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Excerpted from “The Royal Book of Spiritual Chivalry” (Futuwat namah-yi Sultani) by Husayn Wa’iz Kashifi Sabzawari, translated by Jay R. Crook, PhD, p. xxix, 130-131:
Introduction by Mahmud Shelton
…“Kashifi himself belonged to the Naqshbandi Sufi order…he was also the nephew of the renowned Naqshbandi luminary, Jami…Significantly, the Naqshbandi order is unique in its lineage through the first caliph of the Holy Prophet, Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, as well as its inheritance from the Caliph ‘Ali, through the Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq.If you are in the market for superclone Replica Rolex , Super Clone Rolex is the place to go! The largest collection of fake Rolex watches online!
This dual “caliphal” inheritance conjoined with the imamate of the Family of the Prophet reaches a logical fulfillment…”
The Sermon of the Spiritual Way
…After the final salutations, the guide recites the sermon of the spiritual way. If the naqib recites it, it is also valid, but if he himself is to initiate someone, it is preferred that someone else read the sermon of the way. There are different versions of this sermon. Here we cite one from the book of Sahib al-ta’wilat:
[Praise be to God who has preferred the human being over other creatures, honored the league of the spiritually chivalrous from among them with noble traits, adorned their spirit with the ornament of justice and charity, removed from them the blight of injustice and tyranny, guided them to His approval with the light of faith, and retrained them from the contrariety and disobedience. I testify there is no god but God, the One; He has no partner: a testimony based upon absolute certainty. I testify that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger, sent in the last time to perfect the traits of character and for the manifestation of the religion of truth over all religions, may God bless him and his people, his companions, his descendents, his naqibs, and those who follow them in charity, especially: ‘Ali, the manifest wali; Hasan, the pure, chosen one; Husayn, the famed martyr; Zayn al ‘Abidin, the luminous; Baqir, the rewarder; Sadiq, the great, Kazim, the shining; Rida, the bright; Taqi the pious; Naqi, the pure; Zaki, the chaste; and the proof of God for the inhabitants of the earth and the heavens, the Lord of the Epoch, the decisive proof.]
…Another, short sermon read by the learned of Najaf and Karbala, may God preserve their shadows, is a dozen statements called the griding of character, already mentioned, attributed to Ja’far al-Sadiq:
[I testify that there is no god but God, the One. He has no partner. He is One! Eternal! He took not a female companion for a child. I testify that Muhammad is His servant and His messenger. He sent him with the guidance and the religion of truth to make manifest a (true) religion in its entirety, even though the polytheists hated it. I testify that the Commander of the believers, the leader of the pious, and the the leader of the peerless, the victorious lion of God, ‘Ali, the son of Abu Talib, is His wali. After him, the Commanders of the believers Hasan, Husayn, Zayn al-‘Abidin, Muhammad Baqir, Ja’far Sadiq, Musa Kazim, ‘Ali Rida son of Musa, Muhammad Taqi, ‘Ali Naqi, Hasan ‘Askari, and Muhammad Mahdi, the Lord of the Epoch, may God bless him and them, all of them. I entrust myself to them and I keep myself pure from their enemies.]
Source: The Royal Book of Spiritual Chivalry (Futuwat namah-yi Sultani) by Husayn Wa’iz Kashifi Sabzawari, translated by Jay R. Crook, PhD, p. xxix, 130-131. 2000. Great Books of the Islamic World Inc., distributed by Kazi Publications, Chicago, IL)