‫دورية‬

DAWRIYA
KEEPING COMPANY
WITH A SAINT

BY
NABIL IBRAHIM
 dawriya

The Cyprus Library

Centre for the Registration of Books and Serials
documents the following edition

isbn 978–9963–40–124–6

Editor
Karima S perling

We wish to thank Sheikh Bahauddin

for his generous sponsorship of this publication.

First edition 2016

isbn 978–9963–40–124–6

© copyright
by Spohr Publishers Limited, Lympia/Nikosia, Cyprus.
[www.spohr-publishers.com]
All rights reserved.
Printing: Alföldi Printing House,
Hungary.

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 keeping company with a saint

t a b l e o f c o nt e nt s

Editor’s Preface ................................................................ 9

Thanks .......................................................................... 11

1. My Deep Condolences .................................................. 13

2. First Jum‘a ............................................................... 14
3. The Master Is Alive .................................................. 15
4. Sacred Rain ................................................................ 16
5. The Speed of Saints .................................................... 17
6. The Inheritance of Saints ............................................ 18
7. Memo ......................................................................... 19
8. Mawlana’s Door Is Open and Strong ............................ 21
9. Unity in Multiplicity .................................................. 22
10. Everyday He Is In a Different Manifestation .................... 23
11. The Magnet Is Back in the Center ............................... 25
12. The True Home ........................................................ 26
13. Translating for Mawlana’s Eyes .................................. 28
14. The Book of Animals .................................................. 30
15. The Man of Allah in the Month of Allah ...................... 32
16. Allah Is Now as He Always Was ................................. 34
17. Scholars Carry the Qur’an,
the Qur’an Carries the Saints ...................................... 35
18. Give ......................................................................... 37
19. To Be Known by Your Sheikh .................................... 39
20. We Have Endless Means to Reach the Murids .............. 41
21. Mawlana Can Convince All of the People
All of the Time .......................................................... 43

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22. Placing Everything in Its Rightful Place ...................... 47

23. The Circle of Training Is Complete ............................. 49
24. Saintly Thieves ......................................................... 51
25. The Book of Now and the Book of Yesterday ............... 53
26. Mawlana’s Sense of Humor ......................................... 55
27. The Sign of the Presence of the Sultan ......................... 58
28. Rivers ....................................................................... 60
29. Witnessing Mawlana .................................................. 63
30. Manners with the Sheikh ............................................ 65
31. Who Is Your Sheikh? .................................................. 67
32. Iyyaka na‘budu wa iyyaka nasta‘in (1:5) ...................... 69
33. The Heart of Qur’an, a Bride, and a Child ................... 72
34. The Memory of the Sultan .......................................... 75
35. Don’t Complain ......................................................... 77
36. The Sheikh Will Test You .......................................... 81
37. Mawlana’s Advice ...................................................... 83
38. The Last Dawriya ...................................................... 86
39. Traveling in Search of the Heart,
the Master, the Sheikh, the Beloved ............................ 88
40. ‘Umra, Mecca – What I Could See ............................... 89
41. Search for the Sheikh ................................................. 91
42. Blessed Place, People, and Actions ............................... 93
43. Do Not Interfere in the Flow of Events – Be a Witness . 95
44. Intentions and Choices ............................................... 97
45. Identity – “Ahlu Badr” ............................................. 100
46. Saintly Physical Presence .......................................... 103
47. The White Hand Behind the Curtain ......................... 105
48. When Death Becomes Beloved .................................. 106
49. Beware of the Braying of Your Donkey ...................... 109
50. The Importance of Marriage ..................................... 112
51. Allah Granted Me Best Manners ............................... 114

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52. The Sultan Never Takes Back

What Once He Has Granted ....................................... 117
53. The Nature of Religion ............................................ 122
54. Tolerating Opposition ............................................. 124
55. The Station of Truth ............................................... 128
56. Knowing the Many Faces of You ............................... 132
57. The Need for a Living Sheikh ................................... 138
58. Today There Was a Gate with a Lock on It,
But Around It All Was Open! .................................... 141
59. The Description of a Murshid ................................... 142
60. The Best Arrangement Is Not to Arrange .................. 148

[April 21, 2014] ................................................................ 152

[May 2, 2014] .................................................................. 153
[May 2, 2014] ................................................................ 154
[May 5, 2014] ................................................................ 154
[May 6, 2014] ................................................................ 155

Glossary ........................................................................ 157

