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.
We have a saying: a person may be walking on the wrong way and he sees that he is losing, but he says, “Perhaps I may still gain.” He is losing yet he hopes to regain something.
People come to advise him,
“O our brother, leave this. You are on a losing path. Turn back!”
But he insists,
“No. I must continue. I have already lost, perhaps I will recover what I have lost.”
They tell him,
“O brother, turn back. Wherever you turn from the wrong way, that is your gain. Do not think, ‘I have lost so much, so I must keep going.’ If you are seeking benefit, turn back from the losing way. It is not too late.”
So it is with people. A man may follow another for years, seeing no benefit in the relationship. Yet he says, “I followed him at the beginning, I must stay with him.” No! Even if after ninety years he turns away, that turning itself is good for him.
As much as he may have lost, it no longer matters. The very moment he turns, that is his benefit. Therefore he must say, “Alhamdulillah.“
If he were to go with him on the wrong way forever, that would be losing. If he turns back, even after ninety years, he gets benefit. If he continues, he will remain a loser forever.
But if he turns back, it is good for him; if continuing and finally turning back, it is good for him. Any time a person turns back, it is good for him; any time a person can turn from badness to goodness, it is good for him!
This is important for everyone, especially for new Muslims, but also for those who were born into Islam. Islam is vast, like a huge supermarket. There are countless aisles and countless shelves, each one filled with treasures. Within them are gifts, private and personal, prepared for every individual soul.
It is necessary to find the one who knows where your amanah, your entrusted treasure from your Lord Almighty, has been placed. To know where it is, to recognize it, and to learn how to take what has been given to you.
Only a true guide can lead you to it. Without him, the distance to your treasure may be greater than East to West.
Each person has a portion, each one has a share. You cannot take another’s share, nor will anyone take yours. For this reason, there is no jealousy among Awliya and sincere believers.
Everyone has been given treasures from Allah Almighty. If you see your share, you will never look at another’s. Your treasures will occupy you sufficiently; no need to look at this or that one. Therefore, no jealousy.
But some people carry so much anger. For what reason? Those who are slaves to their egos, when they cheat others, they become angry. Fake people! They are not even the doorkeepers, yet they claim to be the treasurers, deceiving people and leading them astray.
Yet every believer has the right to ask them, “Where are my treasures? Where is the key?”
Sayyid Ahmad al-Badawiق, a king-sized wali, once asked his Lord ﷻ to give him the key directly.
Allah Almighty replied,
“My divine practice is that whoever comes by himself is not given. The one who comes to Me through his guide, I give it to his guide and his guide gives it to him. That is the divine protocol: no one comes to My Divine Presence without a guide. Go! Take your guide and take the keys of your treasures from him.”
This is the Divine Law. Even the Prophet ﷺ, the Seal of Prophets, was under the guidance of Jibril (AS). If the most perfect of creation ﷺ was accompanied by a guide, what about scholars, and what about us? We are such weak ones.
Without a true guide there is no reaching, no safety, only loss upon loss.
Even Ahmad al-Badawiق himself was told,
“You must come with your murshid, your guide; you must come with your shaykh or not come at all. I gave the keys of your treasures into his hand on the Day of Promises. That is My rule and I do not change My rule. Go and take from him.”
Therefore, everyone must take the keys of his treasures from the hand of his shaykh, from the hand of his guide. If he has no guide, shaytan will take him.
Allah Almighty created Adam (AS) to be shaytan’s guide, but he refused out of pride. Therefore, whoever does not agree to take a guide may fall as shaytan fell.
Yet in our time, there are many untrue ones who are not spiritually connected, claiming to be guides. This is an important point to be clear for us.
Grandsheikh Abdullahق was always saying to me,
“O Nazim Effendi, I will give you a likeness for such people. Imagine a sailor who knows the sea. He takes passengers across in his boat every day.
Then another man comes, saying, ‘O people, I can take you, also. Come into my boat. We can go to the other side.’
And people are getting in and then little by little going out to sea, going away. He rows a little into the sea, but he has never crossed before. He knows nothing of the compass, nothing of the currents.
And the people reach the middle of the sea. Then, no more eating, no more drinking, no more knowledge about how they can go on, to which side they are going.
The passengers cry, ‘Why are you not going?’ He says, ‘I cannot.’
They say, ‘If you are not going forward, go back. Take us back to our place!’ He says, ‘I cannot.’
Neither forward nor backward. And so they all perish at sea.”
So it is with false guides. Reading books or given titles does not make one authorized.
True authorization comes only through long training, companionship, transmission, and spiritual connection. It comes through years of service, patience, and sacrifice.
Look at the captains of ships. How many years do they spend in study before stepping onto a vessel? How many more years of watching, learning, and practicing under the watchful eye of a master? Only after such discipline are they entrusted with command.
O people, be very careful. Turn back from losing ways. Seek your share of treasures.
And most importantly, take your keys from the hand of a true guide, the one Allah Almighty has appointed for you.
May Allah Almighty protect us from false claimants, grant us sincerity, and open the way to our treasures through the hands of true ones.
Al-Fatiha.
• Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqaniق
More by Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق can be found here.
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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