SHAIKH HUSAIN HILMI ISIK BIN SA'ID EFFENDI, (A Disciple of Sayyid 'Abdulhakim-i Arwasi) (Rah)

[Al Malibari]

 

THE BIOGRAPHY OF HUSAIN HILMI BIN SA'ID EFFENDI,

(A Disciple of Sayyid 'Abdulhakim-i Arwasi)

He was born in house No. 1 of the Shifa Yokushu, Vezirtekke Sokagi, Servi Mahallesi, Ayyub Sultan, in Istanbul, on the beautiful spring morning of the 8th of March, 1911 (1329 Hijri). His father Said Effendi and grandfather Ibrahim Effendi were from the village of Tepova near Lofja (Lovec), in Bulgaria, and his mother Aisha Hanim and her father Husain Aga were from Lofja. During the War of "Ninety-three" against the Russians (1295 Hijri, Miladi 1878), Said Effendi emigrated to Istanbul and settled at Vezirtekke, where he married. Because of the sufferings caused by war and emigration, he could not attend school, and he was employed as an official of weights control in the municipality, where he worked for more than forty years. He constantly attended the lectures of the famous scholars in the great mosques of Istanbul and gained a profound knowledge in the religion. Due to his experience in his career, he became so skillful in solving four arithmetical operations from memory that he would provoke wonderment. Husain Hilmi Effendi went to the Mihr-i Shah Sultan school, which was between the Ayyub Mosque and the Bostan wharf, when he was five years old. Here he completed the Qur'an al- karim in two years. At age seven, he began his primary education at the Resadiyye Numune Mektebi, which was adjacent to the tomb of Sultan Resad Han. During the vacations, his father sent him to religious schools called Hakim Kutbuddin, Kalenderhane and Abussuud and laid much stress on his good upbringing. When Husain Hilmi Effendi finished primary school with the highest honors in 1924, the goldgilt prizes he was awarded in every subject filled a large album. He was admitted to the Halicioglu Military High school, which had moved from Konya to Istanbul that year, with an "excellent" grade in the entrance examination. He past to the second class of the secondary division as the best student in the same year. After maintaining his status as an honor student every year, he graduated from the Military High school as captain of the class and was selected for the Military Medical school in 1929.

In High school, the geometry master used to have Husain Hilmi Effendi review the lesson at the end of every session. His friends used to say that they understood things better from his review. It was in one of those sessions in the second class of High school that he once paused while explaining a theorem that stated, "In order for the projection of a right angle to be a right angle, it is necessary and sufficient for one of its sides to be parallel to a plane [on which the angle is projected]"; the master Captain Fuad Bey tried to help him, but he said, "Sir, I cannot understand it. I see what you mean, but the two explanations explain each other." Fuad Bey then asked for the opinion of the second best student in the class, who, pleased with his competitor's situation, said, "No sir, Hilmi Effendi is wrong. The textbook, too, writes the same as what you stated." When Hilmi Effendi insisted that he could not understand it, Fuad Bey said, "Please be seated," and added, "Hilmi Effendi, we are human... Perhaps you have worked much today and feel weary. Or you have another problem. You will understand it some other time. Don't worry!" At night, while all the boarders were asleep, the watchman woke Hilmi Effendi up and said that the geometry master was waiting for him in the teachers' room. He got up and put his clothes on and walked confusedly to the room. Fuad Bey said, "My son! I thought things over after I went home. I said to myself, 'Hilmi Effendi repeats every new lesson fluently and can solve the most difficult mathematical problems. There must be a reason that forced him to say that there was a contradiction with the problem.' I pondered over it much. I saw that you were quite right. Hadamar, the French author of the textbook, has written it wrongly, and Ahmad Nazmi Bey, the geometry teacher at Izmir High school, did not notice it, and I have taught it incorrectly for years. You are right, my son. I congratulate you. I am proud to have a student like you. I could not wait till morning to see that you shall sleep quietly and feel joyful." He kissed Hilmi Effendi on the forehead and left.

Hilmi Effendi fasted every Ramadan and performed every ritual salat throughout his education in the Military High school. Among the seniors, it was he alone who could continue to perform the ritual salat. Some teachers, who were deceived or perhaps hired by the enemies of Islam, had been striving to inoculate his classmates with irreligiousness and hostility towards Islam through lies, slanders and false interpretations of science. The geology teacher, Adam Nazihi, the physics teacher, Sabri, the philosophy teacher, Jamil Sana, and the history teacher, Major Bagdadli Galib, went to extremes in their mischievous teachings. But he was not deceived by these teachers. He studied their subjects much more and received perfect scores in their examinations, winning their appreciation.

