Annual Address of Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi 27th Jan 1996

 

(Recitation)

(Arabic text) (Tasmiya)

Dear Audience, ladies and gentlemen, In-charges of Muraqba Halls, Librarians of Azeemiya Spiritual Libraries, Guests that have come from Pakistan and abroad, respected friends and my dear ones!   

Today's mammoth participation, your stay in Markazi Muraqba Hall with loving sincerity, coming here all the way, undertaking the hardships of journey for the sake of Allah, in search of cognition of Allah, is an honor and a privileged gratitude for me.

When Silsila e Azeemiya was founded, and His Divine Grace Qalandar Baba Auliya had asked me to run the Silsila. At that time my concept about the leader of a Silsila was only that of a person with a typical turban, sitting on a higher place amongst many people around him. And, the people must remain bowing before him. The people sitting before him must be devoid of courage to look directly at his face. Disciples shouldn't have any right to access the  public or private life of the spiritual leader. I mean, I thought the people of Silsila have supernatural qualities. If this wasn't there then, he must have something extra in him. And this was so because, in my life, I had never heard that man's real life, is the life within and, this ostensible life is the name of hypothetical and fiction senses.

Keeping all these things in mind, I submitted to Qalandar Baba Auliya, Sir, you have said such a thing about which my concept is not clear. If it is necessary for a spiritual teacher to be versed in the art of speech, which I don't have. If it is necessary for a mentor to be familiar with writing, I know nothing about writing. And, if it is necessary for a mentor to be knowledgeable, I had never been to a school. I have seen many schools from outside but have never been in one. And, if a mentor is a person with spiritual enlightenment and is capable of spiritual flight, I have never even heard of anything like that the soul, too, flies. The atmosphere in which I have been brought up, there was no concept of spirituality. It was not admissible that there exists a body other than this physical body.

When I presented my submissions in limited words, he said, "When God wants to bless someone, He doesn't see what talents one has, how much is his potential or how much work he can do? It is God's trait, when He blesses someone, all the required capabilities are produced in him automatically. If he is dumb, he starts speaking and if he is deaf, he starts hearing. If he cannot fly, God blesses him with wings and feathers. If he is ugly, he becomes pretty for people. If his speech is not attractive, God blesses him with such sweet eloquence that people look forward for his speech. He expresses his thoughts in such an effective manner that people become spell bounded. His face is covered with such a halo of lights that people feel like watching him without knowing what's causing them to look at him. All this depends upon Allah. You only need to keep advancing on the path of Allah. Since God has chosen you and you must submit. After that you have nothing to do." So I submitted myself to my august mentor.

He started my training with great care by his conductive influence and words of mouth. The central point of training was to abolish the family traditions and to live with new norms and traditions. What these new traditions are? The new ways, in fact are, all that you do or say, must be for the sake of Allah. One's personal interests shouldn't be involved. So, my training started on these grounds. Obviously, the centuries old conscious was not ready to bear this. The centuries old traditions that are one's life, cannot be easily refuted. A war broke out, a battle started in me, between my conscious and the thinking approach of the mentor. When the resistance increased, it started hurting. When the pain exceeded the limits, it culminated.

One day, he made me sit before him and said, "There are two ways to spend life and there are two ways to remain happy. And, two ways to become something. Two ways to get something from someone and two ways to give. And, one of these two ways are that one must have this much ability in him that he could make others to obey him, make them think like him, must be able to stick to the centuries old traditions and defend them and, must be able to compete the world to continue those traditions. This way of life is called being independent. What you want from others convince them to obey you. You make others like you. The other way is to negate yourself, that is, you become dependent, leaving independence. Leave yourself onto others. The nature on which Allah has created you is not Independent. Your formation to live your life is to be dependent. Therefore, it is necessary to quit the independent way and surrender yourself to me. You don't have the ability to make anyone yours, but you do have the ability to be someone's.

This was so deep, as you can feel, that it was beyond comprehension. How can one handover oneself to another one. How can oneself submit or how  ego can be abolished? Anyway, I kept on thinking and prayed to God, "O' Allah relieve me from this independent life and bless me with a Dependent Life!"

