Four Sufi sheikhs addressed Bahauddin Naqshbandi in writing: from India, Egypt, Rum (Turkey) and Persia. Behind each of them there was a certain Sufi circle. In their messages, they tearfully begged Bahauddin to share with them the experience of spiritual learning so that they could pass it on to their students.
Bahauddin answered them like this:
“What I own is not new. You also own all this, but you apply it incorrectly, and therefore, having received my advice, you will only say: “This is not new!”
The sheikhs responded like this:
- With respect to you, we believe that our students will not think so.
Bahauddin did not answer the letters, but read them out at his meetings and said:
- Being aloof from current events, we will be able to understand what will happen. Those who find themselves in the thick of things do not have such an opportunity. And yet they will try to figure out what is happening to them.
Then the Sheikhs wrote messages to Bahauddin asking him to send some token of his attention. Bahauddin sent a small skullcap for each student, adding that the sheikhs distributed them on his behalf, but did not mention a word about what prompted him to do this.
In his meeting he said:
- I did this and that. Being at a distance, we will clearly see what those who are directly involved in what is happening will not see.
Then, after some time, he wrote to each of the sheikhs, asking whether his wish had been fulfilled and what followed.
The sheikhs sent back: “Your wishes have been fulfilled.”
As for the consequences, a sheikh from Egypt wrote: “My community zealously accepted your gift as a sign of special holiness and blessing. The skullcaps were distributed, and everyone saw in them a deep inner meaning and the transmission of your order.”
A Turkish sheikh wrote: “The community treated skullcaps with great caution. For some reason, people decided that behind this was your desire to get the better of them. Some are afraid that through skullcaps you can directly put pressure on them.”
A sheikh from India wrote about other consequences: “Our students are in great confusion and daily ask me to interpret for them the meaning of the distributed skull caps. Without my explanations, they are unable to decide how to react to this.”
The letter from the Persian sheikh read: “The skullcaps have been received, the consequences are as follows: the seekers, pleased with the gift, expect further manifestations of your favor, which will inspire them to greater diligence and zeal for the benefit of further learning.”
Bahauddin gave the necessary explanations to his listeners in Bukhara:
- The predominant type of behavior of the members of Sufi circles in India, Egypt, Turkey and Persia was in each case revealed in the answers. Their attitude towards an everyday item - a skullcap, for example - is essentially the same as towards me or my letter of instructions. They would have behaved exactly the same way if, say, they had met me directly. Neither these people nor their sheikhs were taught that it was necessary to monitor whether their attitude towards the simplest things was a hindrance for them. You should not transfer your attitude towards things to people, especially as a criterion for evaluating them. For the disciples of the Persian sheikh, the possibility of understanding remains, since they are deprived of presumptuous claims to “understanding” on the model of my skullcaps being a blessing to them, a threat to them, a confusion to them. The Egyptians showed hope, the Turks showed fear, the Indians showed indecision.
The above-mentioned epistles of Baha'uddin Naqshbandi were nevertheless copied - which was considered a pious act - and circulated among the well-meaning but unenlightened dervishes of Cairo and Hind, as well as in the Persian and Turkish lands. In the end, they ended up in those circles that rallied around the notorious “skullcap sheikhs.”
Bahauddin asked one wandering dervish - a qalandar - to visit all four communities to find out how his letters with the requested instructions were received. Upon his return, the Qalandar said the following:
“They say, ‘This is not new. That's exactly what we do. And we not only follow this, but also build the entire routine of our lives on this. Our living tradition encourages us to remember this every day.”
After this, Bahauddin al-Shah Naqshband called all his students and said:
— Being at a distance from the events in the communities of the four sheikhs, you see how little they did on the Path of knowledge. They have been trained for so little that they are for the most part unable to benefit from their experience. Where, then, are the benefits of “daily reminders and struggles”? Take the trouble to collect everything that is known about this and read in detail what happened, including the exchange of letters, my statements and the Qalandar's story. Please note that we have provided the necessary training aids. Let everything be written down so that the story can be used for teaching. Let direct witnesses of the events confirm the truth of what is written - so that, if God wills, at least the description of this incident could prevent a frequent repetition of this in the future, and let those who were so deeply affected by the “impact” of harmless skullcaps become familiar with it.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru