The Seal Bearer

Very soon after the death of Maulana Bahauddin Naqshband, a ragged man arrived near his burial-place and demanded:

 

‘Take me to the Khalifa (deputy).’ The Khalifa was not there.

 

He said ‘Let Bibi Jan, Maulana’s widow, identify me.’

 

Everyone was nonplussed by the stranger, and those who remained of the Maulana’s following did not know what to say or do.

 

The wanderer said:

 

‘No Khalifa, no understanding! So I shall show you this, which even a man-donkey should know.’

 

He produced the seal of Bahaudin Naqshband.

 

Now this man was treated with honor, but he asked to be taken to the wall against the hill of Tillaju. He threw down a part of that wall, and told the men present to dig out its foundation. 

 

Then he removed certain objects buried there and said:

 

‘These are for me. They would have been for the disciples, if they had been Adepts.’

 

Someone asked:

 

‘Why did the disciples not get them?’

 

He said:

 

‘El-Shah told them to dig out the foundations of the wall, but instead they built the wall on top. So the wall will eventually fall, and the priceless objects here would have been lost. The idleness of the murids (disciples) in manual labor, and their superiority in imagination has caused their negation in the spiritual realm.’

 

A Murid Asked:

 

‘May we know of those who are not like us, for we crave knowledge.’

 

The mysterious dervish said:

 

‘Those who could know already know. Those who are left are too late to know. They therefore satisfy themselves with having been near El-Shah. But it would be better if they were to disband. Otherwise they will merely repeat the names and formulae of El-Shah, and people will be led astray, imagining that this is Sufism.’

 

Someone said:

 

“Which Enlightened One are you, which Wali, which Abdal? Will you not stay with us?’

 

He answered:

 

‘I am the lowest servant of the Masters, the Khwajagan. A servant can only stay where he can serve his master’s commands. I cannot carry out the service of humility in the company of arrogance.’

 

Someone asked:

 

‘How can we reduce our arrogance?’

 

He said

 

‘You can reduce it by realizing that you are not worthy to be representatives of the Teaching of El-Shah. The unworthy are doubly incapacitated. They lead themselves astray by imagining that they are studying the Way. They lead others astray by pretending to teach them, even by implication.’

 

‘This is not study. This is not teaching. Where there is Representative, imitation of his position is equal to usurpation. Usurpation destroys the soul.’

~ by Shaykh on March 22, 2008.