Then, by the grace of God and His blessing, it became clear to me that when I have submitted to a mentor and, have accepted that it's the mentor who will make me. I don't know what knowledge is? I also don't know where I have come and where I am heading for? And, have no idea what this life is in actual effect. Is it real or fictional? Anyway, I decided that from now on I'll not live an independent life anymore. I will do only that I'll be told to do, whether I understand it or not. And thus, the training started.

I faced such things that my conscious refused to accept them. Not only that it refused to accept them, but they hit my conscious with such force that despite being fully aware of it, I lack the words to explain it. Many a times fight in my conscious mind would erupt. Mentor would say something, and my conscious mind would say, that's not right, that's not according to the religious laws nor it is according to the worldly laws. How I could have decided, what's right or wrong, when I had no knowledge. Therefore, when I have no knowledge, Mentor is right.

In this fight within, in this resistance of my conscious, many a times, I felt pressure upon my shoulders. And, I felt as if tons of weight is being placed upon my shoulders. I used to stop walking due to that pressure and I would sit on the ground under that weight. And, despite all my efforts, I couldn't stand up. I felt that weight physically. Many a times, Mentor would say a thing, which my earthly conscious failed to understand and resisted so much that I felt like committing suicide. Felt like tearing my clothes off. Even wanted to jump off a roof or drown myself in the ocean. That is, there were extreme fits of irritation, soreness, and pain and, there was no one around with whom I could share those things. Wanted to tell my Mentor but all that was happening, was happening because of him.

This all kept on increasing and, gradually the conscious became accustomed to the pain and soreness. At times, there was no food to eat and, at times, no clothes to put on. At times, had sleepless nights and congestion of  negative thoughts. At times, there were evil thoughts, and, at times, there were Godly thoughts. At times, divine would prevail and, at times, the devil overpowered me. And, this continued for ten years. Since delight and sorrow are parallel in life, delight cannot be without sorrow and sorrow cannot be without delight. In these ten years, if I had been happy for ten weeks the rest of all was spent in soreness and pain.

You all know that when one suffers a tormenting pain, in the time of delight, he tends to forget about that, nor it affects as severely as it was felt at the times of its suffering. If a person is worried and, when he is out of those crises, he does mention them in words, but that pain is not there. This kept on happening for ten years and then by the grace of Almighty Allah and the benevolence of the holy Prophet (PBUH), finally it was over. After those ten years, the mind was set in a manner that it considered only that which was told, and it didn't consider which was not told. No thought would occur. It seemed like mind had gone numb, would understand only that, which was said. Words had lost their meaning. The reason behind the words was also not comprehensible. He said, pot! Only a pot would occur to me. What a pot is, mind wouldn't bother.

Thus, the training continued for sixteen years in total. Ten years of pain and soreness and six years were spent forgetting the pain. In those sixteen years the speed of mind did increase and the mindset also changed. The change was, there is nothing but Allah. Allah wants, and the man is born. Allah wants, and man grows to youth. Allah wills and man departs from this world. One is born, becomes young and dies off. This is the whole story of life.

When one is born, brings nothing with him. When dies, takes nothing along with him. Builds palaces, factories, shops, struggles to earn bread and spoils his world here and hereafter. Comes good and leaves bad. This was the understanding built in those sixteen years of training.

You all also know it well that no one brings anything along and takes nothing along with him from here. Everyone knows it but, doesn't believe it with certitude. To build this certitude, it took sixteen years. And this was not an individual life. It was the life spent in closeness with my august mentor. Only then, it was understood that man has no control over his birth. One can exercise control only when one has knowledge that he has to be born and, he knows that where he would be born. He doesn't know where he would be born. Whether he would be born in a sayed family, or in a pathan family. Whether he will be born in Japan, America, Pakistan or somewhere else. When even this is not known that one has to be born or not and  where one would be born, the question of having any control over one's life does not arise.

You are born where God wills. If He wills you will be born in a chamar family. If He had willed, you would have been born to a king, or in a royal family. He willed and you were born with a flat nose, God willed and you were born with a raised nose. God made you short-statured, you were born short-statured. He willed you to be tall and you were born tall. God willed you to be black and you were born black. God made you white, so you became white. The more you consider, the clearer your concept will become, nobody has any control over his birth nor any control over his growth after his birth. If he dies after two or three years, he cannot grow to his youth. You might have seen people dying before their youth and have also seen people dying after youth. People die in their old age, and some even live through their old age for quite a long time.

