This
letter was written for Nűr Muhammad Tehârî. It explains that there are two ways guiding to
Allâhu ta’âlâ:
Bismillâh-ir-Rahmân-ir-Rahîm. Hamd be to
Allâhu ta’âlâ, and salâm to those slaves of His whom He has chosen and loved! There are two different paths whereby
man attains to Allâhu ta’âlâ: The first one is the path of Nubuwwa, which is analogical to the proximity of the Prophets and which leads man
to the origin of the origin. It is this path through which the Prophets
‘’alaihim-us-salawât-u-wa-t-teslîmât’ and their Sahâba (Companions) atained.
Choosing also some non-Sahâbîs from among their Ummats (Believers following
them), they honour them with an attainment through this path. Yet there are
quite few of them. This path does not employ a means, an intermediary. That
means to say that once
the aspirants attain to the goal they start receiving the fayz
directly from the essence. None of them serves as a means or as a curtain for
another. The second path is the path of Wilâyat. This is the path through which the
‘qutb’s, the ‘awtâd’, the ‘budelâ’, the ‘nujebâ’, and all the ‘Awliyâ’ have
attained. This path is the path termed ‘sulűk’. The ‘jadhba’s of the Awliyâ also are the ‘jadhba’s of this
path. Those who attain through this path help one another by serving as a means
or a curtain. The leader and the highest one of the guides of the wayfarers of
this path is Hadrat ’Alî Murtedâ ‘kerrem-Allâhu ta’âlâ wajhah-ul-kerîm’. He is
the source of the fayz coming through this path. All the fayz and ma’rifa(t)
coming from Rasűlullah ‘’alaihi wa ’alâ âlihi-s-salawât-u-wa-s-salâm’ come
through him. Fâtima-t-uz-Zehrâ and Hadrat Hasan and Hadrat Huseyn ‘radiy-Allâhu
ta’âlâ ’anhum’ are Hadrat ’Alî’s partners in this path. I think
Hadrat ’Alî had been occupying this rank before he came to the world. After his
passing away as well, through him do all the fayz and hidâyat come to all the
Awliyâ in this path. For, he occupies the zenith of this path. He is the owner
of that position. After Hadrat ’Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anh’ passed away, the
fayz emanating from him came through Hadrat Hasan and Hadrat Huseyn. Thereafter
the living ones of the Twelve Imâms also became intermediaries. After them, all
the fayz coming to the Awliyâ came through the Twelve Imâms. It is always
through them that the qutbs and the nujebâ were receiving fayz. That was the
case until ’Abd-ul-Qâdir Geylânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ became a Walî. Then he, too,
was blessed with that duty, and the fayz coming from the Twelve Imâms
‘qaddas-Allâhu ta’âlâ esrârahum-ul’azîz’ to the Awliyâ after him passed through
him. No other Walî attained to a grade equal to his. It was for this reason
that he stated: “The suns of other Walîs have all set. Our sun, however, will
stay forever on the horizon.” He likened the flowing of fayz of irshâd and
hidâyat to the spreading of sunlight, and the cessation of fayz to sunset.
Hadrat Abd-ul-Qâdir Geilânî was given the duty of the Twelve Imâms. Thereby he
became a means for rushd and hidâyat. Till the end of the world it will be
through him that each and every Walî will receive fayz.
Question: Shouldn’t the
mission of Hadrat Abd-ul-Qâdir Geilânî have ended with the advent of the great
second-millenium (hijrî) Walî, who has been called the Mujaddid-i-elf-i-thânî?
For, as the term ‘Mujaddid-i-elf-i-thânî’ is being defined in the fourth letter
of the second volume of Maktűbât, it is stated that throughout the second
millenium of the Hijrat (Hegira) it will always be through
that mujaddid that all the Ummats, including the Qutbs, the
awtâd, the budelâ, and the nujebâ, will be receiving fayz?
Answer: The
Mujaddid-i-elf-i-thânî has been performing that duty as a deputy of Hadrat
’Abd-ul-Qâdir Geilânî. It is like the moon’s reflecting the lights it receives
from the sun.
