Sultan ul Ashiqeen and Propagation of Faqr

March 26, 2024

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HUMAN REALITY AND PURGATION OF THE INNER SELF

Allah created the human body extremely vast and complex. This body made out of clay is merely a dress for the actual human; the soul.

Allah says:

For the convenience of this body, Allah created an abundance of facilities in the world. He gave mankind immense capabilities with which they made great inventions. This series of inventions and discoveries is forever ongoing. All that the world has achieved to date is an outcome of Allah’s blessing.

Human – The Noblest Creation of Allah
There is a specific doctor for every part of this body of clay. Even after extensive research, the human body has not yet been fully apprehended. Therefore, more and more research is being carried out related to the human body every day. The point to be noted is that Allah has created everything solely for the facilitation of humans, and the whole universe is under their command. So, what is it about humans that makes them the noblest of all creatures (Ashraf ul Makhlooqat)?
Indeed, Allah has described humans as the noblest of all creatures. However, that certainly does not mean one should feel pride or arrogance over the physical body because that is not what being the noblest implies. The vastness of this universe is unlimited to the extent that intelligence cannot comprehend. The planet earth is merely a speck compared to the entire cosmos. How can human, present in a house built in a few yards, in a city located in a country on the planet which is billions and trillions of square kilometers, feel egoistic and remain ignorant of Allah’s command.
The physical body works just like a robot. It carries out any instructions it is given. If a person commits a sin, the physical body is not to be blamed. Nor shall the body be answerable in the hereafter.
Human Body Decays When Souls Leaves
If there are twenty people in a room, their bodies will radiate a certain amount of heat according to the weather. Even if they remain there for ten days, they might release a certain body odour but their bodies however, will not decay. On the contrary, if there are twenty dead bodies in the same room, they will not radiate any heat but they will start decaying and smell more foul with passing time. Apparently, there has been no change physically whatsoever, just the soul has left the body. Hence, there is no heat radiation, no emotions, no sense of hearing, watching or speaking left.
Now it is just a corpse, which means “the noblest of all creatures” has left. Whatever relations a human has in this world; be it their mother, father, sibling, spouse, they are all relations of the body, not of the soul. The soul is from Allah, for Allah, and returns to Allah. So, how can a person neglect a promise made with Allah. He prioritises promises made to another person but not the one made to Allah. “Indeed, We sent Moses with Our signs, ˹ordering him,˺ “Lead your people out of darkness and into light, and remind them of Allah’s days ˹of favour˺.” Surely in this are signs for whoever is steadfast, grateful. (Ibrahim: 5)
All things in this world are for this body, not for the soul or the “noblest of all”. The real human, the soul, which is the noblest of all creatures, has no relation with this world or its bounties. Neither can these worldly things benefit or harm the human in any way, except for misleading him. Whatever respect Allah has blessed the physical body with, it is all owing to the real human within. It has the ability to conceal the Divine secret, so imagine what grandeur this Divine soul holds in Allah’s court.

Who Is the True Human?

It is rather interesting to know that Allah never commanded Satan to prostrate before Adam, until He had not transferred the Divine Soul in that body of clay, since it is indeed haram to prostrate before anyone but Allah.

This is evidence that the reality of this body is indeed the soul and this is why children of Adam are called humans.

فرشتہ مجھ کو کہنے سے میری تحقیر ہوتی ہے

میں مسجودِ ملائک ہوں مجھے انسان رہنے دو

Farishta mujh ko kehne se meri tahqeer hoti hai

Main masjood-e-malaa'ik hoon, mujhe insaan rehne do

Explanation: I am dishonoured when you call me an angel. I am superior than angels because they prostrated before me, so let me remain a human.

And Allah swears upon the beauty and perfection of this human:
By the fig and by the olive! And by (Mount) Tur of Sinai! And by this city of peace (Makka)! Indeed, We have created man in the best constitution (equipoised in the finest proportion). (at-Tin: 1-4)
In a Qudsi Hadith Allah says:
I created man on My countenance.
Apparently, some people are fair, some are dark, some blind and some handicapped. Therefore, it proves Allah is not talking about the physical body. In fact, He is talking about the soul that he put in this body. That in the human He swore to be perfect just like Himself.

Human is Noble because of Kingly Soul

Allah describes the human’s grandeur in these words:

The Prophet says:

All this is referring to the Divine Soul within man which Allah concealed in so many layers just as someone hides treasure. Whatever Allah created, or made the man to create, is hidden like a fruit or nut is covered with peel or a shell. All the important part is inside. Likewise, whatever man creates; a house, car or a plane, the user is always inside, not on the outside. All this is meant to remind man that he should be mindful of his inner self, take care of his inward, since all that matters is in there.

