The Need For A Spiritual Guide

(Excerpted from Futuwat namah by Khwaja Husayn Waiz Kashifi Sabzawari An Naqshbandi Translated by M. Nur Abdussalam) Know that on the path of the spiritual way a guide is absolutely necessary. The master-guides of the way are the Prophet of refuge (Muhammad), the lord of sainthood (Ali), and their illustrious descendants. Since they are, in appearance, veiled from people, it is fitting that a person, one of the spiritually chivalrous who has trod their path obediently and is endowed and imbued with the attributes of perfection, should be a spiritual guide on the way. If it were not necessary to have master and guide, then Moses, after being honored by: And God spoke to Moses directly (4:164), would not have been sent to Khidr as a pupil, not would Moses have said: May I follow thee so that thou mightst teach me? (18:65). Verse: As one cannot find the way without a guide, It was necessary for the Prophet to have a Gabriel. Khwajah Salam Sawaji said (verse): Seek a guide, for there are roads in all directions in this wilderness; What does a lost person know of which road to take? If asked: For how many reasons does one need a spiritual guide? Say: For seven reasons: 1 Even though the traveler has the physical abilities to see and the strength to walk upon a visible path, and the distance is known, one cannot journey to the Kabah on the visible road without a guide who knows the route and who is able to find his way. But the path of truth, over which 124,000 prophets and messengers of God have passed, does not have a single visible footprint to show the way. The learned have said (verse): People travel, relying on the eye; But of those who travel the path of love, there is no trace. The starting point of the seeker at the beginning of the path Cannot be seen; therefore, how can one travel on it without a guide? 2 There are many crossroads along the way; without an escort one cannot proceed. Also, along the way there are the highwaymen of carnality, lust, evil, and the world. Without the escort of the aspirations of the perfect spiritual guide, one cannot progress. Verse: There are many monstrous bandits on the road of religion; Follow not the monsters blindly. 3 Just as on the physical road there are many obstacles, so too on the way of the dervish there are obstacles: blights, doubts, and heresies. For this reason there is a need for the guidance of the spiritual guide so that the seeker may pass through those pitfalls safely.

4 Should shortcoming or indolence affect the seeker in his progress, or should he become lax on the path, someone is needed to urge him forward to the end of the road with the lash of motivation. 5 Just as on the physical road one is sometimes afflicted with disease and despair, and a doctor is needed to treat him, so on the path of meaning the seeker may become ill with diseases affecting his constitution and wakening his resolve and faith. Therefore, a spiritual guide is needed who will be a physician of the heart. With the medicine of wise counsel he will cure these illnesses. 6 Just as on the physical path, so on the path of the way there are unexpected sights and phenomena. Strange and wondrous stopping places are encountered. If there be no spiritual guide, knowledgeable of and familiar and acquainted with these prodigies, to inform him about these things, he may become mired in the. 7 If a person desired to obtain a degree or status in the royal court of the world of appearances, he would be unsuccessful without the patronage of a courtier. Here, too, in the court of prophethood and sainthood, nothing will be accomplished without even stronger sponsorship. Thus, for these reasons, a perfect spiritual guide is needed along the path of the way. This is referred to in the Mathnawi-i ma nawi (verse): The guide is summer, the masses July; The people are like nights; the guide, the moon; The luminous guide informs of God, With words, too, he makes known the light. Record the states of path-knowing master; Choose the master and know him to be the eye of the way.