“Indeed, God loves those who put their trust (in Him).” (Surah Imran 3:159)
The following narrative is taken from a discourse of Shaikh Nazim al Haqqani al Qibrisi (r) (1922-2014).
Once, Ubaydullah al-Ahrar called one of his murids (a seeker of knowledge) and said: “Oh Abdullah, go climb that mountain and wait there for me. I will come later.”
The murid climbed the mountain and began to wait. The morning passed, then the afternoon. The sun set and still there was no sign of the Shaikh. The next day the dervish waited patiently, but still the Shaikh did not come. But his orders were clear, so he waited, a week, a month, a year, five years, and seven years. He survived on that mountain as a beast would survive. In the summer he fed himself with berries and in the winter from the bark of trees. When he prayed, the birds would alight on his shoulders, and at night, when he chanted his Dhikr, the animals would gather around him in a circle.
There he waited for seven years without any news from his Grand Shaikh. But the Grand Shaikh had originally received the order from the Prophet (pbuh) to send that murid to the mountain and he was awaiting the order to go up, after the murid. When the order arrived, the Shaikh went up to the murid’s perch and said to him: “Oh my son, why have you been waiting here so long? I told you that I was coming, so when I didn’t come, why didn’t you come and see what had happened to me? I could have died or been hurt; I could have been lost on the mountain, so why didn’t you search for me?” The murid answered: “Oh my Master, I was ordered to wait for you, not to look for you. You ordered me to wait here until you came, and, as the saying goes, whatever a noble person promises, that he will fulfil, so what about you, Oh most noble of mankind”! Is it possible for you to promise something and then fail to fulfil it? I would have waited here for you even until the Last Day. A dog will wait for you if you tell him to, so how shall I be less loyal and obedient? Besides, it was not too difficult for me to wait here, at least you came before I died, when you could have left me until that time too. I relied on your word, not on my mind’s judgement, as I know that you are caring for me.”
The murid had understood that his Shaikh was not really scolding him for staying there but that he was testing him by repeating the same arguments and objections that his ego had brought forward when the Shaikh had not appeared when expected. That murid attained the same level of reliance upon his Shaikh and through his Shaikh on the Prophet and ultimately on his Lord, that Abraham attained in reliance on his Lord. When Abraham was thrown in the fire by Nimrod, the Angel Gabriel came and asked him: “Are you in need of help?” I need my Lord’s help, not yours,” replied Abraham. Then Gabriel said: “Then ask your Lord for help.” “There is no need for me to ask, for He sees me, looks after me and knows well, where I am and of what I am in need.’”
That murid was on exactly the same level of trust to his Shaikh. He knew that his Grand Shaikh, was not a blind person, and that, therefore, he must be aware of his condition. This is why he answered his Shaikh’s queries by saying “Oh my Shaikh, I have no doubt that you are keeping me within the scope of your spiritual vision, so why should I apply my mind and will when I have given the reins of my will to you trusting that you will guide me to my Lord’s pleasure. I am in your hands like a dead body in the hands of those who wash it before burial.”
Then there appeared a flock of wild doves as an escort for a. very large green bird, a bird which appears to murids who have successfully completed their seclusion. That is a sign that the murid is ready to be escorted to the presence of the Holy Prophet and the Grand Shaikhs of his assembly. The Holy Prophet ordered Ubaydullah: “Now I have witnessed that your murid is absolutely in control of his ego. you may give him his powers.
The powers received at this point are six:
1) Haqiqat ul-Jadhbah (The Secret of Attraction)
2) Haqiqat ul-Faiz (The Secret of Emanation or Outpouring)
3) Haqiqat ut-Tawassul (The Secret of Connection)
4) Haqiqat ut-Tawajjuh (The Secret of Alignment)
5) Haqiqat ul-Irshad (The Secret of Guidance)
6) Haqiqat ut-Tayy (The Secret of Flight)
Until the Prophet (pbuh) appears to the Grand Shaikh and takes upon himself responsibility for the murid, no powers are given. But at that time the floodgates are thrown open.
In our way we must never claim to know anything or to be anything, because dissolution in Unity Oceans requires the abandonment of all pretentiousness. Most people, on the contrary spend their life energy on futile attempts to grasp something in their hands. However, when they open their hands to see what they have, they realize that they never caught it, or even if they did, it flies away as soon as they open their hands. Even seekers of truth sometimes attempt a “catch” by trying to reach a spiritual station for the sake of their egos. In this case, seekers have not completely renounced self-aggrandizement, but in accordance with their level they may attain good in this life and the next, but not that ultimate station of Ahadiyya. Only he who abandons the covetousness of this life and the next will be given pleasure that no one can imagine.
A murid becomes eligible for these powers Then he becomes free of his ego’s tyranny. When they are granted he is a free man, forever free of the limitations of time and space. Time and space are the illusions which now bind us. When we are free they are at our command.
The Power of Attraction is the power which enabled the saintly advisor of King Solomon to bring the throne of the Queen of Sheba to Jerusalem, from Yemen in the time it takes for an eye to blink, or less (Holy Qur’an, Chapter 34). This is the power that enables one to draw anything to himself. Inanimate objects are the easiest, people the most difficult.
The Power of Emanation or Outpouring is the power to be the means for the transfer of the experience of the Divine Presence to the murid. It is all embracing light that overflows the brim of the vessel. The Holy Prophet is the vessel in which these Divine favors are poured and, as they are without end, they flow from his heart to the hearts of Saints and from theirs to those of murids.
The Power of Connection is the power to connect at all times to this chain of transmission of Divine power and favors. For Saints it is the intimate knowledge of the Prophet’s realities and those of the chain of Shaikhs leading to him. For those who are yet aspiring to that station it is the daily invocation of the names of those Grand Shaikhs leading up to the Holy Prophet.
The Power of Alignment enables the Shaikh to turn his heart towards the hearts of his murids at any given time, and to turn their hearts towards their destinations. If he can’t do this then it is meaningless to say that he is a Shaikh. The first step is in his turning the heart of the murid towards his own, after this it will be possible to turn it onwards.
The Power of Guidance is the power to lead one on his way to his destination once he has been turned toward the direction through the Power of Alignment. For example, if you arrive at Heathrow Airport it is not enough, you must be led or given directions to arrive at your specific destination in London. Therefore, being turned in the direction is only the first step, the door of the maze; you must be helped on through it.
The Power of Flight is the power to travel at will anywhere in the Universe without actually travelling the distance, but rather by “rolling it up” like a parchment. Such a thing is unattainable except for those, who have subdued the physical body absolutely. Presently our souls are encased in our physical bodies. The secret of this power is that, by bringing the physical body under control it becomes encased in the spiritual body, and the movement of the spiritual body is not cumbersome like that of this body. What is the speed of a donkey compared to the speed of Light? The speed of light is like a donkey compared to the speed of the spiritual body.