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The Zahuri Sufi Web Site
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The ‘Urs of the patron of this web site was held in Ajmer on the 12/13th January 2004. A Fatiha was also held in
Southampton with 25 guests attending. We thank those people for attending. The Fatiha was followed by a meal
prepared by Farhana Morris assisted by some friends - we are grateful to them for the great effort they put in. There
was some Qwaal in Zahuri Manzil.
The following is a short speech about Zahurmian by Jamiluddin Morris Zahuri made for this occasion.
The 'Urs of Dr Zahurul Hassan Sharib (2004)
Dr Zahurul Hassan Sharib Gudri Shah Baba (1914-1996), there can be no doubt, was an eminent Sufi who
attained the highest spiritual states and stations that are given to only a few of the elect ones of all-mighty God.
He very rarely spoke of these but to give you an idea of his status, he did once inform me of a ‘state’ which he
had experienced - however he forbade me to speak directly of it to anyone. At a much later time I happened to
be reading the works of Hazrat Shah Wali Ullah of Delhi perhaps the greatest of the later Sufi mystics - he also
had experienced this state and said that it was perhaps the highest of all states and that Hazrat Ibrahim bin
Adhem was considered remarkable among the great Shaykhs on account of having experienced this twice. I
say this much now since I want that people should know just how great and gifted a mystic he really was.
Alongside his great spiritual gifts he was a man endowed with great personal abilities - fluent in several
languages, endowed with a formidable memory, a penetrating intellect, and a penchant for hard work - writing
over a hundred books. It is true there are quite a number of people who have written lots of books - but when a
mystic writes a book he works to a different inner standard that most writers could not comprehend.
He was also a man of perseverance and patience and asceticism. He fasted or took minimal food most of the
time. During the ‘Urs of Khawaja Saheb he would fast almost completely for ten days and nights. His daily
routine consisted of waking at five, of taking a cold bath followed by a five mile walk. Following a light
breakfast he would then disappear up the stairs to his remarkable study and library - from which he could see
the tomb of Khawaja Muinuddin Hassan Chishti. There he would read the Qur’an and books that were of
current interest, and work at his writing with unbroken concentration for many hours at a time. At about five p.m.
every evening he would go with disciples to visit the tomb of the great Sufi, Khawaja Muinuddin Hassan Chishti.
The question arises as to what is the purpose of his writing and his reading for one who has already been
gifted by God with such inner knowledge and high states that most people can't even imagine.
Let me try to answer this in part at least. His purpose I believe was to convey to others a message - that
message can be spoken of in many ways but it is essentially one. It was the same message given by the
Prophets and saints throughout history - in his case he called it ‘better living’. From the vantage point of the
saint people seem to be living in misery and impoverished circumstances. Whether or not they have outward
affluence or poverty still so many people lack the inner light that alone can make a person whole, inwardly
secure, and the recipient of grace and inner joy.
When once the mystic has secured for himself this grace, from pity, he cannot refuse to share and distribute it
to those who seek but have yet to find - or those who are not yet of aware of what they seek but know deep
inside there is an unfulfilled craving. He believed, and believed rightly, that mankind as whole was capable of
more. We all influence the society we live in, by our thoughts, our words and our deeds. The more people who
achieved personal integration and inner peace - the more mankind could fulfill its destiny.
The question that now arises is what is the nature of that ‘destiny’. This destiny as I understand it is not
concerned one way or another with an increase in material acquisitions, faster cars, more sophisticated
technology etc. - it is concerned with the real standard of living. The real ‘standard of living’ consists of those
things we cant exactly touch or see yet which we know are really there. It is concerned with those things that
inform our human relations - I mean tolerance, compassion, mutual help, a forgiving attitude, a vision of a
better way of life, mutual respect, the love of justice, social service, social harmony, charity, religious, racial,
ethnic and class tolerance.
The father and mother of these qualities is nothing else but Universal Love.
There is an English poem (that used to be learnt in school) in which Hazrat Ibrahim bin Adhem (a sufi) is
described as being visited by an angel who is writing in a book of gold 'the names of those who love the Lord’.
Ibrahim bin Adhem asks if his name is on the list. He is told it is not - then he says:
‘I pray thee then write me as one who loves his fellow men‘.
Having written the angel disappears but returns the following night and shows him the name ‘of those who love
of God has blessed - and lo Bin Adhem’s name led all the rest’.
I know that Zahurmian is not dead, like all such blessed persons he lives still, even if hidden from the sight and
audition of most - and his mission continues. May he grant us the help we need to put into practice the ideals
he lived, breathed, and practiced during his lifetime.
This year it our sincere desire to see the birth of the ‘Institute of Sufi Culture’ here in the UK - or perhaps I
should say in Europe. We look to him for the continued inspiration and assistance to make this dream of his
into a reality. That he may touch the lives of many more as he touched with such profound effect ours.
Amin.
JMZ (Southampton, January 13th 2004.)