In my opinion, an excellent work, expansive in scope this book is a major authoritative work on Hazrat Sultan Bahu RA, which is both timely and timeless. The Sufi tradition started with the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (May God bless and cherish him), for he was the perfect man and endowed with the direct knowledge and wisdom of God. Thus he is the first link in the spiritual chain (silsila) of Islamic mysticism. The Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (May God bless and cherish him) in turn transferred this divine wisdom and esoteric knowledge to Hazrat Ali Ibne Abi Talib, his cousin and son in law, the fourth Caliph of Islam. The Prophet (May God bless and cherish him) thus initiated Hazrat Ali (May God be pleased with him) in his path and invested him with a cloak (khirqa). Hazrat Ali (May God be pleased with him) passed this divine knowledge (Ilm e Ludani) to his successors, and it is through them that all the chains of affiliations (silsilas) started and continue until this day. The love of the Holy Prophet (May God bless and cherish him) and his family and allegiance to his household is widespread among faithful Muslims. Hazrat Ali, commander of the believers (May God be pleased with him), is regarded universally both by Sunni and Shia Sufis masters as the most important link in the spiritual chain leading all those who practice the Sufi way back to the fountainhead of all light and blessings, the Prophet Muhammad (May God bless and cherish him). The Qaderi Sufi order is thought to be the oldest and first Sufi silsila, founded after one of the most celebrated and world renowned saint of all times, Hazrat Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani (May God be pleased with him). He is considered by the majority of Awliya (saints)—especially the founders of the Suharwardiya, Chishtiya, and Naqshbandiya orders –to be the “seal of saints”, just as the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (May God bless and cherish him) was the “seal of prophets.” Sultan ul Arifin (King of Gnostics) Hazrat Sultan Bahu is the second most venerated saint after Syed Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani—in the Qaderi Sufi order. He was also a great Sufi poet and a prolific writer both in Persian and Punjabi languages. He has written extensively in Persian, probably more than one hundred forty book on Islamic mysticism. He has described Sufi teachings in great detail, explaining step by step all the stages, stations, and states a seeker must encounter on the path. His Punjabi Abyats (verses) have been highly acclaimed throughout the Indo-Pakistan sub-continent. Ever since they were written they have held the position of sacred spiritual verses. His Persian verses are formally and technically correct but because they were born out of living and often overwhelming experience, they are different in style from the refined pearl like verses of Hafiz and Rumi, hence they contain words and ideas that one rarely finds anywhere else. As a poet he sang the love of God in verses of great beauty, it is because his soul had itself become a song of God. The very heart of the Sufi tradition is Ishq (Love), no other word adequately captures the quest for transformation that lies at the center of his teachings. Hazrat Sultan Bahu (May God sanctify his secret) claims with prudence that his treatises are heavenly revelations inspired by the Mighty Lord. Therefore, his books act as a living murshid (guide) for seekers until this day. Through his books he taught seekers the science of meditation on God, by which union with God can be realized. His doctrine of meditation, Tasawur e Isme Dhat (meditation on the supreme name of Allah) is unique, it gives a definite meditation technique for step by step ascension to the presence of God. Risala Ruhi Sharif (The Book of soul) was inspired to Hazrat Sultan Bahu RA while he was in a rapturous ecstasy in a state of absolute union. This booklet is an exquisite explanation of the the famous Hadith Qudsi, “I was a hidden treasure.” It has the power to purify the soul and remove the adulteration, written with great profundity and remarkable eloquence. This book provides guidance to seekers and quenches the thirst in the heart of those fallen short. By constant recitation of this risala the seeker will enter into the spirit and gain dignity. Hazrat Sultan Bahu Ra states, “By the exaltation of the exalted this booklet will take you to the street of Haqiqah and you will witness the Merciful Lord in your secret core.” Sultan Bahu’s teachings represent Sufism in its pure and pristine form guiding seekers to the ultimate truth, real source of love, and the reality of Allah. Hazrat Sultan Bahu discusses Sufism as a whole using the well-known terms shariah, tariqah and haqiqah. The shariah is the broad path (main road) that designates the religious law, the tariqah is the narrow path designating efforts exerted to achieve the realization of the Reality, the haqiqah, which is God Himself. He sometimes contrasts shariah with tariqah, sometimes with haqiqah, and on occasions he provides a three tier structure, with haqiqah as the final goal of the shariah and tariqah understood as complimentary paths. Shariah and tariqah are natural consequences of the fact that Quran presents the religion of Islam as a road leading to Allah Like any road it has stages. Travelling from here to Allah is a journey back home and should not be quite easy. Sufis describe stages that must be traversed in order to reach the haqiqah. The architype of the road is provided by the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad’s (May God bless and cherish him) night journey (Isra) more commonly called miraj or ladder by which he climbed to God and returned to his community. His works loom large on the spiritual horizon as the teachings of Qaderi Sufi order. In seeking to understand his life and works, we must remember that he was part of a living mystical and religious tradition that antedated him by centuries. The Islamic tradition he was born into was based on the Quranic revelation on one hand, and on the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (May God bless and cherish him) on the other. They were both the foundation of the Islamic religion that Sultan Bahu RA inherited from his illustrious parents. The Sufi teachings of Hazrat Sultan Bahu RA are therefore based on the divine law (Shariah) which he taught to the inner circle of his disciples and who could understand them some four hundred years ago. Today, through the work of Muhammad Zubair they are available to all seekers in simple Urdu language. Zubair has beautifully interpreted and explained the cosmic teachings of Hazrat Sultan Bahu RA in one volume. He brings to light the gist of Sufi teachings drawing upon a thousand pages of Sultan Bahu’s works to depict the rich prose at the center of Islamic thought. He has selected and rearranged Hazrat Sultan Bahu’s main teachings and presented them in an orderly fashion, yet in his own style. This is the most accessible work in Urdu language on one of the greatest Sufi poet of the sub-continent, providing a survey of the basic Sufi and Islamic doctrine of God and the world. Undoubtedly, this masterpiece is the finest scholarly study of Sufism and a profound addition to our understanding of Hazrat Sultan Bahu’s thought and teachings.

Dr. Faqir Ahmad Javid sarwari Qaderi
Keeper of the carpet prayer
Noori Darbar, Kulachi Sharif
Dera Ismail Khan
8-Aug-19