Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan Kharaqani [963-1033] is an early Iranian Sufi. I have visited his dargah in the village Kharaqan in 1974. His teachings can be found in the 61st chapter of the supplement of shaykh Fariduddin Attar’s Memorial of the Friends of God. These teachings are important because he is considered to be the
qutb – the spiritual axis – of his time.
1
Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan Kharaqani [d. 1034] was connected to shaykh Bayazid Bastami [d. 875] by means of an inner affiliation. He considered the shaykh from the village of Bastam as his greatest spiritual confidant.
It is reported that shaykh Bayazid Bastami visited the graves of the martyrs once a year. During this trip, the master passed through Kharaqan, the village of Abu’l-Hasan. When he arrived in Kharaqan, he would stop and take long breaths.
When his disciples asked him, ‘What are you doing?’ he replied, ‘I am breathing in the scents of this place because a man named ‘Ali will be born here. His nickname will be Abu’l Hasan and he will surpass me by three degrees. He will have to bear the burden of family and children, he will sow and he will plant.’
2
The shaykh said: ‘From the day I was born until today, I remember what happened to me.’ This was also the case with shaykh Ahmad Yasawi who, for instance, wrote in his Diwan-i-Hikmat:
Spirits gave me a share at the age of one.
Prophets came to see me at the age of two.
The forty [friends of God] came to ask about me at the age of three.
For that reason I went underground at the age of sixty-three.
3
The shaykh said: ‘It’s been twenty years since I put on a shroud. I took my head out of its pocket and I talk to people. I burned in my mother’s womb and came out melted, and at puberty I grew old.’ When shaykh Taptuk Emre befriended a thief, someone warned him against this thief. Taptuk Emre responded: ‘Haven’t we all come to this bazaar to steal a shroud?’
4
The shaykh said: ‘In my heart I heard, “What I emptied you from, stay empty of, for I am that Living who never dies, and I’ll give you that Life in which death has no place”.’
5
The shaykh said: ‘I do not deny heaven and hell, I simply say that they have no place in me.’ Hazrat Rabi’a Basri, likewise, worshipped Him solely for His own sake and stated: ‘O Lord! Give the share of this world that You have destined for me to Your enemies, and share the part that You have reserved for me in Paradise among Your friends, for You alone are enough for me and I need nothing else.’
6
The shaykh said: ‘The paths that lead to God are so numerous that they cannot be counted. And on each of them there are crowds of people. I said, “My God, I want a path that no one else but me travels.” He then guided me towards an exterme kind of longing and said to me, “The weight thereof is very heavy, and other people are not able to bear it”.’
7
It is said that a man came to see the shaykh, telling him that he wanted to wear the dervish mantle [khirqa]. ‘First let me ask you a question,’ said the shaykh, ‘if you give me the [correct] answer, you will be worthy of wearing the dervish mantle.’
‘Does a man who puts a veil on his head become a woman?’ ‘Of course not!’ replied the man.
‘Does a woman who wears men’s clothing become a man? So you too, if you were not already a man on this path, will not become one by wearing the dervish mantle.’
8
A man came to see the shaykh to ask for permission to call people to God ‘Be careful not to call people to yourself!’ warned the shaykh.
‘But how do I know that I am calling people to myself?’
‘It’s quite simple. If someone else calls people to God and it bothers you, that means you are calling them to yourself.’
9
It is said that Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna once promised his slave Ayaz that he would dress him in his royal robes and place his unsheathed sword above his head, as required by slave protocol.
Mahmud went to visit the shaykh. A short distance from Kharaqan, he sent a messenger to tell him: ‘The sultan has come from Ghazna to visit you, so you too should leave your hospice to see him and go to his tent!’
Mahmud added: ‘If he causes any trouble, recite this ayah from the Qur’an to him: “O believers! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you”.’
The messenger delivered the message. ‘Please excuse me!’ said the shaykh.
The verse was recited to him. He responded thus: ‘Go tell Mahmud that I am so preoccupied with Obey Allah that I cannot claim to Obey the Messenger, let alone Those in who authority.
The messenger returned and conveyed the shaykh’s response to Sultan Mahmud. Mahmud felt sympathy for the shaykh. He asked his people to prepare themselves. “This is a man who is not really what I had imagined,” said the sultan.
