The means of every blessing

When Hazrat Sayyidi Muhammad Ma'sum (may his secret be sanctified) was honoured with visiting the Two Holy Sanctuaries (Haramayn Sharifayn), some of the events and states he experienced there were recorded by his second son, the promoter of the Shari'ah (Murawwij-e-Shari'at), Hazrat Khwaja Ubaydullah (may Allah have mercy on him), in a treatise named “Yaqut-e-Ahmar” (The Red Ruby). The author of Tazkira-e-Mashaikh-e-Naqshbandiya quotes it: He said that it is perceived that the holy being of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace) is the centre of all the worlds; all creation from the Throne to the earth is in need of him and receives grace from him. Although the Absolute Bestower is Allah Most High, the bestowal of grace takes place through his noble mediation (tawassul), and the affairs of the visible realm (mulk) and the unseen realm (malakut) are accomplished through his management. Night and day, favours flow from the purified resting place (rawza) upon all of creation; and why should it not be so, when he is

وَمَاۤ اَرْسَلْنٰکَ اِلَّا رَحْمَۃً لِّلْعٰلَمِیۡنَ

And We have not sent you except as a mercy to all the worlds.

the very embodiment of this. Despite this universality of mercy, the self-sufficiency (istighna) that is inherent in the station of being beloved (mahbubiyyat) is found in him in its most complete and perfect form. For this reason, to present one's need in his presence, an intermediary (tawassul) is required, and without an intermediary it seems difficult. (Tazkira-e-Mashaikh-e-Naqshbandiya, p. 270)

To those who drop the atom bomb of shirk and bid'ah at every turn, who deny the perfections of the noble prophets and great saints, and who in their own estimation regard insult and belittlement as the very worship of Divine Oneness (tawhid), my request is that they read every single letter of this noble son of Hazrat Mujaddid, especially the underlined sentences, again and again, and see what a dazzling lightning bolt this blessed statement is for their harvest of shirk and bid'ah.

What a place for taking a lesson! If the very same things were said by the true deputy and lover of the Noble Messenger ﷺ, Imam Ahmad Raza Khan Sahib, Fazil-e-Barelvi (may his secret be sanctified), all of it would be declared outright shirk; yet when the light of these same beliefs shines forth from the Ahmadi family, they become blind. How truly it has been said:

Let the one who has eyes behold the spectacle of your splendour;

What can the blind eye perceive, what can it see?

That all creation is in need of the Prophet ﷺ, that his holy person is the means and intermediary for every kind of grace, and that the affairs of the visible and unseen realms are accomplished through his mediation and agency: all these things are clearly evident from the blessed words of Hazrat Khwaja Ma'sum (may his secret be sanctified). Moreover, he has based his religious foundation not merely on reasoning and reflection; rather, true unveiling (kashf) confirms it. Furthermore, because of the self-sufficiency of the station of being beloved, in order to reach his court it is necessary to make the saints of his Ummah a means (wasila); without making them a means it is very difficult. Let those read this again and again who wish to reach Allah the Most Holy without

any intermediary. Just look at how those blessed servants who give the Master of the World ﷺ his true station have had fatwas of shirk and kufr placed upon them, and how, in this storm of kufr and shirk, the universally acknowledged elders of this Ummah have been dragged in, and what a reprehensible effort has been made to expel them from the religion. If people like Hazrat Ma'sum (may his secret be sanctified) also do not measure up on the scale of faith, then who knows what faith is the name of.

Giving Help

After describing the presence of the noble saints (may Allah Most High sanctify their secrets) in several places at one time, Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) says:

And likewise, people in need seek help from revered ones, living and departed, in places of fear and peril, and they see that the forms of those revered ones have appeared and have averted the calamity from them. Sometimes those revered ones are aware of averting the calamity, and sometimes they are not.

“They have made you and me a mere pretext.”

