Teachings of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti

Teachings of Khwaja Moinuddin Cheshti

Three meditations of Khwaja Moinoddin Cheshti

The real wine in a clear heart is the sign and symbol of moving about in Allah and refers to the virtues and qualities, and to the way of life to be moulded according to the attributes of Allah.

The pure and purifying wine is this, that the divine grace may descend upon the heart of the faithful witness of the truth.

The real tavern is the heart. But without the guidance of the perfect spiritual guide the absorbed traveller on the way cannot understand it.

As you will remember I have promised to show some pieces of the English translation of Moin ul Arwah - a book written by Nawab Gudri Shah Baba dealing with the life and teachings of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. Ill try to give attention to different types of teachings; different as to the level of complexity. The following is the summary of teachings as coming from the second chapter of Kashf ul-Asrar (Unveiling of Secrets) a book of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. He tells us how the creation of the universe took place and that there are similarities between the universe (macrocosm) and man (microcosm):

God gave to all that was non-existing such existence, that He created from the four elements four existences, likewise He created four beings and when God desired to see Himself and to see Himself and to manifest His own Self, then God, the Almighty created these four spheres which were like four pillars.

(Then a drawing is given in the midst whereof is a small circle which is surrounded by four rectangles which enclose eachother).

After separating these from God they had a tripod shape and four elements, that is to say

fire, which is related to love

air, which is related to spirit

water, which is related to action

earth, which is related to ego.

This is similar (and can be compared) to the four friends of Muhammad (s.a.w.) and the four archangels near God.

(Then Moinuddin Chishti discusses the self (nafs) in 3 stages of development:)

1. An-nafs al-ammara (the self inciting to evil; the ego). This nafs comes from fire.

2. An-nafs al-molhama (the inspired self). This nafs comes from water.

3. An-nafs al-motmainna (the quiescent soul). This nafs comes from earth.

In the same way as there are four seasons in the created world, there are in the existence of man childhood which is like the sowing of seed, youth which is like Spring, the age of decline which is like the beginning of Autumn and old age which is like Autumn.

From the heart the tongue takes water, which is sweet,

From the lungs the nose takes water, which is sour,

From the gall the ear takes water, which is bitter,

From the liver the eye takes water, which is saltish.

Intellect is from the brain, modesty is in the eyes, understanding is in the ear, knowledge is in the breast and thought is in the heart.

God has created four spheres, the first is fire, the second air, the third water and the fourth is earth. In heaven is the height of mystery and under this mystery is the seat of mystery itself, under the height fire is like air, under the heigth air is like water and under the height water is like earth and these are the downfalls and the rises. From the height of the earth is the vegetable kingdom and from the height of the vegetable kingdom is the animal kingdom and from the height of the animal kingdom is the human kingdom, and the purification of man is Nur Muhammadi (the light of Muhammad) and this is the whole and sole reason of the truth. The details of this are many, but what is indispensable for the seeker has been described here.

In Moin ul Arwah the following deals with the khirqa (the frock of the dervishes):

With respect to the khirqa of the dervishes, all those who have inner knowledge are unanimous. In the Kashf al-Mahjub (The Revelation of the Veiled, the oldest treatise in the Persian language about Sufism) it says that the persons worthy of these robes are only those belonging to two groups, one are the extinct ones and the other the ardent longers for God. And among the great mashaykh the tradition is, that when some morid in connection with renunciation is drawn to them, then admonition is given to him (please also read: she) in three matters:

the first is service to mankind

the second is service to God

the third is meditation in the heart.

Hence for the sake of service to mankind he should make sure that he considers himself the servant of all, that he regards all people as his masters, that without distinction he considers them all better than himself and that he considers it reasonable that they are above him.

And in the service to God it is necessary that he should renounce the pleasures of this world and the next world and that he should perform special prayers to God.

And for meditation it is necessary that his mind should remain collected and all distractions be discarded from the heart.

When those three conditions have been obtained and the morid has become accomplished in those three matters, then he is considered to be worthy of the path of religious observance and it is befitting for him that he be clothed with the khirqa.

(To be continued)

Part 2 The khirqa

In part 1 (see the archives of previous Saturday) a person may receive the khirqa (the frock of the dervishes) for three reasons: the first is service to mankind, the second is service to God and the third is meditation in the heart. The author of Moin ul Arwah continues thus:

That person deserves to be clothed with the khirqa who is steadfast in God. According to the traditions Saifuddin, the author of the Qusus-ul-Adab, the origin of the khirqa is the black sheet which the prophet gave to Ali. He writes that shaykh Najmuddin Kubra has copied from the Akhbar-e-Sahih that the real khirqa is the cloak which the prophet bestowed on Ali and by him it was bestowed on the great mashaykh and by them it was bestowed on several persons. He said that the truth about the khirqa is this that God on account of spiritual purity bestowed the khirqa. In short the prophet made the khirqa the bestower of the secret truths of the prophet and invested Ali with the khirqa. In the Rahat-ul-Qulub and Siyar-ul-Auliya and various other books of the great ones on the path it is written that the dervish mantle was bestowed by God on the prophet in the night of the meraj (his heavenly journey). That khirqa was a black garment.

