Allah Almighty make it continuous and forever. May He bless you and your ancestors.
-The Rope of Allah Almighty
Allah Almighty says : Fala Tamootunna illah Wa Antum Muslimoon. Allah Almighty orders: “Oh people, Oh Believers, you believe, but through your heart you may lose your faith and your wrong actions will make Iman to leave you and make belief to leave you and make you not to die in Islam. You must be very careful not to lose your Iman by your speech, by your actions or by your intentions or by your opinions. Bad opinions lead you to bad intentions. Bad intentions lead you to bad actions and bad actions lead you to loose your faith and your Iman”. “Fala Tamootunna Illa Wa Antum Muslimoon.”
You must take care and not be guided by our own opinion. There is no “own opinion” for Muslims - Muslims who surrender to Allah Almighty and to Rasoolullah (Sal) should not say: This is my opinion or that is my opinion because this is the twentieth century, and even if it is the one hundred and twentieth century you must try only to follow and not to have opinions. Don’t think that A-immatil arbathil the four Imams, gave their own opinions, No, Never. They always gave their decisions after looking at the Quran and Hadees. Therefore wrong opinions lead people to wrong intentions, wrong intentions lead them to wrong actions, wrong actions harm Islam and destroys Islam. When they destroy Islam, they lose their faith and Iman as well. Therefore Allah Almighty orders: Wa’thasimu bi Hablullahi Jami’ah.
Don’t say this is my opinion, or that is my opinion, come altogether in unity. “Wathasiu bi Hablullahi Jami’’ah”. Allah Almighty says “Hablullah”.
Hablullah means Rope - Rope of Allah Almighty. What is that Rope? Have you seen that Rope? What is that Rope? Hablullah. Quran: “Hablullahi Ummati”. Rasoolullah (Sal) said,
“Quran Hablullahi Ummati.” Quran-e-Karim” is that Rope or the unbreakable Rope of Allah Almighty. Then there are also two Qurans. Perhaps you have never heard about the two Qurans? There are two Qurans - one is the silent Quran and the other the speaking Quran.
The Prophet (Sal) is the speaking Quran. The Sahaba, were with the speaking Quran. They were not only reciting the silent Quran but they were understanding from the speaking Quran wa’thasimu bi-Hablullahi Jami’ah.
What is that Quran? It is the Rasool (Sal) who is Hablullahi Ummati and you must understand this point well. Please don’t aspire to reach the level of Rasoolullah (Sal) because no Prophet ever inherited any money or property. Their only inheritance was Meeraz (revelations) and nothing else. The Prophet (Sal) inherited the Holy Quran and the Holy knowledge that was revealed. He left that Meraaz (revelations) to His Sahaba and to the hearts of his Sahaba. Therefore Prophet (Sal) was given that inheritance by Allah Almighty, who in turn gave it to the hearts of the Sahaba. Particularly Prophet (Sal) said that “Allah Almighty poured through my heart and then I poured it to the heart of Abu Bakr (Ral). As Prophet (Sal) was the speaking Quran to the Sahaba, the Sahaba were connected to him with this unbreakable rope.
After the Prophet (Sal) the Umma was with the Sahaba, and after the Sahaba, who carried it? Who carries that Divine trust which is revealed from heart to heart? Who are they? What is the Speaking Quran and who is making mankind connected with that Rope. After the lifetime of Prophet (Sal) who connected the Speaking Quran to the True Umma? Not the Umma, we see today of people who think that anyone who reads a translation of the Holy Quran is an authority on Islam. That is the way they think. It is their opinion. They don’t ask the Speaking Quran or care to search for them and to be with them. That is our power. Islam’s power is to be connected with holy people because Allah Almighty has promised that - If you get connected with Hablullahi Ummathi, that is with such people who belong to the Heavens, with such Holy people who are the Friends of Allah and who are close to Him and His Rasool (Sal) and they are the Saints. If you are not with them “Wala Tafarraqu”, you would be separated. It is such a sad separation that it is a punishment in itself. This is a punishment for the Ummah and what is happening to the Ummah nowadays is only a punishment because you are not getting connected with the inheritors of the Prophet (Sal) and because everyone is claiming that they know in accordance with their opinions.
The End
8-Come Again and Again Whoever you are:
From this Dergah of Splendour None is ever turned away
Today, as I was praying, an important point appeared in the mirror of my heart, a subject that needs to be addressed. What is the position of every single person towards the rest of humanity and the rest of creation in general? Each person, each being, is by nature self- centered, though constantly interacting with others in his surroundings.
Everybody divides his fellow beings into distinct categories: those having more in common with himself and others more in opposition - and the less in common the more critical the question becomes. So as a follower of a certain religion, you must ask yourself, what your attitude towards members of other religions will be. As a man, what kind of attitude do you have towards women, or as a woman towards men? As an elderly person towards the young, or as a youth, towards the elderly? As a wealthy person towards the poor, or as a poor man towards the wealthy? As a literate person towards the illiterate? What is your attitude, as a human being, towards animals, plants, inanimate objects, everything in existence?
