The Caliph Ma’mun had a dream wherein he was inside the Ka’aba. He urinated at two of the corners inside of it and later on he did the same outside of it at the two other corners. He felt ashamed of this dream, but still wanted to know its meaning. He told one of his servants to go to the famous Ibn Sirin and tell him the dream while pretending it was a dream of the servant. Ibn Sirin, however, made it clear that it had to be a dream of a member of the family of the caliph who had to come himself and tell the dream. When Ma’mun came and told his dream, Ibn Sirin told him that…
20 Poems of Hazrat Baba Farid
I’ve acquired “The Couplets of Baba Farid” as translated by Maqbool Elahi when I was in Lahore. The original Punjabi text is also contained in this book. These poems are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the sacred book of the Sikhs. 1 On the day the body was married to the soul, All the destined breaths were written in a scroll. At the approach of the last breath, The so much heard of angel, brought their counth to death. 2 Rattling bones, this angel takes life away. Tell yourself, while breathing: ‘Destiny holds the sway’. 3 Life is wife and death her husband. Husband takes his wife away. After ‘yes’ to his proposal, How can she hold back the…
The Path of Blame
Shaykh as-Sulami (d. 1021) followed the path of blame. His ties to the Malamatiyya were through his grandfather Ibn Nujayd and his many Malamatiyya mentors. In his Treatise of the People of Blame (Risala al-malamatiyya, which has received a complete translation into French) he places the people of blame at the top of the spiritual hierarchy: The shaykh shows in ascending order: • The exoterists or scholars of the Islamic law • The Sufis or the people of deep inward knowledge • The people of blame. Malama (blame) has LMW as root. This root appears several times in the Qur’an and ahadith. Lawwama (an adjective of intensity) means: One who is constantly blaming others or accusing oneself. It has an…
The works of shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi [part 5]
Now let us turn to another book written by shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi. What can be more interesting than to see a Sufi of the level of shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi describe the life and teachings of another formidable Sufi shaykh? This has happened because shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi has written Al-Kawkab al-durri fi manaqib Dhu’n-Nun al-Misri dealing with the inspiring life of shaykh Dhu’n-Nun, the Egyptian. Shaykh Dhu’n-Nun was born in the North of Egypt and died at Gizeh in the year 860. Shaykh Ibn al-‘Arabi reports that when the Egyptian Sufi died “green birds of an unknown species flew above the body of Dhu’n-Nun during his burial”. This has been explained that the angels honoured shaykh Dhu’n-Nun. Shaykh Dhu’n-Nun was the…
In the darkness I was given the water of life
Sa’di has written: “I have travelled in many lands, I have visited many peoples and plucked an ear of corn from every cornfield, for it is better to go barefoot than to wear tight boots, better to endure the hardships of travel than to stay at home… And I would add: with every returning spring one needs must choose a new love – for last year’s calendar, my friend, is of no use today!” Sufis have travelled a lot. For them travelling is a spiritual practice. Here is an account of such a travel. A Chishti shaykh made a travel and arrived in the house of one of his mureeds. A small ceremony was taking place starting with the recitation…
The heavenly witness
Shaykh Awhaduddin Kermani says: ‘Aan shaahed-e-ma’nawi ke jaan-am tan-e-ust’, which means ‘my soul is the body of the heavenly witness’. He adds that the illuminated appearance of the heavenly witness is a co-respondent to his soul. The figure of the heavenly witness can become visible when your lower self gets purified by means of the training along the Sufi path. Spiritual development implies the transformation of the headstrong soul into the pacified soul. According to shaykh Nuruddin Esfarayini in his Kaashef al-Asraar this heavenly witness can already appear to you when you have not yet attained the level of purification of the pacified soul. The darkness available in your soul can have its effect on the heavenly witness, who may…
Meeting the Dervish
I only long to meet a true friend of God.And wish to reach the presence of this friend.From grief, my heart won’t openWithout seeing the face of the friend. Many people wanted to meet dervish ‘Abdullah, because he was said to be one of the friends of God. Few people, however, took the trouble to actually go and meet him. Why? The dervish lived near the top of a steep mountain in a Sufi khanegah. Climbing this mountain was difficult. Salik was determined to meet dervish ‘Abdullah. After seven hours he reached the khanegah and knocked on its door. When the door was opened, Salik saw a small, nondescript man appear who asked him: “Yes?”“I have come to see dervish…
Chishti poetry
You’ll find here several poems by Chishti Sufis. The transcription of the Persian text will be followed by its English translation: Gar az khodiye khwish berun aa’i to Dar pardaye tawhid darun aa’i to Var az ravesh-e chun o cheraa bargozari Az khod shode bi cheraa o chun aa’i to If outside your own self you would go, Into the veil of unity you would go. And if you would go beyond the why and when, Leaving yourself, into the without why and when you would go. Mas’ud-e-Bakk Jaan bar in yek bayt daade-ast aan bozorg Aari in kawhar ze kaani digar-ast Koshtegaan-e khanjar-e taslim raa Har zamaan az ghayb jaani-ye digar-ast. On this verse that great being gave up…
Diwaan-e-Mo’in: Ghazal 27
This is a complete ghazal attributed to Khwâja Mo’înoddîn Cheshtî: Az pas-e-parda jamâlî mî-nomâyad kîst ân Ân-ke yak yak parda az rokh mî-koshâyad kîst Who is He Who shows His beauty from behind the curtain? Who is He Who gradually removes the veils before His face? Tâ ba-kaî chûn ahwalân bînî lebâs-e-mokhtalef Ân-ke har dam dar lebâsi mî-nomâyad kîst ân How long will you, like a squint eyed person, see creation dressed only in different, unrelated forms? Who is He Who appears all the time dressed in these outward forms? Jâm-e-maî bar kaf nehâda ‘aks-e-khûd dîda dar ân Har zamân dar bâda-ye-mastî mî-fezâyad kîst ân You see yourself reflected in the glass of wine you hold in your hand, But…
Seeking
Khwaja ‘Abdullah Ansari said in his intimate conversations with God: I’m drunk from You freeing me from wine and cup.I’m Your bird free from grain and being hunted.What I desire from the Ka’aba and idols is You!Otherwise, I seek nothing from these two. Talab [seeking] has as its root T-L-B and is connected to these meanings: seeking, researching, asking something from someone, pursuing, being far away, not being present, claiming, soliciting, desiring, having a liking for or sympathy for something [Maurice Gloton: Une Approche du Coran par la Grammaire et le Lexique; p. 523]. Serge de Laugier de Beaureceuil, the most important connaisseur of the life and teachings of Khwaja ‘Abdullah Ansari, states in his Chemin de Dieu, p. 249-250…