This too is the taking of shape by the subtle centres (lata'if) of those revered ones, and this taking of shape is sometimes in the visible world (alam-e-shahadat) and sometimes in the world of images (alam-e-misal). Thus in a single night a thousand people see that Master (upon him and his family be blessings and peace) in their dreams in different forms and receive benefit. All of this is the taking of shape by his attributes and subtle centres (upon him and his family be blessings and peace) in image-forms. Likewise, disciples receive benefit from the image-forms of their spiritual guides (pirs), and these solve their difficulties.

That is: and in the same way, people in need seek help from the friends of Allah, whether they are in the world or have passed away, in places of fear and peril, and these people in need see that the forms of those noble saints have appeared and

have averted the calamity from those people. Sometimes those saints are aware of the averting of that calamity, and sometimes not.

“They have made you and me a mere pretext.”

This too is the taking of shape by the subtle centres of those noble saints, and this taking of shape is sometimes in the visible world and sometimes in the world of images, just as in a single night a thousand people see the Master of both worlds (upon him and his family be blessings and peace) in their dreams in different forms and receive benefits. All of this is the taking of shape by his ﷺ attributes and subtle centres in image-forms. In the same way, disciples receive benefits from the image-forms of their spiritual guides, and their difficulties are solved. (Maktub 58)

Hazrat Khwaja Mirza Jan-e-Janan, the martyr, of Delhi, Mujaddidi (may his secret be sanctified) says:

Hazrat Khwaja Naqshband's care for the state of his devotees is well known. The Mughals, in the wilderness or at the time of sleep, entrust their belongings and horses to the protection of Hazrat Khwaja, and support from the unseen accompanies them. There are many stories on this subject; writing them down would lead to great length. (Malfuzat, margin of the Maktubat)

That is: the attention of the Khwaja of Khwajas, Muhammad Baha'uddin Naqshband (may his secret be sanctified), to the state of his devotees is well known. The Mughal people, in the wilderness or at the time of sleep, entrust their goods and horses to the protection of Hazrat Khwaja, and support from the unseen comes to them. There are many stories on this subject, the writing of which would lead to length.

If the statements and incidents of the Naqshbandi masters on this issue were written out in detail, the discussion would become very long. For a seeker of truth this much indication

is enough; otherwise volumes upon volumes are of no use. What grieves us is only this: when it comes to refuting innovation, Hazrat Mujaddid is remembered again and again, but why do his writings on these issues vanish from sight? Read carefully: people in need turning, besides Allah the Most Holy, to the holy servants of Allah Most High; then these masters helping them and averting calamities; then benefit being gained from the image-forms of the shaykhs; and then how weighty the next sentence is, namely, “and they solve difficulties.”

All these very things remain topics of debate today. However many proofs the Barelvis may offer to establish these same things, they can never get out of the bounds of shirk. All the proofs are washed away by saying, “This is a Barelvi's word.” But in the end, with what excuse will the word of these masters be brushed aside? May Allah the Most Holy grant the ability to know the difference between faith and shirk. How painful it is to the heart when these things are commented on and criticised by people who, after doing one or two chillas of three, eleven, twenty-one or forty days, tie on the sturdy turban of knowledge and excellence, piety and purity.

For further reassurance, a few more incidents are presented to the readers. Sayyid Jamaluddin Sahib, who was one of the accepted ones of Hazrat Mujaddid Sahib, relates: In a jungle a lion suddenly came before me. From the dread of solitude and the terror of that beast I was greatly frightened. Running away was not possible either. Helpless, I turned my attention to Hazrat Shaykh, saying, “Save me!” At that very moment I saw in a spiritual state (mu'amala) that the Hazrat was running towards me with a staff in his hand. As soon as he arrived, he struck the lion on its face with the staff with great force. When I came out of that state and opened my eyes, I neither saw the Hazrat

nor found any trace of the lion in the jungle. (Barakat-e-Ahmadiyya, Tazkira-e-Mashaikh)

One day Hazrat Khwaja Muhammad Ma'sum Sahib Sirhindi (may his secret be sanctified) was sitting in the blessed khanqah when suddenly his blessed hand and sleeve became wet with water. Those present were astonished and asked him the reason. He said, “The ship of one of my merchant disciples was about to sink. He turned his attention to us and asked for help for his rescue. With my own hand I pulled him out from drowning and brought him to the shore of safety.” After some time that merchant came to his service, brought a large sum as an offering (nazr), and related the story of the ship sinking and his rescue. (Jami' Karamat-e-Awliya and Tazkira-e-Mashaikh-e-Naqshbandiya)

