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OMEGA PUBLICATIONS INC.

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©2012 Omega Publications, Sulūk Press

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Cover image and frontispiece of Khwaja Mu’in Al-Din Chishti

© The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin
Cover design by Yasodhara Sandra Lillydahl

Kugle, Scott (1969- )

Sufi Meditation and Contemplation;
timeless wisdom from Mughal India
Includes foreword, preface, introduction, glossary, index
1. Sufism—Early works to 1800 3. Chishtiyah—Early works to 1800
I. Kugle, Scott II.Title

Printed and bound in the United States of America

 Table of Contents
Foreword by Scott Kugle
Preface by Syed Mohammad Rasheed-ul-Hasan Jeeli-ul-Kaleem
Translator’s Introduction by Scott Kugle
The Alms Bowl of Shaykh Kalimullah
Translator’s Notes by Scott Kugle
The Alms Bowl of Shaykh Kalimullah Shahjehanabadi
Introduction
Chapter 1 On Methods of Meditation
Chapter 2 On Methods of Contemplation
Conclusion
General Advice
The Compass of Truth by Dara Shikoh
Translator’s Notes by Scott Kugle
The Compass of Truth by Dara Shikoh
Treatise on the Human Body
Attributed to Mu‵in al-Din Chishti
Translator’s Introduction by Carl Ernst
Editor’s Comment by Scott Kugle
Treatise on the Human Body
Attributed to Mu‵in al-Din Chishti
Glossary
Notes on the Cover Illustration
Index
About the Translator
 Selected Omega Publications titles

The Art of Being and Becoming

by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The Call of the Dervish

by Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan

The Complete Works of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat series

The Hand of Poetry; Five Mystic Poets of Persia

by Hazrat Inayat Khan and Coleman Barks

The Music of Life; The Inner Nature and Effects of Sound

by Hazrat Inayat Khan

Life is a Pilgrimage
by Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan

The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism

by Henry Corbin

Song of the Prophets; The Unity of Religious Ideals

by Hazrat Inayat Khan

The Story of Layla and Majnun

by Nizami

We Rubies Four; The Memoirs of Claire Ray Harper

(Khairunisa Inayat Khan)
by Claire Ray Harper and David Ray Harper

For a complete listing of Omega Publications titles see

www.omegapub.com
 Foreword
We have sent from among you a messenger
Recounting to you our signs
Teaching you scripture and wisdom
Teaching you what you never knew before
So remember me, that I may remember you
Be grateful to me and do not turn away
Qur’an, Surat al-Baqara 2:151-2

With these words, the Qur’an urges all who believe to remember God. We are
so forgetful and distracted that we need a constant reminder to remember God.
And we are often so selfish that we need some incentive, which the Qur’an in its
merciful aspect gives to us: “Remember me, that I may remember you.” God
promises to remember us, to the extent that we remember God. Of course, God
is aware of us always through the divine attributes of being creator, sustainer and
nurturer; if God were not aware of us we would simply cease to exist. Yet in the
endless giving of divine bounty, God is not merely aware of us but actively
remembers us through the divine attributes of being the One who gives and
blesses, the generous and compassionate. And in the inscrutable hints of divine
wisdom, God does not merely give but promises to give at our own request. So
the Qur’an says, “Remember me, that I may remember you” to convey God’s
promise to remember us—with all the powerful attention of the divine presence
—at the instigation of our remembering God—with all the weak distraction of
our wavering concentration.
With this verse, the Qur’an lays out an Islamic charter for meditation and
contemplation, which has inspired Sufis for over a millennium. God has sent
from among us a messenger in Muhammad who repeats and affirms the message
that has come to us countless times: that God is one, so people should unite in
belief and ethics and love around that one God’s message. He recounts to us
God’s signs that are words of scripture in a holy book and are also insights of
wisdom in our conscience.
Among these signs that teach us in our ignorance is guidance to meditate, to
find the skillful means to grow closer to God’s presence. This is not through acts
of ritual and law, which show our dedication and obedience. This is through
attitudes of yearning and self-surrender, which show our love and intimacy.
Meditation and contemplation have no appointed time and no set formula. Like
medicine, one takes them as one needs them, with the dosage and frequency
determined by the intensity of one’s illness and the stubbornness of one’s
constitution. Sufis have found in meditation and contemplation an antidote for
self-righteousness, which is the sickness most often spread by religious
institutions.
Indeed, Sufis believe that the Prophet Muhammad brought revelation that
established the religion of Islam, and in that there are many blessings. But that
same revelation reminds us that religion once institutionalized brings many
dangerous diseases like hypocrisy, self-righteousness, fanaticism and the pious
condemnation of others. Sufis believe that this same revelation also brought the
cure for such diseases in the form of wisdom, self-scrutiny, humility and
selflessness. The Prophet Muhammad by his own example taught the practical
method to cure one’s heart of such disease. Meditation is the way to instill the
values in the heart, to such a depth that the heart itself is transformed. The heart
then is not merely an organ in the body, and is not just one’s own personal
center; when properly activated through meditation, the heart opens up to reveal
the very presence of God with one and with all.
To find this state of loving intimacy is the advice of the Qur’an when it says,
“So remember me, that I may remember you.” And according to Sufi teachings,
to meditate and contemplate is the way to draw God down to you and to allow
yourself to be lifted up towards God. But to truly remember God is to utterly
forget yourself! So if, for a moment or a minute, for an hour or a life time, one
can forget oneself in all one’s conceits and lusts and wants, then one truly finds
one’s original state of being with God. What Sufis teach in the way of
meditation is just this: to forget oneself as opposing God and to find oneself in
intimacy with God. Having set foot on this path, one finds oneself to be less and
less, and one finds God to be more and more. Until nothing remains of the self
except that which is with God and is of God. “Remember me, that I may
remember you.”
The word in Arabic that means “remembrance” is zikr (as it is in Persian and
Urdu and countless other languages used by Muslims). This phrase in the
Qur’an really means “Do my zikr,” and this translation highlights that
remembering God is a practice. It is something to do. One must learn to do it
from one who already knows and set aside time to do it. It is a practical skill,
and one must practice until perfect. It is like learning to play a musical
instrument; one feels awkward or painful at first, but as it becomes habitual the
awkwardness turns to beauty and the pain becomes pleasure. In this sense, Sufis
have explored the practice of zikr and offered many skillful means of
remembering God; these range from the subtle to the forceful, from the
communal to the private, and from the abstract to the melodic. Like music that
appeals to anyone whatever her or his native language, these means of zikr can
appeal to any spiritual seeker regardless or his or her religion. Because this zikr is
taught by Sufis who take their inspiration from Islam and Muhammad, their
means of zikr is rooted in Islam and is colored by an Islamic style. But the
application of this zikr is universal, as it addresses our weakness and distraction
as human beings, and this distress is not limited to Muslims. Sufis urge us to
learn zikr as one learns a practical art, to discover its virtues and to integrate
them into one’s life.
This book offers contemporary seekers some guidance to performing zikr and
practicing it, as an individual or in solidarity with a community. The book
presents contemporary English translations of three Sufi texts which are about
meditation and contemplation, which explain why the practice is necessary, how
it should be done, and what effects can be expected from its dedicated
performance. All three texts come from the Mughal era in India, which
witnessed a flowering of Sufism in many innovative personalities, diverse
mystical orders and bold literary expressions. I am very grateful to Omega
Publications and Pir Zia Inayat-Khan for having given me the opportunity to
edit this collection of texts and to translate some of them. I have learned much
from a close reading of these texts and a discussion of their meaning with
spiritual guides. I hope that through this translation, others will learn better and
practice them deeper than I am able to.
I dedicate any benefit that comes from this book to two beloved Sufi guides
who have lit my way: Pir Zia Inayat-Khan (of the Sufi Order International) and
Pir Rasheed-ul-Hasan Jeeli-ul-Kaleemi (of the Khanqah-e-Kaleemi based in
Hyderabad, India).
Scott Kugle
Professor of Islamic Studies
Emory University
2011
 Preface
In the name of God, the compassionate and caring One.
I am pleased that Omega Publications decided to publish this book of texts
about meditation. We are all grateful to Pir Zia Inayat-Khan for suggesting this
project. These valuable texts in Persian belong to our common lineage, the
Kalimi Sufi order, with its roots in the Chishti and Qadiri traditions.
The most detailed of these texts is Kashkul-i Kalimi or The Alms Bowl of
Hazrat Shaykh Kalimullah. I first read The Alm’s Bowl when I was a student in
Hyderabad, India, and read it over and over throughout my life. Hazrat Shaikh
Kalimullah says that his book provides morsels that you can eat and digest
according to your own taste and capacity. The most important thing for a
translator to do with this book is to make it very succinct and accessible.
Shaykh Kalimullah compares his book to a beggar’s bowl with which he has
circled around to different spiritual teachers asking them for teachings. He
would beg for teachings and he collected the pieces of this knowledge. He
gathered together these teachings the way a beggar would gather together bits of
food to make a meal. For this reason, Shaykh Kalimullah explains in the
beginning of his book what a kashkul is. It is a special bowl that mendicant Sufis
would use to go from house to house. The kashkul was made of a special wood
that was black in color, from a type of gourd which was dried, cut in half and
cured with oil so that it could keep food from getting spoiled.
In this book, entitled Kashkul or The Alm’s Bowl, Shaykh Kalimullah collected
spiritual teachings for all people who seek the truth and are sincere in their
spiritual quest. Through it, they will know the right way to seek God’s presence
and experience the sweetness of God’s intimacy. Yet he says that each person’s
disposition is different. Each person has a different liking and a different taste,
depending upon his constitution; what tastes good to one person is not liked by
another. Shaykh Kalimullah gathered many different kinds of spiritual teachings
and practices, so that there is something in it for everyone. You can chose from
it the practices that suit you, and leave others aside that are not to your taste, for
each person has a different capacity.
But these days, very few people read The Alm’s Bowl in India. It has never
been published in an English translation, and its Urdu translation is long out of
print. People from our community in Hyderabad want to get this book
republished. Inshallah, if there is the right intention, then the means will come
to get this work done and revive this book, because the Urdu translation needs
to be made clearer so that common people can understand its meaning. It is
heart-warming to know that Pir Zia Inayat-Khan and his community can
publish it in English, so that people in America and Europe can read this book.
It might happen that a translator uses certain terms in English that do not
expresses the real meaning of the text. The translation should be approved by
me; you may call me the servant of the Kalimi Sufi Order and the upholder of
its traditions. If I review the translation then, inshallah, I might catch any error
and recommend an appropriate correction, so that the book’s true intended
meaning might get expressed clearly. You cannot always translate the same word
in the same way. It might be used in one place to mean one thing, and in a
different context it can mean something else. A translation has to express not the
words but the inner kernel of meaning so that the reader gets the message
properly.
Reading this book, one sometimes finds that its words are plain but their
meaning is quite obscure! It is very difficult. The translator must look beneath
the words to grasp the essential meaning and then must find the right words in a
new language to convey that meaning. I have read this book many times and
each time I read this book I perceive new things and get new meanings from it. I
discover new things each time I read it.
I first read this book under the tutelage of my father, Syed Mohammad
Fakhr-ul-Hasan Kaleemi. Since my father’s time, I have seen a tremendous
change in the conditions of life. We used to go to the hill-top shrine of Baba
Fakhr al-Din Pahari outside of Hyderabad and spend whole days there in a
spiritual retreat. When I was young, we had a visit from Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan,
the father of Pir Zia Inayat-Khan. Pir Vilayat came from America in 1950 and
stayed for a few months in Hyderabad. I was a young man then working at the
State Bank of Hyderabad during the day and taking college classes at night. Pir
Vilayat did not speak Urdu and my father, Syed Mohammad Fakhr-ul-Hasan,
did not speak English—so I was honored to translate for them. We belong to
the same lineage and teaching as Pir Vilayat’s father, Hazrat Inayat Khan. The
spiritual guide of Hazrat Inayat Khan was Syed Abu Hashim Madani who lived
in Hyderabad. He was a disciple of my great-grandfather, Syed Mohammad
Hasan Jeeli-ul-Kaleemi.
Syed Mohammad Hasan had come to India from Medina in the early 19th
century when the Mughal ruler was still in power. He was a descendant of
Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Jilani and that is why our family is named Jeeli (which is
the Arabic way of pronouncing Jilani). In Delhi, he took initiation in the Kalimi
Sufi order. At first he shied away from joining the Chishti order because he was
an ardent follower of the Qadiri order, a little like Dara Shikoh’s attitude that he
expresses in The Compass of Truth. But Syed Mohammad Hasan eventually
realized that the Kalimi Sufi order was both Qadiri and Chishti in its orientation
—it combined these four Sufi orders into one path, trying to take the best of
each. Pir Zia Inayat-Khan has written about all of this in his excellent book, A
Pearl in Wine.
Syed Mohammad Hasan moved from Delhi to Hyderabad. He was succeeded
by his son, Syed Zia-ul-Hasan Kaleemi, my grandfather who raised me like his
son and gave me initiation. When Pir Vilayat came to Hyderabad, he found that
my father, Syed Fakhr-ul-Hasan Kaleemi, was the head of this lineage. Pir
Vilayat came to our house to learn more about the spiritual practices of the
Kalimi lineage. My father told Pir Vilayat that he could give him traditional Sufi
training. At first, Pir Vilayat hesitated to accept this, because he considered his
father alone to be his spiritual guide. My father told him that he respected that,
and would act only as his mentor and helper. He would convey to Pir Vilayat
the same training that his father, Hazrat Inayat Khan, received in this Sufi order
in Hyderabad long before. So Pir Vilayat Khan accepted this and my father
guided him during a spiritual retreat and trained him in meditation.
For the spiritual retreat, we went to the hill-top dargah of Baba Fakhr al-Din
Pahari. This is an isolated place on a hill outside of Hyderabad not far from the
Astana Kalimi. This is where my father directed Pir Vilayat to go in order to find
a peaceful place with no distractions. During this spiritual retreat, my father
instructed him on how to hold the image of one’s Pir-o-Murshid in mind while
meditating. This instruction was how to achieve fana’ fi shaykh or obliteration
into the personality of one’s spiritual guide. Shaykh Kalimullah explains this in
The Alms Bowl—to meditate or pray as if it were your Pir doing it rather than
you yourself.
When you do anything important, you should hold in your imagination the
image of your Pir. This is called tasawwur-i shaykh or seeing the image of your
Pir. You slowly learn to not just see his image but imagine that your Pir is with
you supporting what you are doing. Finally, you understand that your Pir is
actually doing it and you are not. Here is a beautiful couplet in Persian that
illustrates this:

Karavan-am hama bi-guzasht ze maidan-i shuhud

ham chun naqsh-i kaff-i pa nam o nishan-am baqi-st

My caravan has departed from the realm of manifestation I’m like a

footprint left behind—all that remains is a name and a sign

Your Pir who has given initiation was himself initiated, and this chain of
initiations leads back to the Prophet Muhammad. Ultimately absorption into
the personality of your Pir leads to absorption into the personality of the
Prophet as the most realized human being. This is a step towards fana’ fi’llah or
obliteration in God. Although the Prophet is a human being, he is in touch with
God. He appears to be a person, but through him one encounters God’s
presence. He is full of divine light. These are steps on the path towards
understanding and experiencing the secret of oneness of being. In Urdu we have
a poem that conveys this meaning.

Muhammad sirr-i wahdat hai koi ramz un-ka kya jane

shari‵at mein to banda hai haqiqat mein khuda jane
Muhammad is the secret of oneness
His hidden meaning who can know?
In the religious law, yes, he’s merely human
His ultimate reality only God can know!

I remember when Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan went into his retreat and I was
present when he came out. My father told him that now he was ready to go back
to the West and take up his spiritual work.
It is important for each spiritual seeker to make time in his busy schedule to
pray and meditate. This book, The Alms Bowl, is about how to meditate so that
God remains with us always in our hearts. You might ask how can God be in
our hearts? Our hearts are limited and finite. But God is like water. Water can
flow everywhere. Wherever it is, water takes on the appearance and the shape of
its vessel. So if you put clear water in a colored glass, it appears that the water is
colored. It appears to be the same color as that glass. The water is not that color,
but it appears so to us. In this way, God is in everything and permeates all
things, but we don’t see it properly. We see only forms and colors. A poet has
expressed this in a beautiful way in Urdu:

Sanam ham dair ham but ham brahman ham

kare kis ki puja charhe kis ko chandan ham
I am the priest, I am the statue, I am the temple,
I am the idol
Whom do I worship? To whom can I offer incense
of sandal?

In Urdu we call “the idol” the thing that we desire most in the heart, such
that we worship it. That is the beloved idol or sanam. “The temple” describes
this whole world and all that it is in, full of beautiful things like a temple. “The
Brahman” is the one who stays in the temple to conduct the rituals and lead
people to the idol. The Brahman is a priest who worships with puja and spreads
sandalwood paste on the statue of the idol. But the poet says that all these things
are within you. You are the idol, the statue, the temple and the priest. So why
should you bother to go to anyone or anywhere? There is no need. All these
things are already within you, if you would just understand. If you say anything,
then it is really God who says it through you. If you think anything, then it is
really God who thinks it through you. This is the state of person who regards
nothing in this world but God.
You see, although God created this world there is really nothing real about it
except for God. In the beginning, God desired to see God’s own self and enjoy.
So from having this desire, God extracted from God’s own divine light a certain
light. This was the light of Muhammad, may God bless him and grant him
peace. From this light of Muhammad, God created the entire universe: this
world, the mountains, stones, trees, oceans and waters.
After making this world, God created Adam. God infused into Adam this
light of Muhammad. For this reason, Muhammad is sometimes called “the light
of the beginning and the light of the ending,” because the light of Muhammad
was before all of creation and then later was infused into Adam and his progeny,
such that Muhammad was born to shine this light clearly throughout the world.
For this reason, it is said that the light of Muhammad is the first and best of all
creation, because it was extracted directly from God’s eternal light. All light
came from Muhammad’s light, which was the first thing that God created. From
one came two. Between the two there was recognition and attraction and love.
With love, the two became three. From there the multitude of creation came
into being.
There is one being that is absolute; that is God’s essence. Other beings that
come into being from it later are called shadow. They have no existence of their
own, but are cast as forms depending upon the absolute being. Absolute being is
being from and though its own self. It is conditioned by nothing else—by
neither time nor space. But other beings are dependent upon something else and
conditioned by other beings. You are a being. You are dependent upon your
parents and conditioned by them. Without your parents, you would not have
any existence. Your being has a cause and a beginning and an ending. But
absolute being is not like that. It is the condition upon which all other beings
depend, and it is the source of all other beings. Every other being has a source
from which it comes and the source of all beings is the absolute being.
As absolute being, God’s essence is unknowable. There is no sign, no sense,
no indication that it exists, because there is no existence other than it. It is as if
God’s essence remained hidden behind a curtain of unknowability. But God’s
essence allowed other levels of being to emanate from it, such that the universe
and this world could exist as we know it. This is so that love could be manifest.
There is a very important point to understand here! God’s essence is absolute
being, but God wanted to see and recognize God’s own being. To do this, God
created the light of Muhammad from God’s own divine light and made it other
than God. From this light of Muhammad, God created the universe and this
world. Thus there was a differentiation between the divine being of God and the
lower being of the cosmos and this world. From differentiation is born love and
longing.
The real lover is one who cannot think of anyone else or anything else except
for his beloved. There are two kinds of passionate love. One is relative love (ishq-
i majazi) and the other is real love (ishq-i haqiqi). What is relative love? It is like
when I see you—you come and I am happy. I’m so happy that I leave all my
other work to spend time talking with you. If you don’t come back in a day or
two, I get worried and restless. And when you do come, I get so happy that I
forget about everything else except you.
Relative love is for a person who comes and goes. But real love is when I
perceive the spirit that is in you and animates you, and I understand that this
spirit is given by God. Real love is when you perceive that the tongue of the
person you love is not his, but it is given by God, and that his eyes are not his,
but are given by God. When you understand this, then you transcend relative
love and arrive at real love. You understand that if the person you love is so
wonderful, then what about God who gave everything to this person you love,
which makes him lovable? When you understand that, it is so bewildering. It is
wonderful. That is real love. It is God who gives all these beautiful qualities that
make a person lovable, not that person himself.
Through cultivating relative love one can arrive at real love. I look at people as
creatures of God—I don’t see their caste, creed or sex. I see that they have
everything that I have—the same eyes, the same nose, the same limbs. There is
no difference. Shaykh Kalimullah writes in a philosophical language that each
person is a “specific manifested being.” When you read this, you should
understand yourself. You are a specific manifested being. From the perspective
of your being a limited being, you become a lover and thus you are drawn to
your Pir-o-Murshid as a beloved. You are the lover and your Pir is your beloved.
In both is the same thing—love—but it appears as manifest differentiation. That
difference in appearance only confirms the unity in our essence. You and I are
not two different things. There is one thing that is shared in common—that is
love.
We all share in the nature of the primordial human being. We are all the same
in potential, and we are only different in how much we actualize our potential to
love. Shaikh Kalimullah writes in The Alms Bowl that “Human perfection
consists of passing through the state of losing one’s self in God so that one might
achieve the state of remaining with God as eternal.” Pay attention! He explains
that all things come from and exist through the singular essence of God.
Everything that is you—your heart, your mind, your eyes, everything that is
yours—is really only God. God and only God. Anything you see, you are really
seeing God. Anything you hear, you are really hearing God. But you need to
refine your understanding to perceive this.
This is why you need to meditate, in order to refine your power of
imagination. Shaikh Kalimullah explains how to do this in so many ways in The
Alms Bowl. But the single most essential thing on the Sufi path is love. Without
love, nothing you do is of any benefit. Without it, prayer is just movement, like
exercise. It is not beneficial and, in fact, it could be very harmful. Love for God
is expressed and demonstrated through love for other people and for all of
creation.
You must burn with love like a candle. Its nature is to burn down, slowly
dwindling away towards death but giving off so much light. Wherever it is, in
whatever environment or surroundings, the candle gives off light. Whether in a
mosque or temple, the candle burns and gives others light. That is the way you
must be. When you are no longer a slave to your five senses, you perceive God
in every thing, behind every phenomenon. This is expressed perfectly by Rumi
in a verse that we hear sung in qawwali.

Khud kuza o khud khuza-gar o khud gil-i kuza, khud

rind-i sabu-kash
Ta bar sar-i an kuza khareedar bar amad, bi-shikasht
o ravan shud
He is the pot and he is potter, he is the clay and
the drunken reveler
Reeling up to the wine-vat to buy a cup, he smashes it
and disappears

God is the potter but God is also the clay. There is nothing that is separate
from God. God is in nature—that is a most important thing to see. Nature must
be preserved and protected, as in trees and in the environment, for all these are
phenomenon through which God manifests. They are things of beauty and we
feel awe when we appreciate them and reverence when we protect them. So we
have to see in nature the manifestation of God, and worship God with increased
intensity through our protection of nature.
The Sufi path consists entirely of maintaining good adab, meaning loving and
respectful behavior. It is how you treat people and the environment and all
things around you. Sufism is not about rites and rituals, customs and
ceremonies. Some people think that Sufism is about having a long beard, or
wearing a cloak, or putting a certain colored cap on your head. These things are
not Sufism at all! They are customs. Sufism is an attitude of respect and
benevolence towards all people and all things around you. It is adab, and it
comes directly from the heart.
These are the basic teachings of the Kalimi lineage, of which I’m the servant.
These are the teachings that Shaikh Kalimullah wrote about in The Alms Bowl,
which combines the best of Chishti and Qadiri wisdom and also insights from
other Sufi lineages. It is my honor to teach them to whoever wants to learn,
despite all my faults. Some learn them here in Hyderabad, or sometimes I am
invited to Delhi or to America to meet people and teach them whatever little I
can. Hyderabad is my place only because my ancestors are buried here. I am
merely a servant of the Astana Kalimi. Who am I? I am nobody! I am nothing
but them working through me. May reading this book help to clarify things for
you. But remember that no book can substitute for a spiritual guide to teach
these things. May God grant both you and I the awareness of God’s eternal
presence, to worship with understanding and to act rightly with compassion.
Syed Mohammad Rasheed-ul-Hasan Kaleemi
Hyderabad, India
2011
 Introduction
This book presents three Sufi texts on meditation and contemplation. These
texts explain why meditation is necessary to mysticism and to living a realized
life. The texts demonstrate how it should be done, as a meditation on Islamic
scriptural texts and prophetic example, and through the mediation of a Sufi
guide with whom one has taken initiation. The texts also hint at what effects can
be expected from its dedicated performance, in the form of medicine for various
diseases of the heart, mind and spirit.
Each text is quite different in purpose and tone. Yet each text speaks to the
others in a dialogue about the practice of meditation. They are intimately linked
in their focus on meditation techniques that have Islamic roots but universal
relevance. They are united in a concentration on the human body and how it
can be refined into an apt vehicle for the performance of meditation until it
virtually resonates with the presence of God.
These three texts from the Mughal era are about mysticism, and they discuss
Sufi meditation techniques directly, though they emphasize the need for the
mediation of a spiritual guide before one can really benefit from their spiritual
medicine. In this summary, each of the five terms starting with “m” requires
some elaboration. They will be discussed one by one here, as an introduction to
the texts and their purpose.

Mysticism
All three texts deal with mysticism, but the term mysticism is notoriously
difficult to define. As an abstract noun in English, mysticism is a relatively new
term coined to mean any systematic cultivation of mystical knowledge. This is a
special kind of knowledge, often called intuitive or noetic knowledge, which has
the effect of breaking down the distinction between knower and object known,
such that both are united in knowledge. Indeed, the cultivation of mystical
knowledge breaks down any dualism whether conceived as knower and known,
seeker and sought, or lover and beloved.
This mystical knowledge is not like other kinds of knowledge which can be
acquired through observation, rational speculation or traditional learning.
Rather it is a kind of knowledge that transforms the knower in the process of
becoming known, and therefore can be conceived of as “experiential knowledge”
or “wisdom.” It comes to one in a flash of intuition rather than as a result of
study, yet it requires rigorous preparation before one can receive it. It is not
knowledge of an object, but is rather knowledge of the framework through
which one knows, and is therefore called “paradigmatic knowledge.” It is not
knowledge of an object that is separate from the knower; rather it is knowledge
of the knower’s own basis in knowing. It is knowledge of what unites the
knower and the object of knowledge, a unity that erases the illusion of the
knower’s distinctiveness. In this way, it is knowledge that challenges the basis of
our egoism and potentially overcomes it.
In Persian, this mystical knowledge is called ma‵rifa and the systematic
cultivation of it is known as ‵irfan; both these terms are derived from the Arabic
verb for “to know” yet it is quite distinct from the conventional term for
knowledge—‵ilm—that can be learned through study, observation or reason.
These three texts all seek to convey the urgent need of everyone for this mystical
knowledge, and they each explain practical techniques to prepare oneself to
receive it. All three texts assume that the reader is a sincere seeker of this mystical
knowledge, is willing to undergo rigorous experiences to gain it, and has already
taken initiation with a teacher who can guide one to it. Each author of these
texts names his spiritual teacher and emphasizes how initiation (bay‵at) was a
necessary step in opening the way to gain awareness of this knowledge.
Readers should understand this important point. Without a spiritual guide,
one can certainly read these texts and one might even learn important things
from reading them. But it will be nearly impossible to practice what these texts
preach if one does not have a spiritual guide to whom one is linked by initiation
and to whom one can consult in practice. If one does not have a guide but
sincerely desires to have one, these texts can be useful and they give specific
recommendations for ways to seek a guide or substitute for this lack. For these
texts all come from the tradition of Sufism (tasawwuf), in which mystical
knowledge is conveyed through relationships. A basic premise is that one cannot
experience mystical knowledge on one’s own; rather, only by establishing a
relationship with another can one overcome one’s self-centered preoccupation
and cultivate mystical knowledge. Sufis express this with the pithy saying that “If
one has no spiritual guide one has the Tempter (shaytan) as a guide.”1 For Sufis,
finding a spiritual guide is part of the search for mystical knowledge, and the
difficult decision to take initiation with a guide is an act of devotion and love
that is a necessary step towards embodying this knowledge.
In Sufism, mystical knowledge is not an abstraction, but rather manifests
through relationships and it begins with love for one’s spiritual guide in very
human form. As the Sufi poet sang, “Every community has a right way and a
direction to pray… Facing the captivating face of my guide—I pray that way!”2
So the topic of these texts is mysticism, and in that sense they can be
compared to other mystical texts from many traditions. But these are Sufi texts
and so their style of mysticism is distinct, colored by Sufism and shaped by
Islam. One must appreciate their distinctiveness in this regard if one is to extract
wisdom from them and engage in the practices they describe.

Meditation

These texts describe meditation practices. They explain the principles of

meditation, its means and its effects. The reader may be perplexed at the very
existence of such texts. It is explained above that Sufis consider having a spiritual
guide to be paramount and someone whom one may learn from and consult
with. So the reader is excused from wondering why, if a spiritual guide is so
important, do Sufis write texts? Don’t these texts speak directly to the reader,
explaining mystical practices in writing, alleviating the need for a spiritual guide?
The answer to this concern is twofold. Firstly, these texts are relatively rare
and they are also bold. They do aim to capture teachings in written words that
are normally reserved for oral teaching from a guide to a disciple—”breast-to-
breast” as it is known in Persian (sina-ba-sina)—when and how one’s guide
deems fitting. These texts themselves explain that this knowledge is usually best
kept secret, but that some allowance is made for the written word to convey
some of it for the benefit of sincere seekers. These texts never claim to replace an
actual spiritual guide. Indeed, they presume that one already has a guide, and
that one is reading the text to supplement reliance on one’s guide.
 Secondly, these texts should be understood to be an aid to learning about
meditation rather than a sufficient source. These texts are like having a cane that
can help you walk in difficult circumstances. Having a cane in your hand will do
you no good if you have no feet of your own! You cannot walk with your hand,
but keeping in your hand a cane can help you walk. In the same way, a text
cannot teach you Sufism in place of a guide, but having a text to read can help
you learn about Sufism if you do not have a guide and it can help remind you of
what you learn with a guide. We often need reminding, and reading texts is a
good way to refresh one’s memory and retain one’s focus amid the distractions
of routine life.
A Sufi text is especially helpful when the topic is meditation. There are a
bewildering variety of meditation techniques known to Sufis. Some of them are
simple in form and some are quite complex. Some of them involve elaborate
patterns of repetition or movement, and some of them require absolute stillness
combined with intricate internal visualizations. These practices are designed to
instill in one a serenity, bliss, insight, yearning and rapture. These are feelings
that one should have during prayer, the basic Islamic ritual in which a devotee
stands to face God and recites divine words. But these feelings do not always
come during the external ritual, due to our innate egoism and its distractions. So
Sufis have taken the basic ritual of reciting divine words and crafted meditation
practices from them, to address directly the problem of egoistic impurity and
selfish distraction. Zikr as meditation takes phrases from the Qur’an or names of
God and crafts them into formulas that can be recited outside of ritual prayer or
internally without ritual at all. These meditation formulas can be intensified by
focusing on only one word or one syllable or one sound which can be
internalized in one’s very breathing, banishing the very distinction between
inside and outside, self and other.
In this sense, Sufi practice is very similar to certain meditation practices in
Hindu communities. Sacred chanting is necessary in order to properly conduct
rituals from the very Vedic roots of Hindu worship. But chanting certain phrases
could be taken as meditation practice itself, outside of the context of performing
a ritual; such phrases are known as mantra and this word has entered our English
vocabulary. A mantra can be further reduced to a certain sound, called japa,
which can be repeated in and of itself for a more intense feeling of
concentration. In Mughal India, these two practices were explicitly equated, and
zikr was often explained as the practice of japa.3
Learning about these meditation techniques is a bit like learning recipes to
cook. They appear complex in explanation but become rapidly familiar when
put into practice, such that writing them down is very useful for one who is just
learning them. Yet a recipe’s true flavor only emerges after long practice, once
the written text has long been put away on the shelf and the technique that once
seemed complex has been thoroughly internalized.

Mediation

Cooking may be an art, but to cook well requires love. It is love that turns
mere food into a meal. It is no wonder that Muslims, even those who do not call
themselves Sufis, often perform zikr or meditation while cooking, such that love
and devotion might be mixed in with the ingredients. Like cooking, meditation
is not merely a technique, though learning it may require some technical know-
how.
In Sufi meditation, techniques should never be separated from their
philosophical framework and devotional basis. Without love, these meditation
techniques are merely rote behaviors. The three texts presented here make very
clear that as one meditates one must hold in mind the image of one’s spiritual
guide to invoke love, reverence and devotion. Concentrating on this image and
through this image is a necessary condition for performing meditation. In this
Sufi tradition, the image of one’s guide (or person whom one loves deeply) is
called by several different terms. It is called the medium (wasita) or connection
(rabita) or meeting point (barzakh).
One does not meditate upon God’s names or qualities or essence directly; the
very nature of the human mind forbids us from such direct access to the divine
presence. Rather, one calls to mind the image of one’s guide as a medium, and
through the love that image evokes one can begin to meditate upon God. This
love then serves as a current or breeze that energizes one’s meditation practice
and carries one’s awareness beyond routine limitations. Meditation through the
image of one’s spiritual guide is a skillful means to focus one’s love and
concentrate one’s spiritual energies. One could say that meditation without
mediation is mere sedation.
 Medicine

The texts presented here urge us to meditate. They urge us to meditate

regularly, intensely and continuously. This is because meditation is understood
as a kind of medicine. It is not a sedative that makes us momentarily forget our
pain, but is rather a curative that eliminates diseases which prevent us from
living in tranquility. The metaphor of medicine helps us to understand these
meditation practices and why the texts insist that they be practiced with and
through the body.
How do we know that we are sick? We feel anxiety and fear. We experience
craving and revulsion. We wake up in the middle of night in terror or we fall
into despair when things do not happen as we expect. These are symptoms of
our sickness and our sickness is egoism. Afflicted with egoism, we misinterpret
sensory perception as reality, react with exaggerated attachment to pain and
pleasure, and allow our awareness to be distracted by objects that appear external
to us and by feelings that manifest internal to us. All in all, we think of “my
being” as separate from the being of others, or being in general. That is our
disease. It is a disease that afflicts the heart and from there weakens our whole
self.
The Qur’an depicts the heart as the very center of the human being, and it
can be in different states. The person who has no faith has a heart that is hard as
if rusted shut, so that it is dark. Some people’s hearts are so rusted that what
should shine is dull and what should move is petrified: “There is rust on their
hearts because of the consequence of their deeds.”4
A bit of rust can be polished away with a little vigorous cleaning through
meditation and good deeds and repentance. But if this rust of negligence and
misdeeds grows thick and hard, then it begins to affect the nature of the heart
itself: “With that, your hearts then became hardened such that they are like
stone or even worse in hardness.”5 In contrast, the human heart was created to
be flexible and open such that it radiates with light; in all of creation only the
human heart can reflect the light of God in its fullness, such that the human
being can be said to be created in God’s own image.6
The human heart is in danger of not living up to its potential and not
fulfilling the goal of its creation. The heart is diseased in people who are
egotistic, stubborn, stingy, cruel, cunning and hypocritical: “They only deceive
themselves yet they do not perceive it—in their hearts is disease and God only
increases them in their disease.”7 And so we need spiritual doctors who can
diagnose the ailments of our hearts. We find such doctors among Sufi masters
who guide us to healthier ways of being. They teach us that the human heart
should not accept duality, for “God has not made in the human chest two hearts
but one.”8 But how can we maintain a single focus for the heart, when our
human attention is pulled in myriad directions by our limited body embedded
in this phenomenal world that elicits in us cravings and desires? The heart can
maintain a single focus by concentrating on the one true reality, which is God.
This is the remembrance of God or zikr, which is achieved through meditation
and which imbues the heart with restfulness and tranquility that comes only
from having a single focus, for “God lets go astray those whom God wills and
God guides those who repent, those who believe and with remembrance of God
find tranquility, for in remembrance of God alone do hearts find tranquility.” 9
Sufi masters are best understood as doctors. The symptoms of our existential
distress are best understood as afflictions of the heart. The heart is best
understood as the center of one’s being where God’s presence and one’s person
meet and mingle. And there in the heart one must maintain a singleness of focus
and concentration and orientation towards God, to ignore all that is otherness
and duality and falsehood and darkness. This state is known as concentration
(jam‵iyat) among the Sufis and it heals the heart of all its ailments, supports the
body in all its struggles, clears the mind of all delusions, and keeps the soul pure
of all defilements that obscure its intimate union with God. So meditation is the
remembrance of God, and meditation is the Sufi masters’ prescription for
healing a broken heart.
Indeed, the tranquil heart that constantly remembers God is transformed. It
becomes like a mirror which looses its own nature in the radiant image of that
which it reflects. In this way, the heart that remembers God begins to realize
that it is not separate from God. In fact, the heart that remembers God is the
indwelling place of God, where God manifests in this world. The Prophet
Muhammad taught that God revealed that, “In the body of Adam there is a
lump of flesh, and in that lump of flesh there is a secret, and in that secret am
I.”10 If you want to find God, then look within. And one looks within by
meditating on the presence of God, thereby clearing from one’s vision
everything other than God. This is the way of meditation that Sufi mystics
taught.

Mughal Era

Mysticism is arguably a universal phenomenon. Wherever you find human

beings you find mysticism, at least when the living conditions allow people to
look within and explore the ground of their own being human. Yet mysticism
takes different forms, depending upon the religious beliefs that support the
cultivation of mystical knowledge. And more incisively, mystical texts are shaped
by the social conditions and language of their time. As texts, they are objects that
were produced in a time and place, even if the ideas they aim to convey are
universal.
All three texts come from South Asia and date to the Mughal era. All three are
written in Persian language, the language of court-life, high culture and
literature during that era. The Mughal era lasted from 1526 until 1857 in the
region of Northern India and Pakistan. This period of three centuries witnessed
the expansion of a powerful dynasty that spread a rule of law and profit from
commerce that united many disparate regions, brought together people from
diverse ethnic and caste backgrounds, and sponsored an unprecedented dialogue
between religions that were normally in conflict. The Mughal emperors, their
family members and their court aristocracy largely saw Sufism and Islam as
identical. They tried to legitimize their rule by building monuments to great
Sufi teachers of the past; they sought to expand their power by imploring the
blessings of Sufi guides of their era. Some of them even practiced Sufism in their
devotional lives with less or more sincerity, depending upon their personal
capacities and circumstances.
Under Mughal patronage, music, art, poetry and philosophy flourished with
an intensity and interpenetration that was rarely seen before or after. This
atmosphere nourished a flowering of Sufism in many innovative personalities,
diverse mystical orders and bold literary expressions. There were Sufis who
championed Islamic orthodoxy, and also Sufis who challenged the idea that
Islam was the only means to salvation. There were Sufis who maintained the
unique tradition of their individual orders, and also Sufis who sought to blend
the different orders and emphasize their common principles. There were Sufis
who embraced music as the highest means of meditation, and also Sufis who
rejected music as sensuous impiety. There were Sufis who moved in the highest
echelons of elite society, seeking to guide them, and also Sufis who rejected the
powerful to speak up for the impoverished, living with the downtrodden. There
were Sufis who explored with the subtleties of Islamic theology, and also Sufis
who boldly crossed the boundary of confessional allegiance to find fellowship
with those of other faiths like Hindus and Sikhs and Yogis. The three texts
presented here are fruits of this era, and reflect these tensions and possibilities.
Though their origin is in the Mughal era, their relevance is far beyond the limits
of Mughal times.
For Muslims and Sufis today, the Mughal era is a wonderful time to hearken
back to in search of inspiration and guidance. It was an era of Muslim
supremacy but with a spirit of inclusivity. It was an era of great optimism for
Muslims, as the Mughal emperors engineered a dynamic and expansive empire
that elevated Islam in a form that could embrace people of other faiths and
empower them to join its cause and reap the rewards of the peace it offered.
Rajput kings joined forces with the Mughals through military alliance and
marital bonds, with most Rajputs retaining their staunchly Hindu faith while
others converted to become Muslims. Some Rajput Hindus like Mira Bai
embraced bhakti mysticism that emphasized love and allowed Sufi and Hindu
devotees to find common cause. Others who trace their origin to Rajput families
converted to Islam and nurtured devotional music, such as those who refined
Hindustani classical music and who became adepts at qawwali singing. Hindus
who followed the ascetic path and practiced Hatha Yoga in various diverse
communities seem to have entered an intimate dialogue with Sufis. Many Sufis
in the Mughal era admired Yogic practices, learned them from Hindu
practitioners, and found them to be congruent with Islamic teachings.
The inspiring teacher of the Sikh movement, Guru Nanak, lived during the
first decades of Mughal rule, and his teachings illustrate the ecumenical spirit
and optimistic mysticism that characterized this era. He taught that God was
one and beyond description, but those who love God are inspired to describe
God with myriad images, each of which is true yet fail to encompass God’s
truth. Guru Nanak had close relations with many Sufi teachers, yet he resisted
assimilation into Islamic orthodox doctrines. Although the Sikh movement, as it
gained strength and popular support, ran into conflict with Mughal rulers, the
Sikh Gurus maintained close and intimate relations with Sufi teachers who were
loyal to Mughal rule, and many verses of Sufi poetry were integrated into the
Sikh holy book.
In addition, the Mughal era was a time of intense interaction between
Christians and South Asians of all religions. Mughal prosperity attracted
European Christians to Asia in search of merchant profits, diplomatic advantage,
and missionary debate. Their travelogues indelibly shaped the European
imagination of what Asia was like, and fostered a cultural familiarity which was
to last even as Europeans turned from diplomacy to commerce. European art
styles and Biblical illustrations began to affect Mughal miniatures, and Mughal
paintings were collected by Europeans to become museum treasures. Even as
European merchants evolved into colonial occupiers who would help topple the
Mughal empire, the Mughal era remained a topic of fascination and admiration
for European historians, and remains one of the models for a multicultural and
inter-religious polity that found a way to unite people in a common cause
without stripping them of their own religion, language, ethnicity and identity.
The Mughal era witnessed an unprecedented diversity of Sufi orders that
interacted with the plural religious environment of South Asia. Reflecting this
reality, there are many Sufi orders (tariqah) featured in the texts presented by
this book. Readers should be familiar with the Sufi orders, so as to make sense of
the references to them. The most popular and widespread Sufi order in South
Asia is the Chishti order; its teachings were brought from Syria and Afghanistan
by Mu‵in al-Din Chishti when he settled at Ajmer in Rajasthan. He adapted
Sufi teachings to fit into South Asian cultural norms, devotional practices and
aesthetic ideals; and his followers such as Farid al-Din Ganj-i Shakar and Nizam
al-Din Awliya led a fluorescence of Sufi thought, practice, poetry and music that
deeply influenced South Asia. One text presented here is attributed to Mu‵in al-
Din Chishti, the founder of this order.
Despite its popularity, the Chishti order was not actually the first Sufi order
to come to South Asia. It was preceded by the Suhrawardi order, which was
established by Shihab al-Din ‵Umar Suhrawardi who cooperated with the
Caliph in Baghdad to create a Sufi order that would spread throughout the
Islamic world and unite its followers in spiritual discipline.11 His devoted
followers brought this Sufi order to many regions of South Asia, where they
endeavored to influence political leaders, become community leaders, and spread
Islamic norms. But the Suhrawardi order’s close relations to the elite actually
limited its popularity. The Chishti order, which avoided the elites, enjoined
voluntary poverty and embraced local culture, soon overshadowed their
Suhrawardi forerunners. Suhrawardi Sufis are mentioned in these texts but
references to Chishti Sufis are much more pronounced.
The Qadiri Sufi order spread later through South Asia. It was founded by
‵Abd al-Qadir Jilani, a great preacher in Baghdad and a scholar of Islamic
traditions.12 Through his later descendants and followers, the Qadiri Sufi order
spread along the sea-lanes and trade-routes in the Arabian Sea to the coasts of
South Asia. By the Mughal era, the Qadiri order had reached Delhi and other
cosmopolitan urban centers where, led by a series of brilliant teachers, it spread
its influence widely and reached within the ruling Mughal dynasty. The author
of one of the texts presented here, Dara Shikoh, was both a zealous follower of
the Qadiri order and also the crown-prince of the Mughal dynasty.
While the Qadiri order focused intensely on the “unity of being” and affected
the intellectual elite, another Sufi order was spreading among the common
soldiers and administrators of the Mughal Empire. This was the Naqshbandi
order that was founded in Central Asia by Baha’ al-Din Naqshband. It
emphasized the interiorization of Sufi practices so that the public might not
know who was doing Sufi meditation in silence and through breath control.
This interior focus was combined with scrupulous performance of traditional
religious duties, to the point that Naqshbandi Sufis were identified as champions
of Islamic orthodoxy among other Sufis in South Asia for whom Islamic belief
was assumed rather than asserted. Among the Naqshbandi Sufis, meditation
practices were to be subdued and quiet, to the point that they advocated silent
contemplation over meditation that was usually vocal, often communal, and
sometimes also musical.
These four Sufi orders are considered to be the four major orders in South
Asia even today. We find the Chishti, Qadiri, Naqshbandi and Suhrawardi
orders mentioned in the three texts presented here, in that order of frequency.
Indeed, in the Mughal era these orders were mingling: it became common for a
Sufi to have taken initiation into two or more of these orders, which served to
cool down the rivalry that the orders sometimes fostered among themselves. By
the time of Shaykh Kalimullah, one of the authors presented here, these orders
were being routinely blended. Shaykh Kalimullah received initiation into all four
orders from his one spiritual guide, Shaykh Yahya Madani. He passed this
blended initiation on to his own followers in the Kalimi order, who by
belonging to the Kalimi order share initiation into the Chishti, Qadiri,
Suhrawardi and Naqshbandi orders together.
Beside these four major orders, there were many other Sufi orders active in
South Asia, representing diverse styles of mystical devotion. A relative late-comer
to South Asia was the Shattari order, which was introduced from Central Asia,
where it was known also the ‵Ishqi order (because of its emphasis on ‵ishq or
passionate love) or the Tayfuri order (because of its reverence for Shaykh
Bayazid Bistami whose personal name was Tayfur). Shaykh Kalimullah also had
an initiation into the Shattari order, and though he did not emphasize it, he was
influenced by Shattari techniques of meditation and contemplation. Members of
the Shattari order led a flowering of Sufi creativity in devotional practices, Yogic
exercises, poetry and music during the early Mughal era. As Sufis from South
Asia travelled to Arab lands and to Mecca in particular, they encountered other
orders like the Shadhili order. The Shadhili order was founded by Abu’l-Hasan
Ali al-Shadhili from Morocco, and it dominated the mystical life of North
Africa, Egypt and Yemen. Shaykh Kalimullah, for instance, mentions this order
in his text, The Alms Bowl, even though it was comparatively rare in South Asia;
one finds links to the Shadhili order only in coastal regions where trade across
the Red Sea to Arab lands flourished, such as in Gujarat.
Other Sufi orders were local to South Asia, like the Firdausi order. Its greatest
spokesman was Sharaf al-Din Yahya Maneri from Bihar, whose Sufi letters with
their incisive psychological insight achieved lasting and well-deserved fame. His
name and teachings are quoted in the texts presented here, though by the
Mughal era the Firdausi order had all but died out. There were other Sufi orders
that were more diffuse and less organized, to the point that they do not really
deserve to be called “orders” at all. These were Sufi movements like the
Qalandars and the Malangs who opposed all formality and norms; they
inhabited many Sufi sites and spaces yet they mocked all Sufi institutions and
questioned the need for ritual and social order. They were “antinomian” Sufis
who felt it was hypocrisy to uphold the law.
Much like modern hippies, the Qalandars believed in a simple life of owning
little and desiring less in order to be free of social constraints and religious
formalism. They abandoned the practice of meditation or contemplation, and
sought to realize God through opposing the self-righteous and enjoying
simplicity, poverty and hallucinogenic substances. They had little use for
complex meditation practices such as those presented in these texts, and, perhaps
in this way, to achieve the most potent form of liberation from egoism! But for
the rest of us who accept social structure and retain use of our rational faculties,
meditation remains a potent medicine and a useful means to realize closeness
with God.
This is the starting place of all the texts presented here. They assume that the
readers have a firm power of reason, through which they can seek to overcome
egoistic urges. They presume a certain familiarity with Sufi orders and Islamic
scriptural sources, which the readers can use as familiar guides when entering the
unfamiliar interior terrain of meditation. They urge the reader to leave routine
preoccupations and perceptions for a while, in order to later return to social life
transformed through meditation. These texts from the Mughal era are about
mysticism, and they discuss Sufi meditation techniques directly although they
emphasize the need for a spiritual guide’s mediation before one can really benefit
from their spiritual medicine. Let us turn now to the texts themselves.

