Annual Address of Khwaja Shamsuddin Azeemi 27th Jan 2006

Journey of Annihilation and Survival

(Recitation)

(Arabic text) (Surah Balad: 1-20)

It is the statement of the holy Prophet (PBUH) that angels descend in the   meeting where God is being mentioned and they join the mentioning of Allah. Souls of pious people come where friends of (Auliya) Allah are being discussed. I understand that the souls of the all the participants of Qalandar Baba Auliya's Urs are also participating along with their physical bodies. And, besides those two angels of honorable scribe (Kiraman Katibin) of every participant are also present here. These two angels always remain with everyone, even in his sleep.

Once Qalandar Baba Auliya, who is aware of the secrets of the world, told me that a person is accompanied by about twenty thousand angels that operate the machine of human mind and body. Out of these twenty thousand angels, two are to record our acts and deeds. In the present scientific era, we can exemplify them as two recording video cameras. These two angels keep on recoding every act and deed of man but there are over all twenty thousand angels to feed and inspire man to run his machine. To have better videos of us by these angels, I think, according to the statement of the holy Prophet, we should inaugurate our meeting by mentioning the holy name of Allah.

We shall chant 'ya haiyo ya qayyom' collectively. And, then perform Muraqba for 3-4 minutes. All that will be submitted to you in today's session relates to the unconscious more than conscious and this Muraqba will help you to get into the unconscious.

We can also say that man is composed of two dimensions. One is the Conscious and the other is the Unconscious. We live in the Unconscious as long as we do not enter this world and, once we enter this world, that is, we are born. Here, we start journeying in the two alternating senses of conscious and unconscious. When we are awake, conscious senses dominate us. And, when we go to sleep, the senses of Unconscious become prevalent upon us. If human life is analyzed. From the first day of man's birth till his last day in his eightieth year every human keeps on alternating in Conscious and Unconscious. This alternation and change are known as annihilation and survival.

 The life of a person in this world starts running upon the belt of annihilation and survival after his coming into this world. Annihilation is to vanish from the world and become hidden from one's own sight. And survival is to remain present before the world and one's own sight.

It is not a very difficult thing to understand. It is merely juggling of words. It is very easy. You just need to pay attention. Everybody is born in this world. The first day he is only one day old and the next day he turns to be two days of age after sun set. And his first day vanishes in such a manner that it is no longer visible to anyone in this world, even to that child. After two days, the sun again rises and when the sun sets, he is now three days of age and his two days have vanished. Gradually, he turns to be one month old. When he enters his thirtieth day, his 29 days vanishes. Then the child grows to be one year, which in fact is a vanishing of 365 days of his life. Likewise, you keep counting to one's eightieth years.

If we ask someone, in his eightieth year, who you are and how old are you. Ordinarily he will say, he is eighty years old, but this is an incomplete statement. No sane person can be satisfied with this incomplete answer.

There are two ways of conversing. One is direct approach and the other one is the indirect approach of conversing things. An indirect approach consists of calculations and limitations and, in the direct conversation, limitations and confinements are not there and, words are not required to explain it. For instance, when you ask an eighty-year-old person, indirect way to respond would be, 'yes I am eighty years of age or I have lived for eighty years' but the direct way to state this fact would be that my seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, and years of eighty years have vanished into Unseen[1].

It means, in a direct approach of conversation, answer to the question; how old you are, would be that he is a collection of unseen moments of eighty years. Because all the moments of the past eighty years are lost in the Unseen. Thus, the eighty years of unseen are our Unconscious. And, out of those eighty years only the present moment is our consciousness because from our birth till our eightieth year we do not see anything new. The same old day and night, the same old sun. Even the bread that we eat is the same, old bread of the same old wheat but when we are having the bread, we think we are having a new bread.

Our consciousness is such a silhouette which cannot be termed anything else but fiction, a hypothetical thing, and a conjecture. The summary of this discourse would be that “everyone is Unconscious and is Unseen”. The base and reality of a person, whether he is a hundred years of age, twenty or fifty years of age, is nothing but the Unseen.

When someone is asked, where have your last ten days gone? He would say they had vanished. Can you see those ten days, can you find them? Or can you relive the senses of those ten days that have passed away? His reply would be...No! Then, what happened to those ten days? There can't be any other answer, but they have gone into the Unseen, have become the Unseen. In terms of psychology, you may call it, Conscious or Unconscious.

When we perform Muraqba, we are shifted to that part of our life, which is Unseen i.e., we go into our Unconscious. When we mention Allah, such lights become activated in us and help us to cut off from the Conscious and to shift into the world of Unconscious. You might have noticed, when we mention Allah and our attention is diverted towards the name of Allah and when it gets focused, we experience a sort of vibration in our body. Sometimes under the influence of this vibration, we feel as if our pores are opening. Perspiration or sweating is the proof of opening of our body pores. When do we perspire or sweat? When the body pores open up, which happens often when we mention Allah and have concentration. Lights start sparking as if fireworks have been put on. The heaviness of the body converts into lightness, and one starts flying in the heavens after releasing from the material shell of the body.

For creating this vibration and let the currents run through our body, we shall mention Allah so that our soul which is longing to meet Allah may become at peace and may we hear those things from Allah which are part of the Unconscious.

