Hazrat Mirza Mazhar e Jaane Jaana
“Take everything away and leave
me alone with You.
Close every door and open the one to You.”
Close every door and open the one to You.”
Hakim Sana'i
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY:
Birth Name: Hazrat Shah Shamsuddin Mahboob Habibullah Mirza Mir Mazhar e Jaane Jaana
Born in: India, 1113H/1701 AD
Passed away in: Night of Ashura, 1195 H /1781 AD
In depth:
From his childhood the light of Guidance and the Traces of Piety shone from his forehead. His features were moulded with the manifestation of heavenly beauty (tajalli-l-Jamal). He was famous, like the Prophet Yusuf, for his beauty. And everyone loved him because he represented beauty both inner and outer. That is the attribute of God, about whom the Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) (s.a.w) said: “God is beautiful and He loves beauty,” and it is also the attribute of the Beloved Prophet (s.a.w), about whom Hazrat Anas bin Malik said, “Your Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) was the most beautiful in appearance and had the best voice of all Prophets.” Because of this, Sheikh Abdur-Rauf al-Munawi said, “The Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) has no comparison in his beauty.”
Birth Name: Hazrat Shah Shamsuddin Mahboob Habibullah Mirza Mir Mazhar e Jaane Jaana
Born in: India, 1113H/1701 AD
Passed away in: Night of Ashura, 1195 H /1781 AD
In depth:
From his childhood the light of Guidance and the Traces of Piety shone from his forehead. His features were moulded with the manifestation of heavenly beauty (tajalli-l-Jamal). He was famous, like the Prophet Yusuf, for his beauty. And everyone loved him because he represented beauty both inner and outer. That is the attribute of God, about whom the Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) (s.a.w) said: “God is beautiful and He loves beauty,” and it is also the attribute of the Beloved Prophet (s.a.w), about whom Hazrat Anas bin Malik said, “Your Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) was the most beautiful in appearance and had the best voice of all Prophets.” Because of this, Sheikh Abdur-Rauf al-Munawi said, “The Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) has no comparison in his beauty.”
When Sheikh Mazhar was nine years
of age, he saw Sayyidina Ibrahim (A.S), who gave him miraculous powers through
spiritual transmission. At this age, if anyone mentioned Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq
in his presence, he would see him appear with his physical eyes. He was also
able to see the Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) and all the Companions of the Beloved
Prophet (s.a.w) as well as all the Sheikhs of the Naqshbandi Order, especially
Sayyidina Ahmad al-Faruqi Mujaddadi.
His father raised him and educated
him in all branches of religious knowledge. At a young age, his heart was
attracted to the spiritual light coming from his Sheikh, Hazrat Sayyid Nur
Muhammad Badayuni. His Sheikh opened the eyes of his heart and fed him from the
nectar of the flower of the Hidden Awareness and Understanding. His Sheikh took
him out of the state of self-awareness and lifted him up to the Highest Realms,
which produced in him great astonishment and caused him to faint. When he woke
up he accompanied Sheikh Nur Muhammad in further ascension. The Sheikh allowed
him to observe the Mysteries of the Hidden World and gave him gifts from his
miraculous Powers and realms.
One look of his Sheikh opened in
him the Nine Points, the loci of the Naqshbandi Secrets. From the knowledge of
the nine points, he delved into the secrets contained in five of the more
powerful points, until his Sheikh authorized him to “activate” the Nine Points
at any time and to use them. Then he brought him back down to be in his
presence and only in his presence. He brought him up and down, from one stage
to another, and enveloped him with his light and protected him with his gaze,
until he achieved the ultimate completion and awakened himself from ignorance
and inertia.
He stood fast in serving his
Sheikh with complete truthfulness and sincerity. He continued to progress by
entering seclusions in the desert and in the jungle at the instructions of his
Sheikh. In these seclusions, his only food was grass and the leaves of trees.