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 EDITOR’S PREFACE
Mawlana Sheikh Nazim Al-Haqqani moved from this world to the
next on Wednesday the 7th of May, 2014, the 8th of Rajab, 1435
AH. This event left most of us simply speechless, struck dumb,
stunned and tearless, in the depths of our loss. Nabil, however,
found the voice to speak, the words to express something of the
love and gratitude we all feel for an incomparable Master. And
beyond that, he had some really practical advice on how we can
adjust to our new reality, advice about the right attitude with
which to face the future. To put it simply, the Sheikh is not dead,
keep your eyes on the Sheikh.
Nabil’s memories, his understandings are, of course, inimitably
his. When you read these articles you see the world through his
eyes. This is Nabil’s picture of a Saint whose greatest miracle
was being able to be everything to everyone. However percep-
tive, this is only a piece of the puzzle to which each one of us is
in possession of a different piece. But the love he so powerfully
gives voice to, is ours, all of ours, the same.
In the days following Mawlana’s passing, Nabil composed
these short articles as emails, which he sent out to those he
thought would appreciate them. They brought so much comfort
and clarity to the recipients that he was persuaded to publish
them for a wider audience. So he arranged for the editing and
for the publishing in a strangely insistent way that we didn’t
understand.

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Then on Friday March 20, 2015 Nabil died suddenly from un-
known causes in his mother’s home in Cairo, 317 days after his
beloved Master.

We are left with this book – a tribute both to the Master and to
the murid.

Karima Sperling
5th of Sha‘bân, 1436, Lefke, Cyprus

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keeping company with a saint

Thanks to:

Karima Sperling
Radhia Shukrullah
Momin Abdulwahab
Sanaa Makhlouf
 1.
MY DEEP CONDOLENCES
As-salamu ‘alaykum wa rahmat Allahi wa barakatuhu.

[May 8, 2014] My deep condolences to everyone, to

everything, to all Mawlana’s honored and blessed family first,
and to all Mankind and Jinn. My condolences to every human,
every creature, to all the created world. My condolences to the
earth that was honored to carry on its back such a Master, whose
like was never created before nor will be again until the Judgment
Day. My condolences to everything Mawlana mentioned, praised,
and glorified. My condolences to every atom he spoke about in
his sohba, or looked at and greeted. My condolences to the sun
that he greeted on every car ride. My condolences to the moon
that he looked at and greeted with every new Arabic month. To
all that he counted, and he contained all – my condolences.
Mawlana once said: “First the sheikh must learn, know, and
recognize every atom created in the universe, then with this
knowledge he approaches to know his Lord.” My condolences
to all that he knew, and he knew all by name, in their language,
and in their reality and manifestation. Out of adab I don’t dare to
go beyond this but my condolences to the sky, the heavens, and
beyond, the Diwan ar-Rasul and the Divine Presence.
My humble love and high respect to my Master where he is
now, and he is present, alive. I ask his forgiveness and I ask pardon
from everyone for everything. I thank him first, but thank my
Lord and His beloved Prophet for honoring me with the oppor-
tunity to serve such a perfect and complete lion of the supreme
guiding sheikhs.

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I miss you, my Sheikh. I miss kissing your hand. I miss you

hitting my head ... I miss your voice calling ... Allah bless your
sacred soul.

2.
FIRST JUM‘A
[May 9, 2014] Tomorrow is the first Jum‘a after the pass-
ing away of Mawlana. In Egypt, the last Friday of the month of
Ramadan is called ‘the sad Friday’.
Well, there is not a Friday sadder than tomorrow. Mawlana
used to pray Jum‘a sitting outside on the left of the dergah. Next
to him, like his dog, I was. Now, he is there alone in his maqam.
I looked today from the same spot we used to pray Jum‘a. It was
raining all day. He used to look at the garden while sitting there.
In front of him is the palm tree, the same palm tree he refused to
remove when they expanded the mosque a few years ago.
He said, “This is a date-giving palm, we should keep it alive.
If we relocate it, it will die.” The tree is still there as a witness
to his mercy, love for all creatures, and his care, and attention. I
also saw the elderflower tree. He used to ask to collect its flowers
to make a tea for his lungs. It is now full of flowers. On the side
there is a tree with flowers that look like little golden balls. He
asked for it to be planted, as he liked its look and smell very much.
Then there is the spiral stair next to the palm tree. He ordered
it to be built to be used as a minaret to call the adhan. Many
adhans were called on that spiral stair ... O my Master, the gar-
den today was wet. They think it’s due to rain. But the rain only
came to cover the tears of all the trees missing seeing you every
Friday. Tomorrow I also will miss you. There is not enough rain
to cover my tears.