This means, the way you have no control over your birth, similarly, you have no control over your death, that is, you have no control over your life and when you will have to die, you will die. Qalandar Baba Auliya used to say, "Man is so foolish, he is scared of death though death is the guardian of man."

(Arabic text) (Surah Baqra: 36)

Allah has appointed a time for man to stay in here. Death does not allow anyone to die before that time. Death Angel, on one hand, is duty bound to seize the soul of a person and, on the other, he restricts him from leaving this world before time. It means death is the greatest of all protectors of life and, man fears his greatest protector. Everyone fears death. whether you fear death or not, you have to die, when you have to die and, if the appointed time is not there, you cannot escape life. And, once the time is over, you cannot overstay. This is such a fact, which cannot be denied by even a single soul on the earth and, despite knowing this fact that one must stay for an appointed time and has to leave when the time will be over, everyone is afraid of death.

Give it a thought, Qalandar Baba Auliya said that there are two ways of spending one's life. One is to live an independent life and, the other one is, to live a dependent life. Dependent life means that you have no control over your birth. So, let's leave this unto Allah as it's already up to Him. When we do not know how much time is granted to us whether it's two years, ten years, eighty years or hundred years, then why to worry and why to calculate. When He sends us down, we come and when He will call, we'll return unto Him. Thus, to be independent or dependent, are the two aspects of life. If a man will live an independent life, he will never be able to have a connection with Allah. People in contact with Allah are the one who live a dependent life.

No one has seen Allah. Mentor is an embodiment of the attributes of Allah. And, if you want to have access to Allah and enter the other realms after this world, it is necessary to quit the independent mind and after associating yourself with your mentor, start depending upon him. It took me sixteen years to attain this degree of certitude and to practice the dependency. In these sixteen years, only one thing remained my target; to annihilate myself in the name of my mentor.

It is the main principle of spirituality, if a disciple does not annihilate oneself into his mentor, thinking pattern of the mentor will not be transferred to the disciple. If the thinking pattern of the mentor is like milk or a rose flower. You need to have a clean milk pot for that. If the mentor is a thinking pattern, you need to adopt it. If there is already a pattern existing in you, it needs to be altered.  If a bowl is already filled with filth, mud, and stench, how any milk or rose can be put in there? It is necessary to empty the bowl first, then it will be cleansed and purged. Only then, milk, honey or water can be served in that bowl. It's all up to you. Qalandar Baba Auliya told me that spirituality cannot be taught nor learned, it is transferred. Spiritual sciences aren't taught like a, b, c, d nor do they require pen and notebooks. No premier has been made to teach the spiritual sciences, nor any book has been written.

The books that you study are the events of Auliya Allah. They wrote much about Sufism which, in fact, was an endeavor to create awareness of turning the independent mind into a dependent one. It is a guide. Only by reading books you cannot learn spirituality. Books do help us to have that thinking pattern, which can accommodate the spiritual sciences.

We happened to know only a few words of spirituality. People were not aware of spiritualism or spirituality. Because of the charismatic teachings of Qalandar Baba Auliya, we are becoming aware of spirituality. We are becoming aware of the Arsh, Kursi, Hijab e Azmat, Hijab e Mehmood, Siratul Munteha, Baitul Mamoor, countless galactic systems with countless worlds, the suns and the moons. Every plant has a variety of creatures upon it. At places, they are transparent, at others they are thick and at another they are long. And we call it learning of spirituality. Spiritualism means to establish your relationship with Allah in such a manner that your thinking is no longer your thinking, it turns to be that of Allah's thinking.

This thing has been stated in the holy Quran, (Arabic text) (Surah Aly Imran: 7).

People in whom that pattern is formed where attributes of Allah are transferred and the Godly pattern of thinking is firmly installed in them, that is, after negating oneself, nothing is left there, except Allah. It is firmly established in them. Such people say, (Ammana be'hi) We have observed that and, have gained this certitude that (Arabic text) there is nothing except our Lord. If a thought is coming, that, too, is from the Lord. If feeling hungry that is also because of the Lord. If feeling thirsty that urge is also because of the Lord. If there is movement in man that is also because of Allah. If the blood is circulating in the veins and arteries that is also due to the Lord. No machine in the world can restore the circulation of blood in the body, once it's dead.