During his period of asceticism in the desert and jungle, he wore only what
would cover his nakedness. One day, after many of these seclusions, he looked
in the mirror and didn't see himself, instead he saw his Sheikh.
At this stage, the Sheikh
authorized him to guide Allah's servants to their destinies and to the Straight
Path, and he put him on the Throne of Succession - and by him the Hazrat Mazhar
Jaane Jaana ascended the Tower of Happiness.
When his teacher passed away, he
continued to visit his shrine and for two years he received whatever lights and
knowledge his master was able to transmit to him from his shrine. Then he was
ordered through his spiritual connection to his Sheikh to connect himself with
a living master.
He reached the Door of the
perfect Saints of his time, Sheikh Muhammad Afzal, Sheikh Safi Sadullah, and
Sheikh Muhammad Abid. He attached himself to Sheikh Shah Kalshan and to another
Sheikh by the name of Muhammad az-Zubair. He used to attend the session of
Shaikh Muhammad Afzal, one of the Khalifas of the son of Muhammad Masoom. He
visited and studied with Sheikh Abdul Ahad and received from him knowledge of
the Beloved Prophet (s.a.w)ic Hadith. During this class, whenever the
Sheikh would mention a Hadith, he would disappear through Self-Effacement, and
a vision would come to him in which he would find himself sitting with the
Beloved Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) (s.a.w) and hearing the Hadith directly from
the Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) himself. He would correct any mistakes that might
occur in the Sheikh’s narration of the Hadith, and was acknowledged as a genius
in the science of Hadith.
He kept the company of these
Sheikhs for twenty years. He progressed further and further in the States of
Totality, until he became an ocean of bliss and knowing. He rose in the levels
of the Qutbs until he became the Qutb of his time, shining like the sun at high
noon. Sheikh Muhammad Afzal said, “Sheikh Mazhar Habibullah was given the state
of Qutb and he is the central pivot of this tariqat at this time and will
remain so in times to come.”
His spiritual understanding and
awareness attracted people from all reaches of the Subcontinent. In his
presence, each seeker would find what he needed, until through his blessing the
Indian Subcontinent became like a Kabah encircled by flocks of angelic beings.
In his noble person were combined
the energy of four tariqats. He was a master of the Naqshbandi, Qadri,
Suhrawardi and Chishti Orders. He used to say, “I received the
secrets and knowledge of these orders from my Sheikh, Sayyid Nur Muhammad
Badayuni, until I attained a very distinguished awareness in these Orders. He
lifted me from the Ibrahamic Stage to the Stage of Muhammad (s.a.w), which
caused me to see the Beloved Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) (s.a.w) sitting in my
place, while I was sitting in his. Then I disappeared and I saw him sitting in
the two places. Then I saw him disappearing and I saw myself sitting in both
places.”
About Ghaib many misconceptions
exist. It is argued that after the master is no more, then how can the disciple
be nourished and nurtured. After all, the master is the connection or the link
between the Mureed and the realm of Ghaib. So when the master is no more then
how can this link remain?
Just as before the birth of a child, milk descends into the mother’s breasts, in a similar way the inner connection with the master and the treasures of this unknown & unknowable realm open for the disciple. For this, unwavering trust for the master is the first criterion. With adab (respect) comes love for the master. Love is the key to the treasures of the realm of Ghaib. For ordinary consciousness, this is very difficult to understand as there is no inner connection. Once the realm doors are unlocked you are connected to all the masters that were present in the past, and also those who are to arrive at some future date. With this inner connection, all the inner states of awareness & tariqat and all else that is needed for transformation becomes available.
Just as before the birth of a child, milk descends into the mother’s breasts, in a similar way the inner connection with the master and the treasures of this unknown & unknowable realm open for the disciple. For this, unwavering trust for the master is the first criterion. With adab (respect) comes love for the master. Love is the key to the treasures of the realm of Ghaib. For ordinary consciousness, this is very difficult to understand as there is no inner connection. Once the realm doors are unlocked you are connected to all the masters that were present in the past, and also those who are to arrive at some future date. With this inner connection, all the inner states of awareness & tariqat and all else that is needed for transformation becomes available.
