In the Name of Allah, the All Merciful, the All Compassionate.

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of All the Worlds, the All Merciful, the
All Compassionate, the Master of the Day of Judgment--

The One who poured over His saints the oceans of the lights, favored
them with the purity of the spiritual states and the secrets, busied
them with His remembrance in the evening and the early morning,
gathered them under the wing of the Chosen Beloved (al Habib al
Mukhtar), made Himself known to them, so they came to know Him directly
and thus departed from the sphere of ignorance and denial, chose them
for His service, His love and the fellowship of His righteous bosom
friends, and attracted them to the presence of His Holiness, so they
were enraptured in the contemplation of Majesty and the observation of
Beauty, and thus became wholly immersed in the witnessing of Perfection.

Blessing and peace be upon the supreme means of access to the Lord, the
truest source of intimate knowledge, the one to whom the perfection of
the Essence was revealed, so he became the focal point of the Names and
the Attributes, our master Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him
peace) and upon his family and his Companions, the rightly guided
guides, and the Successors, and those who follow them in active
goodness until the Day of Judgment, especially his grandson and the
inheritor of his secrets, the helper of the Cardinal Poles, the saints
and the gnostic sages, and the support of the notables, the righteous,
the martyrs, the substitutes (budala), and the champions of the truth
(siddiqin).

The following remarks are offered by the poor servant in dire need of
theercy of his Compassionate Master, the ignoramus who readily admits
his ignorance and his shortcoming, the son of Shaykh al Hajj Abdullah
Ibrahim. By the gracious favor of his Master, may he never cease to be
enraptured in the Beauty of His Majesty!

Because ignorance, stupidity, envy, and pigheadedness are prevalent in
these countries of ours, negative criticism is frequently leveled at
the people of the Tijani Bountiful Grace, alleging that they are guides
to the path of bribery and corruption. This is nothing but criticism
of their Shaykh, who has been the guide adn helper of the servants
since the appearance of this Tijani-Ahmadi-Muhammadi-Ibrahimi-Hanafi
Bountiful Grace, due entirely to the gracious favor of the All Merciful
Presence.

I therefore turned a deaf ear to it for a very long time, even if they
came up with some unheard of defamation, because of my being a member
of the league of the Bountiful Grace. May Allah include us among those
whose fields do not resemble the barren land! For fear of my being
rejected and siding with the lower self, I was content with the defense
provided by the Presence of Holiness, for it defends itself and those
who believe in it. May Allah include us among its servants who rely
upon it!

Then, when a period of time had gone by, and they were still engaged in
their business of negative criticism, falsehood, and slander, it
occurred to me that I should collect something from the speech of the
venerable Imams, concerning the explanation of the doctrines of the
bosom friends. I therefore sought help from Allah and embarked on the
composition of this blessed book, obtaining support from the abundant
grace of the venerable sun of the religion, our master at-Tijani, the
owner of the firmly established station. Refuting them would be a
rejoinder on behalf of the Shaykh, the Tijani Seal, since he is the
owner of the Bountiful Grace and the one who bestows it upon the
companions, by means of his ancestor (the Prophet), who received it
from the Presence of the Lord of lords, so it became an obligatory duty
for me, because of my being a servant of that majestic dignitary.

I arranged the contents of the book in an Introduction, three Chapters
(with three Sections in each Chapter) and a Conclusion:

* The Introduction deals with the correct interpretation of Shaykh
Zarruq's saying, on the authority of his Shaykh al Hadrami: "Spiritual
training (tarbiyya) ceased to be practised.....,"

*The first Chapter contains three Sections:

-Section 1. Concerning the reality of Sufism (Tasawwuf) and the source
of the method of teaching the remembrances.
-Section 2. Concerning the excellent merit of the remembrance and the
fact that it is the closest of the paths to Allah.
-Section 3. Concerning congregational remembrance and recitation of the
Quran.


*The second Chapter contains three Sections:

-Section 1. Concerning the remembrance of the Tijani faida (Bountiful
Grace), and what its master said.
-Section 2. Concerning the fact that the sciences of the (spiritual)
experiences called "tastes" (adhwaq) are based on the Quran and the
Sunna.
-Section 3. Concerning the scope of training in the Tijani spiritual
Path.