But this tradition is not proved according to the authentic hadith. On the contrary the authors of these traditions have explained this as untrue and void But as to the khirqa in reality its benefit is that it used to be the garment of the prophet and this is unquestionable and clear that the tradition of the khirqa, as has been described above, was that the pure sufis who existed from the earliest times, used to bestow this khirqa and initiation after intimate friendship, learning and discipline. This being a test of the refining of the qualities of the ego. This custom of the khirqa was made known in the time of shaykh Junayd of Baghdad and after him this custom of initiation arose.

(To be continued)

In Moin ul Arwah attention is given to the poems of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. This is one of them:

Cast away from your face the mask of selfishness

And watch the spiritual beauty in all forms.

Ay! That You shine at every moment in a different manifestation

In the Sinai of the heart.

And there is every time another Moses wishing for Your appearance.

How can I explain that I cannot tell anything

And that in the matters of the heart all reasoning has failed.

Last night my heart expressed too many things,

And I heard too many things that I have never told before

Neither heard before.

THE 23rd WAY OF MAREFAT (GNOSIS)

The members of the Chishtiyya order have adopted fifteen principal stages and have made them their customary line of action:

The first stage is that of helpers, which refers to Adam.

The second is the stage of abstainers, which is the stage of Idries (Enoch).

The third stage is that of the devotees, which refers to Moses.

The fourth stage is that of the patient ones, which refers to Job.

The fifth stage is that of those resigned to the will of God, which refers to Jesus.

The sixth stage is that of the contented ones, which refers to the great Jacob.

The seventh stage is that of the defenders of the faith, which refers to Jonah.

The eighth stage is that of the thinkers, which refers to Joseph.

The ninth stage is that of the afflicted, which refers to Shuaib (Jethro).

The tenth stage is that of the morsheds, which refers to Seth.

The eleventh stage is that of the righteous ones, which refers to Noah.

The twelfth stage is that of the sincere ones, which refers to David.

The thirteenth stage is that of the illuminated ones, which refers to Khidr.

The fourteenth stage is that of the grateful ones, which refers to Abraham.

The fifteenth stage is that of the lovers, which refers to Mohammed Mustafa.

If a dervish with the help of the teaching of the morsheds is not aware of the above mentioned stages he is only a beginner

(From Moin ul Arwah)

Persuasion to serve your morshed

Turning towards Hazrat Qutub al-Aqtab he said: When I joined the Shaykh al-Islam Sultan al-Mashaykh Hazrat Khwaja Uthman Haruni (on whose grave is the light of God) and when the honour of bayat (initiation) bestowed on me was received with absolute sincerity, then for eight years I did not give myself a single moment of rest in the service of my morshed. Wherever he travelled this humble servant, carrying his bedding and luggage on his head, remained in his company.

Pir-o-morshed, after seeing such service and devotion from me, gave me such a gift as is beyond limits. Then he said: Whoever received, received through service and devotion. It is incumbent upon the morid not even slightly to diverge from the order of the morshed. Whatever the morshed has ordered in the way of prayer and wazifa give full attention to it do according to it so that you reach that stage where the pir is the beautifier of the morid. When a pir suggests to his morid to do something, it is for the sake of attainment of perfection for the morid.

Outward infidelity is this that on account of numerous deeds, customs and habits one be desirous of fame and praise among the people; that is to say that one considers the people, without the intermediary of God, as the source of the fulfilment of desires and may have the hope of success from them. As this fact is ungodly, therefore such considerations in the heart are idols. The sincere people of the inner path call this outward infidelity.

Someone asked shaykh Sadi what is initiation and what is being a pir and what is being a morid. He said: Initiation is this that you grasp the hand of the pir and act according to his guidance. The refraining from habits is called initiation, that is to say, keeping aloof from former habits and accepting the pirs advice and always remembering God. Being a morid is this, that you always, in presence and in absence, are in obedience and respect for the morshed and that you are always with heart and soul present in the company of the pir, that you abstain from treacherous deeds, that you remain in permanent union night and day in remembering God according to the order of the morshed.

Abdullah Ansari has said: To bestow initiation, to cut the hair on the head of the morid, to make a morid, to guide and to help the morid to reach God is a great task. Without the training of a perfect morshed the beginning morid cannot attain the nearness of God.

Khwaja Shibli has written that spiritual exercises are of two kinds, real and outward. Outward religious exercises consist of eating little, speaking little and remaining away from the world, but the real spiritual exercise is to polish the mirror of the heart through the secret remembrance.

The memorisation of the Quran is of two kinds, one unreal and one real. To memorise the Quran without understanding its meaning is unreal memorisation and the real memorisation is that of reciting the Quran in the heart.

