Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm
Maulana Sheikh Nazimق’s Suhbah
Allah Almighty is teaching His prophets (AS), His awliya, and His believing servants. Each group of people are students in the Divine Presence, according to their spiritual levels, their beliefs, and their respect for the Lord Almighty. We have been ordered to keep the highest respect for Him ﷻ.
A person may worship as all nations have worshipped, and that would indeed be respect. Yet to refrain from even the smallest forbidden act is greater than the worship of all nations, as the Prophet ﷺ said. That is the truest mark of respect.
According to the level of your respect, He ﷻ is going to teach you. To avoid what is forbidden, even in its smallest form, is more precious and more beloved in His sight than endless devotions.
You may not be able to carry the worship of all mankind, but you can leave what is forbidden. On the Day of Resurrection, that restraint will weigh heavier than all the prayers of creation.
A person may go for pilgrimage during Rajab, Sha‘ban, Ramadhan, and the other holy months, praying and worshipping, feeling pleased with his devotion. Worshipping in the holiest places is indeed most excellent.
But when he returns and does not guard his eyes, looking without lowering his gaze on the plane, shaytan quickly catches him.
May Allah ﷻ prevent that looking! A person may have been in those holy lands for six months or for forty years, but with one unguarded glance shaytan throws his hook into the heart. That is his most dangerous weapon to deceive people and destroy their faith.
Quickly a poisoned arrow comes into your heart and makes your faith to be poisoned!
Shaytan and his armies are always watching, taking your faith as their target. Protect yourself from their poisoned arrows! Make a shield to guard yourself from the arrows that come through unlawful glances.
True respect for Allah ﷻ is to guard against forbidden things. That is true fear of God. When driving at night you obey red lights, even when the police are not there. Then, if you are observing those, why are you not observing green and red lights for Allah ﷻ?
Every forbidden thing wounds faith and weakens it. That is why we are never tasting real faith. It is always wounded. This is the most dangerous trap of shaytan for all people, especially for believers who know they will one day stand before their Lord ﷻ.
Shaytan runs after them to fix their eyes upon forbidden sights. When you give in, it is as if you have told him, “O shaytan, I now give you permission to take my eyes wherever you wish.”
That is the reason that Allah ﷻ is not letting divine lights enter our hearts. The eyes of the heart cannot open when the physical eyes are unguarded. Impossible for a person to see the unseen worlds without the light of the heart.
So many worlds! Your Lord ﷻ has granted to each of you a private universe, a world that belongs only to you. It is not like this world which is full of distractions. That world is wide beyond imagination, and you can enter it with one single step.
But it cannot be seen with these eyes. It must be seen with the eyes of the heart. And if you do not guard your physical sight, you will not be given the light of the heart. The light of the heart is withheld as long as you waste the light of the eyes.
Some people say, “Show us Paradise.” But they are like blind men asking to see the sun. If you cannot see it, does that mean it does not exist? Paradise is there, but without light in the heart, you cannot see!
The prophets (AS) are looking at the unseen worlds. They are seeing the Heavens, the Gardens of Paradise, and the Fires of Hell. Whoever keeps full respect for his Lord ﷻ, He grants that one the vision to see.
But we are not looking. We are too occupied with the things around us and do not look within. As long as you do not look within yourself, divine light cannot be granted to you. If you do not know the value of the light in your eyes, how can you be trusted with the light of the heart?
Every Grandsheikhق teaches his mureeds, “If you are asking for light in your heart, then you must guard your eyes. That is important!”
Once we were walking with Grandsheikh Abdullahق through the old city of Damascus. He stopped before a shop, full of many things. Then he turned and looked at another shop.
He said, “This kind of looking makes a person guilty. If you are looking without reason or wisdom, why are you looking? You must ask what is the wisdom behind what you see.”
Allah ﷻ never creates anything without wisdom. From the smallest atom to the greatest universe, everything exists through divine wisdom. When you look at something, you must look with purpose. If you need to buy something, you may look, but only with intention.
Every look must have purpose and must be for the sake of Allah ﷻ. If you look for the sake of your ego, it makes you blind. You must not do anything without intention, and your intention must be for the sake of Allah ﷻ. That is the first level of belief.
The second group are those who look for wisdom. Whenever they look, they seek divine wisdom in what they see. Wisdom brings people closer to the Divine Presence.
Knowledge moves you across the earth like the wheels of a plane, but wisdom lifts you to the sky. Knowledge ends where wisdom begins.
Whoever has not reached wisdom cannot rise to the Heavens. These are the ones who look at creation and see divine meanings in everything, saying, “Subhana-l-ladhi khaliqa-n-nur, khaliqa-n-nar,” Glory to the One who created light and fire.
And there is a higher category of people still. They look and see the Lord ﷻ’s existence and manifestation in everything.
They see in everyone the divine representation of the Holy Name that trains that person. They are seeing their Lord ﷻ in everything, seeing that He alone is the All-in-All. They cannot see anything except His ﷻ divine manifestation. They see as if they are standing with the Lord ﷻ.
If no power from the Lord ﷻ, there cannot be anything in existence. And if anything is by itself, it is a partner to Allah. Only He ﷻ is by Himself, everything else is sustained by Him. Therefore, nothing that is sustained by Allah can be God.
Jesus (AS) is not God, for he exists through his Lord ﷻ. Every person exists through his Lord. Every part of your body stands by His will. This is the mistake of those who claim divinity for Isa (AS). He is the Word of Allah ﷻ, existing by His command.
When Adam (AS) was created, Allah ﷻ breathed into him from His Divine Spirit. If that breath were taken away, nothing would remain. Everything exists by His command, “Be, and it is.”
The third category of people see the manifestations of their Lord ﷻ in every direction.
Once Mawlana Jalaluddin Rumiق met a priest in the marketplace. The priest bowed to him, and he bowed even lower.
Our brothers, too clever ones, are not even giving permission for kissing hands! How can they give permission to bow to a non-Muslim? His mureeds said, “O master, that one is a priest!”
Mawlanaق replied, “We are more humble. He, that priest, does not understand, but I am bowing to the One who is making him be in existence.”
Therefore, there are different categories of people.
Some are looking and it is haram. For some, looking is sunnah, and for some fard, obligatory.
The second category are looking at wisdoms, their eyes are shielded and protected.
The third are the prophets (AS) and the saints. They see divine manifestations and can take from you heavy burdens and lift you to light.
May Allah ﷻ grant us the light of respect that opens the eyes of the heart and fills it with wisdom.
May He ﷻ protect our sight, our hearts, and our faith from every poisoned arrow of shaytan, and keep us among those who see only with His divine light.
Al-Fatiha.
• Mawlana Shaykh Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqaniق
More sohbahs from the Liberating the Soul Series can be found here.
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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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