TRANSLATION of 147th LETTER
Muhammad Ma’thum Faruqi rahmatullahi alaih, who was one of the great ’Ulama [1] of India and a Murshid-i-kamil [2], states as follows in the hundred and forty-seventh letter of the first volume of his book, (Mektubat):
May Allahu ta’ala bless you and us with the honour of adapting ourselves to Muhammad ‘alaihis-salam’, who is His beloved one and the highest of Prophets! O my merciful brother! Life in the world is very short. In the hereafter, where life will be eternal and everlasting, we shall be paid for what we have done in the world. The most fortunate person in this world is the person who spends his short lifetime doing things that will do him good in the hereafter and making preparations for his long trek to the world to come. Allahu ta’ala has bestowed on you a rank, a position where by to meet people’s needs and to make them attain justice and peace. Show much gratitude for this blessing! And showing gratitude in this sense means meeting the needs of the born slaves of Allahu ta’ala. Serving the born slaves will cause you to attain high grades in this world and the next. Therefore, try to do good to the born slaves of Allahu ta’ala and to make things easy for them by treating them with a smiling face, soft words and mild behavior! This effort of yours shall make you attain love of Allahu ta’ala and high grades in the hereafter. It is stated in a hadith-i-sharif [3], “People are household, born slaves of Allahu ta’ala. He loves those who do good to His born slaves.” There are many hadith-i-sharifs telling about the virtues of and the rewards for meeting Muslims’ needs, pleasing them, and treating them tenderly, mildly, and with patience. I am writing some of them. Read carefully. If you have difficulty understanding them, ask people who are learned in Islam and truly devoted.
It is declared in a hadith-i-sharif: “(Every) Muslim is (another) Muslim’s brother. He will not be cruel to him. He will not leave him in a difficult position. If a person helps his brother, Allahu ta’ala will help him. If a person saves his brother from a difficult position, Allahu ta’ala will save him from a difficult position on the Day of Judgement. If a person pleases his brother, Allahu ta’ala will please him on the day of Judgement;” in another hadith-i-sharif:
“He who helps his brother-in-Islam will be helped by Allahu ta’ala;” in another hadith-i-sharif:
“Allahu ta’ala has created some of His born slaves for the purpose of meeting people’s needs. These people are the refuge of the distressed. These people will be safe against the torture of the Day of Judgement;” in another hadith-i¬sharif:
“Allahu ta’ala has bestowed many blessings on some of His born slaves and made them means for relieving His distressed born slaves. If they do not give these blessings to those who need them, He will take the blessings away from them and give them to others;” in another hadith-i-sharif:
“If a person helps his brother in need, he will be given thawab (reward) as if he performed i’tikaf [4] for ten years. And if a person performed i’tikaf during only one whole day for the sake of Allahu ta’ala, there would be adistance of three trenches between him and Hell. The distance between two trenches is as large as the distancebetween east and west;”
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GLOSSARY
[1] ‘ulama’: pl. of ‘alim; ‘ulama’ ar-rasihin, those learned in both zahiri and batini sciences.
[2] murshid al-kamil: great guide who has attained to perfection and is able to assist others.
[3] hadith (sharif): i) a saying of the Prophet (‘alaihi ‘s-salam).; al-Hadith ash-sharif: all the hadiths as a whole; ii) ‘ilm al-hadith; iii) Books of the hadith ash-sharif. iv) Al-hadith al-qudsi, as-sahih, al-hasan: kinds of hadiths (for which, see Endless Bliss, II).
[4] i’tikaf: retreat, religious seclusion during Ramadan.
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