Specimen of a Murshid’s Diploma, in the Kadiri Order of the Mystic Craft Al-Tasawwuf.




THIS is the tree whose root is firm, and whose
branches are spreading, and whose shade is
perpetual: and the bearer is a good man —
we beg of Allah to grant him purity of
intention by the power of him upon
whom Revelation descended and In-
spiration! I have passed it on, and
I, the poorest of men, and the ser-
vant of the poor, am Sayyid
A,2 son of Sayyid B the
Kadiri, the servant of the
prayer-rug of his grand-
sire, of the Shaykh
Abd al-Kadir
Jilani, Allah
sanctify his
honoured
tomb!
Amen.
A.

There
is no god but
Allah — Shaykh
Abd al-Kadir
— a thing to
Allah.3

Sayyid A
Son of Sayyid B
of C.4

And of him — In the name of Allah the Merciful, the Compassionate — we beg aid.

Praise be to Allah, opener of the locks of hearts with his name, and withdrawer of the veils of hidden things with his beneficence, and raiser of the flags of increase to those who persevere in thanking him. I praise him because that he hath made us of the people of Unity. And I thank him, being desirous of his benefits. And I bless and salute our Lord Mo- hammed, the best of his Prophets and of his Servants, and (I bless and salute) his (Mohammed’s) family and companions, the excelling indignity, for the increase of their dignity and its augmentation. But afterwards thus saith the needy slave, who confesseth his sins and his weakness and his faults, and hopeth for the pardon of his Lord the Almighty — Sayyid A the Kadiri, son of Sayyid B the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Abu Bakr the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Ismail the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Abd al-Wahhab the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Nur al-Din the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Darwaysh the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Husam al-Din the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Nur al-Din the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Waly al-Din the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Zayn al-Din the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Sharaf al-Din the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Shams al-Din the Kadiri, son of Sayyid Mohammeda I-Hattak, son of Sayyid Abd al-Aziz, son of the

Sayyid of Sayyids, Polar-Star of Existence, the White Pearl, the Lord of the Reins of (worldy) possession, the Chief of (Allah’s) friends, the incomparable Imam, the Essence negativing accidents, the Polar Star of Polar Stars,5 the Greatest Assistance,6 the Uniter of the Lover and the Beloved,7the Sayyid (Prince), the Shaykh (Teacher), Muhiyal-Din, Abd al-Kadir of Jilan,8 Allah sanctify his honoured Sepulchre, and Allah enlighten his place of rest! — Son of Abu Salih Muse Jangi-dost, son of Sayyid Abdullah al-Jayli, son of Sayyid Yahya al-Zahid, son of Sayyid Mohammed, son of Sayyid Da’ud,son of Sayyid Musa, son of Sayyid Abdullah, son of Sayyid Musa al-Juni, son of Sayyid Abdullah al-Mahz, son of Sayyid Hasan al-Musanna,9 son of theImam Hasan, Son of the Imam and the Amir ofTrue Believers, Ali the son of Abu Talib — may Allah be satisfied with him! — Son of Abd al-Mut-Talib,10 son of Hashim, son of Abd al-Manaf, son of Kusay, son of Kilab, son of Murrat, son of Ka’ab, Son of Luwiyy, son of Ghalib, son of Fihr (Kuraysh), Son of Malik, son of Nazr, son of Kananah, son of Khuzaymah, son of Mudrikah, son of Iliyas, son of

Muzarr, son of Nizar, son of Adnan,11 son of Ada, son of Udad, son of Mahmisah, son of Hamal, son of Nayyit, son of Kuzar, son of Ismail, son of Ibrahim, son of Karikh, son of Kasir, son of Arghwa, son of Phaligh, son of Shalikh, son of Kaynan, son of Arfakhshad, son of Sam, son of Noah, son of Shays, son of Adam the Father of Mankind12 — with whom be Peace, and upon our Prophet the best of blessings and salutation! — and Adam was of dust, and dust is of the earth, and earth is of foam, and foam is of the wave, and the wave is of water,13 and water is of the rainy firmament, and the rainy firmament is of Power, and Power is of Will, and Will is of the Omniscience of the glorious God. But afterwards that good man, the approaching to his Lord, the averse to all besides him, the desirous of the abodes of futurity, the hoper for mercy, the Darwayah Abd-ullah14 son of the Pilgrim Joseph the Afghan — henceforward let him be known by the name of “Darwaysh King-in-the-name-of-Allah!”— hath ccome to us and visited us and begged of us instruction in the Saying of Unity. I therefore taught him the saying which I learned b............