The Murid Perseveres in Obedience to His Shaykh

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

Imam Mahmud ibn ‘Ali al-Qashani (q.s.) wrote, in Miswbah al-Hidayah wa Miftah al-Kifayah, “The Lamp of Right Guidance & the Key to What is Sufficient,” that the murid should have the fixed decision to persevere in the obedience towards his shaykh.  We should know that the door of Divine Mercy will only open because of our constancy in obedience and service.  Either we give our life at his doorstep or we will reach our goal.  A sign hereof is that we do not turn away, when our shaykh says no to us and when he keeps us at a distance, because a shaykh often tests us when he scans our spiritual states. 

Shaykh Abu ‘Utsman Sa’di ibn Isma’il al-Hiri (q.s.) had been of prime importance in the Sufism of Khurasan.  He came to Nishapur, obeying his shaykh, Sayyid Nur al-Haq Wa’ ad-Din Ni’matullah Shah al-Kirmani (q.s.).  Sayyid Shah al-Karmani (q.s.) was a murid of Shaykh Abu Turab Muhammad ibn Husayn an-Nakhshabi (q.s.).  Shaykh Abu ‘Utsman (q.s.) came to visit Shaykh Abu Hafsw ‘Amr ibn Salamah al-Haddad (q.s.), who was a malamatiyyah, that is. he followed the path of blame.  When Shaykh Abu ‘Utsman (q.s.) saw the light of the sanctity of Shaykh Abu Hafsw (q.s.), his blessed look attracted Shaykh Abu ‘Utsman (q.s.) in such a way that he became a prisoner in Shaykh Abu Hafsw’s (q.s.) net.  When the time to return had come, Shaykh Abu ‘Utsman (q.s.) asked Sayyid Shah al-Karmani (q.s.) if he could stay with Shaykh Abu Hafsw (q.s.).  At that time, he was in the midst of his youth.  Shaykh Abu Hafsw (q.s.), however, chased him away and said, “You are not allowed to sit in my company.” 

Shaykh Abu ‘Utsman (q.s.) then obeyed this decision and retreated, walking with his back towards the door, until the shaykh could no longer see him.  Shaykh Abu ‘Utsman (q.s.) then decided that he would dig a hole near his door and to remain sitting in it and not to come out except if Shaykh Abu Hafsw (q.s.) would accept him and call him.  When Shaykh Abu Hafsw (q.s.) saw his honest determination, he called him, made him one of his special companions, married his daughter to him, and appointed him as his successor.  After the death of this shaykh, he sat for thirty years in his place.