The historically strong
appearance and modern seeming-argument for the "inseparable"
identification of Sufism with Islam (with persons from the former of
these two, often being persecuted and murdered or executed, by those
representing the latter) is clearly not reflected in the following
parting words:
"The philosophy of
Sufism is best summed up in the final instructions to his disciples
one month before his passing, some seven-plus centuries ago, of
Hazrat Khwaja Mu'inuddin Chishti, founder of this lineage":
Love
all and hate none.
Mere
talk of peace will avail you naught.
Mere
talk of God and religion will not take you far.
Bring
out all of the latent powers of your Being
and
reveal the full magnificence
of
your immortal Self.
Be
surcharged with peace and joy,
and
scatter them wherever you are
and
wherever you go.
Be
a blazing fire of truth,
be
a beauteous blossom of love,
and
be a soothing balm of peace.
With
your spiritual light, dispel the darkness of ignorance;
dissolve
the clouds of discord and war,
and
spread goodwill, peace and harmony among the people.
Never
seek any help, charity or favors
from
anybody except God.
Never
go to the courts of kings,
but
never refuse to bless and help the needy and the poor,
the
widow, the orphan, if they come to your door.
This
is your mission, to serve the people.
Carry
it out dutifully and courageously,
so
that I, as your Pir-o-Murshid,
may
not be ashamed of any shortcomings on your part
before
the Almighty God and our holy predecessors
in
the Sufi Order
on
the Day of Judgment.
§
I don't know what that
Mr. Chisti looked like, but this Mr. Chisti's own late
Pir-o-Murshid in our 20th century, Hazrat Inayat Khan,
looked like this, and as one sees, quite evidently embodied those
last instructions from a much earlier century:
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