(Arabic text)

First of all, please recite Darood Shareef for 11 times and Ya Haiyo ya qayyom 11 times. Sit upright, keeping your back straight, without banking upon the back of your seats. Place your hands upon your knees. Keep your neck and back aligned. Close your eyes and keep your gaze through the closed eyes, at eye level. We shall perform Muraqba for a few minutes. After that may God bless this humble man to tell you whatever God may like and may enlighten your hearts and minds. Amen

(Arabic text)

Before enchanting Ya Haiyo Ya Qayyom please listen to me two times. Then, join me and synchronize your voice with mine. If you feel your voice is getting out of rhythm as you don't have the practice, grow silent and listen carefully and start tuning your voice with mine. During this enchanting, try to feel that the vibration of the hum of ya Haiyo is striking upon your heart. Don't let your neck shake nor move your head to press towards your heart. Ya Haiyo, Ya Qayyom will be chanted with an echoing sound. I shall give you time to question me after my submissions to you.

I just used the word echoing sound, you may ask me, why this echo? When we shall be chanting Ya Hiayo, Ya Qayyooooooooom, we must feel as if this sound is coming out of the flutes of our hearts. When you practice it a few times, you will surely succeed.

Now, we shall start. (Arabic text) Join me after listening to me two times. No one is elder or younger, no student or teacher, we are all equal creatures of Allah. I pray and I sincerely wish that angels may descend here in this gathering. It is the true saying of the holy Prophet (PBUH) that angels descend in the gathering where Allah is mentioned heart-fully and they too, join the chanters.

(Arabic text) ...Chanting of Ya Haiyo, Ya Qayyooooooom.

(Arabic text) Darood Shreef.

(Arabic text) (Surah Ahzab: 56)

(Arabic text) Darood e Ibrahimi,

Nobody has told us, when did God exactly create this universe. The holy Quran tells us, when God intended to create this universe, He uttered a word, "Kun" (Be!). He commanded all that was there in His mind, and it came into being as it was there in His mind. The cosmic program, which was there in His Mind, by uttering the word “kun” came into being “Fayakon”. The universe came into being. Universe means the angels, the Arsh (High Throne), Kursi (The Seat), Seven Heavens, the earth and all the creatures of the earth, came into being.

In the second phase, according to the Holy Scriptures, God gathered all the angels. You have heard me saying this many times that God addressed the assembly of angels and said, "I am to appoint My Vicegerent for the earth." Means, God was to create a being, who would be able to use His Powers. Just picture the scene in your mind. God is having His seat upon Arsh and is talking to angels. After hearing to God, they submitted. The one whom You want to appoint Your vicegerent would shed blood and create mischief in the world. Mentioning of bloodshed and mischief by the angels means that they knew what these were, and they had witnessed it before that.

After hearing the angels, God did not say that His Vicegerent would not do anything like that rather He taught him ilm ul asma (the knowledge of Appellations). The Quran says, (Arabic text) "And, Adam was taught the knowledge of All the Appellations." Knowledge of Appellations means the knowledge of Attributes; the properties and qualities of everything. Overruling the objection of angels, God asked Adam to express the knowledge taught to him. Adam demonstrated the knowledge taught to him before the angels. Angels admitted that they were not aware of the knowledge that was taught to Adam, and they only knew what God had taught to them. And, the fact is, (Arabic text) (Surah Baqra: 32) "They said, Glory to Thee, we know not but what You have taught us. Indeed, You are the Knower, the Wise." Fact is that God possesses all knowledge and one can learn only what God imparts.

This also proves that the earth already existed. And, in the second phase, angels surrendered before Adam and prostrated before him. And there were jinns, too. One of them called Iblees refused to surrender before Adam and God rejected him. That means, before Adam, the earth was inhabited by jinns. Then, as we are told, Adam was asked to reside in Paradise with certain conditions. Adam committed the mistake when he was tempted by the Satan, he violated the conditions. And was sent down upon the earth. And, if he wanted to get back to Paradise, he had to obliterate disobedience in him and break the chain of defiance. If he could do that he would be allowed to get back to Paradise.

After Adam's advent upon the earth, gradually the population of mankind increased. It kept on increasing and decreasing. At times it grew very thin and at times it became thickly populated. At present it is over six billion people. This is also important to note that besides mankind, jinns are also inhabiting the earth. As it has been stated in the holy Quran, (Arabic text)"We did not create man and jinns but they both to worship Me, know Me, cognize me and get closer to Me." Thus, the population of both species continued to grow. Besides growth in numbers man also grows in his age.

Suppose a man is eighty years of age. Continuance of these eighty years is established in appearance and disappearance of age. The child of a cradle vanishes, and a lad appears. Boyhood of a lad vanishes, and he becomes a youth. Youth vanishes and old age commences. When the old age vanishes, the man passes away. It means, coming into this world and going away from the world, appearance and disappearance is continuing perpetually.

God has said this, too, about man, 'when I created man, he knew nothing'... (Arabic text) (Surah Alaq: 5) "We taught man what he knew not." That means, man's superiority is because of learning what he knew not. And, if a man does not know the knowledge, which he was taught then, he is not worthy to be called a human. Because (Arabic text) (Surah Alaq: 5),” He was taught what he knew not.” And, if this leaning is to be taken as to learn the use of five senses only, this does not contribute to man's superiority because these senses are operating in all the creatures of Allah. Be it the bird, beast, cattle, or insects, all have senses, and all have life in them.

