۞ …نَارٌۭ ۚ نُّورٌ عَلَىٰ نُورٍۢ ۗ يَهْدِى ٱللَّهُ لِنُورِهِۦ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ …

Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. 

[Quran 24:35]

رَفِيعُ ٱلدَّرَجَـٰتِ ذُو ٱلْعَرْشِ يُلْقِى ٱلرُّوحَ مِنْ أَمْرِهِۦ عَلَىٰ مَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِۦ لِيُنذِرَ يَوْمَ ٱلتَّلَاقِ

Raised high above ranks (or degrees), (He is) the Lord of the Throne (of Authority): by His Command doth He send the Spirit (of inspiration) to any of His servants he pleases, that it may warn (men) of the Day of Mutual Meeting,-

[Quran 40:15]

وَجَعَلْنَا ٱلَّيْلَ وَٱلنَّهَارَ ءَايَتَيْنِ ۖ فَمَحَوْنَآ ءَايَةَ ٱلَّيْلِ وَجَعَلْنَآ ءَايَةَ ٱلنَّهَارِ مُبْصِرَةًۭ لِّتَبْتَغُوا۟ فَضْلًۭا مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَلِتَعْلَمُوا۟ عَدَدَ ٱلسِّنِينَ وَٱلْحِسَابَ ۚ وَكُلَّ شَىْءٍۢ فَصَّلْنَـٰهُ تَفْصِيلًۭا

And whoever is blind in this world, he is blind in the Hereafter, and even more astray from the way

[Quran 17:12]

The above quotations from the Holy Quran and hadith clearly shows not only the importance of Marifah (Gnosis), but also that this knowledge will be gifted only to those whom He likes, and that those who do not have Illumination of God in this world, will not get it in the next world.This world is therefore a place and means where a person can experience Allah’s command of the mystic light to illuminate the hearts of the faithful. 

The mysterious message of Allah s.w.t or the Marifah (Gnosis) was revealed to the Holy Prophet s.a.w when he went to Mi’raj (Ascension to Allah’s s.w.t. presence). There Allah directly revealed the mysterious and precious message, to the Holy Prophet s.a.w as any messenger was incapable of conveying such message to Him, and also madea gift of Khirqa made of black wool. After returning from Mi’raj, the Holy Prophet s.a.w summoned his four companions and narrated about his travel to Mi’raj, the secret message of Allah and the gift of Khirqa. It was Hazrath Ali r.a who was the most eager one to know the secret message among the four companions. 

So the secret of Allah s.w.t was revealed to Hazrath Ali r.a and the Khirqa given to him as a symbol of the knowledge. Besides Hazrath Ali r.a, the Holt Prophet s.a.w inspired the secret of Allah s.w.t, into the hearts of his other three companions. 

Hazrath Ali had four Khalifahs and they were called four peers. They were, Hazrath Imam Hasan r.a. and Hazrath Imam Husain r.a. , the two sons of Hazrath Ali r.a., and Khawaja Kumail Bin Zaid and Khawaja Hasan Basari. From the four Peers emerged fourteen mystic branches. 

Hazrath Ali r.a excelled all others in the knowledge of Gnosis and became prominent and famous as one who had dedicated his life to the service of Allah s.w.t. Rasulullah s.a.w hence praised Hazrath Ali r.a thus:

I am the city of knowledge and Ali is the gateway to the city.

The Khirqa passed on from hand to hand and reached the hands and custody of the Chistis. Finally, it came to the hands of Sultanul Masyakh Hazrath Khawaja Nizamuddin Auliya and he took it with him into the grave. The secret of Allah belongs to the realm of Ilm-e-Seena which means knowledge that descends from heart to heart as supposed to Ilm-e-Safina, knowledge found in books. Most of the path of Sufis originate from Hazrath Ali r.a and the advice given to his sons was “Think about your own self. That will solve your problem. If you want to see and know Allah s.w.t., think within yourself that God is within you; and is not away from you. You have a disease; and that is your imagination, you are not seeing it. But the relief for that disease, is also within you . You think that your body is frail, but in reality it is a vast world incorporated in you. Nothing is devoid of you. Man is a wonderful combination indeed.” 

