Saying God’s name once or twice in your lifetime is enough,
however, that is only when you chant God’s name
and see him at the same time.
If you chant God’s name and God does not appear,
it means he did not hear it.
Either he’s [deaf], dumb and blind or you are.
One of the two have to be the Dajjal.
So it’s either you or your Lord. Right?
What Worship Did Prophet Muhammad (s) Perform Before Islam?
The Animate Name of God has many acts, not zikr alone.
For instance, this is Shakeel.
There are many things that can be done with him.
One being looking at him.
Another is that he can be befriended.
Thirdly, I can have him wash my car.
Fourthly, you can ask him to bring water.
He can do many things.
Similarly, the Name of God is not for zikr alone;
the Name of God can do many things.
As you progress,
the Name of God will be used for Muraqiba (transcendental meditation)
because it is the key to everything.
As you progress, it becomes your mode of travel.
As you progress, it shall materialise into a form.
As it used to happen with Prophet Muhammad (s).
Now, you have never seen the Prophet (s) engaged in zikr
nor did the Prophet (s) ever do zikr in public.
What would the Prophet (s) do?
One day, he said, ‘Allah’.
When he would utter ‘Allah’,
the Name of God would materialise before him.
The appearance of the name of God
is in likeness to that of God himself.
So [one day] someone asked the Prophet (s),
‘O Messenger of God, why do you practise zikr so much?’
The Prophet (s) replied ,
‘The Name of God is my companion,
it is in close proximity’.
Something that you keep in close proximity is called ‘anees’.
Now, when you practise zikr and say ‘Allah Hoo’,
do you see anything?
This is why your practise of zikr is pointless.
The way that the Prophet (s) would engage in zikr,
he would say, ‘Allah Hoo’
and the Name of God
would appear before him in the likeness of God.
He would continue chanting ‘Allah’
and gazing at God
which would quench his thirst.
At one stage, [God] said
to the Prophet (s),
‘And when you forget me, engage in my zikr’.
This doesn’t make sense to you, right?
To forget God doesn’t mean
that God vacates our memory.
To forget God means
that the features of God that had been absorbed in our eyes,
when they become blurred,
God says, ‘Then engage in my zikr.
The appearance of ‘Allah’ is in my likeness.
My likeness will become complete [when you visualise my name]’.
This explanation is not from this world.
If you don’t understand it,
don’t bother.
Just think you’ve heard something unique today.
This explanation is not from here.
Neither is the discourse.
Now, the Prophet (s) would utter ‘Allah’ once and then sit in silence,
because he would be gazing [at God].
For example, when it’s cold outside,
it’s not right now but when it is extremely cold,
when you breathe out like this, you’ll see smoke forming in front of you,
and then it diffuses into the atmosphere shortly after.
Then you blow out your breath again
and another puff of smoke forms.
Then you do it again,
and you see the smoke again.
Then you do it again, and you see the smoke again.
Similarly, when you engage in ‘Allah Hoo’,
flashes of God’s likeness appear before you.
Allah Hoo, Allah Hoo, Allah Hoo.
Now, you are not able to see it
this is why the momineen and saints were instructed
to make visualisation of God’s name while practising zikr.
Why was it said?
Because to visualise is a replication.
And what is the reality?
The reality is that when you recite 'Allah Hoo',
you see the appearance of God.
Sultan Haq Bahoo said,
‘Practising zikr without visualisation
is like a donkey braying’.
So what is the main thing here?
Visualisation.
What was the main thing for the Prophet (s)?
To gaze upon the Lord’s countenance.
This is why he would practise zikr.
Allah Hoo, Allah Hoo, Allah Hoo.
Right now, the gate has been opened
for the inscription of God’s name,
for you to be able to visualise God’s name.
However, when the gate to visualising God is opened,
then you shall engage in the zikr of ‘Allah Hoo’
and you shall see the appearance of the Name of God
which is in the likeness of God.
However, it is dimmed [at first].
You start chanting, ‘Allah Hoo, Allah…’
it’s like the person who asked yesterday,
‘What did Prophet Muhammad (s) do in the Cave of Hira?’
I said, ‘He would engage in zikr’.
Now, that’s a very simple answer
but what if I told you that
this is the type of zikr he would be engaged in?
Allah Hoo, Allah Hoo, Allah Hoo…
Now, you find out that when you’re missing someone,
you just have to say their name and their likeness shall materialise before you.
So you’d possess such a wonderful formula!
In a similar way, the one beloved by the Lord is one
who utters ‘Ya Gohar’
and witnesses the countenance of the Lord.
If you have this, you’re the Lord’s beloved.
If you don’t, then God knows what you are but you’re not beloved by the Lord.
You say ‘Ya Gohar’
and you see the Lord.
Or, you say ‘Ya Muhammad’
and you see him.
Or, you say ‘Ya Ali’ and you see him.
But you do say ‘Ya Ali, Ya Ali’, and you don’t see anything.
So then how can you claim to be an admirer of Ali?
You should be able to see the countenance of Ali when you say his name.
