Hamzah Wald Maqbul – 9 1440 Ramadn Late Night Majlis Shh Shuja Kirmn et al 05132019
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We continue from the Kasbah Mujibur,
today,
and we read the tabaqat of several mashaikh,
the first of whom, Abu Uthman Sa'id bin
Isma'il al Hayri.
He was one of the eminent Sufis of
the pastime.
First, he associated with Yahya bin Mu'adh, who
we read about the other day. Then he
consorted for a while with Shah Shuja'a of
Kirman,
and accompanied him, on a visit to Abu
Hafs in Nishapur,
with whom he remained till the end of
his life. So if you remember, Abu Hafs
is the blacksmith.
It's related on trustworthy authority that he said
in my childhood.
I was continuously seeking the truth, and the
externalist
expired me with a feeling of abhorrence,
meaning people people who are
very, like, shallow in their knowledge.
I perceive that the sacred law conceal the
mystery under the superficial forms,
which are followed by the vulgar.
Meaning what? There's some people, they they worship
like the.
Fiqh is important, but it's not everything. It's
a means to an end. Worshipping the fiqh
here means what?
Worshiping superficial for the mystery in their superficial
forms is what the end is,
and,
worshiping the sacred law is
not understanding that it's a means. And so
he said, I I perceive that the sacred
law concealed the mystery
under the superficial forms which are followed by
the vulgar.
There are people who talk about but they
don't understand what the point of it is.
This is different than saying that it had
no point.
When I grew up, I happened to hear
a discourse of
and
I found there the mystery that was the
object of my search. I continued to associate
with Yahya until hearing the reports of Shashuja,
a Kirmani from a number of persons who
had been in his company.
I felt a longing to visit him. Accordingly,
I quit Rey and set out for Kirman.
However, would not admit me to his society.
He said, you have been nursed on the
doctrine of hope
which Yahia,
upon which Yahia takes a stand. No one
who has imbibed this doctrine can tread the
path of purgation,
of because of a mechanical belief that,
hopes hope produces in a person, which results
in indolence.
I besought him earnestly and lamented and stayed
at his door for 20 days. At length,
he admitted me and I remained in his
society
until.
So this is one of the reasons I
wanted to read this Tabakat is this is
one of the people, most of the most
of the masha' here, they take the from
somebody, but this is one of the in
the tabaka that associated with a number of
different oleman. He understood the
the the way of doing that beneficially.
There's a way of doing that that's not
beneficial which is just take what you like
from every person and then, you mix all
the colors until it becomes just murky, and
you're confused,
going in different directions randomly.
So what happens is what,
Shashuja of Kirman,
he said that,
he said, I I can't I can't take
you
because you already have started on a different
path. Your trajectory is some different way.
And this is something that's this is something
that's true about the soul also is that
there are different paths to the goal, and
some people prefer different paths. Some people prefer
don't mind paying a toll and going on
the tollway. Some people like taking the surface
streets. Some people, the cars, you know, can't
go over 60 miles an hour, so they
have to take they have to take us
a different path, etcetera. Different people are in
different positions.
So he says that you're you're already on
a trajectory,
you're you're not gonna make it with me.
But then on the flip side, there's a
way of dealing with that also because many
Mashaik oftentimes
people feel like they get blown off by
them. But the reason is that people don't
like wasting time. The Sheikh wastes time with
you. It neither benefits you nor does it
benefit him.
And so,
he was he was persistent. When he showed
the Sheikh that he actually has talab, he
actually seeking to better himself. At length, he
admitted me and I remained in his society
until he took me, for a visit to
Abu Hafsa Nisha Pur. Abu Hafsa is the
the blacksmith.
On this occasion, Shasuja was wearing a coat,
a Kaaba,
and when Abu Hafs saw him, he rose
from his seat and advanced to meet him
saying, I have found in, the Kaaba what
I was looking for in the Aba.
Aba is like a cloak. The Kaaba is
like the jacket or the coat that a
normal person wears.
Whereas the Abba is the, like, the the
cloak, the Abbaiah that the the the masha'
used to wear. It's a sign of it's
a sign of being a sheikh. And so
he he said, look at look at this
man who dresses like a normal person. He
said that I found the thing I look
for in the mashaikh in this person who
who is just dressed as a normal person.
And that was the path of some of
our mashaikh as well as they would completely
conceal themselves to the point where you couldn't
see any difference between them and between another
person.
And the
the sunnah of that is what is that
is superior,
except for if,
if doing that will harm will harm Islam
and harm the people.
So Imam al Hanifa, he gave, he gave
wasiyah to the opposite to his students, But
when you walk amongst the people, if you're
a person of knowledge, you should dress differently.
