Ahmad al-Faruqi as-Sirhindi ق
If God causes one to approach Him,
He reveals Himself to him as the object of his desire, without his knowing,
As the fire of Moses, which he saw through the eye of his need,
And who is the Divinity which he did not recognize.
If thou understandeth my words
thou knowest that thou hast need of the apparent form:
If Moses had searched for something other than the fire
He would have seen Him in that, and not inversely.
– Ibn ‘Arabi, Fusus al-Hikam
He was the Pearl of the Crown of the Knowledgeable Saints. He was the Treasure of Those who Came Before and of Those who Came After. In him were combined all their favors and generosity. He was the Sinai of Divine Manifestation, the Furthermost Lote Tree of the Unique Knowledge, and the Fountain of the Hidden Prophetic Knowledge. He was the Genius of Scholars and he was the Sultan of the Earth, which smiled when he was born and was honored by his existence. He was the perfect Perfected Guide. He was the Caller to Allah’s presence, the One কুতুব and the Unique Heavenly Imam. He was the Reviver of the Second Millennium, Sayyidina wa Mawlana (our Leader and Master) ash-Shaikh Ahmad al-Faruqi as-Sirhindi, ibn ash-Shaikh `Abdul Ahad son of Zainu-l-`Abidin son of `Abdul-hayy, son of Muhammad son of Habibullah, son of Rafi’uddin, son of Nur, son of Sulayman, son of Yusuf, son of `Abdullah, son of Ishaq, son of `Abdullah, son of Shu’ayb, son of Aad, son of Yusuf, son of Shihabuddin, known as Farq Shah al-Qabidi, son of Nairuddin, son of Mahmud, son of Sulayman, son of Mas`ud, son of `Abdullah al-Wa`i al-Asghari, son of `Abdullah al-Wa`i al-Akbar, son of `Abdu-l-Fattah, son of Ishaq, son of Ibrahim, son of Nair, son of Sayyidina `Abdullah (r), the son of Amir al-Mu’minin, the khalif of the Prophet 
, Sayyidina ‘Umar al-Faruq (r).
He was born on the day of `Ashura, the 10th of Muharram in the year 971 H., in the village of Sihar Nidbasin. In some translations it is called Sirhind in the city of Lahore, in India. He received his knowledge and education through his father and through many shaikhs in his time. He made progress in three tariqats: Suhrawardiyya, Qadiriyya, and Chistiyya. He was given permission to train followers in all three tariqats at the age of 17 years. He was busy in spreading the teachings of these tariqats and in guiding his followers, yet he felt that something was missing in himself and he was continuously searching for it. He felt an interest in the Naqshbandi Sufi Order, because he could see by means of the secrets of the other three tariqats that it was the best and highest. His spiritual progress eventually brought him to the presence of the Ghawth and Qutb of his time, ash-Shaikh Muhammad al-Baqi, who had been sent from Samarqand to India by the order of his shaikh, Muhammad al-Amkanaki. He took the Naqshbandi Order from the shaikh and stayed with him for two months and some days, until Sayyidina Muhammad al-Baqi opened to his heart the secret of this tariqat and gave him authorization to train his murids in the Order. He said about him, “He is the highest Qutb in this time.”
রাসূল সা predicted his advent in one of his hadith when he said, “There will be among my nation a man called Silah. By his intercession many people will be saved.” It was mentioned in the collection of Suyuti, Jam’ ul-Jawami’. What confirmed the truth of this hadith is what Imam Rabbani wrote about himself: “God has made me the Silah between the two Oceans.” Silah means “connection.” So he meant that God had made him a connection between the two oceans — the two knowledges, external and internal. Shaikh Mir Husamuddin said, “I saw the Prophet in one of my dreams standing on the মিম্বার (pulpit) and praising Shaikh Ahmad as-Sirhindi. The Prophet was saying, ‘I am proud and happy with his presence among my Nation. God has made him a reviver of the religion.’”
Many saints predicted his advent. One of them was Shaikh Ahmad al-Jami` (q). He said:
After me will appear seventeen men of the People of God, all of whom are named Ahmad and the last one among them will be at the head of the millennium. He is going to be the highest of them and he is going to receive the state of Unveiling. He is going to revive this religion.