Unity is also of two kinds, one unreal and one real. The unreal union is this, that in the world of jabarut and lahut, through the secret remembrance, the true seeker with the service of remembrance in his heart will with heart and soul attain the intoxicating effect of love. Only after achieving perfection in the unreal union can one reach the real union. The real union consists in this, that the real seeker, leaving aside self-seeking, self-seeing and his own existence, reaches the state of union with God. As long as the seeker looks at himself he will not see God. When the seeker does not see himself in between, he will reach the perfect union with God

The eighteenth way of marefat

Shaykh Sultan Ibrahim Adham said: I have for years together remained in prayer, idle deeds, the practice of the customs, recitation, the use of the rosary and I spent my whole life in the company of the learned ones, the ascetics and the saliks who are not majzub. However I did not attain even the perfume of the knowledge of God, but when I stayed in the company of Hazrat Khwaja Fuzayl Ayaz I reached the perfect goal.

It is said that mawlana Jalaluddin Rumi was the leader of the scholars of Islam. He had in his library 2954 books and he had 976 pupils. He used to hold discussions with these scholars, he was involved in self-love and arrogance and he considered himself as having reached union with God. But when he got attached to the qutb (the pole) of the awliya (friends of God), Shams Tabrizi, he left books, paper and lectures and through the company and the spiritual training of the shaykh, he, after acquiring nearness to God attained unity in God.

For knowing God there are fourteen famous kinds of knowledge:

1. The knowledge of the shariat, that is to say the explanation of the words of God.

2. Religious knowledge, that is to say knowing the glory of visions.

3. The higher knowledge, that is to say knowledge of the meaning of poetry.

4. The knowledge of philosophy, that is to say the works of the old philosophers.

5. The knowledge of faith, that is to say knowing the names of the qualities of God.

6. The knowledge of calligraphy.

7. The knowledge of astronomy, that is to say counting of stars and planets.

8. The knowledge of dialectics.

9. The knowledge of music.

10. The knowledge of medicine, that is to say the knowledge of the healing of the body.

11. The knowledge of the unity of God.

12. The knowledge of the tariqat, that is to say knowledge of the world of malakut.

13. The knowledge of haqiqat, that is to say the knowledge of the world of jabarut.

14. The knowledge of inspiration, that is to say love and affection.

The following is taken from the twenty-fifth way of marefat:

One day shaykh Abdullah Ansari asked God: O, God! What is the first thing and what is its end, that is to say, what is its result?

The answer came: The first task is fana (annihilation) and its end is wafa (fidelity) and the result is baqa (permanent existence).

Then he asked: What is annihilation, fidelity and permanent existence?

The answer came: Annihilation is being free from egoism, self-adoration and (separate) existence. Fidelity is keeping a bond with the Friend with heart and soul. Permanent existence is keeping the heart busy with truthfulness in all conditions.

As I am unconscious and intoxicated by the wine of Your love,

In everything I look into, I see Your beauty.

Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti said: For the seekers the first way is the shariat (Islamic laws). When the seekers on the way are devoted followers of the shariat and carry out the commands of the shariat and do not even diverse to the amount of a particle of dust from the way, then they reach tariqat (the path of Sufism). When they are consistent in that degree and follow the way of the people who have done this before them and do not for a moment transgress, then they reach the degree of marefat (gnosis, inner knowledge of God) and when they recognise and understand the importance of this place then light will be generated in them. If they are consistent in this degree then they go over to the fourth degree, that is the degree of haqiqat (the realisation of the Truth). After having reached this degree, whatever they ask they will receive it.

The fifteenth way of marefat

This is the weekly piece from Moin ul Arwah, a book in Urdu dealing with the life and teachings of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti:

Ahmad al-Ghazzali [he is the brother of the more famous Muhammad al-Ghazzali d. 1111] has said: One who has no shaykh, has no faith, who has no faith has no illumination, who has no illumination has no feelings, who has no feelings has no love The saints are under my cloak, others cannot recognise them.

When the morid has obtained the nearness of a mushid, but has not received the khirqa, then his [her] intentions are not right

There are two groups of dervishes. One groups abstains from possessions and positions and also avoids being shaykhs The second group after renunciation chooses satisfaction and resignation. This group is recognised as being worthy of sitting as spiritual superiors, of giving initiation, of giving training and spiritual education to others. But the first group after abstaining from this idea, adopts retirement in loneliness and contentment, as there is the element of distraction and carelessness in being in the company of the people of the world. When the people of the world come to these people and present something, although it is lawful, even so these people do not accept it and keep away from the world just as people run away from a tiger.

[There are of course more types. Some may retire in lonely places, others however hide in the big cities. Some have no direct value for their fellow humans, others who do not wish to be shaykhs can be of service to others in several ways; ]

This is the weekly portion from Moin-ul-Arwah (= Helper of the Spirits). It is written by Nawab Khadim Hasan in Urdu and it deals in great detail with the life and the teachings of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. The author lived in the previous century and expired in 1970. He was the head of a Sufi order. His khaneqah (Sufi center) still exists at a walking distance of the grave of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. Nawab Khadim Hasan lies buried at the hill whereon Moinuddin Chishti retired in a cave for meditation and dhikr, the remembrance of God. Now you find several graves of prominent Sufis near the Chilla (the place for 40-days retreat), and the silence thereof is mixed with the voices of schoolchildren. A school has been created on the hill giving education to children of several religions, all belonging to the poorest people of Ajmer. It is an unique school as you do not find many schools in India where Hindu and Muslim children sit together in thew same class.

