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Sufism

The Spiritual Path and Excellence of the Elders

Akābir kā Sulūk o Iḥsān

Shaykh Muḥammad Zakariyyā Kandhlawi

An account of the path of spiritual reform and of the lives of those who walked it before us.

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Contents

  1. Foreword In the history of religions, of ethics, of teaching and training, of reform and renewal, and of the sciences and the arts, two stages present...
  2. Introduction The measure of the effect of right guidance that Allāh exalted has placed in the books of virtues, the Faḍāʾil, of the Imām of the age in the sacred...
  3. The Reality of Taṣawwuf and Its Source The sayings of Ḥaḍrat Shaykh concerning the reality of Sufism (taṣawwuf) are transmitted from Āp Bītī number 6, page 438:
    Sections 39
    1. Real taṣawwuf
    2. A Sufi is one brought near (muqarrab) and a person of excellence (muḥsin)
    3. The statement of Ḥaḍrat Abū Yaḥyā Zakariyyā
    4. What taṣawwuf denotes was present in the first century
    5. The definition of taṣawwuf
    6. The call of the Noble Prophet
    7. The statement of Ḥaḍrat Shāh ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq Ṣāḥib Muḥaddith Dihlawī
    8. The statement of ʿAllāmah Shāmī
    9. A discourse (malfūẓ) of Ḥaḍrat Imām Rabbānī Gangohī
    10. The statement of Mawlānā ʿĀshiq Ilāhī Ṣāḥib on the reality of taṣawwuf
    11. Taṣawwuf is faith itself
    12. The difference between the worship of an ordinary man and of one who has the spiritual bond (nisbat)
    13. A writing of Ḥaḍrat Imām Rabbānī Gangohī
    14. Translation
    15. Raʾīs al-Aḥrār's question: what on earth is this taṣawwuf?
    16. The tale of crossing the river on foot
    17. In the age of prophethood there was no ordered system of ways (ṭuruq) and chains (salāsil)
    18. An objection, and Ḥaḍrat's reply
    19. A letter from one of the honoured scholars and elders
    20. The reply of Ḥaḍrat Shaykh al-Ḥadīth
    21. The sum of all the litanies of remembrance (adhkār) and spiritual engagements (ashghāl)
    22. A discourse (malfūẓ) of Ḥaḍrat Gangohī
    23. The purpose of obedience, and the discipleship (irādah) of the noble Companions
    24. The kinds of the focusing of attention (tawajjuh) and of nisbat, and authorisation (ijāzah) for the pledge of allegiance (bayʿah)
    25. Authorisation (ijāzah) for the pledge of allegiance (bayʿah) given to one unfit
    26. A bandit coming to possess nisbat
    27. The focusing of attention (tawajjuh) of the men of Allāh never fails to bear fruit
    28. Objection raised against the true masters (mashāyikh)
    29. The deputies (khulafāʾ) of Ḥaḍrat Ḥājī Ṣāḥib are of two kinds
    30. There should be no pride in authorisation (ijāzah)
    31. The reality of nisbat
    32. The reflective nisbat (nisbat inʿikāsī)
    33. The infused nisbat (nisbat ilqāʾī)
    34. The reformative nisbat (nisbat iṣlāḥī)
    35. The self-mortification (riyāḍah) of Ḥaḍrat Abū Saʿīd Gangohī
    36. The unitive nisbat (nisbat ittiḥādī)
    37. Accounts of receiving everything by the joining of breast to breast
    38. Supplement
    39. The admonitory account of Ḥaḍrat Shaykh Abū ʿAbd Allāh Andalusī
  4. Obstacles to Sulūk and the Etiquettes of Disciples In truth every outward and inward act of disobedience, and every attachment to what is other than Allāh, is a highwayman upon this spiritual path...
    Sections 32
    1. Ḥaḍrat Shaykh al-Hind drinking the spittoon
    2. Ḥaḍrat Rāʾipūrī's love for his shaykh
    3. Ḥaḍrat Imām Rabbānī's stay in the service of Ḥaḍrat Ḥājī Ṣāḥib , and his testing
    4. The incident of Maulvī Aḥmad Ḥasan Ṣāḥib
    5. There is no road but humble entreaty and lamentation
    6. The clouding of the shaykh's heart
    7. An addition to the Āp Bītī passages in the section on obstacles
    8. The need for compliance upon the path
    9. The narration of Ḥaḍrat Abū ʿUbaydah from the Shamāʾil of Tirmidhī
    10. The etiquettes of disciples
    11. The incident of Ḥaḍrat Sulṭān Jī
    12. The man who does not guard the shaykh's heart
    13. Where will you pray the ʿĪd prayer? Ḥaḍrat Junayd's question
    14. Ādāb al-Murīdīn, from the ʿAwārif
    15. The etiquettes of the shaykh's gathering
    16. The rank of the Shaykh
    17. The causes of the desire of the lower self
    18. The search for the pearl
    19. The importance of the etiquettes
    20. Proper conduct towards the Shaykh
    21. The story of Thābit ibn Qays
    22. The miracle (karāmah) of Ḥaḍrat Thābit
    23. The testing for piety (taqwā)
    24. The practice of Ḥaḍrat ʿAbd al-Qādir
    25. The relations of the disciple and the Shaykh
    26. Complete trust in the Shaykh
    27. Turning to the Shaykh
    28. Seeking the fitting occasion
    29. The multitude of questions
    30. Number 1: singleness of purpose (tawḥīd-i maṭlab)
    31. Number 2: a mark of the disciple
    32. In closing, a word of advice from the transmitter
  5. Glossary