When he was a senior at the Military High school, his father Said Effendi passed away. The officers, teachers and students of the school attended the funeral. The people of Ayyub were bewildered by the large crowd of those who attended the funeral.

Hilmi Effendi was uneasy when he studied at the Faculty of Science in the delicately ornamented Zeyneb Valide Sultan Hall at Bayazid Square; whenever he attended Friday prayer performed in the Bayazid Mosque, there would be only one row of Muslims behind the imam, and they all were old. He was worried that a few years later there would be no Muslims and was trying to find the cause of this decline. In no way could he make it out. He was filled with despair, but had no friends in the school with whom he could have a sincere talk or receive help from.

One day he left the campus and entered the Bayazid Mosque for the noon salat. After performing the salat, he saw somebody preaching on the left side of the mosque. He sat down. The preacher was explaining the six fundamentals of iman from a thin, small-sized book in his hand. Hilmi Effendi knew all of what was explained, but he did not leave his place for fear that the preacher's heart would be broken with the thought that his preaching did not please him. As a matter of fact, there were only a few old men who were listening. He cut his preaching short and, showing the little books in his hand, said, "Everybody needs these books. I sell them.' His appearance suggested that he was very poor. Nobody bought one. Hilmi Effendi pitied the preacher and, thinking that he would give it to a youth, asked its price. But, when the preacher said it was twenty-five kurushes, he gave up the idea, because neither did he have that much money nor was the book worth that much. The currency of those days was very valuable; an imam and a lieutenant received only 17 and 61 liras[48] respectively. The price of the book should have been five kurushes at most, and he found it unbecoming for the preacher to ask for such a high price. "It should be given free for Allah's sake. Well, if he lives on it, he should ask for five kurushes at most," he thought in disapproval. He walked to the other side of the mosque. The inside and outside of the balustrade on this side were very crowded. An old man seated inside was talking. With difficulty he made his way in and sat down behind him. The old man was reading a book and explaining how Muslims should visit the shrines of Awliya', a matter which Hilmi Effendi did not know but was very anxious to learn. While listening, however, he could not help thinking of the other preacher and said to himself, "One who loves Allah should give religious books freely," repeatedly. Meanwhile, the afternoon salat was begun in the mosque, and the old preacher closed the book he was reading and gave it to Hilmi Effendi while saying, "This is my present to a young effendi for Allah's sake," and began his salat. Though this preacher had not seen Hilmi Effendi, he knew he was sitting behind him. Hilmi Effendi took the book and joined in the salat. After the salat, he looked at the title "Rabita-i Sharifa" and underneath it the author's name "Abdulhakim" on the cover of the book and learned from someone in the Mosque that the person who gave him the book was 'Abdulhakim Effendi and that he preached at the Ayyub mosque on Fridays. He returned to the building called "Bekir Aga Bolugu" near the Bayazid Tower where he stayed.

On Friday, the weekend holiday in those days, he went to the big mosque. He looked for the preacher but could not see him. Then he learned that he was an imam at another mosque and would come after salat. He could not stay inside and went out. He saw the preacher standing beside a bookseller's stand. He approached him from behind looking steadily at him with love. He heard the bookseller say, "Sir, don't stand, sit on this chair," which was covered with snow. When he was about to sit, Hilmi Effendi jumped up close and said, "Please, just a moment," and cleaned the snow off with his handkerchief. He took off his overcoat, folded it and put it on the chair and said, "Please be seated now." He looked at him. His blessed, awe-inspiring face, black eyebrows and eyes and round beard was very beautiful and lovely. 'Abdulhakim Effendi said, "take your overcoat!" and sat on the bare wood of the chair. Hilmi Effendi felt sorry but was pleased when he was told, "Put it on my back." When some people came out of the mosque, he went in and sat on his high cushion on the floor of the right side of the mosque and began his lesson by explaining from a book on the low desk (rahla) in front of him. Hilmi Effendi sat in the first row facing him and was listening carefully. He listened with delight; the religious and worldly information, all of which he had never heard, was very interesting. He was like a poor person who had found a treasure, like a thirsty person who had discovered cool water. He could not move his eyes away from Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi. He was absorbed in watching his lovely, shining face and listening to the invaluable brilliant words he uttered. He had become beside himself and had forgotten about his school, his worldly affairs, and everything. Something sweet moved about his heart; it was as if he was being cleaned, washed with something sweet. It was during the very first sohbat that the first few words had been enough to entrance him as if forming in him the very blessing called fana', the attainment of which takes many years of sufferings. Unfortunately, the sohbat ended in an hour. For Hilmi Effendi, this one hour had passed like a moment. As if awakening from a sweet dream, he put his notebook into his pocket and stood in the line going out. While he was tying his shoe-laces, somebody bent over and whispered to him, "Young Effendi, I love you very much. Our house is in the cemetery. Come visit us. We will talk." Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi was the one who spoke these sweet, inspiring words. The same night Hilmi Effendi dreamt of a clear, bright, blue sky, balustraded like the dome of a mosque. Someone with a shining face was walking in it. When he looked up, he saw that it was Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi, and awoke in delight. A few days later he dreamt of somebody whose face glittered like the moon, who was sitting at the head of the sarcophagus at Hadrat Khalid Ayyub al-Ansari's shrine and for whom people were standing in a line to kiss his hand. Hilmi Effendi joined the line and woke up just as he was kissing his hand.