But now what you have been longing for: Moin-ul-Arwah.[Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti ] said: The angel Gabriel asked the prophet Abraham, the friend of God: Do you need anything?

He answered: Not from you! for he was devoid of ego and spiritually he had received the presence of God.

[Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti] said: I have heard from my brother, shaykh Shahabuddin Umar Suhrawardi that in the world there are two things which are good as a rule of conduct. First being in the company of a faqir, secondly respecting the friends of God (awliya).

He said: The messenger of God has said: He is weakest who does not keep true to his word.

He said: When Adam was expelled from Paradise, everything except gold and silver wept about the condition of Adam.

God asked: Why dont you weep?

They answered: We will not weep about the condition of those who are not in obedience to You.

God said: By My grandeur and power, whatever your price and whatever your inherent value may be, I will make them known to Adam and I will make his descendants your slaves.

Some time ago there was a short discussion about the value of ebaadaat (worship). In his Khwaja Gharib Nawaz; published by Sh. Muhammad Ashraf in Lahore Zahurul Hassan Sharib gives this English translation on p. 114 of the teachings of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in this respect:

Gharib Nawaz says that if one wishes to protect oneself from the hell-fire, one should try to discharge ones duties of worship and prayer to God. It should be remembered that there is no better thing before God than prayer.

Hazrat Qutub Sahab thereupon asked: What type of prayer was that? Gharib Nawaz replied that that prayer consists in hearing the complaints of the aggrieved and to assist them, to help the needy and the oppressed, to feed the people and to get free the captives from captivity. All these things, Gharib Nawaz emphasised, are of great importance.

Generosity in almsgiving

Such was the condition of his (Khwaja Moinuddin Chishtis) generosity that whenever there came a beggfar or a needy person, the latter did not go from his door without having received some help. Hazrat Qutb Sahab said: I have remained in his company for a long time, but I have never seen any beggar or needy one go from his door unhelped.

Persuasion not to omit the repetition of the names of God and wazifas

He (Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti) said: If you have voluntarily undertaken to do the repetition of a sacred name of God, you should do it daily. If you cannot do it during the day, do it during the night, but you must definitely fulfil it because in the hadith it is written that the abstainer from repetition is cursed.

Then in connection with this occasion he narrated as follows: One day Mawlana Raziuddin fell from his horse and his foot was hurt. When he came home he thought: How did this misfortune befall me? He recalled that he used to recite the sura Ya Seen after the morning prayers, but on that day he had not done it.

Then in connection with that occasion he narrated as follows: Khwaja Abdullah Mubarak on a certain occasion failed to perform his wazifa. At that moment there came a voice from the unseen saying: O, Abdullah! Perhaps you are oblivious of the promise you have given as you have not performed the wazifa to-day.

Then he said: Whatever has been mentioned by our spiritual leaders in the way of repetition of sacred names of God, that I do, you too should perform the same.

Question:

I am a little troubled by some of the things said above. Words like accident and cursed are difficult to digest for me. But on the other hand in order to see the reality as it is, perhaps it is necessary to accept some advice in harsh language. What do you say? Has the above to do with the jalali aspects of God, or what is sometimes expressed as the jealousy of God? What are the reasons behind the advice to do your practices regularly?

You will receive a letter from Khwaja Moinuddin Cheshti

Khwaja Moinoddin Cheshti (1135-1229) has written 5 letters to his successor Qotb Sahab (1173-1235). In the fifth letter he writes what his morshed Khwaja Othman Haruni has told him about a dialogue between a morshed and his morid.

The morshed in the forthcoming letter is Khwaja Shaqiq of Balkh (d. 810) . Khwaja Abu Ali Shaqiq bin Ibrahim al-Azdi is the spiritual disciple of Shaykh Ibrahim bin Adham (this Sufi you may all know as he is the prince of Balkh leaving his worldly position behind him to pursue the path of Sufism). Khwaja Shaqiq is the spiritual guide of Hatim Asamm (d. 852).

The morid in the forthcoming letter is Khwaja Abu Abd ar-Rahman bin Ulwan al-Asamm. You probably all know why he was called al-Asamm (the deaf)? He was also known among the Sufis because of his great sincerity.

The letter makes it clear that the morid has learnt eight useful things. One by one he mentions them and shortly describes them.

I the near future I hope to give this letter as translated from the Persian by Dr. Zahurul Hassan Sharib and now to be found in his The Beloved of Allah, a manuscript of which only a Dutch translation has come out.

LETTER 5

In a letter to Hazrat Qotb Sahab, Khwaja Moinoddin Cheshti writes that his morshed Othman Haruni once was pleased to narrate the following dialogue between a morshed and a morid:

Hatim Asamm was a morid of Khwaja Shaqiq of Balkh. One day it so happened, that the morshed inquired from his morid: Tell me, since how long have you been engrossed in my love and engaged in my service and have been hearing my talk and discourses?