Sufi Authors in this Book

The author of the first text presented in this book is Shaykh Kalimullah. He
lived in Delhi, in the heart of the Mughal city known as Shahjehanabad near the
Red Fort and the Jami‵ Masjid. He was born in 1650 and died in 1729, having
lived through the high point of Mughal expansion and power.13 He was
primarily a Sufi master of the Chishti order, but also had initiations into several
other orders. The eminent scholar of Sufism in India, Khaliq Ahmed Nizami,
has described Shaykh Kalimullah as leading a “renaissance” of the Chishti order
that enlivened the original ethical principles and mystical creativity of the early
Chishti masters.14 Shaykh Kalimullah had his primary initiation into the Chishti
order, but he also received from his spiritual guide simultaneous and equal
initiation into other orders: the Qadiri, Naqshbandi, Suhrawardi and Shattari
orders.15
Shaykh Kalimullah was a Muslim intellectual and prolific author in addition
to being a powerful and prominent Sufi master of his time. One of his great
achievements was to “recenter” the Chishti order in Delhi, in the heart of the
Mughal Empire. The Chishti order had spread widely throughout South Asia
from the 14th century; as political power became dispersed among regional
kingdoms, so too the Chishti order developed regional variations and local
prominence, championing local languages and regional dialects. But Shaykh
Kalimullah took advantage of the Mughal Empire’s centralizing force, and he
began to reunify the many regional Chishti centers and emphasize the core
teachings of the original Chishti lineage.
Shaykh Kalimullah was aware that many practices of the Chishti order were
controversial especially as the Naqshbandi order became more prominent among
Mughal imperial officers and soldiers. The Naqshbandis disavowed listening to
music as a form of worship, and discouraged vocal zikr as a meditation practice.
In this environment, Shaykh Kalimullah wrote various books describing and
defending the meditation practices of the Chishti order, and demonstrating their
commonalities with meditation practices found in other orders, including the
Naqshbandi order. His oral teachings were recorded in Persian by a follower of
his, entitled Majalis-i Kalimi, and the letters he wrote to his successor were
published, entitled Maktubat-i Kalimi. Both these books show Shaykh
Kalimullah’s efforts to both reassert the core practices of the Chishti order,
which had enlivened Muslim faith in South Asia for so many centuries, and also
to temper its practices so as to be integrated with those of other Sufi orders.
The Delhi home of Shaykh Kalimullah became a religious center: it was a
madrasa where people came to study, a khanqah were they came for devotions,
and it became a dargah when he was buried there (people still visit his tomb and
pray there, though the original building was destroyed in the war of 1857). He
initiated into his Sufi order both men and women, both Muslims and people of
other faiths.
Shaykh Kalimullah wrote many original books to explain Sufi principles and
practices. One of his most ingenious compositions is the work translated here,
entitled Kashkul-i Kalimi or “The Alms Bowl of Shaykh Kalimullah.” In it, he
gives detailed instruction on how to perform various kinds of meditation and
contemplation, and he explains the principles involved and their intended
effects. Each practice he compares to a morsel of nourishing food that is dropped
in his alms-bowl as he goes begging at the door of different Sufi guides and
diverse Sufi orders. His tone of voice is much like a doctor giving prescriptions
for various cures. Before him, a few Sufi guides had written explicitly on
meditation practices, but none in as much technical detail and procedural
clarity. Most Sufi guides were satisfied to simply note that zikr or meditation is
required and beneficial, but they did not feel the need to write out detailed
procedures or they felt that this knowledge was secret to be divulged only to
those initiated by them. Shaykh Kalimullah was characteristically bolder. He
encouraged his successor, Shaykh Nizam al-Din Awrangabadi (died 1729 in
Aurangabad), to write a sequel on meditation practices that expanded his
original contribution.16
Shaykh Kalimullah wrote many other books. His Muraqqa’-i Kalimi or “The
Patched Cloak of Kalimullah” describes different methods of praying and
making invocation. His Tasnim-i Tawhid or “Cups from the Font of Paradise”
describes God’s absolute unity and the mystical insight this gives us into the true
nature of existence.17 He wrote many smaller books on aspects of Sufi devotion
in addition to texts about medicine, astronomy and interpretation of the
Qur’an.18
Many great Sufi leaders of the modern era trace their heritage back to Shaykh
Kalimullah. Some who took it as their mission to spread the Sufi message to new
frontiers were from the Kalimi order, like Hazrat Inayat Khan who left India to
teach in Europe and North America, or Soofie Saheb (Haji Ghulam
Muhammad Sufi Siddiqi, died in Durban) who left India to teach in South
Africa. These pioneers were both inspired by the Kalimi teachers of Hyderabad,
who were from the family and followers of Syed Mohammad Hasan Jeeli-ul-
Kaleemi (died 1890 in Hyderabad).
The author of the second text presented in this book is Dara Shikoh. He was
both a Sufi sage and a prince of the Mughal royal family. He lived in Agra and
Lahore from 1615 until 1659.19 He was the eldest son of the Emperor Shah
Jehan, who named him to be the crown prince. Though born into the ruling
dynasty, Dara Shikoh from an early age showed the proclivity to be an
intellectual explorer and spiritual seeker. He became a Sufi disciple of Miyan
Mir (died 1635) and Mulla Shah Badakhshi (died 1661), two leaders of the
Qadiri order who led a Sufi revival from Lahore.20
Dara Shikoh represents the cosmopolitan, intellectual and spiritual currents
that were strong in the Mughal era. He was an accomplished scholar and author,
despite his administrative and military responsibilities as the crown prince and
governor of several provinces. By the age of 25, he had authored Ship of the
Saints (Safinat al-Awliya) on the lives of great Sufi masters of the past, both male
and female. Then two years later, after having taken initiation into the Qadiri
order and having tasted the fruit of meditation under the guidance of his
teacher, Mulla Shah Badakhshi, Dara Shikoh wrote another book about his
spiritual experiences; this was entitled Deliverance of the Saints (Sakinat al-
Awliya) on the teachings, miracles and spiritual states of his own Sufi guides in
the Qadiri order. This he wrote only after he had “been ennobled by having
taken initiation, engaged in mystical practices and became knowledgeable about
the stations of the Sufi way.”21
In the next decade of his life, Dara Shikoh had immersed himself in Sufi
meditation and also studied Hinduism through texts and spiritual guides. In
particular, he made a deep study of the Upanishads and had an intimate
familiarity with bhakti teachings. He had recorded a session of question-and-
answer between himself and a Yoga adept named Baba Lal Das (known also as
Babalal Vairagi), and also wrote a Persian treatise arguing for the
complementarity and continuity between Islam (as understood through Sufism)
and Hinduism (as understood through Vedanta), entitled Majma‵ al-Bahrain or
“The Meeting of Two Seas.”22 He further had this treatise translated into
Sanskrit (entitled Samudra Sangam) so that it might be read and appreciated by
Hindu scholars.
Dara Shikoh wrote a further text about Sufi approaches to meditation,
entitled Risala-i Haqq-Numa or “The Compass of Truth” which is translated in
this book. In this book he discusses Sufi meditation as practiced by the Qadiri
order in South Asia, and he explains the cosmological framework in which these
meditation techniques were practiced. Though his sources were distinctively
Qadiri, the cosmological scheme that he offers (of different subtle realms that are
beyond and within the material world and sensory perception) is largely shared
by all Sufi orders. But Dara Shikoh is particularly bold about describing these
realms in prose, and explaining how meditation techniques, if practiced with
rigor and zeal, can take the spiritual seeker through them.
Dara Shikoh was a bold and even audacious spiritual explorer, and he
courageously upheld the equality of Muslims and non-Muslims in his era. But
he was not a successful ruler. One historian of Mughal administration calls him
“a mediocre general and an insensitive leader” despite his intellectual gifts and
religious insights.23 When his father, the Emperor Shah Jehan, fell suddenly ill
in 1657, a war of succession broke out between the Emperor’s four sons, all
mature men with impressive capabilities. In this war, the third youngest son
Aurangzeb won. He had forged a strong military power base as the governor of
the Deccan province. When he won the war of succession at Agra and Delhi,
Aurangzeb had Dara Shikoh and his son executed in 1659, and kept his ailing
father in prison. Aurangzeb imprisoned one of his remaining two brothers while
he defeated the other in battle.
Aurangzeb ruled with an iron fist until his death in 1707. Aurangzeb
continued to show symbolic deference to long-dead Sufi guides and patronized
some of their tombs, as was the tradition of Mughal rulers. But he never sought
advice from living Sufi guides or kept intimate company with them, as had his
rival brother Dara Shikoh. The luster of the Qadiri order that Dara Shikoh had
favored dimmed in the aftermath of this succession battle, and later the Qadiri
order often merged in practice with the Chishti order. Aurangzeb oversaw the
external expansion of Mughal rule, though from within the empire grew weak,
setting the stage for Shaykh Kalimullah’s life and work. Shaykh Kalimullah
sought to give advice to the later Mughal rulers even as their power declined,
and he strove to recenter the Chishti order (now merged with the Qadiri and
other orders) in Delhi to bolster the spiritual courage of its leaders and citizens,
as detailed above.
The author of the third text presented in this book is Mu‵in al-Din Chishti,
who established the Chishti order in South Asia. At least, we can say that the
text is attributed to Mu‵in al-Din Chishti, though its real author remains
anonymous (if the text can be said to have a single author!). The text attributed
to a respected ancient source—Mu‵in al-Din Chishti (died 1236 at Ajmer Sharif
in Rajasthan)—is most likely a later written record of oral teachings that evolved
in practice over many generations. The earliest manuscripts that we find of this
text date to the 17th century. Therefore, it is safest to date this text to the
Mughal era, during which bold authors wrote down ideals of an evolving Sufi
tradition that may have been passed on in earlier generations as oral teachings.
It may be possible that these oral teachings have their origin in the words of
Mu‵in al-Din Chishti, though they were written down only in the Mughal era,
at least three centuries after his death. Sufis of the Mughal era attributed this text
to Mu‵in al-Din Chishti, the most highly revered Sufi master of that era and
empire. Mughal rule was firmly established by Emperor Akbar, who established
the tradition of imperial deference to this founder of the Chishti order. Emperor
Akbar attributed the long awaited birth of a son to the blessings of a Sufi guide,
Salim Chishti (whose humble tomb at Sikri, outside of Agra, was transformed by
Akbar into an elegant mausoleum surrounded by the grand mosque of his new
imperial capital, Fatehpur). In gratitude, Akbar started the royal tradition of
pilgrimage to Ajmer to pay respects to Mu‵in al-Din Chishti, and he also
patronized grand building projects at this tomb and the tomb of Nizam al-Din
Awliya at Delhi.
Under Mughal patronage, Mu‵in al-Din became known as Sultan-i Hind,
“Ruler of India,” or Hind al-Wali, “Spiritual Governor of India.” At the height
of the Mughal empire, the princess Jehanara, the sister of Dara Shikoh, could
make a pilgrimage to Ajmer and write sincerely, “With my own hand I put the
highest quality of attar on the perfumed tomb of that revered one, and having
taken off the rose scarf that I had on my head, I placed it on top of the blessed
tomb… If I had the choice, I would always have stayed in the sanctuary of that
revered one, which is the marvelous corner of security.”24
Many Sufis assert that such a renowned personality must have left written
texts conveying his spiritual teachings. Yet his immediate successors, like Nizam
al-Din Awliya, noted that none of the Chishti leaders before him ever wrote
books. By the advent of the Mughal era, there were texts in circulation that were
attributed to Mu‵in al-Din. There is a Divan, or collection of poetry, that is
written in his name; some of the Persian ghazals in this collection may be his
words, but the whole collection is surely not his work or else Nizam al-Din
Awliya would not have said that none before him had written books.25 There
was also a book purporting to be the verbatim record of Mu‵in al-Din’s
teachings, as faithfully recorded by his friend and followers, Qutb al-Din
Bakhtiyar Kaki; similarly, there is a book that purports to be Mu‵in al-Din’s
own record of the oral discourses of his spiritual guide, Haji ‵Uthman Harwani
(known also as Osman Haruni). Yet these books must have been written later
and “retrospectively attributed” to these spiritual luminaries, for we know that
the first book of oral discourses of any Chishti leader was the innovative Fawa’id
al-Fu’ad or Morals for the Heart, which recorded the words of Nizam al-Din
Awliya almost a century after the death of Mu‵in al-Din.26
This does not mean that these texts are forgeries or fakes. They may indeed
contain some oral teachings of these early Chishti masters that were faithfully
remembered and handed down in oral tradition. But as written documents, they
cannot claim to be from the era or environment of the Sufis to whom they are
popularly attributed; they are certainly not the verbatim record of these Sufis, as
they are often claimed to be.
The same problem confronts the reader of the small treatise attributed to Mu
‵in al-Din Chishti, the Risala-i Wujud or Treatise on the Human Body, which is
presented in this book. It is known by many titles, and the text varies widely
from manuscript to manuscript. These are signs that it is the product of oral
transmission. Yet the fact the Mughal era scribes who were copying out this text
seemed to not be familiar with some of its terms and images is a hint that,
despite its questionable attribution to Mu‵in al-Din, it may contain teachings of
an archaic nature. It may contain ideas or images that do in fact date back to the
time of Mu‵in al-Din Chishti. When he moved from Afghanistan and Persia and
settled in South Asia, he was reputed to have interacted with Brahmins and
learned something of Hindu teachings and devotional music of temples.
In a similar vein, this small treatise contains teachings about Yoga and
includes reference to several Sanskrit terms of ancient usage. The text is about
meditation techniques and urges its readers to turn inward in spiritual discipline
and introspection. Its words may not be from the pen of Mu‵in al-Din, but its
ideas and images may reflect his dialogue with Indian spiritual traditions and his
attempt to harmonize them with Islam, as seen through a Sufi lens. Whether or
not it can be authentically attributed to Mu‵in al-Din, this treatise explains some
basic idea which later Sufis in India, like Dara Shikoh and Shaykh Kalimullah,
took for granted. In this sense, it is part of the Chishti tradition even if it is not
authored by Mu‵in al-Din, the founder of that tradition.

The Texts in Translation

This introduction may have taxed its readers’ patience. In the Sufi tradition, it
is said that those who really know do not speak, and those who speak do not
really know. This long-winded introduction has already proved the ignorance of
its author. Yet it is hoped that the readers might forgive and indulge, for the
introduction might provide some readers with necessary background about Sufi
mysticism and Sufis’ practice of meditation in the Mughal era. It has also given
necessary biographical information about the authors of the text presented here.
Now the readers are invited to turn to the texts themselves, as presented in
new English translations based on the Persian originals. Before each of the three
texts, there will be a brief discussion of the published and manuscript copies that
form the basis of the translation, and some notes about the challenges of
translation itself. After the texts, readers can find a glossary of Arabic and Persian
terms that are used in the texts, for the three texts share a common vocabulary.

1 Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press,
1975), 103.

2 Amir Khusro recited this couplet “har qawm rast rahi dini o qiblah gahi…man qiblah rast kardam janib-i
kaj kulahi,” when his spiritual guide Nizam al-Din Awliya paraphrased Qur’an 22:66 to say, “To every
community there is a religious way and a direction for prayer.” An alternate story relates that his friend and
fellow disciple, Amir Hasan Sijzi, recited this; see Syed Akbar Hyder, Reliving Karbala: Martyrdom in South
Asian Memory (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006), 118-119.

3 Guy Beck, Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound (University of South Carolina, 1993), 135.

4 Surat al-Mutaffafin 83:14.

5 Surat al-Baqara 2:74.

6 This hadith has been recorded in the collections Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim; see Annemarie
Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, 188.

7 Surat al-Baqara 2:10-11.

8 Surat al-Ahzab 33:4.

9 Surat al-Ra‵d 13:28.

10 This is a hadith qudsi discussed in Carl Ernst and Bruce Lawrence, Sufi Martyrs of Love: the Chishti
Order in South Asia and Beyond (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002), 131-133.

11 Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 244-246.

12 Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 247-248.

13 The most accessible biography of Shaykh Kalimullah is Zia Inayat-Khan (ed.), A Pearl in Wine (New
Lebanon, NY: Omega Publications, 2001), 303-306.

14 K. A. Nizami, “Chishtiyya,” Encyclopedia of Islam (new edition, Leiden: EJ Brill, 1960-), volume 2, page
55.

15 Ernst and Lawrence, Sufi Martyrs of Love, 28-29.

16 Nizam al-Din Awrangabadi, Nizam al-Qulub, Lithoprint in Persian (Delhi: Matba‵-I Mujtaba’i Press,
1309 AH). About this text, see Ernst and Lawrence, Sufi Martyrs of Love, 33-34; and Kugle, Sufis and
Saints’ Bodies, 232; and Inayat Khan, Pearl in Wine, 306-308.

17 Kalimullah, Tasnim al-Tawhid, published in an anonymous English translation as Tasmin-ul-Tauheed or

The Unity of God (Madras: Hoe and Company, 1909).

18 Kalimullah, Tilka ‵Ashara Kamila, Arabic text with Urdu translation (Delhi: Astana Book Depot, 1406
AH); and Kalimullah, Siwa al-Sabil, Arabic with Urdu translation (Delhi: Astana Book Depot, no date);
and Kalimullah, Ma La Budd-i Kalimi, Arabic with Urdu translation (Delhi: Astana Book Depot, no date).
His other works are listed in Inayat Khan, Pearl in Wine, 305.

19 Josef Meri (ed.), “Dara Shikoh,” Medieval Islamic Civilization: an encyclopedia, vol. 1, page 194-5; and
Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 360-362.

20 See Aziz Ahmad, Studies in Islamic Culture in the Indian Environment (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964),
191-100.

21 Dara Shikoh writes this passage and more biographical information in the introduction to The Compass
of Truth, as translated in this book.

22 Published as Muhammad Dara Shikuh, Commingling of Two Oceans: Majma‵ ul-Bahrain, transl. M.
Mahfuz-ul-Haq (Delhi: Hope India Publications, 2006).

23 John Richards, The Mughal Empire (Cambridge University Press, 1993), 152.

24 Ernst and Lawrence, Sufi Martyrs of Love, 89 quoted from Anis al-Arwah or The Confidant of Spirits, in
the account of her pilgrimage to Ajmer appended to her Persian biography of Mu‵in al-Din Chishti written
in 1643; as found in Qamar Jenah Begam, Princess Jehan Ara Begam, Her Life and Works (Karachi: S. M.
Hamid ‵Ali, 1991), 117-23.
25 Divan-i Hazrat Mu‵in al-Din (Kanpur: Munshi Naval Kishor Press, no date).

26 The felicitous term “retrospective attribution” comes from Ernst and Lawrence, Sufi Martyrs of Love,
228.
The Alms Bowl of
Shaykh Kalimullah
 Translator’s Notes
by Scott Kugle
This is the most important and widely read text by Shaykh Kalimullah
Shahjehanabadi, at least in the eyes of practicing Sufis. It is an indispensable
manual for how to practice Sufi meditation and contemplation, complete with
detailed instructions and theoretical framework. The author draws upon a wide
eclectic array of sources and styles, reflecting the whole diversity of Sufi orders
that were active in South Asia and Arab lands during his lifetime in the 17th
century.
The playful title that Shaykh Kalimullah chose for this text reflects his
concern to be eclectic and all-inclusive. He calls it Kashkul which in Persian and
Urdu means an alms bowl of a particular type common in South Asia. It is
crafted from a species of large gourd whose shell is sliced in half to create a large,
heavy, sturdy oval bowl of utterly elegant simplicity. It is polished with oil to
give it a characteristic black sheen and makes it easy to clean. A Sufi with a
kashkul is a distinctive sight, and without having to ask for anything the alms
bowl itself signals to people that he will accept a morsel in donation. One can
still see a kashkul in use in places like Hyderabad, though they are becoming
heirlooms of the past now, as mendicancy and ascetic renunciation become more
rare (perhaps as a function of generosity becoming a rarer quality even as
prosperity increases!).
Shaykh Kalimullah calls his collection of meditation techniques an alms bowl,
because he circled from teacher to teacher and order to order, begging for the
choicest teachings. He collected them in one text, as nourishment for the soul of
the spiritual seeker. Indeed, each subsection of his book is called a “morsel”
while smaller points of clarification are called “crumbs.” In the introduction, he
explains why he gathered these meditation techniques into one text, like food
donations in a beggar’s bowl. “Let this be nourishment for any who longs for the
taste of sweet union with the divine. Each morsel in it has a particular quality
that might be relished by some while appearing unappetizing to others. Each
crumb of its bread has a special taste that some might find appealing while
others consider it bland. Therefore each and every crumb is given to the seeker
who is mastering this Sufi path towards the truth (that all may choose) daily
bread as they prefer—whether buttered or honeyed, whether of crispy bran or
hearty barley.” Shaykh Kalimullah wrote this text in two months, finishing on 3
October 1690 CE (the last day of Dhu’l-Hijja 1101 AH), as he explains in the
text itself. The original text is in Persian, but it has been translated into Urdu
because it is in constant use by modern Sufis in South Asia.
This translation has been rendered from what appears to be the earliest
printed edition, an undated lithograph print from a press that was active around
the end of the 19th century and into the early 20th century. In preparing this
translation, I also referred occasionally to a later undated (later 20th century)
version that republished the Persian text with an Urdu translation; this was
republished under the auspices of Muhammad Mustahsin Sahib Faruqi, the
hereditary custodian (sajjada-nashin) of Shaykh Kalimullah’s dargah in Delhi.
He endeavored to have all of Shaykh Kalimullah’s books republished with Urdu
translations, in order to reach a wider modern audience in South Asia. This
English translation continues the tradition by rendering the text into English in
a style that, it is hoped, will be accurate, accessible and appealing to a modern
audience both in the West and in South Asia.
 The Alms Bowl
of Shaykh Kalimullah Shahjehanabadi
In the name of God, the compassionate and merciful.
All praise be to God—from God, to God and for God alone. Blessings from
God (be upon the Prophet Muhammad) and the peace of God. This is an Alms
Bowl (kashkul) full of spiritual morsels. They strengthen the divine quality (latifa
rabbaniya) inherent in every person and nourish the universal intellect (nafs-i
natiqa) that animates each soul. These morsels fill the outer form of religion
(islam) with the inner spirit of true faith (iman). They confer on each realized
person the profound blessing of eternal life and treat with compassionate healing
those who are sick with egoistic desires.
These are a few pages—no, a few chapters in reality—filled with cooked
morsels comprising all kinds of meditation and contemplation. I, Kalimullah,
the writer of these pages, have begged for these morsels from many spiritual
teachers and guides for the sake of all who hunger with sincere appetite and
truth-seeking imagination. Let this be nourishment for any who long for the
taste of sweet union with the divine. Each morsel in it has a particular quality
that might be relished by some while appearing unappetizing to others. Each
crumb of its bread has a special taste that some might find appealing while
others consider it bland. Therefore each and every crumb is given to the seeker
who is mastering this Sufi path towards the truth [that all may choose] daily
bread as they prefer—whether buttered or honeyed, whether of crispy bran or
hearty barley. Let all seekers find something nourishing here according to their
capacity. Let all with spiritual appetite (zauq) find here a taste of felicity.
Before this, I had written a text entitled The Patched Cloak (Muraqqa’), in
which I stitched together devotions and prayers, so that those naked in the cold
winter of witnessing might wrap their exposed bodies in the protective clothing
of piety and God-consciousness (taqwa). Then at the request of some sincere
friends, the writer began to collect these morsels fit for beggars starting on
August 6, 1690 (1 Dhu’l-Qa’da 1101). I present them now in The Alms Bowl so
that those with spiritual taste and divine longing might reach their full capacity.
May they repay this favor with a simple wish that God grant this nobody
wellbeing. We ask God to always ask God for nothing but God! By the grace of
him (Muhammad) whom God appointed as the first of divine emanations and
chose as God’s own Prophet.
This book consists of an introduction, two chapters, and a conclusion. Then
with all its faults, we can call it complete.

Introduction

You should know that absolute being (wujud-i mutlaq) was hidden and
unknowable before its coming into duality (ma’iyat) with the material universe
that is like its shadow. From that primordial unknowability there was no sign by
which it could be known. As required by overpowering, absolute being—of itself
by itself—exerted its potential to unfold in emanations (maratib) of divinity and
cosmos as higher levels to lower levels. Through this duality, lover and beloved
became manifest, since each manifestation generates a higher and a lower. From
the perspective of being a limited manifestation, it is “lover;” from the
perspective of being a higher manifestation above it, it is “beloved.” The
perfection of each specific manifested being (ta‵ayyun) is in returning to its
original state of absolute being. Its ultimate goal is to revert to that
undifferentiated state (be-rangi) from whence it originated.
When I speak here of “manifestation” I mean specifically the primordial
human being (hazrat-i insan) who is the being in whom all qualities of God’s
essence and divine attributes appear. In comparison to all other manifestations,
the human being excels by bearing the trust (amanat).1 Human perfection
therefore consists of passing through the state of losing one’s self in God (fana’
fi’llah) so that one might achieve the state of remaining with God (baqa’ bi’llah)
as eternal. To realize this, one first journeys to reach God (sayr ila ‘lah) and then
one journeys in God (sayr fi’llah). There is an end to the first journey but in the
second journey there is no end.

Morsel 1
 Union is a term signifying separation from all that is other than God and
indifference to all that is the world. It means focusing entirely on the divine and
becoming effaced in utterly undifferentiated being and absolute oneness (itlaq).
The initial experience of this is un-self-consciousness (be-khudi) and absence
from all sensory perception; this is a condition resembling death, except that in
death there is no presence while this state is nothing but pure presence. When a
seeker experiences this, the term wilayat applies to him (and he is considered a
“Friend of God”) even if the experience lasts only an hour. Then if the seeker
returns to his senses, he is considered amongst those firm saints (ashab-i tamkin),
and this steadfastness is sometimes bestowed quickly and other times only after a
long while. If the seeker remains in that state of un-self-consciousness and
intoxication, he is considered one of the masters of transforming spiritual states
(arbab-i talwin). Therefore, seekers should keep their vision focused on losing
one’s self and bearing witness to the divine essence of undifferentiated quality,
for their spiritual journey will be more perfect that way. But if the seekers’ vision
should stray to the right or left in order to engage other limited manifestations
(kashf-i ta’ayyunat), they will go astray from the straight path.

Morsel 2

In writings about the spiritual path, one sees each station (maqam) described
with a special quality and in an attractive poetic language, such that one’s heart
desires to experience that station alone and no other station. One feels a strong
aspiration to achieve that station and exerts all efforts to get there, find no rest
without it, thinking perhaps that “asking for everything means getting nothing.”
One thus hesitates with doubt, thinking “which station should I strive for?” or
asserting “I already got that station!” Yet each station is a good choice and is
worthy of the highest sacrifice.
Yet in the opinion of this humble writer it is better that seekers, instead of
striving after a certain station, should focus their whole concentration on one
simple goal. That is, after making their obligatory prayers (farz) and optional
prayers (sunna) as the Prophet taught, along with other duties incumbent on a
Muslim, seekers should resolve to stay engaged in meditation (zikr) and
contemplation (fikr) and intimacy (uns). Sometimes, seekers might stay
engrossed in offering copious devotions (nafila), reciting the Qur’an, glorifying
God’s name, chanting litanies (wird) and invocations (da’wat) and meditations
(azkar) which all confer spiritual reward; yet seekers should leave aside inventive
discourses and fanciful allusions and all other kinds of good deeds. In this way,
day in and day out, seekers should obliterate the imagined existence of their ego
selves, until the divine—by grace (inayat) granted before time—might draw
them up out of their limited selves and lead them through obliteration of passing
away (fana’ al-fana’) and from there into eternal remaining (baqa’ al-baqa’). At
that point, the seeker’s essence is seen as divine essence, the seeker’s quality
appears as divine quality, the seeker’s effect is found be divine effect, and the
seeker’s act is considered the divine act. Whatever leads to this consummation
should be encouraged, and whatever distracts from it should be avoided.
All the various Sufi orders (silsila) are in agreement on this point, that the
seekers of God must necessarily become so engrossed that they are removed from
their own self concern. I find that nothing leads one to self-effacement better
than meditation and contemplation. Yet some Sufi orders consider certain types
of meditation to be better than other types; in this alone did various Sufi masters
differ.

Morsel 3

In the discourse of Sufi masters, descriptions of the ways of meditation and

contemplation are numerous and varied. But most dependable is the description
given by al-Sulami.2 He says, “There are many types of meditation. One type is
meditation of the tongue (lisan), and it needs no further explanation, as one
repeats vocally a name of God or a phrase. Another type is meditation of the
heart (qalb), which means purifying the heart of selfish desires and fiendish
temptations in order that it remember God in truth. A third type is meditation
of the inner heart (sirr), which fills the inner heart such that momentary stray
thoughts which give rise to desires have no way to fix themselves in the heart.
Meditation of the inner heart is the outcome of meditation of the heart. The
inner heart is a subtle energy within and beyond the heart. Perpetual presence
with the divine is possible for the inner heart to achieve, whereas the heart itself
undergoes constant change, motion and transformation (taqallub) from one
moment to the next, and therefore perpetual presence is not available to or
through it. A fourth type is meditation of the spirit (ruh), which consists of the
one meditating becoming obliterated and oblivious to any personal qualities of
the self, when he realizes that the object of meditation—God—is actually
thinking of the one meditating. In this state, nothing remains of the one
meditating—no meditation, no spiritual state, and no personal quality. In order
to understand this, one could say that God is the one meditating and
remembering you before you have ever started to meditate to remember God.
You can grasp this meaning through a poetic couplet:

Considering your existence, it is strange that I’m existing

When you begin to speak, it’s fitting that I stop speaking

Then regarding contemplation al-Sulami states, “Similarly, means of

contemplation are of several types. One type is the seeker’s deep reflection
(tafakkur) on all his or her sinful deeds, oppositional attitudes and weak
shortcomings when performing the duties owed to God. Another type of
contemplation is the seeker’s reflection on God’s bounty and grace and the
seeker’s acknowledging lack of proper gratitude for these blessings; for even if
one gave thanks and showed gratitude, it would fall short of proper response. A
third type of contemplation is the seekers’ reflection on all that was apportioned
for them before that time (azal) wherein one’s destiny was sealed—for it is said
“Dried is the pen in writing out what will happen good or bad”—and on how
undeserving they are of any blessings granted to them before they ever existed.
Another type of contemplation is reflection on the excellent craftsmanship and
fine skill of divine design in forging all things in the material world (mulk) and
spiritual world (malakut) which bedazzle the mind with God’s majesty, refresh
the heart’s awe regarding God’s greatness, and keep one aware of remembering
God’s presence.
Al-Sulami further explains that the object of reflection in contemplation is the
self (nafs) while the object of remembrance in meditation is God; for this reason,
spiritual leaders consider meditation to be superior to contemplation. In
elaborating on what al-Sulami states, we can see that meditative remembrance
(zikr) is an attribute of God while contemplative thinking is not. So a human act
which echoes an attribute of God is more perfect, while a human act that does
not echo any attribute of God is lesser. The person who meditates turns towards
the divine essence, for meditation is the result of spiritual knowledge (ma‘rifat)
and devotional love (muhabbat). In contrast, the person who contemplates
dwells on the self, its condition, its states, its being less or more, its being too
much or too little—all in all, contemplation is keeping account of one’s own self
(muhasibat-i nafs). In conclusion, meditation is in accord with contemplation,
and also contemplation is in accord with meditation. But meditation is more
complete, more lofty and more pure than contemplation; for contemplation on
the self leads one towards repentance, while meditation on God leads one
towards divine union (wusul). God says, “Therefore remember me for I
remember you.”3 God attributes to the divine self that quality of meditative
remembrance rather than the quality of intellectual contemplation.

Morsel 4

The spiritual master Shaykh ‘Abd al-Karim al-Jili who lived in Zabid, in
Yemen, says that the sign of one who has attained the practice of meditation of
the heart is that he or she hears the sound of his or her meditation emanating
from all things or from some things, either at certain times or at almost all times,
depending upon the facility and capability of the one meditating.4 He also says
that the sign of one who aims to practice meditation of the spirit is that she or
he hears all things glorifying God (tasbih) each in its own special way and
beholds no agent other than God.
Ahmad Ibn Ghilan Makki says that meditation of the heart sets right the
relationship between God’s presence and humanity’s presence. He says that
meditation of the spirit lets God’s presence dominate the presence of humanity.
He says that meditation of the inner heart (sirr) leads to a state in which there is
no presence of humanity but only God’s presence alone. Lastly, he says that
meditation of the inner essence (khafi) unfolds the latency of being from within
the potentiality of spirit just as the entire cosmos lies latent within the inner
heart.

Morsel 5
 Meditation is remembrance as opposed to forgetfulness. So whatever makes
you remember and stay connected with your object (God) counts as meditation
and constitutes an act of worship (‘ibadat), regardless of whether the means of
meditation be a name, ritual or action performed with the body or in the body
or in abstraction from the body or in any other way. Likewise, whatever makes
you forget and neglect your object (God) is misguided and vain, regardless of
whether the means of forgetting be a name, person, thing or anything else. For
Sufis, everything said, everything done and everything felt can be meditation, on
condition that it leads them to remember God and stay awake and aware.
Anything which does not promote remembering is forgetfulness and should be
shunned, as conveyed in this couplet:

If I am with you, my daily work is prayer

And without you, my prayer is merely work

Morsel 6

Spiritual masters say that meditation is of many different types. There is

meditation with the tongue with words spoken out loud or recited silently.
There is meditation of the heart and meditation of the inner heart. Then there is
meditation of the inner essence of the heart (khafi) meditation of the most secret
inner essence (akhfa) and finally meditation of the utmost secret inner essence
(akhfa’-i akhfa).
As for meditation with the tongue, it is meditation involving spoken words in
which there are syllables and letters, in a set order with some preceding and
some following. If the sound of reciting these words is performed out loud it is
called “vocal meditation” (bi’l-jahr). But if it is done silently then it is called
“concealed meditation” (bi-khufiya).
As for meditation with the heart, it consists of reciting a word or retaining in
the heart the presence of a word or name, with regard to its meaning and
signification rather than to its letters and syllables. In fact, the presence of the
word or name is invoked all at once including all its letters, syllables and sounds.
As for meditation of the spirit, it consists of disregarding the word or name in
order to dwell in the presence of the one denoted or named [God]. This
experience varies according to the capacity of the one meditating: some realize
the divine presence at some times while most times being devoid of it, while
some realize it most of the time and some realize it always continuously. Yet all
of them are conscious that “I am one who meditates, and that during a
particular time I am meditating, and that I hold a particular object as the goal of
my meditation, an object which was present before my awareness (basirat) but
which is now faded.”
The furthest extreme of this kind of meditation, known as meditation of the
inner heart, occurs when both the meditation and the one meditating are
together effaced and nothing remains to be known or understood except the
presence of the object of meditation (mazkur, meaning God). At this point, even
the delight experienced in meditation is effaced, and there remains no awareness
of any delight to be experienced. This can be called meditation of the inner
essence of the heart. Similar to this station is meditation of the most secret inner
essence and the utmost secret inner essence. Further discussion of these states of
meditation mentioned here will come later.

Morsel 7

Shaykh Sharaf al-Din Yahya Maneri says that meditation is practiced in one
of four conditions.5 First, it could be that the tongue is busy reciting but the
heart is distracted searching in the mine of other meanings. Second, it could be
that the tongue is busy reciting and the heart is accompanying it to the extent
that the heart is sometimes reciting but sometimes is distracted while the tongue
keeps busy. Third, it could be that there is harmony between the tongue and the
heart in the recitation, but sometimes the heart and tongue together are both
distracted. Fourth, it could be that the tongue gets distracted and is at rest, but
the heart is engaged in reciting meditations and is fully aware. This is the
furthest station of spiritual development in which one’s work is complete and
meets the requirement of full presence and continual awareness. This is the real
essence of meditation. Achieving it, the one meditating hears the voice of his or
her own heart which nobody else can hear. This is what Shaykh Sharaf al-Din
has said.
 Morsel 8

Some spiritual masters say that novices improve their spiritual condition by
performing meditation, while more experienced disciples improve by reciting the
Qur’an and advanced Sufis improve by making devotional prayers (nafil). But in
my humble opinion, it is better for a seeker to keep doing silent meditation. In
this way, the seeker can rid the mind of the imprint of anything other than God,
to assert the absolute oneness of God and turn towards God seeking presence
(huzur) and intimacy (uns). The seeker should seek effacement (fana’) and
obliteration in the holy divine presence. Realizing the truth of God means
embracing the experience of being annihilated (tams) and erased (tals). This path
is the quickest way to gain closeness to God and the surest way to achieve union.
I acknowledge that in the process, many types of worship might be left undone.
But no fear about this need be entertained, since the benefit of loosing self-
consciousness in this way will overshadow all omissions and deficiencies!

Morsel 9
I will now discuss some points about the proper way to engage in meditation.
As stated in the book Minhaj al-Salik ila Ashraf al-Masalik (The Spiritual Seeker’s
Method to Reach the Noblest of Goals), there are twenty rules that guide one in
meditation. Some of these rules apply to before meditating, some apply to
during meditation and some apply to after meditation.
In preparing for meditation, there are five rules to follow. One must first
make repentance for any wrongdoing (tawba). One must be in a condition of
tranquility and in a state of cleanliness as if making ablution for prayer. One
must concentrate on one’s spiritual master for help (istimdad), and one must
have firm knowledge (‘ilm) that asking for help from one’s spiritual teacher is in
reality asking for help from the Prophet himself, may peace be upon him, that is
help from God the almighty.
During meditation, there are twelve rules that apply to the process. One
should sit cross-legged or kneeling as in prayer (salat). One should place both
hands on the knees. One should purify the atmosphere with fragrance or
incense. One should wear only clean clothes. One should keep the room dark.
One should keep one’s eyes closed and keep the openings to one’s ears stopped
up. One should mentally picture the face or form of one’s own spiritual master,
for this is the most important rule of all. In addition, one should be absolutely
truthful (sidq) and sincere (ikhlas), both inwardly and outwardly; in this context
truthfulness means not exaggerating the extent of one’s own effort and sincerity
means not performing with hypocrisy so that others see you and hear you. One
should chose words that express God’s unique oneness, specifically, the saying la
ilaha illa ‘llah or “No God but God” for reciting in meditation. Finally, when
reciting this saying, one must feel at all times the meaning of words in order to
negate every vain imagined thing from the open expanse of divine presence and
to concentrate on the only really existing thing (God). It is my humble opinion
that this last rule is absolutely necessary and of vital importance if meditation is
to be effective.
After meditation is completed, there are three rules to follow. One should
maintain silence for some time after meditation. One should practice suspending
the breath (as discussed in detail in Morsel 12). One should avoid the use of
cold things like water or exposure to cool air, for these might dissipate the heat
in the heart that is built up by meditation.
This is the guidance written in the book Minhaj al-Salik. The book further
announces some benefits of meditation. Meditating by repeating the phrase la
ilaha illa ‘llah (kalima-i tawhid), generates intimacy with the God’s holy
presence.6 Anyone who does extensive amounts of meditation but does not feel
an expanded intimacy with God is doing it in vain; perhaps such a person has
become slack in certain rules and must start afresh. Shaykh Ibn ‘Ata’ullah al-
Shadhili has written that when a person recites la ilaha illa ‘llah the throne of
God begins to vibrate, for the very source of these words is the realm of divine
might (jabarut), so that the person who recites them is no longer related to the
material world (mulk) and the realities of this world, but rather is drawn upward
rising towards the realm of the spiritual world (malakut).7
There are many other benefits to reciting this in meditation. If one repeats it a
thousand times every morning after ablutions, one will be able to easily secure
the means of sustenance, and I feel that the word sustenance (rizq) is used in a
general sense encompassing both livelihood of body and vitality of spirit. If one
recites it a thousand times before retiring to bed, one’s spirit will rest below the
divine throne during the night and grow in strength. If one recites it a thousand
times at noon, the force of temptation (shaytan) that is within will be broken. If
one recites it a thousand times near the advent of the new moon, God will
protect one from every kind of illness. If one recites it a thousand times on
entering a town or leaving it, God will protect one from dangers and things
which make one fear and grieve. If one recites it a thousand times with one’s full
presence and firm concentration and then sends it against an adversary who is
oppressive and overweening, the adversary will be defused and negated. If one
recites it a thousand times with the intention to gain spiritual disclosure of
unseen things (kashf-i ghuyub), all secrets of the material and spiritual worlds will
be revealed. Anyone who repeats it seventy-thousand times, will be ushered by
God into paradise.