Man's birth is from the Lord, death is from the Lord. Man is not aware; what the man is? He also doesn't know from where he is getting the energy to walk upon the earth, to move around. He thinks. How does he think? From where is he getting the feeding? What's that electric current that is causing him to move around, walk and run, making him sleep and awake, he is getting married and having kids. And, when this electric current breaks down its relationship with him, he enters into that state of annihilation whence he neither feels hunger, thirst nor any other urge takes place in him. Then, how it can be said that man has any control over anything? Had there been any control in man, the way man loves this world, and the attachment of the world causes him to be disgraced and humiliated, he would not have even thought of dying. Nobody would have ever fallen sick, grown old and feeble. Nobody's son, mother or father would have ever died, and nobody would have been handicapped.

When you analyze your life, in the light of the statement of Qalandar Baba Auliya, no one is independent in any act of his life. If a thought occurs to you, you will be able to do something whether that thought is evil or Godly. Mashallah all the audience are well educated and, by the grace of God and, 35 years of our continuous struggle has opened minds to understand things. In this mammoth gathering, those who can prove that something can be done without having a thought, please raise their hands. Any one act that can be done without thinking of it. Does man have any control over doing anything? At seventy, eighty or hundred years of age, can anything be done without having a thought about it? Those who can, please raise their hands. If you calculate, how many hours, minutes and seconds are there in one hundred years? Must exceed billions, that is, in seventy years of life, man engages in millions of acts and makes millions of decisions. Out of those millions of acts and decisions is there a single act or decision, which man could have taken without having a thought of it from Allah. You cannot mention even a single thing in this regard.

Man is compelled and constrained. Man is forced to do that which is fed to him from above. Man sleeps only when it occurs into his conscious that if he didn't sleep, he won't be able to move around. Likewise, man is forced to eat and drink and to wed. When man is not independent in any of his acts and decisions then, how foolish of him to consider himself independent. And this independency is only taking him away from Allah.

Qalandar Baba Auliya has stated that if man could realize this fact that there is no creature that could be independent, the problem will be solved. When no creature is independent, it is dependent. And, when it is dependent, upon whom is he dependent? He is dependent upon Allah, the Creator, the Lord Almighty, the Master of all is Omnipotent and Independent.   

Thus, Qalandar Baba Auliya has suggested two aspects of life. One is to be independent, to live one's life enclosed in a cocoon, to be haughty, having the desire for authority over others, to be stubborn, to assert oneself, to argue and trying to get oneself acknowledged that one is independent. This all is only chaos.

We can do something, only when God wills so. God gave us hands. If you say, you are free to move your hands the way you may wish. No, we use our hands only when a thought comes into our mind about using the hand. A thought comes into our mind, and it results into a mechanical movement. A mechanism is working, which enables us to do a thing.

Thus, God after granting us two aspects of control, gave us the concepts of good and evil. Good or evil are nothing by itself. Bottom line of the teachings of all the prophets of God is that they introduced man with good and evil. But, here in this world, no work is good or bad in itself. Actually, the intention makes an act good or bad. What meanings do we ascribe to the thoughts coming into our mind, that matters. If one slaps a person to correct him, it’s good but, if a person is slapped out of hatred and scorn, that's evil. Act is the same, hitting or slapping...there is no difference in the act, in both cases slapping or hitting will hurt. And this good or evil acts can only be performed when there is life in you. And, about life, you have no control over it.

First of all, you have no idea, what actually is life? No one is aware what the life is? You say, it's living because it's moving. That's all. Man is moving around, walking and running, doing business, marrying, inventing new things etc. But, still can't tell what life is, in actual effect? Life is nothing but the will of God. If God wills for you, me, Tom, Dick or Harry to have movement in us, we live. When, God doesn't will us to live, we become devoid of movements. You see it daily. How many had been born and died, how many are living and will die and will be born and pass away later and will also be annihilated. They will no longer exist on the earth.

Therefore, it is necessary for the people interested in spirituality and Sufism, especially Azeemi brethren and sisters and those who want to have the cognition of God besides knowing themselves, to analyze their lives and search within, are they really in control of anything? Is there any act, or any moment, in your control? When you think, you will come to only one conclusion, you have no control over anything. Then, what is discretion? Will of God is the discretion. When, Will of God is the discretion, you should submit your entire life to Allah.

