Last September the Suluk Academy had the honor of hosting Huzur Sayyid Ahmad Shah Chishti Maududi, the root lineage-bearer of the Chishti Order, based in Herat and Chisht Sharif, Afghanistan. Huzur Sayyid Ahmad Shah recently sent the kind letter below, indicating that it should be publicly shared.

Letter from Huzur Shahanshah-i Chisht Sayyid Ahmad Shah Chishti Maududi

In the Name of God, the Almighty

Hafiz said:

Beneath this revolving dome, I found no finer souvenir
Than the sound of words that speak of love

This message carries my deepest salutations and greetings to the standard-bearing Pir of Sufism in the Western World, the personification of love, goodness, and kindness, Hazrat Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, and to all your Sufi disciples in America and Europe, as well as those belonging to the branches in Africa and Asia.

When I received your blessed letter I pressed it to my eyes and felt your perfume, a perfume of which, in remembering you, I am never for a moment unmindful.

The people of the West are fortunate to be moths circling around the candle of the beauty of Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, and receiving emanations of Chishti radiance and brilliance, which can be seen shining from Chisht Sharif, Khorasan, Afghanistan, to the horizons of America, France, South Africa, and Gujarat, India.

Though we might be divided by external differences of various kinds, the love and the fine manner of the Chishtiyya join us together in one reality!

Our hearts and our pathways are one. Our speech is one. The song of the Chishtis and the melody of their mystic wisdom have moved Venus in the heavens to dance! The hum of this divine sound was voiced in one era by Maudud Chishti, in another by Mu‘inuddin Hasan, in yet another by Nizamuddin, and in recent times by the throat of Pir Inayat Khan, the beloved of Europeans and Americans, who stirred a passionate love and a vibrant peace in their hearts.

I would like to again extend my greetings to your dear lady wife, whom I love so much, and to the man of love, Wahhab, and to Imam Salim Chishti, whose picture I hold within me.

I am ready to travel to Europe, so please do expedite matters. I will kiss your blessed forehead.

Chishti Maududi

Sajjada-nishin (Primary Lineage-Holder), Central Khanqah
Chisht Sharif

Translated by Jalaluddin Jamshidy Chishti, Private Secretary to Huzur Chishti Maududi