Letter of Seyyidina Ahmed Tijani (may ALLAH sanctify his precious secret)

Praise be to Allah, may He be magnified and exalted, His greatness is immense, His power is exalted, His majesty is sanctified. This letter is addressed to all the disciples of Fez and the Maghreb. May the peace, mercy and blessing of Allah be upon you, and may all this be extended upon you as long as the kingdom of Allah lasts.

From the poor servant in Allah, Ahmed ibn Mohamed Tidjani :

We ask Allah, may His power be magnified and His immensity be exalted, may He look upon you all through the eye of love and approval, through the eye of attention and the flood of grace, through the eye of election and choice. May all the good of religion, of this world and of the hereafter be granted to you as much as possible, and may all the evils affecting religion, this world and the hereafter be averted from you and may He protect you from them, until He leaves no sin, small or great, without having immersed it in the ocean of His forgiveness and generosity so that He will have no further claim on your sins.

May He leave no request or need, not being in His disobedience, that is not quickly answered. May He help you in what is predestined for you; if it is not in accordance with what is predestined, may He replace all these requests with what is better and higher. May He not allow any of the evils coming from the hands of creatures, without a soldier belonging to His power and sovereignty interposing himself, if it does not go against what is predestined; if it does go against it, I ask Allah to grant you His full gentleness, His help, His ease until these evils are taken away from you and thus leave you in safety.

I recommend that you and I fear Allah and take care that He does not catch you committing a sin, because for every sin a servant suffers two misfortunes that he cannot avoid. A misfortune in this world and a misfortune in the Hereafter. The misfortune in the Hereafter will undoubtedly occur, unless it is succeeded by the forgiveness of Allah – may He be exalted. Misfortune in this world will also undoubtedly befall any person who has committed a sin, unless he repels that misfortune by giving alms to a poor person, by spending money in the context of family relations or by paying off the debts of someone who is in debt or by canceling a debt that was his.

If none of this is done, then misfortune will strike the servant. So beware and beware again of disobeying Allah’s command. If there has ever been disobedience, and the servant is not infallible, he must hasten to repent and return to Allah. If this is not done quickly, the servant must know that he is losing his esteem with the True One. In this situation, he is exposed to the wrath of Allah, unless because of his sin he feels permanently in his heart that he deserves it, and provided that Allah grants him His forgiveness. He is thus broken-hearted, aware of his fall and the decay of his nafs, without any arrogance on his part. The servant is then on the path of good as long as he is in this state.

Beware! We seek protection from Allah against feeling safe from His plan concerning our sins, and feeling safe from His blame. Certainly, for anyone who remains in this state for a long time with regard to Allah, this is proof that he is going to die a disbeliever, and one seeks protection from Allah. Know that everything you learn about the particularities of this Ouird is true and will certainly happen. So beware of neglecting it, even if it is only once in a lifetime. The condition of the Ouird is to preserve the prayers in group, in accordance with the Law (Sharia). Once again, beware of believing that you are safe from Allah’s plan by committing sins, for this is certainly a source of perdition. Do not break off your relations with all creatures, and especially with your brothers. So, visit one another for the sake of Allah, establish relationships for the sake of Allah and give food for the sake of Allah as much as possible, without difficulty or embarrassment.

You must be patient at Allah’s command while trials and misfortunes arise. This world is the abode of trial and misfortune, similar to the waves of the sea. Indeed, Allah did not send the son of Adam down to this world except to face temptations and trials. Thus, there is no hope for the son of Adam to remove this from him, as long as he lives in this world. This is why it is necessary to be patient in all situations as much as possible. When a trial or misfortune befalls you, console yourself by telling yourself that this world was created and edified only for this purpose, that human beings were brought down here only for this purpose and that everyone is galloping along the same track. Know then that you are comparable to any of you.

Know that in our time, no one can guard against sins, for they pour down on people like heavy rain. For this reason, multiply what helps to atone for them, and among those things is Salat Fatihi. Indeed, no single sin or group of sins escapes it, as does the prayer of glorification (Salat Tasbih) and the following invocation, which must be repeated three times every day: “O my Lord! Your absolution is greater than my sins and I have more hope in Your mercy than in my deeds”.

There is also what must be repeated night and day, which is:

“There is no god but Allah and Allah is the greatest.
There is no god but Allah, Alone.
There is no god but Allah, He has no partner.
There is no god but Allah, to Him be royalty and to Him be praise.
There is no god but Allah, and there is no power or strength but in Allah the Most High, the Exalted.

There is also Hisbou Sayfee for those who can preserve it and other formulas of this kind.

And this formula for asking forgiveness:
“O Allah! I ask Your forgiveness for all the sins I have repented to You and then committed again. And I ask Your forgiveness for all that I promised You but did not keep my promise. And I ask Your forgiveness for every action in which I have sought Your face, but in which I have mixed You with others. And I ask Your forgiveness for every blessing You have bestowed upon me and which I have used in Your disobedience. And I ask Your forgiveness, O Knower of the hidden and the apparent, for every sin I have committed in the light of day or the darkness of night, in assembly or alone, hidden or in public, O the Beneficent.”

As well as the invocation: “O He who made the beautiful appear and hid the ugly…”.

Receive the good news that all those who die in our love will certainly be resurrected among the People of Salvation, whatever their situation and as long as they do not believe they are safe from Allah’s plan. In the same way, all those who have adopted our Ouird will be resurrected among the people of Salvation, they will enter Paradise without being judged and without suffering any punishment, they, their parents, their wives, their children but not their grandchildren; on the condition, however, that they believe, that they do not deny our love and that they do not feel safe from Allah’s plan as we mentioned earlier. Thus, they will be the neighbours of the Prophet (may the peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him) in the highest degrees of the ‘Illiyeen and will be safe from the moment of their death until they enter Paradise.

And may Allah’s peace, mercy, and blessing be upon you.

Text taken by Djawahirou-l-Ma’ani
Research and translation by the Zawiya Tidjaniya El Kubra of Europe