You should have your
your your jibba should be longer, and the
sleeves of your jibba should be bigger, should
wear a bigger turban. Why? Because that way,
somebody who wants to benefit can know to
come and benefit from you, that you don't
hide and slip past
the service that you're supposed to be giving.
And at the same time, a person knows
not to mess with you because it's not
like messing with any normal person. They're going
to destroy their own akhirah if they give
you a hard time.
So these are two different
sides of the coin, and if there's benefit
to Islam in doing that, then a person
should do it. And if there's, no benefit
to Islam, it's better as aslam for the
nafs to safer for the nafs not to
not to distinguish oneself.
When Abu Haqq saw him, he rose from
his seat and advanced to meet him saying,
I found in a coat what I sowed
in the cloak.
During our residence in Nishapur, I conceived a
strong desire to associate with Abu Hafs but
was restrained,
from devoting myself to attendance on him by
my respect for Shasu Jah.
Meanwhile, I was imploring God to make it
possible for me to enjoy the society of
Abu Hafs without hurting the feelings of of
Shahu Jah who was a man of Gerat.
Abu Hafs became aware of my wishes. On
the day of our departure, I addressed myself
for our journey although I was leaving my
heart with Abu Hafs. Abu Hafs, said familiarly
familiarly
to Shasha Shujah, I'm pleased with this young
man. Let him stay with me. Shah Shuja
turned to me and said, do as the
sheikh bids you.
So see, also he had, you know, just
he also had concern for his
for his shift that he didn't wanna hurt
his feelings. He wasn't just, you know, completely,
completely selfish or completely
oblivious to it, and Allah opened a way
for him. And this is something that this
is something people should know. People do that.
Someone will go take Bey'a with the sheikh,
then later on, they'll realize maybe this is
not my thing or whatever. You're gonna switch
from switch from one sheikh to another. It's
has a lot of in
The secret,
is in in this is a nazam of,
Sidi Ahmed Zaruk. That the secret is in
fearing Allah to Allah and then being steadfast.
And the greatest of miracles is that a
person should have certainty inside of their heart.
So but that aside, sometimes it is time
to move on.
In that case, ask your shift politely for
permission.
If he says no, then you can deal
with that later, but you at least owe
it to him even if you didn't, you
know, even if it wasn't working out. At
least he gave you your time. He gave
you from his time. At least he had
sincerity for you. At least he wished the
best for you. It's not working out. It's
not working out. But to to kind of
ghost on the mashaikh as if it's like,
you know, like I'm gonna buy this from
Target instead of from Kmart. That's that's really
there's like high levels of bogusness in that.
So,
so you see that he he he didn't
want to run afoul of, of the Ihsan
that his Sheikh did to him. Allah made
a way for him.
Abu Hafs said familiarly with familiarly to Shah
Shuja, I'm pleased with this youth.
Let him stay here. Shah Shuja turned to
me and said, do as the sheikh bids
you. So I remained with Abu Hafs and
experienced many wonderful things in his company. God
caused Abu Uthman who is the the the
the the sheikh who we're talking about. God
caused, Abu Uthman to pass through 3 stations
by means, of 3 spiritual directors,
and these stations which he indicated belong to
them,
and he also made them his own. The
station of hope through associating with Yahya bin
Mu'ad, the station of Ghera
through, associating
with, Shasuja.
And ghayra is is what ghayra is the
thing that nobody knows about because nobody here
has it, but it's a cardinal virtue.
The cardinal spiritual virtue in Islam, people should
know about it. The the the,
Rasulullah
alaihi wa sallam
remarked to Ma'ad bin Asad bin Ma'ad,
that you Asad know that
Allah is pleased with your gaira
and that the Messenger of Allah has more
gaira than you and Allah has more mess
gaira than his Messenger.
So he says he through associating with Yahya,
he learned the station of hope. And through
associating with Shasha Jaha, he took the Maqam
of Vera.
And through,
associating with Abu Hafs,
he, took the of affection.
It is allowable for a discipline sorry, for
a disciple to associate with 5 or 6
or more
sheiks,
to and to have different station revealed to
him by each of them, but it is
better that he should not confuse his own
station with theirs. He should point to their
perfection in that station and say I gained
this by associating with them, but they were
superior in it.
Meaning it's okay to say that, like, I
learned this or I saw this in in
one of the but they shouldn't attribute it
to themselves.
This is more in accordance with good manners
for the spiritual adepts,
to have nothing to do with stations and
states.
This is more in accordance with good manners
for spiritual adepts have nothing to do with
stations and states. That all of these things
lead. They're all also again means that lead
to the same realization.
