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Khanqah Imdadia Ashrafia - 1 - http://www.khanqah.org
Purpose of Life
By: Arif Billah Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana
Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab
Publisher: Kutub Khana Mazahri, Gulshan-e-Iqbal 2,
Karachi ( Pakistan) Tel: 4992176
By: Arif Billah Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab (damat barkatuhum)
Khanqah Imdadia Ashrafia - 2 - http://www.khanqah.org

Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................. 4 2. Three


Types Of Travellers........................................................................... 4 3. The Goods of This
World ............................................................................ 4 4. The Definition Of
Shakur ............................................................................ 5 5. Protection from
Uneasiness ........................................................................ 6 6. The Sweetness Of
Iman ............................................................................. 6 7. A Good
Ending.......................................................................................... 7 8. Two Acts to Become A
Saint ....................................................................... 8 9. The Effects Of Keeping In Mind The Greatness Of
Allah................................... 8 10. The Reason for a Good Ending .................................................................... 9 11.
Where Will You Go?................................................................................... 9 12. Attaching the Heart to Temporary
Beauty....................................................10 13. An Incident Regarding the Meaning Of
Shakur..............................................11 14. Secular Wealth Is Not the Aim Of
Life..........................................................11 15. The Evidence of The
Limbs ........................................................................12 16. Changing Evil To
Good..............................................................................13 17. The First Tafsir of Changing Sins into Good
Deeds.........................................13 18. The Second Tafsir ....................................................................................14
19. An Amazing Proof.....................................................................................15 20.
Worship..................................................................................................15 21. The Fearful Consequence of Attaching
the Heart to Others besides Allah ..........16 22. The Third
Tafsir .......................................................................................17 23. The Purpose of Life Is
Worship ...................................................................17 24. Two Ways of Becoming a
Wali....................................................................18 25. The Company of the
Ahlullah .....................................................................19 26. The Capsule of All
Pleasures ......................................................................20 27. Shaytan, The Deceitful
Trader....................................................................20 28. The Second
Prescription............................................................................21 29. Now Supplicate To
Allah............................................................................22
By: Arif Billah Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab (damat barkatuhum)
Khanqah Imdadia Ashrafia - 3 - http://www.khanqah.org

Preface
On the return of our spiritual mentor, Moulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar
Sahib (Damat Barakatuhum) from his second journey to South Africa, some close
associates of his asked him to render some advice on the occasion of the completion
of the Holy Quran in their musjid. In spite of his extreme exhaustion, Hadhrat
accepted their request due to his close association with them. This discourse took
place although Hadhrat had for several years discontinued delivering talks in the
mosques in Ramadhan due to his physical weakness.
This discourse was delivered in the Khulafa-e-Rashideen Masjid of Shabe Mi'mar
Avenue in Gulshan Iqbal No.4 on 25 Ramadhan 1414 (7 March 1994) after Taraweeh
at 10.00 pm. It lasted for approximately one hour and fifteen minutes. Hadhrat
explained the temporariness of this world and man’s aim in life in a unique manner.
By listening to the discourse, the heart became detached from the love of this world
and desirous of the hereafter. It has been named 'Maqsad e Hayat' - The Purpose
of Life. May Allah accept it and make it beneficial for the ummah. May He make it a
perpetual charity for Hadhrat, the compiler and all those who assisted in its
publication. Ameen.
Compiled by Sayyid Ishrat Jameel (Meer Sahib)
By: Arif Billah Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab (damat barkatuhum)
Khanqah Imdadia Ashrafia - 4 - http://www.khanqah.org

Introduction
What is the aim of Allah sending us to this world. When a person does not
understand the aim of any work, that work can never be correct. We should
therefore understand what is the aim of our life in this world. This world is a foreign
place for us while the hereafter is our actual homeland. First listen to the examples
of this world being a foreign place. People come from Kashmir, Quetta and different
parts of Pakistan to earn a living in Karachi. They earn some money and collect it.
When they return to their homeland, that is Kashmir, Quetta, Manserah, Hazarah or
wherever they come from, they take the money in cash and live there with
splendour. Or they purchase items like a chair, become a chairman and go from
here. They are then well respected and people praise them for having earned well in
Karachi. Thereafter they are invited everywhere for meals. The teacups of Karachi
are used for them. This shows that they understood their aim of going to a foreign
place. They did not use their foreign earnings in the foreign place. They did not use
their Karachi earnings in Karachi. They took it back to their homeland where they
were respected. Had they spent their Karachi earnings in Karachi, they would not
have been respected and people would have called them fools.

