If you wish to understand the true tariqa (a Sufi path/order),
The beautiful Muhammadan character,
So that you may truly grasp the sole ḥaqīqa (inner reality),
The beautiful Muhammadan character.
The perfected ʿārif (gnostic) great elders,
The ascetic, righteous, pure men who stand firm,
All their thoughts, day and night, at every moment,
The beautiful Muhammadan character.
Those who repent (tawba), and thoroughly cleanse their hearts,
Who place the love of the Lord in their qalb (the heart),
Who find the straight path and awaken with ikhlas (sincerity),
The beautiful Muhammadan character.
When the claim is made without maʿrifa (gnosis, experiential knowledge of God), it is mistaken,
Days pass in vain, throughout the years,
When life is fulfilled, only that which saves the person remains,
The beautiful Muhammadan character.
My brother, hold fast to the Noble Qur'an,
Recite it with proper tajwid, fully and deeply,
Let this be my advice to whoever hears,
The beautiful Muhammadan character.
Learn fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) well, do not be helpless,
Embrace it wholeheartedly, do not make concessions in vain,
For the seeker, spiritual perfection is manifest,
The beautiful Muhammadan character.
Be aware, O Hasan, on the path of Islam,
Strive in the luminous branch of Sufism (taṣawwuf),
It will ultimately bring you to the Truth,
The beautiful Muhammadan character.
Translator
Hasan Arslan
PART I
DEFINITION OF SUFISM
ETYMOLOGY (ORIGIN) OF SUFISM
DEVELOPMENT OF THE SCIENCE OF SUFISM
IMPORTANCE OF SUFISM
Footnotes
- In the marginalia of al-Risāla al-Qushayriyya: Shaykh al-Islām Zakariyyā al-Ansārī. He passed away in 929 AH.
- Shaykh Mustafa Medenī, al-Nusrat al-Nabawiyya, p.22. Imām Junayd passed away in 297 AH.
- Shaykh Mustafa Medenī, al-Nusrat al-Nabawiyya, p.22.
- ʿAllāma Ḥamīd Sakar, Nūr al-Taḥqīq, p.93. Abū al-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī passed away in Egypt in 656 AH.
- Aḥmad b. ʿAjība Ḥasanī, Miʿrāj al-Tashawwuf ilā Ḥaqāʾiq al-Taṣawwuf, p.4.