The Stations of the Traveller

Translation & Commentary by Maulana Dr. Waffie Mohammed

The great Shaikh Abu Ismail Abdullah bin Muhammad al Hirawi says:

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent the Merciful.

Praise be to Allah, the only One, the Sustainer and the Absolute, the Graceful and the Close One, the Powerful, the Oft Listening and Responding; Who has showered the souls of the enlightened with the noblest of Words from the clouds; Who revealed to them the shortest path of the surely conducting route; Who protected them from the Diversity of causes to the Eternal Reality; and Who endowed them with the Treasure and confided in them His Secrets.

I bear witness that there is none worth worshipping except Allah. Alone is He and has none to be His partner, the First and the Last, the Evident and the Hidden, the One Who has extended the shadow of creation a long way over His creation (creatures); then caused the sun or constancy—for its brilliance—to be one of His Signs; then He lightly withdrew the shadow of Diversity from them.

May He shower His peace and Blessings on His Chosen one whose right He has pledged to establish—Muhammad—and his truthful followers in profusion.

After extolling the Almighty and praying for His Messenger, may it be known that a group of the seekers of Truth—scholars who had come from foreign lands—have long been requesting me to enlighten them on the various stages a pilgrim passes through on his way to the Lord of the universe and explain the signs thereof as a guidance. I consented, after seeking the good pleasure and help of Allah.

They asked me to present the same in the form of a booklet in an organized manner and proper succession so that each stage conducts with ease to that which follows. They also wanted me to avoid remarks and statements made by others and be brief and soft in expression, using the easiest of terms, so that it could be committed to heart with ease.

I was afraid that, if I started to comment on the statement of Abu Bakr al Kinani (i.e. verily there are a thousand stages of light and darkness intervening between the servant and his Lord), it would be a large and lengthy work both for me and them. I have therefore, mentioned only the erections (signs) of these stages which point to, and indicate their exact location.

I hope for them—after having noted the truthfulness of their quest—what Abu Adullah al Bussari has said; verily, there are servants of Allah whom He shows their end in the very beginning.

Then I arranged sections and chapters, avoiding lengthy discourses which might be boring and spared them the trouble of seeking explanation. It contains one hundred stages divided on ten categories.