Spiritual Confidant

One having all the attributes to reach the Divine Trust

Spiritual Confidant, in terms of Faqr is the one who is bestowed with the Divine Trust and this rank is given to that person who succeeds in the hardships of the inward, thus becomes the beloved of the spiritual guide. Whether its day or night, heat of summers or the freezing cold of winters, he does not consider his rest nor does he consider his own benefit. He has only one thing to do i.e. to bow down before Allah. One who gives priority to negating his innerself over satisfying it has the consent of his spiritual guide. Such a person is neither the seeker of the heaven, nor of the houries or the reward of the hereafter. The sacred face of the spiritual guide is his Kaaba and seeing him is his pilgrimage.

مرشدمینوں حج مکے دا، رحمت دا دروازہ ھُو

کراں طواف دوالے قبلے، نت ہووے حج تازہ ھُو

Meaning: The company of my spiritual guide is a hajj for me, he is the door to Allah’s mercy and I am in constant state of his circumambulation.

Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen is the confidant of his spiritual guide

Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman is the spiritual confidant of Sultan-ul-Faqr Sixth Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali. A perfect Murshid chooses his special seeker as his spiritual confidant to transfer him the Divine Trust. When Sultan-ul-Faqr Sixth Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali had thoroughly tested Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman by making him pass through different trials then he rewarded him with the greatest blessing of Divine Trust. Divine Trust is that great blessing which was transferred from Prophet Mohammad to Ali Ibn Abi Talib and passing through Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, it reached Sultan-ul-Arifeen Sultan Bahoo. In this way it reached Sultan-ul-Faqr Sixth Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali who transferred it to Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman. He is the true spiritual heir of Sultan Bahoo and the Spiritual Confidant of Sultan-ul-Faqr sixth.

Attributes and Marvels of Confidant of the spiritual guide

In this article those attributes and marvels are discussed due to which a spiritual guide blesses his special seekers with the Divine trust.

Loyalty and sacrifice for the spiritual guide

The first and foremost attribute which a spiritual guide finds in his special seeker is loyalty and sacrifice. Loyalty and sacrifice is such a blessing which makes the seeker exalted among the creation and favourite of Allah. Loyalty means that the seeker remains connected with his spiritual guide in every situation, ease or test. Even if the whole world turn against him, he still remains connected with his spiritual guide. To be loyal with the spiritual guide and to sacrifice everything is the specialty of the Divine Lovers. Intellect focuses on saving the life but the Divine Love grows with sacrifice and loyalty. Iqbal says:

بے خطر کود پڑا آتش ِ نمرود میں عشق

عقل ہے محوِ تماشائے لب ِ بام ابھی

 Meaning: Love is so daring and bold that Prophet Abraham fearlessly jumped into the pyre which Nimrod had lighted to burn him while intellect is still watching the show and it is confounded. Thus the intellect thinks of advantages and disadvantages while love jumps into the fire immediately without thinking of any punishment or reward. (Bang-e-Dara)

Another poet utters:

عقل والوں کے نصیبوں میں    کہا   ں ذوقِ جنوں

یہ عشق والے ہیں جو ہر چیز لٹا دیتے ہیں

 Meaning: How can the intellect have the crazy passion for Allah as it only wants to save its life! Divine Lovers are the ones who sacrifice everything for Allah.

Sultan Bahoo says:

 

عقل فکر دیاں سب بھل گیاں، جد عشقے نال جا ملیا ھُو

میں قربان تنہاں توں باھوؒ، جنہاں عشق جوانی چڑھیا ھُو

Meaning: I forgot all intellect ever since I met the Divine Love. May I sacrifice myself for those whose love has approached its peak and found the Beloved.

Sincerity and truthfulness for the spiritual guide

The Divine Love demands sincerity during the trail. The one who does everything for Allah sincerely, succeeds in the sacred court of the spiritual guide and the Divine Love. Sincerity of intention is the beauty of the deed. Sincerity is the hidden reality of the deed, the strength of inward, the struggle of man, the reason of acceptance of prayers and it is the favoruite of Allah among all virtues. Sincerity is to be one with the Divine Oneness and leads towards Divine favour. It is the virtue of Divine Lovers and truth of Divine Love. As the sincerity of intention increases the emotion of sacrificing everything upon the Beloved also increases accordingly.