The Universe Was Created from the Light of the Prophet ﷺ

After describing the beauty and comeliness of Hazrat Yusuf (upon him be blessings and peace), Hazrat Mujaddid Sahib (may his secret be sanctified) says:

“The excellent conclusion, on the beauty and comeliness of Muhammad (upon its possessor be blessings and peace), with which the love of the Lord of all the worlds (glorious is His majesty) has become connected; and he (may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace), through that beauty, became the beloved of the Lord of the worlds. Although Hazrat Yusuf, through the fairness (sabahat) he possessed, was the beloved of Hazrat Ya'qub (upon our Prophet and upon both of them be blessings and peace), our Prophet, who is the Seal of the Messengers, through the charm (malahat) he possesses, is the beloved of the Creator of the earth and the heavens (upon him and upon them be blessings, peace and salutations), and He created the earth and time for his sake, as has been reported.

It should be known that the creation of Muhammad is not like the creation of the other individuals of humankind; rather, it bears no resemblance to the creation of any individual of the world, for he (may Allah bless him and his family and grant him peace), despite his elemental origin, was created from the light of the Real (exalted and sublime is He), as he (upon him and his family be blessings and peace) said:

‘I was created from the light of Allah’; and this good fortune has not been granted to others.”

That is: the excellent conclusion of this letter is on the description of the beauty and comeliness of Muhammad (upon its possessor be blessings and peace), with which the love of the Lord of the whole world (glorious is His majesty) is connected. Through this beauty he became the beloved of the Lord of the worlds. Although Hazrat Yusuf, through the fairness he possessed, became the beloved of Hazrat Ya'qub (upon our Prophet and upon both of them be blessings and peace), our Prophet, who is the Seal of the Messengers, through the charm he possesses, became the beloved of the Creator of the earth and the heavens (upon him and upon them be blessings, peace and salutations). He created the earth and the heavens for his sake, as has been reported.

It should be known that the creation of Muhammad is not like the creation of all the individuals of humankind; rather, it bears no resemblance to any individual among the individuals of the world, because, despite his elemental birth, he was created from the light of the Real, Glorious is He, as he said, “I was created from the light of Allah Most High,” and this good fortune has not been granted to others. (Maktub 100, Volume 3)

This esteemed letter of Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) was written in reply to an important question, the gist of which is: why did Hazrat Ya'qub (upon him be blessings and peace) have such great love for Hazrat Yusuf (peace be upon him), when the hearts of the close and perfected ones are devoted solely and exclusively to the love of Allah? In reply he described the wondrous perfections of Hazrat Yusuf (peace be upon him) and established from which realm his beauty and comeliness derive. Those who are acquainted with the temperament of love know that a true lover does not consider anyone's beauty and comeliness equal to the beauty

and comeliness of his own beloved. When he had to speak of Yusuf's beauty and comeliness, the flames of Hazrat Mujaddid's jealous love for the Messenger blazed up, and his heart was stirred to describe the beauty and comeliness of his own Beloved; and from his blessed pen he wrote such luminous sentences that the true standing of the beauty of Yusuf in comparison with the beauty of Muhammad became clear to all.

When, after reading the beauty of Yusuf as described by Hazrat Mujaddid, you read this excellent conclusion, you will realise that from every word of Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) the life-giving perfume of love for the Holy Prophet (may Allah Most High bless him and all of them) is wafting.