*The third Chapter contains three Sections:

-Section 1. Concerning the warning against negative criticism and those
for whom it is permissible.
-Section 2. Concerning the necessity of seeking the Shaykh who is a
spiritual trainer, his character and the spiritual state of the
disciple.
-Section 3. Concerning the verification of the vision claimed by the
men of distinction, and what the scholars have said about the vision of
the Essence of the Creator.

*The Conclusion deals with our confident reliance on the Spiritual Path
of the Tijani Seal (al Khatm at Tijani) and with its sciences and its
secrets.

I beseech Allah, with the tongue of supplication and the speech of self
abasement, that my book may be sincerely devoted to His Noble
Countenance, and that it may benefit me and be of benefit to my
believing brethren until the Day of Judgement. I have given it the
title:

Kashf al Ilbas an Faidat al Khatm Abi Abbas
Removal of the Cloak from the Bountiful Grace of the Seal of the
Saints, Abu Abbas at Tijani.

Tarbiya, From the Kashf Al bas of Shaykh Ibrahim Niass

As recorded in the text of adh-Dhahab al -Ibriz, Shaikh Abdullah al Aziz ad Dabbagh gave the following response to the question under discussion:

"What is meant by spiritual training (tarbiyya) is purifying the soul and purging it of its depravities, so that it becomes capable of bearing the secret truth. That can only be achieved by removing the darkness from it, and severing the ties of falsehood that bind it. The severance of falsehood from it may sometimes be due to the purity of its innate character , in which case Allah cleanses it without any intermediary. This was the state of affairs in the virtuous first three centuries, which were the best of the centuries, for the people in those centuries were devoted to the Truth, constantly focused upon it. When they slept, they slept upon it, when they awoke, the were fully conscious of it, and when they moved, they moved in it. If Allah opened someone’s insight, and he examined their inner beings, he would almost invariably find their minds devoted to Allah and His Messenger, seeking the attainment of His good pleasure. Goodness abounded in them for this reason!

This light of the Truth shone in their natures, and there appeared in them such knowledge and attainment to the degree of independent judgment (Ijtihad) as cannot be qualified or defined. There was no need for spiritual training In these centuries, for the Shaikh would simply meet with his disciple, the recipient of his secret and the inheritor of his light, then speak to him about his authorization. Success would thus be conferred on the disciple without further ado, because of the purity of the natures and the clarity of the minds (in those centuries), and their ardent yearning for the path of right guidance.

"It may sometimes be due-I mean the severance of darkness from people’s natural characters-to the instrumental influence of the Shaikh. That came about after the virtuous centuries, because people’s intentions had decayed, their consciences had stagnated, and their minds had become attached to this world, focused on the satisfaction of lustful appetites and personal fulfillment. The insightful Shaikh would therefore begin by meeting with his disciple, in order to know him well and examine him. He would then discover that his mind was attached to falsehood and the satisfaction of desires, and find that his nature followed his mind in that respect, for he was dallying with the heedless, cavorting with the negligent and loitering with the idle prattlers, and his physical limbs and organs were functioning in an unworthy manner in the process, since the mind which controls them was yoked to falsehood, not to the truth.

When the Shaikh found him in this condition, he would command him to practice secluded retreat (khalwa), remembrance (dhikr) and frugal diet. He would be separated by the secluded retreat from the idle prattlers, who are counted among the dead. The remembrance would dispels the utterance of falsehood, the dalliance, and the nonsense that was on his tongue. The frugal diet would diminish the steam in the blood, so the lustful appetite would be diminished. The mind would then resort to dedication to Allah and His Messenger. When he attained to this purity and clarity, his nature would be capable of bearing the secret truth. This was the goal pursued by means of spiritual training and the introduction of the secluded retreat.

"The mater then continued along these lines for a period of time, until the truth became mixed with falsehood and the light with darkness. The people of falsehood began to train those who came to them by means of the introduction of the secluded retreat, and teaching the Names with a corrupt intention and a purpose at variance with the Truth. To that they would add spellbinding incantations and ambiguous figures of speech, resulting in a beguilement (makr) and enticements (istidrajat) from Allah.