Three Types Of Travellers


People that travel from a foreign place to their homeland in the world are of three
types. Some people only take cash because the same currency is used in their
homeland as in other parts of the country. This cash can be of use to them there as
well. Some people take goods only while others take cash and goods. That is, they
take things like chairs, teacups, plates, carpets etc. They take sheets for their
visitors. When we go to Kashmir, we find the name Kashmir written on the shawls
used in the mountains. Then we also learn that the people have brought along tea
cups. These are the three types of travelers in this world. Firstly, those who take
cash only, secondly those who take goods instead of cash because they know they
will not find these items in the villages. The third category is those who take both
cash and kind.

The Goods of This World


From this we understand that when we depart to the hereafter after our visa for the
world has expired, what all the different types of people take with them. Does
By: Arif Billah Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab (damat barkatuhum)
Khanqah Imdadia Ashrafia - 5 - http://www.khanqah.org
anyone take any currency of this world to the hereafter when his janazah is lowered
in the grave? Does anyone take with him plates, cups, mobile telephones, clean
sheets, cars etc? Does anyone take both cash and kind? He neither takes kind nor
any cash nor both. When we leave the world and our janazah enters the grave, a
poet says:
Thanks to those who brought me to the grave.
Now we will go alone from this stage onwards.
Another poet says:
They all pressed me into the grave and left without any dua or salam.
What has happened to time in such a short while
Those servants who walked to and fro serving one, who washed one's clothes, who
rubbed oil onto one's body and who massaged one's legs will be throwing sand on
the grave and departing.

The Definition Of Shakur


I have suddenly remembered an incident with the mentioning of throwing sand. I
regard this sudden remembrance as an indication from Allah that I should narrate
the incident. Otherwise I would not have remembered it suddenly. One of Allah s
names is Shakur. Mulla Ali Qari (Rahimahullah) writes in Sharhul Mirqat under the
explanation of the name Shakûr that one of the ninety nine names of Allah is
Shakûr. Its meaning is:
The one who gives reward in abundance for a little amount of action.
For example, if you safeguarded your gaze from staring at attractive faces and ghair
mahram (Women who you can marry and are not permissible to look at.) women,
then what great act is it? You have been protected from punishment, disgrace and
an illicit love affair. Even women have an impression that this person who is
safeguarding his gaze is some saint. Had he stared, the honour of his beard would
have been polluted. The honour of his round hat would have terminated. Allah has
granted three rewards for protecting one's gaze. This is a proof of His being Shakûr.
By: Arif Billah Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab (damat barkatuhum)
Khanqah Imdadia Ashrafia - 6 - http://www.khanqah.org

Protection from Uneasiness


What is the first reward? It is protection from being uneasy. After staring at a
female, one's uneasiness increases. He feels, "I wish I could have got her." You are
therefore saved from uttering the word 'wish' and you are saved from expressing
regret.
The first reward is thus called 'protection from regret'. Now a person will not regret
because he did not glance. The simple food of the house like chutney and roti will
seem like biryani and plow because it is a bounty granted by Allah. Tell me, if all the
women of the world had to send biryani and plow for Majnûn while Layla, whom he
was madly in love with sent dry bread, whose food would he have eaten? He would
have eaten Layla's food and said, "This dry bread came from Layla's hand."
Therefore the saints who are the lovers of Allah, regard their wives better than all
the Laylas of the world. They know that Allah has granted them their wives.
That is the reason they live in peace. There is complete tranquillity in their homes.
While on the contrary, those who gaze around here and there, are always perturbed
and their homes have no blessing. Their homes are full of quarrels and fights
because the husband has another woman in mind. His wife does not seem attractive
anymore. Therefore, what is the first reward for safeguarding the gaze? It is
protection from problems, uneasiness and regret.

