Sharafuddin Maneri : Prayer

For some background about this 13th c. Indian Sufi, see this post. This excerpt is taken from his collection ‘One Hundred Letters’

The daily routine of a disciple, in the absence of his Teacher, should be such as to secure purity of heart, whether by prayer, sacred study, mutterings [i.e. repetitions], or meditation.

The secret of prayer is inexpressible. When the disciple, renouncing separateness, stands for prayer in a mood of self-surrender, his body ranks with Kâbâ’s shrine, his heart with Arsh (the Divine Throne); and his spirit sees the Vision Divine….

The devotee mostly prays with the fire of Love without observing external forms (e. g. kneeling and prostration), takes all devotees as one, and does not stigmatise any man with the brand of infidelity and damnation.

In the state of prayer, one merged in the Divine cannot be conscious of anything else; as Alî, while praying, was operated upon, and an arrow drawn out of his thigh, but he did not feel it.—

Translation Baijnath Singh

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.