This practice was widespread in the times of Shaikh Zarruq and his Shaikh, so it was evident to them from the wise counsel of Allah and His Messenger, that they should advise people to desist from this training, in which the purveyors of falsehood were frequently engaged, and that they should stand with the people in the zone of security, in which there is no fear and no sorrow, that being the zone of adherence to the Sunna and the Book, those who are rightly guided by which do not go astray. Their statement was couched in advisory and cautionary terms, and their intention was not to advocate the absolute cessation of genuine spiritual training. Far be that from them, for the light of the Prophet continues to shine, his message is comprehensive and his blessings are universal, until the Day of Resurrection…."

The Quranic verses and the Prophetic traditions contain indications and explicit announcements of good tidings for this company, whose member are committed to the Truth, not at one particular time but not another, and not in one particular place but not another. Allah has said

And among those whom We have created there is a community who guide with the Truth and establish justice therewith (7:181)


In his marginal commentary on the Jalal, the erudite theistic philosopher Shaikh Sidi as Sawi has said: They are the Community of Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), according to his saying in the Prophetic tradition:

A company from my Community will not cease to be committed to the Truth until Allah’s final commandment arrives! (Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim)

Mu’awiya is reported as having said, while delivering a sermon: "I once heard Allah’s Messenger say:

Among my Community there will never cease to be a company obedient to Allah’s commandment. They will not be harmed by those who forsake them, nor by those who oppose them, until Allah’s final commandment arrives, for they are devoted to that (obedience)

--and this company in not peculiar to any particular time, nor to any particular place. No indeed, they are present in every place and in every time, for Islam will always excel and never be surpassed. However numerous the profligates and the people of evil may be, they are of no importance and they have no forceful impact. In this is good news for this Muhammadan Community, making it known that Islam is endowed with sublimity and honor, and it people likewise, until the Day of Resurrection draws near. At that point, the bearers of the Quran and the religious scholars will die, the Quran will be erased from the books, and the gentle wind will blow, so everyone in whom there is a tiny speak of faith will die. This will not happen until the demise of Jesus (peace be upon him)…"

The demise of Jesus will not occur until after he slays the Dajjal, and lives for forty years, as the Prophetic traditions have repeatedly stated, and the Dajjal will not arrive until after the Mahdi, by seven years at the head of one hundred.

As for one version of the Prophetic tradition, which contains the words:


There will always be a company in Morocco (al Maghrib)…


--Muhyi’d Din al Arabi al Hatimi said: "Allah placed it in Morocco, meaning the station of the quality of the Seal (al Khatmiyya) and the quality of Concealment (al Katmiyya) because it is the location of the secrets and concealment." (Consult al Futuhat and his book which he entitled Anqa Maghrib fi Khatm al Awliya wa Shams al Maghrib. You should also consult al Bughya.


Allah has said:

A multitude of those of old and a multitude of those of later times (56:39,40)



---and Ibn Abbas is reported as having said: "Allah’s Messenger said:

"The two multitudes are from my Community."

--This is not inconsistent with the Prophetic tradition:

"My community is like the rain, for it is not known whether the best is in its first part or in its last!"

--for the first is in one valley and the last is in another valley, and this implies that there may come to be someone in the Community who provides the people with tremendous benefit, which was beyond the means of anyone else among those who preceded him. The first part refers to particular individuals, while the second refers to the total span of time, and what a difference there is between the two! That is why he specified the generation".