To Abu Uthman was due the divulgation of
Sufism in Nishapur and Khorasan. He associated with
Junaid
and with Ruaim and with Yusuf bin Hussein
and Mohammed and Fadl al Balchi. No sheikh
ever derived as much spiritual advantage from his
sheiks than he did. The people of Nishapur
set up a pulpit that he might discourse,
about spirituality to them. He is the author
of sublime treatises on various branches of the
science. It is related that he said, it
behooves
one whom God has honored with knowing him,
not to dishonor himself with the disobedience of
Allah. This refers to actions acquired by man
and to his continual effort to keep the
commandments of Allah because even though you recognize
that it is worthy of Allah not to
dishonor,
by disobedience anyone who he has honored with
knowing him, yet knowing him is God's gift,
and disobedience is man's act. It is impossible
that one who is honored with God's gift
should be dishonored by his own act. God
honored Adam with knowledge. He did not dishonor
him, on account of his mistake.
So,
the next Tabaka,
Abu
Abdullah, Abu Abdullah Ahmed Bin Yahya Jallaa.
There is a high level of like,
let's just say people
nowadays, if you give them the, like, slightest
correction, like, you say the smallest thing to
them. Right?
They become so upset with you, they'll never
talk to you again, and they'll go and,
like, make a documentary about how horrible you
are and, it's gonna be like this big
thing and nobody will ever forget it, ever
live it down as if you're like, you
know, you have no Hikma and you completely
destroyed all of Islam by
that one time you hurt my feelings.
So if you wanna know how the got
what they got in the past and what
sacrifices they make,
enjoy enjoy the following
because keeping it real went very wrong.
Abu Abdul Ahmed bin Yahya Jallah,
he associated with Junaid and Abu Hasan al
Nuri,
and other great sheiks. So we talk about
Abu Hasan al Nuri before and Imam Junaid
in years past. It is recorded that he
said the mind of the Gnostic the mind
of the knower of Allah is fixed on
his lord. He He does not pay attention
to anything else
because the knower knows nothing except for knowing.
And since knowing is the whole capital of
the whole wealth of his heart, his thoughts
are entirely bent on the vision of Allah,
and because distraction of thought produces cares and
cares keep one back from Allah.
For this reason, he doesn't pay attention to
anything else.
He tells the following story.
So once I saw
a very, handsome,
young boy who was a Christian,
I was amazed with his beauty and stood
still opposite to him. Junaid passed me.
Imam Junaid passed me,
and I said to him, oh master, will
god burn such a face in the hellfire?
And he answered, oh my son, this is
a trick of the flesh,
a look by which one a trick of
the flesh and not a look by which
one takes warning or heed.
If you look with due consideration, the same
marvel is existent in every atom of the
universe.
You will soon be punished for this, want
of respect.
When Junaid turned away from me, I immediately
forgot the Quran,
and it didn't come back to my memory
until I'd for years implored Allah to help
me and had repented of my sin. Now
I dare not pay heed to any created
object or waste my time by looking at
things.
So who wants to be Sufina?
Now it would be like
like, I think that Janae's was really mean
and,
like, why would he take the, like, Quran
away from him? That doesn't even, like, reading
Quran is good. That doesn't even make sense
and stuff. And I think, like, I'm sick
and tired of, like, Islam, like, all this,
like, Islam of rules because to me, like,
Islam is more about being a good person
and being spiritual.
Okay.
Whoever wants to whoever wants to buy, this
is the price.
Obviously,
those were big people. Allah gave them a
great. All's well that ends well. I mean
if the
end result was that he says what? He
says, no, I dare not pay heed to
any created object or waste my time by
looking at things. This means that Allah gave
him a very high
through this tribulation.
But
at the same time,
at the same time, it's, you know, those
are big people. Allah gave them a great
Maqam
and, we're small people, Insha'Allah. Allah tahus ferris
from
so much testing.
But, you know,
it's important to know that you don't get
anything without going through difficulty.
Abulfawar is Shah Shuja Al Kermani. He's been
mentioned in a number of in a number
of the other Tabakats so I thought it
would be good to good to read about
him.
He was of royal descent.
So Shah
is the Persian word for king
and, it's an old it's an old tradition
of the the masha'if that they they give
the the the title of Sultan or Shah
to,
the, to the masha'if of the tariqa because
they are like the mulk of the akhirah,
they're like the kings of akhirah. Then every
now and then, you'll have somebody who
it's from both sides. He was of royal
descent. He associated with Abu Talab, Nash Abadi,
and many other mashaikh.
Something has been said,
of him in the notice of Abu Uthman
al Hayri, which we just read not too
long ago. He is the sheikh who's,
who's in from whom Abu Uthman took the
station of Reira.
He composed a celebrated treatise on Tasawwuf as
well as a book entitled,
the
mirror of the, of of of the wise,
of the sages.
It is recorded that he said, the immanent
have imminence until they see it.
The people who have any prominence, right, the
people of imminence have imminence until they see
it.
And the saints have sainthood until they see
it.