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3.
THE MASTER IS ALIVE
[May 10, 2014] Mawlana after Jum‘a prayer used to ask
me to turn his wheelchair to watch the murids inside the mosque
through the window. Today, I prayed in the same place that is now
his maqam. I stood to watch, from the same window, the murids
greeting Sheikh Mehmet and Sheikh Bahauddin, one by one. From
every corner of the world they came. Not one resembles the other:
every color, every race, every profession, every background – every
social, economic and education level. I was amazed.
How, from where, from when, did Mawlana collect them all?
Mawlana spent his life traveling to their countries. He was Imam
in prayers for every one of them. He spoke a few words of the
language of each one of them. He gave them association, trained
each one, ate their food, saved them from danger, and planted the
seed of faith in their hearts.
His life was to serve, guide, and teach every one of them.
Therefore, I saw the result of Mawlana’s life in them. It is as if
we have a puzzle, each piece is one murid. If you connect all the
pieces together, the full puzzle displays Mawlana himself. A piece
may be African, or American, angry one, smart one, hardworking,
lazy, rich, poor, tall, short, fat, merciful, criminal – together they
are his chosen people.
That’s why the pillar of this tariqa Shah Naqshband said:
“Goodness is in the gathering.” The presence and manifestation
of the sheikh is found among them. To see them is to realize his
presence. The Master is alive in each one’s heart. This took the
sorrow from my heart, for he is alive. I thank them all and ask
their forgiveness.

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4.
SACRED RAIN
[May 11, 2014] This year was extremely dry, no rain. We
asked Mawlana two months ago if we should pray for the rain like
we normally do in dry winters but he said: “No.” Normally we
collect 1000 pebbles from a clean seashore and we recite a verse
from the Qur’an 70 times on each pebble:
ُ ِّ ‫﴿ و َه ُو َ ال َ ّذِى يُنَز‬
ْ ‫ل الغ َيثَ م ِن بَعْدِ م َا قَنَط ُوا‬

﴾ ُ ‫و َيَنشُر ُ رَحْمَت َه ُ و َه ُو َ الو َل ِ ُيّ الَحِميد‬

wa huwa lladhî yunazzilu l-ghaitha min ba‘di mâ qana†û
wa yanshuru raªmatahu wa huwa l-waliyyu l-ªamîd (42:28)
And it is He who sends down rain after (men) have lost all
hope, and unfolds His grace: for He alone is the Protector and
the One to whom all praise is due.

Afterwards we place them all in a sack and throw it in the sea.

Placing such blessed pebbles, carrying the glorification of the sa-
cred verse from the Holy Qur’an, under water brings rain. Well,
we didn’t and the rainy season finished long ago. Occasionally
April may be witness to delayed light showers. Now what do you
think will happen when the blessed body of Mawlana is placed
under the earth, carrying not only the truth, the wisdom, and the
meanings of the complete Qur’an, but also the sunnatu sh-sharifa,
and much more?
The rain did not stop for five days in the month of May. This
is not an ordinary occurrence. It is Mawlana’s miracle, for he is
alive.

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5.
THE SPEED OF SAINTS
[May 12, 2014] On Wednesday, the 7th of May, they
placed Mawlana’s blessed body inside the very simple burial
car, hearse. It took off from Lefkoşa heading to Lefke. Behind
it were Hajji Bahauddin in his Mercedes Jeep and several other
strong and speedy vehicles. No one was able to keep up with
Mawlana’s car. Being inside it, he managed to arrive in Lefke
at least 25 minutes before anyone else, including the 8 cylinder,
4000cc, 4x4 Mercedes.
This reminded me of when we were in Damascus years ago,
going from Ranqus (100km north of Damascus city center),
heading to the Omayyad mosque for Friday prayer. As always,
Mawlana was ready to go only half an hour before the Jum‘a
adhan. Normally it requires at least one and a half hours to cover
that distance by car. When we entered the car, Mawlana recited,

‫بسم ال� ل�ه على قلبي حتى يروى‬

‫بسم ال� ل�ه على ركبي حتى تقوى‬
‫بسم ال� ل�ه على الأرض حتى تطوى‬
bismi llâhi ‘alâ qalbî ªattâ yurwâ
Bismi llâh on my heart till it is satisfied.
bismi llâhi ‘alâ rakbî ªattâ taqwâ
Bismi llâh on my knees till they are strong.
bismi llâhi ‘alâ l-ar¡i ªattâ tu†wâ
Bismi llâh on earth till it is folded
(far distances become near).

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