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Sufism

Ṣiqālat al-Qulūb

The Polishing of Hearts

Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Ṣūfī Muḥammad Iqbāl Hoshiyārpūrī

The adhkār and ashghāl of the Chishtī, Naqshbandī, Qādirī and Suhrawardī orders, compiled at the direction of Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Mawlānā Muḥammad Zakariyyā and set out as he himself taught them.

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Contents

  1. Introduction The compiler of the present treatise, Ṣiqālat al-Qulūb, Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Ṣūfī Muḥammad Iqbāl Ṣāḥib Hoshiyārpūrī thumma Madanī , is a person of eminence...
  2. How This Book Came to Be Written To proceed: my master and guide, the Pole of poles (Quṭb al-Aqṭāb), Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Muḥammad Zakariyyā Ṣāḥib , had already received...
  3. The Initial Daily Practices It is the practice of Ḥaḍrat Aqdas that, at the time of the pledge, he does not instruct in any of the litanies of the spiritual path (sulūk)...
  4. The Reality of Nisbah Concerning the reality of the spiritual bond (nisbat), there is a plainly worded saying of Ḥaḍrat Ḥakīm al-Ummat Thānawī . He says that the literal...
    Sections 2
    1. The state of the possessor of the bond
    2. The possessor of the bond tastes Paradise in this world
  5. Why the Adhkār Are Taken Up The importance of the spiritual bond (nisbat), and the state of those who possess it, were set out in the previous section. Now its being commanded...
    Sections 22
    1. The acquiring of the bond, and that it is commanded by Allāh
    2. The acquiring of the bond in the age of Prophethood
    3. The acquiring of the bond after the noble Companions
    4. The witness of those who succeeded through the company of the friends of Allāh and the litanies in the way of the Sufis
    5. The command to keep the company of the friends of Allāh
    6. The second proof of the effect of company
    7. The third proof of the effect of company
    8. The fourth proof
    9. The continuity of the methods of the noble Sufis
    10. The difference between the two companies
    11. The excellence and effect of the remembrance of Allāh and of the practices in acquiring the bond
    12. The second proof of purification and reform through the remembrance of Allāh
    13. The third proof of purification and reform through the remembrance of Allāh
    14. The fourth proof of purification through the remembrance of Allāh
    15. The fifth proof of purification through the remembrance of Allāh
    16. The reason good attributes are gained through the remembrance of Allāh
    17. The second reason purification is gained through the remembrance of Allāh: the arising of the love of God
    18. The antiquity of the love of spirits and hearts
    19. An explanation of remembrance being a cause of the attaining of love and of attraction
    20. The wondrous working and effect of remembrance
    21. What comes after this?
    22. The method and order of training that the Pole of poles Ḥaḍrat Shaykh gives to those who take the pledge
  6. The Adhkār of the Chishtī Order Someone once said to Ḥaḍrat Ḥāfiẓ Ḍāmin Shahīd , 'Ḥaḍrat, do tell me the twelve tasbīḥ.' Ḥaḍrat grew displeased and said, 'In my whole life this is...
    Sections 13
    1. The remembrance of the Chishtī masters: the twelve tasbīḥ (dawāzdah tasbīḥ)
    2. An explanation of attaining the goal through the method and its sequence
    3. The method
    4. The shorter course of the remembrance of negation and affirmation
    5. Points to note concerning negation and affirmation
    6. Pās-e Anfās
    7. The teaching and prescription of pās-e anfās
    8. The first stage of the method of pās-e anfās
    9. The second stage of pās-e anfās
    10. An account of the verbal remembrance of the Name of the Essence, without the strike and without audibility
    11. The method of the verbal remembrance of the Name of the Essence, with the strike
    12. Sulṭān al-Adhkār, the bestowed form
    13. The acquired method of the practice of Sulṭān al-Adhkār
  7. The Murāqabāt (Forms of Contemplation) To fix one's attention upon Allāh is what is called contemplation, so that the heart remains turned towards Allāh Most High and does not busy itself...
    Sections 14
    1. Contemplation (murāqabah)
    2. The contemplation of death (murāqabah of death)
      1. Its merit
      2. The method
    3. The supplicatory contemplation
      1. The method
    4. The contemplation of companionship
      1. The time for imparting this contemplation
      2. The method
      3. Adding the attribute of self-sufficiency to the contemplation of companionship
      4. The state of one who does the contemplation of self-sufficiency
      5. A tale
      6. The reality of the rememberer's distress
    5. A necessary clarification: pās-e anfās once more
  8. The adhkār of the Naqshbandī order The silent remembrance (dhikr khafī) grants the one who remembers a self-oblivion and anonymity of his thought and imagination. This remembrance is...
    Sections 24
    1. Faṣl two: the initial litanies of remembrance (adhkār) and spiritual practices (ashghāl) of the exalted Naqshbandī order (Silsila ʿĀliyah Naqshbandiyyah)