The Sweetness Of Iman


The second reward is that one experiences the sweetness of Iman. Rasulullah
Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has narrated a hadithe qudsi. The muhaditheen have
stated that a hadithe qudsi is the statement of Rasulullah Sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, which he narrates from Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'la by saying, "Allah
Subhanahu wa Ta'la says."
Rasulullah Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has narrated in a hadithe qudsi that Allah
Subhanahu wa Ta'la said, "The gaze is a poisonous arrow from among the arrows of
Iblis (satan). Whoever protected his heart and gaze from this arrow due to My fear, I
will grant him the sweetness of Iman that he will perceive in his heart."
By: Arif Billah Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab (damat barkatuhum)
Khanqah Imdadia Ashrafia - 7 - http://www.khanqah.org
Due to the fact that he sacrificed the sweetness of his sight for Allah's sake, Allah
Subhanahu wa Ta'la will grant him the sweetness of the heart. Allamah Ibn Qayyim
(Rahimahullah) says that a person gave his basarat [gaze] and obtained basîrat
[insight]. Basarat refers to sight. By sacrificing his sight, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'la
gave him the reward of the sweetness of Iman in his heart.

A Good Ending
Mulla Ali Qari lived in Hirat and then emigrated to Makkah. His grave is in Jannatul
Ma'la. He writes in the explanation of this hadith that whoever is granted the
sweetness of Iman will most certainly die with Iman because Allah Subhanahu wa
Ta'la will not grant the sweetness of Iman to one and then snatch it away. This is the
third reward for protecting the gaze. Therefore, do a transaction of a good ending
with Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'la by protecting your gaze wherever there are women
eg. on the streets, airports, railway stations, shopping malls, etc. When the
sweetness of Iman enters the heart, it never comes out again.
Mulla Ali Qari (Rahimahullah) states that this hadith contains an indication to a good
ending - a life that ends on Iman. Today the sweetness of Iman is being distributed
in all places like the streets, airports and shopping malls. The condition is that one
must not stare at the shops fo these sweets, namely ghair mahram forms. If
someones's sugar is over the limit and he looks at a sweet shop, his sugar will not
increase by merely looking but one's gaze is such a dangerous thing that by merely
looking, the poison enters one.
Rasûlullah Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that the one who merely looks at strange
women; he does not use her or speak to her has committed adultery of the eyes.
This is a hadith of Sahih Bukhari. I request the Ulama to have a look at this hadith in
Sahih Bukhari (vol.2 Kitabul Istizan). An evil glance is the adultery of the eyes. This
includes staring at beardless youth. Therefore, those who commit adultery of the
eyes and see dreams of becoming a saint should beat their heads. Is this the way to
become a saint?
By: Arif Billah Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab (damat barkatuhum)
Khanqah Imdadia Ashrafia - 8 - http://www.khanqah.org

Two Acts to Become A Saint


If a person treading the path of tasawwuf does only two acts, namely, safeguarding
the gaze and protecting the heart, he will become a saint if Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'la
wills. The remaining papers are easy. It is easy to leave all other sins. Two acts are
very important. One is the protection of the border, the other the protection of the
gaze. The enemy comes from two paths, either he will come from the border or he
will attack the capital directly with an aircraft. When you have protected the borders
of your eyes according to the command of Rasûlullah Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
and you protect the capital of your heart, then the road has been levelled for you to
become a saint and friend of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'la. The one who abstains from
sin, evil gazes, and also protects his heart, will he speak lies? The one who has
solved the difficult paper can very easily solve the simple paper. Is it difficult for the
one who has endured a fever of one hundred degrees (Fahrenheit) to endure fifty
degrees? When the kings used to announce anything, the camel drivers would beat
the camels with a stick. The sound of this drum would travel for a distance of two
miles. Moulana Rûmi (Rahimahullah) states that when a camel, which was laden with
these drums, went past a village, the children clapped their hands and interfered
with it. Moulana Rûmi (Rahimahullah) states that the camel said,
"O children, what effect will your tiny hands have by making such a minor sound.
The drum, which is sounded on my back, has a sound that travels for two miles.
When my ears can endure this din, then the sound of your clapping hands is not
even equivalent to a mosquito for me.

