Journey of the Inward
Summary:
The ultimate goal of the journey of Faqr is achieving Divine vision and union with Allah. The key to this is complete submission to Allah’s will in all aspects of life. Every action should be done with the awareness that Allah is watching, and anything that displeases Him must be avoided.
There are three types of people. Seekers of the World carry out actions for their self-serving desires and recognition. Worship is often a means to achieve worldly goals. Seekers of Heaven aim for rewards in the afterlife, such as paradise and protection from Hellfire. Their worship is motivated by fear and greed rather than a desire for Divine closeness. Seekers of Allah, on the other hand, are dedicated to pleasing Allah for His sake alone. They are indifferent to worldly and heavenly rewards, and their every action is focused on gaining Divine presence. They strive to maintain awareness of Allah at all times.
Divine seekers experience various trials and tests that deepen their connection with Allah. They endure hardships but find strength in their love for Him, which gives them peace and resilience in worldly challenges. Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman offers spiritual guidance to those seeking closeness to Allah. He blesses followers with the Ism-e-Allah Zaat, helping them on their spiritual journey. The blog encourages readers to let go of worldly desires and pursue a deeper relationship with Allah through spiritual practices and the guidance of a saint.
Journey of the inward
The final destination of the journey of Faqr is Divine vision and union. The easiest way to achieve this is by becoming Allah’s slave. Every action be it eating, drinking, sleeping or talking should be in accordance with Allah’s will. Whatever you do should be done keeping in mind that He is watching. Anything that may cause Allah’s displeasure should be avoided. Your own will, desires, plans and authority should not overvalue Allah’s.
Allah says:
- Say: ‘My Prayer, my Hajj (Pilgrimage) and my sacrifice (together with the entire worship and servitude) and my life and my death are for Allah alone, the Lord of all the worlds. (6 : 162)
This means all my actions are for Allah.
Three Types of People
Sufi saints divide humans into three categories:
- Seekers of the world: Those who carry out all actions just for their own selves. All their struggles, even worshipping is just for the sake of improving their life. Their good deeds are also there just to get praise from people. Even their worship is to achieve a certain worldly goal.
- Seekers of the Heaven: Those who carry out all their actions to improve the hereafter. Their worship, deeds, struggles are all to get into Heaven and save themselves from the fire of Hell. Their eyes are upon all the blessings that attract them to heaven i.e. houris and palaces. Their entire purpose of worship and abstinence is devoted to this cause.
- Seekers of Allah: This is a small group of people whose entire purpose of existence is to please Allah. They are not bothered with the world nor do they seek any bounties in the hereafter. They do not seek comfort or praise for their own selves. All their actions are in accordance with Allah’s will. All they wish to gain is Divine vision. They reject all bounties of this world as well as those in the hereafter. They just want Divine Union. These are the people whose eating, drinking, sleeping, every action is carried out in Divine Presence such that not even a moment of their lives is neglectful of their Lord. They are the ardent Divine Lovers whose Love does not let them be separated from their Beloved even for a moment. Divine Love removes all other than Allah from their inwards. Their ardent love in itself is their faith and worship.
Allah Says
But those who believe love Allah the most (far more intensely than anyone else). (2: 165)
- And (on the contrary) amongst people there is also someone who sells even his life to attain the pleasure of Allah. (2: 207)
- Their sides stay away from their beds and they call out to their Lord in a (mingled state) of fear and hope (32: 16)
- (It is they) who are certain that they are about to meet their Lord and to Him are they going to return. (2 : 46)
Allah says in a Qudsi about the three types of people:
Seekers of the world are like eunuchs, seekers of the heaven; females and seekers of Allah are like males.
The Holy Prophet (pbuh) said:
- The world is for those who seek it, heaven is for those who seek heaven, and the one who seeks Allah, shall have everything.
- The world is haram for the seekers of heaven, and heaven is haram for the seekers of the world. Both the world and the heaven are haram for the seeker of Allah.
Seekers of the World
Every person can evaluate his actions, desires and will to conclude what kind of a seeker he is. If a standard Muslim today, looks at his life being unbiased, he will realise none of his actions or worship was solely to achieve Allah’s Love and contentment. He eats to maintain his body, to savour the flavours of food. He wears clothes to look good to himself and to others, receives education to gain worldly wealth and respect, gets married to bring about peace in his life, reproduces to satisfy his own desires, brings up his children out of his love for them, or to have someone look after him in his old age.
Even the worship he does is to gain his worldly desires. After every prayer or fast, the long list of wishes (dua) he makes, is evidence enough what the actual purpose of the worship is. In the long list of these wishes, there is never a wish to gain Allah’s closeness or vision. He never asks for Allah from Allah, which shows all of it was never purely for Him. Even while worshipping Allah, his focus remains stuck in worldly problems.