Read the comparison of the two; your spirit will sway with delight and ecstasy will overcome your heart. From this blessed statement of Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified) it is made perfectly clear that the Prophet ﷺ is unique in his beauty; that the earth and time were created for his sake; that in his birth and creation he has no partner; and that he was created from the light of the Real, a good fortune not granted to others. Moreover, he did not content himself with a mere claim; its proof too is mentioned in this same noble letter. After shedding light on this claim in great detail, he said certain things about the beauty of Muhammad, and we wish to bring these blessed words of his to the readers' ears. I hope that very important aspects will come before the readers. Since the passage is long, we are quoting the translation, and I will also include some of the final Persian sentences. He says:

The Beauty of Muhammad Is Free of Any Partner

Listen, listen! The attribute of knowledge is one of the real attributes (sifat-e-haqiqiyya) and falls within the circle of external existence; and when relation (izafat) befalls this attribute and it is divided along with that relation,

for example into summary knowledge (ilm-e-ijmali) or detailed knowledge (ilm-e-tafsili), then these divisions of it will be among the relational attributes (sifat-e-izafiyya) and will fall within the circle of actual existence (thubut-e-nafs al-amri), which is the resting place of the relational attributes, as has passed. And it is witnessed that summary knowledge, which has become one of the relational attributes, is a light which, in the elemental realm, after being dispersed through many loins (aslab, the plural of sulb, meaning the back) into many wombs (arham, the plural of rahm, the place of the child inside the mother's belly), as required by divine wisdoms and benefits, appeared in human form, which is the finest of forms (ahsan taqwim), and was named Muhammad and Ahmad.

It should be heard well that although this restriction of summariness (ijmal) has made absolute knowledge restricted and has brought it from reality (haqiqat) down to relation, it has produced no addition to the thing divided, and nothing has restricted it, because the summariness of knowledge is the name of knowledge itself, not of some additional matter joined to knowledge; unlike the detail of knowledge, which requires many particulars so that detail can be conceived. What a wondrous restriction, which is a manifestation of absoluteness! And how excellent a restricted thing, which is the absolute itself! A similar subtlety should be observed in absolute knowledge in relation to the Essence of the Knower (glorious is His sovereignty),

in that knowledge can be the very knower and the very known, as is established in presential knowledge (ilm-e-huduri); unlike the other attributes, which do not have this capacity and aptitude. It cannot be said that power is identical with the one who has power and identical with the object of power, or that will is identical with the one who wills and identical with the thing willed... Thus knowledge has, with the Essence of the Knower, such union and effacement as nothing else has. From here the nearness of Ahmad to Ahad (the One) should be understood, because the intermediary that lies between them, namely the attribute of knowledge, is such a matter that it is in union with the Sought One; so what room is there here for veiling (hijabiyyat, being a veil)?

Furthermore, knowledge has a beauty that is intrinsic, which is not established for anything other than it among the attributes. Therefore, in the opinion of this faqir, among the attributes of the Necessary Being, the most beloved attribute in the sight of the Real (exalted and sublime is He) is knowledge. And since its beauty bears a trace (sha'iba, that is, an admixture) of the beyond-quality (bechuni), the faculty of the senses falls short of perceiving it; the full perception of this beauty is bound up with the realm of the Hereafter, which is the place of the vision of Allah (ru'yat).

When they see Allah Most High, they will find the beauty of Muhammad. Although in this world two thirds of beauty was granted to Hazrat Yusuf and the remaining third was divided among everyone, in that realm (the Hereafter) beauty is the beauty of Muhammad and comeliness is the comeliness of Muhammad (upon him be blessings and peace), who is the beloved of Allah the Most Holy. In no way will the beauty of anyone else share in his beauty, for his beauty, by way of union with the Sought One, is the very beauty of the Sought One; and since others have no such union, theirs is not that beauty.

Thus the creation of Muhammad (upon him and his family be blessings and peace), despite its being originated in time (huduth), came to rest upon the eternity (qidam) of the Essence; its contingency (imkan) too ended in the necessity (wujub) of the Essence; and its beauty became the beauty of the Essence (exalted is He), such that no trace of anything other than beauty is established in it. When this was so, it inevitably became the object of the love of the Absolutely Beautiful (Allah Most High) and His beloved: “Indeed, Allah is beautiful and loves beauty.” The final words are these: How could anyone else's beauty share in his beauty, when his beauty, by way of union with the Sought One, is the very beauty of the Sought One, and since others have no union, theirs is not that beauty? Thus the creation of Muhammad (upon him and his family be blessings and peace), despite its origination, came to rest upon the eternity of the Essence (exalted is He), and his contingency too ended in the necessity of the Essence (exalted is He), and his beauty became the beauty of the Essence (exalted is He), with no trace of anything other than beauty in it. When this was so, he inevitably became the object of the love of the Absolutely

Beautiful and His beloved (glory be to Him): “Indeed, Allah is beautiful and loves beauty.”

