:bism2: Siraj al 'Awarif fi al Wisaya al Ma'arif by Shaykh Abu al Husain al Noori al Husaini al Qadiri al Barakati al Merehrawi :ra: translated by Shaykh Abu Muhammad al Qadiri al RaDawi hafZ :madina:I Love You Ya HabeebAllah :sas: TWENTY- SEVENTH NOOR The excellence of the Sahaba above the entire Ummah is recorded in the 10th chapter of Mah’dinul Ma’ahni (معدن المعانى). This book also notes some things about Ummul Moh’mineen Sayyadah Ayesha t, the building of the Rouda Shareef and the Noble Sahaba. I (Sayyid Abul Hussein Ahmed Noori) inquired from my Murshid-e-Kaamil t: “Is the excellence and superiority of the Noble Sahaba above the entire Ummah because of being blessed with the sacred company of Sayyiduna Rasoolullah r or other qualities such as knowledge, Ibadah, devotion, piety, etc.?” The Grand Sheikh t replied: “I will give you a brief answer to this question. The excellence of the beloved Habeeb r upon the entire creation is absolute. After the status of Sayyiduna Rasoolullah r, it is the status of the Prophet fraternity. After the Prophets is the status of Ummate-Muhammadiyya. The highest ranking in this Ummah is that of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr As-Siddique t, then Sayyiduna Omar Al-Farooq t then Sayyiduna Uthmaan Al-Ghani t then Sayyiduna Ali Al-Murtudah t. Let it be known that they are the elite of Bani Adam (mankind), i.e. all the Prophets of Allah are superior to the elite of the Angels, namely Jibra’eel u, Mikaa’eel u, Israfeel u and Izra’eel u. The elite of the Angels are superior to the general Angel fraternity. This is a belief of the Madhab of the Ahle Sunnat Wa Jama’at. “Now I return to your actual question which you earlier asked. Concerning the excellence of the Sahaba, Sayyiduna Rasoolullah r states: أصحابي كالنجوم با يّهم اقتديتم اهتديتم* My Sahaba are like the stars, if you follow anyone of them you will find salvation. “This Hadith Shareef refers to the general Sahaba fraternity, that is, as this Hadith Shareef can be applied to the Khulafa-e-Rashideen, similarly, it can be applied to the entire Sahaba fraternity. So, one can find salvation by following any Sahaba. Then, it is obvious that the leaders are always superior to the followers. As the excellence and superiority of the Sahaba are due to the sacred company (محبة) of Sayyiduna Rasoolullah r, likewise is the state of their other qualities such as Ibadah, Taqwa, Tawakkul, ‘Ilm, devotion, etc. They possessed all these unique qualities but the impact and radiation of the mere company and closeness of the Beloved Nabi r excels all excellence. Therefore, all these Nufoos (souls) are attributed to the sacred company (Soh’bat) and hence called Sahaba-e-Rasool (Companions of the Rasool). There is a possibility that other high ranking Awliya-Allah may attain similar excellence to the Sahaba in all other qualities, but where and how are they going to get the pinnacle of excellence and that is the sacred company and presence of the Exalted Habeeb r? This pinnacle of excellence is exclusive to the Sahaba that give them the high superiority above the rest of the Ummah.” After this explanation, the Makhdoom and Grand Master read this couplet: mah e mon kar tu marakis na kuni mon che kunam? shanak tarbatei la'al shudan na tawand Oh my moon! If your radiance cannot make me any good then what can I do? No stone can become a ruby by nursing and polishing it!