In those days Hilmi Effendi lived in Fatih and went to Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi's house every Friday. Sometimes he would go before the morning salat and leave unwillingly after the night salat. He would forget everything as if seeing everything afresh. He would always stay close to 'Abdulhakim Effendi, even while eating, praying, resting and visiting. He always watched his manners carefully and listened to him. He tried hard not to waste even a minute. He went to him during every holiday, and whenever he had free time. He never missed his sermons in mosques. Firstly Turkish books and some months later Arabic sarf[49] and nahw[50] were taught. Amsila, Awamil, Simai masdars, Qasida-i Amali, Mawlana Khalid's Diwan and the logic book Isaguji were memorized. A couplet, a line or an Arabic or Persian sentence would be written and explained at every meeting. All of what was written was memorized.

The first work Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi assigned to Husain Hilmi Effendi was the translation from Arabic into Turkish of a small passage from al-Imam al-Baghawi on qada' and qadar. He did the translation[51] at home during the night and took it to his master the following day. His master said, "Very good! You've translated it correctly. I like it."

Husain Hilmi Effendi passed to the second class of Medical school as the best student. While sitting in a garden during a visit with his master at Ayyub, the time happened to coincide with his completion of a course in osteology and he was about to work on a cadavar. His master asked him what he was studying at the university. Upon his answer, Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi said, "You will not become a physician. You had better transfer to the school of Pharmacy." Hilmi Effendi said, "I have the highest scores in the class. They won't let me go to the school of Pharmacy." "You submit your petition. Insha-Allah, Allahu ta'ala will grant it," said his master. After many petitions, Hilmi Effendi entered the school of Pharmacy as a sophomore towards the end of the first semester. Although the curriculum was half over and he had to take some more examinations on the courses given in the first year, he passed all of the examinations at the end of the second semester. He graduated from the school of Pharmacy and completed one year of probation at the Gulhane Hospital with the highest honors. He was first appointed as a Lieutenant Assistant- master at the Military Medical school. He had subscribed to the paper Le Matin, which was published in Paris, by the order of 'Abdulhakim Effendi and increased his knowledge in French while he was a student at the school of Pharmacy. He began studying at the school of Chemical Engineering, again by the order of 'Abdulhakim Effendi when he was an Assistant-master. He learned calculus from Von Mises, mechanics from Professor Prage, physics from Dember and technical chemistry from Goss. He worked with Arndt, a Professor of Chemistry, and evoked his appreciation. In the last six months of the research he carried out under his supervision, he synthesized and determined a formula for ester "phenylcyannitro-methan-methyl." This successful research, which was the first in its field in the world, was published in The Journal of The Istanbul Faculty of Science and in the German chemical journal Zentral Blatt (number 2519, in 1937) under the name of Husain Hilmi Isik. When he received a Diploma of Master of Science in Chemical Engineering (numbered 1/1) in 1936, Husain Hilmi Isik appeared in the daily papers as the first and unique Chemical Engineer in Turkey. Because of this success of his, he was appointed as a Chemist Officer at the Department of Poisonous Gases in Mamak, Ankara. He served there for eleven years, many of which he worked with Merzbacher, General Director of the Auer Factories; Goldstein, Doctor of chemistry; and Neumann, Doctor of Optics. He also learned German from them. He became an expert in poison-gases. He rendered service. For example, England sold one hundred thousand gasmasks to Poland during the Second World War. While the masks were on their way along the Dardanelles, Germans invaded Poland, and the Britons wanted to sell the masks to Turkey. Captain Husain Hilmi Isik examined the masks and, after realizing that their filters leaked poisonous gas, reported them to be "unusable, good for nothing." The Minister of National Defense and the British Ambassador became quite alarmed and did not believe the report. "How could it be possible for a British product to be defective?" it was said. He proved his words. At last he had to give the order that they could be broken into pieces and used a spare parts; thereby, the British were able to get their money.

