ISLAMIC MYSTICISM & THE BEKTASHI PATH ISLAMIC MYSTICISM AND THE BEKTASHI PATH Baba Rexheb This printing of Islamic Mysticism and the Bektashi Path has been made possible on the initiative of Haxhi Dedebaba Edmond Brahimaj, head of the Bektashi World Community. Tirana, 2017 Translation: Huseyin Abiva © Copyright 2016, Babagân Books - Chicago All Rights Reserved No part of this book may be reproduced by any means, including photocopying, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the written consent of the publisher. In specific cases, permission is granted on written request to publish or translate Babagân Books publications into other languages. ISBN #978-1-365-59158-7 THE AUTHOR’S DEDICATION Given their refusal to forsake their religious and national principles, it is with deep reverence that the author hereby dedicates this work to those members of Albania’s clergy ‒ of all faiths ‒ who sacrificed everything for freedom and liberty, as well as to those individuals who were tortured and murdered during the communist reign of terror. REXHEB FERDI BABA 1901-1995 CONTENTS Foreword to the English Translation .................................. i Baba Rexheb: America's Albanian Saint ............................ iii Translator’s Introduction ................................................... vi Baba Rexheb’s Foreword ................................................... xvii PART ONE: A HISTORY OF ISLAMIC MYSTICISM Chapter 1: The Foundations of Islamic Mysticism .................................…… 1 The Ḳur’ān .....................................................................................…… 2 The Ḥadīth Ḳudsī …............................................................................... 5 The Ḥadīth ............................................................................................ 6 The Noble Prophet Muhammad …........................................................ 8 Chapter 2: Islamic Mysticism in the 1st & 2nd Hijrī Centuries …................ 13 Rābica al-cAdawiyyah …...................................................................... 16 Chapter 3: Islamic Mysticism in the 3rd & 4th Hijrī Centuries …................ 20 Chapter 4: The Mystics of the 3rd & 4th Hijrī Centuries …......................... 30 Chapter 5: The Establishment of the Sufi Orders …...................................... 40 The Conflict between the Fuḳahā’ & the Sufis …................................. 41 Al-Ḥallāj ….............................................................................................. 43 Chapter 6: Islamic Mysticism in the 5th Hijrī Century …............................. 51 Theology, Philosophy, Sufism & Al-Ghazālī …................................... 52 Al-Ghazālī on the Classification of Knowledge …............................... 54 Macrifat according to Al-Ghazālī ….................................................... 57 True Bliss according to Al-Ghazālī …................................................. 59 Chapter 7: The Mystics of the 6th & 7th Hijrī Centuries and their Views ... 62 Suhrawardī & the Science of Illumination …...................................... 65 Ibn cArabī & the Theory of Waḥdat ul-wujūd …................................... 71 Ibn ul-Fāriḍ & Divine Love …............................................................. 79 Ibn Sabcīn & the Theory of Waḥdat ul-Muṭlak …................................. 81 Mevlānā Jalāl ud-Dīn Rūmī …............................................................. 82 Chapter 8: The Mystic Orders Take Shape .............................................….. 89 The Ḳādirī Order …............................................................................. 90 The Rifācī Order …............................................................................... 92 The Badawī Order …........................................................................... 93 The Yasawī Order …............................................................................ 95 The Naḳshbandī Order ….................................................................... 97 The Khalwatī Order …......................................................................... 98 Ibrāhīm Gülshenī …............................................................................. 99 Niyāz-i Miṣrī ................................................................................….. 100 The Sacdī Order ….............................................................................. 102 The Shādhilī Order ….........................................................................103 Other Orders …...................................................................................104 PART TWO: THE BEKTASHI PATH Chapter 9: The Founding of the Bektashi Order …............................................. 107 Khunkār Ḥajjī Bektash Velī …........................................................... 109 Bālım Sulṭān: The “Second Pīr” …..................................................... 112 Chapter 10: The Fundamentals & Principles upon which Bektashism Rests ....... 114 Care in selecting Spiritual Associates …........................................... 116 Spiritual Wayfaring on the Bektashi Path …..................................... 119 Spiritual Training in Bektashism …................................................... 122 Preparing the Wayfarer …................................................................. 126 The Sources of the Bektashi Mystic Path …....................................... 128 Qualities the Wayfarer must possess …............................................. 130 Bektashi views on Steadfastness ….................................................... 131 Bektashi views on Etiquette …............................................................ 133 Bektashi views on Egotism …............................................................. 134 Bektashi views on Spiritual love ….................................................... 137 Who can be considered a Lover? …................................................... 139 Bektashi views on the Beloved ........................................................... 141 Lover and the Beloved Together ….................................................... 144 Bektashi views on Waḥdat ul-Wujūd ….............................................. 147 Chapter 11: Advice from Khunkār Ḥajjī Bektash Velī …........................... 151 PART THREE: BEKTASHI POETRY Chapter 12: Bektashi Poets & their Works ….............................................. 179 Khunkār Ḥajjī Bektash Velī …........................................................... 181 Sayyid cAlī Sulṭān ........................................................................….. 186 Abdal Mūsā Sulṭān …........................................................................ 189 Balım Sulṭān ….................................................................................. 193 Kaygusuz Sulṭān al-Maghāwirī …..................................................... 200 Virānī Baba …................................................................................... 220 Abdul Mu’min Dede & Fuẓūlī …........................................................ 225 Ṣādiḳ Abdal Baba …........................................................................... 232 Sersem cAlī Dede …............................................................................ 234 cArshī Baba ….................................................................................... 239 Mithālī …............................................................................................ 240 Imād ud-Dīn Nasīmī …....................................................................... 242 Pīr Sulṭān Abdal …............................................................................. 257 Ḳalandar Shah …................................................................................ 275 Kazak Abdal …................................................................................... 277 Kamāl ud-Dīn Shamīmī Baba …........................................................ 281 Üsküdarlı Hāshim Baba …................................................................. 287 cAlī Turābī Dede …............................................................................. 289 Bōsnevī Baba ….................................................................................. 298 Ibrāhīm Dertlī …................................................................................ 302 Nasībī Ṭāhir Baba ….......................................................................... 307 Muḥarram Maḥzūnī Baba ….............................................................. 308 Ḥajjī Mehmet Perīshān Dede …......................................................... 316 Aḥmad Seyrānī …............................................................................... 319 Baba cAbdullah Melçani …................................................................ 323 Girītlī cAlī Rasmī Baba …................................................................... 326 Asad Baba …...................................................................................... 330 Sayyid Muḥammad cĀsım Baba & His Tekke …................................ 332 Ḥajjī cAlī Khākī Baba …..................................................................... 336 Selīm Rūḥī Baba …............................................................................. 349 Mehmet cAlī Ḥilmī Dede …................................................................ 357 Mehmet Yasārī Baba ….....................................................................