All want to live in this world. Haven't you seen that a dog in danger tries to save its life and itself. If an ant senses the danger of being crushed under the feet, it tries to escape and runs here and there. An ant, an elephant, a dog, a camel and even a tree also struggle to survive. If a tree does not get water, its roots spread far and wide to suck in water to maintain its life.

This means the knowledge particularly mentioned in (Arabic text) Surah Alaq: 5), "Man was taught what he knew not", is specific for man. And, as the angels said, "We know only what Thou have taught us." Means, the knowledge that was taught to Adam was not given to angels and the other creatures.

Thus, man's superiority depends upon that knowledge, which is not known by any other creature of the universe. If any other creature had also been versed with that knowledge, which is known to man, then that creation would have become at par with man and no difference had been there in their status.

Now coming to that knowledge through which man knows, can know, and get acquainted with Allah. Allah says that everything in the universe celebrates His praises. (Arabic text) Man also worships Allah and everything in the universe chants His praises. Then, what does this mentioning mean that Allah is the Greatest. Because all the creatures know that God is great, and He only is worthy of all praises. Sparrows chirping in the morning also celebrate His praises.

Once Qalandar Baba Auliya told me that all the animals, birds, and cattle sleep after the sunset. After sleeping for a while, they wake up and meditate till early morning. You might have observed the way birds chirp before sunset. They celebrate the praises of Allah.

Here in our mosque, Jamma-e-Azeemiya, when we chant Allah's name, don't know from where so many sparrows come around and sing the praises of Allah so beautifully. Thus, if man mentions the holy name of Allah, then all the creatures including the birds and animals also chant His name. Then, what is that knowledge, (Arabic text) Surah Alaq: 5), "We taught man what he knew not." That knowledge of Allah, which is about those qualities and through which man can get closer to Allah and can depend upon Allah, have been granted to the mankind only.

According to Qalandar Baba Auliya, thinking approach of all the Friends of Allah is that they think “care of Allah”. Before attending to anything they think of Allah and then they perform that thing.

Once I asked Qalandar Baba Auliya that holy Prophet (PBUH) used to recite Astaghfar 70 times a day. Whereas God has declared him innocent. Astaghfar (Arabic text) means, "O' Allah I beg your pardon for all my sins and turn to You with a promise that I shall not repeat it." What was the reason for his saying Astaghfar 70 times a day? What is the wisdom behind?

It's a worth listening secret. Qalandar Baba Auliya said, "Holy Prophet (PBUH); the Beloved of Allah, is a medium between Allah and the universe, he uses to see Allah in varying forms seventy times daily. Every time after beholding Allah he would think that he had cognized Him well, but Allah would appear before him in altogether a new form. So, he recites Astaghfar (Arabic text). And, throughout his life, he used to witness Allah seventy times a day in ever-new form. And, after fourteen centuries till today this routine is ongoing. After his passing away he still recites Astaghfar seventy times a day.

In the same context, Qalandar Baba Auliya (RA) also told me. Once it occurred to him that so many Friends of Allah, with personal intimacy and cognition of His Attributes have passed away. People having a personal intimacy with Allah are different and people having the cognition of His Attributes are different. So, he made a list of all such friends of Allah in the past one hundred thousand years who had witnessed Allah and started interviewing them. He said, "Khwaja Sahib, the list exhausted and I couldn't find a single soul who had seen Allah twice in the same form, nor the statements of two people tallied to confirm that they had witnessed Allah in one form. Everyone had witnessed Allah in a different form. This threw me into a perplexing state of mind and in a bewilderment. When Baray Nana (He used to call Najamuddin Kubra(RA) as Baray Nana sahib) came and told me that I would go mad and I should leave it. People before you have also tried to figure out this thing, but nobody has ever succeeded. Since eternity no two people, no prophet of God, no Vali Ullah (i.e. friend of Allah) has ever witnessed Allah in the same one form. Whosoever has witnessed Allah, he has witnessed Him in a new form. And this very fact has been stated by the holy Prophet. (Arabic text) "I couldn't do justice with Your cognition."

Let's take the incidence of Ascension of the holy Prophet (PBUH) into consideration. (Arabic text) Surah Najam: 5-11) "He was taught by One Mighty in Power, Endued with Wisdom: He appeared in stately form while he was in the highest part of the horizon. Then, he approached and came closer and was at a distance of two bows or even closer. So did Allah convey the Inspiration to His Servant what He wanted to convey. And the heart did not falsify which he saw."

He got closer to Allah (Arabic text) and the distance in between was reduced to two bows or (Arabic text) less than that. (Arabic text) "Allah conversed with His servant as He wanted." And Allah testifies that (Arabic text) The heart of My Beloved did not falsify in witnessing. It wasn't a reverie. We drew our servant closer to Us at a distance which cannot be termed a distance at all. We talked to him, and he talked to Us. And all that our servant witnessed was not false, nor it was a conjecture or an imagination. This is the great position of the holy Prophet (PBUH) and still he is saying, (Arabic text) "I couldn't do justice with Thy Cognition. I couldn't cognize Thee the way I should have cognized You."