He replied: For the last thirty years, morshed.

Khwaja Shaqiq then asked: Now, tell me, during this long period, what have you gained and what benefits and blessings have you derived?

Thereupon Hatim Asamm submitted: I have acquired eight useful and beneficial things, morshed'

The morshed inquired: What are they? Did you not enjoy and posses them before?

He replied: It is true to say, that I did not enjoy them before. I am happy and satisfied, morshed. I do not require anything more.

Khwaja Shaqiq exclaimed: Hatim! I have spent all my life in your work and in your training. I myself do not want, that you should acquire more than what you have already acquired.

Hatim, as a mark of expression of his satisfaction and gratitude, humbly submitted: This much knowledge is sufficient unto me, for the salvation of both the worlds is circumscribed within the eight beneficial accomplishments, which fortunately I have acquired in your blessed company.

Thereupon shaykh Shaqiq asked Hatim Asamm to describe them and he answered thus:

Morshed, the first thing is this, that when I saw the people of the world minutely, I found then that everybody has foolishly made someone his beloved. These so-called beloveds are of such a type and trait, that some are with you during your illness, some are with you till your death and some accompany your funeral to the grave. There is none, who may go with you inside the grave and partake of your sorrow and affliction therein and there is none, who may serve as a lamp in your grave.

Seeing this I thought to myself, that (s)he is indeed a good beloved, who may be prepared to go with you inside the grave and be sympathetic to you and be a bright lamp there in the grave and enable you to overcome hardship and cross the hurdles. Then I understood, that the beloveds capable of helping thus are no other than good actions! So I made them the focus of my attention and treated them as my beloved and took them as my pleader, so that they may stand by me in the grave and serve as a bright lamp therein, be with me at every stage, intercede for me and may never desert me.

Hearing this Khwaja Shaqiq of Balkh said: Hatim, you have done very well indeed. Now describe the second thing.

Hatim then began to describe the second thing thus: The second thing is this, that when I saw the people of the world minutely, I found them to be the followers of lust and the devotees of greed and obeying their own self. I pondered over the verse of the Quran 79:40-41, which says:

But he who feared standing before his Lord

And restrained his self from vain desires,

His place is in heaven.

By thus meditating over the aforesaid verse, I realised that what the Quran said, was true. Consequently I equipped myself to oppose the self and placed it in the fireplace of asceticism. I refused to fulfil any of its desires. This unflinching obedience to God conferred upon me peace, confort and tranquility.

Khwaja Shaqiq of Balkh thereupon expressed his joy and said: May God, the Almighty, give you blessedness in your pursuit. You have done well and very well. Now proceed with the third.

The morid answered: The third benefit is this, that when I studied carefully the condition of the people of the world, I realised that everybody runs after the world. After undergoing sorrow, trials and tribulations one is able to derive some benefit from the officials of the world. One feels happy therefrom.

Subsequently I pondered over the verse 16:96 of the Quran which runs thus:

Whatever you have is transient and not lasting

And whatever is with God is everlasting.

The effect of the aforesaid verse was, that whatever I had hoarded, I voluntarily spent it in the way of God and surrendered myself to God, so that it may last there in the presence of God and may thus become a means of sustenance for me in the world hereafter.

Khwaja Shaqiq of Balkh, on hearing this, said: May God bless you! You have done very well indeed. Now tell me the fourth.

The fourth thing is this, that when I looked minutely into the condition of the people of the world, then I reached the conclusion that some people take a large family as the standard of honour, prestige and greatness and they feel proud of it. There are others who are of the opinion that honour depends upon wealth and children and this constitutes to them the hallmark of glory. Subsequently I thought over this verse 49:13 of the Quran:

Surely the noblest of you

In the sight of God

Is the most pious.

I was led to believe that the verse contained the truth and what the people thought was false and frivolous. Consequently I took to piety, so that I might become the one accepted by God.

Khwaja Shaqiq of Balkh thereupon said: You have done very well. Id like to hear about the fifth benefit.

Hatim Asamm then narrated thus: Fifthly, when I scrutinised the people, I came to know that due to jealousy they bear enmity with each other and talk ill of each other. And they are jealous of wealth, prestige, honour and knowledge. Then I pondered over the verse of Quran 29:62 that follows:

God expands the sustenance

For whomsoever He wishes of His servantsOr restricts it.I was led to believe that since the day of eternity they have received their share and none can interfere in it, then of what use it is to be jealous. Consequently I avoided jealousy and became at peace with all.

Khwaja Shaqiq of Balkh again remarked: You have done very well. Now describe the sixth.

And his morid thus proceeded: Sixthly, when I saw the world closely, I found that some bear enmity with each other and are at loggerhead with each other to achieve a certain object. Then I studied the verse of Quran 35:6 minutely which gives this warning:

Satan is an enemy of yours.