Morsel 10

Some masters of spiritual knowledge say that meditation of the tongue leads
one to the further stage of meditation of the heart. Without a doubt, when the
tongue and the heart operate in union the meditation will be arranged to
perfection. This arrangement is generally acknowledged by all the Sufi orders.
The exception to this is the Naqshbandi order, which teaches that meditation of
the heart suffices if it is coupled with internal longing (jazb-i batin). This is the
practice they proscribe for beginners in the Naqshbandi order, conveying their
teaching in this couplet:

We begin at the ending place to which others aspire

Where we end is the place that can fulfill any desire

That is their teaching, but it is clear that what is attained by experienced

practitioners of all other orders is not attained by beginning practitioners of the
Naqshbandi order. It is merely that giving priority to meditation of the heart is
the practice advocated by the Naqshbandi order. There will surely be a big
difference between the effect of beginner practicing meditation of the heart with
inner longing (zikr-i qalb-i majzub) in the Naqshbandi order and the effect of an
experienced member of other orders practicing meditation of the heart with
inner longing!
 Morsel 11

Some Muslim jurists reject meditation of the heart and limit the legality of
meditation only to that of the tongue. This is merely a contention of their
conceit. Don’t they realize that meditation is remembrance and thus includes
anything that is opposed to forgetfulness, which is essentially an attribute of the
heart. Oh dear, don’t they see that each individual has particular rules that are
arranged in a way suitable to his or her own special needs?

Morsel 12
When practiced during meditation, suspension of breath (habs-i nafas) is
considered by some to be a powerful means to eradicate stray thoughts and
mental wandering. Some even consider it to be the essential means. In many
Sufi orders like the Chishti, Kubrawi, Shattari and Qadiri orders, it is practiced
as the primary basis of meditation. In contrast, the Naqshbandi order does not
require it yet does not deny its worth. Teachers of the Suhrawardi order, on the
other hand, require their followers to avoid the suspension of breath; this is the
point of view of Shaykh Baha’ al-Din ‘Umar and Zain al-Din al-Khawafi who
are both renowned leaders of the Suhrawardi order, may they both be blessed.8 I
humbly submit that there are in fact two different ways of treating the breath in
meditation. One is suspension of breath and the other is restraining of breath
(hasr-i nafas).
Suspension of breath can be done in two ways, with emptying and with
filling. Suspending the breath with emptying (takhliya) is a technique of drawing
up the breath from the abdomen while pulling the navel and the area around it
back towards the spine and then suspending the breath in the chest or,
according to some, to the seat of the mind (dimagh). While doing this, there is
no need to close the nostrils, ears and eyes with the fingers, although some do
this as a precautionary measure. Stopping up the nostrils, ears and eyes was a
measure that originated when this practice was done while in the midst of a
reservoir and submerged under water. This practice was taught to ‘Abd al-Khaliq
Ghujdawani by Khizr, and it considered extremely effective.9 It generates an
enormous amount of internal heat in the body. Sufi masters have adopted this
method of suspending the breath and other methods of breath control from the
Yogis and their followers, who are the perfect exponents of this craft.10
The second way of suspending the breath during meditation is with filling
(tamliya). This means drawing the breath into the belly and suspending it there
while making the belly swell full. By means of swelling the abdomen like this,
the navel is pushed out as far away from the spine as possible. This way of
breathing aids digestion of food exceedingly well.
In contrast, restraining the breath refers to taking breaths smaller than
normal. It is done by cutting down the size of breath on both sides (while
inhaling and also exhaling). One simply takes breaths of smaller than normal
amounts. Without a doubt is generates an internal heat in the heart, yet less
intense than the heat generated by suspending the breath.
The description of heat and cool above refer to the quality of the breath (once
it enters the body through the bloodstream) that is called “circulating.” But in
addition, there is the air which is “stationary” which does not have the quality of
heat or cold and therefore does not require the heart to change its condition.
This remains undisturbed during both suspending and restraining the breath. If
one perceives and makes it a fulcrum for the meditation, one will be doing the
meditation perpetually and feel the divine presence for an extended period of
time, as long as the divine extends aid for one to feel it.
During the days when one is practicing suspension of breath, one should
avoid foods that are extremely moist and foods that are sour. One should refrain
from foods that are very heat-increasing, for they may cause illness or make it
more severe. In the initial stages of this practice, it may be that blood comes out
from the ears, nostrils or anus, but the seeker should fearlessly continue the
practice, for the bleeding will very soon stop. One should never strain or practice
suspension of breath too intensely, but increase the intensity gradually, for what
seems difficult later proves light.
When exhaling, one should release the breath gently through the nostrils and
not through the mouth, lest the outflow of air damage the gums and teeth. As a
firm rule, one should never practice suspending the breath when on a full
stomach or when hungry, but rather in a state between the two. This rule guides
one in the initial stages, but for one who is well advanced there is no such rule
and he may practice suspension of breath whenever he chooses.
 Morsel 13

Some spiritual masters explain that people behold spiritual truths when their
inner selves are cleansed and purified of attachment to sensory perception and
attraction to sensual habits. Then they are filled from within by absorption in
meditation and the blessing of having an internal relationship (nisbat) and
attachment (rabt) with spiritual forces. This relationship causes their hearts to be
illumined. In this state, the human being beholds the divine essence through this
illumination, and becomes aware of what the divine wills and commands.
Further, the light reflecting from the heart to the eye enables them to behold the
unseen worlds with the senses of their bodies. They are then said to be drawn
away completely from this world both inwardly and outwardly.

Morsel 14
The first station of the spiritual path is repentance (tawba) and its final stage
is bewilderment (hayrat)—though some claim that the final station is not
bewilderment but rather contentment (riza’) and acceptance (taslim). There are
two kinds of bewilderment, one of which is bad and the other of which is good.
The difference can be explained as follows.
The beauty and perfection of the divine essence is such that it calls for
bewilderment rather than mere doubt. But sometimes there is ambiguity here,
and it provokes a state between bewilderment and doubt. It should be known
that bewildered wonder at some object comes from a person’s knowing and
perceiving the essence of that object, in contrast to doubt which comes from a
person’s ignorance and misunderstanding. So bewilderment comes from a
person’s presence with a thing while doubt comes from a person’s absence from
that thing. A bewildered person ascends, with each passing moment, upward
towards the pinnacle of knowing something because of his passionate desire to
know that thing. In contrast, the doubtful person descends, with each passing
moment, down into ignorance about the reality of a thing because of his lack of
attention to it.
Further, it is said that bewilderment is a compound of two things, namely
knowledge of the thing’s existence and ignorance of its nature. In contrast,
doubt is a state of hesitation between knowledge and ignorance. One who
doubts cannot be characterized as having decisive knowledge that is
experientially confirmed and also cannot be characterized as having ignorance
that is decisively established; rather, one who doubts has uncertain knowledge
and also unsure ignorance. Such a person’s deeds always oscillate between denial
and affirmation. This kind of doubt is known as bad bewilderment in contrast
to the good bewilderment that was described before. It is said that bad
bewilderment is experienced by common people but good bewilderment is the
portion of the spiritually gifted.

Morsel 15

Light becomes manifest (to the seeker) which is sometimes white, sometimes
green, sometimes red and, last of all, sometimes black. This light is called light
of the realm of divine might (nur-i jabarut). The appended diagram explains the
signification of light at different places. The sincere seeker must never feel
despair or delight on account of the manifestation of any of these lights!

Direction of Light Form Name Signification

Near the right Angel recording
Katib-i yamin
shoulder good deeds
At a distance to the
Nur-i Shaykh Light of the Master
right
Nur-i Light of
Before or in front Muhammad Muhammad
Rasul Allah Messenger of God
Light of the
Behind or above Mala’ka-i Hifza
Guardian Angels
Near the left Angel recording
Katib-i yasar
shoulder bad deeds
At a distance to the Temptation of
left Satan
Form or shape to Temptation of
 the left Satan
Temptation, if one
feels fear or terror
On all sides and then when it
dissipates one feels
no presence
Light of God, if
one feels a presence
On all sides while it is there,
and feels yearning
when it is gone
Before chest or
Temptation
navel
Light of the
Before the heart
Heart’s Purity

Morsel 16
Sufi masters disagree about whether the one with spiritual knowledge should
perpetually bear witness to spiritual realities or not. Some say that this
witnessing should be perpetual and continuous, while others say that it should
not be. One spiritual master has said, “The spiritual adepts witness in a way
between revealed and obscured.” The reality is that the connection between the
heart and the head, once it is firmly established, gets confirmed by experienced
training and then never vanishes after that, though it may be that illuminations
and visionary witnessing may come and may go. This is the meaning of the
Arabic proverb that says, “The present moment is as swift as a sword and
brilliant as lightning.”

Morsel 17

In states of self-absence, un-self-consciousness, effacement and obliteration, a

spiritual condition is achieved that is very subtle. That condition is impossible to
describe and that place is utterly other. You might say it is nothing but the
unitary totality of God (ahadiyat-i haqq) and absolute being of divinity. But it
could be countered that “Absolute being of divinity can never ever be conceived,
for only those things can be conceived by the mind which are temporal and
ephemeral. Mental forms are part and parcel of the phenomenal world, and
every existing phenomena is temporal and ephemeral. What is temporal and
ephemeral cannot be absolute being, for the latter is eternal and imperishable,
and what is eternal and imperishable can never be grasped by the senses.” I
would reply, “It may be as you say, but when seekers are in that state of
effacement (fana’), they cease to have a self and experience no self-concern and
are completely unaffected by relationality (nisbat) which engenders dualism—
dualism of distinction between subject and object. This state is called
obliteration of obliteration (fana’ al-fana’). That is a state characterized by
“nothing to know” more than “knowing nothing.”
This is the very state that Abu Bakr al-Siddiq [the first Caliph] referred to
when he said, “The only real knowledge is knowing you can never really know.”
So then how can we speak of God by saying expressions like “witnessing the
essence” or “manifestation of the essence” or “loving the essence” or “knowledge
of the essence” and “knowing God”? I would answer that real spiritual
knowledge (‘irfan) results in putting each thing in its proper place and giving
each thing its rightful due. Concerning this matter before us, there are two
things to consider. One is essence in its pure simplicity, and the other consists of
any matter than comes after it and from it. Now, the rightful due of the first
matter [about the divine essence] is that it must be affirmed, and the rightful
due of the second matter is that it must be denied. True knowledge of the first is
that it can never be known, while true knowledge of the second is that it can be
known for what it is. One intending to know the former while denying the latter
will never achieve the knowledge intended.
It is clearly known that affirming what is true is true, while affirming what is
untrue is untrue. Yet not knowing about a thing does not necessitate not being
able to experience its existence. In this way, we can say that the holy essence of
God most exalted is something affirmed and experienced but never known. Now
“witnessing the essence” means being absent from all things that are after and
from the essence [meaning all phenomena]. And “manifestation of the essence”
means that all phenomenal things are concealed from one’s perception. The
cessation of desire for all phenomenal things is the meaning of “loving the
essence.” Finally, ignoring all such phenomenal things is the meaning of
“knowledge of the essence.” In this way, you can understand the various
meaning of any description of God’s essence. It cannot be imagined that one can
have knowledge of God directly, yet one can have knowledge of God’s names
(asma’) and qualities (sifat) and actions (af‵al). These aspects of God’s nature can
be known, not in their actual nature but rather only in the aspect that is
apparent. This is because a thing’s real essence is unknowable because the real
essence of all things is the reality of God, since God is the reality of all realities.
Thus the reality of God’s essential nature is unknowable by human beings,
angels, and jinn.
The essential reality of all things is truly unknowable. To grasp this is the
utmost extent of spiritual knowledge. How well someone said it like this, “The
simplest of common people is just like the most select of the elite, and the first
stage of the ignorant is the last stage of the learned.” But still the poem holds
true that reads—Behold, what a long way it is to travel from here to there!

Morsel 17

The system comprising these various ways of devotional exercise (shughl),

meditative remembrance (zikr) and contemplative reflection (fikr) consists of
technical methods which must be learned. But whether they are successful
depends upon the aspiration of the disciple who uses them, and having a high
aspiration entails no learning or exertion. The spiritual master simply directs the
disciple to empty the self by following the path of the Shari’a, and then the
master directs his concentration upon the disciple to offer spiritual aid, being
present with the disciple at all times even when far away. In this way, the master
opens many doorways for an in-pouring of spiritual energy for the disciple. This
way, however simple, is rare. Many selfish people search for this simple way.
Because the labors of the Sufi path and its demands are too difficult for them,
they long for this simple and direct way.
 Morsel 18

There is a saying that “He who has no master has the Tempter as his
master.”11 In accord with this saying, every sincere person ought to have a
spiritual guide (shaykh). But the question is how and where to find him. As a
beginning, the seeker may not be able to distinguish between a good and a bad
person, and may not know the difference between a saint (wali) and a common
person. By mere rational analysis, he may think a bad person to be good and a
good person to be bad, and thereby stumble into doubt. Shaykh Sharaf al-Din
Yahya Maneri helps the seeker out of this difficulty when he says that God has
not, does not, and will not allow the world to remain without saints for any
period whatsoever, in all their ranks from spiritual guides to ascetic (zahid) to
worshippers (‵abid) to support (watad) to pious ones (khayr) to delegates (najib)
to pure-hearted ones (naqib) to the interchangeable ones (abdal) to the axial
saints (qutb) and the succor of the world (ghawth), in addition to all the various
friends of God, such as those who appear mad with longing (majzub) and those
drowned in divine love (‵ashiq) and those beloved of God (ma‵shuq). Therefore,
the seeker must find those spiritual guides who are on this path and have these
qualities. The seeker must frequent them and their assemblies. Every time on
leaving the company of a spiritual master, the seeker should examine his heart to
inquire whether or not it has improved by leaving aside the temptations and
pollutions and all kinds of selfish thoughts that previously assaulted his heart.
Perhaps in some meeting with the spiritual master the seeker felt liberated from
the incessant changes in the state of the heart or experienced salvation from his
former state. If the seeker observes that his heart has improved, he should stay
with the spiritual guide in whose company he has experienced this good fortune,
in hopes that his heart will find continuing liberation by meeting him again and
again. And if the seeker observes no change in his heart, he should know that his
destiny lies not with this spiritual guide and he should seek the cure of his heart
at the doorstep of some other spiritual guide without denouncing or blaming
anyone.

Morsel 19
 Shaykh ‵Abd al-Qadir Jilani says that everyone who desires to find a spiritual
master should do the following.12 The seeker should rise from sleep at midnight,
and after ablutions make two cycles of prayer (raka‵at) and read as much of the
Qur’an as he can between them. He should then prostrate to God and seek
salvation from God, and pray for a spiritual guide in the following way, so that
God might open for the doorway of reaching him. He should pray that God will
lead one of God’s friends to show him the path so that God may guide him to
the divine presence. The seeker should perform this prayer time and time again
until it comes to fruition. The following is the prayer: “Oh my Lord, lead me to
one of your intimate servants that he may guide me to you and teach me the way
to reach you.”13 In addition, some later Sufi masters of the Shadhili community
state that by making constant and continuous benedictions upon the Prophet
Muhammad (salawat) along with praises to God (tahlil), one can find a perfect
spiritual guide. They say that their guide in this practice is Imam Hasan, the son
of ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib (the first Imam of the Shi‵a and the fourth Caliph of the
Sunnis).14
 Chapter One on Methods of Meditation
Morsel 1

When a seeker finds a perfected spiritual guide and decides to take up the
spiritual path, he must take initiation. His spiritual guide will direct him to
undergo a fast for three days, continuously if he can endure it, or else he can
break it with an occasional slight refreshment. During this fast, the seeker is
directed to repeat a thousand times the praise of God (tahlil), seeking forgiveness
of God (istighfar) and invoking benedictions on the Prophet (salat). After the
third day of fasting, the seeker should make full ablutions with a bath (ghusul)
and appear before his spiritual guide. His spiritual guide will recite from the
Qur’an Surat al-Fatiha and Surat al-Ikhlas, then the verses from Surat al-Baqara
and Surat Al ‵Imran and the verses of seeking forgiveness (istighfar).15
After this the master says, “Are you my disciple, and the disciple of my
teacher, and of the spiritual guides of my master all the way back to the Prophet
Muhammad and from him to God, the Lord of might? Do you vow to conduct
your body on the straight path of the Shari’a and to keep your heart in the love
of God?” The seeker answers, “I agree and promise to be led by the Shari’a and
to love God,” while the master places his right hand in the right hand of the
seeker, according to verses of Qur’an that say God’s hand is over their hands.16
As the seeker makes this vow, all present hold the hem of his garment. If the
assembly is very crowded, everyone holds the hem of the garment of those in
front of them who are holding the garment of the seeker, to maintain a
connection one to the other. The spiritual guide then clothes the initiate with a
robe (khirqa), saying, “The garb of piety is most excellent and a blissful end
awaits the righteous.”17 Then the spiritual guide talks to the seeker in private
and imparts to him a meditation according to his capability, such that none
other should hear them.

A Crumb of Morsel 1
The procedure of imparting a meditation to the seeker is like this. The
spiritual guide says the words of the meditation to the seeker once and the seeker
listens intently. The seeker repeats the meditation while the spiritual guide
listens. They repeat this procedure three times. Then the master says, “As I
received this meditation from my spiritual masters so I give it unto you.” The
seeker acknowledges that he accepts it and will practice it. Further, he is
instructed after each of the five canonical prayers to recite praise upon the
Prophet (darud) and Surat al-Ikhlas ten times each, and to make six cycles of
prayer (rak‵at) while saying three times “peace be upon you” (salam), which is
called Salat-i Awabin, and to also perform two additional cycles of prayer to
strengthen his faith, as I have stated in my book The Patched Cloak of Kalimullah
(Muraqqa‵-i Kalimi).18 And before going to bed, the seeker is instructed to
repeat one hundred times “No god but God” (tahlil) and Surat al-Fatiha for the
benefit of the souls of all his spiritual guides in his Sufi lineage.

Another Crumb of Morsel 1

Performing meditation should come before contemplation (muraqaba).

However, some spiritual guides say that contemplation is better and should
come first. This is also acceptable, provided that the seeker shows the capacity
for it. It is true that the greater the challenge, the greater the results. In reality, it
is best to begin with meditation which is of many varieties and moods, to make
the seeker stir with love and cry out with longing. After that, the seeker can
pursue contemplation which leads to singularity of vision and consciousness
devoid of conditions to make the seeker be still in silence.
As for meditation, there are many ways and methods. If the spiritual guide
sees that the seeker is distracted by worldly aspirations, he should teach him the
meditation of “negation and affirmation” (nafy o isbat, based on saying la ilaha
illa ‘llah “there is no god but God”). If the spiritual guide finds a seeker with a
little love for the beloved, he should teach him a method of meditation based on
the name of God (ism-i jalal, based on saying Allah). If the spiritual guide feels
that his seeker is of gentle nature and with no attachment to the world, he
should teach him meditation of “divine essence” (based on saying hu). In short,
for every kind of seeker there is an appropriate kind of meditation with an
effective style and meaning. In this chapter, I will detail each kind of meditation,
if God wills. My intention is not to inflate the number of methods of meditation
and contemplation, as is done in some Sufi books, such that meditations add up
to a thousand and contemplations run into the hundreds. No! Rather, my
intention is to show you the kinds of meditation that capture the essence of the
practice and the types of contemplation that encapsulate the best of their kind.
Thus if anyone masters these contemplations and meditations, he may master all
others.

Morsel 2

This is the method of performing “meditation of negation and affirmation”

(zikr-i nafy o isbat) that involves pronouncing the words “no god but God” (la
ilaha illa ‘llah) in four beats (chahar zarbi). It is practiced either aloud or
inaudibly. One should sit cross-legged in a narrow dark room. Now sitting
cross-legged is a position connoting arrogance and pride and it is undoubtedly
forbidden at all times, with the exception of sitting alone to meditate. In Islamic
law, it is considered an innovation (bid‵at). Yet it is reported that the Prophet
Muhammad, upon him be peace, upon finishing his dawn prayers, used to sit
cross-legged in the same place in order to do meditation until the sun shown
brightly.
So one should sit cross-legged with the back straight, the eyes closed, and the
hands resting on the thighs. One then uses the big toe and the next toe of the
right foot to firmly grip the sciatic nerve (rag-i kimas) that runs behind the left
knee. Putting pressure on this will produce enough warmth in the heart to
generate a purity (tasfiya). This warmth will melt and remove the fat that
surrounds and constricts the heart, which is known as the dwelling place of the
tempter (khannas).19 This will reduce the temptations and pollutions that plague
the heart. Taking up this position, one should perform the meditation with
single-minded heart and with assertive voice, either saying the words aloud or
keeping silent as is suitable to one’s situation and disposition.
While performing this meditation, one should observe the conditions laid
down in this poetic couplet:

Medium, essence, attributes, drawing out, intensifying,

 below and above
Show the spiritual seekers in each and every breath
a taste of love
Barzakh o zat o sifat o madd o shadd o taht o fauq
Mi-numayad taliban ra kulli nafas zauq o shauq

In the context of this meditation, the terms listed in the couplet mean the
following. The “medium” (barzakh) means one’s spiritual guide’s face or form.
The “essence” (zat) refers to the divine essence of the absolute being, may it be
glorified and exalted. The “attributes” (sifat) refer to the seven primal qualities of
the divine—namely life (hayat), knowledge (‘ilm), power (qudra), will (irada),
hearing (sam’), sight (basar), and speech (kalam). “Drawing out” (madd) refers to
prolonging the pronunciation of the first “a” in la ilaha or “no god.”
“Intensifying” (shadd) refers to accentuating the first syllable “i” when saying illa
‘llah or “but God.” “Below” (taht) refers to pronouncing la ilaha beginning by
facing down towards the left knee and then raising the head up towards the right
shoulder. Finally, “above” (fauq) means pausing for a while holding the breath
before pronouncing illa ’llah or “but God” from above down onto the heart with
great force.

Morsel 3

To understand the meaning of the above-mentioned method of meditation,

one should know that there are four kinds of thoughts (khatrat). There are
tempting thoughts (shaytani) which cause feelings of pride, anger, enmity, envy
and other destructive emotions. Then there are egoistic thoughts (nafsani) which
cause feeling of craving for food, sexual pleasure, accumulation of wealth, love of
display and other such selfish emotions. Then there are angelic thoughts
(malaki) which cause devotion, worship and other such acts which accrue
spiritual reward. Finally, there are divine thoughts (rahmani) which cause virtues
like sincerity, love, longing and other positive emotions.
So when one performs this meditation and begins facing the left knee, this is
to negate satanic thoughts since the left is the abode of the tempter. Saying this,
one moves to face the right knee to negate the lusts of the ego, which reside in
the right lower body, for the ego and Satan mutually oppose each other and the
ego is tempted to stray. The right shoulder is the abode of angelic thoughts, for
the angelic scribe who writes all good deeds is there and called “the recorder of
the right” (katib-i yamini).20 Finally, the area of the heart is the abode of divine
thoughts.
To try to hold all these concepts in mind at one time causes hesitation and
confusion, so therefore they are taught within the simple process of performing
this meditation (in four beats) which encompasses all these regions and spiritual
realities. At the outset one should be instructed to say la ilaha illa ’llah in the
sense of there is “no god but God.” Then the meditation should be performed
with the understanding that there is “no object of worship but God” (la ma‵bud
illa ’llah). Then it should be performed with the understanding that there is “no
goal but God” (la maqsud illa ’llah). Then it should be performed with the
understanding that there is “no desire but God” (la matlub illa ’llah). Finally, it
should be performed with the understanding that there is “no being but God”
(la mawjud illa ’llah). By doing this meditation in this ascending order, all kinds
of thoughts and feelings will vanish and disappear. This humble writer suggests
that a new learner can start with the very last meaning to lighten the load and to
cut short the way to achieve the goal. If the learner does not know Arabic, one
can teach this meditation with equivalent words in any language that he knows.

Morsel 4

This meditation can be performed in just two beats (zikr-i do-zarbi) with each
breath. In this way, one says the same words, but the first phrase “no god” (la
ilaha) is recited towards the right shoulder in one beat. Then the second phrase
“but God” (illa ’llah) is recited towards the heart in the second beat. After the
third or fifth or seventh or ninth repetition of this, one should say “Muhammad
is the Messenger of God” (Muhammadun Rasulu ‘llahi). Except for being slightly
simpler, this method of meditation differs very little from the meditation on the
same words to four beats, as detailed above.

Morsel 5
 After performing “meditation of negation and affirmation” (zikr-i nafy o
isbat), one should always perform “meditation of affirmation alone” (zikr-i
isbat). Thus after meditation by pronouncing “no god but God” (la ilaha illa
’llah) one meditates by pronouncing “but God” alone (illa ’llah). After that, one
should meditate on the name of God alone (Allah). The word “God” (Allah) is
pronounced in a louder and more intense voice than “but God” (illa ‘llah). And
the phrase “but God” (illa ’llah) should be done in a louder voice than “no god
but God” (la ilaha illa ’llah).

Morsel 6

This is how to perform the “meditation of babbling” (zikr-i laqlaqa).21 This

meditation consists of pronouncing the name of God (Allah) continuously
without any gap or separation in an almost inaudible repetition with the mouth
being either shut or open. Some practice it while suspending the breath and
some do not.

Morsel 7
This if how to perform the meditation of three supports (zikr-i se-paya). Its
form is imagined to be like an old-fashioned Grecian ewer that is a ceramic bowl
which stands on three legs (ibriq). Like this ewer, this meditation rests on three
things, and if one of them is missing the whole thing cannot stand firmly. This
meditation depends on three conditions: first the essential divine name Allah
(ism-i zat), and second the three generative attributes of God (sifat-i ummahat)
which are the One who knows (‵alim), the One who hears (sami‵), and the One
who sees (basir), and thirdly the medium (barzakh). This meditation has seven
conditions as stated in the poetic couplet:

Medium, essence, attributes, drawing out, intensifying,

below and above
Show the spiritual seekers in each and every breath
a taste of love
 Barzakh o zat o sifat o madd o shadd o taht o fauq
Mi-numayad taliban ra kulli nafas zauq o shauq

Note carefully that the couplet is the same as that given in connection with
the “meditation of negation and affirmation” (zikr-i nafy o isbat), but the
explanation given in relation to his meditation differs significantly. In this
meditation, “medium” (barzakh) refers to the form or face of one’s spiritual
guide, just as before. “Essence” (zat) refers to the essential name of God, namely
Allah. In this meditation, “attributes” (sifat) refers to the three generative
attributes of God which are the One who knows (‵alim), the One who hears
(sami‵), and the One who sees (basir). “Intensifying” (shadd) refers to
pronouncing the “l” with forceful heavy intensity. “Drawing out” (madd) refers
to lengthening the initial “a” when pronouncing Allah. “Below” (taht) refers to
starting to pronounce Allah from below the navel with force. “Above” (fauq)
means that the pronunciation ends by being drawn upward towards the head
(dimagh).22
This meditation of the three supports must always be practiced with
suspending the breath (habs-i nafas), so this is not specified in the above
conditions. The mode of practicing it is this. The “a” of Allah is drawn with
force from below the navel and the full breath is drawn up into the chest and
there the breath is held compressed. Then one pronounces Allah with the heart
coupled with sami‵, while imagining its meaning “God hears.” Then one
pronounces Allah coupled with basir, while imaging its meaning “God sees.”
Then one pronounces Allah coupled with ‵alim, while imagining its meaning
“God knows.” Reciting this much with the in-breath is called “the ascent.” Then
one pronounces Allah coupled with each of these attributes in the inverse order:
‵alim for “God knows,” basir for “God sees” and sami’‵ for “God hears.” This is
called “the descent.” Then one begins again to pronounce Allah with sami‵, basir
and ‵alim as at the start. This is called “the re-ascent.”
The secret of the zikr lies in the fact that the sphere of hearing is less than that
of seeing, and the sphere of seeing is less than that of knowing. The seeker
begins in a state of reasoning about what is sensed (‵aql o shahadat), the
narrowest of all spiritual states. As the seeker moves beyond the attribute sami‵
or “hears,” he progresses spiritually to a more comprehensive state of
understanding what is beyond sensation (ghayb). As the seeker moves beyond the
attribute basir or “sees,” he progresses spiritually to a more comprehensive state
of understanding beyond the beyond (ghayb al-ghayb). As the seeker moves
through the attribute ‵alim or “knows,” he comprehends this most expansive
spiritual state. Then the seeker comes back through these attributes in the
inverse order.
One should understand that a single cycle of this meditation consists of
moving through these three attributes three times, like this: Allah sami‵, Allah
basir, Allah ‵alim is the first ascent, then in inverse order Allah ‵alim, Allah basir,
Allah sami’ is the descent, and then Allah sami‵, Allah basir, Allah ‵alim is the re-
ascent. This process makes up one cycle of the meditation, with an ascent, then
descent, then re-ascent. While reciting this with the heart, the breath must be
suspended to such an extent that one repeats the above course two or three times
with each breath. With practice, this can be extended to even more courses in
each breath, up to 250 times! Doing this generates internal heat that will burn
away the greasy fat that congeals around the heart and allows the whispering
tempter (khannas) to cling to it.23 When the heart is cleansed of this, tempting
thoughts melt away and one is overpowered by blissful oblivion.
One should understand that starting to pronounce Allah from below the
navel with force (taht) gives great advantages but presents many difficulties. Yet
without it, this meditation of the three supports is rendered useless, so it should
therefore be done as intensely as possible without straining oneself to the point
of causing harm. May God keep you safe and secure!
To perform this meditation, one should sit cross-legged. With the big toe of
the right foot and its neighboring toe, compress the sciatic nerve behind the left
knee. Then draw in the abdomen around the navel towards the back, from
below until above. Then close the eyes and call to the imagination the image of
one’s spiritual guide (barzakh). Then one begins by drawing the name Allah up
from below the navel (taht) with great intensity while drawing out the initial “a”
(madd) and emphasizing “la” (shadd). Then with the heart one observes the
attributes “God hears” (Allah sami‵), then “God sees” (Allah basir), then “God
knows” (Allah ‵alim). In some Sufi masters’ books, this process is called “the
descent,” but this humble writer prefers to describe it as “the ascent,” which
should be followed by “the descent” and “re-ascent” as described above in detail.
With practice, this meditation can be mastered. Then, a single breath
suspended can be extended so that the cycle of the meditation can be repeated
250 times. At this point, one can add five more divine attributes: “God is from
forever” (Allah da’im), “God is until forever” (Allah qa’im), “God is present”
(Allah hazir), “God is watcher” (Allah nazir), and “God is witness” (Allah
shahid). When, with practice, these extra attributes can be repeated 250 times
with each suspension of breath such that the meditation is illumined by their
light, then one can add seven more attributes. These attributes are called the
“primary seven” divine attributes: “God lives” (Allah hayy), “God knows (Allah
‵alim), “God does” (Allah qadir), “God desires” (Allah murid), “God hears”
(Allah sami‵), “God sees” (Allah basir) and “God speaks” (Allah kalim). When
these are also mastered, one can expand the meditation to include divine
attributes made up of compound names, such as: “God is most noble” (Allah
akram al-akrimin), “God is most compassionate” (Allah arham al-rahimin),
“God is most generous (Allah ajwad al-ajwadin), “God is giver of great bounty”
(Allah zu’l-fadli ’l-‵azim), and “God is lord of the great throne (Allah rabbu’ l-
‵arshi ’l-‵azim).

Morsel 8

According to the Shattari Sufi order, “meditation of the three supports” can
be performed while pronouncing the name of God, Allah, with the tongue or
the heart, while the attributes— the names sami‵, basir and ‵alim —are simply
imagined in the mind. Always, the face or form of one’s spiritual guide should
be held in the imagination. The name Allah is begun from below the navel by
drawing out the “a” (madd) and emphasizing the “la” (shadd). If the recitation
reaches the top in one breath or stroke, they call this “the lesser war” (muharaba
saghira). If the breath is suspended such that the name Allah with the divine
attributes is repeated a hundred times during a single breath, they call this “the
great war” (muharaba kabira). When the basic three divine attributes are
mastered, then other attributes may be added while carefully preserving the
pattern of ascent and descent. When performing this meditation as “the great
war” one should suspend the breath with tremendous force and allow the
meditation to be done through the medium of one’s spiritual guide, with the
result that the self is completely forgotten (be-khudi) and one is absent from
one’s senses (be-hoshi). This is better achieved after extensive fasting and long
sleeplessness, and in this way the goal is attained in a shorter period.

Morsel 9

This is the method of performing “meditation on the name Allah in six beats”
(zikr-i shesh zarbi) and its variation called “meditation on the name Allah in four
beats” (zikr-i chahar zarbi). The “meditation of six beats” consists of repeating
the divine name Allah towards each of the six directions (to the right, to the left,
to the front, to the back, to above, and to below). A variation in four beats
consists of sitting facing the direction to Mecca (qibla) and positioning in front
of oneself the Qur’an or the tomb of a holy person, then reciting the name Allah
towards the left, then towards the right, then towards in front towards the
Qur’an or tomb, and lastly inwards towards the heart. When one does this
repeatedly and gets engrossed in the meditation, one discovers unknown
meanings of the Qur’an or secrets of the state of the holy person in the tomb.
While doing this, hold the face or form of one’s spiritual guide in the
imagination as a medium, otherwise the meditation is futile.

Morsel 10
The “meditation of the blacksmith” (zikr-i haddadi) is performed by reciting
“no god but God.” One sits on one’s knees with legs folded beneath. Then one
faces to the left while beginning to pronounce “no God” (la ilaha) while drawing
out the “la” (madd). Then as one pronounces this phrase, one rises up on one’s
knees to a great height and immediately repeats “but God” (illa ’llah) as a
forceful blow down onto the heart while throwing oneself down into a seated
position. One does this with the vehement force of a blacksmith striking hot
iron with a heavy sledge-hammer swung with both hands. Do this continuously
until a spiritual sensation (zauq) is engendered. This method of meditation was
taught by Imam Abu Hafs al-Haddad and it entails a lot of pain and effort.24

Morsel 11
 This is the method of meditation by “observing the breath” (pas-i anfas).
During the exhaled breath, one recites “no god” (la ilaha) and during the
inhaled breath, one recites “but God” (illa ‘llah). One does this with each breath
exhaled and inhaled while keeping one’s concentration upon the navel as it is
drawn in and extended out during breathing. After one does this meditation
continuously and extensively, the meditation continues with one’s breathing
even if one is asleep or awake. If one achieves this level of continuous meditation
in each breath, then the length of one’s life is doubled.

Morsel 12

This meditation of “observing the breath” is sometimes taught such that one
only recites the name Allah. The method of doing this is to recite the name
Allah while extending the final letter “h” with a long “u” so that it takes on the
sound of “hu.”25 While inhaling, one recites Alla- and when exhaling, one recites
-hu. Doing this does not employ the voice; rather one lets the breath expresses
the language of the heart. Other than this, the meditation is exactly like
“observing the breath” as described above regardless of whether one recites the
whole phrase la ilaha illa ’llah, or one recites only the name Allahu.
It may be that a sound is generated in the nose while performing this
meditation. That sound is known as “nasal sawing” (arra-i bini). The friction
and vibration of this sound creates zeal and passion but it can make the head hot
and dry. Almond oil can be applied to the nostrils and forehead to avoid this
and perfect this meditation with no hinderance. Perfection is attained when the
breath of the seeker does this meditation without his knowing or choosing it.
Sometimes a seeker is a bit simpleminded and inexperienced, and has trouble
learning. Perhaps his heart is not yet inscribed with the voice of meditations and
contemplations. In this case, its method can be imparted in the following way.
The beginner sits respectfully on both knees, facing his spiritual guide who sits
facing him knee to knee. The beginner is told to lower his chin onto his chest,
draw his abdomen inward to the stomach and hold his chest out full. The
beginner should close his eyes. Then his spiritual guide should begin to feel how
the beginner breathes. As the beginner exhales fully, the guide should inhale for
him, grafting his breath into the beginner’s inhalation and exhalation. While
thus engaged and joined together, the breath of the seeker will spontaneously cry
out the recitation of “no god but God” (la ilaha illa ’llah) or Allahu, depending
on which one is willed by the spiritual guide. This is no doubt amazing to
observers! This cry of recitation might be so forceful that blood oozes from the
beginner’s nose and ears. In this way, the method of meditation can be
transmitted from “bosom to bosom” and taught without the medium of words.
However, if one being taught is engaged in devotional exercises—especially
contemplation that is done with suspending the breath—then the spiritual
teacher can convey nothing to him in this way. This is because the one being
taught is himself controlling his own breath. If the spiritual guide tries to graft
his breath into the learner’s breath while he is engaged in such contemplation, it
could happen that the learner’s un-self-consciousness could overwhelm the
spiritual guide such that it cancels out even the guide’s thought to convey
anything to the learner! This happened to the author in a Sufi gathering, with
the result that the assembly was completely disrupted.

Morsel 13

This is the method of performing the “meditation for discovering the spirit”
(zikr-i kashf-i ruh) through which one can discover the state of any spirit in any
place. First, “Oh Lord” (ya rabb) is recited twenty-one times, then “Oh spirit of
the spirit” (ya ruh al-ruh) is pronounced once with force upon the heart. Then
raising the head, one recites “Oh spirit, just as God wills” (ya ruh ma sha’ Allah).
When this meditation is done, one fixes one’s mind on the person whose state
one desires to discover. Then the spirit of that person will appear to the seeker
either in the waking state or in dream. If done 2000 times, the subject will be
speedily obtained. Khwaja Nasir al-Din Chiragh-i Delhi taught this method to
Hazrat Sayyid Gisu Daraz.26

Morsel 14
Some spiritual guides teach that the compressed form of the entire blessed
phrase “no god but God” (la ilaha illa ’llah) is to pronounce Ha Hu Hi. First Ha
is recited to the right side, then Hu to the left, and then Hi towards the heart.

Morsel 15

This is a method of “meditation to discover the state of those in graves” (zikr-

i kashf-i qubur). Sit close by the tomb or grave. Lift the head high and face
towards the sky and say, “Reveal to me, oh light!” (akshif li ya nur). Then in a
strong beat towards the heart say, “Reveal to me…” (akshif li…) and then with a
beat towards the tomb of the deceased person say, “…what is his condition!” (…
‵an halihi). The state of the buried will be known in dream or otherwise.

Morsel 16
This is the method of “meditation for one’s prayers to be answered” (zikr li-
ijaba al-da‵wat). Make each beat though the medium of imagining one’s
spiritual guide (rabita). First say “Oh lord!” (ya rabb) to the right, then to the
left, and lastly to the heart. Then in the same three beats and directions, say “Oh
my lord!” (ya rabbi). One should repeat this meditation many times. When one
desires to end the recitation, one lifts one’s open hands up and passes them over
the face repeating, “Oh my lord!” (ya rabbi). All this time, one should recall in
the heart what is desired in one’s prayers. The method of this meditation is given
by the great master Ibn ‵Arabi.27

Morsel 17

The basic principle meditation as taught in the Naqshbandi Sufi order is for
the tip of the tongue to touch the palate and for the meditation to be done by
suspending the breath. One begins by imagining “no” (la), taking this syllable
from the navel and taken up to the head. Then one imagines “god” (ilaha) while
inclining towards the right shoulder. Then one imagines “but God” (illa ’llah) to
the left side towards the heart with such force that effect of it is felt in the whole
body. The motion of this meditation is shown below in a diagram. The path of
the motion corresponds to shape of the word “no” (la) when written in Arabic
script.

This form of meditation thus negates the false self and establishes the true
One (haqq). One must say in the heart, “Oh God, you are my goal and I desire
your contentment” (Ilahi anta maqsudi wa rida’uka matlubi). In his external
form, the person performing this meditation must not show any outward
motion at all while imagining these words of negation and affirmation (la ilaha
illa ’llah). The number of times in which this phrase is repeated during one
suspended breath must be an odd number—not an even number. When one
exhales, one says in the heart, “Muhammad is the messenger of God”
(Muhammadun rasulu ‘llahi). The effect of performing this meditation is that by
imagining the words of negation, one’s self is negated and by imagining the
words of affirmation, one’s self is affirmed. If one repeats this meditation more
than twenty-one times, yet still no effect is felt—no absence from the self or
oblivion—one should stop and start over afresh, since some necessary condition
of its proper method must have been neglected. Otherwise this type of
meditation is effective enough to bring about its own result.

Morsel 18

This is the method of “meditation of affirmation and negation” (zikr-i nafy o

isbat) in two beats or four beats. One recites “no god but God” (la ilaha illa
‘llah) first towards the right side while imagining the Prophet Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him), then towards the left side imagining one’s
own spiritual guide, then towards the heart, imagining God therein, and then
facing a little further in towards one’s center imagining absolute being.

Morsel 19
 This is a method called “meditation for preventing illness” (zikr-i daf-i marz).
Recite “Oh singular One!” (ya ahad) towards the right, then “Oh eternal One!”
(ya samad) towards the left, and then “Oh unique One” (ya witr) towards the
heart.

Morsel 20

This is a method called “meditation of the bountiful One (zikr-i wahhab).

After the canonical evening prayers, one must say supererogatory prayers of two
cycles (raka’at). During each cycle, after one recites Surat al-Fatiha, then one
recites Surat al-Ikhlas eleven times and says “Oh bountiful One!” (ya wahhab)
seventy times. This method of meditation removes worldly needs and anxieties.

Morsel 21
This is called “meditation while walking step by step” (zikr-i mashy-i aqdam).
If one is walking swiftly, one says “but God” (illa ’llah) at each step. If one is
walking slowly, one says “no” (la) with the right step and “god” (ilaha) with the
left step, and then “but” (illa) with the next right step and “God” (Allah) with
the next left step. If one is walking at a medium pace, one simply says “God”
(Allah) at every step.

