Documents of the Right Word

asked, “If all spiritual paths called Tarîqat were derived from
Rasûlullah’s nûrs and are drops from his esrâr (secret, occult,
mysterical manners and knowledge), why are there different
paths, then, and why are they dissimilar in their sahw
(recovering from rapture), sekr (ecstasy), telwîn (rapture),
temkîn (composure), and their ravings that are called [shat-h]
and which appear to be incompatible with the Sharî’at,” our
answer is that these dissimilarities arise from idiosyncratic
dissimilarities and differences in men’s creation. It is like that of
the same kind of food or medicine which has different effects on
different people. This can also be illustrated in that the same
person’s image will be different in different mirrors. Rasûlullah
‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ alaihi wa sallam’ would communicate occult
and mystical meanings in various ways, depending on the
tendencies and talents of his As-hâb. Water takes the shape of a
container it is poured in. The same water will appear in different
shapes, depending on the container it is in. A hadîth-i-sherîf
states, “Teach everybody as much as (and in a manner) their
mental capacities will embrace.” One day, Rasûlullah ‘sall-
Allâhu ta’âlâ alaihi wa sallam’ was telling Abû Bekr ‘radiy-
Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’ about secret spiritual knowledge. When
’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’ came, he changed the discourse
a little. Some time later ’Uthmân ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’
arrived. This time the Prophet changed the way of his discourse
even more. And when Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’ came a while
later, he began to say quite different things. He made these
changes because each newcomer had a different nature and
different dispositions.
In answer to the second question; all the spiritual orders
[Tarîqat] come from Imâm-i-Ja’fer Sâdiq ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ
anh’. [1] This Imâm is attached to two different ways. The first one,
the way of his ancestors, comes from hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu
anh’. The second, which is the way of his mother’s father, comes
from Siddîq-i-ekber ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’. On account of
these two outward and spiritual Wilâyats, this great Imâm said,
“Abû Bekr has caused me to have double existences.” These two
ways possessed by the Imâm are different from each other. The
Awliyâ belonging to the Naqshbendî order were given the way
[1] Ja'fer Sâdiq is the sixth of the twelve Imâms. He is hadrat Alî's
grandson's grandson and is at the same time Mûsâ Qâzim's father. He
passed away in 148 [A.D. 765].
– 420 –