Shaikh Zarruq has said in Ta sis al Qawaid: "Consideration of the times and the individuals is not required as a principle of Islamic law, for it is a pagan matter, since the infidels said:

"If only this Quran had been revealed to some great man from the two towns!" (43:31)

--so Allah responded to them with His saying:

Is it they who apportion their Lord’s mercy? We have shared out among them their livelihood in their life of this world, and raise some of them above others in rank so that some of them may take labor from others, and the mercy of your Lord is better than what they amass. (43:32)

And when they said:

"We found our fathers following a religion, and we are guided by their footprints." (43:22)

--Allah responded to them with His saying:

"The one sent to warn them said: What, even though I bring you better guidance than what you found your fathers following? They said: In what you (Messengers) bring we are disbelievers" (43:24)

"It is therefore necessary to consider the universality of Allah’s gracious favor without regard for a time or an individual, expect In the case of someone specifically mentioned in His speech. The saints have followed the Prophets in that respect, because the charismatic talent (karama) is evidence of the miraculous talent (mujiza), and the religious scholars are the heirs of the Prophet in sanctity and mercy, even if they are different where superiority is concerned, so you must understand…."

On the subject of Allah’s saying:

And a multitude of those of later time. (56:40)

--our Shaikh, our means of access, the nourishment of our spirits and our supporter, the Cardinal Pole, the Ghawth, the Muhammadia Seal, Shaykh Ahmad Tijani (may Allah be pleased with him) said "They are our companions!"

Look with the eye of fair judgement, for then you will discover that he acquired the perfection of the inheritance, since the two multitudes came to be in the Community: one multitude belonging to his ancestor, they being the Companions of Allah’s Messenger (Allah bless him and give him peace), and one multitude belonging to him, they being his companions. My pen recoils from inscribing all the rest of the indications:

In the secret of secrets there are subtle intricacies. Our blood would be shed publicly, if we were to reveal them


By this you should know that the cessation of the support of the Prophet, or dimming the light of this Prophethood, cannot be maintained by someone endowed with the lowest degree of faith.

As recorded in al-Jami and al Jawahir, our Shaikh Ahmad Tijani (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "You should know that the Prophet used to impose the general rules on the common folk during his lifetime; that is to say, when he declared something unlawful, he declared it unlawful for everybody, and when he prescribed something, he prescribed it for everybody, and likewise in the case of all the obvious rules of the Sacred Law.

In addition to all that, he used to impose special rules on the elite, and he used to assign certain matters to some of his Companions but not to others, as is well known and thoroughly recorded in his traditional reports. When he was transferred to the abode of the Herafter, the situation was therefore the same as it had been during his life in this world.

He had begun to entrust to his Cummunity the special decree imposed on the elite, but not modification of the general decree imposed on the common folk, so modification thereof ceased with his death, while his gracious favor continued to apply to the special degree imposed on the elite. If anyone imagines that all of his support for his Community came to an end with his death, as in the case of all other dead men ,he is ignorant of the Prophet’s degree and guilty of treating him with indecently. He is also in danger of dying as an unbeliever, if he does not repent of this deluded conviction.."

This is the conclusion of the Kashf Albas of Sidi Shaykh Ibrahim Niasse.

"Concerning our confident reliance on the Tijani Spiritual Path, which
is endowed with Lordly Secrets and Divine Bounties, and concerning its
sciences and its secrets.

Success is achieved with the help of Allah, for He is the Guide by His
grace to the straight path!

It is no secret that the Tijani Spiritual Path is the most excellent of
all the Spiritual Paths, and the party consisting of its loyal
adherents is the most exemplary of all the parties, since it is an
Ahmad-Muhammadan-Ibrahimi Spiritual Path. Its outer form comprises the
modes of conduct prescribed by the Sacred Law (Sharia), and its inner
content is the product of Reality (Haqiqa). In its practices and its
offices (waza'if), you will find nothing that Allah has not commanded
explicity in His Mighty Book, nor will you find anything of which Allah
does not approve, by word and deed, explicitly or by implication. That
is because the Tijani litany (wird), which is recited in the morning
and the evening, consists of the following:

*The plea of forgiveness (al-istighfar)
*The invocation of blessing upon the Prophet (as salat ala Nabi)
*The affirmation that there is no God but Allah
*Verses (ayat) from the Quran.