It is said that with Hazrat Mazhar
Mir (R.A), the Naqshbandi tariqat attained to its totality. This may mean that
the tariqat was incomplete. He emphasized that one can be in the world and
still follow the path to an inward journey. One can continue totally in the
outer world and its affairs, but deep within flows the stream of benediction
and awareness. With trust and adab one remains connected with the realm of the
pious masters. Remember trust and adab is not an outward exposition instead it
is an understanding. And for this, no external expression is needed. Then one
realizes that that the energy field of the master always envelops the
aspirants.
His father was one of the jewels in
the court of the Moghal emperor Aurangzeb. Every one used to call his father
Mirza Sahib out of respect. Once, when Hazrat Mazhar accompanied his father to
court of the emperor, some one asked his name. At this Aurangzeb responded by
saying, ‘The child is the life essence of the father. Therefore, this boy is
Jaane Jaana.” Thus, Mirza Jaane Jaana was added to his name. He was a poet who
composed in Arabic and Persian languages.
With him, the tariqat attained to
totality. The first change happened due to Hazrat Bahauddin Naqshband. As a
result, Naqshbandi was added to the categorization. The second change happened
because of Hazrat Ahmad Farooqi Mujaddadi Alf Thani. With this, Mujaddidi was
added to the already existing name. And with Hazrat Mirza Mazhar Mir Jaane
Jaana, the third change was affected in the categorization of the tariqat. He
emphasized that it is not important that the disciple does the dhikr, or
anything else but what is more important is the inner connection with the
master. This
inner connection happens only because of inner connection, love, and adab
towards one’s master (Sheikh). Once this has happened, the journey becomes
easy. When the aspirant begins to move within, the journey becomes difficult.
Because of your constant negligence of the inner, there remains utter darkness.
And travelling through the dark caves of the being is not only difficult but
dangerous as well. It is the light of the master that guides the aspirant,
until one reaches to a state when darkness is no more. Instead, there is
illumination and you are ‘light within yourself’.
In his youth, he worked in the army
of Aurangzeb and fought certain wars as well. Even in spiritual realm, he used
the terminology of a soldier. He states that an aspirant needs to be like a
soldier who sacrifices even his life for his master. He reached his own Sheikh
when he was quite old. Hazrat Mazhar served his master to his utmost and used
to take part in all kinds of work. He came from an affluent family.
Most of his external teaching
happened through his grandfather. From his mother, he got the training of adab
and akhlaq - respect and etiquette. His mother was the daughter of a master
from Lahore.
The life of Hazrat Mirza Mazhar is
full of anecdotes and incidents, all of which cannot be mentioned. He was quite
young when his master Noor Mohammad passed away. Once he had a vision that a
congregation of masters descended from heaven. One of the masters resembled
Noor Mohammed, and at this he sought confirmation from the master. At this, the
master responded I am your thoughts not your master. At this Hazrat Mirza
expressed agony that it was for the first time he had been inclined towards
another master. At this, the master in question appeared in his true form. He
was, in fact, his master.
Following are some sayings of Sheikh Mazhar:
Following are some sayings of Sheikh Mazhar:
· “Once
I was sitting in the presence of Sheikh Muhammad Abid and the Sheikh said,
"The two suns at the two ends met, and if their lights were combined and
spread throughout this universe, they would have burned everything.”
· “Sheikh
Muhammad Afzal was much older than I but he used to stand up for me when I
entered, and he used to say to me, 'I am standing in respect of the high
lineage that you possess.’”
· “This
whole world and the entire universe are in my hand, and I can see everything in
them, just as clearly as I can see my hand.”
He had innumerable miraculous
experiences and numberless visions about the Heavenly world as well as the
lower world.