Nothing can be said about the other creatures but how much they are familiar with Allah because they do celebrate His praises, but it is only known to Allah that how creatures witness Him and how much do they witness Him. And, then what is their manner of sighting Him, do they witness Him by His attributes or else?

It is clear about man that Adam was there before Allah, angels were also present. Allah is telling the angels that He is to appoint him His Vicegerent by delegating His powers to him. And, before delegating His powers to Adam or appointing him His Vicegerent, He imparted certain knowledge to Adam. Now, who else can be closer to Him than His vicegerent? (Arabic Text) (Surah Alaq: 5) "Taught man what he knew not." This is the knowledge because of which son of Adam could get closer to Allah, can behold Him, can listen to Him, can talk to Him, can get his supplications approved by Him and as a servant can get approval of his acts and deeds from Allah.

Allah has said, My servants get so close to Me by their supererogatory deeds that I become their hands, their feet, their tongue and if they swear for something depending upon Me, I fulfill it. All these blessings are only because of that knowledge which Allah taught man and no other creature has been blessed with that knowledge.

Now, how man can learn that knowledge? There is no university, no college, or no school. There was a time when monasteries were there but now those have also become obsolete. God also says, I have taught you knowledge and I have created you so that you could recognize Me and be acquainted with Me. (Arabic text) "I was a treasure hidden, I created the creatures with love so that I be known." One way of knowing Him is to ponder upon His Signs. (Arabic text) People blessed with wisdom and intellect ponder and deliberate upon the Signs of Allah. Like, why does the sun always rise in the east? Why it doesn't rise in the north, south or west? Why is it set in the west? It may incline towards south to set.

Allah says, "I didn't make the earth so hard that you get hurt nor I have made it so soft that your feet may sink in." Earth is created with a balance in it. There are hard lands and soft lands. Quagmire is soft and once you put your foot in it, it starts sinking in it. Man dies. Allah has blessed earth with the ability to nourish and grow. Had this ability not been there, the wheat that has been growing since Adam's times would have become extinct.

A seed is sown on the earth. Earth caters for this seed like a mother's womb, nurtures it and grows it and just as a mother gives birth to a child it produces the plant. It fulfills all your needs. Allah has created air for you. Allah produces oxygen for you. Allah sends down rain. What a system of raining! The earth consists of three parts of water and one part is dry land. There are oceans. Tidal waves collide to produce vapors, which are carried above by the winds. Oxygen thins out at a height and these vapors merge together to form snow flacks. Wind pushes them to a place where they must drop like rain. Where the cloud must rain the wind compresses it like a sponge from opposite sides and the rain starts. At places it snows and freezes upon the peaks of mountains. This also is a way to know Allah.

There is a pomegranate tree on a piece of land and on the same piece of land there are trees of mango, guava, and papaya fruit. Mango trees bear mangoes, guava tree is bearing guavas and papaya tree is bearing its fruits.

There are different types of land. At places it is khaki, at places it is brown, at places it is black and at places it could be yellow but mostly it is khaki. You grow flowers of different types. Colors emerge from the earth. There are rose flowers of red, yellow, white, and purplish. The same earth is spreading fragrance and aroma. Lady-of-the-night (Night-blooming jasmine) is perfuming the house with its sweet fragrance. The same land produces lemon and bitter gourds. The same land is producing thrones, and the same land is also producing vegetables. The same land produces minerals, salt, gas, kerosene oil and petrol.

(Arabic text) (Surah Aly Imran: 190) "Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of night and day. There are indeed Signs for men of understanding." Move around the earth and search for the blessings of Allah, ponder upon the signs of Allah and you will be able to behold Allah. This also is a knowledge, and this also is knowledge that there are My servants who through meditation, paying attention, through worshipping and supererogatory works get so close to Me that I become their hands, ears and tongue.

Thus, the knowledge that Allah taught to man is of two types. One is that knowledge in which your conscious delves deeper into something, and you try to explore its formation. Like the scientists do. They explored the material elements and reached up to the atom and then broke down the atom. Invented silicon and so many other things like telephones, mobiles etc. In this knowledge, too, there are two approaches. One is to make it your intellectual property and the other one is to explore the creation of Allah so that we can reach Allah and see how Allah has created it. But if you use this knowledge for worldly comforts, this will become just a mean to achieve the luxuries and earn money as is going on in the modern world.

In the present era there is a disease called cancer. There are many types of cancers. One of them is said to be incurable and still its treatment in Pakistan costs up to 1.4 million rupees. Many a doctors come to see me. I ask them, you are researching the treatments of the diseases but not searching for the ways that the diseases could be stopped from emerging, why? Because if all the scientists and scholars set for searching the ways to abolish the diseases, the capitalism will come to an end. We see ever-new diseases emerging daily and the simple solution to this is to watch your hygiene, have healthy food etc. But the situation is not conducive for clean and healthy diets. This is also a subject to be researched. In this type of research, one gets more and more entangled in the world but if the research is for the sake of Allah and, to explore the signs of Allah, search for Allah in a tree, in the water, in the rain, you will eventually get to Allah.

