The Miracle of Sayidina Syaikh Naqshbandi

Mawlana, Imam al Tariqat wa Hujat Allahi Shaykh al-Akbar

Miracles of Shah Naqshband Audhu billahi min ash-Shaytan ir-rajeem. Bismillah ir-rahman ir-raheem. Dastoor ya sayyidi madad. Nawaytul arba`een, nawaytul ‘itikaf, nawaytul khalwa, nawaytul `uzla, nawatul riyaada, nawaytus suluk, fee hadhal masjid lillahi ta`ala al-`adheem. By Mawlana Shaykh Hisham Al-Kabbani I will now narrate one of the stories of Sayyidina Shah Naqshband {q}, who is the imam of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order and a great `alim[57] in his time. He was a rare scholar of `ilm ash-shari’ah[58], and in `ilm al-Haqiqat[59]. He was known as dhu-janahayn, possessor of two wings, keeping two sorts of knowledge: one he shares with all, and one he keeps for his followers. He was also known as Sultan al-`Arifeen, King of the Gnostics. Sayyidina Shaykh Sharafuddin relates the hadith inda dhikr as-sulaha tanzal ar-rahma. It means, whenever the awliya[60] are mentioned the mercy of Allah descends on that group, because they are mentioning His saints. Where that mercy descends is one of the secrets revealed by Sayyidina Grandshaykh Sharafuddin and Grandshaykh AbdAllah al-Faiz during their seclusions, when they received secrets from their shaykhs and from the Prophet . Grandshaykh Sharafuddin ad-Daghestani said, “When the stories of the saints and details of their lives are mentioned, the sins of the listeners will be shattered away as the shattering of glass.” Being a great scholar in his time, he mentioned that Ibn Hajar al-Haytami often traveled one or two days (then they measured distance in time or days), to hear the stories narrated by Naqshbandi shaykhs. One such story is regarding Muhammad Bahauddin an-Naqshband (Shah Naqshband) of Bukhara, presently known as Uzbekistan. When he reached the age of seven years, Shah Naqshband was brought to meet with all spirits of anbiya-ullah[61] and messengers, in the presence of Sayyidina Muhammad {s}. In the presence of the Prophet age is not significant, only the spirit is significant. Thus Shah Naqshband arrived in that holy presence at age seven: he was unique, for no one could match his level among all Naqshbandis of that time. There in the presence of the Prophet , Sayyidina Musa [62] asked Shah Naqshband, Ya fard al-`alam, “When were you chosen as a guide for humanity?”[63] Shah Naqshband {q} replied, “I was a Murshid when Awliya were in complete non-existence[64].” (Meaning, “I was Murshid before Allah created the Awliya.”) He was not speaking about himself, but rather of the secret of the Prophet which was passed to him, at that level, in that unique state of ecstasy. Then Sayyidina Musa said, “Explain; we want to know.” Sayyidina Shah Naqshband {q} receives from the line of Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiq , so out of adab[65] for Sayyidina Musa, Abu Bakr as-Siddiq answered, “O Musa! When Shah Naqshband spoke to you, it was from the level he inherited from Prophet Muhammad {s}, and from that level it is one of forty-nine parts of nubuwwat.[66] From the secret of that level, he answered you.” Then Abu Bakr looked at Sayyidina Shah Naqshband, indicating permission to respond to the questions. Shah Naqshband {q} replied, “I was a murshid[67] when there were no Awliya, before granting the Awliya their position in yawma alastu birabbikum[68]. Even then I was a Murshid, and Allah allowed me to look after my followers and their sustenance, and guide them when the awliya were yet in void.” Sayyidina Musa repeated, “Explain.” Sayyidina Naqshband continued, “I was given my station of sainthood before every wali was given his station of sainthood from the Naqshbandi Order. And I received that when I was still in the world of atoms[69]. Allah created me before He had yet created the Naqshbandi awliya by twenty-thousand years, and I was under the tarbiyya and inayat[70] of the Prophet . Allah then created all other awliya and they appeared after 17,000 years. There is a difference of 10,000 years between my reality’s appearance and theirs. That is what I meant.” That occurred when Shah Naqshband was seven years old, and it was his first irshad[71] in the presence of anbiya, the awliya-ullah and sahaba[72]. Allah granted Shah Naqshband 12,000 specialties. One of these specialties, in order to give you an idea of the others (and this is one