Only Following the Sunnah Will Benefit in the End
Addressed to: Ḥaḍrat Qulījullāh Beg (may Allah have mercy on him)
نَحْمَدُهُ وَنُصَلِّي عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِ الْكَرِيمِ
Translation of the noble letter:
O beloved son, what will benefit you on the Day of Judgment is obedience to the bearer of Sharī‘ah, the Prophet Muḥammad Muṣṭafā (peace and blessings be upon him). If one’s spiritual states, ecstasies, knowledge, insights, symbols, and allusions are accompanied by this obedience, then it is excellent and a great blessing. But without such obedience, they amount to nothing but loss — and even worse, to istidrāj (a deceptive concession that leads one away from the truth).
It is related that Sayyid al-Ṭā’ifah, Ḥaḍrat Junayd al-Baghdādī (may Allah have mercy on him), was seen in a dream after his passing. When asked about his condition, he replied:
“Ṭāḥat al-ʿibādātu wa faniyat al-ishārātu wa mā nafaʿanā illā rakaʿātin rakʿnāhā fī jawf al-layl.”
Translation:
“All our devotional acts vanished, and our spiritual insights perished. Nothing benefited us except the few units of prayer we used to offer in the depths of the night.”
It is incumbent upon you to follow the example of the Prophet ﷺ and his rightly guided successors (al-khulafā’ al-rāshidūn), and to avoid any contradiction to the Sharīʿah in belief, speech, or action. For indeed, blessing and success lie in following the Sunnah, and misery and destruction lie in opposing it. Remember this well.
Clarification:
In this noble letter, Imām Rabbānī (may Allah sanctify his secret) emphasizes that the essence of spiritual success lies in adherence to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. If someone is granted states of ecstasy, inner knowledge, miracles, or unveilings — but without Sunnah adherence — these are worthless, and potentially harmful.
He illustrates this point through the statement of Sayyidunā Junayd al-Baghdādī, showing that in the end, only acts rooted in Sunnah — like tahajjud (night prayer) — will be accepted and rewarded.
This message is further reinforced by the narration of one of the elders, Shaykh Pīr Faḍl ʿAlī Qureshī Naqshbandī (Qaddasallāhu Sirrahū), who recounted the vision of a woman who saw a bad omen in her area — that only seventy women came for tahajjud, while the neighborhood had over a hundred. She feared divine punishment and urged swift rectification.
Conclusion:
This letter and the incident offer a powerful lesson to us, the seekers on the Naqshbandī-Mujaddidī path:
No matter how busy or spiritually elevated one may feel, do not neglect tahajjud, and above all, hold tightly to the Sunnah, for that alone will be your salvation.