Morsel 22

If one meditates with the entire phrase, saying “no god but God” (la ilaha illa
’llah) then this is known as meditation of the human realm (nasut). If one
meditates with only the phrase “but God” (illa ’llah) this is known as meditation
of the spiritual realm (malakut). If one meditates with only the name “God”
(Allah) this is known as meditation of the archetypal realm (jabarut). And if one
meditates with merely the pronoun “he” (hu) this is known as meditation of the
divine realm (lahut).
 Morsel 23

There are some meditation practices that spiritual masters transmit orally
(from heart to heart) to disciples only after extensive training. This means only
after disciples have undergone strenuous spiritual exercises (riyazat) and struggles
(mujahadat) and have endured forty day retreats in order to purify the heart to
the utmost.
From among these meditations is “the meditation of with-ness” (zikr-i ma
‵iya) in which one says, “Oh with me, oh with me, oh with me, oh he, oh he, oh
he” (ya ma‵i, ya ma‵i, ya ma‵i, ya hu, ya hu, ya hu). Performing this meditation
enables one to witness the divine essence and attributes in a short period. The
method of performing it is this. One sits as if in prayer (on one’s knees), except
that the feet should protrude out from under the shins, which should be resting
on the ground. With the right hand, one should firmly hold the left arm, and
with the left hand, one should hold firmly the right arm. Then one pronounces
the following words in five beats. The first beat is directed to a spot between the
knee and the right foot. The second beat is directed towards the sky. The third
beat is directed towards the spot between the knee and the left foot. The fourth
beat is directed towards one’s liver. The fifth beat is directed towards one’s heart
with great intensity and force. One must keep in mind that hu is an expression
for absolute unity that is like unto nothing else.28 In the days when one is
performing this meditation, one should drink milk especially if it is mixed with
saffron. And one should use a lot of incense or fragrance. Sometime this
meditation is abridged into the three words, “He, he, oh with me” (hu, hu, ya
ma‵i). This is practiced as detailed above with the exception that hu, hu is
pronounced towards the sky, and ya ma‵ i is pronounced towards the heart.
Another of these meditations is “the meditation of allness” (zikr-i kulliya). It
consists of saying “All is with you, all is from you, all is to you, oh all of all!”
(bika ’l-kull, minka ’l-kull, ilayka ’l-kull, ya kulla ’l-kull). But this humble writer
has seen it in another form, saying “Oh God, you are all, and from you is all,
and with you is all, and for you is all, and to you is all, oh all of all” (Allahumma
anta’l-kull wa minka’l-kull wa bika’l-kull wa laka’l-kull wa ilayka’l-kull wa kulla’l-
kull). Performing this enables one to behold the divine essence and attributes.
To perform it, one sits cross-legged then makes one beat to the front, one beat
to the right, one beat to the left side, one beat to the sky, and one beat to the
heart.
Another of these is “the meditation of all-encompassing” (zikr-i ihata). It
consists of saying, “Oh you who encompass all without and all within” (ya muhit
zahran wa batnan). One opens one’s eyes when saying “all without” and one
closes one’s eyes when saying “all within.” It bestows the experience of
witnessing the divine (mushahada).
Another of these is “the meditation of obliterating all directions” (zikr-i mahw
al-jihat). In this practice, one says “You are above me, you are beneath me, you
are before me, you are behind me, you are right of me, you are left of me, you
are in me, and I am with you in all directions–wherever you may turn there is
the face of God!” (Anta fauqi, anta tahti, anta amami, anta khalfi, anta yamini,
anta shamali, anta fiya wa ana ma‵ al-jihati fika–aynama tawallu fa-thumma
wajhu’llahi).29 It is performed in this way. One stands and faces the heavenly
throne to say “You are above me” (anta fauqi). Then one turns to face the earth
and sits to say, “You are below me” (anta tahti). Then sitting one turns to face
towards the front to say, “You are before me” (anta amami). Then still sitting,
one turns one’s head to the rear to say, “You are behind me” (anta khalfi).
Turning to face the right one says, “You are right of me” (anta yamini). Turning
to face to the left one says, “You are left of me” (anta shamali). Then in a beat
directed to the heart one says, “You are in me” (anta fiya). After this one says,
“and I am with you in all directions—wherever you may turn there is the face of
God!” (wa ana ma‵ al-jihati fika…aynama tawallu fa-thumma wajhu’llahi).30
Another of these is “the meditation of manifesting selfhood” (zikr-i tajalli-yi
ana’iya). It consists of saying, “I am God, there is no god but I” (inni ana allah
la ilaha illa ana). After late-night vigil prayers (tahajjud) this phrase should be
pronounced 100 times in the following manner. Lifting the head towards
heaven, one recites “I am God” (inni ana allah). Then one lowers the head
towards the right side and says “there is no god…” (la ilaha) and then
pronounces towards the heart with great force “… but I” (illa ana). In all above
five meditations, it is required that one holds in the imagination the meaning of
the words and also the image of one’s spiritual guide (barzakh).
Another of these is a meditation done by Hazrat Shaykh Shakar Ganj.31 This
meditation is in the Punjabi language. One says, “Above is you” (uhul tun)
indicating the celestial worlds. One says, “Below is you” (ihul tun) indicating the
terrestrial worlds. One says, “You are only you” (tuhin tun) indicating the
ultimate absolute.

Morsel 24

When an assembly for meditation is finished, one should repeat three times:
“Glory be to God, may God be praised. Glory to be God most great and may he
be praised” (subhan ’llahi wa bi-hamdi-hi subhana ‘llahi ’l-azim wa bi-hamdi-hi).
Further this prayer should be said: “Oh God, you said ‘So remember me that
I remember you’ and I have remembered you to the meager degree of my
knowledge, reason and understanding. Remember me with the bounteous
capacity of your self, your blessing, your knowledge and your forgiveness. Oh
God, open the ears of our hearts with your remembrance, oh you, who are the
best of those who remember.”32
 Chapter Two on Methods of Contemplation

You should know that contemplation (muraqaba) is a way for one to protect
one’s heart such that it cleaves to one single meaning and no other. There are
three things that cause the heart to fall ill so that is gets distracted from the true
One (haqq). First, there is the speech of the self (hadith-i nafs) which is
constantly bombarding the heart with motives and willful choices, either overtly
or covertly. Secondly, there are tempting thoughts (khatra) which come and go
without one’s own motivation. Thirdly, there is observing phenomena that are
other than God in this world of multiplicity. To cure the illness of the heart one
must do internal work (shughl-i batin). This is contemplation and it is of various
types.

Morsel 1
One can contemplate the greatest divine name, the name of the essence,
namely Allah. One must displace the speech of the self and put Allah in its place.
One can contemplate the primal qualities of the divine (sifat-i ummahat).33 One
must displace tempting thoughts and put the primal qualities of the divine in
their place. One must keep the gaze of the heart directed upon the beauty of
one’s spiritual guide which is called the medium (wasita) or connection (rabita)
or betweenness (barzakh).

Morsel 2

One should observe Allah as the holy and wholly other essence (ma‵na
muqaddas) that is beyond any limits or specifications that are commonly
understood. One should meditate on that essence with the entire concentration
of the organ of one’s heart (dil-i sanubari), until the eternity and splendor of this
essence causes one’s intellect to be brightened and one’s constitution to be
purified. If one’s mind cannot comprehend the holy and wholly other essence,
then one can imagine it as a pure and undifferentiated light. One may imagine
that one is dissolved in the light, as if it were an ocean of light and you are a
mere drop within it. Or one can conceive of the holy and wholly other essence as
utter and impenetrable darkness. One can imagine that one is dissolved into that
darkness, as if one were a mere shadow, for when a shadow merges with darkness
it vanishes and all differentiation ceases.

Morsel 3

Some sages explain that when one practices contemplation one must hold the
image of one’s spiritual guide in the imagination, so that the one exercising
might feel his heat and spiritual presence. In this way, one can focus upon one’s
own humane, all-comprehensive spiritual reality in the form of one’s spiritual
guide. In other words, one grasps one’s own essential humanity by holding fast
the image of one’s spiritual guide. One imagines the essence of humanity to be
concentrated in one’s own spiritual guide. One’s all-comprehensive spiritual
reality is, in the technical vocabulary of Sufis, called the heart (qalb). Because
this spiritual reality is transcendent and cannot be limited to incarnation in
bodies, realizing it is not easy. In order to mitigate this difficulty, one can
concentrate upon the flesh of the heart in which dwells the essential heart. This
fleshy organ is the metaphorical heart that has a relation to the essential heart, a
relation enjoyed by no other part of the body. One should focus one’s full
concentration upon the heart, such that all one’s sensory awareness becomes
unified in one direction and upon one object. There can be no doubt that when
this state is achieved, self-absence and un-self-consciousness will manifest. One
can imagine that this state of absence is a clear path that is smooth and straight.
One can then imagine that one is traveling along this path which is an endless
path. Whenever any selfish thought (khatra) or temptation (waswas) distracts
one, one begins to slip and slide off the path. Such thoughts can either be
shaken off or they take possession of one. If shaken off, that is the intended goal.
If they are not shaken off and they begin to take possession of one, then one
must concentrate on that spiritual reality that is apprehended as the image of
one’s spiritual guide, and by this means one can ward them off. In this way, one
can find help from the presence of one’s spiritual guide. But if these distractions
are not warded off, then one must clear one’s mind by exhaling the breath
through the nostrils with great force. Then one settles back into concentrating as
one did before.
If this is not effective, the following prayer for forgiveness must be recited
over and over with both tongue and heart in union: “I seek forgiveness of God. I
seek forgiveness of God from all that is repulsive to God in word and deed, in
open and in secret, in what is heard and what is seen. There is no power and no
strength save in God, the lofty One, the great One.”34
If still the distractions are not warded off, then one may imagine the name of
God, “Oh effective One!” (ya fa‵al) because it has a special quality of removing
distracting temptations. If this provides no benefit, then one can consider the
phrase “no god but God” (la ilaha illa ‘llah) as meaning “no existence but God”
(la mawjuda illa ‘llah). If this is found to be of no benefit, then one must recite
with the name Allah with intensification (shadd) and elongation (madd) and
direct it with a forceful beat onto the heart.

Morsel 4

Whatever is perceived by the senses both external and internal is not devoid of
meaning. Rather, if what is sensed is in accord with reality (waqi‵a) then it is
truth (haqq). And if what is sensed does not accord with reality then it is non-
truth (batil). Those who believe in the “Oneness of Being” (wahdat-i wujud)
hold that God manifests in the appearance of truth, but also manifests in the
appearance of non-truth. Shaykh Abu Madyan Maghribi, who was the spiritual
guide of Shaykh Ibn ‵Arabi, expresses this idea in the following quatrain.35

Do not always deny what is not true

for sometimes God appears there too
Obey God in whatever way you can
So you affirm God’s reality as is due
la tunkir al-batilla fi tawri-hi
fa-inna-hu ba‵da zahurati-hi
wa a‵ti-hu min-ka bi-miqdari-hi
hata tawafiya haqqa ithbati-hi

To complete this idea, Shaykh Mu’ayyid al-Din al-Jandi added a rhyming

couplet.36

Divinity can appear in human form, too

so don’t deny your essence as the foolish do
fa ’l-haqqu qad yazharu fi surati-hi
wa yunkiru al-jahil fi dhati-hi

So therefore, whatever one senses of universal principles (kulliyat) or sensory

things (juz’iyat) should be understood as witnessing the absolute being which
manifests in a particular form at that moment. Contemplating this is the best
spiritual path and the most reliable way to stop the incoming stream of selfish
thoughts. Beyond a doubt, it causes a state of self-absence and provides an
experience of bliss. It allows one to comprehend the differentiated levels
(maratib) of divinity and materiality. But it is best that you negate all such
phenomenal appearances while affirming the spiritual experience of self-absence,
so that you pass away from your egoistic self (nafs-i khud) and embrace un-self-
consciousness. In the view of the sages of this Sufi path, it is infidelity to cling to
whatever comes to you in a state of self-absence (ghaybat). However, what comes
to you in this state may have connected with it concentration, insight into
profound spiritual realities and subtle realizations of knowledge and experience.
The benefit provided to you by states of self-absence and un-self-consciousness
can be the beginning of bewilderment (hayrat), which is the final stage of the
spiritual path.

Morsel 5

The spiritual seeker should look within with the eye of the heart to perceive
his or her own truth which is an expression for all-comprehensive spiritual
reality of the self (haqiqa-yi jami‵iya-yi u). In this way, the seeker keeps the
essential reality of his self under observation with the heart’s eye in all actions
and all states. The seeker sees that all things that exist in the world—be they
good or bad, subtle or gross, sensory or spiritual—are reflections of the all-
comprehensive spiritual reality of the self, until the seeker perceives that the
whole cosmos and all worlds are established and sustained through it. Then all
things that are sensed or thought are mere reflections that are seen as effects of it
(the all-comprehensive spiritual reality of the self). It is as if the entire cosmos
were the body and the seeker’s self were the soul animating that body. This
station is known as “comprehending comprehensiveness” (jam‵ al-jam‵). When
this contemplation is powerfully mastered, the seeker will be aware of all things
in the cosmos, and if they are joyful he will feel joy, and if they are sorrowful he
will feel sorrow. This is because the soul feels the rewards and sufferings that
result in the action of the body, regarding whether the body performs what is
obligatory and desists from what is prohibited.

Morsel 6

Another method of contemplation is to look at the written form of “no god

but God” (la ilaha illa ’llah) or simply the name “God” (Allah). One can look at
this form with the eye of the head as it is written on paper, or one can look at it
with the gaze of insight as it is written on the paper of knowledge or the tablet of
imagination. One should become so engrossed in contemplating this form until
un-self-consciousness overcomes one, and one is oblivious to that form and
unaware even of being oblivious to that form.

Morsel 7
Another method is to contemplate some object such as a stone, a clod, a
grave, the Qur’an, a beloved person’s face, one’s spiritual guide’s face, a flower or
other such thing. One should gaze upon this object with one’s physical eyes and
not move one’s eyelids to blink. One should also focus one’s inner
concentration, through that object, upon the absolute reality that is essential and
unchanging. One should persist with this until selfish thoughts cease, and one is
overwhelmed with un-self-consciousness and one is oblivious to all things, even
to the fact that one is oblivious. This method of contemplation is attributed to
the Sufi master Ibrahim ibn Adham Balkhi.37

Morsel 8
 Some great masters of the Sufi path say that the following is the best way to
contemplate God and enter into the presence of the divine, glorified be God and
lofty be God’s state! One should retire one’s personal powers—both inward and
outward, both universal and sensorial—from dispersive actions and one should
clear one’s mind of all knowledge or belief, indeed, from anything that is other
than God. Then one should concentrate on God simply as what God is, without
limiting God by any mental conception of transcendence or immanence (na bi
tanzih ya bi tashbih). One should concentrate with a universal concentration
upon the most essential aspect of divinity which is received by every form,
whether it be considered good and beautiful, or bad and awful, whether it be
perceptible by the senses or beyond the senses. One should concentrate on this
with belief in oneness (tawhid) and firm determination (‵azimat) and force of
will (jam‵iyat) and pure sincerity (ikhlas) in a constant and continuous way. One
should concentrate in this way until one no longer experiences distraction in
thought and dispersal in determination. One should realize that the utter
perfection of God encompasses all possible qualities, whether someone might
perceive them to be good or bad. One should realize that reason or thought or
imagination cannot possibly fathom even the hidden secrets of divine nature.
God is simply what God is. If God wills, the divine manifests in any form of the
cosmos or in all forms of the cosmos. And if God wills, the divine transcends
them and is beyond them all.

Morsel 9

The seeker may contemplate the self as being the origin of divine disclosures
rather than being the consequence of divine disclosures (tajalliyat). The seeker
should keep this view constantly in sight. In this way, one should see all things
as both absolute being (wujudi mutlaq) and limited being (wujudi muqayyad),
with reality being that both types are indeed one. For naming something as
absolute or naming something as limited are relative to the perspective and
judgment of the observer. If one persists with this contemplation for a long time,
it will induce intense spiritual experience (zauq).

Morsel 10
 Another method is to close the eyes and fix the gaze on the heart, then stay
aware that God is present and watching and that God is with you.

Morsel 11

Another method is to keep one’s eyes open and strive to not blink while
staring upwards or directly ahead. This generates some light and heat issues from
the eyelids to spread all through the body, generating a feeling of passionate love.

Morsel 12
Another method is known as “Station of Aid” (maqam-i nasir). One should
keep one’s eyes open and gaze on the tip of the nose with such intensity that the
blackness of the eye (the pupil) disappears and only whiteness of the eyes
appears. This produces a tranquil composure and wards off selfish thoughts.
This is known as “Station of Aid.” During the practice one may chose to sit as in
prayer (on one’s knees) or on all fours like a dog. If one does the practice as
described above but fixes the gaze between the eyebrows, it is called the “Praised
Station” (maqam-i mahmud). The benefits accruing from this meditation are
many.38

Morsel 13

The Yogis have eighty-four positions (bethak) and each one has its own
peculiar benefit. Shaykh Baha’ al-Din Qadiri selected one as a position that
comprehends all the other positions and he described it like this.39 One sits on
the ground cross-legged, bringing the legs together so that the heel of the left
foot rests below one’s testicles and the heel of the right foot is placed close to it.
Then one rests one’s seat down. Then one draws the breath upward pulling in
the navel towards the back. One keeps the mouth closed and cleaves the tongue
firmly to the palate. Then one stays busy in contemplation. Internally, one
imagines the sounds “U He He.” One continues this practice without eating or
sleeping. If the practice is continued without a break for three days, refraining
from eating and sleeping, it will result in a state of un-self-consciousness and
oblivion in which hidden spiritual realities are revealed. One might then return
to one’s senses or one might become mad (majzub) or senseless (madhosh). If the
desired effect does not happen after three days of this practice, it may be
extended for another three days continuously. But between every three-day
period, one should eat, drink and sleep for a while lest lunacy occurs. In this
way, one may extend it extensively.

Morsel 14

This is another method of contemplation leading to witnessing (mushahada)

and beholding (mu‵ayyana). One should sit as in prayer, then observe the
practice of “God is knowing” (‘alim), “God is hearing” (sami‵), and “God is
seeing” (basir) while maintaining connection (rabt) with one’s spiritual guide
and all the proper conditions.40 When one gets firmly established in this
practice, then one can sit in this form and incline one’s face towards the heart.
Then one closes the eyes and, with the eyes of the heart, one gazes upon the
heart and there one imagines that one is seeing God. When one gets firmly
established in this practice, then one can sit as before, but one gazes towards the
sky with one’s eyes open and one imagines “My soul left the body and has
passed beyond the heavens and is engrossed in beholding God (mu‘ayyana-i
haqq ta‵ala). When one gets firmly established in this practice, one will see a
green cord connecting on one end to above the seventh heaven and on the other
end to within one’s heart. This is the highest level of reflection (fikr). It is a
practice that Sufi masters used to keep secret. In this practice, it is not correct to
hold the image of one’s spiritual guide as a medium (wasita) for this meditation.
The first stage of this practice is known as contemplation (muraqaba). The
second stage is known as witnessing (mushahada). The third stage is known as
beholding (mu‘ayyana). Shaykh Nasir al-Din Chiragh-i Delhi attributed these
practices to Shaykh Nizam al-Din.41

Morsel 15
 Sayyid Muhammad Gisu Daraz says that one should be silent and think that
“I am not, God is” (man nay-am u-st). This is expressed in a couplet of Persian
poetry.

I am not, by God oh my friends, I am not

I am soul’s life, heart’s secret, body I am not
man nay-am, wa’llah yaran, man nay-am
jan-i jan-am, sirr-i sirr-am, tan nay-am

When the meaning of this dawns to one’s thoughts, then a voice calls out
“You are I,” in accord with the verse of Qur’an “Truth has come and untruth
disappears.” 42 This is the most effective and efficient method of spiritual
realization.

Morsel 16

The whole cosmos becomes manifest (tajalli) to those who are engaged in
contemplation and meditation on God. Bayazid Bistami, the chief of all sages
(Sultan al-‵Arifin), was engaged in this from the cradle to the grave. 43

Morsel 17

This is a method of contemplation called “Ascension of the Sages” (mi‵raj al-

‵arifin). You imagine all existing things as a multitude of mirrors. Then all that
you see in them of sensory and rational phenomena you should understand as
reflections of the forms of the names and attributes of God. Then imagine them
and indeed the entire cosmos as a single mirror, and gaze into it in order to see
the face of God with all the divine names and attributes. Do this until you
become one of the people who witness divine reality (mushahada) just as you
started out as one of the people who receive divine inspiration (mukashafa).
Then go further and observe that you see yourself like the whole cosmos, and
know that your essence encompasses everything existing and that everything
existing is formed within you. Come to realize that your essence is a mirror in
which all things are reflected. Just as in the beginning you saw God reflected in
all things other than yourself, now you witness God reflected within your self.
Then go further and observe that all potential things are in themselves really
non-existent (mumkinat min haythu hiya ghayr mawjuda). So disregard them
entirely, such that all things appear to you as forms of God’s self-disclosure that
exist only as God supports them. All things are merely divine beauty and
perfection in which you are witnessing God. Then go further and disregard the
being of your own self in order to witness God alone and comprehend the divine
essence, which is both the one witnessing and the one witnessed (wa huwa ’l-
shahid wa’l-mashhud).

Morsel 18

The Naqshbandi Sufi order bases its devotional exercises on three different
ways. The first way consists of spiritual concentration (tawajjuh) and
contemplation on the divine essence as being without qualities and
qualifications, without similarities and appearances, as is understood from the
blessed divine name Allah, by which means it is expressed in languages like
Arabic and Persian and others. In this way, Naqshbandi Sufis concentrate with
all their force and focus until they become easily accustomed to perpetually
apprehending it, and the way is opened to the spiritual experiences of
“obliteration of obliteration” (fana’-i fana’).
The second way consists of contemplation through a medium (rabita). This is
concentration upon the form of one’s spiritual guide (tawajjuh bi-surat-i shaykh)
who is obliterated in God and sustained with God. One does this until a state of
self-absence and un-self-consciousness are manifest. Then the physical form of
the medium (barzakh), which is the lowest aspect of the spiritual guide,
disappears from one’s sight, and one’s sight is focused only on the wide ocean of
witnessing the essence and presence of God which is the highest aspect of the
spiritual guide.
The third way consists of silent meditation upon the phrase “no god but
God” (la ilaha illa ’llah) which includes both negation and affirmation.
The first way of concentrating directly upon God is the most lofty and noble,
but attaining it is difficult until the spiritual seeker is pulled by divine attraction
(jazba) towards God. The second way of concentrating on the form of one’s
spiritual master is the shortest of all the paths, and through it comes experiences
both wondrous and strange. The third way of meditation is most reliable and it
is the foundation of all exercises.

Morsel 19

One should gaze for a long time in a mirror until, when you look at your own
face, you imagine it to be the face of your spiritual guide and this perception
becomes firm and fixed. Keep up this gazing until you attain a state of self-
absence from your senses.

Morsel 20
One should gaze at the name of God (Allah) written in characters of silver or
gold ink, fixing one’s sight fixed on it. Similarly, one could inscribe the name of
God in one’s imagination upon the scroll of the heart and then concentrate
upon it until one attains a state of self-absence from the senses.

Conclusion

All that which is written in the two preceding chapters deserves your careful
attention—and may God seal your good deeds with the best of seals. Anyone
who takes up these varieties of meditation and types of contemplation will surely
attain the goal (of God-consciousness). But anyone who tries them without firm
resolve, persistent practice and total absorption will find the goal far away. To
fancy that a mere perusal of these pages without practice will bring success will
reveal one’s vanity. It proves the saying that “this world depends on actions not
words.” The harder one practices the further one gets. The Sufi master Abu Hafs
al-Haddad states, “Sufism is merely cooking what one imagines until it is done.”
The reality is that when certain imaginings become cooked and ripe and enter
the mind of the soul, strange and wondrous effects are seen in both common
people and spiritual masters, effects that produce a delight in those who
experience them and provoke astonishment in those who look on.
 But there are selfish people who call themselves Sufis yet are content with a
mere knowledge of the variety of meditation and contemplation practices. In
their case, we hope for the largess of God’s patient restraint, which surely is
vaster than their sins, and if not, then they surely will come to ruin. Some people
like this descend even lower, and in order to earn a good reputation in the eyes
of others they dabble in these practices for a short time; yet when they fail to feel
any effect or spiritual delight, they give up in despair and become engrossed in
worldly aspirations. And some others with scanty progress are filled with pride
and proclaim themselves to be spiritual masters, and dupe people and fall into
that whirlpool. But what does it benefit a sinful man to follow a sinful man? I
take refuge with God from such people, and you should too!
A real spiritual master is one who takes to the spiritual path and yet, until he
really feels its effect and can affect others, refrains from announcing himself to
others and calling attention to himself. This modest caution is more than
enough to warn the negligent, and under God’s command are all affairs.
Now to the point, this conclusion describes the special way that a disciple of
right understanding experiences meditation. Were he to begin with a righteous
disposition and according to the instructions detailed, there is every hope that he
would advance quickly and steadily from stage to stage and in the shortest time
achieve a state of spiritual comprehensiveness (jam‵). Some of these experiences I
have already alluded to in the midst of describing the various methods of
meditation. But God is the ultimate dispenser of success, and any benefit that
one gets should be looked for with God, upon whom I trust in every moment
and every deed.

Morsel 1

You should know that everything that can be known is either essential (basit)
or compound (murakkab). If one knows something to be singular, that is the
same from every direction and in every condition, then it is necessarily
knowledge and apprehension of an essential thing. If one knows something to be
multiple, yet one knows it in a general way as singular, then this is also
knowledge of an essential thing. Surely the first case is knowledge of a thing that
is essential in its reality, and the second is knowledge of a thing that is essential
in its effect. If something is known which is not singular from every direction
and in every condition, or which is multiple yet is seen in general as single, then
there is no doubt that it is a thing compound. The community of Sufis who
strive for purity are those who endeavor to leave aside anything known as
compound and cleave that which is known as essential, namely to the one
necessary being (wajib al-wajud, a philosophical term for God). They do this in
such a way that at all times, or at least in most times, they are engrossed in
comprehension of that singular essential being and ignore the distracting
multiplicity of things other than this. In this way, being obliterated in God
(fana’ fi ‘llah) is obliterating everything other than God and ultimate obliteration
is obliterating any sense of this obliteration!

Morsel 2

One should sit in an isolated corner, facing towards the direction of Mecca,
with full ritual ablutions. One should close the eyes and cleave the tongue firmly
to the palette. One should imagine that “the flesh of the heart is saying Allah,
but I do not hear it” and one should strive to hear it. One should summon one’s
firmest resolve to hear it. After some time, with the aid of God’s grace, one will
begin to feel a vibration which may be understood to be the motion of the heart
or the motion of the egoistic self (nafs) or the motion of tempting thoughts
(waswas). When one reaches this point, one must summon even more firm
resolve so that this vibration becomes more apparent, such that it overwhelms
the motion of the egoistic self and of tempting thoughts. Then one knows by
experience that the flesh of the heart is moving with a vibration that says Allah.
When one has been blessed with this happiness, then one can summon the
spiritual aspiration to listen—whether alone or in the company of others—for
the silent speech of one’s own heart. At this point, one realizes that the heart is
perpetually meditating on God by repeating the name Allah. Realizing this
spiritual fortune is the true goal of every devotional exercise, though some
achieve it sooner and some later, some with slight effort and some with intense
concentration. As the Qu’ran says, “Never despair of being with God’s spirit for
indeed the only ones who despair of God’s spirit are those who are
unbelievers.”44
 Morsel 3

Sometimes it happens that the flow of breathing obscures one’s ability to hear
this vibration. To prevent this, the breath should be suspended just beneath the
navel. In this way, the heart becomes like water, tranquil in a basin, that is
preserved from being obscured by any waves or agitation and therefore can
reflect the image of something other than itself. One should be careful not to
suspend the breath to such an extent that one becomes deadly sick. Still, the
danger of suspending the breath is less than the danger of never suspending it.
Suspending the breath should be done according to one’s own capacity. And
when the suspending breath is exhaled, it should be released gradually and
gently, and during exhaling also one should pay close attention to the heart’s
vibration.

Morsel 4
Once one becomes aware of this vibration and the heart is known to be
continuously meditating (with God’s name), then one must try to preserve this
awareness. Initially, awareness of this will be so weak that in a mere moment or
with the least distraction one can forget it. One cannot always be aware of it
when one tries, yet one must continually try, because to stop trying is the cause
of losing spiritual concentration such that awareness of this vibration is lost. One
should never succumb to discontent or despair! Rather, one should keep trying,
while acknowledging one’s inability and weakness and waywardness and
humbleness. Most often, one looses hold of this vibration because of the
incessant speaking of the ego (hadith-i nafs) or tempting thoughts or distracting
knowledge of the multiplicity of existing things, as mentioned earlier at the start
of the last chapter. It is impossible for the heart to attend to two things at one
and the same time.

Morsel 5

When this great experience is finally realized, one should not think it a light
and trifling thing. Rather, one should strive to cultivate one’s connection to it
day and night. If some other indispensable affair commands one’s attention, one
may put it aside for a while. If other kinds of worship, like supererogatory
prayers or reciting litanies or reading Qur’an, interfere with one’s connection to
this vibration, then one should put them aside. But if these acts of worship do
not interfere with it, then one should continue with them, for perhaps that will
aid one to maintain one’s connection with it.
Little by little, one may open one’s eyes and still find that one maintains this
connection and is still present with it. One should do this until one is able to
keep one’s eyes open yet still fix one’s concentration upon the heart. This is
called “alone in the midst of company” (khilvat dar anjuman). With divine aid,
one finds that this connection with the heart grows in strength, such that if one
gets distracted one can, with just the slightest concentration, find it again. When
it is found again, this connection will last even longer and becomes extended.
Soon, despite everything that interrupts and distracts one, this connection is
maintained and does not dissipate. At this stage, one discovers the true delight of
constant remembering (iltizaz-i zikr) and one attains spiritual comprehension
(jam‵iyat).

Morsel 6

When the vibration reaches the point when one hears the voice of the heart
reciting the name of God with no difficulty, then this vibration—which was
formerly concentrated in the pine-cone shaped organ of the heart (dil-i sanubari)
—begins to spread all over the body. The vibration spreads in such a way that it
manifests in one part of the body. Just as one sensed this vibration emitting from
the heart, one will begin to sense it emitting from that other part of the body.
But one should not turns one’s attention to that part of the body but rather
continue to focus one’s concentration upon the heart. One senses sometimes
that the vibration is coming from the hand, or sometimes from the foot or the
head, without one’s willing this to take place. But one should not pay attention
to vibration in the limbs lest it distract one from the heart. In this matter, the
heart is source and master, and the limbs of the body merely follow it.
 Morsel 7

When the light of remembrance begins to spread, it quickly expands to

encompass regions of the body until it fills one from the top of the head to the
lowest toe nail. Then all the various spiritual states will manifest themselves, and
sometimes one will feel happy and elated, at other times one will feel anxious
and bewildered, and other times one will feel sorrow and crying. But one should
not be distracted by these states and should stay engrossed in meditative
remembrance as the most important duty in one’s religion and worldly life.
With divine aid, one might reach the point when one hears the whole entire
body resonate with the name of God (Allah). Then all parts of the body resonate
in harmony with the heart and call out with one voice and one tone. The
vibration preponderates sometimes in some parts of the body more than in
others, and sometimes it is felt equally in all of them. When it resonates equally
in all of them, one experiences a more intense delight. In Sufi terms, this is
known as “The Prime Recitation” (sultan al-zikr).

Morsel 8
At first, recitation of the heart happens without the help of actually hearing it.
But gradually, when recitation gets firmly fixed in the heart, then one usually
hears it more and more clearly with one’s ears. To a seeker with a pure
personality, the ability to hear the heart becomes stronger and stronger all by
itself.
Some contend that when one can hear the reciting voice of the heart it can be
overheard by others. Indeed, it is a popular misconception that if one can hear
one’s own heart vibrating with recitation that this can be heard by others as well.
Some are of the opinion that the voice of the reciting heart can be heard by
others from close or from afar, in accord with differing capacities of reciters and
listeners, but this is a baseless claim. Shaykh Sharaf al-Din Yahya Maneri, the
author of Mine of Meanings (Ma‵din al-Ma’ani), indicates this. If some support
this popular conception, it may be as one performs this meditative recitation in
the chest, a feeble sound in the throat is produced that others can hear and may
think is the voice of the heart as it recites. But this is not the case. I myself have
heard this and seen others react in this way.

Morsel 9

It may be that one is overcoming with longing to discover some divine secret,
and this may be an impediment to one’s spiritual advancement. If one’s inner
reality throws up such distractions, then one should turn to one’s own spiritual
guide with one’s inner attention and in one’s outer action, while observing all
the norms of respectful conduct. If the spiritual guide perceives one’s spiritual
plight and knows how to solve it, he might inform one of this directly or
through some metaphor. Or winking, he might just say, “The time has not yet
arrived for you to discover such a secret!”

Morsel 10
The goal of meditation is for one’s self to be obliterated in the object of
meditation. So do not intend to simply recite the name of God with the tongue
or the heart. Remind yourself, “Although this may seem beneficial to me, yet I
will never achieve the goal without being in the presence of the object of
meditation.” The goal of meditation is for one’s self to be obliterated in the
object of meditation—that is God—rather than being obliterated in merely the
name of the object of meditation. Do not let the name distract from the
presence.

Morsel 11

When one achieves connection with the vibration of recitation, one

experiences many strange states and wondrous inspirations. One of these marvels
is that one hears recitation from all things, even if this awareness comes
gradually. One should not be arrested by this phenomenon, for the ultimate goal
lies beyond this.
There is a subtle point that one must understand at this stage, so that one
does not get confused. When one is engaged in reciting the name of God (Allah)
with the heart, one might hear other things reciting the name of God, such as
the wilderness or the walls, the room, or the stones. One might hear even one’s
hand or foot reciting the name of God! This is due to the one meditating being
overcome with the power of one’s own recitation. It is not due to the fact that
other things are actually also reciting. Secondly, it is true that all things that exist
have a special recitation though which it meditates on God. Most scholars think
that this recitation is a spiritual state (hali) that is particular to any particular
thing, but others think that this recitation is what each thing actually says
(maqali). So think about it. Each thing existing is different and so is
characterized by a distinctive kind of recitation through which it meditates on
God. Every species and every type of thing is engrossed in a distinctly appointed
way of reciting. The differentiation of things requires a differentiation in their
existential recitations. It might be tenable that while one is meditating by
reciting the name of God, one might hear other things—like the wall or the
door or the prayer carpet—reciting each in their own distinctive way. But to
hear everything reciting the same way that one recites the name of God? That is
untenable.

Morsel 12

After arriving at this furthest stage and lofty station, it may sometimes happen
that while intensely concentrating on the heart, a vibration can be felt in the
flesh of the heart (madgha) and in the arteries (shiryanat). This vibration is
distinct from the first in its quality. The first has distinct pulses that start and
stop, while the second is continuous. The first is like the sound of “Hu…Hu…”
which repeats in succession, while the second one is like that of “Hu-u-u…” that
is extended and continuous. The first vibration is like the sound of raindrops
falling from high above and striking the ground in repeated pulses, with the
sound of the falling and the sound of striking the ground being different. The
second vibration is like the sound of a sheet of water pouring down from a
height in one continuous motion without discrete drops of water being separable
from others. The first vibration is like the sound of a hammer striking on an
anvil with successive beats, and the second vibration is like that of a brass gong
that is struck once and resounds with a continuous expansive sound.
 One should disregard whether the first type of vibration is stronger or weaker
than the second. Suffice it to say that the second type of vibration is subtler in
comparison with the first. For this reason, it is felt only after long practice. It
should be understood that the seeker can sense the first type of vibration which
starts and stops when reciting names like God (Allah), True One (haqq), He
(hu) or other such name, because each name has a particular sound that has a
beginning and end. So each name that has a beginning and end can generate the
awareness of this first type of vibration that has discrete pulses. But the second
vibration is continuous and singular without having any beginning or ending. So
how could it be produced by reciting words and names whose sounds have
beginning and end? This second type of vibration should be attributed to the
object of meditation, namely God, rather than to the means of meditation,
namely God’s names, as is done with the first vibration. In the first case, God is
the object of meditative search with names and words, while in the second case,
God is the realization of that meditation. This explanation I have heard from
some Sufi masters, may God be content with them.45
A detailed explanation of this is as follows. You may say, “The object of
meditation and search (namely God) is characterized by the quality of being
absolute, but the quality of being absolute is indeed limited by being a quality.
Such a thing that has qualities cannot be truly absolute. Something is absolute
by its being unqualified by any limited thing, not by its being qualified by
nothingness. Thus when the seeker is aware of a vibration of the second type, he
is still aware of something in the phenomenal world of sensory perception. So
how can this vibration be attributed to God? Tell me if I am right or wrong!” I
would answer that a thing that is related to absoluteness is nearer and closer to
being absolute than something which is related to limitation. Therefore, since
the second type of vibration is more absolute in its existence than the first type
of vibration which is relative and limited, it shares more of the quality of the
object sought which is absolute, namely God. That said, we can admit that both
types vibration are of the existent world (‵alam-i tanazzulat) and both are
manifestations of divine names and qualities. If one continues to cultivate these
practices, with time it will become clear what is obliterated in obliteration and
what is sustained in sustenance. This is the furthest goal.
Now I round out this point by recounting a story. In my youth, one day I
went to a spiritual master in order to learn the right way and the straight path.
Before this point, I was always engrossed in devotional exercises. In fact, my
devotions became so intense that I was left with a spiritual thirst that no
devotion could quench. The master thought deeply and then said, “It is suitable
for you now to be engrossed now in the eternal sound (sawt-i sarmadi) also
known as the everlasting sound (sawt-i la-yazali), which is known amongst
Yogins as the un-struck sound (anahad).” I replied, “I will do so, if you would
confer this teaching to me.” He then told me, “Firmly close the holes of both
ears with your forefingers. Then concentrate and listen within your mind for a
sound that resembles the sound of water continuously falling from on high.
Turn your entire concentration to listening for this sound and do not be
distracted from hearing it for even a moment. When you become proficient in
listening to this sound then withdraw your fingers from your ear bit by bit. As
you do this, continue to concentrate on hearing it such that even in the world’s
din you are not absent from this sound. Gradually, you must reach the stage
where you hear this inner sound even without stopping up your ears with your
fingers and never be disrupted by the distracting clamor of the world and
worldly people. Rather, the eternal sound will overwhelm you regardless of all
other external noises. In this state, you will feel bliss that is beyond words to
describe.” Some people stuffed their ears with black pepper rolled in cotton, so
that the heat generated by the pepper might make this sound more powerfully
heard. But I heard from others that they tied string around the pepper to pull it
out easily. Once it is stuffed into the ear it can be very hard to remove. Others
wrap the pepper in a small piece of red silk so that the heat generated by the
pepper is even more and the sound heard might be more intense. The pepper so
used for a year is effective as a remedy for eye-diseases.
When the spiritual master ceased speaking, I closed my ears with the fingers as
I was told. Truly, I heard a murmuring resonance just like he had described. For
a while I concentrated on this sound. I felt something in me that had not been
there before. I turned to him and said, “Master, when will God remove the veil
from the divine face? For that is what I seek and the stage of love is lower than
that!” To this he said, “Miyan Mir of Lahore and his companions adopted the
practice of listening for this eternal sound which they called “the divine presence
(hazrat-i haqq)”. At that time I was a student and was spending all my time
learning from books and was only a beginner on the spiritual path, so I was very
sad to hear these words. At that time, I spurned this practice with disdain.
 But later I came to Medina, the blessed city that is lit up by the presence of
the Prophet Muhammad. I arrived in the presence of my spiritual guide, Shaykh
Yahya Madani, and told him of this event. He said, “This practice is very good
and beneficial! It is practiced in common by both Muslim holy men and
powerful ascetics of other religions.46 The effect of doing this practice is that
distracting thoughts as a whole are focused in one direction by one’s high
aspiration. The sound serves as a connection between the seeker and the One
sought, namely God. It bestows upon one a state of selflessness and self-absence
which is the beginning of obliteration of obliteration (fana’ al-fana’). Those who
claim that sound is the divine say this because the sound resembles God in its
absolute and unconditioned quality, as implied by the verse in Qur’an that says,
“There is nothing like unto God, for God is the One who hears, who sees.”47
The relationship he drew between what is absolute and what is limited is just
like that above, describing the relationship between the first type of vibration
and the second type.

Morsel 13

When this second vibration, which is continuous and sustained, becomes

known to the seeker, it begins to spread through the body part by part
depending upon the purity of its constitution and the intensity of the vibration.
Some people may feel this vibration in only one part of the body. In any case,
the manifestation of this vibration should cause one to keep focusing upon God,
the true goal. If one is unable to focus upon God, then one should concentrate
upon the heart without conceiving of the word Allah or any divine name. If it is
difficult to focus upon God without conceiving of any divine name, then one
should do this through conceiving of a divine name. But at this stage, focusing
only upon a divine name without realizing the reality signified by the name is
very detrimental. To turn back to a later stage when one has progressed to a
more advanced stage is infidelity! As the proverb says, “The good deeds of the
righteous appear as sins to the spiritually realized.”48
The perception of the vibration is quantitatively equal to the vibration itself.
In other words, the extent of perception should increase with the intensity of the
vibration. I can offer these tricks in order to help the seeker increase this
perception, for dependent upon this perception are reward and punishment,
intimacy or distance, presence or estrangement. Since the source of both kinds
of vibration is the heart, one is helped to perceive the vibration by concentrating
on the heart rather than on any other part of the body. Observe that
concentrating on any part of the body except the heart means concentrating less
on other parts of the body. But this is not the case with the heart. Concentrate
on the heart, for concentrating on it means also concentrating on all other parts
of the body. At this moment, three things are in complete accord and
conjunction: first, the vibration throughout the entire body, and second, the
object of meditation which is denoted by the name Allah and the reality that it
connotes, and third, knowledge of the object of meditation. One then realizes
the vibration and time itself, which otherwise come under the category of
phenomenal object that are conditioned and limited. At this stage, one is
overwhelmed by an onslaught of self-abnegation and un-self-consciousness, and
one is taken up into the state of obliteration of obliteration (fana’ al-fana’).

Morsel 14

With much practice, one attains awareness of this vibration most all of the
time. Then one should aspire to be aware of this vibration without the
mediation of the heart. One should focus upon it so intensely that one is not
even aware of the heart. One should advance to the stage in which both the
heart and the vibration are transcended. One should be aware of nothing but the
object of meditation, namely God. Accord with any other thing should be
discarded. Absence of duality is gained by singularity of focus that dissolves all
conception of duality. We only imagine a dualism that separates knowledge and
the object of meditation, that separates knowledge and the vibration which is
known. One must have high aspiration to cultivate this relationship, which
begins as little and proceeds towards much, and advances from much towards
always and ever. In some moments one may not be able to maintain this
relationship with the absolute directly, without any medium, due to some
weakness. Then one should search out that vibration and concentrate upon it
without any delay. If one gets distracted from maintaining contact with the
continuous, universal vibration of the entire body, then one should concentrate
instead on the continuous particular vibration of the heart. If that is also lost,
one should concentrate on the periodic particular vibration of the heart. If that
is also lost, one gathers one’s concentration again by taking a cold bath or, if that
is not practical, by breathing in two or three times with force until the breath
reaches the head. Or else one can recite in the heart the divine name “One who
does” (fa‵al) several times, while keeping in mind the meaning of the name, for
this will remove all obstacles that cause one to be misled, if God wills.

Morsel 15

With long practice and divine grace, one can reach the stage where one is
constantly in the divine presence of the one meditated upon, without struggling
to concentrate on the continuous universal vibration of the entire body. Then,
one should be careful not to be distracted from it even for a moment, no matter
what one is doing with the limbs or in the heart. At this stage, one can be said to
“Keep your hands busy with work and your heart engaged with the beloved.”49
As it is said in this quatrain:

My brother, the source of richness always tend

Don’t let this life towards distraction bend
At all times, wherever you are, whatever you do
Keep your heart’s gaze secretly on your friend
sar-i rishta-yi daulat, ay baradar, bi-kaf ar
wa-in ‵umr-i giran-maya bi-ghaflat ma-guzar
da’im hame ja ba hame kas dar hame kar
mi-dar nihufta chashm-i dil janib-i yar

Morsel 16
Concentration upon God, the object of meditation, without any intermediary
is a great and precious achievement. When this happens, one has realized the
true meditation of the heart. As long as one is concentrating through an
intermediary (like the vibrations) it is not meditation of the heart. This is
because the heart is a subtle energy center (latifa) that is of God. Some even say
that the heart does not belong to the body or corporeal organs. Some sages claim
that the heart is actually a power of awareness, and others opine that it is an
existence unconditioned by material limitations. Some think the heart is a subtle
vapor. Some consider the heart to come directly from divine command, while
others think that it belongs to the world of phenomena. Most agree that the
heart is a divine essence, but some hold that it is incapable of definition. I have
given a full account of these in my book Those Ten Complete Days (Tilka ‘Ashara
Kamila), including the heart (qalb), the soul (nafs), the spirit (ruh) and the
intellect (‵aql).50 The vibration that one senses is part of the phenomenal world,
and this is very far from the spiritual nature of the heart itself.

