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.
In the year 1377 AH, corresponding to 1957, Mawlana Shaykh Abdullahق related that while he was in Madinah al-Munawwarah, may the best of blessings and greetings of purity and peace be upon its radiant Dweller, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, he entered into seclusion for six months.
During that time, the Spiritual Leader of the End Time, Imam Mahdi (AS) invited him to visit Magharat al-Suada, the Cave of the Blissful, with his physical body. That station lies between the Hijaz and Yemen. No one can reach that place by ordinary means, as it is surrounded by jinn and quicksand. Without permission, no one can approach it.
Mawlana Shaykh Abdullahق said, “Sahib al-Zaman invited me with my body and I used the reality of tay to attend his presence.” He explained that whoever does not possess these powers cannot carry true irshad, true authority for spiritual guidance. Guidance is not a claim and not a title. It is a trust carried through realities granted by Allah ﷻ.
These realities are six:
Haqiqat al-irshad, the reality and power of guidance onto the destination.
Haqiqat al-tawajjuh, the reality and power of directing and focusing the heart.
Haqiqat al-tay, the reality and power of folding time and space.
Haqiqat al-tawassul, the reality and power of connection to Divine power and favors through the Golden Chain.
Haqiqat al-jadhba, the reality and power of Divine attraction.
Haqiqat al-fayd, the reality and power of spiritual outpouring from the Prophet ﷺ through the Golden Chain.
Mawlana Shaykhق said that whoever does not carry these realities is not an inheritor. All people of spiritual reality possess them and use them only by permission of the Holy Prophet ﷺ.
That year, Sahib al-Zaman called him to attend with his physical body. Spiritual presence is always there, but to attend with the body is another matter. Mawlana Shaykhق said, “When I reached the entrance of the cave, Sahib al-Zaman was standing there, waiting for me at the door of the cave.”
He said that among the signs of Mahdi (AS) is that his hands reach to his knees when he stands. Mawlana Shaykhق said that Sahib al-Zaman stretched his hands across the entrance of the cave, from one edge to the other, blocking it entirely. The width of the entrance was about twenty-five meters. Mawlana Shaykhق said that if he were to embrace the world, he would contain it within his hands.
Then Sahib al-Zaman said to Mawlana Shaykhق, “There is no permission for entering inside the cave.”
Mawlana Shaykhق recalled that Sahib al-Zaman was thin, not corpulent, and taller than him. When he kissed Mawlana Shaykhق, he kissed him from above due to his height.
Mawlana Shaykhق said, “Sahib al-Zaman did not allow me to enter because if I had entered into that manifestation, who can leave paradise behind? Who can exit it? I would never have left if I had entered.”
Mawlana Shaykhق continued and said that the companions of Sahib al-Zaman know that he would not have stood still like them, for they have no permission for movement. They only wait. When there is no permission in the terminology of the Awliya, it means that one has no jurisdiction at all, not even over an ant or a fly.
For this reason, Sahib al-Zaman prevented him from entering with his body. He sat with him and imparted what was to be given, and then the meeting ended.
Mawlana Shaykhق said, “If he had allowed me to enter, no power could have brought me out. No one has such power. And if I had entered and disappeared, it would have caused confusion among people.
They would say, the Shaykh was in Madinah al-Munawwara, where did he go? Where did he disappear? He is not in Madinah, nor in Aleppo, nor in the East nor in the West. Where is he? So in order that people would not be confused or fall into dark thoughts, the meeting ended there and I returned.”
Mawlana Shaykhق was in seclusion at Madrasat al-Shifa when this occurred. He said that the people of Allah ﷻ endure patiently and stand firm. However, the time will come for emergence by permission of Allah ﷻ.
This will take place during a time of great conflict in which all powers will participate, and there will be no authority to decide between them except Allah ﷻ. For that reason, Allah ﷻ will send Sahib al-Zaman with magnification, so that he will bring an end to fighting and disable their weapons.
Mawlana Shaykhق often said that the prayer of common people is lovelier to Allah ﷻ than the prayer of the Awliya. Why? Because common people pray believing in the unseen without seeing it. As for the Awliya, it is unveiled to them. They see and then they strive.
The one who acts with belief, without seeing, holds a higher rank. When a person moves from the station of the unseen to the station of witnessing, he sees, he prays, he works and he knows. But the one who practices purely through faith, without vision, carries a special honor in Divine Presence.
Mawlana Shaykhق shared the story of the wife of Sultan Harun al-Rashid, who once saw Buhlul working in the garden. She asked him what he was doing.
He replied, “I am building houses in Paradise.”
She asked, “Will you sell me a house?”
He said, “Yes, I will sell you one.”
“For how much?”
“One gold dinar.”
She gave him one dinar and left.
That night, she and her husband both saw in a dream that they were in Paradise. The keeper of Paradise showed them the palace that had been purchased.