Another to predict his advent was Mawlana Khwaja al-Amkanaki (q). He said to his khalif, “A man from India is going to appear. He will be the Imam of his century. He will be trained by you, so hurry to meet him, because the people of God are awaiting his arrival.” Muhammad al-Baqi (q) said, “That is why I moved from Bukhara to India.” When they met he told him, “You are the one whose appearance the shaikh Muhammad Khwaja al-Amkanaki predicted. When I saw you I knew you were the কুতুব of your time. When I entered the region of Sirhind in India, I found a lamp which was so big and so bright that its light reached up to the heavens. Everyone took from that lamp’s light. You are that lamp.”
It is said that the shaikh of his father, Shaikh `Abdul Ahad, who was a shaikh of the Qadiri Order, had been given a জুব্বা (cloak) from his shaikh which had been passed down from the Ghawth al-`Azham, Sayyidina `Abdul Qadir al-Jilani (q). Sayyidina `Abdul Qadir had said about it to his successors:
Keep it for that one who is going to appear at the end of the first millennium. His name is Ahmad. He is going to revive this religion. I have dressed him with all my secrets. He combines in himself both the internal and external knowledge.
The Seeking of the Kings and the Kings of Seeking
Sayyidina Ahmad al-Faruqi said,
“Let it be known to you that the Heavenly Guardians attracted me because They wanted me to be attracted, and They facilitated for me the passage through time and space (at-tayy) in the different states of the seeker. I found that God is the Essence of all matter, as it had been said by the People of Sufism. Then I found God in all matter without incarnation (hulul). Then I found God together with all matter. Then I saw Him ahead of everything and then I saw Him following everything. Finally I reached a state where I saw Him and I saw nothing else. This is what is meant by the term, Witnessing the Oneness, which is also the state of Annihilation (ফানা'). That is the first step in Sainthood, and the highest state in the Beginning of the Way. This vision appears first on the horizons, then secondly in the Self. Then I have been lifted to the station of Subsistence (baqa’) which is the second step in Sainthood.
“This is a station which many saints did not speak about because they did not reach it. All of them speak about the Station of Annihilation, but following that state is Subsistence. In that state I found all creation another time, but I found that the essence of all these creations is Allah, and Allah’s Essence is the Essence of Myself. Then I found Allah in everything, but in reality in myself. I was raised to a higher state, to find Allah with everything, but in reality He was with myself. Then I was lifted to see Him preceding everything, but in reality He was preceding myself. Then I was lifted to a state where He was following everything, but in reality He was following myself. Then I saw Him in everything, but in reality He was in myself. Then I saw everything and I didn’t see God. And this is the end of the Stations by which They had brought me back to the beginning. In sum, they lifted me to the Station of Annihilation, then to the station of Existence, then they brought me back to be with people, in the Station of the common people. This is the highest state in guiding people to the Presence of God. It is the perfect state of guidance, because it matches the understanding of human beings.”
He said, “I accompanied today one who has reached the End of Ends, the Qutub of all Creatures, the Perfect Man, Shaikh Muhammad al-Baqi. Through him I received incredible blessings, and by his blessing I was granted a power of attraction that allowed me to reach every human being that Allah had created. I was honored to attain a station that combines the state of the Ending with the state of the Beginning. I achieved all the states of Seeking and I reached the Ending, which is the meaning of ‘Reaching the name of ar-Rabb’ (the Sustainer), by the support of the Lion of God, Asadullah, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, May God ennoble his face. I was raised up to the state of the Throne, which is the Reality of the Truth of Muhammad, by the support (madad) of Shaikh Shah Baha’uddin Naqshband. Then I was lifted even higher, to the state of Beauty, which is the state of the Truth of the Muhammadan Qutbs, by the support of the Prophetic Holy Spirit.
