The Zephyr, September 2023

6 September 2023

Dear Companions on the Path,

May these lines find you very well.

It has been an eventful month. After the Alps Camp I was able to spend some quiet time at Fazal Manzil working on my manuscript Tears from the Mother of the Sun. It’s a prosimetrum, a work of mixed prose and poetry, and it deals with a number of the legendary and historical figures and events we will be exploring in the upcoming Inner History course.

The quiet days flew by quickly, and before long I was in the Netherlands for a weekend of lectures and meditations on Friendship at the iconic Sufi Temple in the seaside dunes of Katwijk. The dome of the temple overlooks the serene little valley that Murshid christened Murad Hassil, “the place of wish fulfillment.” At the end of the retreat we gathered there in silent prayer. The only sound was the voice of the breeze whistling through the buckthorn, dune rose, bud rush, and sea holly.

It was a pleasure to spend time also at the historic Anna Paulownastraat Center in Den Hague, which now hosts the spectacular Sufi Museum. I encourage you to visit that marvelous museum whenever you can. Amongst its treasures are Murshid’s apricot robe and silver-handled walking stick.

All of a sudden Shaikh al-Mashaik and Harunnisa Begum received an invitation to attend the unveiling of a new portrait of Pirzadi Shahida Noor in the U.K. and urged us to accompany them. Mustafa Al Ramadan, a young Dutchman with roots in Baghdad, generously dropped everything and drove us all the way to London and back. The Queen Consort of England paid tribute to Noor, the Muslim chaplain of the RAF read the Fatiha, and we had tea and cake with Noor’s wonderful biographer Shrabani Basu, so it was a happy day indeed.

What I love about Paul Brason’s portrait is the way Noor’s face expresses a stern determination tempered with ethereal gentleness. The full moon hovering over her shoulder, luminous as it is, pales beside our heroine’s gleaming face.

We are now back in Suresnes and all is well. My deep appreciation goes out to my cousins in the Netherlands, Safiye and Aulia; to Saki Lee, Nafas Wagtmans, and the Dutch Inayatiyya; to our dedicated companions in Sufi Foundation 1923; to Paul Ketalaar and the Sufi Museum; and to our very thoughtful friends Waseem Mahmood, Mustafa, and Shwan.

At the end of the day, Sufism is the path of friendship. The illuminated souls are friends of God (wali Allah) and friends of the friendless (gharib nawaz). The Divine Being is the Highest Friend (Rafiq-i A‘la). The murshid is the friend who introduces us to the Friend of Friends, in the world outside and in ourselves. Sufi books, discourses, and practices are splendid and important, but the essence of it all is living the spirit of friendship in every moment, whether in the presence of a queen or a pauper – the Divine Friend lives equally in both.

As always, Murshid says it best: The one “who realizes the relation of friendship between one soul and another – the tenderness, delicacy, and sacredness of this relationship – is living, and in this way will one day communicate with God.”

Yours ever,
Bawa

The Sufi Path of Immortality
Dying Before Death & Living in God w/ Pir Zia Inayat Khan
September 16th – 17th, 2023, London Sufi Center, UK & via Zoom

Our physical existence is a transitory interval between the preexistence of the soul and the looming hereafter. For a person of foresight, it is never too soon to step into the worlds that lie beyond. These invisible worlds are the hidden dimensions of what is already before us here and now. Each step takes the soul further on the path of awakening and closer to the Eternal Beloved. Pir Zia Inayat Khan, Sufi scholar and teacher of Sufism in the lineage of his grandfather, Hazrat Inayat Khan, guides us in spiritual discourse (suhbat), contemplation (muraqaba), meditation (mushahada), and ritual remembrance (zikr). Together we explore the core Sufi teaching of initiatic death and renewal, resituating ourselves within a vast process of the endless disclosure of the One. More details and registration.

The Lexicon of the Sufis
Second Mondays—Sep 11, Oct 9, Nov 13 & Dec 11, 2023

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.

Spiritual Liberty
A Six-Part Course w/ Pir Zia Inayat Khan via Zoom
Sundays, October 8th to November 12th

After a two-year hiatus, this fall we will return to the study of the Sufi Message Volumes of Pir-o-Murshid Hazrat Inayat Khan. Spiritual Liberty, Volume V, of the Centennial Edition is almost ready from Suluk Press. Spiritual Liberty comprises several early works, including the only book of teachings ever written by Hazrat Inayat Khan, namely A Sufi Message of Spiritual Liberty, published in his first year in London, 1914. Also included are Aqibat: Life After Death; The Phenomenon of the Soul; Love, Human and Divine; Pearls from the Ocean Unseen; and Metaphysics.

From Pir Zia Inayat Khan’s introduction to the volume: “To read volume five is to be transported to the salon of the London khankah. Outside, air sirens shriek at intervals and the mood is bleak. Inside, however, an atmosphere of melody and luminosity is palpable. The inner world has a message for the outer world, but it is a message no ideology can express. Evocation is its allusive language.” More details and registration.

Sufi Healing Retreat North America
The Spirit of Healing 
October 19th – 22nd, 2023

Healing practices support people in times of great change. They can also expand our capacity to serve humanity and the world.Over four days this fall, we invite you to explore themes of healing in the tradition of the Sufi mystic, Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927). The first two days of this retreat are open to senior teachers (Shafayats) and active Healing Conductors in the Healing Activity. The second two days are open to Shafayats, Healing Conductors, healing members and anyone interested in healing. Both sections of the retreat will be via Zoom. Translation into French, German and Turkish will be available. Faculty for this retreat includes Pir Zia Inayat Khan, Devi Tide, Dr. Raqib Kogan, Nur Alima Smith, Yuval Ron and Amina Feliou. More details and registration.

Inner History: The Beginning
From the Garden of Eden to the Tower of Babel
With Pir Zia Inayat Khan, Marcia Hermansen & Omid Safi
November 17th – 19th, 2023 via Zoom

Please join us for the first gathering of our new series, Inner History, with Pir Zia Inayat Khan, Prof. Marcia Hermansen, and Prof. Omid Safi. In his teachings in The Inner Life, Hazrat Inayat Khan describes the process that leads from spiritual exile to homecoming. The inner life is attained when the body, mind, and soul become consciously conjoined. To realize this entelechy, or perfection of nature, the mystic must make common cause with the animal, vegetal, mineral, jinnic, angelic, and universal dimensions of the Earth, step by step.

Our autumn gathering marks the beginning of our contemplative investigation of the spiritual history of the world. In this initial convening we will survey the vast tract of time from Earth’s inception to the Copper Age (5th-4th millennium B.C.E.). Subjects will include the primordial elementals of the Earth, the advent of humans, nascent prophecy and primal religion, ancient upheavals, forgotten migrations, and the ecstasy of shaman and animal.

Our primary sources will consist of Genesis and the Qur’an, the Tales of the Prophets (qisas al-anbiya’), the mystical historical writings of Shaykh al-Akbar Ibn ‘Arabi, Mawlana Rumi, Shah Wali Allah, Hazrat Inayat Khan, Pirzadi-Shahida Noor, and Pir Vilayat, as well as prehistoric art. Afterward, we plan to come together again twice a year through 2026. More details and registration.

The Zephyr is a monthly newsletter of Inayatiyya, an interfaith mystical fellowship with branches worldwide. For more gatherings, please visit our Inayatiyya Digital Programs Calendar .