“Irade Senniye” is the will that cannot be opposed. It is the will of the Sultans inherited from Shah Mardan. It is the will that is executed through sincere love and therefore is “The Majestic Will”. The Disciples could not carry their hunger and asked S. Isa (as) to ask his Lord to send them food from the Heavens. The Companions (ra), however, tied a stone to their stomachs in order to carry their hunger and there was no need for Mt. Uhud to be turned into gold.

Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim

Allahumma Salli ala Muhammadin wa ala ‘aly Muhammadin wa Sallim

Sultan ul-Awliya Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Al-Haqqani An-Naqshbandi ق

Sohbat of the 24th of March, 2013 – Jumada Al-Awwal

It is He (Most High) who makes laugh and makes cry! (53:43) As-salamu alaykum, O attenders, O you, who gather around Shah Mardan, the Lion of Allah, who gather in sincere affection for him, so their souls are revived by loving him. O beloved brethren of the Beloved of God Thanks be to Allah, our Protector, who has not constrained us to our bed; our Protector, who made us get up; our Protector, who gives us strength, passionate love and ardor and who granted in His magnificence to His Beloved that in his Beloved’s good pleasure His own good pleasure is found. 

We have entered a new day: A new day with new divine provisions. So let us say, O beloved brethren, Bismi-Llahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim. Let us say, O beloved brethren: La ilaha illa-Llah Muhammadu r-Rasulu-Llah (salla-Llahu‚Ä alayhi wa sallam) and also to Shah Mardan, the Lion of the battle grounds, we offer greetings of blessing and peace. And peace be upon those who follow their ways; may they be blessed; may they be in bliss; may they carry forever the crown of true faith on their heads! Shaytan cannot harm them in any way. Al-Hamdu li-Llah If we carry on our heads the crown of true faith, the crown of faith, the crown of Islam. We don’t have to fear anything. Let us say: Bismi-Llahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim. Let us crown our day with the crown of the noble Basmalah. Our anxieties will vanish. Our worries will disappear, none of our troubles or sorrows will remain. From the matters of this world there is nothing to fear. Let us call the great ones. We are under the banner of our distinguished great grandmother Hala Sultan – may she not let us be far from her! 

Everyone rises under the banner of the one he loves.

Everyone rises under the banner of the one he loves. O our beloved ones, each one of Allah’s beloved servants has his own banner. Whoever steps under his banner will neither be deprived in this world nor in the hereafter. Unfortunately such issues have been forgotten or deliberately erased from memory. The human being lives by spiritual power. If man forfeits his spiritual power he will himself be lost. Like a fish taken out of the water, he will flap about in bewilderment. This world will make him dizzy. Those who forfeit their water become dizzy. Our waters are an ocean. So let us dive into the ocean of Shah Mardan! Let us enter the court of passionate love and ardor. Let us praise and laud our Lord to express our gratitude! Upon His cherished Beloved whom He sent, let us offer countless greetings of blessings and peace; let us recite  Salawat ash-sharif for him. 

In the old days they would call in the mosques “Sayyidi Kainat as Salawat!” to make the congregation rise. “Send blessings and peace on the master of all creation! Get up!” And with “Allahumma salli ala Sayyidina Muhammad” they would wipe their hands over their faces. If you wipe your face whenever the name of our Master is mentioned, your face will become pure – it will shine. That is why in our mosques, as part of our old customs, when our most revered Prophet, the kingly Messenger, was mentioned by name, the muezzin would call out: “Ala Rasulina salawat!”, meaning: “Send blessings and greetings of peace upon our Master!” Masha Allah, how wonderful! Not to forget our master, but to send blessings and peace upon him – how wonderful, how truly wonderful! 

They have abolished our old customs, and together with them all goodness has disappeared. No goodness is left with people. But no, our Master is in constant remembrance. He is the Master of all creation because all of creation was created for his sake. Our master is the master of all creation. Our master is the pride of the whole universe. “Fahr-i Kainat as salawat!” They don’t say that anymore in our mosques these days because the mosques are full of ignorants. No one tastes the sweetness of Islam. 

True faith is cooked in the melting pot of passionate love. That’s how it becomes sweet. That’s why the true believer is sweet. The unbeliever is poisonous, but the true believer is a healing cure. 

