Allahum'ma lakal hamdu wa' lakal shukr
(
Praise and thankfulness be to God).
About the
Author
Born Khwaja Shamsuddin Ansari on
October 17,
1927 in Siharanpur,
U.P.,
India into a radical
Sunni cleric household; young
Shamsuddin saw firsthand the superficiality of the legalistic outward
religion.
Growing up he had several encounters that provoked his interests in the esoteric religion. At
the young age of twenty, he set out on the quest of finding a true murshid (
Sufi Master). That nine-year
journey took him from his native city to places like the
Patiala State, India and then to
Lahore and then
to
Sadiqabad,
Pakistan. Finally in
Karachi, he arrived at the doorsteps of the
Syed Muhammad Azeem
a.k.a.
Qalandar Baba Awliya (1896-1979), founder of the
Sufi Order of Azeemia and grandson of the
famous
Indian Sufi,
Baba Tajuddin of Nagpur (1852?-1929).
The next fourteen years under his tutelage saw the transformation of this undereducated and
functionally illiterate person into the author of around a dozen books and several articles on
parapsychology, telepathy, and spirituality. In 1962, Shaykh Azeemi started writing articles on spirituality
in various
Pakistani newspapers and magazines. The most famous of them was his advice
column Roohani Daak, in
Urdu Daily Jung.
People from all walks of life and faith would write to him for his advice on their problems. On average, Shaykh Azeemi received 3,
000 nails it day. Because of its huge success, a monthly magazine Roohani Digest was launched in 1978. Shaykh Azeemi is the
Editor in Chief of the magazine, which now has its own website www.roohanidigest.com. In
1979 before his physical death, Qalandar Baba Awliya designated
Shaykh Azeemi as the Patriarch of the Sufi Order of Azeemia
What sets this Sufi Order apart from most of the other
Orders is that it is available to people
from all the faiths. Hence, it number of Shaykh Azeemi's students are Hindus, Christians and
Zoroastrian as well as members of other faiths. The main headquarters of the Sufi Order of Azeemia
is its convent (khungah) at
Surjani Town, subdivision of Karachi, where Shaykh Azeemi still
receives and gives free advice to people daily. The convent holds weekly Muragaha sessions as well
as training classes and hangar
..
Since
2001, Shaykh Azeemi has delegated most of his editorial responsibilities to his eldest son
and shaykh-designate Mr. Waqar Yousuf Azeemi. Mr. Waqar Yousuf Azeemi, himself an author, was
recently elected the Finance-Secretary of the prestigious All-Pakistan Newspaper
Society (
APNS), an
organization credited with upholding and striving for the freedom of the press in that country.
From
The Translator's Desk
I have been a fan of Shaykh Azeemi's writing since my teen years.
Early on when I observed the
hypocrisy and shallowness of the religious establishment and was growing tired of the rhetoric, his
writings on metaphysics, on parapsychology as well as other social evils facing the Muslims Societies
were a breath of fresh air. His approach was very different; instead of being overly critical or selfrighteous,
he always offered hope, introduced new ideas and optimism. The first time that I attended
the Urs ceremony of Qalandar Baba Awliya (1896-1979) in Karachi was in
1990, I noticed that
toward the end of the ceremony people, young and old, male and female would line up just to get a
hug from the Shaykh. You could see their anxiousness as they wait their turn. In a culture of least
physical contact, where even parents do not hug their adult children and public display of affection is
limited to very young children, that too was refreshing.
Back then I was only familiar with his writing
and have not yet met the Shaykh in person. So I too joined the queue. After a long wait , in which
people of different economic and ethnic backgrounds and from different parts of the world formed a
single line, got their hug, some cried on his shoulder, some asked him to pray for them, I too got my
turn. I then realized why people were waiting so anxiously for so long. It was a very brief hug but I
felt something. It wasn't that I hadn't hugged anyone before but this was different.
Shaykh Azeemi has since transformed many lives through his writings and his teaching of
spiritual awareness. When this book Muraqaba first came out in Urdu, I almost had this urge that
this book in particular need to be translated into
English. Fortunately, the Shaykh on his last visit to
Houston granted me the permission to translate it.
Anyone who has written or translated a book knows that it is not a one man job. It is indeed a
team effort. I could not have translated this book without the support, encouragements, and advice of
countless friends and well-wishers.
First, I would like to thank Dr.
Harold Raley for the excellent
editing and
David Raley of
Kingsley Literary Services for the cover design and layout setup. I could continue
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- published: 29 Apr 2016
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