A disciple (murid) of Sayyidinā Khālid al-Baghdādī – a saint of the Golden Chain who passed away some 200 years ago and is buried in Damascus – was sent to Hajj by his Shaykh.  His Shaykh told him to look for something specific, but he did not find it when he was there.  However, he heard that there was an unbeliever in Bombay who had miraculous powers and could do everything that you asked him to do.  The disciple was upset:  he had been with his Shaykh dozens of years and he could not do any anything miraculous.  How did that unbeliever, who was neither following the Way nor even following Islām, have miraculous powers? “I am going back to my Shaykh to tell him, O my Shaykh, you sent me to look for a saint, and I found an unbeliever who has miraculous powers, while we cannot do anything! What is this teaching?” This is reality for us:  we come and sit with Mawlānā Shaykh Nāzim for hours and hours, and we are not benefiting for a reason which is coming presently.

The disciple went and told his Shaykh about his doubts.  Sayyidinā Khālid answered, “O my son, don’t get the wrong impression.  You would be making a mistake.  I shall give you the answer tomorrow.”  That night, Sayyidinā Khālid was in India in one second by saying “In name of God, The Merciful, The Compassionate – Bismillāhi ‘r-Rahmāni ‘r-Rahīm.”  That is another power which Mawlānā Shaykh Nāzim is not using.  The shaykhs have freed their spiritual powers from the cage of their bodies.  Now the spirit can take the body with it, whereas before, the spirit went only where the body took it.  They move by putting their body inside their spirit, not vice-versa:  thus travel is possible in one second, wherever the spirit goes.  As he came to the door of that person in India, he again put back his spirit into his physical body, and thus “appeared” there.

The man from Bombay was waiting at his door.  He was a monk of another faith.  He said:  “O my Shaykh, I knew that you were coming through my power, and I ordered a Muslim lady to prepare a meal for you as I know that you do not eat of our food.”  They sat opposite each other.  Before saying anything to him, Sayyidinā Khālid al-Baghdādī said to him

“Recite the Testification of Faith, the shahādah, now.” The monk sat in silence concentrating on his heart for half an hour, in meditation, while Sayyidinā Khālid al-Baghdādī did not say anything.  After half an hour, the monk raised his head. He then said, “Ashhadu an la ilāha illa-llāh wa ashhadu anna Muhammadur-Rasūlullah.”

Beforethis he possessed all sorts of worldly miraculous powers; as soon as he recited the Testification of Faith, he received miraculous heavenly powers.

Sayyidinā Khālid asked him, “Why did you wait half an hour in unbelief when you knew that belief was Reality?” He said:  “O my Shaykh, I am very sorry, but for twenty-five years I have not done anything without asking my Shaykh.”

“Who is your Shaykh?”

He said, “My Shaykh is my ego. For every matter, I have to ask my ego and see what it will tell me. Whatever it tells me, I do the opposite, for I know the ego is only seeking destruction of the soul. After I got an answer from my ego, I recited the Testification of Faith.

“O my Shaykh, for 25 years, whatever my ego told me to do when I asked for its advice, I did the opposite.  Now, when I asked it what I should do, whether I should take the Testification of Faith, or not, my ego told me: ‘ ‘Are you crazy? Are you going to go down to the bottom step and climb all the way up again? You are crazy! Be aware of this! Never give the Testification of Faith!’ And I was fighting with my ego whether to say or not.  Since my ego insisted not to say it, I decided to say it.”

Sayyidinā Khālid said:  “When you said it, you received heavenly powers.  We do not depend on wordly powers.  Wordly power is for Satan.”  When you see non-Muslims or Muslims who are not keeping Islam, that can perform miraculous feats, you must know that this is worldly power.  Satan and devils can do this easily:  walking on water, going through fires, walking on nails, penetrating through walls.  This is not dependable.  We need heavenly powers, and they come from the light of the heart.  We need to love everyone as we love ourself.  That is what we need truly.  We need to respect everyone.  We need to be helpful with everyone, humble towards everyone.  Be aware of this, and you will find that heavenly powers are open in front of you.

The next day, Sayyidinā Khālid went back to his association of hundreds of scholars, disciples and students in Damascus, and he said to them:  “I have been teaching you for forty or fifty years, and no one is doing something to tame his ego.  That unbeliever was able to gain miraculous powers – wordly powers – because he was doing something against his ego.  You I have told to fight your ego, to kill your ego, to be good servants, and you are not accepting.  For that reason heavenly powers are never going to be opened for you.

Take this story into consideration and be good servants.

And from God is all success.

Wa mina-llāhit-tawfīq bi hurmatì‘l-Fātihah.