The Effects Of Keeping In Mind The Greatness Of Allah


When the greatness of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'la enters the heart, and the fear of
reckoning of the day of Judgement enters the heart, it will not be concerned with the
reproach of the people of this world and their curses and teasing after such a great
sound has entered it. It will not be bothered by what people say. A person sported a
one-fist length beard and wrote to Hadhrat Thanwi (Rahimahullah) that since the
time he sported his beard, all his friends and acquaintances were mocking him.
Hadhrat Thanwi (Rahimahullah) replied to him that he should let his friends continue
laughing. On the day of Qiyamah he will not have to cry. He replied to another
By: Arif Billah Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab (damat barkatuhum)
Khanqah Imdadia Ashrafia - 9 - http://www.khanqah.org
person, "Why are you fearing the laughter of people? You are a man and yet you
fear. Let them laugh."
What a great reward Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'la has granted for safeguarding the
gaze. Firstly, protection from regret, worry and uneasiness. Secondly, the sweetness
of Iman. The one who safeguards his gaze, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'la will grant his
heart the sweetness of Iman. After the sweetness of Iman, what will be his third
reward? He will have a good ending, that is, he will die with Iman.

The Reason for a Good Ending


The question now arises: Why is there such a great reward for safeguarding the gaze
which is not a very difficult task? Well, those who safeguard their gazes know what
goes through their hearts at the time of turning away the glance. A person asked
why is there the great reward of the sweetness of Iman for safeguarding the gaze. I
replied that the heart carries the burden of all the grief when safeguarding the gaze
and the heart is the king of the body. If the king has to work for you, will you pay
him more or not? Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'la also grants more reward for the work of
the heart. When the heart makes an effort and endures the grief of not looking, it
pleases the Owner, then Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'la grants it reward. He grants it the
sweetness of Iman. In reality, He grants it His own love. It has been freed from the
love of corpses and attached to the Real Live One, namely Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'la.

Where Will You Go?


If you continue pursuing these bodies that are eventually going to die, then finally
when the geographical contours of the face change, the thin delicate neck becomes
plump, the cheeks become deflated, when the lover has to take out his/her teeth to
brush them, then you will have to recite this verse of mine which I recited for Meer
Sahib. But this couplet is not only for Meer Sahib. It is for us and all those who tread
the path of tasawwuf. This verse was composed after midnight. I am narrating the
favour of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala that after mignight, when He descends to the
skies, I spontaneously recited this verse:
O Meer, the geography of the beautiful ones has changed.
Where will you go with your history?
By: Arif Billah Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab (damat barkatuhum)
Khanqah Imdadia Ashrafia - 10 - http://www.khanqah.org
This was the history of counting the stars, of crying, of weeping, of uneasiness.
'Akhtar shumari' means to count the stars. Don't think it is my name because Akhtar
means star.
O Meer, the geography of the beautiful ones has changed.
Where will you go with your history
When this world does not remain, what will you do
With Saturn, Jupiter and Mars.

Attaching the Heart to Temporary Beauty


Just as how the stars are spread out in the sky, so are the stars of beauty spread out
on earth. They will all perish. Refrain from your foolishness. If someone wants to see
an international fool, he should look at the one who stares at temporary beauty. I
am not saying this. Hadhrat Thanwi (Rahimahullah) says that every sinner is a fool
but the sinner of the gaze is the leader of all the fools. He heads the fools because
he will not achieve anything except burning the heart and making it uneasy. He is
committing adultery of the eyes. If he spoke, then he has committed adultery of the
tongue. He is speaking unnecessarily with her by saying, "Madam, where is your
house? In which section of Gulshan Iqbal is it?" What is the need to speak like this to
the lady. While you are committing haram, your carnal self is destroying you. Think
of the fact that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is watching you. How can the one who
meditates constantly that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is watching him, ever cast a
haram glance?
His sight kept a watch over my gaze.
Regrettably, why were we unaware of this feeling?
One should be aware all the time that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is watching my
gaze. It should not be so that on the airport you completely neglect an old woman
while you carry the bag of an attractive lady and even complete her immigration
formalities. You tell her that you an expert at serving passengers. Is she the only
passenger? There are other passengers as well. In whatever work you do, ponder
that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is watching you. He knows the secret of the heart. A
saintly poet says:
By: Arif Billah Hazrat-e-Aqdas Maulana Shah Hakeem Muhammad Akhtar Sahab (damat barkatuhum)

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