I whoever regards his eminence loses its reality
and whoever regards his sainthood loses its reality.
His biographers relate that for 40 years, he
never slept.
And then he,
fell asleep and dreamed of Allah.
Oh, Lord, he cried, I was seeking you
in my nightly vigils, but I have found
you in sleep.
Allah answered to him, O Shah, you have
found me by means of those nightly vigils.
Had you not sought me there, you would
not have found me here.
He was one of the principal people of
the and the author of many celebrated works
on the mystical sciences.
He became a disciple of Junaid after having
seen Abu Sa'id Haraz,
and,
and after associating with
Nibaji,
Sahid bin Yazid bin Nibaji, you can find
his his, Tabaka. It's not in this book,
but you can find it in
in, actually, the Nafahatul Uns or some other
book. I well, you can find it in
another in another book. I'll look it up
and get back to you.
He was the imam of his age in
theology in Kalam. It is related that he
said, ecstasy does not admit explanation because it
is a secret between Allah and true believers.
And if someone has some ecstatic experience,
there's no point in telling it to anybody
else. In fact, a, no one's gonna understand
it, and b,
divulging the secret between you and the Lord
is bad other with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
and it may actually result in having something
taken away.
Says ecstasy does not admit explanation because it
is a secret between God and the between
the true believers.
Let men seek to explain it as they
will. Their explanation is not that secret. I
mean, whatever they're explaining is not what they're
trying to explain. In as much as all
human power and effort is divorced from divine
mystery,
it is said that when Amir came to
Isfahan,
a young man associated with him against the
wish of his father.
The young man fell into sickness.
One day, the sheikh and a number of
his, associates came to visit him. He begged
the sheikh to bid the
the the the singer, the qawwal to chant
a number of verses.
This is a this is a thing that
they used to have, you know, in the
Hanqah they used to have a singer that
reads
the of Marifa.
This is unfortunate that people are,
I guess they don't bother to learn Arabic
or Persian or any of the classical languages
anymore, and that we have no people of
any literary worth in English,
that have been able to not only understand
these experiences, but translate them into, an idiom
that that the people can understand.
But, this is something like in America, if
you, like, sing a song in the masjid,
people will, like
it's like you brought an idol into the
masjid or something like that. They'll freak out.
But that's even they they used to sing
asha in the company of the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam.
So that's that's something that that I guess
it's a peculiar
quirk of American Islam.
He says he begged the the sheikh to
ask this the kawal, the the the the
moon shiv to chant a few verses.
Whereupon,
Amir,
told the to chant,
how is it that when I fell ill,
none of you visit me,
though I visit your slave when he falls
ill?
How is it that when I fell ill,
none of you visited me, though I visit
your slave when he fall falls ill?
On hearing this, the invalid left his bed.
The the sick young man got up, left
his bed, sat down, and the violence of
his sickness had diminished.
And then he asked the he asked the
sheikh,
give me some more. So the Qawwal continued.
Your neglect of me is more grievous to
me than my sickness. It would grieve me,
it would grieve me even to neglect your
slave.
This is what this is the the the
the the of
of of of the of
Allah is that how come I became sick
and,
when I fell ill, none of you visited
me. Though I visited your slave when I
visit your even your slave when he falls
ill.
People don't don't
When there's something that he wants from you,
they don't pay pay heed to him. Even
though he's the one you're the even smallest
of your your desires.
You,
smallest of your desires, you don't even make
dua for it and takes care of it
for you.
You expect it, you know, you don't even
ask for it and takes care of it
for you. And so hearing this, hearing this,
just remembrance of Allah,
it it shook the sickness off of this
young man. And so he got up from
his bed and he sat down and then
he asked, read more.
And so,
the Kawaal continues. He says, your neglect is
more grievous to me than my sickness.
That that the fact that you're not paying
attention is is worse than than than even
the fact that that I wanted something from
you and you didn't give it to me.
He said it would grieve me even to,
even to neglect your slave. Meaning what? It
would hurt me even to if you wanted
something if you're if you wanted something that
you don't even consider important,
and I I didn't give it to you,
which is what? Like the the hadith of
Bukhari, the hadith that,
that,
if my slave asks me, I'll surely,
I will give him, and if he seeks,
protection with me, surely I will protect him.
Means he he says what? He says your
neglect is, is more grievous to me than
my sickness. It would grieve me to neglect
even your slave.
The young man's sickness departed from him. His
father thereafter permitted him to associate with Amr
and repented of the suspicion that he harbored
in his heart about the Sheikh, and the
youth himself achieved a high maqam,
in this path.
Make us amongst the people who keep the
company of
the and give us something to think about
more important and more worthy than the stupid
things that we waste our day thinking about.
Allah, take away all of our worries and
griefs and concerns except for the worry and
concern and grief about meeting him.