Bismi Llāhi r-Raḥmāni r-Raḥīm
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[In his book Stations of Splendour, Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق recalls the seclusion he made with his great-great-grandfather, Sultan al-Awliya, Ghawth al-Azam, Sayyidina Shaykh Abdul Qadir al-Jilaniق, the greatest helper of Allah’s servants.
On this blessed Urs of Ghawth al-Azamق, we remember his oceans of mercy and share this story as a reminder that the Awliya of Allah ﷻ are living, and their power continues to reach hearts even centuries after they have left this physical world.]
By the name of Allah, All-Mighty, All-Merciful, Most Beneficent and Most Munificent.
The first seclusion of Mawlana Shaykh Nazim Al-Haqqaniق, by the order of Grandshaykh Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestaniق, was in the year 1955 in Sueileh, Jordan. There he spent six months in seclusion.
The power and purity of his presence drew thousands of disciples, until Sueileh and its surrounding villages, Ramtha and Amman, were filled with them. Scholars, officials, and countless others were drawn to his light and blessed personality.
Later, when he had only two children, a daughter and a son, he was again called by Grandshaykh Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestaniق. He told him, “I have received an order from the Prophet ﷺ for you to observe seclusion in the mosque of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق in Baghdad. Go there and make seclusion for six months.”
Describing that event, Shaykh Nazimق said:
“I did not ask my Shaykh any questions. I did not even go back to my house. I directed my steps immediately to Marja in downtown. I did not think, ‘I need clothes, I need money, I need provisions.’ When he said, ‘Go!’ I went.
I was drawn to do the seclusion with Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق. When I reached downtown, I saw a man looking at me. He looked at me and recognized me.
He said, ‘Where are you going?’ I said, ‘To Baghdad.’
He was a disciple of Grandshaykh. He said, ‘I am going to Baghdad myself!’
He had a truckload of goods to deliver in Baghdad. So he took me with him.
When I entered the mosque of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق, there was a giant man closing the door of the mosque, holding it shut.
He said, ‘Shaykh Nazim!’
‘Yes,’ I answered.
He said, ‘I am the one assigned to be your servant during your stay here. Come with me.’
I was surprised at this, but in my heart there was no surprise, because we know in tariqat that everything is always arranged by the Divine Presence.
I followed him as he approached the grave of the Arch-Intercessor, al-Ghawth. I gave greetings to my great-great-grandfather, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق.
Then he took me to a room and told me he would serve me one bowl of lentil soup and a piece of bread each day.
I only emerged from my room for the five prayers. Other than that, I spent my whole time in that room. I was able to reach such a state that I could recite the whole Qur’an in nine hours.
I recited ‘La ilaha illallah’ 124,000 times and 124,000 salutations on the Holy Prophet ﷺ, in addition to completing the entire Dala’il al-Khayrat. Alongside this, I was regularly reciting 313,000 ‘Allah, Allah, Allah’ every day, together with all the prayers that were assigned to me.
Vision after vision appeared to me. These visions took me from one state to another until I was annihilated in the Divine Presence.
One day, I had a vision that Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق called me to his grave. He said, ‘O my son, I am waiting for you at my grave. Come!’
Immediately, I took a shower, prayed two raka’ats and walked to his grave, which was only a few feet from my room. When I got there I said, ‘As-salamu alayka ya jiddee’ (Peace be upon you, O my grandfather).
Immediately, I saw him come out of the grave and stand beside me. Behind him was a great throne decorated with rare gemstones.
He said to me, ‘Come with me and sit with me on the throne.’
We sat like a grandfather with his grandson.
He smiled and said, ‘I am happy with you. The station of your Shaykh, Abdullah al-Fa’iz ad-Daghestaniق is very high in the Naqshbandi Order.
I am your grandfather. I now pass to you directly from me the power that I carry as the Arch-Intercessor. I initiate you now directly into the Qadiri Order.’
Immediately after that, Grandshaykh Abdullahق appeared, the Prophet ﷺ appeared, and Shah Naqshbandق appeared.
Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق stood up in respect for the Prophet ﷺ and for the Shaykhs, and so did I.
He said, ‘O Prophet ﷺ, O Messenger of Allah, I am the grandfather of this grandson of mine. I am so happy with his progress in the Naqshbandi Order, and I would like to add the Naqshbandi Order to my power.’
The Prophet ﷺ was smiling, and he looked to Shah Naqshbandق, and Shah Naqshbandق looked to Grandshaykh Abdullahق. This was the proper conduct, because Shaykh Abdullahق was the living Shaykh at the time.
Grandshaykhق passed the secret of the Naqshbandi Order, received from Shah Naqshbandق through the lineage of the Prophet ﷺ via Sayyidina Abu Bakr as-Siddiqر, and added to the station of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق the spiritual power of the Naqshbandi Order.
When I had finished my seclusion and I was preparing to leave, I went once more to my grandfather, Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق, this time to say goodbye.
Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق appeared in the flesh and said, ‘O my son, I am very happy with the station you have reached in the Naqshbandi Order. I am renewing your initiation through me to the Qadiri Order.’
He continued, ‘O my grandson, I am going to give you a token of your visit.’
He hugged me and gave me ten coins. Those coins were from the time when he was living, not from our time.”
Shaykh Nazimق treasured those coins and kept them with him for the rest of his life.
Before he left, Shaykh Nazimق gave his cloak as a remembrance to the Shaykh who had served him.
He told him, ‘I used that cloak during all of my seclusion, either as a mat to sleep on or as a cover when praying and reciting dhikr.
Keep it, and Allah ﷻ will bless you, the Prophet ﷺ will bless you, and all the masters of this Order will bless you.’
The Shaykh took the cloak, kissed it, and wore it. Shaykh Nazimق then left Baghdad and went back to Damascus, Syria.
In 1992, when he visited Lahore, Pakistan, he went to the tomb of Shaykh Ali al-Hujwiriق.
The Shaykh of the Qadiri Order invited him to his house, where Shaykh Nazimق spent the night.
At the time of the dawn prayer, his host said:
‘O my Shaykh, I kept you here tonight to show you a very precious cloak that we inherited twenty-seven years ago. It was passed from one great Shaykh of the Qadiri Order to another from Baghdad until it reached us.
All our Shaykhs have kept it and preserved it, because it was the personal cloak of the Arch-Intercessor of his time.
A Turkish Shaykh of the Naqshbandi Order kept his seclusion in the mosque and tomb of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilaniق. When that Shaykh finished his seclusion, he gave the cloak as a present to a Qadiri Shaykh who had served him during his seclusion.
That Qadiri Shaykh, before he passed away, told his successors to take great care of that cloak, because if anyone wears it, he will be healed of any illnesses.
Any seeker wearing that cloak, on his path to the Divine Presence, will be lifted easily to high stations of vision.’
He carefully opened the closet and revealed the cloak preserved in a glass case. Then he opened the case and took the cloak out.
Shaykh Nazimق was smiling.
The Shaykh asked him, ‘What is it, my Shaykh?’
Shaykh Nazimق said, ‘This brings me great happiness. This is the cloak I gave to the Qadiri Shaykh at the end of my seclusion, so many years ago…’
When the Shaykh heard this, he kissed the hand of Shaykh Nazimق, asked to renew his initiation in the Qadiri Order, and also to take initiation in the Naqshbandi Order.
Truly, Allah ﷻ takes care of His saints wherever they go, by means of His sincere and beloved servants.
May Allah ﷻ grant us a drop from the oceans of Ghawth al-Azamق and keep us under the gaze of our Mashaykh.
May we be gathered with them and with the Prophet ﷺ in the Gardens of Paradise.
Al-Fatiha.
The story of the blessed birth of Ghawth al-Azamق can be found here.
Discover our new series, Liberating the Soul, by Mawlana Shaykh Nazimق at this link. Do subscribe to our website to receive them daily in your inbox.
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