Performing services in the mosques has become a means of livelihood. They take a few pennies to make a living. But service for the mosque is not a worldly kind of service. O our beloved brethren of Shah Mardan, we are asking for gatherings which will teach us these things, we are asking for sincere advice, which will become a source of love. Without love nothing happens. You can prepare a pot, put everything inside, set it on the fireplace, but without lighting the fire it will not cook. “Can food be cooked without fire, ya hu?” “Of course, it can!” “From what does it get cooked?” “We put it under the sun and that way it gets cooked as well.” How clever! True faith is cooked in the melting pot of passionate love. That’s how it becomes sweet. That’s why the true believer is sweet. The unbeliever is poisonous, but the true believer is a healing cure. 

O Shah Mardan, grant us support, O beloved brethren of Shah Mardan! Get up early in the morning! Men should not hang around in the house, unless they are disabled – that’s something else. But a man who is alive and well should open the door saying “Bismi-Llahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim”. Say “Bismi-Llahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim” and the doors of all goodness will open for you. You should know why you got up and for whom you got up. “O my Protector, Who has created me, I am remembering Your Most Exalted Name: Bismi-Llahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim”. Don’t sleep, but rather, if you are able to walk go to the noble mosque. Find spiritual relief in the noble mosque. Then, after the prayer, be ready for the gathering of Shah Mardan. O beloved brethren, O intimate friends, this used to be our schedule in the old days. What terrific practices were these. What a fantastic schedule it was! What a lovely character we had. How wonderful were our beliefs and how marvelous were our deeds! All that has been taken away from us. Those who have made us lose all that, have erected statues and turned them into places of worship. One day they will collapse on their heads. There is a time for everything. Everything happens in its fixed time. Isn’t it so? For every event exists an appointed time. When that hour arrives, He will hit and destroy them without leaving even a trace. But He is waiting until the appointed time. 

O people, do you hear what Shah Mardan says? “For those who forget Allah a whip will come from heavens.” A kurbash is coming, a kurbash is coming. They will be whipped. Who is getting whipped will go half insane. Today men have lost three quarters of their wits, one quarter is left – not enough for themselves nor for others. The Sultans, the possesors of one single majestic will, have gone. One single will without coercion reaching from West to East, gathering all under one majestic will. With the sultans, the grandsons of Shah Mardan, everyone acted according to their (the Sultan’s) will. They acted without coercion; maybe with fondness, maybe not. Acting out of fondness, taking pride in it a person who says regarding his leader’s or ruler’s, governor’s or general’s orders “at your command with all my heart!”, serves the one whom he loves from his heart. He acts out of passionate affection. 

There is no compulsion in religion.(2:256) In our religion there is no coercion! If you do it, do it with passionate enthusiasm! Don’t do it staggering! Run, run to it! If you give this up for them, they will come and kiss your feet. They’ll even lick your asshole. It’s a rude expression, but it fits exactly. Those who don’t prostrate to Allah, who don’t accept Allah, they are licking assholes. They are licking Shaytan’s genitals. That’s exactly what they deserve. They find no rest here or herafter, they are condemned to punishment. “Learn, ‘ta’allam’, learn!”, says Allah’s venerable Messenger and Shah Mardan is telling us, “Learn. Learn the beautiful ways! Don’t start Shaytan’s work as soon as you open your eyes. Be clean, be well mannered, clad yourself with the attributes of our cherished Master!” Who is doing this? The ones saying “Bismi-Llahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim”. The ones who know the way to the mosque. Those who lost the way to the mosque are on their way to hell, their life is finished, they are rotting. Their lifetime is halved and their lives are poisoned, no matter if they are rulers or doctors. 

Don’t forget Allah! O my beloved brethren of Shah Mardan, what marvelous advice, what a wonderful gathering! Bismi-Llahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim. Let us listen, my beloved brethren. Let us remember our Lord, the Majestic Exalted, Most High! Let us say “Allahu Allah, Allahu Allah, Allahu Allah, Allahu Allah, Allahu Allah La ilaha illa-Llah Allahu Allah Allahu Allah La ilaha illa-Llah, Allahu Allah La ilaha illa-Llah Sayyiduna Muhammadu r-Rasulullah.” Let us revive our beings by saying it! 

You’ve become so lethargic. Your faces have become unsightly, women and men alike. The nobility has disappeared, the elegance is gone. They are painting their faces. The more paint they smear everywhere, the uglier they become. Come, be one of Shah Mardan’s beloved brethren! Let’s be part of his circle of close friends! May our day be full of goodness, O beloved brethren! It is a new day with new divine provisions. Our day is indeed a new day, with a new laden table descending from the door of the Sultan. The disciples of the Prophet Isa put a question to Prophet Isa (upon him and upon our Prophet be blessings and peace) saying: “Can your Lord send down a laden table from the heavens?” Are the heavens a soup kitchen? Are the heavens the food stall of a cook? Or is heaven some kind of restaurant? What is this? What are you asking? “O, but we would like it to descend so we can eat from it and our hearts may be in peace.” If your hearts find peace eating food, your faith is not real faith! 