Submission to Allah is spirituality. Association with Allah is cognition. Understanding the Affairs of Allah, learning the Knowledge of Allah, searching for the Attributes of Allah within yourself and upon the earth, in the skies, in the universe are the ways to go on the paths of spirituality. And to travel these paths are lessons. If there is no thinking in man and he is not dependent upon Allah, his life is worse than animals, what to say of superiority. It is necessary for every spiritual associate, according to Qalandar Baba Auliya, that he must not let the independent life override him and must live the life of dependency and be dependent upon Allah.

But, since Allah is not before us, we have the teachings of the holy Prophet (PBUH) and our mentor before us. And, if we could mold ourselves into those teachings and have that thinking pattern whence, we could negate ourselves.

Recitation of the Creed (Arabic text) is mandatory to be a Muslim. It is translated that There is no god except Allah. What does it mean? La illah means 'no god'...that is, we negate the concept that we have in our minds about God and the expression of our worshipping Him with reference to ourselves. La Illah, the way we know God as God, the God carved in our minds due to family traditions, or whimsical consciousness is hereby negated. Unless our adopted concepts of God and the gods carved in our minds are not negated, we cannot acknowledge One and only Allah. La Illah, there is no god...that is, the god we are conscious of, is negated. Illallah... except Allah. We acknowledge and accept Allah; the One and only. Self-negation is also dependency. Mohammadur Rasool Ullah...the way Mohammad (PBUH), the Prophet of God, Beloved of Allah has introduced Allah to us, we accept and acknowledge Him as Allah and negate the way the others have presented Him before us. La illah illallah...there is no God except Allah...in order to accept the real God, we have to negate our conscious gods.

Thus, students of spirituality, ladies and gentlemen, must keep in mind that they cannot learn spiritual sciences unless they adopt the dependent life. Not only the spiritual sciences but the physical sciences, too, cannot be learned. During the workshop, it was mentioned that a teacher teaching a child says, 'a', the child also says 'a'...without knowing what the 'a' is. If the child is not dependent upon the teacher, he will never call 'a' an 'a'. That means for learning any knowledge you must be impartial in front of your teacher and, if you will not negate yourself, you will not be able to learn any knowledge. When you cannot learn worldly knowledge without depending upon your teacher, how will you be able to learn the Godly knowledge.

Thus, for a spiritual person, it is necessary that during his stay in this world, he should not consider himself responsible for any of the factors of his life; his thoughts, imaginations and feelings. Because he will be able act only when he will be provided with a thought from Allah. If he is not receiving a thought from Allah, how will he be able to act. Thus, everything here is Allah.

I recite a verse, please consider it. (Arabic text)

And, those who are perfect in their knowledge, have access to the real knowledge and their minds accept it too, the pattern to accept the Godly Knowledge is formed in them, they say, (Arabic Text) "We believe with certitude that nothing (Arabic Text)here is independent and free... everything is from Allah." (Arabic Text)

It is a great blessing of Allah that we have been included in the blessed souls. Only blessed souls can come this far, keep their vigil, and remain seated in cold weather despite dislocation from their homes. Our souls seriously want to have a path that could lead them to the cognition of their Creator. And the restlessness of the soul resulting its separation from its Lord Creator could come to an end. May Allah grant us the ability to understand the teachings of Qalandar Baba Auliya and act upon them.

Qalandar Baba Auliya had told me that there are three basic weaknesses in humans. If one could over-power these three weaknesses, one can surely become a spiritual person. What these three weaknesses are?

The first thing, he said, is anger. Anger is the greatest of all weaknesses and one gets angry only when he considers himself independent. A dependent person seldom gets angry. He used to say that a mentor after exerting his conductive influence, working hard, and blessing him his association, purges the disciple and cleanses him by transferring his lights in him, Disciple spoils the lights of three years by getting angry in one minute. And the most difficult of all tasks of a mentor is that he cleanses the dirt by transferring his light into the disciple again and again and, the disciple wastes them all by getting angry for a minute. The disciple doesn't tire in wasting and, the mentor also doesn't tire. If God's blessing is there, they succeed. Otherwise, in this process of purging and polluting, either the disciple passes away or the mentor. Anger of one minute is enough to spoil the subtle lights accumulated in three years.