When Husain Hilmi Effendi worked in Ankara he visited Istanbul on every occasion. When visiting was difficult, he calmed himself by writing to Istanbul. 'Abdulhakim Effendi, in his blessed-hand-written replies, which were written from Istanbul to the village of Mamak, said:

"Dear Hilmi! I thank Allahu ta'ala for the health you enjoy as you write. It pleases me very much to learn that you are teaching [your brother] Sedad the 'awamil.[52] I see it is not without reason that you are ordained to stay away from the city. Both of you will get much benefit... I send my salams[53] and pray for you, your mother and sisters. Write me frequently. Tell me about your state in detail! Write me about your situation immediately after the inspection!"

"My very much beloved Hilmi and Sedad! I have received your lovely letter. It causes me to express thanksgiving and praise to [Allahu ta'ala]... He has translated the 'awamil beautifully. Then, he has understood it. Hilmi will benefit from it. Sedad will benefit from it. The 'awamil has a sharh and a mu'rab. I will send them by someone. In fact, they will suffice in respect to nahw. Then, in addition to being a chemical engineer, you will also become an engineer in sarf and nahw. Other engineers will fall in value as their numbers increase. This branch of engineering, however, in addition to being valuable in itself, will become much more valuable because the experts in this branch have become rare or have disappeared. The reason why you are there then, seems to be to enable you to attain great prosperity (dawlat-i 'azima). We send salams and prayers."

"Hilmi! I felt much pleasure and happiness upon reading your latest letter. I want you to believe in what you wrote. I benefit much from the laxatives. If it is easy, prepare some more and send it to me!"

"Alaikum salam! It is not sunnat[54] to greet (salam) someone while one is reciting the Qur'an. When greeted, however, it is wajib[55] to reply: the reciter pauses and then gives the salam, afterwards he continues to recite, since the recitation [of the Qur'an] is a sunnat while responding to the salam is a wajib. A wajib cannot be abandoned or delayed for the advantage of a sunnat, but a sunnat should be abandoned or delayed for a wajib. As for your second question, read it is you saw and understood it before! In fact, 'esteem' (hurmat) is meant by 'haqq' (right) in this context. 'Bi-haqq-i Muhammad', may Allah bless and save him, means 'bi-hurmat-i Muhammad.' The author of Mawqufat assumed that 'haqq' was a 'haqq-i shar'i' (a legal right) or a 'haqq-i 'aqli' (a logical right). If this had been the case, he would have been right. This prayer has been read this way from days of old. It is true that nothing is in any way, neither legally nor logically, obligatory upon Allahu ta'ala. By 'haqq' this is not meant. Perhaps the interpreter understood it wrongly. My dear! Like you, everybody is troubled with the same trouble, sorrowful with the same sorrow. If it were not so, people would have been distressed in another way. This has been the 'Adat-Allah (the Law of Allah). An Arabic couple says, 'Kullu man talqahu yaskhu dahrahu./Ya layta sha'ri hadhihi 'd-dunya liman?" (Whomever you encounter complains about his state, his time,/Oh, if I ever knew whose world this was.) So you're still better! [Your sorrow is meritorious, and it is a sign of being a good human being.]"

"Hilmi! I am grateful for your letter. I thanked Allahu ta'ala for your good health. You must know that it is a great blessing and endowment to read and understand even part of the book Maktubat [by al-Imam ar-Rabbani Ahmad al-Faruqi as-Sirhindi], the like of which on the religion of Islam has never been written and which will help you the most in your din (religion) and dunya (world)." The handwritten copies of these letters which were sent from Istanbul to Mamak village are kept in the file named [Memorial Letters].