In the morning, Harun told his wife his dream, and she told him she had seen the same dream.
Harun then went searching for Buhlul and found him building. He asked, “What are you doing?”
“I am building houses.”
“Will you sell me one?”
“Yes.”
“Here is a dinar.”
“I will not sell it for a gold dinar.”
“How much are you asking?”
“Two thousand gold dinars.”
“How is that? Yesterday you sold it for one gold dinar. What happened today?”
“Your wife bought without sighting, but you have seen the palace.”
Mawlana Shaykhق said, when people see, belief becomes easy. When veils are lifted, doubt disappears. But what is precious is to believe before seeing. The unseen becoming seen leaves no room for hesitation. Yet the honor of faith lies in confirming without witnessing.
He said that when people object, ask constantly for proof, or argue over authenticity, it is a sign of constriction of the heart and weakness of belief. Doubt, he said, is an illness that eats belief the way worms eat a tree.
For this reason, questions that carry objection are not welcomed in large gatherings. Doubt must be treated privately so that hearts are not harmed.
Belief is in the unseen. Glory to Allah ﷻ! It is a tremendous reality.
Mawlana Shaykhق explained that when a person affiliates himself with a Tariqat and the Shaykh is present in his inner secret, the Shaykh may lift a veil slightly to encourage him. In some paths, veils are lifted from the bottom upward. But our noble Naqshbandi Masters lift from the top downward, protecting the mureed from distraction.
The mureed may think, “How many years has it been since I have made dhikr of Allah ﷻ and have sent blessings on the Prophet ﷺ? Despite all that I do not see a dream, I have no mukashafa (spiritual unveiling), I have no rabita (connection) and no spiritual meeting.”
Yet, this is protection. If even one station were opened prematurely, the mureed might become attached to it and stop there. He would enjoy that sweetness and forget the journey ahead. It may be too difficult for him to head for the next one, whereas the next one is higher and more luminous and more perfect.
For example, if someone wants to travel by land to the Hijaz, how many countries must he first cross? He might, for example, arrive in Tripoli and find it a wonderful country. He will stay there.
But if he continues, how many countries will he discover that are better yet, more beautiful and more vast? If he were to sit and reside at each station, he would take pleasure in that station and never reach his destination. Each station has beauty, but the goal lies beyond.
So the Naqshbandi Masters veil it from him. In this way, the Naqshbandi mureed worships while believing in the unseen. He does not seek displays, nor does he crave spiritual openings. He worships without asking anything in return and without any hidden motive.
The Naqshbandi Masters direct the mureed toward the true objective, the foundational aim: ilahi anta maqsudi wa ridaka matlubi, O Lord ﷻ, You are my goal and Your good pleasure is what I seek!
The fastest the servant can be is when his belief remains in the unseen. If spiritual unveiling comes while he is still unperfected, it may distract him from his original goal. But the perfected one is not distracted. As Allah ﷻ testified, sight did not swerve nor did it transgress. (Qurʾan 53:17)
On the Night of Heavenly Ascension, the Prophet ﷺ saw worlds which, if we ourselves had seen them, we would have remained there. We would never have left them, nor would we have asked for any lights beyond them. Yet he ﷺ passed through those worlds and his gaze did not attach itself to any of them. Allah ﷻ Himself testified to it: sight did not swerve nor did it transgress.
But we are still weak ones. When we see even one station, belief quickly weakens, sight swerves and it transgresses. When the servant truly says, ilahi anta maqsudi, O Lord ﷻ, You are my goal, Allah ﷻ allows him to taste the station of the perfected ones. They recognize what they have been given. The Prophet ﷺ did not swerve, and he was invited beyond even the station of Jibril (AS). “O My Beloved, come and enter the ocean of Unicity,” Ahmad ﷺ, upon him be the blessings and peace of Allah ﷻ.
There lies the true objective, where neither the eyes of the head nor the eyes of the heart are distracted by anything. For the eyes of the heart, as they pass through the stations of the worlds, are easily distracted if the servant is unperfected, and so he comes to a standstill. But the perfected ones do not look.
Mawlana Shaykhق then related the story of Grandshaykh Bayazid al-Bistamiق, that when he was placed in the grave, two houris entered from either side. Their beauty would have overwhelmed the people of this world. Yet he did not turn toward them.
He said, “O my Lord ﷻ, for Your sake, not for their sake. They are not my goal. You are my goal!”
Mawlana Shaykhق said that this is the station of those whose sight does not swerve. These are the Awliya of Allah ﷻ.
May Allah ﷻ benefit us through them and keep our hearts firm upon the true objective.
Al-Fatiha.
• Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqaniق
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This series was initiated by the SufiHub Team in honour of the 2nd Urs 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 Liberating the Soul – A Guide for Spiritual Growth by Shaykh Nazim Adil al-Haqqaniق. 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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