Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm
Maulana Sheikh Nazimق’s (MSN) Suhbah
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By the name of Allah, All-Mighty, All-Merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent.
As much as you believe in your Shaykh, you may give the reins into his hands and find rest and satisfaction in your heart. As long as you are trying to catch the reins in your own hands, you carry a great burden on your shoulders.
True Shaykhs are the inheritors of the Prophets ﷺ, and through their mercy they offer to carry what weighs upon your soul. You must entrust your burdens into their care. Align your will with your Shaykh’s, for that is the key to opening the heart to Heavenly Power.
Then you may see, hear, or know something that was once hidden from you.
So many mureeds have high spiritual aspiration (himmah) and they say, with longing, “O my Shaykh, I am asking for himmah so that my soul may be activated.”
The Shaykh replies, “O my mureed, I am asking khidmah (service) from you. You must be like me. When you are like me, my spiritual powers may come to you.
But if we are not of the same kind of metal, the current cannot pass through you. If I am copper, you must not remain stone!”
Grandshaykh Abdullahق once narrated a moment with his Master, Mawlana Shaykh Sharafuddinق.
His Master said to him, “O Abdullah Effendi, look at me and tell me what you see.”
Grandshaykhق looked and replied, “O my Shaykh, when I look at you, I see myself.”
His Master then said, “Now look at yourself.”
He looked, and this time he saw his Shaykh.
In that moment, there was no resistance left in him and no veil of ego to cloud the mirror.
This is the secret of true connection between a Shaykh and his mureed.
Allah Almighty invited the Prophet ﷺ to be with Him. The Prophet ﷺ invited his Companions (Sahabah) to be with him. To be with him meant to shape themselves entirely upon his will and character.
In the same way, the Shaykh invites his mureeds to be with him and align their desires with his guidance, so that the soul may awaken and rise beyond the cage of the mind.
The Prophet ﷺ said that Abu Bakr as-Siddiqر had died before he died, because he had absolutely left all his desires behind until nothing of them remained before his Lord ﷻ and His Prophet ﷺ.
He was like a dead person with no desire for this world. When he reached that state, he became a perfect shadow of the Prophet ﷺ, entirely in agreement with him, never leaving his way.
Because of this surrender, Abu Bakr as-Siddiqر became trustworthy in every way, and the Prophet ﷺ poured knowledges into his heart freely, with no veil and no barrier.
For this reason, in spiritual rank, Abu Bakr as-Siddiqر stood foremost among all the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ testified that if his faith was weighed against the faith of the whole Ummah, his scale would outweigh them all.
He ﷺ further declared, “Everything that Allah entrusted to me on the Night Journey, I placed into the heart of Abu Bakr.”
Sayyidina Aliر likewise surrendered his will completely to the will of Rasulullah ﷺ. Therefore the Prophet ﷺ said about him, “I am the City of Knowledge, and Ali is the Gate to that City.”
There are forty-one Tariqats to purify the heart. Forty spring from the heart of Aliر, and one, the Naqshbandi Way, comes from the heart of Abu Bakrر.
The Prophet ﷺ had one hundred twenty-four thousand Companions, and Abu Bakr as-Siddiqر was the grand companion. Among all the Companions the Imam is Abu Bakrر and among all Tariqats the first is the Naqshbandi Tariqat.
This is well known among real Tariqat Shaykhs, those who do not give titles to themselves. They hold the Naqshbandi Order as the foremost Way.
A real Shaykh recognises his mureeds from the Day of Promises. A shepherd knows his sheep, even one out of a thousand, even if they are all white. He has light in his eyes and recognizes them instinctively and without mistake.
A seeker may take bayah from many teachers and learn from many trainers, yet the heart will not rest until it reaches its Grandshaykh. Then it is like a river reaching the ocean.
There may be a thousand Shaykhs, yet only one is Grandshaykh in each age, just as among the Sahabah only one stood as Imam. If all of the one hundred and twenty-four thousand Sahabah were gathered shoulder to shoulder, who would lead them? Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiqر.
Sayyidina Mahdi (AS) and his seven Grand Wazirs, ninety-nine Caliphs, and three hundred thirteen Grand Murshids, all stand within the Naqshbandi Tariqat.
In our time, the full spiritual power to carry seekers to their destination rests with this Way. Therefore, every seeker is invited to renew bayah and observe their spiritual improvement.
Both Abu Bakrر and Aliر reached their divine stations and received their holy trusts directly from the Prophet ﷺ during their lifetimes. Because they loved what he loved, desired what he desired, and acted as he acted, they were raised to a station where the real Prophetic Personality of Sayyidina Muhammad ﷺ was unveiled to them in the Divine Presence.
This path remains open for those who follow as they followed.
If we can use our willpower as we should, and bring it into harmony with our Lord ﷻ’s commands, then we may improve, reach the ranks of Prophets (AS) and saints, draw nearer to the Divine Presence, and be accepted there.
Allah Almighty proclaimed through all His Prophets (AS), “O My people, if you say that you are My servants, then align your desires with Mine, otherwise you are not servants. I am in no need of your worship. What I desire is that you submit to My Will.”
May Allah ﷻ guide us into surrender, refine us through love, and bring us to a state where the heart knows only one answer: As You wish, O my Lord ﷻ.
Al-Fatiha.
• Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqaniق
More by Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق can be found here.
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This series was initiated by the SufiHub Team in honour of our beloved Sheikh, the late Sheikh Muhammad Abdul Sattar Khan, who lovingly dedicated himself to transcribing and summarising the daily sohbahs of Mawlana Sheikh Nazimق.
It was through this blessed service that he began his journey on this beautiful Way in 2008, remaining steadfast upon it until his final breath in 2023. Today, his legacy continues at our Zawiyah at A’Posh Bizhub Singapore through his representatives Sidi Shalihin, Ismail, and Syed Muhammad, who humbly carry forward the path he sincerely paved.
We pray that our dear Sheikh Abdul Sattar has been reunited with his beloved Mawlana Sheikh Nazimق and all our Grandshaykhs, and that their light continues to guide us always on the way of Haqq.
The text was originally taken from ‘2,000+ Sohbats of Maulana Sheikh Nazim’ by Sufimus Online. With love and sincere intention, parts of this sohbah have been gently revised by the SufiHub Team for clarity and contextual relevance.
If you wish to share it on your platforms, kindly post it in full and ensure that proper credit is given to all its sources. For this is adab, the very core of our beautiful religion and way.
Should you have any queries or concerns, you are always welcome to reach us at thesufihubteam@gmail.com.
Wassalam.
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