You look for hydrogen and oxygen in the rainwater. When this happens or that happens the rain comes. We recently had an earthquake. May Allah keep you all safe. According to the religious teachings this calamity was a punishment for our sins. This was the talk for a few days; it's the punishment, ask forgiveness of God, repent, and say Astaghfar. People even started to offering Prayers and attention was also turned towards Allah. But then people started saying that earthquakes are one of the act of nature. It is not a calamity. I saw it on a TV program. Waqar Sahib was discussing this earthquake with a professor at university. He was trying to prove that these earthquakes are not any calamity but there are earth plates. When these underground plates move the earth shakes and there are zones. Now, this is also research.

The basic and spiritual need of a person is to have an established connection with his Creator. When there is a connection, the mind will turn to Allah. Man complains more. I haven't seen anyone thanking for blessing him with eyes. God has blessed us all with eyes and the world appear bright to us. If we get up in the morning without our eyes, will the entire world not be dark for us? But nobody has ever thanked Allah for the eyes and has never given it a thought, what is the eye that makes the entire world bright for us? And does not know how and why it is so bright? All that the doctors or the eye specialists say is only a conjecture. But they cannot cure a blind. Even if they know, how much do they know? When Allah is saying I taught Adam the knowledge of all the Names. It means He blessed Adam with the knowledge of all His Attributes, His will, His Creative Formulae, His powers and authority and His rule and governance. And that is the knowledge which we do not want to learn.

Now mashallah so many people including Azeemis and from other silasal are sitting here. All the people here have desire to learn spiritualism otherwise you would not have come here from faraway places. You are also aware that this physical body made of flesh and bones exists only till it has soul in it. There is a wrestler and if his soul quits his body, he becomes useless. The soul of a thin and lean person leaves him, he, too, becomes useless. Likewise, if the soul of a king leaves his body, his rule over his kingdom also comes to an end. If the soul of a general of an army leaves him, despite all the available soldiers, guns and rifles, aircraft etc., if there is no action, all will be useless.

This also is known to us that all the resources used in war and oppression are also the created by God. And all the means of mercy and kindness are also the products of God. If Allah had not created iron, these guns and arsenal would not have been there. If God had not made sulfur and potash and things like that, from where this gunpowder could have come? If Allah had not created various metals, where would have all your products been? World knows that every man-made thing is based upon the things created by Allah. Man, just assembles the things created by Allah to make a new thing. Man cannot make or create anything that is not found on earth. It is the quality of Allah that He is not indigent to resources. When Allah said Kun, all things and the resources that were required for the creation automatically came into being.

Coming back to the topic, (Arabic text) (Surah Alaq: 5) "We taught man what he knew not." Note that Allah is using the word 'man', he is not referring to angels, jinns or any other creation. (Arabic text) (Surah Alaq: 5) "We taught man what he knew not." And, when man is analyzed, he is nothing except soul. If there is soul in him, he is alive.

Qalandar Baba Auliya (RA) in the very beginning of his book "Loh o Qalum" discussing the formation of man, has said, "Man makes a dress for himself, which can be of wool, cotton, skin, bark or nylon or grass or anything. He wears this dress on his body. When the body moves, the dress moves along. If it is taken off and is placed upon a hanger or is thrown away, you won't see any movement in that dress. The movement in the dress is subject to the movement of the body in it." In the same way body movements are subject to what? Please say it loudly.

Audiences... The soul!

The dress that I am wearing has no movement of its own. When my arm moves, the sleeve of the dress will move. If my arm does not move, the sleeve will not move. If I take off this shirt and place it here, there will be no movement in its sleeve. In the same way is the case with this material body. If the soul is wearing this physical body, it is moving and as soon as the soul takes off this robe, all its movements are ceased.

Allah says, (Arabic text) (Surah Israel: 85) "O Prophet, they ask thee about the soul, Tell them." (Arabic text) (Surah Israel: 85) "Soul is the Edict of the Lord."

Listen very carefully and keep this thing in mind that this physical body is the garment of the soul. As long as the soul keeps on wearing it, the body keeps on moving. Its hands will move. Its fingers will move, neck will move, legs will move, it will feel hungry and thirsty, it will feel the pain upon hurting, will feel comfort and discomfort, agony, and sorrow, will have health and sickness. But when the soul discards this dress, there remains no sensation of hot or cold, grief or sorrow or happiness, anxiety, or restlessness. Nothing can be felt. And, after taking off the soul, you drag this body in the streets with a rope tied to its feet, nothing will happen. It will not even sigh. But, if the soul is wearing this body, is putting it on and is taking care of it, then what this all is?

Audiences...It's the soul!

There was a priest giving sermon to his audiences. People kept on listening to him. In the end, the priest inquired, did they get him? Upon that one gentleman from the audience stood up and said, just one thing. Zulikha was a male or female?

Audience Laughter!

So, you got it. This material body is a shirt, trousers, a coat, or under-wear. Whatever you may call it, it is not the real thing. Real is the soul. Please consider again, (Arabic text) (Surah Israel: 85) "O' prophet they ask thee about the soul, tell them, soul is the Edict of my Lord, and little is the knowledge given to you about the soul." He didn't say that there is no knowledge of the soul given to human beings. He is saying that only a little of the knowledge about the soul is given to you. Thus, it is negated that man has no knowledge about the soul. God is saying (Arabic text) "And a little of the knowledge about the soul is given to you.  (Arabic text) The knowledge pertaining to the soul is given to you but only a little of it. According to man's capacity it is quite a little. So, it is established that Allah has blessed man with the knowledge of the soul. You got it or should I explain it further?

