A Muslim Convert Once Before

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Shahab ad-Din Yahya ibn Habash as-Suhrawardi al-Ishraq ( q.s. ) wrote, “The visionary will understand the implication completely, learning much from a few hints.  He will have patience to be resolute in all matters, the secret of this patience being entrusted to the one who holds the authority to teach the book.  He will be characterised by Nearness to Allah ( s.w.t. ), a spare diet and little sleep, supplication to Allah ( s.w.t. ) to Ease the Path for him and a heart made refined by refined thoughts.”   The real fast, according to the Shishtiyyah , is the renunciation of all religious and worldly desires.  The desire of Paradise, and of worldly wealth and position, should be avoided.  The love of anyone else except Allah ( s.w.t. ) and the desire for Paradise are the things, which break the fast.  The people who keep the fast abstain from eating and drinking.  But this is not the real fast.  It is ...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Fasting is at times quite difficult, but a Shishty shaykh made it clear that it is supposed to be difficult.   This poem may, however, offer some consolation:   “I asked the True God to Guide me, Because of His Knowledge of me and of Himself, So once again He Gave me life. When I am hungry, God Feeds me. And when I am thirsty, He Pours for me. And when I am weak, He Helps me. And when I am ill, He Cures me.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ A Shishty shaykh said, “May every day be a day of festival to you!” A Shaykh Imami ( q.s. ) wrote a pretty poem about the “day of festival” being in the Presence of the Beloved, which started thus: “We celebrate the day of festival but once a year, A constant feast day is the seeing of You, dear!”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ In the early days in the Path, Khwaja Mu’in ad-Din Hasan Shishty ( q.s. ) accompanied his murshid , Khwaja ‘Utsman al-Haruni ( q.s. ), wherever he went.  They left Baghdad for Makkah, and on their way, they stayed for some time in Fallujah. About the visit to Makkah, Khwaja Shishy ( q.s. ) himself wrote, “Having reached Makkah, we were honoured by the glorious vision of the Ka’bah and by going around it.  My murshid here, too, took my hand in his and entrusted it to God Almighty.  He prayed for my humble self in Ka’bah.  A voice was heard to the effect, ‘We have Accepted Mu’in ad-Din.’   Then we reached Madina.  We offered our respects at the Court of the Prophet Muhammad ( s.a.w. ).  My murshid said to me, ‘Make your salaam .’  I offered my reverential salaam .   A voice came out saying, ‘Peace be on you also, O Head of the Pious of the Earth and the Sea.’   On hearing this, my murshid sai...

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh al-Fu dh ayl ibn ‘lya dh ibn Biswr ibn Abu ‘Ali Mas’ud at-Tamimi al-Yarbu’i al-Khurasani ( q.s. ) was also known as Abu ‘Ali and as at-Talaqani.   He was a sinner who renounced his crimes and became an ascetic.   He is revered as a wali .   Some of the written accounts of Shaykh al-Fu dh ayl’s ( q.s. ) life are found in Kashf al-Mahjub by the Imam Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali ibn ‘Utsman al-Hujwiri ( q.s. ) in the 11 th century, as well as in the Tadzkirat al-‘Awliya’ , by Shaykh Farid ad-Din ‘Aththar Abu Hamid ibn Abu Bakr Ibrahim ( q.s. ) of Nishapur in the early 13 th century.   He was also listed in the silsilah of the Shishty Order as the successor to Shaykh ‘Abd al-Wahid ibn Zayd ( q.s. ), and the master of the legendary ascetic, Shaykh Abu Ishaq Ibrahim ibn Adham ( q.s. ).   Sometimes, his story is confused with that of Fu dh ayl ibn Yahya, a contemporary who was the vizier to Sultan Harun ar-Rashid.   A nu...