If you only had said: “So that the eyes of our hearts may open, to let us find peace may He send it to us out of His divine grace!” But what did these disciples say? “Your Lord?!” They didn’t even say “Our Lord”! “Can He send down a table from up there?”, they asked. Is it a soup kitchen, a food stall or a restaurant? Is it not enough for you what’s here on earth, so that you demand a laden table from heavens? What a shame! Was that a worthy kind of understanding for the disciples of the great Prophet Isa – alayhi salam – to ask such a question? ” Ay so that our hearts may find peace.” If your heart finds peace eating food, can it find strength of faith? 

Well, this was the level of their understanding. From our master no one demanded anything like this. From our master, the sultan of Prophets, nobody asked anything like “Let a laden table come down from heavens, our stomachs are empty, we are starving!” No one said, “Let a table come down!” Maybe they said, “Ya RasuluLlah”, showing it to him, “because we couldn’t find anything to eat we’ve tied stones to our bellies, to stop the pangs of hunger from tearing our stomachs apart.” And our revered master simply lifted up his blessed robe to let them look- meaning, “You have tied on one stone, I have tied on two. My Lord knows, when it is time to send down a laden table. My Lord knows. Are you believing in Allah? If you don’t believe you may tie 10 stones to your belly,  you will still not believe and if ten laden tables came down,  you would still not believe!” 

La ilaha illa-Llah, Sayyiduna Muhammadu r-Rasulullah (ﷺ). How wonderfully he taught, our revered Master! He made them get by with one date in twenty-four hours. Such a people, with such a faith in their prophet they were, that they conquered the whole world. They did not demand: “Ya Rasulullah let a laden table come down for us from heavens so we can fill our stomachs!” Our revered master simply showed them the two stones tied on. Allahu Akbar! Salla-Llahu alayhi wa sallam. O my Lord! How wonderful is the teaching of that Beloved of the Most Glorious, Most High. And so it happened that while our distinguished master was passing through the oasis date orchards on his way to visit mount Uhud he noticed a rustling sound. When he turned around to look something like a spring of gold was gushing forth, following him. Our master – may Allah shower blessings and peace upon him – was not pleased. ” I’m not in need of you. I have my Lord, Who is well aware of all my needs. Stop patronizing me! Stay where you are, the way you are!”, he said. That’s the reason why there is gold beneath Mount Uhud but there is no way to dig it out. 

Mount Uhud is full of majestic eminence. They call it Jabal Uhud. Oh, what a blessed mountain! May we be granted power from the manifestations that emanate from it; may we be granted health and honor! May our stomachs receive their fill. May our hearts be in peace! This is what being human means; this is Islam. This is the meaning of being Muslim. This is the way of Shah Mardan, which he takes from that cherished Master of all creation. Come running, O beloved brethren, join the circle of Shah Mardan’s close friends.  Let’s sit together in conversation. We are satisfied with a piece of bread, but we urgently need those precious jewels Shah Mardan will pass on to us – How to serve our Lord and our beloved Prophet, the cherished Master of all creation; How to reach true servanthood, how to be worthy members of the Beloved’s nation. This is what we really want. It’s not this evanescent world we’re after! Our Master is the esteemed Master of all creation. His way is what we want. We want something from his nobility. “To which nation do you belong?” “I belong to the nation of HabibuLlah.” You’ll be esteemed, you’ll be renowned. “For whom will you draw your sword, O Shah Mardan?” “I’ll draw it for the glory of Allah and His Messenger, cutting the world into two halves, as if it were a watermelon!” 

Take it on, O youngsters, O Muslims, get used to these things. Follow Shah Mardan’s sincere advice so that next to the name of the master of all creation our name also shall be mentioned! Let’s reach for honor. Let’s reach honor in this world and in the hereafter. May who possesses honor hold on to us. Who is dishonored? Those who have forgotten Allah and His Prophet, those who never prostrate to Allah. On Judgment Day they’ll populate the alleys of hell. “There is not a single story, we haven’t told”, says Shah Mardan. Isma wa’u [listen and take heed]! What you have heard and taken in through listening, then you internalize it and it becomes like an inexhaustible energy, loading spiritual power, which lets your batteries never run empty. If your battery is finished, your battery wasn’t worth ten pence anyway. 