Morsel 17

When meditation of the heart is attained, then light begins to manifest to the
seeker, sometimes from within the self and sometimes from without. For
instance, light could manifest in the heart or the head, or in the right or the left
hand, and these states are all praiseworthy. Or light could manifest from
throughout the entire body which is an extraordinary rare event. As for light
manifesting from without, it could appear from one’s right side or from the left
side, from above or from the front, and these are also all praiseworthy states. Full
detail about these various kinds of light have already been noted above in a
previous morsel.
The essential point is that the seeker should not stay in this stage and long for
the appearance of such light. One can traverse the spiritual path successfully
without ever experiencing the manifestation of such light, and there is great
hope that such a person can reach the goal even faster. So although the
manifestation of light is a great blessing, one should strive towards having one’s
knowledge of the light come without any why or how so as to maintain the
proper relationship between one’s knowledge, what one knows, and one’s
ultimate goal. The goal is comprehending God in an absolute way without
having any limitation of how or attachment to forms.
This may be explained in the following way. The seeker discovers a relation to
the ultimate goal, which is God, that is felt like a cord. One end of the cord is
from the center of the heart and the other end of the cord is attached to the
divine essence. But the divine essence, is absolute and unqualified by limitation
of time, space and condition, so it is impossible for a cord to be attached to it
which is qualified by limitations. Nothing can be attached to such an essence
unless it becomes a command of the absolute (amr-i mutlaq), that is, unqualified
by a limitation in its essence unqualified by questions of more or less or how or
why. Seekers who are not experts in the rational sciences (like mathematics or
philosophy) may get upset when trying to imagine this kind of abstract schema.
But those who, by love of science and learning, have trained their intellects will
experience no anxiety in trying to conceive of this with force of imagination.
Yes, one must put up with some discomfort and tediousness! In the
beginning, one may experience no delight in striving to be attached with such a
cord as a command of the absolute that is beyond limitation in any dimension.
In fact, one might count it completely futile and a waste of precious time! But
with the help of love and the power of longing and desire to traverse these
spiritual stations, the seeker can overcome this boredom and dedicate himself to
this work.
Soon the seeker gets experience and this imagination gets perfected, and then
he begins to know his true nature. Sufi masters advise seekers in this station not
to do too much of conventional devotions, like reciting formulas (wird) or
reading litanies (wazifa) or making supererogatory prayers (nawafil), for this
might cause one’s hold on the cord to be lost. For seekers who are having
trouble making the connection to this command of the absolute, some Sufi
masters recommend that they concentrate upon the entire cosmos without
paying attention to any of its specific features and stripping away its distinctive
aspects. For after ignoring the features and stripping away the distinctions in the
cosmos, nothing is left except the absolute essence of existence (itlaq-i hayulani).
Some interpret this absolute to be like an ocean of light (darya-yi nur) and
conceive the self to be a tiny droplet of light that dissolves into that vast ocean of
light. Some assert that this absolute is like an endless darkness and think of the
self as a shadow that is obliterated in the black expanse. Some state that this
absolute is the ether that is between and connects the heavens and the earth and
all existing things. All these are metaphors through which reason uses sensory
data to approximate a reality that it cannot be directly described. Thus
understand the people endowed with reason through the paltry means available
to our unreceptive minds; truly God is above any such comparison or metaphor,
yet people need diverse ways to attain what they love. The true aim is for each
person to obliterate his phantasmal existence (ifna-yi hasti-yi mawhum) which
obscures him from bearing witness to the absolute being which is his true reality.
All these constitute ways and means to attain this lofty essence which we seek.
One experiences obliteration (fana’) when spiritual experiences overcome
one’s knowledge of one’s own individual existence—no, not only knowledge of
one’s own self but also knowledge of anything other than the self! When one no
longer has knowledge of the self and also has no knowledge of this knowledge,
then one experiences obliteration of obliteration (fana’-yi fana’). In as much as
one leaves behind one’s self, one gains intimate connection to the absolute,
which is God, as expressed in this poetic line:

As much as I leave myself behind, I find myself

in your embrace
An qadr ke az khweshtan raftam dar aghosh-tu-am

In short, the seeker finds a certain relationship within his or her cognitive self
(nafs-i natiqa) but the seeker does not know to what this relationship is
connected on the other side. For anything to which there can be a connection is
necessarily bound by existential specificity (ta‵ayyun) that limits it, but the divine
presence that is desired and sought is necessarily beyond specificity that limits.
Whatever level of understanding the seeker may attain, the divine presence is
beyond that. Whatever comes within the grasp of the understanding and
imagination of the seeker is thereby specified and limited. It is limited by being
within the imagination of the seeker.
Every existing thing exists by its specificity and its individualization, which are
necessarily limited, so such things cannot possibly be the divine presence that is
sought. For this reason, some sages have said that no saint or prophet has ever
attained the essence of the divine.

The phoenix cannot be captured

so pull back your net
As you search for the phoenix
keep firmly in hand your net

Thus the seeker knows that “I am turning my concentration towards the

divine, but I do not know to which direction I am turning my concentration.”
Thus the seeker does not know what he knows. This is level of comprehension is
called obliteration (fana’).
And if the seeker knows that he knows that he does not know, and goes
beyond that to not know that he knows anything, then this level of
comprehension is called obliteration of obliteration (fana’ al-fana’). This level is
the furthest that one can attain in the journey towards God (sayr ila ’llah).
Beyond it lies journeying in God (sayr fi ’llah).

Morsel 18

What we call obliteration (fana’) is of two kinds. The first kind is a type of
compound knowledge (‵ilm-i murakkab) while the second is essential knowledge
(‵ilm-i basit). Compound knowledge is an expression that means a kind of
comprehending that originates within the seeker and extends outward to
concentrate upon the divine presence, thereby disengaging from everything that
is other than the divine and attaching itself to nothing other than the divine.
This could be because everything he apprehends he does not conceive as
other, but rather conceives it as essential to himself; though they may be clothed
in the appearance of other things, he apprehends them all to not be existing
other than as part of his own existence. One should know that this apprehension
is actual and is in accord with reality. This is the belief of those who hold to the
school of “The Unity of Being” (wahdat-i wujud) in a pure way and clean
themselves of the dust of otherness. Or this could be because everything he
apprehends he sees as his beloved, because of his intense concentration on his
goal, his extreme seeking for his desired one, his overwhelming love for his
friend, and his powerful passion for his lover. But one should know that this
apprehension is not in accord with reality. For in reality, the multitude of
existing things other than God actually come from the special divine presence
that is the one necessary being (wajib al-wujud); but due to excessive yearning,
they were made apparent as other than God. So the statement that “All is God”
(hame u-st) is a misleading statement that is not in accord with reality. Those
who really believe in “The Unity of Being” see this statement as immature. But
both groups are in agreement that one should disregard things other than God,
because of their otherness, in order to achieve apprehension of unity.
Thus the seeker flees from knowing the many and takes refuge in knowledge
of the one. With this act of making the many one (tawhid), he finds intimacy
with God. But still there remains the fact that he knows this knowledge. Because
he is the knower, his knowledge remains a kind of compound knowledge—his
knowledge is still derived from knowledge of something other.

As long as you hold to the thought that you exist

In the field of the idol worshippers you subsist
You say, ‘I believe in breaking idols, so I’m free.’
You’re mistaken! the idol of self you have missed
ta dar tu pindar-i tu hasti baqi-st
maidan-i baqin ke but-parasti baqi-at
gufti but pindar shikastam rast-am
in but ke tu pindar shikasti baqi-st

Such is the meaning of compound knowledge, the first type of knowledge.

The second type is essential knowledge (‵ilm-i basit). This is an expression for a
type or kind of comprehending which consists of turning one’s concentration
towards the divine presence, by which the seeker gets disengaged from
everything else until even awareness of this knowledge also does not remain. In
this state, the knowledge of the seeker is essential knowledge, and the seeker
attains true obliteration (fana’-i haqiqi). In the opinion of some sages, the first
type—compound knowledge of the divine—is called obliteration (fana’), and
the second type—essential knowledge of God—is called obliteration of
obliteration (fana’-i fana’). Both kinds of knowledge are not acquired by one’s
own effort. Rather they are bestowed by blessed emanation of the holiest divine
majesty, without the efforts of the seeker having any influence upon it.

Nobody attains the goal by their own searching

Yet without searching nobody ever attains the goal
bi-justaju’i na-yabad kasi murad wali
kasi murad bi-yabad ke justaju bi-konad

Only after extreme longing, being pulled by divine attraction, experiencing

un-self-consciousness and attaining self-absence, it may be that someone receives
this blessed gift, after persisting for a long time thinking that, despite all
entreaties, he is receiving nothing. Without the seeker going through a long
period of divine attraction and un-self-consciousness, he can never have the
quality of being intimate with God (wilayat). Yet without these, he can still be
considered among the strict ascetics, pious devotees, righteous worshippers and
virtuous persons, though he may not have that closeness to union which is the
essential meaning of intimacy.
You should know that being pulled by divine attraction (jazba) is a necessary
condition for becoming a saint. But having this state of divine attraction last for
a long time—or forever—is not a condition for being a saint. It sometimes
happens that a person may be pulled by the divine (majzub) and act intoxicated
for many years, but then later be sent back to his senses. They say this was the
case with Bayazid Bistami, the Sultan of Sages, who for thirty years was in a state
of intoxication and self-absence. But it could be that one experiences this for just
a moment, and that is sufficient. But one who stays in a state of divine attraction
and senselessness (majzub) is limited by this and does not progress beyond this
stage, for without coming to one’s senses one cannot be worthy of giving
spiritual training (tarbiyat). But the Sufi masters—who are the kings who sit on
the throne of awareness, and who serve as the vice-regents of the Prophets, may
God grant them peace and blessing—are able to dispense this spiritual treasure
to others.

Morsel 19

Being sustained through God (baqa’ bi’llah) is an expression meaning “being

concentrated into unity” (jam‵ al-jam‵), which confers an intense bewilderment
(hayrat-i kubra). Most sages of this age hold that this great bewilderment is the
ultimate station (maqam) of the spiritual path, but others hold that the ultimate
station is contentment (riza’) and acceptance (taslim).
Being sustained through God means returning to the beginning (ruju‵ illa ’l-
bidayat). The beginning is the state of having one’s attention dispersed and
apprehending the multitude of various things as individual and separate
existences. Yet one returns to the beginning while disregarding the vision of a
beginning and proceeding to apprehend phenomenal appearances without
taking them merely as they appear. In this station, one has undergone an utter
distraction that overpowers one’s spiritual condition and then, after progressing
to the zenith of self-absence and un-self-consciousness—in which one is pulled
towards the divine by uncontrollable attraction, discards all fetters, disregards all
boundaries, and eradicates all specificities and dependencies—then one returns
to the state of considering the multitude of existing things and separate identities
and conditioned beings. But one returns to the beginning with a different vision,
not with the vision of a beginner!
These two stations share certain common features, even if one’s vision is
different within them. Both are similar in that one regards the multitude of
separate existing things. Yet there is a great difference between them! In the
beginning state, the seeker’s heart is searching for and longing for and
concentrating on God, while it is limited by the various existing things with
their separate identities, and does not observe and realize the command of the
absolute (amr-i mutlaq). However, in the other state, the seeker’s heart is
searching for and longing for and concentrating on God as the absolute essence
(zat-i mutlaq), such that all separate identities, conditioned beings and
individual existences are seen to be manifestations of the divine names (asma’)
and qualities (sifat). Just as in the first state, the seeker distinguishes between
lovely phenomena (jamal) and wrathful phenomenon (jalal), so also in the
second state he distinguishes between them but with an eye transformed and a
vision altogether different.
In the second state, some say that when they observe existing things and
apparent phenomena, they first bear witness to the absolute essence and then, by
the light of that essence, they see the multitude of individual existing things and
conditioned beings. Others say that they bear witness to the absolute essence in
seeing the multitude of phenomenal appearances. And yet others say that one
can bear witness to the absolute essence only after observing the multitude of
phenomenal things. It is as if the first one says, “I do not see anything unless I
see God before it,” while the second says, “I do not see anything unless I see
God within it,” while the third one says, “I do not see anything unless I see God
after it.”51 I submit to you the proverb, “Each of us has a specific station that is
known to him.”52
When in the end a spiritual master returns to the routine world in this way,
common people have difficulty recognizing him and distinguishing him from
others. In this regard, you should understand why God says, “My friends are
concealed under my cloak and no one knows them except for me.”53 Upon this
foundation, you can now understand why the words of some blind persons, in
deriding the Prophet Muhammad (on whom be peace), are cited in the Qur’an,
saying “What is with this man who claims to be a Prophet yet eats common
food and walks in the marketplace?”54 Another verse of Qur’an refers to people
in the station, when it says, “Men who are not distracted with buying and selling
from the remembrance of God.”55
Thus you can see that it is difficult to recognize the true people of God who
have realized this ultimate station of spiritual development. This is because their
appearance and behavior is like that of ordinary people. In contrast, those who
are distracted by the divine (majzub) and those mad for God (majnun), whose
behavior and appearance are so different from that of ordinary people, are easily
recognized by others and readily believed in by them. But among the rational
and sensible people, those few who have returned from a station of spiritual
uniqueness (fardiyat haqiqiya) do nothing unusual, and seldom do miracles
happen with them. This is because they focus their full concentration on the
absolute essence that is so pure as to be devoid of all qualities, while miraculous
acts in this world and the cosmos are effects of divine qualities (sifat). They have
moved above and beyond that state in which miraculous acts would appear from
them. The details of this ultimate station are beyond words and description, as it
says in the Qur’an, “Say ‘If the ocean were ink for writing the words of my Lord,
the ocean would finish before the words of my Lord would finish, even if
another ocean like it were added to help!’”56
Oh my brother, if you read these meager lines with an attentive heart, there is
a great hope your effort might move from the lowest depth to reach the loftiest
apex even without a spiritual guide. But I know well that without the attention
of a spiritual guide, this effort does not reach perfection. There are so many
obstacles which can be surmounted only with the inner help of a spiritual guide,
and such aid is impossible to get by the mere reading of books.57
Some vain and self-conceited people do not wish to take initiation from any
spiritual guide or keep their company, yet desire that through books alone they
might learn about meditation and contemplation and have their spiritual effort
reach perfection! This is nearly impossible and unthinkably rare. “Oh Lord,
decide between us and our people in truth, for you are the best of all who
decide!”58

General Advice
Morsel 1

You should know, and may God guide you to the truth, that the object of all
these types of meditation, reflection and contemplation is for you to be effaced
and to strip away worldly concerns. This may reveal to you the true grandeur
and subtlety of God. For the nature of one who realizes the singleness of God is
of firm resolve and concentrated unity, and he strengthens his connection to the
true source of the universe. Then from that state of being concentrated and
resolved, he arrives back into the world of difference and separation. So a person
with lofty aspiration and keen sense of justice always aims to turn towards that
sense of unity. As much as he dispenses with what is dispersed and separate he
achieves a strong bond with divine unity. And there is no way to achieve this
except to render the knowledge of yourself as essential knowledge, and thereby
disregard directions of the many and turn your face towards the one, until you
see no essence in the whole world except the divine essence and perceive no
qualities except divine qualities and acknowledge no actions except divine
actions.
Such a person comes to know the secret that permeates his very existence
which also courses within every other being in existence. In this state, he
achieves true faith (iman) and perfect awareness of God (taqwa). It is revealed to
him what is heaven and what is hell. He realizes what is this world and what is
the world to come. He comprehends what is the spirit and what is the soul. He
understands who is the tempter and who is the compassionate. He apprehends
who guides truly and who leads astray. Although the mystic sage has no goal to
discover all these things, he is impelled to bear witness to them.
The ways of doing meditation, reflection and contemplation are all based on
love (‵ishq). The greater is one’s love the greater is the effect of all these practices.
But if love is lax then their effect is lesser. These different types of spiritual
practices might aid one to restore the strength and intensity of love that
sometimes lags and weakens. One should never do these practices of meditation,
reflection and contemplation merely to get some reward. A true lover’s
aspiration is surely loftier than that.

Morsel 2

You will observe that all the varieties of meditation that have been detailed
above involve pronouncing words that assert the unity of God (tawhid).
Likewise, there are poems and couplets composed in every age that express the
unity of God. For this reason, reciting such poems is useful in striving to achieve
union with the divine, and especially effective are those in the Arabic language
which praise the more complete manifestation of prophethood (Muhammad),
may God bless him and grant him peace. The effect of these poems is especially
strong, though poems in any language that reveal the prophetic reality are useful.

What does love have to do with believer or infidel?

You can write this verse in either mosque or temple!
‵Ishq ra ba kafir o mumin na-bashad ihtiyaj
In sukhan dar masjid o but-khana mi-bayad navisht

Morsel 3
Spiritual guides in the Sufi way have established the principle of focusing on a
“medium” (barzakh) as a means whereby the dispersed attention can be gathered
in concentrated unity. The human being has the attention dispersed through the
various senses and is plagued by a host of distracting thoughts and is thus
prevented from apprehending the true knowledge of divine unity (tawhid).
Therefore, focusing attention upon a medium is a means to gather into unity all
the senses and thoughts. This is particularly so when the medium is someone
who commands reverence and demands respectful behavior.
By focusing on the image of one’s spiritual guide, whether in real vision or in
imagination, this medium serves to demand attention and respect, and in his
presence one naturally exhibits awe and modesty. This is most useful. With
much practice, the meaning that is inherent in the medium of one’s spiritual
guide’s form becomes apparent within the seeker himself. This is so because
thought takes on the color of whatever it reflects upon, just like material objects
reflect what is near them. Likewise, the human being is capable of taking on the
quality of any form that is dear to him, as expressed in this line from Maulana
Rumi’s Masnavi:

My brother, of thoughts entirely you are composed

Though bone and hair remain after you’re decomposed
If you think of roses, your life is a garden amazing
If you think of thorns, your life is a furnace blazing
Ay baradar, tu hamin andesha’i
ma baqi tu ustukhwan o resha’i
gar gul-ast andesha tu gulshani
war bud khari tu hame gulkhani

Any existing thing can function as a medium, because the term medium
means something that serves as an intermediary (wasita) between a person’s
heart and the sought-for divine. But since the divine is of an extremely subtle
and transcendent nature, it cannot be grasped by the senses or intellect. For this
reason, the beauty of the divine is made present through the intermediary of the
medium. From the smallest speck of dust to the radiant sphere of the sun, from
the lowest earth to the loftiest heavens, everything is a place of manifestation
(jalwa-gah) of the divine. The more subtle in nature the thing chosen as a
medium, and the more profound its meaning for the intellect, the more intense
is its effect. The more gross in nature the thing chosen as a medium, and the
further it is from the human form, the less intense is its effect. Wherever you
may look, if you look with the eye of wisdom and discernment, you see the
divine essence. Yet what one chooses as a medium makes a big difference.
Taking as a medium the form of one’s spiritual guide engenders a different
symbolic meaning, which would be very different from that engendered by
taking a stone or a clod of mud as a medium.
The Sufi masters used to choose for each disciple a medium that suits his or
her nature. For a disciple with a strong intellect, one would chose something
abstract and universal from the realm of rational meanings. For a disciple who is
weaker in intellect, one would chose some objects or image that is sensory and
specific. But the master would chose a medium only after careful consideration
of the internal state of the disciple, as to what thing he or she values most and is
most beautiful in his or her sight. For example, consider someone who is in love
with a young man and is mad with passion for him. He would feel that the
beauty of this young man is more intense than that of his spiritual guide. So
when the spiritual guide decides what should serve as the medium for him, he
would chose the image of that young man whom he loves. Gradually, after long
practice with these many meditations and contemplations, he would be released
from this trap, as his relation to physical things lessens and his relation to
spiritual things deepens. Take for example a person who feels that a rose in the
garden is more beautiful than anything else. The medium for him would be the
image of this rose. For if his spiritual guide would command that his own form
serve as the medium for his man, it would not serve the purpose as well as this
rose would. Then after these meditative practices, he would slowly be released
from this obsession with roses and move on to higher things.

Morsel 4

The various kinds of meditation that involve forceful motion are to engender
an internal heat within the practitioner that increases the feeling of passion,
engenders yearning and stokes the fires of love. These kinds that demand strain
and effort include suspending the breath or restraining the breath, or the
meditation in two beats, the meditation in six beats, or the meditation of the
blacksmith. In performing meditations like these, the seeker should feel
impassioned and should call out in ecstasy. For this reason, it is said that
teaching the youth these kinds of meditations bears fruit more quickly. It is said
that the Sufi after thirty years becomes cool and frigid. One should not teach
these kinds of meditation to children who have not reached the age of maturity,
lest they burn up with the internal heat it generates. When they reach the age of
adolescence, then they may do it. The ardors that youthful years can endure
cannot be borne by those in old age. The visions and unveilings achieved by the
young cannot be attained by the aged. Shaykh Nizam al-Din Narnauli gave a
prescription for older seekers who feel cool.59 He suggested they consume the
seeds of Panwar plant for the purpose of generating internal heat and stimulating
motion in their constitutions by means of an herbal remedy.60
 Morsel 5

There is a secret in the practice of devotions and meditations that involves the
beating of the heart, hearing the eternal sound (sawt-i sarmadi) and sequence of
breaths. The secret is in their constantly repeating nature. These practices are
perfected with constant repetition, and when perfected they also repeat
continuously. Their constantly repeating nature is a fundamental feature that
can be found in other phenomena in the cosmos. For example, observe the
motion of the heavenly bodies and stars that are in constant perpetual motion,
or the movement of waves in the ocean. But such phenomena are external to the
human body and so they are difficult for us to focus upon. It is easier for us to
focus on the constant repetition and perpetual motion that is existent without
our own human bodies, such as the beating of the heart or the oscillating of the
breath. You may object by saying, “Every moment the human being is changing
color and mood and yet the human being remains the same over time, so why
don’t we consider the outer form of the human body as the principle of constant
perpetual motion?” I would reply, “First of all, color is dependent upon the eye
that sees it. In contemplations and even in meditation, closing the eyes is not
just beneficial but rather essential. Secondly, its constant renovation is not self-
evident but is rather only a matter of opinion. It would take some surgical
experiments to establish for certain that this is the truth.”

Morsel 6

A melody is a fiery spark in the seeker’s heart that is kindled by intense love. It
is not something external to the seeker that effects him within. In the beginning,
listening to music causes weeping and lamenting and restlessness and violent
movements and moisture in the eyes, nose and mouth. These effects are due to
the pain that is felt, a pain that is caused by performing much meditation. But
those who have reached the station of bewilderment do not weep out of
separation but rather they weep at the prospect of union. If they do weep, they
do so because of regret for what is past or for some cause arising out of love. The
tears of these, it is said, are sweet while those who weep from pain are bitter.
Further, their movement in dancing is extremely soft, gentle and harmonious,
and most often they dance in perfect accord with the rhythm of the melody.
This motion is called “according to spiritual discourses” (nawatiq-i ruhani). It is
enough to demonstrate their open-heartedness and expansive joyous spirit,
though common people do not consider this kind of dance and movement very
interesting. Common people like listening to music that causes forceful
movement. But the spiritually attuned recognize where this subtle movement
comes from, that is from the submissive prostration of the heart.
While people are listening to the music, the person who first gets up and
begins to dance in ecstasy is responsible for whatever happens in the assembly,
whether it is good or bad. Nizam al-Din Awliya says that if a Sufi’s back touches
the floor during such ecstasies, then he should sacrifice himself or give away
one’s clothes in charity. The author of the Risala Qushayriya says that while
listening to music, movement of any sort diminishes the spiritual state of any
seeker whether he is a beginner or advanced or in the middle.61 It is therefore
not proper for one to move from one’s place no matter how overcome with
emotion one might be. As far as possible, one should be firmly grounded and in
control.
With this the writer closes this book. Even though there are many more
things that should be said about meditation, there is nothing to be done about
that. This book was finished on 3 October 1690 CE (the last day of Dhu’l-Hijja
1101 AH). Oh God, keep these pages safe from indolent seekers and idle
listeners! So it is finished, by the sacredness of the leader of the pious and his
most pure family and followers. May God grant peace and blessings to
Muhammad along with his kith and kin.

1 Surat al-Ahzab 33:72 tells that God offered “the trust” to the heavens and the mountains but they all
declined in fear of bearing it, yet the human being accepted the trust, thereby becoming God’s vice-regent
in the world.

2 Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami was a great early Sufi and was one of the first to write about Sufi theory
and practice in prose; he lived in Persia and died in 1021. See Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 85-
87.

3 Surat al-Baqara 2:152.

4 ‘Abd al-Karim al-Jili was a master in the Qadiri Sufi order. He traveled in India and lived in Yemen,
where he died in 1403 AH. He wrote many books explaining the mystical teachings of Ibn ‵Arabi, and his
most famous work is The Complete Human Being on Mystical Knowledge of the Ends and Origins (al-Insan al-
Kamil fi Ma‵rifat al-Awakhir wa’l-Awa’il).

5 Sharaf al-Din Ahmad ibn Yahya Maneri was a master in the Firdausi Sufi Order, and he died in Bihar
(near Patna in North India) in 1381. The cave where he used to meditate in the Ragjir hills is still a popular
place of pilgrimage. He met Shaykh Nizam al-Din Awliya in Delhi. Sharaf al-Din Maneri is most famous
for his collection of letters of spiritual guidance; see Paul Jackson (trans.), The Hundred Letters of
Sharafuddin Maneri (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1980).

6 The Sufi meditation on the phrase “No god but God” is similar in function to the Yogic practice of
pranava or repetition in each breath of the syllable Aum. Beck, Sonic Theology: Hinduism and Sacred Sound,
86, notes that Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra says “The sacred word (om) connotes him (Isvara or God); its
repetition and the understanding of its meaning should be done.” The earliest commentary on the Yoga
Sutra is by Vyasa, who writes about this verse, “The Yogi who has come to know well the relation between
word and meaning must constantly repeat it, and habituate the mind to the manifestation therein of its
meaning. The constant repetition is to be of the pranava (A U M) and the habitual mental manifestation is
to be what it signifies, Isvara. The mind of the Yogi who constantly repeats pranava and habituates the
mind to the constant manifestation of the idea it carries, becomes one-pointed.”

7 Ibn ‘Ata’ullah al-Iskandari is a famous Sufi master in the Shadhili Sufi order. He died in Alexandria in
1309. He wrote many valuable texts on Sufism, including The Key to Salvation (Miftah al-Falah wa Misbah
al-Arwah) which is one of the earliest Sufi texts on meditation techniques. It is probably to this text that
Shaykh Kalimullah refers here. See Mary Ann Koury Danner (trans.), The Key to Salvation (Cambridge:
Islamic Texts Society, 1996).

8 Zain al-Din al-Khawafi was an important master in the Suhrawardi Sufi order; he died in Herat (in
Afghanistan) in 1435 and wrote a text entitled Mir’at al-Talibin (Mirror of Seekers). See H. T. Norris,
“The Mir’at al-Talibin by Zain al-Din al-Khawafi,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies
53/1 (1990): 57-63. The reference to “Baha’ al-Din ‘Umar” must refer to Shaykh Baha’ al-Din Zakariya
who established the Suhrawardi Sufi Order in South Asia; he died in 1263 in Multan (in Pakistan).

9 ‵Abd al-Khaliq Ghujdawani was an important master who founded the principles that are practiced by
the Naqshbandi Sufi Order; he lived in the town of Ghujdawan near Bukhara (in Uzbekistan) and died in
1220; his name is sometimes recorded as Ghijduwani. He advocated silent zikr and consciousness of the
breath according to the Persian saying “hosh dar dam” (consciousness in each breath). It is related that he
met Khizr, the figure of eternal wisdom, and learned secrets of zikr techniques directly from him.
10 Beck, Sonic Theology, 206 writes that “Sufism in India accepted the ancient Hindu doctrine that speech-
sound is generated by the interaction of heat (internal fire) and air (breath) in the human body.”

11 This saying is popularly attributed to Shaykh Bayazid Bistami: “Man laysa lahu al-shaykha fa-shaykhuhu
al-shaytanu.”

12 ‵Abd al-Qadir Jilani (or Gilani) is an influential master from Iran who is the founder of the Qadiri Sufi
Order; he died in Baghdad in 1166.

13 In Arabic, this prayer is: “Ya Rabbi, dullani ‵ala ‵abdin min ‵ibadika al-muqarribina hatta yadullani
‵alayka wa yu‵allimani tariq al-wusuli ilayka.”

14 The Shadhili Sufi community was founded in North Africa by Abu’l-Hasan al-Shadhili who lived in
Morocco and Tusinia, and died in Egypt on 1258. He was a descendant of Imam Hasan. The Shadhili
community spread to Mecca and Medina, and it is most likely that Shaykh Kalimullah encountered their
teachings when he went to Medina to stay with his spiritual guide, Shaykh Yahya Madani, though he did
not take any formal initiation into the Shadhili order.

15 Sura al-Baqara 2:285 Amana al-rasulu bi-ma unzilla ilayhi min-rabbihi wa’l-mu’minuna kullun amana
bi-illahi wa mala’ikati-hi wa kutubi-hi wa rusuli-hi la nufarriqu bayna ahadin min rusuli-hi wa qalu sami’‵na
wa-ata‵na ghufranaka rabbina wa ilayka al-masiru. “The messenger believes in what has been revealed to
him from his Lord, and so do the believers. All of them have faith in God and God’s angels and books and
messengers, saying ‘We make no difference between any of God’s messengers.’ And they say, ‘We hear and
obey, Oh Lord, to win your forgiveness and you are the end of the journey.’” Surat Al ‵Imran 3:18 Shahida
allahu annahu la ilaha illa huwa wa’l-mala’ikatu wa-ulu’l-’ilmi qa’iman bi’l-qisti la ilaha illa huwa ‘l-‵azizu
‘l-hakimu. “God bears witness that there is no God but he, and so do the angels and those endued with
knowledge who stand firm with justice. There is no god but God, the mighty One, the wise One.”

16 Surat al-Fath 48:10.

17 The spiritual guide says Hadha libasu ‘l-taqwa wa dhalika khayrun wa‘f-‵aqibatu li’l-muttqina, which
echoes Surat al-A‵raf 7:26 which reads, libasu ‘l-taqwa dhalika khayrun… “O children of Adam, we have
indeed sent down to you clothing to cover your shame and for beauty, and the clothing of piety that is
best.”

18 Salat al-awabin is a prayer beyond the canonical prayers (nafil) that is performed after sunset prayer
(maghrib) and consists of six to twenty cycles of prostration (raka‘at). It is recommended to offer peace
(salam) after every two cycles.
19 Khannas is the “whispering tempter” that the Qur’an asserts dwells in the breast of every person (Surat
al-Nas 114:4). According to Shaykh Nizam al-Din Awliya, Khannas is the son of Iblis (Satan) who lives in
the breast of all people and tries to influence their hearts; see Scott Kugle, Sufis and Saints’ Bodies (Chapel
Hill: UNC Press, 2007), 38-9.

20 Surat al-Infitar 82:10-11 refers to the “honorable scribes” (katibin karimin) that are angels appointed to
record one’s good and bad deeds and preserve them for judgment day.

21 Literally this is known as the “babbling or chattering” meditation named after the sound that a stork
makes (laqlaqa or “to babble” comes from laqlaq which signifies a stork), which is a continuous clucking or
choking sound.

22 The word dimagh means both mind and head. Here it signifies the head, or more specifically, the inner
cavity of the head as the upper limit of the flow of breath.

23 The word given here for “greasy fat” is the Hindi term dusumat, whereas earlier he used the Persian term
charbi.

24 Abu Hafs al-Haddad was a blacksmith who became a Sufi master of Nishapur in Northern Persia, and
he died in 787-9 CE. See Ahmet Karamustafa, Sufism: the Formative Period (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 2007), 48.

25 In Arabic grammar, this is called pronouncing with ashba‵ which extends the final vowel sound which is
not an inherent part of the word and pronouncing it audibly. Saying God’s name as Alla-hu gives it the
implied meaning of “God is.”

26 Shaykh Nasir al-Din Chiragh-i Delhi, “The Lamp of Delhi,” was the chief disciple and successor to
Shaykh Nizam al-Din Awliya in the Chishti Sufi order. He died in 1356. One of his chief disciples was
Gisu Daraz,”He with Long Locks,” whose proper name was Sayyid Muhammad al-Husayni. He died in
1422 and is often seen as the patron saint of the Deccan region of South India, where he settled after
leaving Delhi. See Syed Shah Khusro Hussaini, Sayyid Muhammad al-Husayni-i Gisudiraz on Sufism (Delhi:
Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli, 1983).

27 Ibn ‵Arabi was a Sufi master who unified mysticism with philosophy in a highly influential way. He was
born in Andalusia, lived in North Africa and died in Damascus in 1240 CE; see Stephen Hirtenstein, The
Unlimited Mercifier: the spiritual life and thought of Ibn ‵Arabi (Oxford: Anqa Publishing, 1999).

28 Surat al-Shura 42:11.

29 This phrase quotes Qur’an 2:115: “To God is the east and the west. Wherever you may turn there is the
face of God.”

30 This final phrase is taken from Surat al-Baqara 2:115.

31 This refers to Shaykh Farid al-Din Mas‵ud who was nick-named Ganj-i Shakar or “Treasury of Sugar.”
He was the spiritual guide of Shaykh Nizam al-Din Awliya in the Chishti Sufi Order. Shaykh Farid al-Din
lived in Punjab and died at Ajodhan (known as Pakpattan, in Pakistan) in 1265 CE; see K.A. Nizam, The
Life and Times of Shaikh Farid-u’d-Din Ganj-i-Shakar (Delhi: Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delli, 1955).

32 In Arabic this prayer read: “Allahumma innaka qulta fa-zkuruni azkurakum wa qad zakartuka ‵ala qadri
qillati ‵ilmi wa ‵aqli wa fahmi. fa-zkurni ‵ala qadri sa‵ati nafsika wa fadlika wa ‵ilmika wa maghfiratika.
Allahummma iftah masami‵a qulubina bi-zikrika, ya khaira ‘l-zakirin.”

33 The primal attributes of the divine are life (hayat), knowledge (‘ilm), power (qudra), will (irada), hearing
(sam‘), sight (basar), and speech (kalam), as mentioned above in Chapter 1, Morsel 2.

34 In Arabic this prayer reads: “Astaghfiru ‘llaha min jami‵i ma kariha ‘llahu qawlan wa fi‵lan wa hadiran
wa gha’iban wa sami‵an wa naziran, wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa bi-llahi ‘l-‵aliyi ‘l-‵azimi.”

35 Abu Madyan Shu’ayb ibn al-Hussain al-Ansari was born near Seville and died in Tlemcen, Algeria, in
1198. He is considered to be a pioneer Sufi Shaykh of Western Islamic lands (maghrib, meaning Andalusia
and North Africa). For his life, teachings and poems, see Vincent Cornell, The Way of Abu Madyan
(Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1996).

36 To explain this point further, the editor of Shaykh Kalimullah’s text writes: “It is said that God
sometimes appears in the form of a human being, but foolish and ignorant this. This is proved by the verse
of Qur’an that says, ‘God makes the truth true and people denounce makes un-truth false even if those who
denounce detest it’” (Surat al-Anfal 8:8). Shaykh Mu’ayyid al-Din al-Jandi was a Sufi in Ibn Arabi’s school
of thought, which some authors call “theosophical Sufism.” He was a disciple of Sadr al-Din Qunawi, the
step-son of Ibn Arabi and his most authoritative interpreter. Al-Jandi wrote a commentary on Ibn Arabi’s
famous text, Fusus al-Hikam; see William Chittick and Peter Lamborn Wilson (trans. and ed.), Fakhruddin
‵Iraqi—Divine Flashes (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1982), xvi, 44 and 65.

37 Ibrahim ibn Adham was an important early Sufi master who died in 777 AH in Syria. According to his
legend, he was a ruler in Balkh (present day Afghanistan) who abdicated his position in order to become an
ascetic and mystic. The Chishti Sufi Order traces its lineage back through him to early Sufi masters and
then to Imam Ali and the Prophet Muhammad.
38 These two terms are discussed in greater detail in reference to the Treatise on the Human Body below.

39 This refers most likely to Shaykh Baha al-Din Ibrahim Shattari of Burhanpur, who was also member of
the Qadiri Order, as he is named here. In Burhanpur and the Deccan, most Shattari Sufis also held
allegiance to the Qadiri Sufi Order, and gradually the two became thoroughly fused. Shaykh Baha al-Din
and other Shattari Sufis were very active in integrating Sufi meditation techniques with Yoga; in his only
known writing, he explained, “Another way of meditation in the Hindawi language is to sit cross-legged,
just as the Yogis do. Raise your eyes and face to the heavens. Pronounce the following words of meditation
one thousand times or more, and it will let you achieve in the end the realm of spiritual flight;” from Baha’
al-Din Shattari Burhanpuri, Risala Shattariyya (manuscript at Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh State Oriental
Manuscript Library, 745 Farsi Tasawwuf), 46.

40 This reference is to the practice of “Meditation of the Three Supports” as described above in Chapter 1,
Morsel 7.

41 The text reads “Sultan-Jiu Nizam al-Din” and here refers to Nizam al-Din Awliya by his honorific title,
“Sultan-i Awliya” or Chief of the Saints. Nizam al-Din was the spiritual guide of Shaykh Nasir al-Din, who
was in turn the spiritual guide of Muhammad Hussaini Gisu Daraz, referred to next.

42 Surat al-Isra 17:81.

43 Bayazid Bistami was an early Sufi master from Iran who died in 874 CE, who championed the
superiority of mystical intoxication over rational sobriety; see Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 47-
51.

44 Surat Yusuf 12:87.

45 Beck, Sonic Theology, 206 writes that “The identification of absolute and unqualified being with both
God and with the sound-vibration is common to Hindu speculation and Sufi thought in India. In a way, it
requires the use of language-as-sound to transcend language itself, as a network of symbols that structures
cognition and roots self-identification. This explains the use of language-as-sound (rather than language-as-
speech) in mysticism as a vehicle of meditation.”

46 The text describes Muslim holy men as sahib-i karamat or those who perform miracles by God’s grace.
It describes powerful ascetics of others religions (namely Hindu Yogis) as sahib-i istidraj or those who
perform wonders by their own penitence or sorcery. But the sense of the text is that both Muslim and
Hindu holy men do this practice.

47 Surat al-Shura 42:11 which says Laysa ka-mithli-hi shay wa huwa ‘l-sami‵ al-basir.
48 This proverb in Arabic is: “Hasanat al-abrar sayi’at al-muqaribin.”

49 This proverb in Persian reads: “Dast bi-kar o dil bi-yar.”

50 Shaykh Kalimullah here refers to his book in Arabic entitled Those Ten Complete Days (Tilka ‵Ashira
Kamila). He wrote this little book by collecting the sayings of previous Sufi masters on essential spiritual
topics, one for each day of the last ten days of Ramadan, the month of fasting. It is a custom to spend these
ten days alone in isolated prayer, and Kalimullah did this in October 1681 CE (Ramadan 1092 AH), and
during those ten complete days he wrote this book for his own benefit and that of others.

51 In Arabic, these sayings are: Ma ra’aytu shay’an illa wa-ra’aytu ‘llaha qabla-hu. Ma ra’aytu shav’an illa
wa-ra’aytu ‘llaha fi-hi. Ma ra’aytu shay’an illa wa-ra’aytu ‘llaha ba‵da-hu. These sayings are frequently
quoted by lbn ‵Arabi, for example in al-Futuhat al-Makkiya, Vol. 2 in chapter 126 entitled “mar‵ifat
maqam al-muraqaba.“

52 In Arabic, this saying is: “ma minna illa wa la-hu maqam ma‵lum.“

53 This is a hadith qudsi, a report from Muhammad which relates the saying of God. In Arabic, the saying
is: “Awliya’i tahta qaba’i la ya‘rifuhum ghayri.” See Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 203.

54 Surat al-Furqan 25:7.

55 Surat al-Nur 24:37.

56 Surat al-Kahf 18:109.

57 About these obstacles, Shaykh Kalimullah has written another small book in Arabic entitled Essentials of
Kalimullah (Ma La Budda Kalimi) in which he details ten such spiritual obstacles, which he completed in
1662-3 CE (1073 AH).

58 Surat al-A‵raf 7:89. This prayer recalls the words of the Prophet Shu‵ayb as cited in the Qur’an.

59 Shaykh Nizam al-Din Narnauli was a master who died in 1589 at Narnaul (a town in Haryana in North
India). He was a disciple of Khwaja Qanun, a famous Chishti Sufi of Gwalior during the early Mughal
period. The Mughal Emperor Akbar visited Nizam al-Din Narnauli, as narrated by the historian Nizam al-
Din Ahmad in Tarikh-i Alfi; see Henry Elliot, The History of India as Told by its Own Historians, vol. 7 page
407. Narnaul is also the location of the dargah of Shaykh Muhammad Turkman Narnauli who was a
disciple of Shaykh Usman Harwani, the spiritual guide of Mu‵in al-Din Chishti.

60 Panwar in Hindi is the name of a shrub that grows in Northern India with the scientific name Cassia
Tora, commonly called “Sickle Senna” or “Wild Senna” or “Coffee Pod Tree” that is used in Ayurvedic
medicine and is sometimes used as a stimulant and coffee substitute.

61 Abu’l-Qasim al-Qushayri was an early Sufi master and hadith scholar who lived in Nishapur and died in
1074. He wrote one of the most influential treatises on Sufi practice (al-risala al-qushayriyya fi’l-tasawwuf).
See Michael Sells (trans. and ed.), Early Islamic Mysticism (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1996; The Classics
of Western Spirituality Series Number 86), 112.
 The Compass of
Truth by Dara Shikoh
 Translator’s Notes
by Scott Kugle
This is one of several compositions about Sufism by the Mughal prince, Dara
Shikoh. His other texts are about the lives of eminent Sufis of the past or about
the complementarity of Hinduism and Islam, as seen through the lens of Sufism.
In reality, this text represents his most intense engagement with Sufism. It
describers both his concrete experience with meditation practices and the
cosmological framework in which those meditation practices gain urgency and
efficacy.
Dara Shikoh had in his personality a tendency towards mysticism, and his
Mughal environment reinforced this for it was founded on the ideal that Sufi
guides of the past ensured the prosperity and success of his political rule. Earlier
Mughal emperors had taken Shattari Sufis as their guides or patronized Chishti
masters of the past. But Dara Shikoh, in his earnest zeal for mystical experience,
found a spiritual guide in the Qadiri order, in the person of Mulla Shah. This
treatise represents a true account of Dara Shikoh’s training under Mulla Shah,
and offers the reader intimate advice on how to meditate according to the Qadiri
order’s teachings in South Asia.
Dara Shikoh wrote this text in 1645 CE (1055 AH). Dara Shikoh was an
ardent Qadiri Sufi. He wrote this text after having heard a voice of inspiration
tell him that “the best possible way of reaching God was the Qadiri Sufi order.”
But his training in meditation techniques has much in common with the
Chishti Sufi order. Part of the value of this treatise is that it demonstrates the
common basis of meditation techniques in both the Qadiri and Chishti Sufi
orders. In the earliest printing of Kashkul in the lithograph edition used to
render the translation in English offered above, the editor includes a note at the
end giving a quote from The Compass of Truth. So the editor saw both of these as
texts that were linked in their content.
This translation was rendered from a fine lithograph print. That print was
published in October 1896 by Munshi Nawal Kishore Press in Lucknow, under
the auspices of the Press’ owner, Munshi Parag Narayan. It contains some useful
marginal notes that were added by an editor to clarify certain ambiguities—
especially in Arabic words or phrases that Indian readers of the Persian text
might not immediately grasp.
In preparing this translation, I consulted an earlier English translation by Rai
Bahadur Srisa Chandra Vasu made at the turn of the 20th century by a Bengali
gentleman and lawyer (at the Northwest Province High Court) who appears to
have been active in the Theosophical Movement. However, in referring back to
the original Persian, I was dissatisfied with Vasu’s earlier English translation, and
ended up translating the text anew, adopting what was apt from the earlier
translation but modifying it where improvements were needed. Improvements
were necessary in the following cases: the original translation was not accurate,
or was too abridged, or translated technical terms in a way inconsistent with
other Sufi texts that use the same terms, or used a Victorian style of English that
sounds outdated and precious to modern readers.
At the turn of the 20th century, it appears that Vasu was very active in
translating mystical texts into English. He published an English translation of
the Shiva Samhita, a Sanskrit text on Hatha Yoga; he published this translation
as The Esoteric Philosophy of the Tantra Shiva Sanhita in 1887 in Calcutta, and
dedicated the text to Henry Steel Olcott, an American Colonel and early
Buddhist convert who was the cofounder of the Theosophical Movement with
Madame Helena Blavatsky in 1875. On moving to India, Olcott and other
Theosophical Society members sponsored a major drive to translate into English
texts on “Eastern Spirituality,” texts coming mainly from the Buddhist, Hindu,
and Zoroastrian traditions; it appears that Srisa Chandra Vasu was one of the
translators active during that optimistic age. These translations undoubtedly had
a great effect on both Orientalist scholars and spiritual practitioners over the
course of the 20th century, but as translations they are not totally firm and
reliable. Vasu’s translation of the Shiva Samhita, for instance, has been critiqued
and laid aside by the contemporary scholar James Mallinson, as he prepared a
new critical edition and translation of that text.1
As time moves on, scholarly knowledge grows and communication styles
evolve, and so it is no insult to an intrepid translator from the past for a
contemporary writer to re-translate a text. I appreciate the effort that Srisa
Chandra Vasu put into translating The Compass of Truth, yet I did not rely upon
his translation but rather went back to the Persian original in order to create a
new translation that will be useful for modern readers. But for clarity, I should
alert readers to just how this new translation differs from that done a century
earlier. Here is an example of how my translation differs from the earlier English
translation. Vasu wrote: “O friend! When thou shall begin to hear this voice,
thou must attend to it very carefully and try to keep it with all thy might, so
thou mayest be expert in hearing it; and may hear it not only in the solitude of
the desert and the cloister, but in the bustle and noise of the market place, and
meeting houses of mankind.” I translated the same passage: “When this sound
manifests to your hearing, my friend, you must observe it keenly. You must try
your hardest to preserve your ability to listen for it, until you can master it so
that, just as you heard it in the silence of the wilderness or a closed room, you
will also hear it in the noisy marketplace amid throngs of people.”
I endeavored to use simpler language in a style that would be more
immediately accessible to a contemporary reader. In addition, I was able to
present how the text uses Arabic from the Qur’an, hadith reports, and other
spiritual sources that Vasu did not fully grasp. Finally, I paid greater attention to
systematically translating technical terms from the Sufi tradition into English, in
a way that highlights the continuity between Dara Shikoh’s text and others in
the Sufi tradition. In contrast, Vasu had sometimes offered rather eccentric
translations of technical terms based upon his prior philosophical commitments
and the Theosophical Movement’s eager universalism. With this caveat, I
present to you The Compass of Truth by Dara Shikoh.

