“RISALA ROOHI” رِسالہ روحی ) )
or more commonly known as Risala Roohi Sharif (''The Book of Soul'') is the
record of the conversation between God and the most elevated saint Sultan ul
Arifeen Hazrat Sakhi Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) (1628–1691) in the form of a magazine.
The 17th-century saint, Sultan Bahoo (R.A.) authored over 140 books, of which
around 40 are still available. All of his books are in Persian language, except
the collection of his poetry, which is in the form of Punjabi couplets. ''Risala
Roohi'' is one of his most concise and representative books written in Persian.
Also, the 'Risala' is his books, which has been often prescribed as Wazeefa
(litany), by the saints of various orders especially by the Sarwari Qadri Order.
This masterpiece of Sultan-ul-Arifeen unfolds mysteries untold by previous
saints. The concept of creation and its execution; Allah’s existence and His
desire to manifest Himself; Allah’s first creation as His own reflection and the
resultant 7 Sultan-ul-Faqr souls; and the era of multiplicity is all unraveled
in a series of beautiful verses.
TRANSLATIONS
There are already been a number of translations of Risala Roohi both in Urdu and
English. It has been compiled, translated and published by various people and
publications. This Risala Roohi has been translated from Persian to Urdu by
Hazrat Sakhi Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman. It is a beautiful translation with
impeccable choice of words to make the translation incomparable.
Popular translations of Urdu include the ones by Nizam-ud-Din (Multan 1930),
Allah Walo Ki Qaumi Dukan (Lahore 1952), Faqeer Noor Mohammad Kulachvi (Dera
Ismail Khan), Faqeer Altaf Hussain (Lahore 1983), Doctor K.B. Naseem (Lahore
1987), Doctor Sultan Altaf Hussain (Quetta 1993), Prof. Syed Ahmed Hamdani (Naushera
Khushab 1994), Syed Ameer Khan Niazi (Chakwal 1999) and Shahid Al-Qadri (Ghagar
Mandi).
Amongst the known translations into English, the most famous include the ones by
Khalifa Shaukat Ali Sarwari and the one by Prof. Syed Ahmed Saeed Hamdani.
However, all the translations are more or less the same. There is a lot of
similarities between these texts. Hence, this particular translation is easy to
understand by those who seek the truth in this day and age. Hazrat Sakhi Sultan
Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman has compiled, translated and explained Risala Roohi in
both Urdu and English language. Sultan-ul-Faqr Publications Regd published the
first edition of the Urdu translation in August 2012. It is a 44 paged book
printed in CMYK.
CONTENT
Sultan-ul-Arifeen Hazrat Sakhi Sultan Bahoo has the spiritual conversation with
God where the Reality of Allah is revealed upon him. This dialogue between the
elevated Sufi Saint and the Creator Himself goes deep and reveals a lot of
spiritual secrets in general and those related to the status of Sultan-ul-Faqr
souls and of Sultan Bahoo himself.
Eight key points are the gist of the magazine:
1. Reason for creation itself.
Based upon the Hadith, “I was a hidden treasure, I desired to be recognized, so
I created mankind.”
2. Creation and the philosophy of manifestation within the created things.
Wherein the levels of creation are explained:
Ha-hooiyat-Divine Essence
Yahoot-First Manifestation
Lahoot-world of unity
Malakoot-world of intelligence
Jabroot-world of power
Nasoot-world of humanity
3. Noor-e-Ahmadi
“So He concealed Himself with the veil of "Meam" and manifested Himself as Ahmed
(pbuh).”