“I was supported by Shaikh Ala`addin al-Attar, from whom I received the states of the Greatest Spiritual Poles (al-qutubiyyati-l-‘uzma) from the Presence of Muhammad
“অতঃপর আমার অবতরণের সময় আমি খিদরের সাথে দেখা করলাম
“আবু দাউদ একটি সহীহ হাদীসে বলেছেন যে, রাসূল সা
“এক দর্শনে রাসূল সা
“আমার মধ্য থেকে যে জ্ঞানের উদ্ভব হচ্ছে তা সাধুত্বের অবস্থা থেকে, কিন্তু আমি তা নবী মুহাম্মদের নূর থেকে গ্রহণ করছি।
"আল্লাহ আমার কাছে অদ্বিতীয় একত্বের রহস্য উন্মোচন করেছেন এবং তিনি আমার হৃদয়ে সমস্ত ধরণের আধ্যাত্মিক জ্ঞান এবং এর পরিমার্জন ঢেলে দিয়েছেন। তিনি আমার কাছে এর রহস্য উন্মোচন করেছিলেন আয়াত কুরআনের যাতে আমি কুরআনের প্রতিটি অক্ষরের নীচে জ্ঞানের সাগর পেয়েছি যা সর্বশক্তিমান এবং মহান আল্লাহর উচ্চ সত্ত্বাকে নির্দেশ করে। আমি যদি এর একটি শব্দের অর্থ প্রকাশ করি তাহলে তারা আমার মাথা কেটে ফেলবে, যেমনটি তারা হাল্লাজ এবং ইবনে আরাবির ক্ষেত্রে করেছিল। এ হাদীসের মর্মার্থ রাসূল সা
“আল্লাহ্, সর্বশক্তিমান ও মহিমান্বিত, সাইয়্যিদিনা আবু বকর (রাঃ) থেকে কেয়ামতের দিন পর্যন্ত যারা আমাদের তরীকতে প্রবেশ করছে তাদের সকলের নাম আমাকে দেখিয়েছেন, নারী-পুরুষ উভয়েই এবং তারা সবাই প্রবেশ করতে যাচ্ছেন। তরিকতের শায়েখদের সুপারিশে জান্নাত।"
"আল-মাহদী হবেন এই তরিকতের অনুসারীদের একজন।"
“একদিন আমি আমার অনুসারীদের সাথে মেলামেশা করছিলাম dhikr এবং এটা আমার হৃদয়ে এসেছিল যে আমি কিছু ভুল করেছি। অতঃপর আল্লাহ আমার চোখ খুলে দিলেন, 'আমি ক্ষমা করে দিয়েছি যে তোমার সাথে বসেছে এবং যে তোমার মাধ্যমে সুপারিশ চাইবে।'
“আল্লাহ আমাকে তাঁর নবীর অবশিষ্টাংশ থেকে সৃষ্টি করেছেন
“কা’বা সবসময় আসত এবং তৈরি করত তাওয়াফ আমার চারপাশে (প্রদক্ষিণ)।
“আল্লাহ পরাক্রমশালী এবং মহান আমাকে বলেছেন, 'আপনি যার জন্য প্রার্থনা জানাজা (জানার নামায) ক্ষমা করা হবে, এবং যদি কেউ আপনার কবরের মাটিকে তাদের কবরের মাটির সাথে মিশিয়ে দেয় তবে তাদের ক্ষমা করা হবে।'
"আল্লাহ বলেছেন, 'আমি তোমাকে বিশেষ উপহার ও পরিপূর্ণতা দিয়েছি যা মাহদীর সময় পর্যন্ত তুমি ছাড়া আর কেউ পাবে না।"
“আল্লাহ আমাকে হেদায়েতের এক অবিশ্বাস্য শক্তি দিয়েছেন। এমনকি যদি আমি আমার নির্দেশনা একটি মৃত গাছের দিকে নিয়ে যাই, তবে তা সবুজ হয়ে যাবে।”
তার প্রথম নির্জনতা এবং আধ্যাত্মিক প্রশিক্ষণ
শায়খ শরফুদ্দিন শায়খ আবদুল্লাহকে নিবিড় আধ্যাত্মিক শৃঙ্খলা এবং দীর্ঘ সময় ধরে যিকিরের মাধ্যমে উত্থাপন ও প্রশিক্ষণ দিয়েছিলেন। ছয় মাস পর তাকে পাঁচ বছরের জন্য নির্জনে প্রবেশের নির্দেশ দেওয়া হয়। তিনি বললেনঃ
আমি মাত্র ছয় মাসের নবদম্পতি ছিলাম যখন আমার শায়খ আমাকে পাঁচ বছরের জন্য নির্জনে প্রবেশের নির্দেশ দেন। আমার মা এতই অসন্তুষ্ট ছিলেন যে তিনি আমার শায়খ, তার ভাইয়ের কাছে এ বিষয়ে অভিযোগ করতে গিয়েছিলেন। আমার স্ত্রীও অসন্তুষ্ট ছিল, কিন্তু আমার হৃদয় কখনও অভিযোগ করেনি। বরঞ্চ, আমি এত তীব্রভাবে কাঙ্খিত নির্জনতায় প্রবেশ করতে পেরে আমার হৃদয় পুরোপুরি খুশি হয়েছিল।
