In a Dergah like this, there was a Sheikh with his murids (disciples). One day, one murid went to the Sheikh and asked, “Oh Sheikh I have three questions: who is the murid (disciple), who is the ashiq (lover) and who is the sincere one (siddiq)?”
The Sheikh looked at him, turned to his murids, and called, “Ali, get up, go and take the amanat (pledge) from Captain Mustafa.
Ali asked back, “Where do I find it? and where do I have to go and take it?”
The Sheikh looked at him and told him to sit down.
Still the murid asked: “Who is the disciple, who is the lover and who is the sincere one?”
The Sheikh looked around and called,” Ahmad, go to Captain Mustafa to take what he owes us”.
Ahmad, as well, asked back, “Where do I find it? Where do I have to go?”.
The Sheikh again, asked him to sit down.
The murid repeated again the same questions: “Who is the murid, who is the lover, and who the sincere one?”
And then the Sheikh looked at him saying, “You Husain go and take what Captain Mustafa has for us”.
Husain got up, rushed out of the Dergah and without knowing it, he walked over seas and mountains, until he found himself in the middle of a market with people dressed all in a different way from him and speaking a different language from himself.
While he was wondering where he were, someone knocked on his shoulder from the back and asked him, “Are you Husain?”.
In surprise he turned and replied, ”Who are you? and how do you know me? ”
He said,” I am Captain Mustafa and tonight I saw in a dream your Sheikh that told me to give you the amanat”.
The murid was astonished. The man took the disciple along with himself, gave him food and gave him a gold bag for his Sheikh, another one for the Dergah and another one for himself. Then he said goodby and left.
The murid went back to the market, and passing by he saw from a house a pretty girl looking out of the window. The moment he saw her, he fell in love, at first glance love, and he asked, “Oh … who is that girl”?
They told him that she was the daughter of the master of the place and he expressed the desire to marry her. They all burst out laughing. But, mashallah since he was very brave, he went knocking at the door and asked for the girl.
They tried to send him away. But, handing over all the three gold bags he said, “ No! I will not go, I want to see her even once”.
The people of the house seeing the gold sacks, they said to themselves, ”Ah, we must not stop at his looking … if he gives three bags of gold just to see her …. who knows what is behind it…”.
So they called the girl who came and sat down next to the disciple. He tried to take her hand but in that moment another great hand of light appeared between them. The murid was a little afraid; the girl asked him what was that.
He said, “This is the hand of my Sheikh to protect me from haram, doing illicit things, because I tied to take your hand without being married. It’s a sign of him.”
The girl felt a strong desire and asked him to bring her to see his Sheikh. They started discussing between the yes and the no. At a certain point the girl takes the the three gold bags and she gave them back to the disciple telling him, “Take these bags back, but please bring me to your Sheikh”.
He accepted and so they walked out again over seas and mountains without knowing what they were walking to, like in a dream.
Suddenly they found themselves in front of the Dergah. They went in and the sohba (gathering with the Sheikh talking to the murids) was still happening. The Sheikh saw him and said, “Oh Husain, did you bring me back my amanat?”
And he answered, ”Yes Sheikh, these two bags of gold are for you and this one is for me”, putting everything in front of the Sheikh. Then he asked him about the girl and the murid said, ” She saw your sign and she wanted to see you, so I brought her …. and I want to marry her.”
The Sheikh said,”I accept it”, and he gave him the gold bags to give to the girl as a bride’s dowry dot and he married them.
Then he said,”All right, now you go” and the murid asked, “I still want my answer about who is the disciple, who is the lover and who the sincere one.”
Then the Sheikh rispose: “The murid is you. When the Sheikh asks something, the murid does it without asking anything or discussing; the sincere one is the Captain Mustafa who was caught in a storm and prayed to Allah to send him one of his saints to save him and in return he would have given him all the money he had. It happened that suddenly his Sheikh appeared and he saved him from the storm. So Captain Mustafa wanted to give the Sheikh the gold bags but then he told him, “Keep them, I will send someone to take them.”
Captain Mustafa reached the station of Sadiq ‘sincere one’ because he kept the money until someone came to pick it up. Lover is the gir, who, just seeing my sign has left everything, her family, her country to come and see me.
Insha Allah we all try to be like that.
Wa min Allahu attawufiq.
Fatiha
Hajjah Rukiya, the daughter of Maulana Sheikh Nazim al Haqqani ar Rabbani, Lefke, June 9th, 2017