4. 7 Sultan-ul-Faqr Souls
“Then he shook upon Himself seven times due to the abundance of Divine
Passionate Will and with that seven purest souls of Fuqara, annihilated in
Allah, subsistent with Allah for perpetuity, absorbed in the Divine Vision,
complete essence of being without any flesh or body, submerged in the unfathomed
ocean of Allah's Beauty, appeared on the Divine Eternal Tree of pure transparent
belief seventy thousand years before the birth of Adam Alayhi Salam. “
Namely: Hazrat Fatima Razi Allahu Anhu
Hazrat Khwaja Hasan Basri Rehmat-ul-Allah Alayh
Hazrat Shaikh Abdul Qadir Jilani Razi Allahu Anhu
Hazrat Shaikh Abdul Razzaq Jilani Rehmat-ul-Allah Alayh
(Author) Sultan-ul-Arifeen Hazrat Sakhi Sultan Bahoo
Of the remaining two, one is Hazrat Sakhi Sultan Mohammad Asghar Ali and the 7th
one is yet to come into this world. These 7 souls were created 70, 000 years
before the creation of Adam and till they all manifest themselves into this
world, the day of judgment would not occur.
5. Introduction about the author-Sultan Bahoo
“Listen (O seeker) that this faqir (who is purgated), the author of this
compilation (this delectable book) has done away with all the veils (which were
barring intimacy) (between him and Allah ) (and thus) he has himself become
WAHDAT ( a manifestation of Absoulte Unity).”
6. Epithet of the magazine itself
“If you take this (very piece of writing) as the signs of divine capabilities
that is precisely so (but) if you call this (very book) as a divine revelation
(sent down on me) that is also right , God forbid (and) if you read this
document (which is full) of subtleties as utterance of this (humble) worshipper
that is also perfectly correct (way of understanding it).”
7. Order to create mankind
8. Becoming the Beloved of Allah
“(when I had reached) at a (very high) station of Faqr, from the Court of
Magnificence, the decree came that 'YOU ARE MY LOVER' (in reply) this Faqeer
humbly petitioned that "this incapable, (powerless person) is not worthy of (honour
& responsibility of ) loving the Persona of Magnificence" (on this) it was
stated that '(THEN), YOU ARE MY BELOVED' (for this) this incapable, (powerless
person) (had no answer and thus) kept quite.”
POPULARITY
The renowned scholar, Professor Dr. Drs. h. c. Annemarie Schimmel, who has
written extensively on Islam and Sufism has also briefed about Risala Roohi, in
the following words:
“His firm belief in Wahdat al-Wujood becomes clear, and although the pieces are
very short and concise they allow us to catch a glimpse of Sultan Bahoo’s
spiritual world and his though system which underlies the beautiful poetry which
every reader enjoys so much.”
Sultan Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman is the Shaikh/Spiritual Guide of the Sarwari
Qadri Order. Since 14th of August 2005, he has made great efforts and taken
revolutionary steps to spread the teachings of the spiritual guides of the
Sarwari Qadri Order upon the entire Ummah. Soon, he realized that the teachings
of Sakhi Sultan Bahoo need to be spread among the masses and transmitted
specially to the new generation in a language understood internationally. Hence,
he took on himself the responsibility to translate, republish and recompile
Sultan Bahoo's books.
[Book Name: Risala Roohi, Author: Sultan-ul-Arifeen Hazrat Sakhi Sultan Bahoo
Rehmat-ul-Allah Alayh, Translator: Khadim Sultan-ul-Faqr Hazrat Sakhi Sultan
Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman, Publisher: Sultan-ul-Faqr Publications Regd., Lahore,
Pakistan, Date: August 2012, ISBN 978-969-9795-03-9]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Book Name: Risala Roohi, Author: Sultan-ul-Arifeen Hazrat Sakhi Sultan Bahoo
Rehmat-ul-Allah Alayh, Translator: Khadim Sultan-ul-Faqr Hazrat Sakhi Sultan
Mohammad Najib-ur-Rehman, Publisher: Sultan-ul-Faqr Publications Regd., Lahore,
Pakistan, Date: 2012, ISBN 978-969-9795-03-9
2. Book Name: Risala Roohi Sharif, Author: Sultan-ul-Arifeen Hazrat Sakhi Sultan
Bahoo Rehmat-ul-Allah Alayh, Translator: Prof. Syed Ahmed Hamdani, Publisher:
Naushera Khushab, Pakistan, Date: 1994