The Reason Behind Man Being the Noblest of all Creatures

Not every man is the noblest of all creatures, in fact only those few are actually “Ashraf ul Makhlooq” who fulfil the purpose that Allah created them for.

Allah mentions in the Quran that He created man for a purpose. If we contemplate His Creation, we realise that nothing is purposeless. Even something created by man is not without a purpose, so how can man himself be purposeless? Allah says:
So did you think that We had created you in vain (without any purpose) and that you would not return to Us? (al-Mu’minun: 115)
Although, every person has come up with their own purpose. Some want to have a successful future, some want to earn loads and loads of money, some desire to become great leaders, while some want to own acres and acres of land. However, none of these goes back to the actual purpose of their creation. Whereas Allah has clearly stated in the Quran that He made jinn and man to gain His gnosis.

Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman mentions the exegesis by Abdullah bin Abbasi (r.a), in his book “Shams-ul-Fuqra”:

In surah adh-Dhariyat, by “worship” or “adopt My servitude” Allah means to gain His gnosis (Marifat). In Sufi terminology too worship means gnosis because the entire purpose of worship is to gain Divine closeness. Worship that does not bring a person closer to Allah is not worship. Therefore, in this verse, the spiritual meaning of worship is gaining gnosis. Solely for worshipping, the angels were enough.

Few People Understand The Purpose in Life
Allah does not need anybody’s prayers or fasting. However, He does want His men to desire and seek His closeness, union and gnosis. As He mentions in a Qudsi Hadith:
I was a Hidden Treasure. I desired to be recognised. Hence, I created man.
Whosoever fulfills this purpose, he stands successful in both the worlds. Since Allah says “We have created man in the best constitution” this is that man who gains Divine gnosis and fulfils his purpose. On the other hand Allah also describes man being worse than animals.
And surely, We have created a large (number) of jinn and human beings for Hell: they have hearts (and minds but) cannot understand (the truth) with them; and they have eyes (but) cannot perceive (the truth) with them; and (also) they possess ears (but) cannot hear (the truth) with them. They are like cattle, rather more misguided (than them). It is they who are neglectful. (al-A’raf: 179)
According to the aforementioned ayat, one kind of man is he who fulfils the purpose of his life. He is the Divine secret, he is Allah’s friend, His companion, and His countenance. On the contrary is that person, who neglects his purpose and falls into the trap of baser self and worldly pleasures. He remains indulged in his self-created purpose whilst neglecting his true purpose, such a person is worse than animals.
Reality of Physical Worship
Physically worshipping without having your eyes, ears, and inward purified is just as though you are paying off a debt. How can man worship Allah when he has not seen Him or gained His gnosis?

Al-Ghawth Al Azam says:

How can he, who does not recognise Allah, worship Him!

Sultan Bahoo says:

He who says “Allah” whilst being unfamiliar with the gnosis of the Divine Essence, is not aware of Allah’s true remembrance. (Sultan al Wahm)

Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman says:

The humility and self-mortification that lies in worshipping Allah after recognising Him and seeking Divine vision, is not possible otherwise.

For this very reason, there was a thirteen year gap in the Prophet’s revelations before worship was made obligatory. During this period, he preached his Companions about Divine gnosis. After the completion of this education, worshipping was made compulsory so that it did not go in vain.

Today’s Materialistic World
A very sad reality is that people are ready to spend years and years on gaining knowledge of medicine, engineering, economics and mathematics. Yet, no one pays much heed to studying the Quran, or offering prayers. No one feels the need to seek mentorship or spiritual guidance in order to worship with an enlightened inward.
The true purpose of prayer is to ascend towards Allah. A hadith says “Prayer is a Momin’s ascension (miraj)”.
A hadith says:
Praying goes in vain without an enlightened inward.
A person praying is in direct conversation with Allah that takes place in his inward. If his inward is void of the Divine Light, his prayers are nullified. That is because the human reality is only the inward, the remaining parts are just following what it commands.
The Prophet said:
There is a piece of flesh in the children of Adam, when it is corrected, the entire body is corrected, and when it is damaged so is the entire body. Beware that is the inward.
This proves that any form of worship, be it praying, fasting, performing pilgrimage, paying alms or whatsoever, their limitation is an ignorant inward. If the inward is enlightened, Allah’s contentment and acceptance, closeness and Love can be felt vividly. However, if the inward is lifeless, decades of physical worship can go to waste. Moreover, in many cases these long periods of worship makes one arrogant and proud which in turn drives them away from Allah, and includes them in the deniers like Satan.