Furthermore, the litany was received from the Prophet (Allah bless him
and give him peace), in a state of wakefulness not sleep. It was he who
built its foundation with his noble hand, and assigned it to our Imam
as a charasmatic gift for this mercifuly blessed Community. Ever since
Allah brought it into existence and presented it from the ocean of
generosity, so that its benefit was made apparent to the servants of
the Lord, people have benefited by it in former and in recent times,
bout outwardly and inwardly, in all the regions of the earth, in the
countries and the towns. Whenever a negligent servant is at the utmost
distance from his Master, or is actually at war with Allah and with
those in charge of him, but then he meets this Imam or one of his
disciples, Allah will instill the love of this Imam in his heart, and
he will receive this litany from him. His spiritual state will thus be
transformed, and he will be included among the noble servants of
Allah. He will purify himself, perform the ritual prayers, and keep
the fast. He will love the people of Allah, and he will love the
finest of humankind.

In a very short time, it will become clear that he is among the chosen
few, the cream of the crop. This state of affairs would be
acknowledged by anyone familiar with the Spiritual Path of this
magnanimous Imam, even if he happened to be one of its ignoble
enemies. It is strictly incumbent, therefore, upon everyone who is
aware of this abudant grace, to compete in the effort to excel in the
performance of this splendid litany...........


(after listing many of his sana'id to Shaykh Tijani he continues)

..... May Allah grant our masters good reward on our behalf, and may He
be well pleased with them and make them well pleased! Our present day
affiliation and our line of transmission come, in reality from Shaykh
Tijani the Seal (al Khatm), without any intermediary, since he-praise
be to Allah!-is always present with us. Praise be to Allah, and thanks
be to Him!

It is related that Abu'l Hasan ash Shadhili was asked about his Shaykh,
so he said: 'I used to be affiliated to my master, Abd as Salam ibn
Mashish, and today I am swimming in ten oceans. Five of them consist of
human beings: Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace), Abu Bakr,
Umar, Uthman, and Ali (may Allah be well pleased with them). The other
consists of spiritual beings: Gabriel, Michael, Izra'il, Israfil, and
the Spirit.'(end of quote of Abu Hasan ash Shadhili)

We are in a single ocean, which has no shore, no limit, no extremity
and no end. That ocean flows from an ocean that has no shore, no limit,
no extremity and no end, and which supplies it with its vast
abundance. That ocean flows from the presence of liberation, and
supplies it with the vast abundance of its Lordliness:

So after that let the strivers strive (83:26)

Those are our fathers, so bring me the like of them
when you join us together, O rope of the assemblies!


This brings us to the end of the book (entitled Kashf Albas). Allah is
the Enabling Guide to the right path, and to Him (Glory be to Him) is
the return and the homeward journey!

The book has been written, with the permission of the Secretive
Presence (al Hadrat al Katmiyya) and with its help, by the poor servant
in need of the mercy of the All Compassionate, Ibrahim ibn ash Shaykh
al Hajj Abdullah. May he never cease to be enamored of the beauty of
his Lord!

I drafted this book in nine days, in the time of ignorance, the
accumulation of darkness, the multiplicity of human preoccupation, the
inertia of the mind, the laxity of thought and the extinction of
sagacity, while apologizing to those endowed with understanding for the
shortcoming to be found in this book. By Allah, I beg the reader to
view it with the eye of good pleasure and sound judgement!

The eye of good pleasure blinks at every fault,
but the eye of displeasure brings the defects to light


If someone views it with the eye of good pleasure, I trust that he will
ascribe it (the book) to the bountiful grace of at-Tijani, the Seal (al
Khatm), the master of the Lordly secret, because in it collects the
cream of the literary works of this kind. You will seldom find a
composition that contains what this composition contains, so if someone
examines it closely and judges it fairly, he will know for certain that
it was composed by Shaykh at-Tijani with his own hand.

I beseech Allah--seeking help from Him, from the Seal of the Prophets
and from the Seal of the Saints-to let us and all the Muslims benefit
by it, to accept it from us with a fine acceptance, to bless it with a
tremendous blessing, so that it will bless every place in which it
arrives, to make it a protection for the Spiritual Path and its people,
and to arrange it in the style of the noble Seal."

On the day when neither wealth nor sons will be of any avail,
except to someone who comes to Allah with a whole heart (26:88,89)