Audiences...yes Sir, we got it!

You got it all? That's great. I am still struggling to understand it for the past fifty years. I couldn't get to its real depth. One of our Azeemi sisters borrowed Loh-o-Qalum from me to study. She phoned me. I asked what she was doing? She said she was reading the book. I said, "well, could you grasp its contents?" She couldn't understand it, was her reply.

I told her that I wrote that book. Alhamdulillah, Qalandar Baba Auliya blessed me with the opportunity to pen down every word of it. During its writing, I would doze off. He would shake me up and make me refresh ablution and have a cup of tea. When he dictated it, my conscious felt its load and it couldn't bear it. Thus, I wrote this book half awakening half sleeping. And, my sister, you have read it without the teacher. She said, "I have read it but couldn't understand it." Now she has been an Azeemi for the last twenty years and says, "What type of a book it is? I cannot understand it. When it is read, it burdens my conscious."

It's smart of you that you get it all in half an hour. You might have heard the name of Mula Naseeruddin. He used to address the gatherings and his audiences felt amused by his talks. Once he was invited to a gathering. He excused himself on the pretext of his preoccupation. People went after him and forced him to address them. When he got on to the stage and said, "You invited me. I am grateful to you. But do you know what I must tell you?" His audiences replied, "you haven't said a thing, how can we know and understand what you are about to tell." He expressed his resentment and said, "When you have no idea, why should I talk to you?" And, got down the stage and left the place. People decided to invite him again. They also decided to respond to his query in affirmation. When Mulla ji came and got on to stage and after greeting the gathering, he asked, "Do you know what I am to tell you." As decided earlier people said, "Yes sir, we know." On this Mula ji said, well then what's the use to say anything when you already know it, I have nothing to add to it?" And he got down off the stage and left.

People felt quite frustrated and decided that next time they would invite Mulla ji and half of them would say no and half would say yes, we know. Then, he was again there before his audience on the stage, after greeting them, he asked the same question. Half of the audience responded negatively, and the rest said, yes they knew what he was to say. On hearing this, Mula ji said, "Well, that solves the problem. Those who know, must tell them who don't know." And took his leave. So those of you who have understood, please explain it to me and to those who haven't.

(Arabic text) (Surah Israel: 85) "And you ask about the soul, tell them, Soul is by the Edict of my Lord and you have been blessed with a little knowledge about it."

Allah has blessed man with the knowledge about the soul though it is quite a little, but it is knowledge all the same. Now you know that our body is nothing but a garment of the soul then, what are we?

Audiences...Soul!

Ok. And what is our body? It is a hypothetical fiction thing. When a child goes to school, does he study or does his soul studies?

Audience...His soul studies!

If, God forbid, the soul leaves the child, will he be able to go to school? Obviously, no.

Tell me, you had Haleem Shareef a while ago. How was it? Good. If you had no soul who would eat Haleem? Who ate haleem?

Audience: Soul

Oh Friends, we lost our Haleem as we thought you ate it. (Loud laughter from Audience)

Now it has become clear that this body is the dress of the soul, and knowledge is also in the soul. If you pour water in the mouth of a dead person, what will happen? It won't get in; it will spill out. And, if you pour water in the mouth of a living person? He will drink it. So, who drank water?

Audiences...The soul!

Then, tell me, who is having the food, our body, or the soul? And who has the water, our body, or the soul? The answer will remain the same. If there is a soul, the body will move and if the soul is not there no movement is possible in the body. And it's the soul that learns the knowledge. God says, (Arabic text) (Surah Israel: 85) Soul is by the Edict of my Lord. And what man is? Man is a hollow marionette (puppet) of clay. God says, "I created man from resounding clay." (Arabic text) (Surah Hajar: 26) Resounding rotten clay. Wet clay that resounds means that has emptiness in it, it's a void. When the hollow marionette is defined, it is nothing but an empty void. From throat to the nose, what is there? It is an empty space. Man is merely an empty void like an empty box with so many nails to hang upon one or the other. Similar is the case of lungs, liver, or the pores of the body and in the bones, too. Everything is empty from within. Allah created man from an empty void and (Arabic text) (Surah Hajar: 29) " And, “I breathed out of My Soul into this puppet." When I breathed from My soul, it started talking, hearing, moving around and all.  What is the soul? Soul is the Edict of the Lord. You have the knowledge of the Edict of the Lord. Now, what is this Edict of the Lord. (Arabic text) (Surah Yasin: 82) "Verily, when He intends a thing, His command is to Be! And it is."

Soul is the Edict of the Lord and Edict of the Lord is, when he intends a thing (Arabic text). Think, what is the Edict of the Lord? What is His Command? When He intends a thing. He commands it kun (to be) and Fayakon, (it is). Then, what is man? Man is the Soul. And what is the soul? Tell me loudly. Please.

Audiences...Edict of the Lord, Lord's command!

Yes, say it more loudly.

Audiences...Edict of the Lord! Edict of the Lord!

