HADHRAT SHAH SHUJA' KIRMAANI
(rahmatullah alayh)
1. Hadhrat Shah Shuja' Kirmaani (rahmatullah alayh) was a member of the royal family. After he took to the path of renunciation he did not sleep for 40 years. After this long period, he fell asleep for a few moments and in a dream saw the Vision of Allah Ta'ala. In his dream he said: "O Allah! I searched for You in awakefulness, but found You in a dream." Allah Ta'ala said: "This is the consequence of your awakefulness."
Thereafter he would generally take a short nap in the hope of experiencing Allah's Vision. He frequently said: "I will not exchange my dream for the awakefulness of both worlds."
2. Hadhrat Kirmaani had a very beautiful and saintly daughter. The king of Kirmaan proposed marriage to her. Hadhrat Kirmaani promised to give an answer to the proposal after three days. During this period, he wandered from one Musjid to another in the hope of finding a sincere durwaish with whom his daughter may marry. On the third day he found such a durwaish. When Hadhrat Kirmaani asked the durwaish if he wished to marry, he said that no one would give their daughter to a pauper. With the consent of the daughter, the nikah was performed. When she arrived at the home of her husband, she found only a piece of bread and some water in a mug. She asked: "Why have you kept this?"
Durwaish: "Yesterday I ate half of the bread and drank half of the water. I have left the balance for today."
His wife: "I want to go to my father."
Durwaish: "I knew that a woman of the royal family cannot spend her life with a faqir."
His wife: "It is not as you say. I want to complain to my father about the assurance he gave me. He promised that he would perform my nikah with a pious man, but he married me to a man who is not grateful to Allah Ta'ala. A man who hoards food for the next day contradicts tawakkul. Choose between the bread and me. Either the bread stays or I."
This episode illustrates the exceptionally lofty state of her zuhd and taqwa. Even a piece of bread in the home is regarded as negatory of tawakkul by certain Auliyaa of the calibre of Hadhrat Kirmaani's daughter.
3. Hadhrat Abu Hafs (rahmatullah alayh) wrote to Hadhrat Kirmaani:
"I viewed myself in my nafs, actions and defects. I acquired only hopelessness."
Hadhrat Kirmaani replied:
"I have made your letter the mirror of my heart. If my dissatisfaction with my nafs is sincere, then I have hope in Allah. When I have hope in Allah, I shall have fear. When I have fear, I shall have no hope in my nafs. When I shall have no hope in my nafs, I shall be able to remember Allah. When I shall remember Allah, I shall become independent from creation. When I shall gain independence from creation, I shall reach Allah."
4. Hadhrat Kirmaani said: "The grace of gracious men and the sainthood of saintly men remain as long as they do not regard their grace as grace and their sainthood as sainthood."
When a man become conscious of his excellences, he becomes afflicted with ujub (vanity) which negates his lofty attributes.
5. He said: "A faqir remains Allah's secret as long as the faqir conceals his faqr. When he reveals it, it is snatched from him."
6. Sidq has three signs:
i) Dislike for the world.
ii) Aloofness from people.
iii) Dominance over desire.
7. He said: "A wise man is he who does not look at haraam, abandons desire, remembers Allah with his heart, follows the Sunnat with his body and consumes halaal food."
Thereafter he would generally take a short nap in the hope of experiencing Allah's Vision. He frequently said: "I will not exchange my dream for the awakefulness of both worlds."
2. Hadhrat Kirmaani had a very beautiful and saintly daughter. The king of Kirmaan proposed marriage to her. Hadhrat Kirmaani promised to give an answer to the proposal after three days. During this period, he wandered from one Musjid to another in the hope of finding a sincere durwaish with whom his daughter may marry. On the third day he found such a durwaish. When Hadhrat Kirmaani asked the durwaish if he wished to marry, he said that no one would give their daughter to a pauper. With the consent of the daughter, the nikah was performed. When she arrived at the home of her husband, she found only a piece of bread and some water in a mug. She asked: "Why have you kept this?"
Durwaish: "Yesterday I ate half of the bread and drank half of the water. I have left the balance for today."
His wife: "I want to go to my father."
Durwaish: "I knew that a woman of the royal family cannot spend her life with a faqir."
His wife: "It is not as you say. I want to complain to my father about the assurance he gave me. He promised that he would perform my nikah with a pious man, but he married me to a man who is not grateful to Allah Ta'ala. A man who hoards food for the next day contradicts tawakkul. Choose between the bread and me. Either the bread stays or I."
This episode illustrates the exceptionally lofty state of her zuhd and taqwa. Even a piece of bread in the home is regarded as negatory of tawakkul by certain Auliyaa of the calibre of Hadhrat Kirmaani's daughter.
3. Hadhrat Abu Hafs (rahmatullah alayh) wrote to Hadhrat Kirmaani:
"I viewed myself in my nafs, actions and defects. I acquired only hopelessness."
Hadhrat Kirmaani replied:
"I have made your letter the mirror of my heart. If my dissatisfaction with my nafs is sincere, then I have hope in Allah. When I have hope in Allah, I shall have fear. When I have fear, I shall have no hope in my nafs. When I shall have no hope in my nafs, I shall be able to remember Allah. When I shall remember Allah, I shall become independent from creation. When I shall gain independence from creation, I shall reach Allah."
4. Hadhrat Kirmaani said: "The grace of gracious men and the sainthood of saintly men remain as long as they do not regard their grace as grace and their sainthood as sainthood."
When a man become conscious of his excellences, he becomes afflicted with ujub (vanity) which negates his lofty attributes.
5. He said: "A faqir remains Allah's secret as long as the faqir conceals his faqr. When he reveals it, it is snatched from him."
6. Sidq has three signs:
i) Dislike for the world.
ii) Aloofness from people.
iii) Dominance over desire.
7. He said: "A wise man is he who does not look at haraam, abandons desire, remembers Allah with his heart, follows the Sunnat with his body and consumes halaal food."
