Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim
7th May 2023
9th Urs Sharif of Sultan ul-Awliya Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Al-Haqqani ق
Al Fatiha
In the Presence of the Sultan it is shameful to ask for anything but Him. Would you ask for the palace and not the Sultan? “You Only You” should be our prayer. But people today have forgotten what is important, what to ask for. You carry nothing with you when you leave this world but the love you have for Allah and His Beloved. So ask that your love increases.
Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim
You Only You
Sultan ul-Awliya Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Al-Haqqani An-Naqshbandi ق
Sohbat of the 1st of September, 2013
Welcome to Shah Mardan’s pure assembly, to his lovely assembly, to his grand assembly. Come along and listen. O Lovers of Shah-i Mardan, let us listen to Shah-i Mardan, so that those attending his assembly may be dressed in robes of honour. O Lovers of Shah-i Mardan, come and be welcome. In the assembly of Sultans, Shah-i Mardan says so many things. Thanks to Allah Almighty that He has granted to us to be among those who are Lovers of Shah-i Mardan. May our assembly be an assembly of ‘irfan/spiritual knowledge. O Lovers, O Beloved Friends, let us enter the assembly of spiritual knowledge. Nobody just walks into the assembly of the Sultan, there must be an invitation. Those invited will follow the invitation.
Come to us, O Shah-i Mardan. We want to follow your summons. Therefore, come along, O you beloved friends and lovers. Let us express the sign of the Sultan: Lā ilāha illa-llāh, Lā ilāha illa-llāh, Sayyiduna Muhammadun Rasūlullah, Habībullah, Safī-ullah/the Beloved, the Pure One of Allah Mā shā’ Allāh, thanks to Allah. Thanks be to our Lord Allah who has granted us this great honour. This honour is given to us from the honour of His Beloved. How glorious are those people who are able to take that honour! Look for such glory, try to be glorious. You will receive glory from attending the assembly of the Sultan, not from spending your time in stables. Come to us, O Shah-i Mardan. Your Lovers are in awe of you.
Let us say: Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim. Let us pronounce the seal of Him to whom all Glory belongs. Subhān Allāh. His seal. What is the sign that marks His Absolute Dominion? It is Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim. O our Lord, honour us with that honour. It is Shah-i Mardan who distributes and gives this honour to us. You are looking for honour? Where are you going to find honour? Shah-i Mardan teaches it to you. Let us speak that honour: It is Bismillahi r- Rahmani r-Rahim. Honour comes to you from that. What do you want? He says. When you say Bismillahi r- Rahmani r-Rahim, what is it that you are requesting, My servant? What do you want? In the Presence of the Sultan it is shameful to ask for things of this world. The rubbish heap of this world, it is the greatest shame to be asking for it.
The poet Yunus sings: I have no need of anything but You. I wish not for this world, nor for the adornments of the world to come. You are all that I require, You alone. It is You that I desire, O my Lord.
The poet Yunus sings: I have no need of anything but You. I wish not for this world, nor for the adornments of the world to come. You are all that I require, You alone. It is You that I desire, O my Lord. Your Countenance is so lovely, why do You cover it with a veil? Your Beauty is what we desire, but there is a veil covering it, he says. It is shrouded, hidden. If Shah-i Mardan were to speak of those topics, people listening would faint. A community has now arisen that does not know what is desirable. They do not know what they should ask for. O our Lord, since Your Face is so lovely, why do You cover it with a veil? Your Countenance is so lovely, O our Lord, why the veil? It is not lawful for everybody – the Sultan’s supremely beautiful Face. His Beautiful Countenance, His Beauty, the Beauty of Allah is not lawful for everyone. Allahu akbar.
O our Lord. What am I to do with this world? What is there in this world? This world is only dung, manure. What is there in this world? This world is a stable. You are asking for a stable. You have no mind, no good taste, no enjoyment, you are an altogether strange creature. You don’t know what it is you want. Come, O Shah-i Mardan. Let us ask for, let us say: Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim. Let us unburden ourselves and find relief. Let our face also acquire heavenly beauty, let us be radiant. Let us be filled with love. One does not fall in love with the earth, with the gardens and vineyards, no one falls in love with that. No one falls in love with the palace, but one falls fervently in love with the Sultan within the palace. Him he desires, not the palace. He desires the Sultan of the palace. People have become confused.
The Beauty of beauties, Allāhu Dhū l-Jalāl. He is the Posessor of the Oceans of Beauty. Allah. You fall in love with His Beauty.