Purgation of the Self and Success
There are four stages of the inner self as mentioned in the Quran:
Al-Nafs al-ammāra: the inciting inner self
An-nafs-ul-lawwamah: the repenting inner self
Al-nafs-al-Mulhamah: the inspiring inner self
An-nafs-al-Mutmainnah: inner self at peace
These four stages of the inner self are explained by Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen in detail in his books; The Prophetic Way of Purgation of the Innerself, and Nafs Ke Nasoor. The final and last level is al-Mutmainnah, inner self at peace; where Divine gnosis is gained.
Regarding this Allah says in the Quran:
O contented (pleased) self! Return to your Lord in such a state that you are both the aspirant to, and the aspired of, His pleasure (i.e., you seek His pleasure and He seeks yours). So join My (perfect) servants. And enter My Paradise (of nearness and sight). (al-Fajr: 27-30)

Regarding this, Sultan-ul-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo wrote a Punjabi poem which Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen explains:

This inner self has now become our friend and companion on the righteous path with us. It is this very inner self that leads several scholars, knowers and pious men astray, makes them chase the world, money, power and fame, and forget true religion. Whosoever does invocation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat under a perfect spiritual guide’s supervision shall ascend from al-Ammara to Al-Mutmainnah. There are very difficult stages and trials on the path of Faqr. It is not a piece of cake. (Abyat e Bahoo Kamil).

Composition of Human

Now the question arises as to how one can transcend from inciting self to self at peace.
Sultan Mohammad Najib ur Rehman says:
Only prophets and saints have such a pure inner self. This personality of the inner self is very powerful and mighty. All this can be gained through the invocation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat and the company of a Perfect spiritual guide. Not even a lifetime of devoted physical worship can bring one to this level of the inner self. In fact, physical worship done in abundance will only make a man arrogant. The example of Satan is evidence enough. (Purification of Innerself in Sufism)

There are three fundamental things in the human being:

Body made out of clay
Inciting inner self full of desires
Divine Soul i.e. True Human

All that human consumes to sustain life comes from the soil; fruits, grains, water and some are sourced indirectly. Even the raw ingredients that are processed to produce food come from the soil. And finally when a man dies, he is buried in soil.

Secondly, there is inciting self; that feasts on everything Allah dislikes; anger, gossip, backbiting, fighting, pride or falling into traps of lust. As long as the person does all this, he remains calm but as soon as he starts to fight these diseases, this inner self attacks him barbarously. It is important to know that if one fights this on his own without the guidance of a Perfect Spiritual Guide, it will lead him astray and off the right path. We have various examples of this in the past.
Worldly Life is to Gain Gnosis of Allah
Lastly, there is the Divine Soul or the True Human. This is Divine Light and it thrives on Divine light. What is this Light? It is Ism-e-Allah Zaat. As long as the Divine Soul does not get its nutrition; invocation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat, human cannot fight his inner self nor can he recognise the Divine Essence within. This Divine Soul comes to the world in the state of slumber and if it returns in the same state (without gaining gnosis and Divine closeness); Allah says about such souls:
And whoever remains blind (to the truth) in this (world) will be blind in the Hereafter as well, distracted from the path (of deliverance). (al-Isra: 72)
So, it is quite evident that gaining Divine Gnosis is impossible without the purgation of the inner self. And purgation of the inner self is impossible without the invocation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat. Therefore, is it also significant to do that under the guidance of a Perfect Sarwari Qadri Spiritual Guide, without whose company and supervision the contemplation and invocation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat will undoubtedly go wrong.
Universal Divine Man
Ism-e-Allah Zaat is a very heavy asset not everyone is capable of carrying it. Allah only grants it to His special men. That is the Divine Universal Man of this era, the perfect Fakir and the perfect Momin. He is assigned by Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) himself to guide the seekers of Allah with the invocation of Ism-e-Allah Zaat and bless his umma with his company.
In the present day, Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman is the Universal Divine Man. His personality is so exemplary that he is spreading Divine vision and gnosis every second to the seekers of Allah. He has purged the inner selves of so many seekers, blessing them with Divine gnosis, and is continuing to do so following the Prophetic way.
Note:
This is English translation of Urdu blog حقیقت ِانسانیہ اور تزکیۂ نفس published in the March 2024 issue of monthly Sultan-ul-Faqr magazine. Sultan Nasir Majeed Sarwari Qadri authored the original article. Zuhaa Fatima has translated it in English.

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HUMAN REALITY AND PURGATION OF THE INNER SELF

Human – The Noblest Creation of Allah

Human Body Decays When Souls Leaves

Who Is the True Human?

Allah says:

Human is Noble because of Kingly Soul