The Peerless Station of Being Beloved

After this, Hazrat Mujaddid Sahib (may his secret be sanctified) raised a question, the gist of which is that the noble verse “Allah will bring a people whom He loves and who love Him” indicates that the Prophet ﷺ is not the only beloved of Allah Most High, but there are others as well; so what is his distinction in this respect? After seeing the answer that issued from the blessed pen of Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified), readers will be able to judge how oceans of the greatness and loftiness of the Holy Prophet ﷺ surge in the pure heart of Hazrat Mujaddid (may his secret be sanctified). The gist of his answer is that love is of two kinds. One is that whose object is the very self of the lover; this is essential love (mahabbat-e-dhati), which is the highest of the kinds of love, because no one loves anything as much as he loves himself. Moreover, this kind of love is the firmest and strongest, and it is not removed by the occurrence of any accident. The one to whom this love is attached is purely beloved and bears no trace of being a lover (muhibbiyyat).

The second kind of love is that whose object is other than the self; this love is accidental and perishable. The one to whom it is attached, although beloved from one aspect, also has many aspects of being a lover. Since the beauty and comeliness of the Seal of the Messengers (upon him and upon them be blessings and peace) rests upon (that is, is attributed to) the Essence of the Necessary Being (exalted is He), as has passed, the first kind of love, which is connected with the Necessary Essence, will necessarily be connected with him ﷺ; and just as, through the connection of this love, the Essence of Allah Most High is beloved, so too he ﷺ will be purely (that is, exclusively) beloved.

And since others do not have this good fortune and have a lesser share of the beauty of the Essence, the second kind of love will be connected with them and will make them beloved from one aspect.

The Master of the World ﷺ is the absolute beloved of Allah Most High, in that, like the very Essence of the Lover, he will always be beloved. It seems that just as Hazrat Musa, Kalimullah (upon our Prophet and upon him be blessings and peace), has love for Allah Most High in great abundance, and because of the dominance of that love he became the chief and leader of all lovers, in the same way Allah Most High loves the Master of the Universe ﷺ with an abundance of love. (Maktub 100)

Subhan Allah, what a lovely exposition! The Imam of the Ahl-e-Sunnat (may his secret be sanctified) says:

“No beauty like yours has been seen or heard of,”

so say the people of bygone ages. In another place, which is connected with the preceding discussion, he says:

Where in the contingent is such power, where in the Necessary is servanthood?

I am bewildered: this too is wrong; he is neither this nor that.

The truth is, he is the servant of God and the king of the world of contingency;

He is the isthmus (barzakh), the secret of God; he is neither this nor that.

Read the statements of this very soul of the Naqshbandi path again and again, and reflect on what stations of nearness to the Real the Master of the Prophets ﷺ occupies. A lover's love can never tolerate that the sacred hem of his beloved be soiled with even the slightest dust of insult. A lover may overlook things concerning himself, but concerning his beloved his jealous love cannot bear even the slightest heat.

Then what will be the case of one who is the absolute beloved and the absolutely beautiful one of the Creator of the part and the whole? Those who throw even the slightest dust upon his outward and inward beauty and comeliness should always bear in mind that it will reach the very One with the intoxication of whose claimed Oneness (tawhid) you are reeling. This is not a court where a verbal claim of love can suffice. Here one is tested by the true principles of love. It is not a principle of love that the beautiful qualities and praiseworthy character of the Beloved's beloved, whose reality the Quran and hadith proclaim, be denied day after day. How truly A'la Hazrat (may his secret be sanctified) said:

Had they possessed sense, they would not have picked a quarrel with Allah;They seek to lessen it, while He is pleased to increase it.