Question: How can that
statement ever be made about the ‘Mujaddid’? For, Hadrat Îsâ (Jesus) ‘’alâ
nebiyyinâ wa ’alaihis-salât-u-wa-s-salâm’ shall descend from heaven with the
mission of a mujaddid. Another great person who will appear as a mujaddid is
Hadrat Mehdî (or Mahdî) ‘’alaihi-r-ridwân’. Can these persons ever be imagined
to be receiving the fayz they are to broadcast from someone else?
Answer: Being a means for
fayz can be the case only in the second one of the aforesaid two paths. In the
first path, i.e. in the path termed qurb-i-nubuwwat, fayz and hidâyat do not come through a means. A person who
makes progress in this path gains spiritual height without the means and
curtains in between. Being a means or a curtain is the case only in the path
termed qurb-i-wilâyat. The two paths should
not be mistaken for each other. Hadrat Îsâ ‘’alâ nebiyyinâ wa
’alaihis-salât-u-wa-s-salâm’ and Hadrat Mehdî ‘’alaihi-r-ridwân’ will attain
through the path of nubuwwa(t). Also the Shaikhayn, i.e. Hadrat Abű Bakr and
Hadrat ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhumâ’ attained through the path of
nubuwwa. They are under the protection of Rasűlullah ‘’alaihi wa ’alâ
âlihi-s-salât-u-wa-s-salâm’. So high is their honour.
A note: It is jâiz
(possible) for a Walî to attain the path termed qurb-i-nubuwwat by making progress in
the path termed qurb-i-wilâyat and thereby to receive fayz through both paths. A Walî in that
capacity will be made to attain remnants from the special benefits that the Prophets have been blessed
with. They will make him attain through the path of nubuwwat. They will make
him a means for giving fayz to others. They will bless him with the lot of
guiding their disciples through both paths. A Persian line in English:
He will make a slave of
His a means for guiding all.
This is such a blessing from
Allâhu ta’âlâ, and He bestows it upon whomever He likes. Allâhu ta’âlâ has so many blessings.
[Imâm Rabbânî ‘quddisa sirruh’ is one of those Walîs. He attained maturity
through the path of nubuwwat. He has been giving fayz by way of wilâyat as
well.]
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All these
spiritual states are paraphrased in Maktűbât,
A book from which emanate all sorts of fuyűzât [1]
It is from it that divine lights spread worldover;
Whatever your
problem, to that book hand it over.
Read it very much, guy, you shall be light all over;
You shall receive all fayz directly from its author.
Such a
book it is, in Islam it is peerless;
Both in
the past and in the future it is matchless.
Next after the Qur’ân and Hadîth that book cometh;
Such a gem the
book is, to all people it sayeth.
Source of knowledge and ikhlâs, and land of
wonders, too;
A lover will one find it, and
a matchless one, too.
“Each letter o my father’s,” Qayyűm-’âlam[2] says,
“Is an ocean so vast, it does not have any ends.”
In it Tarîqat and Sharî’at come together;
Source of happiness in both world and Hereafter.
Here is
the physicists, and true panacea.
Here is
the cure for hearts, and for souls the fare.
Here is the word Haqq loves, by the beloved ones is said.
Here is
core of Islam, of which irfân is made.
Here is a
variety of Awliyâ’s words;
And the
path of Ahl-as-Sunnat in most open words!
The best news for the aspirant with love burning;
Best guide for the wayfarer for his sweatheart yearning.
Read this Maktűbât night and day alike; endeavour,
To relish that cultivation, that first-rate flavour.
Read the book until your eyes shed tears like rain;
Read it until you to genuine love attain.
Read it, so that that beauty will appear one day;
One who reads it will be free from vanities one day.
For hours, for days on end engage yourself with it;
A path into your heart will open with words from it;
A heart preoccupied with meanings it infuses
Will certainly attain the rescue he furnishes.
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[1] Plural form of ‘fayz’.
[2] The third blessed son of Imâm Rabbânî.
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