So, how can one expect Allah to acknowledge the actions that were never truly meant for Him? However, since Allah is the Most Gracious, He still fulfils all these desires of His men.
Seekers of Hereafter
Moreover, if we look at the actions and intentions of the seekers of heaven, those too are merely for personal gain. Albeit, those personal gains are for the life hereafter instead of in this world. What they seek is houris, streams of milk and honey, palaces and all other things that drive them to seek heaven. They worship Allah either in fear of hell, or in greed of heaven. Anyhow, their purpose is not to gain Divine vision or closeness, but to gain blessings in the hereafter. Their faith remains intact till the end.
- Once Rabia of Basra was speedily headed somewhere, carrying fire in one hand and water in the other. Someone inquired as to where she was going. She responded she was going to Extinguish the fire of hell with the water, and burn down the heaven, since both of these have diverted attention from the true purpose that is Allah.
Allah is worthy of love and worship even if He had not created heaven or hell. It is this love for Allah that lacks in the actions and worship of the seekers of the heaven and the world. Allah in turn, does bestow upon them all that they seek, be it the blessings of this world or the bounties of heaven. However, He keeps them deprived of the Divine Essence since that was never what they sought.
Seekers of Allah
The seekers of Allah, no matter how indulged they may seem in the world, they are always restless in desire of Allah’s vision and His closeness. They get closer to Him doing whatever they do because all their hearts seek is Him. Every moment of every day Allah is all they seek. This is called Divine Presence of the inward.
They eat because they want to take care of the body that Allah gave them and they want to keep it healthy and energised in order to work for Allah. They sleep so they can wake up healthy and fresh to restart their work for Allah. Or they sleep so they can cut off from the world and experience Divine contemplation through dreams. They marry to follow the footsteps of the Holy Prophet as he said, “Nikkah is my Sunna, whosoever does not comply is not from us.” They reproduce to bring up their children according to Allah’s Will so they can teach them about the true religion that is Faqr and Divine Love.
Every Action of Divine Seeker is for Allah
They work hard and earn money because Allah said, “One who strives is a friend of Allah.” It is a form of worship to earn halal money. They also earn money in order to be able to spend in the way of Allah. They spend all their money in the way of Allah except for the amount spent in getting the basic necessities of life. Simply put, all their actions and thoughts are connected to Allah. Hence, they are always in the state of worship.
Rabia of Basra said:
My true prayer is prostrating before the Beloved excitedly, and recitation of the Quran is romanticising my heart ache.
Seekers of Allah remain indulged in Divine vision all the time through their spiritual eye. They are also immersed in Divine presence through which they are always ascending towards Divine closeness. In the same state they also experience the intensity of Divine disclosure or theophanies. At times Allah diminishes their self through His majestic traits and at times He blesses their inward with His compassionate traits. (Kashf al-Mahjub)
Due to Allah’s Majestic Traits, they are caught up in a state of contraction, fear, grief and solitude, which are intense signs of Divine Love. And no one can imagine what it is like except for them. It is not easy to endure this condition quietly, patiently to stay on track that leads to Divine closeness. Other than that, Allah also puts His men through trials of the inward, whilst also spiritually blessing them.
Divine Seekers Experience a Different Theophany Every Moment
Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman states in his book “Shams-ul-Fuqara”:
‘At this point an interesting and exhilarating discussion about Divine secrets starts between the lover and the Beloved, the seeker and Allah. Here the faith of the believer is tested and his courage, belief and trust are judged. He is showered with the Divine lights of theophanies. Sometimes his soul is bruised with the arrows of cruel yet lovable manners and at times the bounty of sweet syrup of the exhilarating speech is poured onto him which augments his soul. At this station the lover is compared to the classic tales of candle and moth or rose and nightingale and is bestowed with special attention.
Sometimes he is honoured by the splendid sights of unveiled lustre of the majestic beauty that creates a state of passion in his soul and then he is reduced to ashes by the fire of being apart from the Beloved. At this point such a relationship is developed between the slave and the Lord or lover and the Beloved, in which thousands of facts and secrets are revealed upon him. Inspirational knowledge and the knowledge of Divine secrets are gifted to him and he is entertained with various kinds of theophanies.’
Divine Seekers Face Trials and Tests on Inward Journey
Sometimes the lightning of grandeur and magnificence descends upon the lover and at times the charisma of magnificent beauty delights him. At times the arrows of duality and alienation are showered upon him and at times he is satiated with the wine of Divine union. Sometimes he is captivated by the black ensnaring hair locks and at times his soul is enlivened by the light of the lustrous face of Beloved. Sometimes he is tried with distance and at times graced with nearness. At times he is enraptured by the forgetfulness of his being, deep engrossment and absorption and at times consumed by the fire of awe and fright. Sometimes he is invited to be sacrificed like a nightingale on the blooming Countenance and at times he is burnt madly like a moth over the candle of the Divine beauty.
