SECOND VOLUME, 62nd LETTER

Man’s honour is in his îmân and ma’rifat, not in his property or rank position. Endeavour for the solidification of îmân! Redouble your efforts for the attainment of grades of ma’rifat! It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf, “If a person works for the Hereafter, Allâhu ta’âlâ will make him attain all his wishes. If a person runs after worldly affairs only, He will destroyhim.” If a person has to struggle for a living, it is permissible for him to get a job and work. It will be good for him if he earns well. If he cannot earn well he should not insist. His efforts will be in vain. In addition, he will suffer harm.

SECOND VOLUME, 63rd LETTER

If a person misses his daily prayers of namâz because of illness and does not know the number of prayers he has missed, he makes qadâ of the prayers he has missed in lieu of the supererogatory prayers of namâz such as (those prayers of namâz termed) Tahajjud and Ishrâq as well as the sunnats of the five daily prayers of namâz; the prayers of namâz he performs with the intention of qadâ though he has finished his debts of namâz will become supererogatory. He will be given the thawâb (blessings promised) for supererogatory worships. For it is not necessary to make a certain niyyat for supererogatory prayers of namâz performed at certain times. Prayers of namâz made qadâ at certain times become supererogatory prayers belonging to those times.

[It is a grave sin to omit the five daily prayers of namâz, that is, not to perform them (within the times allotted to them) without any ’udhr (a good excuse for doing or not doing something). Fawt [missing or omitting them] because of illness or another ’udhr is not sinful. For this, it is necessary to make qadâ of them, (that is, to pay one’s debts pertaining to namâz), instead of the sunnats of the five daily prayers of namâz except the sunnat of morning namâz. That these sunnats are supererogatory prayers is explained in the books Jawhara and Futûh-ul-ghayb as well as in Newâdir-i-fiqhiyya, by Muhammad Sâdiq Efendi, the Qâdi of Jerusalem, and in Eshbâh and in Se’âdet-i Ebediyye (Endless Bliss)].

-423-