By Hazrat Ruknuddin Ala-ud-Daula Samnani, [d. 21st Rajab, 732 Hijri] may God sanctify his secret!
The author of the Firmest Bond, on his journey to Sufism, excerpted from the Mirror of Secrets, a 10th CE book:-
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When I left the Medressa[Quranic school] I was 15 years old. For ten years I lived without covetousness and considered fancy clothes & worldly goods to be distractions. Whatever I had learned of the intellectual & the traditional sciences, that was it. Till, by the Grace of God, when Shah Arghavan, who was from the lineage of Chengis Khan, came with his army to join with the army of Sultan Ahmed at Qazvin, so at that time this poor soul [Hzt. Samnani] was in that army, aged 24. This was in 683 Hijri. In youthful enthusiasm I wished to charge my steed into the midst of the enemy, but at that very moment the Veil was lifted and I was left rapt & bewildered sitting on my horse, even till the battle was over and the hosts had left. At that moment my heart went cold to all worldly desires.
AT any rate, I resigned from the army of Shah Arghavan, at that time I had some inherited money and goods, which I distributed after giving what was due to my family, and plunged into trying to acquire the Spiritual sciences, and the Path as delineated by Hazrat Shaykh Abu Talib Makki in Qut al Qulub [The Sustenance of the Hearts, an early Sufi classic]. This book I made compulsory upon myself.
Despite God's infinite grace, and my Remembrance, Renunciation and other practices, once Satan whispered in my heart, and brought forth many suspicions. I however removed these doubts through an effort of Will. After this, Satan began to visit often.
He said, there have been 124,000 Messengers from God. Do you know who is best for you to follow? Because all of them have a different Sharia [law].
Now I threw myself into more worship and striving, so that the answer to Satan would arise from my inner soul [rather than mind]. My heart called out to me, do not trust the Devil's deception and his whisperings, and know that all the Prophetic Ways are based on those of seven Prophets, who are exalted above the others. They are, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and the leader of Mankind, the pride of creation, Muhammad, peace be upon them all. All these Prophets called their nations to their Sharia, which was established at that time by Divine Decree. Now, it is compulsory for you top follow that person, whose teachings are simplest, whose purity is complete and most beautiful, whose worship is most perfect and concise, and the reward thereof greatest. Hence I looked back on the past nations, till I settled on this Middle Nation of Muhammad peace be upon him, which God has called the Best of Nations. So my Nafs was tamed and at that moment I was bestowed the Vision of the Reality of Faith with my inner eye.
But once again Satan whispered in my heart, that Rasulallah [sws] has said that soon my nation shall split into 73 sects, but only one of those sects shall be saved, and the others shall go to Hell. Now this Hadith is true, and every sect claims it is the saved sect. Do you really know which sect is true so that your submission and your worship may be according to that sect's beliefs? And that your actions may be according to it's teachings? Because this is what Rationality & Revelation demand.
After this whispering of Satan I once more humbly pleaded with God to please unveil the Truth to me so I could act accordingly. By the Grace of God it was revealed to me that "the nation of Muhammad [peace be upon him] despite the multitude of sects, can be classified into seven basic groups. These are, The believers in Determinism, Free-will, Immanence, Transcendence, and the Khariji, Rafizi [Shia] and the Sunni.
So follow that group which avoids extremes and blame."
When I reflected upon these sects I found all of them given to extremes & blame. The Determinists exaggerated Unity and the Free-Will crowd limited it. Believers in Transcendence were excessive [in divorcing the Creator from His creation] while believers in Immanence were disrespected the Divine Attributes. The Kharijis were foolish & dishonest in the matter of the Prophet's family, because God Himself has praised this family & purified it, and He has commanded that we love this family.
And the Rafizis [Shia] I saw were involved in the madness of criticizing some wives of the Prophet, despite God praising them in several verses in the Qur'an and the Prophet's saying "learn religion from my House."
And the Rafizis due to ignorance & idiocy also criticize the Companions, even tho' they are praised on several occasions in the Qur'an!
However, I found that the Ahl e Sunna Wa'l Jamaat [Sunni], all 4 schools, compared to all the other sects, were far closer to following the Prophet, peace be upon him & the Companions. I found their every action & statement according to Reason & Revelation. So I ignored all the other 6 sects.
However I saw that even the Sunnis backbiting each other, and running down the other Imams. So the followers of Imam Shafi'i & Imam Abu Hanifa criticize one another... when I directed a Gaze [spiritually] on the matter I found both Imams to be correct in their statements, but their followers prejudiced.
So when I saw that all 4 Imams of the Sunnis were according to the Qur'an & Traditions [hadith] I leant towards following them. But though schools' arguments & disagreements & biases worried my soul, still I found their way straighter & closer than the others, and I thought I'd stay alone as one's own company is better than bad company.
WHICH SECT IS THE SAVED SECT
But I had hopes of God that I would not be left alone, so I waited patiently. Till one day when God out of His Infinite Mercy lifted the veil from my heart. In the Unseen Realm by way of Kashf, I saw a group of Purified Ones, captivating was their perfume of Love & life-enhancing was their vision.
When I greeted them with 'salam' they returned the better greeting, and graciously replied to this poor man [Hzt Samnani]. I asked them, "Please tell me, who are you? For your faces carry the marks of the Righteous."
They replied, "We are servants of God, and we follow three conditions: organization, worship & purity. Our way is the Faith of Muhammad and the nation of Abraham. Our path & mazhab is that we avoid extremes & blame, and as far as we can go in this, we make our religion; and we do not call anyone a disbeliever who recites the Muslim creed, nor the one who prays in the direction of the Ka'aba."
When I asked them about the 4 Imams, i.e. Abu Hanifa, Shafi'i, Malik, Ahmad bin Hanbal, they praised their sayings and their law and said thanks were due to these 4 for their efforts.
Therefore I was really amazed at this perfected group's and I asked them as to who & where they were.
They said, "Our people are called Sufis, and we have seven levels:
1. Those who Seek طالبین
2. Those who Intend مریدین
3. Those who Travel سالکین
4. Those who Walk سائرین
5. Those who Fly طائرین
6. Those who are United with God واسلین [i.e. those at Fana]
7. Those who are the Poles of Guidance. قطب ارشاد [i.e. those at Baqa]
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[Hazrat Samnani became a disciple of Hazrat Nuruddin Abdur Rahman al-Asfarani, who is from the lineage of Hazrat Najmuddin Kubra]
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