In short, the loveable styles and sportiness of the real Beloved are varied but the true lover is happy with all of them. Both the beauty and the wrath of the Beloved are dear to him. During closeness he observes the attribute of His Magnificence while being distant he observes His beauty and sometimes it is vice versa. The main objective of his delight, grief, alienation, union, passion, ecstasy, aspiration, anxiety, knowledge, wisdom, struggle, sacrifice, devotion, refuge, grandeur, respect, faith, prestige, modesty, piety, hajj, zakat, salat, fast, life and death is only to gain the pleasure and approval of his Beloved. (Sufism -The Soul of Islam)
Divine Seekers Bear All Kinds of Afflictions for Allah’s Sake
They endure all kinds of sufferings for their Beloved be it esoteric or exoteric. Lives of Fakirs and Saints are evidence that they had to go through so much difficulty outwardly, but their struggles on the inward were way harder so much so that the physical ones did not feel like a burden. With so much going on in their inwards, Allah makes them so strong and courageous that they remain calm in whatever situation that may come their way in this world.
On the contrary, the people who are not ascending towards Allah inwardly, they will never be as resilient, calm or patient than the ones who are. Therefore, even small hardships feel big to them. In fact, they make a big deal out of trivial issues, which only worsens their own mental health. They waste their lives running after worldly satisfaction, and lose precious relations owing to their ego and respect. Trying to solve one worldly problem after the other, they never focus on walking Allah’s path and seeking His pleasure and contentment. Life ends but they fail to realise their endless struggles were all in vain.
They wasted time chasing things that were already written for them. They would have had them regardless, and if they were not meant for them, no power or struggle in the world could get them those. If they had made all those struggles for Allah, surrendered to His Will, their lives ending would not be scary. In fact it would be a blessing of Union with the Beloved. Having no spiritual journey in this life means they will also remain deprived of Divine closeness after death forever. However, the struggle and hardships faced in the spiritual journey always lead to ease and a satisfied self in the end.
Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Grants Ism-e-Allah Zaat
Everyone is welcome to leave behind the desires of this world and the heaven, and walk the path of Faqr with Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman. Your inward will testify to the fact that you are in the court of a perfect saint. You will feel a kind of peace and satisfaction that you must have not felt before even after struggling hard. Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman blesses us with his glorious presence every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Khanqah Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen located in Rangilpur Sharif, Lahore.
He is available for everyone who is willing to gain Allah’s closeness through spiritual guidance. He grants them Ism-e-Allah Zaat. Seekers of Allah according to their desire can attain Ism-e-Allah Zaat with or without pledging the oath of allegiance. May Allah remove the worries of this world from our hearts and bless us with His closeness.
Comments (38)
Allah bless me with His union soon♥️
Very nice article about the various types of people.
I like this artical ❣️
Seekers of Allah is a small group of people whose entire purpose of existence is to please Allah.
Nice
Very Beautiful ❤️ and Informative Article
Very good article
Thanks for sharing
Good
Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Hazart Sakhi Sultan Mohammad Najib ur Rehman is the perfect spiritual guide and present Imam of Sarwari Qadri
Very impressive article
Best article
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Very informative and guiding article
Nice article
Behtareen
Worth reading
Very informative
Heartfelt blog. Felt so much pleasure reading it.
Informative nd full of Divine Love
May Allah make us the His seeker Ameen 😍😍😍
May Allah remove the worries of this world from our hearts and bless us with His closeness.
Best Article
nicely written
Moreover, if we look at the actions and intentions of the seekers of heaven, those too are merely for personal gain. Albeit, those personal gains are for the life hereafter instead of in this world. What they seek is houris, streams of milk and honey, palaces and all other things that drive them to seek heaven. They worship Allah either in fear of hell, or in greed of heaven. Anyhow, their purpose is not to gain Divine vision or closeness, but to gain blessings in the hereafter. Their faith
The final destination of the journey of Faqr is Divine vision and union. The easiest way to achieve this is by becoming Allah’s slave. Every action be it eating, drinking, sleeping or talking should be in accordance with Allah’s will. Whatever you do should be done keeping in mind that He is watching. Anything that may cause Allah’s displeasure should be avoided. Your own will, desires, plans and authority should not overvalue Allah’s.
Greatly explained
Best article ever
Informative
Beautifully explained
The final destination of the journey of Faqr is Divine vision and union.
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
🌹🌹🌹👍
Indeed a person has to travel on the Divine Path
Very informative
Very Nice Article ❤️
👍