This is a letter Shaykh Ibrahim (r.a.a.) wrote to one of his key Muqaddams, Saydi Ali Cisse, ordering him to deliver a message about service (khidmah) to the disciples (murids) with him.
﷽
Al-Hamdu Lillah, to Allah Alone, and may two kinds of salaam be upon the one after whom there is no prophet.
Kaolack, 16 Shawwal 1360.
May a wholesome peace in which there is no vanity or indecency lead the esteemed keeper of Lordly, Muhammadi, Tijani secrets, Sidi Ali Cisse.
The divine presence (Hadrah) gives you permission to gather the beloveds, male and female. If the day you all tend the fields is soon, make it then. There should be an eloquent address, which I have decided should come from your tongue, and it should be in my presence if I can be there, but if not, then so be it. You are to enjoin them to be grateful to Allah and to the intermediaries between them and Him (t.), and elucidate to them what Allah has favored them with, which had not been attained by any traveler to Allah (t.) before them. The ecstatic utterances of the enraptured could not even hover around what the least of you has tasted. You are to enjoin them to love all the people of Allah. None of them has attained anything except through their Shaykh…. Shaykh Tijani (r.a.a.). One must follow the example of those who have had companionship with the shaykhs in previous generations, in two respects: perfecting one’s belief in them and forsaking one’s own independent will, in addition to persisting in khidmah. It is through proper belief that the inner state of the desciple (murid) is rectified, but through khidmah and gifts (Hadiyyah) that his or her outer state is rectified.
They have accompanied us in terms of belief, and gained the greatest spiritual station (maqaam) in the shortest period of time, but they neither took up khidmah nor did anything else—and that is why they have been delayed in outwardly accomplishing what they wanted to. If all of them committed to a certain kind of khidmah to persist in, and obligated upon themselves a certain amount of hadiyyah that they can manage, at all times, they would see things go their way outwardly as well as inwardly, due to their belief and love. Look—do you see any of them except Baba Gaye and Muhammad Hadam who have set for themselves some khidmah to persist in? They are all able to see what those two have managed to snatch. Do not mention their names explicitly—just say “two or three young men”—but say to them all that, starting today, every desciple (murid) who wants to learn must commit to two days’ worth of khidmah and accustom themselves to it, and whoever wants to be in constant khidmah should take an oath to that effect. All those who claim to be people of khidmah but are satisfied with laziness should busy themselves with their own affairs, leave off the claim of khidmah, and be mere neighbors, connected in some way. Truly, it can be no other way, for today’s Dunya is not like the Dunya they used to know. Living without being engaged in some type of work is not something that happens in this new Dunya. And whoever goes against this from now on will see what happens.
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الحمد لله وحده والسلامان على من لا نبي بعده.
من مدينة كولخ 16 شوال عام 1360.
فسلام سليم لا لغو فيه ولا تأثيم يؤم جناب خازن الأسرار الربانية المحمدية التجانية السيد علي سيس.
تأذن الحضرةُ في جمعك الأحبابَ ذكورا وإناثا وإن كان يوم عمل بستانكم قريبا يكون فيه ولا بد من خطبة بليغة اخترتُ أن تكون على لسانك بمحضري إن أمكن وإلا فلا. تأمرهم بالشكر لله وللوسائط بينهم وبينه تعالى وتبين لهم ما خصهم الله به مما لم يشق غبارَه سائرٌ إلى الله تعالى قبلهم فشطحات أرباب الشطح ما حام حول ما ذاق أدناهم مقاما وتأمرهم بمحبة أهل الله جميعا وكلهم ما نال شيئا إلا من شيخهم التجاني رضي الله عنه ولا بد من الاقتداء بمن صحب المشايخ قبلهم في شيئين كمال الاعتقاد وسلب الإرادة ودوام الخدمة فإن بالاعتقاد يصلح باطن المريد ولكن بالخدمة والهدية يصلح ظاهره فهم صحبونا بالاعتقاد ونالوا أكبر مقام في أقصر مدة وما خدموا ولا فعلوا غيرها ولذلك تأخر نيل مرادهم ظاهرا فلو التزم كل واحد منهم خدمة يدوم عليها وأوجب لنفسه الهدية بما أمكنه في كل زمن لرأوا انقياد الأشياء لهم ظاهرا كما رأوه باطنا بسبب الاعتقاد والمحبة فانظر هل ترى غير بابَ گي ومحمد حَدَم أوجبوا على أنفسهم دوام خدمتنا فقد غَبَنا من حيث يرون ولا تسمِّ اسمهما قل شابين أو ثلاثة فقط وقل لهم من اليوم لا بد لكل تلميذ يحب التعلم أن يلتزم خدمة اليومين على المعتاد ومن أراد أن يكون خادما دائما فليبايع على ذلك ومن رضي بالكسل ممن يدعى أنهم خَدَمة فليشغل بأمر نفسه ويترك دعوى الخدمة ويكون جارا فقط من جملة المتعلقين وهذا جدا لا يمكن غيره فالدنيا الآن ليست كالدنيا التي عرفوا فالعيش بدون عمل ما لا يتأتى في الدنيا الجديدة ومن خالف بعد هذا سيرى ما يكون
Translated by: Sidi Adnan Wood-Smith