1 James Mallinson, The Shiva Samhita (Woodstock, NY: YogaVidya, 2007). On page xi, Mallinson
acknowledges that Vasu’s earlier translation was successful in securing the text a respected place among
modern Yoga practitioners, but notes that the translation was in places inaccurate and abridged.
 The Compass of Truth by Dara Shikoh
In the name of God, the compassionate and merciful.
God is the first and the last, the manifest and the hidden.1 Praise be to that
divine essence who is the absolute existence (mawjud-i mutlaq). Reverence be to
that prophet, to whom is revealed every thing and who is the vicegerent of the
true One (khalifa-i haqq). Let profuse mercy shower on him, his descendants
and his companions.
It is best that I not attempt to exhaustively do justice to their praise and
reverence, so let me cut short this attempt, because whatever may be written on
this point is bound to fall short of the truth. For the opinion of the sages (arbab-
i ‵irfan) is that “No praise for you is sufficient, for you are as you have praised
yourself!”2
So we turn to the point of this treatise. O friend, the reason why the human
essence (haqiqat-i insani) has descended into this bodily frame (haikal-i jismani)
is so the trust that was hidden as potential in it may become explicit and
complete, so that it may return to its original source.
It is the duty of all human beings to struggle to save themselves from eternal
loss, free themselves from the delusion of individual existence (wahm-i ta
‵ayyunat), and return to their true source. They should not waste this life, which
lies as a flickering moment of time between the two eternities of past and future,
in useless thoughts, words, and deeds. They must each save themselves from
everlasting remorse and regret, and free themselves from eternal loss and ruin.
They must strive to not be among those whom the Qur’an describes as “like
dumb cattle—no, even more lost.”3 Indeed, they must not let go to waste that
special and noble gift bestowed upon the human being in distinction from the
rest of creation. That is the gift of reason and discrimination, for God says,
“Surely we gave human beings a special endowment.”4 For God created the
whole world for the sake of humanity, and created humanity especially for the
sake of God. So each person must find a spiritual guide (sahib-dil) through
whom to find release from the pain of loss and the pangs of separation, for one
cannot find God without a dependable guide who has given up all else. Whoever
has not given up the world (faqr) has not found God. And whoever has found
God has given up the world. Though one might strive and struggle, this ultimate
goal is one that is given undeserved rather than one that is earned and achieved.

Union can never be achieved by striving, that is right

Keep trying, O my heart, and strive with all your might
Gar-che visal-ash na bi-koshish dahand
An qadar ai dil keh tavani bi-kosh

There are two ways that one can reach presence of the holy One. The first is
by bounty given undeserved (fazl). This means that God leads one to a spiritual
guide who, with one glance and concentration, makes his spiritual condition
complete. He raises the veil from his sight and wakes him up from the daze of
negligence and opinion. He shows him the beauty of the divine beloved without
any strain or struggle or difficulty. He releases him from the bonds of his ego
and lets him rise to the exalted level of “by me, he hears, and through me, he
sees.”5 As it says in the Qur’an, “This is the bounty of God who bestows it on
those whom God wills, for God is the One with great bounty.”6
The second way to reach God is through struggle (mujahadat) and exertion
(riyazat). It happens in this way, that a man hears from others or reads in the
sayings of previous times that certain persons have reached to God, and have
known the true One with deep intuitive knowledge (ma‵rifat) and have set off to
reach union with that divine presence. This sparks in his mind a desire to reach
the same lofty position. When this idea takes a strong hold on his heart, he
begins to seek and search and engage in struggle and exertion by himself, till he
finds a spiritual guide who can inform him about the path by which prior
seekers of union have gone. Then he puts all his effort and struggle into
following that path. And with all this, after countless labors and trials he might,
if God grants divine bounty, he might catch sight of his goal and, by the blessing
of those who have gone before him, his desire might be fulfilled.
The humble beggar at the court of the eternal One, named Muhammad Dara
Shikoh who follows Hanafi law and the Qadiri Sufi order, belongs to that group
of devotees who are attracted to God spontaneously without struggle or
austerities. Through the glance of a spiritual guide, God has drawn him towards
the divine and, by ceaseless grace, has shown him to the furthest goal. He has
come to know all the levels of spiritual knowledge of divine unity in its subtleties
and details. He has spent time in the company of most of the saints of his age.
He has especially followed one of them who was exemplary in his era. He has
stayed close to the blessed breaths of this spiritual guide, until he came to know
through experience the desired goal shared by all the prophets and saints.
Then it was desirable to write an account of those dear saints in a book. So on
a Friday, the 9th of September in the year 1645 (17 Rajab, 1055 AH), he heard
a voice of inspiration which told him that the best possible way of reaching God
was the Qadiri Sufi order. This order traces its origin back to the blessed
Prophet and leader of humanity, Muhammad, of whom God said, “If not for
you I would not have created the cosmos.”7
It traces its origin back to him through the great leader of the sages, that sea of
mystical knowledge and guide to God’s people, Shaykh Muhyi al-Din ‵Abd al-
Qadir Jilani, who once said, “This foot of mine is upon the neck of each of the
saints,” and who is descended from Muhammad on both his father’s side
(Hasani) and his mother’s side (Hussaini).8 From him its teachings came
through a succession of inspired guides to Shaykh Muhiy al-Din the Second.9
From him initiation came directly to Maulana Shah, the greatest sage of his era
and from him it came me who writes these lines.10
In that night of inspiration, I was also commanded to write this treatise to
show plainly the way to reach God for those who search for guidance towards
the truth. To distinguish it from the other books of this type, I consulted the
Majestic Qur’an in order to give it a proper title according to divine inspiration.
So I have named it The Compass of Truth (Risala-i Haqq-Numa). This is because
when I consulted the Qur’an, I read this verse: “After we had destroyed the old
generation, we gave the message to Moses that might be a guide and mercy for
the people, that they might remember the truth.”11 This verse is perfectly
suitable to express the meaning of this book, so it is called The Compass of Truth.

If you desire union, so your heart is a garden in flower

You must dedicate yourself to searching for your lover
Take this as your guide, like a compass pointing out Mecca
To show you God, only divine light itself has the power!
Khwahi keh dil-at ze wasl gardad gulshan
 Khud ra tu bi-just-o-ju-yi dil-bar afgan
An qibla numa chu qibla mi-yaband
Daryab ze haqq numa-yi haqq ra roshan

So let those read this book who have not been ennobled by keeping the
company of a perfect spiritual guide or have never met a perfect guide. Let them
study it deeply and carefully, and put into practice its advice point by point. If
they do so, there is hope that they might reach the goal and achieve an
understanding of pure divine unity (mashrab-i safi-yi tawhid), for the furthest
perfection of humanity lies in this mystical knowledge (‵irfan). In these pages,
they can find the inner meaning of all the books written by early and later
mystics, which are too voluminous for them to read. By this, they might
understand the essential meaning of all the great Sufi books such as al-Futuhat
al-Makkiya and Fusus al-Hikam by Ibn ‵Arabi, and commentaries on them like
Sawanih (Inspirations from the World of Pure Spirits) by Ahmad Ghazali,
Lawa’ih (Divine Gleams) by Mawlana Jami and Lama‵at (Divine Flashes) by
Fakhr al-Din ‵Iraqi.12

If for you the inner essence of the law is abstruse

To really criticize Sufi texts you’re far too obtuse
Recognize one and no other in this world and the next
This is the truth taught in the Futuhat and the Fusus
Tu batin-i shar‵ gar na-dani bi-khusus
Darhum na-kuni nazar tu bar naqd-i nusus
Yek dan o ma-dan tu ghayr-i u dar do jahan
In ast haqiqat-i Futuhat o Fusus

All that is written in this book records exactly the methods of behaving and
meditating, sitting and standing, exercising and practicing that were laid down
by the Prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and his family. It contains not
the slightest deviation from his example.
If a person who has reached God should happen to read this book, he will
recognize how well I have shown the way to the divine threshold, and how wide
I have opened the doors of renunciation and wisdom, so that worldly people
may know plainly that the bounty of God has no fault or flaw. God draws
anyone whom God wills towards the divine in whatever condition they may be!
This is a fortune that not everyone can get. Rather, I have been specifically
chosen for this good fortune.
In the days of my youth, I heard in a dream that a divine voice proclaimed
four times, “God has provided you with that which no ruler on the face of the
earth ever got!” On awaking, I interpreted this to mean that I shall receive
mystical knowledge (‵irfan), and I always expected the day when this
illumination would come to me. In time, its effects began to show, and day by
day the results of it became clearer. In those days, I was wracked by the pain of
searching, but I had full faith in this community of Sufis. In those days, I wrote
a book about the lives of the spiritual guides who belonged to this community in
the past; in it I recorded their spiritual states and mystical stations, the dates of
birth, the length of their lives, and the places of their burial, and I titled that
book Ship of the Saints (Safinat al-Awliya). After that I was ennobled by having
taken initiation, engaged in mystical practices and became knowledgeable about
the stations of the Sufi way; at that time I composed a second book on the signs,
behavior, stations and the miracles of my own spiritual guides, entitled
Deliverance of the Saints (Sakinat al-Awliya).
It was at this time that God opened for my heart the doors of mystical
knowledge and unity (tawhid), and bestowed upon me special disclosures of
divine presence (futuhat) and outpourings of grace (fayuzat). Whatever has been
written in this book has the quality that the Qur’an explains: “in it there is
divine mercy and a reminder for those who believe.”13 In the way of the Qadiri
order, the way explained in this book, there is no hardship or difficulty, contrary
to the practices laid down in other orders.

I see in it no exertion–it is grace given free as a breeze

Kindness and love here is all, here all is pleasure and ease
Riyazat nist pesh-i ma hameh luft ast o bakhsha’ish
Hameh mahr ast o dildari hameh ‵aysh ast o asa’ish

Your spiritual guide ought to be such that he leads you to God without
difficult practices and hardships, rather than one who causes you much pain and
trouble in order to reach God. As Ibn ‵Ata said, “Your guide is one who shows
you the way to your tranquility not one who leads you to your difficulty.”14
Likewise, Mawlana Rumi says:

You were brought along this path to be welcomed

You were not brought here merely to be punished
Ze chandin rah bi-mahmaniyat avurad
Na-avurad-at bara-yi intiqam-i u

O my friend, listen well! In the path of the Sufis, initiates do not call each
other “disciple” but rather they call each other “friend” (yar). Even the blessed
Prophet used to call his followers “friends” and “companions” (ashab)—among
them the words “master” (pir) and “disciple” (murid) were not used. Therefore,
whenever this book mentions the word “friend” you should understand it to
mean a seeker of God (talib). Know that this book consists of four chapters and
in each chapter describes one of the four worlds (‵alam) or planes of existence.
 Chapter One On the Phenomenal World

By the term “phenomenal world” (‵alam-i nasut), we mean this world that is
perceived through sensory experience. Some call it the visible world (shahadat)
or simply the created world (mulk); others call it the world of waking
consciousness (bi-dar) or the world-as-believed (pindar). It is in this world that
ultimate being is most present, and in which delight and enjoyment is most
perfect.
My friend, when the troubled soul searches for the true One in this
phenomenal world, the first thing that he should do is to find some solitary
quiet corner and sit there alone in meditation. He should hold in mind the
image of the spiritual guide in whom he believes or the image of someone whom
he loves deeply. He should imagine this person by closing the eyes and focusing
concentration of the heart so that with the vision of the heart he sees the image
of the guide or beloved.
My friend, in the opinion of this humble seeker, the heart can be said to exist
in three places. The first place is within the chest towards the left side, and it is
the physical organ of the heart, of flesh shaped like a pine-cone shaped (dil-i
sanubari). This physical heart is possessed by all men as well as animals.

The flesh that is shaped like the human heart

Ask your butcher! Of every animal it is a part
an-che bi-surat dil-i insan bud
bar dar-i qassab farawan bud

This is true, but this is not what those who have mystical knowledge mean
when they refer to the heart.
The second place wherein the heart is said to reside is the source of the mind
(umm al-dimagh). It is called the spherical heart (dil-i mudawwar) and is
sometimes called the heart that is pure of all qualities (be-rang). It has the special
quality that when the seeker concentrates upon this spherical heart, no stray
thought or temptation affects him, because no negative thought (khatra) can
reach that place. The third place is in the very center of the seat of the body
(nishast-gah), and this is called the lotus heart (dil-i nilofari).15
Now when one meditates as mentioned above, one concentrates at the place
of the physical heart. The images that appear to the vision of one’s heart
constitute the imaginative world (‵alam-i-misal). This imaginative world of
thought-forms is the means to open into the spiritual world (‵alam-i malakut).
To make this opening clear, it is described as different from the spiritual world
and is called the imaginative world; but in reality the imaginative world is part
and parcel of the spiritual world.
My friend, when you devote yourself to holding in mind the image (of your
spiritual guide or beloved) in the way described above, you will find that
gradually the imagined form will increasingly correspond with that of which it is
an image. As this correspondence increases, it will become an effective means of
opening the spiritual world (‵alam-i malakut). As the image becomes clear and
definitive in your mind, then you will be blessed with an opening of the
imaginative world. As you remain intensely engaged in this exercise, you will
witness things that would otherwise be hidden from your perception.
 Chapter Two On the Spiritual World

This is the spiritual world (‵alam-i malakut) which is also called the world of
spirits (arwah) or of the unseen (ghayb); some also call it the subtle world (latif)
or the world of dreaming (khwab). The phenomenal world is ephemeral, but this
world, the spiritual world, which is the source of the phenomenal world, is in no
way ephemeral but rather subsists eternally.

What is sleeping? just a light death

What is dying? merely a heavy sleep
Mi-dani khwab che-st? margi-st sabuk
Mi-dani marg che-st? khwabi-st giran

My friend, the imaginative world—as described in the preceding section—is

the key to opening the spiritual world. When, after closing one’s eyes, one sees
in the imagination forms in one’s vision, they should be understood as images
intended for the spirit not for the body.
It is clear that a person’s spirit (ruh) that appears in human form in the
phenomenal world actually exists beyond the bodily form; its presence can be
called into one’s vision at any time. Everyone who sleeps and dreams—whether
consciously or unaware—thereby circulates in the spiritual world. This happens
by means of the spirit taking up a subtle body of utmost subtlety (jasadi latif-i
latafat) that is the exact counterpart of the physical body, with eyes, ears, tongue
and all the senses and powers of the body, but without external physical organs
of flesh and blood. Through this subtle body the spirit is present in the spiritual
world.
While roaming through the spiritual world, those whose hearts are refined
and aware see beautiful and subtle forms, hear exquisite voices and partake of
delight. But those whose hearts are burdened with materiality and distraction see
ugly forms and hear horrifying sounds during these wanderings. Such people do
not encounter anything but what exists in the phenomenal world and they feel
no pleasure and delight in these wanderings.
Therefore my friend, if you practice with diligence and perseverance the
methods of meditation described below, the rust of your heart will be removed
and the mirror of your heart will become clear and bright. Then reflected in
your heart you will be able to see the forms of prophets, saints and angels. There
you will meet also the image of your spiritual guide (murshid) who will lead you
to the holy Prophet (may the blessings of God be upon him and his
descendants), and the noble companions of the Prophet and the powerful saints.
Whatever difficulties you might have, you can ask for their solutions from these
images through the voice of your heart and the language of your spiritual state,
and you will receive an apt reply from them. Thus the faith of your heart will
increase in certitude and you will feel absolute tranquility in this spiritual world.
If you see an image that appears to be the holy Prophet, know it for sure that
this is really the Prophet (may the blessings of God be upon him and his
descendants) because there is an authentic hadith in which he says, “He who has
seen my image verily has seen me because tempting spirits cannot appear in my
image.” It is clear that this saying refers to seeing the Prophet in the spiritual
world.
Owing to alienation from knowledge of the divine, human nature inclined to
coarseness and became separated from its original refinement and subtlety.
Therefore, this spiritual world serves to show the way for the human being to
return to original refinement. This is so that the human beings may realize that
their original nature is subtle but has become over-powered by coarse
materiality.
This is because the human being consists of both spirit (ruh) and body
(badan). If a person is more drawn to the body than to the spirit, then that
person’s spirit takes on the quality of the body and becomes more dense and
obscure and coarse. But if, on the other hand, a person is more drawn to the
spirit than to the body, then the body itself takes qualities of the spirit and it
becomes more subtle, clear and light. As an illustration, the holy Prophet, that
Leader of men, inclined more towards the spirit and exerted control over the
body, such that his body itself had become extremely rarified and refined—so
much so, that no fly ever landed on him and he did not cast any shadow on the
ground. It was like air which is also refined; no fly can land on air, and it casts
no shadow. Yet the spirit is even more subtle than air, such that nothing can
obstruct its movement or prevent its activity. It is no wonder that the holy
Prophet (may the blessings of God be upon him and his descendants) made his
famous ascension to heaven (mi‵raj) in his physical body. And it is similarly
understandable that Jesus (may God’s peace be upon him) is in the heavens in a
physical body. For truly, “Our spirits are bodies and our bodies are our
spirits.”16
Therefore, my friend, when you proceed through this imaginative world
(‵alam-i misal) into the spiritual world, you will realize that you can see there
human spirits both good and bad, and you will find that angels even appear like
the human spirits. When you experience this, be diligent to keep your
concentration focused. You must stay focused on that spiritual world of subtlety
for it is the true and original world, and the imaginative world of thought-forms
and images is merely its shadow. You must stay focused on it until it becomes
thoroughly clear to you. Then you will be able to see whatever you desire to see
in the spiritual world. And when you have fully acclimatized yourself to the
subtle world, then you will be blessed with an opening (fath) into the spiritual
world.
But always remember that the ultimate goal is not this! Do not let yourself
remain entangled in this spiritual world, for you must find release from the
engrossing whirlpool of this spiritual world. You should not content yourself
with seeing its forms and images. You should not resign your heart to this world
of appearances. You should never desire amazing disclosures (kashf) and
miraculous powers (karamat) from it. Indeed, in this spiritual world there are
wonderful powers of knowledge and ability, and with its help you can perform
many miracles. For example, consider the following story.
Once a boil developed on the eyelid of that blessed spiritual guide Miyan Mir.
It was very painful, and he suffered much because of it. A surgeon was called in.
He was asked the best way to treat it, and he said, “The sty must be lanced.” Just
then Miyan Natha, one of the spiritually adept companions of Miyan Mir,
interjected saying, “Wait for just a moment,” and directed his concentration to
the spiritual world (‵alam-i malakut). There he saw a person and asked him,
“What might be the remedy for the boil which had grown on the eyelid of
Miyan Mir?” That spiritual being replied, “Grind cucumber seeds into a poultice
and apply this to the boil.” Miyan Natha opened his eyes and said, “Do not cut
open this boil on the eyelid of Miyan Mir, but rather apply a poultice of
cucumber seed on it.” A paste of ground cucumber seed was made and rubbed
on the sty, and it immediately relieved the problem. One present there asked
Miyan Mir, “Does Miyan Natha have expert knowledge in eye diseases?” He
replied, “He does not! Rather, in the spiritual world there are remedies for any
problem. Miyan Natha simply directed his concentration (tawajjuh) to the
spiritual realm, and from there he was told this remedy. Whatever is told in the
spiritual world to one with a saintly heart (sahib-dil), without a doubt that will
come to pass.” The person inquired again, “Do you not have the ability to get
the remedy from the spiritual world yourself, that Miyan Natha had to find the
cure for you?” Miyan Mir answered, “I have gone beyond the spiritual world,
and to turn my concentration to that realm would be below my station.”
So it is, O friend, that many Sufis have gotten distracted by performing
miracles in bargaining with the spiritual realm and have thereby missed the
essential goal. Do not think that one should never enter this spiritual world! No,
rather one should not get too comfortable there, for the spiritual realm is a
station that the saints of God must pass through and transcend. Every spiritual
seeker must pass through that place, but should never allow one’s attention to
get deflected into that place. If one tarried there, the path becomes forked into a
hundred paths in which he will be lost.
In the way of the Sufis, conquering the spiritual world is a great conquest
(fath-i ‵uzma) for any mystic. This was the method of Shaykh ‵Abd al-Qadir
Jilani.17 It is related by Shaykh ‵Umar Abu Jandiqi that, “Once I went to see
Shaykh ‵Abd al-Qadir, the leader of all sages. He put a cap on my head, and its
pleasant and cool sensation pervaded my mind and from my mind it penetrated
into my heart. The spiritual world was revealed to me, and I heard the whole
universe and all that existed in it glorifying God in different melodies and varied
ways of declaring holy, holy, holy. It almost reached the point that my reason
was overwhelmed, but the Shaykh put a piece of cotton into my ears and thereby
preserved my intellect.”
My friend, when this spiritual world and realm of images becomes opened for
you and conquest of it is granted, you must practice for some time the exercises
(ashghal) of this Sufi path, so that your heart will be purified and illuminated. In
this way, you must clear away the rust that has settled on the mirror of your
heart, so that you may witness in it the beloved’s beauty. The heart is said to be
the divine throne of the merciful One (‵arsh-i rahman). The meaning of this
saying is that the spiritual reality of the divine essence (haqiqat-i zat) is cast into
the human heart, and by focusing one’s concentration there, the senses that are
dispersed in anxious confusion become gathered into unity.
The great spiritual guide Miyan Mir used to tell his disciple, “You should
recite the name of God (Allah) without moving the tongue, and gradually it will
be recited by the heart. By constantly repeating this blessed name of God in the
way described above, one will be granted a spiritual state (hal) in which one’s
heart remains awake and aware even when one is sleeping.” My friend, this name
—Allah—is the greatest name. It is universal and is common to both those who
believe in Islam and who do not. In it are gathered into unity all the diverse
names. There is nothing existing in the universe that is outside this name. This
name is known as “the greatest name” (ism-i a‵zam), and this is because it
possesses three attributes: creation, preservation and destruction. The whole
creation and every atom of matter is integrally related to these three attributes,
but no one is aware of this. And nobody knows the secret meaning of the
greatest name except some of the great realized spiritual masters who are
extremely rare.
The method of spiritual practice which has been adopted by this lowly seeker
is the suspension of breath (habs-i nafas). I have found this method to be the
best and choicest method, without which success cannot be obtained. So
everyone ought to practice this method of suspending the breath. Let it be done
in this way. Sit in a secluded spot in the posture in which the holy Prophet—
may God grant him blessings and peace—used to sit (on one’s knees as if for
prayer), but do not place the hands upon the knees. Rather, place each elbow on
the knees and reach up with the hands, and with the thumb close the hole of
each ear so that no air may pass out of them. With the index fingers shut both
eyes in such a way that the upper eyelid may remain firmly pressed against the
lower eyelid, but without the fingers pressing on the eyeballs. Place the ring
finger and pinkie of each hand on the upper and lower lips, so as to close the
mouth and not permit breath to pass through it. Place the two middle fingers on
the sides of the nose, the right middle finger on the right nostril, and the left
middle finger on the left nostril.
Having assumed this posture, first firmly close the right nostril with the right
middle finger, so that air may not come through it. Leaving open the left nostril,
breathe in slowly through the left nostril while saying “No god” (la ilaha)
through that breath; while inhaling you draw the breath up above the mind and
then bring it down to the heart. After this, also close firmly the left nostril with
the left middle finger, and thus suspend the breath within the body. This is
called “suspension of breath ” (habs-i nafas). Keep the breath suspended as long
as you can easily do so without feeling suffocation. As you continue this practice,
keep increasing slowly, by increments, the duration of suspending the breath.
Then you should release the breath, opening the right nostril by removing the
middle finger from it. As you exhale slowly and gently, you should say “but
God” (illa allah) through the breath. If you exhale the breath quickly or
forcefully, it will be injurious to you. Then you repeat this process (drawing in
the breath through the left nostril, keeping both nostrils closed for some time,
and releasing the breath through the right nostril).
Some who practice this method of meditation have carried this to such a
extent that they pass the entire day of twelve hours by drawing in only four
breaths. But my own spiritual guide, Mullah Shah (may God grant him peace
and sustain his life) carried the practice to the point that he would, after making
his night-time prayer (namaz-i isha), draw in a breath and keep it suspended,
not releasing it until the time for the dawn prayer; he would keep a single breath
suspended within him for the whole night, whether it was a long night of winter
or a short night of summer. For fifteen years, he spent his nights in this way.
Through the effect of this practice, he obtained a great conquest (fath-i ‵uzma)
and the doors of spiritual fortune were opened to him.
One of the benefits of this practice is that it eliminates the need for sleep.
Thus it is now thirty years that Mullah Shah has not slept. This noble practice
removes the rust from the mirror of the heart and purifies the defilements of the
body. I have learned this practice, through a series of realized and actualized
masters, from Shaykh ‵Abd al-Qadir Jilani (may the peace of the God be with
him). He himself gave this practice a name and established its method, and he
called it “engaged and conquered” (avurd o burd). Our great Qadiri master,
Miyan Mir, made a small addition to the above method. He taught that during
the period when the breath was kept suspended, the practitioner should repeat
the words “No god” (la ilaha) with the voice of the physical organ of the heart
(dil-i sanubari). While suspending the breath, the mind should not remain idle
because an idle mind gives opportunity for negative thoughts. But when one
concentrates on reciting “but God” (illa allah), all tempting thoughts are
removed and one’s mind is retrained from focusing on any other object. Miyan
Mir called this method of removing tempting thoughts while doing suspension
of breath “struck and conquered” (zad o burd), because anyone who has struck
the noble name of God on the target of his heart has scored the goal.18
My friend, on this spiritual path there are many kinds of distracting and
tempting thoughts, so Miyan Mir has established several methods of averting
them so that these thoughts have no way of access to the seeker’s heart. The
technique mentioned above (reciting “No god but God” during the duration of
suspending the breath) is one among these methods. Another method is useful
for anyone who suffers much from tempting thoughts while meditating.
Concentrating on the physical organ of the heart (dil-i sanubari) can give rise to
many such thoughts because the physical heart is the locus of temptations and
distractions; therefore, a person in this condition should focus concentration
instead on the spherical heart (dil-i mudawwar) and not on the physical organ
that is shaped like a pine-cone. Because the spherical heart is pure of all qualities
(be-rang), it provides no way of access for tempting thoughts, and distractions
which cannot lodge there. Another method of removing tempting thoughts is to
consider them as not separate from yourself and not something other than you.
My friend, when you have engaged for some time in this noble practice of
suspending the breath in the method described above, you will feel a wondrous
heat, a strange buoyancy, a great longing, and a subtle illumination in your heart
that pervades your entire being. This will totally banish the coarse qualities of
distraction and negligence (ghaflat) which will completely vanish. Then you will
feel a great spiritual delight (zauq) and indescribable ecstasy (wajd). The sweet
delight of this practice, once tasted, will keep you from all idleness and
indigence.
But this practice has its limitations: it cannot be done at any time because a
secluded place is a necessary condition for it. Therefore, so long as you are in a
secluded place, you can remain engaged in this noble practice. But when you are
traveling or keeping the company of others, the first practice which was
described above is more appropriate (namely, reciting the name of God silently
in each breath), because it can be done at all times and places.
My friend, when you sit to practice suspending the breath, it is necessary that
you persistently focus your concentration on your heart. This is because during
this practice, voices will emerge from within you, just as Mawlana Rumi has
described in his poem:
 On his lips is a lock but in his heart are secrets
silence on the lips yet a heart full of voices
bar labb-ash qafl ast o dar dil-ash razeh
labb-i khamosh o dil pur az avazeh

This voice sometimes comes with a sound like a big cauldron boiling.
Sometimes it comes like the buzzing sound heard in the nest of bees. It is to this
internal sound that one of the early Sufi master has alluded:

Constant as the whispering hum of ants

I listen for divine speech in my ear
God is like a sun lighting the universe
But lowly ones ask, “The divine is where?”
sukhan-ha bin keh az moran numayad
chu andar gosh-i ma goyad kalam u
hameh ‵alam girifteh aftabi
zehi gori keh mi-goyad kudam u

Be careful, my friend, not to think that this sound is merely a voice within
you. No, the whole universe is pervaded by this voice within each thing and
beyond each thing.

Remove the cotton of conceit from your ears

Partake of the sound of the overpowering One
A call eternally coming from the one true being
Why wait to hear it on the day of judgment?
Bar avur panbeh-yi pindar-at az gosh
nada-yi vahid al-qahhar bi-nosh
nada mi-ayad az haqq bar davamat
chera gashti tu mawquf-i qiyamat

The true nature of this sound will become apparent to you in a moment when
this text describes the practice called “The Prime Recitation” (sultan al-azkar).
This is the essential teaching of the Qadiri Sufi masters and is rare and precious
these days. It has come down with authentic proof—both external and internal
—from the blessed Prophet to ‵Abd al-Qadir Jilani, and from him to the great
teacher Miyan Mir. This practice of hearing the divine sound is called in the
path of the Sufis “The Dominating Power of Recitation” (sultan al-azkar). 19
My friend, all sounds are of three kinds. The first kind is sound that is
emitted when two objects strike against each other, like when the palms of the
hands strike against each other and we hear the clap. But the motion of one
hand alone cannot produce this external sound. This kind of sound is called
“phenomenal” (muhdath) and “compound” (murakkab).
The second kind of sound is that which is produced without the contact of
two dense bodies, or without the utterance of speech which is compounded
from the mixing of the elements of heat and air within the human body.20 This
kind of sound is called “essential” (basit) and subtle (latif).
The third kind is the sound which is boundless and is eternal without any
cause or means. This sound is fixed to one tone which neither increases nor
decreases; it admits to no change and emits with no friction. Although the whole
world is full of this primeval sound, yet none except the spiritually awakened
knows of it. This sound existed from before the creation of the existing things,
exists even now, and will always exist. This sound is called “infinite” (be-hadd)
and “absolute” (mutlaq).
There is no practice better than that of hearing this sound. This is because
every other practice depends upon the will of the practitioner; if he for a
moment stops it, the practice ceases. But not so this practice! It does not depend
upon the will of the practitioner. It is present and available without ceasing and
without interruption at all times.
From many authentic reports collected in the six authentic hadith collections,
we learn that our Prophet (may the blessing and peace of God be on him) was
devoted to this practice, both before the start of his mission as a prophet and
after. But the religious scholars do not know the secret of its meaning and have
not consequently followed the Prophet in this practice.
A story is related by Khadija (the Prophet’s wife) that the Prophet, before he
became a prophet, used to carry provisions with him and go stay in a cave. This
was the cave of Hira, which is a famous and well-known place in the mountains
outside of Mecca. He used to remain there for days together absorbed in this
practice. There he used to practice this hearing of sound, which resulted in his
being able to see the form of Gabriel before him. In this way, divine revelation
began for that leader of humankind. That was start of it all, and all that
happened after it, happened because of it.
My friend, when you want to begin this practice “The Prime Recitation”
(sultan al-azkar), and obtain this noble practice, you should do as follows. You
must go either by day or by night to some deserted place which is free from the
distractions of human interaction, or to a secluded and silent room.Sit there and
direct your attention to your ears. Concentrate as hard and as long as you can
until a very subtle sound manifests. Hearing this sound, it will gradually grow
more powerful and overwhelming, so much so that will seem to come from all
sides of you and there will be no place or no time when this sound will not
manifest. This sound, which takes you away and beyond yourself, is a drop from
the ocean of eternal resonance. So you can guess at its vastness.

Sit in a corner with your own ear, then speak and hear
The world is entirely full of his silent speaking voice
tu bi-gosh-i khwesh gushe bi-nah o bi-gu o bi-shanu
keh jahan pur ast yek-sar ze sada-yi be-nava-esh

It is said that Plato once said to Moses (may peace be upon him), “Are you
the son of a menstruating woman, that you claim, ‘My God speaks to me,’ when
the fact is that God is transcendent above place and time?” Moses replied, “Yes, I
do claim that God talks to me, because from every side I hear a voice which is
transcendent beyond beginning or end and is not compounded of syllables.”
When Plato heard this, he believed in Moses and acknowledged that he was a
messenger of God.
Once people asked our Prophet (Muhammad) how revelation came to him.
He replied, “I hear a sound sometimes like the sound of a boiling cauldron, and
sometimes like the buzzing of honey bees, and sometimes in image of an angel
in human form who speaks with me, and sometimes I hear a sound like
resounding bells.” The poet Hafiz alluded to this sound in his verse:

No one knows where the beloved resides

One gets only the sound of a bell from there
kas nadan-ast keh manzil-i dildar kuja-st
in qadar hast keh bang-i jarasi mi-ayad
 Mawlana ‵Abd al-Rahman Jami has also described this sound when he writes:

To my beloved’s caravan, I know, I can never draw near

It is enough that the peal of its bell always reaches my ear
dar qafilah keh u-st danam na-rasam
in bas keh rasad bi-gosh bang-i jaras-am

Miyan Mir used to explain that sometimes when the Prophet used to ride his
camel, he would listen so intently to this eternal sound that he would be
overwhelmed. At such times, he became so laden with power that his camel’s
knees would buckle under his weight, and it would sit down on the ground.21
My friend, the above description of how our Prophet received revelation is
well known from reports that are preserved in the six canonical hadith
collections. These hadith reports truly allude to hearkening to this primal sound
(sultan al-azkar). Meditating by listening for this primordial sound, in the case
of the prophets, allowed them to receive revealed scripture and divine
commands. In contrast, in the case of saints (awliya), by meditating on this
sound—without words, without source and without interruption—they find an
immense power of will (jam‵iyat), spiritual delight (lazzat), rapture (wajd), and
ecstasy (zauq). So powerful is this experience that it makes them leave aside all
other spiritual exercises and experiences in favor of the rapturous bliss of this
meditation. Thus they dive deep into the ocean of this sound, and leave not a
trace of their name and existence behind.22
Miyan Mir taught that ‵Abd al-Qadir Jilani used to say, “Our Prophet was in
the cave of Hira for six years engaged in this meditation on the primordial sound
called “The Prime Recitation” (sultan al-azkar). I myself have spent twelve years
in that same cave practicing this meditation, and through it I received many
amazing spiritual disclosures.”23 Miyan Mir would comment, “I am bewildered
by those pilgrims who undergo so much trouble and travel so far to Mecca to
perform the Hajj rituals around the Ka‵ba, yet do not go visit this holy cave to
receive any blessing from that sacred place!”
Miyan Mir had such regard for this noble practice, my friend, that he did not
mention it to most of his disciples and companions. When he did mention it to
some of them, he usually couched his explanation in allusions and hints. In the
case of my guide, Mulla Shah (Hazrat Akhund), it took him a whole year to
realize the true nature of this meditation practice. Mulla Shah also explained this
to me through allusions, and I realized it in six months. I in turn have taught
this practice to others, and they have realized it very quickly, in only three or
four days! The reason for this is that my spiritual guide and his guide used to
speak of it by allusion and parable, while I have explained it clearly without
veiling it at all.
When this sound manifests to your hearing, my friend, you must observe it
keenly. You must try your hardest to preserve your ability to listen for it, until
you can master it, so that just as you heard it in the silence of the wilderness or a
closed room, you will also hear it in the noisy marketplace amid throngs of
people. When you perfect this subtle and noble practice, this primordial sound
will overpower the sounds of drums, even kettledrums or the loudest sounds
which instruments can generate. And why should it not overpower them all,
when it is the original source of them all, and every other sound manifests
through it. Many disciples whom Miyan Mir had engaged in this practice used
to go and sit in the marketplace amid the hustle and bustle, to test whether the
sound heard in this noble meditation does indeed overpower all other sounds or
not.
Congratulations and blessings, my friend, if you become capable of this
practice called “The Prime Recitation” (sultan al-azkar). For then the subtle
world becomes apparent to you, and also an absolute being that is constant and
eternal. If you perform this subtle practice, it will cause you to become more
subtle in your very being, and plunge you into the ocean of subtlety and
absolute being, free of conditions and qualities (itlaq be-rang). Then from within
your heart will surge up the ocean of reality, which is the fountain-head of your
being. Then you will know for yourself that every sound and voice that exists in
this universe has come into existence through this primordial sound. In the same
way, you know that all that exists with form and color has taken on form and
color through absolute being which is formless and without color. Just as that
absolute being is an unlimited immensity, so also the form and color that arise
from it are also unlimited. Similarly, the sound of absolute being is of an
unlimited immensity. No other thing remains before it with form and color, and
no other sound remains in its presence.
 Chapter Three The Realm of Divine Might

The realm of divine might (‵alam-i jabarut) is also called the causal realm
(‵alam-i lazim) or the realm of singularity and empowerment (ahadiyat o
tamkin). It is also called the formless realm (be-naqsh). Some Sufis call this the
“realm of names and attributes” (asma o sifat), but they err in this. Many Sufis
have realized this world of divine might and have therefore not understood it
properly. If the “realm of names and attributes” exists as a world, then it must be
considered as part of the spiritual realm. Or if it manifests in sensory perception,
then it must be included in the human realm (‵alam-i nasut). In either case, it is
not correct to consider the “names and attributes” to be the same as the realm of
divine might.
Only the great Sufi teacher ‵Abd al-Rahman Junaid has accurately described
this realm. He says, “Being a Sufi means that you remain without grief, for even
a moment.” Shaykh al-Islam has asked, “Do you know what is the meaning of
being without grief? It means finding without searching and seeing without
looking, because seeing through the eyes is imperfect and weak.”
Therefore, the realm of divine might is defined as a state of being in which
one sees nothing that exists in the human realm or the spiritual realm. To such a
person comes a state of oblivion (mahwiyat) when he experiences tranquility
upon tranquility, and concentration within concentration (jam‵iyat). In this
state, he does not care whether he is aware or ignorant of his own being in the
human realm or the spiritual realm, and neither he does not care about being in
the realm of divine might! Imagine a person who is heedless to his surroundings
because he is in deep sleep, and is therefore unaware of the human realm and
looks for nothing in the spiritual realm. He would say, “I was sleeping tranquilly
and peacefully and I saw nothing in my sleep.” Being in the realm of divine
might is like this: one is not conscious of any phenomenon in the human realm
and is not aware of any event in the spiritual realm, yet knows bliss and joy. One
understands it if one can sit for even a moment free of grief and pain, to which
Abu’l-Qasim Junaid had alluded.
One is experiencing the realm of divine might when one, in a waking state, is
aware of no sensory forms or spiritual experiences, similar to one in a deep and
blissful sleep. But there is a huge difference between a person who experiences
this in a waking state and who experiences it only in sleep! The later experiences
it without willing to experience it. But the former wills to experience it whether
in a waking state or in sleep, and chooses to go into the realm of divine might.
This is the posture for sitting when one wants to enter the realm of divine
might. One should sit with tranquility and at ease. All the limbs of the body
should be perfectly relaxed and free from any motion. Both the eyes should be
closed. The right hand should rest overtop of the left. Then make the heart
empty of all forms whether sensory or spiritual. No form should arise before
one’s outer sight or inner vision. Thus when one can sit without any thought or
image crossing one’s mind, one has found the realm of divine might. Only a
person whom God wills to know this will realize the secret meaning of being in
this realm.
 Chapter Four The Divine Realm

The divine realm (‵alam-i lahut) is sometimes also called the realm of he-is-he
(huwiyat) or the realm of essence (zat), or the realm of purity (be-rang) or realm
of absolute being (itlaq), or the realm of suchness (bahs). This realm is the origin
and source for the human realm, the spiritual realm and the realm of divine
might. It encompasses all these other realms. In relation to it, these realms are
like the body and the divine realm is like the soul. They all derive from it and
are animated by it and depend upon it and revert to it. Yet in and of itself, it is
independent and unchanging in its essence. As the Qur’an says, “God is the first
and the last, the apparent and the hidden, and God is the knower of all
things.”24 This divine realm encompasses and surpasses all the other realms just
like the ocean encompasses the waves that it contains, or like the sun surpasses
the dust motes that it illumines, or just as meaning transcends the words
through which it manifests.
My friend, turn all your faculties towards comprehending this divine realm
when it begins to manifest to you, for from it springs all eternal bliss of
witnessing divine unity (tawhid) and all never-ending fortune realizing the truth
(tahqiq).
 Chapter Five The Divine Truth (huwiyat)

You should realize that “All is he” (hamah u-ast). Then ask who are you? You
will be forced to admit that your very self is indeed the divine essence and can be
nothing else! Then you will be free of the illusionary bonds of “I and you.” This
is the truth of divine unity (haqiqat-i tawhid) and the self-disclosure of the
essence (tajalli-i zati) “in their selves if only you would see.”25 In order to
comprehend the divine essence you must observe your own self. In this way,
vain imagining (wahm) and whispered temptation (waswasa) should not find
any way to inhabit your heart such that you think existing things veil the essence
from your comprehension.

Can your seeing ice obscure the fact that the ice is water
Even when the form of a bubble is trapped in the ice?
God is an ocean of reality on which floats this world
As ice floats on water, yet water is what makes up ice
har giz na kunad ab hijab andar yakh
ba-an-keh kunad naqsh hubab andar yakh
haqq bahr-i haqiqat ast o kawnain dar-u
chun yakh bi-miyan-i ab o ab andar yakh

If any distracting thought comes to you, just consider it also to be one with
the divine essence. Then just as the divine essence is perfect, its perfection will
come to dominate that distracting thought and it will no long be a distraction.
When your state reaches perfection in this way, wherever you look you will see
yourself and whatever place you search for you will find yourself.
Beware of thinking that the divine essence is wholly characterized by
transcendence (tanazzuh) and purity and absence of all qualities, lest you might
remain untouched by the bliss of the divine’s being related by similarity to
existing things (tashbih). Likewise beware of thinking that the divine essence is
characterized solely by similarity and resemblance, lest you miss out of the great
gift of recognizing the divine’s incomparable difference from all that exists
(tanzih). Enough! Purity and impurity, transcendence and immanence, all are
manifest and take their existence from this divine essence. If you imagine that a
single mote of dust is separate from the divine essence then you have lost the
blessing of witnessing divine unity (tawhid) and mystical comprehension
(‵irfan).
My friend, when the ocean of divine reality stirs, then waves and forms appear
upon its surface. It generates a hundred thousand bubbles and swirls that are the
innumerable heavens and earths that emerge in this cosmos. All this multiplicity
emerges from that singular ocean and can never be separate from it! If you
wanted to separate a wave or a pattern from the surface of the ocean, could you
ever achieve this? Never. Although these things are separate in name and
designation, they are united in essence and in ultimate reality they are one.

Shall I tell you of unity, so no misgiving persists?

