Chapter Two: Principles of the Qadiri Order
باب دوم — اصول طریقۂ قادریہ
This chapter describes the principles (usul) of the exalted Qadiri order — the inner practices, contemplations, and spiritual disciplines that form the backbone of the suluk (spiritual wayfaring) on this path.
1. Pas Anfas (پاس انفاس — Guard of the Breath)
Pas Anfas means the continuous guard of the breath. The method is: with each breath as it is drawn in, the remembrance of Allah — that is, the word 'Allah' or the divine Name — is drawn inward from the outer world to the innermost heart. And with each exhalation, the breath is sent out again with the Name. The purpose is that not a single breath passes without the remembrance of Allah. This practice drives out heedlessness (ghafla) from the heart and fills it with the divine presence.
2. Barzakh Aala — The Higher Intermediate Realm (برزخ اعلی)
In this practice, the mureed contemplates the Shaykh as his interior (batini) guide. He visualises the form of the Shaykh as present before him and imagines the Shaykh's outward form, which is a reflection of the Prophet (peace be upon him) — and the Prophet's outward form is in reality the outward form of the divine Reality (Haqq). In this way, the mureed comes closer to the divine Presence through the intermediary of the Shaykh.
3. Barzakh Awsat — The Middle Intermediate Realm (برزخ اوسط)
At the time of muraqabah (contemplation), the mureed should contemplate and visualise the Shaykh as present beside him wherever he may be sitting — facing the qibla in a posture of attentiveness. The mureed's attention should be directed toward the Shaykh.
4. Barzakh Adna — The Lower Intermediate Realm (برزخ ادنی)
In this practice, the mureed contemplates and visualises all his own actions as the actions of the Shaykh.
5. Shughl-e-Hamyan (شغل ہمیان)
Shughl-e-Hamyan is the practice that keeps attention fixed and steady in the way that a traveller's belt (hamyan) keeps his provisions secure — that is, the attention is held constantly focused toward the divine Reality without drifting.
6. Contemplation of the Name of the Essence upon the Heart (تصور اسم ذات علی القلب)
The method: On a piece of paper or in the imagination, write the Name of Allah (the divine Name of the Essence) and place it upon the physical heart. Visualise it as written upon the heart and absorbed into its very substance. Then contemplate the Name of the Essence along with the image of the Shaykh, until the Name becomes as if imprinted upon the heart in light.
7. Annihilation in the Name of the Essence (فنائے اسم الذات — Fana' fi Ism al-Dhat)
In this practice, the mureed contemplates the Name of the divine Essence upon his own existence (wujud) and visualises the entire body as illuminated and absorbed in that Name. He contemplates Allah's Name as his own reality, and all the actions of the body become suffused with the presence of the divine Name.
8. Contemplation of the Name of the Essence upon the Body (تصور اسم ذات علی الوجود)
Here, the mureed visualises the Name of Allah written upon and encompassing his entire physical body — from head to foot — so that every part of his being is suffused with the divine Name and presence.
9. Contemplation of the Name of the Essence upon the Horizons (تصور اسم ذات علی الافاق)
In this practice, the mureed extends his contemplation outward to the entire cosmos — all the visible and invisible horizons of creation are seen as suffused and inscribed with the Name of the divine Essence. He should contemplate the entire universe as the field of divine manifestation.
10. Annihilation of the Four Elements (فنائے عناصر اربعہ)
The four material elements — earth, water, fire, and air — of which the physical body is composed are each visualised as annihilating into the divine Name. The mureed contemplates earth dissolving, water dissolving, fire dissolving, and air dissolving — until all that remains is the pure light of the divine Essence.
11. Practice of the Indivisible Particle (شغل جزء لایتجزی)
The mureed imagines his own body progressively dissolving — breaking down from its gross form into its component organs, then into cells, then into the smallest indivisible particles — until he arrives at the very root of existence, which is the pure divine light. He then contemplates the divine Essence in this state of complete dissolution.
12. Shughl-e-Tripod and Seven Steps; Ascent (Uruj) and Descent (Nuzul)
These are advanced practices in which the mureed follows a prescribed sequence of ascent through the spiritual realms — rising from the physical world through the barzakh realms to the divine Presence — and then descends back in consciousness, bringing the light of the divine Presence back into the physical world. A diagram of the spiritual topography of Ascent and Descent is provided in the original text.
