SUFI WISDOM

"In Allah's garden you gather roses,
Being drunk with divine mysteries:
Hazrat Mehboob-e-Elahi -- the beloved of Allah,
O, how I long for the attar of your company

Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia (d. 1325 A.D.) represents in many ways the pinnacle of the Chishti Order of the Sufis. Hazrat Baba Farid, his spiritual guide, said to him on appointing him as his successor: "Be like a big tree, so that Allah's creation, the human beings in their vast multitudes, may find rest and solace under your shadow." This partly explains why he admitted so many (according to some, including Barani, too many) men into the Chishti order as his disciples. Another reason has been clearly formulated in this way: "History, nonetheless, bears out the wisdom of his open-ended policy . . . To far-flung areas of Uttar Pradesh, Rajastan, Gujarat, Bihar, Bengal and the Deccan, Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia sent able disciples well versed in the Chishti practices, yet sensitive to the needs of the local populace."

With regard to the Sufi path, Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia taught the following: "For a dervish, three things are necessary. They all begin with an 'ain' (an Arabic letter), i.e., Ishq (love), Aql (intelligence) and Ilm (knowledge). Let us discuss these three qualities one by one.

Sufism is, in its essence, the way of love. Love is considered to be a spiritual alchemy by means of which the baser qualities of a human being are transformed into higher ones. In this respect it suffices to say that Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia is known as Mehboob-e-Elahi, the beloved of Allah. Of course the spiritual status of a beloved is much higher than that of a lover.

'Intelligence' changed in the hands of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia into wisdom. His wisdom manifested itself in the shape of service to humanity. About him it has been said: "He was not a miracle-monger of the ordinary sort. He never flew in the air or walked on water with dry and motionless feet. His greatness was the greatness of a loving heart; his miracles were the miracles of a deeply sympathetic soul. He could read a man's inner heart by a glance at his face and spoke the words that brought consolation to a tortured heart."

About 'knowledge', the third faculty of a dervish, it can be said that Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia was one of the greatest scholars
of his day. He wanted to become a Qazi, but gave it all up in his pursuit of inner knowledge. After becoming a Mureed (spiritual disciple) of Hazrat Baba Farid, he lived in extremely poor circumstances. Seeing him, a former friend expressed great surprise as he remembered Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia as one who had begun a very promising career as a scholar. When Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia told all of this to Hazrat Baba Farid, his murshid (spiritual guide) suggested that he should recite the following couplet to his friend:

You are not my fellow traveller.
Tread your own path
May you be affluent.
And I downtrodden.

Then Hazrat Baba Farid ordered him to take a tray of food from the kitchen and carry it on his head to his friend. After doing so, he recited the verse. This deeply moved his friend.

One day, someone told a story of a certain saint who expired while slowly repeating the name of Allah. The eyes of Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia, who was listening to this story, filled with tears and he recited this quatrain:

I come running to the end of Your street,
Tears are washing and washing my cheek.
Union with You -- what else can I seek?
My soul I surrender as Your name I repeat.

Nizamuddin Auliya (1238 - 3 April 1325) , also known as Hazrat Nizamuddin, was a famous Sufi saint of the Chishti Order in South Asia, an order that believed in drawing close to God through renunciation of the world and service to humanity. He is one of the great saints of the Chishti order in India. His predecessors were Moinuddin Chishti, Bakhtiyar Kaki and Fariduddin Ganjshakar. They form the initial spiritual chain or silsila of the Chisti order in India in that respective sequence.

Nizamuddin Auliya like his predecessors stressed upon the element of love as a means of realisation of God. For him his love of God implied a love of humanity. His vision of the world was marked by a highly evolved sense of secularity and kindness. It is claimed by the 14th century historiographer Ziauddin Barani that his influence on the Muslims of Delhi was such that a paradigm shift was effected in their outlook towards worldly matters. People began to be inclined towards mysticism and prayers and remaining aloof from the world.