Come, O Shah-i Mardan. Let us be full of vigour. Let us be vigorous, strong. Let us be filled with love. Love for whom? Love for whom? It is this that Shah-i Mardan is speaking about. He brings love and longing to you. Ask for the Sultan. Ask to see the Divine Beauty of the Sultan’s Face. Do not look at His palace. This world: one does not fall in love with the mountains, or with the trees. You do not fall in love with what you eat or drink. You do not fall in love with your horse or your decorations. Love is for the Sultan. Let us fill our hearts with love for Him. O our Lord, You are Subhān/ possessing Absolute Glory. You are Sultan/possessing Absolute Sovereignty. Come, O Shah-i Mardan. This is what conveys human dignity to mankind. Enthusiastic love. Without love, without ardour, man is not worth a penny. Man falls in love with what is beautiful, he does not fall in love with ugliness. The Beauty of beauties, Allāhu Dhū l-Jalāl. He is the Posessor of the Oceans of Beauty. Allah. You fall in love with His Beauty.
Look for beauty, do not look for ugliness! How shall you find beauty? By practicing beauty; by performing good works you slowly become perfect.
Nobody falls in love with the food on the table. This ardent love is not for the food on the table but for the Owner of what is laid out on that table. Him you should love, not His table spread. Allahu akbar. We have strayed very far. Those who do not know what they want move about in this world like drunkards. They seek something in this world. What do you seek? Do you seek for destitute, downtrodden beasts in this world? There are many beasts. If you are looking for four-footed animals, there are many. Nowadays man has become such a two-legged animal. He runs after two-legged ones, and he runs after four-legged ones. Don’t go after those! Look for beauty, do not look for ugliness! How shall you find beauty? By practicing beauty; by performing good works you slowly become perfect.
Come, O Shah-i Mardan. Teach us adab/good manners, hayā/modesty and ‘irfan/spiritual knowledge. Seek assemblies of spiritual knowledge. Don’t sit around in coffee shops. You will become a beast. Enter the saray, the palace. Seek the Presence of the Sultan. So that you might become one of the Sultan’s beloved friends, whom He invites to be with Him. Look to the Sultan, look for the Sultan. Madad, ya Sāhib-i Dawrān, Shāh-i Mardān. Let us therefore say: Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim. Allah Allah. Speak the Basmala, so the gates might open. May they open, so that you may inwardly be filled with joy, so that they may robe you in the manifestations of Beauty. Go!
Who sent you that robe? That is what you must think about. From that you must derive contentment. From the House of Allah you receive a gift. Do not rejoice in that thing, that gift; but in the one who sent you the gift.
Those manifestations of Beauty, what do you desire, and where will you find them? You will find them at the Bayt-ullah/the Ka‘aba. The House of Allah is not empty, meaningless. Do not be like those four-legged beasts who go round and round pulling a water wheel, trying to raise water in the well. There is the Bayt-ullah, and from it, from the House of Allah a gift comes to you. A gift – what is this gift? What is this lovely gift that comes to men? The gift of Beauty. In that way he is dressed in beauty. O our Lord, zid baitaka hādha ta‘zīman wa tashrīfan wa takrīman, wa mahābatan wa rif’atan wa birran. Such du’as are spoken at the Ka‘aba-i mu‘azzama, at the House of Allah. May you be robed in such honour, in the honour of human dignity.
Come to us, O Shah-i Mardan. Your beloved friends are in awe of you. Do not be obsessed by things to eat and drink, or by fancy dress and adornments. Your enjoyment lies not in the robe you have received, but in the fact that it was the Sultan who sent it to you. If your contentment lay in the robe that was sent to you, you would be worthless. Who sent you that robe? That is what you must think about. From that you must derive contentment. From the House of Allah you receive a gift. Do not rejoice in that thing, that gift; but in the one who sent you the gift. Do not rejoice in the dress, this robe, the Robe of Glory, as it is called, but instead rejoice and find enjoyment in the One who dressed you in this robe. O our Lord, mā shā ‘Allāh, lā quwwata illa bi-llāh.
This is Shah-i Mardan. His loving friends are in awe of him. Why is that? The Robe of Glory, it is he who dresses upon us the Robe of Glory. For this you must love and honour him. Let him come and dress upon us the Robe of Glory. How many different kinds of robes of honour there are! We can mention only a small number of different robes. But there is no end or limit to these robes. The most honourful robe is the one dressed upon you by Allah Almighty. Have you tried to wear the robe of honour which the Lord of Might and Glory has dressed upon you? Have you ever wondered about it? You have not. If you have not done so, you are a beast, worse than a beast. Give us strength, O Lord. Shah-i Mardan belongs to the assembly of spiritual knowledge, may he teach us what we should request.
Kulla yawmin huwa fī sha’n. (55:29) The Glory of Allahu Dhū l-Jalāl changes with every moment.
What is the value of seeking this vile world? This vile world is just about worthless. Rabbī, ishrah lī sadrī (20:25) (Expand my breast) wa yassir lī amrī (20:26) (Ease my task for me) wa-hlul ‘uqdatan min lisānī (20:27) (loose a knot from my tongue) yafqahū qawlī (20:28) (that they might understand me) Right? You must ask for whatever you want, you must ask for it. These silly people have fallen in love with the cesspool of this decaying world. Don’t ask for that! Do not desire this shabby world! Kulla yawmin huwa fī sha’n. (55:29) Every day His Glory is revealed anew. Glory belongs to Allah Almighty. Each day brings different manifestations. Ask for a new one, request new beauty. Ask to be given new gifts. Request new honours.