This verse dispelled all doubts and led me to believe, that the word of God was true and that there could be no doubt that Satan was our enemy. I made up my mind neither to follow nor to obey Satan. I wanted to obey and worship God and God alone. And this is as it should be, for God has said in Quran 36:60-61:

Did I not exhort you,

O Children of Adam,

Not to worship Satan!

For he is a manifest enemy of yours.

And worship Me,

For this is a straight path.

Khwaja Shaqiq, on hearing it, said: You have done well. And what is the seventh?

Hatim Asamm answered: And seventhly, when I saw the people of the world minutely, then I came to know that everybody tries his utmost for his sustenance. For this reason he becomes diffident and doubtful. He brings upon himself humiliation. I then contemplated on Quran 11:6 which tells:

On the face of the earth there is no creature,

Whose sustenance is not the responsibility of Allah.

I realised that the word of God was true. I am myself a creature. Since then I took to the service of God and I felt sure, that my sustenance will come from Him, because He Himself has taken the responsibility for it.

Khwaja Shaqiq of Balkh then said: You have done very well. Now narrate the eighth and last thing by which you are benefited.

Hatim Asamm finished his story by telling this: When I saw the people of the world minutely, I found them reposing their trust in gold, silver, wealth and in material acquisitions. Then I pondered over Quran 65:3 which says:

Whosoever reposes his trust in God,

God will be sufficient for him.

Since then I reposed my trust in God. He is sufficient unto me and He is a very good Pleader.

Khwaja Shaqiq of Balkh was delighted to hear the aforesaid things and he said thus: May God in His infinite grace and mercy enable you to pursue assiduously the things aforesaid. I have studied carefully the Old Testament, the Bible, the Psalms of David and the Quran and I have acquired from these four books the very things that you have mentioned. Whosoever acts upon these eight things, described by you, follows and acts upon the aforesaid four books in fact!

Khwaja Moinoddin Cheshti concludes his letter to Hazrat Qotb Sahab thus: By this narration you have come to know that much knowledge is not needed or required. What in fact is called for is purposeful practice.

You may remember how the letter of Khwaja Moinoddin Cheshti to Qotb Sahab ended. He wrote: By this narration you have come to know that much knowledge is not needed or required. What in fact is called for is purposeful practice.

Here follows another letter, written by the same hand and translated from Persian by Zahurul Hassan Sharib, delivered to you across the boundaries of space and time:

Whosoever attains the enlightenment of Allah, does not go about saying Allah, Allah The one who does so has not yet attained enlightenment. As has been said, the one having attained enlightenment, becomes in fact deaf and lame!

The perfect enlightened person passes beyond the stage of remembrance (dhikr), for remembrance is itself a kind of duality and duality to the enlightened constitutes a drawback and a defect. Allah says in Quran 57:4 the following:

And He is with you wheresoever you are.

An enlightened one in fact becomes an emperor: he does not expect anything from anyone and he does not fear anyone except Allah. Of such people Allah in Quran 10:62 has said:

Indeed, the friends of Allah

Have nothing to fear,

Nor will they grieve.

Allah is in the heart of man and the heart is in the chest of man. The heart is of two kinds, namely the non-real heart and the real heart. The real heart is neither on the right side, nor on the left side, neither upward nor downward and neither far nor near. But it is indeed difficult to recognise the real heart. Only those near to Allah know it. The heart of a perfect believer is in reality the throne of Allah. The nearness of Allah cannot be acquired without the company of a perfect spiritual guide.

The perfect and sincere seekers of the truth do not indulge in interrogations. But instead they are silent and respectful.

The heart of a believer is ever and anon engrossed in silent remembrance (dhikr-e-khafi), hence (s)he acquires immortality. But the heart of a common person is unmindful of the secret remembrance, hence it is dead.

People recite la ilaha illallah (there is no god but God), but they do not know what is actually meant by existence and non-existence, and whom they deny and whom they assert. Reciting there is no god but God and Mohammad is the messenger of God implies that there is none in the world, except the One Singular and that Mohammad is the manifestation of God. So the seeker of the truth should not allow the thought of a stranger to enter his (her) mind and (s)he should take God to be omnipresent. Allah says in Quran 2:115 thus:

Wherever you turn

The face of Allah

Is everywhere.

The prophets and the friends of Allah are ever engaged in the silent remembrance (dhikr-e-khafi). The prophet has said:

Remembrance with the tongue is a connection.

Remembrance with the heart is a kind of temptation.

The remembrance with the soul is a source of divine manifestation.

And there is always the silent remembrance.

The silent remembrance and the real prayer constitute in fact the renunciation of the self.

As just now a letter has been concluded, here is a new one. In another letter received from Khwaja Moinoddin Cheshti he writes this:

The perfect enlightened, knower of the truth, lover of God, brother Qotbuddin Kaki Ushi, may Allah increase your piety! Salaams to you from your humble well-wisher Moinoddin.

O, dear friend! You must tell your mureeds as to what is actually meant by a perfect dervish, what are his (or her) distinguishing marks and how (s)he is to be recognised.