I had supposed that, having passed away

I had supposed that, having passed away
From self in concentration, I should blaze
A path to Thee, but ah! No creature may
Draw near thee, save Thy appointed ways.
I cannot longer live, Lord, without Thee;
Thy Hand is everywhere: I may not flee.

Some have desired through hope to come to Thee,
And thou hast wrought in them their high design:
Lo! I have severed every thought from me,
And died to selfhood, that I might be Thine.
How long, my heart's Beloved? I am spent:
I can no more endure this banishment.

Ahmed Ibn Abu al-Hassan al-Nuri (d. 907 A.D.) was a famous early Sufi. He was born in Bagdad (in 840) where spent most of his life. He is the author of Maqamat al-qulub (Stations of the Hearts). He is famous for saying, " I love God and God loves me" (a'shaqu Allah wa-Allah ya'shaqun) . He is one of the earliest sufis who was clearly mystical as illustrated by his saying "Joining with the Truth is parting from everything else, as parting with everything else is joining with it".

His name "Nuri" means "Man of Light."Al-Nuri was devout and had an ascetic temperament. It is said that when he left for work in the morning, he would buy a few loaves a bread and then distribute them to the poor on his walk. He would then go to the mosque and pray until noon before arriving at work -- never having eaten food for himself.

But even with his compassion and his striving, at a certain point he became frustrated that he was still buffeted with desires and hadn't penetrated to inner mystical truth. He then made a firm resolve to follow God's will in everything and not to be distracted by comforts and desires. He was determined to confront every aspect of himself, even considering the possibility that his past striving and good works had been hypocritical -- a determination to remove all falsity and barriers between himself and God.

In this process, he began to recognize that the carnal mind, the grasping, false self, claimed a portion of everything the heart touched. Thus, when God sent him divine insight, this grasping identity stole a portion of it -- which explained the poverty of his mystical experience to that point. From that point on, he thwarted the false self at every turn. Even in service to others, if he found the carnal mind gaining satisfaction, he quickly stopped and sought new ways to help others. Al-Nuri said that through doing this he slowly discovered the way to true mystic insight.

Sheikh Al-Alawi was a Sufi shaykh in the classic Darqawi Shadhili tradition, though his order differed somewhat from the norm in its use of the systmatic practice of khalwa and in laying especial emphasis on the invocation of the Supreme Name [of God].

In addition to being a classic Sufi shaykh, Sheikh al-Alawi addressed the problems of modern Algerians using modern methods. As well as writing poetry and books on established Sufi topics, he founded and directed two weekly newspapers, the short-lived Lisan al-Din (Language of Faith) in 1912, and the longer-lived Al-balagh al-jazairi (Algerian Messenger) in 1926.

In his preaching and his writings, Sheikh al-Alawi attempted to reconcile Islam and modernity. On the one hand, he criticized Westernization, both at a symbolic level (by discouraging the adoption of Western costumes that lead to ego attachment) and at a practical level (by attacking the growing consumption of alcohol among Algerian Muslims). On the other hand, he encouraged his followers to send their children to school to learn French, and even favored the translation of the Koran into French and Berber for the sake of making it more accessible, a position that was at that time most controversial.

Although Sheikh al-Alawi showed unusual respect for Christians, and was in some ways an early practitioner of inter-religious dialogue, the centerpiece of his message to Christians was that if only they would abandon the doctrines of the trinity and of incarnation "nothing would then separate us."

The great size of his following may be explained by the combination of classic Sufism with engagement in contemporary issues, combined with his own personal charisma, to which many sources, both Algerian and French, speak. Sheikh Al-Alawi's French physician, Marcel Carret, wrote of his first meeting with Sheikh al-Alawi "What immediately struck me was his resemblance to the face which is generally used to represent Christ."