Man is the Edict of the Lord. Lord is in the soul. And soul is in the man. Learn this and revise it again and again. Man is soul. The Lord is in the soul and what is the Edict of Lord? Yes, what is His command?

Audiences...His intention is the command, His Edict.

Intention of the Lord. Now what is the intention of the Lord? It is not the intention of Allah. It is intention. (Arabic text...Inna ma amrahu) It is His intention when He intends a thing. And, then He says it to be (kun).

I'll be brief and finish it here. Soul is the Edict of the lord. And this Edict is that when he intends a thing, he tells it to be (kun) and there it is (Fayakon).

So, what is the man?

Audiences...Soul! It's the soul!

And, what's the soul?

Audiences... It's the Edict of the Lord!

And, what's the Edict of the Lord?

Audiences...Intention...

When Allah intends a thing, He tell it (kun) to be, and (Fayakon) it becomes. So, this has become clear to you that man is soul, and the soul is the edict of the Lord and it's Lord's Edict, when he intends a thing, he says, for instance he says, house! He does not need bricks, cement, iron, and soil. He just tells it (Kun) to be. This means all that will be said will come into being.

Give it considerate thought. "O Prophet people ask thee about the soul. Tell them, soul is the Edict of the Lord. And Edict of the Lord is that when he intends a thing, he commands it “kun” to be and there it is. This is the knowledge that Allah taught Adam. (Arabic text) (Surah Alaq: 5) "And, Man was taught what he knew not." And, when someone becomes acquainted with this knowledge, he cannot be a prophet of God but remaining on their path and equipping himself with the prophetic approach of thinking, he manages to acquire that knowledge.

A Jew and Abu Jahil said to the holy Prophet (PBUH) that if he could split the moon into two halves, they would embrace Islam. They were not to believe him anyway, but holy Prophet (PBUH) recited (Tasmiya) and pointed his index finger towards the moon and it was split into two halves. (Arabic text) "When he intends a thing, he commands it." Holy Prophet (PBUH) intended to split the moon and it was divided into two halves.

It is said that Holy Prophet (PBUH) was resting, having his head upon the thigh of Hazrat Ali (R.A) as a cushion. Time of Asar prayer went by. Upon awakening, Holy Prophet (PBUH) noticed that Ali (R.A) was quite perturbed. He asked him, what's wrong. Hazrat Ali (R.A) told him that he missed the Asar Prayer. Holy Prophet (PBUH) said, nothing to worry, you offer your prayer and pointed his finger towards the sun. The set sun reappeared upon the horizon. Hazrat Ali (R.A) offered his prayer and the sun remained there above the horizon till he finished his Prayer and then set down when he finished his prayer.

(Arabic text) (Surah Yasin: 82) Allah taught His Beloved Prophet that knowledge. (Arabic text) (Surah Alaq: 5), which man did not know. If we are true followers of Prophet (PBUH) and true lovers and practice it not mere fans then, these qualities can also arouse in us, which Allah has blessed to mankind. If Allah authorizes a man to use His powers that does not mean that man, God forbid, will become a god for using the blessed powers of God.

Now, tell me, what is man in actual?

Audiences... The Soul!

And soul is the Edict of Allah, and the edict is that when he intends a thing he tells it (Kun) to be and there it comes into being. And this can be observed in the story of Paradise. It is the property of Paradise if you want to have an apple. It is not necessary to sow a seed to plant an apple tree, irrigate it and wait till it bears apples and when they are ripe you pluck them and have them. The tree is not there but the apple is there. This is evident that God taught man the knowledge, which is about His powers. Appointment of man as the vicegerent does not mean that it was particular for only one person. It means God has blessed every human with the ability to be His vicegerent. Can you say only certain people can be lawyers? Whosoever will study law can become a lawyer, whosoever will study engineering can become an engineer and whosoever will want to be a teacher can be a teacher. And one who doesn't want to be, he won't be.

Just as one learns the worldly sciences because God has blessed him with the ability to learn them. Similarly, the ability to learn the spiritual sciences is also there in everyone. Qalandar Baba Auliya (RA) is such great man of this age who on the behest of holy Prophet (PBUH) left such teachings, which can help anyone to arouse and awaken his spiritual potentials. Everyone can learn that knowledge, which can help him to get closer to Allah and befriend Allah. (Arabic text) (Surah Younas: 62) "Indeed there is no fear or grief for the friends of Allah."

Mind it, friends of Allah are also humans, and they don't have any fears nor any grief if they befriend Allah. And friend is the one who knows his friend and remains closer to him. He knows his friend's temperament. He never does anything against his friend's will. He does only that pleases his friend and avoids what displeases him.

Befriending Allah has become difficult nowadays because we seldom give it a thought that how much God has blessed us with honor. He has appointed us as His vicegerent and deputy. (Arabic text) "I am to appoint My Vicegerent in the world by granting him my powers and to authorize him to use them on My behalf." Father's heritage goes to his children. All the abilities of Adam are transferring to his progeny.  Allah taught the knowledge of all His Appellations to Adam; this knowledge is also transferred to the children of Adam.

