The sixty-first letter in the book Maktûbât by the great Walî, Murshid-i kâmil Abdullâh-i Dahlawî, was written to Khwâja Hasan Mawdûd, and the following is its translation into English:
All the guiding letters [explaining the wahdat-i wujûd] of the noble Hadrat Khwâja Hasan Sâhib-there is no need to write any words expressing his superiority-consist of true, reasonable, necessary and valuable pieces of knowledge that will be admitted by the great superiors. They are liked by the Awliyâ-i kirâm. Suffering vehement hardships, risking their lives, those great superiors attained to these states. The secrets of tawhîd originate from performing dhikr, doing murâqaba very much, and from excessive love. Your writing the states of tawhîd in this manner has pleased this faqîr very much. May Allâhu ta’âlâ bless you! May He bestow good rewards for your service! If I do not write what I know in this respect, I will have not paid you your due. If I write, I will have committed irreverence
against a great person. Our superiors commanded us to answer questions asked with ikhlâs. Obeying the command comes before observing the adab. I am writing for this reason. The superiors of Mujaddidiyya [the disciples of Hadrat Imâm-i Rabbânî, including those who have come up to now] have declared that while performing dhikr and murâqaba, the occurring of kayfiyyats, hâls and nûrs is called ’ilm-ul-yaqîn. The shining of a light of the grade of ihsân in the heart, which is communicated in a hadîth, is called ayn-ul-yaqîn.
Adopting the habits of Allâhu ta’âlâ is called haqq-ul-yaqîn. While doing dhikr its meaning must be thought about. When this meaning pervades all one’s conscience the heart becomes lighted with nûrs. So one thinks one has attained to the meaning. One feels as if one were united with Allâhu ta’âlâ. My dear sir! Who on earth could object to these words of the superiors? Ruzbahân-i Baqlî and Molla Aliyy-ul-qâri insisted on denying this ma’rifat. In response to them, this faqîr [Hadrat Abdullah-i Dahlawî means himself] has written: out of his excessive love for Leylâ, Majnûn-i Âmirî gave up eating and drinking. He turned away from everything else. He began to mention the name of Leylâ incessantly. Later on he said he was Leylâ. He saw everything
to be Leylâ. After suffering many hardships the nafs becomes purified, loses the properties and effects of the body and attains to the state of the soul. When one does dhikr very much and the meaning of dhikr covers one all over, one deems oneself to be united with the rank of tanzîh, too. [When covered with this state of deeming], Hussain bin Mansûr said, “Ana ’l-Haqq” (I am Haqq). We ignorant people cannot think over this subtle ma’rifat. Such words as “I am Ahmad without the ‘m’,” [which means ‘I am Ahad,’ which also means Allah], and “I am the Arab without the ’ayn (the first ‘a’)” [which means ‘I am Rabb,’ which is another name for Allah], are not hadîths. They are the words concocted by the followers of those (great people) who have attained the grade of tawhîd - May Allâhu ta’âlâ forgive them all! Also, those
things which are written in the book Nahj-ul-balâghât under the name of Hadrat Ali’s khutbas are untrue.
[It is unanimously informed by Islamic savants that the book Nahj-ul-balâghât was written by a Shî’î named Radî. Hadrat Abdul-’azîz-i Dahlawî, one of the great savants of India, writes in detail in his great book Tukhfa-i ithnâ ashariyya that Radî, author of the book, was a Jew. In Rampour city of India, a Râfidî named Imtiyâz Alî Arshî wrote a book named Istinâd in
one) of these three great savants is a witness, a strong document. There is no need to look for other witnesses to prove that Nahj-ul-balâghât is corrupt. Muslims should not read such wrong, doubtful books. They should read the sound books of hadîth such as Bukhârî, Muslim and others, and their explanations.]
The mysteries of tawhîd-i wujûdî have been born in the hearts of those who suffered riyâdât and those who dived into the ocean of love. The number of these exalted people is so great that it is impossible to disbelieve the fact. There is no need for those who have been following these great people to give different meanings to the âyats of the Qur’ân or to hadîths in order to prove their words right. No one doubts the existence of this ma’rifat. But it has been prohibited by the âyat, “Their knowledge cannot reach up to Him!” to suppose that this ma’rifat is the purpose of tasawwuf and the end of sayr and sulûq. Nor have the savants dwelt upon this ma’rifat. You have not completed the guidance by explaining your statement, “He who disbelieves this ma’rifat cannot attain!” For this reason, it is necessary to explain first what attainment means.