আমি নির্জনে প্রবেশ করলাম, যদিও মা কাঁদছিলেন আর বলছিলেন, 'তুমি ছাড়া আমার কেউ নেই। তোমার ভাই এখনো রাশিয়ায় আর তোমার বাবা মারা গেছেন।' আমি আমার মায়ের জন্য করুণা অনুভব করেছি, কিন্তু আমি জানতাম যে এটি আমার শায়খের আদেশ এবং এটি সরাসরি নবীর কাছ থেকে আসছে।
এছাড়াও আরও অনেক অভ্যাস ছিল, সবগুলোই মনোযোগ কেন্দ্রীভূত এবং ধ্যানমূলক অবস্থায় করতে হবে। আমি একটা গুহায় ছিলাম, একটা বড় জঙ্গলের গভীরে, একটা তুষার-ঢাকা পাহাড়ের উপরে। একজনকে প্রতিদিন সাতটি জলপাই এবং দুই আউন্স রুটি দিয়ে আমাকে পরিবেশন করার জন্য নিযুক্ত করা হয়েছিল। আমি সেই নির্জনতায় প্রবেশ করি যখন আমার বয়স সাড়ে পনেরো বছর, এবং আমি বেশ মোটা ছিলাম। আমি যখন বাইশ বছর বয়সে সেই নির্জনতা থেকে বেরিয়ে এসেছি, তখন আমি খুব পাতলা ছিলাম, ওজন মাত্র 100 পাউন্ড।
আমার কাছে অভিজ্ঞতা এবং দৃষ্টিভঙ্গি যা উন্মোচিত হয়েছিল তা ভাষায় প্রকাশ করা যায় না। নির্জনে প্রবেশ করে আমি আমার অহংকারকে বললাম, হে আমার অহংকার, আমি মরে গেলেও এই নির্জনতা ত্যাগ করব না। আপনি এটা অবশ্যই জানেন. আমার মন পরিবর্তন করার বা আমাকে প্রতারণা করার চেষ্টা করবেন না।"
গুহায় একটি গর্ত ছিল, এবং যখন তিনি নির্জনতায় প্রবেশ করলেন তখন তিনি একটি কাপড় দিয়ে গর্তটি বন্ধ করলেন।
সেই নির্জনতায় আমি খুব কম ঘুমাতাম। আমি কখনই ঘুমানোর প্রয়োজন অনুভব করিনি, কারণ আমার এত শক্তিশালী স্বর্গীয় সমর্থন ছিল। এক সময় আমি নবীজির দর্শন পেলাম
আমি যেমন বানাচ্ছিলাম dhikr মধ্যরাতের পর এক রাতে পাহাড়ে প্রচণ্ড ঝড় উঠল। আমি শুনতে পাচ্ছিলাম যে ঝড় গাছ কাটা, বর্ষণ এবং অবশেষে তুষারপাত। এটা খুব ঠান্ডা ছিল এবং আমার তাপ ছাড়া কিছুই আমাকে গরম করেনি ধিকর. প্রচন্ড বাতাসে গর্ত থেকে কাপড় উড়িয়ে নিয়ে গেল। আমি জমে ছিলাম এবং আমার চারপাশে তুষার উড়েছিল। আমি এত ঠান্ডা যে আমি আমার পুনরাবৃত্তি গণনা আমার আঙ্গুল নাড়াতে পারে না ধিকর. আমার হার্ট প্রায় থেমে গেল। তারপর এটা আবার গর্ত বন্ধ আমার ঘটেছে. সেই চিন্তা আমার মাথায় আসার সাথে সাথে আমি আমার শায়খের দৃষ্টি দেখে চিৎকার করে বলতে লাগলাম, হে বৎস! আপনি কি নিজেকে নিয়ে ব্যস্ত নাকি যিনি আপনাকে সৃষ্টি করেছেন তাকে নিয়ে ব্যস্ত? আপনি যদি ঠান্ডায় মারা যান তবে আপনার হৃদয়কে এক মুহূর্ত গাফিলতি দেওয়ার চেয়ে এটি আপনার জন্য ভাল।' সেই দৃষ্টি আমার হৃদয়ে উষ্ণতা এবং পুনরায় চালু করার সংকল্প দিয়েছে ধিকর অবিলম্বে আমি যেমন অব্যাহত ধিকর আরো বাতাস এসেছিল, এবং তার সাথে আরও তুষার। আমি নিজের সাথে লড়াই করে অবশেষে নিজেকে বলি, 'আমাকে মরতে দাও, তবুও আমি আমার যিকির চালিয়ে যাচ্ছি।' কথাটা বলতেই বাতাস থেমে গেল, তুষারও থেমে গেল। তারপর একটি গাছ পড়ে গেল এবং গুহার সেই গর্তটি ঢেকে দিল।
সেই অবস্থায় আমি নম্বরের সচেতনতার স্টেশনে পৌঁছে গেলাম (উকুফ `আদাদি) এর মধ্যে 777,777টি ঐশ্বরিক নামের পুনরাবৃত্তি। আমি 777,778 এ যাচ্ছিলাম যখন আমি ঐশ্বরিক উপস্থিতি আমাকে সম্বোধন করতে শুনলাম, 'হে আমার বান্দা! আপনি গোপন পৌঁছেছেন Wuquf `Adadi tonight and have gained the key for that station. Enter into our presence in the State of the One who Speaks with Allah (কলিমুল্লাহ), the state of Sayyidina Musa (as) when he spoke directly with God. I saw that I was speaking with the Divine Presence and I received answers to questions that saints had never been able to reach before. I took the opportunity to ask Allah, ‘O Allah, what is Your Greatest Name?’ And I heard, ‘O my servant, you will be given that later.’ Then that vision disappeared and it was time for Fajr prayer.