(Arabic text) (Surah Aly Imran: 134)

God says, "God doesn't love those who get angry." Whereas we know nothing except getting angry. The husband is in anger for his wife and the wife is in rage for her husband. Children are angry with their parents and the parents are angry with their children.

The second weakness, which is disliked by Allah and is too poisonous for spirituality, is the desire to have an authority.  Everyone is desirous of having power and wants to be in power. Even if he becomes a secretary of a mosque committee, he will not leave the chair, which he gets after spending millions of rupees. Remember! A person desirous of power and authority can never be a spiritual person. He is wasting his time.

I have observed this thing in our Silsila, too. When someone becomes in charge, they behave as if they have become special. Assign them a responsibility and they think they have some authority over others and, say people don't listen to us. Running a system is one thing and wanting authority and power is another thing. Those who want authority may gather a bunch of people and get their hands kissed by them but, they cannot be a spiritual person.

And, the third weakness, according to Qalandar Baba Auliya, is to be over-dominated by the sex. If this urge is over riding upon the nerves of a man or a woman, that is, balance is lost, he/she also cannot be a spiritual person. I think all that are sitting here, more or less, have these weaknesses. The most dangerous of all of them is to be enraged or getting angry.

You might have read or heard the story of Hazrat Ali (R.A), in which he was combating a non-Muslim. Hazrat Ali (R.A) after defeating him was about to behead him, in despair, he spit upon the face of Hazrat Ali (R.A). Hazrat Ali (R.A) left him and got away. That man was astonished and asked, why didn't you kill me? I didn't want to kill you out of my rage, Hazrat Ali (R.A) responded. I was fighting you for the sake of Allah but, when you spat upon my face, I was enraged and, in my rage this killing would not have been for Allah. So, you better go away. This made that man to embrace Islam, then and there.

You study the biography of the holy Prophet (PBUH). You will not see any anger in him. Hinda, who had chewed the liver of Hamza (R.A); an uncle of the holy Prophet (PBUH), when she came to embrace Islam, he admitted her petition. How he was tortured in Makah; thrones were spread in his way, camel tripe was tied around his neck while he was prostrating before Kaba, he was socially boycotted, food supplies were cut off and they had forced him to migrate from Mekah. But, when he had entered Makah as the conqueror, history is astounded, what a conquest it was, not a single drop of blood was shed. All were forgiven. Those were given immunity who were in the Kaba, had closed their doors, even one who had sat down, when the Muslim Army was entering the city, all were pardoned. What an irony that we claim to be the followers of the holy Prophet (PBUH), where there was no anger for anyone, just mercy and penance. And no house of his followers is devoid of anger. Every house is filled with rage and fight and desire for authority and power.

All that the holy Prophet (PBUH) didn't do, and his followers are doing then, how can they enjoy his blessings and his association with them. Therefore, the first thing required to be a spiritual person is to free yourself from rage and anger no matter how much pain you must take in this regard. And, the second thing, is not to have the desire for power and authority over others. If God has blessed you with a position in the Silsila, consider it an honor, not your right. For keeping the honor, present yourself in a manner that without commanding, people should do what you have in your mind. If you get angry it is against spirituality and you will never succeed. We have to decide in today's session, and when one decides something trusting Allah, acts upon it and strives to attain it, Allah surely helps him.

God has stated very clearly in the holy Quran, (Arabic text) (Surah Ankabot: 29), And those who struggle and strive to build them, try to mold them in the Godly system, God has made it compulsory for Him to guide them, open ways for them and provide them resources. Therefore, you should strive and struggle and keep these three things in mind; never to get angry, never to have the desire for power and authority and to live a balanced life. (Arabic text) (Surah Airaf: 31)

God doesn't love them either who spend their lives immoderately and in an unbalanced way. Moderation and balance do not require any explanation. It is the satisfaction of the conscience and, avoiding showing off, you are not haughty and, you want for others what you like for yourself. It is to balance the world here and the hereafter. God also doesn't like that you shouldn't eat and drink, wear clothes or build a house. If you will not eat, drink, dress and build a house, the purpose of the creation of the world will fail. What the world will be without all that? God produces cotton so that the cloth can be weaved. He makes silk so that the clothes can be prepared. He produces wool so that clothes can be made. God has provided the resources so that you could enjoy them and live in comfort. Not using the provided resources is ingratitude and ungratefulness.

