Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah vol. II

Appendices

Appendix III1

Specimen of a Murshid’s Diploma, in the Kadiri Order of the Mystic Craft Al-Tasawwuf

Richard F. Burton


[ TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE: Footnote 1 gives a description of the original manuscript. In Burton’s book, the text is presented as follows: - Firstly, the section of text beginning “This is the tree” and ending with the lines “Amen.,” “A.”, presented as a triangle, with each line centred on the page. - Below this, the section of text “There is no god but Allah”a thing to Allah., centred, and enclosed in a circle. - Below that, the section of text “Sayyid A”of C., centred, and enclosed in a horizontal oval. - The line “And of him”we beg aid., in smaller type. - All the following lines are enclosed in a box filling most of each page, with a horizontal rule separating the lines of text. Each line fills the width of the box neatly, except for the last four lines (beginning “It is finished.”), which are centred. - Footnotes are presented, in smaller type than usual, at the outside edge of the page in which the reference occurs, and (as much as possible) level with the reference.]

 

1.    This document is written upon slips of paper pasted together, 4 feet 5 inches long, by about 6 ½ inches broad, and contains altogether 71 lines below the triangle. The divisions are in red ink. It rolls up and fits into a cylinder of tin, to which are attached small silk cords, to sling it over the shoulder when travelling or on pilgrimage.
2.    The names are here omitted for obvious reasons.
3.    Facsimile of the seal of the Great Abd al-Kadir. This upon the document is a sign that the owner has become a master in the craft.
4.    This is the living Shaykh’s seal, and is the only one applied to the apprentice’s diploma.

And of him—In the name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate—we beg aid.  

 
Praise be to Allah, opener of the locks of hearts  

 
with his name, and withdrawer of the veils of hidden  

 
things with his beneficence, and raiser of the flags of  

 
increase to those who persevere in thanking him. I  

 
praise him because that he hath made us of the people  

 
of Unity. And I thank him, being desirous of his  

 
benefits. And I bless and salute our Lord Moham-  

 
med, the best of his Prophets and of his Servants, and  

 
(I bless and salute) his (Mohammed’s) family and com-  

 
panions, the excelling indignity, for the increase of  

 
their dignity and its augmentation. But afterwards  

 
thus saith the needy slave, who confesseth his sins and  

 
his weakness and his faults, and hopeth for the pardon  

 
of his Lord the Almighty—Sayyid A the Kadiri, son  

 
of Sayyid B the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Abu Bakr the  

 
Kadiri, son of Sayyid Ismail the Kadiri, son of Sayyid  

 
Abd al-Wahhab the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Nur al-Din  

 
the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Darwaysh the Kadiri, son of  

 
Sayyid Husam al-Din the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Nur al-  

 
Din the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Waly al-Din the Kadiri,  

 
son of Sayyid Zayn al-Din the Kadiri, son of Sayyid  

 
Sharaf al-Din the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Shams al-Din  

 
the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Mohammeda I-Hattak, son  

 
of Sayyid Abd al-Aziz, son of the Sayyid of Sayyids,  

 
Polar-Star of Existence, the White Pearl, the Lord of  

 
the Reins of (worldy) possession, the Chief of (Allah’s)  

