بسم الله الرحمن اللرحيم
Excerpt From: What is the reality of TASAWWUF.
By: Arif Billah Hazrat Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab رحمة الله عليه
So as I was saying, when the verse:
was revealed, Nabi
proceeded to Masjid Nabaawi.
He observed those who were sitting there and saw three groups of people.
Firstly:
Those who only possessed one article of clothing.
Secondly:
Those who had dishevelled hair.
Thirdly:
Those who were dry and rough skinned.
(Majma'uz Zawaid; Vol. 7, Pg. 89, Tabarani)
Nabi
asked them as to what they were occupied with. They replied that they were busy in the remembrance of Allah Ta'ala. Nabi then asked them for what purpose they were doing so. They replied that they were doing so for the pleasure of Allah Ta'ala and they are Mureeds of Allah and their heart's Muraad (objective) is Allah.
Now we know who the true Mureed really is: the one whose Muraad is only Allah. As long as your eyes are on ghairullah then you are a fake mureed. You are not ripe. You are still like raw Kabab. Neither have you attained the ecstasy of Allah's love nor will you be able to give ecstasy of that love to anyone else. When you become intoxicated in the love of Allah and your heart becomes like a roasted Kabab (by burning your evil desires from your heart) then Allah will spread the fragrance of that burning heart throughout the world. Wherever you go, people will perceive the love of Allah within you.
Therefore, only make Allah your muraad, and in doing so, abstaining from sins is also necessary. When you become the mureed of Allah, then Allah becomes your muraad, then how can you look at ghairullah? So in this verse there are two lessons for the salikeen and mureedeen. The first lesson is to remember Allah and the second lesson is to abstain from ghairullah, sins and the disobedience of Allah. One is to please Allah and the other is to abstain from Allah's displeasure.
To live and die for His pleasure is true love,
Neither to fear any blame nor to fear the world.
Neither to fear any blame nor to fear the world.
Now tell me, does love not have two rights which must be fulfilled? One is to please the beloved and the other is not to displease Him. He who makes an effort in pleasing Allah Ta'ala
but does not give any importance to abstaining from Allah's displeasure, his love is deficient. From this verse of the Qur'aan Shareef it is established that the true lover of Allah, the true Saalik is the one who performs such deeds which please Allah Ta'ala and strictly abstains from those actions which displease Him, i.e. sins. He sacrifices his life in order to abstain from sins and casting evil glances.*
We will not look! We will not look! Never will we look!
Upon whom looking at displeases our Lord!
Upon whom looking at displeases our Lord!
If you get enjoyment in committing sin then recite another one of my couplets;
We consider such pleasures worthy of being cursed,
By which, O friends! My Lord becomes displeased.
By which, O friends! My Lord becomes displeased.
Therefore, make a serious effort and Insha-Allah, even the traces of the sin will be wiped out. Through the remembrance of Allah, the rose of the garden of love will start to bloom within your heart. Akhtar takes an oath on Allah that when the special closeness of Allah Ta'ala is attained then this entire world will become insignificant in your eyes! You will forget the stinking private parts that you were destroying your life for. Even if the desire of such obscenity comes about, then you will abhor it. Even if you try to forget Allah and commit sin, you will be overpowered with the remembrance of Allah Ta'ala and will not be able to sin.
Though I endeavor to forget, All the while
He is in my remembrance...
He is in my remembrance...
But only when the enjoyment of the pure and complete Qurb* of Allah Ta'ala is attained will sins be abandoned because sins are not left so easily.
Meer will repent when seeing a better substitute.
So Hazrat Najmuddin Kubra رحمة الله عليه went to the jungle, Hafiz Sherazi's eyes met with his Shaikh's eyes and said,
Your eyes are the alchemy of transforming earth into gold,
Cast upon me such a glance, transforming my baseness into gold.
Cast upon me such a glance, transforming my baseness into gold.
O my Shaikh! You are of such a lofty status of wilayat that if you were to touch dust it would transform into gold. But it should well be understood that to become gold one has to be placed over fire and undergo struggles and hardships. Such lofty status is only attained after tolerating grief in Allah Ta'ala's path and sacrificing one's unlawful desires. Many strong and healthy-bodied people shiver at the thought of sacrificing their unlawful desires. Yet there are frail and weak-bodied people who by the grace of Allah Ta'ala, will sacrifice their unlawful desires for Him and undergo the pain and grief of abandoning unlawful enjoyments.
Some strong and healthy people who can easily take down other strongmen become the epitome of fox-like cowardice, and become weaklings. I plead to you in the name of Allah Ta'ala, do not become cowards! Attack and fight the evil desires of the nafs like a lion! So Hafiz Sherazi said to his Shaikh,
Your eyes are the alchemy of transforming earth into gold,
Cast upon me such a glance, transforming my baseness into gold.
Cast upon me such a glance, transforming my baseness into gold.
O my beloved Shaikh! That glance of yours which transforms worthless dust into valuable gold, is it possible that you may cast that glance at me also? So Hazrat Najmuddin Kubra رحمة الله عليه said:
'I have cast a glance! I have cast a glance!
I have cast a glance!'
I have cast a glance!'
Although we have cast a glance, however, a mere glance is not sufficient. After a considerable amount of time under the spiritual supervision of the Shaikh will something be attained. Thus, Hafiz Sherazi annihilated his nafs and made himself dust at the threshold of his Shaikh, Hazrat Najmuddin Kubra رحمة الله عليه . Only then Allah Ta'ala granted him His special Nisbat (connection with Allah Ta'ala). If a mureed is sincere in his search for Allah Ta'ala and has a true thirst, then the hearts of the Allah-Walas (pious servants of Allah Ta'ala) will, by themselves have an inclination towards such an individual. The Shaikh will cry and wet the ground of prostration with his tears for such a sincere mureed.
If you are truly sincere in the claim of love,
Then you will be invited to the court of love.
Then you will be invited to the court of love.
Also, that peer who is an Allah-Wala will not teach you to become involved in worldly pursuits or to deceive people. This is because he will not be a worldly person himself. Therefore, he will prepare others for the hereafter and give the same advice that Hazrat Sufyan Thauri رحمة الله عليه had given.
(Meer = Meer Taqi Meer, an Indian poet whose life changed towards piety)
contd..