Man can take the power of true servanthood from Shah Mardan, from those awliya who are on his path. We can never reach the Pride of all creation(ﷺ) but step by step we are also given from that power. If we say “Allah”, we will shake the world. This is the power of Shah Mardan. We don’t have any power. We are requesting some crumbs from his laden table. Every day, O my beloved brethren, let us partake from Shah Mardan’s table. Let us get stronger, more powerful. Let us grow our wings. Let us fly into the realm of the heavenly kingdom on our way to the assembly of the Real, in a purified fashion! When you pass away, when you die, your dead body will not turn into a carcass. Who are those whose dead bodies become carcasses? The ones who don’t listen to Shah Mardan, who don’t keep to his ways. They are carcasses, sending forth their stench far beyond the graveyard. 

May Allah never separate us from His pure servants, those disciples of Shah Mardan holding fast to his way. These blessed ones, they exist in every age. Look for them, O people of Anatolia! Look for good people. Don’t follow shaytans. Look for good people, so that your honor may shine again like in old times. The world should be awed by you. Thanks be to Allah, that we were granted today to listen to one of Shah Mardan’s conversations, even if it was only short. O beloved brethren of Shah Mardan, close friends of Shah Mardan, in the old days a few people used to sit in the coffee shop, to meet there for their conversation. These conversations used to be like this conversation. They used to open up,  to relieve their feelings. The soul needs neither coffee nor coffee house, the soul longs for close friendship. “Coffee is just a pretext”, they said. Those we call close friends are the holy ones following the path of Shah Mardan. Look at them and come to your senses. This world will be under your feet. If not, this world will put pressure on you and be on top of you. 

For the ones who follow the ways of Shaytan, Shaytan is on top of everything. He urinates on them, even discharges his excrement – but I am not going to mention that – he urinates on them, so they stink. They become ugly, everything decays. Their works don’t progress. Hold fast to the way of Shah Mardan, O peasant, don’t hang around the coffee shop, and don’t leave your  village, running for the cities.  The village is a clean, pure place. Stick to your gardens, sow your fields, look after them. Don’t bring Shaytan’s tool into your village – don’t get electricity. Don’t get all these appliances that spread corruption. You don’t need all the news and other things. What you need is remembrance of Allah. Allah’s Word is what you need, and the ways instructed by Allah are what Shah Mardan teaches you. 

Let us say Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar Allahu Akbar wa li-Llahi l-Hamd. Subhansin Ya Rabb, Sultansin – You are exalted O Lord, You are the absolute Sovereign! Let those beloved friends come to us, who teach us Your marvelous ways!. Let the close friends of Shah Mardan come to us! Thanks be to Allah that He granted us this wonderful conversation today. May Allah raise their spiritual ranks!- the members of the household of the Messenger of Allah and the descendants of Shah Mardan are the ones to look for, the ones you must find. May you be granted a good life in this world and may life in Paradise be granted to you in the hereafter.  O my Lord, forgive us. Let those servants come to us, who will teach us the ways of Shah Mardan. For their honor and by the high esteem of al-Fatiha. 

Every day the sun rises – how much do people love to see it rise! When it goes down there is a kind of sadness. But here we have the sun of Shah Mardan. It shines brightly at every hour. There is no sunset, Shah Mardan’s sun does not go down. O Allah, make his rank the highest of high ranks. Let him be part of the assembly of Your most Beloved One. Fatiha. 

Say: Allahu Akbar La ilaha illa-Llah wa-Llahu Akbar Allahu Akbar wa li-Llahi l-Hamd. Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim. if you say this, then get out from your door, all your work will be a success. May it go easily, may your day be sweet, may you meet no unpleasant situation! May shaytan stay far away from you! La ilaha illa-Llah Sayyiduna Muhammadu r-Rasulu-Llah A peasant mentioned to a saintly person, that his animal was sometimes easy going, sometimes it wouldn’t stop kicking, and asked: “I wonder, why is it like that?” “It is as if this animal is reflecting that when you mention Allah and send blessings and peace upon the Prophet, it is feeling calm. It experiences peace. When you don’t mention Allah, you become hard like a log. That’s why it dislikes serving you. It doesn’t want to serve you. All creation is just waiting to serve those who listen to Shah Mardan, those who continue on his marvelous way. Hold on to the sunna of the Beloved of the Most Majestic One. May Allah grant us to be among them, and these, our youngsters, O my Lord! 

O our distinguished great grandmother Hala Sultan, with your support we were made to say a few words. May my strength not diminish, may it increase and not decrease! With the intention that our way may be made safe, let us say Bismi-Llahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim. 

Please recite al-Fatiha.