13. The Six Muraqabat (مراقبات ستہ — Six Contemplations)
The six muraqabat (contemplations) of the Qadiri order are: (1) Muraqabah of the Divine Witness — Contemplation of the phrase 'Allah Naziri' ('Allah is my Witness'), 'Allah Ma'iya' ('Allah is with me'), 'Allah Amama Kulli Shay' ('Allah is before all things'): this is practised to such a degree that the divine witnessing becomes a felt reality. (2) Muraqabah of the Soul's Address — Speaking from the heart to the soul, saying: 'Where are you going? The destination is the divine Essence alone.' (3) Muraqabah of Annihilation of Obedience and Disobedience — Contemplating the annihilation of one's own will in all its aspects, understanding every action to come from the divine Reality. (4) Muraqabah of Annihilation of Actions — Contemplating all things in motion and at rest as belonging to the divine Reality, not ascribing them to any created being. (5) Muraqabah of Annihilation of Being — Taking oneself from the annihilation of the outer form and establishing the reality of genuine existence as the divine Reality alone. (6) Muraqabah of Surrender — Visualising oneself as lying prostrate on a smooth plain, exposed to the sun and rain, with no shelter — and no force of heat or cold able to reach one.
14. Sultan Dhikr (ذکرسلطان)
The Sultan Dhikr is performed as follows: place both thumbs upon the ears, both index fingers upon the corners of the eyes, both middle fingers upon the nostrils, clamp the teeth together and close both eyes. At every moment, maintain the remembrance of Allah and strike the entire body with the divine Name. In the imagination, picture a person of the Shaykh's spiritual station — visualise his face and features — so that through this focused attention, directed to the totality of one's being, one becomes certain that whatever the mind has indicated is the limitless encompassment of Allah Most High of the entire universe.
15. Sound of Eternity (صوت سرمد — Sawt-e-Sarrmad)
This is a blessed inner listening in which the mureed, in the state of deep contemplation, hears the eternal divine sound (sawt-e-sarrmad) — the ever-present hum of divine Being that underlies all created sound. The ears of the heart are opened to this eternal vibration through the sustained practice of dhikr and muraqabah.
16. Imagined Form (صورت متخیلہ — Surat Makhila)
The mureed forms a sustained imaginative vision of the Shaykh's face and blessed form, holding it clearly in the inner faculty of imagination. Through this sustained vision, the spiritual influence (tawajjuh) of the Shaykh is channelled into the mureed's heart, and the stations of suluk are traversed more rapidly.
17. Practice of Crystal Vessels (شغل قوارير — Shughl-e-Qawair)
In this practice, the mureed visualises the subtle centres (lata'if) of his being as luminous crystal vessels, and the divine Name as poured into each vessel like pure light filling a crystal lamp. Each latifa is thus filled and purified by the divine Name, until the entire being becomes a vessel of divine light.
18. Contemplation of the All-Seeing (تصور بصیر — Tasawwur Basir)
The mureed contemplates the divine attribute of Basir — the All-Seeing — and visualises the divine Sight encompassing every atom of creation. He then rests his own sight within the divine Sight, understanding that whatever his eyes behold is in reality beheld by the divine Eye.
19. Method of Spiritual Attention (طریقہ توجہ — Tariqat-e-Tawajjuh)
Tawajjuh is the directing of the Shaykh's spiritual energy and attention toward the mureed's heart for the purpose of transmitting the spiritual blessings and light of the silsilah. The Shaykh focuses his complete attention upon the mureed while the mureed keeps his heart open and his attention directed toward the Shaykh. This direct transmission of spiritual influence is among the most powerful means of progress on the Sufi path.
20. Shughl-e-Nusayran wa Mahmudah
This is a specialised practice in which the mureed visualises two blessed spiritual presences — Nusayran and Mahmudah — accompanying him on either side, supporting and guiding his inner journey. The specifics of this practice are taught orally by the Shaykh.
21. Solar Practice (شغل آفتاب — Shughl-e-Aftab)
At the time of sunrise, the mureed sits facing the disk of the sun as it rises above the horizon. He visualises the radiant disk and its rays as suffused with the divine Name, and contemplates the Absolute Essence as manifested in the solar light. He should understand the multiplicity of sunrays as attributes of the one luminous Essence.
22. The Three Annihilations (انفیہ ثلاثہ)
The three stages of annihilation are:
(a) Annihilation of Actions (فنائے افعال — Fana'-e-Af'al): The mureed comes to understand and experience his own actions as mere manifestations of the divine actions. He sees that his own actions, and the actions of all created beings, are in reality the actions of the divine Reality alone.