Allah made Adam to stay in the Paradise. Children of Adam will also go to Paradise. They can go there and if they don't want to go there, this is entirely up to them. Adam committed a mistake, this also transferred to his children. They also committed mistakes. Adam asked forgiveness for his mistake, this also transferred into the children of Adam. If a sin is committed and you make a mistake, act upon the legacy of Adam and ask forgiveness from Allah. (Persian text) No matter how many times a mistake is committed keep expressing repentance and asking for forgiveness. God has said, never be disappointed of His Mercy. If you fail in keeping your words, keep asking for forgiveness and remember God pleases to pardon. He is pleased when you ask for something from Him.

Once I submitted to Qalandar Baba Auliya (RA) that Allah has blessed me with everything. I am blessed with children, a good wife, health, a good house, and a mentor like you. I don't know what to ask from Allah. I feel ashamed to be always asking and asking. Qalandar Baba Auliya (RA) was lying, after listening to me, he sat up and said, "Asking from Allah is mandatory. Allah Himself says that ask from Me. (Arabic Text) I will accede to your prayers. Never stop asking from Him."

"What should I be asking for and for what should I be praying to Him. It doesn't feel good to keep on asking for the world from Allah." I submitted meekly.

"That's Ok. If you don't want to ask for the world, ask for Him from Him," he responded.

Once you had Him who sent you down and if you get Him, you will get everything here and in the hereafter. If He is pleased, everyone would be pleased. I don't have anything but Him.

Now we shall close. If you have any questions that you want to ask me. I am so interested in this knowledge, if I am tired, I forget my tiredness, if I am sleepy, the sleeps go away. Are you feeling sleepy or not? I think after listening to so much, your brain must be grown numb and there is no room for any questions.

Please distribute the lungar (meals) amongst the audiences.

One of the Audiences... Abba Ji. You told us about the echoing of Ya Qayyooom. What's the benefit of reciting it in humming voice?

I will be brief. Once I asked Qalandar Baba Auliya, what is Saut-e-Sarmadi (The Divine Voice)? It is being frequently mentioned in the books of Sufism. What is this Saut-e-Sarmadi? He said, "Allah talks to His servants and He also talks to angels. He also passes orders to do one or the other thing. Wherever Allah is, I'll not go into those details. That will take a lot of time. In short, whatever Allah says or utters, it creates vibration. This vibration passes through millions of veils. When it reaches the angels, it starts echoing in them. This echo can be easily understood by the word 'vibration'. For instance, when an atom bomb explodes, an echoing vibration is produced. Thus, the vibration means a frequency that stirs cognition in the soul. Similar is the principle of singing. I think when a singer sings window glasses vibrate and start shaking. Echo or humming is the vibration and when any name of Allah is recited in a rhythmic humming voice it creates that stirring effect, which helps our soul to cognize. This should be enough.

(Arabic text) (Tasmiya, tauz and surah e Fateha)

O Allah, all that we listened, please grant us the ability to act upon it with understanding.

O Allah remove the rust from our minds with the blessings of Thy names and their mentioning and enchanting. Let Your holy words wash away the rust of our hearts.

O Allah forgive us for our sins, big or small. Please forgive our mistakes.

O Allah, remove the worries of the worried people. Bless the sick with health. The children that have reached the age of marriage, arrange for their marriages.

O Allah, awaken our spiritual potential and enable us to benefit from the teachings of Qalandar Baba Auliya. O Allah bless us with the true realization of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and of Thyself.

O Allah bless us with the ability to follow in the footsteps of Holy Prophet (PBUH) and help us to act upon his teachings.

O Allah bless us with betterment here and in the hereafter.

O Allah all those who helped us in arranging the ceremony of the Urs of Qalandar Baba Auliya(RA) bless them in their businesses, their homes, and their children. O Allah make our children obedient and blessed ones. And bless us with the ability to do good to others.

O Allah, spread the mission of Qalandar Baba Auliya. Bless all the Azeemi brethren and sisters with love, fraternity, and unity among them and bless them with humility and humbleness. Protect us from haughtiness and self-centeredness. Bless us with the ability to forgive others.

(Arabic text) (Surah Airaf: 23)

(Arabic text) (Surah Mominon: 118)

(Arabic text) (Surah Mominon: 118)

(Arabic text) (Surah Mominon: 118)

(Arabic text) (Surah Baqara: 201)

(Arabic text)

All the workers of Markazi Muraqba Hall and the servants of Qalandar Baba Auliya (RA) welcome you all and are grateful to you who have come from Karachi, from interior Sindh, Punjab, KPK and Baluchistan and all those ladies and gentlemen that have come from England, America, Canada, Thailand, Moscow and from other countries to attend and participate in the ceremony of the Urs of Qalandar Baba Auliya (RA).  

We tried to look after you to the best of our abilities and chalked out a program for that. Our Azeemi brethren and sisters tried that you should not face any inconvenience but in such a mammoth gathering many shortcomings can happen. We regret any inconvenience, which being the guests of Qalandar Baba Auliya, you might have encountered, we all sincerely apologize for that. You are guests of our august mentor Qalandar Baba Auliya(RA), we sincerely desire that with love, affection and sincerity you came here, may you part and go back with the same love, affection and sincerity.

We tried to best of our abilities to serve you all but after all we are only humans, if we have lacked in something we profusely ask forgiveness from Allah and request you to forgive us.

Stay blessed. Assalam o Alykum!