The eminent shaykhs have said, that a dervish is (s)he who is above all worldly needs and who does not hanker after anything except His everlasting beauty, because the whole world is a mirror and a manifestation of His everlasting beauty. Hence (s)he sees his (her) object in all.

Some of the awliya (friends of God) have explained this thus: A perfect dervish is (s)he indeed, who removes from his/her heart the stain, stress and burden of anything and everything, and gives place in his heart to God alone, who does not pursue any other object or desire except God Himself. When all things other than God are effaced and removed from the heart, then alone the object is achieved.

So the seeker should ever and anon pursue faithfully and diligently his/her object. Now it is necessary to know as to what is meant by aim and object. You should know, that the object is the same pain and pangs, whether it be real (because of the love of God) or otherwise. Here the non-real pain (because of worldly objects) is the beginning of the mandates of the Islamic code. Salaams to you!

Nawab Khadim Hasan says this in his Moin ul-Arwah: Who does not know that sayings contain the essence of the experiences of the whole of life, and than the sayings of an aref reveal his various degrees of attainment? Fortunate are those who profit by the guidance of their sayings. He then proceeds by giving annotated 94 sayings of Khwaja Sahab. Ill omit the notes as they almost always refer to pages of Persian publications.

1. The heart of a lover is like a furnace of love. Whatever goes into it is burnt to nothingness because there is no fire like the fire of love.

2. The way of love is such that no trace remains of the one who sets out to it.

3. From the lips of an aref one hears naught but the remembrance (dhekr) of God.

4. The first sign of an aref is that (s)he begins to despise possessions and wealth.

5. Even if one would give up both worlds in the friendship of the Friend, that would be a small thing.

6. Though the lovers are cut off in love, they choose to do the work of people who, in sleeping and in waking, are seeking for the Beloved, and who having done with the formal aspect of friendship are absorbed in the contemplation of the Friend.

7. The Beloved Himself sees the lovers longing; the way of love is a matter of supplication.

8. An aref is (s)he who strives to achieve one breath. The breath of the aref is such that it performs the remembrance (dhekr) of God and the aref sacrifices his (her) whole life for this one breath. If such a breath be achieved this is a matter of great fortune, because even by seeking for such a breath in heaven and on earth, and year after year, it cannot easily be obtained.

In Moin-ul-Arwah in the chapter dealing with the 25th way of marefat attention is given to the heavenly ascension of the prophet Mohammad (Allahs blessings and peace be upon him). The author tells that the prophet returned with a robe, the robe of khilafat and that he asked several people what they would do if they would receive it. Here are their answers:

Abu Bakr: Id practice much austerity, Id attain much spiritual power and Id say many prayers. In outward and in inward prayers Id remain in your obedience.

Omar: For the pleasure of God Id embrace justice and Id do right to the one who deserves it.

Othman: O, messenger of God! For the love of God Id bestow much upon the poor and the down-trodden.

Ali: O, messenger of God! Id cover the defects of the people and cover their sins.

This was the correct answer and Ali received the robe.

Here is another selection of the book by Nawab Gudri Shah Baba called Moin-ul-Arwah, dealing with the life and teachings of Khwaja Moinuddin Cheshti:

The fourth way of marefat, the knowing of the spirit of inner correction and the stability in the way of haqiqat

When the 9th century [of the Islamic calendar] has passed, then, at the end of that period of time, the learned, the renouncers and the Sufis will be without a murshid, that is they will have neither a spiritual guide who is perfect nor a majdhub (an enraptued one, someone who has lost control of himself because of the attraction by God). Instead of prayer they will be involved in their own desires and the purpose of wearing the robe and turban only for external show. People in great numbers will be adorers of the body and several learned ones and renouncers will get involved in the greed of the world and the worship of the ego. The virtues of marefat (gnosis) and worshipping of the truth will not be among them, but instead they will be far away from the real knowledge of God. The reality about that group is known by the friends (awliya) of God; these great ones will always remember God in seclusion.

In order to attain union with God you should with heart and soul remain engaged in inner exercises. The knowledge acquired in this way, which is obtained through sincerity and inner correction, is inspired knowledge. This knowledge is the knowledge of God, therefore on account of its holiness it may not be disclosed to everyone. If someone happens to hear those many secrets [without the proper background] he will lose the power of hearing. When those lacking in courage hear something from the people of the shariat, from the learned or the renouncers about the secrets of God, that is to say, about the secrets of the truth about the arefin (gnostics) they do not believe it, they say it is impossible. Therefore one should not give anyone, except the true seekers, the knowledge of inner correction, obedience and the training of the world of jabarut (the world of power; next to the world of humanity there are other worlds, like the celestial world. It is also the world of the divine names and qualities).

(To be continued)

The remainder of yesterdays post:

The agglomeration of man consists of the marefat of ego, heart and soul. The ego is the seat of the devil. The heart is the seat of the angels and the soul is the place of the contemplation of God, that is to say:

the qualities of the ego are the search for this world

the qualities of the heart are the search for the eight eternities

and the qualities of the soul are the search for the hidden secrets.