    2. The merit of the silent remembrance and its place in the spiritual path (sulūk)
    3. The merits of the silent remembrance
    4. The method of the silent remembrance, and the six subtle centres (laṭāʾif sittah)
    5. The method of the spiritual practice of the Name of the Essence (shughl-e ism-e dhāt)
      1. First point to note
      2. Second point to note
    6. The method of the silent negation and affirmation
      1. First point to note
      2. Second point to note
      3. Third point to note
      4. First point of benefit
      5. Second point of benefit
    7. The second method of the silent negation and affirmation
    8. The remembrance of the bond, or the method of keeping the shaykh's company (dhikr-e rābiṭah)
    9. The manner of sitting during a book-lesson in the shaykh's gathering
    10. Three important matters in receiving grace from the shaykh and keeping it
      1. (1) Caution as to the nature of one's connection with the shaykh
      2. The manner in which grace comes
      3. (2) The way to obtain the complete and lasting effect of the shaykh's company
      4. (3) Singleness of purpose (tawḥīd-i maṭlab)
      5. A question
      6. The nature of one's connection with rightful shaykhs other than one's own shaykh and guide
      7. Keeping the shaykh's grace
  9. The adhkār of the Qādirī order There is very little difference between the initial adhkār and spiritual practices of the Chishtī and Qādirī masters, so much so that the adhkār of...
    Sections 7
    1. The litanies of remembrance (adhkār) and spiritual practices (ashghāl) of the Qādirī Jīlānī order
    2. The remembrance of the kalimah ṭayyibah
    3. The method of the negation and affirmation
    4. The method of the Name of the Essence (ism-e dhāt) with the strikes
    5. The practice of the Name of the Essence
    6. The guarding of the breaths (pās-e anfās) by means of the Name of the Essence
    7. Contemplation (murāqabah)
  10. How the shaykhs direct their attention Just as the shaykhs, in order to attain the spiritual bond (nisbat), have laid down and set forth certain methods for increasing the effects of...
    Sections 10
    1. The conditions of directing spiritual attention (tawajjuh)
    2. The customary method of tawajjuh
      1. Point one
      2. Directing attention in the disciple's absence
      3. Point two
      4. Point three
      5. Point four
    3. The nature of the effects of the customary tawajjuh
    4. An account of the second method of tawajjuh among the other elders
    5. The disciplines of the Naqshbandī shaykhs
  11. The adhkār of the Suhrawardī order This exalted order has many branches, and so the methods of its remembrance (dhikr) have likewise become many. But as has already been mentioned in...
    Sections 2
    1. The method of negation and affirmation
    2. The method of the silent remembrance (dhikr khafī) and the guarding of the breaths (pās-e anfās)
  12. For those who have completed the course In accordance with the direction of the spiritual guide (murshid), when any single remembrance (dhikr) of the spiritual path (sulūk), the twelve...
    Sections 10
    1. Directions for those who make remembrance
      1. Books for those beginners who act upon the sheet of initial daily practices
      2. Books for those who make remembrance and those who have been authorised (mujāzīn)
      3. Other related books
    2. Counsels on the spiritual path (for those who make remembrance), from Tadhkirat al-Khalīl
    3. An addition by the worthless compiler, entitled Dhikrā al-Dhākirīn
    4. An important caution: the intention behind seclusion
    5. 8. The gathering for remembrance
      1. The Khatm-e Khwājagān
    6. Why some seekers fail despite taking up the litanies and practices
  13. A request to the scholars My honoured brother, Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Hāshim Ṣāḥib, teacher of ḥadīth at Darul Uloom Bury, England, who is an authorised deputy (mujāz) of Quṭb...
    Sections 17
    1. A humble petition to the honourable scholars
    2. Preface
    3. The incident of Imām Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal
    4. Quṭb al-Aqṭāb, Ḥaḍrat Shaykh al-Ḥadīth Mawlānā Muḥammad Zakariyyā Ṣāḥib
    5. The second dream
    6. The saying of Ḥaḍrat Shāh Walīullāh
    7. The saying of Quṭb al-ʿĀlam Gangohī
    8. The sayings of Tāj al-Muḥaddithīn Zubdat al-Fuqahāʾ Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Khalīl Aḥmad Sahāranpūrī Muhājir Madanī
    9. The saying of Ḥaḍrat Aqdas Shāh Rāipūrī
    10. Four well-known objections of the honourable scholars concerning the neglect of the path of remembrance
    11. A supplement to the request
    12. Turning the students of the religious madrasahs today toward the pledge (bayʿah) and remembrance, and establishing a lodge alongside the madrasah (and the experiment at Darul Uloom Bury, England)
    13. A noble letter from Makhdūm al-ʿUlamāʾ, Ḥaḍrat Aqdas ʿAllāmah Sayyid Muḥammad Yūsuf Ṣāḥib Bannūrī , to Ḥaḍrat Quṭb al-Aqṭāb, Shaykh al-Ḥadīth
    14. An extract from the reply of Ḥaḍrat Aqdas, Shaykh al-Ḥadīth
    15. Ḥaḍrat Gangohī's word on the changing of methods
    16. The following matters too deserve attention in bringing the pledge of allegiance and remembrance into the madrasahs
    17. The successful experiment at Darul Uloom Bury, England
  14. Glossary