Whether one likes it or not, he will have to depart one day from this world. After all, one’s existence in this world is only for a few years, while the life after death is eternal. Whatever one sows in this world, he has to reap it in the next world. Those who have the experience of Jamal-e-Rububiath (Beauty and Illumination of God) in this world, are the people qualified to receive the same Bliss from God in the other world. Our Ruh (Soul) is eternal and it will never perish. If one dies without the knowledge of God he has to undergo all sorts of difficulties. The man who adores worldy things, will expose himself to the wrath of God and will be in eternal damnation. During such days his wealth and children will not be of any help. Nothing but a purified heart and soul will save him. 

۞ يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌۭ وَلَا بَنُونَ

the Day when neither wealth nor children will be of any benefit.

۞ إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى ٱللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍۢ سَلِيمٍۢ

Only those who come before Allah with a pure heart ˹will be saved˺.”

[Quran 26: 88-89]

To have the purification of the heart and soul, one should have the knowledge of God. He should drive off all worldly desires from his heart, and keep his heart empty of all other things except the love of God.

۞ يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تُلْهِكُمْ أَمْوَٰلُكُمْ وَلَآ أَوْلَـٰدُكُمْ عَن ذِكْرِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْخَـٰسِرُونَ

O believers! Do not let your wealth or your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. For whoever does so, it is they who are the ˹true˺ losers.

[Quran 63: 9]

For the union with God, the worldly pleasures and love of children are obstructions. Removal of these obstructions is an upheaval task and those who aspire to attain God must make sincere efforts to detach themselves from all this other than God 

۞ وَأَن لَّيْسَ لِلْإِنسَـٰنِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَىٰ

and that each person will only have what they endeavoured towards,

[Quran 53: 39]

It is positively impossible to attain God in our prayers without cleaning our hearts of all impurities. Ablution before prayers and taking a bath are necessary for maintaining our body clean, accordingly to the Shariah law. To become a Salik (Traveller in the path of God), the purification of the heart from evil thoughts is essential. The reading of books however much is not useful for such purification but it is the awakening of the heart that helps us to seek perfection in the knowledge of God. It is the “Sirathul Mustaqeem” (The right path) which leads us to eternity. The salik must know this right path and understand in full, the spirit underlying the tenets of Islam. Ibnu Arabi, a celebrated Sufi wrote to Imam Fakhruddin Razi the author of Tafsir-e-Kabir; “Join the assembly of Sufis and understand the true implications of Shariah Law. Sool you will reach mystic heights and experience “Shuhud-e-haq” (witnessing of God). You will approach Allah nearer and nearer through Marifah (Gnosis). The soul will be enlightened and your knowledge will be widened in that sector”. The knowledge that we acquire through our intellect, and power of reason, by reading books, is quite different from the knowledge acquired with the Light of God. The former one is limited to our intellectual capacity, but Marifah is something beyond the powers of our intellect. It is this knowledge that will help us after our death and it is this knowledge that we must acquire. Marifah is a blessing given by Allah s.w.t. All other knowledge are limited to this world alone. Marifah alone pertains to our life after death and it is indispensable for our future. This knowledge consists of two parts: -The first is Marifah and the second is the realization of the other world. Both aspects of this knowledge must be acquired for they are highly beneficial to the other world. So let all people who wish to reach Allah, pay due regard to the Sufi whose teaching are not at all contrary to the Holy Quran and the Hadith.

“All verses of the Holy Quran have external and internal meanings. The number of internal meanings is limited to 5 to 7”
[Hadith]

This saying of the Holy Prophet gives us the truth. There are seven internal meanings of the Holy Quran and the external meaning is the Sharia law. A salik with the benefit of the spiritual knowledge he has gained, arrives at firm conclusions about the reality of God. Firmness in convictions and faith in God alone will bring satisfaction and bliss. This will mould the life and purity of thoughts, words and deeds help us to attain Salvation. To have firmness in convictions the literal knowledge of the Holy Quran and Hadith will not be sufficient. The inner meanings of the Scriptures are to be known to arrive at correct conclusions. 

Adapted from The Spiritual Message of Islam

by Khawaja Murshid Habibullah Shah Chisti Qadiri Naqshabandi Suhruwardi Sanusi