 
friends, the incomparable Imam, the Essence negativ-  

 
ing accidents, the Polar Star of Polar Stars,5 the  

 
Greatest Assistance,6 the Uniter of the Lover and the  

 
Beloved,7 the Sayyid (Prince), the Shaykh (Teacher),  

 
Muhiyal-Din, Abd al-Kadir of Jilan,8 Allah sanctify  

 
his honoured Sepulchre, and Allah enlighten his place of  

 
rest!—Son of Abu Salih Muse Jangi-dost, son of  

 
Sayyid Abdullah al-Jayli, son of Sayyid Yahya al-  

 
Zahid, son of Sayyid Mohammed, son of Sayyid Da’ud,  

 
son of Sayyid Musa, son of Sayyid Abdullah, son of  

 
Sayyid Musa al-Juni, son of Sayyid Abdullah al-Mahz,  

 
son of Sayyid Hasan al-Musanna,9 son of the Imam  

 
Hasan, Son of the Imam and the Amir of True Be-  

 
lievers, Ali the son of Abu Talib—may Allah be  

 
satisfied with him!—Son of Abd al-Mut-Talib,10 son of  

 
Hashim, son of Abd al-Manaf, son of Kusay, son of  

 
Kilab, son of Murrat, son of Kaab, Son of Luwiyy, son  

 
of Ghalib, son of Fihr (Kuraysh), Son of Malik, son of  

 
Nazr, son of Kananah, son of Khuzaymah, son of  

 
Mudrikah, son of Iliyas, son of Muzarr, son of Nizar,  

 
son of Adnan,11 son of Ada, son of Udad, son of  

 
Mahmisah, son of Hamal, son of Nayyit, son of Kuzar,  

 
son of Ismail, son of Ibrahim, son of Karikh, son of  

 
Kasir, son of Arghwa, son of Phaligh, son of Shalikh,  

 
son of Kaynan, son of Arfakhshad, son of Sam, son of  

 
Noah, son of Shays, son of Adam the Father of Man-  

 
kind12—with whom be Peace, and upon our Prophet  

 
the best of blessings and salutation!—and Adam was  

 
of dust, and dust is of the earth, and earth is of foam,  

 
and foam is of the wave, and the wave is of water,13  

 
and water is of the rainy firmament, and the rainy fir-  

 
mament is of Power, and Power is of Will, and Will  

 
is of the Omniscience of the glorious God. But after-  

 
wards that good man, the approaching to his Lord,  

 
the averse to all besides him, the desirous of the abodes  

 
of futurity, the hoper for mercy, the Darwayah Abdul-  

 
lah14 son of the Pilgrim Joseph the Afghan,hence-  

 
forward let him be known by the name of “Darwaysh  

 
King-in-the-name-of-Allah!”—hath ccome to us and  

 
visited us and begged of us instruction in the Saying of  

 
Unity. I therefore taught him the saying which I  

 
learned by ordinance from my Shaykh and my instruc-  

 
tor and my paternal uncle Sayyid the Shaykh Abd  

 
al-Kadir15 the Kadiri, son of the Sayyid the Shaykh  

 
Abu Bakr the Kadiri, son of the Sayyid the Shaykh  

 
Ismail the Kadiri, son of the Sayyid the Shaykh Abd  

 
al-Wahhab the Kadiri, son of the Sayyid the Shaykh Nur  

 
al-Din the Kadiri, son of the Sayyid the Shaykh Shah-  

 
darwaysh the Kadiri, son of the Sayyid the Shaykh  

 
Husam al-Din the Kadiri, son of the Sayyid the  

 
Shaykh Nur al-Din the Kadiri, from his sire and  

 
Shaykh Waly al-Din the Kadiri, from his sire and  

 
Shaykh Zayn al-Din the Kadiri, from his sire and  

 
Shaykh Sharafil al-Din the Kadiri, from his sire and  

 
Shaykh Mohammed al-Hattak the Kadiri, from his  

 
sire and Shaykh Abd al-Aziz—Allah sanctify his  

 
honoured Sepulchre and Allah enlighten his Place of  

 
rest!—from his sire and Shaykh Sayyid the Polar  

 
Star of Existence, the White Pearl, the Polar Star of  

 
Holy Men, the Director of those that tread the Path,  

 
the Sayyid the Shaykh Muhiyy al-Din Abd al-Kadir  

 
of Jilan—Allah sanctify his honoured Sepulchre and  

 
Allah enlighten his place of rest! Amen!—from  

 
his Shaykh the Shaykh Abu-Sa’id al-Mubarak al-  

 
Makhzumi, from his Shaykh the Shaykh Abu ‘I Hasan,  

 
al-Hankari, from his Shaykh the Shaykh Abu Faras al-  

 
Tarsusi, from his Shaykh the Shaykh Abd al-Wahid al-  

 
Tamimi, from his Shaykh the Shaykh Abu ‘l Kasim al-  

 
Junayd of Baghdad, from his Shaykh the Shaykh al-  

 
Sirri al-Sakati, from his Shaykh the Shaykh al-Ma’aruf  

 
al-Karkhi, from his Shaykh the Shaykh Da’ud al-Tai,  

 
from his Shaykh the Shaykh Habib al-’Ajami, from his  

 
Shaykh the Shaykh al-Hasan of Bussorah, from his  

 
Shaykh the Prince of True Believers, Ali Son of Abu  

 
Talib—Allah be satisfied with him! and Allah honour  

 
his countenance!—from the Prophet of Allah, upon  

 
whom may Allah have mercy, from Jibrail, from the  

 
Omnipotent, the Glorious. And afterwards we taught  

 
him (i.e. that good man Abdullah) the Saying of  

 
Unity, and ordered its recital 165 times after each  

 
Farizah,16 and on all occasions according to his capa-  

 
bility. And Allah have mercy upon our Lord Mo-  

 
hammed and upon His Family and upon His Companions  

 
one and all! And praise be to Allah, Lord of the (3)  

 
worlds!  

 
It is finished.  

 
There is no god but Allah!  

 
Number17  

 
165.  

 

 


5.    Or Prince of Princes, a particular degree in Tasawwuf.    [back]

6.    Ghaus (Assistance) also means a person who, in Tasawwuf, has arrived at the highest point to which fervour of devotion leads.    [back]

7.    The human soul, and its supreme source.    [back]

8.    For a short notice of this celebrated mystic, see d’Herbelot, “Abdalcader.”    [back]

9.    “Hasan the Second,” from whom sprung the Sharifs of Al-Hijaz.    [back]

10.    Father to Abdullah, Father of Mohammed.    [back]

11.    Dated by M.C. de Perceval about 130 years B.C.    [back]

12.    Thus, between Adnan and Adam we have eighteen generations! Al-Wakidi and Al-Tabiri give forty between Adnan and Ishmael, which Ibn Khaldun, confirmed by M.C. de Perceval, thinks is too small a number. The text, however, expresses the popular estimate. But it must be remembered that the Prophet used to say, “beyond Adnan none but Allah knoweth, and the genealogists lie.”    [back]

13.    Moslems cleaving to the Neptunian theory of earthy origin.    [back]

14.    Your humble servant, gentle reader.    [back]

15.    The former genealogy proved my master to be what is technically called “Khalifah Jaddi,” or hereditary in his dignity. The following table shows that he is also “Khulfai” (adopted to succeed), and gives the name and the descendants of the holy man who adopted him.    [back]

16.    Each obligatory prayer is called a Farizah. The Shaykh therefore directs the Saying of Unity, i.e. La ilaha illa llah, to be repeated 825 times per diem.    [back]

17.    i.e. number of repetitions after each obligatory prayer.    [back]


Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah vol. II - Contents    |     Appendix IV - The Navigation and Voyages of Ludovicus Vertomannus, Gentleman of Rome. A.D. 1503


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