The humble believer often remembers God in his heart and this excessive remembrance of the Friend is on account of extreme love. O, beloved ones! The remembering by repetition with the tongue and dhikr belong only to the external knowledge. As long as the real seeker does not get rid of the intellect he will not attain steadiness in absorption and the perfection of the nearness of God will not be attained as long as he is not frequently lost in inner obedience, in deep devotion and absorption. Comprehension and intellect are two stages and neither leads to God; those two stages are of external knowledge.

The world of nasut (the world of humanity or the material phenomenal world, perceived through the physical senses) and malakut (the world of sovereignty is the invisible spiritual, angelic world, which is perceived through insight and the spiritual faculties) are outward. Love and divine knowledge belong to the condition of always being present. The nearness of God has nothing to do with outward knowledge, the treasure of the secret of the truth has to do with the heart and not with the tongue.

The heart of the believer is full of affection and love. It is the place of the secrets of the Friend. The pure heart of the believer is the throne of God, the mosque in Jerusalem and the house of the kaba. Unless you come into the path of God with sincerity, one will not be accepted in the court of God. Do not ask anybody but your murshid a question of your heart.

This, too, is of the outward world that you say that you have received from such and such a great one such and such an initiation in a certain order. O, beloved ones! Adopt the way of the dervish. The people of the real intellect are the people of marefat (gnosis) and the dervishes. It is worth-while seeking the company of, receiving the training, the initiation and the advice of the salek majdhub and the majdhub salek [for the explanation of these terms please refer to The Culture of the Sufis]. One group of the shuyukh (spiritual elders) considers the initiation by one particular shaykh as a duty.

The Beloved Himself sees the lovers longing; the way of love is a matter of supplication.

On this path many masters have been reduced to humbleness and many humble people have become masters.

Khwaja Mo'inuddin Chishti has taught:

"Some people say that samaa' (listening to the music of the Sufis) is the way of attaining the Divine presence, that through this the lover attains completeness in love and gets totally lost in the Beloved, but this is wrong about love. The truth is this, that through Sufi music one attains double union because, on account of it, the heart dwells in the purity of love, the head in contemplation, the soul in union, the body in service, the eyes in sight and the ears begin to hear the voice of the Friend.

Samaa' (listening to Sufi music) is of two kinds, one with relationship, the other without relationship. If you hear the music as coming from the qawwal (musician), then you hear something from the unseen world, but when you hear the music coming from God, that is being in the Divine presence.

Sufi music is like the sun from which everything is acquired according to the capacity of obtaining and according to the degree of attainment and no one remains empty-handed. Sufi music is of God, but some of its parts are useless and improper. The temperament of the beginner is in no way capable of hearing the inspirations from God. Junayd Baghdadi has said: 'I have seen a darwish who on entering the musical gathering sat down and passed away. That is the real hearing of Sufi music'.

Sufi travel

Travelling is of four kinds (according to Khwaja Moinoddin Cheshti):

travelling with a purpose

travelling for inner contentment

travelling of tariqat travelling of haqiqatTravelling with a purpose is done to perform ones work, for instance to go somewhere with the purpose of trade and so on.

Travelling for inner contentment is this that one makes this travel for the sake of pleasing God. Travels of inner contentment are undertaken in a spirit of faqr (spiritual poverty) and contentment by those who do not talk

Travels of tariqat are those which the pilgrims undertake for the sake of pilgrimage, but the real seekers do not perceive in that the perfume of the knowledge of God.

Travels of haqiqat cannot be obtained without the help of a real spiritual guide, but are acquired by the training of a perfect spiritual guide and by obedience in the way of the prophet and by preserving nearness to God.

Be a traveller and travel always,

But be careful of wells and mountains.

Travel by your heart,

As the world is not the place for covering distances.

The heart of the momin (the one with faith) is the house of unification and in unification of the heart is the hajj of the poor. It is not for everyone to attain the inner unification. When the inner attainment of the heart is reached, then through repeated recitations and remembrances in the heart and inner obedience the true seeker reaches the place of unification of unification. That beauty of beauties is attained in eternal unification and is the contemplation of real beauty.

O, beloved one! That prayer in which, while performing the different movements of prayer, the difference between you and I remains, is not the prayer to God.

When absorbed deeply in the love of God,

Mere formalities of prayer are not observed.

Unless there is strong faith in the Oneness of God

Mere observance of formalities is not the means of approach to God.

That prayer is not of God which is outwardly worship of God, but is in reality of the ego.

The praying of lovers is a secret.

It is known only by those who are always praying.

The ignorant worshipper does not know,

That the soul of the lover is always in prayer.

When the lover sees the beauty of his Beloved in privacy,

No one else should come in between.

Going into retreat is of three kinds, that is to say, retreat of nasut, of malakut and of jabarut. Abdulah Ansari has said that, through the training of the murshid the real seeker reaches the nearness of God in ten years. Shibli has said that it is in three years and Dhun-Nun al-Mesri has said that the nearness of God can be attained in the third retirement.

The weekly portion from: Mo'in ol-Arwah.