Divine Remembrance - Foreword

Foreword

Tags: Divine Remembrance, Dhikr, `Ibadat

O Lord of honour! I am a very humble slave of your messenger Muhammad (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) and of his pure progeny, the guiding Imams (May peace be through them). Therefore, through the noble relation of this pure family and by means of this holy lineage, aid me and grant me help and luminous guidance so that my every intention, speech and action accords with Your pleasure.

My spiritual brothers and sisters! May the Lord of the world illumine your hearts forever with the light of recognition (ma`rifat)! In view of the need of success in remembrance and worship (dhikr-u `ibadat) and spiritual progress, it was discussed in a circle of friends that a useful book pertaining to the subject of Divine remembrance (dhikr-i Ilahi) should be written, which would deal with the issues related to this subject. That is, there was a need for the satisfactory solution to the following questions:

How may one achieve success in dhikr? Why is one distracted while engaged in `ibadat? Why do various types of worldly thoughts occur immediately at the beginning of the dhikr of God, despite the fact that we do not wish this to be the case? etc., etc.

Thus a book, the need of which was felt with great intensity, has been completed and is now in front of you by the grace and favour of God, the Knowing, the Wise and by the blessings of the guidance of Hazrat-i Muhammad (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny) and his progeny. I was in extreme need of Divine help to complete this book as I am in need of it also during the present and in the future. I pray that may God, through His mercy, place such blessings in this book that faithful readers may achieve spiritual and knowledge inspired pleasure and happiness. Otherwise who am I and what is my effort?

The subject of dhikr-i Ilahi is as lofty and exalted as it is delicate and difficult. Therefore, the responsibility of writing something on this subject proves to be a heavy burden. Notwithstanding my circumstances, I am extremely grateful to my kind and affectionate Lord for transforming all my difficulties into facilities by bestowing upon me the great favour of darwishi. This is the kindness of this holy and miraculous Being.

In this connection, I deem it necessary to advise those students who will read this book that they should study it extremely carefully. They should study it, not only once but they should study it deeply several times and reflect upon it and understand it and put it into practice. Some of my students may pose the question that having read this book once or twice and understanding its contents, what else remains in this book to require studying it again and again?

The answers to the above question are:-

This book is on the subject of dhikr-i Ilahi. It contains instructions pertaining to dhikr-i Ilahi. In order to instil these, constant study and a continuous struggle are extremely necessary.
This book contains the remedy for ethical and spiritual diseases, and thus it is a kind of physician. It is necessary, therefore, to have recourse to this kind physician until the patient (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny)s health is completely restored.
This book is a mirror of spirit and spirituality and therefore, mu (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny)mins should look at it again and again to examine whether the lustre and beauty of their soul (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny)s countenance is increasing or declining.
The topics covered in this book include: the realisation of [the importance of] Divine remembrance, its course, important matters relating to it, preparation for it, repentance for our weaknesses in it and the determination to progress in it being aware of the possibility of progress in it. All these are included in dhikr, therefore, the book should be studied repeatedly.
There are several occasions to have a glimpse of given knowledge (`ilm-i ladunni). One of them is that the mu (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny)mins should create love for religious knowledge in themselves and in order to do so, they should repeatedly study a religious book which contains sublime purports. Then all of a sudden they will begin to experience spiritual grace and a current of joy will run through their hearts, particularly when they reflect seriously on the meaning and wisdom of a comprehensive word.
Most people complain that they perform Divine remembrance and spiritual exercise (dhikr-u riyazat) very well, but nonetheless they are unable to achieve any significant spiritual progress. Generally, the reason for this [failure] is that they are unaware of the science of Divine remembrance and worship; they do not struggle to acquire knowledge, that is, reflect upon religious books in order to reach the essence of their wisdom. This spiritual exercise should be particularly carried out upon such a book which itself pertains to the subject of Divine remembrance and worship.
Almost everyone accepts the saying “Die before death.” However, I think very few people understand its meaning, for it is quite complicated. Its meaning is that in this world, life is of two kinds: Ordinary life which means to live in the carnal soul (nafs-i ammarah) and the special life, which means to live in the soul of faith (ruhu (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny)l-iman). However, it is extremely difficult in practice to defeat the tyrannical enemy, the carnal soul (nafs-i ammarah) only by means of `ibadat, until true mu (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny)mins equip themselves with the weapons of the knowledge of reality (`ilm-i haqiqat). In this [struggle against the carnal soul] there is the specific need for such a science, which has been prepared for this purpose.
No action in the world can be accomplished only by the body without the soul or by the soul without the body. Similarly, in religion, action stands for the body and knowledge for the soul. Therefore, it should be known that worship is action and is in the status of a body which needs the soul of knowledge and wisdom. Their union is necessary in order to accomplish the religious purpose of mu (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny)mins.
In addition to the above-mentioned needs, one further reason necessitating constant reference to this book is that in numerous places references are made to Qur (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny)anic wisdom pertaining to Divine remembrance and worship. Thus, if in addition to worship (`ibadat-u bandagi), pure mu (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny)mins will continue to study this book, it is more likely that through the light of these references they will be able to understand clearly and thoroughly the shortcomings of their worship (`ibadat), which they were unable to understand previously.

I am sure that if the spiritual help of God, the Prophet and the Imam of the time prevails, this book will be of great interest to the readers, and mu (May Allah send blessings and peace through him and his progeny)mins will gain the benefits of knowledge and spirituality through it. This is the supreme and the most sublime of purposes of writing this book. If this materializes as I strongly hope, I will perform the prostration of thanksgiving once again before the Lord of the universe with utmost submission and humility. As for myself and all my works, those which have been completed and those which are yet incomplete, are extremely in need of His mercy.

This book is called Dhikr-i Ilahi (Divine Remembrance), that is, it is named after its subject. It is divided into six chapters and each chapter is divided into many topics so that there should not be any confusion and complication in understanding the meanings and implications of the subject, and through the topics, each implication should be understood distinctly.

In order to make the book easily understandable an attempt has been made to keep the style of writing simple and smooth, devoid of mannerisms of every kind of verbosity and avoiding unnecessarily difficult words, so that the essence of the meaning should not be obscure and inaccessible to the readers and they can easily benefit from the realities and the recognitions of the book.

It was under consideration to write the second part of this book Dhikr-i Ilahi, but since the subject-matter of this part is mainly related to its results and consequences and the marvels and wonders of the spirit and spirituality, therefore, the writing of the second part has been delayed until it can be estimated from the effects of the first part to what extent spiritual delicacies can be digested.

At this point, I remember all those spiritual brothers and sisters who will read or listen to this book and recall those students who support me for my service of knowledge, whether their encouragement is in the form of kind prayers, good thoughts and bright ideas or in the form of material words or deeds. In any case, I am deeply grateful to them for their various kinds of encouragement and I pray as a darwish that may God, the Great and Exalted, grant them the wealth of felicity of both worlds and may the pleasure and peace of true knowledge be their lot, amin!

For knowledge,
Servant of the Jama`at,
Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai
22-2-1976.

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