Before each prayer, I was obliged to take a cold shower. There was, of course, no running water, so I had to use melted snow for showering. As I was about to stand up to wash for prayer, I found that facing me was the head of a snake, which had encircled me completely. Its head was poised so that any movement out of fear would cause him to strike me. I didn’t give that snake any importance. I knew if I felt any fear, it would attack. So in my mind I made it to be nonexistent. I could not take a shower with the snake wrapped around me, but the Shaykh’s order had to be followed. So I poured the water over my clothes and over the snake. For forty days that snake remained wrapped around me. When I was praying, it would move its head to allow for my prostrations. For forty days, that snake kept watch, looking for any mistake or fear, to attack me. This test from my Shaykh, to see if I had fear of any but Allah, finally ended and that snake began to unwind itself from around me. It sat for a while in front of me. Then it disappeared.”
He spent five years in that particular seclusion, which ended at the age of 22. When he emerged he was eligible for military conscription. This time he went into the army.
One great shaikh wrote to him asking, “The states that you reached and you are speaking about, did the সাহাবা receive them, and if they did, did they receive them at one time or did they receive them at separate times?” He answered, “I cannot give you an answer unless you come into my presence.” When the shaikh came, he immediately unveiled to him his spiritual reality and cleaned the darkness of his heart until the shaikh fell prostrate at his feet and said, “I believe, I believe! I see now that these states were all revealed to the Sahaba simply by looking at the Messenger "
One time in the month of fasting, Ramadan, he was invited by ten of his মুরিদ to break fast with them. He accepted the invitation of each of them. When it came time to break the fast, he was present at each of their houses, breaking the fast, and they saw him in each of their houses at the same time.
One time he looked at the sky and it was raining. He said, “O rain stop until such and such hour.” It stopped until the exact time he had said, after which it started raining again.