Another branch of the Shadhilia which has groups in Egypt, Indonesia, Turkey and America is the Shadhilia-Batawia founded by Sheikh Ibrahim al-Batawi, for many years professor at al-Azhar. He was a confrere of Sheikh Abdu-l-Halim Mahmud, Shaikh al-Azhar, who was very influential in the revival of Sufism in Egypt. Sheikh Ibrahim’s student, Sheikh Abdullah Nooruddeen Durkee has established the Shadhdhuliyyah-Baddawia order in the US. Sheikh Nooruddeen has translated and transliterated the Qur’an and has compiled two definitive books on the Shadhdhuliyyiah,Orisons and Origins.

the Shadhili-Darqawi-Hashimi is a branch of Shadhili-Darqawi Order , which is firmly established in both Damascus and Jordan. This branch of the Shadhili tariqa was established through Sheikh Muhammad al-Hashimi al-Tilmisani who, as a young man, migrated from North Africa to Damascus with his spiritual guide (murshid), who was a disciple of Sheikh Ahmad al-'Alawi . Sheikh Muhammad al-Hashimi received his authorization (ijaza) to be a murshid of the Shadhili tariqa from Sheikh Ahmad al-'Alawi when the latter was visiting Damascus in the early 1920s.

The Murabitun is a worldwide Islamic movement founded by Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir al-Murabit,leader of the Darqawi-Shadhili-Qadiri Tariqa, a Scottish convert to Islam,with communities in around 20 different countries.One of the first books that Shaykh Abdalqadir wrote was The Book of Strangers, which he authored under the name Ian Dallas. For a brief anecdote of Shaykh Abdalqadir in the early 1970s.

Its principle objectives include the restoration of Zakat, Da’wa, the practice of Bayat (allegiance) to an Amir, the re-introduction of the Islamic currency of Gold Dinar and Silver Dirham, and the establishment of the ‘Amal Ahl al-Madinah.

"The Attasiyah Order is a branch of the Alawi Order. It is centered in Yemen but also has centeres in Pakistan, India, and Myanmar. The 'Alawiya order in Yemen has recently been studied by the anthropologist David Buchman. In his article "The Underground Friends of God and Their Adversaries: A Case Study and Survey of Sufism in Contemporary Yemen", Professor Buchman summarizes the results of his six month period of fieldwork in Yemen.The article was originally published in the journal Yemen Update, vol. 39 (1997), pp. 21-24

The Maryamiyya branch of the Shadhiliyya Order was founded by Shaykh 'Isa Nur al-Din Ahmad or Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998), a European disciple of Shaykh Ahmad al-'Alawi, who established the Order in Europe and North America. Some of Schuon's most eminent students include, Titus Burckhardt (1908-1984) and Martin Lings (1909-2005), author of the aforementioned text, A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century and the universally acclaimed biography of the Prophet, Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources. Schuon also wrote several outstanding books on Islam including, Understanding Islam, Dimensions of Islam, and Sufism: Veil and Quintessence, as well as a number of books on the Perennial Philosophy

The Shadhili Tariqa is a Sufi order founded by Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhili. Followers (murids Arabic: seekers) of the Shadhiliya are often known as Shadhilis.

It has historically been of importance and influence in North Africa and Egypt with many contributions to Islamic literature. Among the figures most known for their literary and intellectual contributions are Ibn 'Ata Allah, author of the Hikam, and Shaykh Ahmed Zarruq, author of numerous commentaries and works, and Sheikh ibn Ajibah who also wrote numerous commentaries and works. In poetry expressing love of Muhammad, there have been the notable contributions of al-Jazuli, author of the "Dala'il al-Khayrat", and Busiri, author of the famous poem, the Poem of the Mantle. Many of the head lecturers of al-Azhar University in Cairo have also been followers of this tariqa.