of the ordinary ones) is the power to focus his vision around this universe 363 times in twenty-four hours, encompassing the entire universe. He is able to look at 363 times each day at every creation, upon human beings, observing what they are doing, including the state of their sustenance, their affairs, their problems and difficulties. Not only that, he is able to look after every baby in the womb of its mother. This is one of his basic specialties. On that occasion of his first visit he asked, “O my Lord, don’t let any one who takes me as a guide and those who came after me or before me exist without support from You.” All the angels of the skies[73] said, “Ameen[74].” Grandshaykh said the baraka of that du`a[75] appears four times a year, and its protection is sent to the followers of Shah Naqshband four times a year. One is the fourteenth of Muharram[76], Shah Naqshband’s birthday; on the first day of Ramadan[77], the fifteenth of Ramadan and Laylat al-Qadr[78]. On these special days of the year, Allah sends that special protection to the followers of Shah Naqshband. Whoever entered the Naqshbandi tariqat[79] will be protected from all sides. When Allah I created the Awliya after 17,000 years (10,000 years after Shah Naqshband’s creation), they came to the World of Essence, spoke to the essence of Shah Naqshband, and asked him for the sake of Prophet Muhammad {s} to be accepted in the Naqshbandi Way. He accepted 7007 of them to be saints, and each of them were granted 12,000 knowledge's from every letter of Qur`an they read. Shah Naqshband sought this distinction for the sake of Prophet Muhammad, and when he requested it the Prophet looked at him and raised him for every letter of Qur`an multiplied by the 12,000 knowledges given on each letter to these awliya. For each of those 7007 awliya Shah Naqshband was raised that many levels. We say there are 70,000 veils of darkness between us and the presence of the Prophet. As much as you become nearer to the Prophet , the last veil makes you feel you are very far from the Prophet’s reality. For to be near to the presence of the Prophet, your ishq[80] will make you feel even farther away from him. From that station of knowledge Shah Naqshband {q}revealed, “When awliya-ullah destroy those veils and approach the presence of the Prophet, there are 700,000 more veils to overcome to reach the essence of the Presence of the Prophet. I crossed where no one reached before.” That is similar to the story of Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami. When he was stoned and tortured by his tribe he went onboard a ship and prayed, “O My Lord! Take me to a place where I will feel happy.” Thereafter, the ship began to toss about on the high waves. The ship’s captain said, “There must be a great sinner on board who is causing this calamity!” Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami said, “I am that sinner; throw me in the ocean.” He said to himself, “I am going into that ocean and I am going to seek the Presence of Allah.” As soon as he was thrown in, the water stopped tossing about, and Sayyidina Bayazid, without thinking of any other purpose and using his utmost spiritual power, began to plunge into that Ocean of (realities?) at a speed greater than the speed of light, until he reached a place of ultimate darkness and void. There he heard a voice which Grandshaykh described as, “Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.” Sayyidina Bayazid was granted extraordinary spiritual powers, similar to those of Shah Naqshband, powers which he tried to use to count the number of all the people at that location saying “Huuuu…” Despite using all his power, he could not count them. Grandshaykh says Sayyidina Bayazid then realized this was a presence he could not reach, and he knew it was Shah Naqshband and his followers reciting “Huuuu…” Although Shah Naqshband came many centuries after Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami, still he reached Shah Naqshband’s spiritual presence and that of his murids[81]. And Sayyidina Bayazid al-Bistami was worried, anticipating that Shah Naqshband would ask him, “Why are you here?” and then send him away, for awliya guard their followers and don’t want another wali in their territory. « Bihurmat al habeeb wa bi hurmat al-Fatiha. For the sake of the Beloved, for his sake we recite the Opening Chapter of Qur`an.