To reach our eternal destination, sincerity and truthfulness is very necessary. In fact truthfulness is the exalted form of sincerity. To succeed in the way of Faqr it is important to move towards Allah with sincerity, purity of intentions and humbleness because Allah sees the intentions of man, not the apparent act. Sincerity and purity of intentions is also necessary because through them the seeker can differentiate between truth and falsehood. If the seeker is sincere only then he can differentiate between a perfect and imperfect spiritual guide. If his intentions are pure then he can identify which thought is from Allah and which is from the Satan.

Sultan ul Ashiqeen says:

• Sidq (truthfulness) amplifies the intensity of longing (for Beloved) in Divine Love (Ishq). Without truthfulness, there remains no difference between an animal and a human being.
• Prayers are answered per intentions.

Doing hard work and being passionate for the spiritual guide

Hard work and dedication are the distinct qualities of the special seeker. His whole life is the embodiment of hard work and dedication. Actually, the success of man lies in hard work no matter which phase of life he is passing through. Man works hard when he has the eagerness and passion to achieve his goal. So it is important for him to know what his goal is for which he is doing hard work. For example if a person’s goal is to make a better future, then he works hard day and night, finds a job or invests money in a business and tries to raise it. This is the effort we do to make physical life better.

However man has a physical being as well as a spiritual being. The actual goal of man is to have the Divine vision and closeness of Allah. This is the goal which is mentioned in the Holy Quran and is the Sunna of Holy Prophet. Hence this is the goal for which all the hardships should be faced. If we see this in the context of relationship of the spiritual guide and the seeker then the spiritual guide gives the seeker different duties for his training. The more the seeker does hard work the more Allah gives him His benevolence and closeness. Eventually he succeeds in achieving his ultimate goal (i.e. Divine union).

Courage and bravery

تندیٔ بادِ مخالف سے نہ گھبرا اے عقاب

یہ تو چلتی ہے تجھے اونچا اڑانے کے لیے

Meaning: O Falcon! Don’t hesitate to fly through to the dangerous winds of your enemies. These winds only blow to make you fly even higher.

The first and foremost sign of the path of Faqr is that the seeker has to face different kinds of enemies and hurdles. To realize the real essence of the true path, he has to face all the difficulties inwardly and outwardly and try to find the perfect spiritual guide of the era. The reality of the perfect spiritual guide is that he is always on the footsteps of Prophet Mohammad.

Enemies of the seeker of Allah

The world, the innerself and the Satan all are the enemies of the path of Faqr who are always planning to ambush the seeker so that he drops from his level.

Sultan Bahoo says:

سر قدم شد قدم را با سر بجو

غرق شو فی اللہ فنا وحدت بگو

Meaning: Walk on the path of truth while making your foot your head and your head your foot. Annihilate yourself in Allah and ultimately become the representative of Allah. (Qurb-e-Deedar)

Courage and bravery like Bilal Habshi

To walk on the path of truth, it is essential to produce the traits of Bilal Habshi in ourselves. So that when the enemies attack we could say ‘Ahad’ ‘Ahad’ (the One). Only a brave seeker can move on the path of truth with perseverance. Verily! This attribute is present in the spiritual confidant. That special seeker is the one who faces all the inward and outward hurdles, reaches the perfect spiritual guide of the era, succeeds in all the tests and eventually proves himself capable to be the spiritual confidant.

ہو حلقہ ٔ یاراں تو بریشم کی طرح نرم

رزم حق و باطل ہو تو فولاد ہے مومن

Meaning: The true believer is the one who becomes soft as silk when he is in the company of his friends and becomes as hard as steel when he confronts his enemies.