Once he travelled with some of his
followers without any food or provision. They walked and whenever they got
tired they sat. The Sheikh would call them and say, "This food is for
you," and tables of food would appear in front of them.
One day during the trip there was
a terrible storm and the wind was blowing everything in its path. It was
freezing and everyone was shivering because of the cold. Their situation
worsened until it appeared that they were going to die in that frozen desert.
Then Sheikh Mazhar raised his hands and said, "O Allah make it surround us
but not be upon us." Immediately the clouds lifted from around them, and
though the freezing rain continued to fall one mile away, around them the
temperature rose to a comfortable level.
He said, "One time I visited
the grave of Sheikh Muhammad Hafiz Muhsin. I disappeared from myself and in a
vision I saw his body. It had suffered no decomposition, and his shroud was
still perfectly clean except for a patch of dirt on one part by his feet.
Through my spiritual power, I asked him about that. He said, 'O my son I will
tell you a story. One day I took a stone from the garden of my neighbour and
put it in a hole in my garden, and I said to myself, 'in the morning I will
return it to him,' but I forgot. As a result of that action, the dirt has
appeared on my shroud. That one action has tainted my shroud.'"
He said, "As long as you
airlifted upward in piety you will be lifted up in sainthood."
One day he became angry with a
tyrant and he said, "A vision came to me in which I saw that all Sheikhs,
from Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq up to the Sheikhs of today, were unhappy with that
tyrant." The next day the tyrant died.
A man came to him and said, “O my
master, my brother has been jailed in another village. Please pray to Allah to
save him.” He said, “O my son, your brother has not been jailed, but he has
done something wrong and tomorrow you will receive a letter from him.” It
turned out to be just as he described.
He informed his followers of
great tidings and some jealous people refused to accept what he said. He said,
“If you don't believe me let us bring a judge. We will each tell him our point
of view and let him judge between us." They said, "We don't accept
any judge except the Beloved Prophet (s.a.w), and on Judgment Day we will ask
for his judgement in this matter." Then he said, "There is no need to
wait until the Judgment Day. We will ask the Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) to give
his Judgment now.” He entered a deep state of contemplation in his heart and
was told to read the Fatiha. This he did, and immediately the Beloved Prophet
(s.a.w) appeared to everyone and said, "Al-Mazhar Habibullah is right and
all of you are wrong.”
About Creation:
He said, “Existence is an Attribute
of Allah alone. This world is a mere shadow of realities existing in the Divine
Presence. The reality of all possible creations, or haqaiq al-mumkinat, results
from the action of the Divine Attributes and Qualities on the void. The real
existence of all that manifests in physical creation is confirmed as a light in
the Divine Presence.” Everything that appears in the physical creation is a
mere shadow of the luminous reality projected by the Divine Qualities upon the
void of non-existence. The World of the Divine Attributes or sifat is the
origin of the Wellsprings of the Created Universes, or mabadi' taayyunat
al-alam. Because all physical creation arises from a combination of Allah's
Divine Qualities and the Void, creation thus partakes of two origins of
opposite nature. From the nature of the void of non-existence and nothingness
arise the dense qualities of physical substance that in the sphere of human
action produce darkness, ignorance and evil. From the Divine Attributes come
Light, Knowledge and Good. Thus the Sufi, when he looks at
himself sees all that is good in him as a light from the Divine that is
reflected on him, but that is not of him. A simile for it would be a borrowed
suit of fine clothes with which one is beautifully dressed but that does not
truly belong to him and for which he deserves no credit.
Conversely, he sees himself as base
substance, full of darkness and ignorance, with a nature worse than that of an
animal. With this dual perception he loosens his attachment to the attractions
of the self and effaces himself, and turns in repentance or tawba towards the
Divine Source of all Good. With this turning, Allah fills his heart with love
and yearning for the Divine Presence. As Allah said in a Holy Hadith Qudsi, “If
My servant approaches Me by one hand's length I will approach him by one arm's
length; and if he comes to Me walking I will come to him running.”