(b) Annihilation of Attributes (فنائے صفات — Fana'-e-Sifat): The mureed comes to understand and experience his own attributes — knowledge, will, power, hearing, sight, speech — as pale reflections and emanations of the corresponding divine attributes. He sees that his own attributes are not truly his, but belong to the divine Reality.
(c) Annihilation of Essence (فنائے ذات — Fana'-e-Dhat): The highest station — the mureed's own sense of separate self is utterly absorbed in the divine Essence. This is the station of complete fana' (annihilation), in which no trace of the ego-self remains and only the divine Reality subsists.
23. Cosmic Annihilation (فنائے آفاقی — Fana'-e-Afaqi)
After the three inner annihilations, the mureed's consciousness expands outward to encompass the entire cosmos. He sees all of creation — every particle, every being, every horizon — as suffused with the divine light and subsumed in the divine Essence. This is the station of cosmic fana', in which the boundaries between self and world dissolve in the ocean of divine Being.
24. The Meaning of Annihilation (Fana') and Subsistence (Baqa') (فناء و بقاء کا مفہوم)
Fana' (annihilation) does not mean physical death or the extinction of consciousness. Rather, it means the annihilation of the false self — the illusory ego that claims independent existence apart from Allah. Baqa' (subsistence) is the positive counterpart of fana': after the false self is annihilated, the wayfarer subsists in Allah, his consciousness sustained by the divine Presence. He continues to exist in the world, fulfilling his duties, but his inner life is now rooted in divine Reality rather than in the ego.
25. Wayfaring in Allah (سیر فی اللہ — Sayr fi Allah)
Sayr fi Allah (Wayfaring in Allah) is the inner journey that unfolds after the attainment of fana' and baqa'. The wayfarer now traverses the vast interior landscape of the divine Essence and attributes, moving from station to station of divine nearness, knowledge, and love. This journey has no end, for the divine Ocean is infinite.
26. Renewal of Similitudes (تجدد امثال — Tajdid-e-Amthal)
This is the spiritual reality that all of creation is renewed at every instant — the entire universe passes into non-existence and is recreated anew at each moment, like the water of a river that is constantly flowing. The wayfarer who is granted insight into Tajdid-e-Amthal perceives the creation as a continuous miracle of divine creativity, moment by moment. This insight dissolves the illusion of a fixed and static world and reveals the living, dynamic nature of divine creation.
27. Practice of Renewal of Similitudes (شغل تجدد امثال)
The corresponding practice: the mureed sits in contemplation and with certainty perceives that the entire world is going into non-existence at every instant and coming into being anew — like a fire and a flowing river. He should observe this renewal in his own body, in the world around him, and in all of creation.
28. General Sainthood (ولایت عامہ — Wilayat 'Amma)
General sainthood (Wilayat 'Amma) is the degree of proximity to Allah that is attained by whoever recites the Kalima (the testimony of faith) and enters the interior of sainthood. The path of this degree is the practice of the dhikr of 'La ilaha illa Allah' in the prescribed group manner. Its interior is always with Allah — this is its inner reality.
29. Lesser Sainthood (ولایت صغری — Wilayat Sughra)
Lesser sainthood is the degree at which the wayfarer is inwardly and outwardly with the divine Reality alone — he holds nothing in his sight but the divine Reality. This form of sainthood is the beginning of the Qadiri path and is acquired with ease and without burden. This sainthood manifests outwardly from the beginning of the Shari'ah.
30. Unity of Being (وحدت الوجود — Wahdat al-Wujud)
Wahdat al-Wujud (Unity of Being) is the doctrine that existence is one — that the Creator and the creation share a single existential ground, though they are not identical in any pantheistic sense. The creation is real only insofar as it participates in the divine Being; left to itself, it has no independent existence. This doctrine is summarised in the phrase: 'Al-Kull fi al-Kull' — 'The All is in all.' The beloved Shaykh Gulshan-e-Raz has said regarding this: 'the world of being is the inward reality of all things, and existence by pure and absolute analogy is in all things — thus is the reality of Al-Kull fi al-Kull established.' The deeper explanation of Wahdat al-Wujud in the original text proceeds through several levels of understanding — the metaphysical (relating to the concept of wujud as a technical term with two meanings: the first is the realisation of a concept in the mind, which philosophers call 'husul'; the second is the manifestation of the outer form in the world, in which sense existence is not outside the source), and the Sufi understanding that the divine Existence alone is truly real, while all created existence is the theophany (tajalli) of that single Reality.