(Arabic text) (Surah Luqman: 12)

Qalandar Baba Auliya, in explaining this verse, stated, "We blessed Luqman with wisdom (Arabic Text) so that he be grateful to Us." This is the literal translation. What if Luqman had sat down with a thousand counting beads in his hand and had started uttering the words of gratitude, Thank you Lord, Thanks a lot my Lord! Would the purpose of the granted wisdom have been met? Gratitude means to use the blessed things properly. (Arabic text)

We blessed Luqman with wisdom so that he could use it for himself and for his people and Luqman did use that wisdom. God says, "His blessings are to be used in a befitting manner". Those who make good use of the granted blessings, take the advantage and benefits and get comfort. And those who don't use them, remain deprived.

I am wearing this shawl. God granted it to me. I am feeling cold and not wearing it and, saying, thank you God for giving me this shawl. Thus, gratitude is to use a thing. Qalandar Baba Auliya has said, Use the blessings in such a manner that your mind remains focused upon Allah.

(Arabic text)

We blessed Luqman with wisdom so that he could use it for Our pleasure. If you are averted from the world and will not do business, the world will turn into darkness. And  Allah doesn't want the world to be in darkness. If God had wanted the world to remain in darkness, what was the need to create so many resources? What was the need for ever new inventions? God wants you to make a good use of His blessings, keeping in mind that all these are the blessings of God. They are not our property. We don't own them. They have been granted to us, so we are using them. Thus, when you use something for the sake of Allah, Allah is pleased with you. But, when we use a thing considering it our property, it earns the displeasure of God. When you use a thing considering it your property, it benefits you but, will not please God. And, if you use a thing considering it a gift of Allah, it will benefit you and will also please Allah.

I told you three things; the desire to have authority, anger and, to live a moderate life. And now the fourth one is; all that is there in this world is to be used comprehensively. And, while using a thing, keep repeating in mind that Allah has given it to me. It has been given to me by Allah. It pleases Allah when I use it, so I am using it.

Fifth thing, required to be born in mind is that one cannot progress in spirituality if he remains confined in the shell of the conscious because spirituality is an unlimited knowledge. Conscious means limits. For achieving a limitless thing, you must rise above the limiting approach. You cannot enter the unlimited sphere unless you step out of the confines of the limitations.

A spiritual person is required to be cautious that his thinking must not be confined by limitations. His consciousness mustn't be lost in the heaps of gold and silver. The world shouldn't be an aim and objective for his conscious. He mustn't let the attributes of Pharaoh and Shaddad affect his thinking pattern.

Allah has created every human being with unlimited qualities. The soul that is operating in you is limitless and, this physical body and the conscious are confined in limits. Thus, we must make a good use of the things granted to us by Allah but not to think of them as our property.

May Allah be with you. I am grateful to you all for coming here from faraway places. Azeemi children, ladies and gentlemen of Markazi Muraqba Hall made many programs on their own and did a lot of work for your comfortable stay here. In this month of Urs you come and stay for five or six days. Preparations for all this start in August. Thus, your Azeemi brethren and sisters who belong to Karachi and they serve the Markazi Muraqba Hall, work devotedly for four months and twenty days for your comfort and ease. They worked day and night to please you. For your pleasure, the decorations and settings are made, flowers are made available so that your souls can be delighted. This also remains in our minds that in-charges of Muraqba Halls from world over and their associates will come here. We want them to see the arrangements of cleanliness and of your comfort and ease. And, after seeing them just don't praise them only, but try to copy them in your respective Muraqba Halls.

One of our sisters came to me and praised the elaborated arrangements, the cleanliness, this and that. I told her that it's the sixth time that she has been appreciating the arrangements. These arrangements are not to be appreciated verbally only. These are to be organized and copied in your respective Halls. The thing that is required to be watched and learned is that a team has been formed here by the blessings of Qalandar Baba Auliya. This entire work is team-work. Cleaning is done by the cleaners. Electricians look after the electricity arrangements. Sitting arrangements are made by the furnishers. Chefs cook the food. The serving team serves the food. It's all a teamwork. This teamwork and it's coordination is made possible after so many meetings and efforts. Especially in-charges of Muraqba Halls and their associates, who have been assigned some responsibilities, must work in their respective Muraqba Halls to form teams. They should work as a team in their Muraqba Halls.

