A visitor came to a Chishti pir. This visitor wanted to demonstrate his own knowledge of the Qur’an and intended to overpower the Chishti pir in a debate. When he entered, the Chishti pir took the initiative however and mentioned Yusuf and the dreams he has had according to the Qur’an. He then suddenly turned to his visitor and asked him if he could tell him about a dream, so that the visitor may give his interpretation thereof. After receiving permission the Sufi told that he has had a dream and both of them were in it. The Chishti pir then went on by describing the following dream event: “I saw your hand immersed in a jar of honey, while…
These dervishes are like apes
While it is good that murids in the beginning of their path emulate the behaviour of their murshid, it is important that in due course of time this doesn’t turn into a blind following (taqlid) of their spiritual guide and teacher. A Sufi shaykh visited some dervishes in Misr during his travels. When he was with them, he taught some apes to do a dance. They learned to do it very quickly. Dressed in golden robes and wearing impressive crowns, they went through the steps and, for a while, put on a very good show. This show took place in front of the dervishes the shaykh had visited. They responded with enthusiasm to the dance of the apes. Something unexpected…
Generosity
Hatim at-Tayy was known for his extreme largesse, which was so great that whenever a man of his circle found himself in dire straits, he would refer to Hatim at-Tayy as the proverbial solver of all problems. Once a man who lived rather at a great distance of Hatim’s dwelling place was sorely pressed from want of funds. For days he fretted and worried about this, while his situation steadily worsened, until one day his wife said to him: ‘Whatever we try to do to pull ourselves out of this trouble, it just gets worse. How long is this to go on? Why don’t you go now and speak to Hatim at-Tayy and ask him to help you for once?’…
Contemplation and Meditation
The terms contemplation and meditation are sometimes seen as synonyms and sometimes as different Sufi techniques. Mushahadah, ru’yah and muraqabah are words often used for contemplation, while fikr (tafakkur) is one of the terms used for meditation. Al-Jurjani gives a number of descriptions of tafakkur, starting by saying that “it is the application of the heart to the signification of the things in order to attain the object of the search”. It is according to him “the torch of the heart, which makes it possible to discern the good from the bad, and the profit from the loss. The heart that doesn’t meditate, is submerged in darkness”. He ends his explanation thus: “Meditation, it is said to point to a…
What kind of Pir do you want?
Nawab Khadim Hasan was once approached for initiation. He asked the visitor if he would like a murshid who was a leaf, a stone or a log? The visitor was quite surprised and could not give a reply. So to save him the consternation Nawab Khadim Hasan gave him an explanation: If a leaf floats down a river and a stone is dropped on it, it sinks a little, then tilts and the stone falls off, and thus soon the leave alone is floating down the river. If you drop a stone in a river, it sinks. In fact if you tie anything to it, they both sink. But if a log floats down a river, you can grab it…
سلام
A certain Sufi remarked that after his death he’d leave a letter in a certain box. When things wouldn’t be easy, then the box should be opened in order to read the letter. Then it so happened that things indeed became very difficult. That’s why the box was opened and the letter was read, stating: “Everything is gonna be all right! I’m certain you’ll find a solution!”
The Fruits of Heaven and Earth
Thratara, a young woman, approached the dervish ‘Abdullah and sought his interpretation of a dream that had intrigued her. This is what she recounted when ‘Abdullah kindly received her: “In my dream, I met an old woman seated beside a fruit tree. Astonishingly, she declared that her name bore a close resemblance to mine. Instead of telling her name, the old woman uttered, ‘Consult dervish ‘Abdullah to unravel the significance of this fruit-laden tree.’” Dervish ‘Abdullah requested Thratara, “If you wouldn’t mind, then, please share more details about the tree. What was its hue?” Thratara responded to dervish ‘Abdullah’s question with much enthusiasm. “Its colour was distinct from monotonous shades of grey while lacking the stark duality of black and…
Listening and Understanding
In the early 9th century, when the Muslim mystics organised their Sufi brotherhoods or orders, they adopted music as a support for meditation, as a means of access to the state of grace or ecstasy, or quite simple as ‘soulfood’, in other words, something that would give new vigour to a body and soul tired by the rigours of the ascetic life. In Sufism the sama’ (meaning literally ‘listening’) denotes the tradition of listening in spiritual fashion to music, chanting and songs of various forms, all ritualised to a greater or lesser degree. The very meaning of the word sama’ suggests that it is the act of listening that is spiritual, without the music or poetry being necessarily religious in…
The Egyptian Elder
Just suppose you are able to make an interview with shaykh ‘Abd al-Wahhâb ash-Sha’râni. What would you ask him? Perhaps some of your questions are similar to the ones as given below: Q: Can you tell us something about yourself? A: My birth took place in Egypt in 1493 C.E. in a village in the province of Qalyubiyya. One of my ancestors, Musâ Abu ‘Emrân, was the son of the sultan of Tlemcen, and was a disciple of the famous Sufi shaykh Abu Madyan. This shaykh ordered him to settle with his family in 1307 C.E. I went to Cairo to study Islamic sciences, but soon afterwards I have been initiated into Sufism by several shaykhs among which I like…
The rules of behaviour of the shaykh
The Sufis of the Chishtiyya order, as well of many other orders, have also made a detailed study of the 52nd chapter of ‘Omar as-Sohrawardi’s handbook ‘Awaarif al-ma’arif dealing with The proper rules of behaviour of the shaykh and what he undertakes with his companions and disciples This they studied, if they could read Arabic or in case of knowledge of Persian they studied the book of al-Qashani (partially translated by Wilberforce Clark into English while using the ‘misleading’ title of the Arabic original). My translation is from German (Richard Gramlich; Franz Steiner Verlag Wiesbaden; pp. 359-364. Gramlich has translated the complete book, an excellent achievement not only because it has the size of a telephone directory, but also because…