The Nine Points & the Sulthan adz-Dzikr

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

The following is from the teachings of Shaykh Muhammad Nazhim Adil al-Haqqani (q.s.). 

There are nine points are located on the chest of each person and they represent nine different hidden states in every human being.  The conditions related to opening these nine points can only be alluded to obliquely. 

The first state involves the power of imprisoning the nafs, the ego.  For the Divine to be Present, the self must be absent.  The key to the second state is the dzikr of laa ilaha illa Allah.  The third state is witnessing, mushahadah, the engraving of Allah’s (s.w.t.) Name on the heart of the salik, the naqsh band.  The fourth state relates to the sirr, the meaning, of that engraving on the heart.  The fifth state is to imprint the engraving with our dzikr.  In the sixth state the heart is made to stop and start pumping at will.  The seventh state is to be aware of the number of times one stops the heart from pumping and the number of times one restores the pumping of the heart. In the eighth state, one mentions the phrase, “Muhammadun Rasulullah,” in every cessation of the heart and every restoration of its pumping. 

The ninth state is to return to our Cave, as Allah (s.w.t.) Mentioned in Surah al-Kahf: 

سُوۡرَةُ الکهف

وَإِذِ ٱعۡتَزَلۡتُمُوهُمۡ وَمَا يَعۡبُدُونَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهَ فَأۡوُ ۥۤاْ إِلَى ٱلۡكَهۡفِ يَنشُرۡ لَكُمۡ رَبُّكُم مِّن رَّحۡمَتِهِۦ وَيُهَيِّئۡ لَكُم مِّنۡ أَمۡرِكُم مِّرۡفَقً۬ا (١٦) 

“When you turn away from them and the things they worship other than Allah, betake yourselves to the Cave: your Lord will Shower His Mercies on you and Dispose of your affair towards comfort and ease.” (Surah al-Kahf:16) 

The “Cave” is the Divine Presence.  Here one utters the cherished du’a of the Prophet (s.a.w.): “O Allah, You are my Destination and Your Pleasure is what I seek.”  The heart, as it cycles between the cessation and restoration of its pumping, is existing at the level of the Essence of the Divine Presence.  Because that Divine Essence is the source of all Created being, that heart will be at one with the minutest of Creation.  The heart which has reached the secrets of the nine points will be able to see everything, hear everything, know everything, taste everything, sense everything, as Mentioned in the hadits qudsi: “Until He will be the Ears with which he hears, the Eyes with which he sees, the Tongue with which he speaks, the Hand with which he grasps, and the Feet with which he walks.  He will be Lordly, he only need say to a thing, ‘Be!’ and it will be.” 

Dzikr is primarily the repetition of, “Laa ilaha illa Allah,” and that is what is practiced by all thuruq, including the Naqshbandiyyah.  However, the sulthan adz-dzikr is a completely different type of dzikr.  Allah (s.w.t.) Says: 

سُوۡرَةُ الحِجر

إِنَّا نَحۡنُ نَزَّلۡنَا ٱلذِّكۡرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ ۥ لَحَـٰفِظُونَ (٩) 

Innaa nahnu nazzalnaa adz-dzikra wa innaa lahu lahaafizhuun 

We have, without doubt, Sent Down the Message; and We will Assuredly Guard it (from corruption). (Surah al-Hijr:9) 

adz-Dzikr, the Message, Mentioned here, is the Qur’an.  The Dzikr is the sirr of the Qur’an.  The awliya’ of the highest maqamat recite the Qur’an, not as we recite it, but with all its secrets and inner realities.  Because Allah (s.w.t.) Says: 

سُوۡرَةُ الاٴنعَام

۞ وَعِندَهُ ۥ مَفَاتِحُ ٱلۡغَيۡبِ لَا يَعۡلَمُهَآ إِلَّا هُوَ‌ۚ وَيَعۡلَمُ مَا فِى ٱلۡبَرِّ وَٱلۡبَحۡرِ‌ۚ وَمَا تَسۡقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلَّا يَعۡلَمُهَا وَلَا حَبَّةٍ۬ فِى ظُلُمَـٰتِ ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَلَا رَطۡبٍ۬ وَلَا يَابِسٍ إِلَّا فِى كِتَـٰبٍ۬ مُّبِينٍ۬ (٥٩) 

With Him are the keys of the Unseen, the treasures that none knows but He.  He knows whatever there is on the earth, and in the sea.  Not a leaf does fall but with His knowledge: there is not a grain in the darkness (or depths) of the earth nor anything fresh or dry (green or withered) but is (inscribed) in a Record Clear (to those who can read). (Surah al-An’am:59) 

The awliya’ reciting the Qur’an with sulthan adz-dzikr is therefore reciting it with the secrets of Creation, from beginning to end.  Shaykh Nazhim (q.s.) said, “In every breath Grand Shaykh ‘Abdillah ad-Daghistani exhaled and inhaled with sulthan adz-dzikr.  He used to complete the secret of Qur'an twice in every breath.”