Seadet-i Ebediyye - Endless Bliss Third Fascicle

49 — SECOND VOLUME, 13th LETTER
This letter was written to Mirzâ Shamsuddîn. It answers his
letter and explains the states of savants of zâhîr, of men of
Tasawwuf, and of those distinguished savants who have reached
perfection in knowledge and who are the inheritors of Prophets:
Hamd be to Allâhu ta’âlâ and blessings and salâm be upon His
Prophets! I send my salâm to you and to those who are on the right
way. My dear brother Shaikh Muhammad Tâhir has delivered the
valuable letter you sent so kindly. We have been pleased to read it.
You say that you have been and will be reading my letters of
advice in Maktûbât until we see each other. My Dear Sir! Giving
advice is our primary duty in our religion and is to adapt ourselves
to the highest of Prophets ‘’alaihimu-s-salawâtu wa-t-teslîmât’.
What the savants obtain of the religion and their following
Rasûlullah is first their correcting their belief. Next comes their
learning the teachings of the Ahkâm-i-islâmiyya and practising
what they have learned. And what the men of Tasawwuf obtain is
hâls, wajds, pieces of the science of Tasawwuf and ma’rifats,
together with those which are attained by the savants. And as for
what the ’Ulamâ-i râsikhîn obtain of the religion who have been
blessed with the glad tidings that they are Prophets’ inheritors,
along with the fact that they have been blessed with the lot of
obtaining the total sum of what the savants of the religion and the
men of Tasawwuf have obtained, they have been blessed with
many a piece of secret and subtle knowledge. These pieces of
secret and subtle knowledge are indicated by the concealed and
covered âyats in the Qur’ân, which are called mutashâbihât. They
have been explained by means of ta’wîl. [The savants of Ahl assunnat
have, by way of ta’wîl, explained the âyat-i-kerîmas that
have not been stated clearly, i.e. âyats with ambiguous meanings.
‘Ta’wîl’ means to make a choice among the various meanings of a
word and give preference to the one that is agreeable with Islam.]
It is these superiors with râsikh (perfect) knowledge who adapt
themselves to Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ perfectly.
These only are the inheritors of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam’. Since they adapt themselves to Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam’ precisely, and being Prophets’ inheritors, they
get a share from the blessings bestowed upon Prophets. They, too,
are made to hear secret knowledge peculiar to those great people.
They, therefore, have been honoured with the glad tidings: “The
savants of my Ummat are like the Prophets of the sons of Isrâil.”
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