In Mamak, Husain Hilmi Effendi read several times and strove to understand the Turkish translations of al-Imam ar-Rabbani's and his son Muhammad Mathum's Maktubats, each of which was of three volumes, and he compiled a summary-index of the six volumes in alphabetical order. When he came to Istanbul, he read the entire 3846 entries of its summary to Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi, who listened to it for several hours and liked it very much. When 'Abdulhakim Effendi said, "This makes up a book. Give it the title 'Invaluable Writings'," Husain Hilmi Effendi was surprised, but he further added, "Didn't you get it? Can their value ever be estimated?" The entries which were derived from the first volume were later appended to the end of the Turkish Maktubat Tercemesi as an alphabetical index.

In 1359 (1940), Hilmi Isik asked his master 'Abdulhakim Effendi, "Sir, I intend to marry. What will you say?"

"Whom will you marry?" his master asked. "The one whom you permit." "Really?" "Yes, sir." "Then Ziya Bey's daughter is suitable for you." When Hilmi Effendi wanted his curiosity addressed before he returned to Ankara, 'Abdulhakim Effendi summoned Ziya Bey the following day, and, after a long talk, his promise was obtained. A week later, Hilmi Effendi came to Istanbul again, and the engagement ring was placed on his finger by the blessed hands of 'Abdulhakim Effendi, who also carried out the Islamic betrothal according to the Hanafi and Shafii madhhabs after registering at the municipality. The wedding was held two months later. At the feast, 'Abdulhakim Effendi sat beside Hilmi Effendi and, after the night prayer, said a prayer in person. When the couple visited him a week later, 'Abdulhakim Effendi conveyed tawajjuh to the bride and said, "You are both my daughter and daughter-in-law."

When Hilmi Effendi was at home at Hamamonu, in. Ankara, during the autumn of 1362 (1943 A.D.), Faruq Bey's son Barrister Nevzad Isik came to him and said, "Sir, 'Abdulhakim Effendi awaits you at our house." "Are you joking? He is in Istanbul! Why do you say he awaits me?" Hilmi Effendi asked. Nevzad Bey swore and together they went to Faruq Bey's house at Haji Bayram. He learned there that the police had taken 'Abdulhakim Effendi from his house in Ayyub, Istanbul, to Izmir and later to Ankara. After many petitions, he was permitted to stay at his nephew Faruq Bey's house under police supervision. He had become weak and exhausted out of anxiety and travel. He told Hilmi Effendi, "Come to me every day!" Every evening Hilmi Effendi helped him arm-in-arm to his Bedroom, put blankets on him and left after reciting and blowing Suras al-Falaq and an-Nas upon him. The visitors who came during the day would sit on the chairs lined across the room and soon leave. He always let Hilmi Effendi sit at the bedside and conversed with him silently. When he was interred in Baglum, a village near Ankara, Hilmi Effendi went in the grave and carried out certain religious duties upon the command of Ahmad Makki Effendi, 'Abdulhakim Effendi's son. Makki Effendi also said, "Father loved Hilmi very much. He knows his voice. Hilmi shall read the talqin!"[56] This honorable service, too, fell to the lot of Hilmi Effendi. A few years later Hilmi Effendi placed a marble tablet, which he had written in Istanbul, at the head of the grave. He also put a marble tablet on the grave of Hadrat Sayyid Fahim in Van and repaired the shrines of Abdulfettah, Muhammad Amin Tokadi and cherkes Hasan Bey in Istanbul. He lead the funeral prayer of Behice Me'an Sultan, the late wife of 'AbdulHamid Han II, as she had willed, in 1389 (1969 A.D.), and he had a shrine constructed over her grave in the Yahya Effendi cemetery. In the autumn of 1391 (1971 A.D.), he visited Delhi, Diobend, Sirhind and Karachi and, seeing that the graves of Hadrat Sana'Allah and Mazhar-i Jan-i Janan's wife in the town of Paniput being trodden under foot, donated five hundred dollars for their repair and protection.

Husain Hilmi Effendi was appointed as a chemistry teacher at the Bursa Military High school in 1947, where he later became its Principal. Afterwards, he became a chemistry teacher at the Kuleli (Istanbul) and Erzincan Military High schools for many years. After teaching hundreds of officers, he retired following the coup d'etat of 1960. Later he taught mathematics and chemistry at Vefa, Imam-Khatib, Cagaloglu, Bakirkoy and at many other high schools in Istanbul. He trained many faithful youths. Without discontinuing teaching, he bought the Merkez Pharmacy in Yesilkoy, a suburb of Istanbul, in 1962 and served the health of the people as proprietor and manager of the dispensary for many years.