The Holy Prophet, Muhammad, upon whom be peace, gave guidance to mankind in this matter when he said: “My Lord has taught me to show respect to all, to maintain a high level of good manners, and my Lord has perfected His teaching’. Now we need to know what those best manners are, and how they help us to show respect to all creatures in accordance with their respective levels, for, while Allah Almighty has made all creatures worthy of respect, He has especially honored mankind. We are invited to realize the full potential of that honor by perfecting our relations with all that surrounds us.
This perfection calls for a balance in our relations, along with the perception of the differences between beings and an ability to adjust our behavior according to those distinctions. This is because Allah’s creatures, most especially men, are not factory productions, mass produced and cut out of the same mould.
Each person has his own unique form, characteristics and capabilities - you can’t find two exactly identical people even identical twins may differ drastically in character. Everyone carries something distinct, and we must observe these varying and distinguishing marks, that thereby we may receive Divine Wisdom, and marvel at the Power of our Lord, for who else could create such diversity? Whether you look around you at your fellow men, or at the stars in the sky, you will know, by their infinite variations that only Allah could have created the universe.
Human beings, the “Crown of Creation”, are candidates for the honourable rank of “Deputy of Allah on Earth”. We are beings who have been endowed with the potential for uncovering a great secret within ourselves. If in heedlessness we do not strive for it, it will remain deeply hidden within ourselves. What is the great secret within man that he must discover to attain this rank? It is to understand that you are a manifestation of one of our Lord’s endless Divine Attributes.
Each person manifests a distinct attribute, no matter how many billions of people appear and disappear from this Earth, each one manifests a unique aspect of the Divine Reality. Each Divine Attribute is distinct, and, when fully unveiled, equally Divine. Therefore, our Lord is oblivious to our outward forms but is always mindful of the states of our hearts, as the heart of each man is a throne from among the endless thrones of Allah Almighty. That heart is not the organ in or chests, it is only represented by it as a figure of speech. In your real heart, your
“heart of hearts”, there is a throne and He Almighty appears on that throne through a distinct attribute that manifests in you, and nowhere else in creation.
Therefore, you must respect everyone in existence, as, in reality, that respect is the respect for your Lord within him. That is the way our Prophet treated people, the way taught by real Islam: a deviance from this “Way of best manners” is a dangerous innovation (bid’a) of high degree. The respect that we must show towards our fellow human beings is such that, should a baby be born, take three breaths and die, we must name him, wash his body and pray over him the funeral prayer; and if there is no one else to perform those rites, even the Sultan himself is required to do so, and even if it be that baby is born to the lowest class of his subjects.
And what if the living or the dead be of another religion or without religion, do we show them less respect? One day the Holy Prophet (sal) was sitting with his companions when a funeral procession passed by. The Holy Prophet (sal) stood up in a sign of respect to that departed soul. One of the companions said: “Oh Messenger of Allah, that is the body of one of the heathens. Are you showing respect to such people?” It was a sign of bad manners for that companion to say this, and he immediately regretted it.
Does the Prophet (sal) not know whether that dead person and those of the procession are Muslims or idol-worshippers? If not, how can he be a Prophet? But as the companions were at different levels of understanding and manners, building gradually towards perfection, the Prophet Muhammad (sal) was always patient with those who showed such a challenging attitude; he explained his actions to that companion according to the level of his understanding - which was the common level.
How difficult for the common believer, whose human feelings are caught in the ebb and flow of daily events to understand how the Prophet gave this respect for people who were actively engaged in oppressing the Muslims - killing and boycotting them, and generally showing abominable qualities! How difficult for the common people to make a distinction between people’s bad actions and the Divine Realities hidden and veiled, yet present and untouched, in their heart of hearts, and in this way to understand why you must not hate your enemies! Such understanding makes a person eligible to receive Divine Secrets, and a category of knowledge the Holy Prophet (sal) was instructed to reveal only to initiates.
Therefore, to guide that companion in the general direction of this reality while not revealing to him that which he could not comprehend, the Holy Prophet (sal) told him: “Yes, these are unbelievers, but you must know that each one has Angels accompanying him, recording his good and bad deeds, and the Angel of Death, Azrail, is accompanying the dead man as well: I am standing out of respect for those Angels”. In this way the Holy Prophet instructed all Muslims to show respect to all people living and dead, no matter how terrible their actions might be.
Mevlana Jalauddin Rumi, an Islamic Saint known throughout East and West (and the author of the epic Sufi poem, the Mathnawi) was once crossing a marketplace when a priest passed by and bowed his head in respect. Mevlana returned this gesture, bowing even lower, from the waist. The people asked him: “How is
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