Of the various branches of the Shadhili tariqa are the Fassiyatush, found largely in India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. The Darqawi branch is found mostly in Morocco and the Alawiyya (no connection to the Turkish or Syrian Alawi or Alevi groups) which originated in Algeria is now found the world over, particularly in Syria, Jordan, France and among many English-speaking communities. British scholar, Martin Lings wrote an extensive biography of the founder of this branch, Shaykh Ahmad al-Alawi, entitled 'A Sufi Saint of the 20th century'.

The Swedish impressionist painter and Sufi scholar Ivan Aguéli (1869-1917) was the first official Moqaddam (representative) of the Shadhili Order in Western Europe. Aguéli initiated René Guénon (1886-1951) into the Shadhili tariqa. Guénon went on to write a number of influential books on tradition and modernity.

The Spiritual Chain

The silsila of the Shadhili order is as follows

• Muhammad the Messenger of Allah
• Ali ibn Abi Talib
• Hasan al-Basri
• Habib al-‘Ajami
• Dawud al-Ta’i
• Ma‘ruf al-Karkhi
• Sari al-Saqati
• Abul Qasim al-Junayd
• Abu Bakr al-Shibli
• Abu Faraj ‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Tamimi
• Abul Faraj al-Tartusi
• Abul Hasan ibn ‘Ali Yusuf
• Sa‘id al-Mubarak
• Abdul-Qadir Gilani
• al-Ghawth Abu Madyan
• ‘Abd al-Rahman al-‘Attar al-Zayyat
• Abdeslam Ben Mshish
• Abu-l-Hassan ash-Shadhili

The Darqawiyya, a Moroccan branch of the Shadhili order, was founded in the late 18th century CE by Muhammad al-Arabi al-Darqawi. Selections from the Letters of Shaykh al-Darqawi have been translated by the Shadhili initiate Titus Burckhardt, and also by the scholar Ayesha Bewley.

One of the first tariqas to be established in the West was the 'Alawiya' branch of the Darqawiyya, which was named after Shaykh Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-'Alawi al-Mustaghanimi, popularly known as Shaykh al-Alawi. "A significant book about him, written by Martin Lings, is A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century"

The Alawiyya spread throughout Algeria, as well as in other parts of North Africa, as a result of Sheikh al-Alawi's travels, preaching and writing, and through the activities of his muqaddams (representatives). By the time of Sheikh al-Alawi's death in 1934, he had become one of the best known and most celebrated shaykhs of the century and was visited by many.

The Alawiyya was one of the first Sufi orders to establish a presence in Europe, notably among Algerians in France and Yemenis in Wales. Sheikh Al-Alawi himself traveled to France in 1926, and led the first communal prayer to inaugurate the newly built Paris Mosque in the presence of the French president. Sheikh Al-Alawi understood French well, though he was reluctant to speak it.

The Alawiyya branch also spread as far as Damascus , Syria where an authorization was given to Muhammad al-Hashimi who spread the Alawi branch all throughout the lands of the Levant. During the year of 1930, Sheikh Al-Alawi met with Sheikh Sidi Abu Madyan of the Qadiri Boutchichi Tariqah in Mostaganem. They currently have the shortest chain back to Sheikh Al-Alawi. The current Sheikh of the Boutchichi's is Sheikh Sidi Hamza al Qadiri al boutchichi.

Sheikh Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-Alawi (1869–14 July 1934), was the founder of a popular modern Sufi order, the Darqawiyya Alawiyya, a branch of the Shadhiliyya.

Sheikh Ahmad al-Alawi was born in Mostaganem, Algeria, in 1869. He was first educated at home by his father. From the time of his father's death in 1886 until 1894, he worked in Mostaganem and followed the Aissawiyya order

In 1894, he traveled to Morocco, and followed for fifteen years the Darqawi shaykh Muhammad al-Buzidi. After al-Buzidi's death in 1909, Sheikh Al-Alawi returned to Mostaganem, where he first spread the Darqawiyya, and then (in 1914) established his own order, called the Alawiyya in honor of Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet, who appeared to him in a vision and gave him that name for his new order.