O my Lord! Shah-i Mardan is laying it out for us, let us not grow tired, O Lord. Don’t make it wearisome for us, O Lord. You are our Lord. Kulla yawmin huwa fī sha’n. (55:29) The Glory of Allahu Dhū l-Jalāl changes with every moment. What are you living for? For what are we living? The same thing everybody else lives for, we live for that too. Everybody is living for this dunya. Eh, so we are also living for it. And what have you gained in the end? You will have gained a shroud of ten cubits’ length. With that you will depart and go. You will take nothing else with you. O man, try to become Allah’s honoured deputy, a sacred human being, says Shah-i Mardan. The rank of Allah’s deputy on earth is a rank that Allah Almighty bestows only upon His special servants. Seek to become that honoured deputy, that sacred human being. Oooo.
What ceremonies they engage in. What clothes they have tailored. It is all a fake show. They dress up in special clothes, saying, we are such and such a one. Eh man, you are neither this nor that. You are just a worthless person who is in love with this world of rags. You didn’t know what it was you desired. What did you bring along from the world? When they are placing you in your grave, two grand, majestic angels will come to you. They will ask you: What have you taken with you from this world? What will be your answer? What did you bring with you? You were the owner of mansions and of gold. You had pairs of oxen and farms. Did you bring them with you? You did not bring anything. That means you wasted your time in the world; you did not understand what to take from this world.
O you angels, tell this to my Lord Who has sent you! I have come full of love and ardour for my Lord Who created me and gave me life, and Who today has lowered me into this grave, saying, “O My servant, this is your final resting place.” I have come here full of love for the supreme and most glorified Divine Being I have brought my ardent love for His Beloved, and I have come robed in Shah-i Mardan’s awe-inspiring words and majestic grandeur. Mā shā Allāhu kān. Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar.
I have come full of ardent love for my Lord, and for His Beloved, I have come full of love for Shah-i Mardan, I have come full of love! O you angels, tell this to my Lord Who has sent you! I have come full of love and ardour for my Lord Who created me and gave me life, and Who today has lowered me into this grave, saying, “O My servant, this is your final resting place.” I have come here full of love for the supreme and most glorified Divine Being I have brought my ardent love for His Beloved, and I have come robed in Shah-i Mardan’s awe-inspiring words and majestic grandeur. Mā shā Allāhu kān. Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar. People will learn, they will be trained. They will learn the way to humanity. Come to us, O Shah-i Mardan.
Life, life. Man is looking for eternal life, but he cannot find it. In his grave they will stand at his forehead and ask: You did not find what you looked for. You did not know what you were seeking. You came to be buried in this earth like a bunch of rags. O our Lord, grant us ardour and love for the sake of our faith. O our Lord, make it easy for us to travel on the ways that Shah-i Mardan has shown to us. So that – Shah-i Mardan is one who brings us light from the heavens. You must seek those who bring light. Do not seek those who bring fire. Do not seek those who bring you flames. But people living nowadays are running after the ones who bring fire. They do not seek the ones bringing light. Light can be found on the lovely ways of Shah-i Mardan.
O Lovers of Shah-i Mardan! Mā shā’ Allāhu kān, Whatever Allah wishes, that will come to be. Besides that nothing can be.
O Lovers of Shah-i Mardan! Mā shā’ Allāhu kān, Whatever Allah wishes, that will come to be. Besides that nothing can be. Run after that. Run to Allah. Run to our glorious Prophet. Run after Shah-i Mardan. So you may rise in rank, and your worth and value may be increased; so you may gain in honour and dignity. O our Lord, send to us Shah-i Mardan who will teach us these things, O Lord. O Glorious Prophet, The good things you have brought to us. You have sent Shah-i Mardan to teach us these good manners. O Allah, Lord of the Holy House, the Baytullah, send us the robe of health, the robe of grandeur, the robe of excellence, the robe of honour. May we receive these! O our Lord and Master, Shah-i Mardan comes to us and speaks. Let us believe in him and act accordingly. Let us thereby gain honour. wa min Allāhi t-tawfīq.
Let us say: Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim – This is what opens the gates to all the levels of Paradise. This world is worth nothing. Let us say: Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim. May our assembly be perfect. May our assembly be an assembly of spiritual knowledge. May we be honoured, O Lord. May we be strengthened and relieved, O Lord. He who recites the Basmala has no sorrow. If a person says Bismillahi r-Rahmani r-Rahim he will not be sad; he who does not say it, will have sadness. Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar, Allāhu akbar wa li-llāhi l-hamd.
al-Fātiha.
Video link: https://youtu.be/cKHHi3jiN08
Sufi Qalam 