Silsila Azeemiya, in fact, is a caravan. A caravan is not composed of only a few people. A caravan means there will be people of varying thinking. Cobblers, tailors, carpenters, teachers, students, and bakers, that is, people from all walks of life are supposed to be the part of a caravan. The leader is supposed to be leading the caravan from the front, but he has to be watching the tail carefully as well. If people start quitting the caravan, only two out of hundred will reach the destination.

It is necessary for the in-charges of Muraqba Halls to remove the desire of authority from their minds. They must learn to trust others too. Because this is the Godly system. It's the system that one cannot do all things alone. It is not possible that a person is baking bread, cooking the curry, purchasing the groceries, educating the kids, and treating the patients, all at the same time. If that had been possible, the classes and grouping would not have been there in the world. The world here and the hereafter is based upon the group-system. For instance, when we look at the angels, we find there are many groups of angels. Angels of Elements, angels of the earth, angels of the heavens, Carriers of Arsh, Groups of Gabriel, Michael, Israfel, Izrael and so many other groups of angels. Each group has its own duties to perform. Some are responsible for air, some are responsible for rain and some are looking after the dissemination of knowledge. When the entire system is based upon teamwork and division of work, one man cannot do all the jobs alone.

People think and I know this, because it has happened to me that if I handed my job over to someone else, then where I would be standing? Or to say, if I handed over my job to someone else, I would lose my position. And, I think this approach of thinking is devilish and  is the main hurdle in the progress of Silsila. The responsible people of Silsila must bear in their minds that before leaving this world, if not ten or twenty, let there be at least two or four people to replace you. If you didn't do this, the Silsila will not progress.

Mangoes are consumed. If their seeds are not sown, the mango will vanish from the earth. Mango is an individual, has an identity just as a man is an individual identity. Mango kernel is a mango in itself. Mango tree does not sprout if the kernel is not put in the soil and it does not annihilate itself. Likewise, it is the responsibility of the members of Silsila Azeemiya that before leaving the world they must bury them in the soil and annihilate, so that two three or four trees could grow more. Only then, this Silsila will spread. Trusting others does not mean that your respect will decrease. You must push others forward.

I am endeavoring to prepare my substitutes in writing, authoring, in speeches and in changing the approach of thinking. And, you'll see, in sha Allah, new people will be coming forward in writing books and delivering speeches.

Progress and advancement of the Silsila is only possible when everyone in Silsila starts pushing others forward after negating oneself. Obviously in pushing others forward, the desire for authority suffers. Pushing others forward tantamount to negation of the self. You must tolerate many things, even the wrong ones. If we'll not let the younger ones make mistakes, how can we correct them. If we'll not entrust responsibilities upon youngsters and they will not suffer losses, they will never be able to save them from losses.

Every newborn child on this earth doesn't do all beneficial things. The more one suffers a loss, the more his mind is made, and his acumen is increased. And, accordingly he gets to maturity. Therefore, the responsible people must push the youngsters forward.

Abul Faiz Qalandar Ali Suharwardi; mentor of my mentor Qalandar Baba Auliya had advised me to remember one thing. He had said, "It is the duty of a spiritual person that if he is at top, he is to pull those up who are below him. And, it's the duty of the one who is below, if his brother is being pulled up, whether he deserves it or not, he must push him up without thinking that why am I not being pulled up. And, if this started happening, many with lesser abilities will also reach the top.

Therefore, for the progress and development of Silsila everyone has to negate oneself. Everyone must have only one thing in mind, how can the Silsila be promoted. Don't bother, who did what? Thing to be considered is that who did the job? Whether it is he or she, strong or weak, if his or her capabilities are benefiting you, you must encourage him/her, appreciate and praise him/her. If someone is causing a bad taste, tolerate it. When you tolerate someone's bad things a few times, he will quit those bad things by himself.

I think I have taken enough of your time. And, those who must present their articles, must be anxious to read them out.

May Allah keep you all happy and delighted. You came, I am grateful to you. May Allah bless you all with all His blessings here and in the hereafter. And, may you be successful on every step in spreading and promoting the Silsila. Blessings of Qalandar Baba Auliya with the correlation of love of the holy Prophet (PBUH) be with you and the entire world. Ameen sum ameen.