The
thirty-seventh letter in the second volume of the valuable book entitled Maktûbât, by the great Walî and profound scholar
Imâm Rabbânî 'quddisa sirruh', was written for faqîr and haqîr ,Abd-ul-Hayy
'rahmatullâhi ta'âlâ 'alaih', and tells about the superior merits and virtues
inherent in the Kalima-i-tawhîd, LÂ ILÂHA ILLÂ-ALLAH. Hadrat Abd-ul-Hayy of Safâ,
India, (was one of those fortunate people who attended, and served in the
blessed sohbat of Hadrat Imâm Rabbânî for years, and thereby
attained plenty of
fayz. Being commanded by Hadrat Muhammad Ma'thûm 'quddisa sirruh', the third
son of Imâm Rabbânî and also his immediate successor in the Mujaddidî order, he
compiled the letters making up the second volume of Maktûbât.
He was sent to the city of Putna to teach Tasawwuf to the lovers living there, and
guided them to perfection. He educated and trained many a Walî and Khalîfa. He
was honoured with the glad tidings that he was one of the Qutbs.) The following
essay is an attempt we have so brazenly made to translate that great letter
into English:
Nothing in the
world could be more effective than the beautiful utterance "LÂ ILÂHA
IL-L-ALLAH" to extinguish the Wrath, the Vengeance of our Rabb, (Allâhu
ta’âlâ,) 'jalla sultânuh'. Inasmuch as this pulchritudinous utterance is
capable of assuaging the Wrath that is operative enough to drag one to Hell,
then a fortiori it must bring down His Wrath incurred on account of matters of
lesser importance. Why should it not, in the face of the fact that when a born
slave repeats this lovely word time and again he shakes off all the occupants
other than Him in his cognitive repertory, turns away from all, and directs all
his existence to one rightful ma'bûd? The reason for His Wrath is His slaves'
turning towards beings other than Him and attaching themselves to those other
beings. We observe examples of this state in this world of tokens. Imagine a
wealthy person angered by his servant. The servant, a good-hearted one, turns
away from others and commits himself thoroughly to the commandments of his
overlord. Willynilly, his master will soften down, his tender mercies bestirred
and his anger appeased. Likewise, this lovable phrase is the key to the
ninety-nine treasuries of Rahma (Compassion) reserved for the Hereafter. For
the cleansing of the darknesses of kufr (unbelief) and dirts of shirk
(polytheism), no aid could be more adequately antidotal than this graceful
utterance. Once a person attains belief in this phrase, the earliest mote of îmân
blossoms.
If a person, after
developing a mote of îmân in his heart on account of his belief in this
beautiful word, still imitates disbelievers in their customary and dirty,
polytheistic rites, he will be taken out of Hell due to the shafâ'a
(intercession) of this lovely word; he will be saved from the eternal torment.
Likewise, the mightiest saviour bestowed upon this Umma (Muslims) is Muhammad
Rasûlullah 'sall-Allâhu 'alaihi wa sallam', who will save them from torment by
interceding for their grave sins. We say, "grave sins," because there
were very few people to commit grave sins among the previous ummats. And ever
fewer were the people
who dirtied their îmân
with customs of disbelief and polytheism. It is this Umma who are most
desperately in need of shafâ'a (intercession). As for the previous ummats;
people that one would expect to encounter were either some obdurate heathens or
a congregation of true, adherent and devoted believers.
Had it not been
for this beautiful word and a treasure of shafâ'at like the Pinnacle of
Prophethood 'alaihi wa 'alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-tehiyyat', this Umma would
have perished in their own wrongdoings. This Umma are so sinful. Yet, boundless
also is the forgiveness, the 'afw and maghfira, of Allâhu ta’âlâ. So profusely
will Allâhu ta’âlâ shower His 'afw and maghfira on this Ummat that He is not
known to have shown so great magnanimity over any of the previous ummats. It is
as if He reserved ninety-nine percent of His Compassion for this Ummat of
offenders. Kindness and grace, one feels egged on to say, favour sinners and
offenders. Allâhu ta’âlâ loves blessing His slaves with 'afw and maghfira.
