Singing with Ali and Mehmet

By Ta’lim Bruno Knobel

At the end of May, some sixty pilgrims from various Sufi communities met together at Fazal Manzil (“House of Blessing”), the home of Hazrat Inayat Khan and his family in Suresnes, France. For many it was their very first visit.

Sohbet

We shared in a rich program that included music, dances, zikr (remembrance of God), sobhet (spiritual conversation), silent meditations in the Oriental Room, visits to the Archive on a guided tour, story-telling and poetry, and a Universal Worship service.

Between events there was ample unstructured time to meet and be with each other. It did not seem to matter which branch of Hazrat Inayat Khan’s legacy anyone belonged to—be it the Sufi Order, Sufi Movement or Ruhaniat.

Meditation

In addition to being ecumenical, the gathering was also international. Among us were friends from Russia, Spain, the Netherlands, England, Scotland, Wales, Germany, France, Ireland and Switzerland. What a delight to discover that the language of the heart bypasses cultural barriers!

Our weekend was greatly blessed by the presence of Shaikh al-Mashaik Mahmood Khan, the nephew of Hazrat Inayat Khan, and Saadi Neil DouglasKlotz. We were deeply touched as they shared gems of wisdom from the treasury of our Sufi path in depth of knowledge, humor and graciousness.

We hope to host a next Pilgrimage in 2017, and we hope you can join us. The announcement, when it comes, will appear on this website.

European Kinship Team (without Joy Azima)

Ta’lim is a student of the International Sufi Order for more than 25 years. He leads a center in Switzerland and works professionally as a physicist.