Shortly before his death Sheikh
Mazhar (R.A) was in a state of great emotion and intense love of God. He
experienced a great unhappiness at having spent so long in this transient
world. He spent his last days in intense contemplation and, when asked, he
would always say that his state was that of Annihilation and Existence in
Allah, Sublime and Exalted. He increased his dhikr in his final days, and as a
result of the intense light of attraction generated thereby, thousands and
thousands of seekers entered into the tariqat. Each new day would bring three
thousand new people to his door, and he would not let one of them go without
meeting him. Finally, he became so exhausted that he scheduled only two times a
day to meet with people.
One day, one of his followers,
Sheikh Mullah Nazim, asked permission to travel and visit his parents in his
homeland. He said, “My son, if you want to go you may, but I may not be here
when you return.” This reply went from one mouth to another, shaking the hearts
of people, as it indicated that his era was ending. With tearful eyes and
broken hearts, people all around Punjab began wailing and crying. His house was
full and no one knew what was going to happen when he was gone. Then he took a
paper and wrote to one of his successors, Mullah Abdur-Razzaq, “O my son, I am
now over eighty and my life is coming to its close. Remember me in your
prayers.” He sent him that letter and he sent many others the same letter.
Thanking Allah for His Favours he
said, “There is nothing left in my heart of anything that I have wished to
achieve or to reach that remains to be accomplished. There is nothing for which
I have asked Allah that I did not receive. My only remaining desire is to leave
this world and be in His Presence continuously. Allah gave me everything,
except permission to go to Him. I am asking Allah to take me to Him today,
before tomorrow. But I don't want to go to Him as an ordinary person. I want to
go to him, as Allah described in the Holy Qur'an, as a martyr who is always
alive. So, O Allah, make me a martyr in this world and take me to you as a
martyr. This kind of death will bring happiness to my heart and will cause me
to be in the presence of Your Beloved Prophet (s.a.w) and of Hazrat Ibrahim and
of Hazrat Musa, and with all your 124,000 Prophets; and to be with all the
Companions of the Beloved Prophet (s.a.w), and to be with al-Junaid and the
master of this Order, Hazrat Shah Naqshband (R.A), and with all the masters of
the Tariqat. O Allah, I want to combine the witnessing of physical martyrdom
with spiritual death in the State of Witnessing, in the State of Annihilation.”
Death - The Ultimate Transcendence
It was Wednesday evening, the
seventh of Muharram, of the year 1195 H/1780 CE. His servant came to him and
said, “There are three men at your door. They want to visit you.”
He said, “Let them enter.” When
they entered, he came out of his bedroom and greeted them. One of them said to
him, “Are you Mirza Jaane Jaana Habibullah?” He answered, “Yes.” The two said
to the third, “Yes, he is the one.” One of the men took a knife from his pocket
and stabbed him in the back, piercing his kidney. Because of his age, he was
unable to withstand the severity of the blow and he fell to the ground. When it
was time for the Fajr prayer, the King sent him a doctor. He sent back the
doctor and said, “I don't need him. As for the men who stabbed me, I forgive
them, because I am glad to die as a martyr and they came as an answer to my
prayer.”
He passed from this life on
Friday. When the day reached its middle, he read the Qur’anic chapters Fatiha
and Ya Sin until Asr time. He asked his followers, how many hours were left
until sunset. They told him, “Four hours.” He said, “It is still long until the
meeting with my Lord.” He said, “I have missed ten prayers in my life, all in
these past two days, because my body is full of blood and I have been unable to
raise my head.” They asked him, “If a sick person is in such a weak condition,
is he obliged to pray with movements of his eyes and his forehead or to
postpone his prayer?” He answered, “Both ways are correct.” He waited with
patience for the sunset, and then he breathed his last. It was the night of
Ashura, 1195 H /1781 AD.
He passed his secret to his
successor, ash-Sheikh Abdullah ad-Dehlawi.
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