Nothing will be treated with such abundance of 'afw and maghfira as will be
this Ummat, so sinful and guilty as they are. And this is the very reason for
which this Ummat has been gifted with the championship of meritoriouness, ahead
of all other ummats; this exquisite word, which is their intercessor, has been
the most valuable of all words ever said; and likewise their Prophet, their
intermediator, has been the highest of Prophets 'alaihi wa 'alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-tehiyyât'.
The seventieth âyat-i-kerîma of Furqân sûra
purports: "They are the persons whose evil Allâhu
ta’âlâ will change into good. Allâhu ta’âlâ is oft forgiving, most
merciful." (25:70)
That is something
quite simple for Allâhu ta’âlâ to do. 0 our Rabb (Allâhu ta’âlâ)! Forgive us
our sins, extravagance and excess in our doings. Keep us in the right path!
Help us to overcome the faithless! Now, hearkon,to the merits of this lovely
word:
Rasulullah 'sall-Allâhu
ta’âlâ 'alaihi wa âlihi wa sallama wa bâreka' stated: "A person who says 'Lâ ilâha il-l-Allâh', will enter Paradise."
Short-sighted people will be astonished at this statement. "How could it
ever be possible to enter Paradise by saying, 'lâ ilâha illâ-Allah,'
once," they will say. They do not know the barakats, the benefits of this
comely word. To the understanding of this faqîr [Imâm Rabânî 'rahmatullâhi
'alaih' means himself], it would be fair if they were to forgive all
unbelievers and send then all to Paradise in return for saying that beautiful
word only once. I see it that if they were to divide the
barakats and
benefits of that sacred utterance by the number of all the creatures till the
end of the world it would satiate them all. Over and above that, when that
sacred and beautiful word is complemented with the addition of ‘Muhammad-un-Rasulullah', and thereby tabligh and
tawhîd are arranged side by side like cultured pearls, whereby Risâlat
(Prophethood) and Wilâyat will have been brought nearer to each other, all the
superior and high qualities of Wilâyat and Nubuwwa will come together. It is
these utterances that make one attain to the gateway leading to the two
resources of happiness. It is this statement that delivers Wilâya from the
glooms of shades and reflections, clarifies it, and raises Nubuwwa to heights
of culmination. O our Allah! Do not deprive us from the benefits of this
beautiful word! Take our souls out at a time when we are in a state of
affirmation of this beautiful word! On the Rising Day, make us among those who
affirm this beautiful word! For the sake of this word and for the sake of those
who taught us this word 'alaihim-us-salawât wa-t-taslîmât wa-t-tehiyyât,
wa-l-barakât', place us into Janna (Paradise)! Âmîn.
When sight and
advance are incapacitated, when the wings of himma fall, and once you have gone
beyond the boundaries of all sorts of knowledge and exploration, nothing other
than the Kalima-t-at-tawhîd, 'Lâ ilâha illâ-Allah
Muhammadun Rasûlullah," will help you make further progress. Unless
you find sanctuary in the bosom of this word you will make no progress beyond
those heights. One single utterance of that beautiful word makes the 'sâlik'
soar and reach those heights. Owing to the haqîqa Signified by that highly
honourable word he makes an ascent above those heights. He gets further away
from himself and draws nearer to Allâhu ta’âlâ. A tiny part of that uplifting
path is times and again greater than all the celestial spheres around us. This
comparison should•suffice to give an idea about the superiority of that word.
Existence of all creatures would look a mere nothing, were it possible to place
them beside that word. They would be quite imperceptible. They would not even
be a drop of water compared with an immence ocean. The superior grades of this
beautiful word will manifest themselves depending on the levels of those who
utter it. The higher the level of the person who utters it, the higher will the
grandeur be wherein that divine word will manifest itself. An Arabic couplet rendered
into English reads as follows:
"The beauty win show itself the
more,
As the look comes from deeper in the core."
No other worldly appetite could be more valuable than or superior to the pleasure and the delicious taste one relishes from uttering this splendid word time and time again, [throughout one's occupations and duties.] Yet there is no help for it, and one cannot get all one's wishes. Talking to others is ineluctable, even at the cost of ghafla. II