He gave his robe to Ayaz, who put it on, and asked ten pages to disguise themselves as maidservants. He took it upon himself to carry Ayaz’s weapons and went to carry out the deception at the shaykh’s hospice.
Ayaz, wearing the robe of the sultan, greeted the shaykh. He responded to his greeting but made no move to rise. He turned to Mahmud and did not glance at Ayaz.
‘Will you not rise before the king?” asked Ayaz, that is to say, Mahmud. ‘You have guessed it all, it was a trap.’
‘True, but the beast did not allow itself to be caught,“ said the shaykh, taking him by the arm. ‘Stand at the front, since you have been placed there!’
‘Tell me a story!’ asked Sultan Mahmud.
‘Bayazid Bastami said that all those who saw him would be saved from the seal of damnation.’
‘But he surpasses the Prophet Muhammad [s.a.w.]!’ exclaimed Mahmud. ‘Abu Jahl, Abu Lahab and other deniers saw the Prophet, but they will still go to Hell.’
‘Be careful what you say, Mahmud! ‘Do you know that no one except his four friends and companions saw the Chosen One? And you know what proves it [Qur’an 7: 198]: “And you see them looking at you without seeing”.’
10
It is reported that one day the shaykh was in the khanegah with forty dervishes. They had had nothing to eat for a week. A stranger knocked on the door. He brought a sack of flour and a sheep.
‘I brought this for the Sufis!’ cried the man.
Hearing this, the shaykh declared: ‘Let those who claim to be Sufis accept it! As for me, I do not have the audacity to mock Sufism.’ The mouths remained closed and the man left with his flour and his sheep.
11
Philosophers mention outward forms, appearances. Lovers sing of love to the world. The inner essence, however, is only between lovers and the Truth; there is room for no one else.
12
When you find God in solitude, it’s a sign that you love God, but when you, in the midst of crowds, delight in the presence of the Beloved, you are loved by God.
13
It is said that two brothers lived with their mother. Every evening, one of the brothers devoted himself to serving their mother, and the other to serving God.
The one who was employed in the service of God took great pleasure in it.
He dreamed that a voice said to him, ‘We have forgiven you both, but it is thanks to your brother.’
‘But Lord,’ complained the brother, ‘I devoted myself to serving God and he devoted himself to serving our mother, and it is because of him that You forgive me?’
‘You see, We have no need of anything you do, whereas your mother cannot do without your brother’s devotion.’
14
The shaykh said: ‘I heard a voice saying to me: “You are Me and I am you.” ‘No, Lord,’ I corrected, ‘You are the almighty Lord and I am the powerless servant.’
15
The shaykh informs us that God chose certain men as His friends and entrusted them with a mission. He asked them to bring justice among men:
1. So He chose certain men as His friends and sent them to court. He said to them, ‘Bring justice among men!’
2. He sent some into nature and said to them, ‘Uphold the rights of my creatures!’
3. He took others as friends, but He placed them apart and said to them, ‘Do not cease to contemplate Me!’
16
The shaykh said: ‘We all suffer from the same illness. Since it is the same illness, it is the same remedy. We are all afflicted with the illness of indifference, let us hurry to wake up!’
17
The shaykh said: ‘Lovers don’t burden others, while their hearts, burning with the love of the Lord, warm up the hearts of others.’
18
The shaykh said:
I am drunk by You; from the cup of wine I am free!
I am captured by You; from the seed and the snare I am free!
You are my goal, both in the Ka’ba and the idol-temple:
Otherwise, from these two places I am free!
19
The shaykh said: ‘Should you meet a true lover, you may be sure that God has given you His blessing.’
20
The shaykh said: ‘If, by chance, you set fire to your clothes, you would rush to put it out. So why does it not bother you that the fire of pride, envy and hypocrisy is burning in your heart?’
21
The shaykh said: ’O my God! If I were to tell You the story of those who are sad, the heavens and the earth would be drenched in blood.’
22
The shaykh said: ’O my God! Men thank You for Your blessings, but I thank You for Your existence. Your existence is the blessing.‘
23
The shaykh said: ‘God reveals only His creation to us, for if He’d reveal Himself, no one would last long enough to recite:
La ilaha illallah.’
لا إله إلا الله