Apart from God there is nothing that really exists
Those things that you see and think separate
In essence all is one, but each of a name consists
Tawhid bi-goyam, ar bi-fahmi bada
mawjud na-bud heech gah ghayr khuda
An-ha keh tu mi-beeni o mi-dani ghayr
dar zat hamah yeki-st o dar nam juda
 Chapter Six Recognizing Reality

Consider the reality of water. When water is not bound, it is free of color and
has no fixed form. But when water is bound in a solid, it assumes various forms
such as ice or snow or hail. Observe closely and decide for yourself whether or
not the ice, snow and hail consist of the same essential water which is itself
colorless and formless. When ice, snow and hail become melted, they all become
resolved into water—then do you call it water or something else? All who
recognize reality and who have eyes to see the truth will readily recognize the
essential nature of water despite the various forms and appearance that it can
adopt under different conditions.

The ocean of existence is just the essence so generous

like patterns on the water are spirits and soul numerous
it is a singular sea which is stirred into motion diverse
here a drop, there a wave, everywhere bubbles tenuous
darya-st wujud sirf zat-i wahhab
arvah o nufus ham-chu naqsh andar ab
bahri-st keh mauj bi-zanad andar khud
gah qatrah gah ast mauj gahi-st hubab

Those who are ignorant are bound up in seeing superficial appearance,

phenomenal condition and apparent difference. This is the difference between
the ignorant and the sages. Mystical knowledge (‵irfan) is nothing but this: that
you recognize your own real nature. Then you will realize that you are nothing
but the divine essence, since all are one (hame u-st). It is impossible that
anything exists other than God.
There are many metaphors to depict this reality. For example, on a page are
depicted a picture, words and the meaning; all appear through the mediation of
ink and appear to be different, yet all are in reality one. Or for example, the root,
leaf, branch and fruit of a tree appear to be different, but all are in reality from
the singular seed. The diversity and multiplicity of appearances do not negate
the essential unity from which it all arises.
 Essential unity against all duality raves
If you’re blind, find a cure which saves
From one come many, yet it is still one
The ocean is never separate from waves
kardah az yiganigi du’i ra taraj
bayad keh kuni kaj-i khud ra tu ‵ilaj
vahid mutakassar na-shavad az i‵dad
darya mutajazzi na-shavad az amvaj

For the sake of brevity, this text contents itself with only the illustrations
given above.
My friend, the absolute essence—the sun of ultimate reality and height of
unqualified divinity—is described in the saying “I was a hidden treasure.” When
that essence manifests in intimacy with you, it makes clear the saying “I loved to
be known.”26 Then the essence discards the veil of concealment, and the
perfection of the essence becomes limited in a form for the sake of taking delight
in union and beholding itself in a gaze of love. Now if you seek union with
absolute being (mutlaq), you cannot find it except in a form that is limited
(muqayyad). Likewise, if you seek that hidden treasure in a limited form, you
cannot find it except in the absolute.
The absolute is always in the limited, and the limited is always with the
absolute. It is truth that the limited form is not a veil obscuring absolute being.
Existing beings do not exist independently from the absolute being. No! Rather,
whatever you lay hands upon is a being that manifests the very essence of
absolute divine being without any obscuring concealment. Whatever you may
see is a disclosure of the beauty of absolute being without any obscuring veil.

There is nothing in this universe that is other than you

Whatever comes before you is just you confronting you
nist biganah kas darin ‵alam
dast bar har cheh mi-nahi khud pish

To the same effect is the following quatrain:

I’ll tell you advice, for good thought it is fodder

 If you’re a man never leave the path to God’s presence
Its manifestations can never veil the divine essence
Do ripples on water keep one from touching the water?
goyam sukhani ze ru-yi tahqiq o savab
gar mard rahi qabul kun ru’i ma-tab
har giz na-bud sifat o zat hijab
ki naqsh bar ab mani‵ ast u mass-i ab

This leads to the last and greatest method of meditation, my friend, in this
noble Sufi way. That is to sit grasping one’s own true nature, such that, in spite
of all your limitations, consider yourself as the very absolute being and only
existence. In this state, whatever comes to your sight as other than yourself you
should recognize as identical to your self. In this way one extirpates the very root
of duality and discards the veils of alienation and separation. One sees
everything as partaking of one essence, and realizes the bliss of self merging with
self, as alluded to in this verse:

My beloved Laila, from me or Majnun can never

be separate
From the circle of its rays of light, can a candle ever
be separate
Yar-i laila-vash-i man ghayr-i man o majnun nist
Shama ‵ az da’ira-yi partau-yi khud birun nist

And on this very subject a great Sufi once alluded, saying:

From my own bosom I discover each moment

the aroma of him I love
So I always draw my own self to my bosom
in a constant embrace
Az kinar-i khwesh mi-yabam damadam bu-yi yar
ze an hamin giram hamesha khweshtan ra dar kinar

My friend, those who have firmly realized this intimate relation (nisbat) are
ennobled by true knowledge of the real self which is greatest elixir [that endows
eternal life] and the rarest red sulfur [which brings everlasting happiness]. They
obtain release from wandering in the wilderness of negligence and ignorance,
and gain liberation from the anxiety of searching and craving, and are free from
the doubts and temptations of dispute.

A drop is just a drop as long as it believes it is separate from the sea

A man is bound by his limited self until he knows that God is he
qatra qatra ast ta na pindarad keh az darya juda-st
banda band-i khweshtan ra ta na-mi-danad khuda-st

A similar idea is expressed in this quatrain:

Hey you, who are lost searching for divinity

You’re other than God? You’re God in reality!
In your foolish searching you are just like
A drop in the depths that searches for the sea
Ay an-keh khuda’i ra bi-ju’i har ja
tu ‵ain-i khuda’i na juda’i bi-khuda
in justan-i tu hamin bi-an mi-manad
qatrah bi-miyan-i ab o juyad darya

When you have reached this highest level, then over you arises the sun of
spiritual reality and essential unity. Then are lifted from you all the traces of
delusion and selfish conceit. At this point, the veil of darkness is removed from
you.

As long as a veil remains between you and your love

You long for the beauty and perfection of his face
Yet your frame of vision is the veil you long to remove
Abandon the frame, so no dust of dualism leaves a trace
har chand niqab dar miyan darad yar
ru-yash khush o khub mi-numayad besyar
chun ‵ainak-i tu bud niqab-i rukh-i yar
‵ainak na kunad bi pish chashm-i tu ghubar
 At this level, all are unified as one: the meditation, the one meditating, and
the object of meditation (zikr o zakir o mazkur). The author of the book Divine
Flashes (Lama‵at by Fakhr al-Din ‵Iraqi) describes this station beautifully:

In this place beloved, love and lover are all one not three
If there is no scope for union, how can there separation be?
ma‵shuq o ‵ishq o ‵ashiq har seh yeki-st in-ja
chun vasl dar na-gunjad hijran cheh kar darad

When a spiritual guide has led the sincere seeker to this level and allowed him
to understand this subtle principle, then the guide dedicates him to God and
leaves off teaching him any further. There is no more scope for teaching, because
it is not right for one to try to teach God.
My friend when you come to know this essential principle and thereby realize
what is the real meaning of distance and alienation from the beloved, then may
you always be happy.

In separation from you I suffered anxiety

From union with you I lost my life and piety
What bliss it is that enraptures my being
Now my body and soul enjoy tranquility
dar hijr-tu budeh anduh azar-am
az vasl-i tu raft hasti o pindar-am
shadi amad nasib-i jan-am gardid
aknun tan o jan khud bi-rahat daram

At that point, your own being has become one with universal being.
Therefore, from your heart is lifted sorrow, anxiety, delusion, duality and
alienation. Fearing punishment and coveting reward are also gone, for your path
is before you that leads to eternal liberation (najat). So now do whatever you
desire, and live in whatever way you like.

Chose to get wisdom, my friend! Riches and power defer

If wisdom you have, then you’ll get whatever else you chose
Badshahi ra guzar ay dost agahi guzin
 chun agahi rasidi har-che mi-khwahi guzin

This verse of the Qur’an was also revealed to describe these spiritual masters:
“No fear is upon them and they do not grieve.”27 And the good tidings of
“tranquility descended into their heart” also refers to them and their spiritual
state.28
My friend, there are many verses of the Qur’an, many reports from the
Prophet, and many sayings of pious spiritual masters from earlier times that
prove this point. If you long to discover the proof of this, know that you can
witness the sun of truth in every speck of dust that is visible. When your
spiritual relationship (nisbat) becomes complete and perfect, then not a mote of
delusion or doubt will remain in your whole being. Then from within your own
self, by its own volition, there will emerge a delight and bliss of realization
(tahqiq). From witnessing the essential unity, your partial and individuated
existence will become universal and holistic, like a drop becomes the ocean, like
a dust particle glows in the sun, like from non-existence emerges pure being!

The Compass of Truth is done—here it will cease

In the year one-thousand and fifty-six I’ve said my piece
It comes not from a Qadiri but from the powerful One29
So understand what I’ve said and upon you be peace
In risalah-yi haqq-numa bashad tamam
dar hazar o panjah o shash shud tamam
hast az qadir madan az qadiri
an-cheh ma guftim fa-afham wa salam

This book is completed.

1 Surat al-Hadid 57:3.

2 This saying in Arabic reads: “la yuhsa thana ‵alayka, anta ka-ma athnayta ‵ala nafsika.”

3 Surat al-Furqan 25:44.

4 Surat al-Isra 17:70.

5 This comes from a saying in which God says, “My servant draws near to me with nothing more beloved
to me than duties which I have imposed. Then my servant continues to draw near to me with devotion
beyond duty so that I love him. When I love him I become his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with
which he sees, his doing with which he acts, and his ability with which he moves. Were he to ask something
of me, I would surely give it to him and were he to beseech me for refuge, I would surely grant it to him.”
This saying is one of the most famous hadith qudsi or saying of the Prophet Muhammad which interprets a
message from God; it is recorded in al-Bukhari’s Sahih.

6 Surat al-Ma’ida 5:54.

7 This is the report that God said to Muhammad, “If not for you I would not have created the cosmos;”
this is another hadith qudsi that is preserved by many different hadith transmitters, as discussed in
Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 215 and Schimmel, And Muhammad is His Messenger: the
Veneration of the Prophet in Islamic Piety (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1985), 131-135.

8 Shaykh ‵Abd al-Qadir Jilani died in 1258 in Baghdad. He is known by many praise names like Mahbub-i
Subhani (Beloved of God) and Piran Pir (Master of Masters) and Pir-i Dastagir (Master of the Helping
Hand). He was a Sayyid who was descended from the Prophet Muhammad on his father’s side through
Imam Hasan and on his mother’s side through Imam Hussain. From him all Qadiri Sufis trace their
spiritual allegiance.

9 Makhdum ‵Abd al-Qadir Sani (“the second”) died in 1533 in Uchh (now in Pakistan near Multan). He
helped to spread the Qadiri Sufi order in Northern India.

10 Mawlana Shah was the Sufi guide of Dara Shikoh. He is usually called Mulla Shah or Muhammad Shah
Badakhshi (died in 1661). He was buried next to his Sufi guide, the great Qadiri teacher of Lahore, Miyan
Mir (died 1635). See Schimmel, Empire of the Great Mughals: history, art and culture (London: Reaktion
Books, 2004), 135.

11 Surat al-Qisas 28:43.

12 These books describe the oneness of being (wahdat-i wujud) in terms that combine Sufism and
philosophy. Ibn Arabi’s classic text, Fusus al-Hikam, has been translated into English as Ibn Arabi: The
Bezels of Wisdom, transl. Ralph Austin (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1980); the greatest Persian commentary
upon it was by ‵Abd al-Rahman Jami, Naqd al-Nusus fi sharh Naqsh al-Fusus, alluded to in the poem in the
phrase “criticize Sufi texts.” Ibn Arabi’s magnum opus, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, is analyzed cogently in
James Morris, The Reflective Heart: Discovering Spiritual Intelligence in Ibn ‘Arab?’s Meccan Illuminations
(Louisville, Fons Vitae, 2005); and also James Morris and William Chittick, Ibn ‘Arab?: The Meccan
Revelations (New York, Pir Press, 2002). Other famous and controversial Sufi texts on the oneness of being
include Sawanih by Ahmad Ghazali, published as Inspirations from the World of Pure Spirits, trans.
Nasrollah Pourjavady (New York: Methuen, 1986); and Jami, Lawaih: Treatise on Sufism, transl. E. H.
Whinfield and Mirza Muhammad Kazvini (1906; reprinted London: Theosophical Publishing House,
1978); and Lama‵at by Fakhr al-Din Iraqi, published as Fakhruddin ‘Iraqi: Divine Flashes, transl. William
Chittick and Peter Lamborn Wilson (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1982).

13 Surat al-‵Ankabut 29:51.

14 In Arabic, this saying by Ibn ‵Ata is: “Shaykhu-ka man yadullu-ka ‵ala rahati-ka la man yadullu-ka ‵ala ta
‵bi-ka.”

15 The image of the heart as a lotus is very ancient in India. In his commentary on the Yoga Sutra of
Patanjali. Vacaspati writes, “Painless lucidity means that which is devoid of pain. The state of lucidity is the
light shining in the lotus of the heart. Let the mind be concentrated upon the lotus which is located
between the chest and the abdomen. It has eight petals and is placed with its face downward. Its face has
first to be turned upwards by the process of the expirative control of breath.” Guy Beck, Sonic Theology:
Hinduism and Sacred Sound, 89.

16 This saying in Arabic—Arwahu-na ajsadu-na wa ajsadu-na arwahu-na—is attributed to the Shi‵i Imams
and it is well loved by Sufis; see Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Religion and the Order of Nature (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1996), 252.

17 Throughout this text, ‵Abd al-Qadir Jilani is usually referred to by his honorific title Hazrat Ghawth al-
Saqalain or “His Highness the Succor of Both Worlds.”

18 Here Dara Shikoh uses images from polo (striking the ball against the target to score a goal and win the
challenge) to describe mystical practices. Polo was a Central Asian sport that was brought to India with the
Afghans and Turks. For an earlier example of this imagery, see Arifi, The Ball and the Polo Stick or The Book
of Ecstasy, transl. Wheeler Thackston and Hossein Ziai (Bibliotheca Iranica: Intellectual Traditions Series,
No.3).

19 In Kashkul-i Kalimi this is called Sultan al-Zikr, but the meaning is the same; both are translated in
English as “The Prime Recitation” to avoid confusion.

20 The idea that speech is the result of the mixing elemental heat (fire atish) and air (wind bad) is
congruent with the ancient Indic idea, preserved in Hinduism, that vac or sacred speech arises from the
mixing of fire and air.

21 Caravans were led by a camel with a bell around its neck, whose constant pealing would lead on the
other camels and all followers.

22 The Maithri Upanishad describes this practice by stating, “By causing the tip of the tongue to turn back
against the palate and by binding the senses, one may, as greatness, perceive greatness. Thence he goes to
selflessness… By closing the ears with the thumbs they hear the sound of the space within the heart. Of it
there is this sevenfold comparison: like rivers, a bell, a brazen vessel, a wheel, the croaking of frogs, rain, as
when one speaks in a sheltered place.” Beck, Sonic Theology, 46.

23 “Disclosure” in Persian is kasha’ish, which has the same meaning as futuh in Arabic. Abd al-Qadir Jilani
wrote a book entitled Futuh al-Ghayb that is published as Revelations of the Unseen: a collection of seventy-
eight discourses by Shaykh Abd al-Qadir Jilani, trans. Mukhtar Holland (n.p.: al-Baz Publishing, 1992).

24 Sural al-Hadid 57:3.

25 Surat al-Fusilat 41:53. The whole verse reads “We will show them our signs on the horizons and in their
selves if only you would see.”

26 This is a saying or hadith qudsi which reports that God said, “I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be
known, so I created the cosmos that I might be known;” see Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 189.

27 Surat Yunus 10:62. The whole verse reads, “For surely the friends of God there is no fear upon them
and they do not grieve.”

28 Surat al-Fath 48:4. The whole verse reads, “God it is who made tranquility descended into the hearts of
the believers that they might increase in faith.”

29 This poem concludes the book, gives its title, records the date of its composition, and specifies that the
writer belongs to the Qadiri Sufi order. Yet he asserts that the book is not by a mere Qadiri who is a
follower of Shaykh ‵Abd al-Qadir, rather is by God the powerful One (qadir).
 Treatise on the Human Body
Attributed to Mu‵in al-Din Chishti
 Translator’s Introduction
by Carl Ernst
One of the most intriguing aspects of the development of Sufism in South
Asia has been the interaction of Sufis with the spiritual traditions of India,
especially Yoga.1 This short Persian text on Yoga and meditation is attributed to
the famous founder of the Indian Chishti Sufi order, Shaykh Mu‵in al-Din
Chishti (d. 1236). A number of different versions of this treatise exist often with
different titles, though most commonly it is called the Treatise on the Human
Body (Risala-i Wujudiyya).2
This text on Yoga and cosmology is attributed to Mu‵in al-Din Chishti but
this is probably fictional. The successors of Mu‵in al-Din asserted that he never
wrote anything. No manuscript of this text is older than the late seventeenth
century. Why should such a collection of teachings with Indic psycho-physical
practices be attributed to Mu‵in al-Din Chishti? In one sense, this attribution is
an indication of the seriousness with which Indian Sufis approached the
meditation practices of Yoga. These teachings were important enough that they
should have been part of the teaching of the greatest Sufi master in the Chishti
tradition.
The text is divided into three short chapters. Chapter 1 begins abruptly,
omitting the customary praise of God and the Prophet Muhammad, and it
consists of an account of the subtle physiology of Hatha Yoga, with emphasis on
the three channels that parallel the spinal column.3 It relates in detail an esoteric
system of breath control related to a complicated cosmology, which assumes the
concept of the human body as the microcosm related to the larger universe as
macrocosm. Many details are obscure and demand more explanation than the
text provides, which presumably would be available from oral commentary by a
master. Chapter 2 carries forward the microcosm-macrocosm analogy with
frequent quotations from the Qur’an. Chapter 3 has an interestingly composite
structure, in which the metaphysical levels and archangels of Islamic cosmology
are linked to the breaths of Yogic practice.
 The text asserts that the realization of these levels is closely related to the
supreme spiritual states associated with the Prophet Muhammad, especially with
knowledge revealed during his ascension to heaven (mi‵raj). Moreover it
maintains that this knowledge was then conferred on Mu‵in al-Din Chishti,
either spontaneously by the Prophet Muhammad or through the agency of Mu
‵in al-Din’s master, Shaykh ‵Uthman Harwani. Mu‵in al-Din is warned not to
transmit this esoteric teaching to just anybody, but the restrictions are generous
enough to include sincere followers of the Chishti order in later generations.

1 For an overview of the issues surrounding the relationship of Sufism and Yoga, see Carl Ernst, “Situating
Sufism and Yoga,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Series 3, 15:1 (2005), pp. 15-43; and “The
Islamization of Yoga in the Amrtakunda Translations,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Series 3, 13:2
(2003), pp. 199-226.

2 Muslim philosophers interpret the key term in the title (Wuj?d) as the abstract concept of existence, but it
also has an archaic meaning of “body” and it is systematically treated in that way in this text. Manuscripts
of this text are found as 6314 Ganj Bakhsh, Islamabad, entitled simply Treatise of Mu‵in al-Din Chishti;
cited by Ghulam-‵Ali Arya, Tariqa-i Chishtiyya dar Hind wa Pakistan (Tehran: Kitabfurushi-i Zavvar,
1365/1987), p. 100. And also Treatise on Horizons and Souls (Risala-i Afaq wa Anfus), 1754 India Office
Library, London, fols. 272-4; and the Treatise on Spiritual Cultivation about of the Channels of the Human
Being (Risala dar suluk dar sha’n-i rag-ha-yi adami), MS 152 Pir Muhammadshah Dargah, Ahmedabad,
fols. 1-15. There are at least nine other MSS in libraries in Pakistan, of which the two oldest are dated
1084/1673; for details, see Ahmad Munzavi, Fihrist-i mushtarak-i nuskha-ha-yi khatti-i farsi-i Pakistan
(Islamabad: Markaz-i Tahqiqat-i Farsi-i Iran u Pakistan, 1363/1405/1985), 3:2101-3, no. 3820.

3 For detailed accounts of these Yogic teachings, see Mircea Eliade, Yoga, Immortality and Freedom, trans.
Willard R. Trask, Bollingen Series LVI (2nd ed., 1969); David Gordon White, The Alchemical Body:
Siddha Traditions in Medieval India (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1996); George Weston
Briggs, Gorakhnath and the Kanphata Yogis (Calcutta, 1938; reprint ed., Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1980).
 Editor’s Comment
by Scott Kugle
This text is both profound and puzzling. It is known by many different titles:
Treatise: On the Human Body, or On World Beyond and the Soul Within, or On
Spiritual Cultivation about the Channels in the Human Being. It displays a deep
Islamic piety rooted in certain verses of the Qur’an, and pictures this piety as
compatible with Indian devotional traditions like Hatha Yoga. The text is
attributed to Khwaja Mu‵in al-Din Chishti. We know little about him for
certain, and the lack of historically credible biographical material only fuels the
loving urge to make Mu‵in al-Din into a legendary spiritual hero.
Surely, for innumerable Muslims in South Asia—both for those belonging to
the Chishti lineage and for almost all other Sufis as well—Mu‵in al-Din is a
legendary saint who radiates spiritual power and under whose protection falls the
whole of South Asia. To Mu‵in al-Din, tradition ascribes certain texts. Since the
medieval period, these writings are assumed by Chishti Sufis to accurately
convey the personality and teachings of Mu‵in al-Din. Yet in all likelihood, the
attribution to Mu‵in al-Din is false. The earliest sources from the Chishti lineage
assert that Mu‵in al-Din and his immediate successors wrote no texts.
Like these other texts, the Treatise on the Human Body is also attributed to
Khwaja Mu‵in al-Din. How are we to understand that attribution? Carl Ernst
has rightly pointed out that this text was not written by Shaykh Mu‵in al-Din
Chishti, yet all the manuscripts of this text are attributed to him. Are we to
conclude that their attribution of authorship to Mu‵in al-Din is simply a lie,
though one made persuasive by repetition? Perhaps the question is too narrowly
framed.
Before making a judgment about authorship of a text, it is necessary to
investigate what kind of text it is. Not all texts have single authors in the way
that modern readers may assume. For instance, we know that E. M. Forster
wrote A Passage to India, and so it would be a lie to assert that it was written by
Salman Rushdie. But not all texts are like modern novels. Devotional texts, in
particular, may not have single authors. They may be the product of many
generations of accumulation of text, with commentary and clarification. It might
be said that such texts are authored by a “tradition” rather than by a single
person.1 In this sense, the attribution of this Treatise on the Human Body to Mu
‵in al-Din is more symbolic than actual; it signals that the text emerged from the
collective experience of many generations of Chishti Sufi devotees. Just as these
Sufis take their communal name “Chishti” from the saint whom they consider
the “founder” of their spiritual path, Khwaja Mu‵in al-Din from Chisht, so they
also attribute a document that circulated among them to convey wisdom to the
authorship of Mu‵in al-Din. By attributing it to Mu‵in al-Din, Chishti Sufis
gave it value and advocated its use as a devotional aid that expresses some of
their most deeply held convictions. A historical assessment of authority might
miss the deeper point of the text’s nature and usefulness!
So this Treatise on the Human Body should not be seen as the product of one
person’s imagination and one man’s pen. If it were the product of one person’s
systematic exposition, we would judge the text to be a failure because it is so
fragmentary and elusive. But if we see the text as the product of a communal
effort over many generations, then we can understand its real value. The text is
quite sketchy and difficult to understand. It makes reference to terms without
defining them. It alludes to practices without describing them. It offers a
framework for devotional practice without providing any details of how to
achieve its lofty goals. This text is clearly a written companion to an elaborate
oral tradition of inspiring mystical insight through disciplining the body. The
bulk of that tradition would be oral, transmitted from spiritual guide to initiated
disciple; this written document only provides a sketch of that tradition’s
aspirations, goals and foundational axioms. As a text, this treatise proves the
existence of an oral tradition of devotional exercises, and it also hints at that
tradition’s richness and potential for inter-religious synthesis. But as a text, this
treatise does not document the full content of that oral tradition, in which yogic
techniques merged with Sufi contemplative discipline.
As a written text, this treatise dates only from the 17th century during the
Mughal period. We have no manuscript copies that exist from a date earlier than
this. Nor do we have any reference to this text in other authentic sources from
an earlier period. Yet though the text might date only from the Mughal era, the
core ideas might have been passed on in an oral tradition from a much earlier
time. In that sense, the core ideas of the treatise probably have a much earlier
origin, perhaps even with the earliest Chishti Sufi teachers in India. Seen in this
perspective, the attribution to Mu‵in al-Din Chishti might point to the ancestry
of these ideas and practices in an oral tradition that was passed on from “bosom
to bosom” from a spiritual guide to initiated disciples.
The attribution should not be interpreted literally to mean that Mu‵in al-Din
Chishti wrote this text himself. It might be that Mu‵in al-Din and other early
masters of the Chishti order in India taught certain meditation practices that
were in parallel with Yogic practice or perhaps borrowed from it. We know, for
instance, that there were certain dramatic parallels between Sufi concepts of
physio-psychic centers in the body and similar concepts held by Yogis in India.
Among Sufis in Central Asia, such an energy center was known as latifa or
“subtle center.” Among Yogis in India, it was known as chakra or “revolving
center.” Beginning with the figure of Mu‵in al-Din Chishti, this Central Asian
Sufi tradition came to India, and later generations of Indian Sufis sought to
refine the parallel concepts held by these two traditions. They sought to
harmonize these two traditions, especially through the practice of “suspending
the breath,” which was cultivated by Yogis in India and by Sufis in Central Asia
independently. This treatise gives vivid evidence of this process, which had
reached a state of maturity by the Mughal era.
Certainly, the earliest Chishti sources which give a biography of Mu‵in al-
Din, telling the narrative of his settling in India, include many stories of his
intimate interactions with Yogis, Brahmins, and Hindu mystics. These narratives
tell of Mu‵in al-Din deciding to settle at Ajmer, the site of an ancient temple to
the deity Brahma, who represents the creative force and cosmic soul. They
mention that he studied Sanskrit in order to understand the profound religious
literature of Hinduism and in order to engage in discussions with Brahmins.
They also tell of his adopting Indian musical modes in order to convey an
Islamic and Sufi message, giving rise over time to the distinctive use of music for
meditation that characterizes the Chishti Sufi order. They also tell of his
acrimonious conflict with certainly local Brahmins and Yogic adepts who
resented his settling there or saw him as representing the vanguard of polluting
foreigners—Muslim Turks (or Turuksha as they were known in Sanskrit and
Indian vernaculars of the time)—who were threatening to overpower South Asia
militarily.
 These biographical narratives may be wholly legendary or they may carry a
kernel of truth in their heroic retelling. In either case, the figure of Mu‵in al-Din
is important as a symbol for the encounter between Muslims and Hindus, a new
chapter of which opened with his settlement in India and propagation of Sufi
ideals and practices there, in a mode characterized by deep appreciation of
India’s spiritual and aesthetic heritage. The meeting and merging between Yogic
discipline and Sufi devotion is only one aspect of Mu‵in al-Din’s legacy. The
Treatise on the Human Body deserves to be read, translated and studied to
understand this convergence of two ancient wisdom traditions. It may even
inspire readers to take up the practice of Sufi meditation or Yogic exercise, or to
explore the commonalities between these two.
There is yet another reason to read this text, and that reason becomes
significant when it is coupled with the other Sufi meditation texts in this
volume. This text offers perhaps the earliest mention of two key concepts in the
Chishti Sufi meditation tradition: the “Praised Station” (maqam mahmud) and
the “Helping Authority” (sultan nasir). These terms were extracted from the
Qur’an and refined to refer to psycho-spiritual states of a person ecstatic in
meditation. A sequence of two verses in the Qur’an mentions two spiritual states
—a “Praised Station” and an “Aiding Authority”—that are causal forces in
transforming a devotee’s late-night prayers and meditation vigils into a positive
experience of rapture and ascension. The whole verse reads: “Pray in the late
stretches of the night an additional voluntary prayer, that your Lord might send
you to a praised station. Say, ‘Oh my Lord, make my entering by the entryway
of sincerity and make my leaving by the exit of sincerity and let me receive from
you an aiding authority!’”2 This treatise gives the earliest evidence that these two
terms were being used to guide meditation practices in the Chishti Sufi order.
Yet the meaning of these terms is very allusive. These two terms helped
Chishti Sufis to refine their experiences of ecstatic bliss, and to understand how
this monistic union with pure being was to be reconciled with Islamic scriptural
norms. These terms appear to be a distinctively Chishti contribution to Sufi
meditation in general. The earliest texts by Qadiri Sufis in South Asia do not
seem to use these terms; for example, The Compass of Truth written by Dara
Shikoh does not mention these terms. Yet later meditation manuals, like The
Alms Bowl of Shaykh Kalimullah, who had initiation into both the Chishti and
Qadiri orders, do use these terms. In fact, Shaykh Kalimullah describes a distinct
meditation practice guided by these two terms. Though the terms are slightly
garbled: both are called stations (maqam)—the “Praised Station” and the
“Station of Aid” (whereas in the Qur’an the second one is the “Aiding
Authority”). Yet Shaykh Kalimullah leaves no doubt that these two terms are
linked to the same practice, for he specifies that it also uses the technique of
focusing both eyes on the tip of the nose or between the eyebrows (“Chapter 2
Morsel 12”). It appears as if this were the same practice alluded to in this
Treatise on the Human Body attributed to Mu‵in al-Din Chishti. It appears that
the authors of the Treatise on the Human Body and the author of The Alms Bowl
were drawing off of a common tradition of oral teaching that featured these two
terms. The technical vocabulary might vary from one generation to the next or
from one teaching circle to the next, but the actual practice as a ritual remains
fairly constant.
This treatise attributed to Mu‵in al-Din Chishti has many parallels with
Hatha Yoga texts in its basic religious presuppositions, its technical
understanding of anatomy, and in its prescriptive meditation practices. A good
comparison is to the Shiva Samhita, a Sanskrit text on Hatha Yoga mentioned
earlier. The Shiva Samhita was written as a compilation of advice on the nature
of God, the human body, and how it can be harnessed to realize union with the
divine; its subject and style are directly comparable to the Treatise. The Shiva
Samhita is attributed to a single author, the deity Shiva, but is obviously a
composite that evolved over many generations with numerous variations based
on practice and oral advice. This textual structure is also comparable to the
Treatise which, though attributed to a respected ancient source—Mu‵in al-Din
Chishti—is most likely a later written record of oral teachings that evolved in
practice over many generations. Finally, the text of Shiva Samhita can be dated
to roughly 1500; and the text of the Treatise is assumed to have been written
down in the Mughal period, though in fact both texts record meditation
techniques that were in practice for many centuries before.
The Shiva Samhita presents a monistic world-view in which there is only one
absolute being—the divine being—and all appearances of diversity are illusion
that must be dispelled by devoted contemplation. In the Shiva Samhita, God
says, “The entire universe, animate and inanimate, comes from me. Everything
is seen through me. Everything comes to rest in me. I am no different from it
and nothing in this world is different from me. In the same way that single sun
reflects innumerable times in innumerable bowls full of water, so diversity is seen
in the world. But just as there are as many suns as there are bowls, so there are as
many selves as there are conditions for their appearance. Just as in a dream the
dreamer appears in many different ways but is one on awakening, so the universe
appears to have many forms.”3 Compare this to a Persian ghazal attributed to
Mu‵in al-Din Chishti.4

I see the reflection of his beauty in my soul’s mirror, just like

I see the blazing sun reflected in a pool of pure still water
The gaze of reason is stunned by one ray of my beloved’s face
I see his image despite the obscuring of a hundred veils
The light shining from my soul’s mirror is of the essence
I see it, however, as a metaphor representing the truth
Let me be excused for acting so bewildered and drunk
I see his beauty and goodness in my amazement’s mirror
I am a drunken lover since I heard “Am I not your Lord?”
I see reason and intelligence as impossible for me
My being is gone and all that’s left is his absolute being
I see all this as exile endured in hopes of some future union
Through a painful narrowness I’ve entered the party of oneness
I see nothing as impossible after passing through such an ordeal
In the expanse of “all is he” this whole world and cosmos
I see as less than a crowing cock unable to even fly
Since Mu‵in left phenomena’s dust for eternity’s light
I see no impending dawn and no sunset and no high noon

This poem cites the Qur’anic phrase “Am I not your Lord?” to denote the
moment when God faced all human beings directly, in the spiritual world before
their material manifestation, and asked “Am I not your Lord?”5 This is the
moment called “the primordial covenant.” It forms one of the basic concept of
Sufism: all human beings have shared the intimacy of God’s presence and have
born witness to God’s lordship before their creation, and each must now strive
to remember the resonance of that moment, which forms the basis of faith. This
remembrance is the goal of the ritual of zikr or meditation, which forms the
basic subject of all the texts translated in this book.
Although the content of this treatise alludes to commonalities with the Hatha
Yoga tradition, and elements of Hinduism in general, it is allusive. This
translation presents an almost un-translatable text. Some passages are quite
cryptic. Others are nearly illegible. Others represent sounds in Sanskrit through
the letters of the Arabic alphabet, rendered by scribes who probably did not
know Sanskrit! The challenges to a translator are quite formidable. Carl Ernst
has ventured boldly where few dare to tread. He had originally published side-
by-side translations of two variations of this text that he had on hand.6 This is
sound scholarly practice, as it preserves the differences so that the reader can
compare and come to her or his own conclusion. As the editor, I have adapted
his bold scholarly translation and made it even more audacious. I have taken two
more variations of the text that I have on hand, compared them to the two that
Carl Ernst had originally translated, and endeavored to synthesize their
variations into a single text. This is not very sound scholarly practice! But as an
editor, I found that the gaps in one variation of the text were often filled in by
other copies, such that a composite picture of the text’s intent emerged from a
comparison of several variations of it, each of which is by itself incomplete.
To create this synthesis, I have taken the liberty of altering some passages of
the scholarly translation offered by Carl Ernst, with many apologies to him. Yet
I freely admit the resulting synthesis contains mainly the original translation’s
words, with many thanks to him. It is hoped that the resulting synthesis will be
useful to general readers and spiritual seekers, who care more for the enduring
intent of the text than for a literal exposition of its difficulties. It is also hoped
that scholars who read this synthesis translation will be lenient with the editor
who oversaw its hodge-podge birth, and will acknowledge that the intent of this
synthesis is to affirm the text’s importance and offer an approximation of its
meaning rather than to give a definitive edition or literal translation.

1 The question of authorship of this text can be compared to the question of authorship of the Yoga Sutra,
a foundational text for Hatha Yoga that is attributed to the sage Patanjali. There is persistent doubt as to
the identity of Patanjali, and the nature of the text itself allows for a composite composition that grew
steadily over many generations. See Barbara Stoler Miller (trans.), Yoga Discipline of Freedom: the Yoga Sutra
attributed to Patanjali (Berkeley: UC Press, 1996).
2 Surat al-Isra 17:79-80.

3 James Mallinson, The Shiva Samhita, 9-10.

4 Divan-i Hazrat Mu’in al-Din Chishti (Lithograph; Lucknow: Munshi Nawal Kishore Press), 48. Its first
couplet is “Andar a’ina-yi jan ‵aks-i jamali deedam / ham-chu khursheed keh dar ab-i zulali deedam.“

5 Surat al-A‵raf 7:172. See Carl Ernst, Sufism: The Shambhala Guide (Boston: Shambhala Publications,
1997), 184-5.

6 Carl Ernst, “Two Versions of a Sufi Text on Yoga and Cosmology Attributed to Shaykh Mu‵in al-Din
Chishti,” Elixir 2: 69-77.
 Treatise on the Human Body
Attributed to Khwaja Mu‵in al-Din Chishti
In the name of God, the compassionate and merciful
Oh Lord, make the way easy for us and lead us to a good end!
This is a treatise in which I explain the knowledge and spiritual training of the
Yogis, as they are known in the Indian language.
 Chapter 1

Know that in the human being the first thing that appeared was the channel
called sukhumnā.1 Then came the channels called ingalā and pingalā. From these
three, the nine channels became manifest and from these nine, the 360 channels
and the 16,000 came into existence. But the goal of these is the three channels,
and their root is the one called sukhumnā.2
The sukhumnā channel draws the breath from below the navel, and its root is
at the center below the genitals.3 From there it rises upward. The ingalā and
pingalā are the channels of the left and right of the sukhumnā. Whenever the
seeker draws breath from the navel, it is through the sukhumnā. Then it comes
to the heart. From that place, it divides in three parts, and going among flesh,
skin, and arteries, it enters into the head. Then, going out between the two
eyebrows, it comes to its place and circles three times. When the seeker wishes to
suspend his breath and to become aware of its substance, he closes the nine
doorways (nine orifices of the body) and he eats mild and scanty food. Then
during a forty-day retreat, a knot appears beneath the breast; in the second
retreat, it is at the waist; and in the third retreat—if the seeker takes on very
difficult austerities and eats less and concentrates greatly—the knot appears
above. When this knot is firmly established, vision and wisdom of the three
knots is firmly established. Then the breath is within and it circles there three
times.
Then he goes with the breath by the way of the mother’s womb. There are six
doorways there, within the folds of the navel in the midst of the knot of the
throne, which has three doorways on the right side, and three doorways on the
left side. Having opened these six doorways, he enters the window of the loins
(rozan-i sulb or lumbar window). There he travels through twenty-eight stations.
In each direction there are four foundations (rukn) and there are twenty-eight
stations. First, the seeker wants these twenty-eight stations, and at each station is
a spiritual guardian (muwakkal). He recognizes them, for their origin is from five
things. From among them, four are of a dominant quality and one is of a
dependent quality. He takes them as guides (murshid) in his affairs, though in
fact they are of him and are from his reality (haqiqat-i khud). From those five
people, twenty-eight people appear with these details to their appearance: five
are of earth and their color is yellow, five are of water and their color is white,
eight of them are of air and their color is green, five are from fire and their color
is red, and five are from light and their color is black.
These twenty-eight stations are the cycle of the moon (da’irat-i mahtab).
There are twenty-eight stations of increasing (‵uruj) and they are the stations of
the right. There are twenty-eight of diminishing (nuzul) and they are the stations
of the left. Those twenty-eight stations have three knots and three whirlpools
(gird-ab). There the breath becomes three lotuses (bāraj).
At that time, this sign appears. First, as he draws in a breath and (holds it)
within, in a week he takes in five (breaths) from the stomach, and the stomach is
set right. The sign that the stomach is set right is that whatever he may eat gets
consumed, but if he does not eat he does not desire food and yet much power
appears in him. After the stomach is set right, it (the breath) goes between the
flesh, skin, and blood to the extent that for one week it goes between them. In
every inhalation of breath, three times each it goes between them. At that time,
the flesh and blood decrease. The sign of that is that whatever secret is hidden
appears to him. Spiritual disclosure (kashf) appears. Then the seeker reaches
perfection.
 Chapter 2

When God desired, “I want to make my own divinity manifest openly that I
might witness myself,” then God caused creation from non-existence the four
elements (‵anasir) and four realms of being (wujud) and four souls (nafs).4 In
this way creation happened when God desired to openly manifest the hidden
secret of God’s own divinity.
What did God do? First, God manifested from God’s own pure essence a
light (nur). It emerged from the divine essence in a single point and became
established in four levels: the realm of divinity (lāhūt), the realm of archetypes
(jabarūt), the angelic realm (malakūt), and the human realm (nāsūt), just like
fire, air, water, and earth. In this way each became established as separate from
God with four foundations (rukn). And likewise, the elements (taba’i) are four.
And likewise, the archangels (farishta muqarrib) are four. And likewise, the
intimate friends who supported our Prophet Muhammad—may God praise and
bless him—are four.5
In this way from a single point creation emerged. And likewise, the human
soul is of four kinds: the soul that incites to evil (al-nafs al-ammāra), the soul
that blames (al-nafs al-lawwāma), the inspired soul (al-nafs al-mulhama), and the
tranquil soul (al-nafs al-mutma’inna).6 They are of four kinds, just as there are
four elements: air is related to the spirit, water is related to the intellect, fire is
related to love, and earth is related to the soul. Even so, the soul that incites to
evil is related to fire, the soul that blames is related to water, the inspired soul is
related to air, and the tranquil soul is related to earth.
God has created the cosmos such that everything in the external world (afaq)
is also created likewise in human existence (wujud-i insan). This is in accord
with the divine word: “We shall show them our signs on the horizons and in
your souls; do you not then have insight?”7 In this way God created twelve
zodiacal signs in heaven and has also created their correspondence in the human
being. First, the head is Aries, Taurus is the shoulders, Gemini the hands,
Cancer the arm, Leo the breast, Virgo the belly, Libra the navel, Scorpio the
genitals, Sagittarius the thigh, Capricorn the leg, Aquarius the shank, and Pisces
the sole of the foot. And the seven planets that wander through these twelve
zodiacal signs correspond as follows: the Sun is the heart, Jupiter the liver, the
moon the lungs (shush), Mercury the kidney (gurda), Saturn the spleen (supurz),
Mars the brain, and Venus the gall bladder (zahra).
In this same way God divided the year into 360 days, and also created the
human being in 360 degrees. The zodiacal signs of the heavens cover 360
degrees, and on the face of the earth there are 360 mountains and 360 great
rivers. In the human being, 360 individual bones stand in the place of
mountains and 360 veins in the place of the rivers. 360 pieces of flesh are in
place of the 360 degrees of the zodiac, and 360 pieces of skin in place of the
days.
The belly of a man is like the sea, and the hair is like trees, and in the forest
and meadow there are biting worms and the like; and genital worms are in that
position. The face is like an inhabited building. The back is like a desert and
wasteland. In the world there are four seasons, and in the human such as these
exist: childhood is spring, youth is summer, maturity is a fall, and old age is the
rainy season.
Corresponding to thunder is the human voice, to lightning is laughter, and to
rain is crying. Know that the ear drinks water from the bladder, and because of
that its water is bitter (talkh). The eye drinks water from the liver, and because
of that, its water is salty (shor). The nose drinks water from the lungs, and
therefore its water is (sour?). The tongue drinks water from the heart, and its
water is sweet (shirin). Reason (‵aql) is in the head (dimagh), modesty in the eye
(chashm), understanding is in the ear (gosh), knowledge in the breast (sina), and
thought is in the heart (dil or qalb).8
The divine creator brought the cosmos into being with seven levels to the
heaven and seven levels to the land, as in the verse of Qur’an, “We arranged one
level upon another.”9 First is the heaven of Saturn, second the heaven of Jupiter,
third the heaven of Mars, fourth the heaven of the sun, fifth the heaven of
Venus, sixth the heaven of Mercury, seventh the heaven of the moon. And these
correspond to the seven veils (parda) in the human being. The creator of the
cosmos made four witnesses (shahid or guwah) in fire, air, water, and earth.
Further, from the one true reality (haqq) is manifested its distillation (khulasa)
as the divine secret (sirr). From the divine secret is manifested its distillation as
light (nur). From light is manifested its distillation as fire. From fire is
manifested its distillation as moist atmosphere (hawa-ab). From atmosphere is
manifested its distillation as soil (turab). Further, from the soil arises its essence
(zubda) as plants. From the plants arises its essence as animals, and from animals
arises its essence as humanity, and the essence of humanity is the perfect human
(insan-i kamil). And the essence of the perfect human being is the one real true
reality of God.
 Chapter 3

My dear, you should strive to understand all I have said. Then you should
know the four breaths and grow familiar with them and recognize the quantity
of each of these four. What is the quantity of these four breaths, and what power
does each engender? The seeker must look into this deeply and must realize it
through profound introspection. That is an essential obligation (farz ‵ain) for
each person to demonstrate their realization of this before their spiritual guide
(murshid).
Further, it is said that “Knowledge is a single point.”10 You must understand
what is meant by this single point. In each principle there is a word, and in each
word there is a station. The divine realm (lahut) is fivefold, my son. The
spiritual realm (malakut) is the branch of that tree. The realm of divine might
(jabarut) is the leaf, behold it. The realm of human phenomena (nasut) in the
world is just like fruit.
The realm of divinity (lahut) corresponds to the tongue, the station of the
Holy Spirit. The archangel Gabriel (Jibra’il) knows it.11 The place of Gabriel is
“the praised station” (maqam mahmud).12 Gabriel is earthy and the “praised
station” is also an earthy name; its color is yellow and its taste is thick. Drawing
the breath is a distance of twelve fingers beyond.13
The spiritual realm (malakut) corresponds to the nose, and its station is the
navel. The archangel Israfil knows it.14 Israfil is airy; his color is green and his
taste is sour. Drawing the breath is a distance of eight fingers beyond.15
The realm of divine might (jabarut) corresponds to the eye, and its station is
the top of the head. The archangel Michael knows it.16 Michael is watery, and
the station of the top (of the head) is also watery; its color is white, its form is
like the form of the new moon, and its taste is sweet.17 Drawing the breath is
sixteen fingers beyond.18
The realm of humanity corresponds to the ear. The archangel ‵Azra’il knows
it.19 ‵Azra’il is fiery, and the station of the ear is also fiery. Its color is red, and its
taste is bitter, and its form is like a coiled serpent (shikanj), and this form of a
coil glows bright red like a burning lamp. Drawing the breath is a distance of
four fingers beyond.20
That is the “helping authority” (sultan nasir), and the “praised station”
(maqam mahmud), the light of divine majesty (nur-i jalal) and the light of divine
beauty (nur-i jamal), the light of Muhammad and Ahmad and Mahmud and
Ahad.21 And these are the four bodies: the subtle body (tan-i latif), the gross
body (tan-i kasif), the body of annihilation (tan-i fana’), and the body of
eternality (tan-i baqa’). These are the four spirits: the lowly spirit (ruh-i safali),
the lofty spirit (ruh-i ‵alawi), the holy spirit (ruh-i qudsi), and the angelic spirit
(ruh-i malaki). “Truly God encompasses everything.”22
From this you should recognize these four breaths. The quantities associated
with each of them you should learn from your spiritual guide. Then you should
draw them all together in as a single breath, in a particular fashion from one
place of the breath to another, as is written above. You should practice this until
that air (bād) of “the praised station” and “the aiding authority” becomes
dominant. As long as the seeker does not traverse these four breaths, annihilation
in the master (fanā’ fī’l-shaykh) does not take place, and there is no eternality
with God (baqā’ bi ’llāh).
One should know these four breaths and perform the action. These four airs
in the human being are each like an emperor, but despite this they obey a single
person. Thus they follow as one body. And this one body is the light of
Muhammad, which rides all the four elements. The light of Muhammad is the
light of Ahad (of the One).
The seeker should [know] that just as all was One, even so all will be again
One. Thus, the being of the light of Muhammad and the light of Ahad is an
acquisition (kasb) from this. Wayfarers on this path are given no access to the
ascension without this acquisition. For it is not possible, because the spiritual
guardians (muwakkal) are overpowering and do not allow anyone to enter as
long as he has not acquired this acquisition by the will of God.
My dear friends, know that this is the acquisition of the revered Prophet,
taught to him by Gabriel who had learned it from God. And that time when my
master and savior, Lord ‵Uthman Harwani (may God sanctify his conscience)
had bestowed grace and kindness upon this beggar (Mu‵in al-Din Chishti]), he
took my spirit to the presence of that revered Prophet. He said, “Your highness,
this is a child who is worthy of succession (khilafat).” The revered Messenger of
God gave me this much knowledge and this divine acquisition, saying, “Oh Mu
‵in al-Din, God most high taught this acquisition to Gabriel, and Gabriel taught
it to me. The time when God wished to send his Prophet on his mission, he
separated me from that place and I became united with this acquisition. The day
when this practice was completed was the very time when the ascension (mi‵raj)
became my destiny. Then my prophetic mission became manifest. Oh Mu‵in al-
Din, now I bestow this very acquisition upon you!”
I came to this side (the world) and became occupied with this acquisition. At
the time when this practice was completed I reached the height; at that moment
this beggar experienced the ascension (mi‵raj). But I was given permission to
write only this much about the effect of that experience. Again I presented my
case to the Revered One with a thousand entreaties and laments, and permission
was granted on the condition that he stated: “Do not speak of this to every
seeker and disciple, that this secret should not go from house to house; but you
can speak of this secret to sincere seekers who have more or less learned the
knowledge.”
My dear brother, this acquisition is something to be realized. So realize
through your own experience. Then go before your spiritual guide (murshid).
Only once the guide attests that the realizations have clearly taken place for the
seeker, then he authorizes this as real acquisition. He says that spirits have two
forms: one lofty and the other lowly. He adds four forms in between the two
forms. Again, these two forms both have a station: one is the “Praised Station”
(maqam mahmud) and the other is the “Helping Authority” (sultan nasir).23
These are of two forms: one is a traveling form and the other is a stationary one.
The seeker should know the traveling form and recognize its color, as is said
above, so the seeker does not make a mistake. If no mistake is made, then the
traveling form reaches the stationary form, and that stationary form attains
witnessing of the real One, and in that place he attains the reality of the ninety-
nine names (asma).
The master tells the seeker to direct his gaze down to a point at the bridge of
the nose (barra).24 This is from the point of view that these two eyes, which they
call sun and moon, and which are related to both chief channels which in the
Indian language are called ingalā and pingalā, are both related to the channel of
life, which in Indian language they call sukhumna. These two channels, called
the solar and the lunar channel, run firmly along either side of the sukhumnā
channel. By focusing thus, the seeker’s own image is effaced, in the way that we
showed above. In this way, one adds a form through visualization (tasawwur),
and that is the form of the spiritual guide (murshid) as if seen with the external
vision.
At whatever moment is specified by the spiritual guide, the gaze is raised to a
place in the center above the nose. In the midst of the nose is the station of the
spiritual realm (malakut), and in that realm are displayed forms in a thousand
ways, external and internal. But one should not pay attention to the many forms
it displays, but rather one should keep holding in one’s visualization the form of
one’s spiritual guide. One should persist with this until to the visualization of
the form of the master is added the form of Muhammad. Then one attains the
visualization of Muhammad, and this is superimposed upon the image of one’s
spiritual guide. As one attains the visualization of Muhammad, one attains the
visualization of Ahad (the One). Then the reality of the ninety-nine names of
God becomes manifest, and those ninety-nine names are effaced in a single
name. The one name exists as “A” (alif). It became the inhalation of “he”
(huwa). And “he” makes its station to be M (mīm). And from M is N (nūn).
And N is W. Wa huwa arham al-rahimin—and he is the most merciful of the
merciful!
This treatise is now complete.