Piousness and the path of love

Piousness and the path of love
are two different roads.
Love is the fire that burns both belief
and non-belief.
Those who practice Love have neither
religion nor caste.

It is Him manifest in us

It is Him manifest in us,
all our struggles and achievements,
from that source.
Humility and meekness are appropriate here.
Before tasting the Presence, one rejects all that is manifest.

A pious one with a hundred beads on your rosary

A pious one with a hundred beads on your rosary,
or a drunkard in a tavern,
any gift you bring the Beloved will be accepted
as long as you come in longing.
It is this most secret pain,
this bleeding separation,
which will guide you to your Heart of Hearts.

One moment, You are all I know, Friend

One moment, You are all I know, Friend.
Next moment, eat, drink, and be merry!
Another moment, I put every beast to shame.
O' Friend, how will this scatteredness that is me
find its way to You?

All my vows, You laughed at, on day one

All my vows, You laughed at, on day one,
only to call me up on them, that eve.
You taught me to live with You, Friend,
with vows never made,
never to be broken.

Lovers are sacrifices to the Beloved

Lovers are sacrifices to the Beloved,
and this world is their slaughter-house.
They find this world a royal feast,
while they are needless of food.
They desire no heaven, since without You, Beloved,
a hundred times higher than that is hell.

Sorrow looted this heart

Sorrow looted this heart,
and Your Love threw it to the winds.
This is how the secret which saints and seers were denied
was whispered to me.

Nothing but burning sobs and tears tonight

Nothing but burning sobs and tears tonight.
No way out and no patience left.
Last night our hearts had a moment together,
I suppose this is how I have to pay for it!

The day Love was illumined

The day Love was illumined,
Lovers learned from You how to burn, Beloved.
The flame was set by the Friend
to give the moth a gate to enter.
Love is a gift from the Beloved to the Lover.

If You order me to spend my life at the gates of monasteries

If You order me to spend my life at the gates of monasteries,
or have me running to Mecca,
Your wish is my command.
Glorious will be the day when You
release me from my self.




Mansoor, that whale of the Oceans of Love

Mansoor, that whale of the Oceans of Love,
had separated his soul from the entanglements of this life.
It was not him who claimed
Ana-al-Haq (I am the truth),
It was the Friend in whom he had lost his self.
It was the Beloved.





My Beloved, don't be heartless with me

My Beloved, don't be heartless with me.
Your Presence is my only cure.
How can I be left with neither a heart, nor my Beloved?
Either return my heart, or do not deny me
Your Presence.

Love came

Love came
flowed like blood
beneath skin, through veins
emptied me of my self
filled me
with the Beloved
till every limb
every organ was seized
and occupied
till only
my name remains.
the rest is It.


In my heart Thou dwellest--else with blood I'll drench it

In my heart Thou dwellest--else with blood I'll drench it;
In mine eye Thou glowest--else with tears I'll quench it.
Only to be one with Thee my soul desireth--
Else from out my body, by hook or crook, I'll wrench it!




On Unity's Way

On Unity's Way:
no infidelity
no faith.
Take one step
away from yourself and --
behold! -- the Path!
You, soul of the world,
must choose the road
of Divine Submission
then sit with anyone you like
-- even a black snake --
but not your self!

Shaikh Abu-Said Abil-Kheir was one of the earlier Sufi poets. He lived more than two centuries before Jelaluddin Rumi yet, like Rumi, much of his mysticism follows a similar path of annihilation in divine Love.

Abu Said's poetry ranges from the ecstatic and celestial, to struggles with abandonment. His poetry has an immediacy and even a sort of devoutly wry petulance that can draw comparisons with the great Bengali poet, Ramprasad.

Abu Said referred to himself as “Nobody, Son of Nobody,” to convey the mystic's sense of having completely merged or disappeared into the Divine, leaving no trace of the ego behind.

He lived in Mayhana in what is modern day Turkmenistan, just north of Iran and Afghanistan in Central Asia.