I swear by God’s honour,
may we be cursed if are unable to see Ali’s face when we utter his name.
If we say ‘Ya Muhammad’
and we cannot see Muhammad,
may we be cursed.
If we say ‘Allah’
and we cannot see the likeness of God,
may we be cursed.
This is the true form of zikr,
the rest is just the ritual of zikr.
This is reality,
whereas the rest is all talk.
‘fazkurooni azkurkum’.
So what do we understand?
What is the actual meaning of this?
God says: fazkurooni,
when you look at my face, you will make mention of my name in order to see me.
‘fazkurooni’ - you will engage in my zikr in order to be able to witness my likeness.
‘Azkurukum’
[God says] ‘and I shall make mention of your name and look at you’.
‘You look at me and I look at you’.
What do the spiritual guides do?
When they want to know what a particular person is doing,
they just think about that person
and in doing so, the individual’s face appears before them.
That's what happens, right?
So, to make mention of them with your tongue
and for their image to then appear,
that's a very long process, isn't it?
[Whereas the spiritual guides] just think and [the individual’s] face appears before them.
And what’s in your zikr?
You chant ‘Allah Hoo, Allah Hoo’
while your heart is engaged with the world.
You’re visualising something else.
So what’s the point of such a zikr?
The only zikr we practise
is the one in which we chant ‘Allah, Allah’
and see him, too.
If we don’t see him then there’s no point in practising zikr.
Saying God’s name once or twice in your lifetime is enough,
however, that is only when you chant God’s name
and see him at the same time.
If you chant God’s name and God does not appear,
it means he did not hear it.
Either he’s [deaf], dumb and blind or you are.
One of the two have to be the Dajjal.
So it’s either you or your Lord. Right?
So if you chant his name and you can see him,
then your zikr is correct.
If you can’t see him then what’s the point of such zikr?
We do not practise the zikr that happens [automatically]
while you’re standing, sitting or sleeping - that’s the zikr that is meant for cleansing.
It cleanses you.
That’s not the zikr we practise,
we shall practise the zikr in which we can see the Lord.
The Animate Name of God that you have been granted
- now that it has been conferred upon you, sit quietly.
This Name of God shall do everything on its own.
The incredible quality of this Animate Name of God is
that even if you’re not practising zikr,
the name itself engages in zikr with great fervor.
Even if your heart is not activated
and you’ve been granted the Animate Name,
the zikr is happening anyway.
That’s the beauty of it.
And such a bounty was never conferred before.
Although the Prophet (s) possessed the Animate Name of God,
he did not render it to anyone.
He rendered the common Name of God to 11 individuals.
But the Animate Name of God was not given to anyone.
The magnanimity of HDE Gohar Shahi doesn't lie in the Name of God that they have distributed.
The generosity of HDE Gohar Shahi is the fact that they have distributed so commonly to the masses, the animate name of God, which was possessed by only one personality before.
This is the divine grace of HDE Gohar Shahi.
This is the bounty of HDE Gohar Shahi.
‘wazkur Rabbaka izaa nuseeta
engage in the commemoration of your Lord’s name…’
‘izaa nuseeta - when you forget him’.
Think about it,
is there anyone who would completely forget about the existence of God?
So what does ‘forget him’ mean?
To forget something - it’s like, I get up to go and leave my phone behind.
I forget my phone here.
But how does one forget God?
Have you ever forgotten the existence of God?
Has this ever happened, even for half an hour?
Like, you’re messing about for half an hour
and somebody says, ‘What are you doing?
Don’t you fear God?’
And you say, ‘What? I totally forgot God even existed!’
That doesn’t happen, right?
So then what is meant by ‘forgetting’ here?
‘wazkur Rabbaka izaa nuseeta
- engage in the commemoration of your Lord’s name
when you forget him’.
Forgetting him means that you’ve forgotten the features of God.
‘Then engage in zikr’
for the zikr you’ve been granted, its appearance is in the likeness of God.
[God says] ‘Continue doing zikr and I shall appear before you once again’.
This is also one explanation of the Qur'an.
We only believe in this explanation of the Qur'an,
and according to us, this is the most elementary explanation [of the Qur'an].
There’s much more beyond this.
Now, suppose you go out to eat.
Amjad Hussain brings food and places it before you.
One of the dishes he prepared
is your favourite
and you love eating it,
and he has cooked it to perfection.
Now when you’re about to eat,
you’re going to make sure you focus on
your favourite food, and nothing else.
This is the reason why the Prophet (s) would fast.
What was his fast?
For the Prophet (s), his fast was
knowing that when he can ‘eat’ God,
why should he eat any other diet?
His favourite dish is Allah.
It’s not just about zikr,
he wanted to fill his stomach with God,
as well as his eyes,
his veins, his blood, his liver.
He wanted to ‘eat’ God, and nothing else.
The Prophet (s) said to people,
'Why do you imitate me?
The Lord feeds me'.
The Prophet (s)'s fast was different to everyone else's,
their zikr and salah were different to everyone else's.