While he taught chemistry at the Kuleli Military High school in Istanbul, he learned ma'qul, manqul, usul and furu' as it relates to fiqh, tafsir and hadith from the virtuous Ahmad Makki Effendi, the late Mufti of uskudar (Scutari) and later of Kadikoy in Istanbul. Husain Hilmi Effendi was graduated with the Ijazat-i Mutlaqa (Certificate of Absolute Authority) for religious instruction in 1373 (1953).

He published Se'adet-i Ebediyye (Endless Bliss) in 1956. He founded Isik Kitabevi in Istanbul in 1967, and established the Waqf Ikhlas in 1396 (1976 A.D.) He disseminated throughout the world his Turkish, German, French, English and offset-reproduced Arabic books and received thousands of letters expressing appreciation, congratulations and thanks. Some of his works were translated into Japanese, Asian and African languages. He always said that he had neither the ability nor efficiency, and that all the services done were the results of the spiritual help and grace of Hadrat Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi and the blessings ensuing from his excessive love and respect for the scholars of Islam.

Husain Hilmi Effendi constantly said that he found the taste in the sohbat and words of Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi in nothing else and that the most pleasant moments he enjoys are when he remembers those sweet days he spent with Sayyid 'Abdulhakim Effendi. He said his nasal bones ached out of the grief of separation and yearning when he remembers those days. He frequently recites the couplet:

"Zi-hijr-i dositan, khun shud darun-i Sina jan-i man,

Firaq-i ham-nashinan sokht, maghz-i istakhan-i man!"

(Because I am away from the beloved, my soul cries out tears of blood in may chest, Separation from those I sat together with burns my bone marrow!)

Husain Hilmi Effendi reads books by the scholars of Islam and quotes with tearful eyes the sayings of al-Imam ar-Rabbani and 'Abdulhakim Arwasi. He said, "Kalam-i kibar, kibar-i kalamast." (The words of the superiors are the superior words.)

He frequently quotes 'Abdulhakim Effendi is having said:

"Why are you surprised at seeing harm coming from one who was created to be harmful! How can you expect goodness from him? I am surprised at your being surprised! He is a sharr-i mahd (unmixed evil). His vice should not be surprising. If you see him do any good deeds, then you should feel surprised! Say to yourself, how can he do something good?"

"The scholars of Islam were complete human beings. We are mere nothing beside them. If we had lived among them, we would not have been counted as human beings. If we were lost, nobody would look for us!"

"If the tekkes[ZAWIYAS] had not been closed, many a wali would have been trained here."

"I could not find the possibility or opportunity to carry out my duty to instruct Muslims."

"If I spoke a foreign [Western] language, I could serve [Islam] much more!"

"The greatest enemy of Islam is the British. They tried to annihilate Islam with all their armies, fleets, uncountable gold coins collected from their colonies, in short, with all their imperial powers. Nevertheless, the harm of all these giant forces of the British to Islam remains secondary; a more frightening enemy of Islam is Shamseddin Gunaltay."

"A sensitive and delicate person cannot eat the food which he himself puts into a new child's brimming chamberpot. He feels disgust when he remembers the discharged matter that is put in it. Using the things that cause disbelief has the same effect. A person whose iman is firm and who is faithful to Islam does not use them however much they are praised by others." "Not everybody can understand al-Imam ar-Rabbani's Maktubat, which resembles neither Hafiz-i ShiRazi's poems nor the Khamsa. We read it not to understand it but to be blessed by reading it."

"Performing salat means to turn towards (tawajjuh) Allahu ta'ala. Realities are revealed to those who perform salat in accordance with the honorable Shariat  in this world. Al-'ilm al- ladunni  is endowed upon them. This 'ilm (branches of knowledge) is learned at seventy-two varying degrees; the one who is at the lowest degree knows how many leaves there are on a tree at a glance and can differentiate a shaqi (evil) person from a Said (pious) one. Such people perform salat in their graves, too. This kind of salat does not consist of qiyam (standing) or ruku (bowing); it means to turn towards Allahu ta'ala."

http://www.hizmetbooks.org/Proof_of_Prophethood/prhuseyn.htm