The Meeting of Hazrat Mufti Muhammed Shafi sahab (rahimahullah) and Hazrat Hakeem ul Ummat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi (rahimahullah)
“A moment spent in the company of Aulia is better than a hundred years of worship without Riya ” Hazrat Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi .
Explanation of above couplet of Hazrat Rumi
When Hazrat Mufti Muhammed Shafi Sahab graduated from Darul Uloom Deoband, he went to Thana Bhavan (khanqah of Maulana Asharaf Ali Thanvi) to spent some time with Hazrat Maulana Ashraf Ali sahab Thanvi. He found an opportunity to ask Hazrat Thanvi a question..
He said “Hazrat, regarding these poets, whatever they feel good about they raise it to the sky and when they feel bad about something they smash it to the ground. That there is a lot of ifraat (excess) and tafreet (meanings negligence) among them.”
Hazrat Thanvi inquired on how.
He replied 'Hazrat there is a couplet of Hazrat Maulana Rumi. He says "Yak zamana sohbate ba aulia bahtar az sad saala ta’ate be riya” That a moment spent in the company of Auliya is better than a 100 yrs of worship without ‘Riya’ Hazrat it seems he has made a gross exaggeration here. If he had said it was better than 100 yrs of worship, then it would have been agreeable. But saying that it is better than 100 yrs of worship without ‘ Riya’ seems beyond understanding.
Hazrat Thanwi then said “Shall I recite the same now?” Mufti Shafii replied 'sure hazrat..'
Hazrat Thanwi read "Yak zamana sohbate ba aulia.. bather az ‘ lakh ‘ saala ta’ate be riya" That it is better than 100,000 years of worship without ‘Riya’
Mufti sahab said 'Hazrat it was difficult to understand from the beginning and now its definitely beyond my comprehension'
Hazrat Thanwi gave him a scholarly reply 'See if someone indulges in 100,000 years of worship, is he confident that he shall meet with a fateful end?’
Mufti sahab replied 'No'
Hazrat Thanwi continued,' There is an example of iblees before hand. He spent thousands of years in worship and met with a tragic end. If you look at the humans, we have the example of Balam Baur. He worshiped for 400 yrs and met his fate terribly.’
‘Even after spending so many years in worship, none is sure of the end they meet. But the good tidings of being in the company of ahlullah and meeting a fortunate end has been given by our Beloved Nabi (salallahu alyhi wasallam).’
Mufti saheb asked hazrat ‘How is that?’
Hazrat Thanwi replied that our Nabi (salallahu alyhi wasallam) has said "Hum rijalun la yashqa jaleesuhum". That these are the people sitting in whose company none could become wretched. Wretched is the one who ends with a terrible fate.
‘So we came to know that those who choose to be in the company of Auliya , Allah سبحانه وتعالى shall always make their end to be good. Thus such a company is definitely better than a 100,000 years of worship'
Sourced from: muftisays.com http://goo.gl/41yJ1F Edited for style and spellings where appropriate.
