The Zephyr, February 2024

21 February 2024

Dear Companions on the Path,

Greetings from Suresnes! I hope this finds you well.

It’s good to be back at Fazal Manzil. I arrived in time for a Leaders Training weekend on the theme of the shadow, unknowing, and black light. Afterward there were meetings with the Inayatiyya International Board, which is helping move us toward an integrated worldwide structure. The aim is planetization rather than globalization: a spiritual ecology rather than a hegemonic monoculture.

The following weekend was a time of gathering culminating in Visalat Day, Murshid’s Urs. Many fellow ashiqs and murids of Hazrat Inayat Khan from around the world joined us—some in person and others online—for a celebration of wisdom and love that took us to a number of beautiful and powerful inner places. See Our Urs Photo Album. 

Otherwise, I have been on a miniature sabbatical, away from email and meetings, putting the final touches on my new book. Since I have many engagements in the coming months, it’s a relief to have completed the manuscript ahead of the deadline, and I am grateful to those who have helped me carve out this little spell of seclusion.

What remains is the completion of the paintings that will accompany the text. The painter is Amruta Patil, an extraordinary iconographer of the many manifestations of sacred consciousness. It is amazing to watch, week by week, as vivid and arresting depictions of angels, elementals, and sages of many lands emerge from her magical brush.

On a somber note, this month has seen the departure from the world of two fellow murids who were close to my father and who served our community with diligence for decades: Mikhail Horowitz and Sharif Munawwir Graham. 

Mikhail served as my father’s audio engineer for many years, playing his favorite pieces of meditative music, recording his talks, and preserving the recordings. The archival project now underway at the Astana owes a good part of its basis to Mikhail’s steadfast work over the years. Mikhail also published an excellent biography of my father, and more recently composed a carefully researched biography of Murshid, which remains as yet unpublished.

The image of Mikhail that comes most immediately to my mind is this: he is sitting on a plastic chair behind the sound desk in the dappled light of the tent, his chin tilted up as he imbibes Bach’s soaring reveries, his eyes gently closed and his mouth unselfconsciously stretched wide in a smile of sheerest delight. 

Sharif Munawwir, a former college professor, contributed extensively to the work of the Nekbakht Foundation in Suresnes over the course of many years. As you may know, the Nekbakht Foundation is the organization that houses the transcripts of Murshid’s talks collected and preserved by his secretary Nekbakht Furnée. Sharif Munawwir initially assisted Nekbakht Furnée’s successor Munira van Voorst van Beest in the compilation of volumes in the foundation’s chronological Complete Works series; after Ms. van Voorst van Beest’s passing, he became the foundation’s resident archivist and lead editor of several further volumes. 

It was during this time that I invited a contribution from Sharif Munawwir for the book A Pearl in Wine, and received a splendid essay on the early history of the Order entitled “Spreading the Wisdom of Sufism: The Career of Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan in the West.” Sharif Munawwir will always be remembered for his wide knowledge of Murshid’s teachings and, especially, for his limitless love of Murshid himself. It is felicitous that, just a few weeks before he left the world, he was able to visit Murshid’s Dargah in India for the celebration of Visalat Day.   

May God bless and keep Mikhail and Sharif Munawwir always. 

And may God bless, protect, and heal the innocent victims of atrocious war.

Yours ever,
Pir Zia

P.S. I am eagerly looking forward to the imminent publication of Breathtaking Revelations by Carl W. Ernst, one of my primary academic mentors, and Patrick D’Silva. The volume presents and analyzes a pair of important yogic Sufi treatises separated by centuries but united by enduring insights belonging to a shared body of oral lore: the anonymous Persian version of the Fifty Kamarupa Verses and Hazrat Inayat Khan’s dictated teaching entitled The Science of Breath. This is a twofold treasure of authentic Indian esoteric knowledge.

Welcome to the Inner School
A Four-Part Course
March 5th, 12th, 19th & 26th at 6:00 pm ET

Discover the essence of Inayatiyya Sufism in our concise four-week course, “Welcome to the Inayatiyya.” This program is crafted to provide a comprehensive introduction, inviting both newcomers and seasoned seekers to explore this mystical lineage. Embark on this transformative four-week journey with seasoned teachers from the Inayatiyya. Come deepen your understanding and connection to the Inayatiyya Sufi tradition through a unique opportunity to explore spiritual wisdom and personal growth. More details and Registration.

Lexicon of the Sufis w/ Pir Zia Inayat Khan
Second Mondays—March 11th, April 8th & May 13th, 2024
12:00 – 1:00 pm ET / 6:00 – 7:00 pm CET

All friends, new and returning, are invited to join us as we explore the terminology of the Sufis as set out in A Glossary of Sufi Technical Terms by Abd Al Razzaq Qashani, a key textbook in Sufi circles for the last six and a half centuries. During each class, Pir Zia reviews the terms in alphabetical order, according to the original Arabic. Then he may also add terms unique to the lexicon of the Inayatiyya. More details and Registration.

The Prayers of the Inayatiyya

The Prayers of the Inayatiyya has been reissued with a beautiful new cover and the updated text of the prayers as initiated in 2022. This slim volume presents the prayers of the Inayatiyya lineage as an easy reference for daily use. Includes drawings and descriptions of the movements for Saum and Salat, as well as comments by Hazrat Inayat Khan on praying and prayers and an introduction by Pir Zia Inayat Khan on the five dimensions of prayer. Available now!

Inayatiyya International Board
February 2024 News

As the Inayatiyya International Board, we have some news to share with you about changes in Norway and the Hope Project. Read more…

If you are an iPhone user, you may be having issues when registering for Inayatiyya programs using your phone. We have learned that Eventbrite is not compatible with some iOS mobile devices. If this is the case for you, we recommend that you register using your computer or another device. We apologize for any inconvenience this causes!

The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of the Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. For more information, please visit us at inayatiyya.org.