Clarification on Shahab Sahib (ra)

Visitors to this blog will know that I have posted a number of pieces on the life and teachings of Qudratullah Shahab (ra) in the past and I can say (based on the feedback I get) that these posts of been very popular with people. To my mind this is an indication of the immense impact that people like Shahab sahib have had on generations of Pakistanis since the mid-eighties at least. The fondness and reverence with which people remember Shahab sahib is also (to me at least) a reflection of the this verse of the Indian poetess Hina Timuri:

Khusboo ke tarah pehl gaya kainat mein

Us nein jise bhi zikr ke qabil samjh liya

However occasionally I also hear from people who want to prove that we’re all a bunch of enthusiasts who have got it horribly wrong about Shahab sahib. In their view Shahab sahib was just a scheming bureaucrat who helped to prop up various dictatorships during his days of service or at best a very worldly man who allowed various myths about himself (e.g his sufi connection) to be propagated  due to a taste for self adulation. Most of these people have great difficulty in squaring a very active outer life with an inner spiritual life. Here’s a comment by a recent visitor which is quite typical of this mentality :

“I dont want to be disrespectful, but Shahab Sahib was a very much worldly person and left property of crores in Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi and London. I don’t understand why did he not give any of that away as charity. His son has moved to Canada about 14 years back, for no specific reason. He had all one needs here in Pakistan. He has sold all of his property and taken this money to live comfortably in Canada. So much for for the son of waliullah and his teachings.”

Now I for one don’t know the extent of  Shahab sahib’s wealth and assets at the time of his death but is it really relevant? Must a sufi (or wali if you prefer) always be poor? Is it wrong for the offspring of such a person to sell their property and move elsewhere? Should such a person be judged by the actions of his children? A moments reflection should suffice to show just how confused and meaningless such accusations actually are.

The awliya appear in many guises and one of their greatest disguises is the cloak of human ordinariness. It is the truly fortunate who are blessed with seeing beyond it. As for the majority, their response from time immemorial has been the same: ” nay, you are but a mortal like us!”

Champions in Nonexistence

Once again we have left our heart, intellect, and
spirit behind – the Friend has come into the midst and we
have disappeared.
We have turned back from annihilation and become
woven into subsistence; we have found the Traceless and
thrown away all traces.
Stirring up dust from the ocean and smoke from
the nine spheres, we have discarded Time, the earth, and
the heavens.
Beware, the drunkards have come! Clear the way! – no
I said that wrong, for we have been delivered from the way and
the travelers.
The spirit’s fire has lifted its head from the body’s
earth; the heart began to shout, and like a shout, we rose up.
Let us speak less, for if we speak, few understand. Pour
more wine, for we have entered the ranks of the self-deniers!
Existence is for women – the work of men is nonexistence.
Thanks be to God, for we have risen as champions in nonexistence!

– Ghazal (Ode) 1601
Translation by Professor William C. Chittick*
“The Sufi Path of Love”
SUNY Press, Albany, 1983

Behind the Face of Anger

When you see the face of anger
look behind it
and you will see the face of pride.
Bring anger and pride
under your feet, turn them into a ladder
and climb higher.
There is no peace until you become
their master.
Let go of anger, it may taste sweet
but it kills.
Don’t become its victim
you need humility to climb to freedom.

– Ghazal (Ode) 2197
Translated by Azima Melita Kolin
and Maryam Mafi
Rumi: Hidden Music
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd, 2001

A Reminder on the Importance of Suhba

1827- He narrated to me from Malik that it reached him  that Luqman al-Hakim counselled his son and said:, “My  son! Sit with the learned men and keep close to them.  Indeed Allah gives life to the hearts with the light of  wisdom as Allah gives life to the dead earth with the  abundant rain of the sky.”

From the Muwatta’ of Imam Malik (ra).

A Glimpse of the Zawq of Pir Naseeruddin Naseer (ra)

This was a man of many colours and this is one of them.

New Pics at Jhelum Motorworks

Just a little note that I’ve began to add some pics at Jhelum Motorworks. These are momentos of the Hz Khadim-e Mohabbat (ra) since he had these up on the walls of his room. They are mostly images of the awliya both recent and little known and some of famous ones from the past.

Remembering Shahab Sahib (ra)

Janab Qudratullah Shahab (ra)

Found this post about Hz Shahab (ra) today. It gives some background and has some pictures from the Shahab Nama. If you’ve wanted background information about Shahab sahib, you’re in luck. Take a look here.

Gateway to Divine Mercy

Entrance to the maqam of Shaykh al Akbar (ra)

This spells out the specific calling of this great wali of Allah (swt).

Death Anniversary of Hz Allama (ra)

I was reminded by a fellow enthusiast that it being the 21st of April, it is Allama sahib’s death anniversary today. At the moment I’m not in a position to offer anything original but I thought I should do something to mark the day. So here is Ustad Nusrat singing his famous poem “khudi ka sirr e nehan, La ilah Ilallahu” (the hidden secret of the self is: no god but God). This sums up his message in more ways than one.

Part 1

Part 2

Qad Kafani Ilmu Rabbi by Imam al-Haddad(ra)

The famous qasida of the great Imam Abdullah al-Haddad(ra) of Hadramawt.