One time the King ordered that a man be executed. That man came to Shaikh Amad and said, “Please write a stay of execution for me.” He wrote to the Sultan, “Don’t execute this man.” The Sultan was afraid of Sayyidina Ahmad al-Faruqi and pardoned the man.
One time a মুরিদ made intention to visit Shaikh Ahmad al-Faruqi (q). On his way he was invited to be the guest of a man who disliked the shaikh. The মুরিদ, however, didn’t know this. After dinner, the host began reviling the shaikh. As he went to sleep that night, in his heart he was saying, “O Allah, I came to visit the shaikh, not to hear someone curse the shaikh. Forgive me.” Then he slept and when he awoke he found that the man had died. He went quickly to the shaikh and began to tell him the story. Sayyidina Ahmad al-Faruqi raised his hand and said, “Stop! There is no need to tell me what happened. I am the one who caused it.”
তিনি বলেন,
“I was authorized to give Tariqat in three tariqats: Naqshbandi, Suhrawardi and Chistiyya.”
He was so famous that the scholars of external knowledge in his time became jealous of him. They went to the king and told him, “He is saying things that are not accepted in the religion.” They pushed the King until he put him in jail. He stayed in jail for three years. His son, Shaikh Sayyid, said, “He was under very intense security in jail. Guards surrounded his room on every side. Yet every Friday he would be seen in the big mosque. No matter how much security he was under, he would disappear from prison and appear in the mosque.” From this they knew they could not put him behind bars and therefore they released him.
He wrote many books, one of the most famous of which is the মাকতুবাত.
In it he said:
It must be known that Allah has placed us under His Obligations and His Prohibitions. Allah said, ‘Whatever the Prophet gave you, take it, and whatever he prohibited you, leave it.’ [59:7] If we are going to be sincere in this, we have to attain to Annihilation and the love of the Essence. Without these we cannot reach this degree of obedience. Thus we are under another obligation, which is to seek the Way of Sufism, because this Way will lead us to the state of Annihilation and the love of the Essence. Each Order differs from the other in its states of perfection; so too does each Order keep the Sunnah of the Prophet
In the journey leading to the unveiling of the Divine Realities, the seeker moves through various stages of knowledge of and proximity to His Lord:
– “Moving to Allah is a vertical movement from the lower stations to the higher stations; until the movement surpasses time and space and all the states dissolve into what is called the Necessary Knowledge (`ilm ul-wajib) of Allah. This is also called Annihilation (ফানা').
– “Moving in Allah is the stage in which the seeker moves from the station of Names and Attributes to a state which neither word nor sign can describe. This is the State of Existence in Allah called Baqa.
– “Moving from Allah is the stage in which the seeker returns from the heavenly world to the world of cause and effect, descending from the highest station of knowledge to the lowest. Here he forgets Allah by Allah, and he knows Allah with Allah, and he returns from Allah to Allah. This is called the State of the Farthest and the Nearest.
– “Moving in things is a movement within creation. This involves knowing intimately all elements and states in this world after having vanished in Annihilation. Here the seeker can achieve the State of Guidance, which is the state of the prophets and the people following the footsteps of the Prophet
“The entire process is like threading a needle. The thread seeks the eye of the needle, passes through and then proceeds down to where it began. There the two ends meet, form a knot and secure the entire thread. They form a whole, thread, eye and needle, and any material they catch is sewn into the fabric of the unity.”
“It must be known to everyone that the Naqshbandi shaikhs chose to guide their মুরিদ first through the movement from Allah, travelling from the higher states to the lower. For this reason they maintain the common veils over the spiritual vision of the মুরিদ, removing the veil of ordinary consciousness only at the final step. All other tariqats begin with the movement to Allah, moving from the lowest states to the highest, and removing the common veils first.”
“It is mentioned in the Hadith of the Prophet
He left behind him many more books. He died on the 17th of Safar 1034 H. at the age of 63. He was buried in the village of Sirhind. He was a shaikh in the fourtariqats: Naqshbandi, Qadiri, Chisti and Suhrawardi. He preferred the Naqshbandi, because he said, “It is the Mother of all tariqats"
He passed the secret of the revered Golden Chain to শায়খ মুহাম্মদ মাসুম রহ ক.
সাম্প্রতিক মন্তব্যসমূহ