1 Sanskrit term sometimes transliterated sushumna. Meditation by activating this channel is an ancient idea
in India. In the Maitri Upanisad, it is written, “There is a channel called the Susumna, leading upward,
conveying the breath, piercing through the palate. Through it, by joining the breath, the syllable Aum and
the mind, one may go aloft. Beck, Sonic Theology, 46.

2 These are channels (rag in Persian, nadi in Sanskrit) in the body that convey energy and give life. Carl
Ernst had translated the Persian term rag as “vein.” This is technically correct, as the term does denote a
blood vessel (either vein or artery) in anatomical texts. But this translation prefers to render the term as
“channel” because in this text (as in the Hatha Yoga tradition as a whole) these are channels that convey
energy (sometimes described as “breath”) through the body; they do not refer specifically to channels that
circulate blood, as implied by the word vein. For example, James Mallinson, The Shiva Samhita, 33 writes
that a nadi or channel conveys sensations and conduct the winds across and along the body; this cannot
refer to veins and arteries as understood through anatomy.

3 The Persian word for navel is naf; it means the region within the abdomen more than the actual navel of
skin on the surface of the body. The word for genitals is alat (in Persian an abridgement of the more formal
Arabic alat al-tanassul or “organ of procreation”). There is some confusion in various copies of the
manuscript about this word alat; the Pir Muhammad Shah manuscript is clear in stating that this channel is
“at the center below the genitals” (bikh-i sukhumna dar miyan dar zer-i alat ast), which conforms also with
Hatha Yoga teaching that this energy channel is rooted in the muladhara or subtle energy center at the
body’s base “two fingers (width) above the anus and two fingers below the penis and four fingers broad and
flat;” see Mallinson, The Shiva Samhita, 31.

4 There is some ambiguity in the manuscripts about whether this word is “four souls” or “four breaths.”
This is because the word for soul (nafs) and breath (nafas) appear the same written in Persian when no
vowel signs are specified. This translation favors “souls” because the four kinds of soul are detailed one
paragraph later; however, in Chapter 3 the text describes four kinds of breath.

5 The phrase chahar yar-i ghar means the “four friends of the cave.” These are the four friends who helped
Muhammad (‵Ali, Abu Bakr, ‵Umar and ‵Uthman) especially in the crisis of his exile from Mecca and
escape to Medina when he had to hide in a cave (ghar).

6 It is a foundational idea in Sufism that the state of the soul can progress through four levels in reference
to the Qur’an: the soul that incites to evil (Surat Yusuf 12:53)), the soul that blames (Surat al-Qiyamat
75:2), the inspired soul (Surat al-Shams 91:8), and the tranquil soul (Surat al-Fajr 89:27).

7 This phrase combines two verses from the Qu’ran which both say “and in our souls” (Surat al-Fusilat
41:53 and Surat al-Dhariyat 51:21).

8 The word for head (dimagh) can also denote the brain or nasal cavity or region above the palate of the
mouth; because of this ambiguity, this translation prefers to simply say “head” but readers should be aware
of the possible nuances.

9 Surat al-Inshiqaq 84:19.

10 In Arabic, this saying is: “al-‵ilm nukta.”

11 Gabriel is one of the four archangels who is also called “the holy spirit” (al-ruh al-quds as in Surat al-
Nahl 12:103) in the Qur’an, and Gabriel is responsible for conveying God’s presence and message to
humanity. Gabriel is named in the plural here (arwah al-muqaddas), perhaps out of respect for his
greatness.

12 Surat al-Isra 17:79-80

13 The manuscript then says, “In the Indian language, it is called mangal? mandala vart?kamal lahndar.”
The text gives equivalents “in the Indian language” to these regions/angels/breaths. The Indian language
appears to be Sanskrit, but the actual words are highly ambiguous and are varied in different manuscripts.
Little sense can be made of these equivalents. For that reason, they are given here in the footnotes, rather
than in the translation above.

14 Israfil is one of the four archangels, known in Christianity as Rafael. Israfil announces judgment day by
blowing upon the trumpet at the end of time.

15 The manuscript then says, “In the Indian language they call this barkamal t?l? or balkamal pa.

16 Mikha’il or Michael is one of the four archangels, who is the angel of mercy or rain, and is the sustainer
of life.

17 The image of the top of the cranium being associated with the new moon and with a sweet white liquid
like nectar is common to Hatha Yoga, which associates the top of the head with Shiva, the male principle of
divinity, which secretes the nectar of life or amrit that passes down the spine to nourish life.

18 The manuscript then says, “In the Indian language they call this shatadhal kamal barawwan hathil or
balkamal badu.”

19 ‵Azra’il is one of the four archangels, who is the angel of death

20 The manuscript then says, “In the Indian language they call this madkamal amal or malkamal an kah.”

21 The text cites again Surat al-Isra 17:79. Here a relationship is suggested between the “praised station”
and the “aiding authority.” It is a praised station because it is the place or the spiritual condition in which
God’s aiding authority comes down to or into a devoted worshipper who engages in meditation.

22 Surat al-Nisa 4:108.

23 Here the two different terms from the Qur’an, the “praised station” (maqam mahmud) and the “aiding
authority” (sultan nasir) are placed in an even closer relationship, such that both are described as a kind of
spiritual authority (sultan).

24 This word barra is likely related to the term arra, which refers to the sound generated by the breath
within the nose when one meditates upon the name of God (Allah) within the breath. The manuscript
writes barra but this probably denotes bi-arra or “at the arra” meaning the nasal region. In The Alms Bowl,
Shaykh Kalimullah refers to this as the “arra of the nose” and arra is a Persian word meaning a saw, or
friction that is like the sound of a saw. In Chapter One on Methods of Meditation, in Morsel 12, Shaykh
Kalimullah writes: “it may be that a sound is generated in the nose while performing this meditation. That
sound is known as “nasal sawing” (arra-i bini)” and the friction from this meditation through breathing
generates an internal heat.
 Glossary

ab: water, one of the four elements; same as ma’ in Arabic

af‵al: actions of God
afaq: far horizon, the external sensory world
akhfa’: most secret inner essence of the heart
akhfa’-i akhfa’: utmost secret inner essence of the heart
amanat: the trust, conferred upon humanity by God, also called wad‵iyat
‵ansur (plural ‵anasir): element
‵ashiq: lover
asma’: names of God’s names
atish: fire, one of the four elements; same as nar in Arabic
awliya: saints, the friends of God
azal: eternity before time

bad: air or wind, one of the four elements; same as hawa in Arabic
badan: body
bahs: suchness, quiddity, being one and one thing only
basit: essential and simply singular in its existence
baqa’ bi’llah: sustained or remaining with God
barzakh: medium or intermediary, that which forms the boundary between two
things
basirat: awareness or insight
be-hoshi: absence from one’s senses
be-khudi: un-self-consciousness
be-rangi: undifferentiated state of being without qualities or colors

dargah: shrine at the tomb of a revered Sufi

da‘wat: invocations or voluntary prayer of supplication
dil-i mudawwar: heart like a perfect sphere; source of pure mind
dil-i sanubari: heart, the physical organ of flesh shaped like a pine-cone
dil-i nilofari: heart, the imaginative organ shaped like a lotus blossom that is
the seat and foundation of the body
dimagh: mind, located at the top of the breath; see umm al-dimagh

fana’ fi’llah: obliteration, effacement or losing one’s self in God

faqr: poverty, renouncing the world
farishta: angel; same as malak and mala’ika in Arabic
farz: obligatory prayer
fath: opening or conquest
fauq: above, pronouncing illa ‘llah or “but God” from above down onto the
heart
fazl: bounty, a gift given undeserved
fikr: reflection or contemplation using an abstract mental or imaginative
process
futuhat: openings, disclosures of divine presence
fuyuzat: outpourings of grace

ghaflat: negligence, neglect and distraction

ghayb: what is beyond the senses, spiritual realities that are unseen
ghaybat: state of self-absence

habs-i nafas: suspension of breath; sometimes called habs-i dam (dam is a

Persian word and nafas in an Arabic word, but both mean “breath” and
both are used in Persian)
hal: spiritual state
haqiqat: true reality or spiritual reality
hasr-i nafas: restraining of breath
hayrat: bewilderment, often termed also tahayyur
hazrat-i insan: primordial human being, the universal archetype of the human
being
huwiyat: divine truth or identity
huzur: presence of a person or of God

‘ibadat: worship
‘ilm: knowledge that can be learned, about religion, mysticism or other
discipline is termed “compound knowledge’; in contrast knowledge that is
self-evident and intuitive is termed “essential knowledge”
ikhlas: sincerity
iman: true faith
ingala: energy channel in the body to the left of sukhumna, associated with the
moon
inayat: grace
insan: human being
insan-i kamil: perfect human, a realized human who overcomes personal
limitations
‘irfan: spiritual knowledge, see ma‵rifa
‵ishq: passionate love
islam: outer form of religion
istighfar: seeking forgiveness from God, by saying astaghfiru ‘llaha
istimdad: concentrating on one’s spiritual master for help or madad
itlaq: absolute oneness

jabarut: realm of divine might or spiritual archetypes

jam‵: comprehensiveness and concentration
jam‵iyat: concentration, force of will
jazb: longing, being attracted to God or pulled away by God

kasb: acquisition, something that is earned or learned through one’s own effort
kashf: spiritual disclosure of unseen things (in Persian kasha’ish)
kashkul: alms bowl used by itinerant Sufis to collect daily food donations
karamat: generous gifts of God, meaning miraculous powers
khafi: inner essence hidden deep within the heart
khak: earth or dust, one of the four elements; same as arz or turab in Arabic
khalifa: vicegerent, one who holds responsibility and authority
khanaqah: building dedicated to Sufi gatherings
khannas: the tempter who dwells in the human breast
khatra: selfish or negative thought
khilafat: succession and authority; see khalifa
khirqa: robe or cloak, sign of a Sufi disciple taking initiation with a spiritual
guide
khulasa: distillation, when something vast is reduced to something smaller that
retains the nature of the vaster original and conveys its essential meaning;
see zubda

lahut: divine realm

latif: subtle, a thing of spiritual nature not limited by time and space
latifa: subtle energy center in the body, similar to what Yogis call chakra
latifa rabbaniya: divine quality inherent in every person
lazzat: spiritual delight, bliss
lisan: tongue or speech

madd: drawing out, prolonging first “a” in la ilaha or “no god”

mahwiyat: oblivion
ma’iyat: duality
mujahadat: struggle, spiritual striving
majzub: a person mad with longing for God; see jazb
malakut: spiritual world or angelic realm
maqam: station of the spiritual path
maratib: emanations of singular divine being into multiple levels of material
being
ma’rifat: spiritual knowledge
ma‵shuq: beloved
mi‵raj: ascension to heaven
misal: imaginative world, the realm of images accessed through spiritual
imagination
mu‵ayyana: beholding with one’s own eyes
mulk: material world
muhabbat: love
muhdath: phenomenal, created in time and space
muharaba: war, used in the sense of a spiritual struggle against the ego
muhasibat-i nafs: keeping account of one’s self, its attitudes and deeds
mujahada: struggling; see muharaba
mukashafa: divine inspiration or revealing the unseen
muladhara: subtle energy center at the body’s base
mulk: created world
muqayyad: limited, existing in a discrete form
murakkab: compound, created from elements liable to decompose, opposite of
basit
muraqaba: contemplation
muraqqa’: patched cloak worn by Sufis as a symbol of renouncing worldly
concerns
murid: disciple, one who desires spiritual guidance from a master
murshid: spiritual guide
mushahada: witnessing
muwakkal: spiritual guardian, spiritual being or force assigned to carry out a
task

naf: navel
nafas (plural anfas): breath
nafil (plural nawafil): devotion beyond what is obligatory
nafs (plural nufus or anfus): self or soul
nafs-i natiqa: the universal intellect
namaz: prayer, see salat
nasut: human world perceived through the senses
nisbat: relationship, with a spiritual guide or spiritual forces
nur: light

parda: veil or curtain, obstructions of selfish conceit that prevent spiritual

awareness
pingala: energy channel in the body to the right of sukhumna, associated with
the sun

qalb: heart, the physical organ of the body

rabita: connection, the bond between oneself and one’s spiritual guide; see
barzakh
rabt: attachment, to a spiritual guide
rag-i kimas: the sciatic nerve
riyazat: exertion, spiritual exercises
riza’: contentment
rizq: sustenance
ruh: spirit

sahib-dil: master of heart, spiritual guide, accomplished mystic

sajjada-nashin: hereditary custodian of Sufi lineage
salat: canonical prayer
salawat: blessing Prophet Muhammad, for example saying sala allahu ‵alayhi
wa sallim
sawt: sound, known as the un-struck sound or everlasting sound or eternal
sound
sayr fi’llah: journey in God
sayr ila allah: journey towards God
shadd: intensifying, accentuating the first syllable “i” in illa ‘llah or “but God”
shahadat: visible world
shahid: witness, refers to the four elements from which all in the cosmos is
created
shaytan: the force of temptation
shaykh: spiritual guide
shughl: devotional exercise
sifat: qualities of God
sidq: truthfulness
silsila: Sufi order
sirr: inner heart or divine secret
sukhumna: central energy channel in the body
sunna: optional prayers that the Prophet Muhammad used to make

ta’ayyun: manifestation or individualization of being into a certain type of

creation
tahajjud: late-night vigil prayer
tahlil: praising God, by saying al-hamdu li’llahi
tahqiq: realizing the truth, realization
taht: below, pronouncing la ilaha downward towards the left knee and then
raising it
tajalli: divine self-disclosure or manifestation of the divine
takhliya: emptying, keeping the abdomen constricted
tals: erasure, being effaced; see fana’
tamliya: filling, keeping the abdomen distended and swelled full
tams: annihilation, being utterly wiped out; see fana’
tan: body; see badan
tanazzuh: transcendence, being unlike any other thing, opposite of tashbih
taqwa: God-consciousness or awareness of God
tasawwur: visualization
tasbih: glorifying God, reciting the words subhanullah or other words of praise
tashbih: immanence, similarity to other existing things, opposite of tanzih
taslim; acceptance
tauba: repentance
tawajjuh: concentration, turning one’s full attention towards a single object
tawhid: bearing witness to God’s oneness; kalima al-tawhid saying “No god but
God”

umm al-dimagh: source of mind, place metaphorically centered at the top of the
breath
uns: intimacy

wahdat-i wujud: “Oneness of Being,” a philosophical and mystical school of

thought
wahm: delusion, false concept, fancy, egoistic notion
wajd: rapture
wajib al-wajud: the necessary being, a philosophical term for God
wali: saint, see awliya
waswasa: temptation
wilayat: sainthood, or power bestowed on a human being through intimacy
with God
wird: litany that is chanted or read silently
wujud-i mutlaq: absolute being, an abstract conception of God
wusul: divine union

zat: essence
zauq: ecstasy, spiritual appetite or refined taste for spiritual experiences
zikr: meditation using a pronounced word, phrase or breath; remembrance of
 God
zubda: essence, when something lesser is heated or churned to separate which is
extraneous from what is purer, yet still retains the original nature of that
which was lesser; see khulasa
 Notes on the Cover Illustration
“Mu‵in al-Din Chishti Holding a Globe” by Bichitr 1610-1618.

The illustration is from the collection of Dublin’s Chester Beatty Library,

from “The Minto Album folio 36a” CBL In 07A.14
In the image, Mu‵in al-Din Chishti holds a globe symbolizing the world,
surmounted by a crown of imperial rule, which holds a feather of divine favor.
Written in gold inside the globe is the inscription, “The Key to the conquest of
the two worlds is entrusted to your hands” (Kalid-i fath-i do ‵alam bi-dast-i tu-st
musallam). His halo of illuminated black light is symbolic of divine revelation.
Written in gold against the dark green background is “by the servant of the holy
court, Bichitr” (banda-yi dargah ‵amal-i bichitr), naming the painter Bichitr, one
of the most famous artists of the Mughal atelier during the reign of Jahangir.
The facing page of the album features a standing portrait of the Emperor
Jahangir, painted against the same dark green background. Jahangir holds the
globe that is surmounted by a key, showing that he has been handed the key of
world-ruling success by the favor of God and the blessings of Mu‵in al-Din
Chishti.
This image was painted at Ajmer, where Jahangir was residing with the
Mughal court for three years, during which time he visited the shrine (dargah) of
Mu‵in al-Din Chishti nine times and donated a golden railing to decorate his
tomb.
This information is taken from Elaine Wright, Muraqqa‵: Imperial Mughal
Albums from the Chester Beatty Library (Alexandria, VA: Art Services
International, 2008), pages 288-294.
 Index

‘Abd al-Karim al-Jili.

Abd al-Qadir Jilani.

‵Abdal-Khaliq Ghujdawani.

ablutions.

absolute being. See also God

Abu Bakr al-Siddiq.

Abu Hafs al-Haddad.

Abu Hashim Madani, Syed.

Abu’l-Hasan Ali al-Shadhili.

Abu’l-Qasim al-Qushayri.
Risala Qushayriya.

Abu Madyan Maghribi.

adab.

Adam.

Afghanistan.
Africa. See also Egypt

Agra.

Ahad.

Ahmad Ghazali. See Ghazali, Ahmad

Ahmad Ibn Ghilan Makki.

Aiding Authority. See also Helping Authority

air.

Ajmer.

Akbar, Emperor.

‵alam. See also jabarut, lahut, malakut, misal, nasut, realm, world

Allah. See also God, la ilaha illa ‘llah

‵alim. See also ‘ilm, irfan, knowledge, wisdom

al-Sulami, Abu Abd al-Rahman.

America. See also West

Amir Hasan Sijzi.

Amir Khusro.

Andalusia.

angel. See also archangels

annihilation. See also effacement, fana’, obliteration

Arab.
archangel. See also names of individual archangels

archetype. See also jabarut

art.

arwah. See also spirits

ascension. See mi‵raj

ascetic.

‵ashiq. See also lover

Asia. See also Central Asia, Mughal, South Asia, names of Asian countries

asma’. See also names of God

aspiration.

attraction.

attributes. See also names of God, qualities

Aum.

Aurangzeb, Emperor.

awareness.

awe.

Azra’il, archangel.

Baba Lal Das.

Baghdad.

Baha’ al-Din cUmar.

Baha al-Din Ibrahim Shattari.

Baha’ al-Din Naqshband.

Baha’ al-Din Qadiri. See Baha al-Din Ibrahim Shattari

baqa’.

barzakh. See also medium

basir. See also seeing, sight

Bayazid Bistami.

beauty.

beggar.

beholding. See also witnessing

believer.

beloved. See also lover

bewilderment.

bhakti.

Bihar.

Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna.

blessing.

bliss. See also delight, ecstasy, zauq

body.
subtle body.
types of bodies.

bounty. See also wahhab

Brahma.

Brahman.

breath. See also exercises, practices of meditation

breath control.
observing the breath (pas-i anfas).
suspension of breath (habs-i dam).

Buddhist.

capacity.

caste.

Central Asia.

chakra. See also energy, latifa

chanting.

Chishti order.

Christianity.

color.
black.
 gold.
green.
red.
silver.
white.
yellow.

community.

compassion.

concentration. (cont. overleaf) concentration. (continued) See also breath, exercises

practices of meditation, techniques, visualization

connection.

contemplation. See also practices of meditation

contentment.

cold.

cosmos.
cosmology.

creation.

cure. See also disease, ilness, medicine, sickness

Dara Shikoh, Muhammad.

Compass of Truth (Risala-i Haqq Numa).
Deliverance of the Saints (Sakinat al-Awliya).
 Meeting of Two Seas (Majma‵ al-Bahrain).
Ship of the Saints (Safinat al-Awliya).

dargah. See also tomb

darkness.

death.

Delhi.

delight. See also bliss, ecstacy, zauq

delusion.

desire. See also ‵ishq, longing, love, yearning

despair.

destiny.

devotee.

devotion.

disciple. See also initiate, murid

discipline.

disclosure, divine. See also kashf, manifestation

disease. See also cure, illness, medicine, sickness

distillation.

doubt.

dream.
dualism.

duality.

ears. See also hearing, sound

earth. See also world

ecstasy. See also bliss, delight,, wajd, zauq

effacement. See also annihilation, fana’, obliteration

ego. See also egosim, nafs, personality, self

egoism. See also ego, self

Egypt.

emanations.

energy. See also ingalā, pingalā, sukhumnā, vibrations

subtle energy center. See also chakra, latifa

English language.

environment.

essence. See also zat

eternity.

Europe(an). See also Andalusia, English language, West

evil.
exercises, spiritual. See also breath, practices of meditation, techniques,
visualization, zikr

existence.

eyes. See also basir, glance, seeing, sight

face.
face of God.

faith. See also religion

Fakhr al-Din ‵Iraqi.

Lama‵at (Divine Flashes).

Fakhr al-Din Pahari, Baba.

fana’. See also annihilation, effacement, obliteration

fana’ al-fana’.
fana’ fi’llah.
fana’ fi shaykh.
fana’-i fana’.
fana’-i haqiqi.

faqr.

Farid al-Din Mas‵ud, Ganj-i Shakar.

Fatehpur.

fath. See also opening

fath-i ‵uzma.
fazl. See also blessing, bounty

fear. See also terror

fikr. See also contemplation, reflection

Firdausi order.

fire.

food.

forgetfulness.

form. See also body, image, manifestation

friend.

friends of God. See also saints

futuhat.

Gabriel, archangel. See also archangels

Ganj-i Shakar. See Farid al-Din Mas’ud

Ghazali, Ahmad.
Sawanih (Inspirations from the World of Pure Spirits).

Gisu Daraz, Sayyid Muhammad.

glance. See also eyes

goal.
God. See also absolute being, Allah, disclosure, face of God, friends of God, light
of God; names of God, union with God, unity
God-consciousness.
journey in God (sayr ila ‘llah).
journey to God (sayr fi’llah).
throne of God.

grace.

gratitude.

guardian.

guidance. See also guide

guide, spiritual. See also murshid, shaykh, Sufi master, teacher

Gujarat.

Guru Nanak.

habs-i nafas. See also under breath, suspension of breath

hadith.
hadith-i nafs.

Hafiz, Muhammad Shamsuddin.

Hajji Imdadullah.

Hanafi.

haqq. See also truth

harmony.

Harwani, ‵Uthman. See Harwani, ‵Uthman.

head.

hearing. See also ears, sam’, senses, sound

heart. See also love, practices of meditation

heat.

heaven.

Helping Authority. See also Aiding Authority

Hindu. See also Brahman, Hinduism, Yoga, names of individual Hindus

Hinduism. See also bhakti, caste, Hindu, japa, mantra, puja, Sanskrit, Vedanta,
Vedas, Yoga

hu.

Hyderabad.

hypocrisy.

Iblis. See also Satan

Ibn ‵Arabi, Muhyiddin.

Meccan Revelations (al-Futuhat al-Makkiya).
Bezels of Wisdom (Fusus al-Hikam).

Ibn ‵Ata.
Ibn ‘Ata’ullah al-Iskandari, al-Shadhili.
The Key to Salvation (Miftah al-Falah wa Misbah al-Arwa).

Ibrahim ibn Adham Balkhi.

idol.

ignorance.

illness. See also cure, disease, medicine, sickness

illumination. See also light

illusion.

‘ilm. See also ‵alim, irfan, knowledge, wisdom

image. See also form, imagination, misal, thought-forms, visualization

imagination. See also image, mind, misal, realms, thought-forms, visualization

Inayat Khan, Hazrat.

Inayat Khan, Pir Vilayat.

Inayat-Khan, Pir Zia.

Pearl in Wine.

incense.

India. See also Hinduism, Mughal era, South Asia, names of places

ingalā.

initiate. See also disciple, initiation, mureed

initiation. See also initiate, khirqa

insight.

inspiration.

intellect. See also mind, reason, thoughts

intimacy.

intoxication.

introspection.

invocation.

‵Iraqi. See Fakhr al-Din ‵Iraqi

‵irfan. See also ‵alim ‘ilm, knowledge, wisdom

‵ishq. See also desire, longing, love, passion, yearning

ishq-i haqiqi.
ishq-i majazi.

‵Ishqi order.

Islam. See also Muhammad, Muslim, Qu’ran, Shari’a

Islamic orthodoxy.

Israfil, archangel.

Isvara.

jabarut. See also archteype, might

‵alam-i jabarut.
nur-i jabarut.
jalal. See also majesty, might, power

jamal. See also beauty

Jami, Mawlana‵Abd al-Rahman.

Lawa’ih (Divine Gleams)

jam‵iyat. See also concentration

japa. See also mantra, names of God, practices of meditation, sound, zikr

Jehanara, Princess.

Jesus.

jinn.

joy.

Junaid, Abu’l-Qasim.

Ka‵ba.

Kaleemi, Syed Mohammad Fakhr-ul-Hasan.

Kaleemi, Syed Mohammad Hasan Jeeli-ul-Kaleemi.

Kaleemi, Syed Rasheed-ul-Hasan Jeeli-ul-Kaleemi.

Kaleemi, Syed Mohammad Zia-ul-Hasan.

Kalimi order.

Kalimullah, Shaykh Kalimullah Shahjehanabadi.

Alms Bowl of Shaykh Kalimullah (Kashkul-i Kalimi).
 Cups from the Font of Paradise (Tasnim-i Tawhid).
Essentials of Kalimullah (Ma La Budda Kalimi).
Majalis-i Kalimi.
Maktubat-i Kalimi.
Patched Cloak of Kalimullah (Muraqqa’-i Kalimi).
Those Ten Complete Days (Tilka ‘ Ashara Kamila).

karamat.

kashf. See also disclosure, manifestation

kashkul.

Khadija.

khannas. See also temptation

khilafat.

khilvat dar anjuman.

khirqa.

Khizr.

knowledge. See also ‵alim, ‘ilm, irfan, wisdom

Kubrawi order.

Lahore.

lahut.

la ilaha illa ‘llah. See also Allah, fana’, names of God, remembrance, zikr
 la ma‵bud illa ’llah.
la maqsud illa ’llah.
la matlub illa ’llah.
la mawjud illa ’llah.

latif.

latifa. See also chakra, energy

law.

letters (of the alphabet). See also syllables, words

liberation.

life.

light. See also illumination

light of God.
light of Muhammad.
ocean of light.

limitation.

longing. See also desire, ‵ishq, yearning

love. See also beloved, bhakti, devotion, ‵ishq, lover

lover. See also beloved, love.

madd. See also breath, practices of meditation

madrasa.
majesty.

majnun.

majzub.

malakut.

Malang.

manifestation. See also disclosure

mantra. See also names of God, practices of meditation, sound, zikr

maqam. See also station, spiritual

ma‵shuq. See also beloved

master, spiritual. See also guide, pir, shaykh, Sufi masters

mastery.

Mecca.

mediation.

medicine, spiritual. See also cure, disease, illness, sickness

Medina.

meditation. See breath, exercises, pas-i anfas, practises of meditation, techniques,

zikr

medium. See also barzakh, rabita, wasita

mercy.

message. See also Gabriel, messenger

Messenger of God. See also message, Muhammad, prophet
Muhammad the Messenger.

Michael, archangel.

might. See also jabarut, power

mind. See also concentration, contemplation, imagination, intellect, mind,

practices of meditation, thoughts, visualization

Minhaj al-Salik illa Ashraf al-Masalik. See Spiritual Seeker’s Method to Reach the
Noblest of Goals

Mira Bai.

miracle.

mi‵raj. See also under practices of meditation, Ascension of the Sages

mirror.

misal. See also images, imagination, mind, vision

Miyan Mir.

Miyan Natha.

moon.

Morocco.

Moses.

mosque.

movement.

Mu’ayyid al-Din al-Jandi.

Mughal era.

Muhammad, The Prophet. See also light of Muhammad, messenger, Prophet

Muhammadun Rasulu ‘llahi.

Mu‵in al-Din Chishti.

Treatise on the Human Body (Risala-i Wujud).

mujahadat. See also struggle

Mulla Shah Badakhshi.

multiplicity.

murakkab.

muraqaba. See also contemplation

murid. See also desire, disciple

murshid. See also guide, spiritual, Sufi master

music. See also chanting, harmony, qawwali, rhythm, sound

Muslim.
Sunnis.

mystic(al). See also mysticism, Sufis, Yogis

mysticism. See also mystic, practices of meditation, Sufism, Yoga

nafil. See also prayer

nafs. See also ego, personality, self, soul, tranquillity

 hadith-i nafs.
muhasibat-i nafs.
al-nafs al-ammāra.
al-nafs al-lawwāma.
al-nafs al-mulhama.
al-nafs al-mutma’inna.
nafs-i khud.
nafs-i natiqa.

nafy o isbat.

names of God. See also Allah, attributes, practices of meditation, qualities,

words, individual names. zikr.
ism-i a‵zam.
ism-i jalal.
ism-i zat.

Naqshbandi order.

Nasir al-Din Chiragh-i Delhi.

nasut. See also realm, world

nisbat.

Nizam al-Din Awliya.

Morals for the Heart (Fawa’id al-Fu’ad).

Nizam al-Din Awrangabadi.

Nizam al-Din Narnauli.

Nizami, Khaliq Ahmed.

 O

obliteration. See also annihilation, effacement, fana’.

Olcott, Henry Steel.

oneness. See also unity, wahdat-i wujud

opening.

oral teachings.

original state.

pain. See also sorrow

Pakistan. See also Mughal era, South Asia, names of places

passion. See also desire, ‵ishq, love

Patanjali.

path, spiritual. See also Sufi path

perfection.

Persia.

personality. See also ego, nafs, self

pingalā.

pir. See also master, Sufi master

planets. See also moon, sun, zodiacal signs

Plato.

pleasure.

poetry.
poet. See also names of individual poets

potential.

poverty.

power. See also jabarut, might

practices of meditation. See also breath, concentration, exercises, fana’, la ilaha

illa ‘llah, madd, names of God, shugl, shadd, techniques, visualization, words,
Yoga, zikr
Ascension of the Sages (mi‵rajal-‵arifin).
concealed meditation.
Dominating Power of Recitation (sultan al-zikr, sultan al-azkar).
meditation in four beats (zikr-i chahar zarbi).
meditation in two beats (zikr-i do-zarbi).
meditation in six beats (zikr-i shesh zarbi).
meditation of the blacksmith (zikr-i chahar zarbi).
meditation of the heart.
meditation of the inner essence of the heart.
meditation of the inner heart.
meditation of the most secret inner essence.
meditation of the spirit.
meditation of the tongue.
meditation of the utmost secret inner essence.
Praised Station (maqam-i mahmud).
Prime Recitation (sultan al-azkar).
 silent meditation.
Station of Aid (maqam-i nasir).
vocal meditation.
Yogic practices. See Yoga

pranava. See also breath

prayer.

presence.

primordial covenant.

prophet. See also messenger, names of individual prophets

The Prophet (Muhammad).

protection.

puja.

purity.

Qadiri order.

Qalandars.

qawwali.

qualities. See also attributes, names of God, sifat

qudra. See also might, power

Qur’an.
qutb.

Qutb al-Din Bakhtiyar Kaki.

rabita. See also barzakh, guide, medium

Rafael, archangel. See Israfil

Rajasthan.

rapture. See also bliss, delight, ecstacy, wajd, zauq

reality.

realization.

realm. See also ‵alam, jabarut, lahut, malakut, misal, nasut, world

reason. See also intellect, mind

red sulfur.

reflection.

relationship.

religion. See also faith, names of individual religions

remembrance. See also practices of meditation, zikr

renunciation.

repentance.

repetition.
resonance. See also sound, vibration

retreat.

revelation.

reverence.

rhythm. See also music

ritual.

ruh. See also spirit

Rumi al-Balkhi, Jalaluddin.

Masnavi.

sacrifice.

sage. See also under pratices of meditation, Ascension of the Sages

sahib-dil. See also guide, spiritual

saint. See also friends of God, names of individual saints, wali, wilayat

sajjada-nashin.

Salim Chishti.

salvation. sam’. See also hearing, practices of meditation, sound

Samudra Sangam.

sanam. See also idol

Sanskrit.

Satan. See also Iblis, shaytan, temptation

science.

scripture. See also names of individual scriptures

secret.

seeing. See also basir, eyes, image, senses, sight, vision, visualization

seeker.

self. See also annihilation, effacement, ego, nafs, obliteration, personality, un-self-
consciousness
self-abnegation.
self-absence.
self-effacement.
selfish.
selflessness.
self-righteousness.
self-righteous.
self-scrutiny.
self-surrender.

senses. See also hearing, sensory perception, seeing, sight, taste

sensory perception. See also senses

shadd. See also breath, practices of meditation

Shadhili order.

shadow.
shahadat. See also witnessing

Shah Jehan, Emperor.

Sharaf al-Din Yahya Maneri.

Shari‘a.

Shattari order.

shaykh. See also fana’ fi shaykh, master, spiritual guide.

tasawwur-i shaykh.

Shaykh al-Islam.

shaytan. See also Satan, temptation

Shihab al-Din ‵Umar Suhrawardi.

Shiva. See also Shiva Samhita.

Shiva Samhita.

shughl. See also contemplation

sickness. See also cure, disease, illness, medicine

sifat. See also attributes, names of God, qualities, names of individual qualities

sight. See also basir, eyes, seeing, vision

sign.

Sikh(ism).

silsila. See also Sufi orders

sina-ba-sina. See also oral teachings

sincerity.

sleep.
sleeplessness.

Soofie Saheb.

sorrow. See also pain

soul. See also nafs

sound. See also harmony, hearing, music, resonance, sam’, tongue, vibration
eternal sound (sawt-i sarmadi).
everlasting sound (sawt-i la-yazali).
unstruck sound (sawt-i la-yazali).

South Asia. See also India, Mughal, Pakistan

speech. See also oral tradition, tongue, word

spirit.

Spiritual Seeker’s Method to Reach the Noblest of Goals.

state, spiritual. See also baqa’, fana’, illumination, original state, self

station, spiritual. See also maqam, practices of meditation

Praised Station (maqam-i mahmud).
Station of Aid (maqam-i nasir).

struggle. See also mujahadat.

Sufi Order International.

Sufism. See also names of individual Sufis and names of individual Sufi orders
Sufi masters. See also guide, master,
 shaykh, pir
Sufi orders.
Sufi path. See also path

Suhrawardi. See Shihab al-Din ‵Umar Suhrawardi.

Suhrawardi order.

sukhumnā.

sun.

sustenance.

syllable. See also letters, sound, word

Syria.

tajalliyat. See also disclosure, manifestation

tasawwur-i shaykh. See shaykh, visualization

taste.

tawajjuh. See also concentration

tawhid. See also unity

Tayfuri order.

teacher, spiritual. See also guides, masters, Sufi masters, individual Sufi teachers
by names

techniques (of meditation). See also breath, concentration, exercises, practices of

meditation, sound, visualization, zikr
temple.

temptation. See also khannas, Satan, shaytan

terror. See also fear

Theosophical Movement.

thoughts. See also concentration, contemplation, imagination, intellect, mind,

visualizations
thought-forms.

tomb. See also dargah

tongue. See also practices of meditation, sound, speech, taste, zikr

tranquility. See also nafs

tranquil soul.

transformation.

trust.

truth. See also haqq

union with God. See also fana’, oneness, unity, wahdat-i wujud

unity. See also oneness, tawhid, union with God, wahdat-i wujud

universe.

un-self-consciousness. See also self

Upanishads.
Urdu.

‵Umar Abu Jandiqi.

‵uruj.

‵Uthman Harwani.

Vacaspati.

Vasu, Rai Bahadur Srichandra.

Vedanta.

Vedas.

veil.

vibration. See also resonance, sound

vision. See also disclosure, image, seeing, sight, visualization, witnessing

visualization. See also image, imagination, practices of meditation, seeing, sight,

vision; under shaykh, tasawwur-i shaykh

Vyasa.

wahdat-i wujud. See also oneness, union with God, unity

wahhab. See also bounty

wajd. See also bliss, delight, ecstasy

wali. See also saint, wilayat

wasita. See also medium

water.

wazifa.

West, The. See also America, Europe

wilayat. See also saint, wali

wird.

wisdom. See also ‵alim, ‘ilm, irfan, knowledge

witnessing. See also beholding, disclosure, manifestation, shahadat, vision

women

words, divine. See also names of God, letters, practices of meditation, sound,
speech, syllable, zikr

world. See also ‘alam, earth, jabarut, lahut, malakut, misal, nasut, realm
imaginative world.
spiritual world.
subtle world.
world of dreaming.

worship. See also puja

Yahya Madani.

yearning. See also desire, ‵ishq, longing

Yemen.

Yoga. See also chakra, pranava, Yoga Sutra, names of individual Yogis Hatha
Yoga.
Yogis

Yoga Sutra. See also Patanjali, Yoga

Zain al-Din al-Khawafi.

zat. See also essence

zauq. See also bliss, delight, ecstasy.

zikr. See also la ilaha illa ‘llah, names of God, practices of meditation,
remembrance, sound, words
sultan al-zikr.
zikr-i chahar zarbi.
zikr-i daf-i marz.
zikr-i do-zarbi.
zikr-i ihata.
zikr-i isbat.
zikr-i kashf-i qubur.
zikr-i kashf-i ruh.
zikr-i kulliya.
zikr-i laqlaqa.
zikr-i mahw al-jihat.
zikr-i ma‵iya.
zikr-i mashy-i aqdam.
zikr-i nafy o isbat.
 zikr-i qalb-i majzub.
zikr-i se-paya.
zikr-i shesh zarbi.
zikr-i tajalli-yi ana’iya.
zikr-i wahhab.
zikr li-ijaba da‵wat.

zodiacal signs. See also planets

 About the Translators
Scott Kugle is a research scholar in comparative religion and Islamic culture.
He is currently Associate Professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, in
the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Studies. His research
focuses on Sufism, on devotional poetry and music, and on gender. He has lived
for many years in Hyderabad, India, where he does research, occasionally
teaches, and participates in the Kalimi community of the Chishti Sufi order.
Carl W. Ernst is a specialist in Islamic studies, with a focus on West and
South Asia. His published research has been mainly devoted to the study of
three areas: general and critical issues of Islamic studies, premodern and
contemporary Sufism, and Indo-Muslim culture. On the faculty of the
Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill since 1992, he has been department chair and Zachary Smith Professor as
well as member of the Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies
Association. He is now William R. Kenan, Jr., Distinguished Professor and Co-
Director of the Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim
Civilizations.