Sultan Bahoo says about that special seeker:

سر دیون سِرّ کھولن ناہیں، ایسا شوق پیالا پیتا ھُو

میں قربان تنہاں توں باھوؒ، جنہاں عشق سلامت کیتا ھُو

Explanation: May I sacrifice myself for the Divine lovers who protect their love. They are so passionate for the Beloved that they prefer to get beheaded rather than disclosing His secret.

Reflection and concentration

The Holy Quran continuously mentions to ponder upon our own self, the sky, the earth and the events happening around our surroundings and the world. This is important so that the man can know the hidden secrets of his own self, Allah and the universe. The spiritual confidant has this attribute since his birth which increases with time and experience.

Quran mentions concentration and reflection in these words:

Meaning: Indeed in the creation of the heavens and the earth, alternation of the night and the day, those are signs (of Allah’s absolute authority for those who possess constructive wisdom. These are the people who remember Allah while standing, sitting and changing sides and meditate on the creation of heavens and the earth. (And say) “O our Lord, You have not created (all) this without any rationale and strategy. You are Pure, so protect us from the torment of hell.” (3:190-191)

In these verses, the first sign of the special seeker is that he is a man of contemplation and among the intellectuals, second sign is that he is the eternal invocator, third is that he is pious and has the fear of Allah. All these attributes are present in the spiritual confidant and he is at the excellence of these attributes.

He is the reviver

Spiritual confidant is the Qalandar i.e. he is not among the followers or conventional ones. Instead! He is among the revivers. He is not among the conventional ones because he makes his own path. Just like the saying of Iqbal, he makes his own new era. To spread the teachings of Allah and the beneficence of Faqr, he utilizes new and modern ways. Actually he is the reviver and leader of the era. To revive does not mean to present a new religion. Instead, it is to purify it of all the false inclinations, veils and to present it in its true and pure form. Only that person can do it who is aware of the real essence of Islam.

Abu Huraira reported that the Holy Prophet said;

“Surely Allah would raise up a person in this nation at the advent of every century who shall revive the religion for it. (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith#4291)

Just like Al-Ghawth Al-Azam eliminated all the falsehood and revived the true soul of religion. The spiritual confidant also has this attribute that he revives the religion and removes all the veils of innerself.

Spiritual confidant has leadership qualities

Only that special seeker can become the spiritual confidant who has the leadership qualities. A leader is someone who has the ability to guide, intelligence, human understanding, powers of decision making, speaking truth, bravery, contemplation, a good listener so on and so forth. His main purpose is not to divide the nation into sects, rather to unify them. He unites them under one platform in order to achieve the purpose of collective betterment. He should be the follower of Allah’s command, “And hold tight onto Allah’s rope.”

He should be able to take that task from his every devotee which he is capable of. He makes wise decisions and preferences in every situation and makes people believe in his logical reasoning. All these attributes are present in a great leader having a strong character.

He is a scholar who practises what he teaches

Only a knowledgeable seeker can be successful in Faqr because Allah Himself says in the Quran:

Meaning: Can those who have knowledge and those who do not be alike? (39:9)

The physical aspect of the religion is called Sharia and the spiritual aspect of the religion is related to mysticism and reality. Hence, in order to gain success in Faqr, it is essential to gain the knowledge of both aspects. How can one be a Mystic without Divine Love! Without Divine Love, knowledge can deprave one and drop him to the level of Satanism. But the knowledge of the spiritual confidant merges with the Divine Love. And he represents his knowledge with his Divine Love. In every battle of life only his efforts and virtues are the secret of his success.

عمل سے زندگی بنتی ہے جنت بھی جہنم بھی

Meaning: Only the deeds of man make his life heaven or hell.

He has the best character

The spiritual confidant should have truthfulness like Abu Bakar Siddique, modesty like Uthman Bin Affan, self-accountability like Umar Farooq, courage and bravery like Ali ibn Abi Talib. The seeker having all these attributes is the confidant of spiritual guide who is eligible for the Divine Trust.

Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen as the Spiritual Confidant

Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen has all the attributes mentioned above. In fact these are the most dominanat attributes of his character. If we see the life of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman then it is the reflection of Love for his spiritual guide.

Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen’s love for his spiritual guide

The love for spiritual guide is the attribute of perseverant and brave seeker and is the secret of success in Faqr. No doubt, it can eventually transform the lover into the beloved. Actual destination of such a seeker is that the spiritual guide chooses him as his spiritual confidant and makes him wear the robe of Faqr. Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman is the Sultan of Divine Lovers, reflection of al-Ghawth al-Azam, the grandeur of Faqr and the spiritual confidant of Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali who honoured him with the robe of Faqr.

To explain the attributes of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen in words is not possible. The charismatic personality of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen cannot be explained even in numerous volumes of books. Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen is on such exalted level of Faqr which is beyond explanation. Only that person can understand his reality whose soul is pure and innerself is dead. Whose inward is bright and replete with love of the spiritual guide. The spiritual guide’s love is verily the beneficence of Allah. Only one drop of it can take one to the destination.

Loyalty and sacrifice of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen for his spiritual guide

Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman was so loyal with Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali that he sacrificed his everything in the love of his spiritual guide. His comforts, wealth in fact his own self. He never prioritized anything above his spiritual guide. Once Sultan-ul-Faqr Sixth Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali appreciated the ardent love, truthfulness and loyalty of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen in these words: “Najib is the embodiment of these words ‘I bow down before my beloved’s wish’.

Truthfulness and sincerity of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen

Loyalty is that the seeker is truthful and sincere in Divine Love. He is always ready to sacrifice his everything to please his beloved. And the beloved also wishes that his lover should be always ready to sacrifice. Rumi says:

عشق آن شعلہ است کہ جوں بر افروخت

ہر کہ جز معشوق باشد جملہ سوخت

Meaning: Divine Love is that flame which when burns, turns everything into ashes.

Mian Mohammad Bakhsh says:

جنہاں عشق خرید نہ کیتا عیویں آبھگتے

عشقے باہجھ محمد بخشا کیا آدم کیا کتے

Meaning: Without love there is no difference between a man and a dog. Those deprived of Divine love waste their entire life.

Constant hard work and passion

If we ponder upon the life of Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen, it is an example of constant hard work. When he was a seeker he was serving his spiritual guide and when he adorned the throne of Divine guidance and persuasion, he is constantly endeavouring to continue the mission of his spiritual guide. To spread the message of Allah everywhere and to bless the seekers with Divine closeness and vision he is working day and night. Apart from this he is spreading the beneficence of Faqr through the latest technology, applications and websites. Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen performed his every duty with utmost sincerity and hard work. But never asked for any physical or spiritual rank. In fact he never wanted anything except the happiness and consent of his spiritual guide.

As it is said:

جے تو ربّ نوں منانا پہلے یار نوں منا

ربّ من جاندا یار نوں منانا اوکھا ہے

Meaning: If you want to please Allah, you have to please your beloved. One can surely please Allah but pleasing the beloved is difficult.

If a person wants the secrets of Faqr and closeness of Allah then he should try to make his spiritual guide happy. Verily! Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen is bestowed with this excellence. May Allah bless us with the courage to keep the promise we made with our spiritual guide. Ameen.

Long live Sultan-ul-Ashiqeen!!

Long life Tehreek Dawat-e-Faqr!!

Key Questions:

Question 1: What are the attributes of the confidant of spiritual guide?

Ans:

1. Loyalty and sacrifice
2. Sincerity and truthfulness
3. Hard work and passion
4. Reflection and concentration
5. The Reviver
6. Leadership qualities
7. Scholar who practices what he teaches
8. The best character

Q2.How the spiritual guide tests his special seeker?

Ans: The spiritual guide tests the seeker’s loyalty and sacrifice by the trial that even if the whole world turns against the seeker, he still remains true to his spiritual guide. To remain loyal with his spiritual guide he sacrifices everything and every relation. Another thing by which he tests him is that does he choose to listen to his intellect or the Divine Love? The intellect focuses on saving life but the Divine Love grows with sacrifice.